The Bryan family influenced the history of this Eastern Oregon region.
The Bryan family has been in business in the Hells Canyon country of Eastern Oregon for four generations.The earliest Bryans to arrive in Hells Canyon country
In 1887 Samuel Aklin immigrated to America from Lebanon with his wife Eva. Loading tools and household goods on a pack horse, Samuel began peddling to the miners and Nez Perce Indians who inhabited the rugged Snake River country. Sam's sharp business mind and strong work ethic paid off. Within about 3 years he had built a general store at Copperfield, a rugged mining town on the Snake River. The family store was like a second home for the Aklin family, and the children were brought up learning the basics of business and customer service.Serving early pioneers to the Hells Canyon area
Hard work and persistence paid off in the rugged Eastern Oregon canyon, and Sam built another general store in nearby Homestead. His customers were the hardworking farmers and miners of the area, who would make infrequent trips into town to purchase supplies to haul back to their claims and homesteads. Many even crossed the wild Snake River from homesteads in Idaho to purchase much needed essentials.Serving emerging small towns from boom to bust
At the peak of Sam's career he owned three stores. One in Copperfield, one in Homestead, and one in Jimtown; three miles north of Halfway, Oregon.In 1915 the entire business district of Copperfield was destroyed by arson, in the great Copperfield fire. The Aklin Copperfield store was one of the many buildings which burned. The Aklin family continued to do business in the two remaining stores until the Great Depression so impoverished the area that the local economy collapsed, and Sam had to close both remaining stores.
Sam and Eva retired to their ranch in Copperfield which included land where the present-day Idaho Power Company village of Oxbow is located.
Sam and Eva had three daughters and a son. The eldest daughter, Alice, married Emery Jennings Bryan, a miner at the Cornucopia Gold Mine. For several years they lived in the famous gold rush town of Cornucopia, located high in the beautiful Wallowa Mountains.
The present day family enterprises
The Bryans' two sons, George and Jerry built Bryan's Market in Halfway in 1968. That grocery store is now relocated to the center of Halfwau and renamed Old Pine Market.The origin of our store today
George retired from the grocery business in 1974, and spent several years ranching and selling real estate. In 1982 he opened a small sporting goods shop. The Old Pine Sport Shop. That same year George's son Rick, and wife Lauri moved down from Seattle, and joined the new business venture.One of the products added to the sporting goods inventory was footwear. In 1984 the footwear line was expanded to include Birkenstock footwear. That line of fine European comfort shoes proved so popular that the Bryans found themselves committing more and more floor space to the footwear department. They expanded their footwear service to include a full service Birkenstock repair station.
In recent years, we have completed our transition exclusively to a footwear store; and we changed our name to Old Pine Footwear to better reflect our new focus on shoes.
In 1994 we expanded our boundaries beyond Eastern Oregon, with our mail-order service. We now offer quality footwear at competitive prices, and free shipping anywhere in the US.
We are the fourth generation of a family of Eastern Oregon business people, and we pride ourselves in carrying on the tradition of old fashioned business ethics and friendly, hometown service. Please give us a try. We'd love to have you as a customer!