Hull, Lindley M., compiler and editor.  "A History of Central Washington,
Including the Famous Wenatchee, Entiat, Chelan and the Columbia Valleys."
Spokane: Press of Shaw & Borden Co., 1929.  p. 88.

W. S. GEHR

     Well known business man of Wenatchee is a native of Pennsylvania.  His
father was a man of affairs in and around Linesville, Pennsylvania.  W. A. Gehr
may have inherited a capacity for business, but doubtless careful training and a
well chosen course in graded schools and college had much to do with giving him
a right start in life.  At an early age we find him in Iowa studying law and
doing abstract work.  For two years he was connected with a bank in Flandreau,
North Dakota.  In 1889 he arrived at Orondo, Washington, and bought a mercantile
business which he operated five or six years.  This was not his only activity,
but the conduct of the store alone was destined to severely test his business
sagacity.  Mining by Chinese was the principle source of cash in trade.  The
severe winter of 1889-90 was especially hard upon the people of this section.
The nearest railroad points were Ellensburg and Coulee City, but the deep snows
made the movement of freight out of question.  Flour, and bacon were the staple
articles of food.  Mr. Gehr had gone into the winter with a heavy supply of the
former article, but much of his stock had been fed to starving horses and
cattle.  Supplies of animal fats of all kinds were exhausted.  Threatened
destruction of ranch stock by starvation rendered the situation of the settlers
struggling for a foothold a desperate one.  Spring came and the homesteaders
began to move about in the valley with their skeleton-like horses, but many
weeks would have to pass before the freight could be freely moved across the
mountain.  Mr. Gehr had supplies lying in Ellensburg, and finally arranged to
have them freighted to Orondo for eighty dollars per ton; but the man who
undertook the job, Mr. Brannigan more than earned his money.  The distance was
near seventy-five miles, but the burden of expense for the movement of that
freight was confined to six or eight miles on the Ellensburg Mountain.  However,
supplies were a Godsend to the people of Orondo.
     In 1893 in company with J. F. Hunt, Henry Lawshe and H. M. Cheatham, Mr.
Gehr organized the Orondo Shipping Company, which for several years did a heavy
business in shipments of grain by steamer to Wenatchee.  For a number of years
he was manager of the Wenatchee Milling Company.  He was one of the organizers
of the Wenatchee Realty and Investment Company.  Mr. Gehr has been married many
years and resides on North Wenatchee Avenue.
     
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Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in April 2006 by Diana Smith.

Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.