The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 932 
A portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Bourdon appears in this publication.

LOUIS BOURDON.

The sunny land of France has furnished a substantial quota to the citizenship of
the Selah valley. Among the representatives who have come from that land is
numbered Louis Bourdon, who was born in France, December 17, 1848, a son of
Felix Bourdon. The son came across the water in 1872 and settled first in
Canada, whence he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1878. He was a stonemason
and contractor of that city and there resided for a number of years. After
successfully carrying on business in St. Paul for some time Mr. Bourdon, lured
by the opportunities of the west, came to Yakima county in 1897 and through the
intervening period of more than twenty-one years has lived in this section of
the state. He first purchased forty acres of land on Selah Heights, being among
the first settlers of that district. He has since sold twenty acres of his
original purchase. He has five acres planted to fruit trees and the remainder is
in plow land, being devoted to the production of various crops well adapted to
soil and climatic conditions here. In 1906 he erected a fine stone house upon
his land. About 1912 he purchased a stone quarry and he also has two hundred
acres of dry land. His business affairs are wisely and carefully conducted. He
has ever readily recognized opportunity and has utilized his advantages in a way
that has brought gratifying returns.

It was in 1878 that Mr. Bourdon was married to Miss Emily Demars, a native of
Montreal, Canada, who passed away July 21, 1916. The children of this marriage
are six in number. Amos, who rents and cultivates his father's ranch, has a wife
and two children. Albina is the wife of Henry Henke and resides in St. Paul.
Alfonse is living in Seattle. Diana is the wife of Earl Baker, a rancher living
on Selah Heights. Emil, residing in St. Paul, Minnesota, is married and has four
children. Josephine, who completes the family, is at home.

In his political views Mr. Bourdon has always been an earnest republican since
becoming a naturalized American citizen. He has never had occasion to regret his
determination to come to the new world, for on this side of the Atlantic he has
found the opportunities which he sought, and as the years have passed he has
steadily worked his way upward. He had no false ideas concerning the opportunity
to gain success. He did not believe that in America a fortune could be had for
the asking, but he recognized the fact that industry wins and industry became
the beacon light of his life. All who know him recognize in him a man of firm
purpose and one whose career measures up to high standards of manhood and
citizenship.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.