TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State
TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State
TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Told <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pioneers<br />
herd safely through <strong>the</strong> winter. Malott lost all <strong>of</strong> his stock, Davis<br />
and Peter Reilly saved a few. Big stockmen were little stockmen after<br />
that winter. "When <strong>the</strong> ice went out in <strong>the</strong> spring, dead cattle<br />
floated down <strong>the</strong> river <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> hundreds.<br />
THE RANGES ABOUT MEDICAL LAKE<br />
,Joseph and James LeFevre<br />
Spokane County<br />
In 1871, our fa<strong>the</strong>r, with a partner, Mr. Marin, bought a band <strong>of</strong><br />
five hundred head <strong>of</strong> sheep, a few cattle and horses and drove <strong>the</strong>m<br />
to Medical Lake, where fa<strong>the</strong>r settled on a preemption claim on <strong>the</strong><br />
present townsite <strong>of</strong> Medical Lake. The first winter <strong>the</strong>y lost two<br />
hundred and fifty head <strong>of</strong> s?eep from scab disease. In <strong>the</strong> spring<br />
<strong>the</strong>y washed <strong>the</strong>ir sheep in "<strong>the</strong> lake and to <strong>the</strong>ir g-reat surprise, discovered<br />
that <strong>the</strong> medicinal properties <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> water, which cured <strong>the</strong><br />
sheep, also cured fa<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> rheumatism in one <strong>of</strong> his arms, which had<br />
almost become useless. This was <strong>the</strong> first discovery <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> medicinal<br />
•<br />
qualities <strong>of</strong> this water <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> whites.<br />
ELIZABETH (JHLLER) STULTZ<br />
Klickitat County<br />
Just before <strong>the</strong> close <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Civil war, when <strong>the</strong> Oregon militia was<br />
organized, Samuel Miller was <strong>the</strong> captain. In 1869 a man drove a<br />
herd <strong>of</strong> cattle up into <strong>the</strong> Klickitat and returned with such glowing<br />
accounts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> marvelous cattle range in that valley, that Captain<br />
Miller decided to investigate. The following spring he loaded a camping<br />
outfit into his wagon, traded a horse for a valuable dog, to protect<br />
his property from Indians and started out.<br />
In Umatilla Hom-;e at The Dalles, he ran across Ben Snipes, who<br />
tried to persuade bim to keep away from Klickitat, but Captain Miller<br />
was determined, and went on his way. He found conditions even better<br />
than he expected, and located a homestead on <strong>the</strong> Swale, seven<br />
miles sou<strong>the</strong>ast <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> present site <strong>of</strong> Goldendale. There were only<br />
two or three settlers. Bunch grass and rye grass waved in a natural<br />
pasture extending from <strong>the</strong> Columbia River to <strong>the</strong> foot <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Simcoe<br />
Mountains. There were many wild cattle on <strong>the</strong> range and Captain<br />
Miller found it necessarv to use his revolver more than once.<br />
•<br />
]29