Local Author Studies Waitsburg’s Past

WAITSBURG - After eight long years in the making, Sandra Torres' "baby" will make its debut at this year's Pioneer Fall Festival, where Torres will be signing and selling copies of her recently published book, The Waitsburg Family 1858 - 1900: The Beginning. The book focuses on the individuals -- and their connections to one another -- that made up Waitsburg (or more accurately, Waitsburgh, with an "h") in the town's earliest days.

Torres moved to Waitsburg with her husband Lupe eleven years ago after they both retired from the Walla Walla Post Office. They were drawn to the idea of small town living and fell in love with Waitsburg. Ten years ago, they opened Nothing New Antiques and began renovating the three apartments they currently rent out.

"We were just sitting around getting fat so we knew we had to do something," said Torres. "A little mom-and-pop antique shop sounded like fun."

Perhaps it was being surrounded daily by antiques, or perhaps she inherited her mother's love of genealogy, but over time, Torres' interest in Waitsburg's history grew.

"My mother completed an extensive genealogy of our family fifteen years ago, so I had no desire to research my family history. But I was curious about the families that made up Waitsburg," said Torres. Other historical books trace the businesses and farms, but Torres wanted to learn about individuals and their stories.

Torres said the area received an influx of new settlers when the government offered free land to homesteaders after sending the Native Americans to reservations following the end of the Indian Wars in 1858. New settlers also moved in from the east as they attempted to escape the upheaval caused by the Civil War in the early 1860's.

Torres began her research with the 1860 census, taken when Waitsburg was not yet a town. At that time it was called the Touchet Precinct. It was later known as Delta, Horseshoe City and was Waitsburgh - with an "h" - for about a year before becoming known as Waitsburg. Torres used census information as well as birth records, the Mormon database, farm searches and The Times archives to compile her book. She said her research has brought to light some surprises and fun stories.

Torres said she was surprised at the number of Chinese residents that lived here in the 1800's. She said most worked for the wealthier families as servants, gardeners, and cooks or worked in the hotels. In a book of Historical Sketches written by Frank Gilbert in 1882, the author wrote about five black men, which Torres questioned. When she got to the actual census she could see the men were listed with a "c" after their name. Gilbert had misinterpreted the "c" indicating Chinese to mean "colored."

Torres found a hotel ad in March 16, 1881 issue of the Times that boasts "the best white cooks in the country." Torres said the Chinese were considered so insignificant that the end of the 1870 Dayton census lists the name of one Chinese man followed by, "and 26 other Chinese." "It just shows how unimportant people thought the immigrants were," said Torres.

The print-on-demand book is currently available for sale on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com in hardcover, paperback, Kindle and Nook versions. Electronic versions are only $3.99. Torres said she "pushed hard" to have the book available for the Fall Festival and will have a few hard copies on hand for purchase at the event. If there is sufficient interest, Torres said she may consider writing a second volume to cover 1901 - 1940.