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

100 Years ago

For the week ending

Dec. 30, 1917

Gold lies buried

One of the stories of buried treasure known to every old Texan, and particularly to Mexicans, is that relating to a vast sum in Spanish gold and jewelry buried at the root of a tree near what is now Summit Place.

The story deals with the victorious march of the Mexican troops under Santa Anna in 1836 when, after the Alamo and after Gollad, they went to meet the little band of Texas patriots at San Jacinto. On the march followers of the Mexican leader are said to have possessed themselves of money and jewelry in large quantities. Santa Anna is declared to have confiscated all this wealth, intending later to restore it to its owners.

But Santa Anna never had the opportunity. General Sam Houston met the Mexicans at San Jacinto and before the sun had set on April 21 the Texans had routed the Mexicans. Santa Anna and a large part of his forces were taken prisoners, but not all of them. The treasure bearers are said to have escaped and started for Mexico. On arrival at San Antonio, where news of the decisive defeat of Santa Anna had been received, they were afraid to venture farther with their precious burden.

Beside a gnarled oak to the north of San Antonio, some distance from the Camino Real, the men are said to have buried the treasure. The oak tree is known to many, and even at this late date gold hunters have dug in search of the pile.

On Salinas street in San Antonio, are two ramshackle huts accredited with holding a fortune of gold and silver. One of them, at least seventy-five years of age, was once the haunt of a band of French freebooters, whose leader wore a huge black beard. These men, the legend says, used to absent themselves from San Antonio for days at a time, and their return always coincided with stories of wagon trains being held up and looted.

The report says they buried much of their loot in the floor of the adobe hut, and searchers for it have appeared off and on for half a century. The most recent was a half-Indian “medicine man” who came there from San Marcos about three years ago. The man carried a divining rod and sought to locate the treasure by its means. The various holes he and others dug are still visible.

Growth of city in 1917 large

That Bend has grown more this year than in any other of its history is shown by the large number of substantial buildings erected, the increase in bank deposits and the improvements and additions made in all branches of business.

The town is growing in wealth. There are no unemployed. Many big buildings have been erected, including the Bend Amateur Athletic quarters. A large addition to the Shevlin-Hixon mill was made and the Brooks-Scanlon company is now constructing a new dry shed on account of the need for increased storage space.

75 Years ago

For the week ending

Dec. 30, 1942

Hitler predicts 
hard year ahead

Adolf Hitler in an order of the day told the German armed forces today that “the year 1943 perhaps will be a difficult one but certainly it will be no more difficult than the past one.” The order of the day was broadcast by the German Trans-ocean news service.

“God gave the force to overcome last winter,” Hitler’s order said. “And therefore we also will overcome the present winter and the coming year still better. One thing is certain: In this struggle there can be no compromise.”

He surveyed German military developments of the last year and thanked the armed forces for their efforts.

“The struggle may be hard,” he said. “And the scales of success often may seem to be on the side of our enemies, but in the end — you know it — German victory will be the final conclusion.”

Discussing the allied occupation of North Africa, Hitler said there was a violation of the French-German armistice on the part of French generals. The German occupation of southern France, Biserte and Tunis enabled German forces to obtain positions of decisive importance, Hitler said.

General Tojo tells Parliament Solomons unhealthy region

General Hideki Tojo, Japanese premier and war lord, complained to the Japanese parliament yesterday of the difficulties under which his troops are operating and the enormous numbers of allied forces opposing them.

He told the Parliament, in a report on the first year of Pacific war, that the first phase of surprise attacks and lightning successes had given way to the second phase which should be one of decisive battles.

Tojo said British forces in India totaled 1.6 million men and were continually increasing.

He said that on Guadalcanal island in the Solomons the Japanese were undergoing great hardships in an unhealthy region, and in the Aleutians off Alaska troops were enduring “almost unimaginable” privations and difficulties.

In China, Tojo said, the Japanese faced 300,000 Chinese and 600,000 “communist” troops and an allied air force of 300 planes.

Admiral Shigetori, navy minister, admitted to parliament that Japan had lost one battleship, three airplane carriers, four cruisers, 15 destroyers, nine submarines, three other naval craft and 65 merchant ships, totaling 200,000 tons and one battleship, two carriers, three cruisers, nine destroyers, one submarine and 10 naval craft of other types damaged. He put Japanese naval plane losses at 568.

50 Years ago

For the week ending

Dec. 30, 1967

Sewer system construction would be costly in Bend

Sewer system construction in Bend will cost taxpayers nearly twice as much per foot to install as it would in other areas of the state because of subsurface rock conditions that make all types of underground construction expensive.

Expansion of Bend’s existing sewer system was constructed in 1913. The City commission was told that the present sewer facilities mainly serve the downtown district, and that the system is structurally sound but inadequate to serve the area much longer.

The completion of the proposed new system and expansion of the old one, based on an estimated population of 19,000 by 1990, would cost approximately $8.5 million, said Sidney S. Lasswell, vice president of Cornell, Howland, Hayes and Merryfield, basing the amount on a 1969 cost index.

He said the cost estimate is probably high and could fluctuate by the time the actual work is initiated.

An additional sewage treatment plant, estimated cost $471,000, was recommended to replace the existing plant which, said Lasswell, does not now treat sewage. The present plant, located on a city owned, 45-acre site north and east of Pilot Butte, discharges raw sewage into an underground cavern.

According to Lasswell, a new treatment plant would discharge sewage into the same cavern, but it would be treated beforehand, in compliance with federal and state sanitary policies.

The study recommends a complete sewer system comprising seven districts and a main interceptor line, geared to serve the area for the next 75 years, Lasswell explained.

Accused Kennedy conspirator arraigned, 
faces extradition

Edgar Eugene Bradley, accused of conspiring to kill President John F. Kennedy, was free today on his promise to appear in court January 29 for extradition proceedings.

Bradley was released on his own recognizance without being required to post bail following his arraignment Wednesday in Municipal Court in connection with a Louisiana warrant requested by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison.

George J. Jensen, Bradley’s attorney, has vowed to fight extradition “tooth and nail.” He said he has asked for a “full-fledged extradition hearing” in Sacramento on the assumption Louisiana would request Bradley’s presence in New Orleans for a trial.

The final decision on whether Bradley would be extradited to New Orleans was with Gov. Ronald Reagan.

Bradley, 49, West Coast representative of radio evangelist Rev. Carl McIntire, made a pre-arranged surrender before Sheriff Peter Pitchess and was them arraigned before Municipal Judge Savid J. Aisenson.

Deputy District Attorney Joseph Carr told the judge his office did not object to releasing Bradley without bail because there were no indications he would attempt to flee. He noted Bradley has lived in the same home in suburban North Hollywood since 1941.

Bradley has steadfastly maintained his innocence of the charge of “criminal conspiracy to murder President Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.”

25 Years ago

For the week ending

Dec, 30, 1992

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus: at Christmas Valley

CHRISTMAS VALLEY —Apart from a lot of wide-open space, this High Desert farming community looks nothing like the North Pole.

But for hundreds of merrymakers world-wide, that doesn’t matter, It’s the name that counts.

As has been the tradition for years, the Christmas Valley Post Office has received, processed and sent on their way thousands of holiday greeting cards from people that just have to have that Christmas Valley postmark adorning their mail.

The three postal workers here expect that by Christmas Eve they will have hand-canceled more than 2,000 letters and cards and sent across America and overseas.

It’s more of a treat than a chore, reports postmaster Bill Remy.

“Basically, it’s fun,” he said. “It’s interesting to see where the stuff comes from.

Such as? Many states on this continent and most of Europe and Australia.

Remy assumes that the cards are sent from people who hear about the town through word of mouth or who flip through zip code directories in search of someplace with a holiday ring to it.

This rural outpost also gets letters to Santa Claus this time of year. Every December for a decade or more, mail has found its way to this unincorporated community of 1,500 all because it’s called Christmas Valley.

The community was named in 1961 by the M. Penn Phillips Co. of California, which developed the town site. The name derives from Christmas Lake, five miles to the east, which itself represents one of the more intriguing tales in Oregon nomenclature.

Naming of Christmas Lake is attributed to Northwest explorer Capt. John C. Fremont, but the body of water he supposedly referred to in 1843 is 75 miles to the southeast in Warner Valley. Sometime between 1905 and 1912, a map maker moved the name to the northwestern lake, and the rest is history.

In the past few weeks the post office has received dozens of packages, some weighing several pounds, addressed to the postmaster. Opening them the workers find dozens of pre-stamped cards usually accompanying a note requesting the coveted postmark.

Postal clerk Ronda Krabill said lots of folks specifically request the postmark that is fashioned with four horizontal bars. That’s a hand stamp, and she carefully cancels just the lower left edge of each postage stamp.

All the mail here used to be canceled that way, but the office recently acquired a used, hand cranked cancellation machine, and the burden has been lessened.

Good thing, too.

“It’s getting bigger every year,” Remy said about the holiday rush.

There also are people who don’t fret about belated greetings and ask for a Dec. 24 or Dec. 25 postmark. (Those for Christmas Day are stamped after closing on Christmas Eve).

And others enclose a card or note of thanks to the postal staff. That’s appreciated, Krabill said.

“This is just a little something we can do to make people happy,” she said. “For the real reason we have a Christmas.”

And a Christmas Valley.