The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-11-27
HOOD RIVER
PIONEERS MEET
OLD FOLKS ENJOY BIG BANQUET
Congregational Church, Meeting Place
ThrOnged-P Pioneer Association Of
6cerS are Reelected


last Saturday, when the Pioneer Asso-
citation gathered at the Congregational
church, .where at noon a dinner was
enjoyed and where in the afternoon pa
pers were read and speeches made by
the citizens who inhabited the district
in the early days, before the orchard
bad been developed. The pio-
neers and their families began to gath
ar at the big church about IL O'Clock.
They might have been seen in groups
In the reception and Sunday school
rooms telling stories of earlier days.
The meeting was an interesting one
to the old time residents; for it
brought back vividly to their minds
the thoughts of the pleasure and toll,
the joys and sorrows of the frontier
which they were eonquering. Ii was
to the few visitors at the
gathering and the children and grand
children of the regions first settlers;
for they learned of events of which
they had never heard before.
Around the big table, where never
was seen such an array of tempting
viands and pastries. the pioneers took
their places at noon. Mrs. A. L. Par
ker added to the pleasure OF all the
feasters by donating ice cream and
some of her delicious doughnuts. Mr..
Smith was heard to remark at the close
Of the meal that he wished Pioneer
Day would come every week.
And, whether or not it is the appeal
of the foods that the old timers bring
in their baskets on these occasions, the
is seriously considering
holding two meetings each year here
after. 1t was decided to hold the next
in the lattes- part of next
June. at the close of the strawberry
harvest.
After the dinner had been finished
and james Waggener, Jr., had made
of the pioneers, they re-
paired to the reception room Of the
church, where, I. II. Coon, president,
presiding, program was rendered.
With Mrs. G. ID. flinrichs accompany
ing him, d. A. Turner gave several
appealing violin selections.
Then followed Mrs. w. K. Hanson,
who read that chapter of Mrs. Eliza
beth Laughlin Lords "Reminiscences
of Oregon" dealing with the years
soiourn of her family here. In that
chapter which tells of the rugged life
of the frontier and of the hardshps
the pioneers endured, Mrs. Lord relates
the terrible winter experienced here.
A large number Of cattle had been
broght Gown from Pie Dalies to be
wintered in the bottoms around the
mouth Of Hood river. Her family had
a few cattle. fir tree fence was built
around the little rough home. One
night the cattle. seeking shelter from
the snow storms, broke down the bar
rier and entered the enclosure. On
another night they broke open the door
of the house. In the dead hours OF am
other night, the little son of the family
was heard to cry: THE curt The
curt' All thought that be had been
but the next day It was
found that COW had inserted her long
tongue through the crack of the boards
over tie window and had drawn out
the old shawl curtain. The animals
had eaten it.
Amos Underwood told of the location
of Hood Rivers first hurying ground,
located on corner of the present es-
tate of Paradise Farm. the property of
Mrs. NJ. Sue Armstrong.
L. L. Smith made number of short
speeches, and asked questions of other
members of the association, that
brought. out interesting bits of histori-
cal facts. Mr.. Smith was editor of that
chapter of the History of Central Ore
gon dealing with Hood River county,
which was at the time of the publica-
tion of the book a part of Wasco coun-
ty. The book owned by him has been
donated to the county library, which
will have a corner for local history, in
which Miss Della Northey, librarian,
has taken great interest.
One of the most interesting of the
talks was that of ID. A. Turner. who
told of the first orchard in the Hood
River valley. The seeds were planted
by Mrs. Nathaniel Coe, the mother of
Henry Coe. "She got the seed from
woman whom she saw peeling a box of
apples at the Cascades. said Mr. Iur-
ner. 'ln telling me the story she said
she asked to be allowed to peel the
apples for the cores. =
Mr.. Smith told little joke on Hans
Lage. 'When he first came to the val
ley, said Mr.. Smith, ''and by the
way he got here in the same year that
did, they say that he was working
one day by the roadside, when some
ladies passed, and in order to keep
them from seeing him at work, he hid
in the bushes until they passed.
II came to the valley in 1867, " said
s. +. Blythe, early editor of the Gla-
cier. Il was in search of health, and
found it,"
= Newton Clark told of his arrival in
the valley in 1877. IL came down from
The Dalles looking for place to To-
cate, he asid, 81 had loaf Of dry
bread and as given some plums. re-
paired to a pine grove on the gorgeside
to eat them, and after having. finished
my repast wrapped my blanket
around me and went to sleep. All
went well till about midnight, when a
great pack of dogs kept up so much
noise that my rest was broken.
Mr.Clark then went on, setting forth
the facts in his humorous way, to tell
of how he got work from Henry Coe,
who had him to make shingles to re-
cover his house. In in closing he ex-
pressed his gratitude at having found
a home in the Hood River valley, which
he has come to love so we'll.
The old officers-T. r. Coon, presi-
dent. H. l.. Howe. secretary, and Mrs.
I. X. Coon, historian--were reelected.
Those at the meeting and the date of
their arrival in this Valley we're:
T. X. Coon, 1877; Mrs. T. R. Coon.
1878; Mrs. Robt. Rand, 1902; Mrs. M.
Sue Armstrong, 1881; Mrs. Newton
CLARK, 1878; Newton Clark, 1877; John
A. Wilson, 1876; Nancy A. Wilson,
1876; Mrs. Emma Ingalls,. 1876; Mrs.
S. F. Blythe, 1877; Samuel F. Blythe.
1877; Mrs. N. A. Monroe, 1878; Mrs.
j. M. Marden, 1869: Harriet Marden
Hanson, 1909; Hazel Wiedrick Hin
richs, 1908; Mrs. Husbands. 1878; r.