TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State
TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State
TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State
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Told<br />
<strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pioneers<br />
FRED SCHUNEMAN<br />
Franklin County •<br />
My fa<strong>the</strong>r homesteaded, <strong>the</strong>n bought 900 acres <strong>of</strong> railroad land.<br />
Our holdings were two miles long and a mile wide, rig'ht along <strong>the</strong> Columbia.<br />
We raised cattle and horses, shipping <strong>the</strong>m out in great numbers.<br />
I have broken hundreds <strong>of</strong> horses all over Yakima and <strong>the</strong> Columbia<br />
valleys.<br />
Out <strong>of</strong> a band <strong>of</strong> 2,000 horses I picked one hundred and forty and<br />
arove <strong>the</strong>m to Escondido, thirty miles from San Diego, California.<br />
We had four riders and a four-horse covered wagon, wherein we slept,<br />
cooking our meals along <strong>the</strong> way.<br />
In those days we had a better rodeo than any staged now. The men<br />
who rode <strong>the</strong> range <strong>of</strong>ten had as many as thirty saddle horses which<br />
each man broke to his own use. They roped for a living, not to show<br />
<strong>of</strong>f, and roping and breaking horses was all in <strong>the</strong> day's work..<br />
CHARLES OSBORNE<br />
Grant County •<br />
I left college in 1884. I \vas supposed to be suffering with tuberculosis,<br />
and came from Tennessee to <strong>the</strong> Territory <strong>of</strong> <strong>Washington</strong> to<br />
join my bro<strong>the</strong>rs. The railroad terminus was at Spokane.<br />
By stage and on foot I journeyed to Big' Spring, near Steamboat<br />
Rock, arriving <strong>the</strong>re on March 10, 1884. :My bro<strong>the</strong>rs had wintered<br />
<strong>the</strong>re. Mr. Hardy had 2,000 head <strong>of</strong> cattle grazing at Big Spring.<br />
We rode around looking for a place to homestead and found it<br />
where Osborne now stands. We dragged logs, tied to <strong>the</strong> horns <strong>of</strong> our<br />
saddles, from <strong>the</strong> bluff, to build a cabin and establish our squatter's<br />
rights. The floor as well as <strong>the</strong> ro<strong>of</strong> was <strong>of</strong> dirt. The Coulee was<br />
chosen because <strong>of</strong> its low altitude, grass and natural shelter fr'om <strong>the</strong><br />
winds. We could feed <strong>the</strong> cattle on <strong>the</strong> table land in <strong>the</strong> summer and<br />
drop <strong>the</strong>m down in <strong>the</strong> Coulee in winter.<br />
Wild Goose Bill Condon <strong>of</strong> Orange, New Jersey, Old John Turner,<br />
an old packer, Jack Whitlow, Len Armstrong, and Billy Whitmore<br />
were my neighbors. Anyone within a day's ride was considered a<br />
neighbor, but even more than now people kept track <strong>of</strong> each o<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
When I joined my bro<strong>the</strong>rs, I learned <strong>the</strong>ir ponies had broken away.<br />
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