Bob Bracken (settler): Difference between revisions
←Created page with '{{Infobox person | name = Bob Bracken | image = Robert Bracken, late 1800s (cropped).png | caption = Bracken in the late 1800s | birth_date = {{circa|1841}} | death_date = May 1906 | death_place = Asotin County, Washington | spouse = Mary }} '''Robert Bracken''' ({{Circa|1841}}– May 1906) was an American prospector and rancher, known as the first permanent European settler of wh...' |
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Revision as of 19:34, 30 January 2024
Bob Bracken | |
|---|---|
.png) Bracken in the late 1800s | |
| Born | c. 1841 |
| Died | May 1906 |
| Spouse | Mary |
Robert Bracken (c. 1841– May 1906) was an American prospector and rancher, known as the first permanent European settler of what would become Asotin County, Washington.
Life
Little is known about Bracken's early life. He was part of a party of Californian prospectors who departed in the fall of 1861, headed to participate in a 1861 gold rush in Idaho County, then part of the Washington Territory. He arrived at Alpowa Creek on April 16, 1862, in an area then part of the Nez Perce Reservation, and endured an extremely harsh winter. He travelled to prospect for gold in Idaho, but eventually returned. He married a Nez Perce woman named Mary, which legally legitimized his residence on the reservation. He took up work as a rancher, and lived at different points in various portions of Asotin County. Although an early settler named Sam Smith had briefly established a general store in the area, Bracken was the first permanent settler of the county, which was organized in 1883.[1][2]
He had no children. At some point in his later years, his wife Mary left him. By the 1890s, he was living on a property on Asotin Creek, roughly 15 miles southwest of the town of Asotin, Washington. In the winter of 1905-1906, he developed gangrene on one of his feet. His body was found on his property in May 1906, having shot himself.[1][3]
References
- ^ a b Dougherty, Phil (August 26, 2006). "Bracken, Robert (1841?-1906)". HistoryLink. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ Shaver, Frederic Ambrose (1906). An illustrated history of southeastern Washington, including Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Washington. Spokane: Western Historical Publishing Company. pp. 645–646.
- ^ Weatherly, Bob (September 6, 1990). "Indians Not Excited By First Settlers". The Lewiston Tribune. Retrieved January 30, 2024.