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Show Hanksville News NoteJI By Barbara Ekker Jim Mike, the 104 year old Piute Indian who founded Rainbow Bridge in 1909, died Thursday in the Monticello Hospital after spending the past month in the San Juan Nursing Home in Blanding. According to the Tribal records at Towaoc, Colorado, Jim was born May 3, 1872 but his grand-daughter, Mary Jane Yazzie, who has cared for Mike these last years, claims he's 112. Jim grew up and lived most of his life in Piute Canyon and around, Navajo Mountain, and later had some holdings in Douglas Mesa. He worked for people in the Bluff area before coming to Blanding, living at White Mesa 10 miles south. His wife, Degant, died many years ago leaving Jim to raise their two sons, Billy Mike and Harry Mike, and a daughter, Pochief Mike. Jim Mike never remarried. remar-ried. He was baptized by Thales Haskell into the LDS Church at an early age. Jim in his prime stood six feet tall and weighed 180 pounds. He was straight and tall with a ready smile, brown flashing eyes and two black glossy braids of hair framed his face. He always wore a red kerchief around his head, with his hair parted in the middle. His closest friend over the past 50 years has been Clarence Clar-ence Rogers and his wife, Reva. It was Clarence that first gave the "straight story" of the Rainbow Bridge discovery discov-ery to the press and finally in July of 1974, Jim Mike was honored in ceremonies conducted con-ducted by the Park Service at Rainbow Bridge on Lake Powell Pow-ell and was awarded $50, a new blanket, and a citation which credits him as being the first to discover the famed Bridge. Lula Parker Betensen, 93 year old sister of the famed outlaw. Butch Cassidy, has i just returned from a week in Los Angeles where she was a guest of the NBC series "In Search Of..." and had a sneak preview of their documentary docu-mentary of her famed brother's broth-er's life entitled, "In Search of Butch Cassidy." Lula's daughter, Barbara, and husband, Lee Carlson of Salt Lake accompanied her on her trip and helped in her many interviews with reporters repor-ters with the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Rocky Roc-ky Mountain News, and the Chicago and Washington, D.C. papers. She also taped a segment with Michael Jackson Jack-son of the Jackson Five to be aired later. The "In Search Of series was aired Sept. 24. Twila Vanleer and Barbara Ekker are working on a Desert News story regarding Hanksville's telephone situation. situa-tion. Presently there are 28 phones in Hanksville on Eve party lines so actually this makes just five phones available avail-able at one time. Even the "public booth" outside of the Poor Boy Service Station is on a party line which baffles tourists making calls. Other public telephones are at the FAA airport. Steak House and Stage Coach Store, but are all on party lines and require coin deposits. A local call within town costs the caller 40 cents since it's "long Distance" (going through a phone operator in Price, Ut.). A petition was circulated a-mong a-mong all the residents and it was found that 75 persons need phones or better phone service. Several companies, such as Energy Fuels, Un-zicker Un-zicker and Wells Drilling Co., Hanksville Ambulance and EMT's have hnd their requests re-quests into Mountain Bell for over a year for phones and have not as yet received any promise for one in the immediate im-mediate future. Phone bills for these people using public phones runs in the average of $100 per month and one miner showed phono bills for $1500 for a month. Bob Steel, Lions Club District Dis-trict Governor of Utah, contacted con-tacted Harold Ekker this wook to make arrangements to start a Lions Club in Hanksville. Lawrence "Shorty" Hale needs some help from former coal minors in the IVire area between 1928 1934. Shorty worked for Standard Coal Company during that time and belonged to the Union, but has discovered no records are available for that time and he would appreciate hearing from other miners who would write that they knew him and worked with him at that time. He needs proof of his employment employ-ment for those years in order to receive medical benefits. His address is Hanksville, Utah 84734. Rod Sellers had his own Outdoor Theater Thursday night when fight fans gathered gath-ered at his Texaco station to watch the Ali vs. Shavers heavyweight boxing championship champ-ionship fight. The crowd enlarged en-larged until Rod had to move his TV set outside on an ice machine and set up chairs and balcony seating in the back of pick-up trucks. Tourist, as well as locals, made up the audience. Michael Macher, a former Bull Frog employee, and a resident of Bay Shore, Long Island, was hospitalized in Grand Junction following a roll-over Saturday near the Goblin Valley turnoff north of Hanksville on U-24. Michael and his companion were fortunate for-tunate that the camper following follow-ing them had two Washington State EMT's that picked them up and took them to the Green River Clinic and Nurse-Practitioner Sue Allen. The Green River EMT's then took them on to Moab in their ambulance. ambu-lance. Macher was taken into Grand Junction as he had both legs broken and a broken hip along with- internal injuries. Martin Macher, Michael's father, also from Long Island, came to Hanksville earlier this week to attend to insurance in-surance and other matters for his son. Tom and Jane Skinner of Ely, Nevada joined John and Barbara McClain and daught er, Bridy, for a houseboat weekend on Lake Powell. Barbara and John will soon be leaving their jobs here with the BLM and will move to Alaska where John will work for the Forest Service. Bill and Tamera Subers are the parents of a baby boy born Friday, Sept. 23 at the Moab hospital. Charles Arthur was 20 inches long and weighed in at 7 lbs. Grandmother, Barbara Bar-bara Potter from Blanding, is here with her daughter and new grandson. Bill is employed employ-ed in town with Unzicker and Wells Drilling Company. Mike Butkus hosted friends this week from Logan and Provo. Mike and Lynette Shinderling. who manage the Robert Redford property near Provo, spent the weekend on Powell in Redford's 45-foot motor yacht with Mike as their guest. Larry and Jess E Faupell, Logan and daughter. Brand E from Logan also joined the group. Mrs. Marjorie Ekker and daughter Ann Alloway and granddaughter, Kim, returned return-ed this week from a trip t Butte, Montana, Mrs. Ekker's birthplace. They visited her brother in Pocatello and took a side trip to Yellowstone National Park. Steve Johnson, a school teacher at Bull Frog Basin, and his aide, Jan Shaver, brought 14 students to Hanksville Hanks-ville Saturday to sell candy door-to-door to raise funds for a trip later in October to the Coal Crek Environmental Conference at Montrose (Vi Bill Van Houghton Frog employee, also helped " il transport the students to";J' c Hanksville. Later in the after :'s i noon they picked apples Capitol Reef National Park. ', i u5 The Harold Ekker' home was damaged by fire Friday-: at 3 evening after a gas explosion in their fireplace. Harold was ' ' lighting a gas log when it blew ' up, knocking him across theer' room. While he and his wife 11 were in the bathroom getting ' cr' his singed clothing smothered -'es:ic 1 they found that their front '.:sd fl room was afire and had to call iR9 their son to climb into the - on attic and extinguish the blaze 'iJ (( ' ;".,po: New PTA officers for the coming year are Margaret i Tr Bullard, president; vice-pres- 3 1 ident, Tom Campbell; Doug":-;H: Chappell, second vice-presi- & .in dent; Rita Ekker, Secretary W'.e and Selena Garber, treasurer - s Harry Hill visited with his a 1, daughter and family, Mrs. --jr Larry Ekker, last weekend! l-'V He also visited in Green River ': s with another daughter Chris- .- ( tine Monroe and with Mrs. fZv, Pete Gardner before return- '" ing to his home in Salt Lake ' . sii ( Terry Albrecht, oldest son 5 of La Naie and Ranae Al-brecht, Al-brecht, is in the Richfield .1; hospital after his horse fell ' over a ledge during the elk hunt in Sheep Valley Satur-day. Satur-day. The animal fell in a hole before it fell with Albrecht down a steep embankment. Albrecht was pinned under the animal most of the time. " " His wife, Brenda, and parents f. rushed to the hospital as soon as they received word. He was brought from the moun- 3 tain by a friend, Ronnie Rees. "' Mrs. Margaret Bullard re- ,; ceived word that her father, Andrew Gibson, who has been r- residing in St. George for &" health reasons, was in the ,:: Heber City hospital with em- " physema. Her brother, Le Roy, and sister plan to move : him to a Salt Lake hospital by -ambulance. t . Mrs. Jesse Ekker and four children attended the parade '7 and circus in Price Wednes- -r- day. They visited with the . phone operators at Mountain Bell's office. These great gals ::' are Hanksville's only "link" : ::: with the "outside world" and the do a great job. . How would you like to ;: search for a mission compan-ion compan-ion and find that you both j r lived in the same town? This :v: is what occurred with Pete ;s Johnson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kent Johnson and a Mr. Green. They met in Idaho many years ago while Pefe was working there for his uncle, Louie Johnson, and became great friends. They . both went on missions in " Colorado and became compan- ions. Now since they've both " returned they've lost contact- '" but this was all renewed this . ; week when Mr. Green, an employee of Walker Bank in Price "learned that his friend, : Pete, also resided in Price with his bride, and they are renewing old acquaintances. - Mr. and Mrs. Clive Grundy are readying a home site south of the former Stage -jj; Coach Cafe and Motel and plan to have their new home set up shortly. ' |