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 />
ing <strong>of</strong> our first garden,<br />
for <strong>the</strong> effort.<br />
I surely worked hard, but was well repaid<br />
I have always liked outdoor activities and have hunted considerably<br />
with my husband. One morning when my husband was away, my<br />
daughter and I were awakened early <strong>by</strong> a commotion in <strong>the</strong> yard, and<br />
heard <strong>the</strong> dog barking at something. We waited until daylight, when<br />
we discovered three bears which <strong>the</strong> dog had succeeded in treeing<br />
near <strong>the</strong> house. I got out <strong>the</strong> gun and shot <strong>the</strong>m, as <strong>the</strong>re were too<br />
many bears coming about <strong>the</strong> garden and around <strong>the</strong> house and raising<br />
trouble.<br />
Between 1893 and 1896 we went without c<strong>of</strong>fee for a long time, owing<br />
to <strong>the</strong> fact that nobody could buy it when it was shipped in. One<br />
day my husband came home in great glee, giving me a recipe for fixiilg<br />
bran in such a manner that when cooked it would taste very much<br />
like c<strong>of</strong>fee. The recipe is as follows: 1 g'allon <strong>of</strong> bran, 2 tablespoons<br />
molasses, scalded and parched in <strong>the</strong> oven until it is somewhat brown<br />
and charred. Bran treated this way and cooked <strong>the</strong> same as c<strong>of</strong>fee<br />
provided a very tasty drink for a number <strong>of</strong> months. At that time <strong>the</strong><br />
cheapest priced dress goods was 25 cents a yard. During' this time<br />
one druggist in Olympia established a very large trade in Diamond<br />
dyes. If <strong>the</strong> women could not have ne,v dresses, <strong>the</strong>y could have <strong>the</strong><br />
old ones dyed, doing it <strong>the</strong>mselves, <strong>of</strong> course. A year or two after<br />
this, I was in <strong>the</strong> store in Olympia and <strong>the</strong> storekeeper showed me<br />
some new dress g·oods. He had just gotten this goods in and it was<br />
50 cents a yard. I had wanted a new dress for so long that I bought<br />
goods to make a dress <strong>of</strong> this 50 cent material, and <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> "underground<br />
telegraph" got busy. Almost all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> women in <strong>the</strong> trading<br />
area <strong>of</strong> Olympia were scandalized oYer <strong>the</strong> fact that I had paid 50<br />
cents a yard for dress material. During this time farmers had a hard<br />
time trying to sell full grown beef cattle for $6.00 to $8.00 to get<br />
enough money to pay <strong>the</strong>ir taxes.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> early days when <strong>the</strong> pioneers wanted to have a dance, a few<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m would get toge<strong>the</strong>r in a sailboat, take a violinist along and<br />
stop in at some logging camp along <strong>the</strong> Sound and dance all night,<br />
<strong>the</strong>n come back <strong>by</strong> boat next day. In early days all transportation was<br />
bv water.<br />
•<br />
ORPHA HIGGINS SUTTON<br />
San Juan County<br />
I was born in a log' cabin that had floors, but I remember that some<br />
had swept dirt floors.<br />
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