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Note: Ephraim (7) son of Henry (6) and Eliza (Weathers) Goss was born July 3, 1875 in Vincennes, Indiana. He married Trannie La Donia Ritter, born
March 31, 1891
to Isaac and Mary Ritter in Indian Territory. They were married on a
Sunday, October
14, 1906 at the Isaac Ritter home in Konowa, Oklahoma. La Donia's
(Donia's) mother
had died and Isaac Ritter took a second wife at the same time.
His only given name was Ephraim, so he gave himself the "first" name of
Benjamin. He was fairly tall, and good looking as a young man. In later
life he was hampered by lung problems but he remained active gardening,
keeping and milking a cow, hunting and fishing. He also was a handy man
and made may items from scratch such as knives, bows, fishing poles and
leather goods. He had a large family and had about 150 decendants at
his death.
Ephraim was born in Indiana, but his family quickly moved to Illinois and
then Texas when he was quite young. Growing up in Texas, he worked as a
cowboy. The story is told that the reason he married so late in life was
that the woman he to which he was engaged died shortly before the
wedding. After the family moved to the "Indian Nation" Oklahoma
territory, he wed the 15 year old La Dona Ritter, called "Donie." The
family was close and Ephraim moved with his father to New Mexico where
his first son was born. He later returned to Oklahoma in Greer County
where his second son was born. While living there his Father returned to
New Mexico to clean out a well and died when the well casing colapsed.
Ephraim returned to the central Oklahoma region near Oklahoma City to be
with the rest of the family. While there, they heard of jobs in Oregon
from his nephew, Luthor Rogers in Cottage Grove, Oregon. The entire
group sold everything they had and took the train to Oregon. Ephraim's
younger brother Bill was in Kansas and the families stopped there to wait
while Bill sold out. The Rogers, Goss brothers and others then all
continued with their families to Oregon.
When they arrived in Oregon they first lived in Saginau, near Cottage
Grove. The brothers worked in a tie mill, which they followed when they
moved, first to Walker, and then to Cottage Grove on the Row River. Roy
(8) was born in Saginau. The family was there when the Armistice was
signed and
the war with Germany ended. For a reason that is not now known, the
families all decided to relocate to The Dalles area which they did about
1920 . The family bought several cars bought an Overland. Ephraim never
learned to drive and he more or less pointed the car which ever way he
was looking. In those days, the highway from Cottage Grove north to
Portland (US highway 99) was gravel much of the way or mud when it
rained. The highway up the Columbia River gorge was just being completed into a road from a series of connected trails and short roads built by
settlers. The highway up the gorge ran in a series of loops up and down
the sides of the gorge.
When they reached Hood River, Ephraim's Overland gave out and the families were out of money. They put the vehicle in a garage and all the men went to work in the fruit. The Hood River Valley is an area of apple and pear orchards. These operations are labor intensive and require
people to prune the trees, disk the ground, set up irigation, thin the fruit, pick the fruit and to pack the fruit for shipping. The men had to
work for three days before they could get any money for food or to repair the car. During this time the families camped near Tucker Bridge which
is in the Hood River Valley near the present town of Odell.
After getting the car repaired they continued on to the 5 mile creek area
south of The Dalles. One of the projects Ephraim worked on was a
contract to clear the right of way for the present highway 26 south of
Mount Hood. Ephraim was not used to snow and was not prepare
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