More than a decade ago, Julie McDonald Zander saw a photo of a woman at the Lewis County Historical Museum. Saturday, Zander's book detailing the untold story of Matilda Koontz Jackson -- a Lewis County pioneer who endured hardships and hosted a future U.S. president in her home -- went on sale for the first time.
Zander runs a company called Chapters of Life, which helps people write their life and family stories, but she said she decided to find out what happened to Jackson when she was between paying projects.
"She was a widow with four kids," said Zander, 59. "I had, at the time, a 12-year-old and a 6-year-old, and thought, 'Wow, what would you do'?"
Jackson was born in Maryland on Jan. 29, 1811. She came West on the Oregon Trail in 1847, Zander said. Her husband drowned along the way. However, she pressed on, remarried and became known in the region as "Washington Territory's Grand Lady." She died on Feb. 14, 1901, just a few weeks after her 90th birthday.
Zander said the Washington State Library had two boxes of letters and diaries connected to Jackson that helped her piece together the story. While there was only one letter written by Jackson, there were also letters from her mother and nephew, and even one from the captain of her wagon train.
The Oregon State Historical Society had journal and diaries from other pioneers, and after poring over them, Zander found that other travelers had mentioned Jackson. One even quoted the last words her husband said to her, she said.
"The story just kept getting bigger and deeper," said Zander, a former reporter and assistant city editor at The Daily News. "I went to a writer's critique group and shared some of it. They said, 'You have to have some dialogue.' So I decided to learn how to write fiction, but I went back to nonfiction ... I want her real story to be told because it's pretty powerful."
The book went on sale Saturday at the first Matilda Jackson Legacy Day event held near the Matilda Jackson State Park. The five-acre park near Toledo is located on the site of her original homestead, according to the Washington State Parks Foundation.
Zander said Jackson was resilient in the face of an incredible amount of heartbreak. She lost several children, including one child she was pregnant with when her first husband died. But she went on to run a successful hotel and entertained many famous people, including future president Ulysses S. Grant; George McClellan, the future Civil War general; and Isaac Stevens, Washington's first territorial governor. This list of luminaries is partly why Zander dubbed Jackson "Washington Territory's Grand Lady."
"All her direct blood descendants had died out, so there was no one left to tell her story," Zander said. "I thought someone should."
The book, which Zander is self-publishing through her company, will also be on sale at the Lewis County Historical Museum and Book n' Brush bookstore in Chehalis. Starting in November, it will also be available online, Zander said. The suggested retail price will be about $27.
