Chechaco and Sourdough

by Percival R. Jeffcott

Done by the Pioneer Printing Company of Bellingham Washington.

History of the gold rush (1859 - 1960) of Mount Baker. As well as the surrounding communities in Whatcom and Skagit Co.

181 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Percival Robert Jeffcott was born in Cleveland, Ohio on April 27, 1876. That same year he and his parents moved to Portland, Oregon by way of the Central Pacific Railroad to San Francisco and the steamer "George W. Elder" to Portland. He attended grade school and high school in Portland and graduated from the Oregon School of Education in 1899.

After graduation Jeffcott moved to Whatcom County, Washington where he taught school for 25 years. He taught all but one of those years in the Ferndale and Custer school districts. He organized the first high school class in Ferndale in 1901, where he served as the principal, and also began the first high school class in Custer in 1904. In 1900, P. R. Jeffcott married Rebecca Tarte, the daughter of Sehome pioneers, John F. and Elinor (Smith) Tarte.

Jeffcott was particularly interested in Whatcom County pioneers and began collecting information about them in the 1920's. During his retirement at his "Garden Home Farm" near Ferndale, he published three books: Nooksack Tales and Trails (1949), which depicted pioneer days in Whatcom County between 1848 and 1895; "Blanket" Bill Jarman (1958), in which he attempted to unravel the mystery surrounding one of the first pioneer settlers in Whatcom and Skagit Counties; and Chechaco and Sourdough (1963), a history of the Mt. Baker Gold Rush. In addition, he edited the memoirs of pioneer, Robert Emmett Hawley in Skee Mus, and authored numerous articles pertaining to local history published in the Bellingham Herald, the Ferndale Record, and the Lynden Tribune.

One of Jeffcott's special interests was collecting photographs concerning local history, and among his collection is an extensive group of pictures of pioneer log cabins which were displayed annually at the picnics of the Whatcom County Old Settler's Association in Ferndale's Pioneer Park. P. R. Jeffcott served as historian for the Old Settler's Association and was a member of the Clam Diggers Association and the Whatcom County Historical Society.

Jeffcott remained very active in his later years and was given the honor of helping to name and dedicate Sehome High School. Shortly before his death on January 4, 1969, the Bellingham Herald published the last article of his series concerning the founding of Sehome on Bellingham Bay.