Graves and Grapes
By Barbara Mattoon
My daughter-in-law, Michele Mattoon, and I had long planned a trip to the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society Library in Union Gap, Washington, to research the Mattoon family. Because my son Eric is a student of wine, and particularly Washington wine, we decided to combine our genealogy research trip with wine tasting in the Yakima Valley.
On Thursday, July 16, 2015, we embarked on the trip.
Our first stop was Lake Mattoon on the outskirts of Ellensburg. Michele had planned it to be a surprise for me, but I had discovered Lake Mattoon just a few days previously while researching my father-in-law’s younger brother, Buzz Mattoon. It is a very small lake, clearly visible from the I-90 freeway.From Lake Mattoon we traveled south – southeasterly on Hwy 82 over Manastash and Umtanum ridges to Yakima and Union Gap.
After several wrong turns we arrived at the Library. We were warmly greeted by knowledgeable volunteers and were able to gather a number of family obituaries, relevant records of Shaw & Sons, the funeral home used by generations of the Mattoon family, and pictures and stories from several books in their 17,000 volume collection. Because we had previously visited the Yakima Valley Museum, we felt we had exhausted the records available in Yakima, so we called it a day and went in search of a Mexican restaurant.
Friday we visited some sites of historic interest related to the Mattoon family.
First we searched for the Mattoon Cabin at Sawyer Bottom. If you ever go looking for it, get the GPS coordinates before you start out. Although we searched backward and forward between Donald and Sawyer, we never found it.
We abandoned our trek back and forth through road construction and drove about 27 miles west from Toppenish to Fort Simcoe.
In 1864, John Prentiss Mattoon was appointed to Fort Simcoe as an agricultural agent for the Yakima Indian Reservation military settlement where he taught agriculture during the summer and blacksmithing in the winter. He and his wife, Martha Higenbotham Mattoon and their two children, Anna Jerusha Mattoon and George Lincoln Mattoon lived there until 1869 when he purchased the land at Sawyer Bottom and what came to be known as the “Mattoon Cabin.”
The wind farms in Klickitat County are a breathtaking sight.
Our destination was the Maryhill Museum located on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River south of Goldendale. Although I had visited at least twice previously, I eagerly anticipated visiting it again. It was Michele’s first visit, and I was excited to show it to her. It has been beautifully maintained and I believe it was in better condition than when I had previously visited.
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| Maryhill Museum looking south over the Columbia River into Oregon |
The Maryhill Winery is only a short distance east of the museum, so we paid a visit. They have a nice tasting room and gift shop with a lovely arbor- covered patio for sitting, sipping, and enjoying the view
Saturday morning we met Eric at the Pasco Airport. He had prepared a list of wineries for us to visit. Blackwood was the first on the list. We looked and looked for it, only to eventually learn that it had been closed for some time.
That brought us to the Hightower tasting room,
just as it was opening. We were greeted by a friendly vineyard dog . The next stop was just next door at Tapteil.
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2013 Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre
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Just a short distance further down the road, we stopped at Hamilton Cellars, which we were not familiar with. I purchased a 2009 Bona Vita.
By the time we left Hamilton Cellars, I was more than ready for lunch. We chose Terra Blanca Winery, a lovely building and grounds with a spectacular view overlooking the Yakima River. We had a great lunch there.
The young lady we worked with in the tasting room was exceptionally pleasant and knowledgeable. She pointed out a great bargain on a 2006 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc which is going to make a wonderful dessert. The grapes were picked and crushed at 37 degrees.
We found our motel in Kennewick and cooled off for an hour or so before attending a benefit dinner at Bookwalter Winery for Tri Cities Cancer Care. It was a picnic type event but temps in the high 90’s made it hard to relax and enjoy it.
Most tasting rooms do not open before 11:00 AM on Sunday, so Eric suggested we drive up Rattlesnake Mountain across the Horse Heaven Hills to Patterson on the Columbia River. I have lived in Washington State my entire life and never visited the beautiful Horse Heaven Hills. At Patterson, we turned around and visited the Columbia Crest Winery. I was negative about visiting a big corporate winery, but the chateau and grounds are lovely and the wines are a great value.
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| Chateau at Columbia Crest Winery |
We drove back down the mountain to Prosser and found Wineglass Cellars where Eric completed his mission of purchasing a case of Merlot as a gift to Michele’s sister, Teri, on her upcoming birthday. Eric managed to purchase quite a few other things as well.
We made another unsuccessful attempt to find the Mattoon Cabin, but we were tired and hot, so we had lunch in Yakima and headed home over Snoqualmie Pass.
Note: This post was written in 2015. Just three weeks ago we opened and enjoyed the Hamilton 2009 Bona Vita and remembered this trip. I am so glad we stopped at Wineglass Cellars because it is no more. I gave Teri the last bottle of Wineglass Cellars Merlot from my cellar at Christmas 2018.
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| Barbara Mattoon |
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