The Last Bow of a Valley Pioneer
C. L. McGlothlen, a homesteader who arrived when Yakima was sagebrush, is remembered for his musical contributions and deep ties to the pioneer community.
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.
The death of C. L. McGlothlen at Bremerton reached White Bluffs Saturday. Born in 1849, he homesteaded near Yakima in 1880, later settling on a desert claim four miles above Hanford in 1892. The McGlothlen home was a legendary gathering place, known for the family orchestra—C. L. on violin, his wife on bass viol, daughter Jessie on organ, and son Dallas on cornet. A member of the school board for 20 years, McGlothlen was buried in White Bluffs after a funeral procession of over 60 automobiles, the largest in Hanford's history. He was interred under the honors of the American Legion post named for his son, Dallas, who died during the Great War.
“Many an early valley home was beautified by shrubs and roots from the McGlothlen place, and many of the old home orchards were started from cuttings and seeds from the same generous source.”
The McGlothlen family story mirrors the rapid transformation of the mid-Columbia, where pioneers moved from sagebrush to orchards in a single generation. Today, the town of White Bluffs itself has vanished under the expansion of the Hanford site, making these family histories the only record of the community that once was.
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