Spike strips stop wrong-way driver
U nits from the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
O ffice, Boardm an Police
Department, Umatilla Police
Department, Stanfield Police
D epartm ent and O regon
State P olice re sp o n d ed
reg ard in g a w rong-w ay
d riv e r w ho was d riv in g
eastbound in the westbound
lanes of Interstate 84 down
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
Univ ersity o f Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
VOL. 125
NO. 1
8 Pages
Wednesday, January 4,2006
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
the middle of both lanes at
speeds between 70 and 85
m iles
per
hour
at
approxim ately 8:58 p.m.,
Dec. 29.
John Blackwell, 59,
of Deer Park, Washington,
rep o rted ly got on the
freeway going the wrong
way at B oardm an. An
Oregon State Trooper was
able to get in position ahead
of the suspect and place a
spike strip that successfully
flattened one of the tires on
the vehicle. The suspect
pulled to a stop at milepost
184 where he was taken into
custody without incident. He
was lodged at U m atilla
County jail for Attempting to
E lude a P olice O fficer.
R eck less D riving and
4-H Rocket Club plans launch
Driving under the Influence
The 4-H Rocket Club will meet Thursday, Jan. 5, o f Intoxicants.
at 6:30 p.m. at lone High School. Items on the agenda
include a safety quiz, campaign speeches and elections, Public invited to
appointment of a fund raising chairperson, a Team America ICABO monthly
R ocketry C hallenge report from Thom as H olland,
discussion of the next launch and a demonstration of the meeting
RockSim, a rocket design and simulation program that the
TARC team will be using to construct their competition
ICA BO w ill hold
design. A work session is also planned. After the regular their monthly meeting on
meeting, the TARC team will have a short organizational Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 6:30
p.m. at Taylor's Restaurant
meeting.
Members of the club need donations of items such in lone. Area businesses will
as materials for rocket construction, glue, tools, fabric and update the public on
sewing expertise for parachutes, tables and portable fencing. upcoming projects they will
For more information please call Pat Struthers.
be working on during the
year.
Farmers Insurance to sponsor
Taylor's Restaurant
will
serve
a no-host lasagna
‘Student of the Month'
dinner, including green salad,
Brenda Sherrell and Farmers Insurance Group will
garlic bread and dessert.
im plem ent “ Student o f the M onth” recognition for
Everyone is invited
outstanding students attending Heppner High School. The
to attend.
student will be someone that the school and community
can be proud of, says Sherrell.
Holly Rebekahs to
The student will be selected for his academic
host card party
performance, but the selection will not be based solely on
grades, but also on individual ability, athletics and Holly Rebekah Lodge in
Lexington will hold their
community service.
Students will receive a gift certificate for lunch at a regular card party Saturday,
Heppner business and a plaque. Each student of the month January 7, at 7 p.m. Cost to
will be featured in the Gazette-Times with an article and play is $5. Prizes will be
awarded and snacks will be
picture. Heppner TV will also feature the student.
served.
Former Rhea Creek rancher Mary West at home in Nevada
Mary West. This picture taken by her oldest daughter Katy.
By Peg Willis
Mary West, former
Morrow County resident, is
a fifth generation rancher.
Although she spent many of
her growing up years on a
ranch in the Puget Sound
area, her roots are deep in
Umatilla/M orrow County.
Her early years were spent
on the family ranch near
Vinson.
W est's father, Pete
French, owned one of the
best ran ch es in O regon
located in U m atilla and
Morrow counties. Beginning
as a sheep ranch at the time
o f W est’s Irish great
grandmother, Susan Mary
Doherty, it was a “complete”
ranch that didn't require any
trucking of the livestock.
They could be trailed from
the w in te r p astu re near
Butter Creek to the summer
pasture in Ukiah.
W est rem em bers
“the coffee boiling, roast
beef, bread and butter and
red beans on the table, a
kitchen full o f cow boys
getting their All and KUMA
Coffee Hour on the radio.
That kitchen was so full of
w arm th
and
bright
characters.”
But ranching is not
ju st fond m em ories or a
sepse of family pride. It’s
hard work. West's father-in-
law, Jim West, who, along
with his wife, Carleen, has
owned a ranch in Morrow
County many years, puts it
this way. “Sheep, cattle and
h orses d o m in ate
our
w orking days. H aying,
paperwork, and daily duties
take a lot of effort but are all
p o in ted to carin g for
livestock. They eat, drink
and need protection every
day. We accep t that
challenge daily. Actually,
they own us.”
Although she grew
up in ranching. West didn't
realize until her late teen
years that it was to become
her future. She learned that
she truly values working
together as a family, the
freedom and iso la tio n ,
seeing nature at its best -
things that are a common
part of the ranching lifestyle.
Ranching became her focus.
After returning from
Puget Sound in the late
1980's Mary served on the
Pendleton Round-up Court
in 1989. It was a defining
experience for her.
“I remember our chaperone,
Bob Miller, saying, “I don’t
want you to look back on
this experience 20 years
from now and say, ‘I sure
wish I would have . . . ’ or
‘why didn't I just try .. . ’That
statement has made a huge
impact on my life. Being on
the Round-Up Court really
brought me out of my shell
and threw me into life.”
Janet Miller would
agree. She says West “was
very shy to start with - not
much of a public speaker.
But by the end of her year
on the court, she was right
up there with the best of
them.”
“I am living the way
my fam ily did several
generations ago. How cool
is that?” she asks.
W est
and
her
husband. Clay, ranched for
several years on Rhea Creek
near H eppner. They ran
cattle and sheep on leased
property and raised horses at
the ranch. “Our ‘claim to
fame' came from a horse
called Drifts Chip that we
sold to the fam ous Four
Sixes Ranch in Texas. He is
standing at stud there still.”
One of the tragedies
that can accom pany the
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
The old photo was taken in early 1900 at the Butter Creek/Vinson ranch, and shows, left to
right. Jack French (Mary’s grandfather). Dillard French, Jesse French, Agnes French, Susan
French and Herbert French.
“freedom and isolation” of
ranching life hit hard in the
spring of 1995 when the
W est's house, and all its
c o n ten ts burned to the
ground. Katy, th eir first
child, was less than a year old
at the time.
How does a person
handle something like that?
You pick up the pieces and
move on. “The first night as
we prepared to go stay with
C la y ’s p aren ts, I was
thinking about what I would
need to take - pajam as,
to o th b ru sh , c lo th e s for
tom orrow , K a ty ’s baby
things. Then I remembered
that I d id n 't have any of
those things.” Friends from
nearby Heppner and lone
were more than generous,
b rin g in g
the
fam ily
“everything we could need.”
But West still mourns the
loss of her beloved little dog
and the few family heirlooms
she had.
Such a devastating
fire would be enough to
cause many people to give
up and move into town. But
the Wests chose to stay on
the ranch and rebuild. Soon
Katy was joined by sister,
Betsy, and then brother,
James. But something was
still missing. Mary and Clay
kept com ing back to the
dream of owning a ranch of
their own. It's not a decision
to be made hastily. From the
tim e they m ade the
co m m itm ent and began
looking for the right place till
they actually loaded up their
belongings and drove to their
new ranch in Nevada in June
of 2004, five years passed.
The Nevada ranch is
1 (X) miles from the nearest
town. Elko - a tw o-hour
drive, one hour of which is
on a dirt/gravel road. Bob
Miller says the Wests livtj“so
far from her nearest
neighbor, they have to have
th eir own tom c a t.” No
running into town for a quick
trip to McDonalds.
Did the Wests have
any fears or doubts about
setting out to find a new life
in far aw ay N evada?
Absolutely. “Not only the
financial investment,” says
Mary, "but leaving family
and friends. And the fear of
failure. That is really scary.
“ I guess mine is a
lifestyle choice; it doesn't
have to do with m aking
millions. Ranching is a tough
business. It is not a steady
p ay ch eck . U nexpected
quirks in the market, price of
feed,
w eath er
and
unexpected complications
are alw ays affecting the
budget.”
The West's ranch in
Nevada can run 600 head of
continued pcige 2
M C G G G R E E N F E E D S T O R E in Heppner
PURI NA. W in d a n d R a in
A ll - S e a s o n C o m p l e t e (M in e ra l
Buy IB bays, yet I FREE!
~
Morrow County Grain Growers ~
Lexington 989-8221 * 1-800-452-7396
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