Watson was a pioneer community on the Owyhee River approximately five miles up river from Leslie Gulch. Families lived on each side of the river. My Mother, Ruth Henderson, lived in this community and taught school in 1930. She had a two year degree from a teacher’s college but had been working as a cook and housekeeper for Kurt and Johanna Skinner in Jordan Valley when she got the job. She took a wagon from Jordan Valley to Watson, a lengthy trip back then. A family allowed her to live with them as no housing had been otherwise provided or was available. The kids came from the surrounding ranches, some riding horses across the river. She was there for a least a year. The old school house has reportedly survived but has been moved. The area had hot springs where the residents bathed. Males and females alternated days. Who knows what happened on the seventh day. Those were difficult days in rural America, but my Mother cherished the Skinner family and her days in Watson. She saved her money to help her parents and sisters. I grew up in Malheur County, Oregon and maintain great pride in the families that call it home. My great grandfather was an orphan who walked from the East Coast to Jordan Valley behind the wagons of the family who adopted his sister. It is an honor to have such strength and determination in ancestors.
David is there a way to get into the Watson Cemetery now by car and how far was the cemetery from the old town of Watson? I have always been fascinated by the history in Owyhee County and Malheur County, especially cemeteries. Thank you.
Watson was a pioneer community on the Owyhee River approximately five miles up river from Leslie Gulch. Families lived on each side of the river. My Mother, Ruth Henderson, lived in this community and taught school in 1930. She had a two year degree from a teacher’s college but had been working as a cook and housekeeper for Kurt and Johanna Skinner in Jordan Valley when she got the job. She took a wagon from Jordan Valley to Watson, a lengthy trip back then. A family allowed her to live with them as no housing had been otherwise provided or was available. The kids came from the surrounding ranches, some riding horses across the river. She was there for a least a year. The old school house has reportedly survived but has been moved. The area had hot springs where the residents bathed. Males and females alternated days. Who knows what happened on the seventh day. Those were difficult days in rural America, but my Mother cherished the Skinner family and her days in Watson. She saved her money to help her parents and sisters. I grew up in Malheur County, Oregon and maintain great pride in the families that call it home. My great grandfather was an orphan who walked from the East Coast to Jordan Valley behind the wagons of the family who adopted his sister. It is an honor to have such strength and determination in ancestors.
David is there a way to get into the Watson Cemetery now by car and how far was the cemetery from the old town of Watson? I have always been fascinated by the history in Owyhee County and Malheur County, especially cemeteries. Thank you.