For a first ride of the season, it was no baby step, clocking in at around 375 miles, we were both a little saddle sore by the time we pulled back into the shop this evening. We did see some gorgeous scenery, got to ride a few new miles of single-track pavement, and spent a little time exploring Twickenham School, built in 1906.
Mike got away from work early enough Friday evening that we were able to make it to an old Motel in Hermiston. Got up this morning and flew across the flats and into the mountains of Idaho’s Panhandle. There’s silver and gold in these hills, and old mining towns galore.
We rode through this area a few years ago on our way up to Newfoundland, glancing off the freeway, doing 80mph and passing semis on the steep grade, we were both intrigued to see the old brick structures and decidedly vintage homes on the very steep hillsides. I remembered the town name and filed it away for a possible future visit.
Then last year I read an incredible book, The Big Burn, by Tim Egan, which chronicles a massive forest fire in 1910 that burned 3 million acres, and decimated Wallace and its residents. The opening chapter of the book is still so vivid in my mind, creating images of a roaring wildfire whipped by 70+ mph winds, whipping over the ridge above the town, and swooping down on the residents and the one train that will take them to safety. Really worth reading, especially if you are planning a trip to the area.
Wallace, after the fire
Although the fire wiped out about 1/3rd of the town, many of the original buildings are left. And what buildings they are! At the turn of the last century, Wallace was one of the richest cities in the west, producing more than a billion ounces of silver by the 1980′s. So, there was some money here, and plenty of it was spent on beautiful homes and business establishments.
We arrived in town around 11am, and pulled into our motel, the Stardust.
Stardust Motel Sign, with accompanying "escape pod"
The gal at the desk was very accommodating, juggling things around to get us a first floor room, then asking the maid to clean it right away so we could get in early. The maid happily dragged her cart from a completely different section of the hotel, cleaned the room in 20 minutes and we were in. Unfortunately, there was no refrigerator, we asked a guy who was fixing a lock on the room next to us if the other rooms had a fridge, he said yes. He talked to the desk clerk, who said our room was one of the few without, and so he simply unplugged the fridge from the room he was working in, and lugged it to our room!
Turns out the “maintenance man” was actually Scott Lasley, the president of the Wallace Chamber of Commerce! He made sure we had a local map and tour book, and said to just ask if we needed anything else. Wow! We’re in town for 20 minutes and already we’ve been treated like royalty! Turns out everyone we met here was just as friendly and accommodating. I can’t say enough nice things about the people here. Just amazing.
We hiked a few blocks down to the Sierra Silver Mine Tour building, and purchased tickets for the tour. I was hoping to also do the Burke tour, but missed out on the season opening by a few days. We didn’t really know what to expect from the Mine tour, only that we’d be taking a trolley (with some color commentary by the driver) up to an old mine, then be taken underground by a “real miner” and shown some mine operations.
Good thing they gave me this hat
This description makes it sound a bit cheesy, but the tour is really quite amazing and a little dangerous. Our mine guide was tall, gangly and a bit rough around the edges, probably about our age, and he’d been mining off and on his entire working life. Articulate, and very good at creating a word picture of what mining was like “back in the day”, and what it was like for miners today. Amazingly, he demonstrated mine equipment including a drill, a drag instrument, and a loader, all of which were of course, loud, and astonishingly evil-acting pieces of pneumatic machinery which could maim or kill you in a variety of ways.
Tour goers check out what's keeping the roof from becoming the floor
After the Mine tour, we wandered around town, taking pictures and checking out antique stores. Wallace has done a great job of showcasing the old while allowing new businesses to survive. I was very surprised at how quiet it was for a 3-day weekend, I really expected the place to be packed. I know that during the ATV jamboree it’s a madhouse, and I hope they get enough tourists during the rest of the year to keep things going.
I can’t express enough how nice the people are here, everyone, at every store, went out of their way to make sure we had a great time during our visit. Whether you are interested in history, love riding high mountain ATV and MC trails, or just enjoy wandering antique stores, go to Wallace, you’ll have a great time, guaranteed!
For us history buffs, Wallace has put out a great booklet with maps and descriptions of every historic building in town. It’s broken up by residential and business districts, and is very easy to follow. A huge asset, and it made our visit even more interesting.
Even furry residents of the town are ready to smile for the camera
As evening approached, our grumbling stomachs forced us to turn in to the Pizza Factory for their salad bar and some garlic breadsticks. After a filling meal, we headed back towards our room, on the way “home” this little sweetie rolled past, fitting cap to a great day in Wallace.
Back in our room at the Stardust, tired feet, tired bodies, comfy bed, ready for some sleep!
Saturday evening we got out the map to see what looked interesting on the loop back home. Mike’s motto is to never backtrack, so whatever we did, we’d at least cover different terrain than our ride in yesterday. My only goal was to spend time walking around Union and seeing their Hotel. After checking out some information online, we decided to check out Weston (near Athena – the birthplace of Hodaka motorcycles!) which was another pioneer town with a brick-faced downtown.
Dropping down towards Weston on Hwy 11
Weston is another cute little town with more past than present. I spent a bunch of time trying to dig up info, and compiled it here. A note to any historic society in small towns across the country – if you want people to come look at your historic downtown area, have a downloadable map of the area available on your Chamber of Commerce website. It would honestly take someone with a tiny bit of skill maybe a couple hours to make and it would really generate so much more interest in your town!
Anyway, off my bully pulpit and back on the bike! Weston is indeed worth a stop, with plenty of neat old buildings in the quiet downtown, and some older homes interspersed with new in the outlying areas.
I love the grass peeking out from the roof, and colored the same as the building
Cafe is closed. I think this is the worst thing about the economy, little places like this don't stand a chance.
Memorial Hall
Isham Saling House - This really should be a museum!
After wandering through the Sunday-quiet town and gawking at all the cool old houses, we headed down the road and towards Union
Near Tollgate on Hwy 204
More high water outside Union
I’d been wanting to spend some time wandering around Union, ever since we stopped here for lunch with our riding buddies a few years back.
As we pulled into town, Mike suddenly veered off the Main street and onto a side road, stopping in front of a yard sale. Uh oh. Well, how bad could it be, we’re on bikes, it’s not like he’s going to buy something big, right? Nope, but he did spot this stylin’ helmet, and once we found out it would fit in his side bag, he worked the owner down to five bucks and he was the proud owner of this 1970′s monstrosity.
The ultimate buddy helmet - you'd really have to want to ride to wear this!
The town has an interesting history, and it was so neat to see the old hotel up and running as a B&B. I’d tried to get a room here (great prices!), but they were completely booked, so we had to settle with wandering around and talking to the informative and humorous owner.
http://thehistoricunionhotel.com/
Furniture and Undertaking. I can see how these go together, sort of.
I'm wondering what prompted this sign facing the creek. Did they really have trouble with wayward horses and radical bikers floating the river?
Union High School's imposing front entrance
Many of the buildings have an odd asian flair to them
After wandering around town for a few hours, it was getting late, and time to head for home.
Well, I thought it was time to head for home, Mike found another antique store in North Powder, it was closed, but a quick phone call to the owner brought her down from her house behind the shop, and we had a great time wandering through her stuff and talking about various fun places we’d seen on our travels.
North Powder Antiques
Dry goods and water towers
The rest of the ride home was beautiful and quiet. We stopped at our favorite restaurant in John Day for a late lunch (awesome salads!) and got on the bikes for the last leg of the trip.
John Day River near flood stage
It was amazing to ride through Picture Gorge with the river so high.
This is what it usually looks like (photo from the same bend in the road, slightly different angle)
Highway 26, with little traffic on a Sunday afternoon is about the best way to finish a weekend-long ride.
So, I’m sure every Oregonian has spent at least one weekend of their lives at the Pendleton Roundup, it’s just part of growing up in the Beaver state (or Duck state, depending on what side of the Civil War you’re on).
Waaaay back in the 1990′s, we stopped here with Don and Tammy Hoxie on an Eastern Oregon Road trip, hung out downtown and did the Cozy Girls tour.
Nearly 20 years later, I thought it might be time for a revisit, especially now that we’re more interested in history and have a longer attention span (but shorter memory!).
Adding to the attraction would be a stop in Heppner to visit the museum which is never open when we’re riding through – not that they’re never open, we just ride through at weird times!
Heppner had a major defining moment in their history back in 1903 a flood raced through town on a lazy Sunday evening, decimating all the low lying areas and killing 247 people. The cemetery on the hill pays mute witness to this event, with many stones showing the same date of death, June 14, 1903.
I was looking forward to seeing the museum’s photos history of this event, along with everything else showing the history of the area.
The ride through Fossil to Heppner is one of my favorites in Oregon. From spring-swollen rivers to wide-open dry wheat fields, it climbs into heavily forested mountains and then dips back down to steep twisty canyons, then follows straight sections through windswept and lonesome plateaus. Really some of the most varied landscape and riding I’ve experienced. But shhhhhh, don’t tell everyone, or it’ll get all crowded and nasty!
We arrived in town about a half hour before the museum was set to open, so we searched around for a restaurant with salads. The gal at the gas station said “the bowling alley has great food!”, uh, oooookay. We rode around a bit more and didn’t find anything else promising, so to the bowling alley we went. The decor doesn’t inspire dining confidence:
Mikey likes the "custom" upholstry
But if you don’t sit in the ripped areas and are careful about leaning back too far on the loose backrest, you’ll be treated to a great meal by a friendly staff. Proves again that looks aren’t everything!
The museum looks tiny from the outside, sharing half a municipal building with the library, but inside you find rooms heading off in three different directions, and multitudes of well documented and well-presented neat old stuff!
Can you spot the USPO letters in this pic?
Mike's biggest nightmare - finding a cool vintage motorcycle toy in a Museum instead of an Antique Store!
Second half of the museum - includes all the farm implements and old cars and trucks
After a short stop for a photo op in front of the beautiful Heppner Court House, we were back on the road towards Pendleton
Court House in Heppner
Grasslands and swooping rock formations on the Heppner Highway
We actually rode through a few sprinkles near Vinson, but by Pendleton it had cleared up and was a beautiful evening.
Walking around Pendleton, we found plenty of neat old buildings to gawk at. Unfortunately, it looks like many of them were renovated about 10 years ago, but have deteriorated since, with no money for good upkeep. There’s such a variety of building styles here, it really makes the neighborhoods fun to walk through. Stucco next to Victorian next to brick homestead next to Tudor. Who needs a rodeo when there’s old buildings to see!
Pendleton First Methodist Episcopal Church
Carnegie-Funded Arts Center Building
Amazing what a comma can do for meaning. But maybe they meant what they said?
It started getting too dark to take pictures, so we headed back to the room for a good night’s sleep
Moonrise over Knight's Inn
“Father made a great deal of money out of the mines and started a grocery store in partnership with Poindexter. The store was known as the Poindexter & Clark Mercantile Store. My father started in this business with a great deal of money and no experience. Mr. Poindexter started in with no money and a great deal of experience. The partnership ended with Poindexter having the money and my father the experience.”
Back in the “Good Old Days” of the soul-crushing Great Depression, the government thought up all sorts of make-work projects. I’m certain many folks thought it was just a waste of money, but instead of just dropping money into a big pit like we seem to these days, they made people earn their wages. The projects created some beautiful public buildings and managed to preserve the history of the “average American” in a way that had never been attempted before.
The quote above is from a Mrs. Ford of Portland, telling the story of growing up in Canyon City Oregon. The WPA American Life Histories Project collected hundreds of interviews across the nation, and it’s now all available online http://memory.loc.gov/wpaintro/wpahome.html.
Another incredible site for history buffs is the Oregon Digital Library, which houses a searchable database of collections from all over the state http://odl.library.oregonstate.edu/record/search So many really neat photos and stories here, do a search for Oregon Shakespeare Festival and see photos dating back to the 1930′s.
Why is that man in a swimsuit?
Or what about the Salem Cherry Festival? There’s photos from the early 1900′s.
Getting ready for the 1913 Cherry Festival Parade with the old Capitol building in the background.
I could spend days wandering through these sites! How great is it to have all this at our fingertips and not just mouldering away in some library where only a few historians view it every year?
We slept in this morning ’till nearly 9am – something we haven’t done for a very long time. I thought we’d get going slowly, take the 650′s front wheel off and drive in to Bend to get the tire changed. The front tire is still the same one that I rode to Newfoundland, unbelievably still holding up and within wear limits.
After taking a shower, I came downstairs to hear Mike on the phone talking to Bill – I caught just the tail end of the conversation, but heard “we’ll meet you at 11am”. Hmmm, guess we’re riding!
Peter just bought a brand-spankin’ new BMW 1200 GS, and he’s looking forward to putting a few more miles on her. Mike decides to ride the EX500 and I’ll be on my darling Ducati. As we’re getting ready to roll out of the driveway, I notice the EX is a little noisier than I remember and I check the oil window – which is empty. I yell at Mike that I don’t see any oil. We shut ‘em down and he runs into the shop and grabs the oil – we do a quick top up and we’re on our way again. Only 1/2 hour late, rats! Sorry guys.
After turning off of 97 onto 218, the road is freshly striped with very wide sections of tar. Not a big deal if they’re skinny strips, but it looks like the road department was trying to re-pave the entire section with the stuff. The bike hops, slips and jumps through the first few turns and I’m just hoping the entire highway hasn’t been “fixed”. Fortunately the evil stripes peter out in a few miles and it’s back up to speed.
I’m like a neophyte on the Duc, my lean angle is wimpy and I can’t get through my brain how much more agile the Ducati is in the twisties than the Beemer. Slowly I remember my lean lessons and we get going at a little quicker pace. I really need to spend more time with the red bike this summer.
Everything is so green! Wildflowers dot the landscape, and all the creeks are exploding beyond their banks, carrying mud and debris with them in a race to the lowlands. It smells so fresh, a mingling of pine, juniper, flowers and warm wet earth.
Peter is rockin’ the new ride, which looks gorgeous in all its aluminum-boxed and swiss-army-knife kitted glory.
Lunch salads at the Big Timber are great as always. We pick up the tab as a Happy Birthday to Bill, who hit the 6-0 yesterday.
After lunch we head to the gas station, which is closed for graduation (they’ll open back up at 4pm), so it’s off on Hwy 207 towards Mitchell. Bill asked me if I remembered where the little old schoolhouse is on this road, and I told him it’s after Service Creek, on the left in a blind sweeper. I said he’d probably pass it and we’d have to turn around. Sure enough, that’s exactly what we do.
I’ve always wanted to stop here, but just never taken the time. A little one-room schoolhouse at the edge of a wheat field overlooking a small valley. There’s a sign out front, but it’s too old to read from the road. Now we’re stopped we can see it “Waldron School Est 1874″. Surprisingly, the door is open and we’re able to check out the inside. Not much here but dead birds and flies lit by sunlight through the ancient glass window panes. The outhouse is a victim of erosion, falling into the creek bed below.
We leave the little school behind and continue in to Mitchell. Henry isn’t hanging out at the gas station any longer, his owner took him up to the house because he wasn’t spending as much time at the gas station as he used to and didn’t want the bear to get lonely and bored (or hungry – that would be bad). Mike finds some kittens and tries to stuff a few in his pockets, but I catch him and make him put them back.
Ice cream at the store and we head back home. A fun day, glad we got to help Peter put another 200 miles on the new beastie!
This weekend’s jaunt is to check out historic Jacksonville near Medford, then through Klamath Falls and a stop at Collier State Park on Sunday.
Weather was gorgeous on Saturday, although a little nippy in the morning. We dawdled a bit getting going, 23 degrees is chilly, even with heated gear! By the time we got on the road around 9am, it had warmed up to the 30′s and was perfect with our heated gear.
We stopped at Shilo Inn in Medford to see if our room was ready yet, no go, so we stripped off our cold weather gear and headed the 4 miles into Jacksonville in balmy 70 degree weather.
Jacksonville was started in 1851 with the discovery of gold in Rich Gulch. The town’s brick buildings (installed as an answer to the many fires they experienced with the previous wood-frame structures) are very reminiscent of similar gold rush ghost towns on California’s hwy 49.
The town survived the fires and lack of any real gold money by becoming a well-known center of trade for the area. The advent of the railroad in Oregon was exciting for Jacksonville, until they realized the trains would bypass this hilly area, instead using the relative flat valleys through Medford. As Medford grew into a booming metropolis, Jacksonville struggled to keep some of its former glory, fighting hard to keep the county seat by building a bigger and more beautiful courthouse, only to have their best-laid plans go to naught. The county seat moved in 1927, and by the 1930′s the few residents still left were digging underneath the town to scrounge what little gold was left.
Fortunately, the advent of America’s historic preservation movement interceded in the slow decline, and by the mid 1960′s many groups (including US Bank) were helping keep the history of Jacksonville alive.
The town is currently suffering from the low end of another boom/bust era, with some newly minted commercial buildings sitting empty and forlorn at the edge of town, and a budget shortfall that has temporarily closed the museums. I’m sure things will turn around soon, and if this weekend’s traffic was any indication, the core of the town is still healthy.
Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce has a wonderful website http://www.jacksonvilleoregon.org/ that offers tons of information to peruse before you go. The neatest thing offered is the audio tours, which can easily be downloaded and added to your mp3 player. http://www.jacksonvilleoregon.org/audiosite/index.html
If you’ve never saved an mp3 file from the internet, here’s how to do it. Right click on the “download tour” and choose “save link as” then select a location (your documents folder, desktop, wherever you’ll remember it), and click ok. The file will be saved to your computer, then you can load it to your iPod or other mp3 player (put it in the player’s podcast folder so it’s easy to find). Also print off the maps for each of the tours while you’re there.
These tours are just like having a personal docent telling you about the town, its people, and its buildings. A great way to learn! I wish more places did this, it’s a super idea.
After spending hours in town, we headed up the hill to the cemetery. Mike’s not a big fan of hanging out with deceased folks, but this is the most amazing cemetery, and we enjoyed nearly two hours exploring the beautiful grounds and listening to the stories of the people.
You can’t help but be affected by the place. Life was so heartrendingly hard, but people persevered. Simple things we take for granted brought immeasurable hardship to settlers in the 1800′s, but instead of making them trudge through life, they created beauty and art. Tombstones lovingly created with hours of toil live today as a testament to how strong these people really were. I am such a soft, spineless, and whiny fool compared to even the weakest of these souls!
Saturday Pics:
After a good night’s sleep at Shilo, we woke up to wet roads and a light rain. Not in the forecast, but still no big deal. I can’t tell you how much more relaxing it is to have heated gear and not worry about this stuff!
We got going by 8am, and pulled into Collier State Park a little before noon. One other car in the parking lot left just as we were eating some food and checking out the map, so we were all alone with the big trees and antique logging equipment. Halfway through our tour, the rain started to come down, but with our riding gear we stayed warm and dry. Hearing the rain fall and the absolute quiet of this place was so beautiful. The equipment is massive and truly impressive to see, definitely worth stopping!
This was also the inaugural trip for Mike’s new camera, an Optio W80, which is waterproof and cold resistant – perfect for hanging around his neck and snapping shots while riding. I’m happy with the photo quality, very similar to what we were getting from the Canon SD10 before it died (probably because it wasn’t waterproof and we got it pretty wet!).
Sunday Pics:
Started at our regular gas station in Terrebonne, just Bill and us. Through Madras, then onto 293 towards Antelope, the sagebrush looks like grizzled old men, bowing their heads in sleep just waiting for the warmth of summer. We swoop through canyons of red rock, some sharp as shale, other sections looking like pillars of silly sand raised up by a giant hand and now set and weathering the eons.
I’m left to my thoughts until the road gets tight and the corners demand my full attention. Focusing completely on corner signs, reading the entrance and exits and adjusting speed and lean, watching for evil gravel and powering on at just the perfect moment to get that sweet feeling of lean and compression that tells you you’re doing it just right. What a joy to have something forcing me to focus so wholly that I forget everything except what is happening right here, right now.
An “Entering Fossil” and a speed limit sign bring me back to the “real world” and we’ve arrived at our lunch stop. Fossil’s Big Timber restaurant is a favorite for lunch.
Afterward, we take a few photos of the courthouse and other neat local edifices and then head north on 19 towards the open rolling fields and wind generating monoliths of the plains.
At Condon we take 206, then spend awhile wandering the backroads near Moro, trying to find the little canyon cut road that Lorrin, Sue, and Tom took us on a few years ago. Every time we think we have it, the road turns to gravel, and we turn around for another try. We finally make it to Kent by guess and by golly, and after spending some time looking at the old buildings in town and chatting with the locals we hurry home before deer-thirty.
Wapinitia is a tiny ranch community about 15 miles from Simnasho and a few miles from Hwy 216. We’ve ridden through here so many times, and always been intrigued by glimpses of old buildings through the trees. After our ride through here last weekend, I told Mike I wanted a closer look, so we gathered our buddy Steve and headed out.
First stop was the beautiful old church at Simnasho.
This Presbyterian Mission has not been in use since the mid-1960′s. After walking around and trying to avoid the standing water, I realized what I thought was an old downed fence line was actually an ancient boardwalk. Seeing how muddy and swampy the ground is right now, that boardwalk probably came in pretty handy!
Next stop is 15 miles down the road, Wapinitia. We asked a local, and found out we’ve been saying it wrong all along, it’s Wapa-nee-t-siha.
This town was founded in the mid 1800′s, with a post office opening on March 21, 1878 (closed on Feb 8, 1935). The Wapinitia post office was established as the southern terminal for The Dalles to Wapinitia stage line, 47 miles southeast of The Dalles on Wapinitia or Juniper Flat. The original location was about 1 mile west of where Wapinitia stands now. It was moved to its present location at some point before the 1880, to the junction with the Warm Springs Indian Reservation road so as to better serve the people from both localities.
At this time, the creek running through town (see map below) was the divide between the reservation and the flats (the reservation property now stops much closer to Simnasho) which may have been another reason for the location of the town.
Earlier in the week, I found a 1920′s map of this town, showing the location of buildings and a cemetery. I printed it off and we had it with us. Below is the map, colored in with green for the sites we found, red for the buildings the locals said were definitely no longer standing. The rest we are unsure of (click to enlarge).
The first building we visit (#32 on the map) is what we thought was a grange hall when we were riding through before, but it’s actually the “new” school’s gymnasium. It’s currently called Wapinitia Hall, and is sometimes used by a theater group, the Town and Country Players.
In front of this is the cement foundation for the “new” school, which had burned down sometime after 1930.
1930 Photo - courtesy of http://www.historysavers.com/archives/towns/towns4.htm
And, unfortunately, what it looks like today:
Next, we wanted to try and find the old cemetery. The map showed it pretty much directly behind the school at #34, and sure enough, there is was.
This tiny cemetery held few graves, but they are in remarkable shape. I took photos of most, but forgot to note the engravings on some.
Infant
Dau of
HT and CE Corum
Died
Nov 25 1886
—–
Nye Hill
Son of
JA and EJ Noble
Died
Oct 27 1888
Aged 4 years, 5 mos & 4 ds
——–
Lorine Hollamon
Died Nov. 27, 1916
Age 7 Mos.
Darling We Love Thee
———
Susan E.
Wife of
J.M. McClure
Died
Dec 23, 1890
Aged 21 Y’s, 9 mo’s, ? Da’s
I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh
———-
Tomas or Thomas T. Woodruff
Born
???
Died
?? 12, 1889
Gone but not forgotten
——
Eliza H. Davis
Born
Dec ??, 1844
Died
?? 19, 1904
Aged
59 Years
?? Mo.s 7 Days
———-
?? Davis
Aug 28, 1843
Apr. 12, 1909
——–
Joseph Buck
Died
Jan. 4, 1895
Aged
50 Years
——
Mike is not a big fan of cemeteries, so I was happy he was willing to pause here for a few minutes. I love anything that gives me perspective on how short our time here is, and old cemeteries certainly do that. To see even marble begin to crumble and fail after 100 years, and know how little of who we were will be around in 500 or 1,000 years, makes me wonder if anything but love and family are really worth spending time on.
Sobered and quiet, we headed down the road a bit, towards what was the Barzee hotel (#19). The building is now for sale, and has had some extensive (and relatively odd) renovations over the years.
I can’t find any information about the Barzee family, other than knowing they owned the hotel we were currently touring!
Barzee Hotel, 1915 from Wasco History Website
Inside we found our very own Mystery House. With the lack of level surfaces, a walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night could be quite the “trippy” experience here.
Hey, check it out, I'm tall!
So, our question was why there were two hotels in this town so far away from the railway? From online research, I found that there was a Dalles to Wapinitia Concord Stage Coach line which was started sometime in the 1880′s, and continued at least to 1897. Mr. Ortley owned many of the town’s stores and one hotel (I don’t know if this was the Barzee or the Harphram). Ortley took on a Mr. Davis as partner of the store and hotel in 1882. In 1885 Mr. Davis acquired ownership of The Dalles to Wapinitia stage line which he operated, with the help of his sons William and Edward until his death in 1897.
Our next stop is a church on the hill (#21). Still standing, but in pretty sorry shape. I’m glad we took the time to walk up hill and see this gem hidden in the juniper trees.
"The place is looking a little 'tired'"
Knot funny, Steve. History is serious business!
After a quick stop to say hello to some friendly locals of the hoofed variety,
We head down the road towards a road marked “Road” on the map (descriptive, ain’t it?). Every time we ride through here, I love seeing this little old shed with its bowed out sides – looks like someone has completely overstuffed the thing until it’s ready to burst.
Darned guys, drinking too much and always looking for a restroom.
Mike's ready to plow the back 40
Walking down the road towards what we think are #8 and #9 on the map, we are greeted by a dad, mom, and their three kids.
This family is living on the same property where the husband’s granparents grew up. This sweet little homestead is still healthy and liveable. We especially appreciate the gingerbread and three-sided window at the back of the house.
A few more minutes goofing around with some signs laying on the ground,
"Can you hear me now?"
it’s time to get back on the bikes and find some grub in Maupin.
More history on this area is available through the wonderful Wasco County history website.
First school was opened sometime in the early 1880′s
Hiram Cormn had a store in the early 1880′s
The very early post offices was one mile west of Wapinitia. A plot was donated by the Corums,early storekeepers at Wapinitia There 3 infant daughters was buried there,the 1st in nov.of 1885.
Two hotels, a livery stable, a blacksmith shop, and the ever present saloon or “gallon house” all existed in the 1800′s.
E.M. Hartman and son Earnest. built a general merchandise store of approximately 10,000 square feet of space in 1900, including groceries, apparel, household items, school supplies and machinery.
In1912-13 a modern two room school was built that provided education for grades 1-10.
In about 1910 a church was built through community effort;There was a resident minister and a active congregation.
By 1915 there were two general stores, a blacksmith shop, a post office located within one of the stores, a pool hall, and still one gallon house.
In 1915 there was a three year high school and still grade school. 1918-19 the high school was standardized and had 4 grades.
In addition to the Wapinitia school on the flat were Pine Grove, Oak Grove, Victor, Batty, Derthick,and Fairview which had grade schools only, so they attended the Wapinitia high school.
The Commercial Club was very active, with a good brass band.
Water was scarce, there were few wells; majority of households had to haul water in long wagons, storing it in cisterns. People who had seep wells were very fortunate. Irrigation was still a dream, as it had been since the 1800′s. Water from the mountains for irrigation came to Juniper Flat around 1920.
Roads were unimproved, inches deep in dust in summer and hub deep in mud in winter. The first improvement in roads was when the market road from Wapinitia to the lower end of the Flat was built in 1922 or 23. That was gravel, not paved. Pavement started in 1927.
The 1930′s saw the gradual change from horses to tractors for farming.
REA brought a welcome change in the lives of all in 1927 — electicity.
http://www.historysavers.com/archives/towns/towns4.htm
http://home.centurytel.net/flossie/
http://www.wasco-history.r9esd.k12.or.us/comm/wapinit.html
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~westklic/howcoc7a.htm
My new back tire came in on Thursday. I figured it was time for new tires since the old set had 10,000 miles on ‘em. At first I thought we’d wait until the backordered front arrived before getting them installed, but we decided to take it in to Pro Caliber first thing Saturday morning. They did their usual quick and perfect job, and after checking out some neat snow-x conversions, we were on our way.
On the drive back to Terrebonne, Mike says “lets go ride!”, I say sure, he calls Bill Philo and Bill says “Sure!”. This is the best kind of riding buddy, when a phone call out of the blue on a February morning gets him out on his bike and ready to ride in 1/2 hour or less.
We get to Terrebonne gas station, and Bill’s already there with Steve. We get gassed up and ready to roll. Since it’s late, we decide on a short loop through Gateway and then Madras for a late lunch before heading home.
In Gateway we explore the old train depot, a very neat old building that looks like it’s seen a few different tries at being renovated and nothing really stuck.
After waiting for the train to pass, we gear up and head into Madras for some excellent homemade soup and cornbread at the truck stop, then on home, ready for another day of riding tomorrow.
