News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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You are way out there, on a remote road next to a wild river, or out in the middle of a sea of sage and juniper. First you might notice a huge gnarled Lombardy Poplar, a few old broken boards, and pieces of barbed wire. Then you notice other trees that look out of place. In spring there may be white blossoms. In the fall sweet fruit falls unnoticed and unappreciated, except by bees, deer, and the occasional bear. Pioneer homesteads often left few permanent traces on the land...
It is hard to imagine what Sisters and Burns, Oregon, Time Magazine, China, a shootout at the Tex Saloon in 1894, a gold rush at Windy Point, and actor William Hurt might have in common. The answer is that they all have ties to Claire McGill Luce, a "child of the west," a woman who worked around the world, but never forgot her roots in the high desert of Harney County. She is responsible for a treasure trove of western history that holds almost forgotten tales and secrets of...
The wild expanse of forests we enjoy in the foothills of the Cascade mountains are not there by chance. It took concerted thought for the future when in 1893, Congress established the precursor of National Forests, the Forest Reserves. Forest land was being developed fast as the Government encouraged settlement of the West. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave 160 acres of free land to any citizen over 21, with certain other requirements. The Timber and Stone Act of 1878 further...
The approach of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, gives me occasion to reflect upon my experience working as an interpreter for ABC Sports during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, West Germany. While the 1972 games were a venue for many outstanding athletic achievements (i.e. Mark Spitz' seven gold medals), it was the Israeli massacre that most people remember. Almost 52 years ago, eleven members of Israel's Olympic team were killed during a 23-hour drama that began...
There is no better place to beat the summer heat in Sisters than at one of our mountain lakes. Suttle Lake, 13 miles west of Sisters, has been a favorite for many years with a variety of campgrounds, boat docks, picnic shelters, and resorts. The lake's name is a bungled attempt to recognize a man with quite a story. Before European settlement the lake was frequented by Native Americans who camped along its shores as they fished for sockeye salmon and travelled into the high...
Unlike many women of yesteryear, Bertha Ronalds did not walk quietly through the pages of history. Bertha was an influencer before there was a name for it and landed with a big splash in the Metolius Basin in 1935, leaving a legacy that includes Metolius Meadows and Lake Creek Lodge. She even has her own Wikipedia page which mentions New York's Gilded Age, life in Paris, and Napoleon. Her privileged life helped draw the rich and famous to a little place in a pine forest...
How do I begin to honor Valori Wells and her amazing 25-year journey in fabric design? Like many things, it is all about who you know! I met Jean Wells, Valori's mom, in the late 1980s. Jean immediately took me under her wing and, over the years, she shared marvelous stories and details about her own children, Jason and Val. In 1998, I knew Val had recently graduated with a Fine Arts Degree in Photography. I knew she grew up at Stitchin' Post in Sisters, OR, and I knew she...
Quilts have been appearing like magic on the walls of Sisters businesses on the second Saturday in July for nearly half a century. But those in the know understand that the magic is actually made by the hard work of a cadre of dedicated volunteers. Some of them are locals, some of them come from out of state. Many have volunteered for years or decades. And not all of the volunteer work happens on Quilt Show day. Susan DeGroat volunteers year-round. She does a lot of office...
The words people use to describe Toni Berke Foster paint a picture of a formidable woman: words like tough, skillful, committed, honest, focused, relentless, taskmaster, and "passionate maniac." Foster was a teacher at tiny Black Butte School in Camp Sherman for 28 years serving as educator, bus driver, custodian, and superintendent. Her other identities included being a deeply committed defender of the Metolius Basin. She drove the Forest Service to unprecedented levels of...
In her later years, Maida Bailey liked to cruise in her 1958 green and white Chevy Coupe. She drove around her ranch to check the irrigation, to visit friends in Camp Sherman or Bend, or just around town in Sisters, handing out friendly waves and smiles although she was almost hidden behind the steering wheel. She was famous for easily making friends with every kind of person, from university presidents, to teachers, ranchers, homemakers, store keepers, socialites, mill...
Martha Alice Taylor didn't have a long childhood. Born in Oregon in 1857 to parents who came across the Oregon Trail, she married her 24-year-old neighbor Alfred Cobb in California when she was just 13 years old. By the time she was 14 her first baby, Newt Cobb was born. She had two more sons by the time she was 17. When she was 18, her growing family headed north back to her home state of Oregon. Two more children joined the brood as another child died. By 1881, the Cobbs...
When Adora Hitchcock looks out her window in her quarters at The Lodge in Sisters, she can just make out the roof of Conklin's Guest House across Barclay Drive to the north. When she sits in The Lodge's library, she has an even better view. And that view takes her back in time and brings her 82 years of life full circle. Hitchcock was born in 1941 in Bend and adopted by Philip and Sally Wyatt Hitchcock. The Hitchcocks were pioneering lumbermen in Sisters Country, and Philip's...
When Tillman Glaze built his cabin at the base of Black Butte in 1881, he chose a remote and peaceful place. The homestead had 160 acres of meadow on the edge of a forest of huge ponderosa pine, Indian Ford Creek, and mountain views of the snowy Three Sisters. Till, as he was called, was a man whose life seemed to revolve around making music with his beloved violin, racing horses, playing cards, drinking, and violence. He had moved his family from Dallas to Prineville after...
I was out on a long ramble through the woods west of Sisters a few weeks ago when it hit me that I'd been doing this particular hike for 30 years. Against my will, that led to taking an inventory of the difference between 28 and 58. The good news is, I'm still getting out there, and I can still cover the miles. The less good news is, I'm wearing sleeves on barking knees, and it takes a couple of days to recover from those miles. Sometimes going hard at it leaves me sore and...
How's that New Year's resolution coming along? As I write this, we are just over a week into 2024, which means according to researchers, it has been long enough for 23 percent of us to have not maintained our 2024 aspirations. Still going strong? Kudos to you, but if February rolls around and that resolution has taken a back seat, you are still in good company alongside an estimated 43 percent of folks who shared your month-long resolve. If that resolution happens to stick,...
The foundation of the body: The foot. The human foot consists of 19 muscles, 26 bones, 33 joints, and hundreds of ligaments and tendons. That is all in one foot! Each day, we stick little coffins, more commonly known as shoes, on these complex body parts: Snowboots, high heels, tennis shoes with orthotics, and more. We don't give our feet much thought unless they start to hurt. As we age, feet are the first body part that loses function. We take care of our bodies with diet,...
London Lee "L. L." Noonchester was an enigmatic character and the star of the craziest gold rush story in Sisters Country. A dealer in coyote fur, he set up shop in Burns around 1912 and quickly become embroiled in a wave of legal and ethical situations. L. L. was an accomplished promoter and peppered the Burns community with offers to pay more for "coyote and cat hides than any buyer in Eastern Oregon" despite signing a non-compete contract. During World War I he splashed...
When the human body feels stiff, sore or in pain, we tend to treat it with rest. If it gets bad enough, we may seek the expert opinion and help of a massage therapist, physical therapist or a physician. There is one part of our body that may be the root of most diseases, ailments, injuries, and pain: Our fascia. Fascia is a three-tiered layer of tissue that encases all our muscles, arteries, joints, veins, nerves, and organs. Think of it as a spider web. If you pull one end of...
A friend called me recently, distraught, tearful, and saying there was a letter in her mail when she returned from her holiday trip revoking her driver's license for health reasons. The hurt and dismay were palpable, and I felt helpless to my toes. None of us expect or want such news, but it happens. One minute my friend could drive to the gym and the next she could not. She could go see friends, then she was home alone except for her aging dog. Before the letter, she could dr...
Every once in a while, you meet someone who draws you in like a moth to a light. The exact chemistry is a mystery but there is something about the spring in their step, engaging smile, and funny patter that brightens the day. When I started teaching chair yoga to seniors at The Lodge in Sisters, I couldn't help but notice Tillie Hollar. She became one of my most faithful students, a friend, and my teacher in the art of joyful living. Born Matilda Pearl Pittullo, Tillie was...
Dr. Bonnie Malone, longtime Sisters chiropractor, is retiring and closing her clinic as of November 27, 2023. For 42-1/2 years in Sisters, Malone has been deeply engaged in the life of the community, well beyond her chiropractic practice. She is a walking encyclopedia regarding the people, places, organizations, history, and fun stories of Sisters Country. Malone, her dog, Morgan, and her horse, Caesar, arrived in Sisters in late May 1981, when the population was around 800...
