Palouse: The Rolling Hills

"Our wonderful Palouse region is the most serene and pastoral of the seven wonders of Washington State. It is a region in southeastern Washington characterized by gentle rolling hills covered with wheat fields. The hills were formed over tens of thousands of years from wind blown dust and silt, called loess (and pronouned luss) from dry regions to the southwest. Seen from the summit of 3612-foot high Steptoe Butte they look like giant sand dunes because they were formed in much the same way. The Palouse hills are not only a landscape unique in the world but they are beautiful to behold and worthy to be on the list of Seven Wonders of Washington State."

This was an excerpt from Howard Fisk's book, The Seven Wonders of Washington State: Your guide to exploring the natural wonders of the Evergreen State, published in 2015 and available via Amazon. 

Green in the spring, golden brown at harvest time and snowy white in winter.... Washington's Palouse is a beautiful and very unique region.

Oregon Grape .... Jelly?

 But it is NOT a grape and its origin is NOT Oregon. So how come???

Also known as Holly-Leaved Barberry and Mahonia, this plant has been used by Indigenous peoples of North America for centuries as a food source and a medicine. Lewis and Clark collected specimens of this plant on the expedition of 1804-1806. 

Since these berries are ubiquitous to our area, here's the recipe for "Mahonia Berry Jam: a stunning wild preserve made from the tart, vibrant berries of the Mahonia shrub, also known as Oregon Grape. Those these berries are mouth-puckeringly sharp when raw, they transform beautifully into a glossy, jewel-toned jelly with a tangy zing. "

To make 4 small jars of Mahonia Berry Jelly:  Gather about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe Mahonia berries, stalks removed and rinsed. Put in large pot with 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil, simmer for 20-25 minutes, mashing berries with a spoon or potato masher to release the juices. Pour the mixture through a jelly bag or muslin-lined sieve into a clean bowl. Let it drip overnight. For the clearest jelly, avoid pressing the pulp.

For every 2 1/2 cups of juice, use one pound of sugar (less to taste). For a firmer set, you can add a teaspoon of pectin if Mahonia's natural pectin content isn't enough. Add the lemon juice. 

Still continually over low heat until sugar has fully dissolved, then bring the mixture to a rapid boil. Boil until the jelly reaches setting point (104oC or 220oF). Pour into warm, sterilized jars and seal. 

TIP: Pick RIPE berries only; under ripe berries are overly bitter. 

If anybody makes this jelly, I'd surely like to know how it was. :-) 

Cranberry Glass

Do you recall your mother or grandmother having any cranberry glass? This very special type of glass became famous in the Victorian Era in Britain and came with the English immigrants to America. Cranberry glass creations were most popular as a table display, often holding candy or flowers. 

If you happen to have one of your grandmother's cranberry glass pieces, please know that it is highly collectible but its value varies wildly from $10 to thousands of dollars! The value of the piece is determined by the amount of gold used to make the rich color.

Antique cranberry glass is occasionally found in old outhouse pits (privies). Before city trash pickup, people threw broken household trash—including expensive glassware—into outhouse holes. 

I became intrigued when viewing a YouTube video where a fellow found cranberry glass in an old privy pit! (No comments on my eclectic viewing habits, please. :-) 

Videos

Cranberry Glass and a Small Figure - Bottle Dump Finds

YouTube · Mudlarking with Steve

Dec 15, 2025

YouTube · Mudlarking with Steve

 

Odd Fellows Hall in Hillyard

This sad looking building in northeast Spokane (Hillyard, actually) was an important social hub back in the day. It was built to serve the booming railroad community that sprang up after James J. Hill decided to avoid Spokane taxes and build his railroad shops in that area..which ultimately was named after him. 

In the 1880s, Spokane was becoming the premier rail hub of the west and tycoon James J. Hill wanted it on his Great Northern line to the coast. Hill had the "hutzpah" and pulled the right strings to achieve his goal. The Hillyard yard became the biggest rail shop west of the Mississippi. 

To help the families and the workers, several fraternal organizations sprang up in the area. The Odd Fellows Hall was one. Located on North Market Street, the hall hosted community dances, meetings and charitable gatherings but the purpose of the organization was to "visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan." Since one goal of the group was to provide burial for its members, they established Resthaven Cemetery (now Evergreen Cemetery). The building was completed in 1896.

According to an article in The Spokesman Review, March 7, 1996, "Built by lodge members from Waverly, it opened on March 17, 1896, according to John Nunn, a member who keeps many of the lodge's historical documents." The article spotlighted that the Lodge's centennial celebration was being held on March 10, 1996, with members planning a picnic "and the lodge will lay out its old photographs and letters, dues ledgers, attendance books and documents, including the original deed that passed the property to the lodge."

The question screaming into my mind is where are those documents today????? My husband's grandfather worked for the railroad in Hillyard in the 1920s..... might he have been a member of this lodge? Wouldn't we like to access these records of our ancestors? 

P.S. In 1900, there were about 170 Odd Fellows Lodges in Washington; some 25 are still active today. 

Who Was John Day?

 

Little is known about the man for whom a river, a dam and two towns (John Day and Dayville) were named.  The following story is based on historical fact - some of it may be true. Pictured is an illustration of what John Day might have looked liked.

"John Day,1770-1820,  was a hunter from the backwoods of Virginia.  He had been employed by Ramsay Crooks for several years when he arrived in Oregon, at about 40 years of age.  He was described as "six feet two inches tall, a handsome man with a manly countenance, straight as an Indian with an elastic step 'as if he trod on springs'".  It was his boast that in his younger days nothing could hurt or daunt him, but he had lived too fast and injured his constitution by excesses.  Still, he was strong of hand, bold of heart, a prime woodsman, and an almost unerring shot."

Website FindAGrave has his biography of him (plus several more pages). He was most surely quite the guy. His death and burial place as noted on FindAGrave states "buried or lost at sea. Specifically: Drowned in Snake River." 

John Day Dam, spanning the Columbia River kinda between The Dalles, Oregon, and Goldendale, Washington, was constructed between 1958 and 1971, costing $511 million dollars. It has a fish ladder and a navigation lock, that lock being 110-feet, the highest lock-lift on the river. The dam forms Lake Umatilla, a 76-mile long reservoir. 

Next time you zoom along I-80 in Oregon along the Columbia River, pause to appreciate the John Day dam and remember the hardy frontiersman who was John Day. 

Summer Joke Time

 

JOKE: A Russian and a Czech bear scientists came to the Rocky Mountains to study bears; they chose the mating season, a bad time for bear encounters. They were warned about the dangers but headed off into the woods anyway. After four days with no word from them, the rangers followed their tracks. They found a female Grizzly bear; shot her and opened her up and sure enough, inside was the Russian guy. So, said one ranger to the other….. ARE YOU READY?  “The Czech must be in the male.”  L J

*** *** *** ***

This from a newspaper clipping of which I did not note the paper nor the date, sorry:  "Denver, Colo. March 6 --  "Here is a dead man," was the comment made by a parcel post clerk here as he held up to the view of his fellow clerks a package nine inches square and weighing seven pounds.

The package contained the ashes of Edward E. Knotts of California, who died here a few days ago following an attack of appendicitis. The package was addressed to the widow, Mrs. Ada Knotts, San Francisco. It cost 51cents and bore a ten-cent insurance stamp."

Just for fun, I did a bit of research to learn more about Edward and Ada Knotts but found nothing. If it's your family, do go for it!

Washtucna: A Tiny Town

Thanks to an article in The Spokesman Review last April, I learned about a tiny town in the southeastern corner of Adams county that has a great big heart. 

Folks are trying their best to save their piece of Washington history, the Bassett Hardware building, which is 125 years old, according to the folks at the Washtucna Heritage Museum and Community Center. Michelle Plumb, officer in that society, shared "I don't know how many things in this area are that old. It would just break our heart to lose this building."

Built in the town's center in 1901 by George W. Bassett, the building has survived through "boom and bust, storm and sunshine" and remains a fixture of the town's frontier past. "The upper part of the building was always some sort of community space," Plum said. Several fraternal organizations held their meetings there over the decades. In the 1910s and 1920s, plays and movies were shown there. 

Fear not, lovers of old historic buildings. This building has been placed on the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation's list of Most Endangered Places which hopefully will guarantee its future.

Why the spotlight today on an old building in a nobody-knows-where town? Because the people who built the place, used the place and loved the place are collectively all our ancestors. That's why. 

Website www.FindAGrave.com has this photo of GWB and information on his family. He was a pioneer for many. He and his wife Alice were parents of seven children.