Lostine River

I recalled a couple of stories told by my Mom and Dad. One involved a time before the three younger of us came along, where the Folks and three older kids were camping up on the Lostine River, in Eastern Oregon. Penny recalled the following:

"I don't really remember the entire story concerning the Lostine water bucket incident. I do remember there were two logs that Mom or Dad would balance across and dip the bucket into a deeper part of the river to get clear water. All I remember is Mom standing between the two logs with water up to about her knees dripping wet and Dad laughing, laughing, laughing. Mom said "Oh, Neal" in a sorry for me voice and then NEAL! in a stop that nonsense voice. On this particular trip I remember several incidents: Rick (Sig?) casting into the river and hooking one of Dad's ears in the process. What a nightmare that was for Mom to cut off the barbed end to get the hook out! Let's face it, Mom was a squealer in the face of injury. The kids (3 older, I don't think you younger ones were born yet, but perhaps you just didn't make an impression? Ha, Ha.) having a bath in a big round tin washtub with water heated over the fire. Hiking and seeing deer poop and Dad saying that we were making so much noise that we had scared the poop out of the deer. (I mean, really!) Gathering periwinkles on the rocks at the edge of the river to fish with. Then we went to Chief Joseph days and stayed with Aunt Marylou and Uncle Red in town in a travel trailer. I think they ran a hotel or something and this trailer was behind it and we slept in it."


Rick adds some more detail:

"Yes, I certainly have some recollection...the trailer actually was part of Aunt Mary Lou's living quarters at the time...we set up an army tent and slept outside (most of us did...maybe Penny slept with Merrill inside?) We were quite young...probably 8, 6 and 4 years old, but could have been slightly older. We had pancakes with syrup and bacon every morning...I remember the breakfasts best, except for the huckleberry pies. We all picked huckleberries and Mom actually made pies somehow at the camp...I remember them as being fantastic!! I was young, but remember the huckleberries as being huge.

Penny got stung by a bee while we were picking and Dad carried her around for quite a while. We saw many more bees and Sig and I ran around like idiots...if it hurt Penny the pain would probably kill us...she was a BIG sister! Sig was small and Mom had to hold his hand some of the time when we crossed logs, etc.

When Mom fell off of the log into the river, it was in a fairly deep hole where the river coursed into the bank at an abrupt turn in the river. The water was up to and above her mid-section...between her tummy and her neck. She screamed so loud it scared us all. We didn't see wildlife in the area for two days!

We were in an old '47 Chevy car. I was the one that Dad was teaching how to fish and cast and I caught Dad's ear instead of a fish. Mom cut the line-end off of the hook and pulled the cut-end back through the hole. Dad never wimpered and never got angry...just kept telling Mom that "Ricky really caught a big one!". His ear bled profusely.

We were driving to camp from Enterprise one evening and a HUGE buck walked out into the road and just stared at us...so close we couldn't see his legs over the hood of the car. He was completely in velvet and Dad was really excited to for us to see him.

An older couple was camping near us and they were extremely nice. Mom finally had to tell us kids to stop going over to them. They gave us some fish one evening and with the ones Dad caught we had a very nice fish-fry. I remember seeing Dad cut the heads off and Mom frying them (the fish...not the heads) in camp. They were boney little trout, but very tasty. Mom cooked them until their tails were crispy and the tails were Dad's favorite. When we kids found that out, Dad didn't get many more tails as we all wanted them to be our favorite part too!

There was a crew working on a pole project up near the present Forest Service cabin and since there weren't any modern shears in those days, there was a faller and a "pusher"...a man with a very long pole. His job was to push the lodgepoles over in the right direction so that all of the poles fell the same way. Dad took us to the project and let us watch for quite some time. It was great!

We went to the Chief Joseph Days parade and carnival. The song "Purple People Eater" was popular then and Boise Cascade had just purchased a new Wagner log handler. They had "dressed" the Wagner up as a "Purple People Eater" and the head (grapples) were pretty impressive to us kids. The parade was down the main street of Joseph. The song was written by Shep Wooley and was a hit in 1958, so I was maybe 7, Penny was 9 and Sig was 5? It seems that we were younger, but the song pretty much sets the time frame.

I remember going down the mid-way with Dad and Mom and they had a shooting range set up in a tent...just a backstop with no protection at the sides of the tent (can you imagine how that would go over now??). A guy was really burning through some ammunition and Sig and I wanted some souveniers... we both grabbed some spent shells before Dad could stop us and both of us burned our fingers with the hot shells.

We went to the rodeo and a bull threw the bull rider off, turned on him and ripped his shirt clear off of him with his horn. As I remember it, he turned and his horn went in thorough a gap between buttons and ripped the shirt off. Mom screamed so loud that everyone around us looked at us instead of the guy that lost his shirt. During the same event a bull jumped the rodeo fence at the gate and ended up in the parking lot. A friend of ours (Dennis Johnson's dad...I think his name was Bill) was sitting in his car with the door open and had to quickly close the door of the car when the bull came running by. We never did hear how or if they caught the wayward bull. Sig and I were pretty sure that we would grow up to be cowboys and rodeo stars."

Great stuff! I love it!! SEND MORE!

Keean Jacob Huntsinger

Little Keean Jacob Huntsinger came into the world at a whopping 2 lbs. 4 oz. (about 1kg). He's a fighter! Today's update from Grandma Penny is as follows:


"Another great day! The doctors have decided on a "wait and see" approach. So, the IV fluid levels will be slowly decreased in hopes that the hole will close with the lower fluid level - we will have to have faith it will do the trick.

Keean continued to improve his oxygen saturation levels without too many apnea episodes, he had another stool and appeared to be digesting almost all the breast milk he had been given. Travis finally got to hold his son for the first time! That was a very special treat.

Amy said that unless there is a drastic change it is "no good news is good news" meaning I shouldn't call every few hours for updates! Fine, I said. For the first time we all feel that Keean just has to continue to grow and soon he will be home where he belongs. Hooray! Right now his due date of August 9 is the target for him to be able to come home. Paige came home 4 weeks earlier than her due date so I imagine Keean will be just as robust. Those great genes and his fighting nature will due the job. He is Irv's and my grandson after all.

Thanks again for all your support. I'll send any news when I have it. I guess for now we will just have to be patient and wait and see!"

Let's keep the little guy in our best thoughts and most fervent prayers. Don't forget his folks - and the Old Ones as well.

Grandma & Grandpa Hendrickson

This is a poor quality scan of my maternal grandparents, Annie Jehzell Merrill and Elmo Hendrickson. This photo probably comes from the late '40's or early '50's.

You can almost hear Grandma telling Grandpa to "settle down" through her giggles.

I feel again impressed to share what I have with my family, and to learn as much as I can. I hope to interview Aunt MaryLou and Aunt Edie as well as Uncle Jack Jensen and Aunt Afton Hendrickson. There are stories they have that none others do: I heard once that we'll be forgotten in the third generation after us - if not sooner. We have a responsibility to get these stories and write them so our grandchildren will have their hearts turned to us and those who paved the road before us.



In the meantime, here is a mid-'50's photo of Elmo Hendrickson and his children (beginning back row, from left to right):John (Jack) Lynn Hendrickson (13 April 1917 - 17 Aug. 1990): Jean M. Hendrickson Jensen; Elmo Hendrickson (7 Jan. 1891 - 29 Dec. 1967); Edythe Hendrickson Roedel; George (Bud) Elmo Hendrickson. (Front row, left to right): Mary Louise Hendrickson Victor; Joyce M. Hendrickson Lawson; Elizabeth (Betty) Merrill Hendrickson Waite; my mother, Jehzell Anne Hendrickson Isaacson (9 July 1927 - 12 June 1994).

I'm sure I have birth and death dates for the Hendrickson siblings, but where???? If you have them, send them along to:

tgisaacson@cascadeaccess.com.

Pictures of J. Anne Hendrickson Isaacson - Posted by Tom

Alice Cantrell, a member of our ward, grew up with Mom. Alice's husband, Jerry, was in every class with Mom through grade school, and in most classes with her throughout Jr. High and High School. He recalls her as the "life of the party." We know that, of course, and it surely shows in many of the following pictures that Alice and others of her classmates gave me recently. I love every one of the pictures, because it really shows Mom for who she is!! In all cases below, I take the position from our perspective as to left or right (my right is left for those in the picture). Click on the picture for a larger image, and to download for yourself!! The quality, unfortunately, are as good as I received.







This is a picture of Mom in her 1st Grade class.
She is sitting at the teachers left, second row.

Mother is in 3rd Grade, here. She is second from the right, front row. Isn't she adorable?

The cast of "Raggedy Anne & Andy." Mom is Raggedy Anne next to
Raggedy Andy seated in front of the cast.
She was in 4th Grade.

Mom, second row, far right, is beginning to look like Mom. 7th Grade, and her "style" is becoming more evident.

8th Grade, and is there any question which is Mom? Front row, far left, and look at that style. Everyone else is staid and formal. Mom is free and flowing with style and classy grace. Her pose speaks confidence (real or feigned??).

Again, look at her classiness. This is surely high school, but I don't know when.
Mom, 4th from the right, is almost defiant in her confidence. The girl, second from Mom's right, tries in vain to be as natural.

Okay, okay.

Hello, Family,

Tom, here, and I will try to do my best to get some information posted ASAP. The photo's I have of my mother will be coming soon, as will other pertinent posts.

For now, how about a teaser: This photo is of my great-grandfather, Isak Aron Isaksson. Pictured also is his second wife, Emma (said to be a real rip!); between them is Isak's son, Bror Enok; in the back is, on the right, Reuben, and on the left, my Grandfather, Klas Tycko (we now spell it Claus Tyko. . .why??). I was given this photo while visiting our Swedish cousins in Sweden. Birger, Bror Enok's youngest son, shared this and others with me.

So, with that as a tease - more to come later.

Yay!

Hi Everyone,

So I'm starting this blog to provide a place for all of us to talk about family history, to connect with living relatives that we might not otherwise get to know (Hi everyone in Sweden!!) and to share family stories that are important for all of us to know. For example, my dad recently received some photos of his mom in gradeschool... those will be posted here (because I'm forcing him to!) :)

Also new additions to the family, etc can be announced here. For example, my parents had no idea Aria was expecting until a few days AFTER Leif was born. So, while it's the Isaacson way to somehow forget to make those kind of important calls, now you can post it here and we'll have no excuse for not knowing what's going on with everyone! You can also post links to your own family blog so we can keep in touch that way, too. It's kind of like a family reunion, online. :)

It's easy to become a contributor, if you want to be added so you can post on here anytime you want, email me (carlycarlson@gmail.com) and we'll get you set up. If you would rather not post on your own, but have something you want to contribute, just email it to me and I'll take care of it, too.

Love,
Carly