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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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