The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 1096 

DANIEL A. McDONALD.

Daniel A. McDonald, rancher and	banker, identified with the financial interests
of Yakima county as the vice president of the First National Bank of Wapato and
actively interested in the further development and cultivation of a valuable
ranch property in that vicinity, was born on Prince Edward Island in 1861, a son
of Alexander and Isabel McDonald, who were pioneer residents of Canada,
identified with farming interests there.

Daniel A. McDonald acquired a public school education in his native country and
at the age of twenty years went to Boston, where for three months he was
employed in a rattan factory. Attracted by the opportunities of the grooving
northwest, he then made his way to Montana and was employed by the Northern
Pacific Railroad Company. He came to the Yakima valley in 1883 as the railroad
was being built into this section and continued in railway service for a short
time but soon resigned. In 1885 he took up a preemption claim near Yakima, now
known as the Alderson farm, and lived upon the property until 1888, when he sold
the place. In 1889 he went to Parker Bottoms, where he bought one hundred and
sixty acres of land and in the intervening years he has become one of the
leading ranchers of this section of the state, devoting his attention to the
raising of live stock and to the cultivation of fruit and hops. His is a
splendidly developed property. He annually gathers large crops of fruit and his
hop interests also furnish a most substantial yield. He raises high grade stock,
whereby he materially increases his annual income, and in all that he
undertakes he displays a most progressive spirit. In 1910 he built upon his
ranch one of the best homes in the Parker Bottoms. The same year the town of
Donald, Washington, was established upon his farm and was named in his honor.
With firm faith in the future of the district, Mr. McDonald has made extensive
investments here and is now the owner of over four hundred acres of fine land in
the lower Yakima valley, of which thirty acres is planted to fruit, while the
remainder is plow land, largely devoted to the raising of hay and grain. In his
stock raising interests he makes a specialty of handling fine shorthorn cattle.

In 1889 Mr. McDonald was united in marriage to Miss Ella F. Dunn, the eldest
daughter of Captain Robert and Annie M. (Curry) Dunn, mentioned on another page
of this work in connection with the sketch of George Dunn. Mrs. McDonald was
born in Kentucky in 1866, crossed the plains with her parents and attended
school in Yakima. To this marriage five children have been born: Edith, born
August 25, 1890, is the wife of Melvin Anderson, a rancher near Harrah, and they
have four sons. Isabel, born September 15, 1891, is the wife of Roy Tavis, a
rancher residing near Wapato, and they have one son, Robert, born September 8,
1894, is at home. Clara, born August 3, 1897, is the wife of Richard Williams,
of Buena, Washington, who is there engaged in the automobile business, and they
have one daughter. Daniel, born November 30, 1900, is assisting in the
development of the home ranch, which in its splendid appearance indicates the
careful supervision and untiring efforts of father and sons. In addition to his
ranching interests Mr. McDonald is connected with the First National Bank of
Wapato, of which he has been a director from its organization and of which he is
now vice president.

Fraternally Mr. McDonald is connected with the Masons and his religious faith is
that of the Presbyterian church, while his political belief is that of the
republican party. He is accounted "one of the good men of the valley," a
prosperous rancher, able and resourceful in business and loyal and
public-spirited in 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.