Family history is important, as the history of a family is also part of the local, county, regional and state history as well. Today we hear of the Helmke family of Wilson Creek. Read on.

Wilson Creek history

The Rev. David H. Crawford compiled and published a history of families in and surrounding Wilson Creek titled, "Family Memories of Wilson Creek Area." The book was printed in 1978, which was the 75th anniversary of the town. David's son, John Crawford, has given permission for those memories to be a part of this column.

Today we begin the story of The Helmke Family, By Eva, daughter of Frank Helmke.

Christian Helmke was born in Germany, exact date unknown. He was the father of Fredrick, B. l859; Reka, Mrs. Albert Grulke; Minnie, Mrs. B.O. Eggestein; Emma, Mrs. Adam Hirschel, B. 1866; William, B. 1874. These children were born in Retzlinger, Germany in the Black Forrest area.

They immigrated from Germany to the state of Illinois. After a short residence in that state they went to Minnesota and settled on a farm near Jackson in Jackson County.

In the fall of 1901 he and other members of his family traveled west on an immigrant train and settled in the Big Bend Country. He died on or about· May 17, 1906, at Jackson Minnesota, while on a visit there. He was still a resident of Douglas County Washington.

E-mail from Cheryl

Facts from the past gleaned from the Moses Lake Herald, Columbia Basin Herald and The Neppel Record by Cheryl (Driggs) Elkins:

From the Columbia Basin Herald on May 6, 1949:

Ritzville family buys Blue Ribbon Packing Co. Plant

Sale of the Blue Ribbon Packing Plant in Moses Lake to Tenaglia Bros. and Son of Ritzville was announced this week. The slaughter hours, built two years ago by D.C. McLean, its first operator, il located on Peninsula drive, two miles west of Moses Lake.

Gus Tenaglia, his son, Richard, and his brother, Charles, now of Bellingham, will operate the plant, they said. Charles Tenaglia and his family will occupy the house on the property. Gus Tenaglia is now looking for a home for his wife and son.

Operations will begin May 16, they said, for a complete line of custom and commercial slaughtering and packing. The firm will be known as the Moses Lake Packing Company.

Gus Tenaglia, originally from Bellingham, has made his home the last four years in Ritzville, where he formerly owned and operated the Ritzville Public Market.

Dennis note: Now here is a lesson of how a small news article can help piece together a bit of Grant County, Columbia Basin, Moses Lake and family history all at once.

Donna Tenaglia graduated with me in the Great Moses Lake High School Class of 1965. At point I'm thinking perhaps Donna's family moved from Bellingham to Ritzville and then to Moses Lake.

They operated the Moses Lake Packing Company. At sometime the Tenaglia family sold the plant to the Ellestead family and they still operate the plant known as Moses Lake Meats. Larry Ellestad also graduated with Donna and me.

Later Donna Tenaglia Hoyt operated the Bed and Breakfast, located near the Moses Lake Meats plant.

At this point I'm not sure if the Tenaglia family sold directly to the Ellestad family or if there was another party involved, but the article fills in a bunch of history for me.

The Grant County Historical Society has compiled several volumes of Grant County history. The books are available for purchase at the Historical Society Museum gift shop in Ephrata.

I bought the series in 2009 and secured permission to relay some of the history through this column.

Memories of Grant County, compiled from taped interviews by the Grant County Historical Society.

Today we backtrack a bit and continue the story of Coulee City, by Alfred Twining recorded July 30, 1975:

And speaking about the Garlands and Jap, Jap was the black sheep of the family, I guess. I remember hearing one time he was drinking quite a bit and he went up to his dad and said, "Dad, give me five dollars."

His Dad said, "I'll give you five dollars if you'll get to hell out of my sight and I don't want to ever see you again."

Then Jap disappeared and he never showed up for about ten years. But before that he was drinking quite a bit one day, was drunker than a hoot owl, and a man came in here from Wyoming or Idaho or Montana, maybe, and wanted to get a few nickels to eat on, so he got somebody to round up a wild horse and he'd ride him if they'd pass the hat around.

So he got a herder and a wild horse from someplace and he rode him a few jumps and told the, herder he had ridden him and to pull him in.

Jap was standing looking and said, "That horse ain't ridden. If you'll buy me a pint of whiskey I'll ride him like he ought to be rode."

So, I can see him yet. He was standing there with one hand on the saddle horn and took that pint of whiskey and poured the whole thing down and throwed the bottle out and got on that horse and rode him until he couldn't make another jump. I asked him one time how he learned to ride.

He said, "Ben Hutcheson learned me how to ride. The first bucking horse I ever got on I grabbed the horn. Ben came along with his quirt and he came down on my hand and he pretty near broke it, but, I never grabbed a horn after that."

He was a rider and a good one.

And I guess you have heard about the Hutcheson boys-Ben and Bill. They used to live down in tthe Lind country and Connell and them places. They were big fellows, almost seven feet tall.

Well, Alfred Pierpoint, I think he come from Indiana or someplace there, and he was the captain of a wagon train that come across the plains somewhere in the early 1880s and he landed over at Waterville first. He took a homestead over close to Badger Mountan and he lived there for a few years. I think he was one of the first sheriffs of Douglas County.

Along about 1898 he married Stella Gard who was raised down there. They were old timers around Waterville and she had a brother named Arthur Gard and they located up there at Baird.

Pierpoint had a place about ten miles west of Coulee City, had a pretty good ranch there. Their kids were born there. There were Alfred, Gladys, Dick and Babe and Billy Sunday. He died in a fire at the ranch back in 1920 or 1921.

Al Pierpoint was quite a politician and wherever there was a family in trouble or in need of anything he would start out with his hat passing it around to take up a collection in no time to help them out. He was a pretty good old fellow.

Alfred Pierpoint, his oldest son, carried the mail into Sage Brush Flats for a number of years and then they discontinued the Baird Post Office and they made a run from Coulee City down that route.

The Baird Post Office was established by James Baird, he was a Scotchman. There were two brothers, James and David Baird. Jim Baird had the post office and a quarter of land homesteaded there. He operated a little grocery store and the post office together. Later he transferred the post office to Nat Davis.

I think Nat Davis run it as long as it existed. Of course the post office kept going a long time and Mrs. Pierpoint, that's old Al's wife, was post mistress out there for a number of years until they discontinued it and the Coulee City Post Office was still operating after they moved the town.

I think George Roberts stayed postmaster until about 1895 and he sold out to Thomas Parry and Tom got the post mastership until he transferred it to his son in-law, Hughey Brimble. He married Esther Parry.

After he lost the post office they moved out and went to Montana. Later they separated. They couldn't get along together or something and I heard that Hughey died up there in Butte, Montana. Esther is still living as far as I know. I think she just moved from Almira to Cashmere, to live with the daughter, Ruth, this last year.