The Hot Lake Story

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Every once in a while someone comes along whom you connect with. A couple years ago that connection was made with Richard R. Roth (Dick). Dick dropped into my shop in downtown Orting for some business cards. Dick loves and collects toys, and since he had just moved to Orting he needed new cards, and yes, I'm the guy most people around here come to for that. But Dick found a lot more then business card samples, he discovered the collection of 25 years of local history posted all over my shop. Dick had already started a book about the place where he grew up in Northeastern Oregon, Hot Lake, near La Grande. So with a common bond for history he kept coming back to share some new find, have me print a picture or whatever. After asking for advice for awhile we started talking about the book, how it would look, how many pages, etc. I've been printing local history for almost 25 years now and think I have a feel for what people buy, so finally I said, "Let's do it."



Last spring the first edition of "The Hot Lake Story" came out and we were sold out in short order, so we got to work on the second edition. During the time between printings, a few inaccuracies were discovered , a few "better" pictures were found and a whole lot of new information came in. What to do? So besides cleaning it up, we added an addendum. Twelve extra pages that included material on Dr. Amy Currin who practiced at Hot Lake between 1910 and 1914. We also included a number of prints taken from glass negatives housed in the University of Oregon Library's special collection that were from around 1900 showing the Hot Lake Sanatorium, both inside and outside at that time.

Maybe somebody is wondering, "What is Hot Lake" all about"? Hot Lake is just what the name implies, a lake fed by a thermal spring. The closer you get to the spring the hotter the lake gets. From long before the white man invaded the Grande Rhonde Valley, Native Americans used the healing waters of Hot Lake for it curative powers. When the entrepeneur Americans entered the valley they started building beside the lake. The late 19th century brought the Sanatarium to Europe and America, and the Hot Lake Sanatarium emerged. A number of names emerged from Hot Lake, but perhaps the one best featured in "The Hot Lake Story" is Dr. William T. Phy. Dr. Phy died young, at only 57, but he left a lot of history in Eastern Oregon and a lot of the story line in the book concerns Dr. Phy. Thousands of people over the years came to Hot Lake for the healing and restorative powers of the lake. Mud baths were popular. By the time the brick addition was completed in 1906 they had room for over 300 patients. Hot Lake had it's own award winning dairy and they grew much of their own food. No wonder it was refered to as a city under one roof! In some material from the era it is even refered to as the Mayo Clinic of the West.

Hot Lake was on the Oregon Trail and was a rest area for weary travelers. Then came the railroad. Hot Lake was a stop on the Union Pacific Railroad. Then came the highway, US 30, and again Hot Lake was there for the traveler. Until the freeway system changed the configuration of highways in the 1950 Hot Lake was on the lips of travelers. But when the freeway was built they moved it away from the eastern end of the Grande Rounde Valley and took it up through Ladd Canyon. With that move things changed at Hot Lake. But enough said. The story is all there in the book. Its available at Heritage Quest Press, PO Box 24, Orting, WA 98360. (360) 893-5363. It's available, all 474 pages of it, in both hard and soft covers from $64.95 + shipping. A supplement is in the works and should be available by the end of April, perhaps sooner.