Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1972)
I I Si The old Sperry flouring mill flourished nun) background. A stone useo in im mm . r ears near what is now the center of Heppnec covered this summer. N Me ' new' courthouse building looming in the Newspapers in Morrow County Soon after Heppner's 10th birthday. J.J. Stine publish ed the first issue of the Heppner Gazette, in March id 63. The funds that made the paper possible were con--ributed by interested citi zens of the 370 person town. Henry Heppner and his brother-in-law Henry Blackman gave $50 a piece; S.P. Flo rence, J.L. Morrow, T.W. Avres, Frank Maddock, Tom Morgan, J.B. Sperry, G.W. Swaggart, J.B. Natter, W.J. Leezer, W.B. Cunningham, A.M. Gunn, Charles Hinton, W.E. Theodore and Ed R. Bishop contributed about $23.00 each. Mr. Stine was a paper star ter and evidently never stay ed long with the papers he started. He sold out as soon as he could, and in Heppner he made a deal with an amaz ing character, John W. Rd mgton in 1883. This shrewd, poetic, pioneer newsman had Best Wishes to Heppner on its 100 th Birthday Jack and Ruth Van Winkle Van Winkle's Motel j Sears Authorized Catalog Sales Merchant Heppner I, an exciting, roving life be fore he settled in Heppner in his 31st year. At the age of 12 he was a printers' devil on the Cambridge Universi ty Press; at 21 he worked as a printer in New York, rose to sergeant in the state militia, and was refused by the regular army because he was too small. So he en listed as a musician and was sent to Fort Vancouver, Wa. in 1874. and thus entered into the building of the west in various ways. He left the army and went to work for the Salem Statesman; went in to a job printing partnership made horseback trips through eastern Oregon, to Boise and Salt Lake; and became a vol unteer Indian scout. Later, he wrote about his exciting experiences scouting and about great Indians he knew. He was in Morrow County during the 1878 uprising with General O.O. Howard. In 1883 he rode in again and re gistered at Minor's Cit Hotel with less than a dollar, whatever he was wearing, and a fair saddle horse as ma terial assets, but with ambi tion, a creative mind,' and a great spirit. Though he had little formal schooling, he was an avid reader and kept himself informed. HELL ON HOG THIEVES AND HVroCWTES lljmer Hallock son of O. H. Hallock was the first edi tor of a rival paper, the Times, which came out in February, 1884. Editor Re diugton made a quick and vi cious attack and put it out of business shortly. He char ged Mr. Hallock and Augustus Mallory, both notaries pub lic, with charging homestead ers too much to locate land, and also inferred that Mal lory had stolen a hog. His paper offered to locate set tlers' land free, and he painted this slogan on barns over the county, "Heppner Gazette Hell on Hog Thieves and Hypocrites." He loved the county seat fight in 1885 with Lexington, and after Hep pner was awarded the prize, he made a fall sale of the Gazette to Rev. Henry Ras mus and took off for Wash ington State where he married and worked on several pap ers. Rev. Rasmus rather soon sold the paper to a consci entious newspaper man, Otis Patterson, who came from Waitsburg, Wa., and he con tinued it nicely. He ran into competition from Lexington publishers and from E.M. Shute who came from Ante lope to reactivate the Times. Otis Patterson left Heppner in 1898, selling the paper to Corleis Merritt. REDING TON RETURNS When Jackson L. Morrow died in 1889, J. W. Redington came from Portland to attend .the funeral and to write a poetic tribute to his respect ed friend, "Uncle Jack. ' Be fore he left he bought the Gazette from Mr. Merritt. He moved his wife and three daughters Into a comfortable house across from the news office and proceeded U be come a colorful, fighting pub lisher. Owen Wister who later pub lished "The Virginian" came to stay In the Palace Hotel and spent much time listen ing to Editor Redington tell of his Indian scout exjxT iences, and later when Owen Wister set nis stories In W y oming he nay lave been in fluenced by the lore and at mosphere he soaked up in Heppner. J.W. Redington determined to demolish the second Times as he had the first. A bat tle of words took place, and in Feb. 1901. the Gazette published a story that cast some aspersions on Editor Shutt and an attractive young woman who was working, in the Times office. The Editors met on the street and tht larg er Mr. Shutt, who was plenty upset, flattened J.W. R. Af ter his recovery, he retreated from Heppner, selling in May 1901 to Fred Warnock and Ed Michell. (J.W. Red ington died in a veteran's home in Sawtelle, California, in 1933). CONSOLIDATION ENDS RIVALRY Mr. Warnock took over bis partner's interest in the Ga zette for awhile and in 1910 he sold it to Mr. Vawter Crawford who had originally worked there with Editor Pat worked mere wun f.nitor rai- We are happy Heppner for seventeen years 1 - Vr S See us for friendly, courteous service We hove a complete line of Groceries - Frozen Foods Choice Meats and Fresh Produce MWMMMMMMWM Clint and Marie McQuarrie terson, and then had served as county clerk from 1B89 until 1906. In 191 Vawter Crawford also bought the Times from A.J. Kicks who had purchased It from Mr. Shutt, thus ending the rivalry between the two wpers. Se veral C raw fords then ran the paier for over forty years. "The Crawfords weren't mad at anyone and were excellent printers, good writers and strong enough to not lie sway ed b) temporary waves of pub lic sentiment. They worked for Morrow County and Hep pner, observed it carefully and reported it respectfully. Vawter and then Ins sons, Arthur, Spencer and Jasper, and then Vawter's younger brother, Otheo G. published the paper. Both Vawter and Spencer, who was manager at the time, died in the 1930's and youngest son Jasper, fol lowed by his uncle Otheo succeeded them. Otheo Cr awford sold to Bob Peiiland who in time sold to Wesley Sherman who died suddenly in 1063. Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Heard became publishers in Nov. 19G9. The GaZetce-Ti-nies has been the county's only new.spaptr since the 1920' slased on Homesteads and Heritages Pgs. 52-53 Although their history packs into fewer years, Le xington's three or four news papers must have been in teresting publications. The Cont. on page 11 " to have served MARKET
