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The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., October 13, 1960, page 9

Story of Camas Prairie Settlement Told

The following historical account of the early settlement of the Camas Prairie, or Glenwood country, was given extemporaneously as part of the program at the Glenwood session of the county historical society July 16. Miss Kreps spoke entirely from memory on what she had been told as a child by her mother and others.

By Jayne Kreps

"Grandfather (Peter Conboy) and three other Irishmen came into this valley in 1872 over the old Indian trail from White Salmon and from the summit overlooking the valley selected his homestead. He saw a lake and said "There's where I'm going to stake out my claim." Each of the other men with him picked theirs from that spot on the mountain between our valley and Gilmer valley.
Grandfather staked out his claim and laid the foundation (of his cabin) and then he went back to Portland, where he had come from, for supplies. When he came back here to stay the winter he found another man there. He had taken the foundation and chipped the name off (Grandfather had written his name, Peter Conboy, on the logs) and jumped the claim.
Well, after a little conversation, grandfather convinced him that the claim was his. He picked up the chips and pieced them together to show that he had written his name thereon. So the man said "Okay, it's yours" and moved on.
Grandfather and his son, Peter, who was 8 or 10 at the time, stayed there the first winter. Grandmother came out from Portland with the rest of the family, and older brother, John E., and two little girls, Maggie and Katie, the next year, coming in by Indian pack train over the old Indian trail. Maggie married Oliver Kreps who came to Camas Prairie in 1883. Grandmother brought her furniture up river by boat and stored it in, I believe, the old Joslin barn at Bingen. The furniture couldn't be brought out by pack train and eventually was sold or in some way to disposed of; they never did get it to the homestead.
In coming out over the old Oakridge trail, the story goes Grandmother was wearing a nice hat, but left it hanging in a tree, because the tree limbs hung so low. It didn't get to the homestead either!
Grandfather Conboy was in ill health and passed away and '75. Grandmother thought she couldn't stay, but with the help of a homestead named Frazier, who helped the boys, they decided they could stay on. Grandmother proved up on the homestead and became the first permanent settler. The Noah Chapmans also had come into the valley, shortly after Grandfather arrived.
Our valley at that time was known as Camas Prairie. In the spring of the year the camas bloomed and blowed and was a pretty blue, just as when the Indians came by the thousands to dig it in the summer-time. Mother used to tell us they would camp by the hundreds around the spring on the homestead. Our valley was the Indian playground. We still have a lot of that natural prairie ground where the camas blooms each spring.
This area around the Glenwood was all a pine ticket at that time, I've been told.
Among the early settlers the Leonard Stumps were prominent, the William Barkers, W.K. Coles, the Kelly's - five or maybe six families - all were here in the late'70s.
The first school district was District No. 10, formed in '76. Its boundaries were the Columbia River on the south and the White Salmon river on the west, the Klickitat River on the east and as far north as Camas Prairie and civilization went. The first schoolhouse was over close to what is now that the Diamond ranch in an old log cabin. There is a log cabin on that road yet (the J. N. Cole homestead) and the school house was close to it. That was the old District No. 10. The next school district formed, according to the records, was the Lyle district, and I think that was about 1878. Of course, before that, in the county there were others; District No. 1 was at Dallesport (Rockland).
The story of the district here goes that before Grandfather Conboy passed away he went to Goldendale, by way of White Salmon, by boat to Lyle, (I think he walked the last part of the trip) to acquire about the land grant bill which had just been put through for territorial use.
Fulda was the first post office and it was located somewhere in the vicinity of the school house. Just when Glenwood post office was established I don't know. Laurel post office was established in 1908. I think it was out west of where Laurel now is, about two miles on the Hurspool homestead.
As to how much of a lake Conboy lake was, it had water enough that there were boats and canoes on it. On Grandmother's deed there was a meandering line, and later after the lake had been drained, that meandering line was definitely established. The lake, I think, was drained some where between 1911 and 1913.
We used to have two hotels in the town of Glenwood. One was run by Mrs. Charles Schultz (Eva Fellers' grandmother) and the other by Mrs. J.O. Shaw. Mr. Shaw had the first sawmill and he and Allie, I think, the first store.
The first threshing machine, was brought into the valley by Pete Orteig down by Gilmer Valley.