Last chance: Daedalian Scholarship deadline April 30

Yes, the deadline is near, but if you hurry, there is time.

A $1,000 scholarship is available from Flight 41 of the Order of Daedalians in Spokane/Fairchild Air Force Base. It is possible this will be matched by the national Organization of Daedalians. Read on.

The scholarship

Flight 41 of the Order of Daedalians in Spokane/Fairchild Air Force Base is again sponsoring a $1,000 scholarship for deserving high school seniors or college students that intend to pursue a career in military aviation. Applicants need to complete the application found at www.flight41.org and email to Frank Conderfer fcbum@aol.com or Joe Schwab joseph.schwab@us.af.mil no later than 30 April 2013. The national Daedalian Foundation may match the scholarship to double the award.

Those who are interested should not tarry.

Grant County history

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 Wilson Creek by Cris Mordhorst, recorded Feb. 10, 1976:

Dennis note: The printed story becomes confusing and disjointed at times at this point, so hang in there with me. Now on with the story.

Here's a little part that was in t he Big Bend Chief, dated 190l when the immigrant train went through and it says:

"A trainload of immigrants from Minnesota came to Wilson Creek. Some of them engaged in business in the town and the majority settled on land in the vicinity. This was the signal for a big growth to the town.

At this time there were in the village only part of the Douglas Hotel building and the old Wilson Creek Hotel, Stapps Restaurant, three stores; Goldsmith, Bagely and G.D. Millers. Also People's Trading Company, Swanson Brothers, a blacksmith shop, a butcher shop and livery stable.

The last two months of the year 1901 witnessed a marvelous growth in Wilson Creek. During the month of November and December 60 actual residents were added to the town and many others took up residence in the surrounding country."

It was quite interesting. A railroad man sent that to me. He wanted to hunt on the place, so I asked him if he could find out when the railroad went through Wilson Creek. He said, "I'll sure try and I'll get that back to you."

Well, I supposed that when he got through hunting that, that would be the last I'd hear from him, but he did go to Wenatchee and sent me some of those copies of the Big Bend Chief, the paper that was in Wilson Creek at that time.

I would like to say that my wife and her sister, Rose Knopp, have two brothers and a sister living who came on this train. Also Emma Higgenbotham of Hartline and I don't know if any of the Evers, who came on the train, are still alive or not. It is pretty hard to find anyone to get information.

I am supposed now to go on with the early days of Wilson Creek and the Mordhorst family when they came. The Mordhorst family came to Wilson Creek during July 1906 from Great Falls, Montana. I was told that the main reason for coming to Washington was that Washington was ahead of Montana in their school system.

I was in the third grade when we came to Wilson Creek. Those of you who don't know the town, the school sets up on the hill toward the north of the town. The children always call the hill where the school is, "Knowledge Hill."

We came to Wilson Creek on the Great Northern passenger train.

There might be an error or two here about the attorneys who were in town at that time but they are minor errors, I think. There was an eleven-stall round house, a coal chute, water tank, a number of sidetracks and they seemed to build more sidetracks each year.

There were two hotels, the Melrose and the Newlove, each having from six to 20 rooms. There was a large restaurant that set somewhere near the center where the park is now. It burned down a year after we came to town.

There was the Tichachech rooming house, three stores and one drug store. There was the Big Bend Land Office, a bakery shop, a lumberyard, blacksmith shop, livery stable, laundry, Big Bend Chief newspaper, and the bank, plus a two-chair barber shop.

Wilson Creek area 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 continue the story of The Lindblad family by Frank Lindblad:

In the 1920s Charles and Clarence joined in fur trading and gold prospecting expeditions in the wilderness areas of northern British Columbia near Fort St. James. They purchased leases for mineral explorations and constructed cabins by hand , sawing boards from trees that they felled. Caribou, bear, moose and deer were taken as it was necessary to "live off the land."

Descriptive letters telling of the country and of the pioneer people and their recreation were written to their brothers and sisters at home. Unfortunately, it was near Fort St. James that Clarence met his untimely death in 1926.

Edward, Frank and Charles operated a farm (formerly Reeder Ranch) near Hartline, where dikes were constructed to keep the Wilson Creek water on the land in the spring to save moisture for the summer crops.

Much hay was harvested for their herd of cattle and wheat was grown on the higher land. Even though economic conditions were often somewhat depressed, it was typical of the Lindblads to always maintain an optimistic outlook and to possess a quiet sense of humor.

Bunkhouses were maintained to house the hired hands and wholesome, plentiful meals were cooked for them by Amy. Horses were utilized for much of the farm work and it was due to an accident in 1940 that a runaway team claimed the life of Edward.

In 1944 Frank married Alfhild Anderson and the following year Charles and Frank sold the ranch. Frank worked at Boeing in Seattle until World War II closed and then with his family moved to a small farm near Kent.

There they raised chickens, sold Grade A milk to a dairy and raised produce for canneries until 1953 when he began working for U & I sugar processing plant when they opened their new plant near Moses Lake. After selling their small farm near Kent in 1954, the family moved to Moses Lake.

Charles married Mabel Lorentzen in 1946 and they settled in Salem, Oregon. They worked seasonally in the canneries and enjoyed coastal trailer living in the summers where they occupied much time fishing in the ocean, lakes and rivers.

Frank of Moses Lake is the only living member of the Lindblad family. Minnie Seleen died in 1969, Ella Breiler in 1965, Ellie Dick in 1974, Amy Allen in March of 1976 and Charles in June, 1976.