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Grant's Getaways: Heritage Museum

Up to four times a day, Baker County's Sumpter Valley Railroad makes the 12-mile round trip run from McEwen Depot to Sumpter, Oregon.

When the train whistle blows near Sumpter, Oregon one thing’s for sure: adventure isn’t far behind!

“Last call! Train Number One to Sumpter departing in five minutes!” said Sumpter Railroad conductor Daniel Bentz.

The young man strolled across the wooden planks of the McEwen Depot and played his part well in a period costume and a full-on character performance.

Photos: Baker Heritage Museum

He continued: “So hurry and buy a ticket - then step aboard the “Stump Dodger” because even a century later, this railroad is always on time.”

Up to four times a day, Baker County’s Sumpter Valley Railroad makes the 12-mile round trip run from McEwen Depot to Sumpter, Oregon.

It’s a railroad that reaches back to the early days of settlement in Northeast Oregon, according to the railroad’s operations manager, Taylor Rush.

“The railway meandered in and out of every canyon throughout the Sumpter Valley as it followed the timber line in the 1880’s. In those days they said the railroad engine would dodge the stumps as it crawled up into the mountains and that name just stuck,” said Rush.

It’s history in action that’s for sure, but not surprising for a community that holds onto heritage.

When you take a gander at downtown Baker City, be sure to note the extra wide boulevards and the many century old buildings that show off great pride in heritage.

Over one hundred buildings in the downtown historic district are on the National Register of Historic Places, and it is one of the largest intact historic commercial districts in the west. The elegant and substantial buildings reflect Baker City’s prosperity during the turn of the 20th century.

Carly Annable, the Director of the Baker Heritage Museum, said that the historic downtown has been carefully preserved and restored with the help of the local main street revitalization program.

“Baker City was designed to become a major city in the west, second only to San Francisco. The main street is really wide, so you could turn a complete wagon train around in it. The city fathers really wanted Baker City to be the center of Oregon; even the capitol.”

Annable added that the city is once again a thriving vibrant downtown filled with numerous art galleries, restaurants, and independently owned specialty shops, and surrounded by equally charming historic neighborhoods.

Inside the fabulous Heritage Museum you will learn much about the stories and artifacts of gold mining, ranching and logging – all are easy to discover through vast collections of artifacts.

This spring, there’s another story that takes center stage in the museum: the time Hollywood came to Baker County.

“Everyone has a story about the summer Hollywood came to Baker County,” said Annable. We are a small rural area in Eastern Oregon and don’t often get opportunities to be part of a major movie making project.”

It was the summer of 1968 when an army of actors and crew set about transforming a woodsy area just outside of town into “No Name City. It would be the main set for the film version of a popular Broadway musical stage play called, “Paint Your Wagon.”

Big shot actors like Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood starred in the western musical movie that was adapted from the popular stage play.

The museum’s newest exhibit celebrates the 50th anniversary of the movie version of “Paint Your Wagon” with scores of photos that were donated by local community members who were hired as extras for the movie.

Other donations include colorful international movie posters and even the pants that Lee Marvin’s character wore in the film.

“People really get a kick out of those,” said Annable with a chuckle.

Folks also love the one and only scale model of the massive set that would eventually become the third most expensive movie musical ever filmed.

“The set design helped the crew figure out how they were going to shoot various camera angles and how the real town would be built. It took them two months to build “No Name City” and this scale model is really the icing on the cake for our exhibit,” added Annable.

While the movie went on to become a box office flop, Annable insisted that it was a huge hit with locals who have cherished memories of the time Hollywood came to Baker County.

“Even if it wasn’t a big deal to the rest of the world,” said Annable, “Baker County folks will always tout themselves that this is place where ‘Paint Your Wagon’ was filmed.”

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