Cast
Arnold Schaeffer
Grandson to Henry Schaeffer
Arnold was born to Roy and Lucy Schaeffer in 1924 in Lower Valley, Northwest Wallowa. His father, Roy, purchased Lapover Pack Camp in 1933, thus inspiring generations of packers. Arnold learned to ride by the age of five and could tie a diamond hitch by the age of nine. In 1944 he joined the Air Force where he served as a radial operator and gunner on a B-17 until 1946. He went on to have two sons, Rick and Randy, with his wife, Lorraine. Now, as a third generation resident of Wallowa County, Arnold is now renowned for his vast knowledge of the valley and his anecdotes regarding his experiences as an outfitter. He still rides with his sons today and is planning to start what he calls a knot tying school, which will be held on a sawhorse in his yard to teach the diamond hitch, among other knots, to his grandchildren and anyone else who would like to learn.
Dotty Schaeffer
Granddaughter to Henry Schaeffer
Dotty is Arnold Schaeffer’s sister and Roy Schaeffer’s daughter. She was born at home in Wallowa OR in 1926. Dotty was seven years of age when her father bought Lapover; she recalls watching her father pack horses and tie the diamond hitch on many occasions. She herself began taking parties out at the age twelve and continued to pack for her father well out of high school. To Dotty, packing is not only her passion, but a job that needed to be done, so she did it without question. As you hear her stories, you are taken to a place where the mundane circumstances in your life seem insignificant. As you learn of Dotty’s experiences, you will find that she is both hardworking and admirable. Although she resides in Walla Walla, WA now, she returns every summer to stay with Arnold, where they still ride together today.
Merel Hawkins
Great grandson to Henry Schaeffer
Merel is a fifth generation and lifetime resident of Wallowa, born to Glen and Mary Hawkins in 1936. He grew up much the same as his homesteading grandparents in that he has ranched, packed, logged and farmed his entire life. He began commercially packing after graduating high school in 1954. In 1957, he purchased Lapover Pack Station from his father’s cousin Arnold Schaeffer where he ran the station with his father and brother until 1973, only interrupted by his four years served in the Army in the 1960’s. He married Carol Higgins who owned Red’s Horse Ranch on the Minam, which he helped run until it was sold to the Forest Service. He is known and loved by many for his good humor, horsemanship, old time equipment collection and wild mountain stories. He has three daughters who have all worked as packers and inherited his love for the mountains.
Nora Hawkins
Daughter to Merel Hawkins/Guide for Del Sol Wilderness Adventures
Nora is a sixth generation resident of Wallowa. She is the youngest daughter of Merel and Carol Hawkins and started taking clients to the mountains eleven years ago at the age of 16. During and after graduating from Smith College in Massachusetts in 2004 she began alternating work as a wilderness guide/packer in the Wallowas and Alaska and fighting forest fires for the USDA. In her free time she enjoys traveling overseas and has recently started a goat/chicken/hog farm at her father’s ranch where she provides tasty milk, cheeses, eggs and meat for her family and friends.
Marjorie (Schaeffer) Hudson
Cousin to Arnold, Dotty and Merel
Marjorie was born to Ron Schaffer in 1947 and raised in Wallowa. She left the county when the mill shut down and her father moved the family to Portland. She earned her Bachelors at Portland State University and went on to get her Masters in Education at Lewis and Clark College in Portland. After graduating, she went on to teach in Salem at the State School for the Deaf, until she retired early to return home to care for her aunt Jeneva, who is both Merel and Arnold’s cousin. Once Jeneva passed, she stayed in Wallowa County to enjoy both her roots, and the breathtaking sights her hometown. Today Majorie resides on a hilltop in Wallowa, where she spreads her old time stories, along with her contagious smile and uplifting spirit.
John Wynans
Del Sol Wilderness Adventures: Guide
John was born to Lostine, OR in 1958. He refers to himself as a black sheep on a white horse because he was the only one who paked with a white horse and he wasn’t raised around horses. When his neighbor offered him a job packing, he agreed, thus finding his “niche in the world”. His first professional packing trip was at the age of 21 and it was then he found that packing was a great way to “get grocery money around doing what he loves”.