HISTORY OF TROUT LAKE VALLEY

   Trout Lake Valley, situated twenty miles due north of White Salmon, is a picturesque valley, completely surrounded by high hills and with only one natural outlet without climbing one of the hills, and that is due south, following the course of the White Salmon River. The White Salmon River runs the full length of the valley, made larger by the entrance of Trout Creek, which after broadening out to form Trout Lake, flows into the river in the center of the valley. Long before the valley was settled by white men, it was known as a fisherman's paradise, and Indians for years had used it as a summer camp where they stopped on their way to the famous Mt. Adams Huckleberry fields; and fed horses on the lush meadows surrounding the lakes, and wove baskets from the reeds growing in the wet parts of the meadows. The earliest known white men in the valley was the McClellan Expedition which passed through the valley while attempting to make a study of the possibility of building a coast to coast railroad from the East to the Pacific Ocean. His company of men camped one night in the valley at what they called Camp Hool-hool-se, which is situated on the old Running Homestead, south and east of the valley proper. They were following the little used trail known as the Klickitat Pass which ran south of Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens, crossing the valley into Camas Prairie. The first white man to come into the valley with the idea of making a home was Peter Stoller, a native of Switzerland, who had heard of the valley, while living in Gilmer Valley. In 1879, he made a trip in by himself to look over the land and choose his homesite on the east and south of Trout Lake. He stayed a week and even began cutting logs and making preparations to build his cabin. In the spring of 1880, he moved his family which consisted of his wife, three sons, and four unmarried daughters, over from the Gilmer Valley. Their meager household goods were packed on horses backs and the family walked and drove a herd of twenty cattle. The trail the followed was rough and steep, taking them down into the Rattlesnake Canyon. The river was so rough and swollen from the melting snows that they were forced to ford it. This old ford was used for many years by the early settlers as the only way to get to the north side of the creek. Grass in the meadow looked so good to Mr. Stoller that he borrowed money and increased his herd to thirty-five head. The task they had set themselves was tremendous. Not only must they build a cabin in which to live, but also a barn to hold the cattle and cut wild hay to feed throughout the long winter months. Since the hay had to be cut by hand with a scythe and since snow came early that year, falling in October, they found themselves short. Long before the winter was over both humans and cattle were without food. For three years the Stoller family lived alone in the valley, meeting the many hardships of pioneer life alone and without help. When they needed supplies, some of the family went by horseback to Gilmer Valley, the nearest settlement, eighteen miles away over hard trails. It was by horseback that their first stove was brought into the valley. Mr. Stoller and daughter Susie, who had gone with him on this trip, were taking the stove home, but the sides of the Rattlesnake Canyon were so steep that the horse could not carry the stove, so Mr. Stoller and daughter carried it to the bottom of the canyon. Miss Stoller said it was almost an impossible feat and only her determination not to let such a precious article roll down the hill and be smashed enabled her to hang on. Although the Stoller family left the valley in the early 1900's, still the valley owes them much for their help to the other settlers. Mrs. Stoller often acted as nurse to the sick, giving her neighbors aid and shelter whenever she could. Mr. Stoller made many trips to the Columbia with his ox team to help later settlers move their goods in. In 1882, R.D. Cameron, who was building cabins at his logging camp in lower Bear Valley, started a road into the valley which he finished in 1883. Mr. Cameron had his home at White Salmon then and his house still stands behind the Gladden Grange. Working for Mr. Cameron, who was building cabins at his logging camp in lower Bear Valley was Charles Pearson, a young unmarried man who became interested in the valley. His claim was the second to be filed in the Trout Lake. From the first, Mr. Pearson was a promoter for all good things in the valley. He formed the first voting precinct as early as 1886, and gave the valley the permanent name of Trout Lake when he applied for and obtained the first postoffice in 1887. He was active for schools and donated half the land on which the present school is situated. In 1887, Charles Pearson and Susie Stoller were married. This was the first romance in the valley and one of the most beautiful possible. For their wedding Mr. Pearson and Miss Stoller rode horseback to Giddings Landing, or Bingen Landing as it was later known, and took the boat to The Dalles where they were married. Mrs. Pearson recalls that they led a horse with butter packed on his back to be taken to market. Other settlers came in 1883. William Stadelman, son in law of Peter Stoller moved in and homesteaded south and east of Charles Pearson. Many of the early Swiss settlers of the valley had first lived in Iowa before coming to Trout Lake and it was there William Stadelman had married Maggie Stoller, oldest daughter of Peter Stoller. Other settlers who came to the valley in 1893 were brothers Fred and Seffron Bentz, and Charles Kittenburg. Mr. Kittenburg later, with Rush Sellinger, built the first sawmill in the valley. It was situated on the R.J. Cameron place just south of where George Carr now lives; but later moved north on the Sawdust Road (so named because for many years the sawdust from the mill was spread on the road to keep it built above the rocks and from getting so muddy) and was owned and operated later by C.E. Woodruff, father of Ralph Woodruff. In 1884, John Peterson and wife came to the valley and homesteaded east of Charles Pearson's place. As they had no place to live in that first year they moved in with Mr. Pearson who was living on his own place nearby. To Mr. & Mrs. Peterson go the honor of having the first white child born in Trout Lake. In February of 1886, Wallace Peterson was born. Mr. Peterson also donated land for the school site and today the schoolhouse stands almost on the dividing line of the Pearson and Peterson farms. In the fall of 1884, Joseph Aerni made a trip into the valley to look it over, and in the early spring, moved his family up from near Portland. He bought some railroad land from Marie Stoller, daughter of Peter Stoller. Later, the government opened the land for homesteading and Mr. Aerni homesteaded it. This is the farm where the Hollenbeck mill now stands. At the time the Aerni family came, only five men lived in the valley -- Peter Stoller, Will Stadelman, Charles Pearson, John Peterson and Charles Kittenburg. Mr. Aerni with his wife and six children made quite an addition to the little settlement. Peter Stoller met them at the Columbia River dock and helped move them in, using his ox team. At that time all the farmers, as well as many of the later ones, used ox teams for their work. Mr. Aerni was the only one to use horses for his farm work. He brought with him two cows of his own and thirteen head of cows and heifers which belonged to another man. Mr. Aerni was to pay for them by raising half the calves for the owner until they were two years old. They moved into the little one room cabin on the place and lived there for over a year-not only the eight of them, but their daughter, Marie, was born that year. She was probably the second child born in the valley. Mr. Aerni was a deeply religious man and had been well educated in Switzerland. He had also been head manager of a large dairy herd there before coming to the states. With his herd of dairy cows, he soon built up a good herd of cows and made butter and stored it in the Butter Cave where there was ice all summer. In the fall, he took the butter to Portland where he sold it to the Mathiesen Reinpholz Hotel for fifteen cents a pound. To make a living for so large a family was not easy. The first summer, Mr. Aerni built a barn, and with the help of his 11 year old daughter and his son, 8 year old Joshua, he was able to cut and dry enough hay to feed his stock during the next winter. In 1889, Mrs. Aerni died, leaving him with a family of little ones, and a year later the second daughter died. There was no cemetery then and the graves were, for many years, on the home place. During the time Mr. Pearson had the postoffice, Mr. Stadelman carried mail from Gilmer, but when Mr. Pearson gave up the postoffice, Mr. Stadelman moved it into his home and also ran a small store there. The old letter hole on the wall to drop letters in can still be found in the large house which the Stadelman family built on their farm. Mr. Stadelman was the first farmer in the valley to experiment with irrigation and thus began the one thing that could make a success of farming here. Although it was several years before the first large ditch was built by the Coates Bros., still Mr. Stadelman had set the pattern. During these years of the first early settlers the families learned to depend on each other in times of sickness, sorrow, or whenever help was needed. The men took turns making one trip a week by horseback to Gilmer valley to pick up their mail. Most of the farmers built small cheese factories on their farms and Mr. Aerni specialized in Swiss Cheese. Prior to the year 1885, all settlers in the valley had been from Switzerland, except Charles Pearson and John Peterson, who were from Sweden. In that year the first U.S. citizens arrived -- Harvey Byrkett and son Charles, and Noah Etter. In 1886 Mrs. Harvey Byrkett and another son, Rufus arrived from Ohio to join Mr. Byrkett and Charles at the new home situated on the Lake Meadows. Like the Stollers, they had to ford Trout Creek to get to their place. The Byrketts built a large home which for many years was the show place of the valley. Living at the edge of the meadows they had the advantage of having all the wild hay they wanted while the other farmers had to grow theirs. It was soon after this that Rufus Byrkett was married in Hood River. He died within a short time of pneumonia.In 1886 Claus H. Pearson came to Trout Lake to make his home with his brother, Chas. A. Pearson. In 1887 the Coate brothers, William and Frank, arrived from Ohio. William married Nancy Byrkett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Byrkett. The Coate brothers had been influenced on the selection of their new home by the enthusiastic letters received from the Byrketts. Like other settlers from the east, they came by rail to The Dalles; then by boat to Gidding's Landing, which is now Bingen. There they stayed ten days waiting for their household goods and cattle to arrive. It was while they were there that they met Charles and Susie Stoller, on their way to The Dalles to get married. This event is of great interest to all who know the valley and its history, for not only was this romance a beautiful one and one that lasted their entire lives, making this couple so loved by all who knew them, but here also started the life-long friendship of the two men who were outstanding in the work of developing the valley and in giving it the high standard of living and community cooperation which Trout Lake has enjoyed to a far greater extent than most small farming communities. Although it had been seven years since the first family had moved into the valley, the moving in was still a hard task and it took the Coate brothers three days to move their things in. When they arrived there were only seven cabins in the valley, surrounded by clearings and their cattle ran loose in the many small meadows and open range of the pine forests, often feeding on willow brush. And now the settlement of Trout Lake had begun in ernest. The Coate brothers brought in two teams of heavy oxen and began to log, clear land and build cabins. Frank Coate was a carpenter and many of the early buildings, both log and frame were built by him. The first winter in the valley, Mr. and Mrs. W. Coate and Frank Coate lived with the Harvey Byrketts, and helped build their large house which is still standing, in which Dan Burdett now lives. At this time practically all the meadow land was owned by the Byrketts as Alijah Byrkett, who lived on what later became known as the old Eversole place in Bingen, had also homesteaded north of the creek. Also living north of the creek and near the ford used by those living north of the creek was Mrs. Wagnitz and sons Ben and August. Mrs. Wagnitz was home nurse for the valley and their home was where the Harold Hollenbecks home now stands. One of the great tragedies of the valley was when Ben Wagnitz, who had lost an arm as the result of a shotgun blast while hunting on the lake, shot and killed a young school teacher and then killed himself because she did not seem to care for him as he wanted. Other settlers were Noah Etter, who homesteaded the present Fred Wood farm; John Eckhart and sons, Chris and Fred, who had all taken homesteads between the Little Mountain and the White Salmon River; Peter Schmid, who homesteaded just south of the Allisons. There were many others who came to make their homes, many of whom stayed only a few years. Among them were Jake Hickman and his wife, who homesteaded where Leonard Schmid now lives. They were negroes, and Jake Hickman had been a coachman for Harvey Byrkett in Ohio. Mrs Hickman was a niece of Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Boze, a well loved old negro couple who lived many years in the valley. Mr. Boze had at one time been a slave. Mrs. Hickman was interested in church work and was superintendent of the first Sunday School organized. In 1886 Charles Pearson had succeeded in getting Trout Lake designated as a voting precinct and the voting was done at his home. In 1887, by his efforts, a post office was established at his home and the settlement was given the name of Trout Lake. Wm. Stadelman was the first mail carrier, making two trips a week to the Gilmer postoffice by horseback. Also in 1887, the first school was held in a log cabin on the John Barniger place where Gilbert Stoller now lives. There were seven pupils that first year of three months schooling, and not one could speak English. They were Elizabeth Schmid, Josua and Bertha Aerni, Marie and Willy Stadelman, Edward Stoller and Larry Eckhart. Ida Stevens was the first teacher. Later the school was moved to the Frank Pavolka place; later moved to the corner near the Stadelman place where the John Hall home is and in 1900 Charles Pearson and John Peterson each donated land where their two places joined, for a permanent school grounds, the present school site. In 1887, Wm. Stadelmann, the third settler in the valley, experimented with irrigation from the small creek which ran through his place and so started the one thing that could bring success and prosperity to the valley, by which Trout Lake was to become an outstanding dairy community. Today seven large ditches come from the White Salmon river and Trout Creek and flow the entire length of the valley, forming the cheapest irrigation system in the world. In the fall of 1887, Christ Guler came by way of Gilmer and his brothers, John and Antone, homesteaded in Bear Valley. He batched there in the year 1888, then returned to The Dalles where he married in 1889, and lived there until after the birth of his daughter in 1890. They moved back to the homestead. John Winegartner had also settled in Bear Valley and the two men, about 1890, took a contract for delivering the mail to Trout Lake, After the change was made the valley mail came direct from White Salmon. The year of 1889 must have been a discouraging one for these first pioneer settlers of Trout Lake Valley. The snow was the deepest the valley had known and many of the cattle had to be taken below Husum to find feed on Bald Mt. Here the cows were milked and kept until the snow was gone. At this time Noah Etter, a very heavy man, had a contract to carry the mail from Gilmer to Trout Lake, but the snow made it impossible for him to ride horse so he persuaded Joseph Aerni to take over his contract. It was a hard task he had agreed to do and most of the trips had to be made by snow shoe. This besides his dairy herd at home, a large family of children and a sick wife. It was in December of this year that Elizabeth Schmid, only thirteen years old, took over the duties of her mother when Mrs. Aerni died. One night when the going was extra hard, Mr. Aerni would not have made it if Mrs. Chris Guler had not hung a lantern in the window of their cabin at Bear Valley to guide Mr. Aerni there. However in 1890, conditions all over Klickitat County improved. Prices were better, the year was a good one and many more settlers came to the valley. Mr. & Mrs. Charles Moore of Panakanic, south of Glenwood, moved in and in two years took over the postoffice from Mr. Stadelman and moved it to his home four miles east of the present town. Mr. & Mrs. Ed Duncan and baby, came from Ohio. She was a sister to William and Frank Coate. Mr. & Mrs. Albert Elmer, and baby Albert, came from Wisconsin. She was a sister to Peter Schmid. But both of these families returned to their former homes for several years before finally settling permanently in Trout Lake Valley. Also in this year Andrew Johnson, wife and two daughters, settled on the former Skipton place, where E.A. Fisher now lives. This is the spot where the Peter Stoller family had camped in 1880 while waiting for the high water to recede so they could ford it to the site he had selected to be their new home. Ulrich Zuberbuhler had been in for some time and the Henry Huber family came in the 1890's and built the large white house on what is known as the Burbank place. There were other settlers of course, during these years, but it would be impossible to name them all at this time and many of them only stayed a short time and left without playing too important a part in the development of the valley. From now on the history of the valley is the history of its development. Its industries and improvements, its irrigation ditches and continual increase of cleared and farmed land. Its cooperative handling of its dairy products. Its church, school, and fraternal organizations; all influenced strongly by frugal, hard working farmers and his spirit of friendliness and cooperation. Trout Lake prospered and became one the best known communities of the county. In 1902, a cooperative cheese factory was established under the name of Trout Lake Dairy Cooperative Association. In 1902-3 Chris Guler built the Guler Hotel on the site of the Peter Stoller home which proved to be a most thriving tourist trade, and especially popular to the fisherman from Portland. In 1904-5 Herman and Henry Thode built the Tourist Club and with Dr. A.G. Belshiem helped Chris Guler to advertise the valley. Chris Guler also established the Guler Postoffice. The Guler Hotel was razed by Harold Hollenbeck in 1963. In 1902 the first class graduated from the eighth grade and in their honor Mr. & Mrs. Wm. Coate held an evening banquet at their home. Members of the class were James Coate, son of Wm. Coate; Effie Byrkett, daughter of Rufus Byrkett (now Mrs. Wade Dean of White Salmon); Mary Aerni and Amelia Fitchner, daughter and step-daughter of Joseph Aerni; Rozella Boze, Roy Chubb, Dolly Johnson, and Inez Gregory. Teacher was Mr. Frisbee. In 1903, Jake Claterbos, father of Mrs. Walter Hunsaker, built a telephone line at his own expense into the valley. He had lost part of his family to diphtheria the year before and sadly felt the need of a telephone for emergencies. In 1895 the Chapman Bros. from Glenwood built a general store which they sold to James Blue in 1904. It is now the C.H. Peterson store. Another store was owned by E.E. Peets and sold to O.J. Smith. This store, under Mr. Smith, occupied the lower floor of the Masonic Hall Building. Fraternal organizations were started as early as 1902; first the United Artisans, the Odd Fellows, the Masonic Lodge, and later the Grange and Eastern Star. Strong man of the fraternities was probably Wm. Coate, who had been a Mason in Ohio and through whose influence the first Masonic Lodge in western Klickitat county was formed in Trout Lake. He was also a member of the Glenwood Grange before the Trout Lake Grange was formed. He was also the only man from the valley to be in the State Legislature, where he served a term as a member of the House of Representatives in 1902 and was elected County Commissioner from this district in 1899. He was always a leader in the valley and for twenty years was Secretary-Treasurer of the Trout Lake Cooperative Dairy Association. His brother Frank Coate was also connected with all valley activities, and took an especially keen interest in the church, and helped with most of the early buildings of the valley, since he was a carpenter by trade. These men and C.A. Pearson probably exerted the strongest influence in the growth of the valley, not only because of their strong and upright leadership, but because they stayed with their homes until death called them. With the passing of C.A. Pearson, the last of the men who homesteaded in the valley are gone, but some of the young people who came to the valley are still here. Oldest of the pioneers is Mrs. Elizabeth Schmid, oldest daughter of Joseph Aerni; with her brother, Joseph, a close second. Mrs. Mary Keys of Bingen is also an early pioneer of the valley; Wallace Peterson is now living in White Salmon. And then there are the sons and daughters of these early settlers who still carry on the work their parents started. There are Mrs. D.H. Allaway, Carl Pearson, Mrs. Ralph Woodruff and George Pearson, sons and daughters of C.A. Pearson and Susie Stoller; John, Adolph and Dewey Schmid, sons of Peter Schmid and Elizabeth Aerni; Charles Coate and Mrs. Dewey Schmid, son and daughter of William Coate and Nancy Byrkett; Mrs Chas. Coate, daughter of Christ Guler; Walter Schmid and Mrs. Rupert Jennings, son and daughter of Jacob Schmid and Elizabeth Aerni Schmid; Mrs. Homer Spencer, daughter of Amelia Fitchner and Claus Pearson; Rodger Coate, son of Frank Coate and Anna Moore; Mrs. C.W. Stewart, daughter of Ed Duncan; Carl Peterson, son of John Peterson; Albert Elmer, Mrs. Jesse Christian and Mrs. R.A. Wilson, son and daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Elmer, Sr.; Tony Guler, son of Antonne Guler of Bear Valley; Charles Brown, Mrs. Francis Patrick and Mrs. Myron Halse, children of Mary Brown; and Mrs. Harry Davis, daughter of Joseph Aerni. It is not generally known, and seldom used, but the name of our valley as submitted by C.A. Pearson to the government is spelled as one word -- Troutlake. This means that officially, we live in Troutlake.

     This history was compiled and written by Alice Schmid, wife of John Schmid, and edited in Trout Lake School Paper in 1951-52.
     As of July 1964, the old pioneers still living are: Wallace Peterson, Mrs. Mary Keys, Carl Pearson, George Pearson, Mrs. Ralph Woodruff, Joseph Aerni, Adolph Schmid, Charles Coate, Mrs. Dewey Schmid, John Schmid, Mrs. Chas. Coate, Walter Schmid, Mrs. Rupert Jennings, Jesse Christian, Mrs. Art Wilson, Tony Guler, Mrs. Francis Patrick, and Mrs. Harry Davis. There are also other brothers and sisters of these pioneers still living that did not stay long in Trout Lake. Mrs. Francis Patrick retired from years of teaching in 1964. She taught mostly in Trout Lake, White Salmon, and Klickitat.

Irene Elmer, July 26, 1964.

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©  Jeffrey L. Elmer