The Northern Pacific Railroad (NP) reached the Chehalis River in 1872 from Kalama on the Columbia and the line reached Tacoma the following year. Regular service between the river and Tacoma began in January 1874. Just four months later, as many as 30 people per day were getting off at stations between the Columbia and the Sound. Residents of Saundersville built a warehouse to induce the Northern Pacific Railroad to build its line through Chehalis. The idea worked and Saundersville was renamed Chehalis in 1879. Today, the Lewis County Historical Museum is housed in the historic, 1912 turn of the century, Northern Pacific Railway Depot.
W elcom e to PIH A ’s H istoric H aunting of W ashington State M agazine On behalf of the volunteer paranormal investigators of PIHA, I invite you to experience Washington State’s amazing historical sites and museums like never before. PIHA has created a program unlike any other in Washington State. Through our process of networking with local historical societies, museums and registered historical sites, PIHA hopes to help educate the public of our state’s exciting history and the process and technology utilized in today’s paranormal investigations. PIHA was created with two goals in mind: 1. PIHA hopes to bring our history to life by attempting to obtain significant evidence of these strange occurrences. Utilizing the latest in today’s electronic technology and dedicated paranormal investigators, we are accomplishing this objective. 2. PIHA wants to stimulate additional interest in our residents and visitors to Washington State’s fascinating history. We want to encourage individuals, families, schools and community organizations to visit these (and other) historical locations for a better understanding of our state’s history and the people who made it. PIHA is not out to prove or disprove the existence of possible paranormal activity, but to publish any significant evidence collected at an investigation and let each individual decided for himself what to believe or not to believe. Wherever your travels in Washington take you, best wishes for a “Trip to the Extraordinary”. For additional information about PIHA, visit our website at www.pihausa.com
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In this Issue: Welcome to PIHA’s Historic Haunting of Washington State Magazine…..2 Washington State History……….…….5 Chehalis, WA History.…….……….….7 Chehalis Train Depot History……….…9 Paranormal Investigation Report……...11 Paranormal History Report………… ...13 About PIHA’s Historic Haunting of Washington State Program………….14
Contact PIH A : PIHA (Paranormal Investigations of Historic America) Address: 16755 Wales Street SE City, State, Zip: Monroe, WA 98272 Phone: 360.799.4138 Email: Info@pihausa.com Website: WWW.PIHAUSA.COM Vaughn Hubbard: Case Manager/Historian Debbie Knapp: Lead Investigator/Historian Kathy Gavin: Lead Investigator Christian Wells: Investigator
PIH A M agazine Publisher: Publisher………………...…..….Historic Haunting Chief Publisher…………..……..Vaughn Hubbard Program Manager:………….…..Debbie Knapp Marketing Manager:………….....Kathy Gavin Graphic Designer:…………...…..Christian Wells
Reference M aterial: aterial : We wish to acknowledge the HistoryLink for allowing PIHA to use their published historical research information as reference material. To read about the history of Washington State visit the HistoryLink website at: WWW.HISTORYLINK.ORG
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Washington State History The State of Washington occupies the far northwest corner of the contiguous 48 United States. It occupies 66,582 square miles (176,600 square kilometers) between the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Idaho border at 117 degrees longitude. Washington borders Canada on the north along the 49th parallel and Oregon on the south along the Columbia River and 46th parallel. Great Britain and the United States jointly occupied the region between 1818 and 1846, when Britain ceded the Pacific Northwest below the 49th parallel to the U.S. In 1848 the U.S. created Oregon Territory, including the future states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and a portion of Montana. Washington Territory (including Idaho and western Montana until 1863) was separated from Oregon on March 2, 1853, and gained statehood on November 11, 1889. The federal government created Oregon Territory on August 14, 1848. The area of the new jurisdiction included the present-day states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 triggered a large westward migration, and settlement of Oregon Territory was promoted by passage of the Donation Land Claims Act of 1850, which granted 160 acres to any U.S. citizen who agreed to occupy his or her land for five years. On August 29, 1851, 27 male settlers met at Cowlitz Landing (south of present-day Olympia) to petition Congress for a separate “Columbia Territory” covering the area between the Columbia River and 49th parallel. The petition was reaffirmed by 44 delegates who met in Monticello on November 25, 1852. Congress approved the new territory on February 10, 1853, but changed its name to “Washington.” President Millard Fillmore signed the bill on March 2, 1853, and Olympia was named the Territorial Capital and has remained the capital of both Washington Territory and State since 1853. President Franklyn Pierce named Isaac I. Stevens as the first governor of an area that included northern Idaho and western Montana until President Abraham Lincoln established Idaho Territory on March 4, 1863. Washington’s non-Indian population grew steadily to more than 300,000 over the following decades. Its residents began petitioning for statehood in 1881, and Washington was admitted to the Union on November 11, 1889, with the signature of President Benjamin Harrison. Thirty federally recognized sovereign Indian tribes and reservations occupy substantial areas in Washington, and there are an additional seven unrecognized but culturally distinct tribes. Native American Indian tribes have occupied this area; now know as Washington State for over 10,000 years and have a rich history in culture and survival. By the 1850s, when the first Euro American settlers arrived at Alki Point and along the Duwamish River, diseases had already taken a devastating toll on native peoples and their cultures. During the 80 year period from the 1770s to 1850, smallpox, measles, influenza, and other diseases had killed an estimated 28,000 Native Americans in Western Washington, leaving about 9,000 survivors. Historian Robert Boyd conducted extensive research on the effect of European diseases on Northwest coast Indians. In his book, The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence, he states that the 1775 Spanish expedition led by Bruno Hezeta, commander of the Santiago and Juan Fracisco de la Bodega & Quadra, commander of the Sonora was the most likely carrier.
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The History of Chehalis Washington Lewis County in southwest Washington can truly be called the “mother of counties.� Half of the present-day Washington and of British Columbia were carved from its original borders. But the county’s location astride the Cowlitz Trail between the Columbia River and Puget Sound meant that communities with good water access would develop first. The construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 1870s and innovations in logging technology were the major spurs to settlement. Native Americans calling themselves Chehalis and Meshall lived along the banks of the Chehalis River. The river people made their livings from the annual runs of salmon as well as from nuts, berries, and tubers gathered from the land. Four months of fishing was often enough to sustain families and tribes for a year and there was little need to hunt or trap animals for food. Tribe members also gathered berries and tubers from the forest and prairies. Chehalis, the seat of Lewis County and long a commercial center for area farmers and loggers, grew out of claim settled in 1850 by Schuyler and Eliza Saunders near the confluence of the Newaukum and Chehalis rivers. Known then as Saunders' Bottom because of its marshy ground it would soon become Saundersville and later renamed Chehalis. Another settler, E. D. Warbass called his claim at Cowlitz Landing Warbassport, which would later become Toledo. During the Indian War of 1855-1856, settlers constructed blockhouses at Grand Mound Prairie and on the Chehalis River, but there were no violent confrontations in Lewis County. Chehalis gained footing as a town once the Northern Pacific Railroad established a depot there in 1873. Over the years, local residents have built a town with a varied economy, relying on logging, mining, farming, small industry, retail, and residents and businesses that Interstate 5 brought to town. Adaptation to changing circumstances has been a strength of the community, particularly in the last 50 years as the economy has experienced a fundamental shift away from relying on natural resources. Note that the name Chehalis was given to a Washington county organized in 1854. In 1915 that county was renamed Grays Harbor County. Chehalis, the seat of Lewis County and long a commercial center for area farmers and loggers, grew out of claim settled in 1850 by Schuyler (1810-1860) and Eliza (18261900) Saunders near the confluence of the Newaukum and Chehalis rivers. Known then as Saunders' Bottom because of its marshy ground, Chehalis gained footing as a town once the Northern Pacific Railroad established a depot there in 1873. Over the years, local residents have built a town with a varied economy, relying on logging, mining, farming, small industry, retail, and residents and businesses that Interstate 5 brought to town. Adaptation to changing circumstances has been strength of the community, particularly in the last 50 years as the economy has experienced a fundamental shift away from relying on natural resources. Note: The name Chehalis was given to a Washington county organized in 1854. In 1915 that county was renamed Grays Harbor County.
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The History of the Lewis County Historical Museum The Lewis County Historical Museum is housed in the historic, 1912 turn of the century, Northern Pacific Railway Depot. The Northern Pacific Railroad (NP) reached the Chehalis River in 1872 from Kalama on the Columbia and the line reached Tacoma the following year. Today it is operated by the Lewis County Historical Society; it is dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of Lewis County, Washington. The Northern Pacific Railroad (NP) reached the Chehalis River in 1872 from Kalama on the Columbia and the line reached Tacoma the following year. Regular service between the river and Tacoma began in January 1874. Just four months later, as many as 30 people per day were getting off at stations between the Columbia and the Sound. The Chehalis Western purchased trackage from Milwaukee Road on a portion from Chehalis to Raymond line in 1936 and operated it as non-common carrier Chehalis Western Railroad. The line bought was 18 miles from Chehalis to Dryad. This line was not needed any more by the Milwaukee Road as it operated over a nearby Northern Pacific branch line. The Chehalis Western used only the first nine miles of this trackage from Chehalis to Ruth. A new line was built south from Ruth to Camp McDonald to where timber was ready to be cut. The logs would be taken from Camp McDonald to a log dump at South Bay near Olympia. In late 1975 the line was cutback to Curtis where a log reload was built. This truncated railroad was reorganized into the Curtis, Millburn and Eastern on December 1st, 1975. The logs were now taken from Curtis to Chehalis where they were handed over to the Milwaukee Road. When the Milwaukee Road abandoned all of its trackage west of Miles City, Montana the Curtis, Millburn & Eastern Railroad was absorbed into a new Chehalis Western. The former Milwaukee Road route to South Bay was taken over by the new Chehalis Western. The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad Association was formed in 1986 as a nonprofit corporation. The founders were a group of local citizens whose goal was to restore a 1916 logging locomotive that had been placed in a Chehalis park thirty years earlier. Early the following year, the restoration was begun and over the next two years, several railroad cars were acquired. With restoration completed, scheduled operations began in the summer of 1989 over a section of former Milwaukee Road track in the Chehalis-Centralia area. The Chehalis Western then shut down in 1992. The entire line was sold to the City of Tacoma in 1995 and renamed the Tacoma Eastern Railroad. It lasted just three years when in 1998 the railroad was taken over by Tacoma Rail.
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The PIHA Grey Team’s Paranormal Investigation On January 20th, 2010 the PIHA Grey Team accomplished a paranormal investigation of the Lewis County Historical Museum and came away with some interesting results indicating that possible paranormal activity does exist in the museum. These are the results of that investigation. The Grey Team began their investigation at 8:00 PM in the attic area. As is the usual practice, the team first did a scan of the area to be investigated. The used their EMF (Electromagnetic Field) detectors to locate any abnormal electronic energy that may exist. A team member also scans for any significant changes in the ambient (room) temperature. Nothing of any significance was discovered. Next, the Grey Team set up their IR (Infrared) camcorders to video tape any shadows or strange movement that may take place during their EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena). Finally they position the parabolic dish that they use to record any noises or voices that may or may not be heard by ear. The parabolic dish also has a headset attached allowing the team member to hear and voices or noises that cannot be heard by the other investigators during the EVP session. This has proven to be a valuable tool to validate anything recorded during the EVP session that would otherwise go unnoticed. In the Attic: 9:45 PM - a voice is recorded saying "Hurry Up" 9:50 PM - As Dave is talking to Debbie a voice is recorded saying "Jump On It" 11:00 PM - As Vaughn makes a comment about loser, a voice is recorded saying "Loser" 11:45 PM - Dave states that he loves the sound of trains and a voice responds "Me Too" 12:00 AM - Debbie make a comment about proving Vaughn wrong and a voice is recorded a "Moan" 12:03 AM - While waiting for a train to pass to complete the investigation, a voice is picked up that says "Ask Me" Mulford Exhibit: 10:30 PM - As the Grey Team prepares to start an EVP session, a voice say's Damn or Dave 10:31 PM - Right after a voice say's Damn or Dave Debbie hears a woman moan 10:40 PM - Dave asked a question about Mr. Mulford and gets a response “And what’s this” 10:50 PM - Dave asked if the boots on display belonged to Author Mulford and gets the response "Yes" that everyone in the area clearly heard 11:00 PM - Dave asked if the hat (on display) belonged to Albert Mulford and a voice answers "No" 11:15 PM - Dave asked for the name of a person that he had heard at an earlier investigation at the Chehalis Museum. A voice responds with the name Simon. The same name that Dave had heard 6 months earlier when he asked for the name of the oldest person at the museum. 11
Main Floor of Museum: 1:00 AM- Kathy is talking during an EVP session and the Debbie says "give rings back" when a voice is recorded saying "Rings" 11:15 PM - A whisper is recorded on the main floor 12:15 AM - During an EVP session on the Main Floor Debbie sates that we are wasting our time and another moan is recorded. 12:30 AM - Debbie is getting frustrated at not hearing any responses during an EVP session and a moan is recorded and then a voice says "Pretty Much"
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The History of Paranormal Activity Stories have been told of a man that sits on the stairs in the back by the loft, a man that stands in the corner in the research library and a Native American woman. Also, a young boy whose name starts with an M and he hangs around upstairs. One person has died in the station. Here is a reprint of the original Chehalis Chronicle Newspaper article which was published on Wednesday, March 19, 1912: “Coroner Charles Sticklin received a letter this morning from Mrs. Martha Layman of Minneapolis, stating that she was positive that the body of the man killed at the local depot last December, is that of her son. She stated that she would leave for Centralia the day following that on which the letter was written, in which case she will arrive here tomorrow. Mrs. Layman stated in her letter that Downs, the man who was with the victim of the accident at the time he was killed, left home with her son. Downs stated that he did not know who the dead man was, but Mrs. Layman says that this is an untruth. The pictures exchanged by Coroner Sticklin and Mrs. Layman were practically identical, there is little doubt but what the body held here is that of Layman. Layman was a member of the Mason, Elks and Woodsmen and was formerly an officer in the Minnesota state prison.” Layman was beaten and his legs were cut off. We can sometimes here someone dragging one foot through the hallways. Keep in mind, all of the artifacts in that museum belonged to pioneer families and some things are very precious and date back to the early 1800’s. People who take stock of the supernatural wouldn’t have a hard time imagining that the Lewis County Historical Museum might be an ideal home for the undead. Visitors and employees have reported the sounds of drawers opening, old-fashioned roller chairs rolling across the ground and roll-top desks closing. It has also been reported by visitors of seeing a slender conductor, in the old conductor’s office at the far end of the depot, walking back and forth writing notes on a clipboard.
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O n behalf of the volunteer paranorm par anorm al investigators of PIH A , w e invite you to experience W ashington State’s am azing historical sites and m useum s like never before. PIH A has created a program unlike any other in W ashington State. Stat e. Through our process of netw orking w ith local H istorical Societies, m useum s and registered historical sites, PIH A hopes to help educate the public of our state’s exciting history and the process pro cess and technology utilized in paranorm al research. research . E ach m onth, onth , "PIH A M agazine" features feature s the history of a tow n or com m unity, and the individual m useum s and historical histor ical sites that w e investigated. PIH A schedules tw o com m unities to visit tw ice in a m onth. W e then schedule tw o separate investigations at a m useum and/or public pu blic historical site, site , for each w eekend visit. This process allow s us to do a paranorm al investigation at four different historical sites each m onth.
The PIH A A pproach to Paranorm al Investigations The PIH A “G rey Team ” is m ade up of dedicated paranorm al investigators inv estigators w ith a passion for history and a curiosity in the paranorm al phenom ena. O ur approach, equipm ent and procedures to paranorm al investigating are prim arily based on research and logic in obtaining evidence of possible paranorm al activity. PIH A never neve r use m edium s, psychics or O uija B oards in our investigations. M any people w ho think that som ething paranorm al exist, physics and logic can debunk. That said, occasionally PIH A lassify it as obtains evidence that neither physics nor logic applies. W hen this occurs, w e cclassify paranorm al evidence and let each individual decide for him self w hat to believe or not believe. If your historical com m unity, m useum or public historical site has a history of paranorm al activity and w ould like a free paranorm al investigation, please contact: Vaughn Hubbard, PIHA, Case Manager/Historian Email: Vaughn@pihausa.com Website: www.PIHAUSA.com
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