Lockley, Fred.  "History of the Columbia River Valley, From The Dalles to the
Sea." Vol. 2.  S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1928.  p. 124.

WILLIAM F. RAND

William F. Rand, who represents an old and honored family of the Hood River
valley, was formerly a well known timber cruiser and is now connected with the
Pacific Power & Light Company. He was born at La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1859 and
his paternal ancestors were among the early settlers of New England. His father,
Robert Rand, was born August 28, 1836, in Jefferson county, Ohio, and was a son
of William and Margaret (Winters) Rand, natives respectively of Vermont and
Ohio.

Robert Rand was reared in Virginia and during the summer months assisted his
father in tilling the soil, while in the winter season he attended the district
school, to which he walked a distance of three miles when it was in session. He
went to Wisconsin in 1853 in company with his parents and for six years
thereafter was identified with the logging industry. On September 16, 1857, he
was married in the Badger state to Miss Christina Gillespie, who was born in the
state of New York. She was a daughter of John and Charlotte Gillespie, the
former a native of Scotland, while the latter was born in the Empire state. The
following account of Mr. Rand's western experiences was written by Fred Lockley
and appeared in the Oregon Daily Journal of March 29, 1915:

"Robert Rand, who settled at Hood River when it was a straggling village, in
speaking of his trip across the plains in 1859 said: ÔIf a bad beginning makes a
good ending we certainly could qualify for a prosperous ending of our trip. We
had only been out a few days when we began to meet up with "Old Man Trouble." On
Cottonwood creek we were caught by a severe storm that blew our tents away and
tipped some of our wagons upside down. After the storm had let up four men came
to our camp. They had been camped on the shore of a little lake to the westward
and their oxen and wagon had been blown off the bank into the lake. The oxen
were drowned and the wagon was blown out into deep water. The men were on their
way back to Council Bluffs.

"ÔWithin a few days of the downpour the sun had dried the roads and the oxen
kicked up such a dust you could hardly see them. No need to tell me that men are
made out of the dust of the earth. I swallowed enough dust by the time we got to
Fort Laramie to make several good-sized men. I remember while we were camped
near Fort Laramie the old-fashioned overland Concord stage coach drove up. It
had eight mules and they sure could travel. The stage pulled up for a moment and
we learned that Horace Greeley was aboard and was billed to make a speech that
night in Laramie. Sure, I went to hear him. He made a good talk, too. Next
morning the stage with Greeley aboard came galloping down from Fort Laramie. The
driver didn't hit the ford right, and over went the stage. Greeley waded ashore
through the shallow water. He took it pretty philosophically and said, "Well,
the water is just as wet here as it is back east." One of our boys said, "We
don't use it as much out here for watering stock as they do in the east."
Greeley smiled and said, "You must be a democrat." Our man replied, "That's
right. I'm from Missouri." Greeley shook hands with all of us. When he shook
hands with me I told him he was taking the advice he had been giving so long in
regard to going west.

"ÔOur company broke up a three days' journey beyond Independence Rock and I.
went on with Mr. Knapp. We ran short of grub, and from near Fort Bridger until
we got to Salt Lake we lived on flour gravy and not much else except an
occasional jack rabbit. In Echo canyon we found the trenches and earthworks
built by the Mormons to resist the federal troops. We stayed five days at Salt
Lake. While I was there I called at Brigham Young's home to see him. He invited
me into his library and advised me to settle at Salt Lake. He told me of the
wonderful future of the country and of the Mormon church. He wanted me to stay
and advised me to take a wife or two and settle down. He certainly made a very
strong and plausible argument, but I told him I was headed for California and
was going clear through.

"At Ogden we met a woman named Mrs. Martin, who, when she found we were going to
California begged us to take herself and two daughters with us. She and her
husband and two girls were from Maine. Her husband had been converted to the
Mormon faith and they had come to Salt Lake City. They had not been there long
when her husband died. She said Brigham Young wanted her to marry a man who
already had four wives, and her sixteen year old daughter was to be married to a
man with three wives, while a husband had also been selected for her youngest
daughter, who was only fourteen years old. She begged us to take them along.
Mr. Knapp opposed it, as it might mean the death of all of us from the Danites.
Mrs. Knapp said she would rather die fighting than to leave the woman to such a
fate, so we decided to let them come with us.

"ÔOne of our vehicles was a light spring wagon with a calico quilt for a cover
and we had them ride in this light wagon. We had traveled about five miles
beyond Bear river when Mr. Knapp, looking back, saw five men on horseback riding
hard to overtake us. We had the woman and her two daughters lie down and we
covered them up with bedclothes and placed things over them. We took out our
guns and got ready for a fight. The horsemen rode up, looked in all our wagons
and finally asked us if we had seen anything of three women. Mr. Knapp said
"No," and after a short consultation they rode on.

"ÔMrs. Martin was terrified as she recognized the voice of the spokesman as that
of the man who wanted to marry her sixteen year old daughter. We had only gone a
few miles when we met a detachment of United States troops. We told the captain
we were afraid the Mormons would come back and discover Mrs. Martin and her
girls with us and possibly murder us all. He detailed five soldiers to escort
us. While we were in camp on the head waters of the Humboldt river we were
joined by the five Mormons who were in search of the runaway women. Mr. Knapp
told the soldiers who they were and the soldiers sent them about their business
in a hurry. Before we crossed the Carson river the soldiers went back to rejoin
their command.

"ÔWhile we were camped at the foot of the mountains getting everything ready for
the hard trip over the divide to Hangtown, a man rode up and asked us if he
could accompany us, as he was without food or money. He stayed with us that
night and next morning rode on. That night when we were all asleep he came back
and we were awakened by the command to hold up our hands and keep them up. He
had one or two other men with him. They took seventeen hundred and fifty dollars
from Mr. Knapp and about eighty dollars from our tent. I had two hundred dollars
in gold coin in my boot, which I was using as a pillow, so that was saved. They
took all of our provisions, so we went without breakfast the next morning. We
caught up with some other emigrants, who gave us enough food to last until we
got to Hangtown.

"ÔI mined in Amador county, California, until 1862, when I returned to
Wisconsin by way of the isthmus of Panama and for five years I followed
agricultural pursuits in the Badger state. At the end of that time I went to
Iowa, where I lived until 1884, when I came out to Oregon. I landed at The
Dalles and looked around. It didn't look good to me. There wasn't room for a cow
to lie down for the rocks. As I stood on the corner I saw a man coming along
whose looks I liked. I stopped him and asked if there wasn't any better land in
eastern Oregon than this. He said, "My name is E. L. Smith. I am registrar of
the land office here. Come up and I will show you the map and show you what land
is untaken." He told me he lived at Hood River and he sort of boosted for his
section. He said as I left, "Don't go back to Portland without stopping at Hood
River to size it up." I stopped there and looked around. Half a mile from the
village I found a fifty-acre place, which could be secured for twelve hundred
dollars. Mount Hood appeared to be in the back dooryard of the farm and the
river looked so close you could almost throw a stone in it. I fell in love with
the view and bought the place. Well, after I had purchased it I came to the
conclusion I had been skinned good and plenty; still I couldn't help realizing
that I had more than twelve hundred dollars worth of scenery. The town of Hood
River later spread all over my place and after being cut up it sold for
ninety-five thousand dollars.

"ÔI got another ranch. It had a small irrigation ditch on it and a patch of
strawberries. One morning I heard a lot of commotion in the strawberry bed and I
found three fine trout flopping around among the strawberries. I gathered a
milk-pan full of the berries, cleaned the fish, and we had fried trout and
strawberry shortcake for dinner. I remember that day well because I got a
letter from my brother back east asking about Hood River. I sat right down and
answered it. I told him about picking a gallon of strawberries and three trout
out of my garden that morning and I also told him about Mount Hood, Mount
Adams, the Columbia river and a few other things. He was mad when he received my
letter and wrote that he wanted facts, not a pack of lies. People back east
won't believe you when you tell them the truth about Oregon. Since I came here
in 1884 I have bought and sold fourteen ranches. Whenever I can make a profit on
a place I let it go. When I landed in Hood River on October 24 land could be had
at from five to twenty dollars an acre anywhere in the valley. No one then would
have dared to prophesy that the time would come when Hood River would be known
all over the world for apples, strawberries and scenery.

"ÔIn 1885 I bought the Mount Hood Hotel, which I conducted in Hood River until
1893, when I sold out to C. A. Bell. Meanwhile I had opened a store in Hood
River and conducted the business foi five years with the assistance of my son,
J. E. Rand. At the end of that time I disposed of the store and in 1904 built
the Wau-gwin-gwin Hotel just west of Hood River.' Mr. Rand took me over his
place recently and set a pace which kept me going some. We went first to the
north porch of his home. The porch overhangs a bluff which drops abruptly for
nearly two hundred feet. Ten yards from the end of the porch Wau-gwin-gwin creek
leaps over the cliff. At times, when the sun strikes the spray from the falling
water, a rainbow trembles above the water. From below the wind-caught,
milk-white water looks like a filmy veil of lace over the brow of the cliff.
ÔThis used to be a great meeting place for the Indians in the early days,' said
Mr. Rand. Ôit was taken up by John Dye and his squaw. I bought it from a man
named Amen and paid twenty-eight hundred dollars for the forty-three acres here.
People thought I was an easy mark to pay that amount for forty-three acres of
rocks and oak trees stretched along the bluffs overlooked the Columbia! They
didn't know that sunsets and waterfalls, rugged old oaks and huge heaps of
weatherworn rocks had any commercial value, but for every nickel I put into this
place I will take a dollar out.' He later sold to Simon Benson for thirty-five
thousand dollars which proved the wisdom of his opinion.

"From Wau-gwin-gwin falls we went to the fish pond, where a rowboat, rustic
bridges and hundreds of hungry trout help to add to the natural attractiveness
of the scene. From there we clambered over a rocky trail through the oaks and
evergreens to the ÔPoint of Rocks.' Here an observatory has been built and one
can see for miles up and down the picturesque Columbia. As we sat there in the
beauty of a perfect spring day Mr. Rand chatted of the experiences that have
come to him in the past eighty years. ÔYoung people nowadays expect too much.
They want too many luxuries,' he said. ÔIf they have to choose between plain
fare with love and luxury without it, they are pretty apt to chose the easy
time. When I married we started housekeeping with a dollar's worth of sugar and
a silver dollar. We decided to save the dollar for a rainy day and we kept it
around the house for years. We lived off of our place. Anyone could take up a
place in those days. Our garden and chickens kept us. Pretty soon we had a cow
and with milk and butter, wild honey, fried chickens and eggs, corn pone and
fresh vegetables, why, what more do you want? No, we didn't buy coffee. We
parched wheat and barley and ground it up and drank it with long sweetening. We
could make a bushel of wheat coffee for fifty cents. Nowadays they put it in a
package, call it Postum and get fifty cents a pint for it.'" Mr. Rand took a
keen interest in Masonic affairs and for nearly six decades was connected with
the order, which he joined in 1866. Sturdy, courageous, industrious and
resourceful, he was a fine type of the western pioneer and a man of exceptional
worth. His long and useful life was terminated January 15, 1924, when he was
eighty-seven years of age. He had long survived his wife, who passed away
January 29, 1899.

Their son, William F. Rand, received a grammar school education and worked in
his father's brickyard at La Crosse. When a young man of twenty-one he went with
his parents to Belmont, Wright county, Iowa, and in 1884 accompanied the family
on the journey to Oregon. In partnership with his father he engaged in ranching
in the Hood River valley, purchasing a tract of eighty-five acres, covered with
a dense growth of timber. They cleared a portion of the farm, planting
twenty-five acres to fruit, and were among the early orchardists of the valley.
In 188& William F. Rand joined a force of men who were at work on the Stampede
tunnel, which was then being built through the Cascade mountains by the Northern
Pacific Railroad. For two and a half years he was in the employ of the road and
during that time aided in supporting the family, keeping for his own needs only
five dollars a month from his earnings. In 1891 he returned to Hood River and
built a livery stable, of which he was the proprietor for six years. After
selling the business he purchased land in the valley and engaged in ranching
independently for two years. For a few months he worked in a box factory at Hood
River and then became a timber cruiser, also locating settlers on government
land. Mr. Rand became widely known as a timber cruiser and continued in that
line of work for a quarter of a century. An expert in estimating the value of
standing timber, he executed commissions for several large lumber firms. He made
his own maps and could locate himself anywhere in the wilds of Oregon. In 1922
he became connected with the Pacific Power & Light Company in the capacity of
field man, with headquarters at Hood River, and has since been retained in this
important position, serving the corporation with conscientiousness and
efficiency.

Mr. Rand was married April 10, 1890, in Portland, Oregon, to Miss Minnie Le Roy,
a native of Pennsylvania. Her parents were Alphonzo and Addie Evelyn (Rosecrans)
Le Roy, the former having been born in Paris, France, and the latter in Oberlin,
Ohio. Mr. Le Roy was reared in England and attended Oxford University in
England. In 1860 he came to the United States and continued his studies in New
York, receiving the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Hamilton Theological
Seminary. He was ordained to the ministry and preached in Baptist churches
throughout the state of New York. In 1888 he came to Oregon and for three years
was pastor of a church at Astoria. His next charge was at Brownsville, Oregon,
where he spent two years, and his religious duties then took him to La Grande,
this state. There he was stationed for about eight years and in addition to his
pastoral work served for four years as postmaster of the town. Rev. Le Roy was
afterward called to Portland and for several years was pastor of one of the
Baptist churches of the Rose city. He was a sincere follower of the faith he
preached and his efforts were productive of good in every community which he
served. To Dr. and Mrs. Le Roy were born four children: Bertha, who is now Mrs.
William Townsend, of Portland, Oregon; Minnie; Bickmore, whose home is at
Willows, California; and Mrs. Alma E. Holmes, of Portland. Mrs. Rand was
graduated from the State Normal School at Fredonia, New York, and previous to
her marriage was engaged in educational work for two years, proving a
successful instructor. Mr. and Mrs. Rand have a family of six children: Edgar
Leroy, who died at five months; Clyde A., who is married and lives in Portland;
Clara, who is the wife of Dewey Rowland and the mother of two children, Patricia
and William Ransome; Marion, who is employed in the central library at Portland;
Dorothy, who is Mrs. James W. Fenemore, of Hood River, and has one child, James
William; and Johny Edward, of Portland.

Mr. Rand belongs to Hood River Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and
his political allegiance is given to the democratic party. He was appointed
deputy sheriff of Wasco county and acted in that capacity for eight years,
serving under D.L. Cates and Thomas Ward. An ardent disciple of Izaak Walton,
Mr. Rand knows where to look for the wily trout for he has cruised all over the
lakes, streams and mountains of Oregon. By nature he is genial, honest and
sincere and is highly esteemed by those who enjoy the privilege of his
acquaintance. During the World war Mrs. Rand was chairman of the local committee
on defense and also furthered the interests of the American Red Cross Society.
For ten years she has been in the service of the Oregon-Washington Telephone
Company, of which she is cashier, and also discharges the duties of office
manager. She is a woman of culture and refinement and a winning personality has
drawn to her a wide circle of loyal friends.


Submitted to the OR. Bios Project in September 2006 by Jeffrey L. Elmer

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Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Oregon Biographies Project. 
The submitter has no further information on the individual featured in the
biography.