Black and white photograph of two horses grazing near a farm house, taken around 1930. In the distance is another farm building.

Historical Homesteading in the Palouse

Homesteading was a mainstay in the Palouse and Latah County. The Potlatch Lumber Company did much to affect it, for better and for worse.

Margaret Myrberg, University of Idaho

Origins of Regional Homesteading

In the late 19th century, focus of land use in America turned to agricultural activities. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed American citizens to claim up to 160 acres of land. Claimants were required to built a cabin, make improvements, and cultivate the land if they wished to keep it. Most claimants were immigrants and farmers, leading to the family-run farms and homesteads.

Many families maintained homesteads in the region, including the Strongs, the Lynds, the Byseggars, and the Petersons (represented on the map).

Settlers, determined to find success, filled up the land over time. If one person was incapable of "proving up" (that is, clearing 40 acres, building upon it, and living off of it for five years), another would "jump the place" to add acreage to his own homestead.

Everyday Life

A typical day's work on the farm involved all members of the family—including very young children—and could begin as early as four am. Before mechanization, planting, pulling, and piling were done by hand. A day's threshing (separating grain from corn and other crops) could be a sixteen-hour-plus day, done with a threshing machine or a horse-drawn combine with a motor. In addition to crops, animals such as cows and chickens and small, personal gardens were kept for the family's subsistence.

In the cold, less productive months of winter, farmers would log trees on their properties for cordwood and sell it in neighboring towns. In the summer, Potlatch employed the children of homesteading families to work at the mill for ten cents an hour. Leisurely activities included card games, dancing, barn raisings, and midnight lunches. Families would frequently congregate together and organize these social activities.

Sepia photograph from 1912 of two unidentified people riding in Juliaetta rail tram.

Farmers relied on rail trams to move crops from the fields to transportation landings, such as seen above. This Juliaetta rail tram, c. 1912, was Latah County's largest, constructed in the 1890s to the tune of $25,000. [6]

The exhibit pictured here (c. 1896) showcases crops at the Potlatch Fruit Fair in Kendrick. Trips to Kendrick represented opportunities to sell both farm produce and lumbar. [7]

Agriculture was crucial to the success of the early Palouse. An agricultural summary of crop distribution in 1903 captures this sentiment: wheat was distributed at 28,000 acres; barley and oats distributed at 5,000 acres each; corn and beans distributed at 1,000 acres; apples distributed at 3,315 acres; prunes distributed at 684 acres; and grapes distributed at 72 acres. Not only that, but removing large trees from land and selling the wood was one of the few ways farmers could reliably make money while developing their homesteads.

Homesteading Roles for Men and Women

From a young age, men and women were both expected to work to maintain the farm. While Potlatch's women were primarily childraisers and housekeepers, women living on homesteads in Potlatch and surrounding communities were not strictly bound to indoor roles. For example, in Deary, women ran the farms when the men were needed to work in timber or go to the harvest, and one testimony out of Hog Meadows describes how girls helped feed stock, cut wood, carry well water, and load hay.

This video features sound bites from oral interviews with Mamie Sisk Wurman, Mary Lynd West, and Walter Benscoter describing male and female roles on the farm.

For a complete transcript and to listen to the full interviews, visit the  Latah County Oral History Collection , which presents digitized audio recordings together with their indexes and transcripts.

Boom and Bust: Early Interactions with Potlatch Lumber Company

"The Potlatch Lumber Company had a symbiotic relationship with the region. The timber giant brought significant changes to town dwellers and farmers alike." Keith Petersen, Company Town

The arrival of Potlatch in the Palouse brought cheap lumber supplies and free architectural plans to those running or planning to run their own homesteads. With relatively cheap, accessible materials from Potlatch's own lumberyard, homesteaders could develop houses, barns, chicken sheds, and more, turning their properties into places of comfort and prosperity.

In addition, the company's cutover lands attracted new residents to the region. After the 1890s saw the easily-tilled grasslands and prairies filled up by settlers, promoters enticed people into timber country, where the land "proved to be as rich as the prairies when cleared of timber," in the words of an area publicist in 1862. The pine lands traditionally would have been punishingly difficult to clear for a homestead-sized piece of land—even when farmers dynamited and burned trunks, then built up the land with alfalfa to make it economically feasible, a process that could take years—but people anticipated that the company would swoop in and remove trees for them. They were correct, but the process still took some time and would not see profit until completion.

Pictured is John Valentine (or "J.V.," in middle), preparing to remove a Douglas Fir on the Katzenberger property, c. 1900. Selling wood off the land was one way to ensure income while running a homestead, which made some farmers wary of purchasing Potlatch's advertised "cutover" land. [8]

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Timeline of Boom and Bust

The Potlatch Lumber Company dramatically altered the lives of Palouse area homesteaders upon arrival. It created markets for produce, seasonal jobs, inexpensive places to develop homesteads, and cheap lumber for construction of buildings for homesteads. The boom began in 1903.

Pictured: the Potlatch Mercantile (c. 1913), one example of how the company catered to local homesteaders. At the popular Mercantile, farmers could buy specialized tools. [9]

Enticing Settlers

The company advertised cutover land more fiercely in 1910, distributing brochures with titles such as The Fertile Logged-Off Lands of Latah County, Idaho. According to these brochures, the climate was ideal and the land rich. Railroads provided access to markets, raising quality of life. But buried within the flyers was a warning: "We do not want you to come with an exaggerated ideas of the possibilities ... This is not a Paradise."

Pictured: a clearing of western acres in Latah County, dating 1969. [10]

Glen Gilder, Harvard Farmer:

“ It give 'em a market, give 'em a closer town ... give 'em a railroad up the valley. It give 'em a job if they needed it. Yes, it did a lot of good ... Lloyd Moles and I were working together one night and he said, 'You know, there isn't hardly anybody within twenty miles of here that hasn't pulled themselves out of some kind of a tight [spot] with a job with Potlatch.' And I think he's right. It brought a lot of advantages to the country. ”

Pictured: the Starner and Churchill threshing crews threshing at L.E. Gilmores, c. 1900, near Palouse, Washington. [11]

Height of the Boom

The boom peaked in 1910, as Palouse area towns reached populations not to be repeated. Palouse, WA especially benefited, but when the company chose to permanently close their Palouse mill to focus on their Elk River facility, the city experienced bust and their properties became unsalable.

Pictured: the team of Mr. Taylor, Mr. Biddison, and an unidentified person as they grade the streets of Juliaetta in the peak boom year of 1910. [12]

Life Beyond the Mill

Palouse city residents would once again need to survive without the aid of big business. While diminished, the city went on to stand as a modest center of agriculture, perhaps demonstrating the power of agriculture over business interests. As the Palouse Republic told it:

Let it be borne in mind also that a town situated in the center of a fertile and productive agricultural country will not perish. Agriculture is permanent and dependable ... We here in Palouse may never have a fear of [decay].

Pictured: Potlatch River Valley potato farmers, enjoying a lucrative industry in the valley's mild climate. [13]

References

Image Sources (in order)

  1. (Cover Image) "Two Horses Graze near a Farm House." University of Idaho,  https://digital.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/collection/plcphotos/id/1260/rec/4 
  2. "The Frank Peterson Homestead." University of Idaho,  https://digital.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/collection/phs/id/1341/rec/1 .
  3. Strong, G. "The Strong Homestead." University of Idaho,  https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/lcheritage/items/lcheritage738.html .
  4. Davis, Ann. "The Byseggar Homestead." University of Idaho,  https://digital.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/collection/lcheritage/id/291/rec/7 .
  5. Vowels, Mickey Lynd. "The Lynd Homestead." University of Idaho,  https://digital.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/collection/phs/id/1462/rec/19 .
  6. "Juliaetta Rail Tram." Latah County, Arcadia Pub., 2006, pp. 56–56.
  7. "Potlatch Fruit Fair." Latah County, Arcadia Pub., 2006, pp. 59–59.
  8. Decker, W. "Logging on the Katzenberger Property." University of Idaho,  https://digital.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/collection/lcheritage/id/282/rec/8 .
  9. "Potlatch Mercantile." Company Town: Potlatch, Idaho, and the Potlatch Lumber Company, Washington State University Press, 1987, pp. 140-141.
  10. Kelly, Orelia. "Stump and Field in Background." University of Idaho,  https://digital.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/collection/phs/id/1783/rec/2 .
  11. Comstock, Verna. "Threshing at L.E. Gilmores." University of Idaho,  https://digital.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/collection/lcheritage/id/542/rec/7 .
  12. "Streets of Juliaetta." Latah County, Arcadia Pub., 2006, pp. 54-54.
  13. "Potlatch River Valley Potato Harvesters."Latah County, Arcadia Pub., 2006, pp. 55-55.

Information Sources

  1. Petersen, Keith C. Company Town: Potlatch, Idaho, and the Potlatch Lumber Company. Washington State University Press, 1987.
  2. "About Deary." Northwest Assessment Services, LLC,  http://www.dearyidaho.com/about.html .
  3. Monroe, Julie R. Latah County. Arcadia Pub., 2006.
  4. University of Idaho Library, Mamie Sisk Wurman and Mary West Lynd. "Latah County Oral History Collection."  https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/lcoh/people/interviews/viewer.html?cachefile=Wurman.xml 
  5. University of Idaho Library, Walter Benscoter. "Latah County Oral History Collection."  https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/lcoh/people/interviews/viewer.html?cachefile=Benscoter.xml 
  6. University of Idaho Library, William Burkland. "Latah County Oral History Collection."  https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/lcoh/people/interviews/viewer.html?cachefile=Burkland_William2.xml. 
  7. University of Idaho Library, Arthur Bjerke. "Latah County Oral History Collection."  https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/lcoh/people/interviews/viewer.html?cachefile=Bjerke1.xml .
  8. University of Idaho Library, Ed Mushal. "Latah County Oral History Collection."  https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/lcoh/people/interviews/viewer.html?cachefile=Mushal.xml .
  9. University of Idaho Library, Alfred Erickson. "Latah County Oral History Collection."  https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/lcoh/people/interviews/viewer.html?cachefile=Erickson.xml .

Farmers relied on rail trams to move crops from the fields to transportation landings, such as seen above. This Juliaetta rail tram, c. 1912, was Latah County's largest, constructed in the 1890s to the tune of $25,000. [6]

The exhibit pictured here (c. 1896) showcases crops at the Potlatch Fruit Fair in Kendrick. Trips to Kendrick represented opportunities to sell both farm produce and lumbar. [7]

Pictured is John Valentine (or "J.V.," in middle), preparing to remove a Douglas Fir on the Katzenberger property, c. 1900. Selling wood off the land was one way to ensure income while running a homestead, which made some farmers wary of purchasing Potlatch's advertised "cutover" land. [8]