The Rail to the Water : A Family History of Ira Ward Jr. and Early Tumwater
Overview
The Rail to the Water tells the true story of Ira Ward Jr. and the working dawn of Tumwater, Washington.
When three generations of a family gather at Tumwater Falls in search of an ancestor, family legend says Ira Ward Jr. founded the town. The truth is richer. Vermont-born, gold-rush tested, and driven west by loss and opportunity, Ira built a life that became inseparable from the future of Puget Sound.
He helped shape the early territory through the mill at the Upper Falls, a rail line to tidewater, public service, Freemasonry, and a lifetime of work that connected family history to regional history.
Grounded in family records, newspapers, cemetery stones, lodge minutes, and the history of New Market, George Bush, and the Steh-Chass people whose falls came first, this is a story of ambition, memory, and the people who helped carry Tumwater forward.
Bernie O'Donnell is a third-great-grandson of Ira Ward Jr. He wrote this book after visiting Tumwater with his mother and daughter.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9798188279080
- ISBN-10: 9798188279080
- Publisher: Independently Published
- Publish Date: July 2026
- Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.24 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.36 pounds
- Page Count: 114
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