History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 66

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 66
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 66
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 66

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).

In 1867 the first real settlement was made. This was effected by Frederick Ludi and John Goller. These advance guards of settlement had started for Puget Sound across the Cascade Mountains, but as they descended the Umpta- num slopes toward the Kittitas they were enamoured of the manifold attractions of the valley and became the first permanent settlers. Goller became generally known as "Dutch John." There seems to have been a "stray" white man, William Wilson, not exactly a settler, living among the Indians at the time of the arrival of Ludi and Goller. From him Wilson Creek, flowing through Ellensburg, derived its name. Wilson does not seem to have had a very good name, even though a very beautiful little stream became his namesake, and he subsequently was drowned in Snake River while trying to run off some other man's horses.

Ludi and Goller first located on Manashtash Creek near its entrance into the Yakima. But being somewhat discouraged by the extreme cold and heavy snowfall of their first Winter they moved in the next year and located on what is now the site of Ellensburg. Ludi raised a garden in 1868 and is doubtless entitled to the distinction of pioneer horticulturist in the Kittitas. Goller re- moved to Wenatchee. He was among the first settlers at that point. Later he became a resident of the Colville Reservation. There he now lives at the age. so he declares, of 105 years. An extended account of him has recently ap-

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peared in the "Spokesman-Review." Residents of Ellensburg have stated to the author that, though very old, "Dutch John" can hardly have passed the century mark.

The year 1868 marked the first incoming of families. On June 16th of that year Tillman Houser came across the Cascade Mountains by the Snoqual- mie Pass from Renton near Seattle and took a preemption claim on Coleman Creek. In the Autumn of that year he returned to Renton and brought back with him a small band of cattle. Another return trip and back again to his place with his wife and children, and the first family of the Kittitas was estab- lished. We must, however, qualify that statement a little, for in between the successive movements of Mr. Houser another family had become located. This was the family consisting of Charles Splawn and wife. Mr. Splawn located a place on Taneum Creek in August. Returning to his former home in Moxce he brought back to the new home on the Taneum his wife, who antedated Mrs. Houser by a few weeks and thus appears in history as the first white woman in the Kittitas Valley. Mrs. Splawn was Dulcina Thorp, a member of the first family on the Moxee. As noted earlier, the marriage of Charles Splawn and Dulcina Thorp was the first matrimonial event in Yakima. The wedding oc- curred at Fort Simcoe in 1863, Father Wilbur being the officiating authority. A son was born in Moxee to the newly married couple at the close of that year, but he died in infancy. There seems some difference of statement as to the first birth in both Yakima and Kittitas. It has been stated that the son of Charles Splawn, born in Moxee, was the first to be born in Yakima County. We find, however, in the "Kittitas Standard" of March 21, 1885, the state- ment that the birth of Rufus Clifford Thorp, son of F. M. Thorp, occurred on April 3, 1862, also in Moxee. A daughter, Viola, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Splawn at their place on Taneum Creek in 1869. This is stated in the History of Central Washington to have been the first birth of a white child in the Kittitas. We are informed, however, by Mrs. William Taylor that the birth of twins to Mrs. Martin Davern occurred in 1869 before that of Viola Splawn. The Daverns were making their way from the Sound across the mountains and down the Yakima, and were camping under a thorn tree near the subsequent location of Tjossem's Mill, when the twins arrived. One of the twins, Philena, now Mrs. Phil Fitterer, lives in Ellensburg at the present time. There were three children in the Houser family at the time of their arrival: Sarah, Harrison and Clarence. Sarah became Mrs. Messerly and now lives at Wenatchee. Pernina Houser was born at the place on Coleman Creek on December 27, 1869. She became the wife of William German in 1888. Mr. German subsequently ac- quired the original Tillman Houser place and that is the family residence at the present day. It would appear from this narration that the earliest births in Kittitas County were of the twin daughters of the Daverns, then Viola Splawn, and then Pernina Houser. Two other children, Alvy and Amelia, were born in the Houser home. Alvy now lives in Yakima, and Amelia, now Mrs. C. C. Churchill, lives in a beautiful home on Craig hill. Mrs. Charles Splawn died in 1870, and in 1873 Mr. Splawn married Melissa Thorp, sister of his first wife. She is still living near the town of Thorp with her daughter, Mrs. Bruton.

In 1869 there was quite an influx of settlers into Kittitas. The most not- able was that prince of pioneers, F. Mortimer Thorp of Moxee. He was a

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true type of the restless, adventurous, aspiring frontiersman, who cannot be content with fixed conditions, but must pull up stakes and start on just when he has become fairly established. It is a noble breed of men, and America would not have become America without that type. In the same year came Moses Splawn and A. J. Splawn. Martin Davern, father of the twins of the previous year, returned and located near the present Ellensburg. Charles B. Reed, later one of the most prominent of the builders, located on Cooke Creek, but moved soon to the Manashtash. Three bachelors, W. A. Bull, Thomas Haley and Patrick Lynch, took claims east of the present Ellensburg. William Johnson, sometimes called "Windy" Johnson, another bachelor, located on Wilson Creek. George Gillespie took a place near Bull's claim. Matthias Becker, W. H. Crockett, A. A. Bell, Fred Bennett, William Dennis, John Vaughn, George Hull, S. R. Geddis, George and Jeff Smith, W. H. Kiester, and John Schmidt are mentioned by the old-timers as having come the same year of 1869. Jeff Smith drove the first wagon over the Snoqualmie Pass to Kittitas.

There seem to have been four special centers of settlement in those first years. One was on Coleman and Cooke creeks at the foot of the hills on the north side of the valley; another about six or eight miles northeast of Ellens- burg in the heart of the valley; a third southeast of Ellensburg in the settle- ment known afterwards as Denmark; and the fourth on the west side on the Taneum and Manashtash creeks. Within a few years the settlers became quite widely scattered, but those four localities seem to have been the special points to work from. Early locators always reckoned on the two vital necessities of wood and water. Very few looked forward to irrigation on a large scale but most of them recognized the need of command of flowing streams by which the individual farmers or small group of famers could provide their own prem- ises with a sufficient water supply. Hence the first comers tried to find loca- tions accessible to the creeks flowing from the north across the plain on the east side, Reeser, Wilson, Naneum, Coleman, Cooke, Caribou, and Raske, or to the Taneum and Manashtash on the west side, or upon the Yakima itself. At the same time they endeavored to join to the advantage of water that of timber. It has been stated to the author by Mr. Gerrit d' Ablaing that in a general way, though of course with exceptions, the settlers from The Dalles or from Oregon by way of that point made their locations on the east side of the valley, while those on the west side were made mainly by people from the Sound or the East,

In 1870 and 1871 many of those destined to be the great builders of the valley and of Ellensburg were added to the population. In 1870 came Charles P. Cooke, a leader of thought and action in the early settlement of Yakima. With him were his wife and four sons and two daughters. The family located on the creek which received its name from them and only a short distance from the Houser claim. Mrs. Cooke still lives on the place.

The first wedding in Kittitas occurred in 1872. That first pair was Charles Coleman and Clara Cooke, daughter of C. P. Cooke. The wedding occurred at the home of Matthias Becker and the officiating magistrate was Probate Judge Charles Splawn.

The other daughter of Mr. Cooke, Eliza, became the wife of Henry Schnebly and lives in Ellensburg at the present time. In 1871 D. J. Schnebly came with his family, his sons Charles and Henry locating on Cooke Creek and

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engaging in the stock business. The Schnebly family was one of the most im -- portant and influential of all the builders of the valley. Mr. Schnebly was a man of education and of literary attainments and became one of the great land- marks in the newspaper history of central Washington. He was the founder of the "Localizer" and for many years was a leader of thought in the valley. Of his newspaper career we give views in other chapters. Mr. Schnebly made a large place in the life of the community and his sons and daughters worthily continued his influence. The sons Charles and Henry are leading farmers, while the daughter Jean, Mrs. John B. Davidson, has been one of the great influences for education, culture and public improvement in Ellensburg and vicinity. For seven years city librarian, Mrs. Davidson very nearly created that important agency for public improvement. Mary (Mrs. Fred Adams) another daughter of Mr. Schnebly, lived for a number of years at Walla Walla and then went with her family to San Diego, California, where she died. The wife of Mr. Schnebly was Margaretta Painter, a member of one of the leading pioneer families, representatives of which have been well known in Ellensburg and Walla Walla, as well as on the west side of the Cascades.

The year 1871 saw the arrival in the Kittitas of the man who beyond all others may be called the father of Ellensburg. This was John Alden Shoudy. From his wife, Mary Ellen Stewart of California, the metropolis of the Kittitas received its name, and a considerable part of the town was laid out on land belonging to Mr. Shoudy. He had come to the Pacific Coast from Illinois, a veteran of the Civil War, and had become engaged in business with his broth- er-in-law, Dexter Horton, one of the most prominent of Seattle's capitalists and founder of one of the greatest banking houses of that city. In 1871 a proposition developed in Seattle to make an improved road connection with the Yakima country. As a representative of this movement, Mr. Shoudy went to . the valley in that year. The visit resulted in his permanent residence and in the founding of the town. Of the details of his acquisition of A. J. Splawn's "Rob- ber's Roost" store and the laying out of the claim which Mr. Splawn "threw in". with the store, we shall speak in more detail in the chapter on Ellensburg. Suffice it to say here that Mr. Shoudy became one of the leaders of the valley, and as a representative to the legislature and a member of the constitutional convention he bore an honorable part in the politics and laws of the rapidly developing state of Washington.

Others of the most prominent of the residents of the valley, many of whom are living now in Ellensburg or vicinity, came in 1870 or 1871 or 1872. Of these we may name Mrs. Austin Mires (Mary L. Rowland), who came with her mother and stepfather, H. H. Davies, to the Kittitas in 1871. A leader in all the activities of the community, Mrs. Mires has also been a student of the history of the section and she and her husband have accumulated a most valu- able store of historical matter. Another of the honored families of the valley was that of A. B. Whitson with his sons Edward and Albert, the former of whom became one of the foremost early lawyers of Yakima and subsequently one of the Federal judges of the Eastern District of the state. The Whitson place was in the eastern section of the early settlements. In the same region settled Mr. J. G. Olding with his family. The Oldings drove from Walla Walla

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with ox-teams. Both Mr. and Mrs. Olding are still living. In 1870 came one of the present residents of Ellensburg, who, it is safe to say, has been more pumped for historical information than any other man in Ellensburg and to whom the au- thor of this work is especially indebted. This is William (commonly known as "Bill" to his admiring neighbors) Taylor. Mr. Taylor is a veritable treasury of in- teresting incidents and reminiscences of the early days. He is a typical Oregonian and came from the "Webfoot country" to the Kittitas as a boy. He worked for the farmers on Coleman and Cooke creeks and hauled lumber for the first building in Ellensburg from the Damman and Tjossem Mill on Naneum Creek. Mr. Taylor had many adventures with Indians all the way up to Moses himself, whom he pronounces a great coward and by no means the picturesque hero that some have portrayed him. He tells us that some of the structures for defense built during the periods of Indian scares are still in existence. One of those is the remains of a stockade on the Wheeler ranch, part only of which still exists, and it is used for a barn. A fort was built on the Whitson ranch. A stockade was also built in the town.

In a group of historical essays prepared by students of the Normal School which Professor Smyser has been so kind as to place at our disposal we find so readable and valuable an account of the Wheeler and Whitson settlements in the valley and the stockades upon their places, that we incorporate it here. It is the work of Birdie Clareta Smith, student of the Normal.

THE WHEELER BLOCK-HOUSE. (By Birdie Clareta Smith.)

October 7, 1917, my sister and I went to see the old Wheeler block-house. The Wheeler homestead is about seven miles from Ellensburg and one mile south of Kittitas.

Charles Wheeler and his wife crossed the plains in 1850, going to Yelm Prairie, where they lived for seventeen years. In 1869 Mr. Wheeler and his oldest son, George W., came to the Kittitas Valley looking for range for their stock. George was twelve years old at this time. In 1870 Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler with their family of six children moved to Kittitas, crossing the mountains with an ox-team. In the Spring of 1871 they built a small log cabin. This cabin was built of hewn cottonwood logs ; the ends of the logs were dovetailed together and pinned with wooden pins. The windows and door frames were also pinned in with wooden pins. The roof and floor were of dirt and a huge fireplace filled the east end of the cabin. The fireplace was built of rock filled in with mud and the chimney was made of sticks and mud. The cabin is built but a few feet from the west bank of Cherry Creek, facing the south. There was one small window and a door in the front, a window in the west end and a door in the north. The doors were fastened with wooden thumb latches lifting with a buck- skin string from the outside.

The Wheeler family and their few neighbors used this cabin for many social affairs, dancing being the favorite amusement. Grandfather Wheeler furnished the music, for he was a famous "fiddler"; and I am told that at several of the dances the dust was so thick it was impossible to see one's partner.

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A few years later an addition was built onto the west end of the cabin. New floors were put down and a new roof added to the old part. The roof and floor were of rough boards sawed with a whipsaw at Jordan's mill in the Naneum canyon. Yet, with this addition, by the time their own small children and the small children of their neighbors were put to bed there was very little room left for dancing. It was customary at these pioneer parties for the guests to remain all night, returning home the next morning.

It was during the Indian trouble of 1878 that the second story of the cabin was built, making a block-house. This part was of logs, built in the same manner as the first part and projected over the lower story. There were eight portholes on each side and two on each end. This new story of the house was floored with dressed lumber and, being all in one room, it was with much hilarious fun they gathered for the first dance.

A few years ago the upper part of the old cabin was moved over to the present home of A. Wheeler and is used for a barn. The cabin is neglected but there are many things as they were in the early days. The peg, a part of every log cabin, is still in the north wall and the little platform for the "fiddler" to sit on is still in the cabin. The doors and windows are gone, except the door on the north. The fireplace was boarded up and the stairs moved from inside the cabin to the outside on the east end. The old orchard of apples and plums raised from seeds planted by Mrs. Wheeler is still alive; the fruit is of very good quality.

The years with their sunshine and rain have softened and colored the logs of the old cabin to a dull gray velvet and have found their way through the roof. Although the cabin was ready at any time to do its part as a block-house it was never used for that purpose.

Grandfather Wheeler died in February, 1882, in this cabin. Grandmother Wheeler continued to live on the homestead until her death in May, 1917.

In the summer of 1877, came a rumor of Indian troubles and as there were no block-houses at that time, the people gathered at different homes, generally selecting the home having the largest cabin.

The settlers of the west side of the river seem to have been less troubled by the Indians than those living on the east side of the river. One reason may have heen that there were more early settlers in the east of the valley and they were closer to the hills that were the home of the Indians. Those Indians living in the valley were the friends of the white people, and were as afraid of the Columbia River Indians as were the pioneers. In fact, during 1877 and 1878, some of the valley Indians went to the Puget Sound country where they would have better protection.

In June. 1877, the people northwest of Ellensburg gathered at the Shaser home, staying there nights and going home to their work during the day. The Shaser cabin was built on what is now the Dunning ranch, by George Shaser in 1870. George Shaser and his wife were married while crossing the plains in 1845. Mrs. Shaser was but thirteen years old when married. They went to Oregon, where they lived until 1847 when they moved to the mouth of the Nisqually River. In the fall of 1869 Mr. Shaser came to Kittitas looking for

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range for his stock. The next Spring, Mr. and Mrs. Shaser with their family of twelve children came to the Kittitas Valley by The Dalles road. Their cabin, like the other log cabins in the valley, was built of hand-hewn logs pinned together with wooden pins. The roof and floor were of dirt. In 1878, when rumors of Indian trouble were of almost daily occurrence, the Shaser cabin was made into a blockhouse, but was never used for that purpose.

In 1877, the people of the southeast part of the valley gathered at the home of S. B. Olmstead. Mr. Olmstead crossed the plains in 1849, going to Cali- fornia. Later Mr. Olmstead lived in Oregon and in September, 1876, Mr. and Mrs. Olmstead moved to the Kittitas Valley, riding horseback across the moun- tains. Their cabin was built similar to the other cabins of hewn logs and wooden pins except that when first built, the floor and roof were of boards. The fireplace was built of stones filled in with mud with a chimney of sticks and mud. The doors were fastened with a long, stout wooden bar. This bar was put through a large ring made from an iron bar. The windows were small, each containing only four small panes of glass. As everything about the early log cabins was built very substantially, the people had reason to feel fairly safe in them. Some of the families that were at the Olmstead home were Charles Wheeler, James Ferguson, John McEwen, A. Curtis, Dan Wigle. During the night, George Wheeler and Mr. McEwen stood guard.

Doubtless the greatest excitement over the Indians was the evening of June -, 1877, when there came word that the Indians had killed the people on the Wenatchee Mountains and were then in the upper part of the valley. People lost no time in letting their neighbors know the state of affairs and it was decided that they would all go to Ellensburgh. Horses were quickly caught and hitched to the wagons and the families were on their way to town. From all directions in the clear Summer air could be heard the rattle of the heavy linchpin wagons. To add to the din the wagon boxes were made of small cottonwood logs. It was about eleven o'clock that night when people began to arrive at the Shoudy store. The people in town were fast asleep, not having heard that the Indians were coming into the valley; the settlers of the east part of the country always heard all Indian rumors first. Shoudy had a few guns and some ammunition but there were not enough guns for everyone. The people were not lacking for courage but had very little to back their courage up with. The night was spent quietly and in the morning the people returned to their homes. They decided that something must be done, some place made safe for them against the Indians. As a result of this decision the different block-houses were built, some at once and others that Fall.

What was known as the Grange Hall on the Whitson place, now owned by Wager, was moved closer to the creek and a stockade built around it. The Grange Hall was just a log house built and used for a public gathering place, a Grange had been organized in the valley and the hall was built although the Grange had been disbanded before this. The stockade was built of small trees or posts set on end around the house, just outside the stockade a deep trench was dug and the dirt thrown against the posts. A lookout tower was also a part of the defense. Tall poles were stood up and a small platform built at the top. From this platform the valley and foothills could be plainly seen, as there

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were no trees except along the creeks where low brush grew. During the day they left the block-house, going over to the creek by the spring, and back to the block-house at night. Guards were stationed and everything made safe as pos- sible for the night. Some of the men went to their homes through the day, cutting hay and doing other work. A number of families in the east part of the valley did not go to the Grange Hall, S. B. Olmstead's family being among those who, for various reasons, remained at their homes. Mr. Olmstead was ill and unable to go back and forth to his ranch as many did and felt that his family was as safe in their home as at the block-house. A friend, L. Grewell, stayed with them. They made a deep trench around each window and in the trench stood small cottonwood logs ; this made a sort of stockade. Large barrels filled with water were kept in the kitchen. Guns and ammunition were very scarce in 1877, but they seemed to have been fairly well supplied. Between them they had a needle gun, a muzzle-loading gun and a revolver! The cart- ridges used were interesting, they were made of heavy brown paper, rolled into a small tube and filled with powder and the end twisted. This end was bitten off when loading the gun.

A rather amusing incident happened at this time. One sultry afternoon the guard in the lookout tower of Grange Hall saw a great cloud of dust coming from the hills north of the valley. Quickly it was seen that the dust cloud was made by a band of Indian ponies. The alarm was given, and every one made a rush for the block-house, the gate was not wide enough, but at last, breathless and hatless, everyone was inside and the gate closed. Closer came the ponies, until, when within a mile of the block-house it could be seen that it was merely a herd of wild ponies. Almost simultaneously with this discovery, Billy Smith rode up to the gate. He seemed to have a sense of humor for early that morn- ing he had gone to the hills after horses. Coming home, he drove them at break-neck speed toward the block-house, and when within a mile or so from there, under the screen of dust he left the horses and made his way to the creek where the brush made an effective cover.

There is nothing now remaining of the Shaser block-house. Mr. Shaser has been dead for many years. Mrs. Shaser is living with her son at Cashmere, Washington.

The log cabin on the Olmstead farm is in fairly good repair and looks very much as it did when first built.

For several years the Grange Hall was used for a schoolhouse, Mrs. Sam Thomas teaching the school. There is nothing left of the building now.

Sources of information : Letters and Papers, G. W. Smith, George Wheeler, Phil S. Olmstead, Indians.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 66

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