Goose Prairie is an unincorporated community in Yakima County, Washington, United States. Goose Prairie is northwest of Yakima. It was founded by Tom Fife in 1886 who named it after a goose that visited the meadow one evening and stayed the night.Camp Fife History
Fife donated a portion of his homestead to the Boy Scouts; the Grand Columbia council operates Camp Fife, a summer camp named in Fife's honor.
Besides the camp the meadow contains a number of cabins and a diner only open on summer holiday weekends.
Goose Prairie was the summer home of the 20th century United States Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Eric Sevareid interviewed Douglas in Goose Prairie for the CBS Reports documentary Mr. Justice Douglas broadcast Sept. 6, 1972."Outdoor Location" Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Sept. 3, 1972. The Yakima Valley Museum has a 16mm film of the program in its collection which can be viewed online.W.O.D. Interview (press "access this item" to view)
It is also where Kay Kershaw and Isabelle Lynn operated the Double K Mountain Ranch; they played a key role in the designation of the nearby William O. Douglas Wilderness area.Preliminary Guide to the Double K Mountain Ranch Records 1958-1972
References
Further reading Kathleen Tresham Anderson. Birds, Bats & Bailing Wire. Lulu.com, 2009. William O. Douglas. Of Men and Mountains. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950. Bruce Allen Murphy. Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O. Douglas. New York: Random House, 2003. Jack Nelson. We Never Got Away. Yakima, WA: Franklin Press, 1965.
External links GOOSEPRAIRIE (blog) Camp Fife official website Yakima Memory (photos from the collection of the Yakima Valley Museum) Isabelle Lynn and Kay Kershaw At The Double Kay Mountain Ranch in Goose Prairie Washington/Chinook Pass