Claire McGill Luce Western History Room

05/04/2026

We're excited to be featured as one of several Harney County places of interest on the latest installment of the Destination Oregon series of Central Oregon Daily News!

A Harney County native’s $2 million gift is still preserving local history decades later. Inside the county library in Burns, thousands of records keep the region’s past alive.

02/17/2026

Please join us!
The community is invited to participate in two local history events happening this week.

The Harney County Historical Museum in Burns will be holding the annual Night At The Museum this Tuesday evening, February 17th, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Admission is free. This is a great opportunity to check out all the new items and displays that have been added over the winter and to introduce a friend or family member to all the Harney County Historical Society has to offer.

Additionally, this coming Saturday morning, February 21st, at 10 a.m., the Harney County Historical Society will be hosting a fundraiser champagne brunch at the Burns Elks Lodge. There will be a silent auction, door prizes, games and a quilt raffle. Also, several speakers will give short presentations on local history topics.

www.harneycountylibrary.org/western-history-room

02/04/2026

𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽
Anyone interested in local history is invited to attend an informal monthly discussion group on the first Wednesday of every month at 2 p.m. in the Harney County Historical Museum Annex in Burns, Oregon. No membership or registration required.
• Ask Questions.
• Share Your Knowledge.
• Network With Others Who Share Your Interest In Local Heritage.
• Learn What’s New At Museum and Western History Room.
• Suggest Topics For Future Discussion.
• Participate In Local History Preservation Activities.

For More Information Contact:
Harney County Historical Museum- phone 541-573-5618 or email [email protected];
Western History Room at the Harney County Library- phone 541-573-6670 or email [email protected]

www.harneycountylibrary.org/western-history-room

01/31/2026

𝟯 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗝𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲

An Oregon & Northwestern logging train went out of control on the Summit grade in the early morning hours of January 29, 1947 and crashed Locomotive No. 26, 20 cars of Hines logs, and 3 car loads of lumber when it left the track 2 miles later at a probable speed of 80 miles per hour. The runaway resulted from failure of air brakes within minutes from the time they had been tested at the Summit station and had been found in perfect shape.

Engineer E.J. Dick, Fireman A.J. Miller and Charles Pierce, brakeman on the engine at the time, jumped from the train and survived after vainly attempting to halt the train for a mile on the runaway course. None received serious injuries although the train by that time was traveling down the 2.6 percent grade at about 45 miles per hour.

Conductor Benny Cottrell and Dave Jones, brakeman, escaped by cutting the caboose from the train as the runaway started. Charles Clark, brakeman on the ground during the Summit stop, found himself unable to catch the caboose as it passed him and yelled a warning to Cottrell as the usual speed there is 6 miles per hour.

Salvage efforts were hampered by deep snow and temperatures hovering near 0 degrees. Remnants of the wreck can still be seen on the hillside below the abandoned railroad bed.

View more images of the train wreck in our online digital archives:
https://tinyurl.com/onwtrainwreck

www.harneycountylibrary.org/western-history-room

01/27/2026

𝗦𝗮𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗟𝗼𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹
The first log was officially run through the head rig of the Edward Hines Lumber mill in Hines, Oregon on January 27, 1930. News coverage about the event reports Eddie Reed was the sawyer and William Fox was the setter for the occasion.
Formal dedication of the mill was celebrated several months later, on May 8, 1930, as Secretary of Agriculture, Arthur M. Hyde, touched off production by pushing an electric button in Washington, D.C.
Edward Hines Lumber Co. continued operations in Harney County for the next five decades.

Find more photographs and information about the Edward Hines Lumber Co. operations in Harney and Grant counties in our online digital archives: https://tinyurl.com/EHLCo

www.harneycountylibrary.org/western-history-room

01/22/2026

The Harney County Historical Society, after a several year hiatus, is resuming the monthly no-host luncheon programs at the Burns Elks Lodge beginning this Thursday, January 22nd at noon.
Retired archaeologist Scott Thomas will be talking about the history of a trove of antique bottles that were found on the site of the Alpine Dairy during excavation for the new Geno’s Gym building. Many of these bottles were donated to the Harney County Museum.
The program is free and open to the public. An optional $10 lunch will be served by the Elks.

If you're interested in learning more about the history of old bottles that may be in your own collection, drop by the Western History Room at the Harney County Library to browse through several publications from our archives on the subject. https://tinyurl.com/bottle-collecting

www.harneycountylibrary.org/western-history-room

01/20/2026

You're invited!
The Harney County Historical Society, after a several year hiatus, is resuming the monthly luncheon programs at the Burns Elks Lodge beginning this Thursday, January 22nd at noon.
Retired archaeologist Scott Thomas will be talking about the history of a trove of antique bottles that were found on the site of the Alpine Dairy during excavation for the new Geno’s Gym building. Many of these bottles were donated to the Harney County Museum.
The program is free and open to the public. An optional $10 lunch will be served by the Elks.
Please join us!

01/08/2026

𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘄𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆? 𝗬𝗲𝘀—𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳…

Burns restaurant owner Quong Yee was fascinated by the cowboy mystique. After retiring from business in the early 1950s, he bought property just north of town, built a house and raised cattle until 1961.
One photograph in a family history booklet compiled by Elise Yee Keppinger shows Yee on horseback amid cattle in a corral. When Yee’s friend Wally Welcome asked him how he liked being a buckaroo, he replied, “I’m the best Chinese buckaroo in Harney County. I’m the only one.”
Visit our online digital archives to learn more about the Yee family.
https://tinyurl.com/YeeQuong

harneycountylibrary.org/western-history-room

01/07/2026

Chinese cowboys in Eastern Oregon? Yes!

03/31/2025

While spring floods in Harney County are not uncommon, this will be one for the history books. Condolences to all those who have been displaced and suffered property damage 🥲
Stay safe out there everyone!

www.harneycountylibrary.org/western-history-room