This is Etta Tarbell, from the Mount Hope tour on Saturday. She was the first white woman to homestead Watertown, along with her husband in 1878. She was a mere 20 years old, a newlywed, and became good friends with the Native Americans. She said they would gather at the back door of the drug store she and her husband owned, and that they helped each other tremendously. Mr. and Mrs. Tarbell first built their store at the lake as that was where the town was supposed to be. But the railroad ended up stopping where the town is now, about 5 miles east of there. The store was taken apart and hauled in with a team of oxen, where they relocated on Kemp Avenue. There is a marker today at City Park on Lake Kampeska where Mr. and Mrs. Tarbell first built.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Honorable Mention ...
This is Etta Tarbell, from the Mount Hope tour on Saturday. She was the first white woman to homestead Watertown, along with her husband in 1878. She was a mere 20 years old, a newlywed, and became good friends with the Native Americans. She said they would gather at the back door of the drug store she and her husband owned, and that they helped each other tremendously. Mr. and Mrs. Tarbell first built their store at the lake as that was where the town was supposed to be. But the railroad ended up stopping where the town is now, about 5 miles east of there. The store was taken apart and hauled in with a team of oxen, where they relocated on Kemp Avenue. There is a marker today at City Park on Lake Kampeska where Mr. and Mrs. Tarbell first built.
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interesting.
ReplyDeleteglad to see SOMONE was nice to the native americans.
Wow.... now that was really a very brave woman... not only to settle an unknown land at a VERY young age, but to trust her "gut feeling" and not listen to all the people who undoubtedly told her that Indians were all "wild savages". She and her husband made friends with them, and it sounds like they had a great relationship with them. Too bad the majority of white settlers didn't give that a try... we could have avoided a lot of bloodshed, heartbreak and needless pain.
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