History
Blue Mountain Eagle
B3
Kickin’ up Prairie dirt — yesterday and today
A letter from the
gold rush days
The following letter, re-
printed from the June 28,
1956, edition of the Eagle
is said to have been writ-
ten in 1863 by Bradford
C. Trowbridge, father of
Charles Trowbridge of
John Day, to his father in
Dixon, Illinois:
Dear Father,
This is the first chance
I have had to write you
since I arrived at this gold
discovery last June 9. The
first pony express leaves
here today with Frank Mc-
Bean rider, so I will try to
tell you briefly what has
happened.
Some of those who
came in here with me
are Phil Metschan, Bill
Southworth, George Ha-
zeltine, Oliver Cresap, Van
Middlesworth, Pat Mul-
care, Martin Lucas and of
course, my brothers, No-
ble and Lyman. Atwood
Sproul is digging a ditch to
wash upper benches.
We have arrived here on
June 9 last year and were
the first arrivals after Bill
Alred made the discovery
of gold on what we have
named Hog Point. Min-
ers kept coming in by the
hundreds and now there
must be several thou-
sand here and they are
still coming. They have
discovered placer gold in
the country east of here
and a town has been built
named Marysville about
two miles east, and there
have also been rich dis-
coveries at Prairie Dig-
gings farther east. The
miners had a meeting a
short time after we got
here and they decided to
let a miner locate a claim
75 feet up and down the
bottom of Canyon Creek
and from hill to hill. I
didn’t take one of those
claims, but decided to
take squatter’s rights on
the John Day River above
the mouth of Canyon
Creek and go to farming
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
as I had brought in some
good cows and could sell
milk and vegetables to the
miners. I delivered some
radishes and onions today
and found a ready market
as you can imagine. Later,
I’ll have corn and pota-
toes and some other veg-
etables.
A saloon was started
on what we have named
Whiskey Gulch, which is
a gulch with no pay dirt in
it. They put up a tent and
a few barrels of whiskey
was brought in by mule
team from The Dalles,
up on the big Columbia
River. Some hurdy-gurdy
girls have come in and they
have a dance hall in anoth-
er tent with a floor made
from puncheon logs and
strips from small logs. The
dance hall is getting a good
play, and it and the saloon
are getting a lot of the gold.
Ralph Fisk, who came in
with us last year is the fid-
dler and some Swede plays
the accordion.
A few women have
come in and some of the
men who are married
have built log houses.
Some of the women are
Mrs. Lucas, Mrs. Andrew
McCallum, Mrs. George
Hazeltine and Mrs. Van
Middlesworth. Both the
latter are McCallum’s
daughters. He is a Scots-
man and flour miller and
millwright, and is talking
of building a mill here as
a few of the miners have
turned their hands to farm-
ing, and wheat and oats are
doing fine.
Hope that you and
mother can come out as
soon as the Indians qui-
et down. Once in awhile,
there is trouble with them
and we expect a real out-
break anytime now.
I’ll give this letter to
McBean and hope it reach-
es you within the month.
Your affectionate son,
Bradford
School football
field was once a
rodeo grounds
By Cheryl Hoefler
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
If you close your eyes, you
can almost see a calf being
roped at about the 40-yard
line.
For years, players of one
kind or another have been
kicking up dirt — along
with spills and thrills — to
cheering crowds in the open
air at the south end of Prai-
rie City.
Today, the town’s Panthers
football team punts, kicks and
throws pigskins on autumn
Friday nights at the Prairie
City Athletic Complex. Years
ago amateur rodeo contestants
bucked, rode and roped live
animals on summer weekends
in the same location.
For over 40 years, from
about 1920 to at least 1963,
Prairie City was home to its
own annual amateur rodeo.
The gala featured all the calf
roping, bull riding, bronc
bucking and horse racing ac-
tion you’d expect from a top-
notch rodeo, with contestants
from Oregon and beyond vy-
ing for cash and prizes. Fes-
tivities also usually included
children’s competitions, a
main parade plus one for the
kids, live music, lots of food,
a dance and the pageantry of
a royal court reigning over it
all.
According to an Aug. 2,
1956, Eagle article, the first
Prairie City Rodeo was held
37 years prior, and was pro-
duced by Ab Bradford of the
Cowboy Stampede, longtime
sponsors of the Prairie City
Eagle file photo
Nellie Carter, center, reigned as queen of the Prairie City
Rodeo held July 14-15, 1962, at Prairie City. Carter, along
with princesses Melda Kelly, left, and Beverly Newton,
right, rode in the street parade Saturday, preceding the
first day’s rodeo events.
Contributed photo/Jim Hamsher
The Prairie City Rodeo Grounds, unknown date.
event. In the early years, the
rodeo was held on Indian
Creek at the Muldrick Ranch,
later owned by R.J. Stanbro.
For three years during
World War II, there was no
Lori Hickerson, Principal Broker, GRI
541-575-2617 • ljh@ortelco.net
Sally Knowles, Broker, GRI
rodeo. However, when it re-
sumed in 1947, riding on
post-war enthusiasm, it flour-
ished into a two-day event in
mid-June.
The date fluctuated from
year to year, but the rodeo
was always a summer event.
Through the 1940s and early
1950s it was usually held in
mid-June. In 1954, there were
even two rodeos — in June
and September.
In 1955, it was moved
to Labor Day weekend. The
next year, organizers decided
to bump the date back up a
month, to early August, to al-
low more time between it and
another major area event, the
Grant County Fair.
The rodeo court usual-
ly hailed from all corners of
Grant County. In 1949, Queen
Patsy Galbraith of Prairie City
was attended by princesses
Kathryn Swearinger of Prairie
City, Betty Cant of Dayville,
Arlene Carson of John Day
and Pauline Fanning of Long
Creek.
Some years the rodeo had
a theme. The 1953 two-day
event was dubbed, “The Fast-
est Show in the West.” The
1960 rodeo, with the theme,
“Something Old, Something
New,” featured a Sunday af-
ternoon chariot race.
Occasionally over the
years, rodeo events were held
at other locations in Prairie
City. However, the main ro-
deo grounds was where to-
day’s school football games
and track meets are held —
with contestants and specta-
tors gathered, enjoying the
same spectacular Strawberry
Mountain backdrop.
So the next time you’re at a
Panthers home football game,
look beyond the goalposts,
the new eight-lane track and
those dazzling lights. You just
might hear the echoing cheers
and yells from rodeo days
gone by.
And even spot a calf being
roped at the 40-yard line.
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um
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