SINCE 1966 3ou'w~tefPublished Quarterly by the

Pacific County Historical SocietyState of Washington

James Gilchrist Swan1818- 1900

An Amazing Man

SUMMER

Volume XVIII

1983

Number 2

60 U"SINCE 1966ou Wee tefz5

A Quarterly Publication of the Pacific County Historical Society, Inc .A Non-profit Organization

Magazine subscription rate - $6.00 AnnuallyMembership in the Society - $3.00 single, $5.00 couple

Payable annually - membership card issuedAddress: P.O. Box P, South Bend, WA 98586

Historical articles accepted for publication may be edited by the editors to conform to size and other requirements .Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the historical society . All RightsReserved . Reprinting of any material approved by special permission from the Pacific County HistoricalSociety . Second class postage paid at South Bend . Washington .

PUB. NO. ISSN-003804984

Larry WeathersEDITOR

Karen Johnson and Esther Coates - SubscriptionsPrinted by Pacific Printing . Ilwaco, Washington

Our Coverby Larry Weathers

James G. Swan is no stranger to our readers . This is the third time his picture has ap-peared on the cover of our quarterly (see Volume II, No . 1, pages 2 and 20 ; and VolumeX, No. 4, pages 62 to 64) . In our opinion, his warm personal relationships with local In-dians, and his comprehensive recording of their culture and the coming of white men toWillapa Bay in the early 1 850s, make him the single most important figure in Pacific Coun-ty history . He was truly an amazing man .

This photo of Captain Swan was sent to us by Lucile McDonald to accompany herstory in this issue . It is from the collection of the Provincial Archives, Victoria, B .C . It isbelieved that Captain Swan was living in Port Townsend when it was taken . He had justadded the title of Judge to his long list of credentials .

Table of ContentsTITLE

PAGE

Our Cover - Larry Weathers 22The James G. Swan Donation Land Claim - Lucile McDonald 23L.A. Loomis, His Life, Character and Achievements as a County Builder - Isaac H . Whealdon29The Ilwaco Steam Navigation Company : Articles of Incorporation - Pacific County Auditor's Office36Long Beach in the 1880s- Lucile McDonald 37Pacific County - Eli Rockey 39The Bartender's Picnic at Tokeland - Larry Weathers . .

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The James G . Swan Donation Land Claimby Lucile McDonald

Editor's Note: Once again the Sou'wester is happy to present another article written by popular North-west newspaper woman and author Lucile McDonald . Throughout the past four decades Lucile hasprovided her readers with a myriad of stories Illuminating the lives of Pacific Northwest pioneers . Herfeature articles in the Seattle Times and Oregonian, as well as her books, have preserved for all timethe little jewels of our regional history. The history of Pacific County, in particular, would be poorer forher absence from the literary scene .

The following story was written specifically for the Sou'wester in February 1983 . On February 7th,Lucile wrote, "Since writing you a few days ago and mentioning in the letter that I might sometime inthe near future write an article for the Sou'wester about James G. Swan's donation claim and whatbecame of it, I did a little home research as to dates . Then, while talking with Verna (Verna Jacobson,County Auditor 1947-74, is a close personal friend of Lucile's) over the phone, I said I might do somedigging in the courthouse or the title office the next time I was in South Bend . She reminded me that Iwould probably be there only on a weekend when both places were closed . . .That is why I'm writing toyou now. I can write the article if I can obtain a few basic facts . . ." This was followed by a list of ques-tions she needed answered .

Before I could research the information Lucile needed, I received the finished story and this notedated February 23rd, "You probably know by now that I was in South Bend over the weekend andtried to get in touch with you to say I had picked up most of the information I needed for the accom-panying article . Bruce Dennis very kindly helped me . . ."

So here is the story she wrote, and if after reading it you desire to know more about this interestingman, f suggest that you obtain a copy of Swan Among the Indians (1972) by Lucile McDonald, Bin-fords and Mort, publishers .

Not only was James G. Swan among the first twelve persons named to WashingtonState's Hall of Honor, he was also among Pacific County's first 61 land owners . He stakeda donation land claim on the Bone River (Willapa Bay Indians called it Querquelin meaningmouse) and recorded it on May 1, 1853 . Highway 101 crosses it today .

Nearly 100 years later Bruce Dennis, of Raymond, owner of a large tract of land on theriver, decided to construct an earth dam, tide gate and dikes across it near the mouth of theriver in order to improve conditions for farming . A bulldozer he had at work on the propertyin 1952 (See Raymond Herald, "James G. Swan's Homesite on Bone River BelievedFound," January 29, 1953) uncovered traces of an Indian burial ground on the streambank. Next it brought to light remains of a stone fireplace surrounded by quantities of oysterand clam shells . Dennis knew of Swan's book, The Northwest Coast or, Three Years'Residence in Washington Territory, in which he told of burning oyster shells to producelime. Being aware that this locale was part of the Swan claim, he made some inquiries andfound an old resident of Bay Center who said Swan was supposed to have lived exactly atthe site of the discoveries. He believed Dennis had uncovered the old kiln .

While Swan lived a long life and distinguished himself as an historian, collector of ar-tifacts for the Smithsonian, teacher in the Neah Bay Indian school, lawyer, probate judge,folklorist, customs inspector, fish commissioner, ethnologist, marine appraiser, secretary to

Governor Stevens, member of Washington's first pilot inspection board, patriotic oratorand Hawaii's first and only consul in this state, the spot where he built his pioneer home wasa matter of speculation until Dennis made his discovery .

Swan arrived on Shoalwater Bay (Willapa Bay) around December 1, 1852 and lived at

the cabin of Charles J.W. Russell, a Bruceport oysterman, whom he had met in San Fran-cisco . Swan liked the country and got along well with the Indians, so he decided to try his

23

hand at harvesting oysters . Taking advantage of the donation land law, he staked a claimtwo miles south of Bruceport on Bone River. According to Chief Toke, who showed Swanthe site, an Indian village had once stood there .

Although Swan had left his wife Matilda (1819-1863) and children in Boston, he tookthe amount of land permitted for a married couple, which would have totalled 320 acres .Actually his tract measured only 276 .43 acres . Two acres were cleared for a building siteand the remainder left forested .

Sawed lumber was not available for a house, so Swan constructed a temporary canvasshelter from a topsail purchased from the brig Potomac. During the summer he garneredboards from wrecks and purchased hand-split ones from Indian owners of a deserted lodge .In early fall he and Captain James S . Purrington, another guest of Russell, who also wishedto homestead, had sufficient building material on hand for a one-room cabin, 15 x 20 feetin dimensions . According to Swan's book, it had two bunks screened with red cotton cur-tains at one end and a door and fireplace with a sandstone and clay chimney at the other .The fireplace was equipped with a Dutch oven, iron crane, hooks and trammels made fromhatch boards and chain plates off a ship . Cooking was done mostly in an iron pot .

The two white men planted a garden on the ancient Indian midden, utilizing its ready-made fertilizer. Swan wrote that the original camp had been deserted after the death of itsIndian chief, the houses burned down "and the whole grown over with rose bushes,blackberry vines, wild gooseberry and a most luxuriant crop of nettles and ferns ."

By the end of 1853 Swan needed to recoup his finances. On January 1st he went toSan Francisco and worked in a ship chandler's shop where he had been employedpreviously . He took part of his pay in merchandise and returned in early June to his cabinon Shoalwater Bay . That year he picked up a job as deputy customs inspector and becameacquainted with Washington's first territorial Governor Isaac I . Stevens at an Indian treatymeeting on the Chehalis River .

In 1855 Swan's oyster venture was not proving profitable due to cold weather and hesaw no chance of prospering on the bay . He decided he would have to leave, but wanting tohave something to show for the time on Bone River, he took pains to secure an unusuallyliberal interpretation of his transitory residence there . He departed for good in October1855 and managed to make it appear that he had spent the required four years living onthe claim cultivating it . His patent was issued on January 10, 1867 .

Swan went east in 1855, wrote his book in 1857, and became private secretary in1858 to Isaac I . Stevens, who had just been elected Washington's Delegate to Congress .On his return to Washington Territory in February 1859, he landed at Port Townsend andeventually established it as his place of residence .

Swan wanted to look again at his land on Bone River, and thought he had an oppor-tunity when he went on a tour of Indian reservations with Indian Superintendent MichaelSimmons, in July 1859 . Reaching the north side of Shoalwater Bay, they were unable tofind an Indian canoe for hire to take them across to Bruceport and Oysterville, and lostmany hours waiting, until a settler offered them a lift . They had to decline . Simmons was ina hurry to complete his assignment and get back to Olympia, so Swan had no chance tovisit his property .

It was 1868 before Swan finally visited his land . He went there while making a trip tothe bay with territorial Governor Marshall F . Moore . The Indians were glad to see Swan, buthis pleasure was dimmed when he was told that loggers had been invading his property .Therefore, he posted a notice forbidding cutting timber, pasturing stock or building any

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The Querquelin River residence of J .G. Swan 1852-1855 .Querquelin is a Chehalis Indian word meaning mouse .

-sketch made by James G . Swan for his book The Northwest Coast

-Lucile McDonald photo Pacific County Historical

Querquelin River about 1960The Querquelin is now known as Bone River . Swan would have little trouble recogniz-ing his old land claim though, even in 1983 . Except for the highway, bridge and utilitylines, the natural setting is little changed from Swan's day .

structure on the claim. He asked William B . Clark, his closest neighbor, to tend to anybusiness relating to the land . Clark lived north of Bone River at Stony Point . He wasPostmaster at Bruceport (1868-1875) .

Swan and Governor Moore visited Bruceport and Oysterville on the same trip, thencontinued by wagon to Ilwaco, where they took a boat up the Columbia . Swan was paid$20 for acting as the governor's guide and interpreter .

Times were hard in the 1870s and Swan had difficulty meeting his current bills in PortTownsend. Rheumatism caught up with him, a burglar stole $180 from his room and hegrew steadily depressed over his physical and financial condition . In early 1880 he againheard rumors of logging on his land and consulted an attorney . He had the attorney sue thealleged trespasser, Thomas Fredenburg, for damages . On September 1 5th he learned thatthe grand jury failed to return a true bill against the defendant . Later, his attorney told himthat another man, Colonel Prosser, would prosecute Fredenburg at Kalama, W .T ., for steal-ing timber from government lands . Swan's diaries (kept in the Northwest Collection, Suz-zallo Library, University of Washington) tell nothing more about the disposition of the caseagainst Fredenburg .

The diaries do mention the sale of his land on Bone River, however, in August 1882 .In order to complete the transaction Swan registered a copy of "power of attorney" paperswith the Pacific County Auditor's office . This allowed him the right to handle the sale for hischildren, Charles and Ellen, and daughter-in-law, Carrie, who were heirs to Matilda's shareof the claim . A warranty deed was then signed over to William B . Clark, December 30,1882 . Clark paid $345 .54 in gold coin. According to his diaries, Swan got $200 . He wasglad to get it; he had fallen, sprained his wrist and had to borrow money . His share of

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NORTH RIVER33

CAMPGROUNDu.CrIiNG

27

It

I

-from Big Sky Map No . 25, K.D.B . Enterprises, Inc .

The Swan Donation Land Claim (patent issued January 10, 1867)This map shows the location of the claim in relation to Bruceport, Stony Point and other points .

-Lucile McDonald collection, Pacific County Historical Society

Capt. Swan (on the right) and Indian friend with dugout canoe .This photo was taken while Swan was living on the Olympic Peninsula .

Clark's payment went to settle his board bill . The remainder went to his children in Boston .Bruce Dennis owns an abstract of title which relates some further history of the Swan

donation land claim . It shows the amount of compensation for the purchase, listing it as$345.54, and naming Clark's children as joint owners . Clark's relations with his familyevidently deteriorated, for the abstract shows that the son turned the property over to hismother, Mary Clark, and when she died on January 31, 1893, she left the land to herchildren and "ten dollars in gold coin" to her husband .

William Clark sued his offspring in 1898, demanding division of the estate "accordingto his just rights ." He asserted that Mary had not inherited the land, that it was secured byhis and her joint labors, and, therefore, he was joint owner and entitled to one-half of it . Asuperior court judge in July 1901 denied his claim and further assessed the cost of the suitagainst him .

Ownership of the Swan land claim has passed through several hands since 1901 . InOctober 1908, Loyal L . Clark, son of William, sold the land to Semper-Klale InvestmentCompany of Olympia for $3,316 .20. In October 1919, W.A. Carruthers, South Bendoysterman, paid Semper-KIale $8,121 .00 for the property . In June 1944, the DennisTrust Company of Raymond bought the land and leased it for high grade logging . Thehemlock was left standing and the land was eventually sold to West Tacoma Newsprint (theBoise Cascade Corporation), November 1960 . A large portion of the claim is still ownedby Boise Cascade Corporation .

James G. Swan died in Port Townsend on May 18, 1900, at 1 1 p .m., after being in acoma fourteen hours . He was a respected member of the community, and was buried withall the honor the town and a delegation of Makahs from Neah Bay could bestow on him .

2 8

L .A. Loomis, His Life, Characterand Achievements as a County Builder

by Isaac H. Whealdon

Editor's Note : Isaac H . Whealdon was born in Fulton County, Illinois, on April 6, 1850 . He came toPacific County at the age of 18 and settled on a farm in Naselle in the early 1870s near his brotherJoseph and cousin Francis Whealdon (Francis was the son of Isaac and Mary Ann Whealdon, Ilwacopioneers of 1858, refer to Sou'wester 1967, Volume II, No. 3, pp . 49-52) . Around 1880, Isaac (Ike)married Emma Slingerland (1853-1901) of Oysterville. They had three children : Ruth, Isaac Jr . andKate .

Isaac H. Whealdon was an honored resident of Pacific County for nearly fifty years before his sud-den death on June 15, 1913 . He was a lifelong Democrat who had unsuccessfully sought county of-fice two or three times, and in later life was a frequent contributor to the county papers, usually writingabout the lives of county pioneers he knew intimately .

The mini-biography of the life of Lewis Alfred Loomis reprinted here was one of the articles hewrote . It appeared In the Willapa Harbor Pilot, a South Bend newspaper 1895 to 1945, on July 5,1912. One year after it was published both Whealdon and Loomis were dead . Whealdon died in hischildren's home in Old Willapa, while Loomis died in his at Loomis Station (located south of KlipsanBeach) on July 9, 1913. Both men were buried near their wives in historic Oysterville cemetery .

Readers who would like to know more about L.A. Loomis and the Ilwaco Railroad should refer toThe Railroad that Ran by the Tide (1972) by Raymond J . Feagans . It is an excellent contribution to thehistory of the Long Beach Peninsula. A second edition was issued by Howell-North Books of SanDiego, California in 1981, and is now available at the County Museum in South Bend .

A final note . It should be remembered that Isaac Whealdon was fond of his friend L.A. Loomis,and necessarily wrote of him in glowing terms . In the process of telling his story he brieflycharacterizes Jacob Kamm as a villain who unsuccessfully attempted to depose Loomis from his posi-tion as president of the railroad company . The truth of the matter is a bit more complicated .

Jacob Kamm was a prominent figure in the early history of steamboating on the Columbia River .He had a well-deserved reputation In the region as a progressive transportation magnet . Like Loomis,he was a strong-willed businessman who had his own ideas about how to run a company . When hisideas conflicted with those of Loomis he was merely the stockholder who lost the fight.

Loomis and Kamm apparently first associated around September 1888 when the Ilwaco SteamNavigation Company changed its name to the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company and increasedcapital stock from $25,000 to $125,000 . They were major stockholders whose relationship was cor-dial to the point of owning adjoining parcels of land on the beach at Loomis Station . Loomis eventual-ly built his home on his parcel. It became an unofficial train stop on the railroad route .

Poor relations developed between the two men around 1891 . There were at least two reasons forthis .

First, Loomis became embroiled In a misunderstanding with B .A. Seaborg, another stockholderin the railroad company, and Kamm unfortunately got wrapped up in it . Seaborg had founded thetownsite of Sealand opposite John Paul's townsite of Nahcotta. Seaborg had expected to sell a largetract of his town to the railroad for the proposed terminus . Many of the railroad stockholders had ex-pected him to give it to the railroad . When John Paul gave the railroad several blocks of his town as asubsidy, Loomis was embarrassed into favoring Nahcotta for the terminus . In retaliation, Seaborgsevered relations, a feud developed and he eventually tried to sue Loomis . The matter was settled outof court when Kamm purchased Seaborg's railroad Interests . This gave Kamm and his brother-in-lawJ.H.D. Gray, another member of the company board of directors, a major share of the stock, andshifted Loomis's animosity to them .

Secondly, the Loomis-Kamm friendship suffered further strain when Kamm convinced the com-pany board of directors to make several business investments which did not exactly pay-off as heclaimed they would . They were long-term investments which eventually benefited the company, butin the short-term did not please Loomis . A full-scale stockholder's fight erupted when Loomis gainedthe backing of the Crellin brothers and ousted Kamm from the board .

The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad, later

29

-from Lewis and Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest .1895, page 31, Pacific County Historical Society

Jacob Kamm

-'or Le.. s a^c D~toe~ s Marine History. 1895 . pg . 232, PCHS

Capt. L .A . Loomis

bought Kamm's stock, as well as others which were available, in an attempt to either gain control orwreck the line as a competing enterprise . By 1900, the directors of the O .R. and N. forced Loomis to

sell his stock for $142,000 and retire. The railroad continued to operate on the Peninsula until

September 1930 .Sometimes history is never as simple as the writer would like to make it . Now, Mr. Whealdon's

story .

L.A. Loomis was born in Tompkins County, New York, October 9, 1830 . He lived on

a farm with his parents until manhood, then he left the old home, took passage by the wayof Panama, leaving New York City January 6, 1852, and arrived in California May 22,1852 . He mined and did other hard work in California until 1855 at which time we findhim in Pacific City visiting with his brother E.G . Loomis, who had located at that place inPacific County, Washington Territory in the year 1850 .

In the spring of 1855 C .V. Stuart, Richard Carruthers, James Covell, E .G. and L.A .

Loomis associated themselves together and started to go to Pend Oreille lake, gold havingbeen discovered there. The mode of travel was by pulling boat up the Columbia River . It

took them 10 days of hard rowing to reach The Dalles, the starting point being from therocks near where Ilwaco now stands near Fort Canby .

At The Dalles they bought ponies from the Indians . They pushed on across the then

desert country to Spokane Falls . Here, word came to them that not only were the mines afailure, but that the Indians were on the warpath, Col . Cane sending them the warning .Eighteen miles above Spokane Falls was located an Indian agent named Bowen . Mr .

Bowen went ahead to find out for certain as to the hostility of the Indians, and was killed .

"This turned our party back," states Mr . Loomis, "and our trip back to the Deschutes

30

was anything but pleasant ." In arriving at The Dalles Mr . Loomis enlisted in Col . Nesmith'smounted volunteers with Senator Kelley as Lieut . Colonel . Mr. Loomis served 210 daysand was in the battle of Walla Walla . In the engagement Pete Mox Mox (or Yellow Bird) In-dian chief and warrior was killed . Just after this battle Mr . Loomis was commissioned se-cond lieutenant, Company B, 1 st Regiment Oregon volunteers .

On being mustered out of service Mr . Loomis was employed by the Government onwork at old Ft . Simcoe and Ft . Dalles. In 1857 the death of other members of his familymade it obligatory on Mr . Loomis to return to New York and care for his widowed mother .In 1864, death having relieved him from his filial obligation, Mr . Loomis went south, hadcharge of a construction company building and repairing railroads for army movements .Soon after the close of the Civil War he removed to Michigan and remained there until1872, but like everyone of us who has lived in Pacific County any length of time and goneaway, he longed to get back and live on the sounding shore of the grand Pacific . So in thespring of that year he arrived in Oysterville, and soon after bought the place where he nowlives (Loomis Station) from Andrew Olsen, and moved his household goods, which con-sisted of a trunk and roll of blankets to this place where he still lives .

He and his brother, Edwin, now went into the sheep business and prospered well, pro-ducing a very fine quality of wool . Getting some of this wool wet in transferring it from theshore by small boats to Capt . J.H .D. Gray's steamer Varuna at Ilwaco, led up to thebuilding of the first wharf at that place .

So we find a company formed, and Robert Turner, Auditor of Pacific County,Washington Territory, states that "on this 8th day of July 1874, personally appeared beforeme L.A. Loomis, Robert Carruthers, George Johnson, Abram Wing and J .H .D. Gray, whoare the incorporators of a company which shall be known as the Ilwaco Wharf Company .The object of this company is the construction of a wharf and warehouse at the Town of Il-waco on Baker's Bay in the aforesaid county and territory . The amount of capital stock is$2,500 divided into shares of $25 per share . The regular place of meeting of the companyshall be at Oysterville ."

L.A. Loomis was made president of this company, and they did construct a very goodwharf and warehouse . Mr. Loomis in 1875, in connection with his brother Edwin, com-menced to run a stage line from Ilwaco to Oysterville three times a week, carrying freight,passengers and the United States mail .

We next find Mr . Loomis as president of a company known as the Ilwaco SteamNavigation Company, incorporated February 4, 1875 . The officers of this company were :John Crellin, treasurer ; Robert Turner, secretary ; L.A. Loomis, John Wood, John Crellin,Isaac Y. Doan and George Johnson, trustees . "The amount of capital stock of this com-pany is $25,000, divided into 500 shares of $50 each ; duration of this company shall be50 years, principal office and place of business shall be at Oysterville, Pacific County, Ter-ritory of Washington ."

This company immediately went to work and built at South Bend a fine new steamernamed Gen'l Canby, (see Sou'wester, Volume X, No. 2, cover and pages 22 and 40)and put her on the run between Ilwaco and Astoria, making her first trip sometime inAugust 1875. Weston Whitcomb was her captain, and oh how proud we all were of this thefirst steamboat to be owned and operated by Pacific County citizens ; and it all came aboutthrough the indomitable energy of Mr . Loomis . Of course the boat could not have beenbuilt without the aid of John and Thomas Crellin, but neither could that aid have been ob-tained without L .A. Loomis .

3 1

Capt . J .H .D. Gray next entered the new company, sold his steamer Varuna, whichhad been carrying the mail and doing a general freight and passenger business betweenAstoria and Ilwaco, and sent her around to Puget Sound where she became a fishingsmack .

Also about this time, Mr. Loomis by petition, succeeded in getting a daily mail serviceestablished between Astoria, Oregon, and Olympia, Washington . So we find, in order tomeet the fast growing demand for better facilities for transportation, Mr . Loomis associatedwith Isaac S. Jones and J .D. Holman as incorporators of the Shoalwater Bay TransportationCompany. The trustees of this company were I .W. Case and J.A. Bowlby of Astoria,Oregon, and Isaac S . Jones, L .A. Loomis and J .C. Johnson of Pacific County, WashingtonTerritory. The instrument of incorporation, with the seal of the incorporators, was witnessedby J .C. Johnson and D .A . Rodway and is attested to by C .A. Reed, notary public on the28th day of June 1881 . L.A. Loomis was made president of this company .

The next business of the company was to connect Oysterville with various pointsaround the bay . They did this by building a long wharf at Oysterville and putting the steamerlames A. Garfield, commanded by the late Captain John Brown ; and never was there abetter captain than he, on the run . This boat carried the mail and made connections withFrank Petersen's stages at North Cove .

Petersen's stages made connections with the Shoalwater Bay company's steamerMontesano at what is now Westport (then Petersen's Point) . This company also built andoperated an elegant new steamer called the Governor Newell.

Mr. Loomis was elected county commissioner in 1874, serving two years . Somewhereabout this time Mr . Loomis was married to Louisa Glover (1855-1911) of Marion County,Oregon .

It is not easy to give an idea at this late date of the magnitude of L .A. Loomis' businessat that time, but suffice to say he was getting rich very fast . His stage line was at that time thebest paying business in our county, but there was an ever-growing demand for somethingbetter, and in the years from 1875 to 1885 we heard continuously of the contemplatedbuilding of a railroad into Pacific County . It remained for Mr . Loomis to again organize acompany to build a railway and this he did, knowing very well that it would be the ruinationof his private business . Mr. Loomis made this remark to the writer of this article in the sum-mer of 1886 .

So in 1887 the Ilwaco Steam Navigation Company became known as the IlwacoRailway and Navigation Company . In 1888 they had five miles of railroad in operation fromthe town of Ilwaco north, built the steamer General Miles, and bought the Dolphin andthe Ocean Wave. This gave them in the summer season, a daily service between Astoriaand Ilwaco, and thrice a week service by Ocean Wave from Portland to Ilwaco.

About this time, Jacob Kamm took a notion to get Mr. Loomis out of his office as presi-dent of the I .R. and N . Company. Being possessed of almost unlimited means he managedto buy up company stock until he was, next to Mr . Loomis, the largest individualstockholder . But at this crisis, when it really looked as if Mr . Kamm would either rule or ruinthe company, John and Thomas Crellin, now of San Francisco, came to the rescue and fur-nished Mr . Loomis with the money to buy Mr . Kamm out. It is not out of place to state here,that no man had ever had better friends than John and Thomas Crellin . They seemed tohave perfect faith in L.A. Loomis and his ability to accomplish what he set out to do .

This trouble with Jacob Kamm, and the buying him out, occurred after the railroad wascompleted to Nahcotta, which was accomplished in the year 1890, I believe, but I have

32

Right: -from Lewis and Dryden's Marine History, 1895, page 82. PCHS

Capt. J .H.D. Gray

Below : -from Lewis and Dryden's Marine History. 1895, page 333, PCHS

The Dolphin about 1890The steamer Dolphin was built at Astoria by Capt . D .Mackenzie . It was intended for deep-sea fishing but sold tothe Ilwaco railroad company . She was eighty-seven feet fiveinches long .

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-Virginia Olsen collectionPacific County Historical Society

The Loomis Stageabout 1885

The stage carried Peninsulavisitors from Ilwaco wharf toOysterville, the county seat, untilthe railroad was built .

-Virginia Olsen collection, Pacific County Historical Society

Nahcotta wharf and Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company terminus about 1893The towns of Sealand (left) and Nahcotta (right) faced each other across the tracks of therailroad .

-Virginia Olsen collection, Pacific County Historical Society

Engine No . 6 at the Nahcotta terminus about August 1913The crew of Engine No . 6 relaxes for a picture in front of the Nahcotta Hotel . In 1913, theUnion Pacific owned and operated the former Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Company .

34

-from promotional booklet called The Pacific Cranberry Marsh, Pacific County Historical Society

The Long Beach PeninsulaA 1910 sketch of the Peninsula showing beach towns and the route of the Ilwaco Railway andNavigation Company .

forgotten the exact date . For some years after this Mr . Loomis continued to manage the af-fairs of the I .R . and N . Company .

Soon after the completion of the road to Nahcotta, Mr. Loomis suffered a severebereavement in the loss of his brother Edwin (1825-1889) . They were brothers, these two,in every sense of the word, and L .A. Loomis never seemed to be quite as cheerful after thepassing of Edwin . Everyone of us felt keenly the loss of this good man .

The last boat to be built by Mr . Loomis was the Nahcotta, still in commission . I havenot the date of the sale and transfer of the I . R . and N . Company to the Oregon Railway andNavigation Company, but Mr . Loomis consummated this sale and made the transfer to thatcompany not many years back. Since that time he has been spending his well earned rest athis elegant home by the side of the ever-tossing deep .

In a recent visit to him we sat down beside the beautiful-yes the ever beautifulocean-and talked of bygone days; with old ocean soothing and lulling us almost to sleep .And so let it be with my dear old friend, for old ocean shall lull him to sleep when the timeshall come. He will never move, for he belongs there . He is a part of our beach ; a part ofour county and state. To Mr. Loomis and such as he, all those who follow should bethankful, for they were truly state builders, and I can think of nothing more fitting than theselines from the poet :

A gentle spirit whispers to the earSing first the praises of the pioneer .

Yours, in Memory, Isaac H. Whealdon .

35

The Ilwaco Steam Navigation Company :Articles of Incorporationfrom Pacific County Auditor's Office

Editor's Note : L.A. Loomis participated in the formation of several companies during his lifetime . Mostwere related to the transportation industry on the Long Beach Peninsula . The Ilwaco Steam Naviga-tion Company was the most successful of these ventures . It made his fortune and provided him withthe capital to participate in the formation of the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company in 1888 .

Articles of Incorporation

We the undersigned citizens of Pacific County and Territory of Washington, beingdesirous of forming a company or corporate body for the purposes hereinafter specified, tobe incorporated under the laws of the Territory governing the same, do certify :

First - That the corporate name of the company shall be "The Ilwaco Steam Naviga-tion Company."

Second - The object for which the Company is formed is building and completing ofa Steamboat or Steamboats or other vessels or for the purchase or sale of any craft the com-pany may desire, and also for the purpose of carrying passengers or freight and towing, or

any legitimate business usual in the line of Steamboating in the navigation of the waters ofthe Columbia river or elsewhere .

Third - The amount of Capital Stock of the Company shall be twenty-five thousanddollars ($25,000) divided into five hundred (500) shares of fifty ($50) dollars each, withliberty to increase the same whenever it may be deemed necessary or advisable so to do .

Fourth - The duration of the Company shall be fifty (50) years .Fifth - The number of trustees of said company shall be five (5) and the persons

elected to serve as such trustees and manage the affairs of the company for the first sixmonths of its existence, or formation, are L .A. Loomis, John Crellin, John Wood,I .Y . Doane and George Johnson .

Sixth - The principal place of business of said company shall be at Oysterville, PacificCounty, Territory of Washington .

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals this fourth day ofFebruary, A.D ., 1875. Signed - L.A. Loomis, John Crellin, John Wood, Isaac Y . Doane,George Johnson .

On this fourth day of February, A.D., One Thousand and Eight hundred and Seventy-

five, personally appeared before me, the undersigned Auditor of Pacific County, L .A .

Loomis, John Crellin, I.Y. Doane, John Wood, and George Johnson, whose names aresubscribed to the foregoing Certificate of Incorporation as parties thereto, who each of themacknowledged to me, that they, each of them respectively executed the same freely and

voluntarily, and for the uses and purposes therein mentioned .In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the

County of Pacific, the day and year above written . Robert Turner, Auditor of Pacific

County, W .T.

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Long Beach in the 1880sby Lucile McDonald

Editor's Note: Lucile says that she was going through her files this past spring when she found thefollowing notes of an interview with her aunt Mrs. Charlotte (Walter H.) McMonies . The notes weremade about 1947 . She was gathering material for a children's book and decided to record as muchfamily history as she could during the process . Mrs . McMonies was 84 years old at the time of the inter-view .

Aunt Lottie, as Mrs . McMonies was called, was born in Portland on May 4, 1863 . Her family hadcrossed the plains by wagon train the preceding year, reaching Portland in September, after being fivemonths on the way from Leavenworth, Kansas . The trip had taken five months .

Charlotte died in 1956 at the age of 93 . Lucile says that, "She was a great homemaker, and wasadored by her nephews and nieces . Her son Walter, and grandson Warren, still live in Portland ."

Among some family papers I recently found this account of an interview I had late inher life with my aunt, Charlotte Wittenberg McMonies, of Portland, describing her firstjourney to view the Pacific Ocean . Back in the 1880s, when she was in her late teens, sheboarded a sternwheel river steamer and voyaged the greater part of a long day down theColumbia. Here is what she told me :

"It was late in the afternoon when we got into Astoria . It was such a little place, built outinto the Columbia on pilings . We didn't stop there at all; we hurried aboard a smaller boatand crossed from Oregon to Ilwaco on the Washington side .

"Ilwaco was hardly a village . There was a dock and stages were waiting for the boat . I

-H .A. Vincent, Ilwaco-Long Beach Photographer .Christine Nevert Collection, Pacific County Historical Society

Rubberneck Row in summer, Town of Long Beach, c . 1900

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-Pacific County Historical Society

Rubberneck Row in winter, Town of Long Beach, c . 1902

was carrying my' clothes in a funny old gray telescope . I gave it to the driver of one of thecoaches and climbed up with the other passengers . It was just a wagon with boards acrossfor seats .

"We rumbled out of town on a plank road and entered a jungle of salmonberry,huckleberry and salal brush, growing so dense they formed a high wall on either side ofthose rattling planks . There were plenty of trees, too, firs and spruce . The sky was gettingdark when we came down toward the beach and for a few seconds I caught a glimpse of theocean with the sunset on it and I heard the roar of the breakers . Then the road turned intothe woods again .

"I reached my brother Herman's tent near Long Beach late that night and next morn-ing went out on the ridge to see those rolling breakers .

"The tent had a stove and table outside with a fly over them . The beds were straw onthe floor . Camp stools and folding chairs were the other furnishings . Outside the tent was abasin and a roller towel . We carried water from Mrs . Plunket, a neighbor. The camp of Her-man's wife's relatives was close and we could hear talking late at night and then in themorning people calling, `Get up, the tide's just right .' One morning they went out and got150 crabs .

"In those early years Portlanders going to the beach would see many of their neighborsfrom home, all in tents, some better than others . Seaside (Oregon) had not yet becomepopular because bathing was not good there, the beach was not sandy and there wasnothing to do . But Long Beach had buggies and bicycles on the beach and the richest folkbrought their colored coachmen . Oh, it was a great place . . .I'll never forget those roaringbillows ."

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Pacific Countyby Eli Rockey

Editor's Note: The following newspaper item originally appeared in the South Bend Willapa HarborPilot on December 15, 1911 .

Eli Rockey was born in Ontario province, Canada, in December 1860 . He came to Pacific Countyaround 1889 and settled on the Palix River . Later he built a showplace home on his farm in BayCenter where he lived with his wife Carrie and daughter Jane . It was reportedly the first in Bay Centerto have gaslights installed in it . Eli was also fond of horses and had a beautiful team which could oftenbe seen pulling his surrey around the countryside .

Like many men of his generation, Eli pursued several professions . Early in his life he owned thePalix Logging Company. The company eventually went broke but he became a very rich man whileassociated with it . Eli was also involved in the oystering industry and built a boat shop in South Bend .He finally retired to his farm on the Palix where he operated a small dairy and chicken ranch .Although he never held elective office he was a power in Republican Party politics in Pacific Countyfor several decades .

When Eli came to Pacific County in 1889, he found a job for his brother Joe and invited him tojoin him in the Northwest . Joe liked to tell his family later in life that he arrived in Pacific County with"a wife, two children and $2.00." He settled in Sunshine and worked at the sawmill as a millwright forover a decade before he finally moved his growing family to Raymond . His children (Kirk, Pearl, Jim,Earl, Joe Jr., and Emanuel "Ham") and grandchildren have been well-known residents of theRaymond-South Bend vicinity ever since .

Eli Rockey suffered a stroke in the late 1920s and was nursed by his younger wife Carrie until heruntimely death in April 1933 . Eli died shortly afterward in November 1933 . Their daughter Jane haddied In childbirth prior to 1920 . All three are buried in the Pioneer Cemetery at Bay Center .

Throughout Pacific County's history enthusiastic residents have found hundreds of words todescribe the virtues of our corner of the world for others . No less enthusiastic, but in simpler terms .Mr. Rockey described the delights waiting for anyone who was looking for a new place to live . Hiswords bear repeating .

We are going to tell you why we believe Pacific County to be one of the best places onearth for the homeseeker and investor .

First - Because the climate is very healthful and moderate - never too hot or toocold .

Second - It has as good schools as exist anywhere .Third - All of the land is good, a great portion of it cannot be excelled, and can be

bought at a reasonable price, compared with other localities .Fourth - The natural resources include fish, lumber, oysters and other shell fish and

are without a rival .Fifth - Willapa Harbor is the only natural harbor north of San Francisco, which, with

its tributary rivers, reach all parts of the county, giving it water transportation to all parts ofthe world . We also have good rail connections and are working out one of the best roadsystems in the state .

Sixth - We have the finest summer resorts along the Pacific Ocean beach, bays andrivers of the world .

In an agricultural way, our climate is most suitable for dairying, gardening and smallfruits; it is also the home of the plum and prune. Apples also do well . We have hundreds ofacres of cranberry land yet undeveloped . All that is lacking is enough people to developthese great natural resources to make Pacific County what is bound to be the greatestwealth-producing section and best place to live in the proud State of Washington .

Our people are prosperous and generous . Good health with wealth to enjoy is what wehave to offer stored away within our coffer . Come and help yourself, there's plenty moreupon the shelf .

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-H . G . Nelson photographer. Pacific County Historical Society

Bartender's Picnic, August 11, 1907, Tokeland, Washington

The Bartender's Picnic at Tokelandby Larry Weathers

The picture above was found in the photographic collection of the Pacific CountyHistorical Society Museum. None of the celebrants is identified, and there is no informationattached to the photo, except the caption . A little digging in the pages of the South BendWillapa Harbor Pilot (1907), which is also kept in the Museum, produced some details,but no picture and no identifications .

The Pacific County Bartender's Union held their first annual picnic at Tokeland onAugust 11, 1907 . The event was held on a Sunday when saloons were closed by state law .The boats Shamrock and Reliable transported the bartenders to and from the picnic site .The weather was pleasant and everyone reportedly enjoyed the day-long barbecue . Amongthe activities that day was a baseball game between teams from Raymond and South Bend .The South Bend team won 6 to 3 . The story did not mention booze, or any other liquidrefreshment for that matter, but the Museum picture indicates that beer was obviouslyavailable. The Pilot referred to the bartenders as "Knights of the White Apron ."

National Prohibition (1920-33) was more than a decade away, but it is perhaps in-dicative of the side-choosing nature of this heated debate, even in 1907, that thebartender's picnic was buried on page 7 . An earlier story about the 6th Annual meeting ofthe Pacific County Women's Christian Temperance Union at the South Bend MethodistEpiscopal Church, had appeared on the front page, April 23, 1907 . It was two columnswide, ran the full length of the page, and named every good lady in town who had par-ticipated . Weekly W.C .T.U . news reports were already being published on the insidepages. C.A. and Val Heath, editor and publisher, were decidedly "dry ."

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