Pomeroy Pioneer Portraits

Ten Years Ago

July 21, 2010

A worker was injured on the wind turbine project at a site near Hwy. 127 and Hagen Road last week when a load of re-bar fell on his leg and pelvic area. Ambulance crew members prepped the victim before he was flown by Life Flight helicopter to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston.

Garfield County road department personnel moved the gazebo in Pioneer Plaza park on Main Street last week and took it out to the RV parking and camping area at the fairgrounds.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

July 26, 1995

Staff at Garfield County’s Farm Service Agency are still waiting for word on whether this county and others affected by storms earlier this month will receive designation as a federal disaster area.

Community receptions for candidates for the new school superintendent will be held three evenings this week at the high school. Directors, staff and patrons of the district are interviewing candidates throughout the week.

Fifty Years Ago

July 23, 1970

A rash of burglaries and an attempted break-in have plagued Pomeroy and Garfield County recently, including Bagby’s Lone Star service station, Meyers Hardware, Martin’s Super-Duper market, Stevens Construction Company’s tool house at the Port of Garfield and Robert Larson’s cabin at Rose Springs.

Pomeroy firemen answered five calls the past week, three from lightning-set grass fires, one resulting from a tree limb down across a power line and one a suspected sleeper fire from the electrical storm the night before.

Irene Swanson, a teacher in Pomeroy for several years, and wife of former Pomeroy banker Floyd Swanson, was killed and her husband critically injured in a three-car collision in Montana that took four lives last Tuesday.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

July 19, 1945

The Pomeroy plant of the Blue Mountain Canneries closed down Friday, July 13, following a hectic eight-day run under the impact of adverse weather conditions shriveling growing peas to such an extent that not enough peas could be harvested daily to keep the plant operating economically. Ordinarily the plant would have operated for another three weeks providing employment for around 400 people.

All individuals who have or have had bees and still have the equipment are requested to register with the county agent so that bee inspectors may be able to locate all the colonies of bees in the county. During the past week the state inspector has located nine colonies which had foul bred in Garfield County.

One Hundred Years Ago

July 24, 1920

Cecil Hull, 16 years old, was supposedly instantly killed by falling off a cliff at the Snake River Sunday afternoon. The boy had been bathing in the river with two men working on the Baldwin farm, where the lad also had been working. Upon leaving the river to return home the men started on a direct course over the hill, and the boy started to take another route, saying he would go down to the road and follow it. His failure to appear at the farm that night alarmed the neighborhood. Searchers found his body at the foot of a cliff. Evidently the boy had gotten too close to the edge and the ground gave way.

Census figures now place the county population under 4,000. Since salaries of county officials are based on the census reclassification this means the sheriff’s salary will decrease from $1,050 annually to $1,000. The clerk’s salary, now $900 a year will remain the same, while other officials will see a slight increase.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

July 20, 1895

Garfield Co’s first real bicycle race occurred at Pataha city this week. “Am” Dickson, Pomeroy’s crack rider, and Mox Houser, of Pataha city, were the riders. A purse of $10.00 was put up for the winner, which was secured by the Pomeroy man.

The law firm of Jewett & Kuykendall have been amusing the inmates of the Nat’l. Bank building this week with the melodious sounds of a hand organ.

Messrs. M.F. Gose, P.O. Seeley, P. McClung and E.M. Pomeroy left Monday for a week’s outing at “Oregon Butte,” loaded for bear and rattlesnakes.

Pie cherries at orchard, two cents per lb .; picked, three cents—Albert Long.

The dry east winds and hot weather have pretty well done up the grain crop of the county. In some sections, the spring sowing will not even make hay. The summer-fallow crop is much better, but even that will be pinched and much of it will be rated second-class.

We noticed quite a number of headers at work in the Falling Springs neighborhood this week. The farmers are exchanging work as far as possible to avoid hiring any extra hands. There are several harvesting outfits that will not start up this year.