W. E. AYRES AND FAMILY
Mr. Ayres is a democrat in politics and has served as county treasurer, as county commissioner and as a member of the school board, which office he held for years. His record as a public official is highly creditable both to his ability and his devotion to the general good, and as a private citizen he has given his support to movements calculated to advance the interests of his community. He takes justifiable pride in the fact that he has had a part in the development of this section and believes that nowhere can the agriculturist find better opportunities.
LOUIS NEACE.
On the pages of Walla Walla county's pioneer history appears the name of Louis Neace, who took up his abode in the city of Walla Walla when it was a mere military post. As the years passed on he became prominently identified with agricultural interests in this section of the state and ranked with the foremost business men. He was born near Frankfort, Germany, September 27, 1835, and was but twelve years of age when he came to the United States with an uncle, who was a resident of Newark, New Jersey. From that time forward Louis Neace never saw his family nor his native country. His father had been a member of the forestry department in Germany, an official position to which only men who were scholars and had special training in the science of forestry were eligible.
Becoming a resident of Orange, New Jersey, Louis Neace was there employed in a sash and blind factory, in which he served a four years' apprenticeship, thereby gaining thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the work. In the meantime, however, he spent one winter in Florida, where he was employed in driving a mule team for the owner of a lumber mill on the St. Mary's river. When his apprenticeship was ended he removed to the middle west and at the recommendation of friends in Orange, New Jersey, he secured a position in a sash and blind factory at Fulton, Illinois.
The west, however, still lured him on and afterward he made a tour of Kansas, at which time the state was the battleground of the parties who were contending whether it should be admitted as a free or a slave state. Not desiring to become a landowner in Kansas under such conditions, Mr. Neace joined a construction crew at Independence, Missouri, and started across the country for Harney Lake, Oregon, the crew being engaged to lay out a road in that section. The Mormons were at that time a menace to all travelers through Utah and the crew was placed under military protection, spending the winter of 1856-7 at Fort Bridger, Wyoming. The Mormons destroyed several of the supply wagon trains of the fort and their rations were reduced for a period to two small biscuits per day. Hardly any salt was obtainable throughout the entire winter and the first that was brought in sold at a dollar per pound. In 1857 Mr. Neace became a resident of Los Angeles, California, which was then a tiny village, and from that point, he continued his journey northward to San Francisco, where he became a passenger on the steamer Columbia. A northward trip brought him to the mouth of the Umpqua river, where he disembarked and spent the winter, reaching The Dalles, Oregon, in the spring of 1858.
From that point Mr. Neace came to Walla Walla as an employe of Lieutenant Mullan, who was in charge of the construction of a military road from Fort Walla Walla to Fort Benton, Montana, which is still known as the Mullan road. After completing the work the crew spent the winter in Fort Benton and in the following year Major Blake arrived from St. Louis with troops on his way to Fort Walla Walla and Mr. Neace returned with him, after which he remained a resident of eastern Washington. When he first visited Walla Walla there was only a cantonment built by Colonel Steptoe in the fall of 1856. It consisted of a few rude log huts along what is now East Main street, west of Palouse, these huts constituting the winter quarters for the military troops who were here stationed as a protection to the few settlers who had penetrated into this region. In 1861 Mr. Neace took up his abode on the Tucannon river, at the present site of Starbuck, for the purpose of engaging in the cattle business there. The most severe winter ever known in the Pacific northwest followed. He was at the time a young man of but twenty-six. Undiscouraged by the severity of the winter, he bought a right to a place on the Pataha river, a tributary of the Tucanon, and continued in the live stock business, there remaining until 1870, when he removed to the Lock & Long mill near Dayton. A little later he took up his abode on a farm north of Waitsburg and the place has since been known as the Neace farm. He afterward purchased what was known as the Anderson Cox residence in Waitsburg and the family home was there established. As the years passed on Mr. Neace added to his holdings from time to time as his financial resources increased and became one of the most extensive landowners of Washington. When asked how great were his possessions he replied: "I do not know." In addition to his Washington holdings he had considerable land in Montana. Possessing sound judgment and keen sagacity, his investments were most judiciously made and with the settlement and development of the county his land rose constantly in value, making his estate a most substantial one.