Mrs. John Robertson (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 from Andres County, Missouri, in 1887. This trip was made in an immigrant train with my husband and two children. Our destination was Tacoma, where I had a sister.

We came west because of my failing health, as I suffered from tuberculosis, and welcomed my sister’s suggestion that the dry climate of eastern Washington might be beneficial. After a short stay in Tacoma, we came to Sprague, where my husband secured work as a blacksmith in the Northern Pacific car shops. After working about three months. He quit his job, bought a team, harness and a buckboard and drove to the present site of Wilbur, where Mr. Robertson bought a small blacksmith shop. There were only two board shacks, “Wild Goose” Bill Condon’s two story log house, and the blacksmith shop on the site at that time. Dr. B. H. Yount, a physician,, occupied one of the cabins with his family and carried on a country wide practice for many miles around, and “Wild Goose” Bill occupied his house only during the haying season with a large stock of liquor and a small stock of groceries. On our arrival in front of Bill’s cabin, after a two day’s trip from Sprague, I refused to leave the buckboard to go into his place and sat there until Dr. Yount came out, introduced himself, and invited me into his cabin. We remained with the Younts three days until Mr. Robertson completed a cabin. It was without a floor or windows. The first rain leaked through the roof and we were obliged to raise our umbrellas inside our cabin in order to keep dry.

My husband’s business thrived and customers came great distances to have their horses shod. After buying machinery and a large stock of hardwood, he added a wagon shop in conjunction with his blacksmith shop. In 1888 he bought a quarter section of lieu land, three miles south of Wilbur. In 1901 his wagon shop, $4,000 worth of hardwood that he had just received, and all of his machinery were destroyed by fire. His insurance had expired two days before and it was a total loss. Mr. Robertson continued blacksmithing until 1907, when he sold out and was elected town marshal. He held that office until his death in 1919. He disposed of his land and sold a business lot on the main street of Wilbur to the Woodmen of the World for $3,050.

I was one of the organizers of the Methodist Church, which was the first church built in Wilbur. I was superintendent of this institution for a number of years.

I was born in Andres County, Missouri, in 1852, of American born parents. I was married in 1878. I have two children and three grandchildren. They are Mrs Bessie Dalton, Wilbur, widow with one child; Mrs. Myrtle Peffley, Davenport, Washington, married, and the mother of two children.

So when I came to the Big Bend country there were very few settlers in this district. The houses were rough board shacks and a few log cabins. “Wild Goose” Bill Condon homesteaded the townsite of Wilbur. At the time the town was organized, the question of an appropriate name for the village came up. Some suggested “Goose Town,” but I protested, saying I wouldn’t live in the town if it were given that name. I suggested that if it were desirable to name the town after Mr. Condon, why not call it Wilbur, which was his middle name. This was agreeable to the committee and this name was adopted.

Transportation was by stage, horseback, and wagon. Supplies were hauled from Cheney and Spokane, a distance of about 60 miles over very rough roads. These towns were the nearest railroad points. The Washington Central Branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad was constructed through the Big Bend country and Wilbur in 1888-1889 and the growth of the county from that time was very rapid.

There were many Indians living about Wilbur, but they were peaceable and gave very little trouble unless they were drunk. I learned the Chinook jargon. Mr. Robertson’s uncle was killed by two drunken Indians in Okanogan County in 1889 in a dispute over some tobacco. When found, his body, all except his lower limbs, which were protected by his boots, had been eaten by coyotes.