A property near Northeastern Oregon’s youngest ghost town will officially become the newest state park during a public ceremony Sept. 20.

The grand opening of Bates State Park, in Grant County about 50 miles southwest of Baker City, is set for 10 a.m. to noon.

The park, which includes a 28-site primitive campground, vault toilets and more than three miles of hiking trails, is along the Middle Fork John Day River.

The Smithson family from Baker City at a pass in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The whole family went on a three-night, four-day backpacking trip during Labor Day Weekend. Kneeling in front, with Hunter the dog, is Thomas, 6, the youngest of the five Smithson boys. From left to right: Dan, his wife, Elizabeth, Brady, 11, James, 19, Timothy, 17, and Scott, 13.

By JAYSON JACOBY
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Elizabeth Smithson is that rare mother whose treasured family memories involve an avalanche.

And a boulder-strewn scramble disguised as a hike.

Also tears shed over a lost dog.

This is not as strange as it sounds.

Not after you’ve listened to Elizabeth explain how a backpacking trip in the Eagle Cap Wilderness this Labor Day weekend tightened the bond between she and her husband, Dan, and their five sons.

Then you’ll understand.

Sherm Allen offers a friendly smile to visitors at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, where he has volunteered since the Center opened in 1992. He joined the Trail Tenders with his late wife, Pansey. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins)

At 98 1/2, he still spends Monday mornings as a volunteer Trail Tender at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, and every day he heads to the Senior Center for lunch.

Just this summer he decided to hire out his yard work — but he still likes to water his own grass and drag hoses around.

He’s been in the Elks Lodge for 66 years, and he’s a Shriner — he sold advertising for the annual Shrine football game until he was 97.

To celebrate him, Sherm’s family threw him a party on July 10. More than 50 people attended — grandnieces, grandnephews, and their children and grandchildren.

“It was a wonderful recognition of him,” said his stepdaughter, Sandra Allen.

Sherm’s father, Daniel Wright Allen, arrived in Eagle Valley on Jan. 1, 1888. He was 19 years old, and had 20 cents in his pocket.

He came from Missouri.

“And he never wanted to go back,” Sherm says. “He came out here alone. He brought a load of cattle out, and that paid his way.”