COWBOY BUSBY BRAVELY RESCUES BOY WITH ROPE IN BATES, OREGON

By: Jim Doe

As a little boy growing up in Bates in the 1920's, I have two or three memories I would like to share with you.

I remember my buddy Cowboy Busby and I trying to catch fish in Clear Creek with a bent safety pin on a willow limb with a piece of string.  Not much luck.

I also remember my mother trying to keep me at home where she could keep an eye on me.  One time she tied me with a long rope to keep me in our yard.  Cowboy Busby came along with a butcher knife - cutting me loose.  All the time my mother was watching this out the window.  At that time my mother called my twin sister Jeanne to watch the escape.  She threw up her hands and said, "Let them go."

Another fond memory, when the champion fights were on radio, my dad, Roy Doe would take me to the old hotel in Bates along with Walt Mitchell, sawyer at the mill (Daddy Mitch to me and Jeanne).  We would listen to the fights.  My hero was Jack Sharkey.  Don't think he ever won a fight.  However, I acquired the nickname "Sharkey."