Suzanne Coppock’s Family History:

Suzanne’s pioneer history in Oregon began in 1871 when her great-grandfather, Levi Tulley, and two brothers settled in Cove (Union County). Levi Tulley married Alma Stewart and farmed there until 1874 when they moved to the Wallowa Valley. Levi took out a homestead near the junction of the Wallowa and Lostine rivers. The Tulley brothers were the first to ever cut hay in the valley. Suzanne’s grandfather Oscar Maxwell was born in Wallowa in 1888. His family, with six older children, had arrived in Wallowa July 6, 1880, traveling with five other wagons from Nevada. Oscar farmed near Wallowa his whole life. Another grandfather, Spencer Lozier, came from Wisconsin with his grandparents on a wagon train to Joseph in 1885. He ran sheep on Hells Canyon for many years and later farmed near Joseph.

Larry Coppock’s Family History:

Aaron Coppock was an Iowa farmer who went to the gold fields of California in 1849. He found gold and sent for his family, instructing his wife Marry to sell the farm, buy four stout oxen and drive their cattle west to join him. When they reached Jim Bridger’s trading post, he informed them feed was scarce and the cattle would starve if they went to California. They turned toward Oregon instead, settling near Clackamas six months later.

The Coppock men traveled from Clackamas through Eastern Oregon in 1860 on their way to the Orofino, Idaho gold fields. They liked what they saw and decided to come back to Eastern Oregon in 1872. They bought land in Rawhide Gulch southeast of Athena.

Larry’s maternal grandfather, Josiah Lieuallen, came west on the Oregon Trail in 1862, settling in Weston. In 1872, Josiah chose a claim one mile south of what we now call Athena.

Descendants of both families still maintain ownership of these sites.