Original Wasco County History Forums revealed
Wasco County Courthouse History Forum 2025
Saturday, February 1
Fire Lookouts: Personal Reflections, History, and Preservation
Dufur Ranger Station Lookout - courtesy of Howard Verschoor collection. This pole tower, built by the Oregon Forestry Department at the Dufur headquarters compound in 1934, is now gone.
Barbara Telfer spent three summers staffing lookouts and Rick McClure was Heritage Program Manager for the two nearby national forests. Mountaintop observation stations—lookouts—were largely phased out by aerial observation. The program outlines the effort to preserve the stories and remaining examples of these iconic structures that represent early wildland management.
Saturday, February 8
The China Crew at the Seufert Brothers Cannery
This photograph, believed taken by Benjamin Gifford around 1928, shows the Seufert Brothers Company Salmon and Fruit Cannery in The Dalles.
Eric Gleason and Jacqueline Cheung are local archaeologists and historians. Skilled Chinese workers created a well-regarded high quality product for shipment around the country and across the globe during seasonal salmon runs. Records of the local Seufert Cannery shed light on these workers, their lives and labors.
Saturday, February 15
Joseph Brown, Jewish Merchant: Buried Outside the Fence
Sandy Bisset and Georga Foster are local historians and genealogists. Joseph Brown was an area merchant during the early “wild west” days. An ill-fated trip from Walla Walla to The Dalles during the winter of 1862 led to his death.
His Jewish faith resulted in burial outside the fence of Pioneer Cemetery.
Saturday, February 22
NOTE: THIS PROGRAM STARTS AT 12:30, AT THE GRANADA
Historic Granada Theatre: The Entertainment Destination of the Gorge
"Looking west on Second St." (Granada Theatre. East Second St. & Washington St. 1948). The Dalles, Oregon. Photo courtesy of https://www.historicphotoarchive.net/image/I0000JLle1lPVEZI/
Chuck and Debra Gomez, co-owners of the Granada, restore art deco theatres into performing arts venues. Learn about the history of the first theater west
of the Mississippi designed for the “talkies,” hear about current and future community functions and national acts, and enjoy a tour of the vintage venue.
Admission is free for the February programs
Programs other than the Granada forum begin at 1:30 p.m. in the upstairs courtroom of the 1859 courthouse, 410 West 2nd Place, The Dalles behind The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center. 
