The Columbian

Clark County History: Lumberman Frederick Leadbetter

Some of the Pittock & Leadbetter Lumber Company crew pose for a photo outside the Vancouver sawmill in Vancouver. The original plant burned in June 1908 but reopened in October. The mill was owned by Clark County lumberman Frederick Leadbetter and his father-in-law, Henry Pittock.

December 16, 2023, 5:58am Clark County Life

The man owned a lot of timber. Quite a lot. According to the 1908 American Lumberman, Frederick Leadbetter held nearly 1.4 billion feet of timber in Washington and Oregon. Clark County contained 200 million feet of it. Read story

Clark County History: Pilot Tex Rankin

Barnstorming pilot Tex Rankin with Alba Barba, a black cat loaned to him as a “jinx” for a cross-country air race from New York to Los Angeles. Rankin’s plane also bore the number 13.

A young Portland girl, Carol Mangold, loaned her black cat, Alba Barba, to a pilot in the 1928 National Air Race from New York to Los Angeles. The pilot, John “Tex” Rankin, started flying with the number 13 on his Waco 10 biplane fuselage in the national race the year… Read story

Clark County History: Pilot Vern Bookwalter

Charles “Vern” Bookwalter flew the first official airmail in the Pacific Northwest from Vancouver to Medford, Ore., for Pacific Air Transport in 1926. After surviving a number of exploits, he relocated to Alaska, flying as a bush pilot.

For Airmail Aviation Week 1938, the Vancouver Post Office created a hand stamp for envelopes sent from the town memorializing the first interstate airmail and the first airmail in the Pacific Northwest. The cachet honored the 1926 flight from Vancouver to Medford, Ore. and back. Read story

Clark County History: Henry Spalding, myth maker

November 25, 2023, 6:05am Clark County Life

The nation’s largest provider of missionaries for Indigenous populations, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, dispatched Henry and Eliza Spalding to Kansas to Christianize the Osage. The board reassigned them to Oregon Country, and they traveled alongside Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. A troubled relationship emerged between the men… Read story

Clark County History: Carlton Foster Bond

From foot soldier to aviator and balloonist, Carlton Foster Bond (1893-1980) was commander of Pearson Field, and briefly of the 321st Observation Squadron made up of Air Corps reserves. He was known as an excellent administrator and commander. When he retired, he returned to Vancouver to live until 1980.

November 18, 2023, 6:03am Clark County Life

Visitors to Pearson Air Museum often mistake the bronze statue there as a tribute to Alexander Pearson, the park’s namesake. However, inspecting the plaque, they discover it represents Carlton Foster Bond. Unlike Pearson, Bond was closely connected to the airfield, serving as its commander twice, first as a lieutenant (1929… Read story

Descending from a well-connected family set George Gibbs (1816-1873) on a scholarly path that included helping on surveys for the northern transcontinental railroad route, the border between the Washington Territory and Canada and ethnography of the Indigenous peoples of the territory. His namesake father was a noted Yale geologist, and his grandfather, Oliver Wolcott Jr., was the second U.S.

Clark County History: George Gibbs

November 11, 2023, 6:04am Clark County Life

Mostly unknown today, George Gibbs went hands-on with several crucial aspects involving Washington Territory, including documenting Indigenous tribes and languages and participating in surveys for the transcontinental railroad’s northern route and the territorial-Canadian boundary. Later, he worked on resolving Hudson’s Bay Company’s claims against the United States. Read story

The only known photograph of Marguerite McLoughlin (circa 1775-1860) is this daguerreotype taken later in her life. She was known as a kind and loving person whose calmness balanced the quick temper of her husband, John McLoughlin. Earlier in life, she was also regarded for her beauty and strength of character. A skillful seamstress, she enjoyed teaching other women needlework and beadwork.

Clark County History: Marguerite McLoughlin, the first lady of Fort Vancouver

November 4, 2023, 6:11am Clark County Life

Before Marguerite McLoughlin (circa 1775-1860) became first lady of Fort Vancouver, she was married to Alexander McKay (MacKay), a clerk at the North West Company’s Fort William in present day Canada. He later took their son, Thomas, to help John Jacob Astor found Fort George at the mouth of the… Read story

Aviator Charles A. Lindbergh stands in front of his plane "The Spirit of St. Louis" in May 1927 in New York before his historic solo flight to Paris. While flying his plane around the United States promoting aviation, he bypassed Pearson Field, only dropping a message. Visiting his brother-in-law in 1948, he and Anne parked their trailer near the Lewis River.

Images From the Attic: Lindbergh in Clark County

October 28, 2023, 5:59am Clark County Life

Vancouverites felt slighted in September 1927 when Charles Lindbergh landed across the Columbia River in Portland and not at Pearson Field, the site of many early aviation firsts. Still, three stories connect Southwest Washington to the famous pilot. One about a fly-under, one about a flyover and one about camping. Read story

In 1941, Evelyn Burleson Waldren flew a goodwill tour from Vancouver, B.C., to Tijuana, Mexico (almost), in a 700-pound airplane, Lady Liberty. After trying for months to get permits from Canada and Mexico, she finally secured them. Taking off Oct. 1, 1941, she flew for 16 1/2 hours before landing in the U.S. just across the border from Tijuana, Mexico, a record for a lightweight plane.

Clark County History: Evelyn Waldren

October 21, 2023, 6:05am Clark County Life

Evelyn Waldren always seemed on the move, mostly in lightweight airplanes. She began her aviation career as the first woman to fly in Nebraska and ended it as a grandmotherly flight instructor at Vancouver’s Evergreen Airport in the mid-1980s. In her 58 years in the air, she logged 23,700 flight… Read story

Cpl. Tubby and his Marine handler, Guy Wachtsletter, conduct a combat training exercise during World War II. He was one of thousands of dogs enlisted into service through the Dogs for Defense program that began in 1942. Tubby was one of many canine casualties in the Pacific Theater. He died in action during the battle for Guam in 1944, and is listed on the Ridgefield Veterans Memorial. (U.S.

Clark County History: Dogs of war

October 14, 2023, 6:15am Clark County Life

Cpl. Tubby, a dog from Ridgefield, died protecting his handler in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Susan Orlean mentioned him in her book “Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend,” which tells the story of the many dogs with that name, starting with the Rin Tin Tin… Read story

Stories by Martin Middlewood

Columbian freelance contributor