100 YEARS AGO
For the week ending
Nov. 10, 1912
Bachelor exodus in search of brides elsewhere
Last week another Bend bachelor hied himself eastward and, report has it, will return ere long no longer a bachelor. Also, it is rumored, two more localites hitherto enrolled in the ranks of the singly blessed are soon to take unto themselves better halves. And during the last few months a handful of other Bend men have done likewise, so universal is becoming the epidemic.
The point is not that Dan Cupid is flourishing so well in this unequalled climate as that so many of the Benders are going elsewhere for their brides, totally and ignobly ignoring that prime trade adage, without which no community can be built up — "patronize home industries."
And, therefore, it is that a report has leaked out from the inner secret circles of Bend’s exclusive bachelor girls’ club to the effect that recently that organization officially passed resolutions sternly and scorchingly condemning the mere men for their conduct in this grave matter. However that may be, with the “Made in Oregon" movement “at its height there seems reason to believe that shortly there will be added a new slogan, combining this and the one mentioned above namely, “Patronize Home Maids in Oregon."
Young forger makes break
A young fellow, Ernest Kidd, turned forger here last week, passing several checks upon merchants to which he signed the name of Alex Hanley.
A.M. Lara swore out a complaint against the boy, and he was arrested by Deputy Sheriff L.L. Fox. The boy confessed that his name was Kidd, saying that he had been employed on the Bill Hanley ranches in Harney County. There, it seems, he had been kicked in the head by a horse, and been in a hospital a long time. He was turned loose with no money, coming to Bend “broke," tried the check game. He maintained that he had lost the fifty or so dollars he had secured in shaking dice. Saturday Kidd disappeared, giving Fox a clean go-bye, and since has not been seen.
Later Fox said he finds that Kidd has a bad record. While working on the streets of Burns he escaped from the marshall there. Those who saw him believe he is need of medical attention more than anything else, as the horse kick seems to have upset his mind.
Kidd is slightly built, rather small, clean shaven, with a low forehead, and has a bad scar on the left side of his head.
75 YEARS AGO
For the week ending
Nov. 10, 1937
Keep back of the lines
The advance sale of tickets indicates that there will be an overflow crowd on the Lava Bear field here tomorrow afternoon when Bend and Klamath Falls in an intersectional football contest that is attracting the interest of high school fans in all parts of the state. The conduct of the overflow crowd may have a bearing on the outcome of the important contest.
Under football rules, officials have the right to impose a penalty when excited fans crowd over the sidelines and refuse to move back. Such a penalty is imposed on the home team. Many Bend people will recall that several years ago a Bend team suffered a costly penalty because people refused to move back of the sidelines.
Bend’s undefeated team will have work enough tomorrow afternoon in stopping the yardage drives of a powerful Klamath Falls eleven. Faithful followers of the Bears can do their part by keeping away from the sidelines.
Lava Bears swamp Klamath Falls in Armistice Day game
Bend’s undefeated and untied Lava Bears definitely staked their claim to an Oregon state championship here yesterday afternoon by defeating the powerful Klamath Falls team 25 to 0 before the largest crowd to ever attend a high school contest in this city. The Bears achieved their brilliant victory without using their noted razzle dazzle plays to any great extent, partly because these trick plays were not needed and partly because a bitterly cold wind swept across the field, chilling fingers that must be nimble to handle a fast moving ball.
Not only did the Bears swamp the Pelicans with ease, but Giovanini and his fellow warriors from the land of the Klamaths were unable to threaten the Bend goal on even one occasion. Playing some of the greatest defensive ball ever seen on an Oregon gridiron, the Bears never permitted the visitors to get nearer the Bend goal than the 40 yard stripe.
Indians reaping salmon harvest at Celilo Falls
At the “Happy Fishing Grounds," Celilo Falls, Indians of the Pacific Northwest are daily reaping a harvest of salmon that have breasted the mighty Columbia River on migrations upstream to spawning grounds. No white man may fish at Celilo — the Indians having exclusive treaty rights with Uncle Sam. Approximately 100 tons of fish are taken daily.
50 YEARS AGO
For the week ending
Nov. 10, 1962
U.S. Navy intercepts Russian ships from Cuba
The U.S. Navy has intercepted five Russian ships, three of which were carrying ballistic missiles back to the Soviet Union from Cuba.
Assistant Defense Secretary Arthur Sylvester said the U.S. government was “satisfied from what we have seen" that the metal encased objects on the decks of the ships were missiles.
Editorial: Nixon mistaken in blaming newsmen
Richard M. Nixon played his swan song in politics Tuesday, and wound up with a blast at newspaper reporters who had covered his campaign. This is not the first time Nixon has blamed reporters for his political misfortunes. He was quite critical of newsmen after his loss to President Kennedy in 1960.
It’s no secret that Nixon does not get along well with newsmen. And the fault lies largely with Nixon. Those who covered his 1960 campaign said they found him cold, aloof, and uncooperative. Those California reporters who followed him this year had the same complaints.
There are lots of other places Nixon could find to place the blame.
First, there’s Governor Brown, a pretty ordinary opponent on the whole, but quite a lot of Californians liked him.
Second, there’s Nixon himself. In spite of his denials, there was a considerable body of opinion that he was looking for a job as a stepping stone to 1964.
Third, there were the opposing organizations. Brown had a better organization. Nixon is a loner, makes too many decisions himself without consulting others whose views might be less colored. As a result, organization work in the Nixon camp is not as good as it could be.
These are some things Mr. Nixon might have considered, too, instead of saving all his fire for a bunch of newspaper reporters.
Truman sees Nixon return
Former President Harry S. Truman, terming Tuesday’s elections “a decisive Democratic victory" predicted today that Richard M. Nixon, who lost the California Governors race, will return to politics despite Nixon’s denial.
25 YEARS AGO
For the week ending
Nov. 10, 1987
Mom trying to bring son home
When Bennie Dexter left Bend for Vietnam, he told his mother, “If anything happens to me, Mom, please see that I get back home.
No one knows for sure what happened to Dexter, but he isn’t home yet.
Dexter, an Air Force sergeant, was captured by the North Vietnamese on May 10, 1966 — Mother’s Day. And his mother Ileana Dexter, has spent the last 21 years trying unsuccessfully to fulfill her son’s wish.
Bennie Dexter is among 2,411 men and two women who remain classified as “missing in action" from the Vietnam War. Dexter’s case is particularly interesting because it is one of 70 cases that the U.S. government finds most compelling — cases in which there is some evidence that the Indochinese know more than they have been telling about these men.
LIFE magazine, which hit the newsstand this week, presents 25 of these cases — including what little is known about the capture and the imprisonment of Bennie Dexter of Bend.
“The Lord is not going to let my POW be forgotten," said Ileana Dexter. “I know that he died — I feel that in my heart — but I won’t give up on his last will, which is to bring him home.
The U.S. military has told Mrs. Dexter this much about her son’s disappearance in Vietnam:
“On 10 May, 1966, Bennie L. Dexter, U.S. Air Force, was captured while driving a Jeep, near the Darlac-Quang Duc Province border. His Jeep was found at this location the next day, and there was a witness to his capture. Other Vietnamese saw Airman Dexter in captivity in Quang Duc Province, South Vietnam. The Hanoi government in 1966 put out a list of names of 29 Air Force men being held prisoner. The list included Bennie Dexter.
In 1973, 20 of those 29 men came home to the U.S. on the first planeload of freed POWs. Six of the others were known to have died in captivity, and two more have been accounted for, bringing the total to 28. But no one seems to know what happened to Bennie Dexter.
He was presumed dead in 1976, and a funeral was held for him in Bend. But his mother is still determined to fill her son’s wish that his remains be brought home to Central Oregon.
“All I’s asking for is them (the Vietnamese) to acknowledge my son’s name, and send home my son’s remains and his dog tags" said Mrs. Dexter. “That’s all I want."
The “Operation Sweet Tooth" program, which Mrs. Dexter and others set up to deliver Christmas boxes to G.I.s in Vietnam, will be honored in the official book describing the dedication of the Oregon Vietnam Memorial.
“You can never really let go of it," she said. “These men were our sons — they were so close to our hearts."