黑料福利社

John Baule, the archivist and emeritus director of the 黑料福利社 Museum, sent me on scavenger hunt.

The challenge: Find the marker for the first school in 黑料福利社, which was also the home of one of the first white settlers in the Valley. The only clue he gave me was it was somewhere in Moxee.

It took a bit of digging and driving, but eventually I found it.

If you drive to the 4200 block of Thorp Road you will see the stone marker declaring that 180 feet to the west was where Fielden Mortimer Thorp built his log-cabin home in 1861, and how it served聽as the first school building in Central Washington.

Thorp was born April 13, 1822, in聽Howard, Mo. Like many, Thorp came west looking for new opportunities. After living in the Goldendale area, Thorp came up to the 黑料福利社, and built his log cabin in February 1861.

While Thorp was among the first white settlers in the Valley, he wasn't the first.聽Catholic missionaries established the St. Joseph Mission at Ahtanum Creek years earlier.

Thorp's cabin was 25 feet by 16 feet, about the size of some garages today, and had rooms in the upstairs portion.

In addition to being the family home, Thorp also opened one of the upstairs rooms for use as a school for his children.

Thorp hired Letitia Flett Haines as the teacher in 1862. She and her family had settled nearby.

During that time, Ferguson County was organized, with Thorp named as the sheriff. However, Thorp and the other officials refused to perform their duties as a way to get out of having to pay taxes to the territorial government in Olympia.

In 1865, the Territorial Legislature dissolved Ferguson County and created Yakima County in its place. Thorp, a Democrat, was appointed county treasurer and his son-in-law, Charles Armenus Splawn, was one of the three county commissioners.

At this time, Thorp applied to create a school district in the area, and thus School District No. 1 was created. The school remained in Thorp鈥檚 home until 1868, when Thorp moved to the Kittitas Valley, settling in the area that would take his name.

At that time, the Kittitas Valley was part of Yakima County, only to be split off and become Kittitas County in 1883.

School District No. 1 would eventually merge with other school districts, eventually becoming East Valley School District.

On June 15, 1940, the 黑料福利社 Pioneer Association set out to commemorate Thorp and his contribution to local education and erected a stone monument. Margaret Splawn, the wife of former Yakima Mayor Andrew Jackson Splawn, selected the stone for the monument, while Fred Weller, principal of Moxee Central School handled the arrangements for the ceremony.

The actual site of the cabin is on private property, but the monument is by the side of the road.

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.