Wasco County Pioneer Association
88th Annual Reunion and Meeting
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Above (left to right): Bob Wagonblast, Elmore Zurfleuh, Tom Bailey, Dan Erickson, and Dan Spatz enjoy the salmon luncheon and some pioneer camraderie at the 2009 Wasco County Pioneers Association annual meeting
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Members as well as the general public viewed the thousands of photos on the memory picture boards.
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Members and friends of the Wasco County Pioneer Association meet on Saturday May 1, 2010, 10:00 a.m., at the Calvary Baptist Church, 3350 Columbia View Heights in The Dalles for the 88th Annual Reunion and Meeting.
Several graduation classmates hold a mini reunion on this day. Wasco Couny Pioneer Day is always an excellent time for everyone to get together and renew old friendships.
Dues are $12.50 per family (spouse and children 18 years and under) and $10.00 for individuals. Membership is open to everyone!
We look forward to seeing and visiting with you this year on the first Saturday of May in 2010!
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2009 Pioneer Woman and Man of the Year
Pictured: Roseanna Hulse and Elmore Zurflueh |
Picture Boards
Wasco County Pioneers Association has collected one of the greatest treasure troves of photographic history archives in the State of Oregon. MaryAnn Campbell, director of research services for the Oregon Historical Society, has stated it is the best photo collection of any community in Oregon.
There are 394 picture boards with 9,110 photos on them. The picture boards are now stored at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County History Museum, who will be helping to electronically archive these many "one-of-a-kind" photographs of the history of Wasco county.
The photos were mounted on the wooden boards before much was known about the science of photo archiving. They were glued to the boards, with plastic sheeting covering each board. The intention was to protect the photos, and in many ways the effort was successful. The mounting has assured the photos have not been bent or mislaid, or stolen or lost.
But now that electronic archiving is possible, the large and heavy wooden boards make scanning difficult, and the plastic material covering each board makes it difficult to get a sharp, clear image of the photos. There are also concerns that the glue and plastic used to mount and protect the photos are not of archival quality, and may contribute to the eventual degredation of the image.
The staff at the Discovery Center will be examining the photos and working toward the electronic archiving of this wonderful collection of historic photos.
A small sampling of the 9,110 photos on the WCPA Picture Boards |
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COLUMBIA RIVER ICE AT THE DALLES - 1900 |
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Before the installation of the dam system on the Columbia River, the river would regularly freeze over during the winter, making river traffic impossible for up to six months at a time. |
Several of The Dalles' early residents served in the Mexican American war, or the Civil War. |
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THE OLD WOODEN SPEARS |
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This Benjamin A. Gifford photo of the Indians spearing salmon at Celilo has preserved for us their ancient use of the wooden spear, the kind they used before the coming of the white man. |
Above: One of the many Picture Boards shows Joseph Luxlello as he preaches at Pulpit Rock |
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