(The following article was originally published in "The White Tops" Sept./Oct. 1992. I have slightly revised it):
by Steve Willis assisted by Charles Fattig
Somewhere between all the circus hype and local legends there existed a unique little person who left only a faint trail of his life.
This article does not pretend to present a complete picture of Major Mite; it is rather like an unfinished puzzle. For now, it's all we have.
Clarence Chesterfield Howerton was born in Oregon, Feb. 9, 1913, the third child of Frank and Helen (Crawford) Howerton. His family moved to McCleary, Washington shortly after Clarence's birth.
McCleary was a one-man principality run by timber baron Henry McCleary. Old Man McCleary owned most of the homes, the utilities, the stores and the bank. Workers were paid in script. He hated unions and imported a large number of Creeks and Italians to work for nonunion wages.
Clyde Haney, who arrived in McCleary from Hoquiam, Wash., in 1913, described the town at that time as "a typical Western town. The Marshall Dillon type. And many a poker game I saw altho I didn't play--there were some wild ones. Altho there were no saloons, it being prohibition times--there seemed to be several bootleggers--altho I never heard of one being arrested."
Angelo Pellegrini, who arrived in McCleary as a child from Italy in 1913 and went on to become a noted author and scholar, described his first impressions:
"The town had a primitive and inhuman quality, even the appearance of instability, as if it had been hurriedly put together by some wandering tribe for temporary shelter. It appeared at once very old and very young."
Genoffa Tincani, who arrived from Italy in 1919, didn't put too fine a point on her first impressions: "It was a dump then. You weren't safe to walk."
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Tue, 05/08/2007 - 9:12pm.
These pictures are from the Military Shipment Protest Vigil, yesterday (May 7):
Stop the Unnecessary Killing
City Hall Vigil
This is a stake out. There was a very heavy police presence considering that the vigil was completely peaceful and nonviolent. The presence included this unmarked car and the two surveillance officers inside parked across the street for the entire hour long vigil.
the finches-
Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs, the Finches' lead singer, has a perfect folk voice. It's a timeless, fragile warble that's country and urban, childlike and womanly, airy and earthy. On her band's debut full-length, Human Like a House, Riggs and bandmate Aaron Morgan contribute subtle chiming guitar lines to melodies that veer off in unexpected directions — a small circle of friends adding understated accents on bass, cello, recorder, pedal steel, and percussion. The songs unwind slowly here, sedate melodies that soothe you into a false sense of security, but under the placid surface are hints at ancient wounds that refuse to heal. - San Francisco weekly
june madrona -
"The fragile plucks that open June Madrona's "An Early Spring" could pass for a lullabye before the sadness to come begins to creep in. It's an amazingly graceful fade of emotion, taking you from unease to nostalgia, and then the cello kicks in and you realize there's more than wistfulness here. This is an elegy for the open fields and farmland of childhood, paved and peopled by inexorable suburban expansion. The folks fighting I-933 should make this their campaign song."
"...If you told U.S. forces they could use whatever means available to achieve an end, the entire conflict would be over in a month and we could start rebuilding the country. Granted, it'd cost a lot of civilian lives in the short-term, but in the long-term I think it'd be better."
I disagree, and although I have worked as a civilian in "military intelligence" for Lockheed & Logicon, I think that if U.S. forces were given leeway to accomplish the mission (including the ability to leave the area/conflict), that most would gladly leave & come home...seems that would end stuff pretty quick(short-term and all).
It is really crass to talk about someone losing their only life as a short term loss, and idealizing vague "long term" goals as an OK exchange...please get real, it is like saying someone needs to die so that we can get more national parks for homeless...doesn't mean anything to the person dying, being killed--regardless of how important the issue is or may seem to be.
But this is "so not hyper-local news", so I'll leave a teaser about the ENA signs that are going up this summer...I'm out today ID'ing sign sites & calling in for the underground locates.
The blog was spammed last night, so I've reactivated the spam filter. I think I have it configured correctly now, but this is all new. So, we'll have to experiment a bit to make sure that everyone can post and comment without delay.
If you are having trouble accessing the blog, please email me directly (olyblog@comcast.net), and tell me what you're experiencing.
Update: as a result of activating the spam filter, there will be short delay between posting your comment and when it appears on the site. This should only occur the first time, as the docents can approve comments on a case by case basis, and the filter will learn what is spam and what is "ham."
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Tue, 05/08/2007 - 12:05am.
May 8 2007 - 7:00pm
This is via tesccrier:
"This is a reminder to announce the screening tomorrow night of Sandra and Yasu Osawa's new groundbreaking documentary film, "Maria Tallchief," about America's first Native American prima ballerina."
"The film is a compelling portrait of a remarkable woman. It includes srare footage of Tallchief's performances, which a New York Times critic described as, "fury and passion and an unearthly magic."
"Sandra Osawa is an important documentary filmmaker. Many of us show her films in our classes on a regular basis. We are fortunate to have her on the campus to present her work.
"I know we are all extremely busy, and it's difficult to respond to the many projects and activities in our community. But I hope you will attend, and urge campus and community members to attend as well.
SANDRA OSAWA and YASU OSAWA present their groundbreaking new work:
"MARIA TALLCHIEF"
A documentary film about America's first prima ballerina
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
7pm Communications Building Recital Hall
Sponsored by Evergreen Expressions, the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center, the Mediaworks program and the Indigenous Art and Community Arts program
Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for students and seniors. Evergreen students will be admitted free with ID.
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