Pacific County WA Archives Biographies.....Baker, Alfred August 6, 1844 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wa/wafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com February 16, 2011, 3:17 am Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 981 - 982 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company ALFRED BAKER, who has experienced many phases of pioneer life in the Pacific northwest, was long numbered among the leading ranchers of Pacific county, Washington, and now resides in Long Beach, enjoying the ease and comfort earned by his former years of well directed industry. He was born in Clinton county, Missouri, August 6, 1844, a son of George M. and Rebecca (Sunderland) Baker, natives respectively of Tennessee and Ohio. In the spring of 1845 they started for the Willamette valley of Oregon with their five children, making the long and hazardous journey in a prairie schooner drawn by oxen, and spent the winter in Portland, which then contained about a dozen log cabins. There another child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Baker but it lived only a short time and was buried on the banks of the Willamette. Colonel T'Vault, the captain of their wagon train, settled in Oregon City, where he later started The Spectator, the first paper published in Oregon. In the spring of 1847 the Baker family moved across the river and the father entered a claim in that district which is now known as East Portland. Among his neighbors was J. B. Stephens, who operated a canoe ferry across the river. Later Mr. Baker sold his claim to Clinton Kelly and next located on Belle prairie, where there was more open farming country. Subsequently he went to British Columbia, Canada, but soon afterward returned to Oregon and spent the remainder of his life in the Willamette valley. His wife died in 1847 and was the seventh person buried in the Lone Fir cemetery of Portland. Alfred Baker was an infant when the family left Missouri and his first schooling was obtained at Belle Possi, Oregon. He assisted in the work of clearing and improving the homestead and thus obtained a practical knowledge of agricultural pursuits. In 1861 he journeyed to North Beach, Washington, and in the following year went to the Caribou mines of British Columbia in company with his father but was unsuccessful in his quest for gold and returned to Washington. He became the owner of a ranch of six hundred and forty acres, situated one mile east of Long Beach, and cultivated the place for many years. As time passed he brought the land to a high state of development and added many improvements to the property. He raised beef cattle and also operated a large dairy. His work was carefully planned and systematically and efficiently performed. Success attended his efforts and in 1918 he was able to retire. In 1878 Mr. Baker married Mary Jane (Brown) Baker, the widow of John Wesley Baker, a brother of Alfred Baker. Ben Brown, the father of Mrs. Baker, was also an Oregon pioneer and one of the early settlers of French prairie. Mrs. Baker passed away June 15, 1922, on the ranch near Long Beach. By her first husband she had four children: Mrs. Belle Adamson, whose home is on Shoalwater bay; George W. Baker, of Medford, Oregon; and Mary Ann and Matilda, deceased. To the second union were born six children: Alfred M., who lives in Cashmere, Washington; Fred, deceased; Lottie M., who is the wife of Gilbert E. Tinker of Long Beach, Washington, and has a daughter, Mrs. Lolita H. Morris; Benjamin J., also of Long Beach; Roscoe William, a resident of Seaview, Washington; and Colonel Ralph Baker, whose home is situated on the Naselle river in Pacific county. Mr. Baker now resides with his daughter Lottie, who became the wife of Gilbert E. Tinker on September 10, 1902. Mr. Tinker was born on Marshland, Oregon, and through his English ancestors in the paternal line is eligible to membership in the Society of Mayflower descendants. His father, Henry H. Tinker, was born in Ellsworth, Maine, and crossed the continent about 1860, making the long trip in a covered wagon drawn by oxen. For several years he lived in the Sacramento valley of California and then migrated to Oregon, taking up a homestead in the Nehalem valley. About 1870 he located in Marshland, Oregon, and was there married in 1872 to Nancy E. Bryant, a native of Indiana. In 1873 he journeyed to Portland, Oregon, and was employed in the Weidler sawmill for a time. Going to Clatskanie, Oregon, he continued in the same line of work and also engaged in farming. In 1880 he settled in Pacific county, Washington, and purchased a tract of two hundred and fifty-six acres, which is now the townsite of Long Beach. He laid out the town, sold the lots, and in 1887 became the first postmaster of Long Beach. Mr. Tinker erected the Long Beach Hotel, which he operated until December, 1895, when it was destroyed by fire. In 1896 he rebuilt and successfully conducted the hotel until his death in February, 1923. He had long survived his wife, who passed away in November, 1903. They were the parents of six children: Lena A., who was born in Marshland and is the wife of Henry Kayler, of Long Beach, Washington; Gilbert E.; Harry H., also a native of Marshland; Della R., who was born in Long Beach and is the wife of Edward Deputy; Myrtle M., deceased, who was born in Long Beach and became the wife of Edward E. Little; and George B., also a native of Long Beach. Mr. Baker has spent practically his entire life in the Columbia river valley and has an intimate knowledge of events that have shaped its history. He remembers the time when this productive region was a wilderness and Indians roamed through the dense forests. With deep interest he has watched the progress of civilization in Washington and Oregon and has contributed his share toward the development of the natural resources of this great country. He has a wide acquaintance, and an upright, well spent life has earned for him a high place in the esteem of his fellowmen. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wa/pacific/bios/baker230gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wafiles/ File size: 6.4 Kb