| eaton profile
Joseph Eaton
compiled by
Columbian staff
A community
called Eaton, or Eatonville, named for the Joseph Eaton family,
was a popular destination for some settlers in the 1880s. This
was established where Rock Creek flows into the East Fork of the
Lewis River, north of present-day Battle Ground.
But the
Eatons had settled first on the Lewis River, about four miles
from Woodland.
Joseph
and Charlotte Eaton crossed the Plains in 1852, and reached Portland
with six children and $5. In 1853, the year Washington Territory
was split away from Oregon Territory, the Eatons took a donation
land claim on the Lewis River.
A son,
Joseph E. Eaton, was born there in 1854.
The family
was flooded out in 1873, losing practically everything, including
a flock of sheep. So the Eatons decided to leave the claim and
go to a homestead on Rock Creek. The elder Eaton died sometime
in the '70s.
In 1878,
a post office named Yacolt was established at the Eaton home one
mile north of the East Fork. The name apparently was a misspelling
of Yacolt, a name already in use for a nearby prairie. The post
office in the Eaton home one mile north of the East Fork was used
for more than two years.
Joseph
E. Eaton, the son, swapped his house in 1881 for a place at Chelatchie
Prairie but moved back several years later. He raised livestock.
About
the time of World War I, Eaton moved to 1714 Fourth Plain in Vancouver.
He was still there in 1925 when he was interviewed about early
bear hunting and other experiences.
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to Clark County Ancestors
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