Chirikof Island

Chirikof Island () is located in the Gulf of Alaska approximately southwest of Kodiak Island.
Terrain.
Chirikof Island consists of of grasses and sedges. Treeless, it lies west of the western tree line in Alaska. The island is shaped like a webbed duck foot with the heel to the north and the webbing to the south. The seas around Chirikof are treacherous and the island has a history of shipwrecks. The south shore has a wide beach suitable for aircraft landings and cautious watercraft landings. The island is open to general public access. Commercial carriers need a permit to visit; personal planes or boats need no permit.
Habitation.
The first human inhabitants of the island were the Old Islanders, 4000-2000 BP (before present, i.e., before 1950.) A subsistence village existed up to the late 19th century, when it was succeeded first by fox farming and then by cattle farming. There has generally been continuous human habitation of Chirikof, relieved by short periods of abandonment. In 1980, the island became part of the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge. The only inhabitants now are a herd of perhaps 700-800 feral cattle. Cattle have been present on the island since the late 19th century. In the 21st century, the herd has become the subject of an ongoing controversy between a small group of Kodiak ranchers and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge. (See National interest lands below.)
Names.
Vitus Bering, captain of the "St. Peter," and Alexei Chirikov, captain of the "St. Paul," sailed from Kamchatka in 1741 with charts that called the island Tummenoi, a Russian word meaning foggy. The log of the "St. Peter" recorded a sighting of the island on August 2, 1741, which was St. Stephen's day. For this reason, Bering renamed the island St. Stephen Island. Bering's ship and Chirikof's had become separated early in the voyage and Chirikof never saw the island. Nonetheless, in 1794, explorer George Vancouver renamed the island Chirikof Island, observing that Capt. Chirikof's "labors in the arduous task of discovery do not appear to have been thus commemorated." Alutiiqs of the area still call the island Ukamok (ooo-KA-mok) for the ground squirrels common there.
Russian-American Company.
In 1799 the Russian-American Company was given a charter by Tsar Paul I to govern the territory of Alaska and manage the exploitation of its resources. The company had already established a permanent colony for European settlers on Kodiak Island. Supported at first by the infamous fur trade, the Kodiak colonists later pursued cattle ranching and fox farming. During the Russian period (i.e., 1740s to 1867) a population of 60-100 villagers lived a subsistence life on nearby Chirikof. The villagers were of Alutiiq, Tlingit, Russian, and Western European extraction. They worshiped in a small Russian orthodox church. The village was abandoned soon after the Russian church called the only priest on the island back to Kodiak in 1870.
Alaska Commercial Company.
Alaska Commercial Company acquired the assets of the Russian-American Company in 1867 when Russia sold the territory to America. In 1887, an ACC subsidiary was formed to breed blue foxes on Chirikof. Voles were imported to feed the foxes. A small herd of cattle was brought in to provide meat for the American caretakers, who disliked seal meat. From time to time - 1892, 1912 - the company shipped additional cattle to the island. The cattle were not landed; the crew just drove them overboard and they swam to shore. Once on land, the cattle thrived unattended on the nutritious island grasses. They also lost many traits of domestication. They do not herd up; they charge horses and men; when spooked, they flee into the sea and swim around till it is safe to come out.
Russian penal colony.
The late Dr. Lydia Black, a leading scholar of the Russian-American period in Alaska, rebutted the legend that there was once a Russian penal colony on Chirikof. Among those who perpetuated that myth was artist, traveler and writer Henry Wood Elliott, who wrote accurately and alarmingly of the fur trade slaughter but fictitiously of much else. Few people at the time were knowledgeable enough to refute Elliott's fantasies. One who could was Capt. Arthur Morris, administrator of Alaska in 1877, who once stated, "Don't believe a word Elliott says except about fur seals."
Beef industry.
The beef industry on Chirikof began in earnest in 1925 and continued as late as 1983, when a $875,000 loan from the Alaska Agricultural Loan Board brought 600 new head to the island. The original venture was the brain-child of an Iowa farm boy with a law degree named Jack McCord. McCord formed the Chirikof Cattle Company and labored from 1925 to 1950 to build a successful beef industry on the island. The story is a long saga of shipwrecks, plane crashes, unruly feral cattle, unfulfilled contracts, spoiled meat and good money thrown after bad. A succession of hopeful owners since McCord has been unable to profitably market the beef from this remote island. Ranch workers report that the meat is virtually "inedible," tough and hard to digest.
National interest lands.
As part of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), certain state lands reverted to federal ownership. In 1980, Chirikof Island was added to the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The management plan for the refuge entails restoring the island's native species and requires removal of the cattle, which overgraze the land and damage bird habitat. However, the most recent attempt in 2003 to remove a small part of the herd - 37 head, by barge - resulted in injuries to the animals that attracted the attention of the Humane Society of the United States. Additionally, legal issues have delayed plans to remove the herd and restore the island as a bird sanctuary.


Timeline of North Omaha, Nebraska history

Significant events in the history of North Omaha, Nebraska include the Pawnee, Otoe and Sioux nations; the African American community; Irish, Czech, and other European immigrants, and; several other populations. Several important settlements and towns were built in the area, as well as important social events that shaped the future of Omaha and the history of the nation. The timeline of North Omaha history extends to present, including recent controversy over schools.


Chief Shakes Historic Site

The Chief Shakes Historic Site is a historic collection of original and recreated Native Alaskan artifacts. It is located on Shakes Island, inside Wrangell Harbor, Wrangell City and Borough, Alaska. The most prominent feature of the site is a 1940 reconstruction of a Tlingit community house. This structure incorporates six original house posts, carved poles similar to totem poles. The house posts, four of which are from the community house of Chief Shakes, a line of like-named Tlingit clan leaders, are reported to be among the oldest known to survive. The house is surrounded by seven totem poles, two of which are original Tlingit work, and five of which are copies created by crews of the Civilian Conservation Corps that also built the house.
The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.


Placido (Tonkawa leader)

Plácido (ca. 1788–1862) was major Native American Chief of the Tonkawa Indians in Texas during the Spanish and Mexican rule, the Republic of Texas era, and with Texas as part of the United States.
Early years in Texas.
Plácido was born the son of a Tonkawa Chief and a Comanche female captive/slave. His mother having been Comanche is highly ironic, in that he became the greatest enemy the Comanche had in Texas. Plácido, known in his own language as Ha-shu-ka-na ("Can't Kill Him"), was the last major Chief of the Tonkawa Indians. The fierce Tonkawas became great friends of the white Texas settlers, helping them against all their enemies.
Plácido rose to power among the Tonkawas during the Long Expedition into Texas in 1819. Warriors from several tribes, including Placido and his Tonkawa, joined in James Long's venture and gained horses, other plunder, and scalps in battles with the Spanish army. After Carita, a prominent Tonkawa leader, died in 1823, Plácido was elected as head chief of his people by the chiefs and elders.
The Chief and Stephen Austin.
Plácido befriended Stephen F. Austin in the early days of Spanish Texas Settlement. His friendship was responsible for the Tonkawa support of the Texan forces, in the Texas War for Independence. Allied with the new republic, the Tonkawa felt secure in their central Texas home, near the Springs of the San Marcos River.
Battle of Plum Creek.
Though Texas histories make much of the Texas militia fighting the Comanche at Plum Creek after the Great Raid, most of those histories forget to mention that the Texans would not have been in a position to intercept Buffalo Hump and the returning raiders except for the help of Plácido and his men. With the help of Chief Plácido and thirteen of his Tonkawa scouts, Texas militia from Bastrop and Gonzales ambushed the raiding party at Plum Creek (near present-day Lockhart, Texas).
Battle of Little Robe Creek.
The last battle the Tonkawa fought with and for the Texans was the Battle of Little Robe Creek.
Texas Governor Hardin Runnels had campaigned for office in 1856 on a platform to put an end to the continuing Comanche and Kiowa raids from those bands of both tribes off the reservation. He publicly expressed astonishment and rage when the 2nd United States Cavalry was transferred to Utah, and ultimately disbanded altogether.
Governor Runnels determined to reestablish disbanded Ranger battalions which were reduced after Texas' annexation by the United States. The end result was that on January 27, 1858, Governor Runnels appointed John Salmon "Rip" Ford, a veteran Ranger of the Mexican–American War and frontier Indian fighter, as captain and commander of the Texas Ranger, Militia, and Allied Indian Forces, and ordered him to carry the battle to the Comanches in the heart of their homeland on the Comancheria.
Ford, whose habit of signing the casualty reports with the initials "RIP" for "Rest In Peace," was known as a ferocious and no-nonsense Indian fighter. Commonly missing from the history books was his proclivity for ordering the wholesale slaughter of any Indian, man or woman, he could find. Ford's reason for this was simple: Comanche raids were brutal in their treatment of settlers. Thus, Ford determined to meet brutality with brutality. Governor Runnels issued very explicit orders to Ford, "I impress upon you the necessity of action and energy. Follow any trail and all trails of hostile or suspected hostile Indians you may discover and if possible, overtake and chastise them if unfriendly.
Recruitment of the Tonkawa.
On March 19, 1858, Ford went to the Brazos Reservation, near what today is the city of Fort Worth, Texas, and recruited the Tonkawa into his forces. Tonkawa Indians, the latter commanded by their "celebrated" chief, Placido, are hailed today as the "faithful and implicitly trusted friend of the whites" (with limited mention of their cannibalism). Without the Tonkawa, and their 100 experienced warriors, Ford simply did not have enough men to launch a campaign into the Comancheria.
After recruiting Placido, Ford undertook a campaign with approximately an equal number of Texas Rangers and Tonkawa Warriors against the Comanches. Ford and Placido were determined to follow the Comanche and Kiowa up to their strongholds amid the hills of the Canadian river, and into the Wichita Mountains, and if possible, "kill their warriors, decimate their food supply, strike at their homes and families and generally destroy their ability to make war."
In April 1858, Ford established Camp Runnells near what used to be the town of Belknap. Ford, still operating under Governor Runnell's explicits orders to "follow any and all trails of hostile and suspected hostile Indians, inflict the most severe and summary punishment," and to "allow no interference from any source." (That source was interpreted to mean the United States, whose Army and Indian agents might try to enforce federal treaties and federal statutory law against trespassing on the Indian territories in Oklahoma).
On April 15, Ford's Rangers, accompanied by Tonkawa warriors, and Anadarko and Shawnee scouts from the Brazos Reservation in Texas, crossed the Red River into Indian Territory. The force then advanced into the portion of the Comancheria in the Indian Territories in Oklahoma. Ford led his men across the Red River, into the Indian Territory, violating federal laws and numerous treaties, but stating later that his job was to "find and fight Indians, not to learn geography."
Battle.
At sunrise on May 12, 1858. Ford and his joint force of Rangers and Tonkawa began an all-day battle with a dawn attack on a sleeping Comanche village. The so-called Battle of Little Robe Creek was actually three distinct separate incidents which happened over the course of a single day. The first was the attack on the sleeping village. The second was a follow up attack on the village of Iron Jacket, somewhat further up the Canadian River. Iron Jacket, so named for the coat of iron mail he wore in battle was killed in this exchange, and the remainder of his village was saved by the timely intervention of Peta Nocona with a third force of Comanche who arrived to engage Ford while all the villages along the Canadian made a swift withdrawal. Before the withdrawal, a dozen Tonkawas were killed in single combat with Comanches whose challenge to single combat they accepted. Ford, enraged by the losses, finally forbid the Tonkawa to accept anymore.
Peta Nocona knew that his warriors were no match for the Rangers in an even exchange of gunfire, and had no intention of engaging in such an exchange. He used every trick available to him, including attempting to lure the Rangers and Tonkawas into individual duals, to delay the enemy so the villages upriver would be able to withdraw safely. In this, he was successful.
The Battle of Little Robe Creek was notable in that the Texan forces first, invaded the United States against every tenet of federal law and numerous Indian Treaties, attacked Indian villages without warning of any kind, and allowed their allied Indians, the Tonkawa, to eat some of the Comanche killed in battle.
After Little Robe Creek.
Despite their literally dying for the white Texans, the Tonkawa were endangered on the Brazos Reservation. Indeed, once a settler accused two Tonkawa warriors of killing a man, and Plácido fled, seeking refuge with other Indians—all of whom refused him sanctuary. Only the timely intervention of Robert Neighbors, who convinced the US military not to pursue the matter, kept the settlers from hanging Plácido. Increasing harassment by white settlers had made Texas increasingly dangerous for the Indian. In 1859, Indian agent Neighbors convinced the United States to allow the displacement of all the Texas tribes, (including Plácido and his Tonkawa), to a reservation in Indian Territory (Oklahoma).
In October 1862, when Confederate Indian agents arrived at the reservations, only the Tonkawa welcomed them, as Placido saw the Confederacy as an extension of his beloved Republic of Texas, which had valued his people. Unfortunately for the Tonkawa, other Indians never forgot the Tonkawa's loyalty to the Texans, even if the Texans did. Despite pleas from the aging Placido to protect his people from their enemies, the Tonkawa were not allowed to return to their reservation on the Brazos, and remained on a reservation in Oklahoma with the Delaware, Shawnee and Caddo tribes.
Tonkawa Massacre (1862).
On October 23, 1862, warriors from these tribes, instigated and assisted by the Comanche and Kiowa, united to attack the Tonkawas. Unlike Federal Indian agents like Neighbors, who had always protected the Tonkawas to the best of their ability, the Confederate agents Placido had welcomed so happily did not make any effort to protect them at all. One hundred thirty-seven out of the remaining 309 Tonkawas were killed in what was named the Tonkawa Massacre. Included in the dead was the elderly Placido.
Post-massacre.
Plácido had two sons, Charlie and Little Spots. Their mother had also been a Comanche captive. After the 1862 slaughter of much of their tribe, the survivors, led by Plácido's son Charlie, fled to Fort Belknap, Texas, and remained there until the end of the Civil War. Today, Today less than 15 families of Tonkawa remain on their reservation in Oklahoma.


Irving, Kansas

Irving is a ghost town in Marshall County, Kansas, located six miles southeast of the city of Blue Rapids along the Big Blue River. Irving was one of the many towns affected by "Big Dam Foolishness" during the construction of Tuttle Creek Lake about ten miles to the south. Although the lake never reached the town, the federal government forced remaining residents to vacate the town.
History.
Irving was founded in 1859 by a small group from Lyons, Iowa. They named the town after author Washington Irving. In the spring of 1860, a severe drought ruined crops and forced some farmers to lose their land. Over the summer the area was wracked with fierce winds and thunderstorms that blew down buildings, took roofs and damaged the saw mill. During the fall, some residents chose to leave and return to Iowa. In 1866, the community was invaded by grasshoppers that also destroyed crops and damaged trees. The town would have another plague in 1875. Despite these hardships, in 1878, Irving was described as "being located in one of the best settled and best cultivated portions of Marshall County"
On May 30, 1879, two tornadoes destroyed most of the town, leaving 19 dead and many more injured. These tornadoes were extensively studied by the pioneer American meteorologist John Park Finley, and author L. Frank Baum may have named the main character of his "Wonderful Wizard of Oz", Dorothy Gale after one of the victims. Some residents left Irving, but the town was rebuilt, and new businesses arrived, allowing Irving to regain its prominence as a local agricultural center.
During the summer of 1903, the Big Blue River flooded and destroyed homes, crops and bridges. The river threatened to do it again in 1908 but the townspeople were prepared and were able to keep the river within its banks. In 1910 the population was estimated at 403 and boasted "good banking facilities, a weekly newspaper, telegraph and express offices, graded schools, public library, churches of all denominations, and three rural routes extend from the Irving post office."
After plans for the construction of the Tuttle Creek Dam were announced, the population declined and many businesses, including the post office, closed. The townsite was abandoned in 1960 after the dam was constructed. Nevertheless, because the lake is miles away, Irving remains accessible and its road network and building foundations visible. A stone marker sits in a makeshift park along with a mailbox and notebook in which visitors can write.
Education.
The first schoolhouse was built in 1868 but was destroyed in 1879. The stone school was replaced by a frame one the same year.
Established around 1864, the Wetmore Institute was built on a slope overlooking the town and named for A.H. Wetmore. The limestone building was partially destroyed by the 1879 tornadoes and burned down in 1880.


Senakw

Sen̓áḵw (Squamish ) or sən̓aʔqʷ (Halkomelem ), rendered in English as Snawk, Snawq, Sneawq, or Snawkw, is a village site of the Indigenous Squamish people, located near what is now known as the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 1869 the Colonial Government set aside land around the village, and in 1877 the Joint Reserve Commission established by the Provincial and Federal Governments to deal with land allotments to indigenous people in B.C., expanded the area set aside to approximately as False Creek Indian Reserve No. 6 or more popularly Kitsilano Indian Reserve. The village site was home for many Squamish, but after further settlement began in the Vancouver area, the inhabitants were forced to relocate to other nearby villages. This village was also the home of August Jack Khatsahlano, a prominent chief (or "siyam") of the Squamish and a notable Vancouver historian on local Indigenous history.
History.
After the Indian Act was passed in 1876, and with the Joint Indian Reserve Commission, a reserve was plotted out for the native peoples living at this location. Both in 1886 and 1902, portions of the reserve were expropriated by the federal government for railway purposes. In 1913 the B.C. Provincial Government induced the residents to relocate by coercing them to sell, an action which was later found to be illegal. Many families were placed on a barge and towed to other communities in the Burrard Inlet area. In 2001, a settlement was agreed between the courts and the Squamish Nation for the return of of land, coming from the land possessed by the CPR, located near Vanier Park, underneath Burrard Street Bridge.
In 2019, the Squamish Nation announced plans to build a housing development on this land. Initially planned for 3,000 units, it was later increased to 6,000 units.


Canada Southern Railway

The Canada Southern Railway , also known as CSR, was a railway in southwestern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. Its name was changed to Canada Southern Railway on December 24, 1869. The 1868 Act specified that it was to be constructed at a broad gauge of , but that requirement was repealed in the 1869 Act, thus allowing construction at the standard gauge of .
The railway was leased to the Michigan Central Railroad (MCR) for 99 years; in 1929 it was subleased to the New York Central Railroad (NYC). Its successors Penn Central (formed 1968) and Conrail (formed 1976) later exercised control before being sold to CN/CP in 1985.
History.
Background.
The line was originally conceived by Kenyon Cox (brother of Jacob Dolson Cox, Governor of Ohio), Daniel Drew, Sidney Dillon and John F. Tracy to connect with the Wabash Railroad and establish a railway network extending from Lake Erie to the Mississippi River.
The Panic of 1873 was responsible for the failure of several large railroads in North America, together with their financial backers. In addition to the CSR, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, Northern Pacific Railroad, Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and New York and Oswego Midland Railroad were also affected.
The CSR's banker, Kenyon, Cox & Co. (of which Drew was general partner) failed, and its bonds were subsequently protested, although some observers felt that the move was unnecessary. CSR subsequently became insolvent, as it was unable to redeem the bonds. Within two years, it was taken over by the railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt at essentially no cost other than taking on the guarantee of them.
When Cornelius died in 1877, his son, William Henry Vanderbilt, became head of the Vanderbilt railroad empire. The younger Vanderbilt took steps to separate the various railroad properties he controlled. On 1 January 1883, the New York Central Railroad (NYC) was able to lease the CSR to another Vanderbilt railroad company, the Michigan Central Railroad (MCR), on a 21-year renewable term. Vanderbilt, who owned all three companies, ensured that each one operated independently, through its own autonomous president and board of directors. In 1929, MCR subleased CSR to NYC, its parent company.
Development of the line.
The company was originally authorized to construct a railway line between Fort Erie and Sandwich (Windsor), with a branch line to Amherstburg. A second branch line was authorized in 1869 between St. Thomas and Sombra the following year. Other significant subsequent legislation included:
There was an attempt in 1883 to amalgamate the CSR with the Credit Valley Railway, which was dropped when the CVR opted to merge with the Ontario and Quebec Railway instead.
Corporate headquarters.
CSR's headquarters were located in St. Thomas, Ontario. The site was chosen because St Thomas was roughly equal-distance between Windsor and Fort Erie, Ontario and the city offered a $25,000 bonus to the railroad company as an incentive to build within city limits. CSR's main building, the Canada Southern Railway Station, included a passenger station and dining room on the ground floor with the railway's head offices on the upper floor. The extremely long, narrow building was based on Italianate architecture and is the only known train station in Canada to embody this style. The station was the design of Canadian architect Edgar Berryman (1839-1905).
Car shops and locomotive manufacturing.
A large car shop, located in the yard, facilitated the manufacture of cars and allowed repairs to be made to locomotives. Steam locomotives were also manufactured for CSR in the car shop, beginning in 1882 and closed sometime after 1905. Types of locomotives made included:
Initially all locomotives were built for use by CASO, but some ended their career with the New York Central Railroad.
Later years.
The CSR was never completely controlled by the New York Central (later part of Penn Central) or the Michigan Central, as the two together held only about 107,000 of the 150,000 shares outstanding, and the rest were publicly held. The shareholders had received dividends in every year from 1887, and an extraordinary dividend in 1976 triggered a legal dispute that was not resolved until 1983.
On April 30, 1985, the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway jointly purchased the former CASO from Conrail in order to acquire the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel under the Detroit River and the Michigan Central Railway Bridge at Niagara Falls.
Much of the CASO has been downgraded, abandoned or removed by CN and CP over the years. Operations through Niagara Falls (and over the MCRR bridge) were discontinued with that portion of the line through the city removed in 2001. Unlike the rest of the line, however, the Detroit River tunnel is a key part of freight movements across the Canada-US border and still sees a good number of mainline trains.
The CASO rarely operated its own rolling stock after acquisition, and its reporting mark was abolished in 1977.


Old Town (Franklin, Tennessee)

Old Town is an archaeological site in Williamson County, Tennessee near Franklin. The site includes the remnants of a Native American village and mound complex of the Mississippian culture, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as Old Town Archaeological Site (40WM2).
Background.
Since the early days of settlement in Middle Tennessee, the "Old Town on the Big Harpeth River" has been a critical component of a common understanding of the area's prehistory. The earliest archaeological investigations of the site were in 1868 by physician Joseph Jones, who was then Nashville's municipal health officer; his efforts were largely frustrated because much of the site's most significant mound was occupied by the owner's wife's flower garden, but he was able to find a frog effigy from part of the mound outside the garden. W.M. Clark mentioned the location in an 1878 publication, but no more substantial excavations were conducted until 1928: while building a bridge over Brown Creek at its confluence with the river, Williamson County road crews accidentally dug into a large burial ground, and a local man worked hard to record as much information about the site as possible. Since the late twentieth century, no substantial excavations have been conducted, but the owners have permitted the recovery of artifacts from small portions of the site when construction has demanded work on the periphery; among this work has been a project to place a water pipeline in 1984 and the 1991 renovation of the Thomas Brown House on the property.
Site description.
The Mississippian culture village and mound complex is located at the confluence of the Harpeth River and Dolorson Creek on the Harpeth River branch of the Natchez Trace. Archaeological investigations of the site have uncovered artifacts dating from approximately 900 to 1450. In his book "Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee", published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1876, Joseph Jones produced a detailed account of the site. The village area was surrounded by steep earthworks running in a semicircle, portions of which were topped by a wooden palisade that is interpreted as having been intended as a protective fortification. Within the enclosure, the village area includes several large earthen mounds a plaza and associated village areas. Jones described the mound grouping as including two platform mounds and two burial mounds. Mississippian mound complexes such as the Old Town complex are thought to have been regional centers for civic and ceremonial activity, as well as serving as the permanent residences of ruling elites. The mounds are located within the embankments. The largest of the rectangular platform mounds, Mound A, was on its longer side by on the shorter side and in height. The second, Mound B, was by at its base and in height. Located across a plaza area was a by in diameter high burial mound. The remaining burial mound is the location of the Thomas Brown House.
In 1984 and 1991, the Tennessee Division of Archaeology conducted brief salvage excavations at the Old Town site in anticipation of construction and renovation projects. The artifacts collected allowed researchers to place Old Town's primary period of habitation at between 1250 and 1450. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal uncovered from a prehistoric trash pit returned a date of 1214.
Stone box graves.
Burials at the site were of a type known as stone box graves. Jones opened up at least 50 examples during his investigations. In this type of burial, which was commonly used by Mississippian people in the central basin of Middle Tennessee, the dead were interred in shallow rectangular excavations lined with large thin slabs of limestone. A "nearly form-fitting" pit was dug to hold the person's remains, the bottom and sides were lined with appropriately sized rock slabs, the person's remains were laid inside, and the resulting box was covered with another stone slab. Most of these individual graves were located along the banks of the river and creek.
NRHP sites at location.
A larger, , area was listed as the "Old Town Archaeological Site" on the National Register in 1989 as part of the Mississippian Cultural Resources of the Central Basin (900 to 1450) Multiple Property Submission.
"Old Town" also is a name given to the Thomas Brown House, built nearby to the mound complex site in the 1840s or 1850s, "Old Town" is also reflected in the name of the nearby Old Town Bridge that carried the Harpeth River branch of the Natchez Trace over Brown's Creek.


Vail Pass Camp

The Vail Pass Camp is a multi-component prehistoric site, situated at the summit of Vail Pass (elevation ) (Gooding 1981), just below the timberline in Colorado. The camp was occupied for over 7000 years, inhabited by various North American aboriginal groups, and is the first open lithic-scatter site. Thirty-three radiocarbon dates were obtained, ranging from 7320 B.P. to 190 B.P. (Gooding 1981:12) with most (all but six) dating to the last 3,000 years. The Vail Pass Camp was most likely discovered in 1887 by T.D.A Cockerell.
Vail Pass Camp was excavated to lessen the effects of highway construction on a prehistoric and historic camp location in the high mountains. The excavated portion of the site covers an area of . Seventy-two archaeological features and nine hundred eighty-eight tools were discovered which have been comprehensively analyzed. Overall, this site has allowed for questions regarding high elevation, prehistoric sites to be answered.
Surrounding area and climate.
The Vail Pass Camp is 200m west of I70 on the Rocky Mountains. The subalpine forest provides a moist environment with an abundance of vegetation and game-animals. The temperature would drop on average to 27F between November and May and go up to 48F between June and October.
Chronology of occupation.
Analysis of the prehistoric occupation of Vail Pass Camp is based on a total of 33 carbon samples. These samples provide a consistent range of dates and can be separated into seven distinct groups, plus two dates that do not have a close association with any of the groups. The overlap and hiatuses between the groups strongly suggest the reoccupation of the site at different time periods throughout its existence, presumably by different cultural groups. The probability that the various clusters of dates were randomly produced is close to zero.
There is no obvious reason why a site with a strategic location such as this should have been abandoned for such extended periods of time. Even if wildlife, or game, were completely wiped out from over hunting throughout multiple seasons, the fauna would surely regenerate within a five-year period.
The strategic value of Vail Pass Camp is based on its elevation and relation to more potential sites in the immediate area. There is evidence of another smaller site at the summit of Vail Pass Camp that may help to explain the clustered dates. This smaller site also opens up the possibility of there being multiple buried sites within the area.
The Engelmann Spruce tree that provided the carbon dates may also help to explain the clustered sequence. The Engelmann Spruce is important because it provides us with information about the availability of firewood, a necessity at a camp in high elevation. With this in mind, it becomes a possibility that the date clusters may represent the complete use of a particular tree, followed by the complete use of another tree at a later time.
Therefore, the unmistakable clustering of the dates reflects a pattern of culture use, as opposed to natural phenomena. In other words, the site was not abandoned because of weather or climate, but rather because the humans had exceeded their resources in that region and would have to wait long periods for regeneration.
Cultural materials.
A wide array of materials was found at the Vail Pass Camp. Below is a list of items found with descriptions and analysis accompanying them.
Projectile points.
Three hundred and four projectile points were found with one hundred sixteen of them being taxonomically diagnostic. There are a number of notching and hafting styles on the points. This in turn provides a timeline for the inhabitants that were there and consistent with the technologies used in the Northwest Plains. This represents expansion and contraction of cultures across a specific area. Points found represent a number of periods. These are: Paleo-Indian, Altithermal, McKean Techno Complex, Duncan, Hanna, Summit Stemmed, Gypsum, Pelican Lake, Upper Republican, Late Prehistoric, and Avonlea. This helps provide a timeline to the occupation of the Vail Pass Camp.
"Knives".
The knives found were either made from flakes or from small cores. In addition, some knives were hafted while others were hand held. While the knives have similar characteristics to scrapers, they were distinguished through morphological analysis. Many of the items found have been heavily worn out and are only fragments of larger tools. The knives could be used for a number of tasks such as cutting and chopping. Further, wear on the knives can also provide clues for how they were used. “The characteristic of heavy ware coupled with relatively small dimensions of the tools strongly suggests that increased leverage was applied to the edges through a hafted handle.” (Gooding 1981)
Scrapers.
Scrapers are divided into three groups: Uncompahgre scrapers, side scrapers, and end scrapers. They are flake tools that have experienced unifacial wear. Uncompahgre scrapers are often created on large percussion flakes and tend to only have marginal edge retouching. They are thought to have been used as butchering tools. The side scrapers, picture to the right, were only created on their lateral edges and most wear is found on the dorsal exterior of the tool. It is thought that this tool was imported from a tool kit and was not made on site. The end scrapers were the second-most abundant tool found at the camp. They are made from more narrow flakes that come off of larger cores.
Raclettes.
These are special kinds of scrapers than were common with Paleo-Indians, but from the Vail Camp Pass excavation, were radiocarbon dated into the Archaic period. They were made from specific flakes and were retouched to produce a wide flake with a very thin cross section. The raclette was then attached to a split haft handle to be used as desired.
Drills.
Drills are tools that “serve as rotary perforating implements.” (Irwin and Wormington 1970) Types of drill found are plain shafted drills, flanged, and modified flakes. Plain shafted drills aren’t well documented and were projectile points that were reworked. They were most likely used for simple tasks and probably cannot be used as horizon markers. Flanged drills are the most typical drill in prehistoric sites. They were most likely manufactured from a flake blank and were handheld. The modified flakes were probably used as a hafted tool and had steep edge retouch. The modified flakes were the only one to demonstrate drill wear in that rings are noticeable on the drills with actual use as a drill.
Gravers.
Eleven gravers were found at the site. They are defined as “a unifacially retouched projection on a flake or modified biface.” They are larger than spurs and are used to incise materials such as wood, hide, and bone.
Beaks.
Eleven beaks where recovered from the Vail Camp pass. They are made from flakes with a little unifacial retouch and edge work. Beaks look similar to scrapers in that they have been given an edge surrounding their circumference. They were unifacially utilized tools and were most likely manufactured on purpose. Most likely used to back a projection and served as a scraper.
Micro Blade.
One specimen was recovered at the site. The function of the blade is unknown, presumably a cutting tool of some variety. The recovered blade is 29mm long and 6mm wide. Unfortunately, known Paleo-Indian artifacts do not include micro-tools or types of tools for this function, which makes dating this find much harder.
Spurs.
Spurs are tools used generally in a single direction to make incisions in animal hide. Nine specimens have been recovered at this site. Though many of these specimens are small in size, they are backed (reinforced) behind the flake, so they are extremely sturdy tools. Due to the unmodified flake, this item appears to be a ripping tool used in a single directional motion.
Saws or denticulates.
Six specimens were found at this site. The principal characteristic of the denticulates is the serrated edge, suggesting a function in shredding fibers. However, their effectiveness in certain aspects of butchering is also a possibility. The wear on the edge of the tool represents back and forth directional motion.
Notches/Spokeshaves.
Fourteen specimens were recovered at this site. The notches all appear to be manufactured on unmodified flakes or discarded fragments. They are all of a rather consistent size, measuring on average at 4.8mm in diameter. The various aspects of wear on single flakes indicate multiple purpose utilization.
Burins.
Eight specimens were recovered at this site. Four of the specimens are on retouched flakes, and four of them are on biface fragments. None of the burin edges exhibit extensive wear and none of the flakes exhibit any other manufacturing elements oriented specifically to burin use.
Preforms.
Five specimens were recovered at this site. A perform is an incomplete and unused basic form of a stone tool These specimens exhibit unpatterned bifacial flaking with deep scars and irregular edges. Average size is 52mm by 12 mm. The presence of preforms at Vail Pass Camp suggests an emphasis on final stage tool production as the main characteristic of the lithic technology.
Core choppers.
Two specimens were found at this site. Both of the specimens are small and most likely chopping tools. They are fairly uniform in size, between 73mm and 81mm by 53mm and 58mm.
Ground stone.
The presence of ground stone at Vail Pass Camp is unusual since high elevation sites do not typically yield a significant number of grinding implements. The ground stone is separated into two groups: manos and metates. There is a total of 41 manos collected at this site, and ninety percent of them are composed of the local Maroon Sandstone. Eleven metates were found at this site and are mainly fragmentary, or in various states of reconstruction. A metate (or mealing stone) is a mortar, a ground stone tool used for processing grain and seeds. The mano was used to grind the grain or seed on the metate.
Material Culture Summary.
The variety of artifacts recovered from Vail Pass Camp is biased because all excavated dirt was screened through a ¼” mesh. Some knives exhibit extremely fine retouched edges on some margins, with step fractures on other margins. This inconsistency reveals to us the obvious multi-functional aspect of tools and a strict functional approach is not very useful because there is no way to distinguish between primary and secondary functions of the recovered items. However, we can tell that the significant proportion of projectile points and projectile point fragments indicates intense hunting activities and gives us insight as to the type of culture present at the site, hunting oriented.
Regional considerations.
None of the sites found had progressed past the Lithic and Archaic Stages. The Vail Pass Camp was vital in systematic land use patterns used by migrators. The geological content of the camp is very fragile because of the changing weather that is normal of the Rockies. This includes rain, wind, and run off because of its high elevation. This can make datable charcoal very difficult to find and use in an accurate manner.
Conclusion.
Gooding’s conclusion about the Vail Pass Camp is that the site was used primarily by small hunting and gathering parties sporadically throughout time. Most likely these parties came from the north and east during certain periods, and from the south and west during other periods. Gooding (1981:99) suggests that based on the tools found at the site that inhabitants had “cultural affiliations with the Northwest Plains, the Central Plains, the Great Basin, and perhaps with the Southwest.” Gooding (1981:96–97) believes regional archaeologists have not developed theories for the following reasons: most sites in the area are shallow and open, with poor preservation (especially of datable charcoal); most archaeological work in the region is theoretical; most of the archaeological record is derived from an unchanging cultural adaptation; and the prehistoric inhabitants were not local but derived from the Plains, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau.


Fort Crailo

The Crailo State Historic Site (also known as Fort Crailo and Yankee Doodle House) is a historic, fortified brick manor house in Rensselaer, New York which was originally part of a large patroonship held by Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1586–1643). The word "Crailo" is derived from "kraaien bos" (Dutch for "crow's woods") and refers to van Rensselaer's Estate in Huizen, Holland, which is also named "Crailo". Fort Crailo is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
History.
Starting as early as 1663 through the 18th century, the area surrounding the site had become synonymously known as "Greenbush". The property consisted of flat alluvial farmlands, orchards, mills, a store, and ferry rights to Albany. As early as 1663, the estate later known as Hendrick's manor had a small fort for the protection of the local inhabitants from Indian attacks during the Esopus Wars and in 1675 during King Philip's War the local militia captain was instructed to install a palisade around this fort. The fields and farm buildings at Crailo were used to quarter British and colonial troops as early as 1694 and at intervals during each of the French and Indian wars.
The property was inherited by Hendrick van Rensselaer, Kiliean's grandson, who built the house in 1707. His son, Johannes, was a captain in the colonial militia. Captain van Rensselaer inherited Crailo in 1740. The gunports were likely added after a raiding party of 80 French and Indians attacked Greenbush, killing up to five persons in 1746. The inhabitants of Albany witnessed this assault from across the river but troops were unable to cross in time to defend Greenbush. In 1751 and 1754 Captain van Rensselaer provided candles and firewood to the colonial garrisons at Albany and Schenectady. The house was expanded in 1762. The loopholes on the lower floor indicate the original defensive nature of the house.
Fort Crailo is reportedly the place where, in 1755, British Army surgeon Richard Shuckburgh, quartered in the home, wrote the ditty "Yankee Doodle" to mock the New England colonial troops who fought with the British in the French and Indian Wars.
Fort Crailo was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
The fort is operated by the State of New York as a museum of the Colonial Dutch culture in New York State. Exhibits include clothing, furniture, household and decorative items, and archaeological artifacts from "New Netherland" historic sites in New York and New Jersey. Many artifacts from the Fort Orange archeological dig in the early 1970s are on display.


20th Parliament of British Columbia

The 20th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from 1941 to 1945. The members were elected in the British Columbia general election held in June 1941. The Liberals and Conservatives formed a coalition government led by John Hart. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation led by Harold Winch formed the official opposition.
Norman William Whittaker served as speaker for the assembly.
Members of the 20th General Assembly.
The following members were elected to the assembly in 1941.:
Notes:
Party standings.
Notes:
By-elections.
By-elections were held to replace members for various reasons:
Notes:


KVDO-TV

KVDO-TV was a television station broadcasting on channel 3 in Salem, Oregon, United States, that operated between 1970 and 1983. Originally intended as a local independent station serving the Willamette Valley, financial considerations resulted in a contested sale to Liberty Television, owner of KEZI in Eugene, Oregon, in 1972. However, for media concentration reasons, the Federal Communications Commission ordered KVDO-TV sold within three years. As a result, the Oregon Educational and Public Broadcasting Service (OEPBS) acquired KVDO-TV in 1976, resulting in a station that often—and controversially—duplicated OEPBS's transmitters at Portland and Corvallis.
In 1981, OEPBS applied to move channel 3, and KVDO-TV, from Salem to Bend, which at the time did not have public television service. The move was made in 1983, and the station was recalled KOAB-TV.
History of channel 3 in Salem.
Channel 3 was allocated to Salem in 1952 when the Federal Communications Commission lifted the freeze on new television stations and reorganized many channel assignments. Two construction permits were awarded for the channel—neither built—before the KVDO-TV construction permit was awarded in 1969.
First construction permit.
Oregon Radio, Inc., owner of radio station KSLM (1390 AM), immediately submitted an application for the channel, as well as for a television companion for co-owned KORE in Eugene. When a second application was filed by Willamette-Land Television, associated with KGAE (1340 AM) in Keizer and headed by Gordon Allen, both applications were placed in comparative hearing. Willamette-Land dropped out, enabling the FCC to grant Oregon Radio a construction permit on September 30, 1953.
Approval of a higher-power facility was stalled when a party attempted to move a channel 3 allocation from Lewiston, Idaho, to Richland, Washington, which would have left the proposed KSLM-TV short-spaced by just 0.5 miles of the minimum 190. Tower approval was still pending when it was announced on April 19, 1956, that the construction permit would be bought by then-UHF station KPTV (channel 27) at Portland to allow it to move to VHF. Storer Broadcasting, owner of KPTV, then announced plans to apply to move channel 3 to Portland, a move that would be contested by the three existing VHF stations there.
In response, Carl H. Fisher, owner of the Fisher Broadcasting group and owner of broadcast stations in Oregon and Washington, announced plans to file for a new permit. He argued that the failure of KSLM to build merited forfeiture of the construction permit. The commission refused the proposal in October.
With the FCC having turned down Storer's Portland move bid and the Fisher proposal, KSLM owner Glenn McCormick announced in May 1957 that he still intended to build the station if the FCC approved the tower plan. The next month, the FCC ordered Oregon Radio to go into comparative hearing against Fisher, who now owned local station KBZY (1490 AM). In February 1958, the FCC Broadcast Bureau ruled against another extension of the KSLM-TV permit. A hearing examiner agreed the next month. The full commission voted to deny further extension to Oregon Radio in March 1959.
As the KSLM-TV permit waned in 1958, Fisher and Allen showed renewed interest. Ultimately, however, four parties filed: Willamette-Land, Fisher, Oregon Faculties (owner of the KIEM stations in Eureka, California), and KPTV. Fisher and Oregon Faculties soon dropped out, the latter to avoid a lengthy and expensive comparative hearing. KPTV then withdrew in February 1961, citing the fact that its withdrawal could speed the activation of service in Salem, leaving Allen alone. However, financial and character qualifications continued to be a concern for the Allen bid, and the FCC denied it in February 1962, over the recommendation of a hearing examiner.
Second construction permit.
With Gordon Allen's attempt having been denied, interest in the channel 3 allocation by other parties returned. One of the new entrants, Salem Channel 3 Telecasters, Inc., was owned by Don Wellman, who owned radio stations KGAL at Lebanon and KGAY at Salem. Other groups that had pushed for the channel at that time included former governor Robert D. Holmes, vice president of the Salem Television Co., Fisher Broadcasting, and Gordon Allen. By 1963, the applications of Salem Channel 3 Telecasters and Salem Television Company were pending at the FCC. The commission that year dealt a blow to both Salem applicants when it approved an application by Portland's KATU, channel 2, to move its transmitter south from Camas, Washington, which would have in turn required Salem channel 3 to be placed further south to meet minimum mileage separations between stations on adjacent channels.
Financial qualifications drove the comparative hearing between the two applicants. In May 1964, an FCC hearing examiner found that Salem Television Company was more financially qualified; the commission reaffirmed the finding in January 1965, stating that Salem Channel 3 Telecasters's construction plans and loan commitments were misrepresentations. The examiner found that Salem Channel 3 had "failed utterly" in its program proposal and would be less responsive to community needs.
As a result of the 1963 decision, and the fact that a Prospect Hill transmitter location would have placed too strong a signal in Portland to secure a network affiliation, Salem Television—which selected the call letters KVUE—proposed to place its transmitter on Vineyard Hill, north of Corvallis. That prompted protests from Eugene's two television stations, KEZI and KVAL-TV, who claimed that the technical proposal would have resulted in a new competitor in their market and asked for hearings on the application. After the request from the Eugene stations, Salem Television Co. surrendered its construction permit.
KVDO-TV as a commercial independent.
Channel 3, Inc..
On October 20, 1967, Channel 3, Inc., a consortium of 11 Salem residents, applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a construction permit to build a new television station in Salem, with the transmitter to be located on Prospect Hill southeast of town. The company was temporarily chaired by Urlin S. Page, owner of the Union Title Insurance Company. The FCC granted the permit on March 5, 1969, after Cascade Broadcasting, a group interested in filing for channel 3 at Eugene, withdrew its request to reallocate the channel. The grant required the FCC to waive minimum distance requirements to KATU.
Channel 3 selected the call letters KVDO-TV for its station and began building on Prospect Hill; the station leased a building on Portland Road for studios and offices. KVDO-TV began telecasting on February 24, 1970. The station went on the air as an independent, airing syndicated fare and a 10 p.m. newscast on weeknights. It had color broadcasting capability, though it aired many black-and-white programs, and there were no color film processors in Salem, further impeding color programs.
The station made its first sports broadcast that fall when it broadcast a game between McNary High School and Corvallis High School, which was also the first-ever telecast of a high school football game in the state. Station officials were pleased with the quality, but Corvallis High School noted a steep drop in gate revenue compared to other games that season.
By the station's first year, ratings were decent in Salem but poor in the Portland metropolitan area. The station had expanded its sports coverage to include live Oregon State Beavers men's basketball games, and it now produced two newscasts a day, but it was at a disadvantage competing against the Portland stations for syndicated programming. Cable services extended the station's coverage across much of the state, from Medford to Bend. When KOIN-TV's tower collapsed in March 1971, KVDO-TV stepped in on an emergency basis to carry CBS network programming until the Portland station could return to the air. In doing so, KVDO-TV extended its broadcast day beyond 3:30 p.m. for the first time, clearing the entire CBS schedule and moving its own local shows to fill gaps in the network lineup.
The contested KEZI sale.
In August 1971, Channel 3, Inc., reached terms to sell KVDO-TV to Liberty Television, Inc., owner of ABC-affiliated KEZI in Eugene, in what was announced as a merger of the two stations. Harry Godsil, KVDO-TV president, noted that "the cost of operating a secondary market television station without a network affiliation has proven to be quite substantial", incurring heavy losses in 18 months of operation. At the time, it was noted that KVDO-TV would air local shows originating in Salem as well as KEZI local productions and ABC network programming. The sale would be structured as a stock swap valued at $410,000 and would see KVDO-TV only air five and a half hours a week of separate local programming.
The proposed sale, however, drew petitions to deny from KATU—the Portland ABC affiliate—and KOBI-TV in Medford. KATU's opposition concerned the network programming; the station noted that there would be an 82 percent overlap between KATU and KVDO-TV and suggested that channel 3 be relocated from Salem. KOBI-TV warned that Liberty and KEZI would gain "an undue concentration of economic power" were the sale to be approved; in addition to KEZI, Liberty owned AM and FM stations in Eugene and cable systems serving twelve communities in western Oregon, as well as a construction permit for a new Medford station. KVDO-TV and KEZI launched a petition drive to garner support for the merger among Salem residents.
In September 1972, the FCC approved the sale, waiving its signal overlap and cable cross-ownership rules, but attaching a condition that Liberty was to sell KVDO-TV within three years; in allowing the transaction, it cited the risk of a financial collapse of Salem's only television station. Two commissioners dissented. The unusual stipulation from the FCC came as a surprise to officials on both sides of the transaction; upon its closure, Godsil noted that KVDO-TV would not carry any ABC programs and would continue as an independent. The sale was completed in October.
Sale to OEPBS.
By October 1974, two years into the three-year period allowed by the FCC for KEZI to own KVDO-TV, Liberty Television began to scout potential uses for the station, which was not profitable. At that time, the company's board of directors was considering three options. One possibility was selling the station to a consortium of educational institutions led by Lane Community College, which would use it as a training ground for broadcasting students and to air additional educational programs not aired by the Oregon Educational and Public Broadcasting Service (OEPBS), the state's public television service. Chemeketa Community College took the lead by December when it was noted that Eugene's KVAL-TV had pledged $200,000 over four years to assist in the conversion of KVDO-TV to educational status. By January, the consortium had coalesced around Chemeketa, Lane, and Linn-Benton Community College. In newspaper letters to the editor published in February and March, Ron Wakefield of Corvallis cynically noted that KVDO's efforts to keep the station in Salem were helpful to Eugene stations including KEZI.
The Elections Committee of the Oregon House of Representatives recommended that the Oregon State Board of Higher Education purchase KVDO-TV in late February, only to have the board vote down the measure on a 5-4 vote; board chairman John Mosser, who cast the tie-breaking vote, said he was acting on the advice of its academic affairs committee. The next month, however, backers of a proposal to sell the station to OEPBS met with state legislative leaders. Despite maintaining its recommendation to not buy the station, in late March, the board authorized such a purchase if the state legislature were to appropriate the funds.
The bid to buy the station appeared dead, but it was revived in June by the Ways and Means Committee, which approved a measure authorizing the Oregon Emergency Board to administer the purchase. Under the bill, the state would pay $200,000 and be repaid in cash, so as to maximize tax benefits to Liberty Television. As the legislative session neared its end, SB 539 was approved by the Oregon State Senate days later. Under the plan, OEPBS would broadcast time-shifted public programs at different times to the network's Portland and Corvallis stations, and it would not be able to sell KVDO-TV to a commercial group for a certain period of time. The House approved SB 539 by a 31–28 vote, and Governor Robert W. Straub signed the bill on July 2. By this time, the station had cut down its schedule of programs to five and a half hours a day: an hour-long show known as "Valley View", two newscasts, and a movie. The station also struggled technically in its final days as a commercial station, with frequent interruptions and outages.
Religious objections.
The transaction was filed with the FCC on August 9, 1975, while the Emergency Board granted approval on September 12. However, two objections stalled approval. One came from a shareholder in Liberty Television, while the other came from the owner of a Salem Christian bookstore concerned that the sale would mean several religious programs that the station had aired, particularly "The 700 Club", would not continue after OEPBS took control. As one response to worries over program duplication, OEPBS committed to air 35 hours of unduplicated programming each week on the Salem station and amended its proposed program schedule to include religious shows in prime time. The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce voted to ask the FCC to call a public hearing, worried that there might not be another chance for a commercial TV station in Salem. Wakefield wrote another editorial asking, "Was State Purchase of KVDO A Mistake?"
The sale languished so long that Chemeketa Community College and Intercontinental Ministries, a Christian group based in Salem, had begun to ready bids if the OEPBS purchase fell through. Additionally, between 1974 and 1976, channel 3 had shrunk from 24 employees to eight.
On February 19, 1976, the FCC approved the sale to OEPBS. The state took control of the station that day and immediately began to introduce new programming, with an extended broadcast day and new lineup slated to debut March 1. The move caught the various religious ministries that broadcast on KVDO-TV, for two hours each evening and six hours on Sunday, off guard, and local ministries did not get the opportunity to say goodbye to their viewers.
Tower collapse.
OEPBS's plans and the objections of the faithful, however, were quickly overshadowed. On the morning of February 28, the KVDO tower came crashing to the ground, evidently from a cut guy wire. Marion County officials arrested Ron Wakefield—whose editorials against the purchase had appeared throughout 1975—and charged him with criminal mischief; OEPBS estimated the damage at about $110,000, including structural damage to the transmitter building. Wakefield, when questioned, called himself a "self-proclaimed public avenger"; he felt that he had done all he could to protest the sale, remarking, "One must be prepared to pay the price if one engages in illegal protest." He then apologized to viewers in a letter written from jail.
Wakefield opted to plead guilty and was sentenced in May to five years in prison. He was paroled in October 1977, and he was found dead in the Willamette River in July 1978; his death was ruled a suicide.
Putting KVDO-TV back in commission was a tall order; while the state restoration fund would cover costs, neither the tower builder nor the antenna manufacturer had parts for repair, requiring the state to bid out a contract for new parts. The collapse also prompted the state to investigate asking the FCC to move channel 3 to Corvallis and channel 7 further south. In the meantime, "The 700 Club"—the most requested religious program that OEPBS planned to not air—was picked up by radio stations in Eugene and Salem.
In April, OEPBS announced a target date of September 20 to resume broadcasting and reiterated its plans to slate alternate programming on channel 3. As construction proceeded, a lawsuit by Intercontinental Ministries was dismissed, affirming the sale to the state, and another legal challenge was dropped. (Intercontinental's final appeal would be dismissed by a federal appeals court in July 1977.) In August, the new mast was topped off and the antenna placed, and the station met the target date to resume broadcasts.
Public KVDO.
When KVDO-TV returned to Salem screens, it did so with an alternative lineup of programs to that aired by the OEPBS transmitters in Portland and Corvallis, as well as the new station for La Grande. This included program productions from Salem: one program, the "Valley View" talk show, was held over from the station's commercial days. Channel 3 also offered Spanish-language programming, including Mexican movies, and PBS fare aired at alternate times to its showings on the rest of the OEPBS network. One challenge was that Liberty had taken with it some of KVDO's better equipment upon the sale, leaving older studio cameras in Salem. Some remote broadcasts, including the state legislative session and Oregon State Fair, also highlighted KVDO's first year as a public television station.
The state network also pursued potential new studio arrangements; while the Oregon state capitol did not have room for the station outside of the legislative session, plans were analyzed in 1978 to build a $410,000 studio at the Oregon State Fairgrounds. However, new thoughts of moving the station began to emerge. By 1979, the state's capital construction plans had channel 3 moving to central Oregon sometime between 1983 and 1985, a task made easier when the FCC designated KVDO-TV a noncommercial station that April. (Channel 22 was designated commercial as a result, resulting in its availability for future station KECH-TV.) The proposed site changes also played a role in defeating an attempt in the state legislature by representative Curt Wolfer to order the sale of the television station.
By 1980, the technical situation for KVDO had improved, with the Salem studios now boasting three color cameras; the talk show, which had been renamed from "Valley View" to "Inner View" and then "Conversations", was still in production. The station was spared from 18 percent budget cuts to OEPBS later that year, with its staff of six continuing to lead the state network's legislative coverage.
1981 cuts and move to Bend.
However, the station was not spared in 1981. On April 1, the station ceased all separate local content, though it continued to break away from OEPBS on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. to air programs for schools. This slashed $10,000 from the $110,000 deficit of OEPBS. The plan went ahead despite concerns that it could violate the commitments made by OEPBS when it bought the station to avoid duplication of the rest of the network. One proposal had KVDO and KTVR at La Grande being closed altogether. The newly renamed Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) pressed ahead with plans to move channel 3 to Bend that June, announcing its intention to file an application with the FCC, though it received an offer in October from the owners of the construction permit for UHF television station KMTR (channel 16) in Eugene. KMTR would have bought channel 3 and moved it to Eugene in lieu of channel 16 while assisting OPB in building a UHF transmitter to serve the Bend area.
Bend UHF station KTVZ dropped its opposition to the KVDO move to Bend in March 1982, eliminating an obstacle; previously, the station had advocated for KVDO to move to UHF channel 15 in Bend. The FCC approved the reassignment of channel 3 to Bend on July 29, citing the opportunity to expand public television service to a previously unserved area and eliminate the short-spacing to KATU that had been associated with the Salem operation for its entire existence. The last opposition, from another tower owner at the proposed site on Awbrey Butte, withdrew its objection to Deschutes County's authorization of the new Bend tower in late June. KVDO-TV signed off for the final time from Salem at midnight on July 31, 1983. The equipment was dismantled and moved to Bend, where testing for the newly renamed KOAB-TV began on December 1.