CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY King and Lucky Lass properties on a royalty basis, 2,000 to 2,500 claims had been staked and 897 had been filed at the county clerk’s office. The Thornburgs brought their recent experience in the industry together with venture financing from the Murchison Brothers of Texas oil and mineral fame. For a while the ore was shipped out to Salt Lake City for processing, but the heavy water content and the volume of local production soon made a Lakeview mill a necessity. After serious contention from a Rock Springs, Wyoming, group, the Atomic Energy Commission gave its last permit to Lakeview. Forrest Cooper, a Lakeview lawyer, remembers being in a Salt Lake City colleague’s office when the news was announced. “His partners had been representing the Wyoming people, and they’d been positive they’d get the franchise. They had the governor, the senators, all the guns lined up in support. Then the Murchison boys walked in with LBJ, who was Senate Majority Leader, on their arms and the party was over. “ My colleague introduced me to his partners as a gentleman from LAKEVIEW, OREGON, real loud and slow. Just had to rub in the salt. They were plenty mad, I’ll tell you.” A $3 million plant was begun less than a mile north of town in early 1958. During its construction it added $130,000 monthly — a 30 percent increase — to the county’s payroll. An ad in the October 30 Examiner announced the pride the United Steelworkers of America had in representing the uranium workers of the Lakeview Mining Company. The first yellowcake emerged from the plant on December 15, 1958. The payroll for the company’s mine and mill employees then settled to $85,000 as 210 tons of ore was processed each 24- hour period. Many people came in from outside, prompting a building boom, and the town experienced a period of substantial prosperity. Jack Pendleton, owner of a title insurance firm, remembers things picking up. “ It gave us the impetus to do a lot of things we’d been talking about. Streets got paved, the new senior high school got built.” Marvin Wella, a former classmate, told me his father’s service station — Flying A — experienced its most profitable years between 1958 and ’63. Garth Thornburg built a palatial residence a mile north of the plant and was the subject of intense speculation and envy. One local merchant announced that the entire community should “ kiss Thornburg’s feet.” His wife was once interrupted during a sunbath — completely naked, it was said — by two bird hunters who stumbled into their back yard. Thornburg was killed in a deer hunting accident October 18, 1959, near Grand Junction. Though suspicions were immediately aroused, such incidents are never investigated. His widow soon thereafter returned to more familiar surroundings. Though the mill continued functioning, the raw ore soon became a problem. Water continually seeped into the underground mines and both operations soon became open-pit. Clair Smith calls the move to openpit mining a mistake. “ The ore is in there •straight up and down. It’s volcanic, in tubes.” Ore was brought in from Nevada and Alaska, although local production had become problematical. Ore was rushed to the mill from the Lucky Lass in November, 1960, but it was too little, too late. Beset by financial problems as well, the mill closed late that month. / orrest Cooper had some insights into the complex web of financial machinations that took place far outside the community. “ The Murchison brothers paid off a note owed to The town returned to quieter times, the miners and millworkers who 'd come with the boom followed the path to other communities' prosperity, and the period came to an exciting, i f wistful, memory for those who ’d experienced it. the Chase Manhattan Bank, cutting Thornburg out of the deal. They then found themselves in a battle on Wall Street for control of the Alleghany Corporation with a man named Kirby. They sold the mill to Kerr-McGee (then operating as Kermac Nuclear Fuels Corporation), who kept the plant closed. Kerr-McGee claimed the ore was not there, and filed for a $6 million tax loss.” Somebody made out like a bandit, but it wasn’t the local folk. They were looking at an uncovered pile of 130,000 tons of mine tailings and looking for a new sugar-daddy. What ore was mined was sent to Salt Lake City. In 1964 the plant was sold by Kerr- McGee to a group of local investors, after the best equipment had been shipped to points as far distant as Venezuela. Plans to develop an industrial park never materialized. In 1966 the plant was sold and the claims leased to Continental Mining and Milling of Chicago, who lost the million on a default judgment to the Commercial Discount Corporation of Delaware, who in turn sold it to Atlantic Richfield the following year. The mill was never reopened, until it was sold in 1978 by ARCO to Precision Pine Engineering of Sweet Home, Oregon, for use as a lumber mill. In the meantime, both Western Nuclear — a subsidiary of Phelps-Dodge — and Santa Fe Minerals — a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railroad — began leasing old claims and initiating their own exploration. The tailings pile and the settling ponds beyond it were left abandoned throughout this period, with wind and water slowly dispersing bits of them throughout the Goose Lake Valley. The town returned to quieter times, the miners and millworkers who’d come with the boom followed the path to other communities’ prosperity, and the period became an exciting, if wistful, memory for those who’d experienced it. Let’s say it was put on the back burner, waiting for a dawn of new consciousness and an incredible surge in the price of uranium to bring it front and center again. NEXT: HOT, HOTTER, HOTTEST A French restaurant in SE Portland is unusual. But a French restaurant — very French — with a French owner from Cognac at an affordable price is more unusual. Come visit me at the foot of Mt. Tabor. Dinner starts at $4.95. It's time to eat tasty French food at a reasonable price. A wonderful atmosphere for a very delicate American palate. Chef-owner Philippe Dupuy ROLLER SKATING at * WILLAMETTE CENTER RINK * • Rental Skates • Portland’s Largest Pro Shop • Covered Outdoor Rink • Open Daily • Sound System • Sales & Service Casual, intimate, and family dining in the comfort of our bucket seats. Enjoy fine steaks, seafood, omelettes and sandwiches. Home-style cookin’ and lots of it at pre-gas-shortage prices. The Rolls Royce of Restaurants Thanks We like to express our appreciation for your support and help in the opening of Portland's only covered outdoor rink. f - \ I® COUPON ~ Good For 1.00 Off Cat Skate Rental I Name ................. At | Address----- ------ ------ . ........... I IO & Deposit required Otter good July 21. OIL 0 ITE X Second & S.W. Salmon 223-0245 This has got to be the classiest potata ever. ne HOTPOTATA . Cafe 422 SW 13th Portland, Oregon 223-7573 17
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