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The Klickitat County Agriculturist, Goldendale, WA., April 4, 1919, page 2

PIONEER DAYS IN THE TROUT LAKE SECTION
(By William Coate)

Another proposition that confronted our early settlers, was gaining access to all parts of our valley. Our streams were bridgeless. We applied to the board of county commissioners for assistance. The county was in the same predicament as most of her citizens. They offered to purchase the lumber for the cover and the road. The lumber we hauled from Glenwood, and went to the woods and hewed the stringers and timbers for three bridges. One across Trout Creek, just north of town; one across the White Salmon River at the Boze place; and one across the White Salmon river near the Ladiges place.
How to grow better crops was the big proposition which bothered most of us. Occasionally, when we would get a heavy rain late in June, our grain crops would do fairly well. I remember of helping harvest but one grain and hay crop, -- before we commenced to irrigate, -- that would make two tons to the acre. Usually, it would take two acres to cut one ton of grain hay.
We figured that we were not obtaining reasonable compensation for our labor, and could make nothing but a very poor living. During the year 1888, William Otto, started to construct an irrigation ditch from the White Salmon river, to irrigate his land, -- and which land is now owned by Frank M. Coate. However, Otto never completed the ditch.
During the spring of 1889, R.A. Byrkett, F.M. Coate, and myself, built an irrigation ditch taking the water from the White Salmon River, and used it to irrigate the grain sowed that spring. We were more than pleased with the results. Soon afterwards we tried red clover, and the result was even more satisfactory than with the grain. The problem of profitable farming in our valley was solved.
Primitive dairying was carried on in a small way by nearly every rancher. They milked during the summer, skimmed the milk by hand, churned the cream and butter, packed it into 15-gallon butter barrels, putting it in a cool place and kept it until fall, when they quit milking, because the cows had learned the habit of going dry after being milked three or four months. The butter was sent in the fall to The Dalles, or Portland, either in barrels as stated, were printed in roles or squares in boxes, and sold as packed butter, for from 17 1-2 to 20 cents per pound.
This condition in the dairy industry existed more or less in our valley until our people conceived the idea of organizing a co-operative dairy association for the manufacturing of butter and cheese. This was organized and in operation during the month of May, 1903.
For a few years we manufactured butter during the winter months, and cheese during the summer. The satisfactory results attained by our farmers, by the proper application of water on their lands, -- and the organization of our co-operative dairy association whereby we have been enabled to market all our milk products under one brand, -- have done more to establish our farmers upon a solid foundation than any or all of other things combined, except their faith in their homes and their ability to properly farm and cultivate their land.
Each year has seen a steady increase in our wealth and population.