Two Boys, Two Dogs, and a Ton of Groceries

In the summer of 1937, a businessman father decided his two oldest sons needed a lesson in self-sufficiency. The family lived in Seattle but had recently bought five acres in Upper Preston along the Raging River. The brothers Jim (15) and Bob (13) were left on the property with two dogs, a ton of groceries, and instructions to build a log cabin.

In 1937, there were many houses in Upper Preston, mostly around Vasa Hall. The old Vasa Hall building had burned in 1932 and the new building wasn't there yet. I guess that further up the road, there were cabins and old logging camps. The brothers were approximately 3/4 of a mile further down from Vasa hall. They were remote, but help would have been in reach if they needed it.

When they arrived, it rained nonstop for four days. A true Upper Preston welcome!

By the end of the summer, the brothers had constructed a log cabin that, as of 2006 is still in use by the family. The only help they had was from a mason who built a fireplace and chimney from stones that they brothers had brought up from the Raging River. As an old man, the older brother said of their summer on the Raging River, “That was a wonderful experience, because we learned to do things by ourselves,” he says. “But it was very hard work. We had to do everything by hand, and it took much longer than we expected. We had to figure everything out by ourselves.”

That older brother was Jim Ellis, namesake for the Jim Ellis Memorial Regional Park in Preston.