Chester Moses Simons

Special thanks to Don Simons, who preserved and shared with us these stories about his father.

Chester Moses (Chet) was born October 10, 1899. According to his son Donald, Chet was sixteen pounds at birth and had a head circumference of 16 inches. The birth of this unusually large baby made local news. How, without a caesarean surgery, could Elizabeth Jeannette Simons have survived that birthing? However, she did and in less than two years gave birth to another child.

Chester Moses Simon

            Chet grew up in this large family with his two older brothers and two older sisters just older than him and his baby sister, as playmates. As kids, George, Chet, Tootsy, Minnie and Violet were such good friends, but not immune to sibling rivalry. Chet was full of mischief. He attended school only until the third grade, but he was always a hard worker. His mother died shortly after his third birthday. For a few years, Jenny Overbay served as housekeeper, caring for the children. Eventually she married George, Chet’s father, but the relationship lasted only seven years. Other housekeepers were hired later to help out with the children.

            Chet must have been an adventuresome and very independent child. When he was only eight year old, he was given an adult responsibilities. His older brother Harry lived with his wife, Pearl Carman and their small child in Mansfield, WA. Pearl got sick with tuberculosis. Her doctor told her that she could live longer if she moved to a higher elevation, so Harry and his wife travelled to Colville, WA. For some reason, they could not take their eighteen month old son, Virgil, with them in the wagon. And so Chet was commissioned to ride saddle horse to Mansfield and carry the baby to Colville. The two children rode together on horseback, stopping every night at farm houses along the way for food and shelter. No one in those days would refuse a couple of kids food and shelter, and apparently no one found it unusual for two young children to be travelling alone.

            When Chet was sixteen, his father became suddenly ill and died. Elmer, an older brother of the family, assumed the responsibility of the farm and the family. Chet found it hard to accept this new relationship with his brother and made plans of his own. He went to the Colville Indian Reserve and rounded up fifty-seven head of wild horses. With the help of the Spenser boys Jim and Howard (stepsons of Frank Simons), who were nine and thirteen years of age, Chet herded those horses to Oswego, MT. Chet broke the horses along the way. At Glacier, MT they literally came to the end of the road. The only way over the Rockies that was available to them with their herd was by rail. And so Chet made a deal with the train engineer and shipped his horses in boxcars, Chet and the Spencer boys riding alongside the horses. When they got across the mountains, they intended to continue overland. At the first stop over the Rockies, the conductor of the train demanded payment for the shipment. Chet, though, had no money. The conductor therefore held the herd as Chet took one of the horses to the nearest town and sold it for the price of the shipment. They held up the train service for two hours negotiating this transaction. The conductor was not please.

            It was near Oswego that Chet’s older brother Harry lived. Chet brought the herd of horses to Harry’s ranch and asked Harry to open the gate in order to let the horses enter. Harry's brusque reply: "If you’re man enough, come open the gate for yourself." The two brothers wrestled and young Chet proved to be his brother’s match. Harry then responded. "I guess you are" and opened the gate. Chet sold the majority of the horses to the Calvary at Fort Peck, MT. His brother and other farmers most likely bought a few of the others.

            With the money he earned from selling the horses, Chet bought acreage at Red Buttes, between his brother Harry’s place and that of his older sister Ollie. He worked the land and ranched for the next nine years until the age of twenty five. Whether it was out of homesickness for the Creston area or difficulty making a living in Montana, Chet returned to Washington State, his birthplace. On his return, Chester lived at the Spiegal place, in the canyon north of Creston and worked for Bill Hopkins.

            Challenging those closest to you seems to be a trait of the Simons men. Chet’s nephew, Lyle, son of Elmer, had a girlfriend named Eula. Chet seemed to take a bit of a shine towards Eula and he confronted Lyle, saying he had better treat his girlfriend Eula better or he, Chet, would take her away from Lyle. The latter then made the fatal mistake of challenging a Simons man: "Do it, if you think your man enough."

            Eula lived at Hellgate, across the Columbia from Lyle. One evening, Lyle and Eula were out courted. When Lyle went to take Eula home, the last ferry had already passed and so they had to travel some distance to another crossing, taking most of the night. When they finally arrived at Eula’s home, Lyle dropped her off and went on his way. When she entered the house, her father was waiting for her. He told her to leave the house because she had stayed out all night, which was unacceptable for any daughter of his. And so Eula, not knowing what else to do, decided to go to stay with her sister on the coast. Eula packed her clothes and went to catch a ride to the train. It was at this time that Chet happened to pass by and saw her sitting all forlorn on the side of the road. On learning her predicament, Chet offered to take Eula to the train. And so Chet "borrowed" Lyle’s car and started driving Eula to the train station. Before arriving, there he offered to take her clear across the state to her sister’s on the coast. By the time they got to Nachees, Chet came up with a new bright idea: If they were to get married, then Eula wouldn’t have to go away at all and they could return to Hellgate. Eula agreed. In Nanchees, Chet knew a former neighbour who had move to the area, a Mr. Barnhart. Barnhart stood up for Chet and presumably a lady friend of theirs stood for Eula and the couple were married. At the end of the ceremony, the Justice of the Peace concluded with the traditional "You may kiss the bride." Chet, though, declined and said they could do that in private when they got back home.

            Chet and Eula first settled at Hellgate, where their first child, a girl named Jimmy Jean, was born. Chet and Eula then had a set of twins, Meryl and Merline. Their fourth child was named Tommy, followed by Donald and lastly another girl, named Louise.

            Chet worked for various farmers in the area. For a while the family lived on Lundstrom Flat across the river. They later lived a while near Lyle on the Colville reservation, where Chet bought land. There was some tension between the two couples, though, so Chet eventually sold his land and bought a ferry that went across the Spokane River between Miles to Blue Creek Camp with his nephew Virgil. During some of the time that they lived on the reservation, Eula was the Fire Watch at the tower on George Mountain.

            After all the children were grown, Chet worked for the county doing road work. Sometime after 1965, when Lary Kunz took over the farming of the Simons' place, Chet would do field work for him.

            In 1967, Eula died. This was a very sad day for Chet but he kept busy. He loved working the land where he was raised. Three years later, on April 10, 1970, Chester Moses died. He was found at the side of the tractor that he had been filling with fuel, out on the land that he loved. He had died of a massive heart attack. Both Eula and Chester Simons are buried in the Sherman Cemetery.

Father

Chester M. Simons

1899 - 1970

Sherman Cemetery, WA

Mother

Eula C.Simons

1907 - 1967

Sherman Cemetery, WA