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HUSUM REVISITED 1908-1911
By Martin Thompson

The Martin Thompson family left Husum, Washington Territory in 1886 and traveled to Oregon, eventually ending up at Boston Mills, about 1 1/2 miles east of Shedd in Linn County. Martin purchased Boston Mills on September 28, 1891.
Martin continued to own the property in Husum, containing two parcels. The former grist mill was located on the west side of the White Salmon River, just below the falls. This parcel contained 4 Acres as described in Book D, page 181. The second parcel was purchased later. It contained 1.83 Acres on the east side of the river and was purchased to gain access to both sides of the river at the falls. This parcel is described in Volume 30, pages 232 and 233. [Volume 30, Deeds Records of Klickitat County, Washington documents the sale of 1.83 acres on October 12, 1910 to George W. Carter and Daisy B. Carter by J.T. Thompson of White Salmon, Washington for $10,000. Henry and Charles also each received $10,000 from the sale of the power plant.]
Probably at the suggestion of John, Martin’s eldest son who had developed a serious interest in electric power plants, the Husum Power Company of White Salmon was founded with Martin Thompson as its President. The power plant replaced the grist mill and supplied power for electric lights in White Salmon during the evening hours. The electric plant was constructed by his sons John and Henry between 1908 and 1909, and operated by them until Martin’s youngest son Charles reached the age of 21 years. At this time Charles and his bride Caddie Jane [Carlton] went to Husum to operate the plant. John managed the office in White Salmon.
After the power plant was sold to George W. Carter, Charles stayed on to continue operating the plant. Within a short time Charles decided to move back to Oregon and go into farming near Monroe, Oregon.