North Cascades

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN THE NORTH CASCADES

CORRIDORS OF SETTLEMENT: STEHEKIN RIVER

F. Merritt/Devin/Bowles

Near Lydia George's land and adjoining Buckner's homestead to the south was Fred W. Merritt's homestead claim. Merritt came uplake in 1915 and claimed 50 acres in the vicinity of Henry Buckner's claim. [236] He made his living working seasonally in the valley for the USFS and a local enterprise, the Lesh sawmill. When Merritt's property was evaluated for homestead entry in 1922, USFS Ranger Blankenship observed many improvements including a 12' x 30' house of rough lumber, a cellar, woodshed, barn, chicken house, and 8-1/2 chains of picket fence surrounding the complex Enough land had been cleared to plant a garden and raise animals. Later that same year, on September 5, Merritt's patent was issued and he gained full title to his claim, which had been reduced earlier to 10 acres. [237]

Today, this parcel is owned -- in part -- by Herbert Bowles. Merritt's remaining original 40 acres were claimed years later, in the 1930s, by a man named Bernard Devin. Arriving in 1930, Devin lived in a tent that first summer. By 1931, he had a one-room frame house built (about 12' x 12') on the property, replacing a smaller log cabin built earlier (possibly by Henry Buckner). Devin received patent on his homestead shortly after 1936. His land is owned entirely by the NPS today, and no remnants of his cabin are known to be extant. [238].