Mclean Stories
Scott Mclean
More history from both sides of my family.
The McLeans evidently had family in the Toppenish region. My Dad’s Great Grandmother was driving her buckboard wagon back to the Tieton area after visiting relatives there. A presumably drunken Yakima Native started riding after her and firing shots. The older lady calmly stopped the wagon, stood up, and shot her tormentor out of the saddle.
It didn’t pay to mess with the McLean women either. Especially since this woman’s maiden name was Weddle! My mom’s family were Scandinavians from the Port Orchard area. They came here from New Ulm, Minnesota. Same state as the McLeans.
The Snider side of her family came here in 1867 on the same wagon train as the Weddles. My grandpa Sorenson met my Dad’s grandfather, Samuel Martin McLean while working on Grand Coulee dam. Martin, as he was known was my grandfather’s boss. Martin told my grandfather that he needed to move to our area.
Grandpa not only moved here but his daughter married Martin’s grandson and that is how my siblings and I came to be.
Grandpa’s name was Orville Gustus Sorenson but he got the nickname Gunner for how fast he ran the nailer that made the old apple boxes. He later was refrigeration engineer for the Tieton plant. He and I were very close and my wife liked his nickname so much that our older son inherited it.
More of my narratives later.
Bye!