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Sun Valley’s Ruud Mountain
John W. Lundin
Originally published in Skiing History Magazine March-April 2022 issue. Article details the history of the Ski jump at Ruud Mountain.
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Tracks of Time: The History of Idaho’s Railroads
John W. Lundin
In 2021, I worked with producer Forrest Burger to make a TV show for the Idaho
Experience series on Idaho Public TV, “Tracks of Time: The History of Idaho’s Railroads.”
Idaho Experience is a historical documentary series produced by the award-winning team at
Idaho Public Television in partnership with the Idaho State Historical Society. We bring to life
the stories of the extraordinary people and defining events that have shaped Idaho’s past and
present.
The program was first shown in March 2022, used by Idaho Public TV as its annual fund
raiser, and it brought in more money than any previous single program. It can be seen on line if a
person is a donor to Idaho Public TV and has a passport. A preview can be seen at:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jxcrw24qev2m2qz/AABKGCM52CTbLnU6GrVfIN2ea?dl=0
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A collection of 59 Thorp Washington School newspapers between 1923 and 1933
Guy C. Smith
Collected by 1932 Thorp High School graduate Annice L Ross, this book is a collection of the Thorp Bumblebee newspaper published by the Thorp schools.
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To the Land of Unlimited Opportunities: Finkbeiner and Gaiser Stories
Carol Finkbeiner Steinhauer
To the Land of Unlimited Opportunities tell the storiies of the Finkbeiner and Gaiser families from the late 1700's until today.
To the Land of Unlimited Opportunities, ends with the deaths of John and Lydia Finkbeiner. This hardly ends our story. Their seven sons and daughters-in-law gave them thirty-two grandchildren, all but two reached adulthood. Sadly, their only daughter Esther passed away as a young adult in 1926. Five of the seven sons of John and Lydia became ministers of the gospel while two remained on the land and increased the size of the farm over the years. For many years, a Finkbeiner tradition has been an annual family picnic on Memorial Day weekend at the homestead. In 2000, this event celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of the homestead with two-hundred-twenty in attendance. Twenty-one years have passed since then and we are a much larger family, each with our own stories.
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Ski Lifts, Inc. Bring Tows to the Northwest
John W. Lundin
In the fall of 1937, Ski Lifts, Inc., owned by James Parker, Chauncey Griggs and others, built rope tows at Snoqualmie Summit, Mount Rainier and Mount Baker, bringing the latest in ski technology to the northwest. Those lifts transformed local skiing, as skiers no longer had to hike up hills with skins on their skis for a short run down, but could ride to the top and take what seemed like unlimited runs throughout the day.
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Skiing During World War II: Army Mountain Troops First Train on Mount Rainier, Military Personnel Learn to Ski on Snoqualmie Pass
John W. Lundin
Relatively little has been written about the army’s experimentation with mountain troops before the U.S. entered WW II in December 1941. Beginning in late 1940, men from existing army units were stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, and trained to ski and in winter warfare on Mt. Rainier. This article discusses that training and civilian efforts to provide winter recreation opportunities for military personnel.
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EARLY DAYS OF SKIING IN THE NORTHWEST: ORGANIZED SKIING BEGAN IN CLE ELUM
John W. Lundin
This article documents early skiing in the Cle Elum area. From 1921 until 1933 the Summit Ski Club (later called Cle Elum Ski Club) held ski jumping competitions. This article also discuses the development of the Northern Pacific Railroad and discovery of coal and subsequent mining operations in upper Kittitas county.
The article's many historic pictures and memorabilia of the Cle Elum Ski Club are courtesy of the Cecelia Maybo family. These materials are now part of the Archives and Special Collections of the James E. Brooks Library at Central Washington University. The article also discusses the Ellensburg Ski Club that existed in the 1930s, and its ski area in Robinson Canyon, and contains historic photos from the University's Archives and Special Collections.
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SIGURD HALL - SKI RACER & MOUNTAINEER Northwest Four-Way Ski Champion A Life Tragically Ended too Soon in the Silver Skis Race on Mt. Rainier in 1940
John W. Lundin
Sigurd Hall was one of the Northwest’s best ski racers and mountaineers when he met his untimely death in the Silver Skis Race on Mount Rainier on April 13, 1940. Born in Norway in 1910 as Sigurd Hoel, Sigurd immigrated to the United States in 1929, to earn money to support his family, intending to stay for five years. However, stayed in this country, became a U.S. citizen in 1935, and made his skiing and mountaineering reputation in Washington State.
Sigurd Hall was first mentioned as a ski racer in the Seattle Times in 1937. Hall was a member of the Mountaineers, and initially competed in cross-country. Later, Hall became the one of the best Four-Way skiers in the United States, competing for the Seattle Ski Club.
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EARLY SKIING ON SNOQUALMIE PASS: THE OPENING OF THE MILWAUKEE SKI BOWL IN THE WINTER OF 1938 CHANGED LOCAL SKIING
John W. Lundin
The late 1930s were exciting times for Pacific Northwest skiers. The opening of the country’s first destination ski resort in Sun Valley, Idaho in 1936, by the Union Pacific Railroad, where the chair lift was invented and first installed, changed the ski industry forever and the area attracted skiers from all over the world. Seattle newspapers regularly reported on local skiers traveling by train to Sun Valley to enjoy the attractions if this international resort.
Western Washington skiing was organized around private ski clubs, and ski racing competitions were held most weekends in many areas accessible by car, including Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Cayuse Pass, and Snoqualmie Pass. The drives to these ski areas on two-lane icy roads was difficult and required a real commitment to the sport. Ski jumping was one of regular competitive events, reflecting the sport’s Scandinavian influence. The University of Washington had one of the dominant ski teams in the West, and high schools had organized ski clubs. The high degree of interest in skiing can be seen by the extensive coverage of the sport in local newspapers.
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Ellensburg Ski Club
John W. Lundin
In 1921, the Cle Elum Ski Club was formed by local residents, led by John “Syke” Bresko, opening what has been called the first organized ski area west of Denver, “a skiers paradise,” that attracted between 100 - 400 locals every weekend. The Club sponsored ski races, jumping competitions, carnivals, and special contests from 1924 until 1933, attracting spectators and competitors from all over the Northwest. Northern Pacific trains provided access to Cle Elum from Seattle, Ellensburg and Yakima, and Norwegian jumpers dominated the events. Sports fans from Ellensburg attended the Cle Elum tournaments from its early years.
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MOUNTAINEERS PATROL RACES AT SNOQUALMIE PASS: A GRAND TRADITION REVISITED
John W. Lundin
In February 2014, the Mountaineers recreated one of the club’s grand traditions by holding the first Patrol Race since 1941, an 18.5 mile cross-country event along the crest of the Cascades between its two lodges, Snoqualmie Lodge and Meany Ski Hut at Martin near Stampede Pass. The race was variously reported to be 18, 18.5 or 20 miles long. From 1930 to 1941, three man patrol teams competed in the event that was based on military patrol races which were common in Europe. Initially the race was just for club members, but beginning in 1936, Open Patrol Races were held in which teams from clubs associated with the Pacific Northwest Ski Association could participate. Competitors had to carry a 12 pound pack containing prescribed equipment.
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SEATTLE’S MUNICIPAL SKI PARK AT SNOQUALMIE SUMMIT 1934-1940
John W. Lundin
The Seattle Park Board opened its Municipal Ski Park at Snoqualmie Summit in January 1934, on U.S. Forest Service land, and operated it as a park facility through the ski season of 1940. This was likely the only municipally owned and operated ski area in the country at the time. The Ski Park was made possible by the availability of federal funds under programs adopted by the Roosevelt Administration to put people back to work in the Great Depression, and reflects how skiing had grown in popularity in the Northwest by the early 1930s.
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SKIING AT MARTIN THE NORTHERN PACIFIC STOP AT STAMPEDE PASS
John W. Lundin
Martin is a stop on the Northern Pacific Railroad at the east portal of its tunnel under Stampede Pass, going through the Cascade Mountains, named for the nearby Martin Creek. Since the 1920s, Northwest skiers took the Northern Pacific Railroad to Martin to take advantage of the deep snow that fell there. The story of skiing at Martin is virtually unknown these days, and Martin is one of the Lost Ski Areas of Washington.
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WINTER SPORTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: 1934 - 1950
John W. Lundin
An Excerpt from Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass Written for the Husky Winter Sports Club. Skiing at the University of Washington goes back to January 1934, when the University of Washington Ski Club formed with a membership of 100 men and women. The club developed a race course at Paradise on Mt. Rainier, rented a cabin at Paradise for the season, and formed a ski team that trained at Paradise and Snoqualmie Summit. The University Book Store ran a bus to Paradise on weekends in 1934, and in 1936, rented ski equipment and offered a bus service from Seattle to Snoqualmie Pass on Sundays. The Washington Ski Team dominated west coast competition during the 1930s and early 1940s, regularly winning Pacific Coast Championships. University of Washington skiers competed in many of the country’s major races, with racers such as John Woodward, Darroch Crookes, Bill Redlin, David Fairies, Gus Raaum and others establishing national reputations.
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Frontiersmen Settlers & Cattle Rustlers: Pease Stories
Carol Steinhauer
Carol Steinhauer traces the Pease family back through nine generations. Frontiersmen Settlers & Catle Rustlers: Pease Stories includes photographs, historical details, and family legends.
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Liberty's Last Post Office: A Story of a Gold MIning Camp in Washington State
Wesley C. Engstrom
There was once a large center of activity in the Swauk Basin of upper Kittitas County. The place is called Liberty. Liberty was once the most action packed place in Kittitas County. At least it was for a while after gold was discovered in Swauk Creek. Like many gold camps the place boomed and ebbed over the years. Unlike some other places it never quite went completely bust. It came close, and fortunately for some it didn’t. It still exists today as a living ghost town.
The Liberty story has been told before in various ways. This telling of the story revolves around the end of Liberty’s role as an active mining community and its close call with complete destruction. It is about four Nicholson brothers and their store, the last post office in Liberty, and the people who later saved the mining camp as a historic site to show the next generation what came before.
My thanks to Fred Krueger for preserving Liberty history in the form of oral interviews of old time miners and for his encouragement to write history in my own way. That is, to simply preserve history, not to rewrite it. Thanks also to Pattie Nicholson, Robert Nicholson’s wife, and Warren Leyde, Freida Nicholson’s nephew, for graciously sharing family documents and pictures that made this story possible.
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My Slovak Family: Madash Stories, from Old Country to New
Carol Steinhauer
Carol Steinhauer, a long-time resident of Bothell, Washington, is a devoted student of family history. This book gives the Madash family history as they immigrated from Slovakia to Roslyn Washington. Previously she has written Frontiersmen, Settlers, and Rustlers: the Pease Story (2014) about her maternal grandfather’s family. It is archived in the Ellensburg Library and the University of Washington Library (Pacific Northwest Special Collection). She lives with Loren Steinhauer, her husband of forty-eight years. They have two sons, two daughters-in-law, and three grandchildren. Besides family history, her interests are gardening and reading.
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Whispers From the Grave: Stories of the Evans Family and Other Early Settlers on Swauk Prairie
Wesley C. Engstrom and Mary Lou Dills
In 1882 Jesse James Evans and his family were one of the last pioneers to follow the Oregon trail by Wagon, pulled by mules, intending to settle in the Puget Sound area. Instead they ended up joining a half-dozen or so early settlers on Swauk Prairie in Kittitas County. They sent word back to Missouri to neighbors and relatives and eventually most of the early settlers on Swauk Prairie were connected in some way to the Evans.
This book was written because an Evans family historian, Mary Lou Dills, and a local Swauk historian, Wesley Engstrom, just happened to meet one day and decided that, by combining resources, a bit of local history could be preserved.
The result of that joint effort was a book that describes what conditions were like when settlers first arrived on Swauk Prairie. Who the people were, what the towns looked like, who claimed the land, where the schools and churches were built, where the dead were buried and, lastly, what the family stories were of those in the southwest corner of the Swauk Cemetery where Mary Malinda Evans and her unborn child were buried in June of 1884.
The Swauk Cemetery is a community heirloom. It started without any formal organization or plan, just a place where neighbors buried their dead. Now, to comply with state law, there is a non-profit corporation to administer its affairs. It is still a non-endowed cemetery without a fund for its perpetual care where the descendants of those buried there are expect-ed to take care of the graves.
Swauk Cemetery is a place of serenity and beauty befitting of the hardy pioneers resting there.
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LUNDIN LECTURES ON IDAHO HISTORY
John W. Lundin
I have given multiple lectures at The Community Library in Ketchum and the Hailey Library on history topics. Many of the Powerpoint presentations can be seen on the libraries’ websites.
July 2014: The Community Library As part of the celebration of the 130th anniversary of the arrival of the Oregon Short Line railroad at Ketchum in 1884, I gave two presentations.
“History of the Oregon Short Line Railroad” https://www.slideshare.net/CommunityLibrary/osl-a-history-of-its-impact-on-the-wood-river-vall ey-idahopt01
“The Impact of the Oregon Short Line Railroad on the Wood River Valley” https://www.slideshare.net/CommunityLibrary/osl-a-history-of-its-impact-on-the-wood-river-vall ey-idahopart02
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Spirit of Liberty: History of a Gold Mining Camp and Its School
Wesley C. Engstrom
This book presents the history of a school in a mining camp of the late 1800's with emphasis on preserving names of early pioneers involved in creating the school. To put the school itself in proper perspective the history of the development of the gold mines is included as well as the history of Liberty, Washington.
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Awards Entry on Aviation
Ellensburg Junior Chamber of Commerce
A scrapbook commemorating activities at Bowers Field in Ellensburg, Washington that took place in 1947 and 1948. Includes flyers about Breakfast Fly-in events from 1947 and 1948.
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The Land of Plenty: Kittitas County
Ellensburg Chamber of Commerce
The Land of Plenty is a promotional pamphlet published by the Ellensburg Chamber of Commerce in 1908. Designed and printed by The Stuff printing concern in Seattle Washington. The book is a promotional narrative about the potential for farming and orchards on the irrigated lands of Kittitas county. It contains facts about local farming sucesses and photos of produce and homes in Ellensburg.
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