Humphreys’ death leaves hole in heart of Wheeler County

Published 11:27 am Wednesday, June 15, 2005

I am fascinated with the history of Oregon’s old schools and have written one book and will probably do another on the subject. A critical element of this writing endeavor has been a statewide search for abandoned school buildings, a project that has yielded a number of memorable experiences.

Perhaps one of the most dramatic of those experiences came one Sunday afternoon when I was following a maze of U.S. Forest Service roads in Wheeler County searching for the possible remains of old schools at Wetmore and Kinzua. I learned later there are few, if any, visible remains of either community and certainly no sign a school ever existed.

Anyway, I had backtracked several times having encountered snow and ice, which made some of the roads at higher elevations virtually impassable. One part of me said “go for it.” Another part said “remember those stories about people who take isolated roads in the winter and whose remains are found in the spring.”

The trip had begun with an attempt to go over the hill from Lonerock. Fortunately, I encountered a weathered old rancher who recommended that I turn back. I found myself on the road to Lost Valley although I admittedly didn’t have a clue there was a Lost Valley until after I had wandered many miles in what seemed like the right direction.

Toward late afternoon, with the low winter sun shining straight toward me, I was coming down a gravel road when a rusty cross-bar suddenly loomed in front of me. Although I slammed on my brakes, my pickup slid into the cross-bar breaking the lock and leaving the barrier bent at a right angle.

Although luck wasn’t the order of the day, only a few months earlier, I had installed a deer guard on the front of the truck which prevented any damage to my vehicle. The guard was the product of having encountered 100 elk standing in the middle of Highway 111 following a meeting with the Spray School Board the previous August.

After considering my options, one of which was escape, I backed up and took the fork of the road I should have taken in the first place and headed into Fossil to throw myself at the mercy of the law. I found the Sheriff’s Office in the basement of the colorful old Wheeler County Courthouse where I reported my crime to Deputy Paul Humphreys. He offered that perhaps I was the first person in recent history to have voluntarily reported an act of vandalism in Wheeler County. But, he took my name and address and said he would share it if anyone called about the damage. Several months later I received a call from the owner’s representative indicating that it had cost $175 to repair the gate. I paid the bill. That was February 2003.

Several months ago, I was shocked to read a small article in the East Oregonian that a special memorial service was being held for a Wheeler County Sheriff’s Deputy named Paul Humphreys, 36, who had been killed in an accident Jan. 5. At the time, Humphreys was off duty and bringing a load of wood home to Fossil.

According to reports, Paul died en route to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. He left behind his wife, Angelica Rainbolt Humphreys, a teacher at Wheeler County High School, and two sons, Trevor and Tyrell.

Fossil and Spray are pretty well removed from regular media coverage and the incident essentially passed without much notice. But during my work with the school districts in that area, I have encountered various members of the Humphreys family. His mother, Candace, is the program coordinator for both the Spray Community School and the senior and disabled transportation program in Wheeler County. His dad is assistant section supervisor for ODOT in Spray. His grandmother, Joyce, is actively involved in community initiatives including the museum at Spray.

There are few Oregonians with deeper roots than Paul Humphreys and certainly few Wheeler County residents with so many family ties. One part of Joyce’s family moved to Spray from Hardman in 1904. They purchased what is now known as the Brisbois Ranch. The other part of the family traces back to Oliver Brisbois who traveled with Dr. John McLoughlin and settled at Champoeg in 1843. Oliver Brisbois and his wife are buried near Frenchtown west of Walla Walla.

On his Father’s side, Paul’s great-grandfather was Rhys Humphreys, an Oxford-educated Welshman who settled in Wheeler County in 1888. Paul’s great-grandmother Loula’s family once owned property that extended from Waterman Flat, south of Spray to the John Day Highway between Kimberly and Dayville. Part of that ranch remains in the family. His great-grandparents also included Robert Cannon who came to Oregon in 1876 and was a partner in the Palyra-Trosper Mining Company of Mitchell and James T. Cooper who came to Oregon in 1871 and later managed the Gilman French Ranches in Wheeler County.

Paul himself was a graduate of Spray High School where he was a member of the first Spray basketball team to ever make it to the state tournament. He attended Central Oregon Community College before returning to Spray to work for the Oregon Department of Forestry. He was later transferred to both Monument and Enterprise. In his latter assignment he was assistant unit forester. In July of 2000, he moved back to Wheeler County to join the Sheriff’s Department.

He was divorced in 1999 and when he returned to Spray, it was learned that the new deputy was an eligible bachelor. A short time later, residents arranged a blind date with an attractive young teacher from Fossil. On July 19, 2003, after much countywide speculation, anticipation, and encouragement, the two were married on the lawn of the Wheeler County Courthouse. Earlier, Paul had proposed to Angelica in front of her class at Wheeler County High School.

Paul was a vital part of Wheeler County and on the day of the accident, he was en route to the elementary school in Fossil where he was scheduled to read to a group of children. He also presented to students on drug prevention, bike safety, and the value of using helmets. Several years ago Paul was part of the law enforcement team that shut down a multi-million dollar marijuana operation near Winlock.

Oregon’s rural communities are engaged in a continual struggle for survival and regeneration is an important part of that equation. One of the greatest challenges is the rare opportunity for quality employment. Paul found his opportunity to remain through law enforcement as one of two deputies who serve 1,713 square miles and 1,500 residents. His territory was north of the John Day River.

Wheeler County and its counterparts lose far too many young people to the lure of metropolitan areas. This time they lost someone who had committed his life to serving his neighbors and the community where he grew up to a tragic and untimely accident.

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George Murdock is superintendent of the Umatilla-Morrow ESD and writes as a member of the EO’s Board of Contributors. If you’d like to share your insight into the lives and times of Eastern Oregon, contact Publisher Dave Balcom.