An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 78

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 78
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 78
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 78

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).

A unique organization among the citizens of the valley is the Camas Prairie Pioneer Association,

instituted September 27, 1900. The orginal roll had fifty-five names upon it. The constitution pro- vides that a residence of twenty years in the valley shall entitle a person to membership, so the number of eligibles is constantly increasing. The persons who have completed their second decade in the set- tlement and who have availed themselves of the privilege of joining the society now aggregate eighty-four. The association holds a meeting for a barbecue and election of officers on the second Fri- day in June of each year, and its custom is to render a literary program and give a dance and supper annually on the first of January.

The two communities just referred to are in the western part of the county and notwithstanding their charms for the tourist are less widely known than many other portions. The regions which have made the county famous are the fruit and berry lands of the Columbia flats, the rich Klickitat valley, of which the Swale is a part, the Bickleton wheat country, the timber belt of the Simcoe mountains and the stock ranges of the uplands in all parts of the county. A splendid panoramic view of much of the wheat lands, the timber areas and the Colum- bia divide may be had from the top of one of the buttes near Goldendale. The scene is an entrancing one in both foreground and background, and will abundantly repay the labors of the ascent.

Without attempting a minute description of the different topographical divisions and communities, we shall review briefly the principal industries and products of the county taken as a whole. While Klickitat county is no longer exclusively a stock raising section as it was in the sixties, and while that industry can no longer claim predominance over all others as it did in the seventies and eight- ies, the livestock of the county are still an impor- tant source of revenue. Among those who still keep considerable herds of cattle the country assessor names the following: Franzen Brothers, 100 head; Leon W. Curtiss, 350; George Smith, 100; Cof- field & Sons, 150; Wheelhouse Brothers, 150; Dan Jordan, 100; William Garner, 125; D. E. Witt, 150; Rudolph Hyting, 150; Richard Kelly, 175; Robert Barker, 75; O. P. Kreps, 100; George Kreps, 100; Claude Steak, 125; Chris. Christenson, 150; J. B. Clatterbos, 75; J. L. Henderson, 100; Collarey Brothers, 150; Christ. Ling, 75; Theodore Parsons, 80; Mason Brothers, 125; A. R. Burkett, 150; Coate Brothers, 150; W. F. Stadelman, 75; G. A. Snider, 75; George B. Lyle, 75; Henry Stacker, 150; John Wires, 50; John Ferry, 75; Jasper Gun- ning, 50; Fred Storer, 50, S. P. Kreps, 100; Leon- ard Stump, 100; J. H. Buschenshut, 50; H. John- son, 50; H. C. Von Ladiges, 100; A. M. Balfour, 150; Herman Bertschi, 150; A. Margraff, 100; Albert Bertschi, 75 ; Nettie Barker, 50; Peter Staak, 75; Dyamond Brothers, 150; Henry Restarf, 75; Nelson Anderson, 150; H. R. Murray, 50; Peter Conboy, 50; Peter Hoult, 50; J. K. Lewis, 50; Jacob Powell, 50; Kuhnhausen Brothers, 100 ;. N.

SHIPPING SHEEP ON THE COLUMBIA. "Bidding farewell to their native heath."

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O. Crevuling, 125; William Frasier, 75; Ed. Snipes, 50; Flower & Coleman, 300.

At the time that these figures were given out by the assessor he had not yet listed a number of bands in eastern Klickitat. The total number of cattle assessed in the county in 1903 was 13,002, and their value, $209,877.

The rearing of horses is another industry that has declined with the plowing up of the bunch grass. The number of these animals in the county in 1903 was 6,241, or 1,31I less than the year pre- vious. The assessed valuation of horses in 1903 was, however, nearly $20,000 greater than in 1902, showing that the quality of the animals is increas- ing as their number diminishes.

Sheep raising is another industry that has of necessity contracted in magnitude since the early days, on account of the steady narrowing of the public range. It is, nevertheless, an important enterprise, the number of sheep assessed in the county in 1903 being 93,765. It is said that these animals produce from nine to eleven pounds of wool each, which sells at present for twelve and a half cents a pound and upward. The sheep are ranged on the Columbia slope and on the Simcoe mountains and some of them, by permit, on the Ranier forest reserve. From1 30,000 to 40,000 foreign sheep were ranged last year within the limits of Klickitat county. Among the principal sheep owners of the county, as shown by the assessor's rolls so far as completed, with the number of sheep assessed to each, are: F. B. Stimson, 275; S. W. Childers, 2,000; L. O'Brian, 1,100; H. W. Crawford, 800; J. C. Crawford, 800; V. T. Cook, 900; G. W. Smith, 1,900; Henry Brune, 1,000; William Brune, 1,400; E. H. Stegman, 1,600; Hanson Brothers, 1,800 ; A. L. Bunnell, 1,900; James Bunnell, 1,900; Montgomery & Wealthy, 1,400; Presby & Nelson, 460; Keel & Son, 1,100; John Jackel, 2,500; Phil- iips & Aldrich, 6,000; Clawsen & Burgen, 1,200; A. O. White, 700; Chamberlain Brothers, 2,400; J. H. Smith & Short, 1,000; H. W. Wells, 3,000; Stone Brothers, 1,500; Fred Fuhrman, 1,300; G. H. Taylor, 1,800; Chancy Goodnoe, 630; Fred Dee, 3,500 ; W. O. Hays, 800; W. A. Imbrie, 250; Smith & Montgomery, 2,300; J. C. Cummings & Willard, 1,200; Sam_ Sinclair, 2,500; Hamilton Conlee, 1,800; Sinclair & McAlister, 1,500; H. B. Trask, 1,000; William Mulligan, 2,500; A. L. Harding, 1,100; Franzen Brothers, 3,000; Charles Powell, 2,500 ; Henry Matzen, 900; M. S. Leonardo, 1,500; Stegerman & Son, 3,000; John McCredy, 10,000, Mason Brothers, 1,500; Riley Kase, 1,000; Isaac Clark, 2,000; Murdock McDonald, 3,000; C. W. Peters, 800; Smyth & Son, 3,000; R. D. White, 2,000; Thomas White, 2,000; E. Lughinbull, 1,800; John Copenheifer, 1,700; F. P. Vincent, 2,000; John Rassmussen, 1,100; Joseph Gadeburg, 1,200; A. O. Woods, 1,200; and John Rosine, 1,200.

The raising of hogs has been a profitable in- dustry in Klickitat as elsewhere in the west during

the past few years, owing to the high price of pork; but for some reason the number of hogs in the county is not great. Those assessed in 1903 aggre- . gated 4,049; in 1902, 6,479. Frank Aldrich, of the firm of Phillips & Aldrich, estimates that the farm- ers realized $40,000 from the sale of hogs in 1902 and $30,000 the year following.

The same gentleman says that an average crop of approximately 600,000 bushels of grain is raised annually in that part of Klickitat county which lies west of Rock creek, while that east produces per- haps half a million bushels. Most of this is wheat, though some barley is grown and a small quantity of oats. The wheat yields a very superior quality of flour. Three flour mills have been erected within the wheat area, two in Goldendale and one at Cleve- land. The Goldendale Milling Company's plant was built with the burr system in 1886, but later re- modeled and fitted up with rollers by S. H. Jones and Joseph Nesbitt. At present it is owned by E. S. Hamlin and John Korkish, and operated by Phillips & Aldrich. It has a daily capacity of 100 barrels. It manufactures some 60,000 bushels of wheat into flour yearly, a third of which only is exported, the remainder being consumed in the county.

The Klickitat 'Roller mill, owned by C. M. Hess & Son, was built in 1878 and remodeled in 1892. Its daily capacity is about 70 barrels, its yearly out- put the product of some 70,000 bushels of wheat. It also grinds perhaps seventy-five tons of barley. The Cleveland mill is of small capacity, but it is expected that a large mill will soon be erected and in operation at Bickleton for the handling of east side wheat. This industry has received a powerful impetus from the building of the railroad to Golden- dale, and it is to be hoped that the beneficent influ- ence of the road will soon reach to the Bickleton country and beyond. The first shipment of wheat by rail from Klickitat county was made, it is re- ported, on April 30, 1903.

An important industry, more in its possibilities than in its present development, is fruit raising. The Columbia valley, by reason of its low altitude and warm climate, is especially adapted to the pro- duction of the tender varieties, such as peaches, cherries, apricots, nectarines, grapes, etc., and these are being cultivated with profit. This part of the county is not so well adapted to apples as the more elevated section, owing to the presence of insect pests, but the foothills next to the timbered area, which in their wild state are covered with scrub oaks, are in every respect suited to the production of beautifully colored, finely flavored, long keeping apples. Such lands, when cleared and plowed, sell at $75 an acre.

Of the Columbia fruit basin, the State Bureau of Statistics, Agriculture and Irrigation, says :

"Southern Klickitat county has a number of very productive fruit belts, the oldest and best developed being the White Salmon valley. The

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conditions here are also at their best. Owing to their proximity to the great snow peaks, Adams and Hood, and the Cascade range, there is a much larger rainfall here than in the regions last de- scribed. (Yakima and the Wenatche valleys.) Most of the section has natural forests, which must

be removed to fit the land for cultivation. White Salmon is opposite Hood River on the Oregon side and the two localities have established a wide rep- utation for their strawberries .* The Hood River berry was developed here. It is now known every- where as the best shipping berry in existence. The output of the White Salmon valley cannot be accu- rately stated, as it is transported both by rail and boat and less regularly than in some other districts, but probably it might be safely estimated at about 100 carloads of fruit and vegetables annually. The Columbia district of Klickitat county has some of the oldest and finest peach orchards in the state. This is east of White Salmon and water is required by reason of the scanty rainfall. Blalock Island is on the Washington side of the Columbia and embraces about four thousand acres of land which it is the intention of its owner to devote entirely to fruit raising. A pumping station raises water from the river for irrigation and the entire island is rapidly being transformed into a scene of verdure. By reason of its location this island is the next thing to tropical, peach and apricot trees blossoming in February and strawberries being ripe in April. Tomatoes and green corn are ready for use by the first of July. For peaches, nectarines, grapes, ber- ries, tomatoes, melons, sweet potatoes and peanuts, Blalock Island will, without question, become one of the most notable sections of the state."

As almost all the arable parts of Klickitat county are well adapted to the raising of fruits and vegetables, there is no doubt that "intensive" farming can be carried on successfully whenever the development of the county and surrounding country shall have progressed far enough to demand it. So far, artificial watering of crops has not gained much of a foothold in Klickitat, the number of irrigators in 1899 being only 151 and of irrigated acres only 1,235. However, the project of constructing canals on a large scale has been receiving considerable attention of late and the dawn of the era of mam- moth irrigation enterprises may not be so far in the future as some suppose.

*As the White Salmon berries are usually shipped from Hood River, the latter community has been getting all the credit for the products of the fruit districts on both sides of the Columbia. Hood River has become famous for its products in all parts of the west, while White Salmon is little known. This is hardly fair, as the fruit and berry lands of the Washington side are fully equal in all respects to those on the Oregon shore.

The timber belt of Klickitat county is quite ex- tensive, covering, according to report of Henry Gan- nett, of the United States Geological Survey, 840 square miles of territory. It extends from the western boundary of the county to Bickleton, a dis- tance of about II0 miles, along the Simcoe range. Mr. Gannett's estimate of timber on this area is as follows: Red fir, 336,300,000 feet, board measure; pine, 321,100,000; hemlock, 71,400,000; larch, 10,- 500,000 ; oak, 3,700,000. It is claimed that the pine® is of excellent quality and of two principal kinds, a white and a yellow of peculiar variety, commonly known as "Klickitat pine." Lumber from both is in demand in the east for finishing purposes and some is exported to the Orient. But the greater part of the lumber product is consumed at home and in the Yakima country, considerable being hauled to the latter section from Cedar valley via the Sim- coe agency.

For many years the manufacture of this timber into lumber has been carried on, yet the area logged in 1900, according to government reports, was only twenty-three square miles. Daniel W. Pierce, man- ager of the White Pine Lumber Company, estimates that the present output of the county is 12,000,000 feet annually and that this output has been main- tained for a number of years past. The assessor's rolls show the sawmills of Klickitat with their loca- tions and capacity per diem to be as follows :

White Pine Lumber Company, Bowman creek, 35,000 feet; Sinclair & McCredy, Pine creek, 30,000 ; O. P. Shurtz & Sons, Mill creek, two mills, 25,000 each; George W. Vanhoy, Bowman creek, 15,000 ; Charles Woods, Bowman creek, 12,000; Gus Jacraux, Cedar valley, 10,000; D. D. Hopper, Cedar valley, 10,000; Enoch Hays, Cedar valley, 14,000; Polish Co-operative, Cedar valley, 15,000; Baldwin, Cedar valley, 10,000; L. E. Hottman, Gilmer, 15,000; F C. Smith, Glenwood, 10,000; Joseph Silva, eight miles north of Lyle, 10,000; Pine Forest Lumber Company, five miles northwest of Golden- dale, 15,000; Miller Brothers, twelve miles northeast of Goldendale, 10,000; Fox, ten miles northwest of Goldendale, 10,000; Dubrosky, twelve miles north- west of Goldendale, 10,000; Cameron, White Salmon, 15,000; Emmons & Emmons, Pine Flat, 15,000 ; Thomas Jenkins, Little Klickitat, 7,000; two in Trout Lake region, 10,000 each; shingle mills, J. H. Allen's, Little Klickitat, 10,000 shingles; Daniel E. Robinson's, Little Klickitat, 10,000; George W. Vanhoy's, Bowman creek, 10,000; M. S. Bishop's, Spring creek, 10,000; tie mill, one on White Salmon, 10,000 feet capacity ; sash and door, planing, etc., White Pine Lumber Company's and Joseph Beckett's, both of Goldendale.

CHAPTER II.

EDUCATIONAL.

Could all the details of the establishment of the public schools in the three counties treated of in this work be fully recorded, many facts of great his- torical interest would doubtless be presented. The story would not be without its heroes-heroes, too, whose self-sacrifice and devotion were all the more commendable because they were certainly aware when they gave themselves to the work that their labors would never be fully appreciated and that no future historian would ever be able to place the crown of heroism upon their brows. No one of this group of counties is so old but that many persons now living remember the establishment of the first school districts, but to glean the facts concerning these from such an uncertain source as the mem- ories of men would be an endless and unprofitable task. Of the struggles and persistent efforts which resulted in the formation of districts in pioneer neighborhoods, of the volunteer labor by which the first rude schoolhouses were built, of the difficulties encountered in raising sufficient funds to maintain the schools for a few months each year, and of the pioneer teachers who wrought without apparatus, without supplementary help of any kind and with- out adequate compensation, no full account can here be given. The official records of schools for the first years are not available, so that all articles touching this subject must of necessity be somewhat inaccurate and incomplete.

The American pioneer voluntarily foregoes many advantages which are enjoyed by those who remain always within the confines of established civilization, but the invariable tendency is to build up in the new country as quickly as possible institu- tions similar to those left behind. One of the dear- est of these institutions to the American heart is the public school, and it is always one of the first to spring up in the heart of a newly appropriated wilderness.

The pioneer educational institution in Klickitat county was a private school organized about 1862 and maintained by subscriptions of settlers. Its first teacher was Nelson Whitney. From time to time thereafter short terms of school were taught in the valley, the money for their maintenance coming always as a free will offering from the pockets of the people. After the permanent organ- ization of the county in 1867, John Burgen was appointed superintendent of schools and the county

was divided into two districts, No. I at Rockland, and No. 2 on the Swale, south of Goldendale. John Jeffrey was the first teacher in the Rockland school and Mrs. Nelson Whitney, nee Chamberlin, the first in No. 2.

Of the first school in Yakima county, that taught in the loft of the Thorp home by Mrs. Lutitia Haines, mention has been made heretofore. About 1864 a little log schoolhouse was built by F. M. Thorp and others on the Thorp place in the Moxee valley. Its first teacher was J. W. Grant, who received a salary of fifty dollars a month, paid per- haps entirely by Thorp. Mr. Grant taught school in the building for two or three winters, the school being maintained by voluntary subscriptions. The next schoolhouse was built on Charles A. Splawn's place, just northwest of Thorp's ranch. It was also a log building of small dimensions. Joseph Law- rence taught one term there, then the school was moved back to the Thorp place. A man named Lang taught this school during the winter of 1867-8, after which it was abandoned, the Thorps moving to the Kittitas valley and Lang accompany- ing them.

Judge John Nelson on the Naches also started a private school for the benefit of his family, in I867-8.

Mrs. Martha (Goodwin) Beck, widow of the late John W. Beck, claims to have taught the first public school in what is now Yakima county, the date of this pioneer school being the fall of 1871. Mrs. Beck received a salary of $30 a month for her services, she to furnish and maintain a schoolroom at her own expense. She fitted up a large room in her own home near the site of Yakima City. Penches and desks, constructed of whipsawed lumber, were placed three rows deep on the sides of the room, leaving a place in the center for a stove and at one side of the room for entrance. Mr. Beck constructed a fairly serviceable blackboard out of whipsawed lumber, planed by hand, and a table and teacher's chair completed the furniture of the room. The difficulties Mrs. Beck experienced in teaching this school were similar to those of all pioneer teachers. Too large a variety of text books and a great difference in the ages and previous training of her pupils made the school very difficult to classify and to handle successfully.

The first school district in Kittitas valley was

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organized in 1870 by Charles P. Cooke, then county superintendent of Yakima county. Charles A. Splawn says the first schoolhouse in the valley was a rough log one which he himself constructed, and in which he taught the first term of school. Although the school was organized as a public one, the expenses of its maintenance were subscribed by the people in the district. The pupils, twelve in number, were mostly Indians. The second term was taught by Mrs. Yocum, the third by her daughter Louisa, afterwards Mrs. Edward Cooke, and the fourth by Mr. Splawn.

By 1872, there were seven districts in Klickitat, five in Yakima and two in Kittitas county. J. P. Marks, county superintendent for Yakima county, 1872-4, tells us that it was then customary to hold a teachers' examination whenever application was. made, and that these examinations were on funda- mentals only, such as orthography, reading, arith- metic, etc. They were confined to the commonest branches of learning and were usually very easy. Mr. Marks tells of examining one candidate while sitting on a fence. As the candidate rolled and smoked a cigarette during the examination and as he was known to be a rather idle fellow who usually sought the shade whenever hard work was to be done and as he was no scholar, he was not granted a certificate.

Owing to lack of early records it is impossible to trace the gradual development of the public school systems in the three counties of our group. The same causes which led to the establishment of the schools of which mention has been already made resulted in the institution of others as the country was settled. The first duplicate report now in the office of the superintendent of Klickitat county, that for the year 1879, shows 1,180 children of school age in the county, and the average attendance of children during the year 792. There were then twenty-nine school districts, fourteen of which were supplied with schoolhouses, and the average number of months taught during the year was four. No graded schools were reported.

The report for the year 1884 shows an increase of the juvenile population of the county to 1,699 and of school districts to thirty-six, thirty of which were provided with schoolhouses. Thirty-four teachers were employed in the public schools of the county, of whom seven held first grade certificates, fourteen second grade and thirteen third grade. The average salaries paid were, to males, $44 a month, to females, $31.50. The estimated value of schoolhouses and grounds was $8,945, of furniture $803, of apparatus $178. The average number of months schools were taught had increased to five and in every way a decided advance was shown since the submission of the report of 1879.

By 1880 the number of schools in Yakima and Kittitas counties, which were as yet united, had in- creased to twenty-three with an enrollment of 517. pupils. By 1883, when Kittitas county was created,

this number had increased to thirty-two. That Yakima county soon made good the number lost by the curtailment of its territory is shown by the annual report of County Superintendent J. G. Law- rence for the year ending June 30, 1891, which shows 841 males and 764 females of school age in Yakima, of whom 577 males and 532 females were enrolled. The number of school districts was twenty-six and the average length of school terms was 4.25 months. There were twenty-five frame and three brick schoolhouses. Forty-four teachers were employed in the school at this time. Four state or territorial certificates were in force in the county, also eleven first grade, twenty-three second grade and nine third grade county certificates. The average salary of the teachers employed was $52.31 to males, and $44.10 to females. The expenditures during the year were $27,033.17, of which $9,979.83 went to teachers and $14,331.79 for sites, buildings and equipments.

A paper prepared by Prof. Lawrence and pub- lished in the Yakima Herald of March 7, 1895, describes well the rapid progress of the school in- terests in the county for the four years preceding its date :

"Perhaps," says Prof. Lawrence, "there is no more certain indication of real and substantial growth of a country than the advancement of its schools. A little over four years ago the school census of the county showed scarcely a thousand names. The last census shows nearly three thou- sand and more than half of this increase has been within the past two years.

"In June, 1890, there were six substantial school buildings in the county outside of North Yakima. Of those only three were new and two of the others had been so remodeled and improved that they would not be recognized as the same buildings. In June, 1890, five school buildings had been supplied with patent desks and there was little apparatus. School was held for about three months each year. This was not from lack of a spirit of enterprise, but the scattered population rendered it difficult to get enough children in one locality to hold a school. At that time there were but twenty-six districts in the county, but the stream of immigration has poured in steadily and the measure of the people we have been receiving is shown by the public spirit they have manifested.

"On January 1, 1895, the school districts of Yakima county numbered forty-six, and the number of teachers required was sixty. Besides there are two sectarian academies, both of which are well attended. In May, 1892, there were one schoolhouse and about forty-five children on the lands under the Sunnyside canal. To-day there are nine dis- tricts and more than 500 children there.

"In June, 1890, the valuation of schoolhouses and grounds in the county was about $20,000; to- day it is nearly $100,000. Twenty-five new school- houses of the most modern style of architecture have

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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 78

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