600 Acre Farm in Spangle Washington 1880s to today

William Scott Hall on front porch of farm house 1903

William Scott Hall (1815-1904)  genealogical records in Maine show him to be a forth generation Hall whose first ancestors arriving in America from England in 1622, 1633, and 1635. The Hall family for these generations made their living as coastal traders, plying trade from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine and points south. But railroads were being introduced into Maine with a main line completed in 1855 so William Scott saw the end of an era and his doomed future in coastal trading.

In 1855, a railroad was completed across the Isthmus of Panama and William Scott had a practical way to move his young family to California by way of Panama. We don’t know if the impending American Civil War influenced William Scott’s decision but in 1858 he moved his family, including his 14 year old  daughter, Patience Melissa Hall, via boat and the Panama Railroad, to Santa Clara County California. William Scott learned a new trade, wheelwright, and became proficient and much sought after for his skills at making wagon and machine wheels. William Scott’s last son, Horace E. Hall  was born in Santa Clara County in 1864 when Horace’s sister Patience was 20 years old.

The family was interested in homesteading and  awaited the right time and place to participate. Railroads again played a role in timing and location. The Northern Pacific Railroad (NPR) was completed to Spokane in 1881, and Melissa Hall’s husband William Thomas Elledge was able to travel from Santa Clara County CA to Spokane WA by train. The route took him to Utah to join the NPR. The Northern Pacific Railroad had been given the right to build a spur route from Spokane south to Lewiston, Idaho and land on each side of the route were granted to the NPR to build this spur through the heart of the Palouse rolling hill farm land. 

The Indian wars in the Palouse ended in 1858 with the hanging of seven Indians about four miles from the family farm.

This is the story of 600 acres of Palouse farmland in the Spangle WA township, homesteaded by William Scott, his children and grandchildren and what became of this land over the next century. Lets start with the legal descriptions of this 600 acres.

SE ¼ Section 3 Township 22 North Range 43 (160 acres) Horace Hall

SW ¼ Section 3 Township 22 North Range 43 (160 acres) Alice Lucas Elledge

W ½ of the NE ¼; and NE ¼ of the NE ¼ Section 10 Township 22 North Range 43 (120 acres) Patience Melissa Hall Elledge

NW ¼ of Section 11 Township 22 North Range 43 (160 acres) W T Elledge, W. Grant, and George S Elledge

The legal farm land descriptions are used on all farm land deeds to identify the parcel being deeded. Spokane County decided not make these legal descriptions searchable when they moved their records online. Early documents often don’t include numbers and deeds were written longhand e.g. “southeast quarter section three township twenty two north range forty three”. As a result of this decision, the only way to search for Spokane County farm land records online is by granter and grantee so many documents for farm land property warranty deeds and quit claim deeds cannot be found using online searches. This includes documents pertaining to our 600 acres.

Current land ownership is available at the Spokane County SCOUT map  web site. One can move the map focus to Spangle township, enlarge the map, and click on each parcel to find its size, owner, and recent sales activity. Unfortunately, the SCOUT map shows tax parcel numbers and not legal descriptions which, I presume, would be too unwieldy for tax records. The SCOUT map allows us to find the current owners of the 600 acres and who is currently paying the property taxes on the parcel but one has to guess whether or not the highlighted parcel matches the desired legal land description.

Patience’s husband William Thomas Elledge (age 50),  Patience (age 37), and W T’s three sons, W G Elledge (age 12), George S Elledge (age 11), Edwin E Elledge (age 6) arrived in Spangle in 1881.

William T Elledge immediately bought NW ¼ of Section 11 Township 22 North Range 43 (160 acres) from the Northern Pacific Railroad for $416.

Railroad to W T Elledge NW ¼ S11 (160) 1881

William T Elledge died in 1886 at age 55 in Spangle leaving  Patience Melissa Hall Elledge the NW ¼ Section 11 160 acres.

William Scott’s wife Louisa Troke was born in St. George, New Brunswick Canada in 1826 and died in Santa Clara County CA on May 6, 1883. Their other children were adults at the time of her death. William Scott spent most of the rest of his life in Santa Clara County CA. Only a photo taken at the Hall farm in 1903 shows that he attended the birth of Horace’s first son Clarence and likely visited Patience and her three boys.

In 1883, William Scott bought NE ¼ of Section 11 Township 22 North Range 43 (160) Aug 1, 1883 from the Northern Pacific Railroad for $416. This land is not part of our 600 acre farm.He intended that this land would go to his son Horace (age 19) when he reached the age of majority.

Railroad to W S Hall NE ¼ S11 (160) 1883

William Scott deeded NE ¼ S11 to his son Horace E Hall on Feb 8, 1890.

W S Hall to Horace Hall NE ¼ S11 (160) 1890

Horace sold NE ¼ S11 on Feb 17, 1890 to the Spokane Nash party. This document is three pages and required Patience’s witness signature and a notary signature from Santa Clara CA. This hand written Quit Claim deed is extremely hard to decipher.

Horace to Nash Party NE ¼ S11 Feb 1890 Page 1

Horace to Nash party NE ¼ S11 Feb 1890 page 2 Patience certifying

Horace to Nash Party NE ¼ S11 Feb 1890 page 3 CA Notary page 3

This parcel NE ¼ of Section 11 Township 22 North Range 43 (160 acres) is currently owned by the Sievers Farm LLC.

Horace purchased SE ¼ Section 3 Township 22 Range 43 (160)  on Apr 14, 1890 for $2000 from a Spokane land speculator (who bought from Northern Pacific in 1889) . This is the Hall 160 acre parcel.

J ZEsinger to Horace E Hall NE ¼ S3 (160 acres) 1890

Washington State University was established as a land grant college in 1890 in Pullman WA in the Palouse.

P M to Grant George

Patience deeded for $1000, to W Grant Elledge and George S Elledge  the NW ¼ of Section 11 Township 22 North Range 43 (160 acres) Apr 24, 1902.

Grant to Russel S7 1902

Grant and George sold for $2,800, to the Russel party,  SW ¼ of Section 7 Township 22 Range 43 (160 acres) Oct 2, 1902. This parcel is crossed by the Cheney-Spangle Highway approx 1.5 miles southwest of Spangle.  Robert “Bob” Sievers purchased the 80 acre parcel 32071.9001 on Feb 9, 2020 for $271,400 or $3,392.50 an acre. This parcel appears on the SCOUT map to be the W ½ of the SW ¼ of Section 7 of the former Elledge property.  The Hall 155 acres, currently owned by Bob Sievers, would have an estimated value of $526,000 today.

P M Elledge Estate to Edwin E Elledge W ½ NE ¼ S11 (80) 1927

In 1927, after Patience’s death, her son, Edwin filed a warranty deed transferring the W ½ of the NE ¼ of Section 11 Township 22 North Range 43 from P M Elledge to Edwin E Elledge. This would have been 80 acres of the land William Scott purchased from NPR in 1883 and that Horace sold in 1890 after purchasing the Hall land in Section 3. This document doesn’t say that P M Elledge is dead, that the legal land description is wrong, that P M Elledge never owned this land, that the document claims this deed was originally signed in 1910. This document, that is still on file, is a fake.

Edwin to Grant S11 1937

Edwin filed a quitclaim deed to the NW ¼ of Section 11 Township 22 North Range 43 (160 acres) on Aug 2-, 1937 This document was signed in Bakersfield CA. Edwin was signatory to the deed from Patience to Grant in 1902, but Edwin must have  been making claims on this parcel as late as 1937. He had already filed a fake deed to the NE ¼ claiming falsely that Patience had deeded him this parcel in 1910.

Patience Hall Elledge bought the NE ¼ of the NE ¼ Section 10 Township 22 Range 43 (40 acres), probably around 1890, right across Keavy Road from her brother Horace’s land.  Grant built his farm buildings on this land but Patience retained ownership until her death. I can find no records of this purchase.

Patience Hall Elledge bought W ½ of the NE ¼ Section 10 Township 22 Range 43 (80 acres) from the Spokane County Poor Farm shown as owners of this parcel on the Township 22 map below sometime between 1905 and her death in 1926. I can find no records of this purchase.

I believe that Patience lived in the town of Spangle from the time her family first arrived from CA in 1881 until her death in Spangle in 1926 but visited her father and siblings  in Santa Clara County CA periodically. Grant retired shortly after her death and he and Alice may have moved into Patience’s house in Spangle.

Grant Alice Marriage 1900

In 1900 Patience’s oldest son William Grant Elledge (age 31) married Mary Alice Lucas (age 28) . Grant built a house and barn and dug a well on Patience’s land and lived there with Alice until he retired from farming.

Horace Ida Marriage 1902

Horace finished his house in 1900. Horace (age 38) married Ida Grünewald (age 23) in 1902 and my dad Clarence was born in 1903.

I think that Grant, George, and Horace farmed as a single family unit, sharing farm equipment, horses, and labor,  working whatever fields were needed. It is  possible that the neighboring Hollings and Rasmussens also shared equipment and labor in a cooperative fashion. This was particularly likely in the early days of stationary harvesters and steam tractors where crews of 20 or more were needed for the harvest. Clarence would have grown up in this environment and the photo below of him pulling a 1920s combine with a team of horse up a Palouse hill supports this. By the late 1930s a crew of three is all that is required to harvest a field as seen with Bob, Phil, and Clarence on 1935 tractor and combine.

Bob Phil and Clarence Harvesting in 1940s

Alice Lucas Elledge inherited SW ¼ Section 3 (160 acres) upon her father Joseph Lucas’s death in 1906.

Clarence Hall High School Graduation

Grant was 34 years older than his first cousin Clarence. Clarence began farming at the age of 19 or 20 after Horace died in 1922 and I believe that Grant and Alice retired to Patience’s Spangle house after her death in 1926. Grant would have been 57 years old in 1926, the same age as Horace when he died and farming is hard. When Grant retired, he arranged for Clarence to share crop the 440 acre Elledge and Lucas land.

Clarence Team Drawn Combine in the Palouse 1920s

Township 22 1905

By 1905, Patience has purchased NE ¼ of the NE ¼ Section 10  (40 acres). This parcel  is directly across Keavy Rd from her brother Horace’s parcel where Grant  built his farm buildings. Patience would purchase W ½ of the NE ¼ Section 10 (80 acres) from the Spokane County Poor Farm sometime after this map was drawn.

Jochim Sievers owns 320 acres according to this map. The Erna Paul Sievers Family Tree  will play a significant part in our family history. Jochim Sievers son Paul married Amanda Suksdorf and we see that the Suksdorf family are major land owners by 1905.

Township 22 1940s?

A Land ownership map in Township 22 (Spangle) was found in a Spokane Historical nomination of the 1900 George Clark barn prepared by Nona Hengen who lives on the property of the barn. In Sector 3 the map shows that Ida Hall has inherited Horace E Hall’s SE 1/4 after his death in 1922 (age 57), Alice Elledge owns the SW 1/4 of Section 3. Patience P M Elledge owns 120 acres in the NE 1/4 Section 10 and W G Elledge owns the NW 1/4 of Section 11. This map shows the ownership of the 600 acres when my father Clarence began farming. This map also shows some of the 1015 acres owned by Erna Sievers after her husband Paul Siever’s death in 1946 .

“A farm estate in Spokane County, Washington, can be foreclosed upon if property taxes are not paid. Washington state law requires the county treasurer to initiate the foreclosure process on any real property for which a tax payment is three or more full years delinquent.”

A possible explanation for showing P M Elledge as owner of the parcel on this map is that someone regularly paid property taxes and that there were no other liens on the property.

In 1952 Ida Hall died; in 1953 Clarence Hall died; in 1955 Grant Elledge died, in 1956 Alice Elledge and Sarah Greenlee (Bertha’s mother) died. From the age of nine I  attended funerals.

Alice Estate to Maxine 709 795 Grant S11 80 acres Alice S3 40 acres 1957

In 1957 the Alice Elledge Estate deeded the SE ¼ of the SW ¼ of Section 3 (40 acres) and the E ½ of the W ¼ of Section 11 (80 acres) to Maxine Hubbard , then living in Lewiston Idaho, the only living descendant of the three Elledge brothers. Maxine was the daughter of Edwin E. Elledge.

The E ½ of the W ¼ of Section 11 W G Elledge Estate 80 acres were not deeded by Alice’s estate, nor was the W ½ of the NE ¼; and NE ¼ of the NE ¼ Section 10 Township 22 Range 43 P M Elledge Estate 120 acres. But someone continued to pay the property taxes on these parcels.

Alice Estate to E H Brewer 719-748 Lucas Alice S3 120 1957

Alice Estate to E H Brewer 719-750 Todd Alice S3 120 1957

Her estate sold 120 acres to Ed Brewer. I believe there are two deeds for this sale because the proceeds of the sale were divided between two sets of beneficiaries;  Lucas and Todd.

Hubbard Deed of Distribution

Maxine Hubbard died in 1984 and her son Richard Hubbard and daughter Gail H Callahan filed a deed of distribution in 1987, three years after Maxine Hubbard’s death, perhaps to avoid delinquent tax foreclosure. Exhibit A claims all the remaining Elledge land in Section 11 and Section 10 and 40 acres from Section 3; altogether 320 acres.

Hubbard Lis Pendens 1988

In 1988, Richard and Gail filed a Lis Pendens against the Estates of all the Elledges to secure title to the 320 acres. The Superior Court of Spokane County granted title to the Hubbards.

In 1988, 155 acres of Hall land and 120 acres of Alice Elledge land were owned by Paul “Bud” Sievers. All Bud’s land were inherited by his son Robert “Bob” Sievers in 2010. I believe Bud and/or Bob have been farming the 320 acre Elledge Land since 1981 when Ed H Brewer died.

Today the Elledge land is owned by the Sharley-Hubbard Living Trust. Richard Hubbard died in 2018 from injuries sustained in a mountain bike crash. Richard’s second wife Ann Sharley and Richard’s  sister Gail Callahan are the two remaining trustees of the living trust. They pay land taxes and I believe have an arrangement with Robert “Bob” Sievers to farm the 320 acres. The 600 acres are, I believe, once again farmed by one farmer.

There may never be an answer to the mystery of who was paying land taxes on the various Elledge Estate lands between 1926 and 1984 as various parcels became the estates of deceased owners without being deeded (or I can’t find any records of deeds). The final direct Elledge descendant, Maxine Elledge Hubbard died in 1984, so she remains the most likely to have been paying the taxes on all the estate parcels.  We know for certain that someone paid the property taxes on all Elledge parcels until 1984.

By sharp contrast, the history of the Horace – Ida – Clarence – Bertha Hall land SE ¼ Section 3 Township 22 Range 43 (160) is complete from Horace’s purchase in 1890 to his death in 1922, to Ida’s death in 1952, to Clarence’s death in 1953, to Bertha’s sale of 155 acres in 1972 and the creation of the farm buildings 4.68 acre parcel to Bertha’s sale of the farm building parcel in 1975. I found all these records.

Ida Hall discovered after Horace’s death that a large mortgage. had been taken out on the 160 acres to invest in a coal mine in British Columbia. The mine failed and Ida and Clarence spent years paying off the mortgage. Had it not been for this mortgage, Ida and Clarence might have been able to use land equity to acquire more farm land.

Grant farmed all 440 acres of Elledge land. Grant and Alice were living directly across Keevy Rd from the Horace and Ida Hall farm. When Grant retired to Spangle, he arranged for my dad Clarence (Grant’s first cousin) to farm the 440 acre Elledge land under a share crop agreement. This agreement was terminated in the fall of 1955 after the death of Grant by Alice, who claimed that she had a close relative who had married a Spangle farmer Edwin H Brewer. I finally unraveled her relationship with farmer Brewer. Alice’s husband Grant’s niece Maxine Elledge’s husband Ralph Wood Hubbard’s sister Mary Elizabeth Hubbard Brewer is the mother of Edwin Harrison Brewer. E H Brewer’s wife was Harriet Jane Ewing Brewer (1921 Spokane -2001), unrelated to Alice Lucas Elledge.

The traditional share arrangement for a grain crop like corn or wheat is one-third to the landowner and two-thirds to the tenant. Usually, the expenses paid, and crop received, are equal to the share — i.e. the landowner would pay one-third of the expenses and receive one-third of the crop.

Alice was upset that William E “Bob” (my oldest brother) had missed two consecutive state of the farm meetings in 1954 and 1955 and had planted spring wheat on his own initiative without Grant’s or Alice’s approval. If there was no written share crop agreement, Bob, who never intended to be a farmer, probably had no way of knowing the details of Clarence’s arrangement with Grant. Alice met with Bertha and Bob at the Farm and mentioned a family marriage to a local farmer, Edwin Harrison Brewer, and that she had decided to move the share crop to him.The disastrous result of Alice’s decision to terminate the share crop agreement was to destroy the economic viability of our 600 acre farm. It would not have been impossible in 1955 to profitably farm only 160 acres. And by this time, Clarence, Bob and Phil had borrowed heavily to purchase a new International TD9 track tractor and a new Massey Harris combine.

A written share crop agreement if it ever existed and the Horace mortgage are lost to history. It is even possible that the agreement between first cousins Clarence and Grant were not written down. Many such agreements are based on verbal contracts or “handshake deals,” especially when the parties have a long-standing relationship such a Grant had with both uncle Horace and cousin Clarence.

Spangle Landowning Widows in Order of Widowhood

Farm lands owned by married couples are inherited by the widow when the husband dies unless a binding will overrides the traditional legal practice. Here we study several Spangle widows, most of whom inherited farm land upon the death’s of their husbands,  and who themselves never became farmers. For the duration of their widowhood, often for decades, these widows became the final decision makers regarding their land.

Patience Melissa Hall Elledge widow 1886 – 1926 40 years William T Elledge

Patience moved from Maine to Santa Clara CA when she was 14 years old and again moved to Spangle in 1881 together with her husband, and her three sons. She was widowed in 1886 at the age of 42 in Spangle. George died in 1906, Grant became the Elledge farmer, and Edwin ran the Spangle Hardware. Patience sold her husband’s 160 acre parcel to her sons Grant and George in 1902 and purchased 120 acres of farm land that she controlled til her death in 1926.

Pearl Roberta Johnson Elledge widow 1906-1960 54 years George S Elledge

Pearl Elledge to Grant and Alice NW ¼ S11 E(80) 1952

Pearl was widowed at age 29 in 1906 when she acquired George’s W ½ NW ¼ S 11 (80 acres). In 1939 Pearl exchanged halves with W G Elledge and Alice giving Pearl  the E ½ (80 acres) .  In 1952 Pearl sold her E ½ NW ¼ S 11 (80 acres) to Grant and Alice. Pearl was an active buyer and seller of individual lots in the town of Spangle where she lived. And someone,  Pearl or Grant paid property tax on her land from 1906 until 1955. Alice’s estate did not deed this land to Maxine Hubbard in 1957.

Ida Grünewald Hall widow 1922-1952 30 years Horace E Hall

Clarence, Maye, Elmer

Ida Grünewald was 15 years younger than Horace when they married in 1902. My dad, Clarence, was born a year later in 1903. She had a second son Elmer in 1905 and a daughter Maye in 1906. Elmer was a mathematical prodigy but suffered epileptic fits. Elmer and Clarence were very close growing up. When Horace died unexpectedly in 1922 at age 57, Clarence had just graduated from High School. Ida believed strongly in education and wanted Clarence to go to WSU but now he would need to take over the farming. Ida came up with a plan to allow Clarence to attend WSU for one year and take only the courses that he would need for his farming duties. During that year he formed lifelong contacts in the WSU  extension service. I used to accompany dad on his annual visits to the extension service to learn the latest farming developments. During that WSU year, Elmer and Mae assisted Ida to keep the farm running. As a recognized prodigy, Ida knew Elmer needed to get a degree from WSU so she left Clarence and Mae to care for the farm while she became the cook at the Stevens dormitory on the WSU campus. She was an excellent German cook. She was able to have her own private room together with Elmer where she would be able to manage his occasional fits. Elmer graduated with a B.A. in mathematics. Elmer went on to earn an M.A  in mathematics somewhere in the east and began work at Westinghouse in Pittsburgh. Ida was told he was doing important work. He committed suicide in 1939 and Ida blamed Elmer’s wife for his death. I have not been able to find more details about Elmer’s life.

Mae helped Clarence on the farm and when Ida returned home from WSU Mae attended Cheney Normal School but did not like teaching. She worked at Weyerhauser in Spokane for 2 years then married and moved to San Francisco where she worked for the State of California for 33 years.

Ida and Tillie Retirement Home Spangle 2025When Clarence married Bertha in 1927, Ida moved with her widowed sister Matilda “Tillie” to a house on Main Street in Spangle. The house still exists much as I remember it although I am sure the outhouse is now replaced with an indoor toilet. She was a central member of the Spangle Community Church and raised money to purchase a bell for the Spangle Community Church and one for the Zephyr lodge built in 1902 and purchased for use as a church summer camp on Liberty Lake. She also bought a dinner bell for her home. Ida had thyroid surgery in her 60’s and never really recovered. She developed high blood pressure and had nephritis.

Mae Hall Bennett to Clarence Hall NW ¼ of NE ¼ S3 (40) 1953

When Ida died her will deeded 40 acres to Mae and Mae immediately deeded the land to Clarence before Clarence’s death in 1953.

Erna Jöns Sievers 1904-2000 widow 1946-2000 54 years Paul Sievers

Erna was raised in Spokane and graduated from Central High School. In 1929, at the age of 25 she became the second wife of Paul Sievers after Paul’s first wife Amanda Pauline Suksdorf 1896–1928 died. Amanda’s children include the twins Paul “Bud” and Pauline, born in 1922. The Suksdorfs still own significant farm land in Spangle. Paul and Erna had one son Harold “Sonny” born in 1931. Paul acquired more than 1000 acres of land and built a wooden grain elevator on the Watts farm during their marriage. Erna inherited the farm when Paul died in 1946 and proved to be a very able business woman, making all decisions regarding crops and market timing, while Sonny proved an excellent farmer and mechanic. She set up the LLC and built nine steel tanks for grain storage. Erna was my first employer.

Elise Edna Webb widow 1947-1964 17 years Edwin E Elledge

Elise was born in 1890 in Bakersfield CA and married Edwin in Seattle in 1909. She lived in Spangle for about 20 years when Edwin and she ran the Spangle Hardware store. They had a daughter Maxine and a son Richard who died in 1939. In 1940 she returned to Bakersfield CA. She died in Lewiston ID in 1964 where her daughter Maxine was living.

Bertha Greenlee Hall widow 1953-1984 31 years Clarence E Hall

Bertha Greenlee was born in 1902 to Aaron Greenlee (a Scottish name) and Sarah Garoutte Greenlee whose great grandfather was Michael Antoine Garoutte, a pirate and privateer in the early war for American Independence and a Lieutenant in the first American Continental Navy. Her family moved to a farm in Spangle in 1918 and Bertha thought it was the best house her family ever owned. She and her younger brother Clarence Milburn Greenlee 1904-1944 drove a horse drawn carriage to school every day, about five miles. Bertha used to joke they could churn cream into butter the ride was so rough. She graduated in 1922 and attended the Cheney Normal School to earn a teaching certificate. In 1924, she got her first teaching assignment for a one room school (grades 1-8) located on Latah Creak less than three miles from the Greenlee farm. The road descended from the farm’s Palouse plateau down a steep curving gravel road to the school. She rode a horse to school every day where there was a barn with hay for the horse. After school, when the horse reached the plateau it always broke into an uncontrollable gallop anxious to get home. The family had to open a gate when they saw her coming but once the horse crashed right through the gate.

Living at home, Bertha was able to save her salary and she purchased a new Ford Model T coup. The one room school was closed and her next assignment was in Wardner, ID near Kellogg, in 1925. Clarence drove his Model T Ford to court her.

Bertha married Clarence in 1927. They had four children William E “Bob” 1928, Clarence Philip “Phil” 1931, Janet Nadine 1934, and me, Dennis Ray 1943.

Bertha, Bob, Janet, Phil

Dad remodeled the farmhouse, digging a full basement, putting in central heating (coal) indoor bathroom and toilet and a walk in Refrigerator – Freezer. Mom had an incredible green thumb for vegetable and flower gardens. The family was almost self sufficient, growing almost all the food we needed. They sold excess cream and eggs to a Spokane coop and on those trips  could conveniently shop at Safeway for Yeast, flower, sugar, and other necessities. Bertha canned and froze vegetables and fruits for winter consumption. We had our own apples, but picked peaches, apricots, pears, and berries from specialty growers in the area.

Clarence died unexpectedly in 1953 at age 50. Both Bob and Phil were in the army during the Korean War when he died. Bob was immediately released per army regulations to take over the farm though Bob never wanted to be a farmer. He had a B.A. in business. He was forced by the death to take over farm duties which included the share crop of the Elledge 440 acres. Bob seemed to be unaware of the details of the agreement and failed to meet with Grant and Alice two years in succession 1954 and 1955. When Grant died in 1955, Alice terminated the agreement, destroying the farm as a viable business. Phil was a military policeman MP and served a tour of duty in Korea. After his Korean tour, Phil Traveled throughout the US by train looking for AWOL (Absence Without  Leave) soldiers. This was his first time seeing the rest of America. When released from the army, Phil did not return to the farm immediately but joined a custom combine outfit that began the harvest season somewhere in the Southern Midwest and ended in Montana. When Phil finally returned to the farm three years after Clarence’s death, he underwent  an appendectomy just before harvest. Fortunately, his good friend Eddy Hengen was able to step in and operate the Massey Harris Combine while I drove truck. Phil had purchased a marginal parcel in Township 23 north of Spangle. Bob was finally able to leave farming, and Phil next arranged to farm significant farm in Tensed Idaho under a contract arrangement. The Tensed farm was 35 miles from the Hall farm.

Phil Farm Sale 1972

Repay Bertha Phil mortgage 1972

Bertha Hall to E H Brewer NEQ S3 (155.4) 1972

When the owner reneged on the agreement, this effort failed and Phil, who also was having heart problems gave up farming in 1972, selling the parcel in Township 23 to the Baxters. He was able to use the proceeds from this sale to pay off Bertha’s mortgage.   Bertha sold 155 acres in 1972 to Ed Brewer,  She retained 4.68 acres where the farm buildings and pasture were located and where she was living.

Bertha to Banko 4.67 1975

In 1975, Bertha sold the 4.68 acres and moved to a “mobile” home in Spangle. Bertha suffered a blood clot that traveled to her brain resulting in severe damage and after some time in a home in Fairfield WA she died in 1984.

 Alex, me, Bertha, and Mae in Hawaii 19721900 Farmhouse and Bertha’s small retirement home in 2025

Peacocks on the Roof 2025

New Addition to Farmhouse 2025

Detail of 1940 Dairy Barn Hayloft with 1×4 laminated wood rafters in 2025

Surge vacuum milking machine   Cream Separator

Alice Lucas Elledge widow 1955-1956 1 year William Grant Elledge

Alice Lucas was the granddaughter of Lydia Spangle and daughter of Joseph Lucas and was owner of the 160 acres west of Horace’s farm. Alice Married Grant Elledge in 1900 and inherited her father’s parcel upon Joseph’s death in 1906. They had one daughter who died in 1906. Alice retained control of her father’s land until her death.

When Grant died in 1955, Alice terminated the share crop agreement with the Hall family prior to her own death.

Her estate sold 120 acres to Ed Brewer.  The estate deeded 120 acres to Maxine Elledge Hubbard.

Maxine Elledge Hubbard widow 1972-1984 12 years Ralph Wood Hubbard

Maxine was born in 1914, the daughter of Edwin E Elledge and Elise Edna Elledge. Her brother was Richard Gerald Elledge 1918–1939. She married Ralph Wood Hubbard. They had one son Richard E ‘”Rich” Hubbard 1950-2018 and one daughter Gail Hubbard Callahan. The family moved to Lewiston Idaho in 1955. Maxine, as the sole living heir of the Elledges, was deeded 120 acres by the estate of Alice Lucas Elledge in 1957. Another 200 Elledge acres were not deeded to Maxine. Because Spokane County never initiated a tax foreclosure on the Elledge property, we know that someone, most likely Maxine, continued to pay the taxes on all 320 acres.

Growing Up on a Palouse Farm – 1940s and 1950s

I was born in 1943 and my memories of childhood begin around 1948. I grew up on the 600 acres farm my dad Clarence was farming and I retain detailed memories of the entire farm and its rolling hills. The Hall family has a photo of the Elledge barn across Keavy Road taken in 1944 but by 1948, only the Elledge hand-pumped well remained. The well was covered over soon after.

Once a year, my dad visited Grant and Alice in Spangle to go over the past year and to plan for the next year. From the time I was a toddler til I had memory in 1948 and until 1953, I accompanied dad on his annual state of the farm visits. I remember Grant and Alice and their home in Spangle. I always felt warm and welcomed. I now realize that Grant and Alice had lost their only child, daughter Katherine, at age 1 in 1906. I would listen to dad and Grant discussing crop rotation decisions for the coming year, what dad had learned from the WSU extension service, how things had gone the previous year, crop yields and prices, and so on. At my young age, I don’t know how much I absorbed.

When Alice terminated the Hall share crop agreement, I was all too aware at the age of 13 that there would be no money for the family to send me to college and I responded by starting to work (driving truck during harvest and plowing in the fall) on Erna Siever’s thousand acre farm to earn money for college. I had no drivers license at this age but driving on gravel farm roads meant virtually no chance of being stopped by the highway patrol. Bertha opened a joint checking account for the two of us at this time and the account remained open until 1967 when I returned to graduate school in Hawaii. Ida and Clarence also had joint accounts throughout the remainder of Ida’s life after Horace’s death. An unusual family tradition.

Growing up alongside by dad Clarence and my older brother Phil, I acquired knowledge and skills that I have retained throughout my life. Dad taught me to drive the Jeep at age 5 or 6 and the jeep was my primary means to move around the farm and local area before I was able to qualify for a driver’s license.

My dad designed a new church when the 19th Century church was condemned in the 1940s. A licensed architect drew up the formal plans and dad organized the construction using all volunteer skilled Spangle workers, beginning with dad digging the church basement with a D7 Caterpillar bulldozer he borrowed from Jens Rasmussen. I observed the building of the forms, the pouring of the concrete, the laying of concrete blocks, and all other elements needed for the complete church that was dedicated in 1952. My single role in the  construction was to remove the wooden forms from the basement heating ducts when I was in the second or third grade after school because I was the only one small enough to climb into the ducts.

I observed my dad building ,over two winters, a plywood 20 foot cabin cruiser powered by a marine modified jeep engine and launched in 1951 on Lake Pend Oreille ID where the boat lived in a boathouse for two years until his death. Dad learned  to troll for lake salmon which were smoked at the lake.

At the same time, dad remodeled our old bunkhouse into a small two story two bedroom retirement home with one car garage. I observed all steps in this process, helping where I could. Dad never got to live in this house, but mom and I moved in when Phil married. I lived here last in 1967 and mom moved to Spangle in 1975.

Farm kids all need to do farming chores growing up. Mine probably started at age 5 gathering eggs from a large hen house with nesting shelves. The fresh eggs were gathered twice a day and stored in the walk in refrigerator in 144 egg paper organizers. I next learned to wean the dairy calves and teach them to drink fresh milk from a bucket.

Dad fenced the entire Alice parcel and put a gate between our land and hers so he could use the timothy grass draws on her parcel as a fall pasture for the dairy cows. In the fall, after morning milking, dad would open the gate between parcels and the cows would spend the day grazing the grass draws. After school from age 6, my first after school chore with the assistance of our shepherd dog was to bring the herd back to the barn for milking . At the time, dad kept a Holstein bull with the herd of 15 cows. I always found the herd together at the farthest draw fence. The herd knew when I arrived it was time to return to the barn for water and milking so they would start the trip as soon as I arrived. I  noticed that the single file line of cows was always in the same order, with the oldest (and smartest) cow leading. (In the Spring, when grass was inviting outside the barnyard, she knew how to open the barnyard gate using her horn. Only she could do this.)The order of cows seemed to be in order of age followed by the weaned calves followed by the bull, always last. Disturbingly, the bull had a habit of occasionally walking backward, looking at us. He never did anything but this was still unnerving.

The next task I learned was scraping and painting our many farm buildings. Dad built me a wood working bench with tools in our house’s basement and I learned to build things like birdhouses. When mom and I moved to the retirement home, I disassembled her concrete block, glass roofed greenhouse from behind the old house and rebuilt it near the retirement home. I laid the concrete block base but redesigned the roof still using the original glass roof segments but with a flat fiberglass top so it didn’t block the view from the house. Mom used the greenhouse for her garden and flowers til she moved to Spangle in 1975.

Milking  cows waited til I was big enough.  Because  the herd was reduced from 15 cows to 2, It was simpler and easier for me to milk the remaining cows by hand not using the heavy surge milking machines. The milk was separated by a motor driving centrifugal cream separator and the skim milk and cream were stored in our walk in refrigerator. Excess skim milk was given to the dairy calves and the pigs. We churned our own butter and used cream for cooking and drinking, with the excess cream and eggs periodically taken to the Spokane coop.

The population of the Spangle Township was in the hundreds and constantly shrinking. The population was totally of European origin; English, German, Danish, French, Scottish, and one Italian bachelor that built his own concrete block house next to the train tracks in Spangle. There were no blacks, no Asians, no Hispanics.  The primary cultural distinction in the community was what church you were affiliated with like the Seventh Day Adventists, who worship on Saturday and are vegetarians and who owned the Upper Columbia Academy south of Spangle. The German community were largely Lutheran and Erna Sievers attended church regularly in Spokane. Grandma Ida was German but was a central supporter of the Spangle Community Church in Spangle which professes itself to be non-denominational. By tradition it hired its ministers from the New Hope Christian College in Eugene OR.

The telephone system featured a single switchboard office located on Main street in Spangle. It was run by a mother and daughter team who lived in the office, took shift turns to answer the phone and would wake at night in cases of emergency. Individual party lines ran from this office to each home in town and the farms. A party was made up of all the phones connected to a single line, in our case the Rasmussens, the Halls, and the Hollings. Rings were generated by turning a crank on your phone and each line on a party was assigned a unique ring signal made up of long and short rings. The operator who was connected to each party line was one long ring. All calls within the township were connected by the operator connecting your calling line to the receiving line and the operator ringing the receiver’s ring signal. The operator and every phone on both party lines could pick up a phone and listen to the conversation or talk if they wanted to. The switchboard had a connection to the switchboard of every other neighboring town’s switchboard and to Spokane which by this time had installed rotary dial phones.

This phone system made for a unique and now extinct cultural hub. The operators knew and could recognize everyone in the township and what cars and trucks they drove. With a bay window on Main street the operators could tell any caller if their vehicle was parked in town or was seen driving by recently. They could tell the caller if the vehicle was parked at the post office, a grocery store, the drug store, a gas station, the barber shop, a tavern, etc. Any emergency was immediately known by anyone interested. When dad died in 1953, Janet had called Dr Pollack in Rosalia and when the Doctor arrived to pronounce his passing, Janet probably called our minister and someone, probably the telephone operator, notified the Highway Patrol to stop our Studebaker  so mom, Bob, and could return home, by which time town residents were already arriving.

If you add to this the town busybodies who make it their business to know all the gossip about anyone (feuds, affairs, drinking, mysterious perhaps illegal doings) you have the makings of a very claustrophobic cultural environment. Growing up inside this environment one thinks of it as natural. One taboo seems to have been discussing death. In 1956 a classmate of mine lost his dad in a tractor accident. His dad had been my bus driver. After the initial event and funeral, the deaths were never again mentioned, at least in my experience.

When dad died and Phil returned to the farm my farm chores and skills increased, learning mechanics, welding, brazing, soldering, machinery and engine repair and overhaul. I learned to lay concrete blocks, rock walls, the church barbecue and walkways, building a brick garage in Spokane for Aunt Mabel and Uncle Reed,, fencing, etc. I had observed dad’s electrical wiring but continue to learn after. Phil built a Hereford beef herd and started custom  haying for nearby farmers with negotiated contracts. He borrowed money from mom to buy an Alis Chalmers Model B tractor with belly 7 foot mower blade. I was the primary operator of the AC mower and spent every year after school ended in June helping Phil with the haying. This continued til 1967. For a couple of years, Phil also contracted to mow the clover on farm fields where the government was paying farmers not to grow wheat. For this work, Phil agreed to pay me $10 a day to mow clover with the AC, but for his own hay I was not paid. I needed to work harvest seasons for other farmers to be able to attend college.

In 1952, dad bought a 43 acre lakefront place on Coeur d’Alene lake near Worley ID where he planned to move the fishing cruiser. The property had large grass pastures, a Delicious apple orchard, a spring, and a small cottage. It was bordered on the south by a very large property owned by Potlatch lumber. Potlatch had long ago logged the property and was using the lake front to tie   booms from logs harvested and floated down the St Joe river . The logs were stored in these booms awaiting tow to the Couer d’Alene saw mill. The Potlatch property also had large pastures. To the North of our lake property was another large property owned by a major heating oil supplier in Spokane. This property also had large pastures. Phil negotiated with both neighbors to allow him to graze his beef herd during the summer. As part of the agreement Phil agreed to maintain cattle fences on these properties so Phil and I spent a lot of time preparing wooden fence posts and building and maintaining fences. It became my job in the summer to periodically drive to the lake property to count all the cows to make sure they were still there and still healthy. During the first years, I drove the Jeep using gravel roads for the entire trip since I was unlicensed. These trips and walking the three properties are among my fondest memories. On one occasion the cows broke through a Potlatch fence and Phil and I had to hunt them down in very rugged, undeveloped land near a lake inlet. We succeeded in finding and getting them back with the shepherd dog the only casualty after she encountered  a porcupine.

On this lake inlet, I later discovered a single old man on a small goat farm living in a shack with attached barn. He used a hand scythe to cut his grass to store in the barn to feed his goats over the winter. Because I was young, he seemed to enjoy my visit. I briefly wondered whether a life like his would suit me but quickly dismissed this idea. I was never lonely growing up and found ways to be constantly busy. I enjoyed occasional visits from relatives and other farm kids but didn’t initiate contact. I think both my parents worried that I was shy to the point of being anti-social but this was not my perception. In high school, college, and graduate school I always seemed to have one friend that I was comfortable socializing with. And my wife, Fung-Lin, has been my best friend since we first met at a Taiwan Christmas party in 1965.

Farm House in Winter, 4 Siblings, Greenhouse, Dad’s boat on St Joe River

Janet and me on patio of mom’s retirement home, Janet’s Whitworth graduation 1956, Rockford FFA show with Winning Hereford Steer  1961

Barn on Sievers Parcel had Antique Doctors Carriage Inside

I  remember plowing a particular parcel on Erna Siever’s farm during the 6PM to 6AM night shift, running their D4 Cat pulling a 6 bottom plow  after harvest and before school began in 1957. When I searched for this parcel using the SCOUT map, I discovered that this parcel has two different parcel numbers: 32012.9015 shown to be owned today by Paul Sievers, Erna’s husband who died in 1946 and 32012.9016 both are 134.78 acres and both taxpayers are shown as SIEVERS FARM LLC.

Around 1957 the Pacific Northwest Pipeline Corporation (later acquired by El Paso Natural Gas, now owned by Williams Companies) ran their 1500 mile pipeline from the San Juan Basin in New Mexico to Spokane and other northwest cities across the Siever’s farmland leaving a clay scar where wheat would no longer grow.

In 1956, Phil towed Willa’s (Bob’s) wife’s 1951 Plymouth Belvedere Coup from Helena MT to the farm after her car suffered a broken connecting rod. Phil made me a deal that if I overhauled the engine, I would be able to use the car. Mom’s older sister Mabel’s Husband Reed Morrow (a retired rodeo cowboy who owned an auto repair garage in Spokane) helped order parts for the engine and taught me how to overhaul the engine. He suggested I replace the piston rings at the same time (I now learn from Kelly (Bob’ son) that the engine had been using oil when it broke down). Dad had built a cement lined hole in our farm garage floor to allow working under a car or truck so I successfully overhauled the engine in our farm garage. After I was licensed, the Plymouth allowed me to get work on farms further from Home where I could earn more money and I continued to drive the Plymouth during summers til I graduated from College in 1965.

In my Junior year in High School I got a harvest job driving truck for a man who was farming his father-in-law’s farm in Spangle near the old Greenlee farm. This farmer also owned a much larger flat land irrigated wheat farm near Reardan WA west of Spokane and after the Spangle harvest was finished I drove the Plymouth to Reardan to drive truck on this larger farm. The harvest season was long and I  earned much more than when working for Erna.

My final year in High School was a bit traumatic for me. The area schools had just consolidated into the Liberty School District but a new school had not been built. All Spangle High Teachers were let go and the students had to be bused to the Fairfield High School about 19 miles and 30 minute by highway. We first had to be bused from our homes to the Spangle school where a single bus transported us to Fairfield. Classes were about three times the size with new teachers and new students. About the only positive memory I have of this year was participation in the annual FFA (future farmers of America) steer showing event held by the Spokane County FFA in the spring. Fairfield had an FFA Chapter, unlike Spangle, and an agricultural specialist teacher. I purchased two calves, a Hereford and a Shorthorn in the fall and raised them on hay and molasses covered rolled grain to fatten them for the Spring show. Rockford school still had a standing barn so a practice show was held in Rockford for our steers and I won a ribbon. At the Spokane show, both steers were sold and I ended up with a profit from the little enterprise. In a bit of irony, my Liberty High School graduation certificate was signed by the Chairman of the Board of Directors Ed Brewer.

When I graduated from High School in 1961, I worked as a truck driver on the Tom Perringer Farms LLC in Belmont WA – now with a Farmington WA mailing address,  a 3000 acre LLC with three John Deere 95H combines and three large farms; two near Pullman. In 1962 Tom Perringer  added a forth combine and I operated this machine for four harvest seasons. Tom Perringer also acquired another large farm near Couer d’Alene ID in 1962.

Wages on this LLC were much higher than average and the harvest season was longer with grass harvest first followed by the wheat harvest, and I was able to comfortably attend WSU without working during the school year. The four combines were all John Deere 95Hs modified to separate Merion bluegrass seed that was further processed in Perringer’s own grass seed processing plant on the farm. Perringer Farms followed a centuries old native American tradition of burning the grass lands in the fall which stimulates the growth of grass (and seed) the following year to feed the buffalo and horses. This Perringer Farms practice did lead to issues with neighboring farmers worried that the intentionally set fires might get out of control.

The Evolution of Palouse Farming Equipment

When Horace and Grant began farming after 1890, most farm work was done by teams of horses. The exception was the stationary harvester which was needed to separate grain from the straw and chaff. These machines were stationary, although they had steel wheels to move them from farm parcel to parcel. The pulling was done with steam tractors who moved the big machines and then powered them in operation. Steam tractors were useless for pulling farm implements because of the steep rolling hills of the Palouse. But steam tractors existed in the Palouse as witnessed at the annual steam tractor pulling contest held each year at the fall Spokane County Fair. A handful of these tractors were kept operational just for this annual event which was always a highlight of the fair.

The grain was cut and bound by a horse drawn grain binder that usually required a single operator. The bundles of grain were collected by large horse drawn wagons and brought to the stationary harvester. Aunt Mae confirmed that Horace had a stationary harvester and estimated they required a crew 20 men during harvest season. The bunk houses and the  kitchens needed to house and feed this crew were large. Many in the crews were neighboring farmers who probably also jointly purchased the stationary harvester which moved from farm to farm during the harvest season.

We used  a 1920’s portable steel wheeled grain roller mill jointly owned by the Halls and the Hollands. We used a 1930s Massey Harris rubber wheeled tractor to move it from farm to farm and used the PTO (power take off) wheel attached to the rear of the tractor engine and a long rubber flat belt to power the roller mill. I am unable to find photos of this roller mill.

In the 1920’s, the stationary harvester was replaced by the combine a combination capable of cutting the grain, feeding the grain into the harvesting machinery and separating the grain from the straw and chaff all powered by a gasoline engine. Because of the Palouse’s steep rolling hills, this machine still needed to be pulled by a team of 8 horses and required 2 operators, the machine operator and the team driver. I have a photo of the  combine used by Clarence in the 1920s. This machine was not a hillside combine so it would not operate properly on a side sloping hill. If this machine was acquired before 1922, there is good reason to believe that Horace and Grant jointly purchased the machine and that it was used to harvest all 600 acres of the Hall-Elledge farm. Horace, Grant, and Clarence would have been able to operate this setup themselves.

The 1930s saw the introduction of the crawler or track tractor to Palouse farming so that horses were no longer needed to pull the various farming equipment. 1935 was a special year when my dad Clarence acquired in International 2 ton truck, an International model T35 track tractor, and a McCormick (International) model 51 hillside combine. Harvest threshing machinery needs to be horizontally level so the hillside combine was invented in the 1930s specifically for the Palouse rolling hills.  I imagine dad was able to acquire all this new equipment in 1935 because he was farming all 600 acres under an agreement with Grant. 

The United States shifted virtually all production to war materials in  1940 and farm equipment  manufacturing dropped to a quarter of 1940 levels by 1943, much of it  producing replacement parts.  Domestic production didn’t recover until 1946-1948. 

After the war, Clarence purchased a 1948 Navy Blue Willys Jeep, which dad taught me to drive soon after, a 1948 Studebaker 2 ton truck, and a 1948 Pontiac woody station wagon (whose flathead eight cylinder engine failed after less than a thousand miles!). The 1935 International truck was parked in the yard and I used to pretend to drive it. Clarence purchased a new International TD9 track tractor in 1952. I used to ride both the 1935 and 1952 tractors with dad as he worked in the fields and rode on the McCormick 51 combine during harvests.

Self propelled Combines requiring a single operator, were introduced by John Deere in 1947 and Bob and Phil purchased a new Massey Harris self propelled hillside combine in 1954 or 1955 to replace the old 1935 McCormick 51 which required two to operate.

Today’s Palouse Farming Equipment

Jumping forward to today, tractors have evolved into giant quad track machines with Case and John Deere dominating. These machines may cost a million dollars or more with used machines fetching $300,000. These tractors are virtually the only ones you see when touring the Palouse.

Quad track tractor technology centers on its four individually driven, oscillating tracks designed to provide superior traction, flotation, and reduced soil compaction compared to traditional tire-based systems. Key features include a positive-drive system for continuous power, an oscillating undercarriage for consistent ground contact, and a design that distributes weight more evenly. Many models also incorporate advanced precision farming technology such as subscription-free guidance systems and data-driven features to increase efficiency.

Quad track tractors are uniquely well suited for the Palouse rolling hills.

Low-disturbance applicators/planters: A wide implement (e.g., a 60-foot wide Case IH Nutri-Placer) can cover significant ground. In field tests, one such machine was capable of covering over 900 acres in a 12-hour day when paired with a high-speed, low-disturbance row unit.

Hillside Combines have increased in size some with headers 60 feet wide. (The John Deere 95H wheat header I operated for four years during college 1962-67 had a  15 foot header.) Again Case and John Deere dominate in the Palouse. These machines also may cost more than a million dollars.

A combine can harvest anywhere from 100 to over 200 acres of wheat per day, with the exact amount depending on the size of the machine, its header size, and the yield of the wheat. Modern machines with large headers can harvest as much as 18 acres per hour, which adds up to over 250 acres in a 14-hour day for high-capacity models.

Modern combine key technologies include automated adjustments, real-time data monitoring for yield and grain quality, and high-capacity systems like large grain tanks and fast unloading augers to maximize productivity and minimize downtime.

We saw six huge Case Combines with wide headers at one site near Pullman on our tour of the Palouse. These six machines in a one month harvest season would be able to harvest 45,000 acres! This one operation can harvest two townships a season!

Palouse Wheat Varieties

Gaines was developed in Washington state by crossing the Japanese dwarf variety Norin 10 with the popular local variety Brevor. Released in 1961, it was revolutionary for its higher yields and shorter straw, which made it more resistant to lodging. This wheat’s success laid the foundation for the Green Revolution by demonstrating the potential of semidwarf wheats, with derivatives eventually being distributed globally. Gaines was developed by O.A. Vogel , a USDA agronomist at Washington State University. Gaines was the wheat grown on the Tom Perringer Farm LLC during my years working there.

Palouse wheat varieties include Hard White, Soft White, Hard Red Winter, and Hard Red Spring, which are all grown by companies like Palouse Brand. Some heritage varieties, such as Amber Eden, Turkey Red, and White Sonora, , are also grown in the Palouse region and are available through companies like Palouse Heritage Grains.

Hard wheat, with its high protein and gluten content, is ideal for making chewy products like artisan bread, rolls, and pizza dough. Soft wheat, which is low in protein, is better for tender baked goods such as cakes, pastries, cookies, and crackers, as it creates a more delicate and crumbly texture.

While winter wheat is the dominant crop in the Palouse region, often comprising over 70% of the acreage planted with wheat, although spring wheat is also a significant component of crop rotation. The exact proportions fluctuate annually based on factors like weather, market prices, and the needs of the crop rotation system. Winter wheat generally produces higher yields, but spring wheat is a vital part of the region’s diversified agriculture. 

An era of Farm Cooperatives

Clarence was a big believer in farm cooperatives belonging to the Inland Empire Pea Growers Association and the Plaza Grange Supply.

The Inland Empire Pea Growers Association, Inc. (IEPGA) was founded around 1940 and was disbanded in 1992. They built  wooden grain elevators along the NPR rail lines in Spangle and other Palouse communities and we delivered all our grain (mostly wheat, barley, occasionally rye) and split peas (used in split pea soup) to the Spangle elevator every year. The coop was responsible for timing the market and selling the crops stored at the best possible price. Dad would occasionally visit the coop at its headquarters in Oakesdale, Washington.

The Plaza Grange Supply was a cooperative purchasing association headed by Ted Mantz, my sister Janet’s father in law. It was located in a large warehouse on highway 195 in downtown Plaza WA. It supplied virtually everything a farmer needed including seed, fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides, bulk leaded gasoline, diesel, motor oils, lubricating grease, tools, cases of soda. Etc. The supply was able to deliver government subsidized fuel directly to the farm’s fuel storage tanks. Most everything else could be loaded onto the farmer’s truck.

Sustainable Crop Rotation Systems

Clarence used a sustainable crop rotation planting winter wheat, spring wheat, split peas, and leaving fallow years. Split peas and lentils are still grown in the Palouse by farmers using crop rotation systems. One small field on our family parcel was kept in Alfalfa for winter cow feed. All the draws were seeded in Timothy grass to control erosion and the hay sold for horses.

Drier Western Palouse: In regions receiving about 10–12 inches of annual rainfall, the traditional two-year winter wheat–summer fallow rotation is common and often the dominant system. Fallowing in these areas is primarily a strategy to conserve enough soil moisture for the next year’s crop. Farmers may use “chem fallow” (chemical fallow) for weed control to reduce tillage and prevent wind erosion.

Moister Eastern Palouse: In higher rainfall areas, fallow years are less common. Instead, farmers often use annual cropping systems or a rotation of winter wheat with other crops like peas, lentils, barley, or canola to maintain soil fertility and break disease cycles.

Modern Approaches: Many farmers are adopting integrated pest management (IPM) systems and diverse crop rotations (e.g., three-year rotations including peas or lentils) to improve soil health, control pests and weeds, and reduce the need for both fallow periods and herbicides. These practices help to leave enough residue on the surface to conserve moisture and prevent erosion, challenging the traditional reliance on fallowing and deep tilling. 

Increases in the land farmed by a single farmer or corporation accompanied by an increase in contract based farming.

From 1890 to today there have been vast changes in the equipment used for Palouse farming that have greatly increased the amount of land a single farmer or corporation can farm. These changes are also accompanied by increases in the capital needed for the equipment. At the same time a surprising amount of farm land remains in the hands of pioneer farm families who have created LLCs or various forms of trust to pass the land on to subsequent generations. Much of this retention has been accompanied by absentee ownership where the distant owners contract the  farming to others. There is also a big increase in specialized farming activities such as harvesting that may be contracted to organizations with multiple combines. Some farms may handle the preparation and planting but the cost of modern quad tractors has also skyrocketed. Judging by our recent drive through the Palouse, absentee farming appears to dominate. Farm buildings are rare and sparse. The population of the Palouse today is a fraction of what it was when I was growing up.

One estimate today is that the average Palouse farm is 1800 acres, triple what my dad was farming in the 1950s. Erna Sievers and her son were already farming more than 1000 acres in the late 1940s.. Today this farm today is operated as:

SIEVERS FARM LLC. DBA Name: · Physical Address: E 5714 WATT RD SPANGLE, WA 99031. Phone: (509) 245-3203. Mailing Address: E 5714 WATT RD SPANGLE, WA 99031

A Google Satellite view of the Erna Siever’s farm buildings show few changes from the time I worked for her except that the single steel grain bin tank from the 1950s has now grown to nine grain bin tanks. How much land is needed to fill these tanks? Looking around the Spangle township, it doesn’t appear that Erna and Harold acquired more land than they had in 1950 but their LLC is  farming a lot more land for someone else.

I think Tom Perringer Farms is one example of a Palouse LLC that owns most or all of the land it farms. In addition to growing grass, Perringer Farms has adopted low disturbance farming for wheat. Today Perringer Farms LLC sports the only wind farm we saw on our driving tour of the Palouse from Spokane to Pullman. The Palouse is very windy.

Robert “Bob” Sievers, Paul “Bud” Siever’s son, in an 2016 Spokesman Review interview talked about using direct seed “ugly” farming for the 2,700 acres he was farming at that time.

Bob is the current owner of the Hall 155 acres plus the Alice 120 acres and I believe he farms the Hubbard land as well. He seems to own only a fraction of the total land he farms under the name:

SIEVERS. DBA Name: ROLLING HILLS FARMS INC. Physical Address: S 27310 DOWNING RD SPANGLE, WA 99031. Phone: (509) 245-3500. Mailing Address: S 27310 DOWNING RD SPANGLE WA 99031

A township has 36 Sectors where each sector is one square mile in size so a township is 6 miles by 6 miles in size. There are 23,040 acres in a township so at 3600 acres the number of farms drops to six average farms today in Spangle township, and two of these would be the Sievers LLC and Corporation.

What strikes one in roaming the SCOUT map is how many of the original families from the 1950s still own land in Spangle, usually as LLCs or various forms of trust. Just one example; our neighbors to the east on Keavy road, the Hollings, which owned 240 acres next to the Hall land now own several more 160 acre parcels nearby and operate as the Holling Bypass Trust, with John H as trustee (Johnny was a couple years older than me.) I don’t know who farms this land.

Low-Disturbance Farming

Low disturbance farming is now the dominant form of farming in the Palouse and it is leading to big increases in the sizes of farms; now more than 3800 acres average in Canada. On our driving tour of the Palouse we saw only one old wheeled tractor and plow. The average farm size in the Palouse is already 1800 acres and climbing rapidly.