The life of Robert Mill: A Washington Territory pioneer

By ROBERT BAUER

Contributor

Robert Mill, one of the first pioneers in the Cheney/Spangle area, was born near Saint Nicholas, Aberdeen, Scotland on Nov. 1, 1803. Robert’s birth name was Robert Milne. The Milne family was part of the Gordon Clan.

Robert married Margaret McGregor on Dec. 7, 1834 in Strathdon, Aberdeen Shire, Scotland. Margaret’s family was also part of the Gordon Clan.

In 1836 Robert and Margaret immigrated to The United States of America by ship. They sailed on the “Arkwright.” The ship traveled from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to America. The Arkwright arrived in New York Harbor on Aug. 9, 1836.

Robert was a ditch digger and basket weaver by trade and he wanted a better life for himself, his wife and future family. Robert and Margaret settled in Ohio. Robert started going by the last name of Mills after arriving. Their first son, John, was born on July 7, 1837, shortly after Robert and Margaret settled in Ohio. There were two other children born of the marriage, Mary Jane and William.

Robert’s first wife Margaret died, date unknown, and the burial plot is unknown. Robert remarried a woman named Elizabeth Ruther McAovy, who was born in Prussia, Germany in 1823. They had a son named George. The marriage ended in divorce. Elizabeth changed her and her son’s last name from Mills to Mell.

Robert and his son John set out for the Portland area in the Oregon Territory sometime in 1852. Robert left Elizabeth everything. Mary Jane and William traveled by boat to Portland later.

Robert arrived in the Oregon Territory in 1853. His son John arrived much later. During the trip to the Oregon Territory there was a man killed, supposedly on a hunting trip. The alleged killer was tried, found guilty of murder and hung. John was elected to escort the wife of the murdered man to California.

John did not join his dad Robert for eight years. John arrived in the Territory sometime in 1860. Robert had claimed land in Clackamas County near Damascus in Oregon. So many years had passed that John’s dad barely recognized him.

Mary Jane married William C. Wilson on Nov. 27, 1858. Mary Jane and William Wilson then obtained land next to Robert, in Clackamas County and lived there until around 1864 or 1865.

In 1865 Mary Jane and William Wilson moved to East Portland and then to a farm near Roseburg, Oregon. Robert’s son William married William C. Wilson’s sister Annlisa Wilson in 1865. William and Annlisa moved to Bay Center, Washington Territory and William became a prominent oysterman, farmer and merchant.

In 1872 John Mill, a man named Lee L. Lewis and others set out for the Washington Territory on horseback to homestead land. The group became lost in the Sprague Lake area, Washington Territory, for three days. When the group found their way out of the Sprague Lake area they headed for the Cheney-Spangle area. When the group arrived, they camped at what is now known as the Grogan Place on Pine Grove Road.

The land that John chose had already been homesteaded by an unknown man. John paid cash to the man for the homestead on the spot and had the man write a transfer deed for the property. John then returned to his father’s farm in Oregon.

A few years after John’s return from the Washington Territory, Robert Mill was approved for citizenship. Robert became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America on July 16, 1875 in Oregon City, Oregon.

During the next year John spent his time farming with his father and taking care of his black stallions. John loved his horses, especially the black stallions. They were all race horses. The family still has a racing poster advertising one of one of John’s black stallions. The title reads “WELL KNOWN RUNNING STALLION – EAGLE BIRD!” The poster is dated April 1, 1870 and was printed in Portland, Oregon. The stallion’s owner’s name on the poster of EAGLE BIRD is John Mills.

Emma Catherine Forsyth, a neighbor girl, loved John’s horses and was very attracted to John. During an epidemic in 1875 or 1876, possibly diphtheria, Emma took care of John and they fell in love. John was 39 and Emma was 18.

Sometime prior to John and Emma’s marriage, Robert and John started going by the last name of Mill. On June 28, 1876 John Mill and Emma Forsyth married. Emma Catherine Forsyth was the daughter of James Forsyth and Therisa “Landers” Forsyth. Emma was born on Sept. 15, 1858 in Albion, Jackson County, Wisconsin.

James Forsyth and Robert Mill were neighbors for many years. After the marriage, Robert and John purchased 100 acres from William, Robert’s youngest son, for $500. John already had a buyer, Mary Ann Wise, that paid $1,500 for the same land. This is published in The Enterprise newspaper, Oregon City, Oregon dated Aug. 25, 1876.

They purchased a wagon, a team of oxen to pull the wagon, various livestock and supplies with some of the money from the sale of the land and headed for the 160-acre homestead that John had purchased in the Washington Territory, Spokane County, Pioneer Township in 1872. John and Emma drove the wagon and Robert rode his horse driving the animals behind the wagon. It is said Robert rode a tall white horse and always had his King James Bible in his right hand. Robert was 73 years old when the family set out for the Washington Territory.

Leaving the Portland area, John, Emma and Robert followed the roadbed of the Northern Pacific Railroad heading east. The train tracks had not been laid yet. Their first stop was at Pilot Rock, Oregon. They had traveled close to 400 miles. They spent the first winter in a dugout using the canvas from the wagon for a roof.

In the spring of 1877 John purchased a house in Pilot Rock for his family to live in. John worked for a man named Henry Sturdman hauling freight from the Umatilla Landing on the Columbia River to various places. While living at Pilot Rock, John and Emma had two sons, Roy Richmond Mill who was born July 22, 1877 and Boone Emmanuel Mill who was born Oct. 13, 1879.

The following spring or early summer of 1880 the family set out for their homestead in the Cheney-Spangle area of the Washington Territory. Again, they followed the roadbed of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It was another 200 miles to the homestead.

The family arrived early October 1880. It had been close to eight years since John had traveled to the Cheney-Spangle area and bought the 160-acre homestead. Robert and John worked hard for the eight years prior to arriving at the homestead to save money for the years when no income would be coming in.

When the family arrived, there was a man living on the property, Henry Linton. It is unknown if it was Henry Linton that John had purchased the homestead from in 1872 or someone else.

Henry had built a 16-foot-by-20-foot frame house that he was living in. There were two rooms on the main floor and a loft. It is unknown if there was a wood floor or dirt. John paid Henry $300 immediately for the house and Henry moved to Cheney for the winter.

Robert, John, Emma, Roy and Boone moved into their homestead in early October of 1880. The house was small, but the pioneers of the Washington Territory wanted the land. They did not care.

On Oct. 12, 1880 John Mill filed for the 160-acre homestead he had bought in 1872. On Oct. 21, Robert Mill was back in Colfax to file for the same homestead John had filed for on Oct. 12 as head of household. Robert and John worked the homestead, putting in a large garden to feed the family and clearing the land for farming. The land was prairie ground with no trees.

Robert and John worked the homestead from the spring of 1881 on. During those years Emma took care of the children and the men of the family. Robert was so happy. He felt satisfied he had provided well for his family.

John and Emma had two more children, Robert Early born May 27, 1882 and Ella Ruby born Jan. 4, 1885. Robert’s son John and wife Emma and grandchildren had land to live and grow on. Robert promised Emma that he would give her the adjoining 80-acre homestead for caring so much and taking such good care of him. Robert signed proof papers on Nov. 2, 1885 and then filed for the 80-acre homestead adjoining his and John’s 160-acre homestead on Nov. 5, 1885.

Robert flied claim for the homestead at Spokane Falls, Washington Territory. On Nov. 26, 1885, Robert Mill relinquished his claim on the 80-acre homestead to Emma as he had promised.

In the spring of 1886 the Keaton family and Vance Reynolds, family friends, came over with eight teams of oxen to move the original homestead house of Robert Mill. Since the new homestead was adjoining property, Robert, John and Emma decided to move the house instead of building a second house. They felt if the house sat on the property line of both properties that would satisfy the Homestead Act requirements for both homesteads.

John had logs cut and was ready to lift the house up on to them to move it. When the Keaton’s and Vance Reynolds arrived with eight teams of oxen, all was ready. The house sat somewhere between 1,000 – 1,500 yards away from where Robert, John and Emma wanted to move it. It is unknown how the logs were moved under the north and south ends of the 16-by-20-foot house.

After the men had lifted the house up on the logs the eight teams of oxen were hooked up with ropes to the logs. All was ready to drag the house through the mud to the northeast corner of the two adjoining homesteads. It was a struggle for the oxen to pull the house through the mud but by the end of the day the house was moved. What an engineering feat for a bunch of farmers. True Washington Territory pioneers.

Later, after the house was moved John and Emma used small poles to lift the corners of the house, moving it slightly so it sat exactly on the property line of both homesteads. They wanted to meet the requirements of the Homestead Act. After the house was moved, John had a man named John Butler build two fireplaces, one in each room of the main floor. Then John built a room onto the west side of the house for his dad.

There was a window on the south wall so that Robert could look out on his pasture on the 80-acre homestead. In the fall of 1886 Robert became ill. There were quilts hung around his bed from the ceiling. Robert Mill died on Dec. 29, 1886 at the age of 83 a very happy Scotsman.

Clark Wilson, great grandson of Mary Jane “Mills” Wilson writes “Robert Mill was a devout religious man and a true Scotsman. His brogue was so pronounced he was difficult to understand. He spent many hours reading the history of Mary, Queen of Scots, with tears rolling down his cheeks.”

Robert Mill was first buried by his son John and daughter-in-law Emma on the 80-acre homestead near the house. Jessie Jones came and prepared the body for burial. Neighbors gathered and Mrs. McDowell, Ralph McDowell’s mother, said the prayers for the dead. On Feb. 5, 1891, John Mill bought lot number 44 in the Spangle Cemetery, Spangle, Washington. During the summer of 1891 Robert’s son John and daughter-in-law Emma moved Robert and his marker to the Spangle Cemetery, Lot 44. Rev. J.S. Rhodes of Colfax, Washington traveled to Spangle and conducted a memorial service before a large crowd.

Robert Mill was one of the first to be buried in the Spangle Cemetery.