The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 945 OLE WASHINGTON. Ole Washington is one of the pioneer ranchers of Yakima county, having begun his farming operations here before Sunnyside was established. Through the intervening period he has carefully cultivated his land and has won a substantial measure of success as a reward for his labors. He was born in Nelson county, Virginia, January 21, 1856, and on the 17th of January, 1875, removed to Morgan county, Tennessee, where for three years he was employed in railroad work. He afterward spent a few months in Kentucky, where he worked for the United States government in the building of cofferdams on the Mississippi river. In 1877 he became a resident of Will county, Illinois, where he engaged in mining for twelve years, and later he spent one year in Chicago. He then returned to Will county and on the 16th of February, 1889, he arrived in Kittitas county, Washington, where he was employed as a fireman and engineer at Rosyln. He afterward devoted his time and energies to mining until he brought his family to the ranch which he now owns and occupies. On the 3d of October, 1890, he took up a homestead in the lower end of the Yakima valley, before even Sunnyside had been founded. It was a wild tract covered with sagebrush and he was among the first settlers of the district. Not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made upon the place when it came into his possession, but he possesses energy, industry and determination and these characteristics stood him in a good stead in the development of his ranch property. In May, 1892, he brought his family to the place, at which time his nearest neighbor was Henry Vawner, living three and a half miles away. In those early days he had to pay a dollar per barrel for water to be hauled to his ranch. That year the Yakima river froze solid, so that they could cross on wagons and there was two and a half feet of snow. The nearest store was at Prosser, fifteen miles away, and the family had to share in all of the hardships and privations of frontier settlers. Mr. Washington took up one hundred and sixty acres of land but afterward sold one hundred and twenty acres of his property and had forty acres remaining. The drainage, however, took three acres of his land, so that he has thirty-seven acres capable of cultivation. He raises corn, hay and potatoes and also conducts a small dairy business. It was on the 29th of April, 1884, that Mr. Washington was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Wells, a native of Virginia, and to them have been born seven children but they have had the misfortune to lose six of them. The surviving daughter, Vivian, was graduated from the high school of Grandview as a member of the class of 1919. Mr. Washington has ever been a stalwart champion of the cause of education and he assisted in establishing the first school in the neighborhood, while his wife served on the school board for over fifteen years. Both are members of the Baptist church and Mr. Washington gives his political support to the republican party. Theirs is an attractive home and the ranch is all excellent property. They were among the pioneer people of the valley and have contributed in substantial measure to its development and progress. As the architect of his own fortunes Mr. Washington has builded wisely and well and as the reward of his industry and perseverance is now the owner of an excellent ranch. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.