Compiled by Don Hoiness from archived copies of The Bulletin at Deschutes County Historical Society.

100 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 17, 1918

Economical seaman decided to wait until some other day to have his picture taken

If there is a general impression that America is slow to fall into the routine of economy and conservation, the belief has not impressed itself upon a veteran photographer to seamen, whose curbside studio is somewhere along the river front, writes a New York correspondent of the Pittsburgh Dispatch. Recently he had a hard five minutes with a Yankee subject, and he decided that certain traits of the Scot are developing in these United States. The photographer piped the man of the sea rolling along the street and besought him to have his picture taken, assuring him that the loved ones at home are not to be forgotten and that these days a striking pictorial memento is of especial value. The seaman, just off his vessel, stopped. He was a very grouchy seaman, but one likely to have funds, somehow, and so the photographer was at great pains to get him suitably posed and ready for the permanent record of his afternoon appearance. The last detail had been arranged and the seaman was standing flatly and determinedly against a fence when the camera man started to press the bulb. “Wait,” said the subject, getting out of pose. “I’ll be here for a week and I’ll see you again for a picture.” “Well why not now?” “Cause,” answered the economical seaman. “I got a chaw of terbacceh in me face today. I’ll be along again toward the end of the week — someday when I ain’t got a chaw in me mouth.”

Predict drive toward Italy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Allied military men here predict that Germany plans to direct her major offensive in the Balkans and Italy and is spreading the news of the west front preparations to camouflage this movement.

The net result of troop movements from the east has been the replacement of the tired and decimated divisions with fresh troops. An appreciable numerical strengthening has been made at only one point, they say.

The military experts are not apprehensive over the prospect of such a drive, saying that the allied forces in the Balkans and Italy are strong. They admit, however, if Germany takes Venice she will be able to bring men and supplies over the Adriatic from Trieste instead of over the alps.

Vernon Castle is killed in airplane

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Vernon Castle, British aviation captain and the world’s highest salaried dancer, was killed in a falling airplane this morning. He had been stationed here several months as an instructor.

The famous dancer has been in the aviation service since shortly after Great Britain’s entrance in the war.

When the accident occurred Castle was trying to land while instructing an American student. He swerved to avoid a collision with another flyer.

75 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 17, 1943

Death of Bill Cheney recalls stirring days of Bend’s transition from village to city

W.D. Cheney, whose name means little to newer residents of Bend but brings back a host of memories to residents who were here from 1911 to 1919, died at his home in Oklahoma.

“Bill” Cheney was a moving figure in the vibrant days of Bend’s transition from town to city.

He was a Seattle resident in 1911 and a man who was independently wealthy. He became interested in Bend to such a degree that his prediction of growth for the town exceeded even the fondest hopes of local residents. He predicted, following the coming of the railroad and with establishment of two large lumber mills in the offing, that Bend would “become another Spokane,” and perhaps grow to a city of 100,000.

His enthusiasm resulted in the formation of the Bend Park company, under which large tracts of land surrounding the original townsite of Bend were bought and subdivided. Among the subdivisions are the Bend Park addition and first, second and third additions to Bend Park. Lots owned by the company numbered into the thousands.

Mr. Cheney is probably best remembered in Bend for his formation of the Emblem Club in 1911. He purchased the A.M. Drake property on the east side of the river, which then included the original portion of the present Masonic Hall. To the old Drake house was added the Emblem Hall, which is still in use as the Masonic temple.

Neutrals say Hitler given defeat blame

Neutral advices from Berlin to Stockholm said today Adolf Hitler had called a conference of his foremost generals, including Field Marshals Fedor von Bock and Waither von Brauchitsch, and offered to withdraw “temporarily” from active command of axis armies in Russia.

But Hitler wanted to remain commander-in-chief, the dispatches said. The generals, seeing he was looking for scapegoats, demanded that he give up his ambitions entirely, it was said, and resign himself to a purely ornamental role, like the late Kaiser Wilhelm had occupied during the World War.

Hitler was reported to have indignantly refused this demand, and presumably was left to bear responsibility for Nazi disasters in Russia alone.

50 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 17, 1968

Museum project will take many shoulders on wheel (editorial)

The 700-member Deschutes Pioneers Association, headed by Rancher-Author Reuben A. Long, of Fort Rock, as president, has undertaken a project that will require considerable shoulder-to-the-wheel cooperation.

That project is establishment in Bend of a historical museum.

Certainly there is a need for such a museum. Through the decades, the Bend site has been the cross-roads of history. In 1853, immigrants wheeled in from the east, to establish camp on the edge of the Deschutes and wonder if they should attempt to cross the Cascades to Eugene City over the flanks of the Three Sisters or head south. 100 years ago last fall a big outfit of wagons moving supplies from Fort Dalles to Fort Klamath stopped overnight at the Bend location.

Earlier, it appears that a segment of the Blue Bucket Mine wagon train wandered here from the Crooked River after being lost on the High Desert.

True, the immigrants and the earlier explorers, such as Nathaniel Wyeth and John C. Fremont, left few objects, if any, that might be displayed in a museum.

First white occupancy of the mid-Oregon country dates back 100 years. It was not long after Barney Prine set up his all-purpose home-tavern-blacksmith shop on the edge of Crooked River that stockmen started wandering into the green basins of the upper Deschutes country. With that occupancy came objects that can now be considered museum material. There is also much rich material for historians — pictures, old letters, farm records, hotel registration books, city records, documents related to World War I and old ledgers.

A few of these objects have been displayed at the Deschutes County Courthouse, but space there is limited. Deschutes Pioneers have realized the great need for a historical museum not only to display historical material, but to save it for future generations.

Now the Pioneers are on the move again. The Deschutes County Courthouse has offered an old building adjacent to the courthouse for museum purposes. A museum commission has been formed. Interest of the old timers in the effort was indicated by the large turnout earlier this week when the commission was organized.

Note to Readers: The current Deschutes Historical Museum was opened in 1980 in the historic Reid School in downtown Bend at 129 NW Idaho Ave. It is operated by the Deschutes County Historical Society which incorporated in Aug. 4, 1975. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

25 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 17, 1993

Hero’s 40-year wait was worth it

Reis Leming finally met the queen of England — and the queen mother, for good measure. He said the face-to-face meeting Sunday was worth waiting 40 years for.

“It was the most overwhelming thing in my life,” said Leming. “I’ve seen pictures of her for 40 years but when she’s standing there looking at you, you’re spellbound.”

Leming and his wife, Kathy, returned early Thursday to their home near Sunriver after two weeks in England. Leming, 62, was honored for repeatedly wading through floodwaters to rescue 34 people in the village of Hunstanton in 1953 during the worst flooding to ever hit the country.

The Eastern Daily Press, a daily newspaper based in Norfolk, England, and American Airlines brought the Lemings back to Hunstanton for memorial services marking the 40th anniversary of the disaster.

On Jan. 31, more than 500 people packed the village church and stood outside listening to a service commemorating the floods. It was moving enough — but afterward, a woman about Leming’s age and her two grown daughters came up to him, crying.

He had rescued the three of them 40 years ago. Leming had never met any of the people he saved.

“I had pulled them out of a house …” said Leming Thursday, pausing as his eyes filled with tears.

The meeting with the queen came after she and her family attended church at Sandringham Palace.

Next to meeting the queen, Leming’s favorite moment came when he stood alone in the control tower of Sculthorpe Royal Air Force base, listening to the past. He was based at the now-mothballed base as a young airman.

Bosnian student’s flight ends in L.A.

A 1990 exchange student to Bend arrived safely in Los Angeles Thursday after fleeing her war-torn homeland in the Balkans.

Anesa Zaimovic’s 36-hour flight from Ljubljana, Slovenia ended with a reunion with her brother Vedo Thursday afternoon. She then called her former host mother, Susan Harless of Bend.

“She said, ‘Hi Mom. I made it,’ Harless said. “She was well. She’s feeling fine and sounded perky. That was the most important thing, just to hear the tone in her voice.”

After her exchange program at Mountain View High School in 1989-90, Zaimovic returned to her native Yugoslavia as the country began splitting into republics and heading toward civil war. A Bosnian Muslim, she left her parents behind in Serb-occupied Sarajevo last year and spent the last 10 months in Slovenia trying to get a visa to America.

Susan Harless and her husband, Keith, helped arrange for Zaimovic’s return and have enrolled the 19-year-old in COCC where she may pursue a degree in business administration or education.

However, the Harlesses say Zaimovic has no money to attend school. COCC has set up a scholarship fund for Zaimovic. Donations to pay for her tuition and books may be made through the COCC Foundation, according to director Marilyn Karnopp.