Connecting to the past

Quincy High senior turns class assignment into lasting historical landmark

QUINCY — Fifteen miles south of Quincy, a 3,000 pound memorial stone is part of Quincy High School student Rachel Dubes' senior project.

The memorial, located in what was once known as the town of Low Gap, is a project one might call a four year journey for Dubes that began her freshman year.

"I kind of wanted to take his dream and make it a reality," Dubes said at the July 4 memorial dedication of her grandfather Leo Wolf.

Before his passing in 1982, Leo desired to see something done to preserve his family's history in the Low Gap area.

Dubes' motivation to fulfill that desire, combined with her own curiosity, resulted in the establishment of the Low Gap Cemetery Memorial in honor of early Low Gap homesteaders.

Remembering her grandfather's wish, the perfect opportunity came about in ninth-grade when Dubes was assigned to write an "I search" paper.

Right away she knew she wanted to write about her family's beginnings in the Quincy Valley, but did not realize how much bigger the project would become.

"I had no idea it would go this far," Dubes said of the project.

The requirements for the "I search" paper were that it be a topic related to the local community and utilized interviews from different sources to compile a paper.

Where there once was desert land is today a historical site surrounded by fertile farm fields which reads: "In memory of the Low Gap homesteaders who 'claimed a desert.'" (1903-1920).

The story originates with Dubes' great-grandfather Emmanuel Wolf, Leo's father.

Wolf and his family had been German immigrants to Russia in search of a better life, crossing the Atlantic by boat into the U.S. and then by train out west to the depot in Quincy.

The year was 1904.

"I found myself thinking what life would have been like at that time," Dubes said.

To locate and identify sections of the homesteaded area in Low Gap, Dubes would look to information gathered from interviews.

An interview with Karl Weber provided insight into an old out building once located in Low Gap and the location of the Wolf homestead from a 1917 atlas.

"The real jewel of the interview," Dubes said of the atlas.

At 18 N, range 24 E, section 32 on the atlas was Emmanuel Wolf's name.

Ensuing interviews would take Dubes to Wenatchee to visit with a Lydia Bepple Westover who was born in 1909.

The Bepples came to Low Gap in 1905 from Canada after emigrating from the same place in Russia the Wolf's had left.

Westover was able to describe several sites once located in Low Gap such as the country school, church and cemetery.

The following day Dubes met with Westover's nephew Chester Bepple, who was confident he could help locate those sites.

"He helped us make sure that what we thought was right was correct," Dubes said.

The idea to construct an interpretive site was in part inspired by Dubes' love of camping and visiting historical sites, something she enjoyed while growing up. She decided one dedicated to Low Gap homesteaders would be appropriate.

With private funds, local donations and monies offered through the Ernie Forge Fellowship Foundation Dubes was able to acquire stone and rock materials for the memorial.

As the land where Dubes wanted to build a memorial was owned by Thaemert Farms, she got in touch with Kevin Thaemert and his father Cleo.

"He said if you want half the field you can have half the field," Dubes recalled Kevin saying somewhat jokingly to her when she requested to use some of their farm land for the site.

Thaemert Farms would also become instrumental in loaning Dubes equipment to help set the stone.

The Thaemerts have been farming the area of the former Low Gap homestead since 1959.

They had known for some time there was a cemetery, but did not know there were 10 homesteaders buried there, one of which is a relation of Dubes.

"We thought it was great from the start and we wanted to see someone dedicate it," Kevin said at the July 4 dedication.

"I feel like it helped bring an awareness to this town," Dubes said. "I feel like I was able to bring to light part of history that would have otherwise been lost."