WIGGINS FAMILY WITH WHITMAN COUNTY CONNECTIONS PLAYED MAJOR ROLE IN NORTHEASTERN OREGON'S CENTURY OLD WALLOWA LAKE LODGE FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS
By Jamie Hale, Oregonian, 6/25/2023 online. 8/6/2023 in print
There’s new life in the old Wallowa Lake Lodge.
Located in the far northeastern corner of Oregon, nestled into the trees at the southern end of Wallowa Lake, pressed up against the towering Wallowa Mountains, the historic lodge is celebrating its 100th birthday emerging from something of an identity crisis.
General manager Madeline Lau, who took over in 2019, said the lodge had been transitioning out of an era spent as a quiet mountain retreat for travelers, reemerging as a hub of activity for locals and tourists alike. In the last few decades, locals rarely visited, she said, and the lodge ceased to be a part of the community.
“In our community, if a business isn’t supported and used by locals, it won’t last very long,” Lau said.
First built in 1923, when it was accessible only by boat, the lodge was part of an ambitious development at the south end of Wallowa Lake that offered restaurants, a dance hall, a skating rink and access to unparalleled natural beauty. In 1935, The Oregon Journal called it the “center of recreational and social activity” in the Wallowas, a region the newspaper called “the Switzerland of America.”
Today, the lodge is one part of a bustling tourism hub that includes Wallowa Lake State Park, the Wallowa Lake Tramway and a number of cabins, hotels and campsites.
The lodge’s 22 rooms are available during the open season, from Memorial Day to the end of September. A group of eight cabins, open year round, are also available on the property. Guests can dine at the lodge’s restaurant, The Camas Room, from Thursday to Sunday for dinner or daily for breakfast. A lobby bar, The Redd, serves drinks and small plates from 1 to 9 p.m. every day.
It’s also a place where guests might find live music, yoga classes or presentations on local history. Occasionally people throw weddings or reunions there. Even on normal weekend, it’s meant to be a gathering place, rather than just someplace for tourists to sleep.
“We know that visitors from out of town love coming here and love using the lodge,” Lau said. “But to know that the locals are using it too is huge.”
With its many social amenities, the Wallowa Lake Lodge sounds like a lot of newer boutique hotels popping up across the Pacific Northwest. But here there’s a twist: the 100-year old building itself.
Structures this old often run into a Ship of Theseus dilemma: If you replace all the floorboards, the walls, the beams, is it still the same building as before? But the Wallowa Lake Lodge has yet to reach that point. In some ways, it very much shows its age: The ceiling occasionally leaks, the roof needs replacing and the old stone chimney is slowly coming undone.
“It’s like never ending maintenance in this space,” Lau said. “Honestly I’m not going to say, ‘what’s the next 100 years look like,’ because I really, truly don’t believe this building has another 100 years in it. But at least, what does the next 10 years look like and where do we want to go from here?”
Lau, who came aboard in 2019, has already accomplished a lot. In just the last few years, she oversaw the rebuilding and expansion of the deck, overhauled the restaurant and bar menus, and evicted a colony of bats that had been living in the attic for generations. Lau also overhauled the lodge’s décor. She painted beige walls white, replaced old floral comforters, swapped out art, and removed what she called “brothel-y” curtains and lamps.
The trick, she said, was bringing the Wallowa Lake Lodge into the 21st century without losing its rustic charm. And while she wanted to make the rooms cozy, she’s also made a concerted effort to nudge people to the communal spaces. On any given summer day, you may see people reading in the lounge, drinking at the bar, hanging out on the deck or playing games on the lawn.
Slowly but surely, those spaces have been populated not just by travelers but by locals as well, the result of what Lau said was the best form of advertisement in a small town: word of mouth.
“To know that the locals are using it too is huge,” she said. “Our goal is to be as accessible as possible to the widest number of people. So, for me the lodge belongs to everyone. I want everyone to come here.”
It’s something of a return to form for the Wallowa Lake Lodge, which has gone through several changes in its century of use.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the lodge survived brutal winter storms, flooding, economic fluctuations and war. The Wiggins family, which owned the lodge for nearly 45 years, oversaw additions to the building, construction of new cabins and the ceding of some property for what would become Wallowa Lake State Park. They sold the lodge in 1988 to a trio of owners who refocused on creating a quiet retreat for travelers, which lasted for another 28 years.
In 2015, following the sudden death of one of the owners, the lodge was put up for sale, spurring fears locally of an outside hotel chain swooping in and demolishing the old building. Instead, a group of more than 100 local investors, including the Nez Perce Tribe, raised $3.1 million to purchase the place, running the Wallowa Lake Lodge with a board of managers.
In 2020, the tribe secured a conservation easement on the property that protects the land there from further development, essentially locking in the existing footprint of the lodge. That land is known to the Nimiipuu people as Waakak’amkt, or “where the braided stream disappears into the water,” according to the tribe.
“The main reason we have wanted this easement is for protection of the inlet for sockeye salmon and protecting the waters and the habitat around that area expressly for sockeye reintroduction and for the fisheries,” Shannon Wheeler, Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee chairman, told the Wallowa County Chieftan in 2020. “The other reason — it’s a place that’s very meaningful to the tribe.”
The easement also serves to maintain the Wallowa Lake Lodge’s focus on working with what it has, instead of expanding further onto its 9-acre property. And while that means more headaches maintaining the aging building, Lau said the efforts are rewarded by seeing the lodge continue to be a community gathering space, where she hopes people of different cultures and backgrounds can commingle.
“I’m proud of our community, I love the people that live here. I think we’re a unique place with a unique set of values and a unique idealogy,” Lau said.
She said her 10-year-old son liked to call the lodge “the heirloom of Wallowa County,” and while he might be right, she’s bothered by the implication that the building is some treasured possession that’s rarely used, like an antique China hutch or an old wardrobe.
“We want Wallowa County’s heirloom to be an heirloom that Wallowa County uses,” Lays said. “And people are.”
PHOTO The Wallowa Lake Lodge, originally constructed in 1923, still serves tourists and locals on the south end of Wallowa Lake in Joseph .Jamie Hale Oregonian
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IN SUMMER 2023, WALLOWA LAKE LODGE IN JOSEPH, OREGON, CELEBRATES 100th BIRTHDAY.
WIGGINS FAMILY WITH WHITMAN COUNTY CONNECTIONS PLAYED MAJOR ROLE IN LODGE FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS
Story (beneath the photo) from the summer of 2023 in the Portland Oregonian newspaper celebrates the 100th birthday of Wallowa Lake Lodge in Joseph, Wallowa County, Oregon.
Included in the story is the fact the Wiggins family owned the lodge for nearly 45 years, “oversaw additions to the building, construction of new cabins and the ceding of some property for what would become Wallowa Lake State Park. They sold the lodge in 1988 ...”
The Wiggins’ connections include to …
- Colton, Whitman County, Washington
- Johnson, Whitman County, Washington – Johnson High School
- Pullman, Whitman County, Washington – Pullman High School, Washington State College, Washington State University
- Thornton, Whitman County, Washington
- Clarkston, Asotin County, Washington
- Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon
- Joseph, Wallowa County, Oregon
What follows is info -- most of it obituaries -- which tells you of those connections …
LELAND ROY WIGGINS, 71, OF PULLMAN, RETIRED FROM WSU
- Updated
PULLMAN -- Leland Roy Wiggins, retired assistant director of Washington State University Housing and Food Services, died of a heart attack Friday at Pullman Memorial Hospital. He was 71.
Wiggins retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1963 after 20 years with the U.S. Air Force. He then moved to Pullman and was employed at WSU until retiring in 1986.
He was born July 2, 1921, at Thornton, Wash., to Lee Roy and Irene Babcock Wiggins. He attended Johnson Grade School and graduated from Pullman High School in 1938.
He attended Washington State University until entering the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1943. He served until 1945, and then received a military extension to complete his college studies. He graduated from WSU in 1947 and returned to service.
He served in the China, Burma and India theaters, and in Japan during the Korean War.
One of his military accomplishments included flying over ''The Hump,'' or the Himalaya Mountains, which was considered quite a feat during those war years.
For a time, Wiggins served in the Military Airlift Transportation Service and was assigned for periods at the Institute of Technology and at Boeing Co. as a military consultant.
He and Barbara Tippett were married at Lewiston in 1948 and later were divorced.
He was a member of the WSU Cougar Club, WSU Alumni Association, Moscow Elks Lodge, Retired Officers Association and the Fairchild Officers Club. He served on the Cougar Hall of Fame selection committee and was a strong supporter of WSU athletics.
He is survived by two sons, Tony L. Wiggins of Tempe, Ariz., and Brett J. Wiggins of Honolulu, Hawaii; his mother, Irene Wiggins of Clarkston; two brothers, Robert W. Wiggins and Duane L. Wiggins, both of Wallowa Lake, Ore.; and one granddaughter.
The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Kimball Funeral Home at Pullman. Burial will be with military honors at the Colton City Cemetery.
The family suggests memorials be contributions to the WSU Foundation for the varsity baseball program or to the Pullman Public Library.
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IRENE WIGGINS OF CLARKSTON,
RETIRED HOTELIER
·Dec 23, 1993 Updated March 26, 2013 Lewiston Trib
Irene Babcock Wiggins, a Clarkston resident and the retired owner of Wallowa Lake Lodge near Joseph, Ore., died of causes related to age Wednesday at Tri-State Convalescent Center at Clarkston. She was 94.
She was born Oct. 29, 1899, at Flora, Ill., to Lyman T. and Allie Jane Babcock.
When she was 10, the family moved to Whitman County and she graduated from Johnson High School in 1916. She enrolled in Washington State College (now Washington State University) at Pullman when she was 16 and obtained her teaching certificate two years later.
She taught for a year at Thornton, Wash., and returned to WSC for a year. While in the college, she excelled in intramural sports, including badminton, basketball, sprinting and hurdling.
In October 1920, she married Roy Wiggins at Thornton. She returned to college at WSC and graduated in 1926.
She taught English, Spanish and women's athletics in the Pullman area, while she and her husband farmed at Colton. They were later separated.
In 1945, she purchased the Wallowa Lake Lodge near Joseph, Ore., and, with the help of her sons, and later her grandsons, built it into a thriving summer resort.
She remained active at the lodge until 1980, when she retired.
She lived at Evergreen Estates at Clarkston for the past two years.
Her hobbies included horses, reading, traveling and spending time at her home.
She was a member of the Methodist church at Joseph and the Order of the Eastern Star.
Survivors include two sons, Robert Wiggins of Clarkston and Duane Wiggins of Joseph, Ore, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren
Her funeral will be held at Joseph at a later date.
The family suggests memorials be sent to the Methodist church at Joseph.
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ROBERT WIGGINS, 88, KEPT WALLOWA LAKE LODGE RUNNING
· Sept 11, 2012 Updated Dec 13, 2018 Wallowa County Chieftain
Oct. 29, 1923 - Aug. 18, 2012
Robert (Bob) W. Wiggins, 88, a longtime resident of Wallowa Lake, died Aug. 18, in Star, Idaho, with his three children at his side.
He was born to Irene Babcock Wiggins and Lee Roy Wiggins in the Palouse on the family wheat ranch near Johnson, Wash.
He graduated from Pullman High School, attended Washington State University and was a member of the Theta Chi fraternity.
During his high school and college years, he vacationed with his family at Wallowa Lake. In 1945 his mother, Irene, decided to buy Wallowa Lake Lodge.
In 1951 he married Jean E. Wiegand of Corvallis and they had three children during their marriage.
The Wiggins family operated Wallowa Lake Lodge for 43 years. Bob kept everything running as a part owner-operator and mentored many high school and college kids who worked there during those summers. Many had first jobs and some returned year after year. He loved to tell visitors about the area and had many stories he shared with them.
Bob loved to boat, write, read, travel and was fascinated by science and science fiction.
In 1988 the Wiggins family sold the lodge and Bob retired. He traveled, enjoying his retirement with his partner of many years, Vera Talbott. In 1990 he bought a place in Clarkston, Wash., and lived half his year there and the other half at Wallowa Lake.
He was preceded in death by his parents, older brother Lee Wiggins and partner Vera Talbott.
He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law Duane and Jane Wiggins of Joseph; ex-wife, Jean Wiggins of Joseph; children and their spouses, Chris and Barbara Wiggins of Whitefish, Mont., Cathy and Brad Graybeal of Eagle, Idaho, and Eric and Erin Wiggins of Lebanon; and two grandchildren.
Graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept 15, 2012, at Prairie Creek Cemetery, Joseph. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Legacy Hospice Foundation, 680 S. Progress Avenue, Suite 2A, Meridian, ID 83642.
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DUANE WIGGINS, 88, MANAGED WALLOWA LAKE LODGE
·May 1, 2018 Updated Dec 13, 2018 Wallowa County Chieftain
Sept. 22, 1929 – April 20, 2018
An icon of the Wallowa Lake community, Duane Wiggins passed away with his family around him. Duane and his young wife, Jane, came to Wallowa County in June 1953. He was the spark plug behind many developments in the lake area.
Some of his credits include the Wallowa Lake Lodge, Alpenfest and the Wallowa Lake Tourist Committee. He was one of a group of local men who formed a committee to get a loan to build the successful Wallowa Lake Tramway.
Duane was born in Colton, Wash., to Leroy and Irene Wiggins. He attended grade school and high school in Pullman where the family lived during the winters. During summers, the family stayed on their wheat ranch in southeastern Washington State.
He graduated from Washington State College in 1951 with a degree in hotel management. He was in Army ROTC in college, was commissioned as a lieutenant in the infantry and sent to Korea. He eventually left the U.S. Army Reserve as a captain.
On return from Korea, Duane married his college sweetheart, Jane Laney. They moved to Wallowa Lake in 1953 and joined his mother, Irene, and his brother, Bob, and Bob’s wife, Jean, as partners in managing the Wallowa Lake Lodge. The lodge properties were sold during the period between 1988 and 1990.
Duane and Jane continued to live at the lake and have claimed it as home for the past 65 years. The couple’s three sons, Dirk, Greg and Jeff, were all born in Enterprise and graduated from schools in Wallowa County. For many years, Duane and Jane traveled during the winters, but Wallowa Lake was always their home.
Duane was preceded in death by his brothers, Bob and Lee Wiggins; his mother, Irene; and his father, Roy. He is survived by his wife Jane, son Dirk and his daughter Emily and son Jason; son Greg Wiggins and his wife, Kathy, and their twin sons, Dakota and Montana; son, Jeff Wiggins and his wife Karen and their son Riley and daughter Natalie.
Other survivors are sister-in-law, Jean Wiggins; sister-in-law, Sally Duvall; brother-in-law, Bill Laney and numerous nieces and nephews.
Burial will occur at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Wallowa Memorial Hospital Foundation or to the Joseph United Methodist Church.
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In the book GREAT LODGES OF THE NATIONAL PARK .. read (URL link below) about Wallowa Lake Lodge ...
...there's a nice section in the book about the Wiggins ownership and operation of the lodge.
The section includes this photo which has this cutline:
"Irene Wiggins (pictured with her sons Bob, Duane and Lee) bought the lodge in 1945 and operated it until 1987."
https://www.rmnw-auctions.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/GREAT-LODGES-OF-THE-NATIONAL-PARKS-web.pdf