William Oakes History

We are grateful to Donald Oakes of Sacramento California for supplying the Heritage Network with this brief history of his great Grandfather, William Hambilin Oakes, written by his own father, Arthur Wilmer Oakes in 1914. It included these pictures and a reprint of the article written about Willam H. Oakes in the Illustrated History of Stevens County 1904. OAKES, William H.

PREFACE
  The sole object of this short sketch is to preserve for those who come hereafter, a few of the good deeds performed by my father, to whom I feel that I owe a debt of gratitude that I can never fully pay. He was a man who always considered others before himself not only in his own immediate family, but in his every walk of life. It was characteristic of this man to always give the other fellow the best of the bargain. His work has always been that of the pioneer who knew not what it meant to follow in the footsteps of another, but rather hewed out for himself a path in the wild and trackless territory of the North West. when he and his faithful wife undertook to make their fortune in this territory, it was under circumstances that few know at this age. There were no stores of provisions within a distance of one hundred miles, and for some time there were no doctors to call in case of sickness. Under these conditions it was that they attempted to make a fortune, and their labors were productive of no small amount of success. This man was possessed with an iron determination, and he allowed nothing to turn him from his purpose. He was instrumental in a very large measure of opening up before the world a large territory which is now one of the richest in this part of the world. His influence was exerted in almost every department of industry. First to open up the mines, first to demonstrate that the locality was adapted to fruit, first to openup lines of communication with the outside world. His work was an object lesson to thousands who profited thereby, and many more thousands who will profit by it in the years to come. All of these acheivements stand as a matter of history which will be read by his children, and children's children with a feeling of pride in the years to come.

Arthur Wilner Oakes

Sacramento, California.
July---1914.

William Hamblin Oakes

William Hamblin Oakes was born at Bangor, Maine Sept. 6th, 1856. When at the age of fourteen his parents journeyed to California in pursuit of that larger hold of earthly things which causes so many to go from place to place in this world of ours. After nine years were spent in California in the saw mills, he married Miss Eliza A. Longley, daughter of Andrew Carson Longley, famous California-Nevada Stage Driver of the days of '49. Being young and full of ambition Mr. and Mrs. Oakes decided that they would journery north into the wild and undeveloped state of Washington. This long distance was traversed by the old method then the only means, the "Prairie Schooner", and it was accomplished not without a great many hardships. Fortunately they were not molested by the indians who were at this time not fully pacified, and in the year 1880 they arrived at the city of Walla Walla, Washington, travel-worn, but in the best of spirits. Here they remained about three years on a small ranch in the Blue Mountains near the city, but it seemed very difficult to gain a footing here, and the husband suffered a severe accident which kept him confined to his bed for many weeks during which the small family of three (a daugher having been added to their numbers) were placed in very straightened circumstances.

Having decided that this locality was not a promising one for them, they again resorted to the schooner and this time drove a distance of three hundred and fifty miles farther north to the Valley of the Colville River, where Mr. Oakes took up a homestead of 160 Acres in the bunch-grass foothills just above the valley. They immediately began to break up the hill sides and to plant such crops as they deemed most profitable for their needs.

At this time the nearest city of any size was Spokane, called Spokane Falls in those days. This was at a distance of one hundred miles south. All supplies had to be freighted by team from this point, as it was also the nearest Railroad point. The mail was carried by riders on horseback each week. Conditions being thus made it extremely necessary for the settler to grow as far as possible, every thing that he needed to eat and wear. The wheat was hauled to a small grist mill owned by one L.W. Meyers who in turn gave flour in return on the basis of $12.00 per barrel. There were very few settlers here at this time so that there was no market to speak of. It was principally a matter of making a living until the country was more fully developed. Mrs. Oakes had the honor at this time of being one of three white women north of Spokane. The white men who had settled in the region along the valley were married to Indian women. The Government had Forts at various locations where soldiers were stationed as the Indians were still on the war-path to quite an extent. The Oakes family were about equal distance from two of the largest Garrisons, one at Colville, and the other at Marcus.

After three years had passed, during which period Mr Oakes had worked hard aided by his faithful wife, to develope their new home, they were joined by the husband, brothers, father and mother. The two brothers and father located for themselves homesteads, and prepared also to farm.

In the year 1886 a desire upon the parts of the men for a (part missing concerning the discovery of the Silver King Mine which prompted the establishment of Nelson, B.C.)

(continued) were called upon to defend their rights against men who came upon them with the express determination to locate the same ground for their own use. These men were fortunately discreet enough to give up without ther being serious trouble, and were allowed to locate claims after each one of the expedition in question had taken a claim, and they were fortunate enough to strike it very well indeed as it turned out afterward.

The writer will now pass over a great deal of the history connected with the development of this famous mine which was at first named the "Siver King," but later "Crown Granted" the "Halls Mines Limited". A town sprang up on the shores of Kootenay Lake which was afterward incorportated the city of Nelson. The owners of the new mine gathered together all of the capital possible for them and went to work developing the mine, shipping ore by pack animals to the town of Nelson, a distance of ten miles. From there it was shipped by boat on the Kootenay river to Bonners Ferry and from there to Sandpoint, Idaho to be transferred to the Northern Pacific Raliroad to be carried to the smelters in Butte, Montana. The process was carried on for about nine years and very large returns were realized, sometimes as high as two thousand five hundred dollars per tone of ore. At the end of this period, the owners succeeded in closing a deal with a Scotch Syndicate for the sale of the mine for a sum which approximated a million and a half dollars, part cash, and part stock in the new company.

Now being in a better position financially to pay attention to the development of his homestead, which he had already planned for a fruit farm, Mr. Oakes commenced planting out orchards consisting of all the principle varieties of apples, pears, plums, prunes, peaches, apricots, cherries and numberous small fruits, until he had about one hundred acres in all. He also acquired another 160 acres adjoining which was planted partly to fruit, but very largely to grain and hay for the raising of stock.

The country now was quite thickly populated, and there was a railroad extending from Spokane on the South to Nelson, and other mining and commercial cities on the North. A small town named Meyers Falls sprang up on this road about three miles from the Oakes Farm, which furnished him with ample shipping facilities. It was not many years before the "BELLEVUE FRUIT FARM," as it was named, was doing an extensive fruit shipping business, operating its own packing houses and sending fruit all over the United States and British Columbia in car load lots.

While the major portion of his time was spent in the operating of his fruit farm, and in the promotion of the Fruit Industry in the state, yet, Mr. Oakes found some time for other pursuits. He saw the great need for a telephone system for the country and was active in forming a system which was Incorporated under the name of "SPOKANE AND BRITISH COLUMBIA TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY". operating lines of communication from Spokane to British Columbia points, and connecting all of the cities and towns in the northern and eastern portion of the State of Washington. Mr. Oakes was President, Treasurer and assistant General Manager of the company, and he reaped large returns from the same up to the time of its sale to the Bell Telephone Company a few years later.

Mr Oakes also had other mining interests for a number of years but never reaped any substantial gains from them. He made a continual study of horticulture and his farm was a veritable "Experimental Station" where a great many different varieties of fruit were tried as to their adaptability to that particular climate. A number of varieteies were also propogated there, and some of them proved to be very excellent for culture in that locality.

As a result of his endeavors in behalf of the welfare of the fruit growers of the state, Mr. Oakes was looked upon by all as an authority on the matters pertaining to the industry. Recognizing his knowledge as being of the large value to the State, he was accepted into the Department of Horticulture , having full charge of all matters pertaining to the inspection of nursery stock and of all the orchards in the northern portion of the state. In this capacity he was of great use fo the state, ably protecting the growers from the numerous pests that destroy the fruit crops, and thereby placing the state in the front rank of fruit growing localities.

Mr. Oakes was also connected with the State Fair Association, and gave his untiring energy toward the success of the annual occasions held at Spokane for so many years. He was a great believer in the State as a good place for people to settle in, and spent a great deal of money in advertising its horticultural possibilities before the Eastern States. Upon one occasion he selected over eleven hundred pounds of choice fruits from his own orchards which he distributed free to all of the various Eastern points, together with valuable information regarding the climate and its adaptability to crops that pay the farmer. This was a means of bringing a great many settlers into the section, and as a token of their appreciation, the Northern Pacific Railroad issued passes to Mr. Oakes covering all of their lines annually.

In the year 1903 Mr. and Mrs. Oakes decided to sell out all of their interests and to move to California. This was no easy matter to dispose of a property of such large valuation, but a buyer was found in the person of one Morris Cain, of Glendive Montana. The family then moved to Spokane where they lived for one year, at the same time arranging matters so as to leave for their old home state where the climate is less severe and where they felt that they might enjoy the remainer of their lives.

After coming to California and looking about for a suitable place to locate, Mr. and Mrs. Oakes and their family decided to buy a home in Fair Oaks. It was not Mr. Oakes' intention to take any active part in the fruit industry in California, but after he was a resident of the state for some months, and saw the conditions as they were, he could not resist the temptation to take a hand in it. His first work was to force the local olive mills of Fair Oaks to pay the growers a fair price for their olives. The concerns were visited and urged to be fair but without any success, so that the American Olive Company of Los Angeles was brought into the field by Mr. Oakes and a large portion of the annual output of oil and pickling olives were contracted by them for a number of years ahead. This was a very severe blow to the local concern, but it had the effect of doubling the price of the product and thereby proving of great benefit to the growers of that section. After this he engaged in the Orange packing business, operating his own packing house for about a year at which time he sold the same and accepted a position as the Chief Forester for the International Eucalyptus Association of California. It was the purpose of the company to plant three thousand acres in the southern part of the state to Eucalyptus trees which would be propogated for lumber and fuel. The managers of the company were not careful in their execution of the affairs of the concern, however, and the stockholders lost very heavily. After this Mr. Oakes gave his attention to advice upon the adaptability of certain soils to crops, and was of service to various concerns of the state. He has been engaged in this work ever since.

Mr. and Mrs. Oakes have raised a large family of four boys and three girls: Olive Loretta, Arthur Wilmer, Ada Ann, William H. Jr, Robert Winslow, George Lincoln, and Ethel Mee. There is a volume in the archives of the capitol of the state of Washington Library which gives a detailed account of the life and achievements of Mr. Oakes while he was a resident ot that state. Attached herewith are a number of personal letters which show in a small way the esteem that he was held in by some of the prominent people of his home country. His life thus far, has been one of the frontiersman. He has been instrumental in a very large way, of opening up the great country; one abounding in riches both agricultural and mineral. He has seen almost every phase of life, from the wildest unexplored regions of the North, to the most thickly populated and cultured sections of the East and South, and he is equally as well at home with the Indian as he is with the cultured and refined. He is a man who has always thought more of his good name that of riches, and if he does not leave to the world a great deal of the latter, he will have, at least, given it the very best that he had in earnest endeavor toward the betterment of its people.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA. JULY---1914.