The Bi-Weekly Eyeglass was a newspaper published for the soldiers of Fort Walla Walla and their families between 1891 and 1896. The paper provided a lot of information about daily happenings at the old fort, including holiday celebrations.
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The USS Houston (CA-30), a 600-foot-long Northampton class heavy cruiser, was commissioned on June 17, 1930. She was President Franklin Roosevelt’s favorite warship, taking him on a 12,000 mile cruise from Annapolis, Maryland, through the Caribbean and Hawaii to Portland, Oregon. She was present during the festivities surrounding the opening of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in May 1937. In August 1941, Eastern Washington native Albert H. Rooks would take command of Houston, the Flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. In six months, both would be lost in one of the most costly battles in U.S. Naval history.
Each year, thousands of pioneers braved the Oregon Trail, which ran from Independence, Missouri to either Oregon or further west to California. The journey took around five months, with wagon trains only averaging 12-15 miles per day. Journals written during or after the journey document what it was really like to travel those 2,000 arduous miles. Samuel M. Stout (1814-1877) was the captain of a wagon train headed for Oregon.
According to the January and February editions of the 1862 Saturday Morning Washington Statesman, this area was receiving the severest weather in recent memory. “We deem it important that the history of the present winter season should be put on the record . . . that they may prepare for its recurrence; and also to give a truthful impression to those who are contemplating removing hither for the purpose of permanent settlement, that they may know what kind of climate they will be liable to find.”
While we’re all spending a lot more time at home these days, keeping busy is important. This was also true of the soldiers stationed at Fort Walla Walla in the mid-to-late 1800s. In between all the duties, drills, shooting practice, and inspections, there was a variety of activities to keep the men occupied. Some of this information is documented in the historical record, recorded from oral histories passed down, or uncovered through archaeological excavations undertaken around the old fort.