100 years ago

The home of the Pendleton Music House on Main Street, newly finished throughout clear back to the old back doors, and with new furniture and a new stock, will be a gathering place for music lovers of Pendleton and the county Saturday all day from 9 o’clock in the morning until 9 o’clock at night when the management will entertain with a formal evening.

Besides having a brand new home for musical things to show, the company will also provide a special musical program throughout the day.

Since assuming ownership of the store early in January, the new owners have had the inside of the room, which formerly was occupied by the Warren Music Co., entirely remodeled. A new front has been installed, and the front part of the room, which is given over to displays of various kinds of instruments, has hardwood floors, and newly finished walls.

In the rear an aisle runs back between two sets of display rooms. On the north side of the room are four special sound-proof display rooms, in three of which are machines where trials of records will be made. One larger room is given over to the special display of phonographs. A special piano display room is opposite the record and phonograph rooms, and there is a rest room for ladies in the rear.

50 years ago

Lack of enthusiasm for the Army Corps of Engineers proposed flood control dam on Willow Creek was evident at a town hall type meeting here Thursday.

Quentin Bowman, field representative for the State Water Resources Board, summed up the apparent feeling of the people when he said the multipurpose dam approved for construction by Congress in 1965 “was good.”

He led the way for following speakers by stating that although the state board approved the plan the corps is now advancing, it felt some additions should be made.

Heppner is subject to sudden cloudburst-type thunderstorms and has a long history of flash floods. For the past 40 years these have originated in Shobe Canyon to the southwest of on Hinton Creek to the northeast, not on Willow Creek.

25 years ago

“I have known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the river.”

These words, written by Langston Hughes in 1926, describe the thoughts of many who’ve journeyed through the whitecaps of the Columbia River.

Bob Wengal, captain of the Queen of the West riverboat, has been navigating small passenger boats up and down the river for 18 years. Prior to that, he spent 20 years in the navy, charting courses through deeper waters.

Wengel was only 12 years old when he first attempted to sail the river by himself in a 12-foot boat. Distressed by his adventure, Wengel’s mother signed him up for Sea Scouts. The scouts taught him the basics of river navigation, but Wengel’s frightened mother burned his boat to ensure her son remained docked.

Wengel figures he’s navigated the Columbia River a minimum of 250 times.