1885 ❖ MR. PARK LEFT HIS SEEDS BEHIND

Timothy Seed
(Phleum pratense)
Timothy is used mainly for hay but is also sown
for pasture and silage. The seeds grow best on rich,
moist bottomlands. Very winter hardy.
There are ca. 1,152,000 seeds per pound.
Source; Allied Seed, Albany, Oregon.

We have to settle for a photo of the main crop grown by Mr. Park –– nor is there any known photograph of Hugh Park in the archives of Shaw Island. It is recorded on federal documents from the National Archives Record Administration, now with copies archived in the Shaw Island Historical Museum, Mr. Park (d.1885) to"ok first personal settlement" on the land in 1872. He would have been "squatting" as that year predates the first government survey. 
      The written testimony of the early pioneer from Deer Harbor, Mr. Louis Cayou, states Hugh Park earned his patent deed on 160 acres in 1882. With research into records filed with the Probate Court of San Juan County, Washington Territory we learn a little about his farming life.
      The final account of the settlement of his estate on 2 September 1886 states some of what remained of his personal property. Excluding his livestock that survived him on the 160-acre farm, judging by this list written up by his neighbor/estate administrator Archibald Rader, we know Hugh Park was a dedicated farmer:

"about 800 pounds of sacked Timothy seeds,

2000 pounds more in chaff,

5 tons of hay,

a one-half ton of potatoes,

2,000 pounds of cabbage,

25 pounds clover seed,

3 oxen yokes, 2 scythes, 1 cradle, 2 oxe chains, 1 plow, 

2 old harrows, 2 axes, 2 mauls, 2 shovels, a bucksaw, 

and one pair of beam scales."

     Someone was paid for 2 days of labor to haul and sack the seed, and another 6 days to clean and haul. It added up to 3,104 pounds of Timothy seed for the estate auction. A bidder paid six cents per pound which resulted in $186.23. 
      With inflation calculated, his seed earned the equivalent of $5,001 in today's (2019) purchasing power.
      The Shaw Island Gatehouse does not market Timothy seeds but it is interesting to share what crop was grown by this hardworking bachelor farmer who earned his patent deed on the island in the 1800s.