The Final Frontier of Rebecca Huntington
A pioneer who survived the brutal trek to the Pacific Northwest finds her final rest after a life of hardship and service.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
One week ago last Saturday there occurred at Catlin, a small town in Cowlitz county, a funeral worthy of more than passing notice. It was the funeral of Rebecca J. Huntington (nee Williams), one of the very first settlers of this part of the United States. Born in Kentucky in 1824, she was left an orphan at 16, struggling to support three younger siblings. In 1848, she married H. D. Huntington and traveled by ox team to the far West. After wintering in Portland, they settled near the mouth of the Cowlitz River in 1850. The couple raised ten children, including Dr. John Huntington of Seattle and Hon. Chandler Huntington, a former state legislator. Mrs. Huntington had suffered for years from heart disease and passed away in North Yakima on March 15th.
“The funeral train a week ago Saturday wound solemnly through the little cemetery to the grave of Mr. Huntington, and beside his remains were deposited those of his lifelong partner in frontier life.”
Rebecca Huntington’s life defined the ‘pioneer’ mythos that built Washington State, but her story also highlights the grueling, often fatal conditions that defined early settlement. While the Cowlitz River valley is now a quiet corridor, the legacy of these massive families persists in the civic institutions they helped establish.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.