Pomeroy Pioneer Portraits

Ten Years Ago

August 25, 2010

Garfield County Sheriff’s Department continues to investigate burglaries and vandalism of Town and Country Restaurant, All Your Building Needs, the city pool and one other businesses the night of August 6.

Construction crews are ready to start renovation of the courthouse next week. The sole remaining tenant of the building is the Sheriff’s Department in the basement.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

August 30, 1995

Garfield County Hospital District Board of Commissioners voted to ask voters to approve issuance of $495,000 in general obligation bonds to help fund construction that will bring part of the hospital facility up to code.

The 1995 harvest season was marred by only one fire, a blaze that burned four acres of wheat and barley stubble on Gordon Wildman property 20 miles northeast of Pomeroy caused by a failed bearing on the combine’s idler pulley.

Fifty Years Ago

August 27, 1970

A final get-together for the PHS graduates of 1970 will be held in the Forester’s Lodge Hall after the annual signing party at the high school, reports Sharon Beckwith.

“Gay 90s” vests and hats which will sell for $1.00 for the pair will be available for all Main Street businessmen and all others interested in promoting the fair. Women are asked to cooperate by wearing pioneer costumes of their own creation. This year’s fair has a “Remember When” theme, designed to help the current drive for a museum.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

August 23, 1945

George Guy’s car, a 1930 Chevrolet, and machinist’s tools valued at $500, stolen from in front of his residence on Arlington street on July 24th, was recovered in Spokane last week. The tools were still in the car when it was found and the only thing missing was a .22 caliber rifle. The car still carried its Garfield County license plate, GA208, and according to the speedometer had been driven 7,000 miles since it came up missing. The car was recovered when two men occupying it attempted to steal gasoline from another car but were frightened away by the owner of the car from which gasoline was being siphoned. In their hurry to make a get-a-way, the thieves left the Guy car standing nearby.

John Elsensohn, Alva Ruark and H.B. Stallcop left Friday in a pickup to spend several days fishing in Oregon streams to the south of Pomeroy. The party took along a horse to carry out their fish, remarked Mr. Stallcop, but our guess is he will be used to drag some weary fishermen up some of the steep mountain trails they planned to travel over.

One Hundred Years Ago

August 28, 1920

Rain showers beginning Wednesday morning stopped harvest work until Thursday evening. Aside from this interruption, good progress has been made, with over one-half of the 1920 crop now in sacks.

The county superintendent reports teachers employed for 12 schools of the 18 district schools outside of Pomeroy.

C.W. Fitzsimmons is one of those farmers who has experienced the adversity resulting from crop failures and cheap wheat and cattle and hogs. He says the lowest price for which he ever sold wheat was 35 cents and dreams of dollar wheat at that time were hardly possible. But $2.50 wheat recently has been sold from the Fitzsimmons farm for all that.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

August 24, 1895

Am. Dickson came down from the Seeley camp, a distance of 22 miles, on his wheel in an hour and 30 minutes.

Hon. N.C. Williams brought to town Saturday a wagonload of fine fruit, consisting of pears, plums and apples, and, by dint of hard work, succeeded in disposing of 45 cents’ worth.

Reports from threshers show that the summer-fallow crop is yielding equal to expectations. Geo. Light’s 130 acres threshed out 32 bushels to the acre. The crops raised by Green Swinney, J.L. Stember and A.P. Coyle made 35 bushels on average. “Doc” Flerchinger has an exceptionally fine piece of spring wheat near Peola which gives promise of a yield of 20 bushels or more to the acre.

C.A. Lundy & Co. are receiving about 260 sacks of grain daily at Zumwalt station. D. McBride has leased Lundy’s grain warehouse at the depot and reduced the price of storage to 40 cents per ton.

According to the death warrant issued by Judge Sturdevant, Myers is to be hung in this city on the 30th of September. Sheriff Baldwin has not yet decided just where the execution will take place, though it will most likely be on the courthouse block.

E. Burlingame and Wm. Gammon returned Wednesday from a trip through the stock ranges of Lost Prairie. They say forest fires are raging fiercely in that section. Their horses’ feet were badly burned from traveling over the heated ground which in some places it was impossible to evade.

“I never saw the dust deeper,” is a common expression nowadays. Many old settlers express the opinion that the ground has never before been so dry.