100 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

July 28, 1920

Sheriff Tilman D. Taylor was shot and fatally wounded Sunday afternoon in his office at the Umatilla county court house in a jail break perpetrated by six prisoners. The fatal shot was fired by Neil Hart, Indian-Mexican desperado, who was arrested, with Jim Owens, another bad man, by Sheriff Taylor and his deputies after a series of depredations in this vicinity 10 days ago. The jailbreak occurred when Deputy Sheriff Jacob C. Marin brought the prisoners their Sunday dinner. As he entered the jail Rathie hit him over the head with a blunt instrument. He gave fight to the prisoners but was overcome and forced to give up his gun by superior strength and numbers. Shouts for help from Marin were heard in the building but were not believed sincere, as prisoners oftentimes set up a cry without cause. It is confidently believed at the sheriff’s office that the men cannot long escape capture although a hot battle is expected.

50 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

July 28, 1970

Lightning continued its strut across both ends of the Umatilla National Forest today. Three fires had been reported on the Pomeroy District and one on the Pendleton District this morning but all the reports weren’t in. Lightning storms which began to strike last night continued to flash across the forest. The Oregon State Department of Forestry reported one lightning-caused fire on the west fork of Butter Creek, about three miles northeast of Gurdane. Three state department firefighters and five area ranchers controlled the 15-acre blaze last night.

25 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

July 28, 1995

The city of Boardman essentially passed on an offer from C. Joseph Locke, a Lake Oswego developer, to buy a plot of land to erect a four-story statue of the Virgin Mary. The mayor in a letter told the Our Lady of Grace Shrine group the city was too busy with other projects to consider the group’s offer to buy the land along Interstate 84. The Boardman site has the correct lighting conditions and would face the freeway bringing tourist traffic to the town. But Locke also has personal reasons for wanting the site. Locke’s mother saw a news report about a sighting of an apparition of the Virgin Mary in a painting in Boardman a few weeks before she died. She told her son the appearance was a sign that Boardman was special.