Road to Troy

Contributions from Mary Burrows  Wallowa History Center

Wallowa Sun  June 19, 1913

Road to Troy

Many Hogs Marketed in Wallowa

     Completion of New Wagon Road From Wallowa to Troy

     A new road has been completed and opened for travel and decreases the distance of Troy from Wallowa by 16 miles of road.

     Troy was formerly 52 from Wallowa by the old wagon road through Flora. Over the new Road the distance is only 36 miles. The first load to be hauled over the new road started from Troy land Friday where D. M Silver started a four horse team and wagon loaded with grain to supply feeding points along the road for hogs which he is now driving out to.

 

     The Wallowa market

 

     D. M and John Silver of Troy started with 84 head of hogs for Wallowa. They were joined by another 26 from Eden making 115 head. They expect to be in Wallowa by the end of the week.


 

City of Wallowa 41 years old January 1
Incidents of the First Day are Recalled

 

     As the town of Wallowa was 41 years old upon January 1, 1927, and as there are now very few in this community who were preset upon the occasion of its birth, some incidents relating thereto may be of interest to the readers of " the Wallowa sun". In order to write of these matters understandingly, your correspondent must of necessity take somewhat of a running start.

     A Lostine merchant, matt Johnson by name, believing that the site of this village was a good place to start a town, in the summer of 1885, purchased a half acre of land from l. J. Cole, upon whose homestead the village is largely located. Upon this plot, which is just west of the Wallowa roller mills, he had erected a two-story building, shelved up below, and with a hall above for public gatherings.

     Having just completed a term of school in lower valley, in which Ernest F. Johnson, W. T. Dougherty, L. T. Powers, W. H. Boyd, Mrs. Bessie Hamilton, Mrs. Kate McElroy, Mrs. Sarah Knott and about 50 others were pupils, Mr. Johnson employed me to take charge of the store soon to be opened.. Upon the afternoon some freight teams drew up to the building and left the first consignment of goods.

     I had arranged to board with the Cole family whose log residence was near by, so, bright and early the next morning I fell to tearing open boxes and bales and displaying the goods upon the hitherto empty shelves, endeavoring to make $500 worth of goods look like $2500 worth. The doors were opened, there were treats for everyone, business was doing, and the town was launched, new year's day 1886.

     Now as it seems customary to celebrate every momentous occasion with a grand ball, the natal day of this infant village furnished no exception. Plans and arrangements had been made, so, as evening approached, scores of devotees of the art terpsichorean, were to be seen coming from all directions, determined to shake the foot or ornament the wall. Good music was furnished by a local orchestra and the revelry continued until the " wee, small hours."

     The weather that had been mild and spring-like for several weeks, suddenly changed upon the evening in question and a furious snow storm set in. The stairway leading down from the hall was outside the building, and as a young man by the name of Saunders came out upon the landing, the fierce wind lifted his hat and he never saw it more. Several hung their head gear upon nails provided for the purpose. When Henry Edwards, now of Umatilla and lately a visitor here, reached for his hat, he found in its place a loppy, greasy old affair which some individual with more enterprise than honesty, had exchanged for Henry's brand new tile. I do not wish to be understood as advertising our winter climate or the character of the citizenry of that remote period. Much change has been possible in each during the last 40 years. If these lines should fall beneath the eye of him who purloined that hat, and the recollection should induce repentance and restitution , then this article would surely not have been written in vain.

    The little town was a puny child and not until the arrival of the M & M Co., (Island City Mercantile and Milling co) that came about 1890, to give it nourishment, did it show signs of growth and vigor. Later the advent of the railroad put it upon the map in quite substantial form. And now as it enters upon its forty -second year, may the attitude of its citizenry toward morals, manners and business be such that it will fulfils a helpful and practical mission, and grow in honor, influence and size as it grows in days and years.


The Wallowa Sun, Thursday September 17, 1914

Three Horses Die In Fire Monday Night
Wallowa Livery Stable, Barn And Stevens Building Completely Destroyed

     A fire completely destroying the N. D. Crofutt Livery stable, a building belonging to Mrs. Minnie Stevens of Cove, on Main St, and a barn back of the livery stable owned by H. D. Driver, occurred in Wallowa on Monday evening at 9:30 o'clock. Three horses belonging to B.F. and G. W. Ross were also burned. The origin of the fire is unknown. Mr. Crofutt states he had no fire in any part of the stable that day. Some men who intended to sleep in the barn that night had retired; one of them, who had not yet fallen asleep, noticed smoke coming up through one of the hay shutes and upon examination discovered the lower part of the barn ablaze. The alarm was immediately given and the fire brigade was soon upon the scene.
     A number of horses were in the barn, five belonging to Ross Bros. and all were rescued with the exception of the three horses belonging to these gentleman. The horses were valued at $640, this price having been refused only a short time before, and a pet racehorse. They also lost a camp outfit worth $300. They felt their loss keenly both being old gentlemen, who were on their way to Baker. B.F. Ross narrowly escaped with his life.
     Owing to such a strong wind, the fire gained such rapid headway that it proved utterly impossible to save the buildings or much of the contents.
     The residence of E. A. Holmes occupied by E. L Holmes was saved only by the miraculous efforts of the men, as it lay directly in the path of the wind. The west side of the residence was slightly damaged, and the fruit trees between the house and the Stevens building were ruined, Other buildings slightly damaged were the roof on Morelock's Opera House, and the front of the building occupied by Enterprise Electric Co. Had it not been for the steady down pour of rain, the greater part of the town would have been in ashes, as the water pressure would not have been great enough to extinguish the fire.
     N. D. Crofutt estimates his loss at $2,000 and carried no insurance, the insurance having run out only a few days previous. Mr. Driver's loss is valued at $500 and no insurance. The Stevens Building was insured for $900
     The livery stable was one of the first buildings in Wallowa and was built about 25 years ago.


James Hickman Pioneer of County Passes at Modesto

June 7, 1928

     James Hickman, 84 years old, and a pioneer of Wallowa County as well as a veteran of the Civil war passed away at the home of his daughter Mrs. L. M. Campbell, at Modesto California, the evening of Memorial Day according to word received here. Funeral services were held Friday with Internment at Modesto.
     Mr. Hickman came to this county from the Willamette valley in 1887. The first winter he spent in the North Woods, in the spring coming to the valley and homesteaded on Diamond Prairie, and operated a shingle mill in the canyon just above the house on the former McDonald ranch,
     Mr. Hickman, who was a member of the True Follower Church, also preached in the old school house, known as the Diamond Prairie schoolhouse, which stood by the large fir tree near the slaughterhouse by the Maxwell stockyards.
     After removing from Wallowa in 1903. Mr. Hickman went to Parma later to Modesto. He is survived by six children: Mrs. Cordelia Powers, Mrs. Lu Lu Adams and C Henry Hickman of Parma, Idaho, Albert of Gerber, Calif., Mrs. Ben Rich and Mrs L. M Campbell of Modesto. Mr. Hickman was a native of Tennessee and served in the 2nd Tennessee Rgt., during the war


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