The Hood River News-Letter, Hood River, OR., March 3, 1906, page1

THRITY YEARS IN HOOD RIVER

     Thursday, March 1, 1876, Hon. E.L. Smith arrived in Hood River with his family. The white population of the city was nil and of the valley there were not more than twenty-five or thirty. Of these just twelve lived on the east side. Where Hood River now stands was a cow pasture covered with wild sun flowers, the short river grass and a few scrubby oaks mingled with the great oaks that still survive.
     At that time there were no houses between Hood River and the farm of J.W. Morton, then owned by his father-in-law, Mr. Haines. There was no wagon road down the planer hill in those days, nothing but a trail and in one place it was so steep that they were obliged to cut down a fir tree and trim it leaving the stump of limbs long enough to make hand holds, thus forming a ladder for the women and children to climb up.
     Mr. Smith moved out to his farm, now owned by Frank Davenport near the Frankton school house, and tells of an instance that summer where the women folks were washing in water from a spring conveyed by a short flume to the house, and during the operation the water became a very muddy. Mr. Smith, coming in about that time the good ladies asked him to see what was the trouble. Going around the clump of brush to where he could see the spring he found Brother Bear making his toilet, and Mr. Smith heaved a sigh and said; "my, those were glorious times."
     

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©  Jeffrey L. Elmer