Destination: Heppner, OR, county seat of Morrow County
(photo: the county courthouse, of course)
Companion: Carla McLane, Planning Director of Morrow County
Reason for going: so that I could do some research on an ancestor who lived (and died there in 1897). Note: didn't find much, other than newspaper mention of how the coroner's inquest determined that he had died intoxicated as witnesses testified. Apparently after a binge on New Year's Eve., one can only surmise as "his body was found" the next morning.
Route: along Willow Creek, where the Oregon Trail crossed and pioneers settled little towns such as Ione, Cecil, and Heppner--established eventually as the county seat.
Having Carla along was fabulous; she knows every turn in the road and the everything you'd ever want to know about the area, past and present.
We'd take the lesser road traveled just to drive through, say a town populated by only 300 folks. We'd stop to check out a historical sign. Loved the one that gave the words of the "Homesteader's song:"
I'll sing of its praises, I'll tell of its fame, while starving to death, on my government claim.
Carla had packed us a yummy picnic lunch of bagels & cream cheese, sliced turkey, assorted cheeses, and.............(drum roll) decadent cream puffs. We ate under old shade trees by a creek in the city park before going into the historical museum on the property. The weather was warm but not too hot, unlike our home cities were that day.
view from above Heppner, up by the cemetary and the dam, which now protects the valley town from flash floods.Returned by a different road, gazing in awe at the land that goes on and on forever.....without "civilization" even today.
Lovely pictures! -jb.
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