History of Blalock
By Curt Cunningham

Blalock or Blalock's was a small town located at the mouth of Blalock Canyon about 7 miles upstream from Quinton, and about 8.5 miles downstream from Arlington. The first settlement there was an Indian village called Táwash. In 1881 the town of Blalock was platted by the Blalock Wheat Growing Company. By 1884 Blalock had a population of about 50. At its peak in the early 1900's the town consisted of; a depot, hotel, school, saloon, a livery and stage stable, a real estate office, 2 grain warehouses, a store with a post office, and an agricultural implement factory. The railroad depot and warehouse were constructed in 1881 by A. J. McLellan, who was an OR&N superintendent in charge of the construction of its bridges and buildings.

Blalock was named after Dr. Nelson Gales Blalock of Walla Walla who had owned 4,000 acres on Blalock island, which is located on the Columbia river 6.5 miles northeast of Boardman. Dr. Blalock arrived in Walla Walla in 1872 and a year later he moved his family there and resumed his practice as a doctor and surgeon. He was a doctor for 55 years, beginning with the Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. He was the first surgeon to practice medicine in the Inland Empire.

He later entered the farming and fruit growing business, and planted Walla Walla's first orchard west of town, and was the first to plant wheat fields in the Walla Walla foothills. He was a member of the Washington State constitutional convention in 1889, served 2 terms as mayor of Walla Walla, was a member of the city school board for 8 years, and for 12 years was president of the board of trustees of Whitman College. Dr. Blalock who lived a very interesting life would pass away on March 14, 1913.

In 1879 Dr. Blalock purchased land along the Columbia river at what would become known as Blalock. He then started a farm and planted fruit trees, corn and wheat. On April 1, 1893 he completed building a large irrigation wheel at his extensive fruit farm. The experimental wheel had proved to be a success. Water from the river was raised to an elevation of 60 feet and then distributed by a series of pipes. The current of the river was running at the rate of only 2.5 miles an hour, and the wheel raised 168 gallons of water per minute.

Blalock's Steamer Landing

Blalock had a good boat landing on a gravel slope and it was about 100 feet from the waterline to the top of the riverbank. The landing was located about a 1,000 feet from the railroad station. On December 3, 1880 it was reported that all the steamers above Celilo except the D. S. Baker and the Harvest Queen were laid up for the winter. The Northwest was tied up at Blalock and it was used as the waiting room for train and riverboat passengers. In December of 1880 the O. R. & N. line was still under construction and had been completed only as far as Blalock.

From Blalock, the passengers were transferred to the steamers for a ride upriver to Umatilla. They would spend the night on the boat and they arrived about noon the next day. At Umatilla they would then board another train to continue on with their journey eastward. The track had been laid westward from Wallula as far as Coyote station (Boardman) but it was not ready for traffic. The section between Umatilla and Blalock opened in April of 1881 which ended the need to transfer passengers at Blalock.

Immigration Wanted at Blalocks

In January of 1881 the Daily Astorian reprinted an article written by a reporter from The Dalles Mountaineer concerning immigration to the area surrounding Blalock. The article said the reporter had visited Burrill W. Griffin who was the superintendent of the Blalock's farm and wanted his opinion about the country there. Griffin said the farm consisted of 40,000 acres and was partially fenced. About 500 acres were wheat fields. Blalock at that time was nothing more than a side track. "You see that bluff there," Griffin said, pointing to an elevated plateau, "well that is as good wheat producing soil as you will find anywhere in the state. You would hardly think so, but it is."

"There are thousands of acres of splendid farming land yet to be settled in this county. The worst drawback, heretofore, has been the lack of means of transportation. Now the railroad is through, and I wager that in less than 3 years this land will all be settled." He then said that he was going to build a hotel, but the lumber had not yet arrived on the train. He also said that the O. R. & N. was going to build a depot and some warehouses near the boat landing.

While waiting for the train to arrive, the reporter made the acquaintance of Mr. Pierson who had started a farm to the east of the Blalock place, and he fully substantiated Mr. Griffin's views in relation to the inducements for settlers to locate in this county. He had experimented to his entire satisfaction, and said he would not exchange his land for a larger number of acres in the Walla Walla country. Pearson like Mr. Griffin, heartily encouraged immigration, and thought there was no more suitable location in the state of Oregon.

A Trip to Blalock

Not long after the railroad was completed, stagecoaches were running between Heppner and the Blalock depot. In the February 21, 1884 edition of the Heppner Weekly Gazette Jefferson D. Kirk of Heppner wrote about his trip from Heppner to California. The following is the part of his story when he traveled by stagecoach from Heppner to Blalock station and then onto the Portland train. The story begins when he left Heppner on the evening of September 25, 1883 on a buckboard bound for Blalock station via Rockville, and a glorious ride he had. The night was cool but the roads were rough. "Rifleman" the stage driver would pop his whip and go pell-mell down the steep hills at a break neck pace, telling wild and romantic stories to pass away the time. After 14 hours of hard traveling they arrived at the Blalock station.

He was weary from being jostled around from the many bumps and jerks of the coach. It was 9am and the train was to arrive at 11am for Portland. While he waited he walked over to the Blalock hotel and had a hearty meal. Afterwards he told the landlady that he would lie down and sleep a little till the train came as he had been up all night. He asked her if she would wake him up 10 minutes before the train came. She agreed to do this, but for reasons unknown she forgot to wake him at the specified time. When the train arrived she came rushing into his room and told him the train had arrived, and if he didn't hurry he would miss it.

It was a quarter mile from the hotel to the train station and he had to put on his boots and pay for his breakfast and the train was to leave at any moment. He quickly put on his boots and they ended up on the wrong feet. He then found his hat and handed the lady a $10 bill. She said she had no change but fumbled around and finally found some. He then rushed out the door with carpetbag in one hand and the change in the other. He tried to stuff the money in his pocket but it fell and disappeared into the sand. He then knelt down to find it while in the distance he heard the train puffing and its bell ringing. He at last found his money and ran as fast as he could for the train. He was able to catch the train while perspiration dripped from his face. After all the fuss he found out that the train wasn't going to leave for another 10 minutes. He reached Portland 24 hours after leaving Heppner.

Blalock & Mariner's Store

Blalock's general store which included a post office was founded by Dr. Blalock and Judge William J. Mariner in 1881. Burrill Griffin was the postmaster. Blalock & Mariner owned the store until the late 1900's when it was sold. Over the 78 years of its operation the store was reported to have been robbed twice.

The first robbery occurred on the night of February 25, 1891. It was said that 2 transients entered the building and stole $7 or $8 in cash and some merchandise. They then rummaged through the letters opening them looking for money. Afterwards they left the building and soon met 3 more transients. After telling them what they had done, all 5 went back to take more merchandise. All 5 were quickly caught and then taken to the jail in Arlington. Afterwards Deputy U. S. Marshal Johnson traveled to Blalock from Arlington to investigate the crime scene. The outcome of the trial found all 5 guilty and the 2 who broke in first got 3 years each, and the other 3 burglars got a year each in the penitentiary.

On September 24, 1897 R. E. Jackson temporarily took over operation of the Blalock store as Judge Mariner had been in ill health.

The second robbery happened late Saturday night January 23, 1904. This time 3 burglars broke into the store and they blew up the safe. They stole $35 and some change. The next day they were apprehended in a deserted shack at Biggs by J. J. Fitzgerald who was an O. R. & N. detective. Fitzgerald was following them since the night of the burglary. He had been looking for thieves who had been breaking into railroad cars when he spotted the burglars.

Detective Fitzgerald brought the crooks back to Blalock where they were arrested by City Marshall Wood who had just arrived on the train from The Dalles. Marshall wood and is captives then boarded another train to go back to The Dalles Monday evening the 24th and he put in the jail there. After a couple of days they were transported back upriver to Arlington so they could stand trial. It is unknown what happened to the criminals. Only a week went by after the burglary when the store was robbed again. This time it was a lone crook who stole some clothing. He was soon caught and arrested and then taken to Moro by Deputy Marshal James Wilson. This burglar would later be transferred to Portland.

On December 8, 1932 it was reported from The Dalles that a prisoner who was being transferred to the McNeil Island Penitentiary had jumped the train at Biggs and was last seen heading east. He made it as far as Blalock and entered the store there and purchased some food. It is unknown what became of the fugitive.

Blalock Warehouses

Blalock was another shipping point along the Columbia and in the late 1890's and early 1900's it had 2 warehouses near the railroad tracks. One was owned by the Arlington Warehouse Co. with D. B. Thomas as manager. They did general storage, forwarding, and offered for sale; barbed wire, nails, salt, sugar, lime, cement, feed and mill stuffs. The other warehouse was the Interior Warehouse Co. and was managed by the Balfour Gunthrie & Co. They did general warehousing and purchased grain from the farmers. 

On September 20, 1900 the Arlington Warehouse Co. had completed 2 new buildings for the handling of that year's wheat crop. They sold around 300,000 grain bags and estimated that 600,000 bushels of wheat would be delivered to them. 

On July 26, 1914 the farmers of the Blalock area organized a company to operate a public warehouse. Some of the farmers who organized the operation were; J. A. Smith, George Van Gassbeck, Washington McKinney, R. S. McKinney, J. W. Long, Frank Baker and some others. The warehouse was completed soon after and was called the Greene warehouse. In 1918 J. O. McKinney was the manager of this storage facility.

The New Portage Railroad

The first portage railroad on the Columbia river began operations in 1863 and was used to carry cargo and passengers around Celilo falls. This operation continued until the early 1880's when river transportation was abandoned. This was because the O. R & N. had completed their line between Wallula and Portland and it took all the business away from the riverboats. The railroad utilized the old portage railroad right-of-way as well as most of the right-of-way of The Dalles and Sandy river wagon road which made the old wagon road useless.

In later years the increase in the production of grain and fruit from the Inland Empire made river transportation attractive again, and calls were made to reopen the river to commerce. This move would also remove the O, R. & N.'s monopoly. It was a matter or importance that the producers of the country be given equitable freight rates. To accomplish this task the Open River association was created on May 19, 1904. Its first move was to induce the state board to proceed as speedily as possible with the construction of a portage road connecting the navigable water above Celilo falls with the navigable water below in accordance with the provisions of the act of 1903.

It was the purpose of the Open River association to first devote its attention to securing the construction of the portage, but it did not stop with that goal accomplished. It would then turn its attention to the more permanent improvements of the canal locks and channels. Until the Columbia and Snake rivers were thoroughly improved the work of the association would not end. Through members of the association, river improvements would be consistently kept before the attention of the delegation in congress from Oregon, Washington and Idaho, and they were rendered assistance just as the association gave assistance to the state board in the matter of the portage railroad.

On June 8, 1905 the Condon Globe announced that the new portage railroad was completed on Saturday June 3rd, between The Dalles and Celilo, and that short but highly important "artery of commerce" was formally opened to the public that Saturday by an enthusiastic crowd of citizens of the 3 states who were most interested as well as by many from other states. The last spike was driven in the new road by George E, Chamberlain, governor of Oregon, Albert E. Mead, governor of Washington, and Frank R. Gooding, governor of Idaho, and assisted by Senator Heyburn, of Idaho, Senator Clark, of Wyoming, Joseph N. Teal, of Portland, W. D. Wheelwright, of Portland, and Judge Mariner, of Blalock.

The staunch little steamer, the Mountain Gem, brought more than 100 excursionists from Lewiston and other upriver points, all of them being prominent citizens of Idaho, Washington and Oregon, to assist in the ceremonies of the day. The opening of the portage railroad marked a new epoch in the development of the Inland Empire as it was to act as a deterrent to the excessive railroad freight charges the people had been required to pay.

When the portage was opened that day the Columbia was at Blalock. The boat was a small steamer with a capacity of about 600 sacks of wheat, or 40 tons. The steamer was tied up on account of her inability to stem the heavy current caused by the extreme low water during the winter months. Captain Al Gates, her master, was pilot on the Mountain Gem. Since the river was abandoned some 30 years ago by river steamers, the river banks would be lined with dugout canoes 30 to 40 feet long, and many weird makeshift crafts were used for the convenience of shippers. Some of these weird boats and dugout canoes were still seen on the river even after the steamers began to operate on the river again.

The portage railway was doing a good service in forming a connection between the upper and middle rivers. The portage railroad was also used by the contractors who were engaged in the building of the canal at the Cello end of the portage. The construction of the canal began the same year the portage opened and a large force of men were employed there during the winter of 1905/06, laying the foundation of the first lock. L. S. Cook, who was in charge of the portage road, employed 6 workers at the Big Eddy wharf boat at the western terminus and another at Cello on the eastern end, plus a train crew of 4 employees. The Celilo canal was completed in 1915 which ended the need for the portage railroad.

The Oregon Northern Railway

On January 1, 1906 it was announced that the Articles of incorporation had been filed with the secretary of state for the Oregon Northern Railway company. The incorporators were: Judge William J. Mariner, B. W. Robinson and C. Jones. The road was to run from Blalock, in Gilliam county, to Hardman, in Morrow county. The capital stock was $25,000, divided into 1,250 shares of $20 each. The principal place of business was Heppner. This paper railroad for reasons unknown was never built. There is no other information about this company I could find except for some newspaper articles announcing its incorporation.

The Steamers

On Thursday July 12, 1906 the Oregon Daily Journal announced that the material to be used in the construction of the new steamer Columbia which was being built for the Open River Transportation Co., was forwarded to Blalock that day. The steamer was built in Portland and was being shipped by the railroad in a knocked-down state. They only had to put it together on its arrival. This was accomplished over following few weeks and after she was launched, active work on the river was again resumed.

The Columbia was 116 feet in length with a 23 foot beam, the steamer was able to carry about 135 tons. Built with a good light draught model, the new boat was able, to ascend the swift rapids on that stretch of water. Work on her was rushed in order to meet the heavy demand of farmers along the river who were desirous of shipping by water that year. Captain A. Riggs took command of the steamer. The Captain had been on this route and knew the channel well. Samuel Shaver was chief engineer, and James Robinson was his assistant. Shaver left with the carpenters Friday evening the 13th for Blalock. Arrangements were being made for at least 2 more steamers to operate in conjunction with the Columbia on the middle river and one large steamer for the end of the route.

On Friday September 21, 1906 it was announced that the steamer Relief which was built during the summer at Blalock was launched Thursday September 13th and worked on the middle river with the Columbia. These boats would haul wheat from Blalock's landing and other points to Celilo where it was then transferred to the portage railroad to be taken down to Big Eddy and reloaded onto another steamer for the journey to Portland.

Blalock News Items, Spring 1907

In the Condon Globe issued on Friday May 17, 1907 are some news items which came out of Blalock. The first item was about a dance which was attended by 60 people. The event was at the home of J. W. Engberg Saturday evening May 11th. The next item was about a game of baseball between the Blalock and North Bank railroad teams which was played at Blalock on Sunday May 12th and resulted in a victory for the railroad team. The last item from the paper was a basket social and an evening of entertainment which consisted of dialogues, pantomimes, recitations and music. The event was at the Blalock schoolhouse on Saturday evening, June 1, 1907.

The Blalock Hotel

The Blalock hotel was established in 1881 by Burrill W. Griffin the superintendent of the celebrated Blalock farm. The hotel as mentioned elsewhere in this article was a quarter mile from the train depot. This is very little information about the hotel and it is unknown exactly when Griffin sold the place to Mr. Elwood but it was probably sometime in the 1900's. It is also unknown when the Blalock hotel shut its doors for good but it was still doing business in 1912 and at that time Frank Baker was the proprietor.

On Saturday evening June 27, 1908 the Blalock Hotel was robbed by Ed Fanning. During the robbery Mr. Elwood who was the proprietor of the hotel was struck in the head by Fanning and he fell to the ground unconscious. The thief then stole $25 and took off eastward down the railroad track. Fanning had been working at the Blalock hotel doing odd jobs for about 10 days prior to the robbery. After Elwood recovered his senses, he got on the phone and kept the wires busy communicating with Arlington and The Dalles in an effort to apprehend the thief. About 2 hours later he was caught at Arlington.

On Monday evening June 29, 1908 Gilliam county deputy sheriff T. D. Sweetin who was the former marshal of Condon arrived in Arlington. He was there to take in Fanning to the county jail. His trial was held in September and he was sentenced to 18 months in the penitentiary.

The John Day River - Willows Creek Road

The Columbia River Highway would not be completed between Biggs and Umatilla until 1921. Before the highway was opened, travelers going to Arlington from The Dalles had to travel through Wasco and then go up and down over steep grades, and then pay a dollar to cross the John Day river on a ferry at McDonald's and then climb another steep grade. Travelers to Blalock after crossing the McDonald ferry would climb the steep grade and then turn onto Blalock Canyon Road. From Fulton Canyon to Blalock via Wasco and the ferry was about 34 miles.

On April 2, 1916 the Oregon Sunday Journal ran an article about a proposed construction of a road through the north end of Morrow county along the Columbia river from the John Day river to Willow creek. The proposed route would shorten the distance to Arlington, and eliminate the excessive grades. From Fulton Canyon through Wasco to Arlington was about 42 miles. The Columbia River Highway would shorten the route to Arlington by about 9 miles and to Blalock by about 6 miles with a maximum grade of 4%.

The onset of the U. S. involvement in Would War I halted all road construction in Oregon and the completion of the Columbia River Highway between Biggs and Umatilla was cancelled. In 1918 after the war had ended, Oregon began to plan for road construction projects around the state as part of the after-war road building program. By this time the route of the Columbia River Highway was finally determined and it was to go along the river as it had been proposed in 1917. One of the first after-war projects began on May 25, 1919. This project was awarded to the Johnson Construction company for a cost of $119,296. The project was for grading 8.7 miles of the Columbia River Highway between Blalock and Arlington. The John Day bridge also began construction that year for a cost of $24,500.

On March 1, 1919 workers following behind the road scrapers on the Blalock-Arlington grading project found 2 skeletons that were uncovered by the grader. These remains were found to be Indians who had flattened their heads. They also found numerous beads and several stone mortars and pestles made from the blue basalt. The article did not say what they did with the remains and items they found.

The John Day Highway

The plan the build the John Day Highway began in 1917 but like the Columbia River Highway the war delayed its construction. The first proposed route for the highway was to begin at the Columbia River Highway at Blalock and then run south through Eight Mile, Hardman, Monument, Long Creek, John Day, and then eastward to Ontario at the Oregon-Idaho border. The route they ended up choosing begins at Arlington and travels south to Condon, Fossil, Spray and meets U. S. Highway 26 at the John Day Fossil Beds. This section is also known as Oregon State Highway 19. The John Day Highway then becomes a section of U. S. Highway 26 and runs eastward through Dayville, Mount Vernon, Prairie City, Unity, and terminates at Vale.

Blalock From the 1920's to the 1960's

The town of Blalock continued to thrive throughout the the next 5 decades but it wasn't the busy town of the early days. The completion of the Columbia River Highway in 1921  helped bring in more traffic through town and it became more or less just a stopping place along the highway to get gas and a meal. It was a quiet place with its farms and orchards, and there are no reports of any train wrecks of tragic events occurring in the small village, and life just continued on. There were a couple of car wrecks on the highway near Blalock but nobody was killed and only one was injured seriously.

One wreck was in the 1939 when a car flipped over due to ice on the highway and was totaled and luckily nobody was hurt. In April of 1960 Dale Ray was driving on the highway when he got into an accident. Dale was not seriously hurt but is wife sustained internal injuries. The only death reported was in 1937 when Tom Riffe died in a car of asthma near Blalock while traveling home to Ione from Salem. We was going home with his mother when he became sick at Hood Rive but they continued on and made it as far as The Dalles when they hired a driver to take them the rest of the way.

In February of 1926 a $16,000 contract was let for the improvement of the Condon-Blalock Market Road. This road is now a section of the John Day Highway between Condon and Olex, The Middle Rock Creek Road between Olex and Rock Creek, about 2 miles od Cedar Springs Lane and all of the Blalock Canyon Road.

In the 1930's Blalock had a baseball team that was part of the Wheatland Baseball League. In June of 1933 the Blalock team beat the undefeated Fossil team 11-9. In May of 1936 the Blalock team made their first win in 5 games. This was against the Heppner team who traveled to Blalock and lost 7-5. On June 11, 1936 the Blalock team had won 3 and lost 4 games. The Fossil team was the best in the league and and were undefeated before June 7th. Blalock made it possible for Heppner to tie Fossil, when the river boys landed the leaders their first defeat of the season in Sunday's game, 5-2. Lawrence Stevenson was reported to have done a masterful job of chucking for the river team while catching the Fossil team in a weak moment.

Blalock began its decline by the late 1930's and in 1940 there were just 19 residents there. Most of those remaining were farmers. During the 1956 Morrow county fair Don Anderson from Blalock made the fastest time in the wild cow milking contest at 37.9 seconds. The following year at the 1957 fair, Anderson again won the contest with an even faster time of 32.6 seconds.

On May 2, 1957 Heppner residents Mr. and Mrs. Walter Wright announced the marriage of their popular daughter Patricia Ann "Patsy" Wright to Blalock resident and wild cow milking champion Don Anderson who was a graduate of Arlington high school and the Oregon State College. Don was discharged from the army in 1956. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Anderson who owned a ranch at Blalock. Patsy was the 1956 fair and rodeo queen and a graduate of Heppner high School and the Oregon State college. Her bridal shower was held on Friday November 1, 1957 at the Rhea Creek Grange hall and 33 guests attended the festivities. The wedding was on November 30, 1957 at the All Saints Episcopal Church in Heppner and was well attended by many guests and relatives.

Blalock's demise came with the construction of the John Day dam beginning in 1958. The remaining residents would slowly begin to relocate in the ensuing years though a few residents and businesses remained to the 1960's. The Blalock store and post office closed its doors in 1959. The Blalock Diner which was housed in a converted antique passenger railcar was still serving meal in 1962.

At a meeting of the State Highway Commission held on December 18, 1962 plans were made to call for bids on the grading of 7.55 miles of the Columbia River Highway between Blalock and Arlington. The plans called for grading on a new alignment which placed the highway above the pool elevation of the John Day dam. This section was built to Interstate standards. The roadway was 4 lanes with each lane being 12 feet wide. The highway was flanked by 10 foot shoulders on the outside and 6 foot shoulders on the inside. The project was scheduled for completion by October 31, 1963.

In 1968 the water behind the John Day dam began its rise which created Lake Umatilla and the dam was dedicated at a ceremony held on September 28, 1968. The dam was officially completed in 1971 and is the newest dam on the Lower Columbia river. The lake created by the dam inundated what was left of the town of Blalock and its surrounding farms and ranches.