THE SAGE PAGE
Debra Holbrook, Editor
The Shaniko SageNewspaper
May 1999
The Sage Mail
WINTERING IN A GHOST TOWN
by Debra Holbrook
A Frosty Morning at the Post Office
Shaniko is a facinating shell. The school is
childless now and only open for special
activities, but it has been saved. The water
tower top swings a lot on windy days after
being robbed of its support beams by state
highway workers living there in the ' 60's. I
look forward to the day it is made secure for
another hundred years. I see the new roof on
the old city hall and next year it will have all
it's windows again. A fine museum in the
making. The city operates on a shoestring
budget and it is hard to make great strides in
restoration. I know that because I am also on
the City council. So much has been done by
donations from visitors and volunteer labor
from residents and local ranchers that this
town will be indebted for a long time. I watch
year by year as people work together at a
pace we all can cope with and in the winter I
have time to reflect on the progress that is
really being made in relationships. I am also
getting better about people. I am grateful for
my life here in Shaniko and for it's people. it
isn't just small town America, though it is.
The element of tourism adds the dimension of
business and visitors from other places,
coming and going as they did a hundred
years ago. I like it that Shaniko is true to her
first calling, commerce. Now though, she
sells herself as on of the most interesting
ghost towns in Oregon and can pride herself
in having unique collections of old buildings.
It won't be long now and the tourist season
will be here. All the hours spent working in
the hotel, at the RV park, in The Sage shop,
the special events, restoration projects and
other things not yet planned, will be
remembered as a busy blur. At least until
winter sets in and I can once again recall,
reminisce, and remember why I came, why
I'm here and why I want to stay, in Shaniko.
A Frosty Tree on a Deserted Street
Snow has dusted the ground several times
this winter and everything takes on a chilly
beauty. The white highlights make details
stand out on the old buildings. Where are the
photographers? Shaniko winter is a beautiful
time. It is the best time for solitude. I consider
my life here a unique experience many would
love to try. There are those who argue that
this is a ghost town. It has never been human-
less, however it does meet the definition of
being a shell, a likeness, a ghost of its former
self. Having once earned the title as the
largest inland wool shipping center in the US
and maybe the world, one can see Shaniko is
only a ghost of it's glory days. The brick hotel
was one of three large hotels, and rooming
houses throughout town to house the hundreds
of travelers. Six hundred people resided here.
In the first decade of the 20th century, Shaniko
was a gateway for shipping all goods in and
out of a 20,000 square mile area of the Oregon
interior.

Note: The story above was published in the Winter/Spring 1999 Special Edition of The Shaniko Sage.
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