Lewis McMorris was one of the family who went to Illinois and on attaining his majority he was fitted out by his father to accompany a bachelor neighbor and a party to California. It was in the month of March, 1852, that they started west with ox teams, crossing the plains and meeting with many of the hardships and privations which fell to the lot of the pioneers. It was in that year that the cholera proved so terrible a scourge and all the way from the Missouri river graves dotted the trail. With only a sheet for a shroud and without a casket the bodies were lowered into their graves and the traveler, starting out full of hope, was laid to his last sleep. Often five newly made graves were to be seen in a day. The party with which Mr. McMorris traveled consisted of a train of three wagons at the start but they were afterward joined by six wagons en route at St. Joseph, Missouri, and on the 15th of September, 1852, they reached Fosters, near Oregon City. There the oxen and wagons were sold and horses were purchased by those who desired to go on to the mines. They made pack saddles, loaded the horses and pressed on to southern Oregon, where a year and a half was spent at Sutter Creek, at Crescent City and at other mines. They were not successful there, however, and pressed on to Yreka, California, where Mr. McMorris again engaged in mining. The Rogue River Indian war, however, broke out in southern Oregon, causing him to change his location and he made his way to the northern part of the state. He became a packer, rushing goods from Portland to the mines at Colville. After one of these trips he hired the team of mules to the quartermaster of the Oregon Volunteers to haul supplies to their headquarters at The Dalles. On the second trip the Indians stole both mules and supplies. On the 7th of December, 1855, the battle of the Walla Walla with the Indians was begun on Walla Walla river west of the present site of the city, a battle that lasted for four days and in which several thousand Indians were lined up against a few hundred white volunteers. The white men, however, were victorious and it was a memorable battle because it was a victory of a few over many and also because it marked the beginning of a lasting peace between the Indians and the white settlers in that vicinity. Mr. McMorris was one of the active participants in that battle. In 1856, when the troops camped at what became old Fort Walla Walla they moved about four miles up Mill creek but decided that the first stopping place was best and returned. It was this that decided the location of Walla Walla. Mr. McMorris assisted in building the canton, as the old fort was called, which was made from the various trees which grew along the banks of Mill creek. Years later when this land was sold for building purposes in order to extend the present city, it was desired to save intact some of the old fort buildings, to place them in the city park as historic relics, but it was found that the timber had rotted so that they crumbled away. In 1857 Mr. McMorris made the trip to the Willamette valley to buy teams for the government. On his return he began freighting for McClinchey & Freedman, who were proprietors of the first mercantile house in this city, located at the corner of Third and Main streets. In 1859 he began buying cattle and to secure a watering place for his herd he purchased land which included the present site of Wallula. The winter of 1861-2 was an exceedingly hard one and by spring his herd of two hundred and seventy head had decreased to forty. He next turned his attention to the mercantile business, in which he engaged with his brother, but this enterprise did not prove profitable and he sold his interest in the business. When land was thrown open to settlement he secured a preemption claim at a dollar and a quarter per acre, his place being located two miles south of the town now known as the Hammond Farm. It was there that he conducted his stock-raising venture for several years and at the same time operated a pack train to Boise, Idaho. After closing out his mercantile interests with his brother he was for four years the owner of a stage line operating between Dayton, Washington, and Lewiston, Idaho. He laid out the town of Wallula and donated to the railroad company the land which they used for depot purposes there.
His long and useful life was ended in 1915. He passed away at his home in Walla Walla at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. He had never married but he left a brother and two sisters. The brother, however, died in the spring of 1917. There are also four nephews and one niece: the Funk brothers, who are engaged in merchandising in Walla Walla; the Craig brothers, of Illinois; and Agnes Lillian Purdy, of Portland, Oregon. Mr. McMorris was a member of the Oregon Pioneer Society, the Inland Empire Pioneers Association and the Indian War Veterans. Throughout the long years of his residence in this locality he became very widely and favorably known and he left many friends as well as relatives to mourn his loss. He performed an important part in promoting the early development and upbuilding of this section of the country and with many events which have left their impress upon the history of the northwest his name is inseparably associated.
JOSEPH F. TACHI.
Joseph F. Tachi, who passed away August 8, 1912, was a well known citizen of Walla Walla county. He was a native of Italy and came to America thirty-seven years ago. He did not tarry on the Atlantic seaboard but crossed the country and settled in Walla Walla county, Washington, where he took up the occupation of gardening, which he followed with success, developing a good business in that connection. He continued active in gardening up to the time of his demise, which occurred in 1912.
Almost a quarter of a century before, on June 9, 1889, at Walla Walla Mr. Tachi was united in marriage to Miss Antonia Coboch, who was likewise born in the sunny land of Italy and came to the new world when twenty-seven years of age. She owns ten acres of valuable land on section 36, township 7 north, range 35 east, at College Place and she is also the owner of the Star Laundry and a brick building which contains five storerooms and which returns to her a most gratifying annual income from its rental. In addition to these investments she owns thirty-one acres of land which is splendidly improved. She belongs to St. Francis Catholic church, of which Mr. Tachi was also a member, and he was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Knights of America, and the Red Men. During their residence in Walla Walla county Mr. and Mrs. Tachi gained many warm friends, he being well known as a representative business man. Mrs. Tachi has also proved most capable in the management and control of her interests, and her property is now bringing to her a substantial annual income.
MICHAEL MARTIN.
Michael Martin, a well known farmer residing on section 2, township 6 north, range 35 east, Walla Walla county, is entitled to the honor that is accorded the self-made man, for he has gained the competence that is now his solely through his own labors. He was born in County Galway, Ireland, September 5, 1835, and is a son of John and Ann (Larkin) Martin, both of whom spent their entire lives in County Galway. Michael Martin was reared and educated in his native land and remained there until 1863, when he decided to try his fortune in the United States and crossed the Atlantic to New York city, where he remained for a time. He then went to South Glastonbury, Connecticut, but three years after his emigration to this country he came to the Pacific coast by way of the Panama route, and spent two years in California. Subsequently he was a prospector in the placer gold mines at Emmitsburg and Helena, Montana, where he and his brother Patrick spent three years. It was in 1870 that they came to Walla Walla county, Washington, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land and also took up a section of railroad land later on, their home being on Dry creek. Our subject finally sold his share of the property to his brother John, who still owns the place, and then purchased his present farm on section 2, township 6 north, range 35 east, where he has resided continuously since. He gave his personal attention to the operation of his place until advancing years led him to retire from active labor, since which time the farm has been operated by his son Emmet. He has been a hard worker and has manifested good judgment in the direction of his affairs, and as the years have passed his financial resources have steadily increased.
In 1890 Mr. Martin was married in Ireland, to Miss Julia Kellher, and they have become the parents of five children, of whom three have passed away. Those living are: Emmet M., who is now in charge of the home farm; and Estella, a nurse at St. Mary's Hospital in Walla Walla. The wife and mother passed away in 1900 and was laid to rest in the Catholic cemetery. The family are communicants of the Catholic church of Walla Walla, and Mr. Martin supports the republican party at the polls but has never been ambitious to hold office. For more than half a century he has made his home in Walla Walla county, and in that period has seen a marvelous change in conditions as the country has been transformed from a pioneer district into a highly developed agricultural section.