The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 209

SAMUEL R. McCAW.

Samuel R. McCaw, a well known representative of the banking fraternity in the
Yakima valley, was the organizer and is now cashier of the American Commercial
Bank of Wapato. He was born in Steilacoom, Washington, August 2, 1868, a son of
Samuel and Mary McCaw. The father was of Scotch-Irish descent and in 1849
crossed the continent to California and later made his way up the Fraser river,
while subsequently he established his home at Steilacoom, where he engaged in
business as a stock trader. He died in May, 1882, while his wife, surviving him
for about sixteen years, passed away in 1898.

Samuel R. McCaw attended the Indian school at Forest Grove, Oregon, now known as
the Chemawa Indian School and was a member of the first class to graduate from
that institution. For three years he was a student in the Earlham College of
Indiana and started out in the business world as an employee of the Crane
Company of Chicago, for whom he served as discount clerk. In 1894 he accepted a
position in the United States government service at Fort Simcoe and was
afterward at Colville, Washington, as chief clerk of the Indian agency there. In
the meantime, however, he had gone to Yakima in 1893 and was for a year
connected with the Yakima National Bank. It was in 1894 that he entered the
government service. In 189 he returned to the Yakima National Bank, where he was
employed for twenty-two years, becoming general teller of that institution. He
then decided to engage in the banking business on his own account and became the
organizer of the American Commercial Bank, which was established on the 2d of
January, 1918. This was the first bank in the United States to be owned entirely
by Indians. It is a state bank, capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars,
and now has a surplus of twenty-five hundred dollars, while its deposits already
amount to one hundred thousand dollars. The bank has entered upon a very
prosperous career under capable and efficient management, for progressive
business men stand at its head. The first officers were: P. A. Olney, a stock
raiser, who became the president; S. R. McCaw, vice-president and cashier; and
Nealy N. Olney, assistant cashier, while the other directors were C. C. Olney, a
sheep and cattle raiser and farmer, and George W. Olney, also prominent as a
stock raiser and farmer. Mr. McCaw has been the active head of the bank from the
beginning. The company purchased and remodeled the building which they occupy, a
modern fireproof and burglar proof structure, equipped with a splendid vault,
safe and other devices found in every modern banking institution. Mr. McCaw was
well qualified by previous training and experience for the duties which he
assumed and which he is now most capably discharging. The success of the bank
seems assured and his business career, judged by what he has accomplished in the
past, will be well worth watching.

On the 6th of June, 1903, Mr. McCaw was married to Miss Alice K. Wallace, of
Lucasville, Ohio, and they have one son, Samuel Robert, Jr., while by a former
marriage Mr. McCaw had two children, Winona and Myrtle Ramona.

Mr. McCaw owns some fine farm land on the reservation and is meeting with
substantial success in his undertakings. He is the president of the Yakima
Indian Commercial Club, of which he became a charter member, and his efforts are
proving an important element in promoting business conditions among the Indian
residents of this section of the state. His political allegiance is given to the
republican party and he stands for progress and improvement along all lines.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.