Ella Higginson Grove in the Federation Forest State Park

Photo credit: Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission #35.0.2010.2.2 Date: currently undetermined.

In Federation Forest State Park in Enumclaw, Washington, there is a special grove of trees dedicated to Ella Higginson. The Ella Higginson Grove is on land that was donated by Ella Higginson’s closest friend, Catherine Montgomery, in 1952.

Photo credit: Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission #35.0.2010.2.3 Date: currently undetermined.

Two photos of the grove were sent to Dr. Laura Laffrado, Director of the Ella Higginson Recovery Project, after her op-ed piece about Ella Higginson's thoughts on the over-development of the Pacific Northwest was published in the Seattle Times a few weeks ago. To read Dr. Laffrado's op-ed, click this link: https://ellahigginson.blogspot.com/2019/02/laments-over-unbridled-growth-in-our.html

An unidentified newspaper reports in January 1952 on the grove's establishment, "This transaction has been completed recently by the way of a gift from Miss Catherine Montgomery, a retired faculty member of the Western Washington College of Education. One of the factors of a close friendship between these two distinguished women was their shared love of the Northwest's beautiful outdoors."

The article continues, "The newly acquired Ella Higginson Grove adjoins the Federation Forest on the east side, and has some frontage on the transcontinental highway, with close proximity to the White river which borders the south side of the whole park. This grove will prove a valuable and important addition to the park, not only in its beauty, but from an historic standpoint, as the old Naches Trail, a favorite of early pioneers, enters the park at the Higginson Grove boundary."

Catherine Montgomery. Image courtesy of the Pacific Crest Trail Association. Source: https://www.pcta.org/2017/mother-pacific-crest-trail-catherine-montgomery-48060/

Catherine Montgomery was born on Prince Edward Island in 1867. She moved to Bellingham, Washington in 1899 to accept a position of one of the founding faculty members of what would become Western Washington University. Higginson and Montgomery were close friends until Higginson's death in 1940. When Montgomery died in 1957, she donated her entire estate to the Federation Forest park, which was eventually used to construct the Catherine Montgomery Interpretive Center.

Montgomery is best remembered for proposing the idea of the Pacific Crest Trail in 1926. To read more about her involvement in the Pacific Crest Trail's beginnings, read the Pacific Crest Trail Association's article "Meet the mother of the Pacific Crest Trail" by following this link: https://www.pcta.org/2017/mother-pacific-crest-trail-catherine-montgomery-48060/

Federation Forest State Park exists today because of the admirable efforts of members of the General Federation of Women's Clubs of Washington, formerly known as the Washington State Federation of Women's Clubs. Jeanne Caithness Greenlees, former president of the Snohomish district of the Federation, was a timber conservationist who proposed the idea of the park to Esther Maltby, the sixteenth state presidents of the Federation. Maltby and Helen Sutton, who also served as a state president, worked together on the park's dedication, which took place in 1949. To learn more about the history of Federation Forest State Park, watch this video produced by the Federation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG5z__oU5Yc

To more about the General Federation of Women's Clubs of Washington State and how to get involved, visit their site at: https://www.gfwcws.org/

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