GEORGES WIFE WAS AN ORPHAN,adopted by M. Fiske living on Coppe Creek, near Waitsburg, Washington. . IN A STORY ABOUT HIMSELF, HE STATED HIS NEILL FAMILY CAME FROM CORK CO. IRELAND AND THE MONTGOMERYS WERE SCOTCH.
G.W. Neil was born May 6 1852,near Calhoun,Murray Co. Ga. He left there in the fall of 1869, driving three yoke of oxen for his uncle King Montgomery. Those in the train were Sam Crumley, and wife Lena, with family of three girls and one boy. Dillon and wife with three girls and one boy. King Montgomery Captain of the train and wife Mary Jane with family of three girls and three boysl Otis stout a school teacher with no family, Henry Voss with no family. There were 5 oxen ,12 yoke oxen and 2 mules. They arrived at Pierce City,Barry Co., Mo. staying there till spring of 1873 , when they started farther west. Arriving at Platte City Neb. then to cheyanne, Wyo. a journey of three months by oxen and covered wagons,At Cheyenne they sold their outfits and took the railroad to SanFrancisco Ca. Arriving there July 1st 1873 where they stayed six days and took the steamer, John L. Stevens for Portland, Oregon. They were three days on the ocean, and while enroute, King Montgomerys youngest child died and was kept till they arr. at Astoria, where it was buried by the Masonic Frat., montgomery being a free mMason. The child was about one year old. Going on to Salem,Ore. they arrived in July 1873. Staying there four years, and from there G.W.Neil went by steamer to Wallukla where he took the Dr. Mason R.R. on to Walla Walla,Wash. arriving there in the fall of 1877. There were three inches of snow on the ground. He said the train traveled about 10 miles an hr. and passengers had to scuffle and run about the coach to keep warm, and the conductor had a large dog which would jump off and run the cattle off the trackthen jump on again. He said Lee Berry was the Engineer. When he got to Walla Walla, he met M. Fiske and asked for a Job. Fiske said he would not have any work for awhile, or till he began to plow and put in crops, so Neil told him he would work for his board till then and he worked for Fiske three years for wages which he loaned him with interest besides loaning him 400dollars he had brought with him at interest. After three years he quit Fiske and rented the old Whitman farm which belonged to Charles Seigle. Grasshoppers came that year and ruined his grain and he had to cu;t it for ha;y. During this time he hauled the first load of merchandise to Moscow, Idaho, which was barreled whiskey and merchandise to start a store and a saloon. He said he walked from Walla Walla to Moscow with an old man by the name of Baker and a young fellow. Each carried their blanket. In the fall of 1880 at Moscow he bought a team and wagon which he drove back to Walla Walla for merchandise and the family he hauled it for. He went to Moscow to visit the Sam Crumley family with whom he had crossed the plains. Neil said a few days before the battle of Bridgeport Tenn.during the Civil War, his father Adam Neil sent his watch and razor home to him. He said someone stole the watch and the razor burned with his house.. A few days after rec. them his Grandmother who lived about one mile from his home came and told him Adam was killed and his remains were sent home.
He said the Dr. Baker R.R was called the raw hide R.R. as Baker first tried 4by4 timbers for tracks, and they crushed. Then he put strips of raw hide on the timbers and it got too slick and wore off.then he got strips of iron and fastened on the timbers and they came loose and curled up and pushed through the floor of the coach. Then he got light rails which were shipped around Cape Horn. When he was on the Whitman place the Indians were very sulky and mean and would put a band of horses oin his grain field when he went to Walla Walla and when he came back he put them all in the corral and when the indians came back the;y were all dr;unk and got very mad and told him if he corraled them again they would kill him. He said he was afraid of them,but told them if they t;urned them in his grain field again he would put them up and make them pay for the damage they had done or keep their horses till they did pay. Neil was a very slow talking man and very tender hearted. He was troubled for years with periodical headaches. He said his father was Irish and his mother was Scotch. The proper way to spell his name was Neal, but after he became of age, having so many relatives by the name G.W.Neal, he changed the spelling of his name to Neil, on account of other relatives getting his mail. The Fore fathers came from Cork Co. Ireland.(Corrected copy of the original manuscript as related by Harley Horner,Wallowa Co. Oregon,Historian.)
