Told by the Pioneers - Washington Secretary of State

Told by the Pioneers
und horses. ,Ve cut down trees along the Touchet River and so came
into being the first bridge between Pomeroy and Walla Walla. This
was called Star's Bridge.
The first school east of the Tucanon was on Pataha F'lats. It was
built in 1874 by a man named Sharpneck, who had a little sa","Will at
the edge of the Blue Mountains. Wernet there for spelling school,
literary and debating society, and the usual gatherings typical of the
frontier davs.
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I recall going to Marengo in 1875-76.77 to attend Fourth of July
celebrations. ,Ve had a picnic dinner, singing and speaking. Ernest
Hopkins, a pioneer teacher, was the orator of the day. I knew Louis
Raboin, the Hudson's Bay Company trapper. He lived with his
Indian wife and children at Marengo, the place having been named
for him.
I was well acquainted with Jerry McGuire and the Hopwoods, who
settled in what later became Asotin County. I knew Chief Timothy
well, and heard him preach on Pataha Flat. The site of his village
at the mouth of the Alpowa later became the home of David ::\Iohler.
I have stayed there over night and gathered apples from the trees
planted by the Rev. Spalding.
Where Pomeroy now stands were fields of wheat. The :JlcCabe
cabin stood near where Main street is now. The first wheat was
hauled to Wallula j then to W alIa Walla. As soon as father raised
enough wheat to sell, we hauled it twenty-five miles to New York Bar
using four to six horses to a load.. In 1878 a mill was built at Pataha
by Mr. Houser. Garfield County was organized in 188l.
The country was full of peaceful, blanketed Indians. They wintered
at the mouth of the Alpowa and the Asotin. Spring found them journeying
to the camas grounds. Over in the Wallowa Valley, Chief
Joseph lived with his tribe on the land which his father, Old Chief
Joseph, had demanded as a part of the treaty grant in 1855. The
treaty had been broken once by the whites, but in 1873 it was again
restored to the Indians, but only for a short time.
The valley was the hunters' paradise. There were deer, elk and
mountain sheep j wild fowl by the thousands and a lake full of fish.
There were berries and roots, everything the Indians desired, summer
or ·winter. It was here that Chief Joseph was born. When an attempt
was made to drive the Indians out, they fought to keep their
home. Soldiers were ambushed on Whitebird Creek. I was at Lapwai
when they brought in the wounded.
When a company of volunteers was organized at Pomeroy, I joined
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