Olympic Pensula

We started out for Port Angeles by taking a ferry from Fidelgo Guemes island to Whidby island and then from Keystone to Port Townsend. There was no decption bridge, it was fifty miles from Port Townsend to Port Angeles and another fifty miles to Clallam Bay, Gravel roads and My Model T Ford had loose shakles and when the road got rough it chimmed, we were tired when we got there. We had stored our furniture in mothers garage. This was the time that dad had passed away. When we left Port Angeles we had to take the upper road as the lower road was closed for road construction, the first then we saw was a service station owned by C. C. Heckle, he had a wooden ox yoke over his place which read To trust is bust, to bust is hell, no trust no bust no hell.-- We had rented a small house in Clallam Bay, we had a dog, a canary and two bantum chickens. This was real virgin country, the road just went around big trees.One night we went to a dance at Forks and after the dance we stayed with Jak and his wife afterwards we went razor clamming at Kalay-loc sn the coast, all four of us had hip boots and the wives had a gunny bag to put the clams in. When the tide was just right you could tap the ground with a shovel and the clams would show, I figered that we had our limit so I asked the wife how many we had and she held up the sack and it did not have a bottom, I noticed and Indian woman coming along being me and she had been getting my clams, Ha Ha.---!!!. One of my servece stations had ordered a large quanity of fire works for the Fourth, it rained for several days during this period and they did not sell any of the fire works, the co had a deal on lighter fluid there was a little pump and when you put a penny in you got enough lighter fluid to fill your lighter. This store had a counter make of rough lumber and had large cracks, well when I called on this account the bos was gone and her daughter poured some of the lighter fluid aon the counter and some of it went down into the box of fire works and caused a fire. Everything in the store was recked.We had a band and I played the slide-trombone, one fourth of July the band was playing at Forks and some of the band had too much to drink and the music sounded awful, the band master asked me what was wrong, one of the band was playing a different piece, ha ha., One year there was avery bad flud I spent several days getting people to safety, my neighbor asked me to help get his motherinlaw out of her home, there was several feet of water around her house and the lower pasture ws flooded and all her live stock was drowned, we rowed the boat to her front door and she was setting on her kitchen stove on a chair, and she had a 30 30 rifle on her lap. She said she sould shoot us if we tryed to take her, we left her but it quit raining and all is well that ends that way.Another time on the Fourth the boss took me up to Sappho, (about 18 miles, and I was to get a mess of fish. I had just purchased a new pair of boots that were supposed to be water proof, I wore old clothes and just waded in the river. The solduc river was real good fishing, lots of large trout. The old trousers I wore had a small hole just above the knee and when I got in the water which was about four feet deep the swift water took my pants of and then the shoes went to pieces and there I was just a shirt and bvds, the fishing was good so I soon had my basket filled with trout and then I wondered how I was going to get back to the place where I started from. I finally got a friend of mine to loan me a pair of pants, he was a small man so I looked like I had knee pants on, he would not take me in his car so I had to walk down the road and all the people thought I was a hill billy. At this time mother was very sick so I made a good many quick trips to Bellingham.One night we were playing pinochle at Sappho and he got a call from an individual that had run off the road and the car was upside down several below the road, I got some old clothes and went with him on the wricker, I went down to the car and put a rolling hitch on it and we finally got it back on the road after several attempts, put some gas in it and it start. another time he got a call that an individual could not start his car, it was about 15 miles and when we got there we found that he had had too much to drink and did not have the kee turned on.Another incident, I was making a delivery when the shell man came in and wanted to know if I could help him, he was hauling from Portangeles and was on his way back to Forks when he ran out of gas, he didn't realize that he had a whole load of gas Ha. Another time I was making a delivery accrost the street from the hot dog stand, when the fire alarm rang, being an auxiliary fireman I went out to see where the fire was, the gasoline stove in the hot dog stand had blown up, I grabbed the pyrene from my truck and went to the fire, it was lick and not science that that the first time I tried I got the fire out but I was blinded by the gas, someone brought water to wash my eyes out and at the time the fire department arrived and the shell man was on it, he asked me what I useed and I said gas, (shell) Ha. Ha. Anotehr time the hospital got afire and it was raining, I got on the roof and the fire truck started the pump and I could not handle the hose the roof was too slipery. , I had to get help we got the fire out and all was well. One time we had a real heavy wind and rain and it was a week befor we could get to Forks, I came home wirh several bales of hay and various medicines and several bottles of liquor and sseveral turkeys as it was Chrismas time, when I got home I had a drink from each bottle, you know what happened, ha ha. Another experience we had a customer who was making moon-shine and he used a high grade of kerosene, he got behind with his payments and the boss told me to go and get the money.

This customer lived on a mountain, so I decided to call on hin. I got to where I had to aprk the truck about noon, the mountain was quite steepe and it took quite a while to get to his place. He lived in a dug out cabin just two little windows and a door in the middle. There was a fence around the fron of the cabin and a gate with two 12 inch planks leading to the door and there was several mean looking dogs tied so they could just get to the walk. He came to the door and called to the dogs to quiet down and said glad you came, saved me a trip to town, come in dinner is ready. I was sceptible aboute the kind of food he would eat, I went in and was very supprised at the condition of his house, I didn't know he had a wife but she had dinner readu and it smelled read good. I took a small portion at first and it was real good so I took more and after I had finished dinner he asked if I knew what kind of meat we were eating. I did'nt know and he told me it was bear meat. So I was looking forward for more bear meat.A friend of min in Clallam Bay was having trouble with bear stealing his half grown hogs so I got a bear trap for him to use, we rubbed the trap with cut apples and covered the trap with hay. that night a bear got in the trap and made a terrible noise trying to get loose, they was able to shoot the bear and the next morning Bob called me and said we got the bear come over and see it. It was a large bear about 300 pounds. He gave me a big roast and I could almost taste the meat. I took it home and mom said she would cook it for me. It was the most terrible tasting meat I had ever eaten, we threw it out and when I saw Garret again I told him about it and he said shure that was an old bear which was eating salmon and scunk cabbbage, you have to get a young bear that has not eaten these things.Here is another incident, Charlie Schnidt had a large brown dog called brownie, he had gone deer hunting and I asked him if he got a deer and he said yes. I asked him if I could have a steak and he said you can have it all if you can take it off the wrecker. I knew the dog so I went out a spoke to the dog and threw the deer carcas accrost my back and Charlie said a hell od a dog. charlie and his wife and I went hunting up on the Hoh river and it was still dark when we got there. We sat in the car and waited for day-light and a large deer went by, a short time later a large bear went by and when it go light Charlie said you go with the wife who had a 30 30 rifle and I will go where the bear went. He took one step in the direction where the bear had crossed the road and a covy of grouse flew up and it frightened hin and he fire his rifle, We spent several hours and could not find any game, The report of his rifle had frightened everything away.So bought some steak om the way home and had a feed to steak.

One day the boss told me to call on the construction co. (Joplin and Elden) who were just begining the highway construction from the Bogachiel river to Aberseen. They had put a narrow guage railway to their camp and in order to call on them I had to walk several miles. I got there about noon and the superintendant invited me to dinner. After dinner he said let us go and see what they needed, we looked and he said bring us ten pounds of water pump grease, this made me angry and I said things that I should not have saie, the next morning the boss got a call from the construction co. tell that man of yours to start bringing a load of gas each day. We received all the business for the intire job, had to put on another truck.Shortly after this I moved to Forks, rented a house from John Hilstrom, (nine room house), This house had an ant hill under it and the house was covered with ants so I moved to a new place and stayed there untill I was transfered in 1938.When we first moved to the Olympic Peninsula you could buy Hoh beef in one pound cans for thirty five cents. When we first went to the Olympic Peninsula you could not drive to the town of Neah Bay, had to walk the last two miles, the only you could get here was by boat. How I got my wood one year, therewas a great storm and the waves were so high that it broke up one of the Davis rafts at Sekiu and on the big logs was washed up to my wood shed, enough wood for a year. Here is another incident, I was in Seattle and purchased some tricks from a store on first street, soap that made your face black after washing and a poo poo cushion. When I got home I put the poo poo cushion in our leather rocking chair and as this was our first Sunday in Forks the local minister called on us and the wife had him sit in this particular chair and of course it made a great noise, he moved a little and there was some more noise, the wife looked at me and blamed it all on me. There was a travelling minister who lived in Port Townsend and he used to call on many of the families and stay for several days, well1 one night he asked me for a ride to Clallam Bay, I told him I was in a hurry and that I was going to roll it, but he said OK and it was raining we got part way home when he said I'll have the law on you for driving this way, I stopped and said get out, He didn't want to but got out and several days later came to my house in Clallam Bay and our dog bit him, not good Ha. ha..--The co had business of the forest service and there was a forest fire and I was supposed to take gasoline to the equipment, so I put wet gunny bags over my truck and went to make this delivery, had to go through where the wooks was afaire.Itgot very warm and smokey but nothing happened.

Another time on the way home I heard a heavy explosion and when I got to the Beaver falls some one had dymated the hole below the falls, the sockeye were running and there was a great number of these lovely fish kills, I backed my truck up to the creek and took as many as I wanted, I gave all the neighbors all the fish they wanted and then washed the truck out. When I called the game commision they came out and looked at my truck, god thing I had washed it out. Another time the springs were running in the Pysht river and they were so thick that you could have walked accrosr the river on fish, I took several of them to a friend and he smoked them very good eating. I had an account named Aubert that had a wife and several children and lived in a shack with no modern concenions's no running water and did the washing in a wash tub. he was a gambler and when he got a pay check he would go back to the gambling table again, one day I saw him get a pay check and shure enough he headed for the gambling table so I asked him if I could give hime some good advice and he said tend to your own business but I said go and buy your wife a power washing machine for a change, he left and the next time I went to his place his wife told me he had done what I suggested and she was very happy. One Sunday I took my wife and her mother on a sight-seeing trip to LaPush when we were going by the plave where the Indians were drying their fish she said what is that black stuff and I said that is where they sry their fish ans the black is flyes, she did not believe it so I showed her and she never saw so many flyes. Another incident we had won a sales contest and the co gave us a steak feed and LaPoll on lake Crescent, some of the boys got too much to drink and pushed anew chrysley in-board motor in the lake, afterwards the boss said we will each put in $20 and pay for the motor. I refused as I had nothing to do with the deal.In the thirties president Rosevelt, (Democrat) had set a time when he would be at Forks to see a tree toped, it was raining and there was many people waiting to see a president and as usual he was late and all the Republican kids caught a cold.,Ha Ha-- One night it was late in the evening and getting dark a woman came out to the road and in a frantic way sked me for help, she showed me where her child had waded into the river and was taken down stream, the body was not found untill a later date.It was depression time and the camps were down and money was scarce and when someone I knew came to me and wanted some gasoline I would give hin some, this went on for several months when I realized I had given away a good many gallons. Well1 one day three auditors came to our small plant at Clallam Bay, they measured the water content and temperature each hour, they were there for several days and I couldemt stand it any more so I said I know what you are looking for and I told them what I had done. They asked me what I intended to do about it and I told tham to take part of my pay check until the shortage was taken care of, I never heard anymore about it. One night at a dance at Clallam Bay an acquitance named Semace, ( a Frenchman), got to much to drink and got to using bad language so we decided to take him hone, It took four of us to handle him, we took him home and got him drunk and left him in bed. Monday morning some of the boys said Semase will be here to see you and I thought he would be mad, Here he comes someone said and he came in and said where is Hatley, of course they told him where I was, he came over and said My old woman made me come down here and appologize. Ha ha.-- ONE OTHER incident comes to mind, Charlie Lewis was at my place and he had a very bad tooth ache and the travelling dentist was supposed to be at Clallam Bay on this date but Charlie lost his nerve so we decided to do something about it.We got him under the influence and took him down and got his tooth out... Here is another incident, one night our little dog came to our bed and whined. We knew that something was wrong so I got up and went outside, it was one of those nights when the moon came out and then a clowd would hide the moon and it would be quite dark. My garage did not have a door so I was used to poor gas milage, someone was siphoning my gas from the car. When I went outside I could hear something and thought it was someone in my garage, then the moon came out bright and I could see two persons trying to pry the door open on the shoe repair shop next door. I fired the revolver and hit the door about six inches above his head. There was no regular electric light system here at that time, there was a great commotion, dogs barking and lights coming on here and then. one of the men ran back in the shadowds and the other ran down the street and I ran out in the street and kept firing the revolver to one side of him and ever time I fired he would run a little faster.several years later I was talking with Mr Chestness and he said prior to this incident he had been robed every little while and never since.There was a man here that we called shorty and someone back east had died and left him a considerable ammount of money and he got too much to drink and had all this money on his person. He came to me and wanted to give me some but I did not want to be responsible, this was on Saturday and on Monday they came around looking gor him. We found hin floting in the river with his pockets inside out. Had to leave his body in the river untill the corner came and looked at him.someone had jumprd off a passenger boat and his body came ashore a short distance from our place, it was in a terrible condition.One day on the way back to Clallam Bay I heard a large crash and when I got around the curve there was a bad wreck,Two nurses from the hospital at Port Angeles had taken a new car that belonged to a doctor and went for a joy ride. I said two nurses but there were three and the new buick had hit a ford truck and the driver was severly injured, the three nurses were in a bad shape, the one on the off side was hanging by her head through the windshield, the one in the middle was scalped by the rear view mirror and the driver had the spokes of the steering wheel DRIVEN THROUGH HER BREASTS. The driver of the buick was in the best condition so I had to slap her and get her attention. I had some clean rags in my truck and I put a turnakit on the leg of the truck driver to keep him from bleeding to death and told the nurse to release the turnakit every little while, about this time a beer truck came by and I loaked the injured man on the beer truck and they left fo Port Angeles. I put the one who had been scalped and the one who had her head through the windshield to Clallam Bay. I never heard anything about this accident again.It was about this time that mom and I took a trip to Oregon to visit Pearl and Charles who had left to live in Oregon, Charlie was superintendent of a logging mill south of Ugen we went to bend Oregon where there was a radio and a big Fourth celebration. We spent the night in Bend at a motel on the Deshuts river, I did not have any sleep for several days so I was very tired. There was two other couple and we sat up all night and drank and in the morning one of the men said let us go down and have breakfast, and then we went to the Elks lodge and did some more drinking, did not see the rorio, got back to the west side about eleven PM, got to bed and mom woke up and said let us go home, I was disgusted with myself and decided to quit the drinking gor good and did. Pearl never forgive us for leaving in the middle of the night.One day in July it was very hot and I went down to the dock and dived off the ene of the dock, it was very cold and I had a hard time to get back to shore. Another time on the fourth of July I came home from the store and had purchased several large fire crackers and as I come into the house I threw a lit cracker ibto the garbage can, there was a cracked half gallon glass fruit jar and when it exploded a piece of the glass cut my throat.Another time I went down to the local garage and help start yhe light plant, the crank slipped and I put a hole in my lip and that night at the band practice you could hear the air cuming out of the hole in my lip. One late summer day I was fishing the Solduc where two tributaries join, the river was low and the rocks were very slippery I lost my footing and went over the falls, about ten feet drop, and the only thing I lost was my hat. I went down and down and expected to hit a rock but was luicky, don't try it..I went into the restaurant and order a vup of coffee and a hamberger and I did't hear the waitres say we are out of hamberger as I saw the paper stating that Will Rogers and Wally Post had been kiled in an aeroplane accident in Alaska, the waitress came around the counter and bit me on the shoulder and I had a hard time explaining to my wife when I got home.Oh1 yes I shaved a man with cold cream anf my knife.


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