A STORY WITH A LOT OF BULL

By Barry McCombs with a little help from his great grandfather

    Few of us alive today appreciate the difficulties faced by the early pioneers of this country in transportation.  Roads were only passable in the middle of the summer and the dead of winter, 8 months out of the year at most.  The heavy forests shaded the roads most of the day. My great grandfather Frank Schmid, wrote that when his family moved to Chewelah in 1880 they never saw clear sunshine from North Monroe street hill in Spokane till they hit Main street in Chewelah on account of the heavy timber.

   In 1883, 35,000 men were employed by the Canadian Pacific company constructing a transcontinental railroad.  The foodstuffs; meat, grain, fruit, vegetables and hay that were abundant in the Colville Valley were badly needed by the men and animals working on the railroad.  A natural channel for transporting these goods was found in the Columbia River, which was navigable from the Little Dalles, a few miles south of Northport, on up into Canada.  The only thing lacking was a boat.  Some Spokane businessmen, including Mayor John Glover, decided to build a boat for the enterprise.  A boiler and engine were obtained in Portland, Oregon and shipped by rail to Spokane.

The engine was taken apart and transported without difficulty to the Little Dalles where the hull of the boat was being constructed.

    The boiler, however, was another matter.  It had to go in one piece and it weighed many tons.  To haul it overland on the roads then in existence seemed impossible.  At that time there were no real work horses in this part of the country, only cayuses.  A freighting outfit called Mitchell Brothers, had a large number of mules they used to ship supplies into Coeur d’Alene but they begged off the job saying that they had no wagon heavy enough for the boiler.

    A Nevada bullwhacker named Bill finally guaranteed to do the job.  This Bill had 40 of the finest bulls (actually steers but all oxen were called bulls at that time) to be found in this part of the territory.  It was purported that he could pick a horsefly off an ox without him ever feeling it with his 20 foot bullwhip, or draw blood from the nose of an ox at will.  Since there was no wagon heavy enough to haul the boiler he decided to build his own.  The wagon he constructed was so big the hubs were the size of a large automobile wheel.

    Bill pulled the big wagon with his 20 yoke of bulls down to the Northwest Pacific depot, which at the time was located on Lincoln street in Spokane.  By the time the boiler was loaded on the wagon a crowd of several hundred people had come to watch.  Bill gave the signal “Whoa Ha!” cracked the whip and 40 bulls strained at the yoke.  At the last stretch of the lead chain, the wagon and boiler came along while the crowd cheered.  The bulls paid little attention to the fanfare but moved slowly along until they came to the Washington Street bridge.  

Division Street Bridge collapse 1915

    Now the Washington Street bridge had a sign on it that read, “not more than 20 head of cattle nor more than 50 head of sheep can cross this bridge at one time.”  The bridges were rather flimsy in Spokane back then.  In fact, a bridge that crossed Division street collapsed under it’s own weight in 1915.  The theaters soon came up with a song entitled,  “Sunny Spokane Where the Bridges Come Tumbling Down.”  To see that the ordinance was enforced Joel Warren, the city marshall was waiting at the bridge when Bill showed up with the boiler.  In a polite manner, Marshall Warren pointed to the sign on the bridge and informed Bill that he could not move his 40 oxen across it.  After staring at the sign for awhile, Bill first pleaded and coaxed and then jeered and cursed at Warren but to no avail.  As long as Joel Warren was marshall the ordinance would stand.  Mayor Glover was standing by but dared not challenge the city ordinance although his own financial interests were at stake.

    In the midst of the controversy, it hadn’t occurred to anyone that although the boiler was heavier than all the bulls combined, the ordinance was specific only about cattle and sheep.  It didn’t say anything about boilers.  When Bill finally announced that he would drag the boiler across the bridge with his two wheel bulls, the crowd that had gathered around first laughed and then cheered.  A red-faced Warren protested but there was nothing he could legally do to stop him from trying.  Excited by the challenge, Bill offered to bet  the marshall $250 dollars he could do it.  The marshall declined but Mayor Glover stepped up and accepted the wager.  The mayor was sure the two  wheelers couldn’t do it but reasoned that he could always return the money to Bill after winning the bet.

    To begin with, Bill unhooked all the bulls except Buck and Spot, the “wheelers” (the oxen hitched closest to the load).  The others were driven in a single file across the bridge and left to chew their cud along the roadside in front of the old California Hotel.  This was the best hotel in Spokane and headquarters for all the stages that went to the “Colville country.”  It is said that Bill went back and talked to his wheel bulls as if they were human.  In a mild tone, he mentioned that his contract and reputation were at stake.  In glowing terms, he spoke about the oversupply of good hay and grain in that paradise called Colville Valley.  He then promised them that every dollar won in the wager would go to buy them that cheap but good feed.

   Bill gave the command and the two bulls started out.leisurely.  When the strain of the load came against them they nearly crouched to the ground in the effort.  A slight downgrade gave them some advantage and the boiler moved out slowly onto the bridge.  Now Bill knew he had won the bet.  He pulled the wagon far enough onto the bridge to hook a yoke up with his lead chain and then yoke after yoke was hooked up until the boiler was brought across the bridge.  A long-faced Marshall Warren delivered Bill his winnings.  Mayor Glover had his plans upset but accepted the loss, happy to see the boiler on its way.  Buck and Spot had to have their shoes reset, as they had loosened them by digging them into the ground while spreading their toes.  Oxen were shod with a double shoe on each foot. Since they wouldn’t hold their feet up for shoeing, like a horse, Bill had to bring out a tripod to lift them off the ground.

    Bill’s caravan of oxen and wagon, several helpers and a camping outfit were soon underway zigzagging around the numerous basalt rocks close to the river all the while accompanied by a jolly cheering crowd.  When the open prairie was reached there was easy traveling until they reached the timberline just west of the North Monroe Street hill. The only way the 20 yoke of oxen could use their extreme pulling power was on a straight line.  Every tree that didn’t allow a straight pull had to be cut down.

    They followed the old road which led just south of where Whitworth College is presently located, then crossed what is now Division Street on the flat below the hill.  The road then turned northeast and crossed the Little Spokane river a couple of miles below Chattaroy.  The bridge crossing the river was a rickety pole construction and although there was no load limit posted, Bill wouldn’t risk his bulls or the boiler on it. A bachelor by the name of James Parvine, commonly known as “Peavine Jimmy” kept a house at the crossing that offered the best accomodation between Spokane and Chewelah.  The journey was interrupted for two weeks while Bill and his helpers rebuilt the bridge with the timber that was plentiful nearby.  The river was full of fish and anytime not spent working on the bridge was devoted to hooking trout with Peavine Jimmy.

    Bill and his bulls had overcome much difficulty to get this far but many more trials lay ahead.  The steep grade up from the Little Spokane had to be pulled between large “hay shock” rock piles that couldn’t be moved and didn’t allow Bill to string out the 20 yoke of oxen.  Up on the level the road was sandy but the timber more open till they reached Lost Springs a few miles east of Deer Park.  From Deer Park the road through the rolling hills was menaced by an immensely heavy growth of lodgepole pine which if they started to lean from the wind would arch over the road with their tops touching the ground.  The road was swampy and in many places had to be corduroyed with poles.  Winter overtook them before they made it through the hills and the boiler was transferred to some skids to be pulled in the snow.  Half of the bulls were moved out and hay had to be hauled in for the rest.

   A new road had to be built past the old Loon Lake hill and several miles beyond to what was called “Big Meadow.”  The boiler skidded along the snow fairly well until they arrive at Grouse Creek hill.  The hill was two steep for Bill to risk the safety of his precious oxen pulling the boiler on skids with no way to brake.  The only answer was to let the boiler down with a heavy rope and blocks.  25 years later scars were still visible on the trees from that procedure.  The same operation had to be employed on Huckleberry Creek hill and Cottonwood hill.

    By the time they reached the Colville Valley, the snow was too rotten for skidding.  Bill brought back the rest of the oxen, transferred the boiler to the wagon and plowed up the soft roads to Chewelah.  Now the roads were breaking up fast.  Anyone who has walked on newly worked ground in Chewelah in the springtime can attest to the extreme stickiness of the mud.  When they reached the west city limits the oxen’s feet were sinking easily into the mud but could hardly be withdrawn on account of the suction.  At this discouraging moment an old Hudson’s Bay Scotchman came along,  Bill asked him “how’s the road ahead.”  “Well, the same as they are here.” he replied.  “I have been in the Colville Valley nigh on 20 years and never saw roads I could call by that name at this time of year.  Where are you going with that boiler?”  “I am going to the Little Dalles if I can get there.” replied Bill.  “You will never make it,” said the Scotchman as he left. Pondering the situation he was in, Bill looked the boiler over carefully and noticed a circle of rivets around it.  He decided the boiler could and had to be taken apart.

    The rivets were cut which left the boiler in two pieces.  He then got another wagon, loaded one part of the boiler on it, divided up the bulls and proceeded on his way.  We don’t know much about the rest of the journey, however, he did fulfill his contract by getting the boiler to the boat in time months after starting from Spokane.  The boat was a success and used for a number of years although it never made the money its promoters had hoped for.  This all happened a long time ago but the next time you travel highway 395 you might think about Bill, his oxen and the big boiler.

Roots in the Grounds: on coffee and coming home

By Liv Stecker

They say it’s a small world. In the northwest, this might be particularly true, or it might just be that our family roots cover a little bit more territory out here than they do in the densely packed eastern side of the nation. John and Lori Sprague moved to the little town of Northport in 2010. For Lori, she knew the moment they rounded the corner of Highway 25 coming into town that it was home.

“I saw Silver Crown Mountain, and the town, and I just knew.” she says, reminiscing about the road trip tour that led them northward from their longtime hometown of Astoria. Lori grew up in Texas, a far cry from the port city that was the first permanent settlement on the Pacific Coast by European explorers. Spending her young vacation days in the mountains of Colorado, the jutting rock face of Silver Crown felt like going back to those days for her. Lori’s husband John, who had been born and raised in the Astoria area, was right on board with her, and ready for a move.

Recently retired from her 27 year career as a Park Ranger for Oregon State Parks, Sprague and her husband were ready for a change of scenery. John, a commercial fisherman, sold the 40 foot whaleback boat that he built after his father, Daniel Sprague passed away in 2007, and the couple decided they needed to make a change.

On a visit to John’s sister Karen in Evans, a drive around the area led them north to the border town that would become home. But it was full circle for the Spragues, as John’s grandfather, Chester had lived in Northport as a boy. The stories about the earlier Sprague family’s time in Northport had become blurry in the telling over their years, and with good reason, as Lori Sprague discovered with some digging into the past. Chester’s father George and mother Vina (Thomas) lost three children while they lived in the area, as well as Vina herself, who died in Northport in 1897. The last surviving child of the couple, Chester moved around with family members of his mother’s until he was reunited with his father and eventually settled in Oregon where George had remarried.

Chester married and raised 12 children in the Astoria, Oregon area, one of which was Dan, John’s father, who raised John and four other children in Astoria. In his final years, Dan moved in with Lori and John who cared for him until his death. After which they found their perfect spot in Northport. A sprawling log cabin was for sale on Craigslist, and with little real hope of all of the stars aligning as they settled their finances in Oregon and pushed toward a move to Washington, they made an offer.

“It was like Dad was guiding us, every step,” says Lori of the way events unfolded. After years of hard work and obstacles, the transaction for the log cabin in the woods came off without a hitch. “We’ve always had to fight every step of the way,” Lori shares, but this was different. Everything fell into place beautifully, definitely with some help from above. The Spragues moved into their new home in 2010, and years later, they have no regrets. In fact, in 2015 John received the payoff for his boat the Spragues were faced with a new dilemma.

“He asked me ‘What do you want to do with this?’” Lori says, with a laugh, and in another stroke of divine coincidence, she had an answer. Fulfilling a longtime dream to run her own coffee shop, the drive through espresso stand in Northport was up for sale. The Spragues put an offer in, and on April 6 of 2015, the birthday of John’s late father, Morning Bear Coffee was opened up, a new face and a new approach to serving coffee to the community.

“For me it’s all about customer service,” Lori says. “Always have a smile on your face!” And her words aren’t idle - in the shop most of the working hours, she’s always at the window with a smile and a cheerful greeting. “The community has been extremely supportive of the shop,” she shares, and for that, she’s grateful. One of her goals for the  business was to provide weekend and summer employment for local high school students, and so far, she’s done a stellar job fulfilling that mission.

Sprague has joined the Chamber of Commerce in Northport and thrown her wholehearted support behind Northport High School athletics and programs. Business has steadily increased since the Sprague’s took the reigns at Morning Bear, and their commitment to making customers happy has won them a dedicated fan following among locals, not to mention traffic passing through to and from Canada, hikers along the Pacific Northwest Trail (which passes through Northport) and seasonal visitors that are in town for hunting and fishing and other recreational pursuits.

Morning Bear Coffee is open Monday - Friday 7:00 - 4:00 PM. Located just off of Highway 25 as it serves as Northport’s main street, the shop has a drive through window and a walk-up spot, with a few outdoor seats for warmer days. Daily specials, breakfast items and baked goods are available at Morning Bear as well. Swing by on your next visit to Northport for a festive seasonal coffee drink!

Big world, small parts: how a local electrical repair shop reaches around the globe

By Liv Stecker

You’ve passed it a million times on your way to work, or picking up the kids from school, or heading out to get your groceries. The little white cement block building on the side of highway 395 nestled in behind Radio Shack, you might not ever notice it until you need to.

Road Runner Electrical opened on March 1, 1992 in Colville by Richard Shull, who has been rebuilding alternators and starters for vehicles since the mid 1970s.

“The rebuild industry has changed so much in the last 20 years, it’s unreal,” Shull says of the shift in auto parts over the decades - when he first opened the business in 1992, he says it was more cost effective to rebuild or repair 29 out of 30 alternators that came through the door. Now, as electrical systems for automobiles are manufactured overseas at a fraction of the cost, it’s often cheaper to replace the whole starter or alternator than to repair it. The statistics have flip-flopped. “Now it’s one out of every 30 that we rebuild.” He says. Shull kept three employees busy rebuilding alternators when Road Runner was at it’s busiest.

In 2000, Matt Prater joined the team at Road Runner and seventeen years later, he and Shull run the entire operation together. Prater bought into the business several years ago and in the spring of 2017, he bought the business from Shull in it’s entirety.

Road Runner has shifted gears to keep up with the changing times. In addition to a flourishing eBay business where they sell electrical parts and repair kits to buyers all over the world.

“We can buy battery isolators from Malaysia and sell them back to people in Malaysia for cheaper than they can buy them there, where they were made.” Matt says. A map of the world hangs on the wall behind the counter at Road Runner, with brightly colored thumb tacks placed in every country (to date, more than 48) and state that the guys have shipped parts to. It’s proof positive that the world wide web has made it a much smaller world, even in a blue collar industry like electrical repair.  But the global eBay sales are only a fraction of what Road Runner offers.

While most of their local business consists of repeat customers over the years, Shull says that remote industry is really their bread and butter.

“70% of our business is from out of town,” he remarks, places like the Lucky Friday Mine in Silver Valley, Idaho, who have used Road Runner for their electrical parts and repairs for decades. But the guys at Road Runner say that they have first-time local clientele to thank for all of the real head-scratcher repair jobs. Road Runner has established themselves locally as the Do-It-Yourself mechanic’s last stop once they’ve reached the end of their limited expertise… or in some cases, just beyond the end.

“With our return customers, when something goes wrong, we’re the first ones they call,” Shull says, but the weekend warrior mechanics often don’t know what they’re up against until the whole thing is taken apart. “We’re the last ones they call, the last hope.” He laughs.

Prater and Shull say that clients bring in alternators in all states of disrepair and disassembly for them to fix. And fix it they do. Along with alternator and starter repair, Road Runner also sells new and rebuilt models, along with parts and supplies, batteries and accessories, and much more. They also repair power tools, trailers, winches and build custom battery cables.  

A few years ago, Road Runner began selling Old Hickory Sheds, which grace the open lot next to their location at 485 N Highway in Colville. Road Runner’s new hours are Monday - Thursday, 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM, and Friday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM.

Prater laughs that his most productive hours in the shop are the ones when it’s closed and he can focus on his projects. One of his customers recently reminded him that being a business owner meant he was able to choose which 16 hours a day he put in, and while he admits it’s a lot of time and commitment, he says he enjoys the flexibility that being his own boss brings. You can reach the guys at Road Runner at (509) 684-1778, or stop on by the shop and check it out for yourself.

From gravel to gavel: how a small-town orphan became a big city judge

By Liv Stecker

Spokane County District Court Judge Aimee Maurer isn’t exactly sure when her birthday is. This odd uncertainty is one of the reasons that she is so good at her job. Born in Korea, Maurer was adopted as an infant by parents who lived just outside of Portland, Oregon. After a prolonged adoption process, the infant named Park Wol Haw was placed with Keith and Deborah  Jones in December of 1974. Maurer had been left on the steps of an orphanage in Seoul in June of that year when she was only days old. (while this is true of China, Korea did not have the strict family number limits). In the 1960, less than 15 years before Maurer’s one-way trip to Oregon, international adoption was unheard of in the United States. As the Korean War drew to a close, missionary Harry Holt saw the plight of abandoned babies   in Korea. Many orphans were the result of U.S. military presence during the Korean conflict which left behind thousands of bi-racial children. In addition to building orphanages in the war-torn country, Harry Holt  lobbied for a change in US Congressional Law to allow for the adoption of children from foreign countries, of which Korea would be the frontrunner.

After hearing about the Holt adoption program through their church, the Joneses had been placed on a waiting list for a baby.  In the meantime, they adopted two young American foster boys while they waited for their baby from Korea. Before they made the top of the list, they received a call from the Holt Agency.

“I know you’re further down the list,” the Holt employee told them, “but I feel like she is meant to be with you.”

The tiny Korean girl became a part of the Oregon family who added two more adopted siblings, one more girl and another boy, into the mix before they relocated to the Colville area in the mid-1980s.

“They loved the beauty of the area, but mostly they wanted the idyllic small town American lifestyle,” Maurer says of her parents’ move across the Northwest. “They wanted an environment where they could put down roots.” The Joneses established a farm and ran a small arts-and-crafts business in an old homestead on a dirt road south of town with their five adopted children. They grew most of their own food and everybody chipped in to help with the family business.

Maurer’s father became a Precinct Committee Officer and the family became involved in the local political landscape of northern Stevens County.

“It was a big deal to see his name there on the ballot,” Maurer remembers, “It really struck me how you, as an individual, can effect change in  the community you live. ” While Maurer and her siblings were homeschooled all throughout elementary and high school, she began to voice an interest in law school after graduation. At the time, her dad told her that she was “too short to be a lawyer,” which only served to spur the compact, 5 foot, 1 inch spitfire to prove him wrong.

Maurer was married in 1996 and welcomed her first child, daughter Madeline, the following year. In 2000, following the birth of her first son Liam, she started school at Spokane Falls Community College. Maurer’s second son, Oliver was born in 2008.  “In the back of my mind I still had this desire to be a lawyer,” Maurer said of the years she spent building a new life when her marriage ended. “I wanted to be a prosecutor, and focus on domestic violence,” she said, now armed with experience that motivated her from the damage to her own marriage and the fracturing of her parent’s family under abusive circumstances. She was accepted to Gonzaga Law School in 2003, proving to her father that height was no determiner of destiny.

Maurer went on after graduation to work for the Kootenai County Public Defenders, The Washington State Court of Appeals and worked in the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Domestic Violence and DUI Units as well as working for private law firms in insurance defense and plaintiff work. The broad diversity of experience was backed by an underlying motivation for the diminutive but feisty lawyer.

“In the back of my mind I knew that someday I wanted to be a judge,” she says, “and a good judge has both civil and criminal defense and prosecutor experience. I tried to pace my career to gain well rounded experience.” In 2009 when she was working as a prosecutor, she met Joshua Maurer, a defense attorney with whom she promptly got into an argument, one that she says he claims victory in. Regardless of who won the argument, the pair was married soon after. . Maurer and her husband operated their own law firm until 2014 when the opportunity to run for judge presented itself.

“In Spokane County, an incumbent judge had not lost an election in nearly 25 years,” says Maurer, but she viewed the campaign as a full time job, motivated by one strategy learned from years of overcoming daunting obstacles: “It can be done.” Maurer is a firm believer in a perspective that she says  every political view can get behind.

“When I ran, both sides could find consensus in the fact that the system is broken.” Criminal justice accounts for 70% of the Spokane County budget. She is an advocate of reforms that will use taxpayer money wisely and efficiently. For Maurer, the answers can be found in getting back to a strong work ethic and better education. Without these, “Crime rates go up, the jails are full and costs are rising... The U.S. jail system is the number one provider of mental health services in the nation.” Maurer says. If the process of getting there wasn’t enough of a challenge for the young Judge, the job itself is no walk in the park.

“We have our challenges,” Maurer shares, “but on a daily basis, we affect people’s lives.” In addition to the daily docket, Maurer sits on committees that are working to implement reforms in the criminal justice system.  She is committed to making her community a better and stronger place, one person at a time.

In spite of the imperfections of her family: biological, adopted or otherwise, Maurer says that she was taught the value of hard work. As a single mother in law school with a non-traditional educational background, not to mention her adoption and unconventional upbringing, she is a powerful example of the potential of dedication and hard work. There are no excuses big enough to stand in the way of what you really want to do.

“You can make a difference in your community and in other people’s lives,” Maurer says, and if anybody knows, she does.

Rotary Career Fair Oct. 26th!

The Rotary Club sponsored Career Fair will be held again this year on October 26th at the Community College for area high school students with an adult session scheduled from 2:30 until 5 p.m.   The Career Fair is one of the ways in which the Colville Rotary Club is working to support the youth in our community.  Too often young people struggle to find direction in their lives and lack the preparation that leads to rewarding employment opportunities. The result can be discouragement, apathy and dependence.  The purpose of the career fair is to help students and their parents become aware that there is a huge demand for for people with technical and vocational skills and that there are affordable training programs available to obtain those skills.  Many times these careers can provide a higher lifetime income than a purely academic career when the cost of expensive 4 year degree programs are taken into account.  Even for students whose goals include an academic degree, a vocational skill can provide the means to earn a living and pay for schooling without incurring crushing debt.  Those students who want to remain in the area after graduation will also find that many good positions are available with local employers if they have the needed skills.

Representatives from local and regional businesses, trade associations, governmental agencies and community college programs will be available to speak with interested students and later in the day with adults.  Last year some of the participants advertized current openings. Some of the representatives scheduled to attend this year include: Hewes Craft, Colmac Coil, Colmac Industries, Boise Cascade, Columbia Cedar, WA DNR, Avista, Providence Health, Spokane Home Builders Association, US Border Patrol, National Forest, Washington State Troopers, Animal Hospital, Buena Vista, Clarks, SCC, NW HVAC school, Dollars for Scholars, Rural Resources, Job Corp, US Army.

Training programs that will be represented include the fields of aviation, welding, cosmetology, criminal justice, automotive, machining, diesel/heavy equipment, et cetera.

Adults who are interested in preparing for one of these careers will have the same opportunity to speak with representatives during the 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. session.  This is also an opportunity for parents to come and get information that can help them guide their students in choosing a path forward.

The Rotary Club will have an exposition at the fair regarding the different activities the club sponsors in our community.

Armed Robbery At First National Bank In Chewelah!

Chewelah's First National Bank in 1905

A Throwback Story By Barry McCombs

The year was 1938, just a few years after bank robbers John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and Bonnie and Clyde were dominating the headlines in the newspapers.  I had found some old newspaper clippings on the Chewelah holdup while flipping through one of my great-grandfather’s scrapbooks and then found out that one of the principals in this little drama, Mr. Cy Lavigne, was still alive in 1982 so I went to his cabin at Black Lake and visited with him.  At that time Cy was a spry 85 year old with an excellent memory which I tested by asking about some details of my ancestors who had been dead fifty years or more. Cy was an assistant clerk at the bank when the robbery occurred and using his memory along with the old newspaper clippings we reconstructed a crime that took place during the Great Depression.

At 2:30 p.m. on September 22, 1938, two gunmen stepped into the First National Bank of Chewelah and ordered the bank employees and three customers who happened to be in the bank to put up their hands. One man, later described as “very swarthy and over 30 years of age”, stood by the door while the other gunman, said to be “about 30, tall with blond bushy hair”, ordered J.A. Raftis, a cashier, to show where the money was kept.  Mr. Lavigne said that he kept playing with the hammer on his revolver while he held the gun under Jim Raftis’ nose. (As he recounted this, I sensed that he still held a grudge at the man for threatening their lives.)  The robbers gathered up $802  but in their excitement overlooked $11,000  in payroll money for the old magnesite plant in Chewelah.  As the gunmen ran out the door, the bank employees set off an alarm which rang in a business house next door.

At this point, Mr. Lavigne  jumped into action and what followed provides an interesting contrast and comparison to attitudes, policies and debates regarding gun control and citizen involvement in our own time.  Grabbing a 32 Colt automatic pistol kept at the bank, Cy rushed out the back door and started firing at the bandits just as they were making their getaway in a 36 Ford sedan.  The robbers returned fire and he could hear bullets striking the wall of the bank.  While this was going on he suddenly became aware that a young employee of the bank, Miss Lola Haney, was standing next to him yelling, “I wish I had a gun, I wish I had a gun.”  Cy told her to get the “blank” back inside.  When the getaway car was later discovered it had 5 holes from Cy’s weapon in the passenger door, 3 of which went through the window.

At the same time Mr. Lavigne was exchanging shots with the robbers, Mr. Heathfield, an insurance man from Spokane heard the alarm go off in the business next to the bank.  He ran to his car, pulled a 22 automatic pistol from it and started firing at the Ford from the center of the street. It was reported in the paper that Mr. Heathfield put several rounds through the rear window of the car.  Cy had to stop and laugh about that for awhile. He said Heathfield, a friend of his, was amazed to find out, when the getaway car was discovered that only one of his bullets had it the car and that was in the trunk.  While he was shooting he kept seeing holes appearing in the back window and thought he was really laying in his shots close.  Actually, the holes he saw were made by the bandits firing back at him from inside of the car.

All of this activity disturbed the ruminations of a couple of retired gentlemen who made it their habit to sit on the burb of the sidewalk under some shade trees near the bank.  A stray bullet grazed the pants of one of the men. Cy said the two of them crept on their hands and knees slowly around a building and then made tracks for safer ground.

After the robbers got away from the bank, several people watched the car drive slowly till it got out of town. (Were they trying to not draw attention to themselves or was Chewelah already known as a speed trap in 1938?)  When the reached the Sand Canyon road on the edge of town, the car picked up speed and began to race furiously up the the road.  By this time Marshall Otto Thygesen of Chewelah gave chase.  He reported that he had nearly caught up to them before burning a bearing on his car.

While the news spread about the holdup there was no lack of volunteers to chase down the bad guys.  A dozen or more cars full of manhunters patrolled the Sand Canyon and upper Chewelah Creek area all that afternoon and evening.  Small posses were organized from the American Legion Post and armed with high-powered rifles and shotguns.  These groups were sent out to investigate many conflicting sightings of the bandits.  No trace of the robbers was found, however, until much later when deer hunters came upon the getaway car covered with brush in the Bear Creek area.  Inside the car investigators found dried blood and other evidence the bandits had been hit.  Some arrests were eventually made in connection with the robbery.

After the holdup, Cy Lavigne changed his 32 automatic for a 30-06.  He felt that he would have stopped the robbers if he would have had the rifle.  Over the years society put more restraints on anyone but  trained police officers jumping into a melee with criminals.  To protect the safety of their customers and employees, banks eventually forbid clerks from having firearms on the premises. Cy could see the wisdom in this but judging from the deer antlers hanging from his cabin wall he was still a good shot and I wouldn’t have wanted to test his resolve in a tight situation.

Studio 224 - Not Your Mama’s Salon

Chris, Jenny and Jill at Studio 224

By Liv Stecker

Jill Woodward is something of a legend in the hairdressing world of Colville. For 38 years, the owner and operator extraordinaire of Carefree Hair Design on the south end of town was the stylistic savior of multiple generations. She and her well known shop were fixtures in the community.

 “Carefree was known for how beautiful is was, the plants and stained glass,” Woodward says reminiscently. Her customers became like family to her as she took care of them and then their children, year after year, along with her two daughters who became hairdressers as well. The popular salon served clients who wouldn’t dream of going anyplace else, until 2015 when Woodward underwent emergency open heart surgery. The event was an unexpected wake up call.

 “I am so happy I am alive,” Woodward says. She closed down Carefree and retired from 50 years of hairdressing and moved to Libby, Montana, where she and her husband built an Amish style log home. But Woodward missed her Carefree clientele. When her daughter, Jenny Lambert considered opening her own salon, Woodward was on board.

Jenny's "rustic industrial" makes a homey setting

 “I was encouraging her to get into it,” Woodward says. The salon would provide a space where she could come back periodically to work her magic. “This community is like family to me.... I have to get my fix once a month.”

 Lambert bought the building at 224 N. Main Street in Colville and opened Studio 224 in August of 2017, and while Woodward makes her ‘celebrity hairdresser’ appearances for the first week of every month, she says the new salon is 100% Lambert’s style.

 “...this shop is very Jenny, with the black and white rustic/industrial look.” Woodward says. And it’s not just Studio 224’s aesthetic appeal that is a big switch up from the earthy, colorful vibe of Carefree. Lambert uses Organic Hair Systems products in her business, which Woodward says is an all-around “better choice for your hair.” Lambert has been using the product on her clients for quite some time, with great results.

 The building itself, which formerly housed Colville Monument Works facing Main Street is also serving as a Zumba studio in the evenings and eventually, they hope eventually, a Thai takeout restaurant.

 Studio 224 offers a full array of beauty services, with top-of-the-line organic products and service backed by a two-generation reputation. Lambert offers services off-site as well for special events such as weddings. For more information or to make an appointment with Woodward or Lambert, call 509-675-5656.

Don’t be that guy: have fun responsibly during fire season

By Liv Stecker

Fire season is in full swing in the Inland Northwest, and with temperatures reaching Arizona Desert highs later this week and no rain in sight, firefighters don’t have the weather on their side in the battle against forces of nature. Some of the most popular recreational spots in Eastern Washington are closed because of threatening fires. Campgrounds like those at Noisy Creek on Sullivan Lake that have sites reserved months in advance are closed, probably for the remainder of the season. Access to hiking trails, including the popular Pacific Northwest Trail, is limited or cut off altogether in places, rerouting through-hikers dozens of miles in roundabout detours.

While Sullivan Lake remains open to boaters, firefighters operating on the lake’s edge are concerned as the interested public drifts dangerously close to active fire and the occasional keg-sized boulder that tumbles off the hillside into the lake. Helicopter pilots maneuver buckets around boats on the lake while campers take video from the shore. It is a sight to behold, for sure, but the closer that spectators get to the action, the more risk that firefighters and the public face in the ever-changing context of an active wildfire. During the weekend, visitors to the fire area near Noisy Creek were double parked along a single lane bridge, impeding fire traffic and compromising access routes, until local Law Enforcement stepped in to break up the impromptu party.

Noisy Creek Fire on July 31, 3017

Closing campgrounds, trails, lakes and other recreational areas is truly a last resort for most agencies. If closures happen, it is to ensure that the number one objective of every fire manager and agency administrator is achieved: public and firefighter safety. Not respecting closures creates risk for both the violator and the firefighter on the line, but using common sense and a little bit of situational awareness as the recreating public can help put off official closures a little bit longer. Sometimes, campers don’t have access to the information they need once they leave cell range and wifi connectivity. Always check information boards and kiosks at campgrounds and boat launches when you arrive, and when possible, get online and check agency websites for your preferred recreational spot for updates. “Know before you go” is a good mantra to live by if you like to hang out in the woods.

As of Sunday morning, August 6, the Colville National Forest goes into Stage II Fire Restrictions, (follow the Colville National Forest on Twitter @Colville_NF to get updates) which means no campfires, even in designated campsites and improved fire rings, no charcoal or pellet grills or smokers and no chainsaw use in certain zones on the forest. The Fire Danger Rating is high in Stevens, Pend Oreille and Ferry Counties, and by the weekend, that could be upgraded as well. Where you fire up your generator, flick your cigarette ash or park your car could have lasting ramifications on your friends and fellow recreators out in the woods.

During an active fire, a TFR, or Temporary Flight Restriction, closes the airspace over a fire to all air traffic that is not fire related  - including drones which are becoming ever more popular among the general public. A drone in the air over a fire means that our aviation resources can not fly - no bucket drops from helicopters, no retardant planes, not even medical evacuations can happen if you fly your drone in fire airspace. In June, fire operations on the Goodwin Fire in Arizona were shut down twice when private drones cruised into airspace over the fire.

In many ways, the general public can aid local firefighters by being aware and practicing good judgement in recreational situations. In both fire prevention and fire suppression efforts, Smokey Bear’s mission is renewed every year as people still need to be reminded of their responsibility to protect the woods where they live, work and play. According to a study by the National Academy of the Sciences,  84% of wildfires are human caused, and that, my friends, is a scary statistic. Especially when these fires cost our country billions of dollars annually, and even worse, human lives, like the human-caused conflagration in Tennessee last year that killed fourteen people.  

Fire will always be a part of our landscape here in rural Eastern Washington, but how much destruction this fire brings is in part, up to us as residents of this great place. Cooperating with local agencies and policies and using your own good sense are the best way to be part of the solution. Enjoy your summer, but do it wisely, and remember, Only You...

Total eclipse from the start

the first photograph of a total solar eclipse in 1860

By Liv Stecker

In 3340 BCE, a bunch of Neolithic Irish Priests documented a series of celestial events onto a pile of rocks. The Loughcrew Cairn stands as the oldest recorded total solar eclipse in human history. These petroglyphs mean that people have been chasing eclipses since about 160 years before the wheel was invented.

Ancient cultures saw the total eclipse as a religious experience, usually a bad omen, a premonition of destruction, or in the case of an ancient Chinese emperor who wanted to know what had caused the sudden darkness - the imminent beheading of some hapless astronomers who didn’t know. What ancient Chinese records DO say about the event in October of 2134 BCE is that “the Sun and Moon did not meet harmoniously.”

Rahu consumes the sun

Whether it was a Chinese dragon, a South American Jaguar or a Scandinavian sky wolf, most early people had some theory about the creature that consumed, and promptly regurgitated the sun in the middle of its daily course. In India, the floating head of the demon Rahu occasionally caught the sun and moon in his mouth, but, lacking a body, they slipped out shortly after, according to legend.

Ancient documentation on clay tablets found in a Syrian cave reference an eclipse that experts say took place in March of 1223, BCE. The Holy Bible itself makes note in the book of Amos, chapter 8 verse 9, of an 8th century Assyrian (now Iraq) eclipse that took place: "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day."

Fast forward a few hundred years and people started getting wise to the repeating pattern of the eclipse. It probably helped that they started traveling more too (now that they had wheels) and discovered that the once-in-a-lifetime event happened fairly routinely, just not often in the same place. By the time that humankind had graduated into the Anno Domini they were predicting when and where the next total eclipse would be and all making up all kinds of theories that had nothing to do with giant mythical creatures. Less dramatic? Hardly, considering the vastness of the cosmos that were just beginning to make sense to astronomers.

But what is it about a total eclipse that is so captivating to human audiences? Rarity seems like an unlikely motivator when the event occurs every 18 months somewhere in the world, and yet more than seven million people are expected to make the trek to experience the totality in August of 2017.

Dubbed the Great American Eclipse for the sweeping course it cuts across the entire nation like a beauty pageant sash, the August 21 path of totality makes its first all-American appearance in Lincoln City, Oregon where local law enforcement have issued preparedness warnings that residents should stockpile and prepare to shelter in place before the hordes of eclipse chasers descend upon them.  The shadow will move east/southeast across the country, leaving a path of partiers that some brilliant website analyst describes as “ 20 Woodstock festivals occurring simultaneously across the nation”, before finishing the visit along the beaches of  South Carolina.

path of totality

Unlike comet-tracking cults and celestial doomsday believers, eclipse chasers appear to be cut from a completely different cloth. You won’t find end-of-the-world gibberish on eclipsechaser.com - rather, the community is a scientifically driven, curious group hailing from every imaginable background who all agree on one thing: there’s nothing like it in the world.

“The feeling of the eclipse when it happens, you can't describe it, it's like magic.” 30 year old Latvian IT consultant Agnese Zalcmane told the Daily Mail in 2015, “One minute the sun is shining then it starts getting darker but it doesn't get dark like it does in the evening or at dusk - it goes dark very, very fast. Within half a minute it's completely black and it is something that is very strange to experience.”

Seasoned eclipse chaser Rhonda Coleman tells the Bend Bulletin, “We depend on our sun for everything. You can’t help but feel a little dread when it starts to lose strength, when it starts to lose power, when it starts to dim in the middle of the day — when it’s not supposed to...For just the short period of time, everybody’s just looking up at once. It’s this beautiful connection to the family of man.” The experience seems to draw strangers together into intimate throngs with one purpose. Author, eclipse chaser and psychologist Kate Russo describes the experience in one of her books on the subject.

“You can literally feel the ominous shadow before it arrives.  The temperature drops.  The wind picks up speed.  The Sunlight slowly dims, bathing the surroundings in an eerie twilight that produces colours with shades rarely seen in the natural world.  Then it is time. Moments before totality a wall of darkness comes creeping towards you at speeds of up to 5,000 miles per hour – this is the full shadow of the Moon.  You feel alive.  You feel in awe.  You feel a primitive fear.  Then – totality.” Something akin to the ghost story your older brother told you late at night in a shadowy tent, the total eclipse haunts the experienced viewer with tenacity.

Hotels, campgrounds and resorts that were booked more than a year in advance are facing scandal after they scratched all reservations and jacked the price up to meet demand. The Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville, Tennessee, falls directly in the path and is hosting an Eclipse Party on the day of the event, showcasing country stars (pun intended) and celestial-themed food and drinks. Google is rife with websites featuring eclipse chasing tips that range from where to get your eclipse glasses ahead of time (or better yet, make your own!), to the best weather pockets along the path of totality. Granted, it’s the first total eclipse in the United States since 1979, but the good news is if all of the eclipse glasses are already sold out and your favorite central Oregon resort is booked up, you’ll likely have another shot on April 8,  2024 when a total solar eclipse will climb the U.S. from Texas to Maine on a northerly route.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lealane/2017/07/07/the-great-american-total-solar-eclipse-on-august-21-best-places-to-see-it-what-to-expect/#401c69166159