Was there a train robbery at Kamela many years ago?

Was there a train robbery at Kamela many years ago?

Yes.

The incident had a fatal consequence.

“It sounds like a tale out of a dime western thriller, but the tale is true,’’ The Observer reported in a 1947 article looking back at the incident.

The robbery occurred when a train made an extended stop at Kamela, according to a story in the July 3, 1947, Observer.

Three bandits boarded the train’s passenger cars during the stop, according to William Ziegler of La Grande, who was on the train.

“They meant to rob the mail (car), but got on the passenger train by mistake,’’ Ziegler told The Observer in 1947.

The trio decided to forgo the mail and go after the passengers. One robber perched on the train’s engine, apparently as a lookout, while the two others went back to the coach cars, said Ziegler, who was a train engineer when interviewed in 1947.

The robbers went through both of the train’s passenger cars.  “One of them carried a sack, the other a gun, and they systematically robbed every passenger on the train of all of his valuables.’’

All but one passenger, that is. As the robbers were walking out of the last car they saw a man who appeared to be sleeping and left him alone.

The man was a sheriff’s deputy pretending he was asleep. Once the three left the train the deputy fired a gun at the leader of the gang and killed him.

Another of the robbers returned fire, and one of his shots hit the deputy. He escaped injury, however, because the bullet deflected off a watch in his vest pocket.

The two surviving robbers were captured several days later in the Hilgard area. They were convicted of the robbery and imprisoned, ending a mostly forgotten but memorable chapter in Union County history.

Did the Oregon Legislature once try to make Pondosa and Medical Springs part of Baker County?

An attempt was made to annex Pondosa and Medical Springs into Baker County during the 1929 legislative session.

A bill known as the “Baker annexation measure’’ passed the House by one vote but was defeated in the Senate, according to an article in the Feb. 27, 1929, Observer.