Sou'wester 2003 Fall

The Sou'wester
of the Pacific County Historical Society and Museum
Fall 2003, Volume XXXVIII Number 3 Last modified on January 2nd, 2008 / Contact the Museum / Web editing done by Brian Davis at bridavis@gte.net.

Pacific County Historical Society and Museum

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Volume XXXVIII, Number 3	Fall, 2003

"Nappy" Wildhaber, Aviator Chinook "Kathlamet Texts"
A quarterly publication of the Pacific County Historical Society

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The
Sou'wester

ISSN #0038-4984
Copyright, 2003, by the Pacific County Historical Society. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the Society's Editorial Board.

The Sou'wester is a quarterly publication of the Pacific County Historical Society and Museum. The Pacific County Historical Society is a non-profit 501(C)(3) organization in South Bend, Washington.
       1008 Robert Bush Drive
       P. 0. Box P
       South Bend, WA 98586-0039
       Website: www.pacificcohistory.org
       E-mail: museum@willapabay.org

In addition to the Sou'wester, the Society publishes a quarterly newsletter for its members and operates the Pacific County Historical Society Museum in South Bend, Washington.

Annual membership fees include Society membership and a subscription to the Sou'wester:

Single $25
Family and foreign memberships $35
International $40
Corporate $100
Contributing $50
Benefactor $200

Pacific County Historical Society Board of Directors:

Ron Hatfield
Ken Karch
Marion Davis
Sue Pattillo
Stuart Freese

Pacific County Historical Society Officers:

Vincent Shaudys, President
Robert Gerwig, Vice President
Anne McNelly, Secretary
Bud Cuffel, Treasurer

The Pacific County Historical Society welcomes contributions of articles and/or photographs relating to Pacific County history and culture. Although care will be taken in handling all submitted materials, we assume no legal liability or responsibility for loss or damage. Materials accepted for publication may be edited for grammar, clarity, and/or length.

Design and electronic page layout by Charles B. Summers, South Bend, Washington.
The printed version of this is done by VSR Graphics, Portland, Oregon.

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The
Sou'wester

Fall Issue, 2003

Contents

Introduction: Page 2
Albert "Nappy" Wildhaber, Aviator: Page 3

Early Years: Page 3
Nappy in the Army Air Corps: Page 7
Sources and Writer's Notes: Page 8

Kathlamet Texts: "Sun Myth" Page 9

Cover Photograph

The cover art for this issue was composed from two photographs; a background digitally removed from the above photo (showing a size comparison of airplane and automobile tires) and a superimposed portrait of Nappy Wildhaber. PCHS #2004.17.6
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Introduction
Myths and Legends      History is more than just facts. It is the way we make sense of facts, and give them meaning. When history is done well it can approach the realm of truth. Truth can be a very slippery thing, however, when one considers human beings. We would all like our history to represent something larger, and more significant than our own mundane lives. Some people’s lives are destined to become the stuff of legend, however, because they so well represent the best we can achieve.
     In this issue, thanks to the work of local historian Doug Allen, we meet legendary local aviator “Nappy” Wildhaber (1908-200), a flier of the old school, who was both mechanic and pilot. Folks in the Willapa Valley still speak of Nappy with a respect bordering on worship. Airplanes, now a daily part of life for millions of people, were in their infancy when Nappy got involved in aviation. Doug’s story follows Nappy’s successful career from the 1920s through the World War II years.
     Nappy’s story is one of many Doug is preparing for publication later this year in a book about the WWII aviators of Pacific County. Some of the pieces have already appeared in local newspapers. Doug’s next book, however, titled Shoalwater Willapa, explores the maritime history and waterfront communities of Pacific County.
     Shoalwater Willapa will be available direct from the author at 425-827-1359. Doug can be contacted by e-mail at dallen35@mac.com. Copies will also be for sale at local bookstores.

Mrs. Wilson, Kathlamet woman. The front piece illustration from Kathlamet Texts.

In the last issue of The Sou’wester we embarked on republication of the Chinook Indian stories told by Bay Center Native Charles Cultee to anthropologist Franz Boas in the 1890s. Originally published by the Smithsonian Institution in Kathlamet Texts (1901), these stories represent an ancient oral tradition, as well as a language that was as different from European languages as anything known to science. I think readers will find the stories at once strange, but also familiar. Humans have not changed that much in the last thousand years. In this issue we reprint the myth of a man who wanted to possess something forbidden. Something which would eventually bring him and all his relatives death and misery. Were the Chinook Indians aware of nuclear physics? Read it and decide for yourself.
Bruce Weilepp, Editor 2

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Albert J. "Nappy" Wildhaber
Pioneer Aviator, World War II Flight Instructor, Executive pilot for the Weyerhaeuser Company

By Doug Allen

Editor’s Note: Part of the information in this article, especially quoted accounts and remarks, is based on letters from Albert “Nappy” Wildhaber to Nick Swinhart in June, 1994. All photographs were the property of Nappy Wildhaber and now belong to Carl and Sharon Wildhaber.

Born in Pacific County in 1908, Nappy Wildhaber flew airplanes for 44 years, from 1928 to 1972, and in that time, logged more than 17,000 flying hours. His first solo flight came in 1928, at Kansas City, Missouri, and from 1930 to 1941 the pioneer aviator operated his own airplane from a field on pasture land at his father’s farm in Menlo.
During the early 1930s, Nappy, having become good friends with L. L. “Lou” Williams, was influential in the development of what eventually became the Port of Willapa Harbor airfield. During World War II, from 1942 to 1946, he served as a flight instructor, and then became a pilot for high-ranking officers, including many generals. Toward the end of the war, Nappy went back to flight instruction when he became a teacher for prospective flight instructors. Among his many places of service were Mather Field, Sacramento; Ellington Field, Houston; and Randolph Field, Waco, Texas.

Albert J. "Nappy" Wildhaber. PCHS #2004.17.8

For the last 20 years of his career, Nappy was employed by Weyerhaeuser as an executive pilot. During this period, he made many visits to his old home in Pacific County. A poem dedicated to the love of flying might introduce readers to the person from Pacific County who was in love with flying for his entire lifetime (author unknown).

Because I fly
I laugh more than other men.
I look up
And see more than they.
I know how clouds feel
What it’s like to have the blue
In my lap,
To look down
On birds...

Early years
Nappy’s first job was at a small Raymond machine shop, Pacific Grinding & Machine Company, operated by Pete Thompson. The young man’s first responsibilities were to cut keyways on a machine called a shaper, and operate a lathe finishing large shafts used in the sawmills to help move lumber on conveyor belts. The job also called for a lot of heavy lifting, which led to the reason Nappy got his nickname. Nappy remembers:

“A machinist, a drifter, had just signed on and was looking around the shop for a monorail that picked up large objects with a magnet, like he knew from a place at Bremerton. We didn’t have that kind of equipment at the Raymond shop. Instead, I kept busy manhandling the heavy equipment. Because of that, this machinist started calling me ‘Strong arm Napoleon.’ After several days of this, I got to resent the guy. My boss, Pete Thompson, who I liked, informed me that I didn’t have to continue to help the machinist. The nickname stuck, though, and later on they shortened Napoleon to ‘Nappy’.”

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The Raymond Fire Department, circa 1927. Nappy Wildhaber is in the middle (directly behind the engine's left front fender) wearing his aviator cap, and Chief Treese is at the far right. PCHS #2004.17.2

     In 1926, Slim Peterson encouraged Nappy to join the Raymond Fire Department. As a volunteer fireman, he was provided a room at the fire hall, which was of immense help during the hard times of his youth. By the late 1920s, the Great Depression had already begun to affect the agricultural and lumbering areas of the country. Regardless of the encroaching hard times, Nappy was a frugal saver, and by 1927, he was able to take a leave of absence from his job at Bill Mason’s Ford dealership.
     “I took a leave from my mechanics job with Mason Ford and went to flying school in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the Sweeney Vocational & Flying School. In 1928, I came back to Raymond and rejoined the Ford agency, which had been renamed the Raymond Auto Company. I also returned to the fire hall as a volunteer, with free room.”
     In 1930, while Nappy was still at the Ford garage, lumberman and mill owner C. L. Lewis recognized Nappy’s mechanical experience, and asked him to consider a new job.

Nappy poses next to a plane at Donahoe Field. PCHS #2004.17.9
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Tex Rankin's airplane. Willapa Harbor Port Manager L. R. Williams brought in aviator Tex Rankin from Portland, who was admired much like his contemporary Charles Lindbergh, to assist in the location of a local airfield in the early 1930s. Williams, Rankin, Wildhaber, and others looked over the Burkhalter farm near the Covered Bridge, the Lilly farm, and the Tony Wildhaber farm. They chose the Wildhaber farm and the county built a hanger with a shed roof. Nappy recalled, "My dad was not happy about this because it took land away from the farm operation." PCHS #2004.17.3

“Mr. Mason and Mr. Lewis came to the back in the shop where I was working on a Model A Ford,” recalls Nappy. “I met Mr. Lewis. He had a 7-passenger, straight 8 cylinder limousine. Mr. Lewis offered me a driving job that included all expenses paid. One stipulation was that has car had to be oiled every other day. It was equipped with an automatic lubricator, all I had to do was pull a tee bar and load the cylinder. When in motion it lubed all the fittings. The car also had two spare tires. The tires were 30 inches high and 3 1/2 inches wide in the wheel wells. I was told that part of the job was to drive a route between Raymond and the central states, especially Chicago, Illinois. I did this for around four years.”
In 1930, when William Mason moved to Longview, Frank Ryan took over the Ford dealership. Nappy was then offered a job with Weyerhaeuser’s Willapa Lumber Mills at Camp One. During the 1930s, the company was changing from a steam donkey logging operation to gas and diesel power equipment. The job involved working with big equipment, requiring long hours. In June 1936, during the time Nappy worked at Camp One, he and Norma Berglund were married. He resigned his position from the fire department and the couple moved into a home on Fowler Street in Raymond.

Nappy and his brother Tony Wildhaber. PCHS #2004.17.4
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A crash landing as Nappy and Ed Boland circled the field for a last time in preparation for Boland's first solo flight. Nappy later recalled, "As I poured on the coal I could hear the engine starting to squeal; the pistons were freezing. I took it across the river to the southwest, behind the house, made a 180^o turn, and then pulled up the nose, brought the belly up, and put it right into that tree in front of the barn. If I had hit the barn it would have been set on fire." PCHS #2004.17.11

It was during Nappy’s Camp One employment that local people began to realize that they had a bona fide pilot in their midst. A few years before he died, Nappy told an interviewer about some of his early experiences:

     “I got this Travelaire, this beautiful plane, two-toned. I wouldn’t let anyone in it who had sand on their shoes. I was always interested in finding good places to land and a license to take people up.
     “I decided to go the route to get modernized, so I went up to McChord to get my official pilot’s license. On a check ride I had to do spins and other things. I fell out of the first spin (could not finish it), and I was so damned mad I repeated it. The man doing the paperwork told me I would have to come back. Well, he was kidding me and the next thing I knew he was rolling out a barrel of beer. That was a trick, because if I had touched a beer the inspector would have disqualified me.
     “After that I got this commercial instructor’s certification at Boeing Field. Ed Boland (Boland’s Bakery of Raymond) got interested in flying and wanted to come out and see what it was all about. We became friends and he wanted to put some money into the plane. We kept this all quiet and I taught him to fly. He got so he could take off and land and did a real good job. He was a good pilot. Later on, his son Bud also learned how to fly. He went to Canada, and got some good training. Bud was outlawed as far as his family was concerned, he was always in a lot of devilment. He didn’t smoke or drink at that time, but he did everything else. In World War II he flew the Hump, between Burma and China.”

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Nappy In The Army Air Corps In 1942 William Turner, the local manager of Willapa Lumber Mills, agreed to release Nappy in order for him to enter the U. S. Army Air Corps. By September 1, the 34-year old veteran pilot reported to Mather Field in Sacramento. “It was rough and hard, but I gave it all I could, even though I already had many hours of flying, and had a commercial license, and an instructor’s license. I went through Pan American Airways’ navigation course. I also completed the flying of twin-engine aircraft, with engines of more than 900 horsepower, low to no visibility, and takeoffs and landings. The courses led to my being awarded the rank of a second lieutenant. My job became to fly cadets who were taking navigation classes at Mather Field. “After a short time we had new airplanes from Lockheed that were able to take up an increased number of navigation students (an increase from four to six). The school was rough and disciplined and soon was transferred to Ellington Field, Texas, which was near Houston. The school was completely moved within a 24-hour period.”
A gathering of pilots and friends at Donahoe Field in Chehalis. PCHS #2004.17.7 Because of the war, the Army pushed men through the navigation school. There were two squadrons of trainees, A and B, with twelve aircraft. Nappy, as one of the pilots, flew six-hour missions every day, seven days a week. Instruction pilots were on their own, as there were no co-pilots, and missions were flown in all kinds of weather. “On Friday nights I would check in at the briefing room. See, I had already flown an earlier six-hour shift. This went on for many weeks. After coming back, I would do my paper work and then spend some time exercising and swimming. I remember one of the other pilots came along and asked me if I would fly his six-hour mission. I said, ‘Yeah.’ This happened on several weekends and I built up a lot of experience and logged a lot of air time. I would also double-dip on Sunday nights. I remember that on the 27th of one month I had logged 180 hours of day and night flying, plus instrument time. After that, and much to my regret, I was transferred to Waco, Texas.”
First Lieutenant Nappy Wildhaber, U. S. Army Air Corps, circa 1944. PCHS #2004.17.10	At Fort Hood Nappy shifted from instruction to chauffeuring the Army brass. For a while, Nappy became the pilot for General Dawley. Occasionally he also flew General Scott at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After General Dawley was sent overseas, Nappy served as a flyer for a number generals and other brass, which took him to all corners of the country. One day he would be at Logan Field at Boston, Massachusetts. Two days later, he would be at McChord Field in Tacoma. During a visit to McChord, after the brass disembarked, Nappy received a VOCG (Verbal Order from the Commanding General) to call a local phone number. It turned out to be Weyerhaeuser executive Charles Ingram, who told Nappy that J. P. Weyerhaeuser wanted to talk to him. A colonel at McChord offered to have Nappy taken into Tacoma in a staff car, but he declined and said he would go in a jeep. He decided to take his special parachute with him. “My chute was new and had my name on it. When we arrived at the Tacoma Building, I met Mr. Weyerhaeuser and Mr. Ingram. ‘Well, Charles,’ I said. See, we had met at Camp One in Willapa. Well, we got going and I told them, ‘I don’t have too much time to spend and I need some sleep.’ This was at two o’clock in the morning. I remember they asked where I was going next, but I couldn’t tell them, that that was military security. We had some lunch and had a long talk. The subject was about Weyerhaeuser’s future air transportation interests. After that I proceeded on my way, but there was a lot of correspondence before the war was over.” 7

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The next stop for Nappy was back to Waco, Texas. Raymond’s Jim Garner, who had flown P-51 Mustang fighter planes in the 8th Air Force, remembered working with Nappy at the Waco base.

“After coming home from overseas in 1945 I was part of a group of experienced combat pilots who were sent to Waco to learn to instruct new pilots. The top instructor for instructors was none other than Nappy Wildhaber. I remember that July 4th. Nappy and Norma invited some of us to their place for a watermelon feed. He was a solid leader with good information. On top of that, Norma had been one of my elementary school teachers in Raymond.”

There was one more transfer for Nappy when he received orders report to Atlanta, Georgia. Flying for his fourth service command, there were many trips to Washington, D. C. When word came that the atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, Nappy received even another transfer order, this time for overseas. That move apparently did not happen, and before long, he was separated from the military. Nappy arrived in Tacoma on March 12, 1946, and then, in the employment of Weyerhaeuser, left for Wichita, Kansas to pick up five new aircraft at the Beechcraft plant. Returning to Tacoma, his new airplane was a two-engine D-18 Beechcraft.

Editor’s note: Doug would like to continue this story into Nappy’s Weyerhaeuser years, but needs more information. Readers who can help him should contact him in South Bend at dallen35@mac.com, or 360-875-6159.

Nappy poses in front of his beloved Travelaire airplane. PCHS #2004.17.5

Sources and Writer’s Notes

The name Wildhaber, American pronunciation: “Wild-hobber.” Nappy’s parents: Anton “Tony” Wildhaber, b. Sep. 28, 1868, St. Gallon, Switzerland; died January 25, 1931. Severina Gamma, b. Sep. 23, 1878, Uri, Switzerland; died March 10, 1961.
Albert “Nappy” Wildhaber was born in Raymond on February 8, 1908. He attended school in Menlo, finishing the 8th grade. During Nappy’s teenage years the local high school was the very small Menlo High School. Nappy and L. L. “Lou” Williams, the first manager of the Port of Willapa Harbor, had a close relationship, and it was with the port that Nappy found his first work at the age of 13.
While serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Nappy completed a high school equivalency course. When Nappy died on November 6, 2000, he was survived by his wife of 64 years, Norma Berglund Wildhaber (married June 20, 1936). There were no children.
Once Nappy became employed as a Weyerhaeuser pilot, he and Norma made their permanent home in Tacoma. When he took over his first Beechcraft D-18 aircraft for Weyerhaeuser, Nappy proudly talked of its 450 hp engines, and all-weather de-icing and anti-icing equipment.
Letter from Nick Swinhart to Carl and Sharon Wildhaber, January 15, 2004:

“...I have enclosed a couple of letters from Nappy that you have probably never seen. I figured they were something his family should have a copy of. When I first came to know Nappy back in 1994, he sent a flurry of letters to me in Raymond accounting his early life there and his career flying in the military and for Weyco ... My visits and correspondence with Nappy over the few years I knew him were filled with a noticeable urgency on his part. He would often tell me that he didn’t know how much longer he had left and he wanted to make sure someone knew his ‘story.’ I felt very honored that he chose to relate his story to me. I’m sure you’ll find these letters as interesting as I did ten years ago...”

Two hour video tape of Nappy Wildhaber, interview by Sharon Wildhaber, 1994. Much of the information concerns the building of Wildhaber’s Menlo airfield.
Special thanks to Carl and Sharon Wildhaber.

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Kathlamet Texts: "Sun Myth"
As told to Franz Boas by Charles Cultee
English translation and Chinookan Language

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Friends gather in front of Nappy and Ed's Travelair. From left to right: Bertha Wildhaber (Nappy's sister), Gladys Ring Jensen, Eddie Pedersen, Bud Boland, Ed Boland, Nappy Wildhaber, and Ward Spooner. Photo taken by Anna (Mrs. Ed) Boland. PCHS #2004.17.1
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