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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Tuld <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Pioneers</strong><br />
pebbles, and some green paint, I made it a very handsome and useful<br />
lamp-so good, in fact, that fa<strong>the</strong>r almost adopted it for his own.<br />
"I can remember a time when I was very small when we had not<br />
even a kerosene lamp, when we had only a tin vessel very much like a<br />
tea kettle, with two spouts from which wicks protruded. Fish oilmade<br />
from <strong>the</strong> livers <strong>of</strong> dogfish-was <strong>the</strong> illuminant, and very smelly<br />
it was. Not only that, but from <strong>the</strong> tip <strong>of</strong> each flame <strong>the</strong>re wavered<br />
constantly a streamer <strong>of</strong> black, oily smoke which, in time, covered <strong>the</strong><br />
entire ceiling.<br />
FROM AN INTERrIEW WITH MRS. W. D. BRUTO;"'-<br />
Klickitat County •<br />
:\Iy fa<strong>the</strong>r, Charles A. Splawn, left Tarkio Bottom, Holt ('ounty,<br />
:Missouri, to cross <strong>the</strong> plains to Oregon. There he joined <strong>the</strong> Volunteers<br />
under General Lane to fig'ht <strong>the</strong> Rogue River Indians. He went<br />
b!· wagon train to Goldendale and in 1858 to Moxee. Excerpts from<br />
newspapers relate <strong>of</strong> finding' cut nails and cornerstones <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Splawn<br />
house in <strong>the</strong> :\loxee built in 1860.<br />
Needing a supply <strong>of</strong> water, fa<strong>the</strong>r dug a well. The 'water tasted<br />
horribly and smelled worse. He dug ano<strong>the</strong>r in search <strong>of</strong> a modest little<br />
spring. The one he had tapped spouted into a geyser-an artesian<br />
well. Three people mo\'ed into <strong>the</strong> Moxee and ]j'elien Thorpe, my<br />
grandfa<strong>the</strong>r, was irked <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> space. Still keeping in <strong>the</strong> ::\Ioxee,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y homesteaded in what is now known as Thorpe.<br />
Felien Thorpe, my grandfa<strong>the</strong>r, had lived on a Kentucky plantation<br />
and <strong>the</strong> ro\-ing Indians, people <strong>of</strong> color, were to him <strong>the</strong> same as <strong>the</strong><br />
sou<strong>the</strong>rn Negroes. He trained <strong>the</strong> Indians as he had <strong>the</strong> slans, and<br />
if he had to "whale" an Indian now and <strong>the</strong>n, it was good for <strong>the</strong> Indian.<br />
Antoin Bertram, cousin <strong>of</strong> Chief Seattle, was his house selTant.<br />
He built <strong>the</strong> fires and swept <strong>the</strong> hearths, and lives toda:' to tell <strong>of</strong> it,<br />
if he would talk.<br />
'With two augers <strong>of</strong> different sizes, grandfa<strong>the</strong>r bored <strong>the</strong> centers<br />
from fir poles and fitted one into <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r, and piped water into his<br />
house from Heelen Springs. Some joints are still in <strong>the</strong> irrigation<br />
ditch, as serviceable today as when fashioned for <strong>the</strong> pioneers' con<br />
'enience. A one-room shed <strong>of</strong> logs was built for <strong>the</strong> family. Cattlemen<br />
coming and going suggested a ta\'ern. A tavern <strong>of</strong> logs was<br />
built. It had a fireplace, a large kitchen, two bedrooms downstairs<br />
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