MUSEUM STORY POLE 

           The totem (or story pole) in front of the White Pass Country Historical Museum was carved by a local chainsaw artist Tracy Breitenfeldt from a cedar tree killed during the 1902 Cispus or the 1918 Greenhorn forest fire, in the area near Tower Rock. It was blessed in May during  the 2011 Packwood Mountain Festival by Grandfather Roy Wilson, spiritual leader of the  Cowlitz Indian Tribe. It was raised  July 7, 2011 by Steve Roberts of Randle Woods and Jon Anderson of B&B Backhoe  Service in Packwood, along with the help of local people. The various figures represent some of  the important people who lived in  our area.

		The snow goose atop the pole represents Mary Kiona (c 1869 - 1970), unquestionably the most famous Taidnapam Indian to have lived in this area.
		The salmon represents Jim Yoke (1857 - 1943), Mary Kiona's uncle.  Jim was known for supplying salmon to the white settlers when times were lean.	Jim & Annie Yoke
		The beaded bag represents Annie Yoke (1854 - 1936), Jim's wife. Very little is known of Annie except that she was a faithful wife, and crafted some beautiful bags.
		The bearded fellow is Billy Packwood (1813 - 1869), for whom the community of Packwood was named.  Billy Packwood and James Longmire were two of the first white men known to have visited the upper Cowlitz River area.
		The lady is Lona Chilcoat Miller (1885 - 1969). Her folks were the first family with children to live in the Big Bottom, as this valley is called. They came in October of 1886, and Lona lived most of her life in the Randle area.
		The fellow with the mustache is James Albert Ulsh (1849 - 1928), one of the first settlers in the Fulton/Kosmos/Rainey Valley area.  He was quite the booster for good roads in this area, and later served as a State legislator.
		The bottom figure is Bill Owens (1898 - 1945), packer for the U. S. Forest Service. Bill packed Martha Hardy into Lost Lake lookout in 1945 where she spent some of the time writing her 1946 best-selling book, "Tatoosh."

We welcome you inside the Museum for more information on each of the characters shown, and the other important people we never had room to portray.