Hunt, Herbert and Floyd C. Kaylor. Washington: West of the Cascades. Vol. I. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1917. p. 447-448. J. D. DECKER: John Decker settled in the Chehalis River Valley near the present City of Chehalis and then in the '60s came William West, remembered by all pioneers as the "Father of Chehalis." Mr. West has passed on to another life but he left and [sic] excellent account of early days in Lewis County from which is taken the following facts: "J. D. Decker had been living on his claim for several years, which was a small prairie of about 200 acres, surrounded by heavy timbered land. He had a good comfortable frame house, a good orchard and large barns, and most of his land under cultivation. One of the barns had a threshing floor thirty feet square, on which he tramped out his grain with the horses, and winnowed out the chaff with a fanning mill. He also had a large canoe made out of a cedar log that would carry 125 bushels of wheat, with which he boated his wheat down the river to the mouth of the Skookumchuck to the old Borst blockhouse, and took it from there by wagon to Olympia, a distance by river and road of about forty miles. "He came originally from Maryland, and had the courtesy and hospitality of the southern planter. He gave us a hearty welcome to the best of everything and our worn-out team luxuriated in a good pasture free of charge. His nearest neighbor was John Alexander, who had located here two years previously upon his return from the Fraser River gold mines, and who, like Mr. Decker, lived the life of a bachelor bold and brave, and everything that his heart could crave. "There were in this new country at this time far too many of these bachelor homes, plenty to eat and drink and wear, but cheerless. There was dearth of woman's smile, and the merry prattle of childhood." Decker West Alexander = MD>Lewis-WA