Wednesday, August 17, 2011

FROM PIONEERS TO POWER - post 11


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post 10        Table of Contents        post 12

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RADIO

KFDR is a local community class IV standard broadcast commercial radio installation.
The station was built by Carl Knierm of Coulee Dam with practically all types of electronic parts.  It was known as a "composite" transmitter.  It was licensed in the fall of 1950 and actually signed on the air September 17, 1950.  At that time it was on the air from 10 a.m. through 10 p.m., seven days per week.

All facilities are located in the Delano area, midway between Grand Coulee and Electric City, Washington.  The station is licensed to serve the Grand Coulee Dam area.

It is a 150 foot guyed transmission tower and is one of the relatively few towers in the United States that is not lighted at night.  The reason is because of its proximity to the east wall of the Grand Coulee.

There have been four individuals or groups who have owned and operated KFDR since it went on the air.  Mr. Knierim sold the property to the Carlsons of New York City, who in turn sold KFDR to the Columbia River Broadcasters.  This group operated the station until 1955 when it was acquired by the present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Nachtmann, formerly of Pasco and Bremerton, Washington.

The station is currently serving not only the immediate Grand Coulee Dam area but also several neighboring agricultural communities and areas.  The station has reporters on its staff in most of the towns within a 30 mile radius of its Delano location.

Present hours of operation are from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday with a 6 p.m. sign-off on Sunday night.
KFDR has a file in with the Federal Communications Commission for a grant to install a 1000 watt transmitter (four times its present power), and to operate on a 1360 kilocycle frequency.  The approval of this request is expected to arrive soon.
Ralph Nachtmann

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UTILITIES OF THE REX-DELRIO AREAS

ELECTRICITY

Modernization of rural Delrio-Rex life was greatly aided by the introduction of electrical power, October 15, 1947.  The northern part of Douglas County east of Nilles' Corner is served by the Douglas County Public Utility District with offices at Bridgeport.  There are 84 miles of line on which 58 families are served.  The line originally cost $56,500.  In the last two years Public Utility District No. 1 has spent an additional $25,000 to improve the service.  The source of power to this area is Bonneville Power Administration's Nilles Corner Substation.  This power comes principally from Grand Coulee Dam.  Douglas County PUD was organized in January 1936 and commenced operations May 11, 1945.


TELEPHONES

The Pearl Telephone Company built the first phone service to the Delrio community in 1917 with the exchange in Bridgeport.  Those served had to become stockholders in the line and such phone service was maintained in various forms of repair until about 1947.  Then the Bridgeport connection was broken and for over three years only a neighborhood phone was in use.  The introduction of electrical power necessitated "rolling up" this farmer-owned line so for some time there was no telephone service available in Delrio.

The Strahl Canyon Line to Coulee City was owned and operated by farmers of that area for many years beginning about 1920.  Roy Rankin served as secretary to this line for some time.  This line extended to the Lincoln Stock Farm; from there service was provided on a previously established line.

The Rex Area also had a farmer-owned telephone line, but his led to Almira.  The Rex line was built about 1914 and served approximately 18 homes including a phone at Barry and at Sam (both were post offices).

To enable better connections some places had two phones - each leading to a different central and farm area.  The Delrio Store and house was one of these places with two phones - one in the house, the other in the store.  During a fire in the area Mrs. Grant was extremely busy calling for help on two phone systems.

The lines were quite difficult to maintain.  Phone companies frowned on two phones in one location and franchises caused unwanted boundaries and other problems.  After exchanges were established at Coulee Dam, farmers of the Rex and the Strahl Canyon lines connected to the local dam phone line.  Eventually all farm lines were discontinued.

From Nilles Corner east the Rex-Delrio area is now served by the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company.  Fifty-one homes in this community are

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now served on the 90 miles of phone line which is maintained from Coulee Dam.  Most of the lines are on Douglas County PUD poles; this present telephone service was completed in October, 1951.

Helen Rinker



DOUGLAS COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT NO. 3

Douglas County Fire Protection District No. 3 was formed June 29, 1942.  Hayden McKee, Elmer Trefry, and Otto Jensen were the first commissioners with Clyde Rigney as their Secretary.

The District started operation with one fire pump and two fire plows.  The pump was mounted on a truck donated to be so used and belonging to Sam Rinker.  In a year or so, a second fire pump was purchased; also these trucks have been traded off and replaced with one new and one good used truck.  Also, we now have two 4-wheel drive units with smaller tanks and pumps.  At the present time there are two ton fire trucks stationed at Ted Rice's and at Elmer Trefry's and a 4-wheel drive at Andy Nilles's place.  It has not yet been decided where the latest purchase, a Burma jeep, will be located.

Our area has been expanded to a district about 31 miles long and about 12 miles wide reaching from close to Grand Coulee to near Bridgeport and from approximately Foster Creek to the north boundary of Douglas County.

The present commissioners are W. T. (Bill) Meyer, Fred Weber, and Elmer Trefry, all land owners of the area.  Elmer Trefry has served continuously since the district was organized.  Assessed valuation of the district for 1958, not including the new Pearl Hill Addition, is $557,584.

We now have a fair amount of equipment and a reasonable cash reserve, and are operating on a lower millage of 2 mills.  We also have purchased two first aid kits, two large fire extinguishers, and some fire axes.  The equipment, manned by volunteer farmers of the Rex-Delrio Pearl areas has been extremely useful in curtailing fire damage.

Cecil Trefry

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DELRIO
Delrio, now merely a sign post on a county road intersection and the location of the ranch home of Mr. and Mrs. Sam C. Rinker, was once a busy community center for the ranching area lying between Alameda and Leahy.

About one mile southeast of Delrio's present site, Frank Winkler opened a small country store and ran a post office named "Lella."  The post office was established August 2, 1907 and was housed in a small separate building.  Store supplies came mostly from Coulee City.  Mail also came from Coulee City via Leahy with delivery about twice a week.  Sometime before 1910 Mr. Winkler sold out to Billy Woods.  Mr. Woods did not qualify for postmaster so the "Lella" post office was discontinued though the store was maintained.

Before the major homestead rush the settlers first obtained mail at Barry.  This post office was begun August 31, 1887 with Alba J. Barry as Postmistress.  Mrs. Roy Rankin recalls that, as a girl, she often went with her parents after mail to be picked up at one of the boxes on the road side at Wallace's near the present Frank Sanford home.  then in 1892 the Delrio area got closer mail service with the establishment of the Leahy Post Office with James B. Leahy as Postmaster.

Jay Sellers who still lives on his homestead not far from the Columbia River in the north Delrio area says, "My Brother Gordon and I took the petition around for founding the first Delrio Post Office.  Each resident agreed to pay $1.00 a month for this closer service, but after about six weeks of this, a government man came in and said that there would be no more charge.  I believe the first Stage (or Mail) driver from Leahy to Delrio was Floyd D. Jolly."

The Delrio Post Office was located in the home of its Postmistress, Mrs. Alvira C. Earl, and established September 27, 1904.  Service was weekly, then increased though daily mail seems not to have begun until the post office was moved.  Mrs. Earl is said to have named the post office "Delrio", Spanish for "by the river" because her home was about five miles from the Columbia (not far from the present George Trefry home).

On March 10, 1910 Mr. Elbert Wagoner purchased the Woods Store and holdings, and after moving his family to this former Lella location, added more buildings.  According to Mrs. Elbert Wagoner who now lives in Coulee City, it was sometime in 1911 that Mr. Wagoner suggested to Mrs. Earl that she move her post office to the store.  Mrs. Earl agreed and the Delrio Post Office became housed in a compartment of the store with Delrio soon becoming the community center's name.  Mrs. Earl was provided a small dwelling nearby.  In 1912 when Mrs. Earl moved to Auburn, Mr. Elbert Wagoner replaced her as postmaster.  The Wagoners took an active part in community affairs.  Mrs. Wagoner was the first to send in vital statistics to the county seat at Waterville.

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She recalls vividly the McElroy-Duncan shooting episode which included an autopsy of McElroy which was held in the upstairs meeting room at old Delrio.  The story is that a Mr. McElroy was killed by an ex-school teacher from Fiddle Creek, a Mr. Duncan, who later pleaded his own case of self defense and was freed.

Mrs. Wagoner remarked that many friendly Indians, often en route to camus digging, stopped at their store where they often bought so many staples the Wagoners would run out of supplies such as sugar.  Indians often refused to purchase anything in large quantities, often they would have Mrs. Wagoner package $20.00 worth of sugar in individual dollar sized bags.  Mrs. Wagoner said Chief George, his wife and son often came to purchase supplies and stay overnight.

A better business location on relocated county roads caused Mr. Wagoner to move his buildings to the present location of Delrio.  This was quite an undertaking in those days.  In 1916 W. L. VanDoren of Mansfield skidded the buildings to this site and business increased.  Mr. Wagoner farmed considerable state land, ran cattle, and his store.  A tenant house and other buildings were constructed.  The store was a large, long, two story building housing a post office, large store area, and supply room.  Upstairs was a large room or hall where dances, Sunday School, Grange, and all kinds of community meetings were held.  A porch joined the store and large eight room house.  Fastened to the store entrance was the usual little bell which told the arrival of customers.
In 1928 Wagoners sold their Delrio holdings to George Grant and moved to Coulee City.  Mrs. George Grant became Postmistress on June 7, 1928.  In addition to farming and store keeping Mr. Grant was a self-employed trucker and buyer of cattle, sheep, and wool.
No one seems to recall when mail service was begun from Mansfield to Delrio, however postal officials show records of mail service by railroad, from Mansfield to Wenatchee from October 31, 1909 to 1933, so it is presumed that Delrio probably began to receive mail out of Mansfield about 1909 or 1910.  Mrs. Grant says "In 1928 Forrest Hunt was carrying mail from Mansfield to Delrio via Leahy, and E. Z. Ford from Delrio to Alameda.  Alameda service was only three times a week."

The George Grants sold out to Sam C. Rinker in 1943, and Mrs. Grant resigned as Postmistress of Delrio in September 1943.  The post office was closed, and the Delrio area became a Star Route from Mansfield, as it is today.  The store was never maintained by Mr. Rinker.  The store building was eventually torn down to become lumber for a home in Oroville.  Only the tinkling bell and the United States flag from the Delrio Store have been kept as souvenirs of more active days.

Helen Rinker

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HISTORY OF DELRIO GRANGE

Delrio Grange, No. 828, was organized in February, 1926 by F. P. Waters, Washington State Grange Deputy from Stevens County.  There were thirty-six charter members with Horace Bozarth being elected Master, an office he held for twelve years.

The meetings were held in the hall over the Delrio Post Office and Store.  The hall was first rented from Mr. and Mrs. E. Wagoner and then from Mr. and Mrs. George Grant when they purchased the store in 1928.  On every second and fourth Saturday nights the neighbors would gather to do some shopping at the store, get extra mail and postal supplies before going upstairs to the Grange.  Grant's home was always open to non-grangers and children who waited for the business session to be over so they could join in the social hour.  The Grange was the main center of business and social activities in the community for many years, and young and old looked forward to meeting nights.  Some of the most worked-for projects in the 20s and 30s were better roads and improved mail service.  In both of these they were quite successful.

About 1939 the Grange ladies organized a club and called it "Delrio Ladies Club" and have since worked in connection with the home economics department of the Grange.  The members hold their meetings at different homes and along with social benefits of the meetings, they have sponsored various money raising projects for the benefit of the Grange.

In 1945 a determined effort was made by the Grangers to have a hall of their own.  By cash donations and money making projects they succeeded in getting a start.  A site, two miles west of Delrio, was chosen and the land was purchased from Charles Trefry.  Then a schoolhouse (Riverside) from the Pearl Hill area was moved over and an addition built on so that it made an overall structure of 28 x 72 feet with a full basement.  Some of the work was hired done but most of it was accomplished by donated labor.  The first meeting in the new hall was in January 1946 - just twenty years from the time the Grange was organized.  In April of the same year the hall was dedicated by State Grange Master Henry P. Carstensen.  In the years that have followed much time and effort has been spent in finishing work on the hall and there still is some to be done.  This has taken a lot of financing, so dances, card parties, scrap iron drives, and other things have been done to help the cause.

Early in the 1940s the Granges in Douglas County worked hard for rural electrification, but due to the war this did not become a reality until November 1947 when the PUD energized the lines.

The next major undertaking was working for a better telephone system for the community and after several public meetings, many of which were held at the Delrio Hall, the Bell Telephone System constructed lines using the PUD poles in most places.  In September 1951, over fifty farm families of the Delrio and Rex areas were connected with the Coulee Dam exchange.

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In May 1957, Mrs. Thora Dick, State Juvenile Matron, organized the Delrio Juvenile Grange with twenty-three charter members and Mrs. Nell Trefry as their Matron.  This organization is for children between the ages of five and sixteen and teaches them leadership and responsibility so they will make better leaders and citizens of tomorrow.  They meet in the basement at the same time the subordinate grange holds a meeting and they now are proud to have a membership of thirty-three.

In the past thirty-two years, Delrio Grange has progressed and grown in membership and we now have ninety-seven on the roll.  During that time ten different masters have filled the station serving from one to twelve years.  They are Horace Bozarth, Ben Alling, Clyde Rigney, Raymond Davis, Hayden McKee, George Jurgensen, Cecil Trefry, George Alling, Kenneth Ehlers and Edwin Rice.

Lois Rice

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CHURCH AND CEMETERY
About 1916 one of the first protestant churches of northern Douglas County was built and named the Delrio Community Church.  Prior to this, religious instruction had been provided in most of the community centers with the Delrio Protestants at first holding Sunday School at the Davis home which is now the old J. T. McKee house.

The Reverend Smith of Bridgeport preached every two weeks in the Mountain View School House; later the hall above the Delrio Store was used.  Donations for the Delrio Church were raised primarily by Mrs. Hannah Hunt, Mae Rinker Snodgrass, and Mrs. Charles Taylor, all of whom "rode the country" for collections, and by Mrs. Elbert Wagoner at the Delrio Store.  A Methodist minister, Reverend Moede, first officiated there with George Meyers acting as recorder, and Mrs. George Trefry was organist.  About fifty people were in the congregation, with church activities being held there until about 1924 or 1925.  The abandoned church building on a hilltop east of Delrio remains standing, surrounded by the old local cemetery which was first called MacIntosh.

The Cemetery Association, now incorporated, was formed in 1910 and the burial grounds deed donated by Ed Thoren.  The first Cemetery Association Board was composed of Luther Crawley, Albert Derby, and jack Weeks.  Then later on all papers were lost, the land had changed hands and John Taylor gave another quit claim deed to the Association for this same property.  There are about 100 graves in the cemetery.  Many people believe Lonnie Crawley is the first to be buried there.  A good fence and gate, provided by a community effort, now surrounds the cemetery which has not been used for over 10 years.

Mrs. George Trefry


The Catholic Church at Leahy was built long before the Delrio Church, and services continued to be held there for many more years.
The first Protestant Church was the one built on the Seller's place in 1906 or 1907, not far from Seller's Landing.

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