southtillamookcounty.com
History
"Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers" written about South Tillamook County, Oregon
The page below was written by Mrs. Hardy Rock (Alexandria LEY Rock) and published in 1949. NVMS students have retyped her history so that many may read it. Although some punctuation errors have been corrected the text remains as written by Mrs. Rock.
Note that Alexandria LEY Rock's "Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers" has been republished in book form as of January 2007 and is now being offered for sale by the Tillamook County Historical Society!
(This page was typed eighth grader, Jimmy, during the spring of 2002 and edited by Dean Bones.)
Around 1882 a man named Hanchett lived between old Grand Ronde and Dolph ____ miles from ________. His log house and food was open to anyone who needed a place to sleep or a meal. Always he had a large supply of venison on hand. This was on the road leading into Little Nestucca section.
A popular stopping place was at old Grand Ronde on top of a hill overlooking the present site of Valley Junction and of the rolling reservation. At that time the only road passed the house built for General Sheridan while stationed there to control the Indians strongly inclined to make trouble. In this house, in 1888, Mrs. Cass Sargant catered to the public which found it an excellent place to spend the night or eat a meal. The house was not very large and sleeping quarters were limited. In the hay, in the barn across the road, many weary men and entire families found comfort, warmth and sleep. Meals were eaten in the house. This also was on the only road to Little Nestucca country.
Another stopping place, which served as a hotel, was the Indian home of Dave Leno, two and one-half miles from Agency. Most of the year the road was almost impassible and travelers were glad to put up at Leno's. Good meals were provided and a good fire to dry out wet clothes, boots and socks. The Leno family were hospitable hosts. In the spring of 1894, Hardy Rock, his wife and three small children (one a baby) were glad to spend the night there although the family of five had to rest in a three-quarter bed because the house had been earlier filled to capacity.
On the Little Nestucca Road, five miles from Dolph, Joe and Steinmassel opened their house to any travelers needing rest, sleep or food. They were most hospitable to one and all.
During 1887, while the Salmon cannery was being built, Mrs. Sarah Bosley (an early pioneer) kept roomers and boarders in their large two story house which stood west of and across the creek from the present Grange Hall. Its site was at the junction of the road to the beach and the one to the Bay. Being an excellent cook, her long table in the old log house (behind the newer house) was always full of hungry folk. Long benches were the seats. Men folk slept in the one large room upstairs; women folk were supplied bedrooms on the first floor.
After the spring of 1887, when the cannery was being built, Mrs. Anna Christensen (wife of Chris Christensen) provided, in her home, board for the cannery workers, boat crews, fishermen and people living in the neighborhood. Her long dining table was always continuously filed with good food cooked to perfection. Sometimes in the late evenings, the boys would bring in fresh crabs which she, always good naturedly, cooked and served as a crab feast, even at midnight. She was never too tired to be a happy, jovial hostess. Here, in this hospitable home, their five sons and one daughter got their early start as industrious home makers.
None of these places cited were Hotels, although they served as such. Mrs. Sarah Page accommodated a limited number of boarders in her small house on the sand beach, but it was not until 1895, when Henry Page dynamited the rocky point away and erected a new large house, that a hotel was started.
Continue to page 31 of "Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers!"