LEGENDS IN THEIR TIME

If you like roughing it, Karen is knowledgeable about Wallowa Counties furthest most corners. From packing horses into the Eagle Caps high mountain Lakes to a memorable 26 mile ride from Memaloose to Lord Flat to open Forest Service cabins for the summer season. “I still remember Joe Spence landing his little plane a few days later. He was bringing in more supplies for the work crew and giving me a lift home to meet some clients. The runway out there is just a cow path leading to the edge of a rim over a deep canyon”.
I also received lots of common sense information and history of the area while traveling horseback in remote areas from longtime friends, Sam Loftus, Jerry Winegar and my husband, Dan Raminha.

Sam was a real cowboy, working for and managing most of the big Imnaha cattle ranches at one time or another with a great sense of wit and wisdom. He knew a lot about the local history, and made a lot of history on his own.
He knew more about cows and the canyon country than anyone else I've known, and wasn't beyond breaking out in some of his own cowboy poetry from the back of a horse, or playing pranks on the young cowboys he trained. It was a true pleasure to ride with Sam and call him friend.

Jerry worked for the Forest Service, being in charge of maintaining trails and cabins in the Imnaha/Hells Canyon area, as well as taking care of about 75 head of horses he used in his pack strings to get his work done. My husband and I joined him on many work parties. We would take the pack strings up and over high ridges and down narrow, steep trails, as old as time and full of history. Jerry would always have a story or history lesson on the area or particular cabin we were working on.

I remember the fire that burned many acres in remote canyons above the Snake River. Jerry was assisting the fire crews with his pack string. He receive a radio message that the fire was closing in and he was about to be trapped. They were going to send a helicopter in to rescue him, and leave his beloved horses and mules to their fate. I can’t repeat his words, but he refused to abandon his string and brought them all out safely.

Danny, my husband comes from a Morro Bay, California ranching family. Yes, another cowboy in my life, and he is also an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He spends as much time as possible exploring the county and it is my pleasure to tag along whenever I’m free.

Dan’s been my “hero” for a long time now. From hearing about his “Man from Snowy River”, escapades in the Hell’s Canyon trips he has taken with Jerry Winegar to the rescue mission he made one January morning a few years ago.

The county had an extremely heavy snowfall followed by a warm rain and Chinook winds, which melted all of the new snow. Especially hard hit was the Imnaha River Canyon. One house at Imnaha slid into the river and broke up on the bridge. The road upriver washed out in several places, the bridge at River Woods collapsed, and a heavy fog rolled in, foiling all air rescue attempts and stranding residents.

Jerry Winegar, Keith Waters, and Danny didn’t wait to be asked for help. They gathered food, lanterns, medicine and supplies, loaded a pack string and took off following the raging Imnaha River and steep canyon walls, to College Creek Rangers Station where they made their delivery.

From Dug Bar and Jim Creek on the Snake River, to a high mountain lake in the Eagle Caps, and from Bartlett Bench above Troy to Fish Lake near Halfway, Karen can share stories on the diversity of Wallowa County and its people.