*** Washington’s State Song….. can you sing it?

This poem by Helen Davis, and musically arranged by Stuart Churchill, was adopted as the Official Song of Washington State on March 19, 1959. I’ll bet you’ve never heard it…….or even of it, right?  Here tiz:

This is my country; God gave it to me.

I shall protect it; Ever keep it free.

Small towns and cities; rest here in the sun.

Filled with our laughter; Thy will be done.

Washington, My Home; wherever I may roam

This is my land, my native land, Washington my home.

Our verdant forests green, caressed by silvery stream

From mountain peak to fields of what

Washington, My Home. 

There’s peace you feel and understand

In this our own beloved land

We greet the day with head held high

And forward ever is our cry

We’ll happy ever be; as people always free

For you and me—-a destiny; Washington My Home.

Sorry, but sounds kinda corny to me. What do you think???

Ever been to the Eastern Washington Agricultural Museum in Pomeroy, Garfield County, Washington? Might be worth the effort!

My newspaper here in Spokane, The Spokesman Review, recently had a nice spotlight on this museum. Now to learn more about the museum and it’s focus and collections, click to www.co.garfield.wa.us/museum/home

What I wanted to share with you today were some thoughts from Jay Franks, a board member of the museum. He was saying that he “hopes the museum will help preserve the mostly oral history of what life was life on the region’s early wheat farms before that generation farms out.”

Franks continued, and this is my point: “Interest in the displays is greater among older people who remember using butter churns and sewing clothes by hand at home. As the generations thins out, the people go through faster.” 

Now isn’t this sadly the truth? The older ones remember using “that.” The middle-younger ones remember Grandma using “that.” The youngest ones ask “what is that?”

Learning history takes time whether it be reading or visiting a museum.

Surnames; we all chase family surnames, right? And many of our lineage-surnames go back into Merry Old England, right?

“Surnames were brought into England by the Normans. About the year of our Lord 1000 surnames began to be taken up in France…but not in England until about the time of the Conquest under King Edward the Confessor (ruled 1042-1066). Surnames were not settled among the common people until about the time of King Edward III (ruled 1327-1377). It is now settled that all surnames fall into one of four classes: (1) patronymics, (2) place names, (3) occupations, and (4) nicknames. In summary, it was towards the end of the 13th century in England when surnames were generally adopted. Do keep that in mind with your early-early English genealogy.

(Sons of the Conqueror: Descendants of Norman Ancestry,”  by L.G. Pine, 1973.)

Do we have tornadoes in Washington? And why so many in the U.S.??

Yes, we (unfortunately) do experience tornadoes in Washington….. KOMO news in Seattle caught the one on the right; one on left is from WSU in Pullman.

The Ask Marilyn column in Sunday’s Parade Magazine posed this question: Do we really have more tornadoes in the U.S. than around the world? The answer is YES. “The U.S. experiences an average of 1000 tornadoes yearly while Canada, which ranks second, gets only about 100. The rest of the world gets a total of about 200.” 

Why is that because? (The phrase I repeated endlessly as a 3-yr-old.) Marilyn didn’t say; do you know why? And do you think our ancestors would have so happily settled in the American Midwest if they really knew about tornadoes???

Know where a statue of the world’s largest egg can be found? Right in our own backyard, in Winlock, Washington (Lewis County). The 12-foot tall, 1200-pound concrete sculpture is not to be missed if you love eggs and enjoy visiting funky sights and places. In June, Winlock holds their annual Winlock Egg Days Festival….. perhaps a good time to go??

John Fiske came to the Pacific Northwest in 1892 as an invited speaker (forgot to note where) and was quoted as saying, “One thing about the Pacific coast condemns it fatally for me….. the beer is poor.”  Poor soul.

Did your Washington ancestors perchance live in Ruby? Conconully? Loomis? These were mining towns in Okanogan County in the 1886-1920 era. It’s not enough to know where your ancestors settled but why they settled where they did.

Researching in Illinois or Missouri? The St.Louis Public Library has a dandy genealogy collection and a great website for help. Click to www.slpl.org and then “genealogy.”

Are you a birdwatcher? How about a bluebird watcher? You’re in luck for Bickleton, Washington, is said to be the Bluebird Capitol of the world. Back in the 1960s, Jess and Elva Brinkerhoff started putting up bluebird houses in and around their little town and now Bickleton is “the place” to go to see more bluebird than you can count! Google it for more information.

Have a great trivia tidbit for you today! It comes from a book published in 1978 by the Franklin County Historical Society titled Railroads, Reclamation & The River, A History of Pasco, by Walter A. Oberst.

In this book, Oberst explains how the town got its name. On page 6 of his book, he quotes from an article in the Pasco Express, a Pasco weekly newspaper, on July 31, 1914:  Man Who Named Pasco Visits City.

“V.C. Bogue, now an eminent engineer of New York City, renews acquaintances in Pasco on Monday. This was his fist visit in nearly thirty years. Mr. Bogue, as an engineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad, located the route of the N.P. through Stampede Pass in the Cascade Mountains, and he also located and named Pasco.

“Just how he came to choose the name was news to this reporter …… just prior to his engagement with the N.P., Bogue had successfully constructed a line of railway across the Andes Mountains in South America. The highest point on the railway was a mining town named Cerro de Pasco. It was distinguished as a windy, dusty place, and so on the first day he spent in our city, and meeting with a good old-fashioned dust storm, he was reminded of this place in the Andes and tagged the new townsite “Pasco.'”

P.S. This town still exists! This from Wikipedia: Cerro de Pasco is a city in central Peru, located at the top of the Andean mountains. It is the capital of the Pasco region, and an important mining center.

Apparently Washington State has a designated, official, item for more things than you or I would ever guess. Our trivia for the day is this list:

State Bird —  American Goldfinch

State Dance  —  Square Dance

State Fish  —  Steelhead Trout

State Flower  —  Coast Rhododendron

State Folk Song  —  Roll On, Columbia, Roll On

State Fossil  —  Columbian Mammoth

State Fruit  —  Apple

State Gem  —  Petrified Wood

State Grass  —  Blue Bunch Wheatgrass

State Insect  —  Green Damer Dragonfly

State Marine Mammal  —  Orca

State Ship  —  Lady Washington

State Song  —  Washington, My Home

State Tree  —  Western Hemlock

State Vegetable  —  Walla Walla Sweet Onion

How many of these would you have known, had I not included the answers? Do you know of any others???

Could you identify the oldest apple tree in Washington? It’s in Vancouver, near the waterfront and happily tended and protected by a fence. They say it was planted in 1826…..when I was there I could see sprouts coming up from the roots? Way cool to see that venerable apple tree.

On the topic of apples, fellow named Dave Benscotter has become a self-proclaimed “apple detective” in Eastern Washington, mainly in and around Steptoe Butte (north of Pullman). In his research he found that there were 17,000 named varieties of apples in the past in North America, but “only around 3000 still exist today.” He’s hoping to identify some of these long lost apple varieties from sleuthing around the old orchards planted around Steptoe Butte and in Whitman County. He’s working with the Whitman County Historical Society on the “Lost Apple Project” to search, find, rescue and identify “apple varieties that have become extinct.” Or thought to be so. Google that project for an interesting read.

You remember how taken I am with smaller museums and historical societies. In fact, I’ve asked that you share a list with me of those that are in your area.  Here are some from near Grand Coulee Dam (for your summer vacation??):

WILBUR……. Big Bend Hx Soc Museum in Wilbur; most popular is the photo room which features a wide assortment of photos of the early town, its neighbors and its pioneer families. Museum vault contains copies of all the old Wilbur Registers dating back to 1889 (available on microfilm). Museum open Saturdays, June through August, 2:00-4:00, or by appointment.

DAVENPORT…. Lincoln Co Museum & Davenport Hx Soc; open 1 May to 30 Sep, 9:00-5:00, Mon through Sat, or by appointment. Website:  www.davenportwa.org

COULEE DAM…. Colville Tribal Museum, Founded in 1987, the CTM “provides a valuable link to the rich heritage of the peoples who make up the Colville Confederated Tribes:  the Lakes, Okanogan, Entiat, Chelan, Methow, Moses Columbia, Newpelem, Palouse, San Poil, Nez Perce, Colville and Wenatchi bands.” Open 7 days a week, 8:30-5:00; located in city of Coulee Dam. Website:  www.ctmuseum@couleedam.net

Somebody’s ancestors settled these places….were they yours????

*** Banks Lake is 30 miles long by about one mile wide, nearly 25,000 acres of water. Arranged in a north-to-south line across the Columbia River along Banks Lake are the towns of: Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee, Electric City, and at the far south end, Coulee City.