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Individual Record for: Louis Franklin Iman (male)

Notes:

Louis (Lewis) Franklin Iman, "Lou", "Lew," is buried beside his wife in the Iman Cemetery.

"I worked on the fish wheels in the Columbia River. When I went to work on the fishwheels sturgeon were not considered food fish, as they are today. They used to get in the fish wheels, to our great annoyance. I have killed thousands of them. I us ually hit them in the head with a sledgehammer and threw them back in the river. I saw one sturgeon that dressed 600 pounds. Later a man used to buy the sturgeon from us, paying 40 cents each if the sturgeon ran from four to eight feet long. I fou nd out later that he sold the eggs at 5 cents a pound. They made what is called caviar from the eggs. I worked on the river or in sawmills for a good many years. Later I ran a saloon here. Its real name was the HEADQUARTERS SALOON, but everyone ca lled it the RED LINE SALOON. I ran it for 12 years, and would have run it longer, but the people in Washington voted saloons out, so I had to quit."

In 1893 Lou bought part of the Iman donation land claim, for farming, from his father. This part of the claim also included the graves of Merry, Ellen and Nora Iman which later became the Iman Cemetery.

In the 1920's he worked on the construction of the Cascade Locks. He said everyday he would walk down to the river, row across, and work for ten hours at ten cents an hour. Lou could also play the violin and often played at dances. He used to joke , saying his violin had been made by Stradivarius. He was a lifetime member of the Eagles Lodge, and was married to Emily for 56 years. They lived at Stevenson. He was said to look exactly like his father. Ruth Shawcross said, "if you looked at Lo u it was exactly like looking at Felix."

An ox-yoke handmade about 1890 by Louis Iman is on display at the Skamania County Historical Society Interpretative Center at Stevenson.

SKAMANIA COUNTY PIONEER, 3 October 1947, obituary, Lewis F. Iman, County native, Called by Death, "Hundreds of friends paid last respects Wednesday to the memory of Lewis F. Iman, 78 years old, and a lifelong resident of Stevenson. Funeral service s were held from the Eagles Hall at which Rev. Mosley of Carson officiated. Interment was in the Iman Cemetery, west of Stevenson. Death came to the well-known native soon after a short illness. While advanced age had kept him inactive for severa l years, he never lost interest in local affairs and frequently visited with nearby friends. Since the death of his wife, Mrs. Emily May Iman, two years ago this September, he had continued to occupy the old family home. He possessed a remarkabl e memory of persons and events which had transpired during his long life in the community which he had seen grow from an Indian trading post to communities embracing several towns on both sides of the Columbia River. Mr. Iman was born in Stevenso n on March 4, 1869. His parents were the late Felix G. and Margaret Iman who were among the first settlers in this area. He vividly remembered the days of Indian uprisings when the family resided a short distance west of the present town limits an d a block house, erected for community defense, was located less than a mile away. He was a lifetime member of the Stevenson Eagles Lodge No. 1744 and several years ago with his wife was guest of honor at a Golden Wedding Anniversary attended by s cores of relatives and friends. At that time they were the oldest married couple in Skamania County. Mrs. And Mrs. Iman were the parents of eight children. He leaves to mourn his loss two daughters and one son, Mrs. Frae Reno, Mrs. Edith McCaffert y, and E. B. Iman, all of Stevenson. Also two sisters and one brother, several grandchildren and one great grandchild. Gardners had charge of the service."

Married: Emily May Eyman, on 1 January 1889, at Stevenson; the daughter of Louis Eyman and Harriet Caroline (Kidd); b. 4 September 1872, at Waterloo, Monroe Co. Illinois; d. 13 September 1945, "after a long illness," at the Bonneville Sanitarium , North Bonneville, Skamania Co. Washington, aged 73. She is buried beside her husband in the Iman Cemetery. In later years she was known as Grannie May. "After our wedding dance we took to the trail, and walked over to a 'black and tan' dance . I call it that because there were so many Indians and half-breeds there." (Louis Iman.)

Louis Iman and Emily May Eyman were first cousins, her father, Louis Eyman, being a brother of Felix Grundy Iman. Louis and Harriet (Kidd) Eyman, her parents, had come from Monroe Co. Illinois to Stevenson in 1884. In 1888 they moved to Carson abo ut five miles east of Stevenson. For legal expedience the surnames were spelled Eyman and Iman. Jack Moore, a great grandson of Flora (Iman) Foster, said the names were spelled differently because Louis Eyman and Felix Iman had quarreled.

SKAMANIA COUNTY PIONEER, 5 January 1934, Forty-fifth Wedding Anniversary January 1, "Mr. and Mrs. Louis Iman were married 45 years ago. Mrs. Iman reminisces that there were but 3 or 4 families living at Stevenson then, and no county roads, no brid ges, travel was on the river. They walked from their home to a dance at Carson (then on the river) to celebrate their wedding. Now have seen roads, autos, airplanes, electric light, etc. come to Stevenson."

Lou and Emily Iman had eight children: i. Frank4 (1889-1889), ii. Nellie "Nell" (1890-1894), iii. Emily Frae "Emma" (1893-1962), iv. Elma V. (1896-1924), v. Edith Alice (1901-1987), vi. William Earl Burton "Bill" (1905-1981), vii. Robert Hahn "Lit tle Pinky" (1907-1916) and viii. Louis Felix "Mike" (1910-1931) Iman.

Skamania County Civil Court, Case 65, Bk. 1, p. 23, 4 September 1895, Felix Iman Indebted to Louis F. Iman, $451.93: "Failure to furnish 3,000 cords of lumber, to be cut from trees on south side of the F. G. Iman donation land claim, for use in bu ilding a flume on the south side of the F. G. Iman claim, from a small creek known as Sardine Lake Creek to the Columbia River. Said flume to be used for transport of lumber to J. G. and I. N. Day at Cascade Locks, Oregon.

Felix Iman claims interest in above said partnership sold to Alfred Iman, and Alfred Iman responsible for claims of L. F. Iman."
Louis Iman sued his father Felix Iman over a breach of contract regarding logging of the Iman donation land claim. A business failure which resulted in much bitterness between son and father. A few months later Louis testified in court, "I have ha d considerable trouble with my father... and we do not speak to each other."

In 1895, with the Iman saw mill in operation, the Iman donation land claim was heavily logged. In that year business agreements for the lumber, sold for large amounts of money, involved Felix Iman in five court cases in Skamania Co., including th e one with his son Louis. The troubles within these lawsuits involved the fears Felix had of losing control over his donation land claim, he mistrusted and perhaps was even jealous of the deals his ambitious son had been making for him with the lo gging companies. Not trusting his son, in 1896 Felix signed his own contract for lumber with the above J. G. Day, Jr. Lumber Company.

Memories of Louis Iman from TOLD BY THE PIONEERS, Volume 3, and the interviews of Louis Iman, by Fred Lockley for the OREGONIAN were used in compiling the history of the Felix Grundy Iman family by James Windsor.

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