In 1878, Captain Albert Oleson Damon, a Civil War Veteran, and our (Patty, Barb and Bill Seaman) great-great Grandfather, established a trading post on the North Bay ••• (this info came from “Lady on the Beach” page 81 of the 1995 edition of the book – it gives some more info on what was shipped in and out of there} the current site where the pilings can still be seen going out into the bay at low tide.
Not sure what year our Grandfather, Ralph G Minard came to the area but he and his grandfather AO Damon, ran a cattle ranch. Presumably Grandpa Ralph (born in 1906 and graduated in 1924, then went to school at Washington State University for 4 yrs) must have come to the beach area around 1929. He and our grandmother, Ruth Ida (Becker) Minard were married in February 1929 and their first and only son was born in February 1930. Our mother, Patricia Anne Minard Seaman, was born in May 1931. Ralph and his grandfather, AO Damon, had a brand that went on the cattle that was called a “Hanging MD” brand. It was the combination of the first letters of both their last names. Ralph Minard’s family had settled in the Elma Washington area and started a hardware store called Minard Hardware. His father, Edward Lester Minard was a well known and loved legislator in Olympia WA for many years.
Both Ralph, his wife, Ruth and his sister, Clara Louise Minard, a great aunt who never married, lived at the head of the bay, the narrowest part of the peninsula.
Clara originally lived in a small cabin that was always called Burnie’s cabin. In 1964 Clara had the house on the bayfront (141 Damon Rd) built by a family friend named Johnny Rantala, a Finn who lived in the area, and was a very accomplished craftsman. Everyone asked Clara why she built a house so large, as it had 4 bedrooms in it. She just said that one day her family would come back and need a place to live. It was true and in 1969 some of us did, in fact, come to live with her. In the meantime, one of her sisters, Emma Francis Tanner, a retired school teacher, also moved in with her. They both lived there until 1972 when Clara passed away.
This was all part of the original ranch, where our grandfather raised a herd of predominantly Red Shorthorn cattle. Folks from out of the area laughed and said those cattle would starve to death trying to live on the dune grass. The cattle ranch comprised most of what is now the City of Ocean Shores, and the cattle thrived on the dune grass that others said would not have enough nutrition for them to survive.
