TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State

Told by the Pioneers
FOODS AND FASHIONS
Some of the striking customs of Washington history are here listed.
They illustrate the manner of living, the styles and many of the things
that made pioneering joyful as well as grievous.
JAMES GLASGOW
Spokane County
I came to Medical Lake and took up a homestead a mile northeast
of town, built a small one-room box house and established my home.
While holding down this claim, I worked for a livery man, driving
stage, draying and piloting traveling salesmen through the Palouse
and Big Bend country. I drove to Pullman with the salesman who
sold an opening stock to the first store to be opened in that town. The
salesman displayed his samples on a pile of lumber waiting to be used
in the building which this store occupied.
I accumulated about 500 acres of land and raised wheat and live
stock until I disposed of my stock and land holdings in 1926. I was
one of the organizers and stockholders in the first telephone in Medical
Lake township, and served on the school board for about ten years
in early days.
There were a few occupied sod houses around Medical Lake when
I took up my homestead. Most of them, however, were box houses and
log cabins. I built a one~room box house. After I was married, and
our children were born, I built several lean-tos. Our first furniture
included nail kegs and benches for chairs and our kitchen table was a
wide board laid across the top of a barrel. I recall having my dishpan
full of dishes on my improvised table when the board slipped off the
barrel and all the dishes were broken.
MRS. KATE BURNHAM
Spokane County
I have a lot of antique furniture, which adds so much charm to my
pleasant home. Among the pieces are se,-eral chairs dating back one
hundred years, all having a New England origin excepting one which
came from England. A rocker dates back to the horsehair period of
furniture. An old organ, sixty years old, has been transformed into
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