This post is a long time coming. I started writing in July, and the summer is now way more than half past. Fire season has been here for a while, but days in our town and valley have been unusually clear and pleasant. Our hearts are with the community of Stehekin and the firefighters battling the Pioneer Fire as well as the many others affected by this summer's fires. May they be safe and the efforts of the firefighters successful. Our hearts are also with those in places where war persists, and hardships beyond fathoming exist. The volatile and exciting history of our generation is being documented and, at times, misrepresented. I am fascinated by the methods of recording and presenting life, and the ways in which these are evolving.
Our core group met just last week to elect officers and discuss our current and upcoming projects. My role as chairperson is now official, and I am honored and promise to do my very best to continue the goals set years ago by those who established and continue to support the Entiat Community Historical Society. I know there are many. Their vision to preserve and share local history is evident in the rich collection of photos, documents and stories contained in the notebooks on our shelves and in the remembrances of those that have lived in this valley for all or much of their lives. That is where the real treasure lies.
Amongst the papers I am currently reading is this interesting account about the house that is now our museum. It is excerpted here:
"The old house ... has an interesting background. It was built by the Entiat Improvement Company in 1895, and was part of a hay and cattle ranch along the Columbia River north of Entiat. The ranch included a large part of what is now the present site of the town and surrounding orchards.
The ranch used to be the ranch headquarters and changed hands many times over the years. ... Jess D. Bonar, nephew of the second settler on the Entiat, James C. Bonar, was the first ranch manager and occupant of the house. What follows are a few excerpts from the notes of Gertrude Bonar, Jess's daughter, who recorded the stories of her father while he was in his later years.
Coming back to Entiat from the wheat harvest in '94 , I found a company had been formed called the Entiat Improvement Co. ... They had started to build an irrigation ditch to put water on the tract of land they had purchased north of Entiat along the Columbia River. The ditch was to be about six miles long - requiring 500,000 board feet of lumber. ... With J.W. Bonar and Ansel Howe, I took a contract for putting logs in the Entiat River for Grey and Son. During the winter months the snowfall became too heavy for logging. We moved our horses down to the mouth of the river where feed could be had as hauling logs would not be possible till spring.
I sold my interest in logging ... and got married on Jan. 20, 1895, to Minnie Grey, daughter of George Grey. The following spring I went to work for the Improvement Company... clearing up their land and getting water on it. They had about 600 acres north of Entiat. The first modern house on the company land was built that spring of 95 and my wife and I moved in.
Cultivating land, building ditches and seeding alfalfa was the work of the next two years... laying foundations for a stock ranch. Buying, feeding and selling cattle and raising hay was successfully carried on for the next ten years.
As many as 8 and 9 hundred head of cattle were roaming the hills at one time. They pastured as far back as the headwaters of Muddy and Potatoe Creeks '
This is part of the story as told by Bonar of the early days. Gertrude Bonar was born in the house built in 1895. ... Our thanks to Art Johnson for this story.
from January 1990 , Entiat Valley Times
During the coming fall season, we will be working to make the "Mercantile Building' ready to open to the public by summer 2025. Organizing and cleaning the garage will be necessary, and we are looking forward to sprucing up the museum, our website, our information and brochures. We will be planning a spring get together for all of our wonderful friends and supporters.
We are so thankful for the dedication of those of you who donate to the E.C.H.S , for our volunteers and for all of you who help to make our museum and the history of Entiat an experience to enjoy and remember. We have just a few more Saturdays before our last open day of the season on Saturday, August 31. Please feel welcome to share all or part of your day with us this weekend! We'll be open 10:00 - 3:00 this Saturday
Our current officers are
Chairperson : Esther Dalgas - dalgas@nwi.net
Vice Chair : Kathy Jo Porter
Treasurer : Angela Grille with ongoing support from Kami Fidler
Secretary : Judy Bell assisted by Denise Burkenpas
HIstorian : Phyllis Griffith
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