On vacation! Janie, Leslie, Emma, Sarah and I left yesterday for Northeast Oregon, to the Lake Wallowa area to be exact. The main towns are Enterprise and Joseph. I went ballooning there many years ago and I remember it as a beautiful area with fun activities. It is also historic–the burial place of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce is here.

Our first stop was the town of Pendleton, where I had previously learned that there is an underground city. The underground was supposedly built by the Chinese railroad workers because they were not allowed out after dark. Reportedly they could be bullied and even shot with impunity if found out after dark. There may be some question about the authenticity of that story, but there was little question that they did live underground and there were laws in Oregon prohibiting blacks from being outside after dark, so the story isn’t much of a stretch. We took a tour in which we saw representations of various periods including the Chinese, speakeasies that went underground during prohibition, and legitimate businesses that used the underground for various purposes. The tour also included the history of the lively prostitution trade that continued up to the 1960’s.

 

This is a gaming table in a Chinese part of the tour.

 

 

 

 

Here are the kinds of accommodations the Chinese workers had.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a jail in the Chinese part of the underground.

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the underground is a perfect place for drinking and gambling.

 

 

 

 

There were legitimate businesses, too (not necessarily in the same time periods). Hop Sing’s laundry operated for many years,

 

 

 

and Empire Meats took advantage of the cool temperatures.

 

 

 

 

Part of the tour included the “Cozy Rooms” boarding house. There were some legitimate boarders, but also Working Girls. Pendleton was the “Entertainment Capital of Eastern Oregon” for many years.

 

We stayed in the town of Hermiston nearby and had a great steak, crab and lobster dinner. I usually avoid seafood so far from the sea, but both the lobster and the crab were very good. Next day, we got off to a leisurely start and headed for Enterprise. We stopped in La Grande for lunch and had both really good pizza and really good service in a local place.

We were all kind of dragging by the time we got to Enterprise. We were expecting our first night to be a little difficult because of stairs and Janie’s physical limitations. Fortunately, another guest cancelled and made a downstairs suite available. Otherwise it would have been very difficult indeed.

Our room would have been up 15 very steep steps. It’s still challenging, but Janie is a trooper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were excited to see a herd of bison right outside our back door that evening. It is also mating season, so there are a few tussles going on between the bulls.