Showing 1 - 20 of 97 results
Adams County -- Thumbnail History
Adams County is a predominantly rural county located in southeastern Washington, with Ritzville serving as county seat. Since 1952 Columbia River water brought through the Columbia Basin Project has irrigated region's fertile volcanic soil. Adams County measures 1,925 square miles, ranking it 14th in size among Washington's 39 counties. It is bordered to the north by Lincoln County, to the east by Whitman County, to the south by Franklin County, and to the west by Grant County. As of 2005, Adams County has a population of 17,000, two-thirds of whom live in rural parts of the county. Othello (population 6,120) and Ritzville (population 1,730) are the largest towns. Agricultural pursuits include dry-land wheat farming, irrigated apple orchards, and field crops (primarily potatoes). The vegetable- and fruit-processing industry, especially potato processing and French fry manufacturing, provides most of the county's industrial employment. As of 2006, Adams County's population was 52 percent Hispanic, with most Hispanic residents being of Mexican heritage.
File 7835: Full Text >
Asotin County -- Thumbnail History
Asotin County, formed out of Garfield County in 1883, is located in extreme southeastern Washington. In the 2000 Census, the county population was 20,551, and the population of Clarkston, its largest town, was 7,337. The county seat is the small town (pop. 1,095 in 2000) of Asotin, seven miles south of Clarkston. At 636 square miles, Asotin County is the sixth-smallest county in the state. It has a fertile agricultural region in the north-central region, while farther south, the terrain becomes more rugged and is marked by creeks and gullies. Elevations dip to as low as 740 feet in the northeastern corner near Clarkston, and rise to exceed 6,000 feet in the extreme southwestern region in the Blue Mountains. Asotin County's history has been primarily an agricultural one centered on farming and fruit orchards.
File 7643: Full Text >
Auburn -- Thumbnail History
The city of Auburn, located 20 miles south of Seattle, was home to some of the earliest white settlers in King County. Nestled in a fertile river valley, it has been both a farm community and a center of business and industry for more than 150 years.
File 675: Full Text >
Bainbridge Island (Winslow) -- Thumbnail History
Eagle Harbor lies on the eastern side of Bainbridge Island, which is located in central Puget Sound directly west of Seattle. Until 1990 the community situated on the harbor was named Winslow. In 1990 Winslow voted to annex the entire island and the following year it voted to change its name to Bainbridge Island. The town on the harbor began in the 1870s as a handful of white settlers in a community called Madrone. Farming formed the foundation of the town's economy and fueled its growth, with the most notable crop eventually becoming strawberries grown by Japanese American farmers. In 1902 Hall Brothers Shipbuilding moved their operation to Eagle Harbor, and Madrone changed its name to Winslow (after Winslow Hall). The firm became the predominate industry. During the latter half of the twentieth century the easy ferry commute to Seattle spurred residential development, which continues today.
File 8274: Full Text >
Bellevue -- Thumbnail History
The City of Bellevue is a modern, metropolitan community dotted with skyscrapers. Although it didn't incorporate until 1953 and has experienced most of its rapid growth since then, its history goes back many decades, as a farming center, inland port, and milling center.
File 313: Full Text >
Benton County -- Thumbnail History
Benton County is located in the southeastern portion of Washington state at the confluence of the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima rivers. The land, part of the semi-arid Columbia Basin, lies in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains and is naturally dry. But the soil is fertile and supports native plants such as bunch grasses and sagebrush. This vegetation in turn supported the deer and elk that Native Americans hunted, and later, the cattle and sheep of white settlers. Irrigation began in the 1890s with water drawn from the Columbia River. Farm crops then flourished, including wheat, alfalfa, grapes, strawberries, and potatoes. That same Columbia River was one factor that caused the federal government to choose Benton County for a secret wartime plant, the Hanford Works, that would develop plutonium for the atomic bomb. After the war, Congress created the Atomic Energy Commission, which took over operation of the 600-square-mile Hanford Atomic Reservation, and work continued on government projects that included the use of nuclear energy to generate electricity. Today the county's two main industries are nuclear power and agriculture. Wineries are growing in importance.
File 5671: Full Text >
Borst, Jeremiah (1830-1890)
Jeremiah Borst is considered to be the father of the Snoqualmie Valley, located in north central King County. A soft-spoken man with a lisp, he was the first permanent white settler in the valley. He planted an orchard, raised onions and potatoes, grazed cattle, and eventually went into hop farming.
File 25: Full Text >
Brown, Amos (1833-1899) and Alson Lennon Brown (1868-1942)
Amos Brown was a prominent early citizen of Seattle. He was a pioneering lumberman in the Puget Sound region beginning in the 1850s and had substantial real estate holdings in present downtown Seattle and in several counties along Puget Sound. Amos Brown built a cottage for Princess Angeline, the daughter of Chief Seattle, and in other ways was kind to her. He served as a member of the Seattle City Council, and was remembered as an "honored pioneer of the city." His son Alson Brown became a lawyer, and used his inherited wealth to develop an experimental farm in the Nisqually Valley just south of Olympia. The 2,300-acre farm thrived from 1904 to 1919, and was considered a model of efficiency.
File 3755: Full Text >
Bush, George W. (1790?-1863)
George W. Bush (1790?-1863) was a key leader of the first group of American citizens to settle north of the Columbia River in what is now Washington. Bush was a successful farmer in Missouri, but as a free African American in a slave state, he faced increasing discrimination and decided to move west. In 1844, Bush and his good friend Michael T. Simmons (1814-1867), a white Irish American, led their families and three others over the Oregon Trail. When they found that racial exclusion laws had preceded them and barred Bush from settling south of the Columbia River, they settled on Puget Sound, becoming the first Americans to do so. Bush established a successful farm near present day Olympia on land that became known as Bush Prairie. He and his family were noted for their generosity to new arrivals and for their friendship with the Nisqually Indians who lived nearby. Bush continued modernizing and improving his farm until his death in 1863. Named George Washington Bush in honor of the nation's first president, he has no known connection to the family of the two later presidents who share with him the name George Bush.
File 5645: Full Text >
Carnation/Tolt -- Thumbnail History
Carnation (previously Tolt), a rural community along the Snoqualmie River in eastern King County, was founded early in the settlement of the county. The town was named after the world-famous Carnation Dairy, a dairy operation that located in Tolt in 1910.
File 391: Full Text >
Cashmere -- Thumbnail History
The town of Cashmere in Chelan County has to be one of the most picturesque in the state of Washington. It is situated on the southern bank of the Wenatchee River about midway between its turbulent upper reaches at Leavenworth and its more placid confluence with the Columbia at Wenatchee. The 8,500-foot Mt. Cashmere, called Po-Kum by the Wenatchi Indians, and neighboring peaks of the Cascades are clearly visible to the west. The narrow benches of land surrounding the town are covered with fruit orchards. The area was once the domain of the Sinpesquensi (or Sinkaensi or Sinpeskuensi) band of the Wenatchi, who found a bountiful supply of food in the salmon, camas roots, berries, and game animals of the region. The first white settlers called the tiny village Mission, or Old Mission, after the Catholic work established among the Indians along Mission Creek, which flows into the Wenatchee at present Cashmere. The first white settler was Alexander Brender (b. 1851), an immigrant from Germany. William Bourgwardt and D. S. Farrar soon followed. The settlemen's growth was assured with the coming of the Great Northern Railway in 1892 and the town was platted the same year. A post office was established in 1889 with John Frank Woodring as postmaster. In 1904 Mission was incorporated and the name changed to Cashmere. The introduction of irrigation in much of the Wenatchee Valley greatly enhanced agriculture, particularly the growing of apples and other fruit, for which Cashmere has become renowned. Today Cashmere thrives on a combination of fruit production, tourism, and a small industry for which it is famous, the candymakers Aplets & Cotlets. In 2007 the population was 2,820.
File 8750: Full Text >
Chelan County -- Thumbnail History
Chelan County embraces the drainages of the Wenatchee River, the Entiat River, and Lake Chelan, and the Chelan River for a total of 2,920 square miles. Irrigation has transformed the arid valleys into agricultural treasure houses and the home to Washington apples and the ubiquitous Aplet and Cotlet confections. Hydroelectric development has lived up to the Wenatchee Daily World's claim as the "Power Belt of the State of Washington." Almost 90 percent of the county is owned by the state and federal governments.
File 7624: Full Text >
Clallam County -- Thumbnail History
Clallam County occupies the northern portion of the Olympic Peninsula, extending nearly 100 miles along the Strait of Juan de Fuca on its north and more than 35 miles along the Pacific Coast on its west. On the east and the south it borders Jefferson County, out of which it was created in 1854. The county is composed of the traditional lands of the Klallam (for whom it is named), Makah, and Quileute peoples, who continue to play significant roles in county history. It was one of the first parts of Washington contacted by European explorers in the late 1700s, but did not see permanent settlement until after 1850. Seemingly endless stands of Douglas fir, red cedar, western hemlock, Sitka spruce, and other giant conifers made timber the county's economic mainstay for most of its history. As techniques for felling, transporting, and processing the massive trees improved, much of the forest was cut, although the central wilderness is preserved in Olympic National Park. Forestry remains important, but government and service industries are now the leading employers. Port Angeles has been the county seat since 1890, the year it incorporated. Sequim (1913) and Forks (1945) are the other two incorporated cities in the county, whose total population in 2005 is 66,800.
File 7576: Full Text >
Clark County -- Thumbnail History
Local history buffs call Clark County the "Cradle of Pacific Northwest History," reflecting the importance of the 628-square-mile southwestern Washington county as the scene of key historical developments. Here the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived in 1805, the British Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Vancouver in 1825, and the town of Vancouver was incorporated in 1857. The county's location first made it an entrepot (trading center), then an agricultural area.The region developed in agriculture, lumber, and fishing, and later in shipbuilding and aluminum. In recent times, energy from hydroelectric projects on the Lewis and Columbia rivers has fueled development as a manufacturing center.
File 5644: Full Text >
Columbia County -- Thumbnail History
Columbia County, in southeastern Washington, has a population of 4,064 (in 2000), making it one of the more sparsely populated of Washington's 39 counties. At 868.8 square miles, it is the ninth-smallest county in the state. It is bordered by Whitman County and the Snake River to the north, Walla Walla County to the west, Garfield County to the east, and the Oregon state line to the south. The mainly agricultural county was carved out of Walla Walla County in 1875. It is known for asparagus, green peas, and especially wheat, with ranching and logging also playing a significant role. Agriculture and food processing still dominate the economy, with manufacturing and government representing the majority of the county's nonagricultural employment. Dayton, the largest town and county seat, recorded a population of 2,655 in the 2000 Census. Dayton is well known for the historic preservation of its downtown.
File 7801: Full Text >
Columbia National Wildlife Refuge
The Columbia Basin Irrigation Project did more than turn half a million acres of arid Eastern Washington into lush farmland. It also created an enticing stopover for millions of migrating birds. Land once dominated by sagebrush and dust now sparkles with reservoirs. Seepage from canals and pipes has given rise to marshes, bogs, and ponds. Drainage ditches, designed to carry excess water from farm fields, function as creeks in a landscape redesigned by hydraulics. These manufactured lakes and artificial wetlands form the heart of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, a 30,000-acre haven for more than 200 species of birds and waterfowl, including many that previously bypassed the region entirely.
File 7459: Full Text >
Daroga State Park
Daroga State Park, on the east bank of the Columbia River in North Central Washington, was once part of an orchard and ranch operated by legendary fruit grower Grady Auvil, who introduced Red Haven peaches, Granny Smith apples, Rainier cherries, and many other new fruits to the Northwest. Auvil moved to higher ground in the late 1950s when the Chelan County Public Utility District (PUD) began building Rocky Reach Dam. The reservoir behind the dam, called Lake Entiat, inundated part of the original orchard. The PUD bought the rest in 1981, developed it as a park, and leased it to the state. The park is an incongruous oasis of deeply watered lawns and full-service campsites, bisected by several huge, high-voltage transmission towers, painted bright orange and white. Kite flying is strictly prohibited because of the network of power lines overhead, humming with electricity from the dam that turned this section of the once-muscular Columbia into a well-mannered lake.
File 7535: Full Text >
Donation Land Law, also known as the Oregon Land Law
The Donation Land Law of 1850, or Oregon Land Law, permitted settlers on unsurveyed lands to select claims of 320 acres per settler (640 acres per married couple) provided they resided there for four consecutive years.
File 400: Full Text >
Douglas County -- Thumbnail History
Douglas County is a predominantly rural county located in north central Washington. Waterville is the county seat. The county's proximity to Grand Coulee Dam just over the county line (spanning the Columbia River between Okanogan and Grant counties), as well as the four Columbia River dams within the county have over time provided work for thousands of Douglas County residents. The county comprises 1821 square miles, and ranks 17th in size among Washington's 39 counties. The Columbia River, either flowing through its channel or constricted in equalizing reservoirs behind dams, almost completely encircles Douglas County, which is bordered by Chelan County to the west, Okanogan County to the north, Grant County to the east/southeast, and a small part of Kittitas County to the south. As of June 2006 Douglas County had an estimated population of 35,700. East Wenatchee (population 11,420) and Bridgeport (population 2075) are the largest towns. Agriculture, especially apple, pear, and cherry orchards, and wheat, provides a significant percentage of the county's employment.
File 7961: Full Text >
Duvall -- Thumbnail History
Duvall (previously Cherry Valley) is an early rural community in northeast King County along the Snoqualmie River.
File 153: Full Text >
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Hudson's Bay Company establishes Fort Nisqually, first white settlement on Puget Sound, in April 1833.
In spring 1833, the Hudson's Bay Company dispatches Archibald McDonald to Puget Sound from Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia River near present-day Portland, Oregon. McDonald establishes a stockade and trading post in April near Sequalitchew Creek on the Nisqually Delta, which becomes the first permanent European settlement on Puget Sound.
File 5231: Full Text >
Shoalwater Bay oysters begin feeding San Francisco in 1851.
In 1851, oysters from Shoalwater (later Willapa) Bay start feeding San Francisco. The oyster business will flourish in the bay until the 1880s and will be an important cause of settlement in the area.
File 7850: Full Text >
Collins, Van Asselt, and Maple (or Mapel) select first Donation Land Claims in King County on September 16, 1851.
On September 16, 1851, Luther M. Collins (1813-1860), Henry Van Asselt (1817-1902), and Jacob Maple (or Mapel) (1798-1884) and his son Samuel Maple (1827-1880) select the first Donation Land claims within the future King County. The four settlers choose rich Duwamish River bottomland in what would later become Georgetown.
File 1750: Full Text >
First irrigation ditch in the Yakima Valley is dug at the Saint Joseph Mission in 1852.
In 1852, Catholic Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Father Charles Pandosy and Father Eugene Casmire Chirouse (1821-1892), in company with Yakama people, labor with shovels to dig the first irrigation ditch in the Yakima Valley. In time irrigation will so transform the natural sagebrush desert (an ecology known as shrub-steppe) that the Yakima Valley will become known as the fruit bowl of the nation.
File 5288: Full Text >
Ben Snipes builds a log cabin near Sunnyside in 1859.
In 1859, cattleman Ben Snipes (1835-1906) constructs a small cabin in the Yakima Valley. The structure is the first cabin in the region to be built by a white person.
File 5109: Full Text >
Ben Snipes drives cattle through the Willamette Valley to the Fraser River gold fields in 1859.
In 1859, cowboy Ben Snipes (1835-1906) drives his first herd of cattle north from the Columbia River through Washington Territory to the gold mining camps along the Fraser River in British Columbia. Snipes drives his herd through present-day Klickitat, Yakima, Kittitas, Douglas and/or Chelan, and Okanogan counties before crossing into Canada. At the Fraser River hungry gold miners pay as much as a hundred times the herd’s original price.
File 5110: Full Text >
1859 Census: Territorial audit of King County finds 55 horses, 255 white persons, 1 church, etc. in 1859.
On January 4, 1860, the Territorial Auditor submitted to the Washington Territorial Legislative Assembly a report (dated December 31, 1859) on the numbers of white persons, horses, hogs, acres of potatoes, and so on then existing in King County. This file contains the auditor's report and includes his complete list.
File 2683: Full Text >
Michael Sullivan and Samuel Calhoun build the first dike in Skagit County in 1863.
In 1863, Michael H. Sullivan (1840?-1912) and Samuel Calhoun build the first dike in Skagit County. They prove that the treeless flats between the Sullivan and Swinomish sloughs, once thought useless marshland, are potentially rich farmland.
File 5653: Full Text >
Ezra Meeker plants hops in the Puyallup valley in March 1865.
In March 1865, pioneer Ezra Meeker (1830-1928) plants hop vine cuttings on his farm in the Puyallup valley. The plants flourish and Meeker continues to expand his plantings over the years. By the early 1880s Meeker is a wealthy hop merchant with a branch in London selling hops on the world market.
File 7742: Full Text >
Schanno family plants the first wine grapes in the Yakima Valley near Union Gap in 1869.
In 1869, the Charles Schanno family plants the first known grapevines in the Yakima Valley on their farm near Union Gap. Finding the climate ideal for wine grape production, other settlers follow suit.
File 5275: Full Text >
Erhart Seifried, known as Green Lake John, files a homestead claim on Green Lake (Seattle) on October 13, 1869.
On October 13, 1869, Erhart Seifried (1832-1899) files a claim under the Homestead Act for 131.66 timbered acres on Green Lake, which now (1999) define the north Seattle neighborhood of Green Lake. Seifried, known as Green Lake John, becomes the first white settler to occupy land on Green Lake. He arrives as an unmarried German immigrant, age 37.
File 1468: Full Text >
Cattle cross Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle in December 1869.
In December 1869, M. S. Booth drives 200 head of cattle across Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle.
File 184: Full Text >
Man captures cougar near Lake Washington about February 23, 1870.
On February 23, 1870, Seymour Wetmore arrives in Seattle and announces that he captured a large cougar on his farm near Lake Washington. The animal was killing sheep in the area and a trap was devised to capture the animal. Mr. Allen, a Seattle resident, buys the cougar and exhibits it in towns around Puget Sound.
File 1629: Full Text >
Cattle drives over Snoqualmie Pass are reported on October 22, 1870.
On October 22, 1870, it is reported that during the previous year more than 1,200 head of cattle were driven from Yakima Valley to Puget Sound. Most if not all of the cattle went over Snoqualmie Pass.
File 187: Full Text >
Work on Stillaguamish Slough dike north of Stanwood commences during the summer of 1871.
In the summer of 1871, William Moore (1833-1913) and other farmers commission work to begin building a major portion of a three-mile dike from Stanwood (northeastern Snohomish County) north toward Milltown. The dike will be built just inside the Stillaguamish Slough shoreline north of Stanwood. When it is done, 880 acres will be available for cultivation.
File 8575: Full Text >
Charles Carpenter plants hops in Ahtanum near Moxee in 1872.
In 1872 (some sources state 1869) Charles Carpenter brings hop root cuttings to the Yakima Valley and grows them on his homestead at Ahtanum near Moxee. The climate and soil prove perfect for the crop, and by 1930 Moxee City is known as the hops capital of the world.
File 5274: Full Text >
Cougar fights mare along Duwamish River on June 10, 1872.
On the evening of June 10, 1872, a “fine mare” owned by David Graham fights with a cougar to protect her colt. David Graham’s farm is located at Seattle’s present-day south boundary just east of the Duwamish River (45th Avenue S to 50th Avenue S and S Leo St to S Juniper St). The mare suffers “deep and severe cuts” on her neck and face. The colt dies of its injuries the following day.
File 1630: Full Text >
Cattle are driven from Yakima Valley over Snoqualmie Pass from May 1 to August 8, 1877.
From May 1 to August 8, 1877, more than 3,000 cattle are driven from Yakima Valley over Snoqualmie Pass into the Puget Sound region.
File 226: Full Text >
Jacob Weinhard arrives in Dayton to establish a brewery in 1880.
In 1880, Jacob Weinhard arrives in the town of Dayton to start a brewery. Nephew of the Portland brewer Henry Weinhard, he traveled north from Portland where he had worked as his uncle's foreman. Dayton, located in the barley growing country of southeastern Washington , seems to him a perfect place to start a brewery.
File 5229: Full Text >
Cattle drive of 750 head move over Snoqualmie Pass on October 14, 1880.
On October 14, 1880, it is reported that 750 head of cattle being driven from Eastern Washington to Seattle via Snoqualmie Pass should arrive in Seattle early next week. The herd is from Colville and Kittitas Valley and is owned by Phelps & Wadleigh.
File 890: Full Text >
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Almonjuela, Dorothy (b. 1918): Growing Up Squamish
Dorothy Almonjuela (b. 1918) was born on an Indian reserve in North Vancouver, Canada. A Squamish Indian, she moved to Bainbridge Island in 1942. This account includes memories of her life on the reservation, berry-picking on Bainbridge Island, and her 1942 wedding to the Filipino farmer Tomas Almonjuela. This excerpt is taken from an interview conducted by Teresa Cronin on April 9, 1975 for the Washington State Oral History Project.
File 2510: Full Text >
Autobiography of Joseph Banyan Hall
Joseph Banyan Hall (1857-1947) migrated to Spokane Falls in Washington Territory in 1884, working as a blacksmith and raising cattle and wheat. He later went into the hardware business in Spokane. Hall penned his autobiography in 1941 and it is here excerpted by his great grandson Richard Hall of Coupeville.
File 5602: Full Text >
Beginnings of the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project: A Reminiscence by W. Gale Matthews
In early 1952, W. Gale Matthews -- a resident of Grant County since 1890 and, at the time of this account, President of the Grant County Title Abstract Company -- provided his memories of the beginning of the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project. This project to irrigate large parts of the Columbia Basin in Eastern Washington famously gave birth to Grand Coulee Dam, which opened in 1941. Matthews account was transcribed from a speech he gave to the Grant County Historical Society in early 1952, and was edited by Eric L. Flom. Matthews tells of the early ridicule facing this proposal and the war of ideas waged between dam proponents and others advocating a rival irrigation scheme.
File 7963: Full Text >
Bellevue Strawberry Festival: Childhood Memories
The following short essay was written in 1934 by
Bellevue native Patricia Groves Sandbo (b.1916), a freshman at Seattle Pacific
College, for her English II Class. She received an "A" for her story that tells
about her fond childhood memories of Bellevue's renowned Strawberry Festival, ca. 1925.
File 4152: Full Text >
Ben Snipes, Northwest Cattle King
Roscoe Sheller of Sunnyside gave this talk about Yakima and Ellensburg pioneer Ben Snipes (1835-1906) to an April 1958 meeting of the Spokane Westerners. The talk was published in the Fall 1959 issue of The Pacific Northwesterner and is posted here with the permission of the publisher.
File 7265: Full Text >
Colville Valley (1870s-1880s): A 1928 Memoir by Thomas Graham
In 1928, Thomas Graham (1868-1946) wrote a series of articles in the Colville Examiner titled "50 Years Ago," recounting his experiences and observations as a teenager in the Colville Valley. His family had arrived in Stevens County from County Monaghan in Ireland on October 14, 1878, assisted by James Monaghan (1839-1916), who was a brother of Tom's mother, Rosanna Graham. Tom's father, also Thomas Graham, had emigrated from Scotland to Ireland, where he married Rosanna Monaghan. The family of nine sailed from Liverpool to New York, took the Southern Pacific to San Francisco, then a ship to Portland and the riverboat from Portland to The Dalles, where it was always necessary to portage around the cascades before continuing on by steamboat to Wallula. From there, they traveled over the Dr. Baker wood railroad to Walla Walla where James Monoghan met the family with two wagons to transport them over the Colville Road to the Colville area, a distance of more than 200 miles. This trip via Monaghan's LaPray Bridge over the Spokane River, took seven days, the family camping out all the way. They spent one night at the Monaghan homestead, now part of Chewelah, before continuing to Pinkney City, the town that grew up adjacent to military Fort Colville, just over three miles north of present Colville.
File 9188: Full Text >
Davis, James S. "Cashup" (1815-1896)
Randall A. Johnson wrote this article about Palouse pioneer James S. "Cashup" Davis in 1968 for The Pacific Northwesterner, the quarterly publication of the Spokane Westerners Corral. Johnson was born in Washington and graduated from Washington State University with honors in advertising and art. He worked as the advertising supervisor for the Washington Water Power Company in Spokane. The article, "Cashup Davis," The Pacific Northwesterner, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Fall 1968), pp. 49-57, is posted here with the permission of the publishers.
File 7279: Full Text >
Denny Party on the Oregon Trail by Dorothea Nordstrand
This account of the Denny Party's journey to the Pacific Northwest from Illinois was written by Dorothea Nordstrand. Nordstrand writes: When I started school in 1921 at the old Green Lake School, two of my classmates were Denny Grindall and Loretta Jennings, who were cousins. I believe they were both descendants of Arthur Denny. Perhaps that triggered my interest in the Dennys. In any case, I have always enjoyed reading about that family and have gathered much information over the years. This is the story of their journey to the Pacific Northwest on the Oregon Trail.
File 5647: Full Text >
Dorothea Nordstrand tells the story of Dandy, a Pend Oreille County horse in the 1910s
In this People's History, Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand tells the story of a horse with a mind of his own. This very strong-minded horse lived with the Pfister family near Tiger in Pend Oreille County. The "Daddy" and "Mom" mentioned in this story were Joseph and Mary Pfister, whose homestead was on Tiger Hill. Dorothea was born there in 1916. The family lived there from 1911 until 1919, when they were granted title to the property, sold it, and moved to Seattle. In 2009 Dorothea Nordstrand was awarded AKCHO's (Association of King County Historical Organizations) Willard Jue Memorial Award for a Volunteer, for contributing these vivid reminiscences to various venues in our community, including HistoryLink.org's People's History library.
File 5447: Full Text >
Early Promise: The Beginnings of Vitamilk Dairy -- a Memory by Dorothea Nordstrand
This reminiscence was written by Dorothea Nordstrand, who as a young woman worked as a teller at the Green Lake State Bank, located in Seattle's Green Lake neighborhood. In it she remembers a certain young man who came in for a loan. This took place some time in the late 1930s or early 1940s. In 2009 Dorothea Nordstrand was awarded AKCHO's (Association of King County Historical Organizations) Willard Jue Memorial Award for a Volunteer, for contributing these vivid reminiscences to various venues in our community, including HistoryLink.org's People's History library.
File 5736: Full Text >
Farming and Sheepherding during the Great Depression: A Reminiscence by Milan DeRuwe
This reminiscence by Milan DeRuwe (1917-2006) describes his life growing up on a family farm near Colville, Washington, the hardships of the Great Depression, the process of losing the farm and going then into "range sheep business" as distinct from the ranch sheep business, in which the herd is enclosed. It also relates the story of a young sheepherder's struggle to go to college and become the first in his family to receive a college education. It is excerpted from "Gone Forever: The Sheepherding Life of the 1930s," by Milan DeRuwe, which appeared in The Pacific Northwesterner, Vol. 46, No. 2 (October 2002). It is reprinted by kind permission.
File 8626: Full Text >
Flour milling in Washington -- A Brief History
There have been nearly 160 flour mills in the state of Washington. In 1870 there were 22,573 in the United States. Why were there so many mills, and where did they all go? Why should we be interested? Norman Reed, a retired manufacturing executive from Kent, enjoys traveling around Washington and researching its historical, industrial, and agricultural roots. He is a collector of ephemeral artifacts from our state's industries, and having grown up in Eastern Washington, he takes a particular interest in the wheat and flour industries. The essay explores the history of this region's flour mills and demonstrates how flour milling was intimately entwined with the growth and development of the state of Washington. This essay was first published in Columbia magazine, Vol. 22 No. 4 (Winter 2008-2009) and is reprinted here with permission.
File 9474: Full Text >
George Washington Sutherland: A Young Man Goes West
Spokane historian Jerome Peltier interviewed pioneer George Washington Sutherland (1854-1949) in the 1940s, and in 1989 prepared this account for The Pacific Northwesterner. It describes Sutherland’s trip West, his years as a cowboy, and his service as a volunteer in the Nez Perce War. This essay was originally published in the Spring 1989 issue of The Pacific Northwesterner (Vol. 33, No. 1), pp. 8-14, and is here reprinted with permission.
File 7248: Full Text >
Growing Up in Auburn: The Great Depression Hits Home
Joseph Koch (1920-2000) was a longtime resident of Auburn, a small town located in south King County only a few miles from the Pierce County border. From the time of his retirement in 1962, Joe was one of Auburn's most active local historians. In a January 2000 interview, he shared his memories of Auburn during the Great Depression, as well as memories of the impact of World War II on the area's Japanese farmers. Joe Koch died on September 14, 2000.
File 2128: Full Text >
Happy Valley Grange (Redmond)
Granges were an important political force through much of rural America through the first half of the twentieth century and were responsible for a number of progressive agricultural and political reforms. The Happy Valley Grange, located in Redmond on NE 50th Street (just south of Redmond Fall City Road at 196th Avenue NE) has a long and significant local history stretching back to 1909. This account of the Happy Valley Grange, prepared by Sammamish Heritage Society historian Phil Dougherty, is based on two interviews of grange member Lorraine Mills in 2003. It reprints Dougherty's article, "Happy Valley Grange Has a Long, Local History" ( Sammamish Review, January 19, 2005, p. 20), and appears here with the kind permission of the Sammamish Heritage Society.
File 7516: Full Text >
Harvey, Noble George (1873-1952)
Noble Harvey was the son of Snohomish County pioneers John and Christina Noble Harvey. He lived his entire life around the city of Snohomish, which he did much to develop. This account of his life and family and the Snohomish area was written in 1985 by his son, Eldon Harvey, and was provided by Eldon's daughter, Donna Harvey.
File 9374: Full Text >
Nana's Teeth -- Reminiscence of a Grandmother on a South Worth Farm
This People's History is a reminiscence of "Nana" -- Frances Amelia Bishop Boyd -- by her first grandchild, Julie Green Siemion. Nana lived on a farm at South Worth near Port Orchard, which her grandchildren visited, to their great delight.
File 3299: Full Text >
Pike Place Market: A Seattle Reminiscence by Dorothea Nordstrand
In this People's History, Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand (b. 1916) remembers her visits with her mother to Seattle's Pike Place Market. The time was around 1920. Her mother was Mary Annie (Gierhofer) Pfister (1888-1962) and her father was Joseph A. Pfister (1883-1947). It is reprinted from "Market Memories," which appears on the Pike Place Market website (http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/frameset.asp?flash=true). In 2009 Dorothea Nordstrand was awarded AKCHO's (Association of King County Historical Organizations) Willard Jue Memorial Award for a Volunteer, for contributing these vivid reminiscences to various venues in our community, including HistoryLink.org's People's History library.
File 8220: Full Text >
Prunarians (Vancouver, Washington, 1920s)
This piece on the Prunarians, a group of civic-minded Vancouver businessmen active in the 1920s, was written by Bill Alley. During the 1920s, Clark County, Washington, was the prune capital of the world.
File 7206: Full Text >
Raising sheep in Eastern Washington: A Reminiscence by Milan DeRuwe
This People's History interview of Milan DeRuwe (1917-2006)on the sheep business in Eastern Washington was reprinted from The Pacific Northwesterner, Vol. 45, No. 2 (October 2002), from an issue titled "Gone Forever: The Sheepherding Life of the 1930s." It is reprinted by kind permission. The interview is adapted and condensed from an oral history recorded and transcribed by John Ellingson for the oral history collection at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.
File 8971: Full Text >
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