The Dalles Chronicle September 14, 2003 History Mystery Photo (Text Only) We had a huge response to last week's photo, which showed The Great Pineapple War at the old Port of The Dalles docks which began September 28, 1949. A Hawaiian businessman wanted to ship a bargeload of pineapple products to land at The Dalles and be trucked to San Francisco. According to minutes of the meeting, a Teamsters Union official was present and assured the commisioners of full cooperation, but the dockworkers weren't so happy about the situation. A number of them arrived from Portland to break up the unloading. In the picture, out-of-towners were trying to overturn one of the trucks. That day, two truckers were pulled from a cab and beaten, trucks and a dock crane were disabled, and cartons of pineapple already loaded onto trucks were dumped into the river. Later, the site was picketed by the Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. Earl Ayres of The Dalles, e-mailed us: "I was present at the site, and was interviewed after the event was over. I was later called to testify at the trial in the federal court house in Portland. It was a rather scary situation sitting in that seat answering questions and at the same time looking at a large group of goon type individuals looking back at you from the crowded courtroom. When I was finished in court, I left immediately back to Seattle (Washington) as I had been called back to active duty in the Navy. At Christmas that year we received a full case of pineapple from the Dole Pineapple Company." Eventually, with a court injunction against union picketing, and 15 special deputies acted as guards, the pineapples were unloaded. Photo information, contact Rodger Nichols 541-506-4603; e-mail rnichols@eaglenewspapers.com or fax: 541-298-1365. Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, Oregon Historic The Dalles Days October 3-5, 2003 Contact: 541-296-2231 tdacc@gorge.net Copied and submitted by Earline Wasser Member of Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society c/o The Dalles/Wasco County Public Library 722 Court Street The Dalles, Oregon 97058 http://community.oregonlive.com/cc/genealogy Browse http://historysavers.com/orwasco/ recently updated information regarding Wasco County - Links are at the bottom of page http://searches.rootsweb.com/ "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant." Robert Louis Stevenson _________________________________________________________________ Help protect your PC. Get a FREE computer virus scan online from McAfee. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963