25 years ago this week — 1999

HERMISTON — Millwright David Bosley of Prosser arrived at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle at 10:20 p.m. Wednesday for treatment of a respiratory condition he developed after exposure to mysterious fumes at the Umatilla Chemical Depot last week.

He was transferred to the Seattle hospital after being admitted to Kadlec Medical Center in the Tri-Cities Wednesday afternoon. A Harborview spokesman said Bosley is being treated for respiratory distress due to chemical exposure. Bosley is in satisfactory condition.

Bosley is one of 36 craft workers who have sought medical attention after exposure to unidentified vapors at the site of the incinerator complex at the depot. Bosley was admitted to Good Shepherd Community Hospital for several days last week and was briefly transferred to the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland before returning home.

U.S. Army officials are still searching for a source for the noxious odor. Though a possible discharge from a battery room is the leading suspect, teams of analysts fitted with respiratory devices are scouring the complex for signs of a culprit.

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PENDLETON — The great pumpkin is alive and well. In fact there’s a couple of tehm, according to Pendleton resident Don Olsen.

And Olsen should know — he grew them in the garden behind his house at 1700 S.W. Hailey Ave.

“You can buy these particular seeds from an outfit in Georgia. They are called Atlantic Giants,” Olsen said. “The guy who sells them happens to grow some of the biggest ones — 1,000-pound pumpkins.”

Olsen said he bought 10 of the seeds for a dollar apiece, and tried them out for the first time this year.

“Five plants came up and they produced six or eight pumpkins,” Olsen said. “Two or three of the biggest ones are about 500 pounds, I would guess. I haven’t weighed them.”

Olsen said his sister, who lives in Portland, wants one of the pumpkins and he said he may give one to head start here in town, if they want it.

He just isn’t sure yet how he’s going to move them.

“They’re too big to pick up. They’re huge,” Olsen said. “One man couldn’t put his arms around them, and I don’t think two people could pick one up.”

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PENDLETON — In their search for victims of the multiple-vehicle accidents that occurred on Interstate 84 near Exit 199 Saturday, law enforcement officials didn’t notice four large duffle bags in nearby wheat stubble.

A bystander did. Attracted by blue nylon he suspected might be a coat, an area resident who’d stopped at the crash site walked over to the fence where the duffle bags were stashed. Hoping to find identification, he unzipped one of the bags. Startled to find what appeared to be drugs wrapped heavily in cellophane, he immediately located a police officer.

Officers with the Blue Mountain Narcotics Team — BENT — seized the bags. BENT officer Tony Atkins said the duffels contained 140 to 150 pounds of “high quality marijuana.”

“It’s not like the stuff we normally see here in Pendleton,” Atkins said. “It looked like good bud.”

He estimated the street value of the goods to be between $500,000 and $600,000, about $3,000-$4,000 a pound.

Law Enforcement officials said it’s possible that someone involved in the multiple-vehicle accidents feared an investigation of the crash sites and simply stashed the goods.

50 years ago this week — 1974

Traffic accidents claimed at least 10 lives in Oregon over the weekend. The victims died in separate crashes.

Oregon State Police say a three-car collision in heavy traffic on Oregon 18 east of Lincoln City on Sunday took the life of 23-year-old Michael Gene Conrad of Portland. The accident sent seven other persons to the hospital, one of them in critical condition.

Thirty-four-year-old Rebecca Jean Moore of Estacada died when her car ran off Oregon 138 in Douglas County late Sunday and 17-year-old Jerry Wayne Sparkman of Scappoose was killed when his car left a dirt road in Columbia County at a high rate of speed and struck a tree.

In Eastern Oregon, traffic accidents claimed four lives.

Norman Clarence Barber, 50, of Baker, died Sunday when a truck pulling two trailers full of cement overturned on Interstate 80N about 45 miles south of Baker. State Police said he was a passenger.

A La Grande man, 31-year-old Franklin Demont Hampton, was killed Sunday when the car in which he was riding swerved to avoid a deer on Old Oregon 86, east of Richland, Ore. State Police said he was thrown from the vehicle.

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One forest fire broke out in the Umatilla National Forest Monday and fire watchers warned that more may be coming this week. The burning index Monday was 98, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry in Pendleton. That rating was the highest for the forest this year. Today’s rating was expected to peak at 97.

U.S. Forest Service firefighters battled a five-acre blaze about 10 miles southeast of Dayton, Wash., in the Pomeroy District of the Umatilla forest. The man-caused fire was reported at 1:30 p.m. and was declared under control at 8 p.m. Mop-up activities continue today.

The entire air-tanker force of the Pendleton airport was alerted for the fire. The four huge tankers dropped more than 10,000 gallons of retardant on the fire. Some 50 men battled the blaze in heavy slash on private land.

Around the state, unseasonal high temperatures kept the fire danger extreme. Temperatures in the 90s, about 20 degrees higher than normal, were expected for the state today.

Summer officially ended early Monday, but that didn’t stop the heat wave from pushing temperature into the 90s in several parts of the state. It was 98 degrees in Medford.

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The odds against a major forest fire in the Blue Mountains grow narrower today as fire conditions in the woods continue at record levels.

Forest Service officials in Pendleton said a variety of conditions existed to continue the very dangerous condition of the northeastern Oregon wood lands. The burning index pushed about 100 today — the first time this year. The burning index scale peaks at 100, but an Oregon Department of Forestry spokesman said the index could go higher.

“It’s very rare, but it could happen,” one official said earlier today.

To complicate the picture, strong westerly winds with gusts to 40 miles per hour were forecast for the mountains. The fire danger build-up index –— a rating of the accumulated fire danger in the forest — topped 400 today on a scale to 500. That also was the highest for the season.

Foresters said the mountain forest was in critical danger because of tinder-dry conditions in insect damaged stands of forest. Much of the forest is dead or dying due to tussock moth and bark beetle infestations.

100 years ago this week — 1924

An announcement that he was withdrawn from the race as a candidate on the republican party ticket for the office of district attorney was made today by A. C. McIntyre of Helix. His formal statement of withdrawal was sent to Salem yesterday.

His action in withdrawing came after he was convinced that there is a question of whether he could qualify for office if elected, Mr. McIntyre declared. He lived in Canada for several years, and immigration authorities and his own legal counsel have informed him that there is a doubt whether he is technically a citizen of the United States.

“Under those circumstances, I feel that it would not be fair to myself, my party and friends and the best interest of the state if I continued in the race,” he said today. “So I made the decision to withdraw.”

The procedure in such a case will be for the republican state central committee to designate a man to succeed Mr. McIntyre as candidate, he said. Conjecture was rife today as to who is likely to be named. Many names have already been mentioned, among them being C. Z. Randall, E. J. Clark, F. J. Schmidt and C. C. Proebstel, all of Pendleton; Jas H. E. Scott of Milton; Homer I. Watts of Athena, and others.

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“We’ll have a much stronger team that we did last year,” said Nig Borleske, Whitman’s great coach, this morning in an interview with an East Oregonian representative, “the team will be better balanced and faster than in 1923 though in my opinion it will hardly equal the eleven of 1922. The return of Hall Blomquist, Corkrum and Tilton insure an earlier development and greater early season strength than we could otherwise hope for.”

Borleske stated that he would give the Oregon aggies, under their new coach Paul J. Schissler, a real battle but added that victory for Whitman would be something of a miracle in his opinion due to the lightweight of the Missionary eleven.

It is certain that the Aggies will have their hands dull for Whitman is noted for its early season performances and this year should be no exception. One of the main sources of the Whitman strength for their game with Oregon Agricultural college in Pendleton Friday, Oct. 3 is Earl Tilton.

Tilton who is one of the most sensational ground gainers on the coast, was out of the play last year due to an injured knee but is back in the harness this year and promises to be up around his 1922 form when “Shy” Huntington, then head coach at Oregon proclaimed him the greatest halfback in the Northwest, Tilton is a triple threat man, a kicker, passer and line plunger and as a broken field runner has few equals and no superiors in this region.

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A charge of murder in the first degree has been lodged against Williamhart for the alleged killing of Mathew Shoeship, an Indian. The alleged murder is said to have taken place September 11..

Hart was arraigned this morning in the court of Justice Joe H. Parkes on the charge, and the defendant asked for a hearing. The time for the examination was not set by the court.

Shoeship was found dead in the mountains September 12, and the arrest of Hart followed shortly thereafter. A post mortem examination of the remains of the Indian was held in Pendleton at the request of the district attorney, A fracture of the skull was found, and an analysis of the stomach contents was made, but the results of this analysis have never been made public.

Shoeshop had been in the mountains looking for livestock when he lost his life. AThere were two reports about the tragedy, one being that the Indian had fallen from his horse and suffered the injuries that caused his death, and the second report was that he had been murdered.

In the complaint issued by the district attorney it is alleged that Hart killed “Shoeship by striking him, the said Mathew Shoeship, on the head with a blunt instrument.”