Unknown Publication Pioneer Woman At Cathlamet Taken by Death Mrs. Martha Sales Page, one of the oldest pioneer women in the Pacific Northwest, died January 25, 1958 at a local nursing home at the age of 98. Mrs. Pages was one of the few remaining links between the Hudson’s Bay Company days and the beginning of American rule in the Northwest. She was the first white child born at Fort Nisqually. Her father, William Sales, was employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company. Both he and his wife were born in England and came to America with the company. The Sales Family moved to Victoria, B.C., in the early 1860’s as a result of the Indian uprisings which put white settlers in a precarious position. The family moved to Portland about 1867*, where Martha met Charles Page, a young farmer from the Elochoman Valley, who had come to the Sales home on business. In 1875 they were married and came at once to the ranch near Cathlamet which was to be the family home for many years. Their honeymoon consisted of a trip from Portland to Cathlamet by steamboat, a distance of nearly 100 miles. With no road to the Elochoman valley, the couple made the next lap of the trip on a small skiff to the J.J. Foster ranch at the mouth of the Elochoman River. From the Foster ranch, they walked over a trail through the valley which led to the Thomas Kent ranch. On this leg of the journey, the couple had to cross the river on narrow logs which had been placed as the beginning of a bridge. The last portion of the trip to their home was by ox cart when Mrs. Kent conveyed the bridge and groom to their cabin. It was here that Martha Page began the life which was typical of the pioneer woman. She gave birth to ten children. The Pages celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1925. Mr. Page died the following year, 1926, and the widow continued to live on the farm which by that time had been transformed into a comfortable home, unlike the cabin it had once been. She continued to lead an active life, keeping house for her son Louis, until four years ago when the farm was sold and Mrs. Page moved to the home of her daughter, Mrs. Eliza Rankin. Mrs. Page entered the nursing home about two years ago after a fall caused her to break an arm, an injury from which she never recovered. She is survived by six of her ten children. They are William and Harry Page of Portland, Gladys Randolph of Seattle, Eliza Rankin, Clarence and Louis Page, all of Cathlamet. *Scratched out and 1864 was inserted. Martha (Sales) Page Greenwood Cemetery-Cathlamet, WA 23 December 1858 – 25 January 1958 (As transcribed by the Wahkiakum County Historical Society Museum)