TYRRELL'S NAME SHOULD BE SAVED*

On page 107, Washington Historical Quarterly for April, 1919, "Hawk's Prairie" is alluded to, in these words: "It was named for J. M. Hawk, who settled there in 1853." And the information is credited to J. W. Mayes (a son-in-law as I happen to know) and the postmaster at Union Mills. Now, this name of the prairie ought not to be recognized for the following reasons:

First-The earliest settler upon this prairie was Freeman W. Tyrrell, who, with his wife and six stepchildren, settled upon it in the early spring of 1851, taking a donation claim of 640 acres. In fact, Tyrrell took the claim in 1849, built a log cabin thereon and went to Portland in the summer of 1850. He worked at Rainier several months, mainly in loading vessels. He married a widow, Mrs. Rebecca Davis Prince, on December 27, 1850, on the John Switzler place (about seven miles from Portland) after a courtship of four days, Esquire Bozarth performing the ceremony. Mrs. Tyrrell was a native of Tennessee, an illiterate woman, but a model mother in many respects. The six children by the first husband and two by the second, five boys and three girls, came to be good citizens and had the respect of all who knew them. Tyrrell was also illiterate. He could write his name and that was about all. He was locally famous for his seafaring stories and was generally known as "Captain" Tyrrell. Having a rather retentive memory, he imbibed numerous tales of the sea from the members of the crews connected with the vessels he helped to load, and was quite often the center of interest in the early-day groups of men assembled on election day, Fourth of July, or on Sunday, and he would talk rather interestingly for ten or fifteen minutes. In a very short time, however, he would get the "pints" of the compass mixed up and begin uttering a lot of drivel containing an indiscriminate mixture of seafaring and landlubber terms that was positively bewildering. At the same time he was a good neighbor, accommodating to the limit. He and all of his family were members of the Methodist Church. The home was on the prairie until about 1870. Then all, except the married children, moved to the Lincoln Creek settlement, a few miles west of Centralia, Lewis County. If the name of any person or family, attached to a prairie or

* In sending a correction of the Origin of Washington Geographic Names, Mr. George H. Himes, the noted historian of the Pacific Northwest, gives so much of unpublished history that his letter is published in full. The prairie is in Thurston County, not far from Olympia.EDITOR.

a section of country on account of being the first there deserves to be remembered, the Tyrrell name is certainly most worthy.

Second-The next settler on that prairie was David Phillips, in 1852. He was a widower with four children-David Lucas (named after Governor Lucas of Iowa), Dorcas, Huldah (the mother of Mrs. H. B. McElroy of Olympia), an da son Charles, I believe, but I am not real certain. The first two were grown. David Lucas Phillips was the second man to teach a school in the country, in Thurston County. I was his pupil in July, August and September, 1854, in a very rude log cabin, more notable for its simplicity and excellent ventilation than anything else. George Guthrie had taught the first school in that cabin in the winter of 1853-1854. While Phillips took the claim, 320 acres, under the donation land law, he did not live on it the required four years necessary to perfect his title, and sold his interest in the improvements to B. F. Whiting in 1856-1857.

Third-Tyrus Himes, my father, and his family settled Tyrrell's Prairie on November 9, 1853, and lived there without intermission, except the time absent in stockades or blockhouses for protection from the Indians. This period was from the last ten days of October, 1855, up to March, 1857. The land was cultivated during this time. My father died on April 24, 1879. Mother sold the place in 1882 to the present owner, David Fleetwood, whose wife was a daughter of Henry George Parsons, and Mrs. Parsons was a sister of Mrs. Clarence B. Bagley of Seattle.

Fourth-John Melvin Hawk, a pioneer of 1852, was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, on July 11, 1818, being from April 14 up to that date younger than my father. He crossed the plains to Portland, arriving about the middle of October, 1852, with a wife and six children. His wife died in December of that year, leaving six motherless boys, the oldest thirteen and the youngest two years of age. All found homes among other pioneer families. In the spring of 1855, he married a widow, Mrs. Sarah Stephens, and that summer they moved from Portland to Olympia. In August he took a pre-emption claim of 160 acres on land adjoining my father's half section on the east. Late in 1855, he moved back to Olympia and remained there until the spring of 1857, working at his trade, that of a carpenter. Five of the older children by the first wife spent a portion of their time with him, but they did not get along well with their stepmother and were therefore away a great deal of the time. The second wife bore him five or six children, one of whom is the wife of Mr. Mayes, already alluded to. Mr. Hawk died on March 19, 1883. After Tyrrell moved away

about 1870 people began calling it "Himes Prairie," as my father was the next oldest settler, but my father always insisted the name Tyrrell should be attached to it, that being the name of the first settler, and he would not allow his own name to be used with his consent. Mr. and Mrs. Hawk were clever neighbors, and the relations between them and my father and mother were agreeable. I do not think the expression "Hawk's Prairie" ever came into use until after Mr. Hawk's death, at least I never heard of it.

I have drawn this out much more than I intended when I began, but in the interest of accuracy it occurred to me that it was worth while. Whether it will have any effect in restoring the name of Tyrrell Prairie remains to be seen. GEORGE H. HIMES.

DECISIONS ON WASHINGTON PLACE NAMES *

ADMIRALTY INLET. That part of Puget Sound from Strait of Juan de Fuca to the lines: (1) From southernmost point of Double Bluff, Island County, to the northeast point of Foulweather Bluff, Kitsap County, Wash. (2) From northwest point of Foulweather Bluff to Tala Point, Jefferson County, Wash.

ANNETTE.

Lake, at head of Humpback Creek, west of Silver Peak, King County, Wash.

BACON. Creek, tributary to Skagit River northeast of Diobsud Creek, Skagit County, Wash.

BEDAL. Creek, tributary to South Fork Sauk River, Snohomish County, Wash. (not Bedel).

BIG BEAR. Mountain (altitude, 5,612 feet), south of Three Fingers Mountain and north of Windy Pass, Snohomish County, Wash. BLAKELY.1 Rock, in Puget Sound, 7 miles west from Seattle, Kitsap County, Wash. (Not Blakeley.)

BONANZA. Peak (altitude, 9,500 feet), Chelan County, Wash. (Not Mt. Goode nor North Star Mountain.)

CHIKAMIN. Peak (elevation, about 7,000 feet), head of Gold Creek, 2 miles east of Huckleberry Mountain, Kittitas County, Wash.

CHINOOK. Pass, T. 16 N., R. 10 E., crossing the summit of the Cascade Range, at head of Chinook Creek, Mount Rainier National Park, Pierce and Yakima Counties, Wash. (Not McQuellan.)

CLEAR. Creek, rising in Clear Lake and tributary to Sauk River, Ts. 31 and 32 N., Rs. 9 and 10, Snohomish County, Wash. (Not North Fork of Clear.)

DEL CAMPO. Peak, head of Weden Creek, Snohomish County, Wash. (Not Flag.)

DIOBSUD. Creek, rising near Mount Watson, and tributary to Skagit River from west, Skagit County, Wash. (Not Diabase nor Diosub.)

A bulletin containing the decisions of the United States Geographic Board from July 1, 1916, to July 1, 1918, has appeared. War conditions delayed the publication, the pamphlet bearing the date of 1919. The decisions relating to the Philippine Islands are omitted. There are some decision affecting American use of Japanese place names and a few on the names in Eastern states. A large majority of the items considered and decided relate to the West and especially to the Northwest. These last mentioned decisions are: Alaska, 132; Idaho, 122; Montana, 125; Oregon, 38; Washington, 85. Sixteen of the Washington decisions were published in the issue of this Quarterly for January, 1919, pages 79-80. The remaining sixty-nine are here reproduced.-EDITOR.

1 In correspondence over this name it was shown that the second "e" was incorrectly used. The name was given by the Wilkes Expedition, 1841, in honor of Johnston Blakely, an American naval hero in the War of 1812.-Editor.

DISAPPOINTMENT. Peak, just below summit of Glacier Peak, on the southwest ridge, Snohomish County, Wash.

DIVIDE. Lake at head of Hyak Creek, King County, Wash.

ELOKOMIN. River, Ts. 9 and 10 N., Rs. 5 and 6 W., Wahkiakum County, Wash. (Not Alochaman, Alochoman, Alockaman, Alokomin, Elochoman, Elockaman, nor Elokoman.)

GOAT. Mountain, southern part T. 37 N., R. 25 E., Okanogan County, Wash. (Not Old Baldy.)

GUNN. Lake, southwestern slope Gunn Peak, T. 27 N., R. 10 E., Snohomish County, Wash.

HANSON. Lake, T. 30 N., R. 7 E., Snohomish County, Wash. (Not McAllester nor McAllister.)

HARSTINE. Island, Ts. 19, 20 and 21 N., Rs. 1 and 2 W., Puget Sound, Mason County, Wash. (Not Harstene, Hartstein, Hartstene, nor Hartstine.)2

HELENA. Creek, rising in Helena Lake, and tributary to Clear Creek, T. 31 N., R. 10 E., Snohomish County, Wash. (Not South Fork Clear.)

HEMLOCK. Pass (elevation, about 4,800 feet), leading from head of Denny Creek to Melakwa Lake, King County, Wash.

HOOD CANAL. Western arm of Puget Sound, extending from Tala Point, Jefferson County, and Foulweather Bluff, Kitsap County, to Clifton, Mason County, Wash.

HYAK. Creek, heading in Hyak Lake, flowing east and emptying into Coal Creek at Hyak Station, east portal of Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad tunnel, Kittitas County, Wash.

HYAK. Lake, small one at 3,700 feet elevation near divide, just south of Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul tunnel, Kittitas County, Wash. KALEETAN. Peak (elevation, about 6,100 feet), lying about 1 mile north and slightly west of Chair Peak, King County, Wash. Not Ka-lee-tan.)

KEEKWULER. Falls, on Denny Creek, about three-quarters of a mile from South Fork Snoqualmie River, King County, Wash. (Not Keek-wu-lee.)

KNAPP. Point, about one-half mile below Knapp Landing, Columbia River, Clarke County, Wash. (Not Halfway.)

LIBERTY. Mountain (altitude,

Pass, Snohomish County, Wash.

5,678 feet), just south of Windy

2 This is a bad decision and needs revision. The name was given by the Wilkes Expedition, 1841, in honor of Lieutenant Henry J. Hartstone of that expedition. There was confusion in the spelling of the officer's name, but his family name was undoubtedly Hartstene.-Editor.