Homesteading Whidbey Island
In October 1850, Ebey moved from Olympia to Whidbey Island. When Congress passed the Donation Land Claim Act in 1850, Ebey claimed 640 acres (1.00 sq mi; 2.6 km2) for himself and his family overlooking Admiralty Inlet then wrote his wife to prepare for a move west with their sons. While awaiting their arrival, Ebey sent numerous letters to his relatives begging their relocation to Whidbey Island in order to snap up the best remaining land for homesteading and farming. Ebey's wife and sons arrived in the fall of 1851 with her three brothers and the Samuel Crockett family.
The remainder of Ebey's family followed in October 1854. Among those of Ebey's family who came to the Pacific Northwest were: Ebey's parents, Jacob and Sarah; siblings, Mary, Winfield, and Ruth; Mary's two children, Almira and Polk Wright; a cousin, George Beam. Jacob Ebey claimed ridge land overlooking what is today called Ebey's Prairie. On the same ridge, Isaac Ebey built a blockhouse for protection against raiding Indians. Isaac and Jacob Ebey's land would prove to be some of the most productive in the area and word of this fortune traveled, drawing settlers from the east into the region and starting a rush of settlers who claimed most of the prairie-land by the beginning of 1853. By 1860, all of the best farmland had already been claimed.
Read more about this topic: Isaac N. Ebey
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