Compiled by Don Hoiness from archived copies of The Bulletin at the Des Chutes Historical Museum.

100 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Aug. 2, 1914

First use of binder by Millican homesteaders

H.F. Dyer, a prominent homesteader of the Millican Valley, came in to town on Saturday with visible proof of the fertility of the soil in his country, and of the results of intelligent dry farming.

The proof was in the shape of a big sheaf of rye produced in one year after breaking ground on his homestead. In all he has had in this year about eight acres of rye which will run from 15 to 20 bushels to the acre. J.E. Johnson, a neighbor of Mr. Dyer’s, also is making a showing with rye this year, having in some 20 acres. He, too, brought in a sheaf of his grain to be turned over to the Commercial Club for exhibit in Portland.

Rye is not all with Mr. Dyer, however, for he has corn, beans and even tomatoes that are all going to bear this year, the first being almost ready to furnish their supplies to the family table. The tomatoes are still green but are expected to ripen soon.

Both Dyer and the Johnson grain have been harvested with a binder, the first to be operated in the Millican Valley.

Man murdered at breakfast

Avery G. Scoggin, who has held the mail contract between Prineville and Paulina for a number of years, was murdered at breakfast time Friday on his ranch near Paulina by Henry McDowell, one of his drivers.

Scoggin was killed as he sat at the breakfast table talking over some business affairs with George Taylor. McDowell came into the room with a loaded Winchester. He accused Scoggin of making threats against his life, which were denied by Scoggin, according to Taylor.

He ordered Scoggin out of the room into the yard and upon Scoggin’s failure to do as he was bid McDowell raised his gun and fired.

The murdered man never moved from his seat during the incident. The impact of the bullet was so great that the head was almost entirely blown from the body.

Sheriff Elkins, District Attorney Wirts, County Physician Rosenberg and Coroner Poindexter were notified by telephone of the crime by the murderer himself who waited at the place of the crime until the authorities arrived. The coroner’s jury lodged a charge of murder in the first degree against McDowell.

Some believe that McDowell was infatuated with Scoggin’s wife. At the inquest Mrs. Scoggin attempted to justify the act by stating that for the month prior to the crime, her husband, because of excessive drinking, had threatened to kill her and all then employed on the place. At the time of the homicide, Scoggin had no weapon about him larger than a pearl handled pen knife. McDowell had in his possession the only firearm on the place, which belonged to Scoggin, the murdered man. Taylor was an eye-witness to the tragedy, although Mrs. Scoggin was on the front porch. Mrs. Taylor was in an adjoining room and came in immediately after the tragedy and others were about the house and barn.

75 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Aug. 2, 1939

Nazis to observe war anniversary

Greater Germany’s mighty army tomorrow will celebrate, by special order of Adolf Hitler, the 25th anniversary of the outbreak of the World War. As supreme commander, Hitler ordered ceremonial parades by the armed forces “at which will be recalled the significance of the day on which the German people 25 years ago took up the fight to defend their existence against a hostile superiority of forces.”

When Wilhelm II ordered general mobilization on Sunday Aug, 2, 1914, and flung his armies against imperial Russia, Germany had a standing army of less than 700,000. Today Hitler’s Third Reich has a standing army of 1,000,000, swollen by reservists now with the colors to 1,800,000. By the end of August the total is expected to reach about 2,000,000.

The big asset of the German forces today is the air force, regarded as perhaps the most potent in Europe. Germany has about 10,000 modern planes, and its industry is geared in a manner that is regarded as unequaled abroad for mass production of aircraft.

In 1914 Germany had a high seas fleet of sufficient power to challenge Britain. Today the fleet, hampered by its years of stagnation, is less than 35 percent the strength of Britain’s.

In 1914 Germany had huge accumulated stock of raw materials, gold and reserves. Today her industry, geared for racing pace production on a war time scale, has been starved of raw materials, hampered by a shortage of foreign currency and fed more and more on substitute or second grade materials.

First women in Oregon had club

The first six white women to cross the Rockies into Oregon did much toward making the northwest the “cradle of western American civilization” Dr. Clifford Merrill Drury, biographer and historian, told University of Oregon summer session students in an address recently.

In 1838 these women joined together to form the first women‘s club west of the divide, the Columbia Maternal Association, which was “devoted to the founding of Christian homes in the west” in the hope that they might train their children and husbands “in the way that they should go,” said Dr. Drury, who has unearthed much new material in his research for biographies of Marcus Whitman and Henry Spalding.

The first white women in Oregon were the wives of these two famed pioneers, who with their coming in 1836 laid not only the groundwork for Christianity in the northwest, but helped cast the die for progressive communities of which they dreamed but were never to see. “The work that has been done thus far in investigating the lives of these lesser known pioneers has hardly begun. We are still too young a people, perhaps, but realization of the import of their problems will come in time,” the speaker declared.

He urged conservation of the old letters and relics that the northwest has to offer, and pointed to their study as a possible solution to more fully understanding the future.

50 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Aug. 2, 1964

Plenty of animation noted on ‘64 floats (By Phil F. Brogan)

There was plenty of animation on the Mirror Pond of the Deschutes last night as the Bend Chamber of Commerce presented its 1964 pageant — a colorful show in a picturesque setting.

Not all animation was confined to the broad river and the flaming arch: rockets sprayed the July sky with rain fire much to the amusement of the youngsters group close to the edges of the river, in Drake Park.

Queen and princesses provided part of the animation, as they waved from swan and cygnets. First float under the arch, “Mississippi River Ballads” added its bit of action, as did “Alaskan Ballads,” with gold seeker waving from a dog-drawn sled close to white mountains. On this barge was a real totem pole from Alaska.

“Railroad Ballads” was next, with abundant action as wheels of a locomotive slowly turned. “Gold Rush”, a mining scene, was next.

Then came “American Outlaws.” This featured western action, including dance hall girls and men fast on the draw. Spectators liked this float.

Next under the arch was “Negro Spirituals,” symbolic of an era when people of the south produced songs and music that stirred a young nation.

“Civil War” and “Sounds of a Nation” presented a real thriller. Here two ships of war battled it out in the dark as cannons poured their fire into opponents. “Sea Chanty” made it possible for the narrator to recount some of the maritime history of a nation that now rules the waves.

As the colorful first night fete drew to a close, a beautiful float “Hawaii” entered the river as dancers moved under palms in the shadow of an active volcano.

Final float was “World War Ballads” depicting the familiar Iwo Jima flag-raising scene.

Hal Park and Ron Young are co-chairmen of this year’s hard-working pageant committee. Other committee members who have been on the job for weeks, are Clarence Bells, Marion Cady, Richard Cannon, Dick Carlson, Bob Fowler, Vince Genna, Bill Hatch, Jr., Chuck Johnson, Dick Maudlin, Hugh McNair, Don Parrish, Gary Raper, Paul Reynolds, Tom Rutherford, Dick Sargent, Homer Smith and Wayne Thomson. Scores of other workers have assisted.

25 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Aug. 2, 1989

NASA funds granted for study of C.O. lava caves

A Portland-based group has received a grant from NASA to study lava caves in Central Oregon as possible simulators for a manned base on the moon.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials in Washington, D.C., confirmed this morning that the contract had been awarded to the Oregon L-5 Society. The money will be used to map some caves east of Bend and perform other tests.

Tom Billings, an L-5 Society member, said money also will allow early-stage development of a simulated lunar base on Central Oregon lava caves.

“We’re very happy,” Billings said of the grant. “Until you get your first NASA contract in this sort of thing, you’re not really real.”

Billings said temperature extremes and solar radiation make surface bases on the moon less attractive than underground bases in lava tubes.

But despite strong circumstantial evidence, there is no direct proof that lava tubes exist on the moon, Billings said.

The L-5 Society, a chapter of the National Space Society, is made up of private citizens who are interested in space. For three years, the group has been advocating a theory forwarded by scientist Friedrich Horz that huge lava tubes like those in Central Oregon may exist on the moon. If they do, they would make ideal locations for manned lunar bases.

The society has a long term lease with the city of Bend to conduct experiments in caves on city-owned land. In the past, the experiments involved bringing Oregon Museum of Science and Industries’ Young Astronauts, a Boy Scout-like program, to the caves to simulate what it would be like live in a lava cave in the moon.

Even though the grant is small by NASA standards, it may add legitimacy to the society’s efforts and therefore lure other grants from private corporations working in space development, according to Billings.

The money will be used to accurately map the caves that the L-5 Society is leasing from the city. Some mapping has been done already, but it’s not detailed enough, Billings said.

Grant money also will be used to measure roof strength in the caves.