2 g SUNDAY. AUGUST 25. 1968 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEPFOHD. OREGON . .
Diamond Lake Resort Continues To Be Popular Vacation Retreat
ideas become reality. Now it
By JOE COWLEY I Thielsen, 85 miles from Med-1 how they used to ratlle over a
this vacation land is today
resting, reminiscing and re
tired. George Howard, 331
Crater Lake ave., Med ford,
recalls the year 1922 when he
and his wife began the hard
work of planning and con
structing the first building,
the lodge, mainly of logs.
Was Crudt Affair
ing experience, but she i to get away from people and , never carried out. The How
wouldn't do it again, Mrs. kept to themselves. ards feel it would be too dif-
Present general manager
Mail Tribune Siaff Writer ford, continues to be an ever rutted road to the popular
Diamond lake resort, nestl- popular vacation spot. fishing spot in a Model T
John Koch, Myrtle Point.
In 1927 the resort had 11
feet of snow on the summit.
Howard said he used skis to
get into the resort in April
and back out again.
When the Howards retired
in 1948 they had seen their
has a number of modern cab
ins, ultra-modern lodge and a
fleet of boats for fishing.
The resort has consistently
been a money-maker. The only
time a dividend was not paid
was in 1932, at the height of
the depression.
Howard said. jn njs carly report to stock-1 ficult to keep the ice swept of
ed between two snow capped Many long-time residents of Ford.
Othtn Visit Reiort holders. Howard mentioned snow
mountains, Ml. Bailey and Mt. the Rogue valley like to tell I The first man to pioneer
Other movie peoDle who possibilities of winter sports at Since the resort is snowed
visited the resort were Fred
MacMurry and Ann Soth
ern. The film actors and ac
tresses liked to visit the resort
the resort. He included possi
in every winter, the former
resort operators feel it would
be too difficult to keep it open
bility of "ski slides and to
boggan courses and ire-skating."
But these ideas were
for winter recreationists.
It was a crude affair com.
pared to today's structure
Moss was chinked between
the logs to keep out the cold
DIAMOND LAKE LODGE-Mrs. George L. Howard, wife of the original general manager,
Is shown striding down a path from the lodge at Diamond lake. This is how the lodge
looked In Its early days. The resort was founded by the Howards in 1922 and run by a
stock company.
Officers Installed
In Voiture Chapter
The Jackson County Vol
ture 165, 40 et 8 recently con
ducted installation of officers
for the coming year at n gar
den party at the home of Col,
H. J. Meiring.
Voyageurs installed were
Clark J. Walker. Chef de
Gare; Roland Smith, Chef de
Train; Bruce Harper, Con
ducteur; Bert Staats, Corres
pondent and Commissaire In
tendant; Fred Luy, Garde dc
la Porte; Granville Brittsan,
Commis Voyagcur; Ralph Et
tell, Lampsitc; and Richard
Smith, Aumonier. ,
Installed on the executive
committee (Chominots) were
Meiring, Hugh McKenzie,
Don Wilson and J. E. Rus
ell. At the Grand Promenade at
Pendleton, Russell was in
stalled as Grand Conducteur
Du Oregon and Eugene Orr
was installed Grand Chcminot
for district 11, which com
prises both Jackson and Jose
phine counties.
The Promenade National
will be held in Cleveland,
Ohio, Oct. 9 through 12.
Oregon State Fair
To Open Friday
Salem -(UPH- Entertainment
exhibits, racing and displays
will come to life Friday (Aug
30) when the Oregon State
Fair begins its 9Rlh session
according to fair manager
Howard Maple.
More than 300,000 persons
are expected to visit the fair
during its nine-day run, he
said.
There will be agricultural
exhibits, arts and crafts and
hobby displays, commercial
booths, carnival events and a
myriad of other activities.
Johnny Rivers and his div
ing mule will give four free
shows daily. Aug. 30 and
Sept. 5 will be observed as
children's days. Stan Krcnv
len's circus will give two free
performances daily.
Dean Mclvin Gcist's talent
show, including 175 Oregon
people in some 30 acts, will
be staged daily, except Sun
day and Monday, from 2 to
4 p. m.
There will be organ con
certs and band concerts.
In the revue to be held in
Jim-Fair-Also
the armory auditorium,
mie Rodgers and the
mounts will be starred.
on the program will be the
Syltc Sisters, Lucho Navarro,
the A r w o o d 's dog act and
Danny Wcllon, master of cere
monies.
Christcnscn Brothers Rodeo
will stage a combined rodeo
horse show each evening from
opening day through Sept. 5.
On Sept. 8 the 4-H horse show
takes over.
A special day for those over
80 will be observed Sept. 3,
with free admission to the
grounds and prizes to be
awarded.
Subscribers
To report improper nr non
delivery of thj Mail Tribune tn
Meriford. phone 772-S141; Ash
land call at 416 Bridge si. or
nhone 482-3002; Yrcka, phone
victory 2-2fl!)R before fl;45 p.m.
dally and 10;30 a m. Sundav.
If regular delivery arrives
shortly afler you call plrase
notify office, thus eliminat.ng
special messenger service.
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We've even got our
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Sportsters on sale!
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225 So. Riverside
Phone 772-6157
but even then it was drafty.
About the same time five tent
houses were erected. These
were of all lumber floors and
sides with tent tops. A natural
spring supplied water. Gas
lamps provided light.
In late 1929 a Kohler power
plant was installed and served
the resort until 1980. Then
what was California Oregon
Power company extended
power lines to the area.
Each new resort addition
meant clearing more land.
Each year until 1948 many
new ideas were incorporated
in the resort. A crew cleared
the original forest service
lease of five acres and later
expanded the area to 10 acres.
The area was nothing but
trees and brush when the
Howards conceived their re
sort idea.
Two assets required to make
a resort profitable are natural
resources and people. The
most prominent of these is
Diamond lake.
In an early report to the
shareholders of the Diamond
Lake Improvement company,
which he formed, former gen
eral manager Howard wrote:
Beautiful Water
Diamond lake is a beauti
ful body of water located 13
miles north of Crater lake
with a wonderful highway
connecting. The lake is ap
proximately five miles long
by two miles wide. Our resort
is noted for its scenic beauty
and outstanding fishing attrac
tions. There are no severe
storms on the lake. It is
stocked with large rainbow
trout. Oregon maintains a fish
hatchery and egg taking sta
tion at the lake. This is known
as the largest rainbow egg
taking station in the world.
They have taken as many as
IS million eggs in one season.
They hatch and plant back
into the lake from one to two
million trout every year."
Three highways leading
into the resort also help, one
coming off The Dalles-California
highway from the east,
one connecting Crater Lake
National park, and a third
taking off the Crater Lake
highway at Union creek.
People also make a resort j
pay. Thousands of them have
visited the resort, rented fish-1
ing boats, motors and the 1
horses kept there for the sum- j
mer. )
Former President
The people included former
President Herbert Hoover,
and former Secretary of the
Interior Harold Ickes. Hoover
fished all summer and was
easy to get along with, ac
cording to the Howards. They
don't remember much about
Ickes, except that he enjoyed
fishing.
One of the favorite guests
was George Burns, well
known movie comedian. He
was a good fisherman and
liked to visit with the How
ards. The Howards' son, Bill, or
B. G-, acted as fishing guide.
Burns was amazed at the size
of the 16-year-old boy. He
weighed about 225 pounds.
When Burns asked him why
he was so large, B. G. replied,
"You see, my mom always
wanted 17 kids. She only got
one. So, I guess, they put all
17 kids in one hide."
Another resort favorite was
Andy Devino who spent sev
eral summer vacations at the
resort with his family. He
liked to visit with the resort
operators, too, but would al
ways sneak out when a large
crowd gathered.
Resort Reserved
In 194B, the resort was re
served for a cast ot 150 plus
300 extras who filmed the
o v i e, "Canyon Passage."
Just before the movie com
pany arrived afler thai Labor
Day, Andy Devine commented
to the Howards, "You won't
like it. We actors are a lot
different on location than we
are on vacation."
"I often thought of Andy's
remark while those people
were here," Mrs. Howard said.
"Those actors and actresses
were high strung due to their
work. They partied a lot and
lore the place apart. We had
to make a lot of repairs later."
Devine, who was as easy
going "off stage" as he was
in his characterization as an
easy going weslcrner, was
amused as Mrs. Howard did
her best In please one of the
more difficult and snobbish
actresses. It was an interest
CHECK BURGLARY
State police Saturday were
checking on a burglary of a
cabin on the Red Blanket rd.
near Prospect. Lloyd Carl
Hammer, 521 Beatty St., Med
ford, reported Saturday a
hasp had been pried off the
back door hut nothing was
found missing.
TODAY
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