Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 1974)
Ben F. Cox One of oldest pioneer residents dies at 83 On Thursday evening, Sept. 5, another Oregon pioneer died. Funeral services were held Saturday for Ben F. Cox, 83, at the Heppner Christian Church with the Rev. G. E. Nikander officiating. Ben Cox was born Jan. 31, 1H91, on upper Hinton Creek, the sixth child and oldest son of the 16 children born to Franklin Dee and Elizabeth Hay man) Cox. His father was the son and grandson of Oregon pioneers who came to the state by wagon train in 1R4B, and came to Heppner in 1878 to settle on Hinton Creek. His mother, with her parents, tame to Oregon in 1870 from Calis, Maine. Mr. Cox was married to Viola Floren of Heppner; Oct. 25, 1914. Mrs. Cox died in 1925. They had no children. On June 29, 1926, he was married to Lela (Pomroy) Patton, and they had two children. They made their home on Hinton Creek, adjoining the farm where he was born. He farmed the place until the death of his wife in 1945, and then he went to work on other farms in the area, among them those of Bernard Doherty and Ebb Hughes. 9 BEN F. 14 15 ff Glen Ward warns "It is becoming impossible,! to keep up with the public demand for more game in the Heppner area, as the amount of hunters increased from 4,000 to 7,000 last year," Glen , Ward, Oregon State Wildlife, Commissioner, told the cham- j ber of Commerce Monday. "Changes in land through-: out the county are affecting the habitat of wildlife," he said in relating how thej building of a dam could affect ' the life of either deer or elk, as well as the irrigation of vast ! areas of land in the northern - The first automatic flash flood warning system installed in the Pacific Northwest will monitor flood conditions on Shobe Creek and Balm Fork. When flood waters rise in either canyon a float dev ice is activated and the alarm is flashed to this station at Pioneer Memor ial Hospital. The flood klaxon is also activated at city hall. In case of a flash flood, residents have approximately 15 minutes to take evasive action. When his health began to fail he retired in Heppner, where he had a large garden and busied himself with such jobs as helping his nephew Stanley with his garden and putting up a rock retaining wall behind the Stanley home. His flowers and tomatoes were his pride and pleasure. With his health failing, he eventually entered the nursing home at Pioneer Memorial Hospital. Ben Cox never lost his sense of humor, and he never hesitated to write the editor of the Gazette-Times to express his opinion on any subject among them, the coyote problem and the proposed Willow Creek Dam which he called "the frog pond." Once he took a picture to the newspaper office to prove there had been a wooden flume in Heppner. He promis ed to write a story about the old flour mill, but got carried away in the process and wound up writing a touching tribute to the family which was so good to him in his declining years. Ben Cox learned to sew sacks from Bill Straight at the flour mill when he was a 10 r : 11 0h COX end of the county affects the habitat of pheasants and other fowl. In the past years in Morrow county there were 56 pheasants per acre, today there are only 3 per acre. Areas that have no soil conservation program are destroying the feeding ground of many of the county's feathered friends, as the precious top soil needed for their feed is being lost through soil erosion. Many streams, once plenti ful with fish, are now completely grown over, young man a trade that came in handy because wheat in those days was sacktd and sold or stored. "The Old Feller," as he referred to himself, was never without friends. His humor was more often than not directed at himself. On his 83rd birthday recently he chided some of the younger men at a picnic he attended for being soft, and offered to beat up one of them to prove his point! As long as he was physically able he remained an avid fisherman and hunter. Surviving relatives include a son, Calvin Cox, retired from the Air Force and living in Indiana; a daughter Rachel McNabb, Albuquerque, N.M.; a step-daughter, Lorna Bor man of Yakima; a step-son, Howard Patton, Alburn, Wa.; 15 grandchildren; 8 great grandchildren ;one brother, Dee Cox Jr., Heppner; four sisters, Elizabeth Johnson and Wilda Beer of Salem, Ore, Alice Wesserman of Baker and Esther Meerkatz of Boise, Idaho; a sister-in-law, Esther Cox of San Jose, Ca.; numer ous nieces and nephews. Interment was at Heppner Masonic Cemetery. S&R team attends seminar Nine members of the Mor row County Sheriff's Search & Rescue Posse went to Logan Valley to attend the Eastern Oregon Search & Rescue seminar held Sept. 7-8. Classes and demonstrations were held on search patterns, ground transportation of in jured, preparation of injured for air evacuation, helicopter safety and compass reading. Morrow County members, the largest group from any of the six counties represented, included Leonard Toll, Don Strober, Ken Nelson, Ed Yeoman, Ed Baker, Don Heliker, Don Isom, Benham Malcom and Jim Cutsforth. rendering the streams useless for fishing. Many acres of land, once a natural habitat for game, has been planted in wheat by farmers because of the in crease of the price of wheat. In other business to come before the Chamber, Presi dent Jim Bier told members of the necessity of finding a doctor for the Heppner area, as Heppner has been placed on the critical list for finding a doctor by the National Health Service Corps. Certificates are for sale in $5, $10 and $25 THE GAZ Vol. 91, No. 30 Rodeo princess tryouts Sept. 22 The rules for girls interested in trying out for Morrow County Rodeo Princess are the same as last year, only the dale has been changed. Rather than choose the girls for the court in the winter, princesses will be chosen Sept. 22. Princess candidates no longer have to have sponsors, and they may come from any part of Morrow County. "Any girl from anywhere in the county is eligible for the tryouts," says Jim Rogers, vice-president and publicity di rector for the Morrow County Rodeo, "and the more girls that show up the better." All the girls have to do isshow up at the Morrow County Fairgrounds on Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. They can use any horse or saddle for the tryouts, and should wear jeans and a hat. To be eligible a girl must be a resident of Morrow County, at least 16 years of age as of Jan. 1, 1975, and be at least a junior in high school. Breaflimobile here Sept. 24 The Oregon Lung Associa tion's Christmas Seal Breath mobile will give free breath ing tests Tuesday, Sept. 24, 1 to 4 p.m., and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Heppner. The Breathmobile will be located in front of Murray's Drug at 217 N. Main, providing lung function tests to anyone over 18 years of age. The quick, simple test involves filling out a questionnaire, then blowing into a measuring device. The results are com pared to those considered normal for a healthy non smoking Oregonian. The test is especially rec ommended for cigarette smokers, because cigarette smokers are the people most SCHOOL BOARD MEETS MONDAY There will be a regular meeting of the Morrow County School District board, Sept. 16, 8 p.m., at the district office in Lexington. The public is invited to attend all regular board meetings. of danger to denominations to raise funds to hire a professional recruiter for the expressed purpose of locating a doctor. "We are looking at a need for some real money if we seek the services of a profes sional recruiter," said Bier. About $3,000 is needed for professional help. Guest speaker for next Monday's Chamber of Com merce meeting will be Chuck Starr, head coach at Heppner High School. Many areas in the county that had never housed a likely to be damaging their lungs. Delpha Jones, Lexington, Oregon Lung Association board member, will assist with registrations of those being tested. According to a study of cigarette smokers who have visited the unit, nearly 30 per cent have chosen to quit smoking as a result of their experience. Over 40,000 Oregonians have been tested since the mobile educational unit began oper ation almost two years ago. COUNTY BUILDINGS GET A NEW PAINT JOB The Morrow County Court house and the road depart ment shops have just received a face-lifting consisting of a new paint job and roof coating, from basement win dows to the bell tower dome. Painters for the work in cluded Mike Hamman, Jody Cady and Harvey Edwards. The steeplejack was Claude Pettey Jr., son of the con tractor, Claude Pettey. trailer prior to last year are the favorite spot of tourists today. Many of these tourists will not use the litter cans provided for them and dump their garbage along the way side, polluting streams and rivers. In an effort to count the number of bull elk in the area and compared to the number of cows, wildlife figures show ed there are only 5 bull elk per 100 cows. 'There are not many big bulls left in the area," said Ward, "as 80 per cent of the bull elk are taken City, county and National Weather Service officials watch the testing of the automatic flash flood warning system Wednesday at the command post at Pioneer Memorial Hospital. Shown here following the dedication of the system are: Dick Wilkinson, Heppner Water Control District; County Judge Paul W. Jones; William E. Hanzen, Director, Region 8, De fense Civil Preparedness Agency; James Wakefield, meteorologist, Portland Weather Ser vice Forecast Office; Vail Schermerhorn, hydrologist, Portland River Forecast Center; Mayor Jerry Sweeney, Heppner; and David J. Bauman, flash flood hydrologist of the Port land Center. Heppner, Ore., Sept. 12, Two men rescued from mountains Oregon State Police, con ducting a routine check of the mountains by air, rescued two men hunting in the Thompson Flat area Saturday night. Rescued from the rugged mountain terrain were Earl Pettyjohn, lone, and Matt Murray, Heppner. The two men apparently lost their way, and in taking a short cut their pickup truck went over an embankment. The men were unable to get the truck up the slope, due mostly to the wet condition of the ground, and after trying for two hours they heard a plane in the area. The plane circled them four to five times and finally departed. A short time later they heard another plane and started a ' small signal fire to attract attention, and also used emergency lights on the truck. They were spotted by the Oregon State Police and their exact position was radioed to officers in other state vehicles. Unable to remove their pickup that night, State Police took the pair to Ukiah, where they spent the night. The next morning they were able to recover their pickup and return home. Oregon State Police, in conjunction with the Oregon Wildlife Commission, is using aircraft in this area in a combined effort to locate illegal hunters as well as trying to halt the theft of livestock. Officers flying the Ritter Creek, Hinton Creek, Rhea Creek, and Kelly Prairie area, observed three cases of spot lighting from the air. No arrests were made; the men were using cameras, trying to get photographs of wildlife at night. According to Officer Dal Falli, Pendleton, aircraft has been used in other areas, and residents may count on police wildlife the first two days of the season. Hunters are enjoying two days of a big blast and then it's all over." In comparison, the ratio of deer to does is 13 bucks per 100 does. "Last year the 7,000 hunters killed an estimated 1,800 bucks in this area, and it appears that there will be more hunters this year," said Ward, "and if this is the case I would like to see some areas closed to hunters in order to protect some of the deer and elk." - TIMES 1974 patrolling the Heppner area from the air. Aircraft has been used extensively in the Wal lowa Mountains to check on people packing in, and to determine their exact loca tion. The airplane has also been used to locate livestock vio lators, as many farmers are reporting the loss of from two to thirty head of livestock per year. Of the amount of livestock cases reported, 80 per cent of the cases have been cleared by the police. Two cited or liquor import Justices of the Peace Ernest E. Jorgensen of Irrigon and John W. Smallmon of Hermis ton have been charged with the illegal importation of liquor into Oregon from Neva da. Police arrested the two at Lakeview Friday when the 6-place Cherokee plane landed following a flight from Reno. The plane, piloted by Small mon, one of the owners, was seized along with four cases of liquor and a case of beer. Both men were at Lakeview for a state convention of justices of the peace. Judge Jorgensen told the Gazette-Times Monday that no date has been set for their appearance in court on the charge. Officers acted on a tip from Reno that the liquor was on board the plane. Jorgensen said he "had a pretty good idea" who the informers were in Reno, but declined to name them. Oregon law allows only a "There are very few grouse left in the county, although the number of waterfowl is on the increase." The increase of irrigated areas in the north end of the county should benefit the water fowl. Ward related current activ ities the Wildlife Commission: Seeding burned out logging areas to provide feed for deer and elk; erecting fences to keep cattle confined to certain areas, leaving the remainder for wildlife; transplanting elk to old logging areas, as well as 1 5c With more hunters in the area and the possibility of road closures in certain areas, the airplane will play an important part in locating game violators during the coming deer and elk season. Recently a man was spotted from the air loading a steer onto the bed of a pickup. His position was radioed to a state vehicle on the ground and in a short time the "rustler" was apprehended. The culprit turned out to be the owner of the steer, who was taking the animal to the veterinarian. small amount of liquor to be brought in from out of state because it loses a high liquor tax imposed by Oregon. Jorgensen said the importa tion of liquor from out of state is such a common practice that it never occurred to him that doing so was "such a big deal." Band parents meet Monday The Heppner Music Parents Club will hold its first meeting of the year Monday night, Sept. 16, 8 o'clock, at the school band room. The club, formerly involv ing parents of band members only, has been enlarged to include all parents of children involved in music, instru mental or vocal. There will be an election of officers, discussion of fund-raising projects for the year, and how to meet the critical need for instruments. various forms of game; im porting Big Horn sheep from Canada; tagging elk calves to learn more of their nature and habits. In some cases beavers have built dams that hindered fishing, so the beavers were also transplanted to other areas. "With the opening of deer season, Oct. 5, and the opening of elk season, Oct. 26, the hunting season looks favor able; however, the number of illegal hunters is also on the increase," concluded Ward.
