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The first ’62 Days celebration was held in Canyon City June 8, 1922, to commemorate the discovery of gold on Canyon Creek, exactly 60 years before. The sponsoring group of prominent businessmen and city fathers took the name from Whiskey Gulch, located just above the early townsite of tent dwellings and saloons called Whiskey Flat.

Canyon City mayor Joe Klink was president of the organization. C.P. Haight, owner of the newspaper, and other well-known businessmen of the era served as directors. Citizens of Canyon City were caught up in the proposed celebration in a day when community pride and involvement were widespread.

Dances, pageants, city bands and orchestras were important forms of entertainment throughout the county. Construction of a large dance hall and cook shack commenced on May 22, 1922, at the south edge of Canyon City. The ’62 Hall building hosted many activities over the years and currently is the Oxbow Trading Co., a museum in its own right with a wide variety of horse-drawn vehicles and antiques.

The longest horse race in Oregon history was an ambitious undertaking for the first celebration. Riding a relay of seven horses, Jack McCarty of Dayville raced through rain, mud and swollen streams. From the starting point in The Dalles to the end in Canyon City, McCarty made it in 19 hours, 17 minutes and collected a first-place purse of $750 in gold dust.

For the first ’62 Days commemoration, Frank McBean of Portland was honored as the only surviving member of the original gold discovery party of 1862. His picture appeared on the Whiskey Gulch Gang’s fun money. Also in attendance was Juanita Miller of Oakland, Calif., daughter of Joaquin Miller, “Poet of the Sierras” and Grant County’s first judge.

Dances, barbecues, parade and pageants entertained the crowd. The Volstead Act was in effect bringing America the Prohibition Era. But, this didn’t slow the revelry down during the celebration with legal “joy juice” the preferred beverage.

The disastrous Canyon City fire of 1937, did waterdown the annual activities. And during the World War II years, a picnic and dance was the extent of the celebration. Momentum for the festivities picked up again in the 1950s in preparation of the Oregon State Centennial in 1959, and in 1962, for the observance of the discovery of gold a century before.

Current members of the “gang” acquired historic F.C. Sels Brewery and adjacent properties beginning in 1972. Restoring the brewery and construction of massive stone walls was years in the making. The F.C. Sels Brewery remains a central locale for the annual ’62 Days Celebration in the renovated downtown Canyon City area. The walls of buildings near the park in the center of town, have captured scenes from the past with impressive murals.

The Whiskey Gulch Gang is 80 years “young” and dedicated to preserving the spirit of the gold seekers who wandered onto Canyon Creek on a spring day in June 1862. Those with an intrepid spirit for our forefathers are invited to become members of the “gang.”

For the last 15 years the Whiskey Gulch Gang has sponsored a demolition derby in July, drawing large crowds to Grant County Fairgrounds as the main fund-raiser for annual ’62 Days celebrations. Since the eve of the new century, the gang also has hosted a fireworks display on the hill behind Sels Brewery. They ring in the new year not with bells, but with a cannon shot!

Dave Traylor of John Day has been an active member of the Whiskey Gulch Gang since 1967.