Compiled by Don Hoiness from archived copies of The Bulletin at the Des Chutes Historical Museum.
100 YEARS AGO
For the week ending
Feb. 16, 1913
Mules run away, with dynamite in the rig
A puff of steam, two mules, a box of dynamite and a minister figured in a short but exciting runaway Monday on Wall Street. No casualties resulted as the “jarheads" were stopped before they had a chance to wreck the rig and “blow up the town."
Fireman Louis Dooner, in charge of “steam boiler No. 22" at the intersection of Wall and Ohio streets, got up too big a head of steam and there was a popoff. The mules, hitched to the rig of the Pioneer Telephone Company, were standing nearby, and though usually very meek and safe, got frisky and made a dash to get away from the noise that they did not like to penetrate their long ears. Being mere mules, they did not know that there was a box of dynamite (50 pounds of it!) on the rig and that there was more danger in running than in standing still, so they ran.
They were just getting into a good stride when Rev. E.G. Judd, the Baptist pastor, saw them and became a dramatis persona in this little affair. Having been reared on a farm and therefore acquainted to a slight extent at least with his muleship, Mr. Judd voluntarily assumed the role of missionary to these benighted Balaamites, and while his colleague Dr. Gorby, looked on approvingly, Judd floundered out into the mud of the street and was successful in halting the runaways before any damage had befallen the mules or the town.
He says he did not know of the dynamite being on the rig at the time or else he might not have heeded the Macedonian cry to “Stop dem dar mules."
Wage campaign on tree beetle
The Secretary of Agriculture announces that investigations conducted in 1907 and 1910 to determine the conditions on the area of more than 1 million acres in northeastern Oregon showed that the killing of a large number of trees by the mountain pine beetle has been going on in this area since 1905. It was estimated that 35 percent of the lodgepole pine on about 1 million acres and 50 percent of the matured lodgepole on 800,000 acres of the same area had been killed, or a total of over 8 million trees. It was also estimated that 140,000 yellow pine had been killed by this beetle and that the invasion was moving south and southeast into the more valuable areas of yellow pine.
75 YEARS AGO
For the week ending
Feb. 16, 1938
Gold discoverer’s gun is treasured
When Californians observe the anniversary of the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall in 1848, perhaps few know that momentous event was made possible by Marshall’s silver-inlaid Kentucky rifle.
The gun with which Marshall shot game for food and fought off wild animals on his long trek across the wild Western plains is in the possession of Elton F. Bailey, Merced service station proprietor.
Marshall’s survival and subsequent discovery of gold one January afternoon in the millrace of Sutter’s mill in California’s El Dorado county fired the nation’s spirit of adventure. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants poured into California to create a great mining industry and open new fields of business and commerce.
Into the mints of the national government poured more than $2 billion which history records as helping finance the north in the Civil War.
Beautifully carved, the rifle is inlaid with silver and copper. Its barrel bears Marshall’s inscribed name and near the trigger are his initials, worn almost smooth.
After he picked up that nugget of gold, worth not more than $5, Marshall’s claims to the land on which gold was discovered were disregarded by the inrushing gold seekers, the sawmill which he was building in partnership with John A. Sutter failed for want of laborers.
Reduced to gardening for a living, he died impoverished. The rifle he gave to a Dr. Worthington, of Placerville, Calif., once a prosperous mining town. The doctor gave the weapon to George Bailey with the understanding that it should pass to the oldest living male member of the Bailey family. The elder Bailey died recently, and according to the death-bed edict, the gun was passed on to his son.
Big antelope herd reported near Bend
Reports of at least 3,000 antelope in one herd were brought to Bend this week by stockmen, who said the pronghorns were in the snow-covered Millican Valley, only about 25 miles east of Bend. First information about the large herd was brought here by Con Guiney. Later W.A. Rahn, of Millican, said that antelope are now grazing in the Millican-Brothers area.
50 YEARS AGO
For the week ending
Feb. 16, 1963
Kennedy has got country moving again
President Kennedy has got the country moving again.
Foot-loose and fancy-free Americans, from Boy Scouts to Air Force majors, hit the open road this weekend in response to a presidential challenge to the Marine Corps.
It all started when Kennedy told Gen. David M. Shoup, Marine Corps commandant, to implement a 1908 order by Theodore Roosevelt requiring officers periodically to hike 50 miles within three days.
Some walked softly and some dragged their feet, but most of the hikers covered the back trails of the New Frontier in less than 20 hours.
The Marines, of course, led the way.
Even President Kennedy turned in a brisk quarter-mile walk. Atty. Gen. Robert F. Kennedy tramped 50 miles from Great Falls to Harper’s Ferry, Va., and left four companions behind.
A Marine trainee who went the route in 14 hours, when asked if he would do it again, said “every time the Marine Corps is challenged, Sir."
Bobby Hoffman, a 14-year-old Boy Scout who trudged with four pals from Dodgeville, Wis., to Dubuque, Iowa, said “I’m not ready to do it again tomorrow, but give me a month and I’ll be ready."
Air Force Capt. Fritz A. Byrum, who stomped his way to uncertain glory in 14 hours and 15 minutes at Montgomery, Ala., when asked if he cared to volunteer again, said “No Sir. Not on your life."
A Marine Corps lieutenant in California claimed the national record. First Lieutenant Roger Price, of El Toro Marine Base, made the 50 miles in 10 hours and 30 minutes.
“The first 50 miles were the toughest," he shrugged.
A Texas Air Force officer came in a close second, Lt. Col. Ronald Force, from Ohio, marched round and round a 4.6 mile course at Amarillo Air Force in 10 hours, 30 minutes and 45 seconds.
Some critics said Force ought to be penalized because the Amarillo terrain is so flat.
Atty. Gen. Kennedy, despite a nearly 18-hour time, finished the final 200 yards with a sprint. The four Justice Department aides dropped out, exhausted.
25 YEARS AGO
For the week ending
Feb. 16, 1988
It’s more than sibling rivalry
Suzi Kukar shouldn’t be hard to find in the stands tonight at the girls basketball game between Bend High and Mountain View. She will be at mid-court, flanked by Lava Bear fans on one side, Cougar partisans on the other.
The outcome of the game will weigh greatly on both teams’ post-season playoff chances. In fact with a daughter on each team, Suzi Kukar will be watching with greater interest than anybody in the gym. Nicki Kukar is a senior guard for the cougars and Krissy Kukar is a sophomore guard for the Lava Bears.
“It’s very difficult when they play against each other," says Suzi Kukar, adding that because it’s hard to root for one daughter without rooting against the other, “I just have to hold my breath."
But what sounds like a parent’s nightmare in reality has been a good experience for the Kukars.
“A lot of people probably think we go home from the games and fight," says Suzi. “But that’s not the case. The girls are very mature. They’ve worked overtime at being good sports."
The Kukars became a two-school family when Krissy bucked family tradition and announced her desire to attend Bend High. Athletics had nothing to do with the decision, she insists.
“I’d always followed behind my brother and sister," Krissy relates. “I wanted to do something different."
Her parents and sister were shocked. Her older brother, Kevin, a Mountain View grad and a former Cougar basketball player, took the news especially hard.
“He refused to talk to me for a long time," says Krissy.
“He thought she was a traitor," recalls Bill Kukar.
According to Bill, he and his wife were not excited about Krissy’s plan. “It created some logistics problems," he explains. “But our philosophy is that we want our kids to think for themselves and choose for themselves."
The Kukars all agree that what might have been a powder-keg situation for some families has been a healthy experience for them.
Normally, Nicki roots for Krissy against other opponents, and vice versa. But if Nicki makes a big play for Mountain View tonight, don’t look for Krissy to lead the applause. And if Krissy is driving to the basket for Bend, don’t be surprised to see Nicki step in to take the charge.
What you can expect is that after the Civil War on the basketball court, peace will prevail in the Kukar home. Probably.
Note to readers: The Lava Bears won the game 51 to 48, and a spot in the playoffs. Krissy Kukar was high scorer for Bend.
