The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 681 E. B. VELIKANJE. E. B. Velikanje, a prominent attorney of Yakima, also connected with important cattle and mining interests, was born in Brown county, Minnesota, December 31, 1874, a son of John B. and Louise (Werdick) Velikanje. The father was a ranchman of Minnesota who in 1863 removed to that state. He was also identified with the educational interests of the community in which he lived, devoting some time to teaching and also serving as superintendent of schools of Brown county. His wife became a resident of Minnesota in 1854, when she accompanied her parents to St. Anthony, and thus they were closely associated with the pioneer development of the state, witnessed much of its progress and bore advancement. Both have now passed away. E. B. Velikanje was reared upon his father's farm in Minnesota, where he remained until 1900, when he went to Alaska, spending two and a half years in that country. In 1904 and 1905 he was in Mexico as manager of the Transvaal Copper Company of Cumpas, Sonora, where he remained for two years, and in 1905 he fed four hundred head of cattle near Outlook, Washington. The following year he drove his herds to Alaska and has made four trips to that country, spending six years in all in the northwest. He was with the White. Pass Railway Company for eighteen months while in Alaska. He took his cattle over the trail into the heart of the country and gained knowledge concerning Alaska, its resources and its opportunities. Making investments there, he now has mining properties in the Eagle Creek Circle mining district. In 1906 he walked out from Fairbanks, Alaska, having in the meantime determined to enter upon preparation for the practice of law. He trade his way back to his native state and matriculated in the University of Minnesota as a law student, being graduated there with the class of 1909. He then practiced in Minnesota for a brief period and before his admission to the bar did probate court work there. In June, 1909, however, he sought the opportunities of the northwest and made his way to Yakima, where he took up law work, in which he has since engaged. He has continued in general practice and his knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence is comprehensive. In addition he has other business interests, being the owner of a fine twelve acre fruit ranch, while in 1912 he organized the Western Farm & Cattle Company, of which he served as secretary and treasurer for several years and of which he is still a director. He has a large ranch in eastern Oregon and in addition to his mining interests in Alaska he is the secretary of the Kellogg-Peak Midland Mining Company, which owns ten claims at Kellog-Peak Midland Mining Company, which owns ten claims at Wardner, Idaho. His investments have been most judiciously made and his enterprise has brought to him substantial success. On the 3d of January, 1900, Mr. Velikanje was married to Miss Louise C. Plath, of Iberia, Minnesota, a daughter of Herman and Louise Plath. Her father became a resident of that state in 1857 and was there residing at the time of the Indian massacre. He died in Yakima on November 28, 1918, at the venerable age of ninety-one years less five days. Mr. and Mrs. Velikanje have become the parents of four children, Stanley, Richard, Frederick and Robert. Mr. Velikanje is a prominent representative of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Yakima Lodge, F. & A. M., of which he is past master, having served in 1918. He also belongs to the Lodge of Perfection, No. 11, and to the Rose Croix Chapter, No. 9. He is also connected with the Council of Kadosh, No. 8, of which he is commander, and he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Tacoma Consistory, No. 3. His Masonic connection entitles him to membership in Afifi Temple and thus he has crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He has long been an active worker in Masonry and a most loyal supporter of the craft. In professional lines he is connected with the County and State Bar Associations. He likewise has membership with the Alaska Sour Doughs, in fact he was one of the organizers of this society in 1914, which now has a membership of four hundred, being formed of men who have been in Alaska. He is likewise connected with the Arctic Brotherhood. His experiences have been broad and varied and his enterprise and progressiveness have brought him prominently to the front in various connections. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.