Page 6 - Forest Grove Years 17 Feb

throughout the house and not considered a priority.

The new kitchen which was constructed after 1945 was comprised of three sections. On
the back was a narrow porch with a small stove and a butter churn. Next to this porch
on the back of the building, but accessed through the main house, were two bathrooms.
One was small and contained only a toilet and a wash basin. The other was larger mak-
ing room for a bathtub which was perched on ornate legs.
The kitchen proper was a bright room on the south side of the building. The fuel for the
kitchen range was saw-dust which was brought into the kitchen in large buckets and
poured into a hopper affixed to the side of the stove. I cannot recall if it held a fire over
night or if it had to be lit each morning. The windows to the kitchen were much larger
than those in the main part of the house. Dividing the entire rear building roughly in half
was a floor to ceiling cabinet unit in the form of an island. On the side opposite the
kitchen was a large dining room almost filled by a large round dining table. When the
lodge was fully occupied there were probably as many as nine or ten people seated for
dinner. I know as a small child at that table it was exceedingly difficult to garner suffi-
cient attention to have some essential food item passed, such as ketchup.

It does not surprise me that this building, like many other similar buildings in the Forest
Grove area, burned to the ground on a cold night in September of 1965. I suspect that
the fire probably originated in the chimney of the main building which to the best of my
knowledge was rarely if ever cleaned Not long after the White and Parkin families set-
tled into Forest Grove a new living cabin was constructed about 200 yards to the north
west of the lodge. This building was initially only a sleeping cabin and had no kitchen. I
recall that it was very dark inside because the windows were small.
There were three bedrooms, a rear bedroom occupied by Bob and Madelene Parkin, a
front bedroom where my parents slept and, in the middle, a small room which was
mine. The building also had a large living room with a stone fireplace as well as a small
bathroom located directly opposite the back bedroom. When I left Forest Grove to at-
tend boarding school my bedroom was expanded and converted into a kitchen. I do not
remember how the building was heated but I suspect poorly which may have been a
good thing as it has escaped the ravages of fire.
Two other small living or housekeeping cabins were also located not far from the Lodge
standing side by side on the north side of the property. These cabins offered very little
aside from a bed and a stove. I have been told that they were built by George Borthwick
possibly assisted by his brother Hector. These cabins still stand on the property but
show no signs of occupation.
In front of the house was located the Forest Grove Trading Post. This was a combined
general store, post office and fur trading business. In the early days there were even
gas pumps. It was the primary economic driver to support the two families who lived on
the property. Its loss to fire in 1951 was a major blow to the business of the property. I
assume that it was fully insured but was never rebuilt. The remains of the concrete
basement can still be seen from Eagle Creek Road. I have no memories of the interior of
the store other than as a small child trying to read the labels on paint cans. I do re-
member that many of the local indigenous elders from Canim Lake spoke no English and
conversed with each other in their native language. Some of the natives were familiar to
me as they were frequently employed by my father.