Noooooooooooo! A mistake was made and it was my fault
Mistake: An action which is misguided or wrong. A mistake is something or part of something which is incorrect or not right, also, an error, inaccuracy, slip, blunder, oversight, boo-boo, goof up. A mistake is something, a word, figure or fact which is not correct, an inaccuracy.
Mistakes are not supposed to happen in my writings, but, as they say, everyone makes them. Oh, my body shudders at the thought of, well, you guessed it, an error being made and discovered.
The following e-mail ended up in my inbox last Saturday: “I agree that Highway 21 has a hairpin turn, however in your article you indicate that it is in Grant County. The stretch of that highway from Wilbur to Keller Ferry is actually entirely in Lincoln County. I had to check Google Maps to make sure but I’m pretty sure that none of Highway 21 is in Grant County,” Rick Canterbury, Moses Lake.
How could this happen? Don’t know, don’t have an answer, except a mistake was made. I also consulted Google Maps, which is the source of the photo, but failed to double check the county.
This is troubling, not only because the blunder misleads current readers, but future readers will also be deceived. You see, this column has been used to teach history and a mistake makes me feel rather small. A big thank you to Rick for informing me of the error.
OK, so I’ve beaten myself up enough. Now it’s time to return to our regular programming.
E-mail from Cheryl
Facts from the past gleaned from the Moses Lake Herald, Columbia Basin Herald and The Neppel Record by Cheryl (Driggs) Elkins:
From the Columbia Basin Herald on Aug. 14, 1941
Moses Lake Store News
-Misses Belle and Etta Campbelle, also Mrs. Donald were callers at MacDonald Brothers Monday.
-Miss Mabel McMillan visited with the Misses Margaret Gene and Betty Mae Saunders, Wednesday.
-Finlay and John McDonald were Ephrata callers Friday, also Soap Lake.
-Donald Ewald is still in the harvest fields, hauling wheat.
-Mrs. Myra Ewald is at home after visiting several weeks with Mrs. Laing at Moses Lake and the Campbelle sisters at Warden.
-Swab Brothers have cut wheat for a number of people and have finished cutting 350 acres themselves. Yield is very good.
-Miss May E. Phinney called on MacDonald Brothers and sisters Saturday evening. She was going to Montana Sunday morning, taking her father along to visit his youngest daughter, Mrs. Whitehead.
-The rains have delayed Mr. Bault from cutting grain Tuesday.
-Mr. and Mrs. F. A. MacDonald and Mandell MacMillian Called on Myra Ewald Monday afternoon.
Dennis note: The spellings of names in this column are as they appear in the old newspapers. Sometimes the suspected or correct spelling is added in commas or otherwise by me.
For example: Campbelle was used twice and suspect this is the correct spelling, but wouldn’t stake my life on it. Finlay McDonald is mentioned as well as F. MacDonald. Which is correct? The name McMillan is used as well as the name MacMillian. Are these two-different people or of the same family?