History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 24

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1134

USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 24
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 24
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 24

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Lane, Edward; Lane, Daniel E .; Lane, William; Lane, Timothy; Lane, Albert ; Lane, John; Lane, Mrs. Elizabeth (Whitesel) ; Lane, Mrs. Abigail ; Light, Eras- tus A .; Light, Mrs. Erastus A .; Light, Henry; Light, Harvey; Longmire, James; Longmire, Mrs. James; Longmire, Elcaine; Longmire, Mrs. Tillathi (Kandle) ; Longmire, John A .; Longmire, David; Mccullough, James; McCul- lough, Mrs. Julia Amy; Mccullough, Mrs. Mary Frances (Porter) ; McCul- lough, Flora, now a sister of charity in Montreal; Meller, Mrs. Gertrude (DeLin) ; Moyer, John B .; Melville, George; Melville, Mrs. George; Melville, Mrs. Kate (Thompson) ; Melville, Robert ; Mitchell, Henry; Morrison ; Neisan, John; Ogle, Van., now ninety-three years old, living at Orting, Washington; Ragan, Henry; Ragan, John; Ray, Henry; Ray, Sam; Risdon, Henry ; Risdon, Joel; Rockfield, H .; Sarjent, Asher; Sarjent, Mrs. Asher; Sarjent, E. N .; Sarjent, Francis Marion; Sarjent, Wilson; Sarjent, Mrs. Matilda (Saylor) ; Sarjent, Mrs. Rebecca (Kellett) ; Sperry, J. A .; Stewart, Mr. -; Steward, Mrs. -; Steward, Miss; Steward, Celia ; six more children of Steward fam- ily, names unknown; Watts, Evan; West, Newton; Whitmore, Seymour; Woolery, Isaac; Woolery, Mrs. Margaret; Woolery, Mrs. Agnes (Lamon) ; Woolery, James Henderson; Woolery, Robert Lemuel; Woolery, Mrs. Sarah Jane (Ward) ; Woolery, Abraham; Woolery, Garden; Woolery, Mrs. Abraham (Aunt Pop), Mary Ann; Woolery, Jacob Francis; Woolery, Daniel Henry ; Whitesel, William; Whitesel, William Henry; Whitesel, Mrs. Nancy (Leach) ; Whitesel, Margaret; Whitesel, Alexander; Whitesel, Cal .; Wright, Israel H .; Wright, Mrs. Israel H .; Wright, Benjamin F .; Wright, Mrs. Benjamin F .; Wright, James; Wright, Mrs. Eliza (Bell) ; Wright, Mrs. Rebecca (Moore) ; Wright, William; Wright, Byrd; Wright, Carl; Wright (Grandfather) ; Wright (Grandmother) ; Wright, Mrs. Annis (Downey) ; West, Newton; Woodward, John W .; Young, Austin E.

Mr. Longmire states that there were two sections of the train-one of 146 persons with thirty-six wagons, the other of thirty-nine persons. On the Umatilla, where Pendleton now is, the party having been induced to go to the Sound direct, across the Cascade Mountains through the Yakima Valley, left the Oregon Road and crossing the plains where Athena now is, passed the former Whitman Station at Waiilatpu and thence to Fort Walla Walla (Wal- lula.) About twenty-one of the party, however, continued down the Oregon Road to Portland. One of the most interesting statements of Mr. Longmire pertains to the kindness shown the party by the Walla Walla chief, Peupeu- moxmox. He and his brother slaughtered a fat beef for them, assisted them across the Columbia, and guided them across the Yakima and on their way north. The brother unintentionally took them from their intended course, but, as Mr. Longmire says, "that was not his fault." They had told him that they wanted to go "where the soldiers were." They had in mind the soldiers on Puget Sound, but the Indian thought that they referred to the soldiers at Fort Colville and headed them in that direction. When they had reached sight of White Bluffs on the Columbia they perceived the mistake and, turning west, passed through the sagebrush prairies north of Rattlesnake Mountain and thence by an easy and direct course to the present location of Selah and on to the Wenas. They followed the Wenas about twelve miles above Mr. Longmire's

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present place, then crossed the ridge to the Naches, reaching that stream two miles above the mouth of Nile Creek.

Considering that this was the first party on the Naches Road, and that they mainly constructed their own road, they made remarkably good time. The crossing of the Columbia was on September 8th, and they reached Nisqually Plains October 10th or 12th, being strung out somewhat on the way. Mr. Longmire states that the immigration was greatly favored in respect to health,. but one death, that of James McCullough, occurring on the way. That was near the mouth of the Yakima, and Mr. Mccullough was, in Mr. Longmire's. judgment, the first white man to be buried in the Yakima Valley. We may conjecture, however, that during the era of the fur traders other whites may have ended their days here.

A second section of immigrants crossed the mountains about three weeks. after the main train. As given by Mr. Longmire, these were the following : William Mitchell, from whom the famous hotel at Olympia derived its name ; Ira Woodin, who started the first tannery in Seattle; Mrs. Ira Woodin, Samuel Homes, Mrs. Samuel Homes, Louisa Homes, Frederic Homes, Florence Homes, Rev. Mr. Morrison and family, Mr. Shock, Mrs. Shock, William B. Johns : Martha T. Johns, who became the wife of William Mitchell, and six more Johns children ; Mr. Livingston and two daughters, one of whom became the wife of William Brannan, the whole family being murdered by Indians in the Fall of 1855, and thrown by the murderers into a well at a point near the- present town of Orting. Alexander Barnes was also a member of that immi- gration.

The only members of the train in the party that continued to Portland, that Mr. Longmire has on his records, were the Bakers, the Burnetts, Joseph Day and the Gant family, a mother and five children.

This immigration of 1853 is fittingly commemorated by a granite monument a short distance from Mr. Longmire's house. It stands by the roadside in a conspicuous place, from which there is a commanding view of the beautiful and historic Wenas Valley. It was erected by the Yakima Pioneer Association, and was dedicated September 20, 1917. The inscription is this :-

CHIEF OW-HI'S GARDENS. FIRST EMIGRANT TRAIN SEPT. 20, 1853. M'CLELLAN'S HEADQUARTERS. YAKIMA PIONEER ASSOCIATION, SEPT. 20, 1917.

As this fine monument is on the highway from the east over Snoqualmie Pass, one of the finest scenic highways in the United States, thousands of passing tourists stop to view this historical spot, and beyond any other similar monument in this part of the state, it fulfills its mission of educating the American people in the significant stages of national history. It is not too much to say that this first emigrant train across central Washington and the Cascade. Mountains to Puget Sound was an event second only to the incoming of the

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MONUMENT DEDICATED SEPTEMBER 20, 1917, ON DAVID LONGMIRE'S RANCH IN YAKIMA COUNTY, WASHINGTON, COMMEMORATING THE COMING OF THE FIRST EMIGRANTS INTO YAKIMA COUNTY

DRIVING A MARKER FOR THE LOCATION OF KAMIAKIN'S GARDEN AT TAM PICO BY THE PIONEER ASSOCIATION, JUNE 30, 1918

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train of 1843, the arrival of which in Oregon was one of the great determining events in the American acquirement of Oregon.

The incoming of this train of 1853 was so important that we feel sure that our readers would be glad to see still other narrations, and we therefore incorporate here a letter written by George H. Himes, of Portland, and given in Ezra Meeker's "Pioneer Reminiscences."

The letter follows :

"Portland, Oregon, January 23, 1905. "My Dear Meeker:

"Some time early in August, 1853, Nelson Sargent, from Puget Sound, met our party in Grande Ronde Valley, saying to his father, Asher Sargent, mother, two sisters and two brothers, and such others as he could make an impression on, 'You want to go to Puget Sound. This is a better country than the Willamette Valley. All the good land is taken up there; but in the Sound region you can have the pick of the best. The settlers on Puget Sound have cut a road through Natchess Pass, and you can go direct from the Columbia through the Cascade Mountains, thus avoiding the more wearisome trip through the mountains over the Barlow route to Portland, and then down the Columbia to Cowlitz River, and then over a miserable road to Puget Sound.'

"A word about the Sargents. Asher Sargent and his son Nelson left Indiana in 1849 for California. The next year they drifted northward to the northern part of Oregon, on Puget Sound. Some time late in 1850 Nelson and a number of others were shipwrecked on Queen Charlotte Island, and remained among the savages for several months. The father, not hearing from the son, supposed he was lost, and in 1851 returned to Indiana. Being rescued in time, Nelson wrote home that he was safe; so in the Spring of 1853 the Sargents, Longmires, Van Ogles, and possibly some others from Indiana, started for Oregon. Somewhere on the Platte the Bileses (two families), Bakers (two families), Downeys, Kincaids, my father's family (Tyrus Himes), John Dodge and family-John Dodge did the stone work on the original Territorial Uni- versity Building at Seattle; Tyrus Himes was the first boot and shoe maker north of the Columbia River; James Biles was the first tanner, and a lady, Mrs. Frazier, was the first milliner and dressmaker-all met and journeyed westward peaceably together, all bound for Willamette Valley. The effect of Nelson Sargent's presence and portrayal of the magnificent future of Puget Sound caused most members of this company of 140 or more persons, or the leaders thereof, James Biles being the most conspicuous, to follow his (Sar- gent's) leadership. At length the Umatilla camp ground was reached, which was situated about three miles below the present city of Pendleton. From that point the company headed for old Fort Walla Walla (Wallula of today), on the Columbia River. It was understood that there would be no difficulty in crossing, but no boat was found. Hence, a flatboat was made by whipsawing lumber out of driftwood. Then we went up the Yakima River, crossing it eight times. Then to the Natchess River, through the sagebrush, frequently as high as a covered wagon, which had to be cut down before we could pass through it. On September 15th we reached the mountains and found that there was no road, nothing but an Indian trail to follow. Indeed, there was

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no road whatever after leaving the Columbia, and nothing but a trail from the Umatilla to the Columbia; and being an open country, we had no particular difficulty in making headway, but I remember all hands felt quite serious the night we camped in the edge of the timber, the first of any consequence that we had seen, on the night of the 15th of September. Sargent said he knew the settlers had started to make a road, and could not understand why it was not completed ; and since his parents, brother and sisters were in the company, most of us believed that he did not intend to deceive. However, there was no course to pursue but to go forward. So we pushed on as best we could, follow- ing the bed of the stream part of the time, first on one bank and then on the other. Every little ways we would reach a point too difficult to pass; then we would go to the high ground and cut our way through the timber, frequently not making more than two or three miles a day. Altogether, the Natchess was crossed sixty-eight times. On this journey there was a stretch of fifty miles without a blade of grass the sole subsistence of cattle and horses being browse from young maple and alder trees, which was not very filling, to say the least. In making the road every person from ten years old up lent a hand, and there is where your humble servant had his first lessons in trail making, bare footed to boot, but not much, if any, worse off than many others. It was certainly a strenuous time for the women, and many were the forebodings indulged in as to the probability of getting safely through. One woman, 'Aunt Pop,' as she was called-one of the Woolery women-would break down and shed tears now and then; but in the midst of her weeping she would rally, and by some quaint remark or funny story, would cause everybody in her vicinity to forget their troubles.

"In due time the summit of the Cascades was reached. Here there was a small prairie-really, it was an old burn that had not grown up to timber of any size. Now it was October, about the 8th of the month, and bitter cold to the youth with bare feet and fringed pants extending half-way down from knees to feet. My father and the teams had left camp and gone across the little burn, where most of the company was assembled, apparently debating about the next movement to make. And no wonder; for as we came across we saw the cause of the delay. For a sheer thirty feet or more there was an almost perpendicular bluff, and the only way to go forward was by that way, as was demonstrated by an examination all about the vicinity. Heavy timber at all other points precluded the possibility of getting on by any other route. So the longest rope in the company was stretched down the cliff, leaving just enough to be used twice around a small tree which stood on the brink of the precipice -; but it was found to be altogether too short. Then James Biles said: 'Kill one of the poorest of my steers and make his hide into a rope and attach it to the one you have.' Three animals were slaughtered before a rope could be secured long enough to let the wagons down to a point where they would stand up. Then one yoke of oxen was hitched to a wagon, and, by locking all wheels and hitching on small logs with projecting limbs, it was taken down to a stream then known as 'Greenwater.' It took the best part of two days to make this descent. There were thirty-six wagons belonging to the company, but two of them with a small quantity of provisions, were wrecked

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on this hill. The wagons could have been dispensed with without much loss .. Not so the provisions, scanty as they were, as the company came to be in sore straits for food before the White River prairie was reached, probably South Prairie of today, where food supplies were first obtained, consisting of potatoes without salt for the first meal. Another trying experience was the ascent of Mud Mountain in a drenching rain, with the strength of a dozen yoke of oxen attached to one wagon, with scarcely anything in it save camp equipment, and. taxing the strength of the teams to the utmost. But all trials came to an end when the company reached a point six miles from Steilacoom, about October 17th, and got some good, fat beef and plenty of potatoes, and even flour, mainly through the kindness of Dr. W. F. Tolmie. The change from salmon skins was gratifying.

"And now a word about the wagon road that had been cut through to Greenwater. There, it seems, according to a statement made to me a number of years ago by James Longmire, and confirmed by W. O. Bush, one of the workers, an Indian from the east side of the mountains, met the road workers, who inquired of him whether there was any 'Boston men' coming through. He replied, 'Wake'-no. Further inquiry satisfied the road builders that the Indian was truthful, hence they at once returned to the settlements, only to be greatly astonished two weeks later to find a weary, bedraggled, forlorn, hungry and footsore company of people of both sexes, from the babe in arms- my sister was perhaps the youngest, eleven months old, when we ceased travel- ing-to the man of fifty-five years, but all rejoicing to think that after trials. indescribable they had at last reached the 'Promised Land.'

"Mrs. James Longmire says that soon after descending the big hill from the summit, perhaps early the next day, as she was a few hundred yards in advance of the teams, leading her little girl three years and two months old, and carrying her baby boy, then fifteen months old, she remembers meeting a man coming toward the immigrants leading a pack animal, who said to her: 'Good God Almighty, woman, where did you come from? Is there any more? Why, you can never get through this way. You will have to turn back. There is not a blade of grass for fifty miles.' She replied: 'We can't go back ; we've got to go forward.'

"Soon he ascended the hill by a long detour and gave supplies to the immi- grants. Mrs. Longmire says she remembers hearing this man, called 'Andy,' and is of the opinion that it was Andy Burge.

"When the immigrant party got to a point supposed to be about six miles from Steilacoom, or possibly near the cabin of John Lackey, it camped. Vege- tables were given them by Lackey, and also by a man named Mahon. Doctor Tolmie gave a beef. When that was sent to the camp the Doctor gave it in charge of Mrs. Mary Ann Woolery-'Aunt Pop'-and instructed her to keep it intact until the two oldest men in the company came in, and that they were to divide it evenly. Soon a man came with a knife and said he was going to have some meat. Mrs. Woolery said: 'No, sir.' He replied: 'I am hungry, and I am going to have some of it.' In response she said: 'So are the rest of us hungry ; but that man said I was not to allow anyone to touch it until the two oldest men came into camp, and they would divide it evenly.' He said: 'I

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can't wait for that.' She said: 'You will have to.' He then said: 'By what authority?' 'There is my authority,' holding up her fist-she weighed a hun- dred pounds then-and she said: 'You touch that meat and I'll take that ox bow to you,' grabbing hold of one. The man then subsided. Soon the two oldest men came into camp. The meat was divided according to Doctor Tolmie's directions, and, with the vegetables that had been given by the settlers, all hands had an old-fashioned boiled supper-the first for inany a day.

"I know from experience just what such a supper meant to that camp and how it tasted. God bless that company. I came to know nearly all of them personally, and a bigger hearted set never lived. They earned the right to be called Pioneers in the true sense of the word, but a large percentage have gone on to pleasant paths, where the remainder of us are soon to be joined in enduring fellowship."

In this book Mr. Meeker gives a story of Mr. Himes, who was the ten- year-old boy referred to, so interesting that it also is given here as illustrative of those strenuous times of '53.

"The struggle over that ten miles, where to a certain extent each party became so intent on its particular surroundings as to forget all else, the women and children were left to take care of themselves while the husbands tugged at the wagons. I now have in mind to relate the experience of one of these mothers with a ten-year-old boy, one child of four years and another of eight months.

"Part of the time these people traveled on the old 'trail and part on the newly-cut road, and by some means fell behind the wagons, which forded that turbulent, dangerous stream, White River, before they reached the bank, and were out of sight, not knowing but the woman and children were ahead.

"I wish every little boy of ten years of age of this great state, or, for that matter, twenty years old or more, could read and profit by what I am now going to relate, especially if that little or big boy at times thinks he is having a hard time because he is asked to help his mother or father at odd times, or perchance to put in a good solid day's work on Saturday, instead of spending it as a holiday ; or, if he has a cow to milk or wood to split, or anything that is work, to make him bewail his fate for having such a hard time in life. I think the reading of the experience of this little ten-year-old boy, with his mother and two smaller children, would encourage him to feel more cheerful and more content with his lot.

"As I have said, the wagons had passed on, and there these four people were on the right bank of the river while their whole company was on the opposite bank and had left them there alone.

"A large fallen tree reached across the river, but the top on the farther side lay so close to the water that a constant trembling and swaying made the trip dangerous.

"None of them had eaten anything since the previous day, and but a scant supply then ; but the boy resolutely shouldered the four-year-old and safely deposited him on the other side. He next took the baby across, then came the mother.

"'I can't go!' she exclaimed; 'it makes me so dizzy.'

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""Put one hand over your eyes, mother, and take hold of me with the other,' said the boy; and so they began to move out sideways on the log, a half- step at a time.

""Hold steady, mother; we are nearly over.'

"'Oh, I am gone!' was the only response, as she lost her balance and fell into the river, but happily so near the farther bank that the little boy was able to catch a bush with one hand that hung over the bank, while holding on to his mother with the other, and so she was saved.

"It was then nearly dark, and without any knowledge of how far it was to camp, the little party started on the road, only tarrying long enough on the bank of the river for the mother to wring the water out of her skirts, the boy carrying the baby while the four-year-old walked beside his mother. After nearly two miles of travel and ascending a very steep hill, it being now dark, the glimmer of camp lights came in view; but the mother could see nothing, for she fell senseless, utterly prostrated.

"I have been up and down that hill a number of times, and do not wonder the poor woman fell senseless after the effort to reach the top. The great wonder is that she should have been able to go as far as she did. The incident illustrates how the will power can nerve one up to extraordinary achievements, but when the object is attained and the danger is past, then the power is measurably lost, as in this case, when the good woman came to know they were safe. The boy hurried his two little brothers into camp, calling for help to rescue his mother. The appeal was promptly responded to, the woman being carried into camp and tenderly cared for until she revived.

"Being asked if he did not want something to eat, the boy said 'he had forgot all about it,' and further, 'he didn't see anything to eat, anyway ;' where- upon someone with a stick began to uncover some roasted potatoes, which he has decided was the best meal he had ever eaten, even to this day.

"This is a plain recital of actual occurrences, without exaggeration, obtained from the parties themselves and corroborated by numerous living witnesses."

Aside from the interest which gathers around the immigration of 1853 itself, there are two other special associations which make the year memorable. One of these is indicated by the words upon the Wenas monument, that is, "Mcclellan's Headquarters."

In 1853 George B. McClellan, subsequently Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Potomac, was in charge of an engineering party seeking a railroad route through the Cascades. Governor I. I. Stevens, the first Governor of Washington Territory, had formed the far-seeing conception of a great northern railroad. With tremendous energy he entered upon the exploration of such a route. It is interesting to note that the route of the present Northern Pacific Railroad follows nearly the course which Governor Stevens outlined at that time. McClellan was in command of one of the parties under Stevens. In view of their subsequent relations, McClellan the commander and Stevens the subordinate, it is interesting to recall that at various places Stevens rebukes McClellan for lack of bold enterprise in carrying on the survey. In the Civil War, it will be recalled, McClellan failed as commander against Lee, through

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excess of caution, while Stevens died as a hero, perhaps as the result of an excess of boldness, upon the bloody field of Chantilly.

The other connection with 1853 in Yakima is found in that incomparable book, "Canoe and Saddle," by Theodore Winthrop. Winthrop made a journey alone except for Indians, some of whom were eager to help him "shuffle off this mortal coil," from Port Townsend to The Dalles via the "Nachchese" (as he spells it), "Atinam" (as he spells that), and the "Klickatat" (as he spells that), to The Dalles. This is altogether the most brilliant book written by any traveler through Old Oregon, and is in the same class in literature with Irving's eloquent descriptions of scenes which he did not see.

WINTHROP'S DESCRIPTIONS OF SCENERY AND OF ADVENTURES.

A chapter from "Canoe and Saddle," describing some scenery of very high order, and also some adventures which came near to being of very low order, may interest our readers just at this stage of the story.

"People, cloddish, stagnant, and mundane, such as most of us are, pretend to prefer sunset to sunrise, just as we fancy the past greater than the present, and repose nobler than action. Few are radical enough in thought to per- ceive the great equalities of beauty and goodness in phenomena of nature or conditions of life. Now, I saw a sunrise after my night by the Nachchese, which, on the side of sunrise, it is my duty to mention.

"Having, therefore, put in my fact, that on a morning of August, in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century, sunrise did its duty with splendor, I have also done my duty as an observer. The simple statement of a fact is enough for the imaginative, who will reproduce it for themselves, according to their experience ; the docile unimaginative will buy alarm-clocks and study dawns. Yet I give a few coarse details as a work of supererogation.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 24

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920 Publication date: 1919 Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1134

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1134