The Mt. Adams Sun, Bingen, WA., March 20, 1952, page 6
The Mt. Adams Sun, Bingen, WA., April 3, 1952, page 6  - this article ended with "to be continued." I searched the next several issues but found no continuation. Does anyone have the rest of this story?

TROUT LAKE VALLEY HISTORY TOLD IN REPORT WRITTEN IN 1939
By WILLIAM COATE

     Troutlake Valley, located along the banks of the White Salmon River, twenty-four miles north of White Salmon, Washington was not settled by the white people until 1880. During this year Mr. Pete Stoller, who came to this country from Switzerland, settled first in Iowa, then to Gilmer Valley, arrived with his family and took up a homestead on the 160 acres just south and east of Trout Lake itself. He built the first buildings in the valley on his homestead, which is now partially owned by J.E. Reynolds, proprietor of the Guler hotel.

      In 1883, the next group or settlers arrived, which consisted of Wm. Stadelman and his family, from Iowa; Severn Bentz, who originally came to this country from Switzerland, but had been around Cascade Locks for several years previous; Charles Kittenburg, originally from Germany, but also had been around the northwest for several years; Joseph Aerni and Charles A. Pearson, who originally came from Sweden, settled in Iowa, and thence to Troutlake Valley.

First Baby

     In the fall of 1882 and during the next summer, a wagon road was built from White Salmon to the valley following along the White Salmon river. Although this road opened up the valley from the outside, it was not until 1884 that the next settler, Mr. John Peterson, arrived with his family. They stayed the first year with C.A. Pearson in the latter's cabin. Mr. Peterson's son Wallace, was born in February of 1886 and was the first white child to be born in the valley. Other settlers who arrived in 1885 were John Eckert, Chas. G. Byrkett and his son Harvey J., and Noah Etter. These last three were the first American-born settlers in the valley. Rufus A. Byrkett with his mother arrived in 1886.

     During the spring of 1887, Messers Wm. And Frank M. Coate, brothers, arrived from Ohio. They came West by rail to The Dalles, Oregon, then by boat down the Columbia River to White Salmon at Bingen Landing. They stayed at Bingen for ten days while awaiting their household goods and livestock. It required three days travel from White Salmon before they reached the valley. While at Bingen Landing they met C.A. Pearson, who had gone in White Salmon to be married to one of Mr. Stoller's daughters. The brothers each staked out a homestead claim and settled thereon. They, as well as Chas. A. Pearson, still live upon their original homesteads.

Irrigation

     When the Coate brothers arrived in the valley there were only seven cabins with small clearings around them to be found. Many open meadows were scattered throughout the yellow pine timber and willow brush where they obtained practically all of their food for the livestock.

     Christian Guler and A.C. Weingartner came to the valley in 1887 or '88 and settled in Lower Bear Valley, near Troutlake valley.

       This comprised the settlement of Troutlake valley until about 1890. Farms were cleared out of the timber and a few head of cattle were kept. Supplies were brought to the settlers by boat on the Columbia River from Portland and The Dalles to White Salmon. Stadelman experimented with irrigation in 1887 and found he could raise better crops with the use of water. Other farmers soon tried it and were successful. In 1889 the Troutlake Irrigation company was formed by Wm. and Frank Coate and Rufus Byrkett. The Coate Ditch was built that same year originating from the White Salmon River. Other experiments tried by these settlers included the seeding of red clover. This too, proved a success and larger crops of this were grown with the aid of irrigation. The news of these experiments soon reached out to the neighboring settlements and after 1890, many settlers arrived in the valley.

Deep Snow

     Among those arriving in 1890 was Mr. Chas. W. Moore, who first settled in Glenwood in 1885 then moved to Troutlake in 1890. As the settlers increased, more land was cleared and more cattle were brought into the valley. Rye, red clover, and Lincoln Grass were the main crops raised for hay. Wheat and oats were also grown.

      In the fall and winter of 1889-90 the deepest snowfall ever recorded in the valley fell to a depth of six feet after it had settled, due to a hard rain.

     In the summer many Indians were camped in the valley, most of them moving westward to the huckleberry fields at Twin Buttes and the Indian Racetracks, and very few staying in the valley during the summer. None of them stayed in the valley during the winter.

     Another early settler worthy of noting was Mr. Iver C. Wang, who arrived in the valley in 1901 with his family and took up a homestead in the upper end of the valley, Although Mr. and Mrs. Wang now live in White Salmon, they still own this land.

     Mr. Chas. A. Pearson was instrumental in securing a voting precinct in the valley. This was established in 1886 and the first general election was held in the fall of the same year in Pearson's cabin.

Postoffice

     Mr. Pearson also worked for and finally secured a postoffice in the valley in 1887. This was also established in his cabin as Mr. Pearson was the first Postmaster. Prior to the establishment of the postoffice the settlers paid twenty-five cents per week to compensate for the voluntary trips they made each week for their mail, to and from Gilmer. After the postoffice was established, Mr. Stadelman carried the mall from Gilmer to Troutlake on horseback. In 1895 Mr. Stadelman succeeded Mr. Pearson as postmaster and moved it down to his place where he maintained also a small grocery store. The Caryls now live on Stadelman's place. C. W. Moore took over the duties as postmaster in 1902 and moved it to his place, which is now known as the Spencer place. In 1924, while Moore was still postmaster, the postoffice was moved to its present location. Moore stayed with this job until he died in 1927, when Miss Alford took over the duties and held it until she died in 1934. Mr. Cutting was acting postmaster until 1936 when Mrs. Patrick, a granddaughter of Moore, was named postmaster, which position she holds today.

     In 1901 or 1902, the valley was so thickly settled that another postoffice was established in the upper end of the valley. Chris Guler maintained a hotel on the Stoller place and the post office was established at this place. This settlement then carried the name of Guler so the postoffice was known as Guler Postoffice and Chris Guler was the first postmaster. Herman Thode, who settled in the valley in 1904 from The Dalles, was second postmaster from 1905 to 1906. Guler again took the postoffice until 1913. J.E. Reynolds bought the Guler Hotel in 1913 and also secured the postoffice and was postmaster until 1926 when Mrs. J.A. Jermain took it over and held it until 1936 when the postoffice was closed by the government.

First School

     The first schoolhouse in the valley was started in 1887 in a one-room log cabin which was located just east of the present ranger station site. Miss Sarah Stevens was the first teacher, having three or four pupils for a three months term. She received thirty dollars per month without board for her services. In 1888 or '89 the school was moved to the Cutting place. Jasper Flannery from Goldendale was the teacher here. In 1892 the school was moved to the Billings' corner and remained there until 1896 when a large tree fell across the building. This building was then torn down, moved and rebuilt on the present school site. Later a frame building with one room was built on the site, which soon was too small and later two rooms were added on behind. Fire destroyed this building in 1918 and the present building was erected that same year.

First Stage

     The first stage made its appearance in the valley in 1893 when Chris Guler and A.G. Weingartner started the business with a team and wagon. Starting point in the valley was at the Guler Hotel and they stopped at the Maple Hotel at Bingen Landing. As the round trip necessitated two days, trips were made to and from the valley three times per week. They also took over the mail rout from White Salmon to Troutlake when they started the stage thus ending the trips to Gilmer after the mail. These men were the first mail carriers on this route to be paid by the government. They maintained the stage and mail route until 1897 when C.W. Moore took it over and held it until 1901.

Daily Mail

     In July 1894, Teunis Wyers, Jr., of White Salmon, started a stage route from White Salmon to Glenwood. While Mr. Myers called this a stage route, it consisted only of carrying the mail until a few years later, when he started the stage route for passengers and freight services. Only eighteen years old, Wyers carried the mail on horseback, making three trips per week from White Salmon to Glenwood. In 1898 Wyers started another mail route to Troutlake, he and Moore running the same route, although Wyers carried the mail and Moore carried the freight. For four or five years Wyers carried the mail on horseback to Glenwood and a hired hand carried it into the Troutlake valley for Wyers. Both of these routes were maintained with three trips per week until 1902 when Wyers applied for and received a mail contract for daily trips into the two settlements. It was now necessary for him to expand further as with daily service on the two routes, it was necessary to maintain two sets of riders for each route as the round trip required two days. After using only a horse and rider for several years, Wyers used a cart for one year then reverted to a light hack. This was used during the summer but in the winter it was necessary to go on horseback again until spring. Business soon picked up, both in freight and passenger business, and Wyers soon had to give up his hack for several democrat wagons. These he used for the heavy freight he was hauling into the valley and with several "Rockaway Stagecoaches" he carried the passengers into the two settlements. As before two sets of freight and passenger carrying wagons were maintained for each route so that daily service into these outlying districts would not be disrupted. Six horse teams were used on the freight wagons while a four-horse team sufficed on the coaches. During the summers around 1910 it was not uncommon for from 10 to 30 people to go into Troutlake valley every day. Several stagecoaches were used each day to carry the passengers to their destinations. Campers and fishermen made up the majority of the fares, some staying all summer and others from 2 weeks to a month, or longer. According to Wyers, it was a fisherman's paradise in the hills near Troutlake. People came from Portland, Hood River, The Dalles and other cities to fish and camp. It was also in the early part of the 1900s that Wyers carried 300 Mazama Club members to Troutlake, from which they made their first ascent of Mt. Adams. The headquarters for the stage in the valley was still maintained at the Guler Hotel, while Wyers maintained his own livery stable in White Salmon.

     Around 1910-12 the height of the freight and passenger business occurred. At this time Wyers had around 100 head of horses, 80 of which were in the harness every day.

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©  Jeffrey L. Elmer