South Whidbey Historical Society
Now & Then November 2017
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A Bridge Between Two Worlds: Chief William Shelton
His Story Poles and Enduring Legacy Few Whidbey Islanders know of William Shelton. He was the last hereditary chief of the Snohomish Tribe and was born at Brown’s Point (now Sandy Point) on Whidbey Island in 1868. The family lived at Possession Point, but his mother went into labor at Sandy Point and delivered there.) He was an advocate for Native Americans, a storyteller, and a prolific carver of story poles which tell the stories of his tribal legends. Growing up, Shelton listened to the elders that were present at the Point Elliott treaty signing in 1855 at Mukilteo. Tribal leaders of the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, Stillaguamish Tribes and allied bands living in
INSIDE: William Shelton............................... 1 Fairgrounds Story Pole.................... 4 A Cascadia Marine Trail History..... 6,7 Warren Farmer Honored.................. 8 Paul Cunningham............................ 9 Membership Form......................... 11 President’s Letter.......................... 12
Chief William Shelton shown carving a story pole in 1920. He carved the story pole at the Fairgrounds in Langley, most likely as a teaching pole for student carvers.
the region debated for ten days prior to the signing. They knew white settlers were going to change the way of life for them. They also knew that if it came to war, it was something they could not win. They did want to learn the language and the working trades of the white man. Medical services and schools were another need. The promise of large tracts of land, and the ability to fish and hunt as they had been accustomed to was also promised in exchange for land. Some tribal leaders, though, were concerned that they were giving too much for so little.
On January 22, 1855, the treaty signing took place. Governor Isaac Stevens gave a glowing speech in English which was translated into Chinook, a trading language used by local tribes. The treaty was drafted by the government with no input or negotiations with the tribes. Most tribal leaders signed the treaty with a thumb print. They were not paid in money for their lands, but in blankets, clothing, and farming implements, and promises of reservation improvements. As a child, Shelton remembered
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Shelton, continued visiting a potlatch house at Scatchet Head Bay (Cultus Bay) with large timbers and posts with numerous carved totem figures. During a tribal gathering at Sandy Point (near Langley) for a great feast or “Sway-gway” young Shelton saw totem figures carved inside the large potlatch house. He asked his father to explain the meanings of the figures on the house posts and was told that each carving represented a story and each story carried a lesson. Before a little boy could become a great man, he would have to learn all the lessons. Shelton told his mother and father that he wanted to become a great man. From that time on his parents taught him the stories. “They told me stories which would create in me the desire to become brave, and good, and strong, to become a good speaker, a good leader, they taught me to honor old people and always do all in my power to help them,” wrote Shelton. At age 18, Shelton ran away from home to attend the Tulalip Mission school where he was taught to read and write. He remained there for three years until he was given a position at the Tulalip Indian Agency. Life on the reservation after the treaty was fraught with unmet promises. Education and health
services were slow to come. The federal government also made a conscious effort to destroy Native American culture. Dancing, drumming, speaking in the native tongue were against governmental rules. Shelton and older Indians questioned why settlers from across the Atlantic could keep their culture when they were being denied expression of theirs. Shelton went to Dr. Charles Buchanan, the Tulalip Agency resident physician and superintendent of the boarding school and said, “We would like to begin again. We would like to have a day where we could all gather together – the older Indians - and have them sing old songs and beat the drum.” Buchanan simply told him, “No you can’t. That is against Department of Interior regulations which say no drum beating and no Indian dancing.” Tribal members were jailed for carrying out ceremonial gatherings. The agent told Shelton to write a letter to the commissioner of Indian affairs and the Secretary of the Interior and ask for these rights. Shelton was not a skilled writer and struggled with grammar and punctuation, but never-the-less sent the letter. Then, came the reply. It said, “The Indians could have a Treaty Day for one day and evening. They
Chief William Shelton portrait by J. A. Juleens, 1913.
are not to dance all night nor until daybreak. They are to go home and take care of their livestock.” Treaty Day was held in 1911, 1912, and 1913 at the Tulalip Indian School. In 1914, the government gave permission to build a longhouse. William Shelton cut the lumber at a sawmill on the reservation. The longhouse, also known as a potlatch house, was the traditional place for Indians to meet. They came in canoes from all over Puget Sound for Treaty Day. There was dancing, drumming and speeches in the native language. Older Indians talked about being present at the signing of the treaty.
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Photo of the 1914 Treaty Days commemoration in front of the longhouse built by Chief William Shelton at Tulalip.
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In a speech by Shelton he said, “This is not a celebration; it is a commemoration, because the Indians were not having a good time when they met to discuss and sign the treaty.” With the longhouse completed, the Tulalip Improvement Club was created. Here tribal members met and could discuss the issues that faced them. The older ones spoke in their native language (Lushootseed) while the younger ones spoke in English. Shelton’s argument for calling it an “Improvement Club” was how could the government stop them from meeting if they were trying to improve themselves. Issues concerning upkeep of the reservation like roads and cemeteries were discussed. They also raised questions about their treaty rights. One frail elderly man, who was at the treaty signing, said, “I received a fish hook and one yard of narrow red ribbon. That was some big payment for giving up my share of the land.” The club did not meet during World War I, but resumed afterwards and kept formal minutes. Gradually, most of the language spoken was in English.
During these years, they became local civic events such as the Coupemore vocal about issues of medical ville Water Festival. There, they services, fishing rights, corruption would demonstrate native dancing, of payments to tribal members, and singing, drumming, and storytelling keeping their culture alive. Using all to revive and teach native culthe treaty as a starting point, they ture. They would also go to schools began to assert their legal rights. throughout the region. Shelton would regularly show up As Shelton worked in the Tulalip in native costume with full headIndian Agency, he became more dress and was always introduced proficient in reading, writing and as Chief William Shelton. The cosspeaking English. He also develtume and headdress were not typioped his skills as a woodworker by cal of Puget Sound Native Ameriworking in the sawmill. cans but more the dress of Indians Shelton became acquainted with lofrom the Great Plains. cal businessmen in the When asked about it, area including Roland Shelton would say, “If Hartley who would bewe are going to fight come governor of the for American Indians, State of Washington. we need to look like InHere was his oppordians. The only Indians tunity to tell the story white people see are in of Puget Sound Native the movies and we need America. He began to to look like them.” carve story poles. He William Shelton did this for the rest died in February 1938. of his life. They told At the time, he was the stories, lessons carving a story pole for the Capital and legends which local children grounds in Olympia. That pole was learned from a pole rather a than later finished by other carvers and book. Continued page 5 In the stories birds, fish, and other animals converse in one tongue. They taught children to be brave, loyal, and truthful and to illustrate that evil comes to wicked people and only the good prosper in the end. With daughter, Harriette, William Shelton would regularly L to R: Mrs. Annie Frederick, Mrs. Shelton, Wayne Williams be featured at (grandson), Chief William Shelton, Silas George, Harriette Shelton Dover dressed for an event in Seattle.
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A Story Pole with Many Questions The 50-foot story pole carved by William Shelton on the Langley Fairgrounds has a story to tell. Unfortunately, most of of which may be lost to history. Old timers said that the pole was carved by William Shelton. Others disagreed. In June, a group of curators and carvers from the Tulalip Tribes and Hibulb Cultural Center were invited to come to Whidbey and inspect the pole. Initially, they doubted that it was Shelton Pole, but upon arrival, one of the carvers literally leaped out of the car and ran to the pole. Almost instantaneously, they agreed that it was one of a few Shelton poles left. On further inspection,
it was determined that the paint was original. Sadly, the pole is decaying and will have to come down for safety reasons. When was the pole carved? It is known that Shelton carved poles from 1912 to 1938 –the year he died. The Fair started in 1924 and the pole building was built in 1937. Photographs of the pole building when it was constructed do not show the story pole. It is likely that the pole was carved sometime between 1924 and 1937 and was moved to its present location. Most if not all who have that answer have passed away. What are the stories being told by William Shelton in this story pole? From the bottom looking upward stands a native man with a single feather headdress, a rock, an octopus holding a salmon, a bird, a bushy tailed fox, a whale, a mouse standing on a pedestal, a spider, a six rayed sea star, two faces and, finally topped by an eagle. How do we save this legacy left for Whidbey Islanders by William Shelton? It is agreed that the pole needs to come down. In working with the Tulalip Tribes, it has been suggested that conservators evaluate the total integrity of the pole using scientific equipment to measure decay throughout the log. Once that process is completed, recommendations can be made. These could include: 1. Restoration of the pole and replacing it in an outdoor environment.
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Story Pole, continued 2. Restoration of the pole and placing it in an environmentally controlled location. 3. Carving a replica pole. 4. Creating a new exhibit, telling the story of William Shelton and his poles. Currently, representatives from the Port of South Whidbey, the Tulalip Tribes, and the South Whidbey Historical Society are in discussions to find the best means of preserving this legacy. Some of you reading this article may have knowledge of the pole and William Shelton that could contribute answers and guide recommendations. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Comments to this article may be made to our Facebook page at: w w w. F a c e b o o k . c o m / S o u t h WhidbeyHistory or by emailing swhmuseum@gmail.com.
There is a Movietone News film taken in 1928 showing Chief Shelton carving a story pole on his property in Tulalip. Look for this link on our website. Photo: Ferdinand Brady Photographic Postcards University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division
Chief Shelton, continued erected in 1940. It stood until 2010, when it was taken down because of its deteriorating condition. The remains of that pole are being stored at the Hibulb Cultural Center. His daughter, Harriette Shelton Dover, carried on her father’s work fighting for American Indian rights
until her death in 1991 at age 86. By Bill Haroldson with assistance from Tessa Campbell, curator at the Hibulb Cultural Center located at 6410 23rd Ave NE in Tulalip, WA. Visit the Hibulb website at: www.hibulbculturalcenter.org
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A Cascadia Marine Trail History This article by Karen Borell was first published on the Washington Water Trails website at https://www.wwta. org. We are grateful for her permission to reprint this. The Cascadia Marine Trail site at Possession Point is located on the east side of the southernmost tip of Whidbey Island on an isolated bit of state parks land, hemmed in by private holdings. It’s a great spot to enjoy the views of Possession Sound, Admiralty Inlet, and Puget Sound. The site fills a gap in the trail, as there are no other CMT sites nearby and those closest require crossing waterways with significant boat traffic. Possession Point takes its name from the adjacent waterway, Possession Sound, so designated by Captain George Vancouver, who came ashore in 1792 somewhere south of present day Everett, shot off a cannon, and declared possession for the English crown. Vancouver and his crew are thought to be the first Europeans to have entered Admiralty Inlet and explored the Sound. Whidbey Island was named by Vancouver after his ship’s Master, Joseph Whidbey, who was the first white explorer to circumnavigate the island. The first inhabitants of the area were, of course, Indians. Possession Point was called T!’xol, meaning “gravelly”. A major Snohomish village known as DEgwadzk*, meaning “lots of a certain kind of crab,” was located at Cultus Bay just west of Possession Point. This was a favorite gathering place to dig clams and smoke salmon. * Also spelled D’GWAD’wk or Digwadsh
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The village included several longhouses, enclosed by a high row of cedar poles for protection from Haida Indian raids. Its potlatch house was second in importance only to Hibulb and tribes from as far south as the Duwamish would come to the village for a potlatch. For many generations, it was the headquarters of important chiefs. Many Snohomish living at Tulalip today had great grandparents who lived at Cultus Bay. The earliest white settlement of Whidbey Island occurred in 1848 on the north half of the island. Few settlers came to South Whidbey until the 1880’s. An exception was Robert Bailey, who came to trade with the Indians and took up residence at DEgwadzk in 1850. Like many of the early white settlers on Whidbey, he married an Indian woman and established a home and a store. His land holdings eventually included 350 acres that reached from Cultus Bay, which at that time was called Bailey Bay, to the east side of Possession Point. In 1853 one of Bailey’s associates started a fish barreling business in Cultus Bay, buying fish from the
Indians, salting it down and barreling it for sale in San Francisco and to ships. That business folded when the Indians went to the reservation. A few summer homes and fishermen’s cabins gradually appeared near Possession Point. There was no pier on the east side of the point, but Mosquito Fleet steamers would pick up passengers from rowboats. As late as 1900 there were no stores or markets at Possession Point, and shopping was from trade boats that would bring various staples and housewares. There was no road to the point until 1940, and the only access by land was by foot along the beach from the Glendale community. Fishing was a major occupation and preoccupation. Possession Point was known as a great fishing spot, in part because of a deep hole in the sea floor, 75-100 feet across, known locally as the Franklin Hole, which can be seen off shore at extreme low tide. Local lore is that the bottom of the hole has never been found and the world’s largest octopi live there. A major change occurred around
The long Giant Powder dock and Payne’s dock at Possession Point.
SWHS photo
1900 with the establishment and then expansion of the Giant Powder Works, a distribution and storage facility for explosives used for blasting out stumps. The company built a large wharf and three concrete magazines, with sand barriers between them to reduce the damage in case of explosion. The explosives were brought in by ships, unloaded onto flatcars on tracks, and pushed by hand to the storage buildings. The facility inhibited development in the area, although the company allowed fishermen to build shacks on their beach property, as the fishermen were a source of labor as needed. The company paid 50 cents per hour, good pay at that time. Local histories recount that about every three months a workman would die of heart attack, attributed later to nitroglycerin contamination in the storage facility walls. The plant closed in 1935 when the business was sold to the DuPont Company. Another major business in the area, located around the point in Cultus Bay, was the Sea Product Company Fertilizer Plant, a fish reduction facility locally known as the “stink plant.” Scows loaded with dead salmon and dogfish, minus their livers, were barged in from canneries around the Sound. The livers were sold separately for about $1 per pound to make vitamins. The fish carcasses were heated and compressed to extract the oil, which was sold in barrels for use in paints and other manufacturing processes. The business continued in operation until the mid ‘50’s, and local residents claimed that years later fish
oil could still be smelled at low tide. In 1918 a dance hall called Possession Pavilion was built 25 feet above the high tide line near the point. It was rented out to clubs and lodges on the mainland and people would come to picnic on the beach during the day and dance in the pavilion at night. Local lore has it that it was a speakeasy as well. It lasted about ten years before succumbing to beach erosion. The community at the point gradually grew to a few dozen summer cottages, fishermen’s cabins and driftwood shacks, and adopted the name Possession. Development was slowed by lack of potable water and recurring landslides from the bluffs above. In the 1920’s, Charles and Mabel Payne constructed a dock, inn, post office, and store. The inn was not very profitable and closed after a few years, but the store rented cabins and sold hardware, newspapers, chemical toilets, refrigerators, etc., and continued in business until Mabel passed on in 1962. At least three fish buyers and 4050 commercial trollers worked near Possession Point through the 1920’s. Commercial fishing was big business and from around 1900 to the 1930’s, fish traps had lined the shores of Whidbey Island. Sport fishing and hunting were hugely popular and fishing and hunting resorts proliferated in the ‘20’s and ‘30’s. The first car ferries had come to Whidbey before 1920, and it became a destination for summer vacations, hunting, and fishing. But by 1931 it was clear the great runs of salmon were over. After much conflict between sports fishermen and commercial
fishermen and canneries, Initiative 77 to ban fish traps and fish wheels was placed on the ballot in 1934 and passed statewide. South Whidbey and the Cultus Bay/Possession Point area had its share of hunting and fishing resorts, but as trends in travel and leisure changed in the 40’s and ‘50’s, the resorts closed, sold lots for summer cottages, or became bed-and-breakfast inns. Sport fishing continues to be a favorite pastime, and the only business remaining is the Possession Point Bait Company. © Karen L. Borell Sources and acknowledgments Cherry, Lorna, South Whidbey and Its People, vol. 2. South Whidbey Historical Society, 1985. Hayes, Derek, Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest: Maps of Exploration and Discovery. Sasquatch Press, 1999. Island County Historical Society, Janet Enzmann Archives and Research Library, Indians folder, reviewed October, 2015. Haroldson, William, Resorts of South Whidbey Island. Fine Balance Imaging Studios, 2013. Kellogg, George A., A History of Whidbey’s Island. George B. Astel Publishing, 1934. Neil, Dorothy, By Canoe and Sailing Ship They Came. Spindrift Pub. Co., 1989. Oldham, Kit, “Joseph Whidbey Circumnavigates Whidbey Island In June, 1792”, HistoryLink #5060http://www. historylink.org, 2003, accessed September, 2015. Pembroke, Timothy, An Ethnohistorical Report Showing the Presence of the Snohomish and Snoqualmie Indians Prior to 1855, Ancestors to the Tulalip Tribes, 1981.
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Warren Farmer:
Bush Point’s Native Son Honored as a Tribal Elder Charles “Warren” Farmer was honored as a tribal elder by the S’Kallum tribe at the Seven Cedars Resort outside of Sequim last March. Farmer’s family roots go back to the earliest written history of Whidbey Island. His grandmother, Emily Lowe Madsen, was a full S’Klallum tribal member from Sequim. She was married to Christian Madsen, a Danish sea captain who was making his fortune cutting and shipping timber to California around 1860. Madsen won property called Willow Point on Whidbey Island in a poker game. It was so named because of its dense growth of willow trees and was one of three permanent villages of the Snohomish Indians. A large potlatch house, three longhouses and few private dwellings were located there. Willow Point is known today as Bush Point.
In 1880 Madsen decided to build a warehouse at Bush Point and persuaded business partner John Curtis Farmer and his twentyyear-old son John Carlton Farmer to move from San Francisco to Whidbey Island. A romance developed between the younger Farmer and Minnie Lowe, Madsen’s stepdaughter. They were married in 1883. Minnie Lowe descended from the fifth brother, Que-ni-a’som, (called Quathim-son “the Wanderer,” also called Valparaiso Joe), who married the daughter of a Clallam Bay sea captain. Their son Thiedmalth was the father of Minnie Lowe. Warren’s grandmother, Minnie
Willow Point (known today as Bush Point) in 1900. Most of the willows had been cleared by then. Photo: South Whidbey Historical Society courtesy of Warren Farmer
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Lowe Farmer was determined to buy land at Bush Point. In 1884, she paid one hundred dollars in gold coin to purchase sixty-six acres of land at Bush Point. Two years later, the couple purchased an additional 55 acres at Bush Point from Christian Madsen for $300. Together Minnie and John developed the land into a prosperous farm. As the farm thrived it became headquarters for many activities on the west side of the island. They built a large barn, brought in Holstein cows, created an orchard, vegetable garden, and raised chickens. As time went on they built a store and a sailboat which was christened the Egg Box. It was used to shuttle eggs, milk, butter, fruits, vegetables, and meats to the passenger and freight boats that anchored offshore. Warren’s father, Charles, was born in 1884. In 1885 his sister Josephine was born, followed by John in 1887, and Emily in 1892. Minnie Farmer died in 1897, leaving her two sons to assist their father in running the farm. The Farmer family continued to live at Bush Point. A lighthouse fueled by an oil lamp was built, and it was Emily’s job to light the lamp each night and extinguish it in the morning. Fish traps were an important part of the economy. One trap could catch up to 100,000 salmon in a day. Continued page 10
Paul Cunningham: a True Renaissance Man Paul Cunningham, Sr. (18461930) was a most interesting man on many counts. According to former Langley Mayor Lloyd Furman (in an interview with Bob Waterman just prior to his death), Furman’s great-grandfather was “a wagonmaster, scout, sharpshooter and a stand-in for William (“Buffalo Bill”) Cody at fairs, even performing with Annie Oakley.” Cunningham was also a big game hunter during a time when buffalo herds still roamed the Plains, a lawman of several frontier towns, and also served as ‘special policeman’ at the 1910 Chautauqua at Maxwelton. He wrote some 300 to 400 poems over his lifetime and published under the pen name of “Peppercorn” and was also known as “the sage of Whidbey.” “He was taller than most men, with a shock of hair that reached below his shoulders. His bristling mustache and goatee served to emphasize his lean, angular face,
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which was dominated by piercing dark eyes. Without question, Paul Cunningham was a presence to be reckoned with.” (Lorna Cherry, South Whidbey and Its People, Volume II, p.235). The following is a brief history of Paul Cunningham and his wife, Mary Eliza Seaman, as authored by their granddaughter, the late Cora Cunningham Cook. It was submitted online by Michael Burley who is Cunningham’s great grand-nephew. ––––––––––––––––––––––––– Paul Cunningham was born in Meaford, Ontario, Canada, August 10, 1846, as was his wife, Mary Seaman, born October 9, 1844. They were married March 9, 1868 in Canada. He traveled by boat through Georgian Bay and Lake Huron to Ohio, where he joined a wagon train going to Nebraska in 18681869. After arriving near Osceola, he received free land from the government of the United States. Mrs. Cunningham joined him in 1870, early in the year. They put up a tent made of linen sheets, woven on a loom in Canada. Later a dugout was made in a hill, with a lean-to of willow poles for framework and covered with sod slabs for the roof and walls. The dugout was their bedroom, and the lean-to was their kitchen, which had a small cast iron stove to cook on and to keep their home warm. They spent the winter of 1870 there. Mr. Cunningham got typhoid fever and was in bed for weeks, sometimes delirious. Mrs. Cunningham
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lost a baby and was also ill. They ran out of food, so Mrs. Cunningham peeled the bark off the willow poles, boiled it and made a tea, which they drank. She melted snow to get water, as a blizzard raged outside part of this time. It was near Thanksgiving Day when Mr. Cunningham started to get well. Upon looking out the door of their lean-to, he saw that their cow had died, and only a little donkey was left, and he was weak from lack of food. Their nearest neighbors, who were cousins, lived over three miles away, but they decided to go there and get some food. Mr. Cunningham put his wife and their 1-1/2 year old daughter on the donkey’s back. He was so weak he could hardly stand, let alone walk. He put his arms around the donkey’s neck and lay down in the snow, and told the donkey to go, pulling him along on the snow and carrying his wife and daughter on the donkey’s back. They finally reached their cousin’s sod house, and for supper had baked squash and cornmeal gruel, Continued next page
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Cunningham, continued
Farmer, continued
made with fresh cow’s milk, but they had no salt. Grandfather often said it was the best Thanksgiving meal he ever had. The next year he built a sodhouse, and my father, Lemuel Seaman Cunningham, was born in that house in 1876. Grandfather told me of a time they were out of food and a cyclone came through the country. After the storm had passed and they went outside, hundreds of 8- to 10-inch trout were flopping around the ground. They had all they could eat, and smoked and dried the rest to eat later. Another time a storm brought hundreds of frogs that hopped all over their land. They left Osceola in 1900, moving to Wheatland, Wyoming because of grandmother’s health, as they needed a higher altitude, due to her having tuberculosis. However, she continued to fail in health, so they moved to Lone Lake near Bay View on Whidby (sic) Island in March 1906. Here her health improved and she became an arrested case of TB. She lived until 1925, dying at the age of 81. Grandfather lived to be 84 years old and died in 1930. They are buried in the old part of Bay View Cemetery. – Cora Cunningham Cook
Warren was born at Bush Point in 1934 to parents Charles Carlton Farmer and Cordelia Lee “Mae” Arnold Farmer. About this time, fish traps were abolished because there was fear that they were destroying the salmon runs. Whidbey had car ferry service and roads were being built. This started the resort industry. Salmon were plentiful and a family could spend a weekend on the island renting a cabin for the less than five dollars a night and go home with fresh caught salmon. Bush Point resort was of the first fishing resorts on the island. Salmon derbies were held with big prizes which attracted more and more visitors to Whidbey. At one time, there were some 30 resorts on the
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south end of Island. They are all gone now as families bought the land for summer and permanent homes. Warren lived at Bush Point and graduated from Langley High School in 1952. He worked many years at the resort. In 1958, he married Darla Ulskey. The couple moved to Everett and established Farmer Realty developing acreage in Snohomish and Island Counties. Their children Robert, David, and Kathy grew up in Everett but spent summers at Bush Point. Warren and Darla returned to Bush Point 42 years ago and built their home next to the boathouse of Hap’s Resort. An old graveyard on the property holds those Bush Point pioneers of so many years ago.
Possession Point article sources, continued Riddle, Margaret, “Tulalip Tribes”, HistoryLink #8852 http://www.historylink.org, 2008, accessed April, 2015. Schmidt, Jean, telephone interview, October 17, 2015. South Whidbey and Its People, vol. 1. South Whidbey Historical Society, 1983. South Whidbey Historical Society archives and collections, reviewed October, 2015. Waterman, T. T., Puget Sound Geography. Lushootseed Press, 2001. White, Richard, Land Use, Environment and Social Change: The Shaping of Island County, Washington. Univ. of Washington Press, 1980. Wood, Frances L., Down to Camp: A History of Summer Folk on Whidbey Island. Blue Heron Press, 1997.
Many thanks are due to the librarians in the Seattle Room of the Seattle Public Library and the Langley and Coupeville branches of Sno-Isle Public Library. I owe special debt of thanks for the assistance of Sarah Aldrich at Island County Historical Society, and William Haroldson of the South Whidbey Historical Society, who opened the archives and collections to me and answered many questions. I must call out special thanks to Jean Schmidt, who patiently answered my questions and clarified facts. Finally, I must acknowledge a huge debt to all the local folks and local historians who cared enough to take the time to preserve and record the memories and stories and local lore that would otherwise have been lost. Our understanding of the past, and certainly my work, would be much poorer without them.
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South Whidbey Historical Society PO Box 612 Langley WA 98260
What’s Your Local History I.Q.? History of a place connects us with the land that existed before it was peopled, how it changed as its resources were used, and how a community was formed and was affected by changes in the area and wider world. It grounds us. It informs us. It explains us. It is the story of us. It is peopled by both noble souls and scalawags, heroic efforts and foolish stunts, celebrations and tragedies. The thread of what makes us human changes little from generation to generation, but the design woven by the times can help us better understand people’s choices and actions of yesteryear. The Board and volunteers of the South Whidbey Historical Society and Museum are continuing the legacy of past Board members, volunteers and donors – keeping the amazing history of South Whidbey and its people alive. Our doors are open on weekends. Come visit us. We believe in sharing our history
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with local schoolchildren, new residents, visitors, and anyone with an interest about South Whidbey. That’s why we expanded our website, began a Facebook page (now with 1,800 followers), are doing local videos, and exploring ways to bring local history alive to students in our community. We are planning additional community ‘Then and Now’ talks, exploring a joint venture with Island County Historical Society for a Langley Archive and Research Center, and developing community events with a historical theme. All of this takes time, volunteers, and, yes, – donations. Please join (or renew your membership to) the South Whidbey Historical Society, and as you consider end-of-year charitable donations, make a donation to South Whidbey Historical Society. – Bill Haroldson, SWHS Board President
SWHS Board Members Bill Haroldson – President Bob Waterman- Vice President Carol Ryan – Acting Secretary Bruce Towne – Treasurer Betty Discher Gary Gabelein Joan Handy Leckey Harrison Tonya Henny Tom Nack Carol Olson Charlie Pancerzewski Craig Williams Bob Woodford