Gilman (Bill) and Pauline Norris had this spacious gambrel-roof house built in 1901 for $6,000. The Craftsman style home with its wraparound porch, stone fireplaces, and second-story balcony was a mansion compared to the Norris’s former three-room residence. A Civil War veteran, Bill had come west in 1867 as a surveyor for the Northern Pacific Railroad. In the 1870s, he served as a military scout as the U.S. Army forcibly removed Indigenous tribes to reservations. Norris bought out “merchant prince” T. C. Power’s local partner James Wells in 1883, and by 1885, he had developed Judith Landing into a small but thriving supply town for area ranchers. Norris and Power also formed a cattle operation, and by 1900 the Power-Norris or PN Ranch was one of the largest in the area. Sadly, a typhoid outbreak at Judith Landing killed Pauline in 1903, leaving Bill to raise their three young children. By 1908, he had remarried, sold his cattle, and become a hotel manager in Seattle. Although the Norrises only lived here a short time, the home is a reminder of the ranch’s high status.
Images
