Grant County Historical Society
Courtesy photo The OÕSullivan Patriots: This banner was on display in the History Barn during the Grant County Fair last year. Who are these people? What type of group were/are they?
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 continue the story of Coulee City, by Alfred Twining recorded July 30, 1975:
Along about 1898 Alfred Pierpoint married Stella Gard who was raised down there. They were old timers around Waterville and she had a brother named Arthur Gard and they located up there at Baird.
Pierpoint had a place about 10 miles west of Coulee City, had a pretty good ranch there. Their kids were born there. There were Alfred, Gladys, Dick and Babe and Billy Sunday. He died in a fire at the ranch back in 1920 or 1921.
Al Pierpoint was quite a politician and wherever there was a family in trouble or in need of anything he would start out with his hat passing it around to take up a collection in no time to help them out. He was a pretty good old fellow.
Alfred Pierpoint, his oldest son, carried the mail into Sage Brush Flats for a number of years and then they discontinued the Baird Post Office and they made a run from Coulee City down that route.
The Baird Post Office was established by James Baird, he was a Scotchman. There were two brothers, James and David Baird. Jim Baird had the post office and a quarter of land homesteaded there. He operated a little grocery store and the post office together. Later he transferred the post office to Nat Davis.
I think Nat Davis run it as long as it existed. Of course the post office kept going a long time and Mrs. Pierpoint, that's old Al's wife, was post mistress out there for a number of years until they discontinued it and the Coulee City Post Office was still operating after they moved the town.
I think George Roberts stayed postmaster until about 1895 and he sold out to Thomas Parry and Tom got the post mastership until he transferred it to his son in-law, Hughey Brimble. He married Esther Parry.
After he lost the post office they moved out and went to Montana. Later they separated. They couldn't get along together or something and I heard that Hughey died up there in Butte, Montana. Esther is still living as far as I know. I think she just moved from Almira to Cashmere, to live with the daughter, Ruth, this last year.