MINAM –

This tiny, unincorporated community that sits at the confluence of the Wallowa and Minam rivers and serves as the boundary between Union and Wallowa counties has been at the beginning and the end of many adventures throughout its history.

Most people who drive through the wide spot along Highway 82 don’t know it was once a thriving community with a school, two sawmills, a large store and nearly 30 families.

A plat map of Minam City was approved in 1907 and shows three avenues running roughly parallel to the Wallowa River with Main Street and Bridge Street intersecting them.

The railroad arrived in 1908 and between then and 1919 there were three sawmills in the area, a store and rooming house. In 1919 a new sawmill was built, employing 20 men, fed by a splash dam 35 miles up the Minam River. More than 4 million board feet of logs were sent to the mill at Minam in 1924 before it was closed in 1928.

In 1925 a third store was built on the east side of the Wallowa River. It had a dance hall on the second floor where well-remembered social gatherings were held. This building was torn down in 1962 to make room for highway improvements.

Logs were hauled out of Minam by rail in the 1930s and a mill was re-opened by Myron Fleser in 1946. The main office of the Minam Lumber Co. was situated in Wallowa where some of the mill’s employees lived and commuted to work in Minam. Others came from Elgin and from the 30 or so local families.

Fleser’s mill had record production of more than 5 million board feet in 1950, and employed up to 57 men. The mill operated until it burned down in 1951, according to “Gateway to the Wallowas” by Irene Barklow.

The Minam Motel, built and operated by the Flesers, was opened in 1952.

The only stoplight ever to have existed, even to this day, in Wallowa County was installed by the state highway department in 1962 where the highway passed under the railroad. It was intended to improve the safety of the narrow road where visibility was limited and was carefully monitored by state police, according to an account in Barklow’s book. It was removed when the route of the highway was changed.

The first school was built in Minam in 1912 and was a joint Union and Wallowa county district. A new school built in 1922 had a concrete foundation and was built to accommodate a growing community, but most of the families moved away when the Fleser mill burned down in 1951, according to “School Days in the Wallowas” by Barklow. The school house was bought in the ’70s by the late Chuck Fleser and was used as his residence.

The hustle and bustle of sawmills, planers, dance hall events and the activity of a school supported by 30

families have faded away. The streets and avenues of a busy city-town may be a dream that never came true, but Minam is not dead. Its heart is beating to the rhythm of a different drum these days.

In 2006 Chuck Fleser and a partner bought the Minam Motel built by Myron Fleser. The motel is a gathering place for hunters, fishermen, kayakers, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. There are eight rooms in the motel, four with kitchenettes, and accommodation for 30 guests.

In 2005 part of the building was remodeled to include a small market where fishing and hunting licenses, beer, bait, snacks and ice are available. Artists Steve Arment and Ada Fredrics created carved wooden exterior doors for each unit depicting outdoor scenes of Minam from historic Fleser family photographs.

According to motel manager Kate Nesbitt, the motel continues to be improved each season. The rooms are rustic with views of the Wallowa River and the surrounding wilderness. Started by Chuck Fleser in 2005, the motel, with the Wallowa Union Railroad and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, offers fishing by rail down the Wallowa, a wild and scenic waterway. The train leaves from Minam early in the morning and refreshments are available on the train. Fishermen will have 10 miles of river in which to fish and commune with nature. The Wallowa River Canyon has been described as one of the best steelhead and trout fishing areas in the West.

“We are a destination joint, very folksy,” Nesbitt says. “We’ve built a niche here. There is a great trout fishery. Generations of people return to fish every year. We get people from Wallowa and Union counties, western and central Oregon, Idaho, Washington, California.”

During steelhead season in February and March, rail trips are available on Saturdays and Sundays; weekends in August and September are scheduled for trout season fishing trips. For Eaglecap Excursion Train schedules and trip descriptions log on to www.eaglecaptrain.com.

Minam is a popular put-in for river raft trips down the Wallowa River. Winding Waters River Expeditions out of Joseph offers a unique vacation experience called the River to Rails Expedition. It includes rafting down the roadless Wallowa River from Minam to the confluence of the Grande Ronde River where the rafters meet up with the excursion train for a scenic ride back up the canyon to Minam. There is the option of a weekend getaway package or a one day expedition.

These trips are offered from May through early August depending on river flows. Rafters can choose from several craft options. Single-person inflatable kayak, multi-person paddle raft or a ride in the guide boat are all available.

“We enjoy easygoing Class II whitewater, incredible scenery, a delicious riverside lunch as well as opportunities to view wildlife such as bighorn sheep, bald eagles, osprey, deer, river otters and sometimes black bears,” says Paul Arentsen, owner of Winding Waters River Expeditions. For more information about Winding Waters Expeditions and the adventures it offers, go to www.windingwatersrafting.com.

Minam State Park is just a few miles north of Minam. It is open from March to November with 12 primitive campsites. The park is situated in a steep valley where the Wallowa River flows through on its way to meet the Grande Ronde River. Pine forests and spring wildflowers grace the area. Fishing and rafting and swimming are all possible in this remote and peaceful park. For those who crave a hot shower and a bed after camping, the Minam Motel, a couple of miles away, can fill that need.

Minam is situated on Highway 82 about 21 miles east of Elgin. Traveling from Joseph, through Enterprise and Wallowa where the highway follows the Wallowa River, it is 43 scenic miles to Minam, a good resting place between La Grande and Wallowa County.