Cousin Sam: LILLQUIST, Chapter IV, pt. 1

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Chapter III, pt. 3 Table of Contents Chapter IV, pt. 2

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43

SETTLEMENT OF THE BIG BEND

Early Stockmen

During the peak of mining activity in the Inland Empire a great deal of freight to the northern regions went over the Colville Road. This road may well have been the oldest of the pioneer trails in the area. It had been used by Indians, explorers, and fur traders traveling from the mouth of the Snake River to the Colville Valley. 1 When the military came into the region in the late 1850's, a survey was made of the road. Shortly afterwards a few people settled at strategic spots where there was grass and water. 2 Agricultural activities at Fort Colville had proven the soil and climate of the Inland Empire suitable for crop production. The mining advance was the movement to stimulate agricultural as well as transportation developments. The mining communities provided a market for all the products that could be delivered.

Disappointed miners and former packers and freighters were impressed by the luxurious bunch grass and adequate water supply that flowed from springs in the Big Bend country. 3 The
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1 Otis W. Freeman, "Early Wagon Roads in the Inland Empire," Pacific Northwest Quarterly, XLV (October, 1954), 125-126.

2 Lewis, p. 7.

3 Ibid., p. 9.

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region had the appearance of a stockman's paradise, though there was a scarcity of timber for building purposes. The first settlers did find enough timber of sorts along the water courses, and by using stone and sod, were able to construct rude dwellings. Raising cattle was relatively easy on this open range and they were a product that could be driven to market. These early stockmen laid claim to a suitable ranch site by "squatter's rights," and after starting a herd, many left the country for long periods of time, working at some other occupation to build a stake to help develop their spread. By the mid-1860's, a number of people had ranches on Cow Creek and Rock Creek in the vicinity of Sprague. As the best sites were taken, the late arrivals moved west of Sprague and located on Crab Creek and Wilson Creek in the Big Bend.

It should be noted here that the political organization of the Big Bend country was practically nonexistent until 1860. The Oregon Provisional Government of 1843 established Clackamas County, which included all of eastern Washington. In 1845, Clackamas was reduced to a small strip of land in northern Oregon, and eastern Washington was changed to Clark County. 4 After the creation of Washington Territory, the eastern part of Washington was organized into Walla Walla County in 1859. 5 In 1860 the Territorial Legislature passed a bill creating Spokane County from the northern part of Walla Walla County. Spokane
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4 Johansen and Gates, p. 233.

5 Richard F. Steele, An Illustrated History of the Big Bend Country (Spokane: Western Historical Publishing Company, 1904), p. 65 [parts of this book have already been transcribed in this blog; and the entire book is linked for on line view or download in the home page. -- C. S.]

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County included all of eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle north of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. The county seat of Spokane County was Pinckney City, a settlement near Fort Colville. 6 The creation of Stevens County in 1863 cut the size of Spokane County, as this new county included all the land north of the Columbia and Spokane rivers, from the Cascades to the Rockies. The northern part had the greater population and Spokane was re-attached to Stevens County and existed under its jurisdiction from 1864 until 1879. 7 At this time Spokane County was re-created and consisted of the present counties of Grant, Douglas, Lincoln, and Spokane.

      The Territorial Legislature of 1883 created Lincoln and Douglas counties from western Spokane County. 8 The Big Bend country at this time consisted primarily of these two counties -- Lincoln and Douglas. Douglas County contained the present county of Grant, and Lincoln contained the county of Adams. When the first stockmen settled in the region around Sprague and Davenport they were actually in Spokane County.

      The record shows that one of the first settlers to come into the Big Bend was Samuel Wilbur Condit (Condin). * Wild Goose Bill, as he was called, had been a miner in the California Gold Rush of 1849. He came to Washington from California around 1859 and worked as a packer freighting goods from Walla Walla to the mining camps. He was in the area for some time in 1865 but
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6 John P. Esvelt, "Upper Columbia Chinese Placering," The Pacific Northwesterner, III (Winter, 1959), 9.

7 Ibid.

8 Steele, p. 66.

* This blog has more about "Wild Goose Bill":
Pioneers to Power, post 25, p. 139; post 26, p. 144;
History of the Big Bend Country, pp. 68-70; p. 104;   pp. 145-146.

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did not not settle down until 1875 when he started a ranch where the town of Wilbur now stands. 9 Wild Goose Bill was a colorful individual and met his doom in a western gun fight at a ranch north of the Grand Coulee in the winter of 1895, thus closing out a successful career as a pioneer stockman and ferry owner on the Columbia River.

John Marlin, his wife and 10 children, came from Fort Colville to the eastern part of Douglas County in 1871. They established a ranch near the present community of Marlin and raised livestock until 1876, when Marlin sold out to George Urquhart. 10 Sprague and Colfax served as supply centers for these early ranchers. During the middle 1870's, more stockmen settled in the central part of Douglas County wherever suitable grass and water could be found. The region was scabland but water and grass were available in the draws and coulees. These early settlers did not realize the fertility of the rolling plains, nor were they interested in these lands except for pasturage.

The Nez Perce War of 1877 caused a great deal of unrest among the Indian people of eastern Washington. The Government had not yet reached favorable treaty agreements with the Columbias, who were closely related to the Palouse, Yakimas, and Nez Perce. These Indians still lived a nomadic life in the Big Bend country, ranging from White Bluffs northward. The murder
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9 Spokesman Review Inland Empire Magazine, July 5, 1959, p. 9.

10 Lewis, p. 10.

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of Lorenzo Perkins and his wife by a band of renegade Umatillas in July of 1878 near White Bluffs increased the fears of the white settlers and veiled hostility was evident on both sides. 11 Moses, chief of the Columbias, was an able politician who succeeded in obtaining a reservation for his tribe on April 19, 1879. 12 This reservation consisted of all the lands from the Methow River to the international boundary between the Cascades and the Okanogan River. The settlers of eastern Washington were not pleased that such a large tract of the public domain was granted to the Indians. 13 This, plus other minor incidents, increased the hostility towards the Indians and resulted in a decision by the Federal Government to establish a military fort near the reservation to preserve peace. 14 This fort was later named Camp Chelan.

On August 12, 1879, companies of the Second Infantry began the 190-mile march from Fort Colville to the mouth of Foster Creek near the site of Fort Okanogan. They brought their wagons across the northern end of the Grand Coulee and upon reaching the site, established a temporary post. By the next spring a permanent location had been selected at the end of Lake Chelan, and the soldiers set to work constructing a fort. Items for the new post had to be freighted infrom Ellensburg, Colville
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11 Steele, p. 70.

12 Ruby and Brown, pp. 86-87.

13 Ibid., p. 153, Map.

14 Ibid., p. 157.

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or Walla Walla. Lieutenant Thomas Symons was directed to lay out a practical wagon road from Walla Walla to serve Camp Chelan. 15

Lieutenant Symons conducted a survey through the western part of the Big Bend and wrote the following account regarding the middle pass crossing the Grand Coulee:

About midway between its extremities these walls are broken down, entirely so on the east, and so much so on the west that a wagon has no difficulty in ascending. The Coulee here is partially filled up by the broken down hills. The cause of this break seems to have been a flood of water or ice coming in from the northeast and flowing off down through the Coulee chasm. I called attention to this middle pass in 1979 and located a wagon road across it in 1880. It is the only place where, by any means, the Coulee can be crossed by a railroad from the Columbia to its end near Moses Lake. 16

The route that Symons selected to serve Camp Chelan did not use the middle pass crossing the Grand Coulee. It began at White Bluffs on the Columbia and followed the old Cariboo Trail to Ephrata, then ran across the plateau to Beebe Hill and crossed the river to Lake Chelan. 17

Due to transportation problems and scarcity of supplies the camp at Chelan was abandoned before it was completed. It was officially discontinued in September of 1880 and the men and equipment were transferred to a site at the mouth of the Spokane River. 18 This was a more favorable location, with timber available, and Fort Spokane was erected and continued in operation
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15 Wenatchee Daily World Magazine Supplement, September, 1968, "By River, Trail and Rail," by Bruce Mitchell, pp. 16-17.

16 Steele, p. 525.

17 Wenatchee Daily World Magazine Supplement, September, 1968, "By River, Trail and Rail," by Bruce Mitchell, p. 17.

18 Ibid.

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until 1898. The presence of the army in the Inland Empire increased agricultural activities, as well as provided employment for more people. A local source of supply was needed for grain, hay, and food.

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Chapter III, pt. 3 Table of Contents Chapter IV, pt. 2

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