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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Florence Courtney Melton was the sister of my great
grandmother, Sarah Jane Courtney Houk.</FONT></DIV>
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<STRONG>taken from</STRONG><BR>
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<P><B><FONT size=+3>HISTORY OF A PIONEER FAMILY</FONT></B> <BR><B><FONT
size=+1>Written by Florence (Courtney) Melton 1857-1926</FONT></B> <BR><B><FONT
size=+1>signed by her 24 February 1923 and later donated to</FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT size=+1>Garfield Co, WA Historical Museum in Pomeroy, WA</FONT></B>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4><STRONG>Moving To Oregon</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4> I don't know who proposed it. It was
decided to come west to Oregon. They sold their homes. We fitted two
wagons. [Jacob] Houk fitted one wagon and had three horses. Mary had
one horse. Ahira Morse had a horse. He drove one wagon. We
furnished a span of mules. So that made one four horse team. Baxter
drove the other team. We had three horses, but drove two most of the
time. Uncle Holbrook made a sale. We sent our surplus stock and
plunder there. It was sold, and as I remember, they didn't get much out of
the sale. Everyone knew we could not take everything with us, so why pay
much for it. Mother had moved her bureau and bookcase from Ohio. She
knew she could not move it farther. She gave them to Jacob, our married
brother. His daughter cherishes the bureau yet as the most precious
heirloom of her grandmother she was named for but never saw. They had so
many books. It was quite a struggle to pack in a box two feet square all
your treasures and cast aside others seemingly so dear. As long as Mother
lived she would wish for books left in Iowa. The was one keepsake,
however, she would not part with. That was Grandfather Ashbaugh's copper
kettle, It held twenty gallons, and he bought it about the year 1834, when
their orchard came in to bearing. Mother boiled apple butter by the barrel
in this kettle. (It is in my cellar now.) The winter of 1867-68 was
a busy time for everyone. They kept the teams up and rolled the corn to
them. The man who bought our farm moved in the last of March to get
settled in time to begin work when the weather would permit. There were
nine in their family and six in ours. It is safe to say we were somewhat
crowded. It was a late spring. I don't think they had plowed any or
very little when we left.</FONT>
<P><FONT size=+1> We started at four o'clock May first,
1868 for the great West. I don't think any one of the party had any
regrets for leaving Iowa, or indulged in a moment's longing for it ever
after. We were on our way to the great unknown. We expected it to be
wild, lots of Indians, but that had no terrors for Mother. She declared
she would go until she found a place where she could raise fruit. Several
men had visited us that last winter who had been out to Washington and
Oregon. They were loud in praise of the Willamette Valley; it's
possibilities as a great fruit country. We left Iowa with Albany as our
destination, but Uncle Holbrook thought if he could get to Wally Wallee, it
would be near enough to Paradise for him. One man came to see us who had
been a soldier stationed on the plains. After telling Indian stories for
two hours, he reached over and took hold of a bunch of my hair and said, "Well,
Sis, when the Indians scalp you, they will get a pretty head of hair." I
gave a scream and nearly fainted. He told one yarn I never forgot.
When they were in a sod fort, the ground was covered with a light fall of
snow. They had butchered a beef and hung the haunch up on a post so the
coyotes would come within shooting distance. A Dutchman had to stand guard
that night. He saw the haunch, and looking out over the snow enough bushes
showed that it looked like Indians creeping up to surprise the fort. He
began shooting and calling for more amonish, more amonish. The haunch was
riddled, but no Indians killed.</FONT> </P></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Cecil Houk, ET1 USN Ret.<BR>PO Box 530833<BR>San Diego CA
92153<BR>FAX 619-428-6434<BR><A
href="mailto:cchouk@cox.net">mailto:cchouk@cox.net</A><BR>ANDERSON - BLAKELY -
FORD - HOUK - KIMSEY - MOE - RULAFORD - SIMPSON<BR>Searchable GEDCOM: <A
href="http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk">http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk</A><BR>My
web page MENU: <A
href="http://members.cox.net/~cchouk/">http://members.cox.net/~cchouk/</A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>