Sherman County Firsts

Settlers

• 1880 settlers who came and stayed to obtain title to land by homestead, timber culture, commutation, soldiers’ additional homestead, Northern Pacific scrip or other means were George Boyd, Franklin Davidson, William Gerking, Robert J. Ginn, Andrew McDonald, William Mercer, Herman Metzger, Andrew Murchie, George Olmstead, J.R. Richardson, Henry Richelderfer, Charles G. Staples & Franklin Van Patten. [Giles French in The Golden Land]
• 1881 settlers who came and stayed to obtain title to land by homestead, timber culture, commutation, soldiers’ additional homestead, Northern Pacific scrip or other means were Francis Barnett, John Burres, Oliver Cooper, William McDearmon and Griffith Williams north of the ridge, E. Bates, John Presley King and Rufus Moore south of the ridge to Grass Valley, and Clayton Grimes, W.H. Biggs at Wasco, William Sedge, C.W. Barzee, John Forbis, Martha Ward, George Benadon, Wash Reynolds, Horatio Carson, Martha Bounds, O.E. Leet, and John B. Mowry. [Giles French in The Golden Land]
• 1882 settlers who became permanent residents included Ephraim Badger, J.R. Belshe, Steve Black, John Briscow, John Cochran, Ebenezer Cook, George Doyle, Henry Eliot, James H. Fraser, James Gibson, Allen Gilmour, S.S. Hayes, Dixon McDonald, Ira McDonald, John McDonald, John B. McGrath, Moore family, John R. Morrison, Flora Pelton, George Pershin, Henry Peterson, Antone Potter, Amanuel Ritchie, Elijah Ruggles, J.H. Rutledge, Hugh Smith, Michael Smith, Emsley Siscel, Philo Starr, Charles Thomas, Dave Vintin, George Vintin, James Weir, and Henry Willerton. [Giles French in The Golden Land]
• 1883 settlers in the NW part of the county were John Simpson, Ezra Sexton, Jonathan Root, Tobias Neece, John Kaseberg, Charles Glenn, Thomas Starnes and George Peters. Frank Sayrs, Uriah Serviss, Henry Masten, Abel Erskine, Nathan White, John Coyle, Michael Breen settled W of Moro. George and Charley Schwartz, Pierce Roberts, Thomas Hannah, August Bonney, the Coons and Charley Taylor settled around Grass Valley. The French, Heath, Fairchild and Stanton families settled in what came to be called the Michigan settlement with Fred Jones and George Brunk nearby. Andrew Patjen and Frank Wassam were the first in the German settlement. Land between DeMoss to the Columbia River was taken up by George Howell, George Fridley, C.N. Andrew(s), K. McPherson, James W. Florer, George Buchanan, James M. DeMoss, W.H. Ramey, Sarah Nichols, J.B. Hoss, George Sink, Benjamin Andrews, Jasper Garrison, and Charles Wilson. Settling further east were C.H. Belshee, Harney Ritchie, F.E. Seeley, Wesley Fuller and Nelson Long. From the ridge S and E of Grass Valley Canyon were W.E. Allison, Henry McBride, Frank Pike, Henry Gosch, John Fox, George Coy, Martin Holman, Goodrich D. Boardman, T.B. Searcy, Obed Cushman, Herman Dierks, T.J. Hannah, James W. Knight, J.H. Menefee, Tirpin Hill, Ludwig T. Dam, Sheppard Newcomb, Peter Kirchheimer, Casper Grassli, Albert Hembree, and Burton Kelsay. Tilford Moore and William J. Kerr located on the flat that was named for Charles A. Buckley. Settlers E of Hay Canyon to the edge of the John Day River breaks were John T. West, Simon Elcock, William Kenny, John A. Nelson, James Stewart, and John Cooper. [Giles French in The Golden Land]
• 1884 newcomers were Gilford D. Woodworth (Locust Grove), Jasper Stone, Salina Hines, Henry Root, O.W. Richardson, William Grant, Joab M. Powell, George Mark, George Larison, Frank Clark, J.L. VanWinkle, Adam Holder, Fred Krusow, Henry Perrault, Adelor Perrault, Robert Jones, Monroe Grimes, W.D. Armsworthy, John A. Elder, Mike Smith, Charles Myers, Neil McDonald, John McDermid, T.H. Smith, R.W. Brock, Alonzo Young, Cal Young, Charles Thompson, Alexander Urquhart, John Synnott, Edward Thomas, Norman Draper, Jesse D. Nave, Dan McLachlan, John V. Strong, Melissa Hampton, James Gay, Peter Bolter, Charles Holman, John Dailey, Adam Keast, Rudolph Grazier, John D. Whitten, M.P. Smith, Jennie Robey, Mary Howard, Elias B. Penland, Dayton Elliot, A. Dillinger, William Currie, George Bain, Abraham Abel, Charles Bratt, and T.J. Moffett. [Giles French in The Golden Land]
• 1885 newcomers were Del Porter, Henry Jory, Emmaline Stone, David Maxwell, Stephen Gager, Sylvester Deming, W.S. Barzee, Harland Cooper, William Taylor, Charles Dieckmann, William Race, Edward Mack, Michael Callahan, C.A. Buckley, James Patton, Rasmus Rasmussen, J.H. Benson, William Morrison, and Thomas Bolton. [Giles French in The Golden Land]
• 1^st timber culture land claim.
• 1^st settler at Moro – Seedum Valley – Henry Barnum (Barnum Creek).

Cattle

• 1^st cattlemen in S county: James Biffle 1862, George Jackson 1863, Mike & Pat Finnegan 1864.
• Best judge of beef cattle, by consensus: Roe Grimes 1880s S of Grass Valley.
• 1^st barbed wire fence was built from Barnum’s barn in Moro to Gordon Butte.
• 1^st ditch fence was around 20 acres built by Sam Price, followed by ditch fences at Eaton’s, Barnum’s and Fulton’s.

Grain

• 1^st seeding was done by hand broadcast or by wagon tailgate seeder driven off a wagon wheel.
• 1^st grain threshed was rye tramped out by horses at Jesse Eaton’s.
• 1^st to raise a wheat crop: Col. James Fulton.
• 1^st to seed a crop, W.H. Biggs, spring 1881.
• 1^st stationary threshing machine brought to present-day Sherman County by John and Dave Fulton, sons of Col. James Fulton. / James Fulton brought one of the 1^st stationary threshing machines, purchased in Portland & shipped to The Dalles 1878.
• 1^st grain threshed was John Fulton’s, then Sam Price’s.
• 1^st header brought to county: Bruno Medler.
• 1^st to operate a header: Wash Reynolds and Henry Jack 1881.
• 1^st wheat crop at Klondike: Mr. Thomas 1882.
• 1^st steam thresher: Wash Reynolds, fired up by Frank Morrow.
• 1st portable steam engine owned by Morrow Brothers of Wasco.
• 1st wheat threshed by steam engine, Frank Morrow 1889.
• 1^st delivery of wheat to the new railroad at Moro, Commissioner R.H. King 1898.
• 1st farmer to harvest with Holt Caterpillar & Holt harvester: 38 days for 2,100 acres & 21,000 sacks, 1914.
• 1st threshing with combined harvester in county: James W. Engberg.
• Edgington’s patented weeder.
• Tomlin’s patented weeder.
• Charles Kuypers patented springtooth and plow.
• T. Lucas, blacksmith, manufactured the well-known Lucas Gang Plow late 1890s.
• “Len” Eakin invented an implement hitch.
• 1^st grain drill, a Hoosier shoe press drill.
• 1^st flour mill built at Early on John Day River.
• 1^st flour mill in Wasco was built by H.P. Isaacs.
• 1^st gang plow: W.H. Biggs.
• 1^st flat grain storage warehouse built by Farmers Co-operative Warehouse Company.
• 1^st bulk wheat truck with hoist for dumping.
• 1^st on-farm bulk grain storage.
• 1^st barbed wire fence was built from Barnum’s barn in Moro to Gordon Butte.
• 1^st chemical weed control 1945.

Horses

• 1^st large band of horses: Col. James Fulton 1863-1864, Thomas Gordon 1865.
• 1^st to put horses on the range, Samuel Price 1858-1965.
• 1^st stockmen in N county: Thomas Gordon, Col. James Fulton.
• Best riders, by consensus: Pierre Cutchier, Dick Brookhouse, Billie King, Ed Floyd, Nate Eaton, Bill Pearson & Tom Gordon 1880-1890s.
• Claude Thompson started and was one of four men who organized the Appaloosa Horse Club c. 1939, and served as its president for ten years.

Sheep

• 1^st sheep: Rambouillet and Merino.
• 1^st barbed wire fence was built from Barnum’s barn in Moro to Gordon Butte.
• 1^st petition for a coyote bounty 1896.

Orchards and Truck Gardens

• 1^st fruit grower: Thomas Gordon on the Deschutes River 1865-1870.
• 1^st fruit grower: James Jenkins at Murray Springs near Rufus.
• 1^st truck gardens & orchards at Rufus, Early on the John Day River, Buck Hollow, Harris Place on the Deschutes River & homesteads along the rivers.
• 1^st orchards Grant & Rufus area: Blackburne, Huble, Wilson, Fleck, Altermatt & Langford.
• 1^st chemicals for weed control in lawns and gardens 1925.

Other Crops

• 1^st rye crop: Jesse Eaton near the head of Spanish Hollow.
• 1^st grain threshed was rye tramped out by horses at Jesse Eaton’s.
• 1^st rye cutter made by Charles Kuypers.

Organizations

• 1^st scientific demonstration train, Oregon Railway & Navigation Company and Oregon Agricultural College 1908.
• 1^st experiment station in the region at Moro, c. 1909. Sherman Experiment Station.
• Oregon State University Extension program began.
• 1^st Grange organized.
• Eastern Oregon Wheat League, forerunner of Oregon Wheat Growers League, formed in Moro 1926.
• 1^st woman to chair the Oregon State Board of Agriculture: Karla von Borstel Chambers.

Authors

Friends and Neighbors: Mark Mobley and Dave Pshigoda composed this tribute to Sherman County and Ron Mobley wrote the drum part. The three performed at the June 1989 Centennial celebration Chautauqua at DeMoss Springs and the two-day Centennial Homecoming at Sherman High School.

Friends and Neighbors
When you live in Sherman County
You’ve got a reason to be proud
‘cause you know that all your neighbors
Will help you out when you need a hand.
We’re all in this together just like one big family
When you live in Sherman County,
You’re living mighty free.

From the mighty Columbia River
To the Wasco County line,
All our friends and neighbors are living mighty fine,
From the John Day on the east side
To the Deschutes on the west,
When you live in Sherman County
You’re living with the best.

Small towns, friends and neighbors,
We’re all here to say
Happy Birthday, Sherman County!
You’re a hundred years old today!

The wheat fields in the springtime
Are looking mighty green;
The cattle in the pasture are the best we’ve ever seen.
The coffee shops are the local stops
Where you can visit with your friends,
To talk about the price of wheat, cattle and the wind.

The wide open space makes a great hometown,
What a beautiful place to settle down;
It’s been this way for a long, long time,
At least that’s what they say.
The homesteads from years gone by,
The wind from the west and the clear blue skies.
Living in Sherman County is living mighty free.

Small towns, friends and neighbors,
We’re all here to say
Happy Birthday, Sherman County!
You’re a hundred years old today!

 

• Belshe, Bertha Helyer. They Paved the Way, 1976.
• DeMoss Family Lyric Bards [music & lyrics].
• Fraser, Paul. Virgin Timber and a Soiled Lady, Vantage Press 1993.
• French, Giles L. The Golden Land,
• French, Giles L. These Things We Note.
• French, Giles L. Cattle Country of Peter French.
• French, Giles L. Homesteads and Heritages, A History of Morrow County.
• French, Giles L. “An Autobiography, Me” [Sherman County: For The Record #1-1 & 2, 2-1 & 2, 3-1 & 2].
• Frees, Jane French. Dear Dad, Love Jane.
• Goffin, Marie, M.D. The Trail of the Plow, c. 1940.
• Hattrup, Marie von Borstel. Plush Cookin’, 1995.
• Illustrated History of Central Oregon, 1905.
• Kaseberg, Sherry. Kaseberg Cousins, 1975.
• Kaseberg, Sherry. Sherman County Place Names, Streets & Roads, 3^rd edition 2009.
• Kaseberg, Sherry & Kaseberg, Cameron. Miller Island: Our Story 1963-1991, 2012.
• Kirkpatrick, Jane. Homestead, 1991.
• Kirkpatrick, Jane. A Sweetness to the Soul, (life & times of Jane Sherar) 1995.
• Kirkpatrick, Jane. Love to Water My Soul.
• Masiker, Carson C. [manuscript].
• Mobley, Pshigoda & Mobley. Sherman County Centennial song, Friends & Neighbors, was written and performed by Mark Mobley, Ron Mobley and Dave Pshigoda 1989.
• Price, A. Jay. [stories of the earliest days published in the Sherman County Journal].
• Sherman County: For The Record, Sherman County Historical Society 1983-2015.

County

1805-1839

• 1^st white men (probably) to see what became Sherman County: members of the Lewis & Clark Expedition 1805 & 1806.
• Lewis & Clark made note of the natives living along the Columbia and the salmon fishery at Celilo 1805 & 1806.
• 1805 Lewis & Clark named LePage’s River (John Day River).
• 1811 David Thompson, explorer & fur trader, came down the Columbia from Spokane House.
• 1812 the Wilson Price Hunt overland party, trappers & traders, came down the Columbia River.
• 1826 Peter Skene Ogden of the Hudson Bay Company reached the River of the Falls (Deschutes) where he found an Indian camp, location possibly Sherar’s.

1840-1859

• 1842 John C. Fremont, on an official exploration of the west followed routes of earlier explorers, stopped at the John Day River and, with his party of 14 men, crossed the fertile grasslands between the John Day and Deschutes Rivers, stopping briefly near The Dalles.
• 1842 emigrants were crossing the plains to Oregon, fording the John Day River a half-mile below what came to be known as McDonald’s Ferry and on to the Deschutes River crossing.
• 1845 Sam Barlow marked a trail across the Cascade Mountains and emigrants who took that route went S from The Dalles, up 15-Mile Creek, into Tygh Valley and up to Wamic where they entered the timber. Not long after Barlow marked the road over the mountains, a shortcut was made to meet his road at Tygh Valley. It turned off the Oregon Trail at the top of the hill W of the John Day River, went SW to Grass Valley Canyon at Nish, above Hay Canyon, to the present location of Grass Valley, then SW to the ridge S of Finnegan Canyon and Buck Hollow, and down Hollenbeck Point to the bottom of Buck Hollow to the Deschutes where they crossed to go to Wamic and the Barlow Road.
• 1^st mail service The Dalles to Salt Lake City 1853.
• 1^st law requiring livestock brand recording by each county clerk, 1854, 1917.
• 1^st settler in what became Sherman County, Nathan Olney.
• 1^st settler in what became Sherman County, William Graham family, c. 1856.
• 1^st settler-innkeeper William Graham at the mouth of the Deschutes River 1858-1859.
• D. Wallen’s party with Lt. J.C. Bonneycastle explored routes to The Dalles, passed close to present Highway 97 and The Dalles Military Road in Sherman County 1859.
• 1^st map showing a S to N trail through what became Sherman County: Lt. J.C. Bonneycastle c. 1859.

1860-1879

• Major Enoch Steen traveled from Fort Dalles to Walla Walla, noting the fine growth of bunchgrass and scarcity of timber 1860.
• 1^st surveying between the John Day and Deschutes Rivers, Patterson & Cartee 1861.
• 1^st settler at Finnegan aka Haystacks, later Joseph Sherar’s ranch: James Biffle 1863.
• 1^st settlers at the head of Spanish Hollow, Jesse & Mary Eaton 1864.
• 1^st telegraph line followed The Dalles to Walla Walla stage road c. 1865.
• 1^st post office: Jesse Eaton 1870-1880 Spanish Hollow.
• James Fulton was elected to the Oregon legislature in 1870 representing Wasco County.
• 1^st school taught at the Eaton home at the upper end of Spanish Hollow.
• 2^nd school taught at the Price-Masiker home at Sand Spring 1872-1873.

1880-1899

• James Fulton of Wasco County was a presidential elector for Eastern Oregon 1880.
• 1^st public school and school district built China Hollow School 1881.
• 1^st Christmas tree program for the settlers was at China Hollow School 1882.
• Ed Van Patten gave the 1^st Fourth of July address after the formation of the county, 1889.
• 1^st commercial telephone line: Grass Valley to Rufus.
• 1^st brick yards: Hoover in Moro & Schilling in Grass Valley.
• 1^st town: Grant was platted 1883.
• 1^st 4^th of July Celebration was held W of Wasco at Poplar Grove aka Sand Spring.
• 1^st [Sherman County: For The Record, Sherman County Newspapers #20-1, 30-1, 31-2: Grass Valley Journal, The People’s Republic, Wasco News-Enterprise, Wasco News, Sherman County News, Moro Leader, Moro Bulletin, Sherman County Observer, Sherman County Journal]
• Elihu Owen McCoy elected representative from Wasco County to the legislature 1885.
• William H. Biggs elected representative to the Oregon legislature 1886.
• Free Bridge was built across the Deschutes River by Wasco County 1887.
• O. McCoy introduced a bill to the Oregon legislature to form a new county.
• Sherman County was formed from Wasco County 1889.
• 1^st County Judge C.M. Scott 1889-1891.
• 1^st County Commissioners John Medler 1889-1890 & Dayton Elliott 1889-1890.
• 1^st County Clerk V.C. Brock 1889-1892.
• 1^st County Treasurer Levi Armsworthy 1889.
• 1^st Assessor C.C. Myers 1889.
• 1^st County Sheriff E.M. Leslie 1889-1894.
• 1^st Stock Inspector Archibald McIntosh 1889.
• 1^st County School Superintendent C.J. Bright 1889.
• Sherman County Telegraph and Telephone Company, Inc.
• 1^st addition 1891 expanded the County 18 miles, Townships 3, 4 & 5 South.
• 1^st murder trial: Al Hembree acquitted for murder of John Kennefick 1893.
• 1^st distillery: built at Grant c. 1894.
• 1897 Columbia Southern Railroad track reached Wasco.
• Rodeo firsts.

1900-1929

• 1^st permanent site purchased for a Sherman County fair 1910.
• 1^st fair at the new fairgrounds 1911.
• 1^st person to make concrete bricks in Sherman County, Will Raymond 1911.
• 1^st women’s vote 1913.
• 1^st cabins built at Camp Sherman on the Metolius River by Sherman County families 1916.
• Rodeo firsts.
• 1^st licensed female mortician in Oregon, Asal Richardson practiced in Moro, Oregon, in 1929 or 1930. She was born in Burns, Oregon, where her father was a mortician. Her daughter, Mary Walkup, was the mother of Teresa Reeder Bibby. (From a note on the back of a photograph.)

1930-1949

• 1^st consolidation of newspapers, Grass Valley Journal and Sherman County Observer – Sherman County Journal, 1931, followed by merger of Wasco News-Enterprise 1931.
• Civilian Conservation Corps [CCC] Camp at Sherman County Fairgrounds; 190 young men put to work. Tex Irzyk, Charles Francis, Karl Peterson, Harlow Parkins and Stan Coelsch married Sherman County women.
• 1^st fatal cloudburst 30 June 1916: Mrs. Elizabeth Fortner & daughter and road workers at the 4-way bridge in Hay Canyon J.W. Kunsman and O.T. Burnett.
• 1^st Sherman County Fair Queen June Wilde 1940 (June Rolfe).
• 1^st television services 1958 with North Sherman TV Co-op.
• 1945 Sherman County Historical Society proposed by Giles French & organized.
• 1946 REA – Rural Electrification Administration.
• 1948 REA completed electrification of most Sherman County farms.
• Rodeo firsts.

1950-1969

• 1^st Sherman County Historical Society Oregon Trail monument, John Day Crossing 1957.
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction The Dalles Dam 1952-1957; inundation of Celilo Falls March 10, 1957.
• John Day Dam construction began 1959.
• 1^st The Dalles Military Road signs (12) erected by Sherman County Historical Society 1959.
• Rodeo firsts.

1970-1989

• 1^st Sherman County Fair Grand Marshal, Mr. Sherman County, Giles French 1974.
• 1^st museum, Sherman County Historical Museum, opened 1983.
• 1^st wind farm permitted:
• 1^st wind turbine installed:

1990-2020

• 1^st Sherman County Court (Board of Commissioners) president of Association of Oregon Counties: Sherman County Judge Michael W. McArthur 1998-1999.
• 1^st Sherman County Court member Executive Director of Association of Oregon Counties: Michael W. McArthur 2004- . (1^st AOC executive director: Wasco County Judge Phipps)
• 1^st traffic lights, Biggs Junction 2015.

Legal Matters

• 1^st survey of present-day Sherman County, Patterson and Cartee 1861.
• 1^st government surveys 1867-1872 (still Wasco County).
• 1^st murder & arrest, Daniel Leonard shot by his wife Mary at Leonard’s Bridge, John Day River, indicted 1878 (still Wasco County).
• Sherman County is formed 1889.
• 1^st county seat Wasco 1889.
• 1^st marriage: S.B. Walter & Emily A. Larison 8 May 1889.
• 1^st County election 1890.
• 1^st U.S. Census of Sherman County, 1,792 persons 1890.
• 1st murder trial: Al Hembree was acquitted of the murder of John Kennefick 1893.
• 1^st election to prohibit the sale of liquor in the county 1906.
• 1^st women’s vote and prohibition in Moro, 1913.
• Love – Wright Shooting in Wasco [Sherman County: For The Record #16-1]
• Gordon – Walker Shoot-out [Sherman County: For The Record #13-1]
• Sherman County Marriages in Klickitat County [Sherman County: For The Record #14-1 & 2, 15-1 & 2, 16-1 & 2]
• Sherman County Marriages in Wasco County [Sherman County: For The Record #14-1& 2, 15-1 & 2, 16-1 & 2, 17-2, 18-1]
• Sherman County Marriages [Sherman County: For The Record #2-1 & 2, 3-1, 9-2, 10-1, 11-1 & 2, 12-1 & 2, 13-1 & 2]

Military

• The Dalles Mounted Volunteers, Company B, were ordered to the Yakima country September 1855-May 1856. Some of these men came to present-day Sherman County: Amos Underwood & A.J. Price.
• T. Sherman Post No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic.
• 1^st Spanish American War death.
• 1^st Sherman County young men left for Camp Lewis for World War I training 1916.
• 1^st World War I death: 22 July 1918, Frank E. Brown, Rufus. The American Legion posts were named for the first WWI deaths, Brown, Chris Schultz of Moro and Henry S. Baker.
• Frank von Borstel ( -1970) termed, “once the state’s most distinguished veteran of WWI.”
• 1^st recipient of a French National Order of the Legion of Honor, World War I veteran of American Expeditionary Forces in France, Charles C. Wilson (On the 80^th anniversary of World War I, French President Jacques Chirac conferred the highest French national award, the Legion of Honor, on veterans of the Allied Forces who fought in terrible conditions on French soil during that conflict.)
• 1^st WWII draft registration 1940.
• 1^st World War II death.
• 1^st in per capital purchases of World War II E Bonds of all U.S. counties, never surpassed for sales per person 1942 and 1943.
• 1^st to christen and sponsor a ship in recognition of Sherman County war bond sales: Liberty Ship William T. Sherman, christened by Mrs. Patrick J. O’Meara and Mrs. Alex Macnab, each with four sons in service 1942.
• World War II christening of the ship Fon du Lac by Mrs. B.C. Pinckney and Mrs. Bertha Dixon with sponsor Mrs. Giles French 1944.
• 1^st military training camp, bridging exercises for the crossing of the Rhine, Camp Rufus 1944.
• 1^st Korean War death.
• 1^st Vietnam War death.
• 1^st to attend U.S. Military Academy, West Point: Deron Robert Kaseberg.
• Henry Harrison White, Sherman County teacher, attended U.S. Naval Academy and played on the football team before coming to Oregon; one of the earliest to teach high school level in Sherman County.
• 1^st to attend U. S. Naval Academy.
• 1^st to attend Air Force Academy.
• 1^st test pilot: Basil Seth Morrow (1905-1999) who grew up at Kent, went to work for Ryan Aeronautical Co. in the 1930s, a test pilot 30 years.
• 1^st Merchant Marine.

Religious Organizations 

• 1^st Moro Presbyterian Church, first structure built 1887.
• Friendship Baptist Church in Moro rebuilt 1887.
• 1^st missionary sent from Sherman County to Africa: Miss Lizzie McNeil.
• 1^st Wasco Church of Christ built 1888.
• Monkland Presbyterian Church 1892.
• 1^st Grass Valley First Baptist Church built 1894.
• Middle Oregon Baptist Academy, Grass Valley 1895-1904.
• Locust Grove United Brethren Church built 1895.

Social and Service Organizations

• 1^st I.O.O.F. lodge.
• 1^st Taylor Lodge A.F.&A.M. & Golden Sheaf Order of Eastern Star by late 1890s.
• 1^st Rainbow for Girls.
• 1^st Knights of Pythias lodge & auxiliary Lillian Temple by late 1890s.
• 1^st Woodmen of the World lodge.
• Sherman County Breakfast Club.
• Sherman County Club.
• 1^st Boy Scout troop.
• Boy Scout troop awarded most Eagle Scouts at one time, Jim Jones, Scoutmaster: Gene Cantrall, Larry Easter, Harry Eakin, Larry Kaseberg, Ronald Rolfe and Gene Knott completed requirements for the honor of Eagle Scout, December 1953.
• 1^st Cub Scouts.
• 1^st Brownie Scouts.
• 1^st Girl Scout troop.
• 1^st Eagle Boy Scout.
• 1^st Camp Fire Girls.

Personal

• 1^st white boy born to settlers in present-day Sherman County, Martyn Masiker 1863. [Carson Masiker]
• 1^st white girl born to settlers in present-day Sherman County:
• 1^st official recorded birth of white male: John Patrick McDonald 26 November 1904.
• 1^st official recorded birth of white female: Unnamed VanGaasbeck 1 January 1905.
• 1^st official recorded marriage: William S. Powell – Frankie Landry 1 January 1896.
• 1^st white woman to live in Wasco, mother of blacksmith MacKenzie.
• 1^st cases of Infantile Paralysis (polio): Dean Pinkerton & Gordon Thompson 1933.

Recognition and Service, Regional

• 1^st Sherman County members of the Maryhill Museum of Art Board of Trustees: Nicky Tom, Sherry Kaseberg, Patty Burnet.
• 1^st woman on the Wasco Electric Cooperative board following a woman briefly on the founding board: Jean McKinney 1981-2008, President, Secretary, Treasurer.
• 1st woman president of the Wasco Electric Cooperative board of directors: Jean McKinney.
• Jean McKinney: Columbia River Bank board 1995-2011, Vice-president, chair Audit Committee.

Recognition and Service, State

• James Fulton was elected to the Oregon legislature in 1870 representing Wasco County. In 1880 he was a presidential elector for Eastern Oregon.
• Linda Van Gilder Cornie, president Oregon State County Clerk’s Association.
• Giles L. French, posthumously inducted Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame 1994.
• Kenneth Fridley, State Board of Transportation.
• Sherrie Fraser, 1^st place junior division, Make It Yourself With Wool, 1958.
• Beth Reid, state winner, Vogue sewing contest.
• Jean McKinney: Oregon Rural Electric Association 1983-1990/2004-2008, 1st woman on this board, Vice-president & President.
• Jean McKinney, Alderman Award-John M. George Public Service Award, Oregon Rural Electric Association Cooperator of the Year.
• Helen Watkins’ state trapshooting records.
• Marie Hattrup – many significant Oregon State Fair awards.
• 1^st FFA State President from Sherman County: Michael S. Macnab 1972.
• Michael S. Macnab: FFA American Farmer Award 1974.
• Tex Irzyk: State Conservation Award 1974.
• Sherry Kaseberg: Oregon Geographic Names Board.
• 1^st Oregon Farm Family: Larry Kaseberg Family.
• 1^st Sherman County Century Farm Award: Paulen Kaseberg.
• Oregon Board of Agriculture – Paulen Kaseberg 1969, Karla vB Chambers 1996 (1^st woman).
• 1^st State Conservation Award:
• Legislators: Elihu Owen McCoy, Mr. Ragsdale, William H. Biggs, A.M. Wright, William F. Jackson [husband of Carrie Kaseberg], Rep. Phil Yates, Giles L. French apptd. 1935-1951.
• 1^st Sherman County Court (Board of Commissioners) president of Association of Oregon Counties: Sherman County Judge Michael W. McArthur 1998-1999.
• 1^st Sherman County Court member to become Executive Director of Association of Oregon Counties: Michael W. McArthur 2004- .

Recognition and Service, U.S.               

• 1^st to christen and sponsor a ship in recognition of Sherman County war bond sales: Liberty Ship William T. Sherman, christened by Mrs. Patrick J. O’Meara and Mrs. Alex Macnab, each with four sons in service 1942.
• World War II christening of the ship Fon du Lac by Mrs. B.C. Pinckney and Mrs. Bertha Dixon with sponsor Mrs. Giles French 1944.
• Sandy Macnab: 2^nd place national competition, National Association of County Agricultural Agents 1991.
• Neil Pattee: Department of Defense Certificate of Appreciation, National Guard 1991.
• Mary Ann Justesen, Grass Valley Postmaster: U.S. Postal Service Award, The Benjamin, for public outreach 1995.
• Dorotha Huntley Moore: Oregon’s representative to the Republican National Committee 1956.
• Jean McKinney: Northwest Public Power Association, chair Award Committee.
• Jean McKinney: National Rural Electric Association 1995-2005, chair Education, Research & Technology (first woman elected to the board, first woman to chair a committee.
• Jeanney McArthur, designer, & Sherman County Historical Society: American Association of Museums honorable mention for exhibit supplementary brochure 1993.
• Sherman County Historical Society: American Association for Local & State History Albert B. Corey Award for Scholarship, Vigor and Imagination in its Work 1994.
• Jane Kirkparick: tied for 2^nd place in national writing contest 1993.
• Jane Kirkpatrick: A Sweetness to the Soul, (life & times of Jane Sherar), national award 1996.
• Sandy Macnab: Western Region Vice-Chair National Association of County Agents 1994.
• Karla von Borstel Chambers: San Francisco Federal Reserve Board 1997.
• Paul Fraser: Editor’s Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry, The National Library of Poetry 1999.

Schools and Education

• 1^st schools were taught in farm homes.
• 1^st school house built in Mud Hollow 1874.
• 1^st school house built in China Hollow 1881.
• 1^st school house built in Wasco 1888.
• 1^st four-year high school graduations: Wasco and Moro 1914.
• 1^st scrip used to pay teachers 1933.
• 1^st woman county school superintendent Grace (May) Zevely.
• 4-H program started in Sherman County c. 1918.
• American Field Service program established.
• 1^st consolidation of high schools, Grass Valley and Moro 1941.
• 1^st kindergarten in the county, probably Wasco.
• 1^st American Field Service student abroad.
• 1^st American Field Service host family.
• Future Farmers of America chapter established.
• 1^st Future Farmers of America state officer.
• 1^st Future Farmers of America American Farmer degree.
• 1^st Sherman County FFA State President: Michael S. Macnab 1972.
• Michael S. Macnab: FFA American Farmer Award 1974.
• 1^st high school graduate to attend college.
• 1^st high school graduate to graduate from college.
• Arthur Morgan Walker (1852-1910) reportedly 1^st (Sherman County) pupil in Oregon School for the Deaf.
• 1^st Union High School District formed 1955. Moro school board members who planned and implemented construction of the Union High School 1951-1956: Paul Fraser, Ernie Woods, Lloyd Henrichs, Arthur Bucholtz, Charles Burnet, Harold Eakin, Ivan Blagg, and John Decker.
• 1^st Union High School building constructed near Moro 1956.
• 1^st graduating class in the new high school 1956.

School Athletics

• Herbert Root (1878-1971), OAC football team, 1902-1905, team captain 1905.
• Herbert Root, OSU, all-coast football halfback, 2 years.
• 1^st county-wide field meet 1906.
• 1^st player on East-West Shrine football team.
• 1^st OSU women’s crew team, Amy Martin.
• 1^st Olympic athlete, U.S. women’s crew team, Amy Martin.
• Mike Beers: 1977 Oregon High School Rodeo Association team roping champion; 1978 College National Finals Rodeo team roping champion.

Towns and Hamlets

Biggs

• 1^st store at Biggs: Fowler and Gage who sold to Ginn and McDonald.
• 1^st school taught in grain warehouse, then in the Biggs School aka Sacred Heart Academy.
• 1^st postmaster Samuel L. McDill 1886.
• Columbia River Highway.
• William H. Biggs, legislator, legislated required railroad sidings including at Biggs.
• 1^st traffic lights June 2015. The traffic lights at the interchange and in Biggs Junction were turned on May 22, 2015, signaling the completion of the massive interchange project.
• Biggs [Sherman County: For The Record #9-2]

DeMoss

• 1^st school built near the DeMoss Family Cemetery about 1885, then moved to the DeMoss Park site about 1888. A newer school was built about 1909.
• The private DeMoss family cemetery is located at the confluence of Grass Valley and DeMoss Canyons next to a bluff the family called Echo Rock. Elizabeth DeMoss was the 1^st burial in 1893.

Deschutes – Moody – Miller

• 1^st postmaster, Rosa Burrel 1888.

Early

• M. Cooper built Cooper’s Flour Mill at Early 1887-1889; also called Middle of the Wheatfield Mill.
• Early School (District 44) was built 1887-1888, 1^st teacher Julia Woods.
• Post Office established 1898, H.K. Porter, 1^st
• Homer Wall bought the mill from Porter in 1899, modernized the mill and built a cement dam to replace a wooden one on the John Day River.
• Early [Sherman County: For The Record #4-1, 5-2, 23-1]

Erskine – Erskineville

• The Observer reported in 1901 that Mr. and Mrs. Erskine raised the first wheat that was threshed from seven acres in 1881.
• A. Williams started the first store at Erskineville, purchasing the site from Moore Bros. and then moving the building to Moro.
• 1^st Erskine School was built by 1887, replaced by a new one in the early 1920s.
• Erskine, Erskineville, Milbra [Sherman County: For The Record #18-1]

Fultonville

• James Fulton laid out Fultonville 1882.
• 1^st postmaster, James Fulton, 1882-1885.

Grant [Villard]

• 1^st school was called Villard, replaced by a 2^nd building about 1880 called Grant School. After the 1894 flood a third school was built on higher ground closer to the bluff.
• 1^st general store: Fox, Scott & McCoy.
• 1883 fire.
• 1894 flood.
• Grant [Sherman County: For The Record #31-1]

Grass Valley

• 1^st house in Grass Valley was a sod house: Dr. Rollins.
• 1^st physician in the county, Dr. Charles R. Rollins, Grass Valley 1878.
• 1^st general store, Dr. Rollins in Grass Valley.
• 1^st hostelry in Grass Valley, a combination general store, house and inn built by Dr. Rollins.
• Grass Valley Cemetery.
• 1^st town to have a public hall, by 1898.
• 1^st Grass Valley School was reportedly somewhere in the south half of the main section of town.
• 2^nd public school was on or near the corner of 2^nd & Market streets, followed by the brick building built about 1904 which burned in 1914. It was replaced by the two story structure on the hill.
• 1^st brick yards: Hoover in Moro & Schilling in Grass Valley.
• Oddfellows Lodge built in 1895.
• 1^st mayor, C.W. Moore, c. 1900.
• 1^st postmaster, Charley Taylor.
• Grass Valley Pavilion and Bandstand built in 1916.
• Grass Valley [Sherman County: For The Record #30-2]

Kent

• 1^st school to serve Kent area youngsters was the White School located SW of the present Kent location.
• 2^nd school was in Kent at the W end of 2^nd
• 3^rd school had an auditorium on the 2^nd floor, classrooms, a full basement with a playroom and a furnace room 1916.
• 1^st grain warehouse – built by Milton Bennett.
• Sarah Trotter claimed to have platted Kent 1901.
• 1^st grain elevator, a co-op, built 1920.
• 1^st well drilled in Kent belonged to Joe Irby.
• 2^nd well belong to Jerry Wilson who built a water system.
• 1^st school gymnasium was in a separate structure built after World War II, post-1918.
• Kent light plant generator was housed in a stone & copper structure on Wilson property.
• Kent [Sherman County: For The Record #2-1 & 2, 3-1 & 2, 8-2, 16-2, 33-2]

Klondike

• 1^st barbed wire telephone system constructed 1899 by Antone B. Potter of Klondike.
• 1^st postmaster, Antone B. Potter, 1898.
• 1^st business house, 1897, Moore Brothers, sold to A.B. Potter c. 1899.
• 1^st school, the Klondike School built about 1907 was the only brick country school, replacing the nearby Jacks School, a frame building built in the 1880s and used until 1907.
• 1^st concrete elevators [photo in They Paved the Way].

Locust Grove [Woodworth’s Grove]

• 1^st church in Locust Grove was on land donated by settler Gilford Woodworth and built by Milon Van Gilder 1895: United Brethren.
• 1^st school was across the road from the church on Woodworth land, reportedly built by Woodworth, and was replaced by a 2^nd

Miller

• 1^st and only Miller School was built c. 1912 on the bench above the rivers, railroads and the hamlet of Miller.
• Miller [Sherman County: For The Record #1-2, 5-1]

Monkland

• 1^st church in Monkland served Presbyterians and Lutherans.
• 1^st Monkland School was built about 1.5 miles N of the hamlet of Monkland by 1885, and used until 1914 when the 2^nd schoolhouse with a woodshed, small stable & teacherage were built at that site.

Moro

• 1^st mayor: Walter Moore.
• 1^st house in Moro built by Henry Barnum.
• 1^st store in Moro: Fox & Scott.
• 1^st cemetery was reportedly near the courthouse site and graves were moved to the upper Baptist section of the Moro Cemetery, which was made one ownership in 1929. Earliest known burials were those of Maude H. Moore 1880, Alfred Ruggles 1882 and John Sayrs 1885.
• 1^st church in Moro: Friendship Baptist.
• 1^st 4^th of July celebration in Moro 1892.
• 1^st school, a one-room building near the Baptist church became part of the Brisbine house on Main Street.
• 2^nd school was a four-room structure built in 1892, followed by a larger building.
• 1^st train service to Moro, 1898.
• 1^st jail in Moro.
• 1^st druggist in Moro: George N. Bolton.
• 1^st brick yards: Hoover in Moro & Schilling in Grass Valley.
• 1^st moving pictures in Moro 1905.
• Moro [Sherman County: For The Record #15-1, 20-1, 32-1]

Rufus

• City of Rufus founded 1884 by Rufus Wallis.
• 1^st Rufus school was up the draw from the town, a one-room building built by 1892, followed by a two-room structure built about 1907.
• Rufus Cemetery: It is believed to contain over 40 graves with only a few marked, one of them being Daisy (Young) Mee 1888-1918. A Fowler grave was deeded to the County.
• 1^st golf course laid out on the Chub Fowler land in 1926.
• Rufus [Sherman County: For The Record #3-1 & 2, 8-2, 9-2, 10-1, 19-2]

Rutledge

• 1^st postmaster, Joseph H. Rutledge, post office in his house.
• Rutledge School, built in the late 1890s, became District No. 24.
• A community church became Methodist, then Presbyterian.
• Rutledge cemetery, most graves moved to Grass Valley.

Wasco

• 1^st recorded graves at Wasco Methodist Cemetery are for two Eaton children in 1872 and 1874. The cemetery is owned by the Wasco United Methodist Church.
• Wasco was platted 1883.
• 1^st store in Wasco 1883: Wilson Marion Barnett / previously N of Wasco.
• 1^st flour mill in Wasco: H. P. Isaacs 1883. (Fulton connection).
• 1^st church in the county at Wasco: Methodist Episcopal, 1883; replaced on the same site 1902.
• 1^st school was a one-room structure built about 1888, replaced two years later by a four-room building.
• 1^st hostelry in original plat of Wasco, Oskaloosa Hotel, was built 1884 (1887) by Levi Armsworthy.
• 1^st incorporated town in the county 1897.
• 1^st train service to Wasco, 1897.
• 1^st doctor in Wasco: Dr. Savage, followed by Dr. Koontz and Dr. Edgington.
• 1^st mail carrier after Wasco Post Office was established: Charley Barzee by horseback, Grant to Wasco.
• Sun Rise Cemetery NW of Wasco was established by deed filed in 1899 by the Fulton family. It is operated by the Wasco Cemetery Association.
• 1^st woman banker in Sherman County: Marie Barnett Cooper (Hilderbrand cousin).
• 1^st kindergarten in Sherman County.
• 3^rd Wasco School was built in 1916.
• Wasco [Sherman County: For The Record #3-2, 7-2, 8-1, 9-1, 15-2, 18-2, 19-2, 20-1, 30-1, 31-1, 33-2]

Transportation

Air

• 1^st male pilot.
• 1^st female pilot.
• 1^st private plane.
• 1^st flying enthusiasts’ club formed 1946.

 Rails

• 1^st railroad surveys up the E bank of the Deschutes River 1906, followed by construction 1909-1910.
• Railroads – Deschutes, Columbia River, interior Columbia Southern/Union Pacific.
• William H. Biggs, legislator, railroad sidings required including at Biggs.
• 1^st surveys for the Columbia Southern Railway (Union Pacific) Biggs to Shaniko 1894.
• 1^st construction for Columbia Southern Railway started 1894. The rails reached Wasco 1897, Moro 1898, Grass Valley 1899 and Shaniko 1901.

 Rivers

• 1^st explorers along the rivers, see COUNTY.
• 1^st ferry license lower John Day River 1858, Tom Scott.
• 1^st ferry at/near the mouth of the Deschutes River, Nathan Olney 1852-1853.
• 1^st bridge at the mouth of the Deschutes River: William Graham. In 1876 Mrs. C.S. Miller, daughter of Hardin Corum, bought Graham’s place and the bridge, and she sold the bridge to Malcolm Moody.
• 1^st bridge lower Deschutes River 1858-59, followed by a ferry 1862, Wm. Nix.
• 1^st ferry John Day River near the Oregon Trail Crossing at McDonald c. 1860.
• 1^st bridge lower John Day River about 1862.
• J. Cowne built a bridge about 4 miles above the mouth of the Deschutes River c. 1864. He sold it to Thomas Gordon who sold it to The Dalles to Boise Military Road Company.
• A Columbia River ferry operated between Chamberlain Flat to the present site of Rufus.
• 1^st sail ferry Sherman County to Columbus, Washington, Tom Jenkins 1862.
• 1^st irrigated truck gardens & orchards at Rufus, Early, Buck Hollow, and irrigation water wheels at the mouth of the Deschutes & Harris place on the Deschutes.
• 1^st artesian well.
• 1^st upland irrigation project study – John Day River upland c. 1960s.
• 1^st steamboats built at the mouth of the Deschutes River (either side): Colonel Wright 1858, Okanogan 1861, and the Spray 1862.
• 1^st toll-free bridge over the Deschutes, Freebridge, 1886.
• 1^st steamboat built at Rufus: The Yukon 1895.
• 1^st gasoline tug at Biggs/Grant, the Waterwitc
• 1^st outboard motor boat.
• 1942 four ferries were running upstream from The Dalles: Biggs-Maryhill, Arlington-Roosevelt, Boulder- Alderdale, and Irrigon-Coolidge.
• 1960 construction started on the John Day Dam, dedicated 1968.
• 1962 Sam Hill Memorial Bridge over the Columbia River dedicated.
• Last run of the Maryhill ferry. ( Adams Sun, November 15, 1962)
• 1^st power boats driven up the lower Deschutes River, Sam Holmes & Homer Baker, The Dalles 1964.
• John Day Dam dedicated 1968.

Roads

• 1^st Oregon Trail wagon trains passed through present-day Sherman County c. 1842.
• 1851 The Dalles to Walla Walla Road used by pack trains, then freight wagons and finally stage coaches c. 1858.
• 1858 Lt. John Mullan, surveyor with an army detachment, used the Oregon Trail most of the way from The Dalles to the future site of Pendleton.
• 1^st map showing S to N trail through present-day Sherman County, Lt. Bonneycastle’s party 1859.
• 1864 stage road from The Dalles to Walla Walla crossed Sherman County from the mouth of the Deschutes River, through Fulton Canyon, past Sand Springs to Locust Grove and Eaton’s, to Wasco, Klondike, Webfoot and Leonard’s bridge on the John Day River.
• The Dalles to Canyon City Road.
• The Dalles to Salt Lake City Mail, Stage, Express & Passenger 800 mile run was established 1865.
• Congressional grant of lands to the State of Oregon to aid in construction of a military road from Dalles City to Ft. Boise 1867.
• The Dalles to Boise Military Road Company formed 1869.
• 1^st work on present Cottonwood road started c. 1899.
• Frank Van Patten engineered the first grade down Scott Canyon.
• 1^st county residents to drive E over the Columbia River Highway, 8 hours driving & 4 hours auto trouble in 1915.
• 1^st State approval for a highway through Sherman County, 1919.
• 1^st highway – Sherman Highway- completed, 1924. (Highway 97)
• 1^st county-wide tree-planting along Sherman Highway, 1924.
• 1962 Sam Hill Memorial Bridge over the Columbia River dedicated.
• 1975 Sam Hill Memorial Bridge became toll free.
• 1^st traffic lights: The traffic lights at the interchange and in Biggs Junction were turned on May 22, 2015, signaling the completion of the ODOT interchange project. Construction began in July 2013 and was substantially completed by the end of May 2015.

Weather

• 1^st recorded terrible winter: 1861.
• Other significant winter weather records 1880-81 and the flood of December 1884.
• Grant swept away in the Columbia River flood 1894.
• 1^st recorded crop freeze-out 1906.
• 1^st rain-making project, The Rainmaker, on Gordon Ridge 1907.
• 1^st recorded fatal cloudburst, Hay Canyon June 30, 1916.

Sources

• Bailey, Mary Helen Graham. Story of Adventure.
• Ballou, Robert. Early Klickitat Valley Days, 1938.
• Bancroft. History of Oregon, Volume I.
• Belshe, Bertha Helyer. They Paved the Way.
• Bruckert, Helen White, Wasco, Oregon & Goldendale, Washington.
• Clark & Tiller. The Terrible Trail, the Meek Cutoff of 1845.
• Donnell, Eileen.
• Eaton, Miles.
• Fields, Mark, Salem, Oregon.
• French, Giles L. & Lela (Barnum), Moro, Oregon.
• French, Giles L. The Golden Land 1958.
• French, Giles L. These Things We Note.
• Graham, Robert. Reminiscences (manuscript) 1939.
• Hansen, Julia Woods: news clippings & manuscripts.
• Hilderbrand, Gordon, Wasco, Oregon.
• Jaeger, Joan Eakin, Moro, Oregon.
• Kaseberg, Evelyn Morrow, The Dalles, Oregon.
• Kaseberg, Albert C. Kaseberg, The Dalles, Oregon.
• Klickitat County, Washington, Public Records.
• Knighten, Donalda, Moro, Oregon.
• Laidlaw, Gladys Morrow, Salem, Oregon.
• Lockley, Fred. Conversations With Pioneer Women.
• Lockley, Fred. The History of the Columbia River Valley.
• Masiker, Carson C., manuscript, The Dalles Optimist.
• McLachlan, Mollie Robinson, Moro, Oregon.
• McNeal, William H. History of Wasco County, Oregon.
• Methodist Circuit Books, Wasco United Methodist Church.
• Moore, Patricia “Patty” French, Moro, Oregon.
• Oregon Death Records.
• Oregon Donation Land Claim Abstracts.
• Peugh, Gertrude, Ivalou and Esther, Wasco, Oregon.
• Price, A. Jay. Sherman County Journal accounts.
• Quinn, Quinn & King. Handbook for the Deschutes River Canyon.
• Ramsey, Daphne Hon – Oregon records collection.
• Richelderfer, Beatrice.
• Sargent, Inez Van Gilder.
• Sherman County Cemeteries, Yesterday’s Roll Call, Genealogical Forum of Oregon 1970.
• Sherman County: For The Record, Sherman County Historical Society, many authors.
• Sherman County Historical Museum Genealogy Library.
• Sherman County Marriages, Sherman County: For The Record.
• Sherman County Public Records.
• The Dufur Bee, Dufur, Oregon.
• The Illustrated History of Central Oregon, 1905
• The Sherman County Journal, Moro, Oregon.
• The Sherman County Observer, Moro, Oregon.
• The Times-Journal, Condon, Oregon.
• The Wasco News-Enterprise, Wasco, Oregon.
• von Borstel, Millie Holmes. Our Heritage.
• Wasco County, Oregon Public Records.
• Wojcik. The Brazen Overlanders of 1845.
• Woods, Margaret McLachlan.
• Zevely, Grace (May), Moro, Oregon.