The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1919-11-01
SIXTY YEARS
AT COLv|LLE.
LOUIS PERRAS DIES AFTER
THREE SCORE YEARS SPENT
IN THE VALLEY
Member of One of Earliest Expedi-
tiOns to Northwest, and the Last
Survivor of His Party

By John B. Slater, Historian Stevens
County Pioneer Association
Louis Perras, the oldest citizen Of
Colville, both in point of age and
residence in the Colville valley, pass
ed away at his home on South. Elm
street at an early hour Monday
morning, October 27, 1919, after an
illness involving series of strokes
of paralysis covering period of
nearly four years. Dissolution, ac-
cording to observations by members
of the family who remained by his
bedside through the night, was de-
void of pain or distress. He passed
to his reward as one going into
slumber after firing of the toll of
the day.
Louis Perras was born on his faith
er's farm near Montreal, Canada,
November 26, 1881, and had he lived
another month would have celebrated
his 88th birthday. His parents were
Hubert Perras and Catherine (Dis-
sauteD Perras, of a long line Of
French-Canadian ancestry. Upon
reaching the age of 18 years he fol-
lowed the inclination to go west, fol-.
lowing the lumber woods through the
Great Lake regions and experiencing
the various vicissitudes of fortune
of those precarious times, but with
a strong constitution and a determi-
nation for success he soon reached
that vigorous manhood which espe-
cially fitted him for the great things
of the greater west. The story by
himself of his career, from his de-
cision to cross the western frontier
until shortly before death closed his
book Of life, is more fitting the event
of his final departure than the usual
imaginations which illumine
biography:
"You know" said Mr.. Perras, al
lived in Minnesota, and l worked in
the saw mills in and about st. Paul
for some time before l ever thought
of going anywhere else. The wages
were not high but the pay was
enough. In 1858 | went to Fort
Garry and worked in lumber camps.
There was not much market for lum-
ber but there were many small mills,
and many young men from Canada
and the States drifted in to these
mills for the winter. |, as was the
case with many other young men,
had been drawn westward by the
news Of gold discoveries west of the
Rockies, but the Canadians did not
get the spirit Of adventure in them
selves fully aroused until the news
of the discovery Of gold On Canadian
soil. The discovery OF gold in the
Frazier river basin was the most
discussed theme of the time, and
when the spring Of 1859 came and
the boys many Of them had planned
to go back to the plains to hunt
buffalo, the idea of continuing on
across the trackless wastes of the
Saskatchewan to the new Eldorado
had only to be mentioned when forty
of US got together and made the de-
cision. We were about evenly di-
vided between Canadians and Amer
leans. l wish l could give you all
Of their names, but l can call to mind
only a few. These were the two
Shaw brothers, one an elderly man;
Antoine Aubon dit Paradis; F. Mer-
chant; Xaviar Merchant; Charles
Merchant and Quota Merchant, all
first cousins; Lozenfra Dwight and
Andy Hardin, brothers; Tom Camp
bell, John Sweeney and Little Swee-
ney, Yankey Joe, James Carr, Joe
LePray, John Campbell, James Col
more, Billy Fairweather, C. H. Mont
gomery, Camille Merchant, Henry
Edgar Scotsman, Rafael Bessu,
Felix Tredell, Frank Cholafough, and
a man named Coon, an Irishman, and
myself. We organized two parties,
the Americans and the Canadians.
C. H. Montgomery, though a native
of New Brunswick, was chosen to
lead the. Americans, and Camille
Merchant was captain of the Cana
dian contingent.
"We left Fort Garry (now Mani
toba) on June 6, 1859. We had good
equipment in horses, saddles and the
like for riding over the country, but
the trails admitted only of two
wheeled carts, SO we devised num-
ber Of these on which to carry our
luggage. For a time we patiently
endured the tediousness of the carts
trying to keep up with the mounted
horsemen, and the carts were one
by one discarded until all were on
horaebock and travelling swiftly