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MEMORIES OF HOMESTEAD DAYS
The Roy R. Rankins homesteaded in Douglas County in 1902 in what is now known as the Delrio area and on the land where Edwin and Lois Rice live at the present time. With the exception of seven years in Spokane, the Rankin Homestead, along with adjoining land purchased over the years, has continued to be their permanent home, and they have enjoyed watching the progress of the area.
In the early days neighbors were far apart, and the cattle grazed over the bunchgrass hills on the open range. In 1902 the Rankins nearest neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Sanderson who lived south of them on the farm where the Kenneth Ehlers now live. Just a little farther away and in the canyon that now bears their name were Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Strahl and their two small children Arthur and Dorothy. All have passed away except Dorothy who still owns the home place. She has taught school for many years, first in neighboring rural districts and for the past several years in the Grand Coulee system.
The land on down Strahl Canyon where the William Ehlers now live was called Alameda Flats and was homesteaded by the Jose brothers, Robert and Harry. Downriver from there a short distance was Condon Ferry which was the Rankins nearest Columbia River crossing into Okanogan County. this was sometimes called "Wild Goose Bill Ferry" and was owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Flaherty.
Soon after 1902 nearly all the available land was taken, and there was a homestead shack on almost every quarter section. Isolated land could be purchased from the Government for $1.25 an acre. These settlers soon fenced their land so the open range was a thing of the past. The idea of most homesteaders was to sell out as soon as the title was received for their land. Those who did stay have added adjoining acres. Also many newcomers have moved in.
The chief occupation of the area in early days was raising cattle and horses on the open range. Shopping and business centers were Almira and Coulee City which were rather flourishing towns of the time. Cattle were driven to Coulee City, which was the nearest railroad, to be shipped to market in Spokane.
Next came the breaking of the sod. This was a slow process with horses and flat bottom plows, but after many long years of hard work wheat began to grow well. Sacked grain was hauled by team and wagon to Coulee City or Almira. This was a good two day trip to Coulee City and often it took three days. The farm of Courtney Ferguson in the coulee was called the "half way house" where the men could stay all night and rest and feed their teams.
The earliest mail for the Rankins was from a mail box at the Wallace place in Wallace Canyon which was ten miles away and where Mr. And Mrs. Frank Sanford Sr. now live. It was carried by stage from Wilbur to Nespelem via Barry Ferry which was owned and operated by the Sam Steveson family. Mrs. Steveson was also Postmistress of the Barry
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Post Office. Waite Steveson, a son now living in the Delrio area, later operated the ferry for many years. It was often referred to as the Steveson Ferry.
About 1905 the Rex Post Office was established on the homestead owned by Mrs. Harriet Whited. Mrs. Whited was also appointed Postmistress. This office was only two and one-half miles away and seemed very close. The mail was carried by Thomas Parks from the Barry office. This Whited land is now owned by Roy and Delbert Rice. The area from this land to the north and east still carries the name of Rex. Other successive post offices from the Rankins were Coulee City, Delrio, and Grand Coulee.
Lois Rice and Mr. and Mrs. Roy Rankin
REMINISCENCES
Retta Pendell's mother, Florence Armbruster Peasley, came to this county when she was two years old. her family left when she was about eight years old because there were no schools here. They took the train at Coulee City. While they were here on the homestead they had to go to Sprague for supplies and the trip took a week.
Florence Armbruster had an old mare named Dolly and she would ride her all over the country side. Whenever she unbridled the horse she would give her a slap on the rump with the reins. Her father kept scolding her and reminding her not to do that. One night she hit the old mare a whack and the horse kicked her. She felt sick and went to bed without supper, but she never told anyone about the kick. She didn't know now seriously she had been hurt until her son was born and the doctor asked her when she had broken her ribs.
Retta's grandfather, Dryiss Peasley, had a sawmill below Peach on the Columbia River which is north of Creston. He would raft lumber down the river and sold quite a bit in this area to the homesteaders. Loren remembered his uncle Harry Pendell getting lumber from the Peasley Mill to build a barn. harry gave him a team of horses as part payment.
Retta's grandfather Ed Armbruster, told of a group of Indians coming over from the reservation and asking him to go deer hunting along the banks of the Columbia. He decided to go and used an old work horse to ride. The Indians were soon out of sight and he never did catch up with them.
One hard winter Armbruster cut willows along the creek bottom to feed his cows. In that way he saved them from starving. Another time he let the Indians have a cow and they were herding her across the river with canoes. The old cow kept trying to turn back, and after the
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Indians had chased her around in the water for awhile she became obstreperous and tipped over every canoe. There were Indians all over the river!
Edith Alling
BILL MEYER
Bill Meyer's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gus Meyer, came to this area in 1905 from Illinois. Bill was born on the ranch where he now lives, and which was his father's homestead in 1908. Bill and his brothers and sisters went to school at Rex Schoolhouse. Most of the time they walked to school which was about a mile away. In the winter they often rode horses, then turned them loose to return home and they walked home after school. Bill thought that there were about sixty-five children going to Rex at one time. There was only one teacher.
Bill remembered walking down to Pete Pendell's blacksmith shop to have such things as a clevis welded at the forge. Later there was a store there and a Post Office. It was called Sam. Pete and Jack Pendell and Bill Bumgardner built the post office building. There was a dance hall upstairs and dances were run by Jack Cress. He charged admission and served coffee. Everyone brought their own lunch. Music was furnished by some of the local people - The Brooks, Wire and Brown families, and Charlie Andrews. Earl Walton was a popular fiddler and only used one string. The Meyer family got their mail at several different post offices, changing as new post offices were built closer. Jack Cress had the first mail route in this area with the mail route starting at Coulee City then to Barry and then Sam, and then back to Coulee City. Using a team and sled in the winter, he would change teams three times in a days run, coming through from Coulee City. There were lots of sage hens and prairie chickens around. One summer during harvest, Carl Cunningham, Jim Stephenson and John Ames killed a bear near Harry Pendell's home. Bill remembered eating bear steak for breakfast the next morning, though he was quite young at the time.
They always had to haul seed wheat into this area in the early days because there was no way to thresh the grain. One of the first threshing machines was owned by about 13 neighbors. Max Cunningham was boss of the threshing crew and the machine was run by John Weber. Ruby Cress had the first combine, a Deering. It took 16 horses to pull it. Around 1917 Philo Ames got a GMC truck and Gus Meyer a Mack truck. Bill and his brother Tom once brought out a load of flour which cost them $3.00 a barrel or four sacks. Their firewood was obtained by cutting brush on the creek bottoms and trading wheat to Rod Hopkins for driftwood. One winter they hauled wood home with the team and sled when it was 20 degrees below zero.
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The main road from China Creek to Wallace Canyon cut almost straight across the country. There were many gates to open as it went through fields and pastures that were fenced. The first county road man was Sam Hammer. Chris Henning and Lew Pendell also had the job. The road crew would have a camp cook, a hay wagon and they would camp out while working a piece of road. There were about 10 or 12 men in the crew. The road boss drew about $3.00 a day. They used Fresnos to move dirt with, and working the teams hard, they took a load of grain along to feed them. A good team was worth about $400.00 and several used the work horses for riding. There were many different brands of sleds, hacks, buggies, and wagons. Bill remembered some were the Spalding and Studebaker hacks. There were the Common-Sense bobsleds, the Bolnap-Bob and the Mitchel-Lewis Stover sled, which sold for about $40.00. There were Winnona Wagons selling at $80.00 and Stout wagons for $125.00. A load of 60 sacks of grain used a six horse team.
Edith Alling
MARGARET (MAGGIE) WALLACE FILION
My folks came from Troy, Idaho in 1901 to the Coulee Area. My father, Fulton Henry Wallace, bought the freight station from my grandfather, Bushkirk Park. We ran a store and in for travelers in the country. The school we went to was in the Coulee, on top of Rattlesnake Canyon. The school was small - only eight pupils. Columbia School had been someone's old homestead shack, moved there for a school. Some of the pupils that I remember were Roy, Charlie, Mary, and myself from the Wallace family and Joann and Floyd Osborne.
PAUL FILION
In 1908 my folks, Magloire Filion and Gus Meyers, came from Chicago on the train in a box car. All household goods and livestock also came with us, in the same car. My brother Pete and me got off at Missoula, Montana and bought a fare on a passenger car to Coulee City. When we arrived there we walked out to our father's homestead about 12 miles north of Grand Coulee. I squatted on a piece of land and filed later. the reason was that the first survey of the country had been destroyed by the cattlemen, so all of it had to be resurveyed.
My brother and I worked out across the Coulee in the harvest for 75 days for a number of years. I can remember bringing home supplies for winter and 10 barrels of flour and once 15 pairs of shoes. I worked for Ed Schrock at $30.00 a month. Also worked for F. H. Wallace at a dollar a day bringing in groceries and supplies for his store. Later I hauled wheat out of the country down Wallace Canyon to Almira. My load was generally 75 sacks on a sled drawn by 8 mules. When I went out to Mansfield, I hauled 60 sacks with 4 mules. I would leave home before daylight and get there just at dusk.
Edith Alling
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ROY CUNNINGHAM
Roy Cunningham came to this area to homestead in 1906 with his two brothers Carl and Max. They came from the Rearden area with their teams and wagons. They stayed the first night near Wilbur and then followed the road north, passing near the stage station of Tipso, near the Broadax Hill. They camped the second night in the coulee near where the Safeway Store now stands. He remarked that the horses would hardly drink the alkali water in a little pothole there. Coming on north, they met Sam Steveson who owned a quarter of land near the present home of Ted Rice. Mr. Steveson asked them to settle near him. One brother, Max, did settle near there. Roy and his brother Carl took homesteads further north. Roy was able to acquire his homestead in a 14 month period by paying $2.23 an acre to the government. He left after getting title to his land and didn't return until 1926.
Mr. Cunningham said most of the farmers grew wheat and cut it for hay to sell to the ranchers who ran big herds of cattle. He remembered Al Stevens ran 500 head on the Philo Ames place. A Mr. McDay had a large herd on the place now farmed by Edwin Rice. The Kirby brothers wintered a big herd in this area in 1906-1907. Work horses were a big expense to anyone starting farming. Some extra large, well broke horses sold for as much as $400.00 and most work horses sold for around $100.00.
In 1907 Roy and Carl bought lumber to build their houses. The lumber was rafted in the early spring, down the river and they hauled it from the ferry on Alameda Flats. The lumber was rough, unplaned 1 x 12s.
The Rex School was first built in 1908. later another room was added and the first year of high school was taught. About 40 pupils were attending at one time as there was a homestead on almost every section of land. Rex School burned down and was rebuilt again in 1930. Mr. Cunningham remembered the school well because it was about a quarter mile south of Carl's homestead. he said he rebuilt the fence, which was between the school yard and his field, a great many times because the children rode horses to school and would tie them by a long rope to Roy's fence so they could graze, and any time a horse got scared, away went Roy's fence.
To get their mail they had to ride or drive to Barry Ferry. Later there was a post office called Rex near the present ranch of Bob and Delbert Rice. There were lots of sage hens and prairie chickens and coyotes in the early days. Not many deer.
A near neighbor of Roy's, on his homestead was Jim Hollingshead, who raised horses. one day he met Jim Hollingshead, Jim Stevenson and Hudspeth running a bunch of horses in to brand. He joined them and they corralled the horses in a little pole corral on the Hollingshead place. Hollingshead got in to rope them and started them circling crowding the horses up against the side too much. The whole side fell over.
Edity Alling
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