The Railroad Comes to Wallowa County, Oregon
When my brother Norm was completing coursework for his bachelor's degree, one of the classes he took was an oral history course. The major requirement was that he interview someone and record their story. Luckily for the family, Norm chose his subject well. He interviewed our maternal grandfather, Elmer Clifford Miller, so stories that would otherwise have been lost are preserved. Thanks, Norm! When Elmer was just a toddler, his parents (you heard the story of the harvest meeting of Minnie Blomgren and Samuel Miller in last week's post) moved their young family from Walla Walla, Washington to Wallowa County, Oregon where Samuel's homestead claim had been staked. Through Norm's words, Elmer's story continues: "Our family was, for the most part, self-sufficient. All the vegetables that the family needed were raised in the garden. Hogs, chicken and beef were raised to provide meat, along with the venison and fish that the men were able to bag. Wheat was the fam...