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Earnest
J. Haney selected as 1982 Parade Grand Marshal
The Umatilla County Pioneers Association is very happy to
announce the selection of Earnest J. Haney as the 1982 Parade Grande
Marshal. Mr. Haney had
served once 1946 (over 30 years) as the Pioneer Reunion's
Secretary-Treasurer. Many local residents can remember his many efforts
as Secretary-Treasurer and recognize that he is deserving of the present
honor.
Earnest Haney was born in Walla Walla, April 12., 1893, in a
house on Sumach Street. His father was William John Haney, who had come to this  are
from Vermont. Mr. Haney met Ernest's mother, Ella Strayor, as he drove a
butcher wagon on Eureka Flats where she cooked for a local rancher.
After their marriage, the couple moved into Walla Walla where
William Haney worked in a lumber yard. Earnest Haney had give brothers
and two sisters. At the age of 12 years old, Mr. Haney moved to Valley
Chapel (near the Whitman Monument) where he farmed 40 acres. The family
primarily raised hay and milked 10 head of dairy cows. Earnest recalls
making the butter and delivering it into Walla Walla once a week. The
children attended a one-room country school where 40 children, grades 1
to 8 were taught by one teacher.
In 1909 the family moved to the Echo area where William Haney
bought about 60 acres from the "Umatilla Ranch" and raised
grass hay and later alfalfa hay. Earnest
remembers that they were able to put up three cuttings of hay by
utilizing flood irrigation from the Umatilla River. The farmers used 2-horse teams to pull the hay mower and the
buckrake. Then the hay was picked up by hand and hauled in horse wagons
to a stationary baler operated by 2 horses. The bales were hand tied
into 100-pound bales and mostly shipped to Portland on the railroad.
At the age of 22 Earnest Haney moved to Athena and worked on the
Joe Sheard ranch. In 1918 he married Joe Sheard's daughter, Lizzie, and
the couple moved to the Saling place on Wildhorse Mountain. This farm is
located near the present Don Smock farm is now farmed by Lelan O'Harra.
While farming on Wildhorse Creek, Earnest recalls using a 9-horse
team while pulling a two bottom plow.
He also remembered that the grasshoppers nearly wiped out his
first crop of spring oats until they were controlled by spray.
On the mountain he usually came to town about once per week, in
the winter even less. In the summer he had to haul water in a 250 gallon
wooden tank about once per week from a nearby spring.
In the winter they used a 4-horse team to plow snow with a wooden
pull grader. During the
harvest they used a 3-horse team on the grain binder, then the wheat a
hand-shocked and hauled to a stationary threshing machine with two
2-horse bundle wagons. Generally,
he could make only one trip per day with a 6-horse farm wagon to haul 50
sacks of grain to the elevator in Athena.
In 1920, Lizzie and Earnest Haney moved back to Lamar Gulch and
farmed 160 acres on the Joe Sheard ranch. While harvesting here they
used a 16 head-small pull combine to thresh the wheat.
There were two "sackers" who filled the sacks with
grain and then dropped them onto the ground in rows to be picked up
later. Earnest recalls
having 40 bushel per acre crops.
In 1962, Mrs. Haney passed away and in 1965 Earnest married Mrs.
Rose Ross, a former Queen
of the Pioneer Reunion, and moved into her Weston residence.
About this time he retired from faring and became much more
active in the Pioneer Association and civic events. Both Earnest and
Rose have been given the Weston Chamber of Commerce "Outstanding
Citizen Award" , he in 1968 and she in 1971.
Earnest Haney was also Secretary-Treasurer of the Weston Chamber
of Commerce, from its conception until just a few years ago.
Mrs. Haney passed away in January of 1980.
Recently, Earnest suggested that the State Highway Commission put
in a viewpoint overlooking the Umatilla River Basic just a few miles
west of Langdon Lake on Highway 204. Thus, with his suggestion, an auto viewpoint was installed at
the beautiful location and it was named the Earnest J. Haney Viewpoint.
It has a spectacular view of the mountainous area.
The Pioneer Association is very proud and honored that such a
deserving man can be recognized by reigning as the 1982 Grand Marshal.
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