I just discovered this additional info so I thought I would throw it in.
I just read another article from " The History of Whatcom County" that claims the name Whatcom was from a Nooksack Indian Chief. This info say's it was a Lummi word meaning Noise Water. Oh well.
I guess time muddles up a few things.
Like my sweetheart and I differ on the day of our first kiss. I say it was 1961 when we where 6 years old in Forrie Haugens garage. WOW!! my toes still tingle!! She thinks it was in the fall of 1971. OH well, I guess that first one meant more to me than her.
Here is the new info.
Long before it was "discovered" by Europeans, Whatcom County was home to Northwest Coast Indians, the Lummi, Nooksack, Samish and Semiahmoo. The area was claimed by the Spanish in 1775 and later by Russia, England and the United States. Bellingham Bay was named by Captain George Vancouver of the British Navy during his expedition into the waters of Puget Sound in 1792. Fur trappers and traders were the first non-Indian residents to settle in and Hudson's Bay Company set up shop from 1825 to 1846.
In the early 1850's, a tremendous amount of building took place in California (after the San Francisco fire) and lumber became scarce. Word of dense stands of Douglas fir brought California miners Roeder and Peabody north, to Bellingham Bay. An impressive and strategically located waterfall, referred to by the Lummi Indians as "What-Coom," meaning "noisy, rumbling water" provided Roeder and Peabody an ideal lumber mill site, and a name for the area's first permanent town. In 1854, its rapid settlement prompted territorial legislature to create the County of Whatcom, an area that, at the time, took in all of present-day Skagit, Island and San Juan counties.
In its early years, Whatcom County experienced many economic ups and downs. When coal was discovered in 1853, another bay town, called Sehome, sprang up by the mine shafts and the Bellingham Bay Coal Company became the area's largest employer. Gold fever made a brief, though dramatic imprint on the county. In the summer of 1858, the Fraser River gold rush brought over 75,000 people through Whatcom County. Roeder and Peabody's lumber mill burned in 1873. Five years later, after many cave-ins, fires and floods, the mine closed. Speculators vying to host the Northern Pacific Railroad's west coast terminal brought communities on Bellingham Bay into rapid prosperity. Educational opportunities grew as well. Northwest Normal School, the predecessor to present day's Western Washington University was established in Lynden in 1886. The northwest's first high school was built in Whatcom County in 1890.
In 1893, after dramatic growth, the county's boom stopped. A national depression and unyielding mountains pushed local economy into hard times. The railroad went elsewhere and population on the bay dropped to under fifty. By the turn of the century though, Whatcom County was growing again. New lumber and shingle mills, salmon canneries, shipyards and agriculture brought stability to the area. In 1903, the county's four bayside towns, Whatcom, Sehome, Bellingham and Fairhaven consolidated into the present day county seat, Bellingham. Today, valuable natural resources continue to play an important role in Whatcom County's economy.
Everson Homes Blog
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
In the beginning there was
Hello again,
Been a while, but I was immersed in research. Yes, kids I know I'm getting older but I was NOT here in the beginning. I do have to enlist the knowledge of others that where here in the beginning or at least knew someone who know someone who thinks they may have heard a story at one time or uhh ok you get the picture.
Well I got a book from my father in law Roy E Dennison. He just celebrated his 81st birthday and has lived in Nooksack his entire life. Actually lives just a few feet from the house he grew up in.
The book is titled Nooksack Tales and Trails and was written by P.R.Jeffcott published first edition in 1949 then revised in 1995. A really good read with some interesting pictures of the way it was.
The book really is centered on the birth and growth of Ferndale (at one time in 1857 called the Big Log Jamb, it's a good story so I will share it down the road) still there are many links to Everson and Nooksack as well as the smaller townships that sprung up and have long since faded away. Mr. Jeffcott lived from 1876 to 1969. He was born in Ohio in 1876 and died in Jan 4 1969 in Ferndale.
I'm going to be linking several books and articles and stories as we go so I hope to keep everything as chronologically correct as I can.
Here we go.
Obviously this area was first inhabited by native Americans, presummed to have traveled here by way of the ice bridge from Europe to Canada and down to the Americas. The oldest known site has been guestimated as being a 4600 to 4900 year old seasonal encampment discovered near Ferndale.
The two native tribes that inhabited this area were and still are, the Lummis and the Nooksacks. (Nooksahk)They had two distinctly different dialects. I was told as a kid that Nooksahk ment Fern Eaters. I hopefully will find some evidence that this is true before too long.
The early whites that came this way were called Boston's by the Natives and in general where chassing the dream of the day. GOLD! Yes gold fever was alive and well in this little part of the world. The Whatcom Trail was a passage to the northern gold fields via the Fraser River and camp Chilo-we-yuck (Chilliwack) But, how did the Boston's get here in the first place and why?
Here I am going to share the history of this account as written in the 1st chapter of Nooksack Tales and Trails called The Northwest Boundary Survey. I'm going to shorten it up some but not much.
By the first years of the last century, the British through their great fur companies, the Northwest Fur Company and the Hudson's Bay Co. along with their navigators on the Pacific, had extended their shpere of influence in the northern half of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The United States, meanwhile through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and the explorations of Lewis and Clarke in 1805-06 and the discovery of the Columbia by Captain Gray in 1792, had acquired rights that in a considerable degree conflicted with the claims of the British.
While both countries realized their claims conflicted, each had other matters of a more urgent nature so they mutually agreed to let the settlement stand in abeyance (the condition of being temporarily set aside) and leave what had come to be known as the Oregon Country open to citizens of both nations. This was sort of a "gentlemen's agreement," and was abided by in the letter, but not as well in the spirit, for each encouraged the influx of their nationals into the disputed territory, well knowing such settlements would strengthen their individual claims at the final agreement. Such an arrangement, naturally, did not lessen distrust mutually, one country of the other.
By the 1830's the tide of western emigration was setting in from the middle west to Oregon, and the Hudson's Bay Co., which now included the Northwest Fur Co. was strengthening their hold on the Columbia and adjacent lands for the mother country. In every conflict there are always extremists, so developments in the United States brought out the slogan, "Fifty four forty or fight"; while the British, though not as openly, yet determinedly held for all of Oregon.
Such was the status of affairs in the approaching years of 1846. Fortunately cooler heads, in both nations, settled the dispute amicably. James Buchanan, then Secretary of State, and Richard Packingham, the British Minister, drew up a treaty which was signed at Washington June 15; ratified in London July 17, and publicly proclaimed August 5, 1846.
By the terms of this treaty, the boundary was fixed as beginning at the summit of the Rocky Mountains on the forty-ninth parallel and running due west to the center of the channel separating Vancouver Island from the continent, thence following the center of that channel southerly, and the Fuca Straits to the Pacific Ocean. This was a seemingly simple and understandable delineation, but it nevertheless bore the seeds of a great controversy and almost a threat of war.
Having settled on the imaginary line of the 49th parallel, the exact location and marking of it was not attempted for ten years more, or in 1856, when Congress made provision for the appointment of a commission to represent the United States; made overture through the State Department for a like body to represent Great Britain in surveying and marking the line.
It's kinda neat that we can see the 49th parallel swath driving up S.Pass rd. to Silver Lake. (Pekosia, in native Nooksack tongue) The separation of our two country's as was decided by treaty way back then.
OK, that's a good start in my opinion but, I'm taking a break and will be back soon.
Been a while, but I was immersed in research. Yes, kids I know I'm getting older but I was NOT here in the beginning. I do have to enlist the knowledge of others that where here in the beginning or at least knew someone who know someone who thinks they may have heard a story at one time or uhh ok you get the picture.
Well I got a book from my father in law Roy E Dennison. He just celebrated his 81st birthday and has lived in Nooksack his entire life. Actually lives just a few feet from the house he grew up in.
The book is titled Nooksack Tales and Trails and was written by P.R.Jeffcott published first edition in 1949 then revised in 1995. A really good read with some interesting pictures of the way it was.
The book really is centered on the birth and growth of Ferndale (at one time in 1857 called the Big Log Jamb, it's a good story so I will share it down the road) still there are many links to Everson and Nooksack as well as the smaller townships that sprung up and have long since faded away. Mr. Jeffcott lived from 1876 to 1969. He was born in Ohio in 1876 and died in Jan 4 1969 in Ferndale.
I'm going to be linking several books and articles and stories as we go so I hope to keep everything as chronologically correct as I can.
Here we go.
Obviously this area was first inhabited by native Americans, presummed to have traveled here by way of the ice bridge from Europe to Canada and down to the Americas. The oldest known site has been guestimated as being a 4600 to 4900 year old seasonal encampment discovered near Ferndale.
The two native tribes that inhabited this area were and still are, the Lummis and the Nooksacks. (Nooksahk)They had two distinctly different dialects. I was told as a kid that Nooksahk ment Fern Eaters. I hopefully will find some evidence that this is true before too long.
The early whites that came this way were called Boston's by the Natives and in general where chassing the dream of the day. GOLD! Yes gold fever was alive and well in this little part of the world. The Whatcom Trail was a passage to the northern gold fields via the Fraser River and camp Chilo-we-yuck (Chilliwack) But, how did the Boston's get here in the first place and why?
Here I am going to share the history of this account as written in the 1st chapter of Nooksack Tales and Trails called The Northwest Boundary Survey. I'm going to shorten it up some but not much.
By the first years of the last century, the British through their great fur companies, the Northwest Fur Company and the Hudson's Bay Co. along with their navigators on the Pacific, had extended their shpere of influence in the northern half of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The United States, meanwhile through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and the explorations of Lewis and Clarke in 1805-06 and the discovery of the Columbia by Captain Gray in 1792, had acquired rights that in a considerable degree conflicted with the claims of the British.
While both countries realized their claims conflicted, each had other matters of a more urgent nature so they mutually agreed to let the settlement stand in abeyance (the condition of being temporarily set aside) and leave what had come to be known as the Oregon Country open to citizens of both nations. This was sort of a "gentlemen's agreement," and was abided by in the letter, but not as well in the spirit, for each encouraged the influx of their nationals into the disputed territory, well knowing such settlements would strengthen their individual claims at the final agreement. Such an arrangement, naturally, did not lessen distrust mutually, one country of the other.
By the 1830's the tide of western emigration was setting in from the middle west to Oregon, and the Hudson's Bay Co., which now included the Northwest Fur Co. was strengthening their hold on the Columbia and adjacent lands for the mother country. In every conflict there are always extremists, so developments in the United States brought out the slogan, "Fifty four forty or fight"; while the British, though not as openly, yet determinedly held for all of Oregon.
Such was the status of affairs in the approaching years of 1846. Fortunately cooler heads, in both nations, settled the dispute amicably. James Buchanan, then Secretary of State, and Richard Packingham, the British Minister, drew up a treaty which was signed at Washington June 15; ratified in London July 17, and publicly proclaimed August 5, 1846.
By the terms of this treaty, the boundary was fixed as beginning at the summit of the Rocky Mountains on the forty-ninth parallel and running due west to the center of the channel separating Vancouver Island from the continent, thence following the center of that channel southerly, and the Fuca Straits to the Pacific Ocean. This was a seemingly simple and understandable delineation, but it nevertheless bore the seeds of a great controversy and almost a threat of war.
Having settled on the imaginary line of the 49th parallel, the exact location and marking of it was not attempted for ten years more, or in 1856, when Congress made provision for the appointment of a commission to represent the United States; made overture through the State Department for a like body to represent Great Britain in surveying and marking the line.
It's kinda neat that we can see the 49th parallel swath driving up S.Pass rd. to Silver Lake. (Pekosia, in native Nooksack tongue) The separation of our two country's as was decided by treaty way back then.
OK, that's a good start in my opinion but, I'm taking a break and will be back soon.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Good morning to all! I hope you slept well.
Funny, at my middle age I figure a good day is if I slept well. geeee. Times do change and that's what I would like to start this series of blogs about. "Change" How my little town of Everson and our sister town of Nooksack have changed since I first moved here in July of 1954 from St.Joes hospital in Bellingham. My parents had just purchased a modest 3 bedroom 1 bath house at 316 S. Washington St. Everson. It would be my home for the next 18 years. I don't really remember the day cuz I was still wrapped up in a blanky, but I bet it was sunny and probably a few angels were singing. :)
My dad was a logger working for Hougen Logging Co. that owned most of the timber up on Paradise mtn. (That's the one you see from main st ,east.) and mom pretty much took care of my older sister Viki and me.
I've been told that Everson had aprox 600 residents and Nooksack had around 200 at that time. Everson was pretty much a logging/farming community with a few people commuting to Georgia Pacific paper mill and other jobs in Bellingham. Folks where friendly and you could hardly go thru town without your hand constantly in the air waving to everyone that drove by.
I entered the Everson/Nooksack Elementary School (now the Middle School) in 1960 and fell in love the first day. WOW!! I could not believe that there could be such a lovely creature. That first day of school she came to Mrs. Millers first grade class with dark brown hair, a pink bow tied just right across her bangs, some kind of flowery dress and the prettiest smile you ever saw and guess what? She sat right in front of me!!! Oh My gosh! Thank you LORD. We sat in aphabetical order in those days and her last name started with a D (Dennison) and mine with a G. So I sat behind her for six years. We had that seating arrangement up until we entered seventh grade. I can still see the back of here head when I close my eyes and fade back to those grade school days.
Sorry, I kinda got off track, but hey, it's my blog, I'm entitled.
As the days go by and I get better at blogging I will be bringing a chronological update of this great little town filled with news clippings, hopefully photos and a history lesson. Perhaps I will even keep you up to speed with my efforts to win the heart of my first love.
Till then, see ya & GOD bless
Funny, at my middle age I figure a good day is if I slept well. geeee. Times do change and that's what I would like to start this series of blogs about. "Change" How my little town of Everson and our sister town of Nooksack have changed since I first moved here in July of 1954 from St.Joes hospital in Bellingham. My parents had just purchased a modest 3 bedroom 1 bath house at 316 S. Washington St. Everson. It would be my home for the next 18 years. I don't really remember the day cuz I was still wrapped up in a blanky, but I bet it was sunny and probably a few angels were singing. :)
My dad was a logger working for Hougen Logging Co. that owned most of the timber up on Paradise mtn. (That's the one you see from main st ,east.) and mom pretty much took care of my older sister Viki and me.
I've been told that Everson had aprox 600 residents and Nooksack had around 200 at that time. Everson was pretty much a logging/farming community with a few people commuting to Georgia Pacific paper mill and other jobs in Bellingham. Folks where friendly and you could hardly go thru town without your hand constantly in the air waving to everyone that drove by.
I entered the Everson/Nooksack Elementary School (now the Middle School) in 1960 and fell in love the first day. WOW!! I could not believe that there could be such a lovely creature. That first day of school she came to Mrs. Millers first grade class with dark brown hair, a pink bow tied just right across her bangs, some kind of flowery dress and the prettiest smile you ever saw and guess what? She sat right in front of me!!! Oh My gosh! Thank you LORD. We sat in aphabetical order in those days and her last name started with a D (Dennison) and mine with a G. So I sat behind her for six years. We had that seating arrangement up until we entered seventh grade. I can still see the back of here head when I close my eyes and fade back to those grade school days.
Sorry, I kinda got off track, but hey, it's my blog, I'm entitled.
As the days go by and I get better at blogging I will be bringing a chronological update of this great little town filled with news clippings, hopefully photos and a history lesson. Perhaps I will even keep you up to speed with my efforts to win the heart of my first love.
Till then, see ya & GOD bless
