William Williford (Medical Lake and Wilbur)

This page is part of the Reardan History 1959 booklet that was written by the Washington State History class of 1958-1959.

I came to Washington Territory in 1881 from Linn County, Iowa, with my parents, a brother and two sisters. A friend of the family, who had come to this country the year before, wrote us of the opportunities which the far West offered. As we were not progressing in Iowa, we, the Willfords, decided to come out here and live.

We came in an emigrant train to San Francisco, then by boat to Portland. From there we changed to a river boat to The Dalles, Oregon, then by narrow gauge railroad to Walla Walla, and then by stage to Sprague, Washington. Soon after arriving in Sprague, I got a job working at Medical Lake in a saw mill owned by Dan Leighton.

After working for him about a year, I bought an interest in the business. In 1883 we moved the mill to what was know as Hawk Creek Falls on the Columbia River near Peach, where we remained for three years; then moved to Hell Gate, where we remained a number of years. We think we are the only lumbermen that ever built a boom which worked successfully on the Columbia River. It was the first saw mill in Lincoln County.

It wasn’t necessary for me to move to different states, territories or counties, because they came to me. I lived in Washington Territory, Washington State, Spokane, Stevens, and Lincoln Counties without moving form the house which I first lived. I belong to the Catholic Church, but there were no churches of this denomination, or any other, in this vicinity, when I first arrived. There were only a few settlers in this vast prairie, and these were stockmen operating along Crab Creek, where there was plenty of water and free range.

I was well acquainted with “Wild Goose” Bill Condon, Portuguese Joe Enos, and the Hutchinson Brothers, all widely known frontier characters of the Big Bend country. I was a pall bearer at the funeral of “Wild Goose” Bill. He was killed in a pistol duel in a cabin near Wilbur. The trouble started over a woman, who was wounded during the duel, and both men were killed. It was presumed that both men shot at the same time.

I have a solid gold ring riven to me by Portuguese Joe. Which I have worn for about thirty years. Portuguese Joe was leaving California and said to me, “Bill, I want to make you a present, so go and pick yourself out a big watch, and if you don’t want a watch, get a big ring. The bigger it is, the better it will suit me.” I have never seen Joe since.

I was born in Linn County, Iowa, in 1861. I am a native-born citizen of Irish and English descent. I was married in 1892 in Wilbur, Washington, and have six children and no grandchildren.

The first settlers here lived in log cabins, when the small logs could be obtained; otherwise, they used rough lumber, which they had to haul from a long distance before the saw mill was built or before the Washington Central Railroad was built from Spokane.

One of the best entertainments in early days was the Indian race at Wilbur. The Indians and Whites would come from miles around and bet large sums of money on these races. Chief Moses was demonstrating how to start the races by firing his pistol in the air. A few drunken Indians nearby thought a fight was starting with the Whites and began to shoot off their guns. Chief Moses was so provoked with them the he tied short ropes to their wrists, laid them on their backs, and staked their wrists to the ground until they sobered up. I cannot talk Chinook, but I understand the lingo. The Indians had their camp grounds at the present site of Wilbur.

“Wild Goose” Bill built the first building on the present site of Wilbur, which was his homestead. He used the building for his home and for a small store, which he ran. This building, built of logs, has been moved to the City Park as a memorial of bygone days.

More pioneer stories from the Early History of Reardan written by the Washington State History class of 1958-1959.