An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 24

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146

USA > Washington > Kittitas County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 24
USA > Washington > Yakima County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 24
USA > Washington > Klickitat County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 24

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

commodity required a conveyance, a thing which is difficult to furnish in a newly settled country.

Most of the early settlers came from the Wil- lamette valley, to which they had come across the plains at an earlier date. Some had grown dis- satisfied with the damp climate of western Oregon and had moved in search of a drier country, others came to seek more extensive pastures for their increasing herds. To these Klickitat offered both a dry, healthful cliniate and a most magnificent stretch of rich grazing land for stock, where each might extend his lines as widely as he pleased without fear of encroaching on his neigh- bor's right.

By nature and past experience these early settlers were suited to pioneer life. Hardihood was to them a birthright. Their fathers and grandfathers had also been pioneers and had spent their lives on the border of the wilderness. They, in their turn, were born and raised on the frontier and the hardships and inconveniences of that sort of life held no terrors for them. They were possessed of an experience indispensable to the successful pioneer. Next to our soldiers, who won our liberties and maintained by their cour- age and sacrifice our integrity as a nation, this country. should honor her pioneers, that brave and hardy class of citizens who penetrated the wilderness and blazed the way for the civilization which was to follow. To them is due much of the credit for the national greatness of which we boast to-day. They had to forego all such com- forts and pleasures of life as are possible only in thickly settled regions. The benefits of church and school were denied them. Neighbors were few and far apart. For all these advantages they must be content to wait patiently. Theirs were all the hardships, while it was left to those who followed after them to enjoy much of the fruits of their toil.

The faith of the common people in the west- ern country was really remarkable, notwithstand- ing the fact that it has been justified by subse- quent development. Whether the American pioneer in his settlement of the west has been guided by blind instinct or a foresight that has transcended the wisdom of sages, is difficult to determine. They held the Northwest for the United States when our greatest statesmen were troubled lest they could not get rid of it. That theirs was the real statesmanship has been abun- dantly proven by subsequent developments.

Any settlement in the county previous to 1859 is scarcely worthy of notice. Sometime previous to the Indian war, probably as early as 1852, Erastus S. Joslyn, just out from Massachusetts, crossed the Columbia river to a point opposite the mouth of the Hood river and settled on a place now owned by Judge Byrkett. This farm lies in the Columbia valley, about a mile and a half east of the town of White Salmon. Joslyn built a cabin, set out a small orchard, placed a

tract of land in cultivation and acquired a con- siderable herd of stock. When the Indian war of 1855-56 broke out, friendly Indians warned Joslyn that he would be attacked. To avoid the danger, he hastily fled across the river with his family, where from a place of concealment he watched the Indians burn his dwelling, destroy his orchard and drive off his stock. The following day soldiers came to the rescue of the Joslyn family and saved them from falling into the hands of the savages. At the close of the war, Joslyn returned to his ranch and lived there until the fall of 1874.

The Joslyn place is thought to be the oldest ranch in the county with the possible exception of the Curtis farm near The Dalles. An army officer named Jordan fenced in several hundred acres of land on Rockland Flats, across from The Dalles, and at a very early date several others had settled for a time on the north side of the river, but most of them went back and forth, spending part of their time on the Klickitat side of the river and part at The Dalles. Several men with squaw wives located at different points along the Columbia during the ante-bellum days. Egbert French, who afterward kept a store above Goldendale, had a place at the mouth of the Klickitat, and J. H. Alexander, also in after years a settler of the Klickitat valley, lived at Rock- land. Both French and Alexander had squaw wives.

Some time in the spring of 1859* Amos Stark came to the valley and built a log house. There was no settler then in all that country. Save for the soldiers at the blockhouse and a few roving Indians, the entire district to the north of the Columbia was unpopulated. Mr. Stark was obliged to build his cabin alone, as there was no one to whom he could apply for aid, but he man- aged to raise the logs by sliding them up inclined skids. First he would pull one end up a distance with a rope, then fasten it and work the other end up a little way. By this means he managed to raise the logs although the process was tediously slow. He finally by this method completed the walls without assistance, then covered the struc- ture with a roof. He thereupon went back to

*The year 1859 is given by all the first settlers of Klick- itat county, who now reside there, as the date of their settle- ment. L. L. Thorp, of North Yakima, is, however, positive that his father, F. Mortimer Thorp, and family, also a considerable party of others from western Oregon, came in during the summer of 1858. Charles Splawn also gives that year as the date of settlement. Mr. Thorp does not claim that his father's family were the first to settle in Klickitat county, but that they belonged to the first party of settlers, all of whom came together to The Dalles. The Thorps were delayed a few days at that point, owing to the fact that their cattle did not arrive promptly by boat, while others of the party went direct to the Klickitat valley, pre- ceding them a few days. As the memories of men are fallible, especially as to the dates of events which occurred many years ago, all dates which like this one can not be fixed by contemporaneous documents are of necessity given tentatively.

KLICKITAT COUNTY.

California, where he met Stanton H. Jones, whose acquaintance he had previously made. They planned to return to Klickitat county together, but Mr. Jones was delayed for a few weeks in California by business affairs, so Stark came back alone, Jones following a little later.

During Stark's absence in California a num- ber of settlers had arrived in the valley. Among the first of these were Willis Jenkins and family. Willis Jenkins was one of the earliest settlers in Oregon. He had brought his family across the plains as early as 1844 and had settled in Polk county, near the present town of Dallas. In

1849 he moved to California to the newly discov- ered gold fields. During the first winter there he washed out about seven thousand dollars in gold dust, most of which he invested' in mer- chandise. The following spring he returned with his goods to Oregon, where he started a store. As most of his neighbors had likewise sought their fortunes in the new El Dorado, money was about the only thing that was plentiful and Mr. Jenkins disposed of his merchandise at a good profit. From Polk county he moved to Wilbur, a small settlement in southern Oregon named for Father Wilbur, and there he also kept a store and a way- side lodging house. He lived at Wilbur during the Rogue River war. Later the family moved to Forest Grove, in Washington county, and finally in the summer of 1859 they came to Klicki- tat. They settled near the blockhouse, where the · garrison was stationed, and when, in 1860, the soldiers were removed Jenkins filed on the claim. They brought with them to Klickitat one hun- dred and fifty head of cattle and a few horses.

The Jenkins family were not yet settled in the valley when Lewis S. Parrott and his son-in-law, John J. Golden, came. With the Parrotts and Goldens came the Tarter family, also from the Willamette. Mr. Golden preceded the party into the valley, arriving with a large herd of cattle July 9th, 1859, to the best of his recollec- tion. He says the others joined him in August following. They settled on the Swale, a few miles southwest of the site of Goldendale; John Golden afterward moved to Columbus and lived there for a time. The party brought with them herds of stock, as did most of the early settlers. While living at Columbus, Mr. Golden took a contract to deliver one thousand cords of wood to the boats and wood hauling soon after became one of the chief industries of the county.

A little later John W. Burgen and his brother Thomas came, also bringing a large herd of cattle and horses. In 1860 John Burgen settled on the Columbus road, near Swale creek, about four miles south of the site of Goldendale. His fam- ily have ever since occupied this place, to which forty-four years ago he purchased the prior right of a young man for a twenty-dollar greenback. Here, in the following year, his son Newton, to whom belongs the distinction of being the first

white child born in Klickitat, was born. The first house built on the place, a substantial log one, is still standing, although it has long ago been replaced as a residence by a more comfort- able dwelling. Thomas Burgen also settled in the valley for a time, but in 1864 moved to Cham- berlain Flats, where his family still live.

Among the others who came into the valley during the first year was Mortimer Thorp, who settled on the site of Goldendale. His house stood just north of the lot on which the Methodist church now is. Alfred Henson settled just below Thorp, building a cabin, and Charles Splawn settled near what is known as the Alex- ander place. Just above him was Calvin Pell. John Nelson and Robert Carter lived farther down the Swale, Alfred Allen and A. H Curtis lived at Rockland Flats across from The Dalles. Besides those mentioned there were also Jacob Halstead, James Clark, Nelson Whitney, William Murphy, Captain McFarland and his son Neil; Francis Venables, Marion Stafford, Jacob Gulli- ford, -- Waters and sons, and Tim Chamber- lain, who came to Chamberlain Flats some time during the year. In all about fifteen families passed the winter of 1859-60 in Klickitat county.

The Klickitat country was so thinly settled in' 1859 that it was generally considered by the citi- zens of the new district that the necessity for county organizaton had not yet arisen. Few people are anxious to hasten the time when they will be required to pay taxes, especially when no apparent benefit is to be derived from their pay- ment. The territorial government, however, insisted that the settlers must organize and pay taxes. As early as December 20, 1859, it passed an act setting off Klickitat as a separate county and naming officers for the new organiza- tion. As this act is of interest as being the first reference in the statutes to Klickitat county, it is given verbatim below:

AN ACT To Create and Organize the County of Clicatat.

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory

of Washington :

Section I. That all that portion of Washington Terri- tory embraced within the following boundaries, to-wit: Commencing in the middle of the Columbia river, five miles below the mouth of the Clicatat river; thence north to the summit of the mountains, the divide between the waters of the Clicatat and Yakima rivers; thence east, along said divide, to a point north of the mouth of Rock creek; thence south to the middle of the Columbia river; thence along the channel of said river to the place of beginning. The same is hereby constituted into a sepa- rate county, to be known and called Clicatat county.

Section 2. The said territory shall compose a county for civil and military purposes, and shall be under the same laws, rules, regulations and restrictions, as all other counties in the Territory of Washington, and entitled to elect the same officers as other counties are entitled to elect.

Section 3. That the county seat of said county be, and the same is hereby, temporarily located on the land claim of Alfred Allen.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

Section 4. That Alfred Allen, Robert Tartar and Jacob Halstead be, and the same are hereby, appointed a board of county commissioners; and that Willis Jenkins be, and he is hereby, appointed probate judge; that James Clark be, and he is hereby, appointed sheriff; that Nelson Whitney be, and he is hereby, appointed county auditor ; that Edwin Grant be, and he is hereby, appointed assessor ; that William Murphy be, and he is hereby, appointed treasurer : that John Nelson be, and he is hereby, ap- pointed a justice of the peace.

Section 5. That the persons hereby constituted officers by the fourth section of this act, shall, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, qualify in the same manner, and with like restrictions, as those elected at an annual or general election.

Passed December 20, 1859.

By this act Klickitat county (it was spelled Clickitat previous to 1869) was organized and its boundaries outlined in a general way. But the early settlers gave little thought to the organiza- tion of the county. The government at Olympia could appoint county officers, but it could not compel them to qualify, and this the majority of the new officers refused or neglected to do. Without having qualified, they could not act in the capacity to which they were appointed, so no efficient county organization was effected, no assessment rolls were made, and no taxes were levied. The Klickitat country was, therefore, in much the same condition as before it had been organized.

The absorbing problems of the time were not governmental, but industrial, as they must needs be in a new and sparsely settled community. As early as 1860 the people of Klickitat began tak- ing contracts for the delivery of wood to boats on the Columbia river. These boats ran only to Wallula at this time, but the discovery that win- ter of gold in the Clearwater country of Idaho caused an effort to navigate the Snake and Clear- water rivers. The first boat to attempt this got as far up the latter stream as the Big Eddy, but no later efforts were made to penetrate the coun- try with steamboats beyond Lewiston. The subsequent discoveries in other parts of North Idaho, in the Boise and Powder river basins and elsewhere, gave a tremendous impetus to naviga- tion on the Columbia, creating a great demand for fuel. A wood-yard was established at Colum- bus and placed in charge of a man named Had- ley, and at Chamberlain Flats, about thirteen miles further up the river, another wood-yard was put in operation by Tim Chamberlain. At both these points large contracts were let by steamboat companies for the cutting and hauling of wood.

In this way remunerative employment was furnished for all the men who had not brought into the valley sufficient stock to require their whole attention. The first contract price was ten dollars a cord for wood delivered at the landing. After that the price was cut to eight dollars. At this rate the business was only moderately profit- able, for all the wood had to be hauled across the

Swale from the hills beyond where Goldendale now stands, a distance of twelve miles, as no timber grew in the valley or on the hills along the Columbia. The first settlers brought very few American horses with them to Klickitat, and what few they had were considered very valua- ble, so all the hauling was done with ox teams, which, because of their slowness, made two days necessary for the round trip. One day they would go to the woods and load; the next they would make the return trip to the river. With six yoke of cattle to each wagon it was possible to haul about five cords at a load. The cost of feeding the ox teams amounted to nothing, as they could be turned out at night, and the luxu- riant bunch grass, which grew everywhere plen- tifully then, was sufficiently nutritious and rich to keep them in good working order.

The furnishing of employment through the wood contracts was only one of the advantages accruing to the people of the valley through the mines, which also furnished a uniformly good market for their stock. The demand for beef in the upper country kept cattle at a high price and made stock-raising a profitable business. Ponies, being in demand for pack animals, and saddle horses also sold readily at a good figure. These different industries made money plentiful in the valley during the first few years and greatly aided the rapid development of Klickitat county.

During the summer of 1860 the first road to Columbus was opened by private subscription. That year witnessed also the first efforts to test the value of the soil for agricultural purposes, a little grain having been sown for hay and a few feeble efforts having been made at gardening. The results of these early attempts were not so flattering as to inspire further efforts in the same direction, for the first settlers did not as yet understand the soil and climate sufficiently to enable them to get the best results. It was only after some years of experimenting that they learned the lands best suited to the different crops, and for the first years even the vegetables they used were brought to the valley on pack horses. Most of the clothing they wore was hand-spun and hand-woven.

The first county election was held in 1860. Conventions were held and the nominations were made on strictly party lines. Complete Democratic and Republican tickets were placed in the field, although the Republicans, being very much in the minority in those days, experi- enced some little difficulty in finding enough men for all the offices. The result of the elec- tion was a complete victory for the Democrats. The county was divided into three precincts, the polls being at Rockland, the site of Golden- dale, and the blockhouse. All were Demo- cratic. The most of the officers elected again failed to qualify. A general understanding existed among the settlers that the men elected

KLICKITAT COUNTY.

were not to qualify and thus to set at naught the organization of the county. The government at Olympia was persistent, however, and passed an act, January 24, 1861, appointing the following officers to fill vacancies: John Nelson, probate judge; Willis Jenkins, treasurer; G. W. Phillips, auditor; William T. Waters, sheriff; James H. Herman, A. Waters, A. G. Davis, county com- missioners; C. J. McFarland, S. Peasley and W. T. Murphy, justices of the peace.

Another act was passed by the territorial leg- islature on the 3Ist of January of the same year, extending the northern boundary line of Klicki- tat county as far north as the northeast corner of Skamania county, from which place it was to run due east to a point from which, by running due south, it would strike the northeast corner of the previous boundary of Klickitat. At that time the longest dimension of the county was from north to south, embracing a large body of territory that is now embraced in Yakima county. By the same act the northern boundary of Walla Walla county was extended north to British Columbia.

During the first two years of white settle- ment in Klickitat everything seemed to promise well for the stockmen. So far they had been favored by circumstances. The grass grew in luxuriant abundance. The weather was favor- able, and so far as their experience went there was no reason to expect anything different. Not all the seasons, however, were to be like those of their experience. Not only was the winter of 1861-62 more severe than the two previous ones; it was the coldest and longest ever experienced by the white inhabitants of Klickitat. The sum- mer of 1861 was unusual. Heavy frosts occurred in some parts of the valley every month through- out the entire season. Cold weather came early in the fall. Snow fell in the hills on the Ioth of October and November 3d several inches fell in the valley. All through the month of November regular snows occurred, some days as much as ten inches falling, then the weather would turn warmer and all the snow would go. Cold, disa- greeable fogs hung continually over the valley.

For the first four or five days of December it snowed and rained every day, and the excep- tional precipitation caused the streams and rivers to rise higher than was ever known at that sea- son of the year. Klickitat creek flooded all the flat below the site of the town of Goldendale, the water standing eighteen inches deep in a house in the hollow, while the Columbia river almost reached the high-water mark for June freshets.

By the 22d of December there was no snow lying on the ground, although it was estimated by men who kept track of the different falls, that at least six feet had fallen previous to that date. Already cattle were dying. They were suffer- ing from cold and hunger and their lowing was something terrible to hear. Had the weather

been dry, they would not have suffered so much, but cattle seem to perish more quickly in a damp, chilly atmosphere than in an extremely cold, dry one. Beginning with the night of December 22d, it continued to snow daily up to the new year, by which time fully thirty inches lay along the Columbia, while at the blockhouse the snow came within a couple of inches of the top of a four-foot fence and was so soft as to make travel extremely inconvenient. Coyotes were very numerous in the valley at that time as were also all kinds of game. The settlers from their snow- blocked cabins would see a couple of ears moving along above the snow, the remainder of the lank coyote being buried in the drifts that yielded beneath the weight of his body like eiderdown. Sometimes they would amuse themselves by pur- suing on horseback these silent-footed thieves of the night, and killing them with clubs. It was easy to overtake them in the deep, soft snow, and the slinking creatures, when they found they could not escape their pursuers, would crouch down in their tracks and allow themselves to be clubbed to death.

The Ist, 2d, 3d and 4th of January it sleeted, the snow and rain being attended with lightning and heavy thunder. This is the only time on record when heavy thunder accompanied a winter storm in this locality. The sleet falling on the top of the soft snow packed it down hard and thoroughly saturated it with water. Such was the condition existing on the 4th of January, 1862. On the evening of the 4th the weather changed suddenly and the chinook wind began to blow. The change from a damp, penetrating cold to summer warmth was speedy, and soon the snow began to disappear very rapidly. The water dripped from the roofs of the houses as if they were under a water-spout. The cattlemen were wild with joy and hailed this change in the weather as their salvation, for they thought that if the warm wind prevailed for a few days their deliverance was at hand. Hope took the place of dejection, every one feeling sure that the ruin and disaster with which they were threatened had been averted. They went to bed that night expecting that the morning would show great improvement in conditions.

During the night, however, another change occurred. The wind had suddenly veered to the northeast and the thermometer had fallen to zero. On the top of the snow was one vast sheet of ice which would everywhere bear the weight of a man. On that morning the despair of the cattlemen was as complete as had been their elation the previous evening. The loss of the cattle was discouraging enough, but to witness the hunger and suffering of the poor, starving brutes without any means of relieving their dis- tress, was most uncomfortable.

This condition remained without change for six weeks, the thermometer ranging all the time

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

from fourteen to thirty degrees below zero. People could now travel anywhere on the top of the snow crust, but large animals would break through and the sharp crust would cut their limbs to the bone. Unable to move in search of fodder, they stood there in the snow until they fell from weakness and died. One cow near the Waldron place, four miles south of Goldendale, survived forty-three days without food or water except what she could obtain from licking the snow. She became so savage from hunger that no per- son dared to approach witliin her reach. She survived until the warm weather softened the snow crust and set her free, then went to the water and drank copiously. After that she lived only a short time.

It the cattle had been left in the valley it is doubtful if a single head would have survived this terrible winter, but down along the hills that flank the Columbia it was more sheltered and the snow was less deep upon the ground. Besides, it was not so difficult for the animals to dig away the snow on the hillsides. They would turn their heads up the hill, always pawing the snow downward. The great problem was how to get the cattle there without their being all lacerated by the cruel sharpness of the snow crust. The way the settlers accomplished this was to bind up their horses' legs with the tops of old boots or with rawhide and drive them ahead to break the way. This was very tiresome on the horses that led and they had to be changed frequently. Finally, after two days of this kind of work they reached the hills along the river, where the horses could dig away the snow and get at the grass, while the cattle could manage to live by following up the horses and eating what they left. Where the rye grass grew the stock could feed with less trouble, as it was very tall and protruded above the snow. The bunch grass, however, was entirely covered and it was only after much digging and pawing that the animals could reach it. After the cattle got down to the lıills along the river most of them would have survived had it not been for the numerous holes into which they were continually falling as they wallowed about in the deep snow, and in their weak and helpless condition they were unable to get out once they fell in. The owners, when they found them in these holes, generally ended their misery with a rifle ball.

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An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 24

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146