The following history of Rainier, Oregon was published in the program for Rainier Days in the Park in 2008. It was originally written by Mrs. Grace Reid, credited as Rainier's Oldest Living Pioneer. Grace Reid was born November 9, 1879 to Mr. and Mrs. George F. Moeck, married William Reid in 1906, and died on August 15, 1970 at the age of 91. Anna Zerzyke mentions in her Story of Rainier 1805-1925 that Mrs. Reid "took an afternoon off" to help her gather information about Rainier's schools.
The exact date this was written or originally published is not given, however some clues in the text ("...as late as eighteen hundred and ninety, which is just twenty-four years ago." and "...held in 1857, almost 60 years ago.") date it to around 1914. I suspect it was first published in the newspaper around that time, and may have been broken up into segments and spread over several issues. In addition to crediting Mrs. Reid as Rainier’s Oldest Living Pioneer (implying she was of advanced age at the time), there are a couple of editor's notes included that seem to have been added much later, but are still very out of date (i.e. The Rainier Mineral Soap Factory "is now owned by the Rainier Union High School District; gift of the Rainier Women's club." and a mention of the Medical Dental Building, which was built in the mid-1960s) suggesting that this history was republished at a later date, perhaps shortly before Mrs. Reid’s death, and that it was this version that the Rainier Eagles copied for the 2008 Days in the Park program. A passage also seems to have been accidentally left out of the second paragraph, presumably referring to Lewis & Clark. Other portions may have been left out as well due to space limitations, and there are several typos that I have tried to retain as I have know way of knowing where they originated.
As you read this, keep in mind the historical context of the time it was written. The First World War was just starting, if it had started at all. It had only been about a decade since the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane. Henry Ford had started his car company only a decade ago and the now-famous Model T was only introduced about 4 years ago. Most long-distance travel was still by riverboat, or by trains with steam locomotives and wood-bodied passenger cars. The city of Longview, Washington was still a decade away, and the land across the river where it would be built was occupied by farms and a small town called Freeport.
HISTORY of RAINIER
BY MRS. GRACE REID - RAINIER'S OLDEST LIVING PIONEER
The theme of history of Rainier has been written several times but yet it has never lost its interesting points for the old as well as the young. Although for the present historian there remains no new or exciting details.
Rainier is a thriving city on the Columbia River, between the ocean and Oregon's largest city, Portland. Rainier is over a hundred years old and when first founded it had a very promising outlook. If old legends handed from generation to generation are reliable, the early eighteen hundreds. They camped a few days under a large cotton wood tree near the Rainier Mineral Soap Factory, at the foot of Washington Street. (ed. note: the factory is now owned by the Rainier Union High School District; gift of the Rainier Women's club).
From the time of Lewis & Clark's visit in the early eighteen hundreds up to eighteen fifty we are unable to collect and records of events. From that time on to the present date we are writing this history with the aid of Mrs. George Moeck Sr. and the city recorder's book.
Rainier was founded in 1850. It was then home of the red man (better known as the Indian) The Indians has a strong hatred of the whites or Boston men as they termed them. In order that the whites could feel safe they built a fort of large capacity just below the place where is now the Columbia River Meat Company on Cleveland and Water Streets. (ed. note: now perhaps near the Medical Dental bldg.).
There were two tribes of Indians around Rainier, the Cowlitz and the Chinook. These Indians with the aid of others from the upper Columbia has planned a massacre for the Lower Columbia Puget Sound country. But instead of reaching this point as was first intended they crossed the river at a point above St. Helens and turned up lewis River. Consequently the Indians from the Lower Columbia were not in that raid. The whites were too strong for the Indians around Rainier, so aside from petty thievery they were of no trouble to the early settlers of our city. Relics of the old fort were visible until the last twenty years. It is said to have been a very beautiful piece of work. It was made of large fir logs stood on end, were from forty to fifty feet in height with a platform all around the top for sentinel.
Rainier was also the head of deep water navigation. The vessels that sailed the ocean never went beyond this point, and until the Northern Pacific Railroad put a ferry across the river at Kalama this was also the place where the transportation across the river for points in Canada and Northern Washington was carried on. The people that crossed here used to meet passengers was by batteaux, large flat boats on the plan of a scow. This boat was propelled by six or eight stalwart men, and in order that they could keep stroke with one another they used to sing a pecular chant.
Rainier's first industry was a trading post, people for miles on both sides of the Columbia came to Rainier to buy and sell their produces and supplies. This business has been kept up pretty briskly to the present time.
In eighteen hundred and sixty there were several stores, boarding houses, two hotels, a church, schoolhouse, dwellings and sawmill of which not a thing is left to bring back recollections. For in eighteen hundred and sixty one and two there was a sever winter which demoralized business to such an extent the Mr. Minear and his followers left Rainier and moved to The Dalles, Oregon. The winter lasted until late spring and consequently everything was spoiled by late planting of crops. In the early days, if man had milled sawed lumber, he always moved it with him if he happened to move from one locality to another. But it was seldom that a settler moved after once getting a home started, because it cost considerable to travel in that time. When Mr. Minear left, he left Rainier, a desserted village. In nineteen hundred and thirteen Mr. Minear's first home in Rainier was destroyed, on order that Joseph Silva might erect four up to date cottages on New Bedford Street.
Mr. Blanchard came to Rainier in the fall of eighteen hundred and sixty four. All that remains now of Rainier when Mr. Blanchard came are the old mill and store on Water and Cowlitz Street and the home of Mrs. S. W. Dibblee on Commercial, between the New Bedford and Virginia Street. If the builder and former owner of Mrs. Dibblee's home could revisit this old home he would be unable to recognize the place, on account of the street improvements and the alterations of the house. In later years Blanchard bought land from Dobbins, Fox, Warren and Harris donation land claims and from that time on there has been a new era for the city of Rainier. When Mr. Blanchard arrived there were a tribe of Cowlitz Indians on the eastern part of the town, and a tribe of Chinook Indians on the western part. There were Indians here as late as eighteen hundred and ninety, which is just twenty four years ago.
C. E. Fox, James Dobbins, John Harris and F. M. Warren were earliest land holder of this section of the country. All four of these men came to Rainier in or about the year 1850.
C. E. Fox had what is now known as Rainier proper, which originally consisted of 24 acres, but he owned three hundred and twenty acres, which was bounded on the north by the Columbia River, on the east by Washington Street, but Rainier proper is bounded on the north by the Columbia River, on the east by Washington Street, on the south by Union Street and on the west by Harrison Street.
James Dobbins donation land claim lies west of C. E. Fox's and runs west along the river to Dibblee Stock Ranch. F. M. Warren's property lies east of the Fox Donation Land claim and up he river the the Thayer place. The John Harris land claim is between the Fox and Harris Donation land claims.
Of small incidentals that happened from 1850 up until the incorporation of our beautiful city on the Columbia is that: C. E. Fox and wife were the first with people to be married on this part of the country. Dean Blanchard had the first general store; M. S. Ladd founded the Ladd Tilton Bank, Portland, Ore had the first saloon; it is said that this western country of ours, fifty years ago was the hiding place of fugitives from the east and other countries.
In the days of our ancestors, the only time that they had time for pleasure or to gather for social chats when there happened to be a wedding, a funeral or maybe a religious service, now they never had many of these doings so you can see how much better and easier ways we have of the present day in bringing one another in to close friendship. We have Ladies, Aides, Gentlemen's Smokers and tangoe teas. But never the less whenever anything of note happened in the early days everybody turned out to see what was being done by his fellow beings.
The first Fourth of July held in this part of Oregon was held in Rainier, on the Methodist church property, now owned by Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Clark. This great celebration was held in 1857, almost 60 years ago. All the patriotic people from as far up the river as St. Helens and as far down the river as Cathlamet came to Rainier to have part on the great glorious Fourth of July.
Although Rainier was founded in early 1850, it was not incorporated until 1885, that is the part bounded on the north by the Columbia River, on the east by Washington st., on the south by Union Street and on west by Harrison. The corporation papers were issued on November 25 and reached Rainier sometime during the following year. The first town and state election was held in the Blanchard and Muckles store which stands on the corner of Cowlitz and Water Street. The result of the election was that Dean Blanchard, Joseph Silva, Merritt Pomerya and Enos Eston were elected first trustees of the city of Rainier.
Since incorporation of Rainier there has been quite a change in business and appearance of the town. Instead of having a population of 100, they now have about 2,000 and instead of 15 voters as shown by the registration book, there are close to 1,400 voters in Rainier now. Where there used to be large knolls and plenty of not to many mud holes there are now Macadam streets. We also have a municipal water and sewage system, while the Oregon Washington corporation is supplying us with electric and last but not least of all the North Bank Railroad are preparing plans to electrify the railroad between Clatskanie and Rainier.
Now for a few closing remarks and a few more comparisons. Stop a moment and think how our ancestors were compelled to travel, is was a case of sail, swim, walk, cantor or ride horse back or stay home and wonder what your neighbor was doing. I say neighbor because if you lived thirty miles away you were considered a neighbor. But as I was saying when something of interest was going to happen they usually went. Regardless of the sneaking Indians and the difficulty of traveling. If the people of today do not have plush cushions on the train seats, automobiles, speed boats, automatic elevators and a policeman or two in each street corner they began to complain about the hard mode of travel, in a few years from now everybody will have to have an aeroplane or do more complaining. From holding conversations with the old settlers they say that the people of today hardly enjoy themselves as much as the pioneer that crossed the plains in a crude wagon with no spring and drawn by oxen, and Indians always watching for a chance to attack them. I was also told that those who traveled in their prairie schooner felt better than the millionaire who travels in his private car.
In closing, I would like to note that since 1914, Rainier's population has not seen significant growth and nothing ever came of the "plans to electrify the railroad between Clatskanie and Rainier." I also wonder what was considered a "speed boat" in 1914, and if Rainier had automatic elevators and two policemen in every block at the time, and I am surprised that even back in 1914, when flying was still so new that scheduled air mail hadn't been established yet, people were already thinking that someday everyone would have their own airplane.
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