Grant County history

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 begin story of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project by Jake Weber recorded Nov. 9, 1976

A few years ago my little granddaughter and I were sitting on the davenport and she wanted me to read to her. I gave her a number of reasons why I didn't feel like reading and so on.

Then she looked at me, and said, "Grandpa Jake, were you in Noah's Ark?"

I said, "No," and then she said, "Well, how come you didn't get drown then?"

This really isn't the truth, but it illustrates a point. Now I have quite often said that the first 65 or 70 years of life are the hardest, after that you can coast. But you coast downhill too fast. That's one reason I don't like to ski, I figure I'm going downhill fast enough as it is.

Now, the big question is how and why I come to Quincy? Well, if you remember your European history you will remember there were several years of war, 30 years of war, and at one time the French overran the country to the east of them including the Rhine Valley and Holland and all those areas there, annihilating or devastating it and made a ·waste of it.

They wanted to be sure that the Huns and others could never raise an army to start war with France. One of the aftermaths of this war was a great many thousands of these people who were now homeless migrated into eastern Europe, East Prussia, Rumania and Hungary and others.

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 April 21, 1950:

May rename base for Yakima hero

A proposal to change the name of Moses Lake Air Force Base to Larson Air Force Base was endorsed this week by Sen. Harry P. Cain (R., Wash.). It would be named after Maj. Donald A. Larson, a native of Yakima, who was killed in 1944 on a fighter mission over Germany.

The change has been requested by Air Force headquarters I line with a program of naming all Air Force installations after famous pilots killed in action.

Wilson Creek area 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 McKeehan family:

The McKeehan Family has 36 years of memories, both happy and sad in Wilson Creek. Ben, Elsie and six of their nine children moved to Wilson Creek from Ephrata on Feb. 1, 1942. They lived in the corner house before buying and moving next door to the Joe Bryant house in October 1942, where we have lived these 36 years.

Ben and Elsie were married Dec. 26, 1928 in Asotin. Ben began working for the Washington Water Power Company in 1933. In 1945 the WWP became the Grant County PUD and he continued to work for the PUD until his retirement in March 1962 as Line Superintendent.

The McKeehan children: Mary Lu, Carey Mae, Leroy, Raymond, Frank, Jack, Murray, Larry and Laurel all attended Wilson Creek schools and were greatly involved in sports, clubs and activities.

We lost our beloved son and brother Charles Raymond McKeehan (July 29, 1936 to August 6, 1946) in a tragic incident in Wilson Creek shortly after he celebrated his tenth birthday. Eight McKeehan children graduated from Willson Creek high school, the record number of children from one family to graduate from W.C.H.S. Frank, Jack, Murray, Larry and Laurel were 12-year students.

There are a lot of happy and fun memories for us as we grew up in Wilson Creek. Murray and Larry were both born here; Murray wouldn't wait for the trip to Ephrata and Larry's doctor was on vacation with no substitute available. Dad served as "mid-wife" and helped deliver us. Carey Mae and Leroy were married in the Presbyterian Church with receptions at the Grange Hall.

Leroy and Murray both served in the US Coast Guard. Leroy from 1953 to 1957 in California, Hawaii, Connecticut, Alaska, through the Canal Zone to Maryland and Florida. Murray served from 1963 to 1967 in California, Connecticut, New York and Alaska.

Every one of us, like most of the kids of Wilson Creek, learned to swim in Crab Creek at Second Dam or out at the Swim Hole on Wilson Creek. And none of the boys ever wore a swimsuit. It was always a big kick to run up to the tracks when the passenger trains went through, and then wait to see how long it took for Ralph Galpin to get the word and come running down to yell at us.

I remember sharing lunch or dinner with the hobos who spent the summer and fall along the tracks, or giving them your day's fishing catch?

Jack was always the athlete. He was a star basketball and baseball player for the Wilson Creek Devils. But he never finished when the final buzzer sounded the end of a game. He usually would replay the game all over in his sleep that night standing up and jumping all over his bed, shooting, rebounding and yelling for that damn ball. Several nights Mom or Frank had to go outside and bring him back into the house.