Etta with Frank and Sue                            Behind the little boy in front (Frank Blankenship) is Etta.

 CLARETTA  "ETTA"  LURCHIN

Etta was born January 30, 1891, to Frank and Mollie (Eddy) Lurchin at Long Valley, Idaho and died, at age 57,  at her home on Plum Street in Baker, Oregon. December 26, 1948.

Etta's father was a gold miner and, during the time when Etta was very young, the family lived primarily in the Sparta area.  It is likely they also lived near the big mines at Cornucopia and Copperfield. Etta attended grade school in Sparta and completed her education through the eighth grade.  Not long afterward, she was asked to teach school at Homestead.  Etta taught for one year.  She had 14 students, ranging from grade one through grade 8.  While living in Homestead, she met and married Elmer Alfred "Bones" Blankenship.  They were married probably in about 1909.  Their children were:  Harold Alvin, born in Baker  in about 1910. (Harold married Catherine Relling): Catherine Louise, born in Cornucopia October 6, 1912.  (Louise married Alton Davis and later Ted Hixson): Norma Marie, born in Baker October 19, 1914.  (Norma married Lewis Jones and later Henry Davis):  Velma Fay, born January, 1918 in Baker. (Velma died due to burst appendix November, 1924);  Frank Carson, born in Baker (in a rooming house on Resort Street) September 28, 1921.  (Frank married Lela Mitchell);  Marjorie Sue, born July 26, 1924 in Baker.  (Sue married Bill Gardner, later married Ed Moeller and later married Darrell Brown).  Etta and Bones separated in the mid 1920's and divorced about 1930.  Etta married William Merle "Booty" Perry in 1930.  Etta and Booty had one son, Darrell Lyle, born in Baker January 29, 1931.

Etta and Bones lived in various small towns and mining camps while Bones worked as a miner and as a blacksmith at mines such as The Iron Dyke, Union-Companion, The Last Chance, The E&E (Bourne), The Imperial, California, The Bald Mountain Mine, and many others.  During the winter months, when the mines were closed or on a reduced work schedule, the family lived in rooming houses in Baker, or stayed with Etta's mother, Mollie.  Bones was a person who had little sense of responsibility.  It was not uncommon for him to spend his pay check at the bars before he reached home on pay day.  There was often no funds available for food, shelter and other necessities. The family basically lived in poverty.  In those days, rent was paid at the end of the month and no deposit was required.  Families without funds often moved to another rental just as the rent was due on the house they had been occupying.  Etta and Bones used this ploy frequently.  Etta worked off and on as a waitress.  These low-paying jobs did not take care of the large bills, but did provide  them with some cash.  Family members have mentioned one cafe in particular where Etta Worked.  The original name may have been different, but in the late 1930's and 1940's, it was called, "The Columbia Cafe".  It was located at the west end of Broadway and was in the same building with the Columbia Hotel and Bar.  It was situated directly across the street from the rail passenger depot and was a very busy area.  Etta's best friend Pearl Hiat worked with her at the Columbia.  Pearl and Etta were close friends and did many things together...including partying.  (Pearl later married Frank Burt, a local mail carrier, and they became calm and quiet conservative citizens.  But Pearl, a good-looking woman, always retained a mischievous glint in her eye)  Family members tell of ugly scenes where bill collectors came to the door and threatened all sorts of mayhem unless certain payments were made immediately.  It was an unpleasant and hard life for Etta and for her children.  Bones apparently sailed along seemingly unaffected by the plight of his family.  He spent a lot of time drinking and partying with friends and  never really dealt with the harsh realities of life.  After Sue was born in 1924, Etta and the children lived apart from Bones.  What little money there was, came from Etta's work as a waitress.  Essentially, the children went unsupervised.  Frank was fortunate in that he spent summers with his grandparents Mollie and Kit.  (Note:  Mollie had remarried by this time, to Kit Carson Harpham.  They traveled about living at various mining camps while Kit plied his trade as a dynamite expert for the mines.  Frank assisted Kit, doing the grunt work for Kit). 

Etta's marriage to Booty brought some degree of stability into her life.  Booty was a steady and hard working individual.  He took on a wide variety of jobs in order to provide for the family.  They bought a big two-story home at 1556 Chestnut St., located just a half block from Etta's mother and step-father (Mollie and Kit), who had bought a house at 1630 Chestnut St.  Booty was a very kind and generous man.  Even though several of Etta's children were married, the terrible economic conditions brought on by the Great Depression caused them to frequently move in with Booty and Etta, or to visit often in order to eat a meal.  Booty and Etta had a garden and raised rabbits, chickens, ducks, etc.  They were always able to put together a meal, even though cash was short.  In later years, some of the children recalled Booty taking jobs as camp cook for various employers and on week-ends, when he would return home, he would have a side of bacon and a big sack of beans hidden in his suitcase.  The whole family would partake of pork and beans the whole week end.  Booty also had a pair of hand operated hair clippers and regularly gave haircuts to members of the family. 

In 1935, Kit passed away.  Etta and Booty moved to 1630 Chestnut St. in order to care for Mollie, who had begun to show signs of mental dysfunction.  They took over the monthly house payment ($10).  Louise and her husband, Al Davis, along with sons, Pogy and David, moved into 1556 Chestnut St. and took over the payments on that house. In 1938, Mollie passed away and was buried next to Kit at Mt. Hope Cemetery.  (Kit and Mollie had purchased 5 or 6 lots together and ultimately  they were used by family members.)  With the advent of World War II in late 1941, all of the men in the family volunteered for military service.  All of the females in the family, along with the kids, gathered together in the two houses on Chestnut Street.  Etta, a sweet and kindly person, ended up taking care of all the grandchildren all during the war.  She also had to care for her youngest son, Darrell.  Etta had health issues and was frequently ill.  After the war, Etta and Booty moved to a house a few blocks away on Plum Street.  Booty got a job with Union Pacific and provided a steady income.  Again, a number of grandchildren were dropped of for extended periods of time, to be cared for by Etta.  Her health declined and on December 26, 1948, she suffered a stroke and passed away.  She was buried nest to Mollie, Kit and little Velma. 

Some thoughts and stories about Etta:  She had beautiful dark skin and beautiful long dark hair.  Her nature was to be non-confrontational.  She was always pleasant and patient.  One always felt, however, that there was steel underneath that soft exterior.  She was loving and kind to those around her.  She was particularly sweet and patient with the 5-6 noisy kids that seemed to always be left with her.  She did not like to cook and keeping a perfect house was not one of her priorities.  Booty did a lot of the cooking and he was a very good cook.  A short time before she passed away, she confided in Louise that she was part Indian.  In those days, being of mixed blood was not something one wanted broadcast.  She did not specifically say where in her ancestry the Indian blood came from.  Speculation by family members narrowed it down to the Lurchin family.  Her father, Frank Lurchin, had very dark skin.  Etta's children, except for Darrell, had fair complexions.  Her son, Frank, exhibited the Indian trait of having zero chest hair and only very slight facial hair.  As far as is known, Etta's mother, Mollie Eddy, and her family had no Indian blood.

The war caused a great reduction in the number of men living in Baker.  Those few remaining were mostly unfit for the military due to mental/physical problems or were in critical employment situations.  Unfortunately, some of the mental cases were emboldened to slip around at night to peek in windows.  One night, early in the war while the women and kids were all living together at 1556 Chestnut, Norma was reading in the front room.  She looked up from her book and saw a man looking in the window.  She casually put down her book and walked into the kitchen to tell Etta about the "peeping Tom".  Etta had an old Iver Johnson .38 pistol that she kept loaded and available.  She grabbed the pistol and with the entire group ventured into the yard.  The house was situated on a large piece of property and had a 6' fence along the back by the alley.  The window peeper scampered to the fence, grabbed the top of the fence and vaulted over it.  As he did so, Etta, surrounded by the women and kids, emptied the revolver in his direction.  If he is still alive, he may still be running.

One of Etta's health issues was frequent stomach aches.  She would mix baking soda and orange juice and drink it down.  This caused her to belch loudly.  And the loud belches caused the small kids to laugh hysterically.  And then she would laugh along with the kids.

Nearly every family member (except Frank) smoked cigarettes.  With the war on, cigarettes were very difficult to find.  Etta bought a small cigarette-rolling machine and a bunch of tobacco.  The kids took turns cranking out cigarettes for the adults.  There was an art to it;  if too much tobacco was put in the machine, the cigarette was so tightly packed with tobacco that it was very difficult to draw the smoke through.  So the children were tongued pretty hard when a batch of poorly made cigarettes were produced.

During the Depression (1930's),  there was almost no help available for people who were destitute.  One program that locals (including our family) took advantage of involved the monthly issue of a large chunk of horse meat and a sack of potatoes.  These items were dispensed in the basement of the Baker County Courthouse.  Our family also killed deer out of season.  A deer would be killed and stealthily slipped into the house.  All of the adults would help as the deer was cut up and canned in glass jars. All of the curtains and blinds would be closed and all of the children were told to be quiet about what was going on.  The state paid a small reward to people who reported poaching, so the activity had to be kept secret. 

Etta's life was a hard one.  But she did an admirable job of raising her family and leaving behind so many good memories with those who were fortunate enough to know her.