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.