OUT OF THE PAST: J.L. Maxwell escapes death in collision with train

The coldest weather of the season was recorded last Thursday night when the thermometer went down to 20 below zero in Enterprise for a brief time. … During the night ice choked the flume of the Enterprise Electric Co. and the lights were out for a very brief time.

Acting upon a recent decision of the Supreme Court, declaring the local option of last fall legal, the Lostine city council has granted a saloon license to Wm. Wade. … The closing hour is placed at 10 p.m. with the opening limit of 5:30 p.m. The old business passed out of existence Feb. 9th, giving place to a licensed saloon. Rumors of a pool hall and soft drink shop house are rife.

J.L. Maxwell had a hair-raising escape from death Monday afternoon at the railroad crossing just above Wallowa. He drove on the track in front of a coming train, which crashed into his cutter and smashed it into kindling wood, injured the horse so badly that it had to be killed and tossed Mr. Maxwell onto a snow bank, scared but not hurt.

The walks in Enterprise were cleared of snow last Thursday after a storm, Marshal Clark doing the work in short order with a horse-drawn snow plow. This was much appreciated as pedestrians had been left to break paths through the snow in former days.

70 YEARS AGO

Feb. 10, 1944

The wolves are not too far from the doors of a lot of people in Wallowa County. This literal truth is indicated by the number of predatory animals killed in the past seven months since the bounty system went back into effect. Between last July and Feb. 1, a total of 530 coyote pelts, 23 bobcat skins and the pelts of six cougars have been submitted to the county clerk for payment of bounties.

Mr. and Mrs. C.H. Zurcher have sold their interest in the C.H. Zurcher & Co. store for men to J.R. Wagner. Mr. Zurcher established the Enterprise business March 1, 1908, immediately after selling out his interest in the R.S.& Z. (Reavis, Steel and Zurcher) store.

Sol Keltner has sold the lower Prairie Creek farm which he recently purchased from Grace and Clyde Pratt to Bud Harshfield, foreman for Ivan Mann,

For Sale – 5-room house with bath and nine loads of wood, $950. … 760 acre stock ranch, 165 acres cultivated, all-year round springs, reserve permit for 30 head of cattle, modern 7-room house, good barn and other buildings, farm equipment; also 100 tons of hay, 39 head of cattle, 35 sheep, 30 pigs, 14 horses and harness. All of the above for $13,500, ½ down.

50 YEARS AGO

Feb. 13, 1964

With more than a thousand elk estimated to be grazing within a mile or two of Troy, ranchers are up in arms over the damage these herds are said to be doing to private pasturelands, haystacks and fences. Sunday one rancher claimed to have had 350 elk on his pastures, took a shot and drove the elk off, telling neighbors that he had shot 51 of the herd … Irate neighbors and game commission officials, who spent most of the day looking for carcasses, surmised the statement was a big joke, but were not too sure.

Negotiations for the sale of Jack Harmon Motors in Enterprise were finalized this week, according to an announcement made by Jack Harmon Tuesday. The business has been sold to Mick Courtney, who will take over operations Monday, Feb. 17.

Three members of the Enterprise FFA chapter have been nominated to receive the State Farmer degree at the Oregon FFA Convention in Klamath Falls. They are Jim Kooch, junior; and Jerry Bailey and Reid Kooch, seniors.

EDITORIAL – Up in Alaska the state legislature has come up with a novel money making idea. Auto owners may order license plates made up to their specs, with any combination of letters and numbers, for a fee of $50. … This effort to give some individuality to the motorist seems very praiseworthy in our opinion.

25 YEARS AGO

Feb. 9, 1989

Sub-zero cold kept a firm grip on Northeastern Oregon for the sixth day in a row Wednesday, and Enterprise residents were urged to let their water run to keep pipes from freezing. … Residents in Joseph, Lostine and Wallowa were also advised to let their water run as temperatures plunged near the minus 20 mark for the sixth straight day.

Wallowa County had the dubious distinction of being the coldest place in the state at least one day last week when the temperature dipped to minus 29 at the Enterprise recording station Friday, Feb. 3.

Photo caption – As in past years, the members of the 1989 Chief Joseph Days Court (Heather Williamson, Jill Stilson and Shawna DeVault) officially began their reign in a working capacity as waitresses at the annual Ground Hog Dinner sponsored by the Joseph Chamber of Commerce. Over 200 residents braved the cold to enjoy the feed.