| Buker Homestead Cuttings: Greening and Gravenstein Apples Original Source: Buker Farm near Burnt Bridge Creek and Alki Road, Vancouver, WA History: Robert B. Buker and his Brother, Charles F. Buker moved to the area from Colorado in 1883. Robert bought his original tract in 1883 from the widow of George J. Tooley. The Tooley land grant was signed by U. S. Grant in 1872. On December 28, 1883, Charles F. Buker became the teacher of the first school in the area and Bukers named the school Hazel Dell, a name they liked in Ohio, where Robert and Charles were born. A History of the Trail Through Buker’s Farm by Robert J. Buker The Green Belt Trail from just below the point where Alki Road crosses Burnt Bridge Creek to the mouth of the creek was part of Walt and LaVeta Buker’s farm before the Green Belt was established. Walt’s father, Robert B. Buker, bought his original tract in 1883 from the widow of George J. Tooley. The Tooley land grant was signed by U.S. Grant in 1872. In 1883 Robert B. Buker and his brother Charles F. Buker moved to Vancouver from Colorado where they had been gold miners. There was a gold mine at the present end of Alki road so they bought the land on both sides of the mine. They were married to sisters and their father-in-law joined them on Alki road and he built the shake house in 1883 that is still in use. Charles built his first home about 1 100 yards beyond the north end of Alki Road. On December 28, 1883 Charles F. Buker became the teacher of the first school in the area and the Bukers named the school Hazel Dell, a name they liked in Ohio where Robert and Charles were born. Charles sold his land to his brother and moved his family to Silver Lake in Cowlitz County. Today there are four houses on the west side of Alki road. Bukers have owned or lived in all of them plus three others that have been dismantled. Walt and LaVeta built the brick house in 1961. They lived in the shake covered house from 1935 to 1961. Before 1935 they lived in his parents house where Walt was born. This two story house was located 75 yards north of the shake covered house. I dismantled it in 1951 and found it contained some of the lumber used in Walt’s parents first house which was located under the large white fir tree that has been topped to keep it clear of the power lines. My wife and I are building our new home on the same property that my parents and grandparents built theirs. Let me guide you on a tour of my ancestors land starting at the point where Alki Road crosses Burnt Bridge Creek. Where did the names come from? Dr. John McLaughlin, in a letter stated that from the 27th of September, 1844 a fire burned a vast amount of timber and almost burned Fort Vancouver. This creek was known as Bridge Creek before the fire, but the bridge at Fourth Plain Road burned so it became Burnt Bridge Creek. August Schaeben started Alki, an industrial area and summer resort near where Alki road intersects Hazel Dell Avenue. His 1869 vision of a suburb called “Alki”, the Indian word for by and by, looking forward, or heaven never developed. Alki is now the motto for the State of Washington. Was this the first place named Alki? There is an Alki Point in Seattle but the Vancouver name is older than Seattle’s. Moving northwest along the trail you will come to a pear orchard that Walt Buker acquired in 1935. Not the beaver damage at the base of the first two trees. Across the creek are three long unused bull frog ponds. Before the 1929 crash this valley produced bull frog legs for Portland hotel dining rooms. The field to the south was planted to sub clover and tall fescue in 1948 and the stand is still good today. The cattle barn was built by Walt Buker to store feed for his 35 head of Registered Black Angus beef cattle. Most of the lumber was salvaged from other barns on the farm. In 1974 Walt Buker died at the edge of the creek near the barn while looking for a new born calf. He lived all his life in this valley he loved, and he hied less than 200 yards from where he was born. Under the power lines is a large white fir tree that has been topped to keep it below the wires. Robert B. Buker’s first house was under this tree. In the mid 1920s Walt Buker built a dam in the creek near the white fir tree. The bank along the west side of the creek was raised by shoveling soil to form a dike so that the water was higher than the field. Corn and vegetable crops were planted with the rows arranged so the water would flow by gravity all the way to the base of the hill. This productive irrigated field supported a large family as Walt was the youngest of 12 children. This dam was also the major summer recreational area for north Vancouver, a swimming hole complete with a wooden diving board. The gold mine was located east of the white house. Bukers rented this house in the 1920s and 1930s. It was owned by the only black family in the county in the early 1900s. A vertical log religious tabernacle in the yard was the center of the religious life of some of the more affluent black families of Portland in the 1940s. The VANCOUVER INDEPENDENT on March 20, 1879 stated that George Tooley was selling the gold mine on burnt bridge creek for $10,000. Wages were one dollar per day in 1879. Where did the wtaer come from to run the sluice boxes near the end of Alki road? The miners dug by hand a ditch along the base of the hill extending from Cole Creek near where it crosses under Interstate 5. The ditch and the Military Road can likey still be locted below the turns on Hazel Dell Avenue. This steep hill with deep sand was a major obstacle to wagon traffic between Vancouver and Woodland at the turn of the century. Bukers came to this valley to find gold. A few fine flakes were all that they found but they have stayed in this beautiful valley since 1883. Enjoy the Green Belt formed from the land Walt Buker tended with love. KEEP IT BEAUTIFUL. Robert J. Buker PhD Dec. 1992 |