Oregon

What’s the oldest bar in Oregon? Finding it was harder than you’d think

Published

2 months ago

May 15, 2024

What’s the oldest bar in Oregon? Finding it was harder than you’d think

The Rainbow shown in a 2009 file photo, where it’s clear not much has changed. (Torsten Kjellstrand/LC-)

For as long as anyone can remember, the Rainbow Cafe in downtown Pendleton has made a unique claim to fame: The oldest bar in Oregon. It’s on the Rainbow’s menus, website and the T-shirts for sale at the bar.

Portlanders might disagree and point to Huber’s Café, founded in 1879 – but the Pendleton bar claims a key distinction. The Rainbow, its owners said, is the oldest continuously operating tavern location in the state, having served out of the same brick building since 1883. Huber’s moved buildings several times before landing at its current home in 1910.

But there’s at least one other bar that claims to have been founded in 1883 and never moved – the Pioneer Saloon in the tiny, southern Oregon town of Paisley.

Were there other saloons and taverns just as old across the state? I decided to investigate and determine which might actually be the oldest.

But first, a caveat: During the Prohibition years, alcohol sales were banned. In Oregon, statewide prohibition took effect in 1916 — three years before the ratification of the 18th Amendment made the entire country dry, until its repeal in 1933. During those years, these establishments didn’t close but continued as either restaurants, stores, or pool halls. (Could you still buy booze on the side? Very possibly.)

Other contenders

I put out a call on The Oregonian’s social media accounts, and readers suggested other historic bar locations throughout the state that might be the oldest. Most of these bars didn’t claim an earlier founding date than the 1880s. There’s Mac’s Place in Silverton (1890), the Imnaha Store and Tavern in eastern Oregon (1904) and Luckey’s in Eugene (1911). The Portway Tavern in Astoria says it’s the “oldest watering hole in the oldest settlement west of the Rockies,” and while Astoria was founded in 1811, the tavern opened in 1923.

Trails End Saloon in Oregon City is located inside an old building, but the current iteration of the bar there was established in 1992.

It’s the same with the Bella Union in Jacksonville. While named for a bar from the 1800s, it’s only been open in its current form since 1988.

red brick building with words Baldwin Saloon across the top — The Baldwin Saloon in The Dalles claims to have first opened in 1876. (Courtesy of Sunshine Mill)

Baldwin Saloon in The Dalles claimed it was founded in 1876, and there’s some supporting evidence for this. An 1878 article in The Oregonian describes how a man in The Dalles, arrested for robbing Baldwin Saloon, killed his accused accomplice while they were both in jail.

That gets us pretty close to the 1876 founding date, but the saloon didn’t last. The building served as a steamboat company office and coffin storage for a mortuary before new owners opened a tavern there in 1991 using the historic Baldwin Saloon name.

Sadly, Baldwin Saloon closed during the pandemic, but its owners, who also own Sunshine Mill in The Dalles, said the saloon was likely to reopen sometime this year.

two story white wood building with balcony across second floor — The Wolf Creek Inn State Heritage Site, in a file photo from 2012. (Thomas Boyd, Thomas Boyd, Thomas Boyd/Thomas Boyd/ The Oregonian)

Another possibility was the Wolf Creek Inn & Tavern, also founded in 1883. About 20 miles north of Grants Pass, it’s the oldest continuously operating hotel in Oregon.

But the name is deceiving. In a story about Wolf Creek for Offbeat Oregon, author Finn J.D. John writes that the word “tavern” used to refer to a place that offered overnight lodging, not necessary alcohol. Wolf Creek Tavern was built by Henry Smith, who was famously a teetotaler. A 1936 feature on the hotel in The Oregonian confirmed that in its early years, the tavern didn’t serve alcohol.

Rainbow Cafe The Rainbow Cafe has been located in the same building in downtown Pendleton since 1883. It’s one of the oldest bars in Oregon. (Samantha Swindler)

Rainbow Cafe

The story goes that the Rainbow Cafe opened in 1883 as The State Saloon, a sometimes rough and tumble establishment where its owner was fatally shot in 1899. Today, the Rainbow has all the hallmarks of an Old West tavern, with a long bar on one side of the wall, wooden booths lining the other, and memorabilia of past Pendleton Roundups plastered along the walls.

In Pendleton, one of the best primary sources for local history is the East Oregonian newspaper, which has been chronicling life in Umatilla County since 1875. Official records from 1883 are scarce, but I hoped to find a newspaper mention of the saloon’s opening.

Most editions from the time period haven’t been digitized for online searching. Fortunately, the publisher of The East Oregonian, Kathryn B. Brown, allowed me access to the newspaper’s archive room, which contains walls of bound copies of the newspaper dating to the 1800s.

It was a tedious task. Early newspapers didn’t always use headlines for local news briefs, and I spent the better part of two days scanning tiny newsprint.

I started with the year 1880, when the building that today houses the Rainbow Cafe was built by Thomas Milarkey. A brief article from June 26, 1880, said he was building a “two-story brick.” The building today is believed to be the first brick commercial building constructed in downtown Pendleton.

Work was completed that year, and the Jan. 1, 1881, edition of the newspaper contained an ad for the opening of Sommerville & Raley’s drug store “at the new brick store.”

I scanned every edition over the next few years. Stories and advertisements rarely used addresses, but because the building was unique, it was often referred to as “Milarkey’s brick.”

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The Rainbow Café is one of two bars in Oregon that claims to have been located in the same location since 1883. But an investigation into historical documents puts that claim in doubt! Here’s part two into our look at the “oldest bar in Oregon.” oregon oregonhistory pendleton foryou foryourpage
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By following advertisements and notices on sales of businesses and dissolution of partnerships, I followed through the years as the store became Raley’s Drugs, Robbin’s City Drug Store, Farrow & Turner’s store with E.P. Nichols selling watches inside, and F. J. Donaldson’s City Drug Store. The upstairs held offices, at times occupied by attorneys or dentists. Through at least 1889, the location was never described as a saloon.

And then: On Feb. 15, 1889, the newspaper reported that “F.J. Donaldson’s stock of goods was yesterday entirely removed to his new stand next door, and he and his clerks are now as busy as bees arraying it in an orderly manner.” A few days later on Feb. 21, the paper reported, “The flooring of the building recently vacated by F.J. Donaldson is being raised to conform to the established grade of the sidewalk outside.”

And that’s about as far as I got in the archives before I ran out of time. There was no evidence of a saloon.

I later found two other sources that seem to confirm the space was not a saloon in the 1880s.

line drawing of a downtown street corner showing three buildings, at the center a brick building housing a watchmaker and general store — An image titled “Umatilla County” that appeared in The West Shore, Vol. XI, No. 1, January 1885, p. 7. It shows at center the building that would become home to the Rainbow Cafe (John Wilson Special Collection/ Multnomah County Library)

Author Vic J. Kucera wrote the meticulously researched Pendleton book “Rivoli: The rise of public halls, opera houses and film theaters amid saloons, gambling halls, brothels and opium dens.” It includes an 1885 drawing from the John Wilson Special Collections at the Multnomah County Central Library showing Pendleton’s corner of Main and Court streets, with signs for E.P. Nichols and Farrow & Turner above the door of Milarkey’s brick.

Kucera also suggested I check old fire insurance maps to see what kinds of businesses were operating in various buildings in a given year. The fire insurance maps for Pendleton, available online through the Library of Congress, show that the Rainbow Cafe building was still a general store in May 1889.

The next available fire insurance map from 1896 does indeed list the spot as a saloon.

I also found an 1890 city directory at the Pendleton Library that lists the location — at the time, the address was 725 Main St. — as a business owned by James Marston selling “cigars and tobacco.”

A few more days in the East Oregonian archives might be able to confirm this, but it seems the Rainbow Cafe location became a saloon sometime between 1890 and 1896.

Pioneer Saloon Owner John Steffes behind the bar at the Pioneer Saloon. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian)

Pioneer Saloon

The next stop on this quest was the Pioneer Saloon in Paisley in southern Oregon, a five and a half hour drive from Portland. The Pioneer appears little changed since the 19th century. It, too, has an antique bar and memorabilia of Paisley’s ranching and sheep herding families hung along the walls. (And it’s for sale, if you’d like to own it.)

Brenda Morgan, a local historian, got interested in the saloon while researching her ancestors. The Pioneer’s first owner was William Henry Miller, whose widow would go on to marry Morgan’s great uncle.

Miller was killed after being thrown from a horse on May 30, 1883 – a tragedy that turned out to be helpful to research. After Miller’s death, his estate went into probate, and an inventory was made of all his real and personal property. These court records still exist today, in the basement of the Lake County Courthouse.

There, Morgan found a list of Miller’s assets, which included a saloon building at the southeast corner of Lot 3 in the town of Paisley — exactly where the Pioneer stands today. The inventory also included furniture and bar fixtures (valued at $65), a billiard table ($300), six gallons of gin ($3 a gallon), 14 gallons of whiskey ($4 a gallon) and 4,000 cigars ($25).

L. John Saylor was the saloon’s bartender, and after Miller’s death, Saylor wrote to the estate seeking $53 for “one and one half months labor keeping saloon at Paisley, Oregon” throughout the months of April and May.

handwritten paper court records from 1883 from the estate of W.H. Miller — Handwritten court records from 1883 in the Lake County Courthouse prove W.H. Miller’s saloon existed in Paisley at the time. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian)

This confirms the saloon is at least as old as April 1883, but it could be older. Miller purchased the property where the saloon was located in 1880.

“He honestly could have been operating the bar before this,” Morgan said. “He might have been selling booze out of the back of his wagon or a tent or whatever just to get by.”

We don’t know exactly when the saloon was built. Deeds just list the property, not what was on it. Building permits weren’t needed at the time. The Lake County assessor said tax records from the 1880s haven’t been preserved. We also don’t have records of liquor licenses from those years.

But there is one clue that could date the bar as even older.

The Oct. 2, 1882, edition of The Oregonian contained an article titled “A New Oregon Town” about the attributes of Paisley, founded in 1879.

“Paisley has now a population of about 200. It has two general merchandise stores, two blacksmith shops, one excellently furnished and fitted saloon, and a photograph gallery,” the article states.

The story doesn’t include the name of the saloon or its owner, but Miller’s bar did have a pricey pool table. Was that part of an excellently furnish and fitted saloon? We might never know for certain.

Huber’s Cafe Terry Barton, who’s been a bartender at Huber’s Cafe for 35 years, prepares the restaurant’s signature cocktail – a Spanish coffee. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian)

Huber’s Café

From a plywood-floor barroom in rural Paisley to a mahogany-paneled dining room in downtown Portland, the Pioneer Saloon and Huber’s Café could not be more different.

Notably, Huber’s does not claim to be Portland’s oldest bar, but Portland’s oldest restaurant. And the vibe here is very much not a saloon, although that’s the name it started under.

Huber’s opened in 1879 as the Bureau Saloon at the corner of First and Morrison. According to an article in The Oregonian, Frank Huber was hired as a Bureau bartender in 1884. He purchased the business a few years later and renamed it Huber’s in 1895.

In 1891, Huber hired Jim Louie, a Chinese immigrant also known as Louie Way Fung, as his chef.

Family lore holds that Jim Louie immigrated to Oregon in 1881 from Taishan in Guangdong Province as a stowaway aboard a clipper ship. He was 11 years old.

“It was a pretty gutsy thing for him, to board a clipper ship and sail to America,” said his great nephew James Louie. “But God smiled upon him, and he was able to get hired by a French woman who owned a bakery. At first, Great Uncle Jim just swept the floors, washed the pots and pans. But eventually she taught him how to bake.”

That would be the beginning of Jim Louie’s culinary career. After he was hired to cook at the Bureau, he introduced the turkey dinners that are still the most popular menu item today.

In 1910, Huber’s moved into the then-new Railway Exchange Building at Southwest Third Avenue and Stark Street (now Harvey Milk Street.) The café is located in the heart of the building, with no exterior windows. Natural light filters in from the building’s inner courtyard through the stained-glass ceiling.

“The theory was that businessmen could come down on their coffee break and have a martini instead and not have their bosses see them from the street,” James Louie said.

When Frank Huber died in 1911, his widow, Augusta Huber, inherited the business, and Jim Louie took over management. During Prohibition, Huber’s became a restaurant, though, James Louie said, “you could still get a Manhattan in a coffee cup if Great Uncle Jim knew who you were.”

In 1940, Augusta Huber died, and her son, John Huber, inherited the business.

“John Huber was so kind, gracious and generous to my great uncle, he sold him half ownership for a dollar,” James Louie said.

Jim Louie died in 1946, at the restaurant, from what was believed to be a heart attack.

“The newspaper articles say he died at home, and it’s partly because we were concerned that if we said he died here at the restaurant, it might hurt business,” James Louie said.

Jim Louie’s nephew, Andrew Louie, inherited half the business, and in 1952, he bought out the Huber family. Andrew Louie’s sons, James and Dave, run the restaurant today.

The coleslaw is still made using Jim Louie’s original recipe. In addition to turkey dishes, Huber’s is also famous for its flaming Spanish coffee cocktails, prepared table side. A portrait of Jim Louie, carving a turkey, hangs over the dining room.

Over the years, there were opportunities to expand or open other Huber’s locations, James Louie said, “But, for me, I want to operate one special place. I really wasn’t interested in operating a chain.”

And when you’ve been making turkey dinners and Spanish coffees longer than any other restaurant or bar in Oregon, that’s something special.

— Samantha Swindler covers features for The Oregonian/OregonLive and Here is Oregon. Reach her at sswindler@oregonian.com.

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Oregon

‘A phenomenal team’: Oregon’s Dan Lanning, players give Michigan respect at Big Ten Media Days

Published

2 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Press Room

‘A phenomenal team’: Oregon’s Dan Lanning, players give Michigan respect at Big Ten Media Days

The expanded Big Ten will provide several matchups between powerhouse programs in college football this season, and one of the most highly anticipated will be Oregon at Michigan on Nov. 2 in the Big House.

As the reigning national champions, the Wolverines drew a lot of respect from Oregon head coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks’ three player representatives at Big Ten Media Days this week.

“Yeah, obviously, a phenomenal team,” Lanning said of Michigan. “There’s a reason they were able to win so many games last year, and they’ve done a great job building a program there. It’s got a storied history. It should be one that we’re really pumped to be a part of.”

Oregon quarteback Dillon Gabriel, who’s entering his sixth season of eligibility after previous stops at UCF and Oklahoma, has played in a lot of big game and big environments during his college career, including at the Cotton Bowl in the Red River Shootout against Texas last year. Gabriel says “it’s been a bunch of fun” playing in games like that, and he’s looking forward to another bigtime matchup against Michigan.

“Great program, historic,” Gabriel said of the Wolverines. “Obviously, what they did last year was extremely impressive. Just the way they’ve played and consistently doing it. As a guy who’s in college football, you respect it and realize how hard it is to do.”

Ducks linebacker Jeffrey Bassa respects the attitude and mentality that Michigan plays with, and looks forward to the challenge of facing the reigning national champions in Ann Arbor.

“Making that trip is going to be eye-opening, it’s going to be great,” Bassa said. “And I know we play them late in the season, it might be a little bit cold, so we better be — I know we’re going to be ready to buckle up.

“I think [Jim] Harbaugh did a great job last year and Coach [Sherrone] Moore this year is doing a great job coaching that team and leading that team. I know they’re a team that’s built on steak and potatoes. Like, they’re going to tell you that they’re going to run the ball, and their going to run the ball on offense. They might throw the ball here and there, but their mentality is going to be mano a mano, we’re better than you, we want to run the ball, right? So, we’ve just got to buckle up and be ready for that. I know they’re a team built on grit and toughness, so I’m ready to face them.”

Finally, Oregon tight end Terrence Ferguson wants to play against the best players and best teams in the country, and that’s what excites him about matching up with the Wolverines. He’s also looking forward to his first game at Michigan Stadium.

“It has a lot of history,” Ferguson said. “The Big House is, obviously, huge. It holds a lot of people, it holds a lot of history. Obviously, they’re the reigning champs and that puts a target on their back for everyone. But, I’m just excited to play against them. They have a lot of talented players on defense and offense. So, really just being able to go compete against the best players is what I look forward to. And it’s a cool place to play, so I’m excited.”

While they won’t be on the field at the same time, Ferguson is also looking forward to competing against Michigan tight end Colston Loveland, not only in that game but throughout the season.

“He’s a great player,” Ferguson said of Loveland. “I love his game. He’s a super athletic guy. I think he tracks the ball well, he plays fast. I like him and he’s a great player. I have a lot of respect for that guy.”

– Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –

Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck credits Michigan in opening statement at Media Days

‘That’s pretty damn cool’: Lincoln Riley excited for USC-Michigan matchup in 2024

Michigan football’s Makari Paige talks Rod Moore’s injury, transfer DBs

For additional coverage of University of Michigan athletics:

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Oregon

Oregon Ducks Tight End Terrance Ferguson’s Increasing Role, Chemistry With Dillon Gabriel

Published

9 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Press Room

Oregon Ducks Tight End Terrance Ferguson’s Increasing Role, Chemistry With Dillon Gabriel

Oregon football coach Dan Lanning has built a team ready to challenge some of the biggest, most physical college football teams in the country. While Heisman Trophy favorite, quarterback Dillon Gabriel, has grabbed a lion’s share of media attention in this story, senior tight end Terrance Ferguson stands ready to make some noise this fall as Oregon chases a Big Ten championship and a berth in the newly expanded College Football Playoffs.

Ferguson joined linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, and quarterback Gabriel on Big Ten Media day to answer questions about the Ducks, his decision to return to Oregon rather than leave for the NFL and his relationship with Gabriel.

Jul 25, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

The first question simply asked Ferguson about the kind of ball Gabriel throws. While he answered that “it’s a great ball,” Ferguson quickly changed the topic.

“(Gabriel) cares about everybody. I think that’s what makes him a good guy off the field.”

As to Ferguson’s situation, he acknowledged that he had to decide whether to return to Oregon for another year or make himself eligible for the NFL draft.

“I feel blessed to have had the decision to make,” said Ferguson. “(What) makes it easy to come back is when there are guys like this (Gabriel and Bassa) and all the transfers and people we have returning, like Jeff. We all have the same goal; we all want to win a national championship.”

Jul 25, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks linebacker Jeffrey Bassa speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

While Ferguson is clearly team motivated, he is likely to take on a bigger role in this explosive Ducks’ offense. Offensive coordinator Will Stein has raved about the 6-5, 255-pound Ferguson, with the goal to get him the ball more this fall and improve on his 42 receptions, 414 yards and six touchdowns from last season.

Additionally, Ferguson has quietly amassed some rather amazing statistics and stands to challenge the records set by previous Ducks’ tight ends. Consider that he enters 2024 with 91 career receptions, just 33 away from the program record of 124 (Ed Dickson). His 13 touchdowns are just two behind Josh Wilcox record of 15. Ferguson’s 42 receptions last year tied for second-most by a UO tight end in single-season history, just one back of the single-season record of 43, held by Dickson.

What also bodes well for Oregon’s offense is that Ferguson leads a mostly young, but talented tight end room. Senior Patrick Herbert (brother of former Duck star and fan favorite, Justin Herbert will also provide leadership and experience as he helps mentor players like sophomore Kenyon Sadiq who represents the fast-developing undergraduates. The abilities of these athletes in both the passing and running game make them instrumental to the Ducks’ success in 2024.

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Oregon

California’s Park Fire explodes to over 145,000 acres as Oregon firefighters battle nation’s largest active wildfire | CNN

Published

16 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Press Room

California’s Park Fire explodes to over 145,000 acres as Oregon firefighters battle nation’s largest active wildfire | CNN

CNN
—

Hot and dry weather is fueling wildfire activity in the Western United States and Canada, with fires damaging homes, causing injuries and forcing evacuations. The largest active wildfire in the US has scorched more than 280,000 acres in eastern Oregon and another blaze has exploded to over 145,000 acres in California. Here’s the latest:

• Man accused of starting California wildfire is arrested: A suspect has been arrested on suspicion of pushing a burning car 60 feet into a gully, “spreading flames” that caused what’s now become California’s largest wildfire of the year, authorities said. The Park Fire in the Butte County area has quickly burned an area larger than the size of Atlanta and is only 3% contained, according to Cal Fire.

• Park Fire explodes in size: By Thursday morning, the wildfire had burned an average of nearly 50 football fields per minute since starting Wednesday afternoon. The blaze has forced mandatory evacuations in Butte County, where the state’s deadliest wildfire, the Camp Fire, killed more than 85 people and destroyed thousands of homes in 2018. Conditions around the Park Fire continue to be difficult for the 1,153 firefighters battling the flames as dry air, warm temperatures and gusty winds linger over the area Thursday. The area is under a red flag warning until Friday evening.

• Three firefighters injured and structures damaged: Three firefighters had minor heat-related injuries on Wednesday while fighting the Park Fire, Cal Fire Captain Dan Collins told CNN Thursday. They were treated and released, he said. Officials know structures have been damaged or destroyed by the fire, but there is no official count yet, Collins said.

• Firefighters battle massive Oregon fire: The Durkee Fire, which has burned an area larger than the city of Indianapolis, started on July 17 near the Oregon-Idaho state line. The lightning-sparked fire is the largest of 34 large wildfires currently burning across Oregon, which has been the hardest hit by fires in recent days. Amid high temperatures, extremely dry vegetation and strong winds, the fire has grown tens of thousands of acres and is 20% contained as of Thursday night, according to InciWeb. More than 500 firefighters and resources from 22 states are working to fight the fire, according to InciWeb. Over the weekend and earlier this week, the Durkee Fire exhibited extreme fire behavior, even creating its own weather in the form of pyrocumulus clouds.

• Oregon wildfire destroys buildings: Three people were injured and two homes and 12 other structures were destroyed as the fire spread, according to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management. Evacuations are still in effect in Baker County for areas around the Durkee Fire. Some communities do not have power, according to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, who has deployed resources from the National Guard to assist. Dense smoke from the flames has also impeded traffic on Interstate 84, leading to periodic closure of the freeway. Wildfire smoke was spreading into Boise and beyond. Air quality alerts have been issued for parts of Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

• Wildfire engulfs tourist town in Canada: A fast-moving wildfire sent thousands of visitors and residents fleeing the town of Jasper in Alberta, where flames devastated up to half of the town’s structures. Officials say the losses are significant, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has deployed federal support to help battle the blaze. Cool temperatures and rain are expected to keep fire behavior low for the next 72 hours, which will help crews fight the blaze, Jasper National Park said on Facebook Thursday night.

• Fire-conducive weather continues in Western US: Triple-digit heat and dry conditions across the West this week have made conditions poor for firefighters actively fighting to contain the 89 large wildfires burning nationwide. “Many wildfires in the Northwest area continue to exhibit active to extreme fire behavior, with evacuation orders in effect on 17 wildfires. Several teams are managing multiple fire starts as complexes. Evacuation orders are also in effect for several fires in California, the Northern Rockies and the Great Basin,” the National Interagency Fire Center said. Conditions will begin to improve for much of the West over the weekend as cooler temperatures and higher humidity levels arrive in the area.

Some families have found themselves displaced as the Park Fire raged near Chico, a city in northern California, burning homes and forcing evacuations.

A former news anchor told CNN affiliate KOVR that she watched her Butte County house burn down live through security camera footage.

“There is no rhyme or reason. Our house is gone, their house is okay. The house next to it you can see it’s gone,” Julia Yarbough said.

Looking at the remnants of her home, Yarbough said she felt numb.

“It’s surreal,” she said. “It probably won’t hit me till later, I’m pretty sure.”

Triple-digit temperatures and high wind gusts have fueled the explosive growth of the Park Fire amid an active fire season in California. An estimated 343,253 acres have burned across the state so far in 2024, compared to 22,439 acres burned by this time last year, according to Cal Fire.

A 42-year-old man, identified as Ronnie Dean Stout II, has been arrested after being accused of igniting the inferno.

Witnesses reported seeing someone “pushing a car that was on fire into a gully near the Alligator Hole in upper Bidwell Park shortly before 3:00 p.m. yesterday,” Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Thursday. “The car went down an embankment approximately 60 feet and burned completely, spreading flames that caused the Park Fire.”

The DA says the man was seen “calmly leaving the area by blending in with the other citizens who were in the area and fleeing the rapidly evolving fire.” Stout was later arrested at a mobile home park in Chico, Ramsey said.

Stout will likely face an arson charge, though it is unclear what count, or whether any enhancements will be added, Ramsey said. The DA’s office told CNN Stout has not retained an attorney and will be assigned a public defender at his arraignment.

Horses evacuate as the Park Fire tears though the Cohasset community in Butte County, California, on July 25, 2024.

‘Wall of flames’ destroys homes and businesses in Canadian tourist town

In Jasper, a popular tourist town in Alberta, 25,000 residents and visitors were forced to evacuate from a fast-moving blaze that has damaged 30 to 50% of the town’s structures, officials said during a press conference on Thursday.

“Homes and businesses have been lost to a wildfire that people are calling a ‘wall of flames,’” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said.

An “enormous wind gust” moved the wildfire roughly about 3 miles in “probably less than 30 minutes,” Alberta Minister of Public Safety & Emergency Services Mike Ellis said during the press conference. This created “a wall of fire that was about 100 meters high.”

“Any firefighter will tell you there is little to nothing you can do when you have a wall of flames coming at you like that. Nobody anticipated that fire to come so fast, so large,” Ellis said.

Two wildfires converged in the Jasper National Park area, becoming what authorities are referring to as the Jasper Wildfire Complex. It remains difficult to measure exactly how big the complex – which also includes a third nearby fire – is due to extreme fire behavior and thick smoke cover. Together, the fires have swallowed an estimated 89,000 acres, the Jasper National Park said.

Damage wrought by the flames will result in “a significant rebuild and significant displacement,” Smith said. The most significant structural damage lies on the west side of town, according to a Facebook post from Jasper National Park.

“We will recover from this,” Smith said while holding back tears. “To those in Alberta and around the world who have experienced the magic of Jasper, the magic is not lost, and it never will be.”

The vast majority of evacuees were “visitors with other places to return to,” Ellis said. Along with about 5,000 residents who live in the town, 2.48 million people visited Jasper National Park last year.

Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said residents will work together to rebuild after the wildfire “ravaged our beloved community.”

“Your resilience and strength have always been the backbone of our community. In the coming days and weeks, we will rally together, support one another, and begin the daunting process of recovery,” Ireland said in a statement on Thursday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said all federal agencies are working together to provide resources to Jasper, support evacuations and strengthen response efforts on the ground.

“Our governments are working together to keep Albertans safe and supported through this,” he said on Facebook.

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