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ENTERPRISE – Each year Hells Canyon Mule Days marks the end of

Wallowa County’s summer with a big bang. In its 30th year, the event

didn’t disappoint.

“Always the weekend after Labor Day” has defined Mule Days as a fixture on the summer schedule of events.

Contestants and vendors checked in Thursday afternoon at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds. The gates opened at 9 a.m. and events started in the arena with team roping at 1 p.m.

Saturday the annual parade showcased mules and riders and mule-drawn wagons and carts. Mule Days organizer Sondra Lozier rode in an open-air wagon with grand marshals Biden and Betty Tippett.

Biden is one of five children raised on a cattle ranch at the mouth of Joseph Creek on the Snake River. Mules were an important part of Biden’s life from early on as a main source of transportation. Mules were also used to bring supplies into the isolated ranch.

Betty was born in Wallowa and moved to Enterprise with her family including her parents, an older sister, Claudine, and younger brother, Mitch, when she was two.

Biden and Betty married in 1948 and raised two children, Donna and Casey on their Jim Creek Ranch. After the children were school age they split their time between Enterprise and the ranch.

In 1992 the Jim Creek Ranch was sold to the U.S. Forest Service. Biden and Betty continue ranching in Wallowa County with son Casey and grandsons Quinton and Grady.

Honorary grand marshal for the 2010 Mule Days celebration was Ben Tippett. He was born in Nez Perce County, Wash., but his Wallowa County roots trace back to his grandparents who homesteaded in the Chesnimnus country.

After serving four years in the Air Force, Ben worked for his cousin, Jack Tippett, on Joseph Creek and for a rancher named Audet on Prairie Creek. Later, he worked for his cousin Doug Tippett on the Dug Bar Ranch on the Snake River.

He married Jackie Kingsford, who also worked on the Dug Bar Ranch. Along with ranching, together they helped with Doug’s guide service packing mules along the Snake.

Ben and Jackie raised four children, Stephanie, Sarah, Zack and Seth. Jackie has since passed away from cancer and Ben continues to ranch on Liberty Road and works for the Associated Ditch Co.

Mule Days rodeo events entertained hundreds Thursday, Friday and Saturday under summer skies. Vendors graced the fairgrounds greens offering custom boots, hats, saddles and burgers at both the concession stand and an outdoor barbecue area run by Angie and Todd Nash of the Marr Flat Cattle Co.

The return of summer weather was welcome to locals and visitors alike and boosted the attendance of a favorite Wallowa County end of summer event.

The following are parade results for the 2010 Hells Canyon Mule Days:

Western Working Mules: first place, Dennis and Peggy Brennan, Enterprise, and Dick Walker, Union.

Mounted, Individual: first place, Brian Adelhart, Joseph; second place, Tom Knoll,Hayden, Idaho.

Junior, 13 and younger: first place, Eagle Cap Wilderness Pack Station Serenade Gorbett,Joseph.

Short String Rider and one through three: first place, Les Erickson, Dalton Garden, Idaho.

Horse Team Drawn Vehicle: first place, Randy and Kathy Verman, Lostine.

Mounted, Group: first place, Rock ‘N” L Ranch, Midvale, Idaho; second place, John and Bobbe Steinbrecker, Powell Butte.

Parent/Child riding Mules: first place, Morgan Anderson and Renee Grandi, Enterprise; second place, John and Ceila Moyer, Heppner; Sara, Dani, Kodi and Ceila Bates, Haines.

Merchant/Club: first place, Carolyn Witty, “Barking Mad Farm Bed and Breakfast Women with Hat-i-tude,” Enterprise; second place, Mighty Mutts 4-H Club, Wallowa County.

Comedy/Costume: first place, Emily Faulk, Aspen and Chole Birkmaier, “Indian Captive,” Summerville.

Mule Team Drawn Vehicle: first place, Kim Peterson, six and up team, Winnemucca, Nev.; second place, U.S. Forest Service, John Hollenbeck, Joseph.

Non-Equestrian-Foot Power: first place: Jane Wentzel and Friends, Medical Springs.