Submitted by the McGaha Family

Malott has been an important place in my whole family's lives. Most of my family was born in Malott, has lived in Malott, was married in Malott, and has died in Malott. My Great-Great Grandfather and Grandmother, Claude H. McIntosh and Mary Spinning McIntosh, moved to Malott in 1909 from their homestead in Pleasant Valley. My Great grandma, Valma McIntosh Jorgensen, was then born in Malott. She married Christen J. Jorgensen in the Malott Church on November 13, 1927. Valma lived in Malott for most of her life. My grandma, Maydene Jorgensen Ewer was born in Malott, and married Ronald L. Ewer on March 2, 1951 in the Malott Church. My Grandma still tells me stories from the Malott Flood of '38. She was only 7 when it happened.

One of the neatest things that I have found out is that my Father's Grandma, Anna Bonwell Waddell was best friends with my Mother's Grandma, Valma Jorgensen. They both were Malott pioneers. Anna's husband, Arthur Waddell, built their family house 4 miles south of Malott on Highway 97. Their daughter, my grandma, Marge McGaha, lives in the house that her father built so many years ago.

My Great grandma Anna, or Nanny as we used to call her, used to tell us stories of them cutting ice out of the Okanogan River during the winter. They would cut slabs of ice out of the frozen water, and then store them in sawdust in a shed to use the following summer.

My Great Grandmother Valma's sister-in-law, Annie Jorgensen Larsen, built a house with her husband right behind the Malott Church sometime in the 1920's or 1930's. During the 1990's, the house was added onto, and my mother and father and I moved into the house in 1995. My Great-Grandma Valma and her husband built the house right next to that also in the 20's or 30's.

Today, many of the old buildings in Malott are being rundown by teenagers, and vandalism. The old gas station across the street from the Malott Store is run-down and needs to be repainted. The best in tact building is the Malott Church. Another neat thing is the colored windows in the church are dedicated to different Malott pioneers and their families, some of my ancestors.