The Day "Washington, My Home" Became the State Song
March 17, 1959
SINCE 1966
ou We tee *
A Quarterly Publication of the Pacific County Historical Society, inc .
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P UB . N O . ISSN-0038-4984
EDITOR
Larry Weathers
Staff
Karen Johnson and Luvirla Evavold - Subscriptions
Joan Mann - Editorial Assistant
Printed by Pacific Printing, Ilwaco, Washington
Our Cover
"Washington, My Home" became the official state song on March 17, 1959,
when Governor Albert D . Rosellini signed Senate Bill 151 in the presence of Mrs .
Helen Davis of South Bend, author and composer, and several sponsors . Our cover
photo this quarter shows the following persons witnessing the governor's signature :
(standing left to right) state senators Harry Elway and Robert Bailey ; Mrs . Frederick
B . Cohen of Bremerton, past president of the Washington State Federation of Music
Clubs ; state senator Dale Nordquist ; state representative Joe Chytil ; Mrs . Davis, and
state representative Chet King . Albert D . Rosellini (Governor 1957-64) is shown
preparing to sign the bill .
The photo was taken by Elton Troth, an Aberdeen Daily World staff
photographer . It is used courtesy of Mrs . Helen Davis .
Table of Contents
TITLE
PAGE
Our Cover
"Washington, My Home" : An Introduction
"Wet Me Down In Washington" - words by Helen Davis
The Legislature Approves a State Song - Robert C . Bailey
"Washington, My Home" - words by Helen Davis
Hyas Ancutty : A Legend of Willapa Harbor - Dan McNeil
Christmas Program at Frances 1907 - from The Willapa Harbor Pilot An Ilwaco Boy's Experiences Picking Cranberries -Matt Wm . Bill Koski
Does Anyone Know What Time It Is? - editor
62
62
63
67
68
70
72
76
77
80
"Washington, My Home"
An Introduction
Editor's Note : Portions of this introduction are taken from an interview I had with Helen Davis at her
home on October 25, 1984 . Incidental information was taken from newspaper articles in the Seattle
Times and Post-Intelligencer, Aberdeen Daily World, South Bend journal, and Raymond Herald and
Advertiser .
When "Washington, My Home", by Helen Davis of South Bend, was first proposed as the state's official song in the late 1950's, a few big city long-hairs were
heard to remark "it has the wrong address and was written by a woman" . What
they meant, of course, was the song could be ignored because the composer was
from a small town and wasn't of the male gender . Evidently they felt a male conductor or arts committee could do better . What they overlooked was the fact that
"Washington, My Home" is a song with dignity . One which only a woman with
small town roots could have written .
Helen's small town roots are firmly planted in rich American turf . They are
fixed in the buckeye soil of the midwest and reach out for the nourishing moisture
of the northwest . They are not necessarily unique roots but the talent they have
fostered in her is .
Helen Davis was born Helen Nancy Matson in Zanesville, Ohio, November
1905 . Her parents, Austin and Georgia Matson, were both descendants of pioneering Ohio families and had lived in Zanesville all their lives . Helen did not live in her
hometown long enough to remember much about her family life there but she
does remember that there was always music in her home . She says her parents had
an abiding love for music and education and encouraged their children to excel in
both
Somewhere around 1908, Helen says her parents decided to pack up their
household goods and move west to Denver, Colorado . Shortly after arriving they
found a music teacher (who happened to be named Helen Nancy Matson) and
started Helen out with lessons at the age of four . The lessons continued until she
was eighteen .
Helen says her music lessons paid off immediately . It wasn't long before she
was composing little melodies which she often performed for family and friends .
The first one, she remembers with a smile, was titled "The Geranium Waltz" . The
first performance of it was an impromptu recital for a business associate of her
father . The lucky gentleman was waiting in the parlor for her dad to come home .
His long wait allowed her enough time to proudly play it more than once .
When Helen was a teenager, her parents moved her and her brother Jim to the
Okanogan country of Washington . She recalls her years in the north central part of
the state with fondness but says her mother always referred to them as the years
Helen was "just riding horses all day over near Tunk Creek and Riverside" . As soon
as she was old enough she was enrolled in college at Bellingham Normal School as
a music major . Although she did not graduate from college, due to a shortage of
funds, she did complete more than a year and a half of her studies .
Helen met and eventually married Chauncey Davis, a native of Mt . Vernon,
Washington, while attending college . Chauncey was an elementary school teacher
63
at Riverside, a town between Tonasket and Omak in Okanogan County . After their
marriage Chauncey took a teaching job in Pierce County .
In the late 1920's Chauncey accepted a job in Pacific County as superintendent
of the grade school in the town of Long Beach . Helen suspects that one of the
reasons he took the job was because he loved to hunt and fish . Pacific County was
one of the best places in the state for that sort of recreation .
Throughout these years Helen says she was busy raising a family and being a
housewife . However, she did not neglect her music . Whenever possible she performed solo for civic groups or helped her husband organize school musical performances . She also played the piano at the local Methodist churches .
While living in Long Beach Helen became friends with two talented local artists : Dr . Winford G . Sargent and Mrs . Verna Jacobson . Dr . Sargent was a physician
in Long Beach and Mrs . Jacobson operated the Jacobson store in Long Beach with
her husband . Both were also accomplished vocalists who often needed an accompanist . Eventually, Helen and Verna formed a musical partnership which
developed into a friendship that continues to the present day .
On November 6, 1934, Helen's husband Chauncey was elected County
Superintendent of Schools . Since the job required Chauncey's presence at the
courthouse the family moved the fifty miles north to South Bend . It was the last
move Helen has ever had to make .
The move to South Bend did not change Helen's life much in the early years .
She remained busy caring for a family with two boys and keeping house . Even after
Chauncey resigned his job with the county in 1938 to accept the position of
Superintendent of the South Bend school district, and she started teaching music
classes for district students, her job as a housewife continued to be the focal point
of her life . Her partnership with Verna also continued when Verna was elected
County Clerk in 1938 and moved to South Bend . (In 1944 Verna was elected County Auditor and served until her retirement in 1974 .)
Helen's life did change, however, in the 1940's when a local outbreak of tuberculosis got her involved in the national campaign to eradicate it . It was the first time
Helen actually worked at a job outside her home .
In the beginning, Helen and Verna concentrated on performing in county
communities to promote the sale of TB stamps . Sale of the stamps helped to provide rent money and salaries for a reactivated health office in South Bend's Lumber
Exchange Building . The stamps also generated enough money to purchase the
county's first X-ray machine which Helen operated .
When the health office moved to the basement of the County Courthouse and
became the County Health Department, Helen slowly removed herself from the
daily operations . She continued to plan and present musical programs for patients
at the Chehalis Tubercular Sanitarium but left the daily details at the office to the
doctors and nurses . She did so in the knowledge that the incidence of TB in Pacific
County was on the decline and a new program of prevention and early detection
was having a positive effect on the health of her neighbors .
As Helen's involvement in the TB campaign decreased her interest in other
community projects increased . Two endeavors which gave her immense satisfaction were her contributions to the South Bend Beautification Committee and her
work with teenagers . Her civic work eventually netted her recognition by Willapa
64
-photo courtesy of Helen Davis .
Helen's "Logger's Daughters" about 1949.
Top row, left to right : Billie Jo Fykerud (Peterson), Patricia Rogers, Shiela Lavender (Fisher) .
Kneeling, left to right : Lorna Triplet (Wright),
Ann Pulyan, Betty to Davis (Wicklund) .
Harbor clubs and organizations in 1949 as "Woman of the Year" . Presentation of
the award was made by Beta Beta Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi sorority, sponsors of
the award .
Helen is proud of all the teenagers she worked with in the 1940's and 50's, and
still recalls all of their names, but one group of six South Bend girls still remains her
favorite . She named the group the "Logger's Daughters" and travelled with them
throughout the county and state performing musical numbers that she wrote and
staged . "They were smart and they were good," Helen says of the girls, and she enjoyed every day she worked with them .
Staging and composing songs for the "Logger's Daughters" performances was
pleasant work for Helen and made her eager for similar musical projects . The appropriate challenge came her way in 1949 when she was enlisted to write the music
for an operetta about the early years of Washington's logging industry . Several
rewrites later the operetta became a musical called "Eliza and the Lumberjack" .
The story for Helen's musical was adapted from Seattle author Patricia Campbell's book "Eliza" . Helen wrote and composed all of the songs and Dr . Leroy
Ostransky, composer-in-residence at Tacoma's University of Puget Sound, did the
orchestration .
"Eliza and the Lumberjack" has been produced in dozens of northwest communities during the past 35 years . It never fails to delight audiences and is often
referred to as the Northwest musical equivalent of "Oklahoma" .
One of the most important productions of "Eliza" took place in 1953 when it
was chosen as the centennial play for the state celebration of Washington's creation as a territory in 1853 . It was staged at the Olympic Theatre in Olympia on May
10, 1953, under the direction of Fr . William Dickerson, artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, St . Martin's College . Helen credits Fr . Dickerson with making valuable
contributions to the final script and says he is responsible for her decision to share
the rights to the musical with St . Martin's College .
"Eliza" is not the only musical production Helen has written and composed .
She has also produced a pageant celebrating Pacific County's first 100 years as a
county . The pageant was staged at the dedication and opening of Fort Columbia
Historical State Park on June 17, 1951, and the Pacific County Historical Society
and Pioneer Association picnic at Bay Center on August 12, 1951 . More than 100
65
photo ,ot the Willapa Harbor Herald.
Helen Davis Day, September 1,
1984 . March 17, 1984 was the 25th
Anniversary of the adoption of
"Washington, My Home" as the official state song . Governor John
Spellman issued a proclamation on
September 1st honoring composer
Helen Davis . The proclamation was
presented to Helen at the South
Bend Community Building . Left to
right : Helen Davis, Dori Halldorson
(who presented the Governor's proclamation), and Richard Murakami .
talented individuals from all parts of the county participated in the production . She
says it was one of those wonderful events, seldom seen these days, when the whole
county worked together . The pageant was a singing, dancing history illustrating
and extolling our county's cultural heritage .
While preparing the Pacific County Centennial Helen searched for a song to be
the show's centerpiece . She says she wanted one that would stir the crowd with
pride and be remembered beyond the celebration . Someone suggested
"Washington Beloved" (a 1909 anthem written by Edmond S . Meany and Reginald
De Koven) but Helen decided it wasn't what she wanted . Eventually she chose a
song she had composed years earlier called "America, My Home ." The combination of music and lyrics brought tears to many eyes and was hailed in newspaper
reviews from Seattle to Portland .
Shortly after the centennial programs of 1951, Helen decided to change the title of her composition to "Washington, My Home" . The simple change of title
made the song even more appealing and it wasn't long before civic clubs were
opening their meetings with it . In 1956 the Washington State Federation of Music
Clubs adopted it as its official song and promoted it around the state . Popular acceptance of the song as the state anthem ultimately led state politicians to make it
the official state song in March 1959 .
Helen's life has been a whirlwind of activity since the adoption of her song by
the state in 1959 . During the past twenty-five years her family continued to be the
focal point of her life, but her business ventures, community work and musical
career also demanded her attention as well . Fame and fortune did not accidentally
smile on Helen, she had to work hard for them .
The memory of that attempted slur by big city long-hairs in the late 1950's only
makes Helen chuckle now . Whereas the critics are long retired from positions of
power and long forgotten, Helen is still a community leader in South Bend and her
song is heard across the state . She is too gracious to admit it but she has definitely
been given the last laugh .
66
" Wet Me Down In Washington"
By Helen Davis
Editor's Note: If it were possible to total the lyrics of Helen Davis' songs they would amount to a
musical score glorifying the American way of life, especially life as it is found in the northwest .
Helen has written hundreds of songs in a variety of styles during her lifetime . The ones she wrote
for "Eliza and the Lumberjack" are pure Americana . The romantic ballads evoke images of Pacific
sunsets, giant cedars, lovers kissing in the moonlight, warm Chinook winds rustling evergreens,
never-ending rainbows, flower covered pastures, Indian maidens lamenting lost loves, westering
pioneers cutting a path through the forest, and the soft pitter-patter of rain upon a windowsill .
Others, like "Wet Me Down in Washington", echo the sounds of good old-fashioned hand-clapping
fun :
I've lived in Alabamy
I've roamed the Texas plain
I've felt the mist of Oregon
And never felt the same .
I've seen the corn a-poppin'
I've tasted sugar cane
But take me back to my land
Of drizzle, drip and rain .
Won't cuss the old boss logger
For all this sweat and pain .
Just sprinkle me with whiskey,
Our drizzle, drip and rain .
Wet me down, wet me down,
Wet me down in Washington .
Give me Northwest dew and drizzle,
Fog so thick you need a chisle,
Wet me down in Washington .
Wet me down, wet me down,
Wet me down in Washington .
Give me Northwest dew and drizzle,
Fog so thick you need a chisle,
Wet me down in Washington .
I'll shoulder up my pee-vee,
I'll pull that log alone .
I'll send her down the old skid road,
Just leave the bulls at home .
I'll roll 'er in the river,
No tug, no grunt, no strain .
So kindly pass the bottle,
Our drizzle, drip and rain .
I'd top your tallest fir tree,
My hands behind my back .
I'd twist her off between my teeth,
And spit the splinters back .
I'll jump right off that tree top
Just like hell raising cain,
So soak my snooz in corn juice,
And drizzle, drip and rain .
Wet me down, wet me down,
Wet me down in Washington .
Give me Northwest dew and drizzle,
Fog so thick you need a chisle,
Wet me down in Washington .
Wet me down, wet me down,
Wet me down in Washington .
Give me Northwest dew and drizzle,
Fog so thick you need a chisle,
Wet me down in Washington .
Drizzle, drizzle, drizzle, drizzle,
Drizzle, drizzle, drizzle, drizzle,
Drip, drip, drip, drip,
Drip, drip,
Drip,
Drip,
And rain . Wet me down .
I'll limb you widow maker,
I'll kick off every knot,
I'll do it with my two bare feet
From butt end to the top .
67
The Legislature Approves a State Song
by Robert C. Bailey
Editor's Note : Robert C . Bailey is a well-known native of Pacific County . He was born in Raymond,
lived in South Bend much of his adult life and now resides in Olympia with his wife Lee .
Robert graduated with the South Bend class of 1935 . While in high school he was an apprentice
at the South Bend Journal where he worked with his father Arthur Bailey for Ezra T . Hazeltine, editor
and publisher. After graduation he continued working as a newspaper reporter until he went into the
service in World War II .
Following the war years Robert returned to Pacific County and entered a career of public service
which spanned more than three decades . Between 1946 and 1982 he was elected Pacific County Clerk
(1946-50), state representative (1950-56) and state senator (1956-77) for the 19th legislative district,
and was appointed chairman of the State Utilities and Transportation Commission (1977-1982) by
Governor Ray . He retired as a member of the commission in December 1982 .
Throughout the past three decades Robert has also had a life in the private sector as husband,
father and wage earner . From 1948 to 1952 he was editor and publisher of the Raymond Advertiser
with his father; 1953 to 1966 he was a reporter for the Aberdeen Daily World; 1966 to 1974 he was
Western Administrative Assistant to Congresswoman Julia Butler Hansen, and 1975 to 1977 he was
manager of the Port of Willapa Harbor .
The following story is Robert's first-hand account of the legislative action on the adoption of our
state song .
Helen Davis' song, "Washington, My Home," started out in the 1950's with a
slow, steady buildup and acceptance . Time and time again it was on the programs
of local, regional and statewide women's clubs, usually with Verna Jacobson as
vocalist, accompanied by Helen, on the piano .
Ultimately, it was adopted by the Washington State Federation of Music Clubs
and received much wider recognition .
State Representative Joe Chytil (R-Chehalis), owner of the radio station KELA
(Centralia-Chehalis) and former owner of Raymond's KAPA, opened and closed
each day with a playing of "Washington, My Home ." This was well received and a
few other stations followed suit, although not as faithfully .
Sometime about 1958, spearheaded by Rep . Chytil and Mrs . Davis, a move was
started to make the song the official state song . This gained support of many
southwestern Washington groups, as well as other organizations of state club
women .
Prior to the session of 1959, Rep . Chytil came to me and asked that I sponsor
and get the bill through the Senate first . He figured that being a minority
Republican in the house it would be difficult to get the bill going. I agreed and
became prime sponsor of the bill (Senate Bill 151), with Sen . Harry Elway (R-Grays
Harbor) and Sen . Dale Nordquist (R-Lewis) as co-sponsors .
I remember that Ezra Hazeltine, publisher of the South Bend journal,
humorously told Helen and myself that the bill, when introduced, would likely be
referred to the committee on "Dikes, Drains and Ditches," and never heard of
again! It thus became my job to get the bill a "decent" committee and I had no
trouble getting it referred to the Committee on State Government . It was reported
out of the committee with a recommendation of "do pass" by a vote of 7 to 0 .
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Anyone following legislative bills dealing with designation of an official state
flag, state bird, state dance, etc ., knows that it provides the vehicle for a field day of
irreverent frivolity . Amendments on the floor usually suggest the dodo or the gooey
duck as state bird, and on and on ad infinitum . These bills usually go back to committee and are never heard from again . I was really fearful what might happen on
the Senate floor to Senate Bill 151 .
Testimony of witnesses for or against bills is heard in committee only . Once a
bill leaves committee it goes to the senate or house floor where only members
engage in the discussion . One of our parliamentary experts advised me of a way to
change this .
We arranged for the committee report to be read in on Monday, February 23,
1959, at a Washington's birthday observance . When the senate convened, one
senator quickly moved to advance to an order of business to read in committee
reports . This was done and Senate Bill 151 was before the senate . Usually this
would mean that the bill would go to rules committee for scheduling, but another
senator quickly rose and moved that "the senate resolve itself into a committee of
the whole for the purpose of receiving further testimony on Senate Bill 151" .
Quite "accidentally", of course, a piano was available and wheeled in from the
wings . With every member of the senate present and with galleries packed for the
Washington birthday program, the Rev . Don Raisner, South Bend Baptist minister,
and Mrs . Lila Thomas, Olympia, with Helen Davis at the piano, presented a rendition of "Washington, My Home" .
The presentation was terrific and it brought down the house, members and
public alike . Rules were quickly suspended and the bill passed the senate
unanimously, 49-0, without any amendments!
It was interesting to note the skepticism and doubts of most of my colleagues as
to 'why waste our time on this?" and "what are we doing?" as expressed prior to
the presentation . They were greatly impressed and it was with much enthusiasm
and without opposition that the bill floated out of the senate .
The momentum gained in the senate was sufficient to give the bill a big boost in
the house where it was herded by Rep . Chytil and Rep . Chet King (D-Raymond) . It
passed there on March 8 by an 81-5 vote and was signed by Governor Rosellini .
During the course of hearings on the bill, Sen . Gissberg stated that he felt the
state should own its own song and not be in a position of making a profit for individuals . Both Mr . and Mrs . Davis happily agreed and signed over all rights to the
state, where it was to be administered by the Department of Commerce and
Economic Development .
One thousand dollars was placed in a state song fund and it was contemplated
that the Department of Commerce would make copies of the words and music
available to schools, bands and others, for a fee . It was never the thought that the
fund would make a lot of money . It was merely intended as a means of generating
enough money to keep copies available . Unfortunately, such was not the case . The
fund remained on the books but the department failed to do much of anything in
the line of promotion .
Today, the sheet music and words of "Washington, My Home" are being
printed and distributed by Capitol Music Co ., of Seattle . They publish it by permission from the State of Washington . Proceeds from the sale go into the state general
69
fund as specified in a legislative act of 1973 . Copies are sold throughout the state
and at our County Museum bookstore in South Bend .
"Washington, My Home" deserves much better publicity than the state has
given it over the years . I sometimes think it would have been better promoted if it
had not fallen into the hands of an uncaring bureaucracy .
"Washington, My Home"
Words and music by Helen Davis
Editor's Note : Passage of Senate Bill 151 in March 1959 officially sanctioned "Washington, My
Home" as the state song . Helen Davis, composer, assigned the copyright to the State of Washington .
Special arrangements of the song, for voice, piano, chorus, orchestra and band were written by Stuart
Churchill, nationally known musician and former member of Fred Waring's orchestra .
Verse :
Refrain :
This is my country .
God gave it to me ;
I will protect it,
Ever keep it free .
Washington my home ;
Wherever I may roam ;
This is my land, my native land,
Washington, my home .
Small towns and cities
Rest here in the sun,
Our verdant forest green,
Caressed by silvery stream .
From mountain peak to fields of wheat,
Washington, my home .
Filled with our laughter .
Thy will be done .
There's peace you feel and understand,
In this, our 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 .
70
d and music by:
Helen Davis
Arrangement :
Stuart Churchill
Ave., Seattle, WA q
-Pacific County Historical Society collection .
Cover page of the sheet music for "Washington, My Home" . The cover was designed by
Darwin Davis, Tourist Promotion Division staff artist, Department of Commerce in
1959 . The sheet music is sold throughout the state and at the Pacific County Museum
bookstore, South Bend .
71
Hyas Ancutty: A Legend of Willapa Harbor
by Dan McNeil
Editor's Note : The following story first appeared in the South Bend newspaper Willapa Harbor Pilot
on December 15, 1911 . Editor Edwin M . Connor reported that Dan McNeil was the author of "A
Woman and a Violin", "A White Lie" and other stories.
Descendants of the Cultee family still live on the coast of Washington .
Old Chief Cultee and I were "Kloshe Tillicums" (good friends), a friendship
born of the fact that in all of our dealings I had treated him in accordance with a
certain Golden Rule, instead of the Rule of Gold that is so generally practiced . Our
friendship was further cemented by my willingness to become a patient and interested listener when he wanted to tell of the by-gone glory of his tribe and family .
To the young men of the tribe, who were adopting the ways of the whites, the old
chief's long stories were all "cultus wawa" (no good talk), but to me they were
shadowy glimpses of the unwritten history of a once proud race that is now tottering into oblivion .
This is a story he told me one night as we sat on the afterdeck of my scowhouse . An inspiring night it was ; brilliantly moonlit ; just a wisp of west wind that
brought to our eyes a faint murmur of the breakers outside of the bar . The magnificent reach of the Harbor with its gleaming sand-spits and fringe of timbered hills lay
before us while the ebb-tide lisped a nocturne as the scow swung lazily to her anchors .
The spirit of the night was upon him as he told me the story of how the Indians
first came to Willapa harbor . The story had been handed down from father to son
for countless generations and Cultee's only idea of when the incidents happened
was "hy-e-e-as ancutty" (long, long ago) .
"Long, long ago - many times the years of an old man, and before there were
any white men on the world, on the great river that you call Columbia lived a tribe
of Indians ; on north bank of the great river they lived, one day's canoe journey
from the big salt water . All big strong men, like me, and women that were round
and smooth like the seal, and soft-eyed like the deer .
"Chinook was this tribe named, but they were not like the other Chinook Indians who loafed and waited around the salmon streams until they became small
and weak . This tribe ate the salmon, yes, but they were great hunters also and he
who could kill the elk or bear with a single arrow was honored by the tribe .
"The greatest of all these great men was their chief, A-akunie, for know you
that in that time a chief was he who was strongest and wisest . To this chief was born
a son and when he was yet a boy he was so quick and strong that the tribe said :
'Here is the son of a chief who will be a chief also when he is a man .' But when the
boy grew to be a young man he was not like the other young men of the tribe . He
did not join in their games but would rather sit by the great river and think, and
when the fairest maidens of the tribe passed by and smiled at him he still looked
out over the great river as a wise young man should .
"He was straight and tall, even as tall as his father, and he used a bow that no
other man in the tribe could bend . When the young men were running races he
72
4
could run to the end of the camp and wait there a long time before any of the
others came, but he would rather sit by the great river and think, so the old men of
the council were puzzled .
"When the old men were talking and saying wise things he would say
something that was wiser, and none of them knew how to answer the questions he
asked so after a while the old men did not like him because he made them seem
foolish .
"One day he made the medicine man mad at him and the medicine man called him 'cultee' ; that is the same as you say in jargon 'cultus' (no good) . When the
young man heard this he just laughed to the face of the medicine man and said :
'That is a good name, 'Cultee ;' when you call me 'Cultee' I know I am all right .'
That made the medicine man more mad and he told the old men that the young
man should be called 'Cultee' because he was no good . The young man just laughed at them also and said : 'I'll keep that name, I'm proud to be called 'Cultee' by
you .'
"His family knew that he was very wise and that some day he would show the
tribe that the old men were fools, so they laughed too and called him Cultee .
"When Cultee went hunting he always went alone, but the woods told him all
her secrets so he always brought game into camp . One time he went hunting and
did not come back for a long time ; twice had the moon grown big while he was
gone and his family mourned and thought he was dead . The old men of the tribe
were glad in their hearts that he was not there to make them seem foolish .
"One night when the old men were sitting around the fire, Cultee came into
the village and told of a new hunting ground that he had found while he was away .
He said he had traveled up the water that runs toward the sun until the water was
no more, then he crossed over the big hill and found water that ran away from the
sun and toward the setting sun ; this water he followed many days until he came to
a great water that reached as far as a man could see . He told of the salmon that
were so thick in the streams that some of them were crowded out on the shore and
of elk and deer that came up to smell of him to find out what he was . He told of
flocks of ducks and geese that were as many as the leaves of the trees and when the
water went down the shore was covered with small dark clams that were good to
eat .
"A wonderful story he told of the new hunting ground and the young men of
the tribe listened and were glad, but the old men said he was a liar . The medicine
man had told them that the end of the world was just over the big hill .
"Cultee only laughed at them and gathered a party of the strongest young men
to go with him to see the new hunting ground . The medicine man said they must
not go with Cultee but they must stay on the hunting ground where the Great Spirit
had put them . He said the Great Spirit would be mad at them if they went . But the
young men listened to Cultee and went with him . They were gone a long time ;
three moons had come and gone when one of the party came back . He was very
tired and hungry .
"He told the tribe that they had followed up the water that runs toward the sun
until the water was no more, then they had camped on the big hill . As they lay in
camp that night a great storm came up, a big cedar tree fell amongst them and killed Cultee . He was their chief on the trip so they buried him with the honors of a
73
chief . They made a canoe out of a piece of the cedar to hold him ; they wrapped
him in his deer skin robe and put his bow and arrows by his side ; then they put the
canoe into a spruce tree as high up as they could reach ; then they went on over the
hill to find the new hunting ground .
"They found water that run away from the sun but it run towards the rising sun,
instead of toward the setting sun, as Cultee had said . This water they followed
many days through a country of steep hills where there was no game, then they
turned back . One by one they had died on the way until only he was left to come
back and tell the tribe that Cultee was indeed a liar and that there was no hunting
ground over the big hill .
"Then there were long days and nights of wailing in the village as fathers and
mothers mourned for their sons . The medicine man said the Great Spirit had
punished the young men because they did not mind him . The family of Cultee was
disgraced, for know you that to be a liar was the greatest disgrace that could be put
on an Indian before the whites came and taught them that it is good to lie .
"The father of Cultee was no more a chief, for the tribe said : 'We will not have
a chief whose son was a liar, and who led the finest of our young men to their death
with his lies,' so old A-akunie hung his head in shame and no more was his voice
heard in the council .
"Cultee's mother would not believe that her son had lied because he had
always told her the truth so she taught his younger brothers, while they were yet
children, that Cultee was not a liar . She told them that they must keep his name
and when they were men they must go and find the hunting ground and take the
shame off the family .
"The younger ones grew up but they did not go to find the hunting ground .
They told the story to their children and to their children's children and many,
many years went by and many families of children heard the story told by their
grandfathers but none went to find the hunting ground so the family was still
disgraced in the eyes of the tribe .
"But the time came when some of the young men of the family talked among
themselves and said : 'We will go and find this hunting ground, that the man whose
name we bear told about and we will show the tribe that we are not a family of
liars .' So they started out when no one saw them and followed up the water that
runs toward the sun . They camped one night on the top of the big flat hill and made
their camp under a great spruce tree .
"As they sat by the camp fire they heard a noise in the tree above them and
down through the branches fell a cedar canoe . Though it fell from a great height, it
came to the ground as softly as a feather, and up out of it rose a tall young man . He
threw off his deer skin robe and said to them :
" 'Who are you and where do you go?'
"One of the young men answered . 'We are named Cultee and are of the
Chinook tribe ; we go to find a hunting ground that was seen long ago by the man
whose name we bear .'
" 'Then you are my brothers - I am Cultee . I am glad you have come,
brothers, long have I waited for you . More times than a man can count have the
birds built their nests in that tree while I waited ; many times has the sun came back
to melt the snow in my canoe while I waited - the tree that held me was only as
74
high as a man could reach when I was put there, and now it is as high as an arrow
can fly, but still I waited for you . My spirit could not rest in the Happy Hunting
Ground while my family was shamed by the tribe, and I knew that some time there
would be some among you who would have enough pride in your family to come
and prove to the tribe that Cultee was not a liar . I am glad you have come brothers,
and I am glad you have kept my name . Tomorrow I will lead you to the hunting
ground I found so long ago . The young men who came with me before got lost and
followed the wrong water, but I will show you the right way ; my spirit has been
over the trail many times while I waited for you .'
"The next day they started on and Cultee led them over the hill and down the
water that runs toward the setting sun ; this water they followed until they came to
the great water he had told about . They stayed but a few days to see the place for
they were in a hurry to get back to the village and take the shame off their family .
They made baskets of cedar bark and filled them with oysters to show the tribe that
they had found the new hunting ground and when they left the water up near the
big hill Cultee told them to break the branches of the small trees to mark the trail .
"When they reached the big spruce tree where Cultee's canoe was, he said to
them : 'Brothers, I must leave you now ; my spirit can rest in peace in the Happy
Hunting Ground, now that we have taken the disgrace off our family . Go back to
the tribe and show them that I was not a liar and always be proud that you are named Cultee . I have spoken - Farewell .' He wrapped himself in his deer skin robe
and lay down in the canoe and in an instant the canoe and man became as dust, so
fine that the sharpest eyed among them could not see a bit of it in the grass .
"The young men went back to the village and told their story and showed the
oysters and there was great rejoicing among the family of Cultee that they were no
more disgraced . Then they invited the best and strongest of the tribe to come and
live in the new hunting ground that Cultee had found . The medicine man said they
must not go, so the tribe was divided, but the wisest and best of the tribe followed
the Cultee family .
"They traveled up the water that you call Gray's River and crossed over the big
flat hill, then they came down the water that you call Nasel . Many days they were
on the journey for they had their families and the trail was long and hard, but finally
they came to the great water that Cultee had found and everything was as he had
said . Then they knew that Cultees were not liars . That is how the Indians first came
to Willapa Harbor ."
The old chief paused in his
story, and rising, with a sweep of
arm that took in all of the Harbor, said : "Cultees have always
been chiefs on Willapa
Harbor
and Me
I'm proud
I'm CULTEE .
-
Pacific County Historical Society collection .
Willapa Bay from Camp Morehead,
Nahcotta, about 1930 .
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Christmas Program at Frances 1907
from The Willapa Harbor Pilot
Editor's Note : The following Christmas program was presented at the Frances public school in 1907 .
It is taken from an article in the December 20, 1907 issue of the Willapa Harbor Pilot.
Frances School District No . 14 was organized in 1897 . In 1946 it was consolidated with Lebam
School District No. 46 to become District No . 140 .
The following is the Christmas program of the Frances Public Schools :
Address of Welcome, Mary Boyd .
Recitation : The Bad Little Boys, Frances Raviage .
Song : The Star of the East, Doris Habersetzer and Agnes Calouri .
Recitation : A Present for Mama, Rosa Breen .
Recitation : A Wish that Jeffy Wished, Eva Nicholson .
Recitation : Harry's Lecture, Harry Sweeny .
Recitation : Christmas Eve, Eva Nicholson .
Song : Beautiful Gates of Gold, Susie Campbell .
Christmas Exercise : Louise Calouri, Eddie Shore, Harry Gibson, Ida
Raviage .
Recitation : Baby's Stocking, Helen Calouri .
Recitation : A Real Santa, Bennie Strozyk .
Recitation : A Present for Santa, Mildred Lemons .
Recitation : A Christmas Carol, Edna Gibson .
Duet : The Yellow Rose of Texas, Noel and Daniel Campbell .
Recitation : Santa Claus, Willie Breen .
Song : Buttercup Meadows, primary class .
Recitation : Baby and Santa, Manley Patton .
Recitation : The Christmas Stocking, Anna Strozyk .
Recitation : Kris Kringle, Mary Kneitch .
Recitation : My Ma, She Knows, Frank Raviage .
Recitation : Johnny's Letter, Herman Inglin .
Recitation : Spelling in the Nursery, Clara Musknoski .
Recitation : Christ Child and King, Stanley Gibson .
Music : A Christmas Acoustic, Eddie Musknoski, Freddie Vetter, Isabelle
Tyski, Fontelle Soule, Manley Patton, Stanley Habersetzer, Leon
Prosiloski, Mary Lemons .
Song : Christmas, primary class .
Dialogue : Mother's Visiting (in two scenes), Agnes Calouri, Curtis Bates,
Dan Campbell, Walter Sweeney, Mrs .-D .C . Troth .
Dialogue : Scene in the Chaplin's Family, Mary Sweeney, Mary Boyd,
Pearl Bates, Frances Breen, Pearl Todd .
Recitation : The Old Arm Chair, Mrs . Hilliard .
Recitation : Johnny's History Lesson, Ida Lemons .
Recitation : Christmas Baby, Mary Strozyk .
Recitation : Barbara Frietchie, Harold Patton .
Recitation : Christmas Bells, Harry Lemons .
Song : Coon Song, Frances Breen, Mary Boyd, Pearl Bates, Mary
Sweeney, banjo accompaniment by Hardy Hilliard .
76
An Ilwaco Boy's Experiences
Picking Cranberries
by Matt Wm . "Bill" Koski
Editor's Note : The 1984 harvest of cranberries in Pacific County is now complete . The decades old
process of preparing bogs for another year's harvest in 1985 has started . Last year the Sou'wester
celebrated the 100th harvest in the autumn issue (Vol . XVIII, No . 3, 1984) . This year we would like to
end the 101st year with a short remembrance of an earlier time with a story written by Bill Koski .
Matt Wm . Koski, or Bill as he was known to friends, was born in Ilwaco on November 1, 1889 .
He was a retired shingle sawyer living in Raymond at the time of his death on November 25, 1974. He
had just celebrated his 85th birthday .
Although Bill Koski was born in Ilwaco and spent his first ten years there, he lived in Grays Harbor County most of his adult life . He came to Raymond in 1954 and retired there in the 60's . During
his retirement he found time to record his memories of life in Ilwaco at the turn-of-the-century . Four
installments of "As I Remember Ilwaco" were published in the Sou'wester between 1968 and 1971
(those who would like to re-read them may refer to the issues in winter 1968, summer and winter
1969, and autumn 1971) . His stories included memories of a Finnish style Christmas in Ilwaco, his
first days in school, Koski family home life, and seining on Sand Island in Baker Bay .
Bill's stories have a special humor that make all of his memories come alive for his readers . The
story that follows is a case in point . In it he mentions his father, mother, and two of his siblings ; Walt
and Pauline (Lena) . The other Koski children included Jalmer, Einard, Valfred (V .A.) and Hilda . He
recounts one autumn in which the Koski family made their annual trek to the cranberry fields north
of Ilwaco to pick those pesky cranberries we all love so much during the winter holidays .
We didn't get to go "tenting" to the cranberry bogs every season because of
Dad's work and school . Each such outing missed was a blessing to me . Picking
those tiny berries into a big pail and then dumping them into a bigger wooden box,
that took forever to fill, seemed a lot worse than going to school . During this stage
of my existence it was hard to tell which of the two was the better, going to school
five days each week or picking those everlasting berries from daybreak to dark .
To me it seemed as though Dad was aiming for us to pick all of those berries on
the Long Beach bogs by ourselves in the few days we were to be there . By the time
Old Man Koski called it a day, I couldn't tell if I was picking cranberries or pebbles .
And on top of that the first thing next morning he would nearly pull the plants up
by the roots to show me where I had missed a couple and maybe a few more that I
didn't cover up very good . He never crabbed at Lena or Walt about anything, so I
supposed that being after me continually served as a warning to the other kids .
(Sometimes I wondered, too, if he was ever going to forget that I was a witness
when our cow kicked him out of the barn) .
Of course we had more freedom at the bogs than at school . Whenever we
were in school and "had to go", and the teacher was busy, valuable time would be
lost, but at the bogs, when we "had to go", we went .
The most rewarding part of this child slavery was when the word came to pack
up and go home . And boy, did I work then . Anyway, going back to Ilwaco was easy
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because we had eaten near everything we brought . We stall had too much to take
back though, as the people we were picking for were too generous . In addition to
the use of their tent, which was fully set up when we arrived, they furnished most
of the milk for the kids, cake and cookies, and for none of at would they accept any
pay . They even objected when Dad and I helped them with their cattle and other
livestock . Their objection would have been okay with me if at hadn't been for Dad .
I saw more cattle than I cared for up an the woods behind our cow barn every day .
(Funny thing about that animal of ours . When she was being milked, I would have
to hunt for that critter all over that part of the country . But when she was dry, Ma
was always "brooming" her out of what little garden we had near the house) .
During our stay at those bogs and working tall dark, at was kinda rough for Ma
to provide food for seven mouths, with the aid of a coal oil lantern for light .
However, by resorting to one-pot meals of fish and potatoes, or maybe just a pot of
beans for supper, hot cakes or eggs for breakfast, or perhaps a pot of mush, we ate .
Of course Ma had to start her offerings during daylight, besides looking after
the baby and a two-year old . The rest of us would run back and forth stoking the
stove . Sister Lena was charged with the dishwashing, and at served her right, too .
Eggs and milk we could buy near the bogs . But at wasn't necessary all the tame,
because of our landlord's generosity .
Dad was eating all the tame before he hat the hay, gnawing on a smoked or
fresh salted salmon, an addition to has regular meals . And he would sat on a box
smoking has stinking corncob pipe .
I would always try to get to sleep first because I knew that the minute Dad
would hat the hay he would start snoring with a racket similar to a Model T missing
on two cylinders . Although I slept on the far side of the tent from ham, I could actually feel the vibrations as if he was sawing through a knot . How Ma ever stood at as
more than I could understand . At tames has snoring would get so loud that he would
wake up with a start . Then he would get up and smoke on that corncob pipe again .
About the tame we were an the midst of our tenting and weekend traps to the
Long Beach bogs, we would hear of some improvement an the making to speed up
the harvesting of cranberries . The first one was the hand-operated scoop affair with
a row of rigid "fingers" across the bottom . They were not much better than
harvesting by hand .
Then the "brains" started building power-driven machines . They came up with
various types of harvesters and are stall trying to build something better even now .
One of the faster types roars through the bogs dislodging the berries, after which
the bog, or section of same, as flooded and the floating berries skimmed off
mechanically into receptacles for the cannery .
They tried a few cranberry harvesting machines on the Long Beach marshes an
the past which were of several sizes and not very successful . One particular
machine was conceived and produced by an outfit (an one of the Scandinavian
countries) named Thorsen and Thorsen . The machine was called "Thor" for short .
When first used at crawled, more or less aimlessly, whale picking the berries . Then
improvements were made to the machine which confined at to a strap of berries
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fV)
- Pacific county Historical Society collection .
Picking cranberries by hand near Long Beach bogs, about 1912 .
maybe eight feet wide for the length of the particular bog . This strip was designated
by two long lines, which were supposed to keep the machine centered . But as the
machine was not yet perfected, it had a tendency at times to crowd one line, or the
other, too close, thereby breaking it . This would mean a halt in the picking until the
broken line was repaired .
The cranberry harvesting machine had two universally-jointed arms, one on
each side of the frame, and each arm was equipped with three universal joints . At
the lower end of each arm was a scooped shaped affair with several small flexible
fingers on it . Each scoop could be moved separately or in unison . At the top of the
frame was housed the means to automatically guide the machine along the
designated path so it would not wander too far from the path between the two
guide lines .
The complete control of this machine was accomplished by means of visual
perception from within the housing on top of the frame . Thus, as the machine
moved . forward to harvest the cranberries, the two arms would extend downward
towards the berries and the scoops at the ends of the arms would close around the
fruit and draw said berries into a hopper attached to the lower end of the frame .
From the hopper the berries would roll down an incline into a large wooden box
which trailed the machine as it moved forward harvesting .
After several hours in the bog, this machine would need refueling . So after
reaching the refueling station, I would crash down into a chair, snarling "What a
heluva day this was, nothing but buckshot, and great big berries on both sides of
me, and out of reach!"
79
Does Anyone Know What Time It Is?
Editor's Note : The use of daylight saving time (DST), once called fast time, to add one hour of daylight
to our summer evenings has been a state law in Washington since 1961 . Each year newspapers, radio,
and television remind us on the last Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October to set our clocks
according to the reminder "spring forward/fall back" . Those who still have trouble with this little
phrase will be wise to recall a day when knowing the correct time was even more confusing . In the
1950's, for instance, daylight saving time was a matter of choice from one municipality to another .
Looking back at those years is enough to make one wonder if there really ever was a time known as
"the good old days" .
The three newspaper items below illustrate the situation .
Cities, County Offices to Adopt Fast Time
April 27, 1950 (Raymond Advertiser) . Residents of Raymond, South Bend and Ilwaco, will go on Daylight Saving Time this weekend . According to the Raymond
resolution, clocks will be set ahead one hour at midnight Saturday, while South
Bend will follow 24 hours later at midnight Sunday .
County elective officials, in a meeting in the courthouse Tuesday morning,
voted to follow the lead of the populated areas and go on fast time Monday . In addition to 9 to 5 hours (DST), the county offices will go on the legal summer
schedule of 8 to 4 (DST) commencing on June 1 . . .
County Commissioners still keep the unincorporated areas of the county on
standard time .
Courthouse Crowd Votes 'Fast Time'
April 27, 1950 (Raymond Herald) . The executive heads of the departments housed
in the county courthouse in South Bend yesterday voted overwhelmingly to follow
the lead of the cities of Raymond and South Bend and go on daylight saving time
when they open their offices next Monday morning, a spokesman for the county
officials said . The only negative vote was cast by (the) county extension agent .
The county commissioners are still standing on their decision to stay on standard time which will apply to all county operations outside the courthouse . Judge
John Langenbach said that Superior court will establish the hours believed best to
serve the majority .
When June 1 arrives, the inmates of the "gilded palace" are due for another
shift when they go to the traditional "summer hours" until September 1 . After June
1, the hours will be from 8 a .m . to 4 p .m ., Monday through Friday, and until 12
noon on Saturday .
No Time Change in Mail Service
April 27, 1950 (Raymond Herald) . Postmaster Ralph Nelson announced this morning that the change to daylight saving time here next Monday will not affect incoming and outgoing mail as the trains and other carriers of mail to this city will operate
on standard time . In other words, there will be one-hour difference between the
time being used by the people of the city and that used by the postoffice in delivering and collecting mail .
80