Submitted by Wayne Joseph Reid

The only buildings left standing of the Daniel and Emma Reid farm that I can remember were a half fallen in or partial standing barn on the top of the hill. Inside the barn were horse collars hanging on the support posts that according to my Grandfather Max Reid had been hanging there since 1927 when they finally gave up horses and went to their first tractor. My Grandfather referred to those drawn plows as "foot burners" because one walked behind the horses pulling the plow all day. Next to the barn, as I remember stood an old wooden wagon and nearby was the tool shed as well.

The site of the old farm is close to the breaks of the Columbia River Gorge. An early day gasoline engine powered a pump down at the bottom of the draw where the well was located. The gasoline engine helped pump water into a cement storage tank called a cistern located on top of a hill. The water then was gravity fed to the house, which was at the bottom of the other side of the hill. The house was destroyed by fire and sadly, no pictures of it remain to this day.

Deer, coyotes, and rattlesnakes were plentiful at this site and could be seen on a regular basis while farming these fields. The power lines from Grand Coulee Dam cut through a corner of this field and ran straight as a string right to the Kaiser Aluminum plants in Mead, Washington.

We use to hunt deer at this site with a Winchester 30/40 rifle that once was owned by Daniel Webster Reid. Some folks confuse this rifle with a 30/40 Craig but this was a Winchester and back then was referred to as an "Old Texas Ranger rifle." The pistol used by Daniel Reid was pretty worn out as it "spit lead" when fired in the early 60's. It was carried in a shoulder holster and is now on display in the Wilbur Museum.

The Reid farm amounted to around 400 acres owned and about 1,400 acres leased and mainly raised wheat and some barely. A small herd of cattle and sheep were raised on the farm and the brand was two 7's facing each other. After the death of Daniel Reid, Max his son took over the farm and lived on the Thrall and Pickell places before building his house in 1948. This house is about a mile west off highway 2 halfway between Wilbur and Grand Coulee. A house was built for Dan's widow, Emma, constructed in Wilbur in the 1930's and was used at different times by Max, his wife Hazel, and their two sons, Dan, Don and their families.

Daniel Webster Reid owned land near Riverside, Washington, which was also farmed from the Wilbur farm site. Transporting their equipment between the two towns consisted of a 4R D-6 Caterpillar crawler tractor, a NAA Ford wheel tractor, and a John Deere 55H combine which proved to be a challenging task in those 1940's and 50's years. The only piece of machinery left after those three generations of farming is the old 1949 Ford F-7 truck. It is almost totally parted out but enough of it remains to restore. This truck is my inheritance after the death of my father, Daniel Max Reid. His death also marked the end of the Reid farming, as we knew it. As strange as this may seem I have purchased a truck (which is actually in much better shape than our old truck) to use as a parts truck and will eventually restore the old 1949 Ford F-7.

Although farming isn't nearly as profitable as it once was, the sound of a tractor just over the next hill with its engine purring and its tracks clattering, churning up the fields is still music to my ears. The smell of diesel exhaust, fresh plowed fields, and the bright yellow color of a D-6 in the bright sunlight bring back a flood of memories that started when I was only 4 or 5 years young.

Luck, weather, and determination determined the success of the early day pioneer people who settled in Eastern Washington. Determination was the only factor that they had control over. That same determination is still in large part of what brings about success today. A little piece of history preserved can be a window to the past for future generations too see, a sign of respect for what it took to build the world that we live in today.

Written by Wayne Joseph Reid

Daniel Webster Reid left his home in California and rode by horse to Eastern Washington in 1891. He owned land near Riverside, Washington and was elected Sheriff of Okanogan County in 1896 when the County Seat was located in Conconully, Washington. He married Emma Sheffels in 1896 and farmed on the breaks of the Columbia River just west of Hesseltine Washington almost at the top of the Broadax hill. Hesseltine and Bagdad were towns between Wilbur and Grand Coulee on the old highway. There they raised two children Florence and Max. Daniel Reid passed away in Spokane, Washington on November 23 at the age of 69.