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Sherman County - Published Names

 Submitted by Sherry Kaseberg, Sherman County Historical Museum

The Observer, Moro, Sherman County, OR
April 11, 1902

Circuit Court:

----Question about whether the county should support a high school to be voted at the next general election;

----Apportionment of money to road districts.

The Observer, Moro, Sherman County, OR

June 13, 1902

List of leading Sherman County taxpayers, $100 or over,

With the top-paying ten first:

Columbia Southern Railway

Eastern Oregon Land Company

Oregon Rail and Navigation Company

Moore Bros.

J.H. Shearer [Sherar]

Moore & Karlin

Moro Mercantile Company

E.O. McCoy

R.J. Ginn

A. Scott

Mrs. Minnie Buckley

Oregon Trading Company

H.P. Isaacs Milling Company

C.A. Buckley

Scott & Heath Company

Wasco Warehouse & Milling Company

W.M. Reynolds

R.H. Guthrie

B.F. Medler

E.A.E. Webber

S.S. Hayes

Henry Richelderfer

C.E. Jones

J.H. Smith

Moore, Ginn & Company

A.B. Potter

W.H. Peugh

Union Lumber Company

Barnum Bros.

W.H. Biggs

Moore Bros. & Ginn

W.S. Barzee

F.A. Sayers [Sayrs]

Hay Canyon Co---? Company

P.J. Walsh

J.W. Booth

Mrs. J. McPherson

Higinbotham & Company

J.E. Forbis

J.F. Belshee

E. Peoples

Elwood Thompson

H.E. Smith

F.H. Meader

F.W. Matthias

E.A. Medler

J.H. Smith & Company

J.A. Smith

Scott Bros.

Alf Dillinger

D. Chisholm

J.O. Elrod

Mrs. Priscilla Fulton

G.P. Higinbotham

Mackin Bros.

Mrs. L. Marcellus

D.S.? Young

J.M. Powell

C.W. Curl

J.V. O’Leary

Craft Bros.

John Simpson.

Sherman County Election Results June 13, 1902.

T.R. McGinnis, Sheriff, Ind.

H.S. McDanel, Clerk

A.M. Wright, Commissioner, Prohibition, 4 years

Fred Krusow, Commissioner, 2 years

R.L. Campbell, Assessor, Democrat

Capt. W. Stanley, Treasurer

C.H. Skinner, Surveyor, Prohibition

Dr. Ray W. Logan, Coroner.

Rufus:

Justice C.C. Deyo

Constable Frank Thompson

Road Supervisor A.M. Lindsay, Rufus.

Wasco and Bigelow:

Justice Josiah Marsh

Constable J.M. Hoag

Road Supervisor Henry Root, Wasco

Road Supervisor J.A. Clark, Bigelow.

Moro and Monkland:

Justice G.W. Brock

Constable William Hoggard

Road Supervisor Carl Peetz, Moro

Road Supervisor P.W. McDonald, Monkland.

Grass Valley, Kent & Rutledge:

Justice W.I. Westerfield

Constable J.S. Mitchell.

Road Supervisor Lewis Olds, Grass Valley

Road Supervisor Granville Phillips, Kent

Road Supervisor E.T. Vanlandingham, Rutledge.

County High School Vote:

473 No – 315 Yes.

The Observer, Moro, Sherman County, OR

Names in the Kent Column ONLY. Kent names may also be sprinkled in the City-County columns.

January:

Guy Walton married during the holidays.

Charley Guyton married during the holidays.

Mrs. Schadewitz

Mrs. Trotter

Mrs. Spoonemore

Dave Spoonemore

Johnnie Schrieves

Mr. and Mrs. O. Eakin

C. Ragsdale

Miss Miller

Mr. Garfield

Omer Munden

Mrs. Guyton, lately, Miss Moore, teaching at Blue School.

Mrs. F.C. Ireland

Mrs. Moon

Mrs. Houghton

Myrtle Munden

J.O. Elrod

Eli Cochrane

John Clark

Mr. Loveall

Mr. Schaeffer

Vic Sampson

Mrs. Rudolph

Mrs. Stewart & brother Mr. Smith

Mr. Wakerlig

February:

In addition to names mentioned above:

Lenard Edgar died

Rev. Lanphear

Rev. Craig

R.A. Moon

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bennett

William Rudolff [sic]

March:

Mrs. Abraham Loveall

Henry Gilchrist

Mr. Dennis & sister Mrs. Hampton

John Loveall

Mr. Hanson, daughter & two sons

William McCulloch and sister

April:

F. L. Bennett

John McCullock

W.H. Bennett

Edmund Hannafin

Bert Edgar

May:

Mr. and Mrs. F.C. Ireland and baby

Mrs. Lamborn

Fred Schilling

C.P. Ragsdale

Frank Trotter

William Stewart, blacksmith

George Sink

The Walton Boys

Mrs. O’Sullivan

Mrs. Reese

Harvey Martin

June:

Mr. and Mrs. Johnnie Schrieves and baby boy

Mr. and Mrs. Cochran

Mrs. Schrieves and sister Mrs. Trotter

Mrs. Hampton and brother

Mr. Hoskinson and family

Frank Lamborn

Casper Grassli

Mr. Waltham

Spoonemore Bros.

Mr. Zimkey

Mr. and Mrs. Mason

Herman Steidel [sic]

Mr. Hart

Ralph Moon

Clark Eakin and son

J.W. Leonard

William McGillis

Mrs. W. O’Sullivan

W.A. Kentner

Ben Peetz

Mr. Montgomery

C.P. Ragsdale

Mr. Sanders and family and his mother.

B.M. Brown

Bob Fleming

Granville Phillips

July:

R. N. Montgomery

Miss Wheeling, teacher

B.F. Peetz

Mazoo [sic] Barnett

Jack Andrews

Kentner and Davis

Abe Dougherty.

August:

Jack Harvey

Francis C. Ireland, wife and baby Norman

Kangaroo Singing Club under direction of

Abel Dougherty

A.K. and W.S. Hall

Montgomery and Peetz

C.L. Ireland

Horace Strong

Mrs. McGillis

Mrs. Abbie Ireland

J.H. Bottemiller

Harry St. Clair

F.B. Merchant

Henry Schadewitz

Miss Lizzie Dalgren

Ed Smith

John Reckman.

September:

John Barnett

William Stewart

Miss Ellen Shafer

O.E. Davis and sons

Chris Koepke

George P. Sink.

October:

W.A. Kentner

W.G. Ireland, bro. of Mrs. J.W. Leonard

C.E. Spears, section boss.

Mr. Bartlett.

Nothing in November.

December:

E.C. Goodwin visiting in Kent

The Strong Orchestra

Kent Commercial Company

Mr. and Mrs. Crane

Mr. Graham

Frank Edgar

Mrs. C.O. Merchant.

The Observer, July 5, 1902

Sherman County Horse Fair, Wasco, OR

Categories and first two placings:

Thoroughbred Stallion 2 years +:

H.E. Hines

Allen & Campbell.

Standardbred Stallion 2+:

George N. Crosfield.

Broodmare 4 years +, with suckling colt:

G.A. Brock

G.N. Crosfield

Dr. H. E. Beers

Road gelding or mare 4 years+ single in harness:

Dr. H.E. Beers

J.A. Walters

Carl Peetz

Carriage team driven by owner to wagon:

G.W. Hilderbrand

J.A. Walters

Farm Team:

John McDermid

Henry Medler

Saddle horse ridden by a gentleman:

Jess Eaton

Ray Rich

Saddle horse ridden by a lady:

Miss Maud Booth

Miss Fowler.

Percheron Stallion 4 years +:

J.W. Booth

W.M. King.

Percheron Brood Mare with colt 4 years +:

Fred Blau

William King.

Clydesdale Stallion 4+:

Fred Blau.

Clydesdale Gelding or Filly 1 year:

John Allen

John Allen.

Clydesdale Brood Mare 4+ with colt:

John McDermid

J.W. Booth

English Shire Stallion 4+:

Mercer & Clark

J.W. Booth.

English Shire Brood Mare 4+ with colt:

Clark Dunlap.

Draft Stallion Sweepstakes: Fred Blau and A. Coon.

Special Award by Fred Blau:

Colt Sired by his Stallion: John McDermid and Clark Dunlap.

Colt Sired by Allen & Campbell’s Stallion:

R. Dingle

F. Hulery.

French Belgian Stallion 4+:

A. Coon.

Race with purse of $300:

Fred Blau 1st

J.J. Miller 2nd, only two entries.

Saddle Horse Race:

Art Barzee

Steve McMillin.

Colt 1 year Sired by G. N. Crosfield Stud:

G.W. Brock.

Suckling Colt Sired by G. N. Crosfield Stud:

Dr. H.E. Beers.

The Observer, Sherman County, OR

July 11, 1902

Kent Fourth of July – a big crowd…the program included Granville Phillips, orator. Luther Merchant won a race, J.H. Bottemiller came in second. In another race O.E. Davis was first, and B.F. Peetz and R. W. Montgomery were in a race.

The score was Moro 35 and Wasco 29 when these baseball teams met:

Manager Dunahoo’s Team:

W.H. Moore, banker

Ladru Barnum, clerk

W.B. McCoy, merchant

Dr. O.J. Goffin, physician

J.M. Dunahoo, merchant

A.S. Johnson, farmer

L.D. Idleman, dentist

W.A. Wallis, merchant

William Hoggard, liveryman

C.E. Elder, preacher

A.E. Cousens, barner

W.C. Smith, preacher.

AND

A.B. Wolfard, merchant

George W. Brock, merchant

T.R. McGinnis, sheriff

Taylor Bergin, farmer

William Henrichs, roadmaster

S.S. Hayes, wheat buck

W.E. Getzs, flour miller

W.S. Powell, farmer

W.L. Ragsdale, county school sup’t.

C.L. Ireland, publisher

Charles N. McCaleb, dep. Sheriff

The Observer, Moro, Sherman County, OR

November 1902

W.A. Kentner petitioned for a liquor license in November 1902. Petitioners included:

J.A. Spoonemore

F. Merchant

R.W. Montgomery

W.A. McGillis

W.H. Rough

A.M. Orcut [sic]

E. Loveall

Thomas Macken

H. St. Clair

Gus Schilling

S.P. Sanders

M…. Heydorn

Fritz Kerzig

A.J. Bibby

John Koguier

M.W. Hendershott

G.F. Shrieve

M. O’Sullivan

William O’Sullivan

C.O. Merchant

G.M. Spoonemore

D.H. Spoonemore

F.B. Shrieve

S.L. Howell

C.E. Sanders

J. Schassen

John Reckman

John Patjens

Andrew Patjens

R.A. Moon

C. von Borstel

W.A. Kentner

O.J. Orcutt

F.G. Klum

J.M. King

W.H. McCulloch

J.B. Rogers

C.C. Kelsay

G.W. Spoonemore

O. Hill

W.J. Blakeley

M.R. Hart

W.H. Helyer

William Kohler

C.E. Dart

Hans Koepke

Zach Porter

W.F. Trotter

J.H. Barnett

H.H. Richardson

T.N. Bell

Chris Kopke

Fred Rubberg [Rhuberg]

Sherman County Newspaper Clippings, submitted by Sherry Kaseberg, Sherman County Historical Museum

Undated clippings from Sherman County Journal, Moro, OR.

The Powell Family

Marion Powell, father of the Powell family of Sherman County, brought his family here in 1885 from Prineville after having lived there since 1869 and after having aided in the defeat of the vigilantes that terrorized that part of the state in early days.

The family had a distinct pioneer background as Marion Powell came across the plains in 1857 from Missouri and his wife made the trip in 1853 coming from Iowa. They were married in Linn County and moved to the Prineville country in another pioneer venture and later came to this land [Sherman County] when it still was pretty much in the rough.

He settled a few miles west of Moro on a pre-emption claim he purchased and later bought other land to increase his holdings. His sons, William S. Powell, long a leader in farm activities including the Farmer’s Union, the Grange, the Wheat League and the Co-operatives; Charles and Roy, now on the relief committee, have increased their holdings in the Moro and Erskineville neighborhoods and all are prosperous farmers or are retired to live in town. Living daughters are Mrs. E.H. Moore of Moro and Mrs. Mary Southwick of Portland.

During the 52 years the family has lived in Sherman County its members have been active in the business and social life of the county having helped the organization of banks, elevators and other ventures.

The Ruggles Family

In August of 1882 a party left Butte County, California prepared to travel north to newer lands and newer opportunities. The party was made up of E.S. Ruggles and his wife, Joseph Rutledge and wife, Phil Ruggles and wife, Henry Ruggles and four Rutledge children who were grown.

The first winter in what is now Sherman County they lived in the Barnum house at present occupied by W.J. Martin Jr. where the party was increased by one when a son, who was called Oscar, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Phil Ruggles.

The following spring both families took up land in the community that came to be called Rutledge for one of them. Mr. and Mrs. E.S. Ruggles returned to California after three years in the new country, but the younger people remained.

After many years on the farm near Rutledge the Ruggles family moved to the John Day River where they had a stock ranch and it was while living there that Phil Ruggles died in 1909. Mrs. Lucy Ruggles, his wife, had taught school before her marriage and not being content to retire with her children she attended normal school and obtained a teacher’s certificate in Oregon. She taught school for twelve years, nearly all of which was in Sherman County.

Six children were born on the Rutledge farm. They were Lois, now Mrs. Will Olds of Yuba City, Cal.; Sarah, now Mrs. Rasmussen, of Pendleton; Star, of Aumsville; Walter, of Moro; Eva, now Mrs. Jess Landry of Moro; and Lu, now Mrs. Brown who is a fruit packer in California. Now there are fourteen grandchildren and five great grandchildren of the Phil Ruggles family.

Henry Ruggles, who also came here with the party, lived in Sherman County since that time except two years in the mines in Alaska and a year at Grants Pass. He is now watermaster at Moro and Mrs. Lucy Ruggles keeps house for him.

The Barnum Family

Henry Barnum, who came from New England, was among the first settlers in what is now Sherman County. He filed on the land that is now the site of Moro in 1869 and built the ditch fences that may still be seen in parts of town. He has been in Wasco County since 1857 and in Oregon since the forties. He was the founder of the Barnum family that has been well known here since pioneer days.

He had horses and cattle being one of the first stockmen who took up land and located permanently. He built a home and brought his wife, Elmira Masiker, from the old Price place to share it with him.

His sons, Elvin, Ladru and Art, are still residents of this section of the state, as is his daughter, Mrs. L.L. Peetz. All have been identified with the development of the county that has taken place since the first settlement. For years they owned and operated stock ranches in Grass Valley canyon and they still own them. Ladru entered the banking business early in the century, later moved to The Dalles and is living there at present. Art was the first breeder of purebred Herefords in the county and for a number of years showed his stock over the west at fairs and stock shows. Ladru was councilman and mayor of Moro during his residence here and was head of the Liberty loan campaigns during the world war. Art was president of the fair board for twenty-five years, retiring but a year or so ago.

The Olds Family

The history of the Olds family in Sherman County starts when Emmitt Olds, with his wife and family, came from North Yamhill to buy land northeast of Grass Valley in 1883. For a time he was postmaster of Grass Valley before the town was definitely established a mile or more above his place. He first engaged in the sheep business but later raised wheat and for years with his many sons operated a threshing machine that traveled over the county each fall.

Mrs. Olds was Elizabeth Messinger, who had come to Yamhill from Iowa. Emmitt Olds, born in 1846, in Oregon, died at Grass Valley in 1913 and his wife still survives. She is now living at Tygh Valley.

During his life time Mr. Olds was many times school director of the Grass Valley district, was constable and stock inspector. He engaged in business after retiring from the farm and moving to town.

Of the ten Olds children, a large percentage of them have remained in Sherman County or near it, where they are engaged in farming or business. Lewis, the eldest, farms south of Grass Valley, although at present incapacitated thru an accident; Charles is in California this winter; Will lives in that state; Frank is at Milton; Dell, Dean and Earl are at Grass Valley; two daughters, Mrs. Myrtle Brittain and Mrs. George Brown are near Tygh Valley, and Mrs. Iva Nahouse lives in Moro.

Sherman County Journal, Moro, Oregon

Articles by J. A. Price

Submitted by Sherry Kaseberg, Sherman County Historical Museum

27 April 1934

Stockmen First Settlers on Sherman County Wheat Land

by J. A. Price. Chapter I

In the early days one of the best stock countries in the west was between the Deschutes and the John Day rivers, now known as Sherman County. From the late seventies until about 1886, when this county was being changed from a good stock country to a splendid farming country, there was thousands of horses and cattle ranging there.

I have been asked to tell what became of this stock, and something of the men that owned them. When the first settlers took up land the stock men thought it a joke, and said these fellows would soon starve out. But good grain was produced, and it became certain that the stock must give way to the plow.

Land and Ryan, the Seawright brothers, and other eastern buyers bought several thousand head of cattle and drove them to Cheyenne. From there some were shipped east to market, and some were taken to ranges north and south of there. C.I. and W.R. Helm also took a band of cattle to Cheyenne.

The hard winter of ’81 and ’82 killed thousands of cattle in eastern Oregon. After this winter Orv Donnell bought the remnants of several bands and later sold a thousand head to Lang and Ryan, who drove them east. The eastern buyers bought cattle from such men as the Fultons, Finnegans, Donnell, Barnum, Engleman, Booten, Price, Gibson, Eaton and many others. Some of these men took up land and became successful farmers.

There were others who wished to stay in the stock business. These men found ranges elsewhere, and rounded up their herds and drove them to new locations. Much of this stock was taken to the Big Bend country in northern Washington. Some was moved to southern Oregon, and some to Montana, Idaho and different places.

The largest band of cattle that was taken to the Big Bend was owned by James Pearson and his three boys, Bill, Jim and Tom. There was more than 1,000 head in this drove. Henry Willerton and old Jimmie Burden, each had a few head in this herd.

They were taken by way of the mouth of the Snake river, White Bluffs, Moses lake, and on to Foster creek, which runs into the Columbia, about the mouth of the Okanogan. The next hard winter, which I think was 1889, just about put them out of the cattle business.

I was at the Pearson ranch the next summer and Jim told me that they went into the winter with 1,200 head and next spring they gathered 99 head, and they were the ones that had drifted down in the Moses Lake country.

The Fultons took both horses and cattle to the Big Bend and settled on Badger mountain, north of Moses coulee. The hard winter killed most of the cattle, and some of the horses. They moved what was left to White Bluffs. Jake Minton took 200 head of cattle to Badger mountain.

The next spring he told me he had seven head left. And as he filled his pipe he said to me in a confidential way: “Jay, I feel worse about my neighbors than I do about myself. You see if they had plenty of cattle I would soon be all right.”

Jake certainly had a run of hard luck. In about 1875 he took a band of cattle to the Ochoco country, and a cow killer cleaned him out. In about 1879 J.B. Dickerson moved 500 head of cattle east of the Deschutes and Minton took charge of them. He also had some of his own. The hard winter killed most of them. After his experience in the Big Bend he got hold of some land and sold it and cleaned up several thousand dollars. He moved to Portland and died there several years ago.

In the late seventies, Louis Davenport moved a band of cattle east of the Deschutes and the winter of ’81 and ’82 took most of them. He sold the rest to Orv Donnell. Tim Baldwin and Al Bettingen had cattle at the mouth of Hay Canyon. What the winter did not kill they sold to Orv. Donnell finally took some cattle to the Big Bend and was cleaned out by the hard winter of ’89.

I have accounted for most of the cattle that were on the range at that time. I will now tell you about the horses.

Colonel James Fulton and Thomas Gordon owned the first two bands of horses on this range. They had some horses there in 1860. In about 1878 the Fultons sold to Jack Cooper, who continued in the business for several years. He finally drove them to Montana. The Gordon horses were sold and taken to Nebraska, and resold to the farmers.

C.I. Helm had a band of horses on shares for several years that belonged to Watson and “Doc” Helm. Charley sold his interest to his uncles, and they took them to southern Oregon. The men that went with them were Watson Helm, Douglas, Stone, Ben Andrews and Will Lancaster.

John Young started with them, and a couple of days afterward his father was killed by a runaway team. Frank Hulery overtook them at Antelope with the news and John came back.

Charley then bought horses from Jim Jenkins, Uncle John Graham, and William Lair Hill. He then owned over 700 head of fine horses. He took them to the Big Bend country. The men that went with this herd were C.D. Helm, Jasper Garrison, Vene Everett, Gene Diggs, Ralph Helm, Dick Johnson and Jay Price. We ferried the Columbia at Grants and went by way of Yakima, and Ellensburg, and swam the Columbia at the mouth of Moses coulee. The horse ranch was ten miles below the coulee.

The Brookhouse boys took their horses to the Big Bend, and located north of Moses coulee. They finally sold out and all came back to Wasco county. The Floyd boys first moved their horses out south of Prineville, and kept them there several years, then brought them back to south of Grass Valley, and the next year moved them to White Bluffs.

Pierre Cacherre took a small band of horses to Badger mountain and the hard winter cleaned him out. He went to the Yakima reservation, where he married a “breed” girl, and died there a couple of years ago.

At one time a trainload of horses was bought up and loaded at Grants, and shipped to North Dakota. The men selling to these buyers were Clark Dunlap, Chapman, Eaton, Pearson, and other small owners.

Watson [presumably, Helm] sold his interest in the horses in southern Oregon to his brother, and bought the Dr. Richardson horses, and drove them to Big Bend. He also went north of Moses coulee, and sold them to Platt Corbly on terms. The hard winter cleaned them out and they went broke. There was a vast difference between the north and the south side of the coulee. All that went north lost heavily.

Dan Bolton had about a hundred head of horses which he took to Rock Creek, Klickatat county, Wash. After feeding them all winter, be turned them out on grass, and soon after they were stolen and he never did get them. There were more than a thousand head stolen that spring and were never recovered.

In about 1881 E.O. McCoy and his brother brought a band of horses from the Walla Walla country. Their headquarters were at China hollow. A few years later, “Dutch” as we all called him, took them to northern Washington.

Allie West owned a band of horses which he sold in small lots, and traded some for land. He sold his interest in Sherman country [sic] several years ago and moved to the coast where he still lives.

Rube Booten owned both horses and cattle in Grass Valley. He sent his horses to White Bluffs, and moved his cattle to the Prineville country. There probably were other small lots of stock which I have overlooked, or forgotten, but I have mentioned the most of the stock that was disposed of to make way for the development of this vast region into the wonderful farming country that it has proved to be.

unknown date, Chapter II.

I would now like to tell something of some men who excelled in their particular line of stock business. I believe that all oldtimers will agree with me that Roe Grimes was the best judge of beef cattle that this country ever produced. It was said that he could ride through a band of beef cattle once and tell how many culls they [sic] were and could tell very close to what they would weigh per head. He bought cattle all over eastern Oregon and Idaho, for the Portland market.

Frank Fulton was a splendid judge of range cattle. When eastern buyers bought cattle in those early days, they paid different prices for cows and calves, and dry cows, yearlings, two and three year-olds. The buyers and the sellers usually chose Frank to judge the age, and kind as they passed through the “chute” and seldom was his judgement questioned.

Once a “critter” was going through the “chute” that belonged to Henry Barnum. Frank called it a two-year-old steer, although he knew it was a long yearling. The buyers were satisfied, but Barnum claimed it was a three-year old. Frank told him he had better let it go as a two, but he would not. So it was examined and passed as a yearling. Barnum, who could have had the price of a two, wanted the price of a three, and had to take the price of a yearling, and the joke was on him.

It is my belief that C.I. Helm was the best judge of horses in this county. After he had taken his horses to the Big Bend country, he went east and made a study of draft horses in several of the largest cities, and decided that the Percherons were the best horses for the eastern market.

He bought some Percheron stallions, which he shipped west, and raised some splendid horses. All told, he brought out about 50 head of pure bred Percheron stallions, which he sold in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. At one time he attended the International Stock show at Elmira, N.Y. Some eastern horse men rather made fun of his western ways.

He wrote a list of which he thought would be prize winners, in all classes, sealed it and gave it to one of them, and told them to open it after the judging was over. He then offered to bet $500 that it was nearer correct than any of them could make. After the judging was completed it was found that he had named most of the prize winners.

He bought Wilson Boy, a Hambletonian, and the next day he took first prize over all standardbred two-year-olds in the United States and Canada. He bought him for one thousand dollars less than he would have had to pay after the prize was given.

I believe that Jim Pearson was the best roper that ever grew up in this country. A rope was his plaything from the time he could walk. The next year after he went to the Big Bend he made 97 throws without a miss, catching both hind feet. This was not done as an exhibition, nor was it done all in one day, but was done as range work day after day. A cattle man offered to bet 100 head of cattle that Jim was the best roper in the state of Washington at that time. The bet was never taken.

There were many other good ropers in this country. John Brookhouse, Ed Gibson, Ed Floyd and Bill Pearson were among the best. Frank Fulton carried the longest rope and swung the biggest loop of any man on the range.

Probably no one knows who was the champion rider. IN the 20 odd years there were many good riders on this range, but I would say that during the earlier period, Pierre Cacherre, and Nate Eaton were among the best. I, as a small boy, have seen each of them make wonderful rides. Both Frank Kimball and Frank Fulton were good when in their prime. And as the years rolled by, and the boys grew up there were a splendid lot of riders on the range.

Among the best were Dick Brookhouse, Billie King, Ed Floyd, Bill Pearson, Ed Gibson, and Tom Gordon. There were many others that were good riders. Of the girls, Maggie Eaton was the best rider. With one exception, she always rode with a side saddle. A bad horse threw her brother, Bert. Maggie went to the house and came out with man’s clothes on, caught the horse, “forked him,” and rode him.

The nest exhibition ride I ever saw was Eugene Diggs riding an outlaw at the Lair Hill ranch south of Grass Valley. Diggs and I had gone to receive the horses for C.I. Helm who had bought them. Coke Hill and Chauncey Clark were in charge.

During the evening they told us of an outlaw that belonged in the bunch: He had a record of several years standing, and had never been ridden. Two years before he had killed the last man that tried to ride him. They said they would give $5 to see him ridden. Gene said as he belonged to the outfit he would ride him.

The next morning they cleared a large corral, the horse was caught and saddled. Diggs mounted him and he first made some quick, savage jumps, each one in a different direction, then over on his back, on his feet, and at it again, and for several minutes as fast as the eye could follow he was in the air, on the ground, on his back, on his feet, and repeat.

When he threw himself, Diggs would land on his feet, and as the horse got up, Diggs would go into the saddle. It had to be seen to be understood and appreciated. It was the best riding of its kind I ever saw.

In conclusion I will tell one on myself. When I was about 17 years old I was a good rider for a kid. I was riding for Jim Jenkins, and one day there was about 150 head of horses in the corral. Jim Jenkins, Nate Eaton, Ben Andrews, John Young, and one or two others were there.

We were talking about riding and I said I would ride anything in the corral for $5 and Jim took me up. He picked out a wild mare eleven years old. I was sorry I had spoken, but would not back out. So I rode her, but I surely earned the five. I always thought she would have thrown me, if Nate Eaton hadn’t kept yelling, “Stay, kid, stay.”

I only claim one record for myself, and that it, being thrown farther by a falling horse than any one else. Mart Tharp was riding a wild horse near Eaton’s place. Jess Eaton and I were with him. The horse was running down hill toward a wire fence. I was trying to turn him from it, when my horse put both feet in a hold, and went end over twice. I sailed through the air past the wild horse and he stopped. Mart got off and stepped from the hole to….

[newspaper clipping ends or is lost from here forward]

Undated, by Jay Price, excerpts:

Jay Price Tells of Early Day Stockmen and Their Departure.

At quite an early date several men had large bands of stock on the range between the Deschutes and the John Day River. Col. Fulton had the first large band of horses in about 1863 or 64. Thomas Gordon had horses there in 1865. With Gordon was a half-breed Indian boy named Pierre Cuchere. Gordon was very sarcastic, and about the first lesson that he gave the boy was this, “Pierre, I have no use for anything that is not useful or ornamental, and as you are not ornamental, you had better make yourself useful.” Which he evidently did, for he lived with Gordon until he was about grown. He was one of the best riders of his time. He stayed in that country until it settled up, he then moved to the Yakima Indian reservation and married a half-breed Indian woman. He died there a few years ago. In about 1875 or 76 the Walker boys took up a ranch near Gordon Butte. They had sheep and some horses. There were six boys. Morgan and Elmer were deaf mutes. Joe Walker and young Tom Gordon had a shooting scrape over a fence. Joe lost an arm and Tom was killed. Joe was tried for murder, but was finally acquitted. George Reeder had a horse ranch near the Walker place. He came there soon after the Walkers did. Two or three years later Dave Daugherty was with Reeder. They each had some horses and they gathered up all the stray horses they could find and left the country between two days. I think Reeder sold his place to old man Bash. Dave stole Ida Bash. They were married at Walla Walla. They went to Montana. Bill Walker went with the outfit. He was the only one of the lot that ever came back.

Mat Engleman came in about 1869. He had a small herd of horses and a bunch of cattle. He never had a permanent home. He made his headquarters with Henry Barnum, and he also stayed at the Finnegan ranch. He finally sold his cattle, and drove his horses to Montana.

Louis Davenport, J.E. Dickerson, Jake Minton, Tim Baldwin, Al Betengen, Billy Wagerman and several others had cattle on the range, and did not provide feed, and a hard winter just about put them out of business. Orv Donnell bought what they had left, and later sold to Lang and Ryan, who trailed them to Cheyenne. Several herds were taken this way by eastern buyers. The Pearsons took a thousand head to Foster Creek in northern Washington. Many thousands of good horses were taken north, east, and south. Col. Fulton sold to J.D. Cooper, who took them to Livingston, Montana. The Gordon horses were sold and taken to Nebraska. Watson and Dee [sic] Helm took three hundred and fifty head to Silver Lake, southern Oregon. Wat Helm, Doug Stone, Will Lancaster and Ben Andrews wen with them. John Young also started with them, two days later John’s father, Cal Young, was killed near Grants by a runaway team. Frank Hulery over-took them with the sad news at Antelope, and John came back.

C.I. Helm bought horses from William Lair Hill, Jim Jenkins and John Graham, seven hundred head, and took them to Moses Coulee, in the Big Bend country. Charley Helm, Jasper Garrison, Eugene Diggs, Gene Everet, Ralph Helm, Dick Johnson, and Jay Price went with that outfit.

14 March 1952

by Jay Price

Riders, Ropers, Stockmen Left Sherman County When Homesteaders Came to Take Up Land. When in the early eighties it became evident that those newcomers were going to plow up all of the bunch grass, the stock men began to move out.

Some eastern buyers took several droves east, the Pearson outfit took 1,200 head of cattle to the Big Bend, and Orv. Donnell took two or three hundred head of cattle to the Big Bend, as also did Jake Minton. The Floyd boys took their horses out south of Prineville, C.I. Helm bought Jim Jenkins’ horses, also John Graham, and William Lair Hill bands of horses, in all seven hundred head of good horses, and drove them to the Big Bend country. Jap Garrison drove the team and was cook. The riders were Mr. Helm, Ralph Helm, Gene Everet, Dick Johnson, Gene Diggs, and myself. I rode for Helm five years. The last thing I did for him was to deliver 300 head of horses that he had sold to Lumsden on the Fraser River, B.C. Watson Helm bought the Doc. Richardson horses, and drove them to the Big Bend, and some eastern buyers bought horses from Pearson, Eaton, Dunlap and others, and shipped a train load from Grant’s station to some place east. So in that way, what had been a wonderful stock country, has now become the splendid farming country that it is today.

I will name just a few of the first to settle there. About the first was Dr. Rollins in Grass Valley, Gil Woodworth, Henry Jory, Charley Barzee, Owen and Hugh Scott, Corson, Medler, McCoy, the Moores from California, Biggs, Murchie, McPherson, Sink, Belshee, and of course many others moved there before 1885.

In any stock country there are sure to be expert riders and ropers. Some of the best riders in that country were Dick Brookhouse, Bill Pearson and Pierre Coucherre. Nate Eaton also was a good rider for a big man. I have seen them all make wonderful rides. The best ropers were Jim Pearson and John Brookhouse. Frank Fulton carried the longest rope, and swung the largest loop. After Jim Pearson went to the Big Bend country, he made a record of 97 throws without a miss catching both hind feet. This was not an exhibition but on the range, during the season.

My parents sold the old place in 1883 and moved to Columbus, Washington, later to Yakima, Kennewick, Hood River and in 1907 to Grants Pass. Mother passed on at the age of 85 and Dad almost 88.

In conclusion, I will tell one on myself. When I was 12 years old I was a good rider. One day I was riding a wild cayuse, he had given up the idea of throwing me, but was not bridle wise. We had drifted over in to Spanish Hollow, two miles below Eatons, when my horse saw some horses and decided to go to them, but there was a deep V-shaped ditch between. I tried to stop him, but he reared and bucked around and fell in the ditch and slid back down in the ditch, with me still in the saddle. He was on my left leg, and the more he kicked the more he crowded me. I could not get out, so I undone the cinch, in hopes that he could get up, but he could not. Soon I heard a horse running and Nate Eaton rode up on the bank and soon pulled the cayuse off of me. He was on a high hill a mile away and saw us fall in the ditch. My leg was badly bruised, otherwise I was alright. I certainly always had a warm spot in my heart for Nate Eaton.

undated…Jay Price Memoirs. The Last Indian War.

It may be interesting to the residents of Sherman county to know that one of the final episodes of the last Indian war, which was in 1878, happened between the John Day and Deschutes rivers. General Howard (the Indians called him day after tomorrow) had driven the Indians out of the Blue Mountains, and they attempted to swim the Columbia near Blalock, but were prevented from doing so, when they were fired upon by an improvised gunboat.

It was estimated there were perhaps seven or eight hundred Indians, and a large band of horses, and some cattle. That was really the end of the war, as each lot headed for their individual reservations. So about 75 Indians that belonged to the Warm Springs reservation, with quite a band of horses, forded the John Day river and were coming up Biglow canyon when Charley Helm and Ike Chapman saw them, and the Indians, seeing the men, dropped back out of sight. The men had not heard about the fight on the river and supposed that the Indians were still on the warpath, while they were really sneaking back home. The men quickly rode to the Dunlap ranch, where several families and a large band of horses had collected. The women were told that the Indians were coming and they were put in wagons and told to get across the Deschutes as quick as they could.

It was near sun down when the wagons passed our place. They stopped just long enough to tell us that the Indians were coming, and that we better run, and on they went. There were about 20 men staying at our place that night that lived east of the John Day, that had taken their families to The Dalles and had bought Winchesters and were on their way to protect their stock. After the wagons were gone they said, “You folks do as you think best, but we are going to stay here tonight and go on in the morning.” Dad and Mother said all right they would stay, too.

About that time here came the big band of horses driven by eight or 10 men. It was dark when they got in the canyon where the Fulton and Price canyons join, and they could not be moved, and stayed there until daylight.

Now at this time the stage was leaving The Dalles at 6 p.m.. When the stage arrived at the Deschutes, the driver, George Shannon, was told that the Indians had crossed the John Day and he had better stop, but he said he would go on, but his two passengers got out. He knew nothing about the band of horses and it was dark and the first thing he knew he was surrounded with horses. He waited a while, but could not move. He tied up the lines and got in front and led the team, and with his whip slowly made his way for nearly a mile before he was clear of the horses, and thinking they were Indians he said klihiam. The men laughed, then he knew they were white men, and I heard him say afterwards that was when his hat settled down on his head. He finished his trip and saw no Indians.

The following morning, when the men left, Martyn [Jay’s ˝ brother] and another man went with them, and out near where Klondike is now, they saw a wide dusty streak leading south, showing that the Indians had passed that way headed for the Warm Springs reservation. And that was the end of the Indian war. Jay Price.

Sherman County Register of Trial Jurors

Sherman County, Oregon

Register of Trial and Grand Jurors [spelling as found]

Submitted by Sherry Kaseberg, Sherman County Historical Museum, May 2000.

October 1889 Term:
Trial Jurors
George H. Peterson

P. King

Henry Root

Ezra Sexton

John A. Smith

N.W. Thompson

J.J. Schaeffer

P.J. Barnett

George W. Coy

George W. Bates

C.C. Ragsdale

Victor McDonald

George W. James

Archie McDermid

Alex McIntosh

W.C. Fuller

W.J. Peddicord

R.W. Brock

Frank E. Robinson.

Grand Jurors:

John Briscoe

J.M. Benson

William H. Koontz

A.F. Hawley

Harrison Neece

Ben Andrews

H. Lanphear.

March 1890 Term:

Trial Jurors:

D. McCallum

J.W. Coats

George W. Long

B.F. Hailey

W.S. Barzee

M.L. Smith

Warren Myers

Dan McLachlan

J.H. McLean

Emmitt Olds

Charles Hill

N.P. Johnson

M.P. Smith

H. Murchie

W.V. Johnson

Uriah Serviss

Rufus Moore

George Benadom

Robert Morrison

J.J. Garlington

Josiah March [Marsh]

S.S. Hayes

J.J. McDonald

R.H. King

H.S. McDanel

W.H. Henrichs

W.R. Fowler.

Grand Jurors:

J.M. Powell

J.B. Small

W.H. Peugh

W.H. Rose

W.H. Moore

Andrew Murchie

J.H. Reed.

October 1891 Term

Trial Jurors:

Edward Mack

N. Draper

John Graham

G.W. Mark

J.R. Belshe

J.R. Howell

J.D. Nave

C.W. Phelps

M. Damon

J. McMillin

N.P. Hansen

H.A. Ritchie

J.O. Thompson

A.D. McDonald

James Somers

O.W. Richardson

S.J. Andrews

R.A. Murray

R.J. Ginn

H. Richelderfer.

October 1892 Term:

Trial Jurors:

William Froebe

Joseph Marsh

P.W. McDonald

Mason Hines

W.F. Guyton

J.H. Coyl

C.C. Kuney

J.B. Mowery

E.C. Davis

Charles Moore

W.E. McLeod

C. Penrose

John A. Elder

William Irvine

Edmund Mack

W.B. McCoy

H.E. Powell

T.J. Farra

Frank Pike

B.S. Kelsey

A.R. Doan

Grant Hawley.

Grand Jurors:

J.L. Holland

T.C. Neece

H.T. Murchie

M.A. Potter

Alex Armstrong

C.J. Herrin

B.C. Cramer.

March 1893 Term:

Trial Jurors:

John Mathieson

C.C. Huck

P.W. McDonald

W.E. McLeod

Robert Jones

O.W. Richardson

Charles Akers

A.C. Huff

Angus Cameron

Dan McLachlan

C.F. Fulton

William Froebe

William Elliott

J.H. Johnson

W.C. Herin

Elwood Thompson

G.W. Dugger

C. Dunlap

H.C. McDanel

R.A. Murray

O.P. King

Peter Knudson

G.C. Vintin

E.W. Garlick

C.H. Schwartz

J.M. Dunahoo

John Potter

C.W. Diekman

L.V. Moore

A.D. McDonald

Delbert Porter

G.W. Mark

Allan Gilmour

Charles Hill

J.B. Mowry

J.W. Booth

E.B. Penland.

Grand Jurors:

G.P. Higinbothom

J.B. Morrison

James Weir

John Lynch

Adolph Happold

W.M. Reynolds

Fred Krusow.

October 1893 Term

Trial Jurors:

F.M. Rayburn

Charles Buhman

G.W. Jennings?

L.W. Hunting

J.D. Nave

J.O. Thompson

O.J. Bales

James Fraser

J.M. Powell

B.F. Pike

J.A. Reid

David Fulton

Miles Rader

Henry Hennagin

William Tate

S.B. Holmes

George B. Bourhill

W.J. Peddicord

Ed Smith

A.B. Potter

J.B. Small

Alf Dillinger

O.E. Leet

William Merrill

D.W. Huff

O.P. King

W.H. Rose

M.A. Potter

J.B. Mowry

M.D. Adams

J.R. Martin

John Donohue

John Landry.

Grand Jurors:

Henry Root

W.E. White

Frank Sayrs

E. Peoples

L.K. Moore

J.B. McGrath

Louis Schadewitz

March 1894 Term

Trial Jurors:

William Bozarth

B.N. Anson

James McMillan

J.L. Brock

Sherman Huff

A.M. Wright

F.E. Robinson

James Woods

Ira McDonald

E.M. Froebe

William Thompson

John Medler

William McNeil

J.R. Johnson

E.A. Cushman

W.E. McLeod

G.F. Boyd

Emmit Olds

I.N. Lemon

O.C. Eakin

M.L. Smith

E.M. Hines

Allen Gilmour

M.A. Van Gilder

M. Beagan

John Henrichs

J.A. Thompson

J.E. Forbis

J.W. Messinger

J.R. Belshee

G.D. Woodworth

E. Simmons

J.F. Belshee

C.H. Belchee

L.I. Dam

John Walters

George E. Thompson

John Simpson

R.M. Starns

H. Laughter

Charles Akers

T.B. Searcy

Henry Myers

Samuel Carson

Talmon Newcomb

Grand Jurors:

William Macnab

E.C. Davis

Henry Dice

J.C. Uren

W.M. King

E. Siscel

J.B. Wheat

October 1894 Term

Trial Jurors:

F.H. Smith
Frank Fulton

G.W. Long

T. Vanlandingham

Louis Hirlbert

Dixon McDonald

H. Schadewitz

James Woods

William Peugh

F.L. Barnett

John Mathison

F.W. Van Patten

C.C. Masiker

John Sienknecht

Henry Link

Hiram Powell

C.W. Moore

Perry Watkins

J.D. Gibson

John Christianson

J.R. Venable

R.M. Starns

Frank Payne

William Kaseberg

Henry Kaseberg

R. Booten

J.B. Holman

James Weir

Elwood Thompson.

Grand Jurors:

J.A. Dickerson
E.H. Moore

C.W. Diekman

H. Dierks

C.K. Huff

Harvey Smith

E.D. West

March 1895 Term

Trial Jurors:

John P. Neece
A. Holder

Grant Hawley

O.J. Bales

M.G. Johnson

H. Gosch

W.A. Murchie

John Hays

A. Grosser

W.S. Barzee

B.T. Hailey

H. Goetjen

F.M. French

Dan McLachlan

C.A. Heath

O.B. Messinger

George N. Crosfield

J.D. McDermid

Henry Krause

Robert Jones

D.W. Huff

R.C. Kenny

C.M. Andrews.

Grand Jurors:

J.B. McGrath
H.A. Moore

B. Cramer

Peter Knudson

Ed Merrill

Hans Hansen

George C. Fridley

October 1895 Term

Trial Jurors:

John Kaseberg

J.H. Fraser

William Macnab

Charles Hulse

A. Happold

W.A. Hunter

John Medler

J.M. Hansen

B.M. Brown

Casper Grassli

Thomas Callaghan

L.H. Martin

Ed Mack

A.K. Fuller

J.B. Mowry

D.H. Curl

E.A. Cushman

Charles Hill

Simon Elcock

H.A. Page.

Grand Jurors:

B.F. Johnson

J.M. Dunahoo

M. Damon

W.C. Fuller

Fred Jones

A.B. Craft

J.W. Booth

March 1896 Term

Trial Jurors:

L.R. French

A. Dillinger

Charles D. Hayner

George E. Thompson

C.F. French

I.H. Maxwell

J.A. Thompson

J.A. Walter

J.J. Thompson

T.J. Farra

George W. Ramey

W.H. Moore

Lysander Madden

Thomas Vanlandingham

Charles Belchee

O.P. Hulse

J.W. Messinger

M.L. Smith

Harry King

William Elliott

B.F. Medler

D.W. Huff

P.M. Ruggles

J.M. Parry

James Woods

O.P. King

Frank Payne

T.M. Anderson

L.W. Hunting

R. Booten

J.H. Elliott

Hugh McIntyre

J.O. Powell

G.F. Boyd

All Sterling [sic]

J.M. Florer

F.E. Seeley

O.C. Eakin

George N. Bolton

Ezra Sexton

E.C. Davis

John Sienknecht

Carl Peetz

E. Peoples

H.A. Thompson

Grand Jurors:

A.M. Wright

P.F. Peddicord

J.D. Gibson

E.H. Moore

William Rose

George Lamborn

Nothing for 1897 through 1899

October 1900 Term

Trial Jurors:

E.J. Rasmussen
B. Cramer

R. Rasmussen

Angus Cameron

Frank Payne

J.C. Coy

R.C. Wallis

T.B. Searcy

Taylor Bergin

W.A. Wallis

Horace Strong

C.N. Gilman

Charles H. Tom

Joseph Sanders

Henry Goetjen

T.D. Williams

C.D. Huck

D.S. Young

W.E. Allison

Martin Holman

C.A. Heath

M.A. Potter

J.G. Walker

John McDermid

P.M. Ruggles

William Currie

Dan McLachlan

Elwood Thompson

H.K. Porter

Henry Peters

Charles Hulse

No grand jurors listed.

March 1901 Term

Trial Jurors:

Charles Schadewitz
Angus Kuks

Joe Ornduff

F.M. Rayburn

John C. Kaseberg

E.L. Weld

R.A. Murray

John Lynch

J.B. Wheat

James Mitchel [sic]

George Strachn

H.C. Ruggles

John Bressler

J.W. Smith

J.H. Johnson

George Lamborn

George Strong

Perry Strong

Ezra Sexton

A.C. Thompson

Niel [sic] McDonald

L.L. Minton

A.M. Wright

Ed. Mack

W.A. Murchie

Herman Pape

J.W. Leonard

Henry Root

W.L. Lamborn

Henry Link

C.H. Stranahan

W.V. Johnson

J.P. McMillin

A. Nish

John Reckman

No grand jurors listed.

October 1901 Term

Trial Jurors:

E.G. Messinger

John Simpson

J.F. Lucas

Johannes Johnson

Adam Keast

Samuel McDonald

W.L. Smith

F.W. Matthias

W.H. Morehouse

George E. Thompson

J.L. Van Winkle

O.P. King

J.W. Messinger

Henry Medler

A.S. Porter

Ray Weld

Archie McDermid

E.H. Moore

G.W. Schwartz

P.W. McDonald

Henry Krause

L.H. Martin

J.R. Kaseberg

Frank Iams

James Stewart

Robert Jones

F.S. Lamborn

W. Stone

Frank Morrow

James Woods

John Medler

Married Women’s Separate Property Register

Sherman County, Oregon

Submitted by Sherry Kaseberg, Sherman County Historical Museum

Volume A of Married Women’s Separate Property Register provides some insight into the lives of women in the 1880s and 1890s. Women declared personal property, stating that their property was not acquired by or through their husbands by gift, purchase or otherwise, or was acquired by money earned through their own personal labor, or by gift from a mother or father or by natural increase. While most property was noted to be horses, cows and pigs, with descriptions of color, sex, age, breed, brand and mark, some women owned a buggy, wagon, teams with harness, two-wheeled cart, an organ, and a house. One woman owned blacksmith tools that she leased to someone. Surprisingly, one woman owned a fish wheel one-half mile below the mouth of the John Day River, and a scow with a fish wheel thereon. Names follow filing dates.

1 October 1889 Virginia M. Hennagin, wife of Henry H.

11 October 1889 Mary E. Eaton, wife of Jesse

12 October 1889 Martha E. Barzee

14 October 1889 Emma Siscel

23 October 1889 Elvira A. Brock

7 January 1889? Jane Courtnay, wife of W. F.

10 November 1890 Mrs. Olive A. West, wife of John I.

22 November 1890 M.J. Baker, wife of H.A.

26 November 1890 Lillie May Murchie, wife of W.A.

15 December 1890 Ida King, wife of William M.

18 May 1893 Lina Gomez

20 November 1893 Mrs. Orie H. White, wife of W.E. of Rutledge

22 November 1893 Minnie A. Mason

24 November 1893 Dora L. Matthias

17 January 1894 Minnie B. Garlick, wife of E. W., near Moro

23 June 1894 Mrs. Emma B. Carlson, wife of A. F., near Moro

4 March 1896 Mary E. Allison, wife of W.E.

7 December 1896 Mary Bohan, wife of Michael Bohan, dau. of Frederick Krull.

“IMPRESSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS OF THE JOURNAL MAN”

By Fred Lockley, 29 June 1923, Oregon Journal.

“You can’t think of the Morning Astorian without thinking of J.S. Dellinger, who has been at its helm and has guided its course for so long a time that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. Yet the Astorian was established by D.C. Ireland, who for nearly half a century was one of the well known figures in Oregon newspaper life. You can’t mention the name of D.C. Ireland without thinking of Sherman County, with whose early history he is so closely identified. Sherman county’s first newspaper, the Observer, was started in the late fall of 1888, at Wasco. In April, 1889, D.C. Ireland and his sons took charge of the Observer, as C.J. Bright, one of the owners, had been appointed county school superintendent of the recently created county. A. B. McMillan continued to own the Observer until early spring of 1890, when he sold it to J.B. Hosford, who in July, 1891, moved the plant to Moro and renamed it the Moro Observer. E.M. Shutt had charge of it for a while, but he retired as editor in favor of F.M. Bixby on June 1, 1892. On June 7, 1894, Lawyer Hosford sold the Observer to D.C. Ireland. D.C. Ireland took in his two sons, C.L. and F.C., as partners. In 1901, C.L. Ireland was the majority stockholder of the paper.

“The second paper established in Sherman county was the Wasco News, which was started in the summer of 1891 by J.M. Cummins and Dr. H.E. Beers. James Armsworthy soon acquired it and before long took in as his partner V.C. Brock. In February, 1900, Norman Draper bought the News of the Sherman County bank, and the following spring the News and the People’s Republic, which was started on April 21, 1898, were consolidated. Among the early owners of the paper were A.S. McDonald, Pound & Morris, G.E. Kellogg, J.W. Allen and M.P. Morgan.

“W.H. Brooks, on December 16, 1892, issued the first number of the Grant Dispatch on the press formerly used to print the Dufur Dispatch. It suspended in the summer of 1893. W.O. Maxwell, who hailed from Goldendale, Wash., as did J.M. Cummins, started the Grant Dispatch in the summer of 1893. On May 14, 1894, Grant experienced a cloudburst and flood and the Dispatch was washed overboard and became a total loss.

“The Grass Valley Journal was born November 12, 1897. The stockholders were C.E. Brown, G.W. Bourhill, J.H. Smith, William Holder, C.W. Moore and J.D. Wilcox. On February 24, 1902, W.L. Westerfield bought the paper. The Moro Leader started its leadership on March 2, 1898. L.H. Hunting was its first editor and was succeeded by Mr. Fitzmaurice, who gave place to William Holder, at about which time the paper was moved to Shaniko. In April, 1902, the Shaniko Leader, picking up bag and baggage, including hellbox, pastepot, sicissors and the office cat, moved back to Moro and became the Moro Bulletin. The Kent Recorder was started November 4, 1904, by E.H. Brown.

“Among the early day papers of Gilliam county were the Arlington Enterprise, which in December, k1886, was consolidated with the Inland Times, the combined sheets thereafter being issued as the Arlington Times, under the ownership of Orval Tucker. In February, 1889, the first copy of the Arlington Town Talk was issued, but it soon lost its voice, expiring in May.

“In July, 1894, M.C. Harris started the Riverside Enterprise at Alkali, and in April, 1898, Robinson and Pound started the Arlington Review. On November 11, 1890, A.A. Jayne and S.P. Shutt started the Arlington Advocate. The following spring Mr. Shutt bought out his partner and moved the Advocate to Condon and started the Condon Globe. In March, 1899, another paper, a namesake of the original Advocate, was started at Arlington by R.H. Robinson who soon disposed of it to C.E. Hicks, who changed the name to the Arlington Independent, which, in 1901, was bought by J.M. Johns and merged with the Record, which had been started in January, 1902, by John Brown. Brown sold the Record to J.M. Johns on January 6, 1893. Johns, on October 10, 1895, sold it to W.A. Maxwell. On February 26, 1903, still another paper was started at Arlington by S.A. Thomas. It was the Arlington Appeal, and its motto was “All Coin Looks Alike to Us. Come Early With Your Subscriptions and Advertising and Avoid the Rush.” S.P. Shutt started the Condon Globe on March 27, 1891, and ran it for seven years, when he sold it to S. A. Pattison. In July, 1900, William Christie started the Weekly Times at Condon, running it for four years, when he sold it to Edward Curran.

“The first paper published in Barney Prine’s town, Prineville, was the Ochoco Pioneer. It was started in the fall of 1880 by John E. Jeffrey. The following year Dillard & Co. started the Prineville News, as the Pioneer had taken the long trail and Prineville was without a paper. Horace Dillard took in D.W. Aldridge as a partner. In June, 1885, George W. Barnes and J.A. Douthit started the Ochoco Review at Prineville. In the summer of 1894 the Ochoco Review absorbed the News. J.M. Williamson, the former editor of the News, was appointed manager of the combined sheets. L.N. Liggett succeeded Williamson and acquired the paper, which, in July, 1902, he disposed of to William Holder. In April, 1904, A.H. Kennedy became its owner. Meanwhile, A.G. Palmer had been casting longing eyes at the Prineville field; so, in 1906, he bought the Mitchell Monitor and moved it to Prineville, where he rechristened it the Crook County Journal. In August, 1897, Hugh Gourley bought the Journal, turning it over a year later to A.C. and H.J. Palmer. In April, 1901, W.T. Fogle bought it, and that fall sold a half interest to W.H. Parker of the Albany Herald. In January, 1903, the Journal was purchased by W.C. Black and S.M. Bailey.

“The Bend Bulletin issued its first bulletin of news in the spring of 1903. Max Luddemann was its publisher and Don Rea, editor. A few months later J.M. Lawrence acquired Mr. Rea’s interest. In June, 1902, A.C. Palmer started the Deschutes Echo at Bend, which suspended in the summer of 1904. The Madras Pioneer started business on April 1, 1905. Timothy Brownhill was its publisher and editor. A year later he sold to Max Luddemann, who had established the Ashwood Prospector in the spring of 1901, and which expired in April, 1905.

“The first paper published in South Central Oregon was the State Line Herald, published at Lakeview in December, 1878, on the press and with the type of the Fort Bidwell Herald, a paper run by the soldiers at Fort Bidwell. C.B. and W.W. Watson were publishers. They soon took in another brother, B.P. Watson. Judge C.B. Watson later moved to Ashland and is the author of “Prehistoric Siskiyou Island and the Marble Halls of Oregon,” author of a most readable and instructive book on the geology of Oregon. In the spring of 1881 the Herald was sold to J.H. Evans, who a few months later sold it to R.F. Connaughty, who after 24 hours of ownership, sold it back to B.P. Watson, one of the former owners. As the State Line Herald was Republican and the Watson brothers were very vigorous in their denunciation of Democrats and so continued in spite of frequently being licked or shot at, the Democrats started an opposition sheet, the Lake County Examiner They bought their plant at Adin, Cal., and hauled it over the mountains on a bobsled, and issued the first number in January, 1880. Frank Coffin was editor and manager. The owners were C.A. Cogswell, George T. Baldwin, S.P. Moss, M.T. Walters, A.F. Snelling, William Tulloch, T.N. Lofton, Bob Redding and others. Having secured the county printing and patronage, they made overtures to the Herald and bought it, lock, stock and barrel, in 1882. Bruce Allen ran the paper until the spring of 1885, when he sold it to W.F. Beach. S.C. Beach bought Cogswell’s and other stockholders’ stock, and the paper was published by Beach & Beach. F.W. Beach soon sold out to William Townsend and A.Y. Beach, the latter acquiring Townsend’s interest. On May 22, 1900, Lakeview was wiped off the map by a destructive fire; so for some months thereafter the Examiner was printed on a job press. On March 10, 1904, C.O. Metzker bought the Journal.

“In the spring of 1895 the Lake County Rustler was issued. Its name was later changed [to] the Register, and still later to the Herald. The Register was printed on the press of the John Day Living Issue, which had been purchased when the Living Issue ceased to live. Among the early owners of the Rustler-Register-Herald were J.C. Oliver, J.G. Walters who changed the name to the Register; Claire B. Irvine, W.J. Moore, Charles A. Fitch and William Wagner.

“The Chewaucan Post was started at Paisley February 7, 1901, by C.O. Metzker. Silver Lake had no newspaper; so in 1903 three papers were started there, but through consolidation but two were published, the Central Oregonian, which was first issued on March 5, 1903, and the Silver Lake Bulletin, issued the following day. After a few months the Bulletin was absorbed by the Central Oregonian.”

(c) 1997 - 2003 - This page was created, and is maintained, by Mark Fields for the USGenWeb Project, Sherman County, Oregon site.

It was revised 23 May 2003.