TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State

Told by the Pioneers
The material was broken off and rolled down the bluff, ferried across
the river, and the rock was then placed in a kiln in the river bank for
burning. The front of the kiln and the arch were made of brick we
had found at an abandoned steam plant where an enterprising settleI'
had undertaken an irrigation system. In this kiln the sand melted
and left the lime, which was used for plaster.
Clam shells were raked up from along' the river and burned in a kiln
and made into lime, also. Old rope, picked to pieces and chopped into
short lengths, was used in the preparation of the plaster to form a
binder. Crayon was made from pieces of stone broken from the
bluffs.
MRS. MELISSA C. GIVENS
Lewis County
\Ye used oats, peas or barley as a substitute for coffee in the early
days, ,,,hen transportation was slow, sometimes necessitating weeks
of travel to reach a little settlement trading' post or store.
:My father used to hunt and also cut bee trees, so we had fresh meat
and hpney, and sometimes both were luxuries. 'Ve were all very
heartv and healthy.
• •
OTTO MAUERlllANN
Lewis County •
My mother made coffee from dried peas, which she roasted. The
night after father came home with the stove, when we sat down to
supper and tasted our coffee, our eyes must have stuck out in amazement.
·We asked, "Mother, what makes the coffee taste so funny~"
We were told that father had brought home some "Indian salt." (It
was sugar, the first we boys had ever tasted.) 'Ve boys expressed the
wish that the Indians would bring some more of it.
We raised our wheat, which was cut by hand and flailed out and
cleaned in the wind, and flour for our bread was made by grinding it
in coffee mills by hand. It was a slow process, but we had no other
kind of flour until the children were all grown.
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