Why is Eatonville located here?

            When people traveled from the east to settle the land in the west, sometimes Indian guides would help them explore the area.  Soo-Too-Lick or Indian Henry was a Klickitat, a Nisqually & Cowlitz Indian, from a village that was located about 5 miles from Eatonville where the Mashell and Nisqually rivers meet.  He was a guide that helped the settlers explore the area.  He also helped them travel to Mt. Rainier.  (The Indians called the mountain Mt. Tahoma.)

            In 1888, 27 year old Thomas Cobb Van Eaton was traveling from Minnesota to set up a town and a business in the west. His first wife, Lenora, got sick on the trip and had to stay in Montana and died.  TC Van Eaton continued heading west on the train.  By 1889, Tacoma was already becoming an established town.  Indian Henry helped TC explore the area to find the right place to start his own new town.

            They traveled through the Mashell Prairie and forests looking for a good location to establish a town.  Indiana Henry showed TC an area that was surrounded by hills, was near a river, had lots of good timber, had good fishing and lots of animals for hunting.  The story people tell is that he also told TC "This good place.  Not much snow."  TC bought the rights to the land and established Eatonville.

            The people who were settling in the area needed supplies.  TC built the first home in Eatonville that was also the trading post and post office.  Supplies were brought by stage on a trail from Spanaway.  The railroad connected Eatonville to Tacoma.  The lumber industry started small mills in the area and brought more people to Eatonville.  The settlers built a school for the children and started new businesses in town.  In 1909, Eatonville was incorporated and was a real town on the maps.

 

 

Bibliography

"Eatonville Area History" Greater Eatonville Chamber of Commerce   2009.  http://www.eatonvillechamber.com/history.htm

"Eatonville, Washington." DouglasFir.net    2009.  http://www.douglasfir.net/washington/eatonville.htm

Parnell, Jacqueline Van Eaton - Information collected from stories told around the dinner table

"What is the history of Eatonville, Washington?"  Answerbag.com   2009.  http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/273154