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
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