It is a great privilege to be able to publish Mr. Lillquist's work in this blog. I am grateful for his permission to do so. Thanks are also due to Nick Thiry for staying up late one night to scan all 140 pages and send them to me by Email in PDF files, and to Harold Evans for the loan of his copy of Les' book to Nick. When I began this blog at the end of 2010, I had no idea where it would take me; certainly not to the publication of this work, which I would not even have known about without the "You're probably from Coulee City if..." Facebook group started by Conor Jorgensen. Web format is a little different from manuscript or book format: In the transcription all page numbers are at the top of each page; in the Table of Contents, the page number is at the beginning rather than at the end of each line. I have also included links to related information from other sources or from other posts in this blog, and pictures from other sources, and hope add more in the future. Pictures of the pages from the manuscript appear at the end of each post. - C. S.
Mr. Leslie E. Lillquist, 80, passed away Sunday, July 15, 2012, at St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington. He had been living in La Conner. An obituary was published by The Star (Grand Coulee) on August 1.
________________________
i
i
A HISTORY OF COULEE CITY, WASHINGTON
By
LESLIE EDWIN LILLQUIST
A special problem submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS IN THE TEACHING OF SOCIAL STUDIES
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
Department of History
1969
________________________
ii
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express my gratitude to the citizens of Coulee City for their help and kindness. These people granted audiences for interviews and gave freely of their time and information. Their names are listed in the Bibliography. My further thanks are extended to staff members of libraries, of newspapers, of the Grant County Court House, and of the Grant County Public Utility District. They were most helpful and courteous in providing materials for this study.
I would like to thank Dr. George Frykman for his help and guidance. To my friend Gordon Peterson I extend my sincere appreciation for help in correcting my manuscript. A special thanks is extended to my wife for her support and encouragement while working on this project.
________________________
iii
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1 Chapter I. INTRODUCTION
4 Fig. 1. Map Showing the Big Bend Country
5 Chapter II, pt. 1 COULEE CITY AND GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BIG BEND
5 Location
6 Fig. 2. Location of Coulee City in Relation to the State of Washington
7 Geological Change
9 Dry Falls and the Grand Coulee
10 Fig. 3. Geology of the Grand Coulee
Chapter II, pt. 2
13 Climate and Soil
14 Fig. 4. The Location of Coulee City in Relation to the Grand Coulee and the Middle
Crossing of the Coulee
15 Fig. 5. Coulee City, Washington18 Flora and Fauna of the Region
21 Chapter III, pt. 1 PEOPLE IN THE BIG BEND COUNTRY
21 Native People
24 Fig. 6. Map Showing the Tribal Distribution of the Indians in the Vicinity of Coulee
City and the Grand Coulee
25 Fig. 7. Indian ArtifactsChapter III, pt. 2
27 The Fur Trader
Chapter III, pt. 3
38 The Gold Mining Advance
42 Fig. 8. Roads and Trails through the Big Bend at the Time of the Mining Advance
43 Chapter IV, pt. 1 SETTLEMENT OF THE BIG BEND
43 Early Stockmen
47 Fig. 9. Map Showing where the Early Stockmen Located in the Big Bend
Chapter IV, pt. 2
50 Settlement at the Middle Crossing of the Coulee
52 Fig. 10. Homesteaders' Cabins
57 Fig. 11. Early Home Sites
59 Chapter V, pt. 1 THE GROWTH OF COULEE CITY 1890-1925
59 Railroad Construction
63 The End of the Open Range in the Big Bend
Chapter V, pt. 2
65 Coulee City, a Trading and Marketing Center
66 Fig. 12. Coulee City in 1900
72 Fig. 13. Early Buildings in Coulee City
Chapter V, pt. 3
76 The Peak of Prosperity 1906-1916
80 Era of Drought and Depression
81 Fig. 14. Harvest Scenes in the Big Bend
87 Chapter VI, pt. 1 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL-CULTURAL ASPECTS OF SETTLEMENT
87 Law and Order
94 Churches
Chapter VI, pt. 2
98 Schools
99 Fig. 15. Senior Citizens
101 Fig. 16. Historic Sites
Chapter VI pt. 3
109 The Home
________________________
iv
iv
117 BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX
124 A. CALIBRATED GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
125 B. STATE HIGHWAYS AND RAILROADS IN GRANT COUNTY
126 C. NUMBER OF FARMS IN WASHINGTON FROM 1890-1920
128 D. PLAT OF COULEE CITY TOWNSITE 1916
130 E. COULEE CITY BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS 1916-1917
132 F. COULEE CITY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES 1912-1925
133 G THE 1916 COULEE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET
134 H. POPULATION OF COULEE CITY FROM 1890 TO 1968
________________________
v
v
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
(Some of Mr. Lillquist's illustrations may be replaced or suplemented by material from other sources. A link is provided at the page indicated to a copy of each of these pages in docs.google, which may be viewed by downloading and opening in Adobe Acrobat.)
4 1. Map Showing the Big Bend Country
6 2. Location of Coulee City in Relation to the State of Washington
10 3. Geology of the Grand Coulee
14 4. The Location of Coulee City in Relation to the Grand Coulee and the Middle
Crossing of the Coulee
15 5. Coulee City, Washington24 6. Map Showing the Tribal Distribution of the Indians in the Vicinity of Coulee City
and the Grand Coulee
25 7. Indian Artifacts42 8. Roads and Trails through the Big Bend at the Time of the Mining Advance
47 9. Map Showing where the Early Stockmen Located in the Big Bend
52 10. Homesteaders' Cabins
57 11. Early Home Sites
66 12. Coulee City in 1900
72 13. Early Buildings in Coulee City
81 14. Harvest Scenes in the Big Bend
99 15. Senior Citizens
101 16. Historic Sites
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
_______________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
_______________________
No comments:
Post a Comment