A Frontier Rivalry Renewed
84-year-old pioneer N.V. Sheffer sets off on a donkey-drawn cart to reunite with his childhood rival, Ezra Meeker, at the Ferndale settlers' picnic.
At the Old Settlers' Picnic at Ferndale this week, N.V. Sheffer, the oldest settler of Whatcom County, is a feature. With his donkey and covered cart, he will share honors with Ezra Meeker, his boyhood friend and pioneer of King County. In the early days of '54, Mr. Sheffer came to Bellingham Bay and has lived here ever since. He is 84 years old but is as hale and hearty in appearance as most men of 60. On Wednesday, Mr. Sheffer hitched up Bixby's donkey to a covered cart and set out for Ferndale to attend the picnic. In the days of his youth, Sheffer and Meeker were schoolmates back in Indiana. Ezra had the reputation in spelling, but Sheffer could put it all over him in a fist fight, and he believes he can do it yet. The two old men have not seen each other for over a half century and will have great stories to relate.
“Ezra had the reputation in spelling, but Sheffer could put it all over him in a fist fight, and he believes he can do it yet.”
The 'Old Settlers' picnics' were defining events for the region’s identity in the early 20th century. While we now view these events with a more critical lens regarding Indigenous displacement, they serve as a window into how early white settlers constructed their own sense of history and community.
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