The Hood River Glacier, Hood River, OR., November 18, 1915, page 6
HANS LAGE RECALLS HOOD RIVER ARRIVAL
"I recall a snowfall just 40 years ago that was this
early," says Hans Lage, a pioneer homesteader of the East Side last Thursday,
when discussing the snowstorm that was prevailing over the Hood River valley.
"My family and my wife's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Claus Hoeck, arrived at the
Hood River boat landing November 12, 1875. It was snowing then.
"A flag was flying at the boat landing. It had been raised
on the day before at the time of the arrival of the colony of settlers from
Elmyra, N.Y., and points in Pennsylvania. We remained a day or two in Hood
River, then a mere settlement, and walked, after ferrying across the Columbia,
to Gilmer, Wash., where we were contemplating settling. On the morning of
November 18 the thermometer registered a temperature of four degrees below
zero at Gilmer and three feet of snow covered the ground."
In addition to his wife, Mr. Lage's family at the time
of his arrival consisted of two daughters, now matrons of the Apple Valley,
Mrs. W.P. Scobee and Mrs. J.H. Koberg, and a son, Henry Lage. The home place
of Mr. Mr. Lage has always been conspicuous in the East Side orchard district.
While neighbors planted all of their tillable land to apple trees, a portion
of the Lage ranch was reserved for grain. While the German pioneer, who came
here from Iowa, has engaged in the orchard business, he has consistently
practiced diversified farming.
But three surviving members of the Elmyra party now remain
in Hood River. They are: Mrs. Emma Ingalls and her son, J.W. Ingalls, and
Chas. Wallace, whose father, J.W. Wallace, passed away last summer. A sister
of Mr. Wallace, Mrs. W.B. Perry, now resides in California. But few of the
New York and Pennsylvania emigrants remained in Hood River longer than to
stop over for the winter. As soon as spring came they journeyed on down the
Columbia to the Willamette valley.
The late Lyman Smith, whose death occurred last Wednesday
at the home of his son, Will Smith, in Portland, was a member of the party."
[HOME]
© Jeffrey L. Elmer