Grant County is full of history, and an often-overlooked slice of the county’s past will be on full display this week in our annual history special section.

Reporter Justin Davis recently did a story about a proposal to rename a peak in the county’s northwest corner that currently carries the outdated moniker of Negro Knob after Columbus Sewell, an early African American resident of the area. For this year’s history section, Davis did a deep dive and, with the help of the Grant County Museum and the Oregon Black Pioneers, uncovered a wealth of fascinating information about Sewell and his family, who carved out a life for themselves in Grant County at a time when Oregon’s exclusion laws made it all but impossible for Black Americans to settle in the state. We hope you enjoy it.

This week’s paper will also have stories on Grant County’s mutually dependent economic relationship with the Forest Service, a big federal funding package to help OTC extend high-speed internet access throughout the county and the reopening of John Day’s long-closed bowling alley.

In case you missed it, last week’s Eagle featured stories on a $117 million antitrust suit that claims Iron Triangle is using its long-term stewardship contract to squeeze the competition (which the company denies), public meetings law violations by the Blue Mountain Hospital District board, Cycle Oregon‘s visit to Grant and Wheeler counties and the first annual Oktoberfest at Sels’ Brewery.

As always, I want to take this opportunity to thank our subscribers for their support. We can’t do this work without you!