First telephone line from Coulee City to Waterville built in 1901
Miss Moses Lake Louise Fuller, left, confers with Major Carl Abrams, of Larson Air Force Base, and Miss Larson Air Force Base Carolyn Walsh about preparations for the 1963 Friendship Day on July 4 at the Moses Lake State Park.
U-Haul trailers have assisted Columbia Basin residents move across the country or across the block for, well...for over 51 years.
Richardson got out of horse business and into cattle business, first telephone line built in 1901 or 1902, my my, the greater Columbia Basin was certainly busy in the early 1900s. Read on.
The Grant County Historical Society has compiled several volumes of Grant County history. The books are available for purchase at the Historical Society Museum gift shop in Ephrata.
I bought the series in 2009 and secured permission to relay some of the history through this column.
Memories of Grant County, compiled from taped interviews by the Grant County Historical Society.
Today we backtrack a bit and continue the story of Coulee City, by Alfred Twining recorded July 30, 1975:
... So the train was standing there with a whole trainload of horses headed for Kansas City or St. Louis, I don't know which.
So he, Tony Richardson, got out of the horse business and started in the cattle business, but while he was in the horse business he lived here in Coulee City. I remember two of his kids, I think one was Dee Richardson and the other was Annie. He had a brother, Paul. I thought it was Paul that built the Greenfront Livery Barn, but I think I found out later it was Tony, Tony and Company. They built what they used to call the Greenfront Livery Barn that sits on the lot where the Gregg building used to stand. Then the Gregg building was demolished this year.
The first telephone line from Coulee City to Waterville was built in 1901 or 1902. The telephone poles were shipped into Coulee City. Jim Cunningham had the contract for hauling them. They put a big, long reach in the wagon and put about three or five telephone poles and four horses on the wagon. They strung poles all the way from Coulee City to Waterville that way.
Only two wires were on the poles at that time. Jim Terry used to live with Roy Carpenter down here in the Park and he had a place of his own for awhile. Roy left the place, I think, to Jim and he worked on that telephone line. They camped under some trees on the corner of my dad's place down there along the creek. I rem ember us kids would go down there almost every afternoon and the cook would give us a piece of cake. And, boy, that tasted good, first time I ever tasted any layer cake. My mother, being an "Old Country" woman she never baked layer cake at all. So that was quite a treat.
Charlie Sprague used to run a bunch of horses.
His brand was an outhouse, I guess, that isn't what we used to call it. George took a homestead down around Castle Lake and the way the draw runs down there from Dan Paul's place, he went along side of a cliff with a wheelbarrow and shovel and made a road down into Castle Lake. Some of that road is still there yet. He built it all with a shovel and wheelbarrow. George used always to call his brother, Charles. Charles was quite a guy, a pretty good man in a way. One of his words or saying was "and that's a cinch."
And speaking about the Garlands and Jap, Jap was the black sheep of the family, I guess. I remember hearing one time he was drinking quite a bit and he went up to his dad and said, "Dad, give me five dollars."
His Dad said, "I'll give you five dollars if you'll get to hell out of my sight and I don't want to ever see you again."
E-mail from Cheryl
Facts from the past gleaned from the Moses Lake Herald, Columbia Basin Herald and The Neppel Record by Cheryl (Driggs) Elkins:
From the Columbia Basin Herald on July 2, 1963:
Today we continue with the story about Friendship Day, which carried the headline:
Pit barbecue fire starts tomorrow
In making a concerted effort to get people to turn out for Friendship Day, William Hilderbrand, chairman of the sponsoring military affairs committee of the chamber of commerce commented, "It is my feeling that every business owner should either be there or well represented. A business that doesn't show up at the picnic isn't a good representative of Moses Lake."
The event is the largest joint effort of Larson and the city during the year.
"Louise Fuller, Miss Moses Lake, Carolyn Walsh, Miss Larson Air Force Base and Susan Roth and Rhen MacMaster, Moses Lake's princesses, will greet patrons as they arrive at the park.
Rainbow Girls will assist in pinning name tags on everyone who participates in Friendship Day.
Games for children, airmen and adults start the day off at 11 a.m. Games include dashes, sack races, three-legged race, egg throwing contest, wheelbarrow race, twist contest and pie-eating contest. Prizes are $3 for first place, $2 for second and $1 for third.
At noon a bell will ring as part of a nationwide observance of the Fourth of July and The Star Spangled Banner will be sung.
Afternoon exhibitions include a water ski exhibition by the Moses Lake Aqua Jesters, a horseshoe tournament, a tug-of-war, an Otter demonstration by the National Guard unit at Ephrata, judo demonstration and a hydro exhibition.
Feature of the afternoon will be a horseshoe pitching dual between Mayor John Dietzen and Col. Clyde Owen, base commander.
Wilson Creek history
The Rev. David H. Crawford compiled and published a history of families in and surrounding Wilson Creek titled, "Family Memories of Wilson Creek Area." The book was printed in 1978, which was the 75th anniversary of the town. David's son, John Crawford, has given permission for those memories to be a part of this column.
Today we backtrack a bit and then continue the story of The Rev. Helmer Family, by Lillian Helmer Berg:
At that time Wilson Creek was a sort of railroad center. All trains stopped for fuel, coal from the coal chute, water from the elevated tank, and eats from the Beanery, the railroad restaurant.
Quite a colony of Italians who worked for the railroad lived near the tracts. Earl Helmer helped them learn to read and write the English language. Upon inquiry one evening when Tony didn't come, his friend explained, "Oh Tony eat too many big eye chick, make him all sick in the bell." This group hunted and ate owls.
When driving through Wilson Creek now it is hard to picture it as a once thriving little town with much community pride and spirit, but old timers do like to reminisce.
Mrs. Berg is now a widow; she resides in the Riverview Terrace Retirement Home in Spokane.
Remember, this was written around 1978.