CHIEF RUSHTON

from the Wenatchee World, March 16, 1984:

Coulee City carving is an attention-getter

By HU BLONK
Wenatchee World special writer

     COULEE CITY -- A statue is now standing on Coulee City's main street in honor of the town's Indian chief.
     Well, it's not exactly a statue.  It's a large carving on the trunk of an old poplar tree chopped down last fall.
     And, well, it's not exactly an Indian chief -- just somebody the carving calls "Chief Rushton," who actually is a paleface who owns a restaurant here.
     The new attraction in town is the result of two imaginative friends continually playing tricks on one another.
     The victim of the latest intrigue is Don Rushton, 36, whose father, "Red" Rushton, ran a great steak place in Soap Lake for a number of years.  And the "culprit," as Rushton calls him, is William Bebout, 44.
     The carving is the work of Don Farber of Snohomish, a friend of the Bebout's.  Bebout had a 100-foot-tall tree, one of the oldest in town, chopped down before the tree's big limbs crashed through the roof of his home at 217 West Main.
     Farber got busy with his chainsaw soon after the giant growth was reduced to a stump about 5 feet in diameter and 9 feet high.  It took the artist, whose hobby it is to do carving, just a day to do the job.
     The hoax has led a number of visitors to stop by, some to take a picture of their kids in front of the stump and to inquire of the Bebouts who this "Chief Rushton" is.  When told he's a cook at the Steamboat Rock Restaurant down the street, some go there to make his acquaintance and compare the real Rushton to the wooden Rushton.
     On looking through the slot in a cafe wall behind which Rushton does his cooking they can immediately see that the chief is an imposter.  They note he's a 100 percent non-Indian and even has a sporty mustache under his nose.
     The "feud" between the two friends, as Mr. Bebout calls it, has been going on for several years.  Bebout once threw a full string of exploding firecrackers into a small room of the restaurant where Rushton was working.  On another occasion exploding cigarettes were given by one to the other.
     When Rushton, who has acquired the nickname of "Chief" in Coulee City, first saw the new attraction in town, he thought Bebout had gone a little far.  He said he doesn't know what to think.
     "I don't mind it, now that the initial shock is over..."  he admitted.
     Actually, the "Chief" title that Rushton has acquired is accurate in an official sense.  He does head the Coulee City Fire Department.
     There is no doubt that Rushton will try to get even with Bebout.  He's in no hurry though.
     "I haven't figured out what I'm going to do" he said.  "Let him sweat a while."


     Picture of Rushton Carving: http://www.facebook.com/groups/236214836416960/272640036107773/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150336766800143&set=oa.273110292727414&type=1&theater

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