Marking territory

Stories surrounding Oregon's sesquicentennial peaked appropriately on Feb. 14, the state's birthday. But as much as was written, there's always something more to say, especially when it comes to earliest bragging rights.

When Oregon Territory was established in 1843, Yamhill was designated as one of its four districts. The others were Twality, Clackamas and Champooick.

Local history buffs know that Yamhill, Clackamas and Twality all become counties after statehood, with Twality being renamed Washington.

The legacy of Champooick, or Champoeg as it's spelled today, is firmly secured as the birthplace of formal government in the Pacific Northwest. A major state park has been developed at the site of the signing.

What most people don't know is the geographic extent of those four territorial districts. Yamhill's district boundaries were described this way:

"Embracing all the country west of the Willamette or Multnomah river and a supposed line running north of the parallel of 42 degrees north latitude, or the boundary line of the United States and California, and east of the Pacific Ocean."

Crediting the crew

The Connections feature of March 21 - "Nursery crew comes through" - told the story of how the maintenance team at Bailey Nurseries in Yamhill saved the company a wad of cash after winter snows destroyed almost all its hoophouses.

The men devised a system to repair the tubular metal framework rather than replace the entire structure, and performed all the work themselves.

Although given credit as a group for this innovative undertaking, only maintenance supervisor Sergio Ortiz and maintenance foreman Jaime Gonzalez-Ochoa were mentioned individually.

Cece Andrews of McMinnville e-mailed to ask why the names of those who worked on the project weren't listed. She noted, "It would be inspiring to employees of other businesses that have great ideas but may not be comfortable speaking up."

Please refer to the accompanying photo, with crew member names supplied by Bailey Production Manager Mike Lee.

Meeting Midway

Ensign Grant Teats of Sheridan and other members of Torpedo Squadron Eight were profiled in the May 23 Connections feature, "A Dawn Like Thunder."

That was the title of a book written by former congressman Robert Mrazek, which dramatically portrayed the squadron's sacrifice at the pivotal Battle of Midway.

Gerry Painter of McMinnville brought the Teats connection to my attention. He also put me onto the intriguing story of Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, with whom his father had been acquainted.

I soon discovered Nancy Mahi of McMinnville is Teats' niece.

Mahi became fascinated by the squadron story. She has carried forward her uncle's memory on behalf of the family and related details to me that do not appear in the book.

She keeps in touch with Midway survivors, relatives, friends and other interested people around the country through the Midway Roundtable. They communicate regularly online and occasionally get together to honor the memory of that history-making time and place.

In 2007, she made a one-day, round-trip flight with more than 300 others from Hawaii to Midway Atoll and back.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers the atoll," she said. "It has been designated as a national wildlife refuge and a national marine monument.

"You can only visit there by special permit. The Navy pulled some strings for us."

She went on to say that after closure of the naval air facility there in 1993, the federal government contracted with a private company that ended up spending millions to develop the atoll as an eco-resort.

However, when work neared completion, government officials apparently had a change of heart about exposing this fragile ecosystem to overuse. It is the home to several endangered species, including the world's largest colony of gooney birds, she explained.

They rescinded the agreement and are letting the buildings slowly deteriorate, except for a well-appointed bar and lounge reserved exclusively for Fish and Wildlife employees.

You could call it the most exclusive private club in the western Pacific.

Reaffirming family

The Nobles and Bennetts are an extended family who live between Dayton and Hopewell.

Their efforts to subdivide what remains of an inherited donation land claim so a brother can own a piece of the legacy and build his retirement home there were chronicled in an April 11 Connections feature - "The family, the land, the bean."

They seemed to have run into a bureaucratic brick wall when the Yamhill County Planning Commission denied their zone change request. But an appeal to the County Board of Commissioners continued to give them hope.

Judy Bennett wrote recently to give me an update.

The commissioners unanimously approved their request May 20. Documents were signed June 3.

Opponents have 21 days to file an appeal with LUBA. The family hopes that won't happen, feeling it is seeking a reasonable change with no adverse impact.

Saluting Charlene

Willamina's historian without peer, Charlene Brown, has been awarded the Oregon Heritage Excellence Award for her contributions to preserving Oregon's historic legacy.

Decades of unceasing efforts led to her co-founding, development and administration of the Willamina Museum of Local History as well as her authoring of eight books on local history.

The award was presented on April 17 by Oregon's First Lady, Mary Oberst, and Heritage Commission Chair, George Kramer.

And that's what I found out while OUT and ABOUT - being brought up to snuff by ardent readers determined to have all the important details of the story told.

Karl Klooster, the News-Register's regional editor, can be reached by e-mail at kklooster@newsregister.com and by phone at 503-883-6227.