My Brush With History
(My Early Years in Grand Coulee 1934-1940)
By John Edward Ernest
By John Edward Ernest
This story is about my experiences living in Grand Coulee, Washington during the building of the Grand Coulee Dam. These experiences are sometimes not what I remember but what my parents and grandparents told me later and some are from photographs. My mother Margaret and my grandmother Mary Bell both had Kodak cameras and took a lot of pictures. So if I say that as an infant I was given a bath outside in a washtub, that’s because I have a picture of that event.
But First, Some Background Information.
My grandparents, Jesse and Mary (O’Grady) Bell and their daughter Margaret left Mason City, Iowa for Seattle in September,1926. In Mason City, my grandfather was a successful grocer but the Depression had impacted them and they decided to come west. My grandfather’s sister and her husband were already living in Hanford, Washington. They drove west in a new 1926 Twin Six Packard (Exhibit A) and I believe they arrived in the Fall of that year. My grandparents purchased a home on an acre of land at 8705 14th Ave. N. W., just north of the Seattle city limits in Crown Hill. In addition, they opened a grocery store and restaurant in Smith Cove, near Pier 91.
My mother Margaret attended Holy Names Academy and then finished the last part of her senior year at Ballard High School. She was an accomplished musician and ballet dancer. She played the piano, organ, violin and ukulele. She played the organ in St. John’s Catholic Church, then in Greenwood, and in several of the downtown Seattle theaters. In June of 1929, during Fleet Week my mother asked my grandfather if she and a girlfriend[1] could go down to Pier 91 (Smith Cove) to tour the ships. My grandfather told her she could not go, but my mother went anyway. In visiting the battleship USS Colorado, which was anchored off of Magnolia Bluff, she met a young and very handsome sailor named Edward W. Ernest, from Oklahoma. They were married
February 28, 1933 in Long Beach, California. I was born there on December 25, 1933. My dad was still in the Navy at that time.
My mother did not like the navy life, the heat in Southern California or the earthquake that happened in mid 1933, so my dad left the Navy. My mother and I arrived in Seattle at Coleman dock on January 28, 1934, aboard the SS Ruth Alexander. My grandparents had already left for Grand Coulee, probably in mid 1933. My dad arrived in Seattle shortly after we did and we left for the Grand Coulee in April of 1934. We went across Stevens Pass to Coulee City. At that time there was no official road to the Grand Coulee from Coulee City, so we drove across the desert. We had a ladder tied on the side of the car and furniture on the top. I slept in the back seat in a wicker laundry basket. My crib was tied on the back of the car.
We Arrive at Grand Coulee, Washington
My grandparents had gone there to make money. When we arrived, they had already started building the first of 28 cabins (Exhibit B) for workers and their families. In addition they had built a large building[2] which contained their restaurant and a place called the “Workmens Club” on the corner of “B” Street[3] and Division Street. On the second floor of that building was a bordello. My grandparents lived about 25 feet from the entrance to the Workmans club. My father for a time was a bartender in the Workmans Club.
My mother and I lived in a hotel for about two months while our cabin was being completed which was located on “2nd and A” Street. The hotel was surrounded by barb wire, as no men were allowed in there except to visit their families. My father, Ed Ernest had purchased a used .25 Colt automatic[4] for my mother which she carried for several years. We went out to Dry Falls several times where my dad taught her to shoot.
Life in Grand Coulee
At first we lived in a one room cabin(16' x 24'), but my dad built a lean-to type bedroom and then we all slept there. We had a big Lang wood stove, a bed, crib, chest of drawers, table model Victrola and a table which was used for everything including ironing. I don’t recall that we had a radio. Across the path between the cabins was the wash room, toilets and laundry room. The cabins had no plumbing. During the winter time, rattlesnakes would coil around the toilets because it was warm there. They became somewhat dormant and did not attack unless you stepped on them. There was a man in one of our cabins who collected snake venom for a living. He would take the snakes away. There was no wood in or near Grand coulee so horse drawn wagons brought in wood for the cabins. Ice had to be brought in also. Electricity was generated by a small generator down on the Columbia River. This was always a problem because if an appliance like a toaster was plugged in during peak times, the whole system would go down. When a larger electric plant was built down on the river, we did get an electric refrigerator.
We lived one block off of “B” street behind a hotel. Our end of “B” street contained mostly shops including a drug store, small grocery and hardware store. Across “B” street was the postoffice(sub-station A), Massart Plumbing, a dry cleaners/laundry and newspaper. I believe there was also a hotel there. Grand Coulee was not an incorporated city at that time[5]. The streets were dirt or mud, and the sidewalks were rough planks. There were only sidewalks on part of “B” street, paid for by the merchants. Very few buildings were painted. In the summertime they watered the streets, but I don’t think it did much good. Most of the ground was sand and rock. If it rained, “B” street would be a sea of mud, sometimes several feet deep. My mother never could get the cabin clean because the wind almost always blew and sand came in under the door. There was a lot of sage brush and it smelled good after a rain. Summertime in Grand Coulee was very hot and no shade as there were no trees. There was no air conditioning either.
There was no police department but we were serviced by County Sheriff Deputies and a U.S. Marshal, but they only came if someone called them. There was a jail holding mainly drunks as real criminals were sent to jail in other towns. We never did have a telephone[6]. There was one movie theater[7] and I remember going only once. Smoking was allowed and everybody smoked. My mother hated that. There was no hospital in Grand Coulee. The nearest was Mason City[8] across the Columbia River. One time I had Undulant Fever[9] spent three days in the hospital in Mason City. However, when I had my tonsils out I believe we went to Spokane for that, about 90 miles from Grand Coulee. We had a Volunteer Fire Department, but buildings usually burned down before they could get there. There were few telephones. It was a so very dry and windy that tumbleweeds would blow down “B”Street.
“B” Street
While “B” street was mentioned by many writers as being the Sin Capitol of Washington, the actual area they were talking about was only one block long and only on one side of the street. Of course it was wild as men[10] and women came from other areas. Numerous descriptions appear in the literature, such as “Ta[11] r paper dens of iniquity ready to aid boisterous, brawling recreation typical of workers in the ‘wild west.’” It added, “proxided (sic) young women are standing around waiting for heavy construction work[12] to begin”[13]. Another example “Along B Street brothels operate wide open. On one side of the rutted road an evangelist cries out that he is saving souls; on the other a wizened little fellow with whiskey breath whispers that he knows of a shack where, for the modest price of one dollar, you can watch a young lady dancing in the nude. This is Grand Coulee: a mushroom town of the
sixties and the nineties reproduced in 1935".[14]
The First Coffer Dam
The second phase of the overburden removal began and the first of two coffer dams[15] was started on August 15, 1934[16] on the east side of the river. On July 24 the first train load of steel arrived at the damsite.[17] Once the cabins were built, my dad went to work on the first coffer dam. The work was very hard, dirty and wet, working sometimes at night under powerful lights. He had badge # 8344 and 6262, inscribed with the contractors name, MASON, WALSH, ATKINSON, KIER CO. There were many accidents and a few deaths in this phase of the construction, and this upset my mother very much. When the first coffer dam was finished, my dad went to work on the coffer dam on the west side of the river. My dad worked mainly as a carpenter installing huge timbers.
The Klobutchers
I don’t know how we got acquainted with the Klobutchers who had a farm on a plateau above the Grand Coulee. I had been diagnosed as being anemic and how that came about I don’t know. I was also underweight. I was to drink whole milk several times a day. We bought milk and butter from the Klobutchers and became fast friends with them. We would go there for Sunday dinners. After dinner the Klobutchers and my grandparents would play cards. I got to run around the farm and would be allowed on the plough horse (Exhibit C). The most interesting part was when they let me drink warm milk and cream right out of the cream separator. When my grandparents came up from Oklahoma in 1938, we all had a big party at the Klobutcher’s farm.
The Birth and Death Of My Sister
In the Spring of 1935 my mother was pregnant. I had no idea what this meant, but everybody talked about it. For some reason my mother had to go to Seattle for delivery. My sister, Margaret Noreen, was born on July 17, 1935 and died the next day. She was what was then called a “blue baby”. She was buried in Calvary Cemetery in northeast Seattle. My parents were devastated, and that tragedy was never forgotten.
Bordellos and Penny Candy
There was a bordello above the Workmen’s Club on “B” street, which was only about 25 feet from where my grandparents lived. Of course, I did not know what a bordello was as it was never explained to me. I remember having only one friend in Grand Coulee. I think his name was Franklin. His mother ran the bordello above the Workmen’s Club. She had red hair like my mother and her name was Maggie. We would go up to the bordello usually during the day. There was a sitting room at the front entrance. The ladies that worked there would give us a penny to go away. We sometimes got 3 or 4 cents with which we would buy candy. Down at the end of “B” street and around the corner was a very small candy store. We got penny candy there. One time we got in
trouble. When we went up to one of the bordellos, there was no one in the sitting area so we ran up and down between the cubicles which had a curtain on the front of each one. When my grandfather found out about it, he thought it was funny but my mother was very mad about it. I was told not to go there again, but I did anyway. After all what else was there to do in Grand Coulee?
My friend and I usually did not go into the saloons which were on the street level. But if you hung around outside long enough, someone would give you a penny or a nickel. Under the sidewalk, which was open to the front, we would some times find money. Drunks would sleep under the sidewalk. At first we thought they were dead, but my grandfather said they were probably drunk. I don’t think I was convinced. It was dark and spooky under there anyhow.
Sandstorms
There were many sandstorms in the Grand Coulee even in the winter. I remember them because I was not allowed to go out to play. I had no toys or things to play with. Usually the storms lasted a day or so. After the storm, my dad had to shovel the sand away from the door as it would build up against the cabin, sometimes two or three feet high. Sometimes the sand would blow into the town or sometimes blow away from it. After those storms, the inside of the cabin was very dirty. My mother continually complained about it. We did not have a vacuum cleaner. Work on the Dam would be stopped because of visibility and my dad would be home on those days.Bitten By A Dog
I think I was five when this happened. There was a gas station about a half-block from where we lived, called Stuckey’s. There was a German shepherd dog there and one day he bit me in the face. My face was badly torn and required many stitches. One tooth penetrated my jaw into my mouth. I still have a scar from that. I came very close to losing my right eye. I had my arm in a sling for a long time. Sometime after that I went with my grandfather, father, and Stuckey to a ravine outside of town, where I had to watch while my grandfather shot the dog. My mother and grandmother were very angry and talked about the incident for many years. It wasn’t until most of the scars disappeared that they stopped talking about the incident.
Grandfather Buys A Church
There was no Catholic Church in Grand Coulee. My grandmother was Roman Catholic but my grandfather Jesse was not. My grandmother asked Jesse to get a church. So my grandfather bought a building[18] and had it hauled to a piece of property he owned outside of town. It was called St. Henry’s. My mother was very proud of this event and retold it many times. One day my dad and I went to the church. He was to put in an alter stone. He had a big chisel which he used to cut a rectangular space in the top of the altar. He then put the altar stone in the altar. I remember going to Sunday school there.
The Dam
I don’t remember much about the building of the dam although it was a major topic of conversation. I was not aware of the specifics except that my father worked there. I was at the ceremony of the pouring of the first bucket of concrete.[19] We went to see it but I don’t remember what I saw, if I saw anything. My grandparents were excited but I don’t think my mother was very interested. My dad was proud of the dam as he talked about it long after we left Grand Coulee. When I begin to remember things, my dad always talked about the “biggest this”, the “longest that” or the “tallest something”.
The Big Grand Coulee Fire
I did not see the fire but my mother took several pictures and saved the newspaper article about the fire. In 1938[20] an entire block of “B” street burned to the ground (Exhibit D). This was a block of commercial buildings, containing a newspaper, post office and the Massart Plumbing Company and other businesses as well. Grandma Massart was the only one who died in the fire. My mother was able to get several good pictures. My grandparents, who lived across the street, had to hang blankets in the front and throw water on them. My grandmother had heat stroke for several days.
President Roosevelt Comes To Town
This I remember. My grandparents were excited as they were both Democrats and belonged to the Democrat Club. The President arrived by train[21]. I remember there was a huge crowd and my dad put me up on his shoulders to see the President. I wasn’t sure just what I was supposed to look at so I guess I saw President Roosevelt. But of course I did not know what he looked like or just where he was supposed to be in that large crowd. In later years my parents told me that I had seen President Roosevelt, so I guess I did.
My Grandparents From Oklahoma
I think this was in 1937. My grandfather Thomas Hendrix Ernest, his wife Willa(Sliger) Ernest and my dad’s brother Henry Bane and his sister Mary Ernest came for a visit. They stayed for about two weeks. We had a lot of big dinners. They were to have twenty-five grandchildren and I was the oldest grandchild. Grandmother Ernest chewed tobacco which disgusted my mother. Aunt Mary decided to stay because she had acquired a boyfriend, Mike Palanuk
Mike Is Nearly Killed
Mike Palanuk also worked on the Dam. One day a 200 ton crane fell on him, crushed his skull and severed his left leg below the knee. He nearly died and was in the hospital for more than nine months. They had to reconstruct his skull. Mike and my Aunt Mary Ernest were married in Idaho on 1 January 1939. They still live in Coulee Dam and in the same house since that time.
My Dad Changes Jobs
The number of workers required fluctuated depending on the phase of construction. There was a big layoff in 1937[22]. While my dad was never out of work he was afraid he could be. My mother felt that the work was too dangerous. So in 1938 he went to Spokane, took the Post Office exam and was hired to work in the Grand Coulee sub-post office “A”, which was only a block from our house(Exhibit E). I would go up to the Post Office and my dad would give me our mail which I would take home to my mother.
The Colville Indians
We went several times to the Fourth of July Pow Wow held at Nespelem on the Reservation. There was lots to eat but I don’t think that my mother liked the food. I could not tell what the food was, but I ate it anyway. My dad enjoyed being there as he is a Cherokee descendant[23] . The Indians put on a kind of rodeo with lots of horses, wagons and tee-pees and some other kind of contests. There were lots of Indian children but my mother said they were too dirty to touch and some were naked. My grandmother complained about the fact that the government had built houses for them, but the Indians would not live in them. They used the houses for storage and chicken houses or tore them down for firewood. We usually stayed all day so I would take a nap in the car. The Indians offered horse rides but I was too scared to get on
one. There were also lots of dogs and lots of confusion.
The Birth of My Brother Francis Joseph
Brother Frank was born 22 July 1939 in Almira, Washington, about thirty miles from Grand Coulee. I do remember my mother being pregnant. I am not sure exactly what this meant except I was going to have either a brother or sister and they were going to Almira to get it. We had a 1938 Chevrolet[24] and I remember my dad packing the car. For some reason I was not allowed to go but I did get to stay with my grandparents, which was great. They lived only two blocks away. My mother was in the hospital for several days.
Dad Goes To Seattle
After brother Frank was born my dad went to Seattle to look for work. My grandparents talked a lot about the coming war and my mother was afraid that my dad would be drafted because of his prior naval service. Work was winding down at the Dam as they began to build the first powerhouse. He found a job at the Bremerton Naval Shipyard. He resigned from the Post Office in January, 1940[25] and left for Seattle. In the spring of 1940, my mother, Frank and I moved to Seattle. We first lived at 717 North 86th where the rent was $20 per month. We lived there while the renters were vacating the home at 8705 14th N. W. Then we went to live at 8705 14th Ave. N. W., a
house owned by my grandparents in which my mother had previously lived as a teenager. This became our home until my parents died in 1986. I don’t recall my mother saying much about coming back to Seattle. If she had said anything, it would have been:
HOME AGAIN!!
______________
[1] Catherine (Noon) Shaver, a life long friend.
[2] In the November 22, 1933 issue of the Grand Coulee Record was an item on page 3,
“Another Store Up Jesse Bell, Seattle business man is completing a large store on a strategic corner on “B” street. The new place will be an eating house with cabins in connection for convenience of both transient and permanent residents of Grand Coulee. Leo Mooney with the assistance of Leeland Martin are doing the construction work. Both men are from Seattle.”
[3] Richard L. Neuberger, Our Promised Land (New York: Macmillian, 1938), 376. “B Street is where most of the revelry in Grand Coulee takes place. There the men dance, play cards, drink beer, gamble, quarrel, pick up women and loll along the sidewalk. In (Grand Coulee) it lives wild and dissolute individuals, and also live decent and respectable and upright Americans who are trying to make a living on the country’s last frontier.”
[4] A gun I still have.
[5] Incorporated late 1935,Paul C. Pitzer, Grand Coulee Harnessing A Dream (Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 1994),189.
[6] In the early years there was only one telephone located in the newspaper office which was available only when the office was open.
[7] Probably the Roosevelt.
[8] Built by the Contractor, Mason, Walsh, Atkinson, Kier Co.
[9] Also called Malta, Mediterranean or Gibraltar Fever. This condition is caused by ingesting cow, sheep or goats milk or milk products. Robert Berkow, MD, Editor,The Merck Manuel of Diagnosis and Therapy (Rahway, New Jersey: Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories, 1977),98.
[10] Fifty-seven percent were single. Pitzer, Grand Coulee Harnessing A Dream, 191
[11] Initial overburden removal began on both sides of the Columbia River in late 1933 and was completed in June, 1934. William Fred Bohrnsen, “A History of the Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project” (Master of Arts Thesis, University of Washington, 1942.),44
[12] Pitzer, Grand Coulee Harnessing A Dream, 167.
[13] Neuberger, Our Promised Land , 374
[14] A temporary watertight enclosure built in the water and pumped dry to expose the bottom so that construction, as of piers, can be undertaken. The Concise American Heritage Dictionary (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987),136.
[15] Pitzer, Grand Coulee Harnessing A Dream, 102.
[16] Pitzer, Grand Coulee Harnessing A Dream, 105.
[17] Early 1936. Grand Coulee Dam Bicentennial Association, From pioneers to power: historical sketches of the Grand Coulee Dam area., 1976.
[18] First bucket of concrete was poured on December 6, 1935. Governor Martin was there dressed as a concrete worker, he stood on a spot sixty feet below the level of the Columbia River on its west side. He pulled down the release handle on a four cubic-yard bucket dumping the first load of concrete.
[19] On July 28, 1938, one complete block of “B” street burned, destroying every building in that block. Pitzer, Grand Coulee Harnessing A Dream , 187
[20] October 7,1937. Paul C. Pitzer, Grand Coulee Harnessing A Dream (Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 1994), 167.
[21] The MWAK contract ended late in 1937. Pitzer, Grand Coulee Harnessing A Dream, 191.
[22] John E. Ernest, “We Are Cherokee”: Federation of Genealogical Societies Quarterly (Fall, 1999, Vol. 11, No. 3), 1
[23] Purchased March 27, 1938. Price $999.20 less $500 on an old car. My dad also purchased a radio, heater, defroster and insurance.
[24] Newspaper clipping dated January 23, 1940. Family memorabilia.
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