Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 112

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History
Number of Pages: 992

USA > Washington > Chelan County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 112
USA > Washington > Ferry County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 112
USA > Washington > Okanogan County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 112
USA > Washington > Stevens County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 112

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On May 1, 1895, Mr. Drury married Miss Ruth I., daughter of Albert and Saralı E. (Jay) Elmore, natives of Muskingum county, Ohio and Morgan county, Indiana, respec- tively. Mrs. Drury was born in Morgan county, Indiana, on August 18, 1876. She has the following brothers and sisters, Mrs. Mary B. Clouinger, Harvey T., Ernest E., George A., and Mrs. Kate Judd. To Mr. and Mrs. Drury three children have been born, Ruth L., Ralph A., and W. Parnell.

ERVIN F. BRIGHAM, DECEASED. It is very fitting that a memorial of the esteemed gentleman whose name appears above should be granted space in the history of this county. He was born on April 17, 1853, near Spring- field, Michigan, being the son of Curtis and Esther (Metcalf) Brigham, natives of Minne- sota. He came with his parents via New York and Panama to California when three years of age. They lived in San Jose valley, where he received a fine education and grew to manhood. He came to Moscow, Idaho, in 1881 and there taught school for a number of years. In con- nection with his school teaching, he took a

homestead and did farming and stock raising, at which he prospered until the time of his death. on June 3, 1893. He was a good man and was mourned by many at the time of his death. Mr. Brigham had four brothers and one sister, Alfred C .; John W., state senator from Idaho; Mrs. Ella C. Berryman; Eddie; and Burnice, of North Idaho. On October 5, 1879, Mr. Brigham married Miss Emma Over- acker, who was born in Jones county, Iowa, on July 22, 1859. Her parents, William and Lydia (Kramer) Overacker, were early pio- neers of the vicinity of Genesee and there re- mained until their demise. Mrs. Brigham came to California in 1878, to where her uncle, Howard Overacker, was living. He has been there since 1849 and is still living in the San Jose valley. After a visit there she came to Genesee and joined her parents in 1879. To Mr. and Mrs. Brigham have been born five children: William C., dwelling in Kipling; Frank H., deceased; Harrison B .; Fleda and Gladis, deceased. When the reservation was opened, Mrs. Brigham came with her brother, mentioned elsewhere in this volume, to this sec- tion and located her present home place. She lived on the land until the following spring. The farm is well located, being fertile land and well improved. It has a good residence, large barn, and eleven acres are devoted to orchard. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Brigham has managed the affairs and has shown herself to be a skillful business woman. In addition to her other property, she owns the old home farm in Latah county, and property near the uni- versity at Moscow, Idaho, and is considered one of the wealthy residents of this section. Mr. Brigham was a devoted member of the Breth- ren church and his widow is an adherent of the same.

WINTER SCENE ON LAKE CHELAN.

WAGON BRIDGE AND DAM ACROSS THE CHELAN RIVER.

PART V.

HISTORY OF CHELAN COUNTY

CHAPTER I.

EARLY HISTORY AND PASSING EVENTS.

To write a history of Chelan county from the time it was organized from portions of Kit- titas and Okanogan counties would be a com- paratively easy task. At present it is the new- est county commonwealth in the state, but it has traditionary and authentic histories dating nearly as far back as any other distinct section in Washington.

The name of the county is derived from the famous lake in its northern part. The word "Chelan" is, doubtless, a contraction of Chelanic, the name of a tribe of Indians, but the meaning of the term Chelan is still wrapped in ambiguity. Many years ago the fur traders following up, or down, the great natural high- way of the state of Washington, the Columbia river, frequented these parts, hovered awhile and traded with the Indians at times, and then plunged again into the wilderness stretching away to the northward, far up through the Okanogan country, and even into British Col- umbia. Then came the prospectors, those zeal- ous and tireless searchers after mineralized rock or the more accessible placer mine. The Indians found their winding trails along the Columbia execllent paths to the ocean. These trails would be far from satisfactory to the members of a "good roads commission." They were not even on a level. Only a skilled woods-

man could trace them. Rock bluffs rise abrupt- ly and frequently along the Columbia, sheer from the water's edge, from one to five hun- dred feet in places. These must be conquered and oft times this could only be accomplished by a winding tortuous trail, so steep that even the cure-footed cayuse could hardly master it.

Among the earliest to come to this country were Chinese. Placer mining was the object of their most sanguine hopes. Up and down the Columbia and its numerous tributaries they wandered and panned and rocked a satisfying, if not an enormous volume of auriferous de- posits from the various bars and creeks. A majority of these Celestials came from Califor- nia, following the trails of Indians, fur dealers and miners. And thus it chanced that all along the banks of this big, roaring, treacherous stream, wherever wash soil could be found, on which water could be obtained, or to which it could be carried, one finds today the abandoned prospect holes of the original Chinese placer miner. It developed a fruitful field; for many years it was worked industriously; frequently with astonishing profit. Opposite the mouth of the Chelan river, where it debouches into the Columbia, from the west, are the ruins of a Chinese village in what is now Douglas coun- ty. The remains of this early settlement may

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be seen from Chelan Falls, across the river, half a mile away. It was built mainly of cedar boards split from the log, like shakes, pegged against upright posts, and roofed with logs and brush. At present nothing but the shells of these huts remain. In this early settlement there was a store. It was the first business en- terprise in the country; the proprietor was a Chinese merchant. To the Chinese workers along the river he supplied goods, and he made considerable money. A pack train of forty horses he owned with which he brought in his miscellaneous assortment of English, Ameri- can and Chinese merchandise. It is stated that no stranger ever appeared at this store who was not made welcome by the old Chinese mer- chant.

A tragedy tinged with romance is connect- ed with this oriental settlement. On one side of the site there was a garden, now overgrown with mustard plants and weeds. It was en- closed by a low picket fence and a gate led in- ward. It was a token of advanced civilization. The proprietor of this little kitchen garden was a moon-eyed youth with a voice like a muffled bell. He was in love with a dusky maiden who lived across the Columbia, on the banks of Lake Chelan. But this Celestial had made a peculiar vow never to declare his love. And this vow had been registered before the great joss of the little Chinese community. Hence he was moody and grew "queer," unsocial, mel- ancholy and distrait. While others flocked to the gaming house he remained solitary and alone in his garden. Until quite late in the even- ing he would sit there and brood over his un- spoken love, when,

"Night hung her sable curtain out. and pinned it with a star."

So he sighed and dreamed away his life. Everyone sympathized with him in accordance with the old. old adage, "All the world loves a lover." But his friends could do him no farther good. One morning he was found dead in the little kitchen garden. No one knew when

or how death had come to him. Some of his comrades spoke of a broken heart, and then they buried him in the little patch he had so assiduously attended. When the village was deserted no vandal hand disturbed the garden.

Nearly fifteen years ago this settlement was abandoned. The finances of the old Chinese merchant were running low, for he had "grub- staked" too many of his countrymen in their search for gold. In a big mine up on the Okan- ogan river he had an interest, and there he moved, taking his lares and penates, his goods, his horses and even the number of his store with him. One by one others followed him, and wandered away, up or down the trail. The "diggings" are deserted; the village is a ruin; the cabins the abode of snakes and rodents. With the progress of civilization in the Colum- bia Valley these old placer marks will disap- pear; the cabins will be torn down and real prosperity will sweep grandly over the scene.

All this was in 1875. It was, practically, an Indian war against the Chinese that drove them away, but at the time this was not gen- erally known. Along the Methow river the savages began attacking the Chinese of whom they killed several. The news rapidly circu- lated among their comrades. When the Siwa- shes came to the settlement intent on its demol- ishment, they found nobody save a few strag- glers. There were several sharp skirmishes in which some were killed on both sides. A cor- respondent of the Spokesman-Review says :

"When the Indians reached a point on the Columbia a few miles below where Chelan Falls now stands they discovered a number of Chinamen at work on the benches three hun- dred feet above. The savages advanced cau- tiously and surrounded the Celestials on three sides, leaving only the steep bluffs unguarded. Then began an uneven fight. The Chineman were unprotected and unable to escape, and they proved an easy prey to their savage an- tagonists. How many were massacred was never known, but it is positive that not one was

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left to tell the tale. It was an awful fight, that sent terror into the hearts of the other Chinese along the river. After that there was little placer mining done for months, then one by one the Celestials returned, but never could one of them be induced to go on the bench where the massacre occurred and open up the dig- gings again. Today they are in exactly the same condition as that in which they were when the workers were slaughtered by the Indians.

"Now the placer fields of the past are own- ed by settlers, and are fast becoming beautiful fruit orchards. Occasionally a townsite springs up and some envious fellows, anxious to secure control, file, or attempt to file, placer claims on the land, but such work is considered as dis- reputable among the settlers as claim-jumping and the intruders usually receive a cold recep- tion."

The oldest settled portion of Chelan county is Mission Valley. Authentic reports of white men visiting this portion of the Columbia valley date back to about 1863. But it is well known that the nomadic trappers connected with the Astoria enterprise explored the Wena- tchee river long before that period. These men, however, were adventurers, not settlers. They brought nothing into the country; they carried nothing out save their bundle of peltries. But in 1863 Father Respari, a Catholic missionary, visited the Indians of the locality in an en- deavor to Christianize them. For twenty years he labored and was succeeded by Father Gras- si, mention of whom has been made in the "His- tory of Okanogan County."

Father Grassi built a log church on the banks of the Wenatchee river. He made his home with one Peter Benoit, a sort of Archon- ic chief, who early becoming a Christian, large- ly influenced the Indians of his tribe to em- brace the same doctrine. The name of "Mis- sion" was given to the log church. By this name it was recognized until a town was estab- lished one quarter of a mile to the westward, and then the church became "Old Mission" and

the town "New Mission." Here the first steps toward irrigation were taken. Father Grassi turned a small stream of water flowing to the river from the mountain, over a small garden patch and planted a few seeds which he had brought with him into the country. The soil yielded bountifully. To the Indians he taught the elementary principles of agriculture. In the temporal as well as the spiritual welfare of the Indians. Father Grassi interested himself. Within a brief time the log church was found too small to accommodate the congregation and a larger one was erected one and one-half miles to the eastward. For five years he held stated services here, and then the natives were left without a regular pastor, being supplied at in- tervals from other missions. It is undoubted that Father Grassi's influence upon the Indians made for their best good. They became peace- ful, law-abiding and sent their children to school.

Then came the white settlers into the valley. The productive gardens of the Indians taught them what irrigation could accomplish in this country. Among the first to settle in Mission Valley was Mr. D. S. Farrar. At that period he was the only one in the valley who had hay to sell, and the Indians called him "Hayman." He came here in 1883 carrying a pack upon his back, and homesteaded a ranch. Other early settlers in the valley were Captain A. S. Bur- bank, Mr. J. Frank Woodring, Joel Treadwell, Squire Stewart, James H. Chase, J. L. Weytli- man and R. A. Brown.

Twenty-seven years ago Colonel Merriam was sent to Lake Chelan with a body of troops. His object was to locate there a military post. Following the building of a saw mill prepara- tions were continued for the establishment of the post, which might have been one of the fin- est and most picturesque in the United States, but the project was abandoned and the troops moved away.

The name Lake Chelan is derived from a tribe of Indians at that period under command

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HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

of Chelan Jim, an athletic, belligerent young chief, who stood six foot two inches in his moccasins. He divided chieftanship with Wa- pato John, the leader of the more civilized ele- ment of the tribe which occupied the productive district on the northeastern side of the lake. To the trappers in the employment of the fur companies Lake Chelan had been known for more than half a century. But the precipitous character of its shores; the stern, inhospitable nature of its mountain setting, long stood as a barrier against exploration. Following the de- parture of Colonel Merriam's troops it became known to the world that Lake Chelan was the most magnificent body of fresh water within the limits of the state of Washington. The first white settlers along the lake were William Sanders and Henry Dumke. Sanders had serv- ed as a guide to the engineering parties under Major Roger and Engineer Stevens. In 1886 he left "Wild Goose" Bill's ferry, on the Col- umbia, in a skiff. He came across Dumke near the mouth of the Nespelem. The latter was a cheerful optimist, born and bred to western life in its severest phases. He was, at this time, living in a tent and engaged spasmodically in placer mining by means of which he had accu- mulated a bunch of dust which he estimated to be worth $7, but which weighed out only $1.50. Sanders and Dumke pooled their issues for a trip of exploration through the Cascade moun- tains. All in all Sanders had $2.50, and with this he purchased some flour and bacon. Then they traded the skiff off for a cayuse upon whose patient back they packed their small be- longings and started up the Methow in search of a trail through the mountains. Thus they arrived at the head of Lake Chelan. Then came two weeks of perilous climbing over rough ridges and across deep canyons. They cut their way through underbrush; they lived chiefly upon game and fish ; they came out upon a precipitous mountain ; they gazed upon the lake sparkling in the summer sunshine far be- low them. And here misfortune' overtook

them. In making a perilous descent to the water's edge their cayuse fell over a precipice and was killed. Their stock of flour was scat- tered to the four winds of heaven. Unknown to Sanders and Dumke was the character of these shores and they started down the lake only to be checked before they had proceeded a mile by a bold headland rising sheer from the deep waters. They returned to a near-by stream and here they found a large cedar log, and with an axe they fashioned a rude canoe. This stream is now known as Canoe Creek, while the brook where the cayuse was killed bears the name of that unfortunate animal, Prince.

During this trying period Sanders and Dumke lived upon such fish as they were able to take with hook and line. Full of hardships and adventure was the voyage down the lake. So closely as possible they hugged the shore, frequently swamped and chilled to the bone by the icy waters. Reaching the mouth of the lake, hungry and ragged, they were fed by Indians. Subsequently these two men "squat- ted" upon homesteads. Settlers drifted into the vicinity. Dumke, as full of schemes as was ever Colonel Sellers, declared his intention of erecting a saw mill. The settlers only smil- ed at him, but it was a smile of sympathy for his proverbial impecuniosity. But Dumke went westward and when he returned he had the saw mill. He had interested a Portland firm in the enterprise; they had "staked" him to a portable mill and loaned him money with which to set it up. Choosing a site at Crane's Falls he loaded the mill on a scow and went sailing up the lake. About that period a Mr. Woodin had gone in with his mill, and there was great rivelry for the honor of sawing the initial stick of timber in the Chelan country. Woodin won; the first slab, appropriately inscribed, was for- warded to Dumke up the lake.

The latter had a run of hard luck with his mill. Tradition tells the story of his failure, or, rather, several stories. One of the most plausible is that when the water was turned on

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to the wheel the mill ran backward; others say that the penstock was knocked to pieces. But no lumber was ever cut and the Portland firm took back the machinery.

Another, among the earliest settlers on this beautiful lake, was I. A. Navarre. In April, 1888, Messrs. Johnson, Hardenberg and Smith from Nebraska, with their families, came upon the east bank of the Columbia, just across from the mouth of the Chelan river. ' There was no ferry. The men of the party went down to Badger Mountain, near Waterville, leaving their families in camp, and there they cut tim- ber for a raft. Hauling it to camp it was put together and the party landed safely on the Chelan shore, selected homesteads and settled by the lake. L. H. Woodin, of Minneapolis, in July, 1888, procured a skiff at Chelan and made a trip of exploration to the head of the lake. The tributary timber was the object of his close examination. Returning he looked over the immense water power and the adja- cent agricultural lands. Mr. Woodin decided that here were natural resources of which he, and others, might profitably avail themselves. From Ellensburg, the nearest railway station, he brought in his saw mill, the successful com- petitor of Mr. Dumke's, farther up the lake.

Uutil about 1886 the region of Lake Che- lan was thinly settled. The history of Wash- ington shows that settlement has closely fol- lowed the lines of transportation, and the Che- lan country was considerably north of such transportation ; the greater portion of Okano- gan county was enbraced in Indian reservation.

When the United States government, in 1881, established a post called Camp Chelan, it built a road from the eastward which has since been used. Judge I. A. Navarre came, with his family, across the mountains from North Yaki- ma, settling a few miles up the south shore of the lake, at Rose Beach. Judge Navarre was in search of an ideal cattle ranch, not townsites. So rapidly did incoming settlers crowd in that the ranch was crowded out, giving way to the 43

first orchard and farm. H. N. Merritt is an- other Chelan pioneer, settling there in 1888, at a point now known as Merritt's Harbor, about twenty miles up the lake on the south shore. Here Mr. Merritt erected a comfortable cabin, hung the latch-key outside and entertained. many a tired and hungry hunter or prospector ..

The Entiat Valley has a history that is not without great interest. Elder T. J. Cannon and his estimable wife were the pioneers of this district. Their daughter, Dema, is the old- est white child born in this beautiful valley. For many years Elder Cannon, besides work- ing industriously with his hands, faithfully preached the gospel in the neighborhood.

Where the Wenatchee river flows into the Columbia has been the council ground in ages past for the war chiefs of the Chelans, Okano- gans, Umatillas, Columbias, Spokanes, Yaki- mas, Walla Wallas, Malheurs and even tribes from so far east as the Bannocks and Nez Perces. The heads of these nations, or tribes, assembled here in solemn council with Chief Moses, and his remote ancestors, on the banks of the Columbia, a natural or common meeting ground.

During the troubles of 1877 and 1878 with Chief Joseph we learn that five hundred In- dians, decked in war-paint, congregated here and were about to join in an outbreak, but were held in check by the wily Moses and his personal followers, who were friendly to the whites at that time.

To the Wenatchee Valley, about 1872, came Norwegian named Tolefson, and for twenty years he made his home there, living the life of a hermit. His past life had been a tragedy. Shortly before his arrival in this district Tolef- son was a prosperous fisherman at Bomsdal, Norway. . He owned a fleet of small fishing boats and was looked upon as one of the wealthiest citizens of that little fishing hamlet. Within one week all of his family died and Tolefson was arrested on a charge of poisoning them. He was released, but was soon to be re-

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arrested. One day he set out in a small fish- ing boat to escape from his native land. Event- ually he reached America. For years he raised grapes and manufactured wine in the We- natchee Valley.

In 1892, twenty years after Tolfson's ar- rival in this country, his mother-in-law con- fessed that she had administered the fatal poi- son, and that she had intended to give Tolef- son the largest portion of it. The modern Bor- gia was arrested and advertisements inserted to apprise Tolefson of the fact that his inno- cence was established. Circulars were sent to the police department throughout this coun- try. The police of Seattle learned of Tolef- son's whereabouts and notified a friend of his who lived near Ballard. This friend, Erickson, by name, at once notified Tolefson, and that gentleman immediately left for his old home in Norway.

One of the early settlers in what is now Chelan county was Franklin Freer, who took up his abode on the land fronting the Columbia river, near Wenatchee, in 1873. Freer married an Indian woman and lived here until 1877, when he died.

The first white settler in Wenatchee Valley is said to have been an Indian trader named McBride. Where the thriving town of We- natchee now stands he conducted an Indian trading post. In 1876 he was followed by Samuel C. Miller, who became the first perma- nent settler in the valley. Mr. Miller was fol- lowed in turn by Jacob H. Miller, E. D. Hin- man, H. S. Simmons, Philip Miller, George Blair, Conrad Rose and many others. Agricul- tural pursuits were engaged in by a majority of these pioneers, who utilized for irrigation purposes the uncertain supply of water from the hillsides.

N. A. Brown and Thomas Owen walked from Vancouver, Washington, with their blan- kets and frying pan on their backs, including, also, an army musket and a few steel traps in the summer of 1884, arriving at Miller &

Freer's trading post, September 2, of the same year. They remained in the cabin that winter with Alex Brender, on Brender Creek, above Mission, where they homesteaded a piece of land two and one-half miles below the present town of Mission, which bears the name of Brown's Flat, (Monitor Postoffice.) The following spring Brown returned to Vancouver where he was married. He came back the same year, 1885, James L. Weythman return- ing with him, who located a homestead of 160 acres adjoining Brown's place. They had many experiences of an eventful nature, as they were compelled to haul all their provisions from Ellensburg, a distance of sixty-seven miles. On these journeys they were obliged to cross the icy waters of the Wenatchee river four times on the round trip. On one occa- sion they upset their wagon in the water while returning from Ellensburg, depositing their load of freight in the river. A brood sow which they had in a box floated down the current a mile or more, when it landed against a pile of driftwood and was rescued.

In July, 1891, the many rumors of proba- ble railway extension to Wenatchee concen- trated into some semblance of fact. The Great Northern Company officially announced that the road would follow up the Wenatchee Val- ley, crossing the Cascades at Stevens Pass. Its map was recorded in the local land office at Waterville; all doubts were dispelled; real estate advanced. During the construction of this road, in October, 1892, a terrible accident occurred, Monday morning, October 24, at 8:30 o'clock, the track had reached and crossed the second bridge over the Wenatchee river, thirteen miles from the town. The end of the train and the track-layers had just cleared the bridge. This left three cars loaded with steel rails on the center of the bridge. There was a sharp, sudden detonation, and the bridge gave way. Three of the cars of rails, together with the workmen who were manipulating them, crashed downward fifty feet to the bed

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Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 112

Author: Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History Number of Pages: 992

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History
Number of Pages: 992