Pomeroy Pioneer Portraits

Ten Years Ago

June 8, 2011

Activities on Friday kicking off the weekend of Pioneer Day and the Tumbleweed Festival include an all-class reunion at the Pataha Flour Mill, afternoon car show and annual Wine & Stein in the evening. Honored Pioneers in Saturday’s Pioneer Parade are Barbara Burt and Muriel Bott.

Temporary quarters and a four-period school day are planned for next fall during renovation of the high school building.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

June 12, 1996

Mayor Don Stellwagon announced at Tuesday’s City Council meeting he had initiated a “criminal investigation” against fired Pomeroy Public Works Director Rob Cameron. He said had spoken to “some council members” about the issue prior to the meeting. Cameron was present and asked for an explanation. Stellwagon said the matter had been turned over to the police department and he could not comment until the investigation was over. Cameron had learned from his attorneys the matter involved about $100 worth of personal phone calls, which he acknowledged he may have made, and if that was the issue he would be happy to reimburse the City. Evelyn Roosevelt presented Stellwagon with a petition calling for Cameron’s reinstatement and for the mayor to stop interfering with the work of City Council committees.

Orle and Maude Hannas are this year’s Honored Pioneers.

Fifty Years Ago

June 10, 1971

The Garfield County Pioneer Association annual meeting will be held at Jaycee Hall this year, followed by a baseball game, foot races and a golf tournament at the city park facilities.

City Council members noted that it was illegal to throw garbage or anything else in the streets or alleys of the city discussed illegal dumping in the city’s alleys and city ordinance calls for a fine of $10 to $100 or a jail sentence.

Richard Burke’s Union 76 Station was entered and about $90 cash and $5 in merchandise taken late Sunday or early Monday. Entry was through a window in the men’s restroom, law enforcement officials said.

Lonnie Ruchert, Max Scoggin and Ron Harrison will attend the National Resources Youth Camp on Lake Chatcolet in Idaho this month.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

June 6, 1946

Two-year-old David Robert Williams was treated at St. Joseph’s hospital for serious head injuries received when he plunged headlong from his father’s car between Pomeroy and Clarkston while the car was moving at the rate of about 40 miles an hour. The youngster had been playing with the handle of the car door when it opened unexpectedly. For a time it was feared his injuries would prove fatal.

Workmen from Lewiston placed the final coat of stucco on the exterior of the Alfred Obenland building last weekend. The plaster is pure white and adds attractiveness to this newly remodeled business block. Workmen are now engaged in remodeling that portion of the building formerly occupied by the Villa café.

Baby coyotes enjoyed a fine Leghorn chicken dinner Friday when their mother stole a hen from a Peola chicken park, as witnessed by a non-markswoman.

One Hundred Years Ago

June 11, 1921

The city park is in fine condition and will accommodate the hundreds of persons who will come from all parts of Garfield County and all who will come from the adjoining counties to celebrate Pioneer Weekend. Stores will close at 10 o’clock on Friday and remain closed until after the ballgame in the evening.

The Saddle Butte road project has been surveyed and staked and the timber cleared off of four miles of the south end. The cost of clearing is about $250 a mile. The estimate for this work was $600 a mile. The road is 12 miles long. The heaviest part of the grade will not exceed 10 percent. There will be only one switchback.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

June 6, 1896

The semi-occasional rumor to the effect that Charles Myer is still in the flesh and has lately been seen somewhere is on again just now. But now, as heretofore, the stories are the merest fiction—invented “just to have something to talk about, you know.”

While digging a ditch on the old Sanford Williams place on Meadow Gulch a few days ago, G.D. Zinn unearthed a portion of a human skeleton. The thigh and arm bones and the jaws, containing several teeth were found. Just how these human remains came to be deposited there, miles away from any burying ground is a mystery that probably never will be solved. The shallowness of the grave would indicate that they were not placed there by loving hands.

Sheriff Baldwin and his deputy have been kept pretty busy subpoenaing witnesses in the case of the State vs. Ralph Melton, charged with assaulting Alf. Halterman with a deadly weapon. About 20 witnesses have been subpoenaed in this case, and much difficulty was experienced in obtaining a jury. Up to the present time but four witnesses have been examined, and the prospect is that it will take several days to clear the docket.

Some very good salmon are being caught in the fish wheels on Snake River. One weighing 32 pounds was caught at Almota.

Chunks of populist oratory flew in great gobs around Doc Jeffrey’s blacksmith shop last Tuesday, but fortunately no bones were broken by the reverberations.