Richard Findlay

Work was probably the most important thing in and around Seneca, whether it was logging or working in town. Seneca was a booming company town and most people came here only to make a living and move on.

Mr. Findlay came to Seneca during the fifties as a kid with his family. His dad was a contractor for Hines. Mr. Findlay worked for his dad in the beginning, starting at the age of twelve. He and his father got their money after all of their bills had been paid. He worked for the ranch, then logged, and mined later on. Later he worked for the city of Seneca. There weren’t many jobs available, but there were ranch jobs and logging jobs. He loved working outdoors. He never worked in any of the mills, but had a lot of logging jobs, including skidding logs. He said that was his favorite job, but it scared him silly. He logged around where Camp One once was (the camp closed in 1932). He remembers making $3.00 an hour as a logger when he was seventeen years old. When it was 54 degrees below zero, he wore long johns, lots of heavy wool clothing in layers, and heavy wool or tin pants. He didn’t know Mr. Hines, but he had seen him, and his father worked with him on contract work.

The funniest story he remembers about those days is about the time there was a fire and the Forest Service needed fire crews. The Forest Service went to the Seneca tavern to get people for their crews. As they came in the front door, everyone ran out the back door. They thought they had gotten away, but instead they ran right to the Forest Service crummy by accident.

The planer mill in Seneca got most of its lumber from Izee. When it got here it was dried in the kilns. When it was dry enough, the lumber went through the planer. Then it was sold and shipped out on the train to Hines.

There were over a hundred loggers who worked out of Seneca. Mr. Findlay never saw any of the logging horses in action (they were before his time), but when he started working the logging train still went out to Summit Creek. As they logged, they pulled up the tracks as they came towards Seneca. He never got to ride the train, but he said it was extremely large and long, and the logs were huge. Sometimes there were only three logs on a car. He remembers the logs coming in from Silvies to Seneca, and then being sent on to Hines.

Mr. Findlay never got the chance to go inside the tunnel. He said that sometimes as a train went down the tracks a log would vibrate sideways on the car. Before they could go through the tunnel, they had to stop and straighten out the logs. Later, taller stakes to hold the logs in place on the cars solved that problem.

Mr. Findlay never lived in one of the cheese boxes, but he did go visit people in them. The houses didn’t seem so small to him, but he remembers they didn’t have much insulation.

In his free time when he was a kid, he liked to chase wild horses, go hunting, do a little fishing, and go to dances when he was old enough. In school at recess, he played baseball or basketball. Kids who weren’t on teams had to exercise. When he became an adult, he didn’t have much free time. Holidays were celebrated with family gatherings for picnics and fireworks on the 4th of July. At Christmas they went out to cut trees. They stayed up for Christmas dinner and opened presents on Christmas morning.

His family was so far away from a doctor that they had to tough it out unless they were really sick or hurt. They had home remedies and a good attitude. He did go to Carine Williams, the nurse in Seneca, when his back got crushed after a pickup fell off the rack on him.

He said the old road to John Day was narrow and steep. Finally they moved it and straightened it a little and paved it, and it was better then.

The store and some of the other buildings were built with brick. The store was two stories high, and so was the hotel. The post office was a cheese box between the store and the hotel.

In the old hotel all the rooms were small with only beds for sleeping. Some had bathrooms and sinks. Heat came across the river in steam pipes from the shop. The hotel was built for the single men workers. They ate their meals at the restaurant.

Above the store was the Coconut Grove. Kids weren’t allowed in it. It was a big open area with a wooden floor, benches, and movie theatre seats. They decorated it for different occasions and served refreshments. People would also get together at the union hall (now the city hall). He told about a fight that broke out once. Dodie yelled out, “Save the cups!” He remembers Valentine’s Day cake socials, when the ladies made cakes to be auctioned off. If you bought a cake, then you ate it with the lady who made it.

Next to the store was the old theatre, but Mr. Findlay never went there for movies. He went to John Day. “Gone with the Wind” was the first color movie he saw. Some kids used to sneak into the movies without paying, but he never knew any of them.

Mr. Findlay used Seneca money at the store. He still has a quarter.

He said the swimming pool was really nice. It was one of the biggest pools in the country. He didn’t swim, but got wet and played in the water.

What he remembers most about Seneca is the beautiful scenery. The coldest temperature he remembers was 60 degrees below zero in 1982. It wasn’t recorded though, because the official thermometer didn’t go that low.

Seneca has changed in many ways. There used to be a lot more trees. Mr. Findlay remembered seeing a herd of more than one hundred antelope once, and there used to be a group of elk that crossed regularly out by the substation. The roads in the forest were scarce, and the ones that were there were very inadequate, just dirt roads and very narrow. Now many of those roads are paved.

The town has changed a lot. The Olive Theatre closed because there were not enough people going to the movies. Then the theatre burned down. Mr. Findlay was in the fire department when the store building burned. The fire started upstairs. The wind blew in from the south and blew the fire toward the hotel. People believe it was the owner who burned it down, but they have no hard evidence. Someone said they saw him pour gas down the hallway and light it. But first, he had cleaned the store out of money, food, and appliances. If the store building had not burned down, it could have become an historical landmark.

As you can see from Mr. Findlay’s memories, Seneca has been a hot spot for industry. Many things eventually died out. People came here, worked, and moved on. Some stayed. There wouldn’t be a town here if it weren’t for them. Later, people added new water lines, a sewer system, and a city government, and the town became permanent. The mill and the loggers are gone, but Seneca is still here. It is a great community and has a great school. We sure hope Seneca can hold out a while longer for the next generation.
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