Airiofiéerg Trip to Washington Territory by Covered wagon By Margaret (Turner) Griffin 1 was born at West Union, Park County, Indiana, December 31, 1866, {in 1876, my father, with his wife Martha, and two children, moved to Labitte county Kansas, living in Kansas ,until May 1st, 1880, when he started from there by cov» ered wagon for Washington ,Terri» tory, going by way of Hutchinson, Kansas, north, to Nebraska, Where‘ we joined the Wagon Trail, fol- lowed the Union Pacific ‘R, R, across the continent, It was called the Emigrant Trail, At this point We joined a wagon train of twelve all bound for different points on the Pacific Coast, By following this trail, close to the railroad, we could depend on getting water, as there were water tanks 25 miles apart, Travel was slow, from 15 to 20 miles a day, camping at night by the roadside, cooking over a fire of sagebrush and grease Wood. Passing thru the principal towns, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Laramie, Og- don, Utah, At Elko, Nevada, the families going on to the Pacific Coast kept on west; the ones for Washington Territory started north, thru idaho, This road was the government Military road to Boise, Idaho, It was used to carry U, S, mail, Wells-Fargo express, etc, The stage coaches were the kind you see in Western movies, with driver and guard and rifles and revolver, passengers inside, and outside in back were the usual bags for passengers, The number of horses were four, with sta- tions every 16 miles to change for fresh drivers and horses, These horses were driven at a gallop instead of trotting or walking, There were no towns between Elko and Boise, Freight was fouled by large wagons, some with, trailers, and the number of horses eused de- pended on the wagon, anywhere from 6 to 8 horses were used. Every day we woulu meet the mail coaches, one going north and one going south, They could be seen for several miles by the alkali dust they raised, The same with freight wagons, north and south, In southern Idaho, some Indians had been on the war path, fighting among themselves, but didn‘t come near the Military trail“ We were just three months ar- riving at Boise, Idaho, on August 1, 1880; stopped at Boise one month, then left for Walla Walla, arriving there Oct, 1, 1880; living at Walla Walla until Julyl , 1882, then continued the journey, by wagons, for iSeatte, This time there were three families, the Jones and Joe Smiths going to Arlington, and the Turners to the “Big Burn,” Snohomish county, lr‘rom Walla Walla, the road was by way of Pendleton, Oregon, to Portland, Oregon, then on to So- attle, arriving in Seattle August 1, 1882, Lived in Seattle until June, 1884. At this time, June, 1884, William Turner and family and the F, P, Kistner family came to Snohomi-sh looking for home- steads. They were located on the “Big Burn” by Charles Anderson, a surveyor, The ‘Klstner family located on the farm now owned by Otto Beck- meyer, They remained only a very short time and moved to Olympia, The Turner family at that time consisted of W, M, Turner, his wife Martlglfeh-ihihrenrMargaret, still' , boat arrived John D,, Elia D, (Mrs, T. K, lRohe), Edward R, and Walter S, Martha Turner and Mrs, Ki‘stner were the first white women to settle on the “Burn.” On September 30, 1889, William Russell Griffin was born at the home of his grandparents, Wil- liam and Martha Turner, I was married October 9, 1886, to George A, Griffin at Portland, Oregon, i ‘My First Trip to the Big Burn On July 4th, 1885, I was living with my aunt, Mrs. Hanks, in Portland, Oregon. On that date I left to visit my parents, Leav- ing Portland at 7 a,m. by boat for Kalama, Wash,, changed to train, arriving at Tacoma the same day and then by boat to Seattle; re- mained all night in Seattle, leav- ing the next morning by boat for Snohomish. The boat, a small draft and stern—wheeler, left Se- attle at 7 a,m, The first stop was Marysville, where there was a very small landing, They put ashore some mail and freight, Of course the usual number of whites and Indians were on hand to see the boat arrive, The boat contin- ued up thru Ebey Slough to the Snohomish river, Quite often the captain would blow the whistle and someone would come to the edge of the water, some sacks or bundles would be tossed ashore. The timber and brush were very thick and close to the water, The in Snohomish at 6 rum—the time for the trip from Seattle, about 11 hours. , Author: , Accession/Object ID: 2005.215.1, Object Name: Article, Title: , Description: Article titled "A Pioneer's trip to Washington Territory by Covered Wagon" by Margaret (Turner) Griffin. c. 1954, OCR Text: Airiofiéerg Trip to Washington Territory by Covered wagon By Margaret (Turner) Griffin 1 was born at West Union, Park County, Indiana, December 31, 1866, {in 1876, my father, with his wife Martha, and two children, moved to Labitte county Kansas, living in Kansas ,until May 1st, 1880, when he started from there by cov» ered wagon for Washington ,Terri» tory, going by way of Hutchinson, Kansas, north, to Nebraska, Where‘ we joined the Wagon Trail, fol- lowed the Union Pacific ‘R, R, across the continent, It was called the Emigrant Trail, At this point We joined a wagon train of twelve all bound for different points on the Pacific Coast, By following this trail, close to the railroad, we could depend on getting water, as there were water tanks 25 miles apart, Travel was slow, from 15 to 20 miles a day, camping at night by the roadside, cooking over a fire of sagebrush and grease Wood. Passing thru the principal towns, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Laramie, Og- don, Utah, At Elko, Nevada, the families going on to the Pacific Coast kept on west; the ones for Washington Territory started north, thru idaho, This road was the government Military road to Boise, Idaho, It was used to carry U, S, mail, Wells-Fargo express, etc, The stage coaches were the kind you see in Western movies, with driver and guard and rifles and revolver, passengers inside, and outside in back were the usual bags for passengers, The number of horses were four, with sta- tions every 16 miles to change for fresh drivers and horses, These horses were driven at a gallop instead of trotting or walking, There were no towns between Elko and Boise, Freight was fouled by large wagons, some with, trailers, and the number of horses eused de- pended on the wagon, anywhere from 6 to 8 horses were used. Every day we woulu meet the mail coaches, one going north and one going south, They could be seen for several miles by the alkali dust they raised, The same with freight wagons, north and south, In southern Idaho, some Indians had been on the war path, fighting among themselves, but didn‘t come near the Military trail“ We were just three months ar- riving at Boise, Idaho, on August 1, 1880; stopped at Boise one month, then left for Walla Walla, arriving there Oct, 1, 1880; living at Walla Walla until Julyl , 1882, then continued the journey, by wagons, for iSeatte, This time there were three families, the Jones and Joe Smiths going to Arlington, and the Turners to the “Big Burn,” Snohomish county, lr‘rom Walla Walla, the road was by way of Pendleton, Oregon, to Portland, Oregon, then on to So- attle, arriving in Seattle August 1, 1882, Lived in Seattle until June, 1884. At this time, June, 1884, William Turner and family and the F, P, Kistner family came to Snohomi-sh looking for home- steads. They were located on the “Big Burn” by Charles Anderson, a surveyor, The ‘Klstner family located on the farm now owned by Otto Beck- meyer, They remained only a very short time and moved to Olympia, The Turner family at that time consisted of W, M, Turner, his wife Martlglfeh-ihihrenrMargaret, still' , boat arrived John D,, Elia D, (Mrs, T. K, lRohe), Edward R, and Walter S, Martha Turner and Mrs, Ki‘stner were the first white women to settle on the “Burn.” On September 30, 1889, William Russell Griffin was born at the home of his grandparents, Wil- liam and Martha Turner, I was married October 9, 1886, to George A, Griffin at Portland, Oregon, i ‘My First Trip to the Big Burn On July 4th, 1885, I was living with my aunt, Mrs. Hanks, in Portland, Oregon. On that date I left to visit my parents, Leav- ing Portland at 7 a,m. by boat for Kalama, Wash,, changed to train, arriving at Tacoma the same day and then by boat to Seattle; re- mained all night in Seattle, leav- ing the next morning by boat for Snohomish. The boat, a small draft and stern—wheeler, left Se- attle at 7 a,m, The first stop was Marysville, where there was a very small landing, They put ashore some mail and freight, Of course the usual number of whites and Indians were on hand to see the boat arrive, The boat contin- ued up thru Ebey Slough to the Snohomish river, Quite often the captain would blow the whistle and someone would come to the edge of the water, some sacks or bundles would be tossed ashore. The timber and brush were very thick and close to the water, The in Snohomish at 6 rum—the time for the trip from Seattle, about 11 hours. , Granite Falls Historical Society,Documents (articles, clippings, letters, papers),General Articles & Documents,General Articles,General Articles 01,Article (2005.215.1),Article (2005.215.1) 1, Article (2005.215.1) 1