The late night eagle flies

The Eagle has landed back at the Herald. 

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, the publisher of the Chaska Herald was awakened by a couple of Herald hearties partying the night away at the annual 100 Club Christmas fundraiser held at the Hazeltine National Golf Club. They had boldly submitted a variety of bids in the Charity Auction and were in danger of actually winning one of them when they realized they had neither the company checkbook nor the authority to use it.
It was time to call the boss.
"We want to buy an eagle," the conversation began, quickly pitting the forces of alcoholic exuberance against a semi-conscious wet blanket. "So far we're in it for $400, can we keep going?"
"What? Hello!?" The groggy publisher stalled, blinking in the darkness, having absolutely nothing to reference this unique request, no schooling or experience to draw upon. Purchase a wooden eagle for $400? The background cacophony from The Hazeltine drowned any possibility of hearing the shouted description of the object or its intrinsic value to anybody, or where it came from, or how it was made or finished. So the publisher just wilted there in his pajamas, eventually resigning with something like, "Oh, what the hell, go ahead then."
The newly-acquired Herald Eagle soon took a proud place in the front office, on a custom-made perch assembled at further expense by Charlie the Carpenter. It's been up there now for at least a decade or so, never really did get a proper name. "Dusty" has been suggested as a possibility.
He was let out for the first time ever this summer to attend to the Chaska History Center's elaborate display marking the 150th anniversary of the local newspaper. The very first Herald editions, published during the Civil War, carried an eagle insignia, a symbol for the Union supported by the Herald. It's been a part of the logo since. The hoopla at the museum is over now and last week Editor Mark Olson brought the eagle back home, carefully escorting him for the few blocks back to the vintage newspaper office.
We think Mark's become kind of attached to the old carved legend, as have others, so in the interest of historical accuracy, we wanted to set the record on just how he came to be roosting there.