PirF s, WOOLGROWERS SOUVENIR EDITION HEPPNE GAZETTE TIMES, MONDAY,
Off
Chas. W. Smith, then county agent,
ing the county's large sheep industry.
Interesting Sketches of
Early Days in Heppner
CONTINUED FROM PAGE THREE
Jim Rhea, the Marlatt brothers,
Bishop Chase, Matteson brothers,
Chas. Cason and the Stewart and
Smith families, the latter having
a cattle ranch up Hinton creek,
where Mr. Smith died, leaving
four daughters, who were the
belles of the colony. Widow
. Smith ran the main hotel in Hepp
ner for several years, where her
only son died of diphtheria. Her
daughter Pauline married Tom
Quaid, and Vi married Dr. Swin
burne. Mrs. Smith later on mar
ried Tom Ayers, a pioneer who
came in from Butter creek and
bought out George Stansbury.
Charles Hinton was a pictur
esque pioneer with a first ranch
on Hinton creek, and the thrill
ing tales he told about Indian hos
tilities were hair-raising. His
brother was also a pioneer, as
were Geo. Harrington, Sam Don
aldson, Matlock Bros., Ellis Mi
nor, Jim Ferguson and Bill Pen
land and Pres Looney.
Doc. Shobe was a good old soul,
and was always improving and
helping others to do ditto. A big
addition to the settlement was
when Charles Wallace, Will Wat
bridge and the Hallock family
came and settled up the Balm
Fork country, and the Florence
brothers settled well up Willow
creek while Frank Maddock, Jim
Neville, Norman Kelley and John
Gilmore settled nearer town. Jim
and Nels Jones were early set
tlers, and the latter bought the
Gilmore place, and donated part
A BUCK WHAT AM
This buck won a prize gun given
by a local hardware store a few
years ago. The specie is a famil
iar denizen of summer ranges of
sheepmen. Foster Collins, the
lucky guy in the picture, runs a
little band of sheep of his own out
on Camas prairie.
I lift
Has the World Been Told
assisted in arranging this exhibit in
It brought many favorable comments.
of it to the county for a court
house site.
It must have been about 187.
that Uncle Jack Morrow moved
his store over from Lagrand, and
he and Henry Heppner built their
store on the corner on which the
Palace, $22,000 brick hotel, was
afterwards erected.
Jim Fuller, Johnny Elder, Jim
Hager, Tom Morgan, Dan B. Stal
ter, Judge Dutton, John Natter,
Dr. Shipley, Pres. Thompson, Win.
Leezer, Andy Tillard, Willard and
Dave Herren, Jim Straight, Sam
Carmack and George Gray were
pioneers in settling up that new
country, and there were others,
but as I am trusting to memory,
I can say without fear of unsuc
cessful contradiction that my
memory back-fires, and as they
are all dead, they should worry
about my historical hysteria.
Doc. Shobe started the first
drug store in Heppner, later on
selling out to Cash Mallory, who
was one of nature's noblemen.
No one needed for medicines
while he had them, money or no
money. He was Wells-Fargo ag
ent for several years, and died all
too soon for the good of the world.
Super-Strong Onions
When Charlie Hinton and Mart
Hall ran the Heppner butcher
shop over half a century ago, meat
was cheap, and nobody kicked, for
fat four-year-old steers were sell
ing for $20, and their meat retail
ed at proportionate prices.
But soon railroad building start
ed up, and the camps bought bar
rels of beef, and Tom Quaid and
other stockmen bunched their
cattle into a big herd and drove
them to Cheyenne.
Then prices went up, and the
Heppner butcher shop ran short.
Os. Burch told Charlie Hinton
a big bunch of wild cattle running
in the tall timber over beyond
Matteson Mountain, that might bi
shot and the beef brought in on
pack horses.
Charlie agreed to buy all the
beef brought in, and Os. and his
brother, Jack Hale and Will Gil
more started out on the hunt.
They made camp on the edge of
the timber, close to a moist mead
ow whose grass was emerald
green, while the rest of the moun
tain range was pretty well dried
up.
Soon came the twilight shad
ows, and with them came a big
bunch of wild cattle, and while
they were greedily grazing, the
hunters downed eight of them.
As skinning started in, Os. Burch
cut some choice tenderloin from
a fat yearling, and started supper.
He fried the meat to pertection,
and called the hungry hunters to
come and get it.
They squatted around and at
tacked the beef, but could not eat
it, for it was rank with wild on
ions, and smelled to Heaven.
These frontiersmen thought they
a Portland display window, featur-
could eat almost anything but
this wild onion beef balked them,
and if they could not go it, what
was the use of packing it thirty
miles to town, where people were
supposed to be fairly fastidious?
No use!
And while the hunters were
making a stingy supper on sinkers
and coffee, along came Edgar
Matteson, one of the best hunters
in the Blue Mountains, with the
fresh meat of a young deer over
his shoulder.
Of course the hunters were
welcome to the last mouthful of
it, and Edgar was hailed as a life
saver, for in those pioneer days
very few frontiersmen were strict
vegetarians.
Dare-Devil Stunt
People in Morrow county who
now have peaceful, happy homes,
may well be thankful for their
immunity from the murderous
raids of the red fiends of the
forest and pirates of the prairie.
The pioneer settlers might have
a good-sized band of horses one
day, and next day have no horses,
and maybe no scalps, and burned
houses.
In 1878, when the Columbia
River renegade Indians were en
camped up at Penand's Prairie,
they were a menace to the people
of the Heppner Hills, for they
were waiting to join the hostile
Bannax, sweep down Willow
creek and join Chief Moses across
the Columbia.
Uncle Jack Morrow outlined
the danger, and Willard Herren,
Tex Croft and Doc. Andrews vol
unteered to go up and capture
those renegades numbering about
150.
It was a dare-devil stunt, but
the three whites won the victory
They rode boldly into the Indian
camp, called the leading Indians
together for a pow-wow, and told
them to saddle up and ride back
to the Columbia.
There was a whole lot of dis
sent, but Willard Herren rattled
off Chinook and told them what
Since the earliest days small lumber mills have operated successfully in the timber belt adjacent to Hepp
ner. These early day pictures are typical of the industry which has contributed to the development of the
section, ,
was what, and Tex Croft told
them what happened to tribes in
Texas who opposed the winning
of the West.
Chief Blind Jim had a strong
voice, and spoke for peace, but
Columbia Joe rather favored war
when joining the Bannax made
them skookum strong.
Tall Tamarack said that they
were in the land of the Umatillas,
and had a right to hunt there.
But Doc. Andrews reminded
them that the government had
bought the squatter rights of the
Indians and the treaty was signed
by Winnim Snoot, Howlish Wam
po, Peo. Yettincawitz, and all the
other chiefs of the Umatillas, who
agreed to take a big reservation
of the best land in the country,
with wood, water and grass, and
the Umatilla river running right
through it, reinforced by its trib
utaries, Meacham, Wild Horse
and McKay creeks.
Old Sagebrush was for war. Ho
was so named because he was
born in the sagebrush when hi;
mother was riding along the trail
with the tribe, and turned off to
give birth to her pappoose, which
she then tied onto the horn of
the saddle and soon caught up
with the procession, and being
ready to do her share of the drud
gery when camp was made.
Another renegade who whoop
ed for war was old Memaloose, so
named because he had been aban
doned on the trail when he be
came too old to ride along with the
Meeting Place
Heppner's Masonic temple, constructed in 1911, where Oregon Wool
Growers Auxiliary sessions are being held. A fire-proof structure of
red brick, it contains the beautifully appointed lodge hall ivhere all
Masonic organizations of the city meet.
The sheep pictured on the con
vention buttons are feeding on
grain and hay furnished Garnet
Barratt by Bob Thompson.
$-$
Three and a half pounds of
cleaned wool is used in making
an average suit of man's clothing.
s-s
The lamb has been used since
biblical times as an emblem of
innocence.
$-$
Morrow county flockmasters
once showed strong preference
for fine wool sheep. Crossbreeds
are now favorites.
Lumbering Has Helped
x "?v i A v' w'
Morrow County's Seat
of Government
The modern court house of today,
a stone structure built in 1902.
Some native rock was used in the
structure.
rest. After lying in the sago
brush two days, some sage ticks
stung him back to action, he re
fused to die, and Finally made t
back to camp.
After the pow-wow a vote was
taken, and a majority of 36, the
same number that won the coun
ty seat for Heppner, voted for
peace, and the three white men
took their prisoners of war down
to Fort Heppner, where Col. Mor
row commended their surrender,
and shooed them on down to the
Columbia under a flag of truce
made from an old shirt that had
once been white.
of the Ladies
Sheep are among the oldest do
mesticated animals, having been
run by man for centuries. Even
today when all other topics fail,
we talk about the wether.
s-s
A good sheepherder is known
by the length of his lay-off.
s-s
It's rumored that down in Lake
view even some Irishmen run
sheep.
In event of no drouth relief in
1935, Dr. Lawrence offers to make
plates free for al broken-mouthei
ewes.