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Obituary of Edward Melton Young
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Edward M. Young 89,eldest son of the late B.F.Young family,was buried in the pioneer section of the Sumner cemetery Monday after funeral services had been held in Chehalis. He had been raised on a farm located where the Woodlawn Abby is now. B.F. Young was at one time the publisher of the Index,before he joined with the father of the present publisher in the News, which later became the News-Index.
Mr. Young died at the home of his son at Onalaska in Lewis County where he had lived since 1933. He was born April 15,1872 at Petaluma,California. He lived in Wallowa,Oregon prior to moving to Lewis county.
Besides his son Frank with whom he lived, he is survived by two other sons,Andrew Young of Pasco and Roy of Boulder City; two daughters,Allie Weatherman of Walla Walla,and Ellen Nicoletti of Huntington,Oregon; 16 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Mrs. Glenn (Ethel) Young, a sister-in-law, lives here in Sumner.
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Young-Edward M. 89, Onalaska,passed away at home on Dec.1st. He was born
April 15,1872 at Petaluma,Calif., and had been a resident of Onalaska for 28
years. Surviving the deceased are two daughters, Mrs. Allie Weatherman,Walla
Walla; Mrs. Ellen Nicoletti, Huntington,Ore; three sons, Frank M. Onalaska;
Andrew B. Pasco and Roy T. Boulder City, Nev.; 16 grandchildren and three great- grandchildren; a sister-in-law,Mrs. Ethel Young, Sumner. Funeral services were held on Monday morning at the Boone Mortuary with Rev. Kenneth Robinson officiating. Interment in Sumner Cemetery.

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MY TRIP WEST in a COVERED WAGON by Jossie (Bankhead) Young Johnson

I left Oklahoma with my family in 1901,when I was only eight years old. There were three covered wagons in our train. They belonged to my father (James B. Bankhead), my mother's father (Gerred Williams) and my mother's half brother. In addition to six adults,there were seven small children and four dogs. Three of them were hounds and the little Terrier belonged to me.
Our first camp was by a lake. Dad and I were still in the wagon, when looking across the lake he saw a "mad" (rabies) dog approaching our wagons. The mad dog bit all of our dogs before dad could get his gun out of the trunk. My mother and Aunt Hattie had to climb back into the wagon to get out of his reach. Uncle John had to jump on the back of one of his mules which hadn't been broke to ride.
Thank God the mule didn't buck him off.
We were six months on the road. We crossed the Rockies on the 4th of July in seven feet of snow. We didn't see any indians but we saw huge herds of buffalo,Prairie chickens and "Fools" hens. We cooked over campfires fueled with buffalo chips (dried buffalo dung) and sagebrush.
The wagons had what were called "oven pits". It was planks of wood laid across the bed of the wagons so that they would be above the wheels. Our beds where we slept were on these planks. Our groceries and other clothes were kept under the beds.
Coming through Colorado, the alfalfa was a foot high. One day my uncle's baby,
who was asleep in the wagon, rolled out of her bed into the alfalfa. She wasn't missed until the wagon had gone on for three miles. However, my aunt, who was driving my grandfather's wagon found her. She was wearing a white dress which caught my aunt's eye as she drove past. The baby was still asleep in her alfalfa bed when my aunt picked her up.
We made camp on the Colorado River, just a mile out of Pueblo. The river was dry with the exception of a few water holes. We were able to water the horses and mules and had water for cooking. My dad and uncle went into town. They got lost and had to take a horse cab back. I found some petrified wood at camp. It was up to us kids to gather the camp wood.
When we reached Rawlins,Wyoming, my father ran out of money for traveling. We stopped there and went to live in an underground shack (Dugout) with just one room. Dad went to work on a ranch for $50.00 a month. We all came down with a fever. The doctor called it Mountain Fever. The other two wagons went on to Wallowa,Oregon where they thought money grew on trees. They took up homestead's on the West Grossman,38 miles north of Wallowa.
In March my grandfather passed away,so my father sold his team and wagon and we all took the train to Elgin. From there we had to take the stage. We went down Minan Mountain with all four wheels "reef" locked. That means that the wheels were chained together. We reached Wallowa the second day of April 1902. By then I was nine years old, but was ten before I had a chance to go to school. I went to fourth grade before my father made me quit. We moved to West Grossman where we took up a homestead a mile from my uncle's. We lived there for five years. I had to work like a man, helping to get 350 acres into cultivation so we could "prove up" on the land. Dad sold his 350 acres for $2,400.00 and moved to Alberta, Canada.
I got married and remained in Wallowa County for forty-five years. We(Jossie &
Elliot Johnson) moved to Salem,Oregon where we lived for twenty-six years before moving to Milton-Freewater,Oregon.

Story was taken from GOLDEN YESTERDAYS, by Umatilla and Morrow Counties Senior Citizens. Published by Retired Senior Volunteer Program.


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Obituary For Jossie Frances Johnson
MILTON-FREEWATER- Jossie F. Johnson,91,of 9 S.E. Eighth Str. died Wednesday at Eslinger Nursing Home.
Funeral services will be at 11:00 A.M. Friday at Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home Chapel,Milton-Freewater. Burial will be in Milton-Freewater Cemetery. Rev. Jim Frisbie will officiate.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association through
the funeral home.
Mrs. Johnson was born September 11,1892, in Chickasha,Oklahoma,to James and Flora Bankhead. She lived in Oklahoma for eight years and came to Wallowa County with her parents by covered wagon in 1901.
She married Edward Young on June 11,1911,in Wallowa,Oregon. They were divorced, married Elliot Johnson on April 8,1929 in La Grande,Oregon.
The couple lived in Wallowa County until 1940 when they moved to Salem. In 1965,they came to Milton-Freewater.
Mrs. Johnson was a member of Wesley Methodist Church and Senior Citizens of Milton-Freewater.
She is survived by her husband,at home; three daughters,Allie Carper of Milton-Freewater,Ellen Nicoletti of Hermiston and Joyce Price of Pendleton;three sons,Andrew Young of Pasco,Roy Young of Kennewick,and Frank Young of Onalaska,Washington;16 grandchildren;30 great grandchildren;and one great-great grandchild.

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Alice's mother, Josie Bankhead Young, was scrubbing the floor using boiling water and soap. Alice fell into the oak washtub that was setting on the floor. Jossie grabbed up Alice and ran, with little Andy running behind her, to the field where Ed Young was plowing. Ed hitched up the wagon and ran the horses to town, to the doctor. One of the horses died after arriving at town. Ed and Jossie got to town about eleven in the morning and Alice died 10:30 pm the next evening.

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Byron died at age 2 weeks.