F.A. Hazeltine, circa 1901

In 1900, the South Bend Journal published a 32-page supplement called the “Pacific County Edition.” It is a treasure-trove of information about the each of the communities in our County at the turn of the last century – at least “important”  in publisher F.A. Hazeltine’s opinion.

In my own view and with the added advantage of 116 years of hindsight, I think it is heavy on North County material and not as thorough with regard to South County. Especially with respect to Oysterville. Granted, I am totally biased – but I think old F.A. was, too. Consider: six-and-a-half pages devoted to South Bend and two columns devoted to Oysterville; forty-seven pictures devoted to South Bend and three to Oysterville. I mean, come on!

Oysterville School 1875-1905

The three Oysterville photos were of R.H. Espy and his family, I.A. Clark, and M. Wachsmuth. Two other movers-and-shakers get special mention – Andrew Wert (a mis-spelling of Wirt) and F. C. Davis. And when it came to the little article on “County School Statistics,” Oysterville School is not even mentioned, never mind that it was the first public school in the County and in 1900 was going strong – even had a two-story building with two teachers.

From the South Bend Journal Souvenir Edition, 1900

Notwithstanding the skewed nature of the edition, it is a fascinating look back in time and gives a clear idea of South Bend’s dream of becoming the “Baltimore of the Pacific.” Real estate businesses and building contractors dominate the four pages devoted to advertising. South Bend had been the County Seat for a full seven years (as compared to Oysterville’s thirty-seven years) and no mention at all is made of the infamous “kidnapping” of County Records. But… I digress.

This Souvenir Edition was given to me by Mike Lemesko at the Community Historian class the other day. He says others are available at the Pacific County Historical Society in South Bend, free of charge! Getting one would be well-worth the trip, so hurry while they last! Your winter reading entertainment will be assured.

Ruth Dixon

I often feel a bit uncomfortable when I hear myself referred to as “a historian.” It’s true that I search endlessly for information about ‘the way it was’ here on the bay in the years of early settlement and, sometimes, I even uncover a hitherto unknown fact. But, with my academic training in journalism rather than history, I feel that I come by the title of ‘historian’ more-or-less through the back door.

So, it was with a good deal of pleasure that I read this statement by the late Ruth Dixon, founder and long-time editor of the highly respected Sou’wester, quarterly publication of the Pacific County Historical Society: It must be confessed that the information given here has been shamelessly “lifted” from every available source known – books, newspapers, family histories and letters. We make no apology because we believe the story should be told.

This was Ruth’s concluding remark in an article (which actually might have been a talk) titled “The Forgotten Pioneers of North Shoalwater Bay.” She had ‘lifted’ the material with the help of Virginia Olsen, which explains the “we” in her statement.

The First Sou’wester

I couldn’t have expressed my own feelings any better and have every intention of blatantly quoting Ruth in the future. She did more than any other Pacific County resident to document and chronicle the stories of our past. I’m sorry I didn’t know her. I came along after she had passed the baton as Pacific County Historian on to Larry Weathers who carried on her work for several decades. Larry talked a lot about Ruth, crediting her with knowing more about ‘where the bodies were buried’ (literally!) than any other person in the County.

Unfortunately, there is some mystery regarding what happened to the bulk of Ruth’s personal files. I remember that Larry was concerned about their safety and eventual preservation during Ruth’s final years and made several attempts to talk with her about her lifetime treasure trove.

Just this last week Community Historian Mike Lemeshko ran across some of those files at the Raymond Library – in all-but-forgotten containers in the back room. His initial impression is that they’ve been there for years but whether or not they constitute “all” of what Ruth left behind was unclear. He and I are planning a ‘field trip’ to take a more extensive look and to see if we can determine whether this is just a portion of her collection or if it includes the latter material that Larry worried about back in the 1990s.

I wonder if I will feel a bit like Alice of Looking Glass fame – seeing a familiar, though somewhat distorted, reflection of my own archives. And I wonder what I will learn by the experience. I SO like what Ruth wrote about how she gathered her material. I wonder how I’ll feel about the way she left it for posterity.