Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, Vol. 1 / Embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties

by William Denison Lyman

"This was a tolerably severe winter, a great deal of snow and cold weather; but the stock got through in good shape for the reason that the grass was fine in the late fall, which put them in good shape to withstand bad weather; and the country was all open so that they could range on to the creeks and browse when the grass was covered with snow. As to ourselves, we got along fairly well in the line of provisions, but I can assure you we did not enjoy any delicacies. We had plenty of bread, meat and potatoes, but as to the bread I remember that at times I had to work for it. When the flour was low I had to take corn to a neighbor's who had a steel hand mill, and grind it into meal. I think any person who has ever had the experience of grinding on a hand mill, in the matter of recollection will be like myself, that is, he will remember it.

"When spring came, the first I did was to gather up the cattle that had got considerably scattered. When that was attended to we went to seeding and planting garden. The season being very favorable everything planted grew luxuriantly. I have never since seen such a crop of potatoes as we raised that year. We estimated the crop at 600 bushels per acre, and I am inclined to believe that it was over rather than under the estimate. I often hear people remark that it rains more now than when the country was first settled. I can confidently say that there has never been a season in which more rain fell in summer season, with possibly the exception of 1862, than fell this season of 1860. I heard remarked that had it not been for the peculiar nature of our soil that readily absorbed it the crops would have been generally drowned out. I look back upon this season as being one of the most enjoyable of my life. The summer was all that we could want it to be. I heartily enjoyed looking over the beautiful country, fresh from the hands of nature and unmarred by the hands of man; everything seemed to smile. The country became endeared to me and I have never seriously thought of making any other place my home.

"To give an idea of how little people then in the country knew of its value, when it was being surveyed it was talked among the people that it was a waste of Government money to survey it, for the reason that there was so little of it fit for settlement; and today you could not get an acre of that land for less than forty dollars. [At present date about a hundred and forty.] It was universally believed that all the country was worth anything for was its grazing qualities, excepting the low bottoms, which were known to be very productive. Everybody who came to the country then came with the intention of raising stock on the fine pasturage that the country afforded. Nobody came with the intention of farming, for the reason that it was thought that a very small part of the country would produce grain.

"In 1861 I was elected a member of the Territorial Legislature, which I have always thought was unfortunate for me, for the reason that the following winter was the hard winter and my presence at home would have been very desirable and beneficial to my interests. As soon as the legislature adjourned, although the severe weather was still in evidence, I started at once for home. We traveled in public conveyance as far as Monticello. We found the Columbia thoroughly frozen up and waited a few days, hoping that there might be a breakup, but as the bad weather continued and showed no signs of a change, Mr. Moore, a member of the Legislature, and I concluded to start on foot for The Dalles. It was one of the hardest trips I ever had. We traveled mostly on the ice, but at times would take to the land, where trails were beaten between neighbors in the snow who lived along the shore. We were fortunate enough to find lodging every night and to procure meals when we wanted them.

"After about a week of weary traveling we reached The Dalles, where we got saddle horses. A Wells, Fargo & Co. messenger fell in with us here, which swelled our company to three. We had traveled a couple of days when my two comrades became badly afflicted with snow blindness. The trail had been broken through the snow, but had later filled up with fresh snow. It took the practiced eye to follow it. My comrades being snowblinded it devolved on me to lead and break the way. The weather at times was intensely cold, but we found lodging every night except one; luckily for us, it happened to be one of the mildest nights we had, and with some blankets we passed the night fairly comfortably.

"We reached Walla Walla about the last of February. The war was raging then to such an extent and travel impeded that we brought news that was six weeks old.

"I found my folks all well and hearty, but the destruction of our stock was something frightful. When I looked them up later I found about ten per cent of them alive; but being in the prime of life and enjoying perfect health I was not discouraged.

"This season the Orofino and Florence mines poured wealth into the country to such an extent that money was very plentiful and produce very high. I succeeded in putting in a large lot of potatoes and vegetables and some grain. The season being highly favorable everything grew splendidly and produced abundantly and brought a very high price, potatoes selling at four and one-half cents per pound and other things in proportion; so at the end of the year I had to a large extent retrieved the losses that I had sustained by the severity of the winter.

"Ever since I had heard so much about Doctor Whitman from the immigrants who wintered with him in 1844, and especially after his tragic death, I had become interested in him and in the site of his mission, but had never visited it. In June this year I took a day for it and got on my horse and rode to the old site. Father Eells was occupying it then. I told him the object of my visit. He was very kind indeed and took a great deal of pains in showing me about the place and explaining things the best he could. He took me to the ruins of the old adobe building and explained the plan of it and showed me the spot where Doctor Whitman, according to reports, must have fallen. He then took me to where the victims of the massacre were buried, and while standing there one of us kicked the loose dirt and turned up the lower jaw bone of one of the victims. One of the teeth in the bone was filled with gold. We buried it as well as we could without tools and inferred from the circumstance that they had been buried in shallow graves or been dug up by badgers. I went home feeling that I had been well rewarded for my ride.

"The next year, 1863, I was elected sheriff. I have nothing to report that was unusual during my term, the usual routine of business incident to the office and no executions for murder or anything else worth speaking about. At the same time I was appointed deputy collector of internal revenue under Philip D. Moore. The duties of this position were simply collecting revenue that fell to the Government. The most unpleasant part of my duties was my responsibility for the considerable sums of money that I had in my possession.