100 years ago — 1922

Wanted — a buckaroo who can ride Lookout, the r’aring horse out Ukiah way! This is the appeal and the challenge which has been sent out to the men who tame wild horses by boosters of the Cowboys’ Convention which will be held at Ukiah July 3 and 4. Lookout is touted as a second No-name by the southern end horse lovers and they are so strong for the merits of their “find” that they would welcome an opportunity to see the two horses in competition. Lookout is a native to the south end of the county and as long as he has an even chance he has always succeeded in getting out from under the best riders that have tried to tame him. He has been ridden a time or two, but only after the riders took advantage of him. He was ridden once in a deep snow when it was impossible for him to get into action. At another time when the ground was very muddy he had to permit a mere man to stick on him, but with hard ground underfoot, Lookout bars none of the boys from a trial, and so far he has always emerged a proud victor.

50 years ago — 1972

Central Elementary School has been involved this year in a Title I program called CRAFTS which is designed to improve reading skills of pupils. CRAFTS means “Creative Resources Assembled For Teaching Students,” said Lou Morello, principal of the Milton-Freewater school. “Using crafts as a catalyst,” Morello said, “the student is forced to improve his reading. He has to make out a job sheet, read instructions and labels on the materials, write and verbalize — in other words, he develops his basic skills.” More than 100 children choose their own projects, such as woodworking, macrame or bottle cutting.

25 years ago — 1997

Farmers and ranchers in this area have long understood the nuisance of yellow starthistle, a noxious plant that spreads quickly on farm and ranch land. Now they have a new weapon to combat the pesky weed: sheep — and lots of them. The sheep recently proved their ability to clear infestations of the thistle at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton. Ron Edmondson, airport operations supervisor, said 400 head of sheep were brought in to munch star thistle on 640 acres of airport property. In six weeks the sheep scoured the acreage and nipped the noxious plant to the ground. Although the sheep eat the thistle, they do not completely destroy the plants. In the fall, the sheep will be brought back. Using the sheep to control the thistle is saving thousands of dollars, said Edmondson. In the last few years, his budget to combat the plant has skyrocketed from $800 to $8,500 due to the cost of using aerial spray planes. Owners of the sheep paid to pasture their livestock on the land.