Wednesday, August 31, 2011

FROM PIONEERS TO POWER - post 17


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post 16        Table of Contents        post 18

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EMERY VANCE

I was born in the year 1885 in Mercer County, Illinois.  After many long and tedious hours of traveling by covered wagon, trying to keep stock and possessions together we arrived in Missouri -- year a891.  In 1895 we moved to the Missouri Ozarks.  My father always had a great desire to go west.  In the year 1902 father assembled his family of six boys and two girls and started west on the train.  After many days of travel we arrived at hartline, Washington.  My father took inventory of his money and found he had only $11.00 to feed his family with.  Shortly afterward father filed a Homestead right 7 miles from Leahy -- 6 miles sout of Delrio.

In the winter of 1903-1904, my brother Guy and myself helped my father, who was ill at the time, feed his cattle at the home place.  Many mornings the snow would blow through the cracks of the cabin and we would be encased in a blanket of snow.  At times it was difficult to force ourselves out of bed.  The old water bucket in the corner had its own problems as it was frozen so tight the water could be lifted from the pail in one frozen lump.

Many winters the snow would be too high to travel except on skis.  It was just such a winter that we came across 14 horses -- seven of their companions laying in the snow -- their legs bloody from the endless pawing through the crusted drifts for food.  The horses were very wild.  We started driving them toward the feed grounds; they were very weak and would wait for us to trample a path so they could proceed.  It took five hours in this harassing manner to drive the horses two miles to the home place.

Many days of drifting snow and high winds marooned us on the ranch.  Our wood supply was dwindling fast and we were wondering what might happen if the weather continued stormy.  As a last resort we started out on skis looking for what wood we could gather.  Above the high drifts we spotted tops of sagebrush.  Making our way to the brush we took shovels and dug it out, then tied our rope around it and pulled it out of the snow.

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A great sport was tracking down and killing coyotes from horseback.  We would spot the coyote, then with the aid of a trail-hardened dog, the animal was hunted down and killed.  The coyotes were numerous and, they were hunted for their pelts.  At times we would kill five in one day's hunt.

In the year 1910, with an Indian interpreter by the name of Mike Marshall, (a 22 year old Indian Boy), we rode horseback to the reservation to buy cattle.  Above the Saint Mary's Mission and between the thickly wooded timber of the mountainous area was our destination.  Mr. Haley helped us to round up 25 head of wild, shorthorned steers, and as per our agreement of $50 apiece was reached, we started on our way to cross the Columbia River.  Our next problem was to find the shortest and best way to travel with 25 wild steers.  Mike suggested the trail that he had hunted over as a boy, but had only been across once.  After minutes of deliberation, we started through the thickets -- not wanting to get caught at dark in the mass of entanglement.  As we approached the Wild Goose Ferry, the air was clear and sounds could be heard distinctly as they echoed from across the river.  Mr. Bryan, busy at his daily duties, was doing carpenter work.  Each stroke of the hammer echoed across the expansive river.  Each sound was caught by the nervous herd.  Everything was almost under control when the sound of a dropped board crashed through the air.  As each animal, at rocket speed, bounded over hill and dale, our horses followed in hot pursuit.  Many minutes later we again had our herd assembled, and Mr. Bryan thoughtlessly called to us that he would be unable to take us across.  Immediately the restless herd, their nostrils dilated from the recent chase, took flight.  Again we started after them and rounded them up -- corralled against a bluff and a lake on the other side.  No, I won't forget the roundup at Big Goose Flat.  The next morning our herd crossed the river on the Ferry at 9 a.m.  Mr. Bryan's sister fixed us a breakfast, our first since 5 a.m. the preceding day.  You can be sure the hot biscuits, chicken, coffee, jam, fruit, bacon, potatoes and gravy were readily consumed.  The cattle were driven to Wilson Creek and loaded on the train.

In my early cattle buying days on the reservation, many of the Indians were unable to speak English.  At times it was necessary to have an interpreter to converse with them.  About the year 1910, I was employed by H. F. "Butch" Hartman, the local butcher in Hartline to buy cattle from the Indians.  After miles of riding across the reservation, we very often bedded down for the night at the Chief's wigwam or some other Indian's home.  Our beds were much different than they are now.  A blanket was handed each guest which he put across his back, then folded across the front -- the ground was the matress.

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Oft times Indian Chief Peter Paul's wigwam was welcome to us.  Knowing my taste for huckleberries, the Chief's wife would always have a large bowl of huckleberries and sugar set out when she saw me coming.  At that time, labor was very cheap and you could hire the Indians for 25 cents apiece to ride to the Steveson Ferry from Nespelem (8 miles), to help load the cattle on the boat.  Many of the cattle were corraled at Peter Paul's campsite, known then as little Nespelem -- before their long journey to the river.  Many wild broncs were ridden by the Indians at the corrals after the days work was done.

In 1911 while I was still working for Mr. Hartman, we purchased 80 head of hogs from "Steamboat Bill" Andrews who had a homestead at the bottom of Steamboat Rock.  While I prepared the slaughterhouse grounds to hold the oncoming herd, "Steamboat Bill" was driving the herd of hogs on foot, leading his saddle horse, to which a cow was tied.  At the end of the procession was a large collie dog.

During the years of trading on the reservation, I have crossed several of the ferries located on the Columbia River -- Seaton, Steveson, Hopkins, Pendell and Wild Goose Ferries.

On May 4, 1912, I was married to Gertrude Witmer at Spokane, Washington.  We lived at Hartline for two years and in 1914, we took up a Homestead 9 miles east of Leahy and 6 miles south and 2 miles east of Delrio.  Our home was a two room board house.  When we first started farming, our animals consisted of a team of horses and one milk cow.  Money was quite scarce, so it was necessary for me to work out "punchin header" to support the ranch.  Felt real proud that I was able to buy 11 head of yearling calves to start my herd.   One morning, to our bitter disappointment, our herd had the disease known as black leg.  We lost 7 of our original 11 head.

Our closest neighbor was Charlie Wanscriver, a bachelor, who lived less than a mile away.  My brother Guy homesteaded a short distance from my home, but had the misfortune to lose his home with fire.  He moved to my mother's old home place and lived there several years.

Aroud the year 1915, a dry spell hit the country.  My brother and I had planted our place in rye that year, which consisted of 70 acres.  At the end of the year, we cut only 6 loads of hay and that was mostly weeds.  The winter seemed long that year, although it was a normal winter.  We had to buy straw from our neighbors to keep our cattle alive.

In 1918, the Government sent their buyer, Mr. Baker, to puchase horses from us for the Cavalry.  They wanted horses of strong bodies and standing 16 hands high.

When we still lived on the old Homestead, one day we noticed a great flame.  When we looked out the window -- to our amazement -- we discovered our haystack and barn were ablaze.  There was nothing that could be done to stop it.

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After our misfortune we moved to what was then called by brother Clive's Homestead.

Three of our oldest children and my brother Guy's three children went to the school known as the Lone Pine School District #32.  While the boys were still in the first and second grades each boy was given a mule colt to ride to school.  Mrs. Henry Wyborny was their first teacher.

A few of our neighbors in 1922 were Albert Dorsey, Al Derby, Fred Rommel, Bill Rommel, Frank Swanson, John Kagic, Fattie Bonesteel, and Edgar Schrock.

In 1928, my brother was burning weeds in the field.  He had a team of horses and a rake.  I came across the field to help with the job.  Looking to the west, we saw a large black bear.  Thinking we were just seeing things, we blinked, but the large shape was a bear.  We hid behind the schoolhouse until the animal got closer.  Scaring him toward thehouse, where I could pick up my lariat, we started out after the bear on horseback.  Circling the lariat around my head, I hoped to snare the huge beast.  Luck was with me, as the rope zinged through the air and landed over his neck.  Working with excessive speed, my brother threw another loop over his head.  This didn't suit the huge fellow too well, but there wasn't much he could do.  We managed to get a chain around his neck.  Keeping the line taut, we got him into the barn.  This only infuriated him more.  The chain became entangled in his hair and the bear strangled himself.  We took his hide and made gloves for the children to wear to school.

On the Fourth of July, my brother Virgil and myself were ferrying the Wyborneys across the Columbia River on the Wild Goose Ferry, when we noticed the water rushing into the back of the boat.  We didn't alarm our passengers, but started baling as fast as we could.  We had just reached the opposite shore and made our way to safety when the boat sank.  We were shaky but safe.

In 1929, I purchased the Bill Rommel ranch and we moved there.  Our four children then attended the Mansfield school.

Emery Vance

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GEORGE TREFRY
1876-19

In 1884 I came to Washington Territory from Defiance, Iowa, with my mother, her aged mother, and my three brothers.  We first lived near St. John which was called "Conn" then.  In 1888 we came to Douglas County and lived as squatters near the Columbia River at a location joining the present Jay Seller's land.  I believe we boys spent most of our first 30 years on horseback.  We all worked out usually for stockmen, and did some farming.

Sometime about 1900, Fafe Pike, John R. Victor, my brothers Charlie, Alec, Jim, and I built the first schoolhouse of this area.  It was made of logs cut near the river, and built on unsurveyed land that is now known as the John Brazel place.  Lee McArthy from Almira was the first teacher.

Stubblefield Point, above the breaks not far from Barker Canyon, was so named because one foggy winter day Bill Stubblefield on horseback rode out on a huge snowdrift overhanging the Coulee wall.  Unaware that he was on this drift, Stubblefield looked down and realized his plight.  He told me, "I left that horse like a bird!"  Both horse and rider got back to safe territory, but had the snowdrift broken off, they would have fallen about 400 feet.

I have seen the country change and really grow up.  When we first came here, the native grass was so thick and tall that when it was damp your feet would become soaking wet as you rode through it on horseback.  Over pasturing - mostly by horses - thinned it out and gave the sage brush more growth.

The period of droughts, beginning in 1924, was particularly rugged.  The grasshopper invasion in 1924 was so devastating I hate to tell about it.  The hoppers really came in the late fall of 1923, laid eggs which hatched the following spring.  Then those insects began to chew up everything edible in their path.  They ruined trees, even some of the sage brush, all grass, crops, and gardens.  Trying to salvage some good out of my grain crop, I turned my horses in so they could pasture there, but I'd have to go up every day to the water trough and skim off a deep layer of hoppers before the stock could drink.  Wagon roads were actually "greasy" from crushed grasshoppers.  In late summer the grasshoppers all left, forming a huge cloud as they soared away in the wind.  They landed across the coulee in Grant County.  Many a Delrio farmer that year cut late-grown russian thistles for hay; and much stock was moved out to winter elsewhere.

Helen Rinker


MAE (RINKER) SNODGRASS

I came to the Delrio country with my parents, Cora and Wash Rinker, in 1904.  I recall the great lot of clearing and plowing that my Dad did mostly with a foot burner breaking up the sod.  After building our house, Dad had no money for a barn and that first year he built a barn out of rocks.  It was large enough for 8 head of horses.  He hauled the

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rocks in, then he brought poles from the canyon and put these across the top and covered it with straw.  It made a very warm barn.

By using horse power, Dad ground wheat coarse for cereal and finer for flour for our own or some neighbor's use.  He had an emery wheel which he connected on the power grinding outfit with which he sharpened plow shares for everyone.  We kids had to drive the horses for the outfit.

Our water was quite a problem.  When we moved there, the well was a quarter of a mile from the house.  We children had a wagon with two 5-gallon cans and had to haul all our water up to the house.  We also had to pull it up with a bucket over a pulley.  Later on Dad dug a well closer to the house, but we still didn't have enough and had to use water from both places.  Years later sufficient water was obtained by drilling a deep well; a windmill and electricity now provide adequate water for our old ranch.

Mae (Rinker) Snodgrass

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post 16        Table of Contents        post 18

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FAMILY SCRAPBOOK INDEX - GRAND COULEE DAM, bk 1, pt. 1

SPEED IS PARAMOUNT

SALES BEGUN AT TOWN SITE

CLINGS TO ROCK THIRTEEN HOURS

DAM DIGGING IS ONE-THIRD DONE

SEATON TO VACATE DAMSITE HOME

EVEN CHICKEN HOUSE TOSSED  (1934)

GRAND COULEE STILL PIONEER BERG  (1934)

MORE GRAND COULEE DAM ARTICLES  (1933-1934)

GRAND COULEE DAM ARTICLES  (1933-1934)

GRAND COULEE TOUR IS JOURNEY INTO WONDERLAND  (1933 or 1934)

AREA IS INDUSTRIAL BEEHIVE (1933)

THE DAMSITE EXPRESS  (1933)

THINGS HAPPENING AT GRAND COULEE  (1933)

KNOPP, Bernetta A. 1923-2011

     The following notice was published in the Spokesman-Review on Wednesday, August 31, 2011:

KNOPP, Bernetta A.  (Age 87)

Bernetta was born on November 9, 1923, and passed away on August 29, 2011.  She married Wayne Knopp on September 27, 1941.  They lived in the Coulee City area most of their married life. Wayne preceded her in death.  She is survived by her children: one daughter Alta Paulsson (Dan); four sons, Wesley (Ann) of Spokane, Russell (Barb) of Waitsburg, Mark (Ronda) of Ainsworth, Nebraska, and Daniel (Marla) of Spokane; her brother, Everett Winslow of Queen Creek, AZ; also 13 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  A memorial service will be held at Good Samaritan Community Center, 17121 E. 8th Ave, Greenacres, WA on Friday, September 2, 2011 at 2 p.m.  A graveside service will take place at Wilson Creek Cemetery, Wilson Creek WA on Saturday, September 3rd at 11:00 a.m. with a reception to follow.

Hazen & Jaeger Valley Funeral Home
1306 North Pines Road,  Spokane WA 99206
(509) 924-9700    http://www.hazenjaegervalley.com/

Monday, August 29, 2011

PIONEER CEMETERY NEAR COULEE CITY


     A mostly forgotten cemetery not used since about 1924 is located about a mile north east of Coulee City.  Some time in about 1967 my mother, Margaret Taschereau, was president of the Coulee City Women's Club one year, and one of her projects was the clean-up of that cemetery, repair of the fence, and getting a sign pointing to it from Highway 2.  But the clean-up didn't last long.  By the 1980s it was again overgrown with weeds and sagebrush, and littered with beer cans and bottles.

     Lloyd and Carol Sayward of Soap Lake took an interest in the restoration of the cemetery some time in the 1980s.  An editorial by Joe Dennis appeared in the Grant County Journal, Vol. 72 No. 80, telling the story of their frustration in that project.  I only have part of the editorial; the date is missing.  Carol sent a letter to my mother around that time.  The corner of the envelope that would have the postmark is missing.  The envelope contains now a portion of the editorial, but from my mother's subscription, and a typewritten list of the people buried there, which I am also posting below; I hope later to obtain a copy of the complete editorial.

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Editor's Corner
Discovery brings frustration

BY JOE DENNIS
Managing Editor

      To date, several months of searching through records and countless phone calls that have brought long distance telephone bills into the neighborhood of $200 have added up to nothing but frustration for Soap Lake residents Lloyd and Carol Sayward.
      For the Saywards, what began as a simple afternoon drive has turned into a one family campaign that has so far brought them nothing but dead ends and disappointments.
      The target of the Soap Lake couple's campaign is the restoration of a forgotten and deteriorating pioneer cemetery near Coulee City, and the cause of their disappointment and frustration is their inability to pin down who has responsibility for the cemetery and to find an organization or agency willing to take on the job of restoring it.
      Sayward, a Main native who has lived in Soap Lake since completing a four-year Air Force hitch at Larsen Air Force Base in 1951, and his wife, Carol, a Michigan native, are both interested in the history of this area, and that interest is were their campaign to restore the pioneer cemetery began.
      It all began when the couple decided to take a leisurely drive from Soap Lake up to Grand Coulee for a look at the dam this spring, Sayward explained.
      As they headed north out of Coulee City on the Grand Coulee highway they spotted a sign pointing the way to a "Pioneer Cemetery" and decided to stop and look it over.
      So, they turned off the highway at the sign and began looking for the cemetery without success, Sayward said.
      He said they finally gave up looking and asked a farmer, who pointed it out to them.
      And that is where they first became concerned.
      Sayward said when they finally located the cemetery they discovered it was located just off the highway, but that it had become so rundown and overgrown that they had driven right past it.
      "The fence was down, it was overgrown with sagebrush, many of the tombstones were knocked over, a number were missing altogether and the place was littered with beer cans and bottles," Sayward said.
      The place was a disgrace to the county, he said, adding in its present condition it couldn't do anything but hurt the image of Grant County in the eyes of any tourist who might see the sign and stop to see a part of the county's early history.
      "If they aren't going to fix it up they ought to at least take down the sign along the highway," Sayward said.
      His wife was adamant that the sign not be taken down, though, explaining the old cemetery has historical significance and should be restored and maintained.
      And attempting to find someone willing to accept the responsibility for the cemetery so arrangements can be made for restoration and maintenance is a project that has occupied a good share of the Saywards free time since that first visit to the cemetery this spring.
      Mrs. Sayward said she started by calling Coulee City town officials and was unable to find out from them who was responsible for it.
      At that point she began to search county records to find out who owned the property and discovered that it wasn't even on the tax rolls.
      "It had been completely forgotten," she said.
      And after having inspected the cemetery it is not hard to understand how that might have happened, Mrs. Sayward noted, explaining an incomplete list of those buried in the cemetery shows that it apparently has not been used since 1924.
      She said her search of county records finally turned up the owners of the cemetery property, but so far that is as far as she managed to go, she has not yet been able to contact them.
      The owner is a Francis Twining, a former Coulee City resident now living in a Vacaville, Calif. nursing home, Mrs. Sayward said.
      Mrs. Twining, whose husband Tom is buried in the Soap Lake Cemetery, is apparently no longer able to handle her affairs and the property is under the control of her son, Tom, Jr., who has not yet been contacted, she said.
      Mrs. Sayward said her research traced Twining to the east Coast where he is employed by a New York engineering firm and further checkingindicated he is living in England.
      She noted that her research also turned up the fact that in addition to the cemetery property, the Twinings own a parcil of land adjacent to the cemetery which originally was to have been used as a parking area for visitors.
      However, that land has never been developed, she added.
      Mrs. Sayward said locating the name of the property owner was a small victory int he struggle to restore the cemetery, and to date has been one of the only ones.
      The campaign has been taken to local, state and even federal agencies, and while there are some reasons for optimism, the response had been generally disappointing.
      Mrs. Sayward said she contacted the Grant County Historical Society and that group showed no interest.
      The next stop was at the state level, and the response from the Governor's office and the State

[The article continues on the next page, but I do not have that part of it at this time.]
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Transcript of a list of people buried in the Pioneer Cemetery

Mrs. A. W. Debolt                 10-  9-1906     44 yrs 7 mos 13 days
Joseph Hembrook                  3-  2-1907
H. P. Nelson (child)              10-14-1907     5 years
George Martin                      10-16-1907     8 months
William England (child)           4-18-1908     1 day
Nespelem Bill (Indian)            5-  5-1909
Joseph Mcguiness                   5-13-1908
William Ford                           5-27-1908
Carl C. Frasure                      7-25-1908     13 mos 12 days
Oscar Hopkins                       9-25-1908
John Graham (child)             10-28-1908     3 mos
Edward Eliason                    10-30-1908     adult
Stapelton                                1-  9-1909     65 years
Baby Cross                            5-  7-1909     2 days
William Cross (baby)              7-13-1909     1 day
Lizzie Swank (boy baby)        7-15-1909     1 day
Herman Lee Wilson                7-10-1910     28 yrs 3 mos 10 days
John Elwood Peterson            8-19-1910     4 mos 11 days
Traveling Man (no name)       3-15-1911
Ada Bogart                          10-22-1911
Lawrence Williams               11-  5-1911     14 years
Fred Rider                           12-14-1911     39 years
Rev. Davis (baby)                  4-  4-1912     stillborn
Elmer Elwell (girl baby)          1-  8-1912     1 day
Ray Stoner (infant)                 9-17-1912     stillborn
Mr. Hicks                                9-13-1912     74 years
John Henry Poole                   1-30-1913     58 yrs 14 days
Mamie Lawrence (child)         3-20-1913     15 mos
Harold Cook (child)               9-  7-1913     1 year
A. W. Debolt                        11-16-1913
Child Town                          12-27-1913     7 years 24 days
Dorothy Davis                        1-  7-1914     4 years
Ruth Stoner                            1-24-1914     4 years 4 mos 20 days
Lena Tuttle                             5-22-1914
Arthur Stapleton                     8-13-1914     8 mos 5 days
Child Wenzenbury                  5-16-1915     stillborn
Joseph Edward Lambeth         9-  4-1915     2 years
Mrs. George Johnson            11-13-1915     adult
Henry Brown                         12-10-1915     73 years
Mrs. Lydia Chappel                 1-22-1916     38 years
Infant N. W. Washington      2-27-1916     3 days
     see Generation 9, descendants of John Washington:
     http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/08/descendents-of-john-washington.html
John Wesler                             7-13-1916
Carrie Ida Tuttle                      11-20-1916     29 years 11 mos 11 days
A. F. Triplett                              2-  4-1917     57 years
Gerald DeWard                        4-14-1917     3 years 3 mos 11 days
H. A. Waldron (child)               11-  2-1917     stillborn
Joseph William Brown               5-12-1918     58 years 3 mos
Joseph Harrison                        6-18-1918     adult
Mathias (baby)                          7-15-1918     2 days
Harry Dairdson (baby)               7-15-1918     stillborn
Melinda A. C. Cook                 10-  7-1918     22 years 9 mos
Lydia Harrison                            4-21-1921     adult
Infant Vern Dean                        7-15-1924
David Rowland
Elizabeth Rowland                                             79 years
Kenneth Swank
Phillip McEntee                                1901     61 years
Ida Ferguson                                       1902
William Evans                                      1895
Lyneul Stapleton                                  1909
Bayne Stapleton                                  1915
Jessie Wright

     The following are handwritten additions to the above list:

Joseph L. Henbrook
    Nov 6 - 1879

Kenneth J. D. Swank
Nov 21, 1918
July 15, 1909
"Gone but Not Forgotten"

Jessie
Daughter of
Mr. & Mrs. L. B. Wright
Apr 2 - 1907
Aug 11 - 1907

William Frank
     son of
D. R. & Mary Evans
Feb 1 - 1895
aged 5 wks 1 day

Saturday, August 27, 2011

FROM PIONEERS TO POWER - post 16


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post 15        Table of Contents        post 17

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ACROSS THE COULEE

North from the more settled area around Wilbur and Almira lay the Grand Coulee.  A huge crack in the surface of the earth, where glaciers had slipped slowly along, rolling the rough edges off of the rocks, now it lay dry and lonely.  (but see note and link at bottom of page 3 in post 3 )  It ran from the Columbia River southwestward.  There were few breaks along its steep walls and only near its mouth and ending were wagons able to descend into the bottom.  The road from Almira dropped over the wall and twisted slowly downward on what was known as the Coulee Hill, on across the flat bottom where the clouds of dust rolled up in the summer to the fork in the road.  One fork turned east and led to the river and Seaton's Ferry.  The other fork headed on to the more rugged country known to many as "Across the Coulee".

This area lay in the bend of the Columbia.  The hills in summer were brown with the ripening grasses except for the black lava patches and the haystack rocks.  These were huge chunks of lava that looked from a distance to be the shape of haystacks.  Some of them were larger than a house and in the summer the cows and horses would crowd around them keeping out of the hot sun.

The land looked barren and dry to a newcomer as he road across it but soon he would drop into one of the small canyons or draws where cool springs seeped up.  Many a stranger was surprised to find so many little lakes in among the hills.  Most of these were of an alkali nature but the stock found the water palatable.  The mallard ducks nested near their shore lines and would paddle about with the mud hens all summer, waiting for the large flocks that nested further north.

Spring was the time of beauty in this rough land.  The hills would turn green and buttercups peeked out from under the warm rocks.  Sun flowers, shooting stars, blue bells, camus, lupine, larkspur, and blackeyed susans were a few of the many wild flowers.  The native bushes of the area were also flowered in the spring -- the service berry, the thorn apple, the syringa, and the greasewood.  On the north slopes and along the rock walls of the coulee there were fir and pine trees.  Down on the banks of the Columbia stood the majestic yellow pines.

Near the river the grass was gone by late spring and the land looked parched on the edge of the Columbia. The bunch grass grew thick and tall on the higher hills.  Steep, twisting roads led down to the river at irregular intervals, where men ran ferry boats.  These ferrymen crossed wagons, riders, herds of cattle and horses and in later years sheep that were headed for the mountains to graze during the summer.

On the north rim of the coulee, Barker Canyon led up through the rocks onto the north rim.  From up on top a superb view of the coulee could be seen, with Steamboat Rock as the main point of interest.  Near Steamboat Rock lay deep Devils Lake, named by the Indians because if anyone drowned in the lake the body would not come up to the surface again.  In the fall the lake was covered with wild ducks, but in the summer only the mud hens paddled about making swirls on the quiet surface while a lonely old crane stalked along the bank.  Sometimes a hawk swooped down at a

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prairie chicken.  The little cotton tail rabbits were out in the evening slipping from the brush patches to nibble the green grass.  They were not as hardy as their cousins the jack-rabbits that ran out in the sage.  At sundown the last rays struck the high coulee wall, while the coulee itself lost shape in the gathering darkness.

Edith Alling


SELLER'S LANDING

Soon after the discovery of the rich silver mines of Conconully, steamboats began to pass up and down the Columbia River.  By the year 1900 the upriver traffic had reached large proportions with the main route in high water reaching as far as Riverside on the Okanogan River; most runs were between Brewster and Wenatchee.

For the Rex and Delrio area farmers it was a long wagon haul for shipping grain and other farm products, and to get supplies from Coulee City, Almira, Wilbur, or Mansfield.  Many farmers were interested in building a landing on the Columbia River for convenient grain shipment.  Al McClain, Charlie Campbell, and Frank Klaas of the Bridgeport area got many Delrio farmers to invest money for such a landing on the Jay Seller's riverside property, and to construct a road to the boat landing.  This was built about 1910.  Two swift water steamboats were built by the company called the Bridgeport Warehouse and Milling Company.

The largest boat named the Bridgeport was able to haul about 2600 sacks of wheat, while the other called the Delrio had a capacity of approximately 1400 sacks.

The company headquartered at Bridgeport where there was a wheat elevator and mill, and also had a warehouse in Brewster.  They had other landings besides that at Seller's, for they ran their freighters also up to Alameda and to near the mouth of the Nespelem River.  These paddle wheel type boats had to come upriver to low water.  Despite really heaping on the coal and using a windless, it took six to eight hours just to come through Box Canyon.  Now flooded by Chief Joseph Dam, this canyon was one of the most narrow and dangerous passages of the river and lays about five miles north of Bridgeport.

Captain Fred McDermot, a well known Central Washington pioneer and a veteran steamboat captain with much experience on the Columbia River waters, was the chief navigator for these wheat boats.  (Mr. Sellers believes Captain McDermot later put a lien on these wheat boats.)  One of these was tied up and wrecked at Pateros, and McDermot never did get the money due him.  Mr. Sellers says that the captain and his boy later lived on the Bridgeport tied up at Brewster where Mr. Sellers visited him.  They tried to sell the boat for taxes, but received no bids.

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At Sellers Landing a large wooden platform was built on which to stack the grain.  A 224-foot long wooden chute was also constructed on which wheat sacks were funnelled to the boat.  Mr. Jay Sellers said that he and Norman Lilly usually acted as receivers there.  Many wagon loads of grain were hauled to the landing down roads in the George Trefry Canyon, westward from the Jim Vaughn Hill and from upriver past the John Weber Ranch.  Zion Fox, Phil Rinker, the Trefry Brothers, and many others drove precarious routes to deliver grain at the landing.  Jay Sellers still has the last warehouse receipt book used.  It shows the final shipment of wheat to be some 81 sacks of H W wheat 58 pounds to the bushel, from Washington Rinker on November 19, 1919.

This enterprise had continued for about ten years when it failed financially.  George Trefry says that the farmers quit taking wheat to the river landings as they received eight cents less a bushel there than if it were delivered to Coulee City.  Wheat prices dropped to forty cents a bushel during the depression.  All traces of the landing have disappeared long ago.

Helen Rinker

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EARLY DAYS OF THE AREA

Washington Territory was composed of large counties, especially in the eastern section.  Douglas County was created in 1883.  Okanogan was named the county seat, and later moved to Waterville by the voters.  Grant County was not created until 1909.

In our area, Coulee City is the oldest settlement, the beginning of which dates back to Philip McEntee who located there in 1881.  The first deed was dated October 22, 1885.  Mary Day was the grantor and Frank Rusho the grantee, consideration was $400.  This land is some ten miles south of Steamboat rock in the Grand Coulee.  The Weber Brothers of Delrio have now in their possession a land grant from the United States signed for President Benjamin Harrison by E. MacFarland, Assistant Secretary, and made out to Olney H. Atwood of Douglas County, September 15, 1892.  The Atwood place on the Columbia River is now part of the Weber holdings.

The first settlement of the State of Washington under the American flag was made at the mouth of the Okanogan not far from the present town of Brewster.  This site, chosen on September 1, 1811, was selected by David Stuart who had been commissioned by John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company.  Later, after Fort Okanogan was taken over by the Hudson Bay Company, a new post was built about a mile southeast of the original fort.  It was abandoned in the middle fifties.

Settlement increased and included many Chinese, some of whom settled in a gold camp in the 1870s on the eastern bank of the Columbia River.  They never became friendly with the Indians and in 1875 there was a small uprising.  The Chinese were caught unaware and many were killed and the rest soon left going up into the Okanogan Region.  It is known the Chinamen carried on placer mining along the upper Columbia working the gold from the sandbars on that river in a primitive way.

Fred Weber says, "Before Chief Joe (Chief Joseph Dam) was built, on the China Bar below our place, there were nearly thirty acres of sand which showed plainly that it had been thoroughly worked six feed deep by a pick and shovel, no doubt done by the Chinese gold seekers."

The Weber Brothers have in their possession one of the most elaborate collections of Indian articles known in Douglas County.  This includes countless arrow and spear points, numerous pestles, and many mortars of different designs and shapes.  Also there are manas, game stones, moccasins, lasts, scrapers, bone needles, awls, arrow straighteners, and smoothers, fish net anchors, squaw clubs, etc.  Rare Chinese money and knives undoubtedly used during their placer mining period in the 1860s and 1870s have also been found.

One of the best features of this collection is that all the items have been discovered on their ranch or nearby vicinity.  Some of these articles date back to 4000 years.  The Webers also possess some antique guns, pistols, bullets, and other items such as an old balance scale used by Bill Condon in his trading store at Condon Ferry.  Found at

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the site of Parson Rapids about two miles downstream from Condon Ferry, and embedded in a tree felled by Fred Weber in 1923, was an iron cross.  This cross, about 6 inches x 12 inches, was evidently placed on this tree by a priest or missionary some hundred or more years ago.  Fred removed the cross and placed it on the stump.  Later it was stolen by vandals.

Paintings made by Indians still adorn certain rock walls above the Weber place.  In the Box Canyon area, now under water, Fred Weber discovered numerous "water devil" pictures, no doubt painted by the Indians who feared the rough waters.  He also noted the deeply worn portage trail around the Box Canyon.  About four feet deep and sixteen feet wide, this path must have been used considerably by the Indians who could not navigate the treacherous waters below in their canoes.  Fur traders and early settlers also used this route.

It was at these same Parson Rapids that three men were killed while dynamiting to deepen the channel of the rapids so the steamboats could negotiate the river more easily to such places as Stout's Landing at Alameda Flats, and on to the mining area of Keller on the San Poil.

Great quantities of wheat were moved from Stout's Landing.  There was also a saw mill there.  All that now remains of this mill site is the old steam boiler which is covered a great part of the time by the waters of Rufus Woods Lake.

When George Trefry and his brothers Alex, Charlie, and Jim, and his mother came to the Delrio area in 1888, it was a very sparsely settled stock country.  Albert Barker was raising horses in the Barker Canyon.  Osbornes and Langes ran cattle mostly in the upper Grand Coulee.  Murphy had quite a bunch of horses running northwest of George Trefry's present home, and the Brandt boys ran horses in the Pearl-Bridgeport area.  In addition there was a settlement at Condon's Ferry which was then in full swing and at or near Barry.  The Leahy family also came to the community named for them sometime before 1892.  George Trefry says, "You could ride from Delrio to Waterville then and only find three settlers homes on the way."

Mr. Trefry lived with his brothers in a little cabin by the Columbia River during the notorious bad winter of 1889 and 1890 when they lost about half of their stock.  He says, "The winter of 1893-94 was just as bad or worse in here.  It was 33 degrees below zero and a hard wind came out of the northwest and continued to blow for sixteen days.  It froze the feet right off of cattle.  Twenty-eight head of Murphy's horses died right out here in what is now our garden.  The grass hay fed in those days was not adequate feed nor was there enough of it.  There was seven feet of snow on the ground that winter and in the spring there was a terrific flood.  The Columbia River in flood time of 1948 was not within ten feet as high as it was in 1894."

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The Alex Greenaway account of that same winter on Dyer Hill, not far away, is as follows: "Unusually deep snows fell in the winter of 1893-94.  The wind so piled up the snows that travel by team was impossible.  Men got about on skis, and used small sleds to haul feed to stock.  In a blizzard of sixteen days duration, the cold at times was so intense, that the jaws of the unsheltered cattle became so encrusted with ice, they could not eat until the ice had been removed.  Some of the cattle literally chilled to death, and most of the stock in the country starved to death before spring.  In some places, the caves where the family food supplies were kept were so deeply buried under snow that they could not be entered.  One family subsisted on beans during the storm.

By the fall of 1890, a railroad was in operation to Coulee City (known for years as McEntee's Crossing), so soon more settlers reached the northern part of Douglas County.  The Delrio area lying between Condon Ferry on the Columbia River and northeast of Pearl Hill and extending south to Leahy and the coulee wall was one of the last places in the county to be settled.  In general one can say that settlers first filled up the adjacent river areas such as those of Alameda, Washington flats, or on the present Weber land, and the Rex country.  No doubt this was due in part to the nearness to water, wood and some lumber.  The light sandy soil and perhaps the "haystack" rocks of Delrio plus the State Land problem may have discouraged some pioneers who looked elsewhere.

According to Mr. George Trefry, most available homestead land was filled up by the period from 1890 to 1910.  However, the State Land remained unclaimed and stock ran at liberty on it until about 1904.  That year two men, Trimble and Stillman from Clarkston leased up 36 sections of this State Land.  They brought in cattle and fenced up the land which process "crowded out the little stock man".  These two lessees stayed in the Delrio country for three or four years and "went broke".  Kirbys then took over but soon many individuals bought or leased the State Land, most of which was sold for ten dollars an acre.  Somewhat later, more State Land was "bid on" at an auction and sold for much higher prices.  Many were unable to pay for this high priced state land as the disaster perils and hard times came, so much of this land reverted back to the state which still owns it.

Each sod-buster attempted to farm, raise stock, and make his ranch self-sustaining.  Winters were usually severe, summers hot and dry; conveniences were uncommon and hardships were endured staunchly.  Recreation was usually found in dances, church and school socials, baseball games, and school functions.  Music for the dances was usually furnished by the local fiddlers who included Tom Sanderson, Allie Derby, Joe Price, the Vances, and others.  Each store or post office was a community center.

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A store, baseball grounds, and a pleasant meadow there made Leahy ideal for celebrations.  Jay Sellers says, "I remember well of attending a three day Fourth of July celebration at Leahy.  There was some kind of a stallion show, a carnival including a merry-go-round, and a baseball game between Rex and Bridgeport.

Sanderson was established April 16, 1908 with Thomas Sanderson, postmaster and was located south of the present Ken Ehler's ranch on the Barker Canyon road to serve the settlers of the northern Coulee wall area.  Mrs. Charity A Carson became postmistress here in 1911; and she held this office until her untimely death in 1920.  The post office at Sanderson was discontinued after Mrs. Carson died from a rattlesnake bite.  Unaware of the snakebite, treatment was delayed until too late.

The early day settler's womenfolk, were particularly hardy people.  They raised their gardens, milked cows, and took care of large families in spite of much privation.  Mrs. Hannah B. Hunt and Mrs. Riley B. Frye were the local midwives who often officiated at births.  Remote doctors were seldom brought in.  Some of the women even worked in the field.

Cattle and grain, horses, and mules were raised by the homesteaders, and soon wheat became most important.  Most of this was shipped out by wagonloads to Coulee City or Mansfield.  It took most of the fall and part of the winter to get the wheat out by these routes.  When hauling to Coulee City two wagons trailed together and loaded with about 75 sacks of wheat, and drawn by six head of horses took about two and one half days for the trip.  Many of the farmers enroute stayed overnight at Courtney Ferguson's -- this place was not far from the former Art Lewis home in the coulee.  They went to Coulee City and back again overnight at Ferguson's before returning home.

A countless number of homesteaders and other early settlers stayed only a few years, often just long enough to prove up, mortgage, and lose their place; the depression and drought period after the first World War depleted the area quickly.

Farming practices of the area have changed drastically since the sod-buster's time.  Now, powerful tractors pulling new machinery have led to bigger farm acreage; most ranchers now combine cattle and wheat raising enterprises.  The 6600 acre Weber Brothers ranch, mostly pasture land now, was once the land of 21 different homesteaders.  Despite conservation practices, farmers of the Rex-Delrio area still battle the elements as evidenced by the disastrous late frost of 1952, and by the early freeze in 1955 resulting in the entire winter wheat crop being killed.

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The construction of the State Highway 10B and better county roads and the installation of a grain elevator at Grand Coulee have recently aided in the marketing and storage facilities for local grain growers.  The construction of Grand Coulee Dam, and the subsequent development of nearby trading centers, have greatly affected adjacent rural life.  All ferries, country stores, and small post offices and rural schools have disappeared or become only landmarks of the Old Timers.

Helen Rinker

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post 15        Table of Contents        post 17

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Thursday, August 25, 2011

FROM PIONEERS TO POWER - post 15


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MABEL SANDERSON

In 1904 my family, Al Armbruster Jr., moved to grandfather's where my son Jim and Zee Sanderson now live.

Waite Steveson's mother, Rebecca Steveson, had the post office and store at Barry at the time.  It was there we got our mail and groceries.

When we first went out there, the roads were trails and very few fences.

The Rex School was built and we would get our mail from a post office run by the Whited family who lived on the place where Bob and Delbert Rice live now.

A two-horse hack was the way one traveled in the summer.  We put a big umbrella over the seat and drove all day to get out to either Wilbur or Almira from Barry.  "Ha!  The good old days."

Mabel Sanderson


I REMEMBER - -

when our schools were so crowded that high school classes had to be held in the halls, and there were double sessions; going to a supper at the Grand Coulee Community Church in 1935 and kerosene lamps were used for light; the thrill when we saw the first books placed on the library shelves in 1938; the high school basketball team had no gym and practiced on a platform down by the City Hall, and in 1939, under those trying conditions, they almost won the championship; organizing the Women's Civic Club in 1947 and selling chances on a Willys car and clearing $1100 with which we started the Grand Coulee City Park.  AND I CAN NEVER FORGET the excitement when the water first rushed over the Grand Coulee Dam.

Lucy B. Heidt


PAUL FILION

"My folks, Magloire Filions, came in 1909 with the Gus Meyer family from Chicago, Illinois on the train in a box car.  It held all our household goods and livestock too.  My brother Pete and I got off at Missoula, Montana and bought our ticket on a passenger train to Coulee City, Washington.  When we arrived there we found we had to walk out to our father's place (homestead) north of Grand Coulee, about 12 miles.

I took up a squatters right to a piece of land and later filed for a homestead.  The delay of filing was because of a resurvey of the country.  Cattlemen had destroyed all the markers of the first survey.

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Usually my brother and I worked out across the coulee in the Almira and Hartline country during the harvest season.  Once I remember putting in 75 days of work.  Also I worked for Ed Shrock for $30.00 a month and room and board.  At one time I worked for a dollar a day for F. H. Wallace bringing supplies in for his store and freight station.  Sometimes we brought supplies in for my folks for the winter.  Once I brought ten barrels of flour (four sacks - 50 lbs. to the barrel) and 15 pairs of shoes at one time.

Later I hauled wheat out of the country down Wallace Canyon to Almira.  My load was generally 75 sacks of wheat on a sled drawn by eight mules.  When I went out to Mansfield I hauled 60 sacks with four mules.  I would leave home before daylight and get there just at dusk.

One time, I drove F. H. Wallace's pigs to Coulee City on foot.  I drove them down to Osborne's and took theirs also.  We drove them to Coulee City together.  It took us around three or four days.  We camped out each night and would have to find the pigs each morning.

Winnie M. Sanderson


ALEX SANDERSON

Alex Sanderson came to the country in 1890, several years before he bought or homesteaded.  He returned from his home in Wrexeter, Ontario, Canada.  In 1899 he bought the Mert Smith place.  He had also taken out a homestead about a mile above this place.  He had lived there in a cabin and had a dug out for his other building.  Alex began his start with a mare, a colt, a couple of cows and a team of horses.

The Mert Smith place which he bought (where his son Donald Sanderson lives) had 13 acres of orchard.  It had apples, pears, apricots and peaches.  There is a creek which flowed through this place, from Smith Lake on top to Barry and to the Columbia River at the bottom.  Along this creek were groves of trees - willow, aspen, birch, and a few cottonwood.  It was from this grove that the homestead house of Mert Smith was built.  It is still part of the main house today.

During the winter of 1899 which was so long, freezing and severe, Alex and two men he had helping, cut willows from these trees for food for the cattle.  Alex also made trips out to Wilbur on horseback and with team and sled to bring back oats which he fed to his stock.  Most of the old cows were lost but the heifers made it through the winter.

The need for hay for cattle feed during the winter brought the cattlemen to planting crops.  Alex took out a water right from Smith Lake in 1904, with Ed Armbruster, to irrigate alfalfa in the canyon.  The water was brought down a mile and a half in an open ditch from which they still irrigate about 50 acres.

Alex and his neighbors would drive the cattle herds to Ellensberg.  Other times they were taken to the Columbia River and pushed across to the other side.  They were then trailed to Tonasket and sold to the army for the Indian's beef.

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At one time there were 40 sows and their pigs grazing on the alfalfa.  The country nicknamed the canyon "Hog Avenue" because of this.

In the winter of 1910 Alex Sanderson married Mabel Armbruster.  They lived in the log cabin, with one room downstairs for cooking and eating and one room above for sleeping.  Later as the family increased they added on three rooms.  In this family there are two boys and three girls - James and Donald; Doris, Nadine, and Gretis.

One time, in a roundup by Barker Canyon, some of the neighbors were branding and sorting the cattle.  As the cattle were brought in, the yearlings which weren't branded were identified by the brand on the cow it was following.  Sometimes the yearling's mother could not be found so the yearlings were put in a pen by themselves and were called "slick ears".  it was these "slick ears" that the men would divide and eat while working.

One of the neighbors always brought in too many "slick ears" so the men decided to play a joke on him.  One dark night Alex and Al Armbruster waited until the men were asleep, then they jumped astride their horses and rode to this man's ranch.  They took his milk cow's calf, which was unbranded, and drove it back to the bunch in Barker Canyon.  This took most of the night.  At dawn they called on the man to come and shoot the calf for meat for dinner.  He jumped up and shot the animal.  The rest of them quickly skinned it before it was bright daylight and he could recognize it.  After all had had a couple of meals from the calf, they told the man he had shot his milk cow's calf.  He immediately loaded up what was left of it in his wagon and lit out for home.


FRANK SANFORD

My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Liberty Sanford, came from North Dakota in 1887.  They settled 13 miles northwest of Almira.  I was born at Almira and lived with my parents until I was 17.  Then I started farming over here for my mother and my uncle Tilford Sanford.

In 1917 I married Mabel Adair and moved to Fiddle Creek in 1929.  I have lived here ever since.

In Almira, the lumber they built my father's house of, was hauled in from Sprague.  It was there that my father and uncle and neighbors went to get groceries, twice a year.


MABEL ADAIR SANFORD

I was born at Manateau, Colorado.  I lived in Colorado until I was three years old.  We then moved to Gallup, New Mexico where my mother worked as a milliner and dressmaker.  My father worked on the railroad.  My father was injured in a fall from the tender of a locomotive engine and was not able to railroad anymore.  Then we moved to Texas and went into the cattle business.  In 1910 we moved west to Washington where I lived with my parents on the place now occupied by Frank Sanford Jr.  My folks raised sheep, cattle, and also farmed.

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In 1917 I was married to Frank Sanford.  I then moved 13 miles northwest of Almira, where we lived until 1929.  At that time we moved to back here in Fiddle Creek.

Our entertainment in the pioneer days was mostly dances.  A store and hall owned by George Cooley at Alameda Flats, a store and post office in Delrio run by Mr. and Mrs. Wagoner, and the old Fiddle Creek Schoolhouse and Nespelem were generally where the dances were held.  When it was too cold and snow to deep to go very far we danced at neighbors houses, some of which were Mr. and Mrs. Lange - father and mother of Mrs. J. D. Evans, and Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Scott who also lived in the coulee.

We went to the dances with team and sled in the winter.  At the dances, which lasted until morning because it was to cold to go home during the night, we ate our supper and when morning came made coffee and finished up the food and then left for home.

There were family picnics, and neighborhood ones too with large crowds and everyone bringing plenty of food for the day.

They tried to hold Sunday School at Fiddle Creek with a picnic afterwards.

My mother and I were out building a fence one day and killed seven rattlesnakes in the short time we were there.  My mother thought it was time we went home by then.

Fiddle Creek neighbors in 1910 were Delahy, Dave Lawson, Verd Wilson, Charles Duncan, O'Brien, Wallace, Jim Slee, Charlie Bigler, McElroy, Blackenberg, Forester, Ruby Ford, Clark, Jim Wilson, McCamel, Robison.  These people left during the first world war and the hard times following this war.  They sold out to neighbors.  Right now it is all owned by Frank Sanford Sr.

Winnie M. Sanderson


JOHN J. SELLERS

I first came to this country on December 3, 1904.  My father Harry J. Sellers, my brothers, L.L., Gorden Sellers, and I soon took adjoining homesteads not far from or on the Columbia River.  I squatted on my homestead in May 1905; it was then unsurveyed.   At that time there were few fences anywhere.  Web Buck owned a two-wire fence with willow posts across the middle of my place.  My near neighbors then were the John K. Victors and sons Guy and Cyrus, Guy and Webb Buck, Wash Rinker, Phil Rinker, Alex Trefry, and Wallace Davis.  The O'Flahertys were running the Condon Ferry then.

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I planned to work into the horse business and owned about 50 head when Henry Ford shot the market.  I traded them for land and thus gained the George Henderson, Jess Hobart, and Jim Vaughn places.  I raised wheat, corn, and oats, and had some real good crops with wheat making 40 bushels an acre, corn a ton to the acre, and oats 60 bushels.

I gave 35 acres for a warehouse site at Sellers Landing for grain shipment by steamboat; this land reverted back to me.

One of my most terrifying experiences was the ride I took through Box Canyon on a log.  I was working for Captain McDermot on the steamer Bridgeport and the Captain invited me into the pilot house to show him my route through Box Canyon when I lost my boat at White Caps.  As we talked the rapids smoothed off with little curls.  The Captain said "I believe I can run this first stretch without a line."  I said, "You can if it stays that way, but will it stay that way?"  McDermot started up the canyon about 100 yards.  The steamboat was caught in a mighty whirlpool about 40 feet across it, and into it we slid.  The Captain was unable to hold the wheel with a boy helping him.  He ordered 150 pounds of steam.  Snap! the wheel was slack!  The engineer called up, "Two rudders gone, Captain.  All three gone, Captain!"

The shafts were about 8 inches in diameter, yet one was broken squarely off.  All the planks were torn out of the flanges of one, and the other one of the three had about a square foot of planking left; though they had been bolted, braced and drift pined, two monkey rudders were left.  The steamer turned around and bumped the Douglas County side.  That gave the Bridgeport a bad raking on a rock wall but didn't break the planking.  The steamer drifted until she pointed northeast.  McDermot ordered full steam ahead and we got her tied up.  In three days repairs came up from Pateros.  Yes mam! It was bad water!

Another time we were lining up.  We were on the third line - about a 300 yard line; and using 1 1/2 inch steel cable left by the government's steamboat the Yakima, under Captain Hill.  This cable broke about 200 yards upstream from the capstan windlass.  The recoil shot it aboard.  A loop hit on the side and shoulders and knocked John Wire, Sr. of Leahy six or eight feet south to the very edge of the boat.  And at the very edge of the boat (below him) was a hissing well like whirlpool eddy.  Bad water!

I guess it was after the Bridgeport was tied up at Brewster that the government sent in the steamboat Yakima and two barges to dynamite rocks and better the channel for navigation.  One barge was across the river from my barn.  The work was being done under the supervision of Captain Hill.  Part of the crew were local men -- Harry Vaughn, John Schweighardt, and Matt Carpenter all lived near Webers; George Stout of Alameda was the cook.  Bob Brown came with vegetables for the Yakima and I rowed across to the steamer anchored at Parsons Rapids.  The

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river was very low.  When we arrived three men were drilling a black basalt rock (haystack).  There were about 20 men in the crew.  We stayed a couple of hours, visited and watched them load the hole with about 50 sticks of high powered dynamite.  The steamboat was about 30 yards below the rock.  A young man took the electric wire and dynamite to the men on the rock in a rowboat.  As soon as the wire was connected to the dynamite it exploded!  The switch was on; they were very careless; the man who was supposed to care for it was doing something else.  The young fellow in the boat was not hurt too much, but the three men were all  killed.  Two of them practically blown to bits.  The dynamite was blamed.  I went up the next day, and the rest of the powder was exploded -- about 50 boxes and 30 half sacks.  it made quite a water spout!

J. J. Sellers


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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

NAT WASHINGTON



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Death of fmr State Sen. Nathaniel "Nat" Washington (D-WA)
Sen. Washington died on August 18, 2007 in Bellingham,WA.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/political-graveyard/message/8737

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Nat Washington, related to George Washington, dies in WA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Former state Sen. Nathaniel "Nat" Washington, a distant relative of the nation's first president who found a way to finance two major hydroelectric projects on the Columbia River, is dead at 93.

Washington, a Democrat who spent 30 years in the Legislature and worked across party lines to win funds for farm-to-market roads in his central Washington district, died after a brief illness Aug. 18 in Bellingham, where he resided for the past two years, his son, Tom F. Washington of Kirkland, confirmed on Wednesday.

A direct descendant of George Washington's brother John, Nat Washington treasured the family connection and worked to debunk the stuffy reputation of the first U.S. president.

In addition to politics and practicing law, he taught archaeology and political science at Gonzaga University in Spokane and made himself an expert in Grant County history, interviewing tribal elders on their memories of growing up before reservations were established.

His father, also named Nathaniel, and grandfather left Virginia in 1908 to homestead along the Columbia River. His father later became Grant County prosecutor.

Washington was elected student body president at the University of Washington, where he also earned a law degree before returning to Ephrata and winning election as county prosecutor. He later served a two-year term in the state House and seven terms in the state Senate, retiring from the Legislature in 1979.

In 1947 Washington and law partner Jim Wickwire became attorneys for the Grant County Public Utilities District. By the early 1950s he had assumed a principal role in finding a way to finance the Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams on the Columbia River.

To sell construction bonds at a favorable rate, Washington arranged for the PUD to rely on the financial strength and credit worthiness of other utilities that contracted to purchase electricity generated at the dams. Next he fought off a competing state application for both sites in a case that went to the state Supreme Court.

"You take out the PUD from Grant County and we wouldn't have anything here," Ephrata City Administrator Wes Crago said. "Just about all of us owe a lot to our forefathers at the PUD, and Nat was one of those primary leaders of the PUD at that time."

Other survivors include son Nat Jr. of Bellingham, sister Glenora of Las Cruces, N.M., 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled Saturday at Ephrata High School.

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Star of the Grand Coulee

"The Conscience of the Senate"
The Legacy of Nat Washington

By: 08/30/2007

Nathaniel "Nat" Washington, former state senator and a driving force in the building of Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams, died Saturday, Aug. 18,2007, after a brief illness. He was 93.

Descendants of the George Washington family, Nat's father and grandfather left Virginia in 1908 to homestead along the Columbia River. Nat's father, also Nathaniel, practiced law in Ephrata and became prosecuting attorney for Grant County.

As early as 1895 people had dreamed of building a dam on the Columbia, with a likely spot sitting just two miles from the edge of their ranch. Nat's father shared that dream and in 1921 was elected president of the Columbia Dam, Power, and Irrigation Association. He worked closely with such men as James O'Sullivan, Rufus Woods, Gale Matthews, Frank Bell, Billy Clapp, and other "Sagebrush Pumpers" to convince Congress to build what became the Grand Coulee Dam.

The younger Nat spent summers on the ranch and often swam in the Columbia River behind a large sand bar that provided safety. Nat's defining moment came in 1926 when at age 12, while the family was enjoying a hot summer day on the river, a terrible tragedy occurred in which his father, aunt, and uncle all were drowned.

Nat was resilient. Through adversity he built a life of achievement. He and Vern Matthews became the first Eagle Scouts in Grant County (1932). As a high school senior he was captain of the football and basketball teams and student body president.

He enrolled at the University of Washington. Money was tight and only the annual gift of a benefactor enabled him to attend. This generosity had a major impact on him and his lifelong mission to better the lives of others. Nat was active on campus and won election as student body president by gaining the support of key groups, an early indication of his understanding of politics.

Nat next attended the University of Washington law school. As he was about to graduate, the Democratic Party asked him to run for Grant County prosecuting attorney, the position held earlier by his father. He accepted the offer, despite the rigors of simultaneously studying and campaigning. He garnered the most votes but was disqualified from serving because he had failed to pass the bar exam. Ever resilient, he buckled down to study for the next bar exam and achieved one of the two top scores in the state. He also went on to become Grant County's prosecuting attorney.

Nat had joined ROTC in college and went on active duty in the air force shortly after Pearl Harbor. He served five years, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. After V-E Day he served as a judge advocate in Germany.

During the war, Nat was initially stationed in Tucson, where he met Wanda Wells, a charming and beautiful young lady. After turning down the young officer for a second date, Wanda reconsidered, and became his devoted wife and partner of 56 years.

In 1948 Nat was elected to the Washington State legislature. After a single term in the house, he was elevated to the senate, and reelected six times. He was popular with farmers and business people alike because he listened to them and fought for legislation based solely on its benefits for his constituents and state.

He formed an alliance with Bill Raugust, an Odessa Republican. The two legislators, though from different parties and philosophies, found common ground and passed major legislation. They co-authored 58 measures that became law, a record for bi-partisanship that probably still stands today and a practice sadly lost.

One of their major collaborations resulted in a bill that funded the construction of hundreds of miles of farm-to-market roads, as irrigation caused the Columbia Basin to blossom. The poor rural counties were able to sell bonds that were redeemed by increased gas tax revenue from the State-a classic win-win situation. Nat retired from the senate in 1979, after three decades of service. He was then appointed director of the Pollution Control Hearings Board and the Shoreline Hearings Board by Governor Dixie Lee Ray and served for four years.

In 1947 Nat and his law partner Jim Wickwire became attorneys for Grant County PUD. He knew there were two excellent sites for dams on the Columbia where the PUD had the authority and ability to build. By 1955 he had played a principal role in the development of a strategy by which the PUD could use the financial strength and credit worthiness of the big utilities who would contract to purchase power from the PUD. This enabled the PUD to sell bonds at a favorable rate, making construction of two dams not only feasible, but also financially sound.

The PUD commissioners passed a resolution to construct Priest Rapids Dam in 1952 and applied to the Federal Power Commission for the appropriate permit. In 1954 the State Power Commission filed a competing application for the same project. They scoffed at Grant County's ability to construct major dams. The fight went all the way to the State Supreme Court where Nat successfully argued the case.  Six years later Grant PUD was supplying power throughout the West. In recognition of his many contributions to public power, Nat received the 2001 Henwood Award from the National Hydropower Association, the industry's most prestigious award.

One of his great joys was hiking around the Grand Coulee region, searching for ancient Indian campsites. As an amateur archeologist, he learned how to catalog sites, information he presented to professional archeologists. He guided archeologists from state universities on scouting trips to identify which sites should be scientifically excavated. The results added significantly to the understanding of Native American history. One of his favorite activities in later life was teaching Indian lore to hundreds of Ephrata school children and showing them how to dig the roots that sustained the tribes. Nat also maintained friendships with tribal leaders from the Wanapum and other tribes for more than 45 years.

Among the many honors Nat received during his lifetime was the dedication of the Bledsoe-Washington Archives Building on the Central Washington University campus, and Nat Washington Way in Ephrata. He was long recognized for his critical role in building a state highway system that was among the best and safest in the nation.

College presidents from throughout the state expressed their gratitude for his efforts to keep their schools well funded and competitive.

He valued his family connection to George Washington and worked to humanize the stodgy reputation of our nation's first president. He taught archeology and political science at Gonzaga University. Along with Mabel Thompson and others, he became one of the "go to" people on Grant County history. He was ever ready to learn things from others and maintained active dialogues with black activists and antiwar radicals in the '60s and '70s.

A life of service was crucial to Nat. Faith was essential as well. An agnostic into his mid-30s, he shared with his wife, Wanda, the desire for a more spiritual life. Her gentle guiding brought him the same peace and satisfaction that he observed in her. In a political world it was not easy to give his life completely to God, but he did. He was quiet, but solid in his faith.

Nat gained the trust and respect of just about everyone he met, even if they didn't always share his political beliefs. A longtime political writer called him, "the conscience of the Senate." In a poll of his legislative colleagues in 1978, Nat was recognized as one of two legislators with "the highest reputation for personal integrity."

Nat is admired for his accomplishments but loved for his humble, lift-others-up, never complain way. He was kind, generous, a true gentleman, always seeking the good in everyone and every situation, always ready to listen and help, and ever cheerful. He loved the vast blue sky of eastern Washington, but on cloudy days he'd search and find the one little patch of blue, and, even when the clouds obscured the blue altogether he'd say, "Well, the sun is shining somewhere."

He is survived by two sons, Nat Jr. (Donna) of Bellingham and Tom (Lois) of Kirkland, and sister Glenora of Las Cruces, New Mexico, as well as 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Wanda and sister Roberta.

A memorial service will be held in Ephrata, at 1:00 pm on Saturday, September 8 at the Ephrata High School, 333 Fourth Avenue NW. Anyone with a recollection or an interesting story about Nat, is asked to share it by email and it will be posted on a website that is being built.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/political-graveyard/message/8737

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ALMIRA CEMETERY

Washington :  “Nat W Washington, prosecuting attorney of Grant County , residing at Ephrata, his sister, Peachy, and brother James Washington, were drowned in the Columbia River while in bathing Saturday. The body of James has been recovered but dynamite was used without success in an endeavor to raise the other brother and sister and ferrymen down the river have been notified to be on the look out for their bodies...James and Peachy Washington were operating a stock ranch north of Almira.” (Excerpt: Odessa Record: 7-16-1926)  “The bodies of N W Washington and his sister, Peachy who were drowned in the Columbia River near Seaton Ferry, July 10 were found Saturday morning near Bridgeport in Douglas County , 75 miles below the scene of their death.  They were taken to Almira where a triple funeral service was held for James, Peachy and Nat Washington last Wednesday and their remains were laid beside those of their father and brother in the Almira Cemetery .” (Odessa Record: 7-23-1926) Jacob Oster took Chris Musselman to Soap Lake Sunday. Mr Oster brought back the news to Ruff that N W Washington had drowned in the Columbia River .”  (Odessa Record: Ruff Column: 7-16-1926) {Edit: Placements of burials in Almira Cemetery for the Washington family members was taken from a list provided by Pat Rice while she was researching the burials of the north portion of Lincoln County and surrounding cemeteries beyond the county burials.}
Washington , Nathanial W; d. 7-16-1926, age 45, drowning; burial in S-29.
Washington, Peachy Ryland; d. 7-10-1926, age 42, drowning; burial S-61.
Washington, James C; d. 7-10-1926, age 43, drowning; burial S-61.
Washington, Gladys F; d. 6-17-1969, age 79; burial S-29.
Washington, Janet Fairleigh; d. 1911, age 43; burial S-61.
Washington, Hanna Lee; d. 1917; age 46; burial S-61.
Washington, Emma W; d. 1930, age 87; burial S-61.
Washington, Bushrod C;  d. 2-24-1919, age 80, influenza; burial S-61.

http://www.wagenweb.org/lincoln/obitsalmiracemtthruz.htm

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Washington, Bushrod C., b. 1839, d. 24 Feb 1919, age: 80yr, Civil War (Conf), Army of
Virginia, bur. Old Sec. Block-61, Lot-6
Washington, Emma W., b. 1843, d. 1930, bur. Old Sec. Block-61, Lot-5
Washington, Gladys F., b. 1890, d. 17 Jun 1969, bur. Old Sec. Block-29, Lot-2
Washington, Hannah Lee, b. 1871, d. 1917, bur. Old Sec. Block-61, Lot-2
Washington, James C., b. 1883, d. 10 Jul 1926, age: 43yr, bur. Old Sec. Block-61, Lot-3
Washington, Janet Fairleigh, b. 1868, d. 1911, bur. Old Sec. Block-61, Lot-1
Washington, Nathanial W, b. 1881, d. 17 Jul 1926, age: 45yr, bur. Old Sec. Block-29, Lot-1
Washington, Peachy Ryland, b. 1881, d. 10 Jul 1926, age: 45yr, bur. Old Sec. Block-61, Lot-4


http://www.interment.net/data/us/wa/lincoln/almira/almira_sz.htm

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Go to From Pioneers to Power, post 14:
http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/08/from-pioneers-to-power-post-14.html

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http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/6D76CF28A901AB783A659F2298C6EA04
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Some names in this record (Bushrod Corbin, Thomas B., Emma W.) have been corrected.  I have found errors to be frequent in the digital archive transcripts. 



http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/F794D1466A78010CFEA6D08133AA25CB

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Go to From Pioneers to Power, post 14: http://cousinsam.blogspot.com/2011/08/from-pioneers-to-power-post-14.html