黑料福利社

Speeding along Interstate 90, it鈥檚 easy to miss the small cemetery in the middle of a field near Thorp.

A carved wooden sign above the burial ground identifies it as the Thorp-Splawn Pioneer Cemetery, in which at least a dozen members of two prominent families that settled the Yakima and Kittitas valleys are interred.

The most prominent of the tombstones is that of Fielden Mortimer Thorp, who was born April 13, 1822, in Howard, Mo. Thorp is credited in some histories as being the first white settler in the 黑料福利社, staking his claim near what is today Moxee after moving up from what is now Goldendale.

(Technically, one could argue that the Rev. Charles Pandosy and others of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who established the St. Joseph Mission near Ahtanum Creek in 1852 at the invitation of Yakama Chief Kamiakin, were first.)

When the territorial Legislature created Ferguson County in 1863, Thorp was appointed the county鈥檚 first sheriff, a duty he didn鈥檛 bother to fulfill as part of a protest by settlers in the area who didn鈥檛 want to pay taxes to the government in Olympia, a complaint that has not entirely gone away.

In 1865, the Legislature dissolved Ferguson County and created Yakima County, with Mortimer, a Democrat, appointed as the county鈥檚 treasurer this time, and his son-in-law Charles Armenus Splawn appointed as one of three county commissioners.

Thorp was regarded as someone who had friendly relations with the Yakama, and he would spend his time prospecting for minerals in the area.

In 1868, Thorp and his family followed Splawn to the Kittitas Valley, which caused the county seat to move to the home of another resident in the 黑料福利社. He settled in the area that would be named for him, Thorp.

The area was part of Yakima County until 1883, when the Legislature split it off into Kittitas County.

Thorp died Feb. 11, 1893, and was buried in his family cemetery, alongside his wife, Margaret, who died in 1888. Thorp鈥檚 daughter, Dulcena Heelen Splawn is also buried there, and her tombstone indicates her husband, Charles, is buried there as well.

Charles鈥� brother was Andrew Jackson Splawn, whose homestead formed the nucleus of Ellensburg and who later served as a mayor of what is today Yakima. Andrew Splawn is buried in Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima.

There are 12 unmarked graves, 10 of which are believed to be Splawn鈥檚 descendants.

While the cemetery is visible from the freeway, it is on private property that is posted 鈥渘o trespassing.鈥� It is separate from the larger Thorp Cemetery, which is closer to town.

It Happened Here is a weekly history column by 黑料福利社 reporter Donald W. Meyers. Reach him at dmeyers@yakimaherald.com or 509-577-7748. Sources for this week's column include , , “An Illustrated History of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties” compiled by the Interstate Publishing Co., and the archives of the 黑料福利社.