This is a picture of my great grandmother feeding chickens in the 1930’s
It was 1888 when my great grandmother, Bergette Jacobson (Omland), emigrated from Norway with her good friend, Bertha Solberg. They were met in Tacoma by Bertha’s two brothers, who worked as loggers in the Vincent area of the Snoqualmie Valley. The brothers helped the women learn the rudiments of English so they could pass the citizenship test and take advantage of laws that allowed both women and men to file homestead claims. Bertha was not yet 21 years old, and so was not eligible to file a claim. However, Bergette, age 33, was. Her first act as a U.S. citizen was to file a claim for 7 acres near Vincent.
Andrew Hjertoos, also an immigrant from Norway, arrived in Seattle the day after the historic fire of 1889 leveled much of the city. Andrew had been working the east as a brick mason and carpenter, and pursued the same work upon his arrival in the Pacific Northwest. He rented a room at the boarding house where Bergette lived and worked as a cook. They married the following year and settled on Bergette’s Vincent homestead. The couple started their family, and Andrew served as the community’s postmaster.
In 1898 the Solberg brothers went to look for gold in Alaska, and left their farm and cattle in the care of the Hjertoos family. Andrew and Bergette managed very well selling butter, cream and milk in Seattle markets. This meant taking the butter first to Kirkland, where it was loaded onto the lake steamer bound for East Madison Street and the horse-drawn streetcars that delivered the goods to the downtown market.
After the Solberg’s returned from prospecting, the Hjertooses purchased 208 acres from George and Fanny Shaw in 1901 in Tolt (now Carnation). Originally owned by the Northern Pacific Railroad, the land had been logged and farmed for eighteen years. Hop fields there provided seasonal work for both new settlers and families from the Snoqualmie Tribe, whose longhouse was located near the nearby confluence of the Tolt and Snoqualmie Rivers.
When the Hjertooses purchased the farm, there were several buildings on the property. In addition to the two-story log house, there was a “middle” or “half-way” house which was rented by many of the prominent early settlers before they bought their own land. There also was a camp house, an eight-family apartment where some of the hop pickers lived.
Andrew and Bergette and their four children left the Vincent homestead and drove their herd of cows, calves, sheep and horses over Ames Hill to the cable ferry run by John Ames. Arrangements had been made for a fee to be paid for each animal taken across the Snoqualmie River. When the animal got on the ferry, they walked off the other end and swam for the far shore, much to the consternation and dismay of the ferry owner.
The Hjertoos family lived in the log house until Bergette decided it was “not conductive to good health”, and moved their five children – Anna, Arthur, Bill, Gurina and Blanche – into the “middle” house. In 1907 they had their permanent home built by Oscar Hanson with lumber from the Preston Mill. The barns were built shortly afterward. They ran the dairy farm until Andrew’s death in 1933. He had been active on the local school board for more than 25 years, at one time serving as president. Both Andrew and Bergette were active members of the Tolt Congregational Church, where each of their children was baptized.
After Andrew died, his son Bill returned from Snohomish to run the dairy farm until 1954. He had a house built for his own family and rented the 1907 family home after Bergette died in 1939.
Over the years, portions of the original farm were sold, eg: Tolt-MacDonald Park and significant acreage donated to provide land for the I.O.O.F. Hall and Tolt High School. Today only about 24 acres remain in the family. Part of this property has been designated a King County, State and National Historic Landmark. This includes the 1907 house and a large barn, which I have restored to near original condition.
Andrew and Bergette’s Great Grandson,
Roger Thorson
