100 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Aug. 3, 1913

More than 200 on excursion

That this year’s Seattle excursion to Bend will be a record event of the kind for a town the size of this is evidenced by the reports of progress coming from the Sound city. Already more than 160 people are said to have signed up — and paid up — for the trip, and there seems every respect that more than 200 Washingtonians will take the unique opportunity to pay Bend a visit. The Oregon Trunk train that brings the tourists will be a solid Pullman outfit, with dining and baggage cars, and will be the most luxurious train yet seen in Central Oregon. As last year, the Bend Park Company is originator and manager of the big excursion which reaches here the afternoon of Sunday, August 17, remaining all day Monday.

The fact that the convention of the Central Oregon Development League comes on August 19, 20 and 21 is causing no little embarrassment to local men who want to be on hand for the Seattle excursion and who also are pledged to attend the Klamath Falls meet.

It is probable that some of those who planned to go to Klamath will not start until Tuesday morning, thus arriving a day late there but being on hand here to help entertain the Seattle people.

A further attraction of the day will be the flower show of the Ladies Library Club, now an annual event of special interest. It has been decided to hold this on Monday, when the visitors are here, so that it will serve the double purpose of a local event and show strangers what can be done on the Deschutes in a way of producing flowers and keeping up attractive places.

Jefferson climbers find record of ascent in 1854

Donald May and Donald Blanding returned July 25 from a ten days walking trip in the Mt. Jefferson country, which they pronounce the most attractive district imaginable for an outing such as theirs.

Starting out from Heising’s on the Metolius river, they rambled through the country around Jefferson and made the ascent of the peak. At least going up from the southeast side, they got to within a hundred feet of the summit, further progress being barred by an almost perpendicular pinnacle. At this point they found a bottle — an old fashioned whiskey bottle — which contained a record of real historic interest, of which the following is a verbatim copy:

“Within less than 100 feet of the summit of Mt. Jefferson, Oregon, Wednesday, August 13, 1879. On this date, about noon, we, J.B. Waldo and E.W. Bingham of Portland, Oregon, climbed to this spot and deposited this record. We have found the record of Preston Looney, July 11, 1854, on the pinnacle immediately south of this, and of others later. As we consider this spot the greatest elevation we have ever attained we prefer to deposit ours here. August 13, 1879. (signed) J.H Waldo and E.W. Bingham.”

An interesting item of the trip was that the Bend hikers found excellent speckled brook trout fishing in a small stream running from Jefferson into the Metolius, which they believe is called Jefferson creek.

They had been told that there was absolutely no fish in any of these streams.

75 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Aug. 3, 1938

Pleistocene iced tea

Resourceful members of the University of Oregon anthropology camp in the Fort Rock basin set up their own refrigeration system through the use of ice from a cavern in the south Paulina foothills, then reminded visitors that iced tea served by the camp cook had been chilled by the product of a distant epoch, the Pleistocene. Whether the ice used in the U of O summer camp was 10,000 years old, as the young scientists surmised, or whether it was formed in recent years probably will never be known, but it is certain that the student anthropologists were not the first to use Central Oregon cave ice to chill and preserve foods.

Even in the Fort Rock basin, ranchers for many years have been using nature’s ice, from the South Ice cave. It has been found there is enough ice in this one cavern to supply all of northern Lake county. In the Bend country, there is even a more famous ice cavern, the Arnold ice cave, from whose lava chambers tons of ice were secured in early days. The Arnold ice cave was especially popular in the days prior to artificial refrigeration, and in the years when there were failures in “ice crops” in the Bend community.

Contrary to general opinion, Bend was not entirely dependent on Arnold cave ice during the early years. Generally ice was “harvested” from irrigation ponds, one of which was just north of town, and placed in sawdust insulated houses. However, there were years when that Arnold ice cave was in much demand. The ice was hauled into Bend in wagons, drawn usually by four horses.

During the years in which the Arnold cavern ice was in considerable demand, there is a possibility that local residents really used ice, age of which dated back to thousands of years. It is generally known that clear, lower layers of the cave ice is very old. Under some of this ice have been discovered the bones of mammals no longer represented on the earth.

There are some who hold the untenable theory that ice found in the Bend caves is a remnant of the great ice sheet that once covered part of the continent, having been covered by molten rock. But scientists say that cave ice is merely the result of water accumulation and cavern temperature. It appears that within these caves there is a longer period of refrigeration than of melting each year.

Consequently, ice accumulates, just as long as there is a supply of water from the surface.

50 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Aug. 3, 1963

Winners named in pageant parade

Tommy Guyer, 7, son of Dr. and Mrs. William Guyer, was the sweepstakes winner in the Pet Parade Saturday. He wore a red and white clown suit and carried two guinea pigs in the basket of his decorated bicycle. His sister, Ann, 4, riding a tricycle and wearing a polka-dot clown suit was second place winner in the section for decorated wheelers.

First place winners were Elizabeth Spring, 6, and Mike Spring , 4, children of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Spring (walking division). The Spring children were the Queen and Jack of hearts, leading their dachshund dressed in a skirt and neck ruff. In the decorated wheels division were Colleena Singleton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Vern Singleton, Linda Kohfield, daughter of Mrs. Roy Triplett, and Billy Bowers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Bowers. Colleena, as Cleopatra, riding in a wagon and wearing a mop wig and a robe made of towels, was borne by Linda, her slave, in a gunny sack and Roman sandals.

Billy used a cardboard box and flowing tail to transform his bike into a horse.

25 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

August 3, 1988

Lofty lodge labor of love

More than a few Central Oregon office workers might wish they could change places with one of the workers who poured concrete last week for the second floor of the Pine Marten lodge at the Mount Bachelor ski area.

Though there’s no doubt that the labor is hard, there’s also no doubt that on sunny days up there at 7,800 feet above sea level, with the world fanning out from the slopes of the mountain and the Three Sisters snagging clouds just up the way, the distinction between work and pleasure becomes blurred.

Despite the scenic distractions, workers had completed 35 percent of the $3.5 million lodge by the end of last week. Work on the lodge began in May and is scheduled to be completed in late November.

When the Pine Marten lodge is finished, the ski area on Mount Bachelor will boast six lodges, four of them — like Pine Marten — day lodges with food service.

“It’ll have food service, a restaurant, fine dining, casual dining, a sun deck, a small gift and ski shop and restrooms,” said Mount Bachelor Inc. spokeswoman Adriana Clark.

She said ski area planners anticipate that when the weather changes and skiers once again make their way to Mount Bachelor’s slopes, the lofty new Pine Marten lodge will become one of their favorite stops.