Pomeroy Pioneer Portraits

Ten Years Ago

February 16, 2011

Fire Chief Larry Bunch is retiring after 23 years. Memorable incidents he was involved with include the 1974 accident on Hwy. 127 north of Dodge that involved eleven college wrestlers and claimed the lives of two of them, the Main Street fire that destroyed Bowen’s Shoe Shop and Darrel’s TV, and the 2005 School Fire in the Umatilla National Forest.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

February 21, 1996

Déjà vu all over again? Volunteers at the Garfield County Museum have a display of pictures and stories of floods in the past in the area. Visitors are encouraged to come and learn about damage resulting from floods in Pomeroy in 1916, 1930, 1966 and other years.

Extensive flood damage to Umatilla National Forest lands on the Pomeroy Ranger District includes mudslides and toppled trees, unstable roads and bridges, and major damage to several forest trails and campgrounds.

Fifty Years Ago

February 18, 1971

Now that the Job Corps has left Pomeroy, the City Council reminds residents they can no longer deposit mud in the streets to be hauled away.

Concrete work on the navigation lock at Lower Granite Lock and Dam on the Snake River began Tuesday with placement of the first bucket of concrete. By the end of the workday, an estimated 500 cubic yards had been placed.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

February 14, 1946

The Orval VanAusdle home and its entire contents on the Oscar Shearer farm 15 miles west of Pomeroy was destroyed by fire sometime Saturday night while the family was in town visiting friends. No one was aware of the conflagration until Mr. VanAusdle returned to the farm early Sunday morning to do the chores. Upon arriving there he found the house and its contents in smoldering ruins. Two dogs housed on the porch also died. The oddity of the fire was that no one in the neighborhood saw the blaze so as to turn in an alarm or attempt to save the residence. The four members of the family have only the personal belongings they were wearing. How, when and where the fire originated remains a mystery.

Twin daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jack Henley on February 12. Mrs. Henley’s sister, Mrs. Ray Jensen, gave birth to a son on February 6.

Eighty basketball players from eight high school teams will participate in the southeastern Washington sub-district tournament in Pomeroy three days next week. Teams competing will be Asotin Panthers, Waitsburg Cardinals, Columbia Coyotes, St. Patrick’s Irish, Pomeroy Pirates, Dayton Bulldogs, Prescott Tigers and Anatone Mountaineers.

One Hundred Years Ago

February 19, 1921

Extensive improvements to the courthouse lawn are to be made this spring under the direction of the Civic Club if the permission of the commissioners can be secured, according to a report by E.A. Davidson, Spokane landscape architect.

Grading of the portion of the Inland Empire highway between Pomeroy and Clarkston is almost finished and surfacing will soon be started. Grading of the link from Delaney to Dodge is nearly ready for surfacing. The Dodge to Central Ferry nine-mile link with a 27-foot roadway is completed and open for traffic.

Union Hall is undergoing extensive repairs. The banquet hall of the lower floor has been papered and painted. The tables have been rebuilt by Nick Pierre.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

February 15, 1896

G.D. Gibson says that 1,500 of his 2,500 ewes would make good mutton at the present time. He has given his herd only three feeds of hay so far this winter.

Those who go to fires just to “look on” ought to learn to hold their tongues. The fire boys understand their business and can do the most effective work when the crowd is quiet.

Mr. Oscar Long on Pataha Flat says the chinook has washed out bushels of grasshopper eggs on his place. It is feared they will do considerable damage to crops this year. They destroyed a great many gardens last season.

The east wing of the Ilia warehouse is being removed for some more useful purpose for the future.

Mrs. Knowles has commenced a private school at Balmwood. If it is not a success it will not be for lack of pleasant surroundings, as a huge swing has been put up in the walnut trees, and the croquet ground is in demand these fine days.

Mr. Wades is determined to not let “the grass grow under their feet,” as another dancing party is right on the tapis. The young gentlemen ought to be thankful that there are enough young ladies to last through the whole “Leap Year,” of ’96.

Today is the beginning of the Chinese New Year. Their hilarity commenced last evening, with firecrackers and jimjams, lasting through most of the night. Their friends at Almota will be invited to the feast today, which consists of American dishes, and all the delicacies of Chinatown.

The people around here the past week are having a hard fight with the lagrippe; it jumps on them like a wounded catamount.

John Reeves is driving the stage from Pomeroy to Ilia. John is a jolly fellow and likes the girls.