Rare photos and pioneer letters, with new revelations
We have packed this book with rare photos and new insights.
As I started researching Cashup’s incredible story, the historical record had some holes in it. One by one, I filled them.
Case in point, Cashup’s mysterious death on the summit of Steptoe Butte all alone in his hotel has never been fully explained. I don’t want to give it away but the common understanding of this death in 1896 was that he died after accidentally inhaling squirrel poison (they were a nuisance back them and it was common to eradicate them). But, as you’ll read, we identify what is likely to have actually happened.
Another revelation: When the hotel burned down in 1911, no one knew who started the fire. The mystery continued for 111 years...until now. I found out who did it. I spoke with descendants of those responsible who finally agreed to reveal the true story after all these years.
We also disprove the salacious rumor that the hotel was a brothel. No. Not true. That might make a juicy story but it’s just not true. Not to say they didn’t party until dawn up there in the hotel on top of Steptoe Butte. Those pioneers really knew how to have fun. But Cashup also hosted a temperance event advocating against drunkenness, which was a genuine problem back then. And Cashup hosted kids retreats and religious gatherings, too. But there’s zero evidence that it became a brothel.
Some photographs in the book are quite historic. We found and licensed original Edward Curtis portraits of Chief Joseph. We found a very high-resolution photo of the hotel on opening day July 4, 1888 (with a construction ladder still sitting there in the shot). And we found a blurry, beaten-up photo of the town of Colfax shot in 1878 not long after it was founded. In family files, I came across the original photo of Cashup and Mary Anne sitting just off the summit of Steptoe Butte. It’s the only known photo of the two of them together, and the only shot of her on Steptoe (she didn’t like it up there that much). We also found, thanks to the WSU Archives, actual glass negatives of the old stagecoach stop that became so famous.
I hope you enjoy the result of all the digging. It’s a book for history fans and for those who want to enlighten their own lives. Cashup can be your secret mentor.
