A weekly look back compiled by the Clark County Historical Museum from The Columbian archives available at columbian.newspapers.com or at the museum.
- 100 years ago
Clark County commissioners announced on Nov. 6, 1923, that construction on a new fireproof brick building to house “a county juvenile detention home, poor farm, hospital and overflow jail” would begin in the next weeks. Initial plans for the building, designed to be “thoroughly modern in every respect,” measured around 75 feet by 150 feet. However, the project hit a snag the following year. The county commission put construction on hold when it became clear the cost of construction would exceed the initial estimate of $80,000 (or about $1.36 million in today’s dollars).
- 75 years ago
Over the weekend of Nov. 6 and 7, 1948, vandals destroyed “the results of more than three weeks of careful exploration” at Fort Vancouver, announced Louis R. Caywood, the archaeologist in charge of the dig. The hooligans damaged brick and stone remains from McLoughlin’s fireplace and kicked out “plank and stone foundation footings of the old priest’s house.” Despite the destruction, Caywood struck a cheerier tone when describing the successful season overall, which “produced a wealth of whole or restorable objects of historical significance.”
- 50 years ago
On Nov. 5, 1973, authorities arrested a Vancouver resident known as a “most wanted man” in the Pacific Northwest. After his apprehension during a bank robbery in San Diego, Arvidis “Yamhill Fats” Kiperts awaited extradition to Clark County to face a dozen additional bank theft allegations dating back to 1969. During the FBI’s investigation, agents discovered a deposit note with the name D.B. Cooper at a bank held up by Kiperts. However, authorities quickly determined he was not the infamous skyjacker. Kiperts received a 12-year sentence in Oregon the following year.
