History of Early Pioneer Families of Hood River, Oregon. Compiled by Mrs. D.M. Coon

WILLIAM HUDSON AND FAMILY               D.M.C.                      1877

     Wm. Hudson and T.R. Coon, with a pack horse, traveled over the trail from Portland to Hood River in the summer of 1877; they were having an outing and look-ing for land at the same tine. They were five days on the trail and would have been longer, had they not eaten up all their supplies and been compelled to hurry through. Dirty, tired and hungry they sought the store of E.L. Smith to get something to eat; the store adjoined the home, and although strangers to him, Mr. Smith invited them to his home where they were feasted on the good things of Hood River.
     After a few days occupied in looking over the valley, Mr. Hudson bought eighty acres from Mr. Freeborough and moved his family to Hood River. They spent the first winter in a house belonging to Mr. Lilly, but built on their own land and moved there the next year.
     Mr. Hudson donated the land front the N.W. corner of his place to the school district, and on it the Barrett school was built in 1878. He worked for the saw-mill and for his neighbors to provide means of subsistence, for there was but little he could get from the land at that time, He was a share holder in a ditch or irri-gation company which brought water to the farm. It was not a large affair but was the first irrigation company in Hood River, and the owners put in much time and labor in getting the water.
     Hr. Hudson was with the party that went in search of the "lost" lake in the fall of 1880. They found it but it has been, and still is "Lost Lake". Mrs. Hud-son was a native of Pennsylvania, born and raised in Fairview, near the shores of Lake Erie. Her maiden name was Ella Sturgeon, she married Mr. Hudson and together they came to California and from there to Portland, Ore., in 1877, moving to Hood River in September of that year.
     Mrs. Hudson was a skillful dressmaker and very much appreciated by the wives of the early settlers for the help she gave them. She was also an excellent musician and a good alto singer, and added much to the social enjoyments of the community.
     They had one son, Clyde, who was a pupil in the Barrett school for several years.
     In 1883 they sold their farm to Douglas Hill and moved to Woodland, California, where they still reside, Mrs. Hudson being very active in prohibition and church work.

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