Among the heavy property owners of Wallowa County, mention must be made of the esteemed subject of this sketch, whose career has manifested steadfastness of purpose and capabilities that have wrought out his present prominent place in the agricultural and stock raising population of our county, while his qualities of uprightness and truth have given him the happy prestige that is his to enjoy, and it is due to such men as Mr. Furgason that Wallowa county owes her development and prominence today.
George H. was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, on August 13, 1959, being the son of Alexander and Janett (Dwinell) Furgason. In 1862, the parents came across the wide plains and rugged mountains that separated the eastern section of the country from the Pacific slope and they found a home in the Grande Ronde valley, near Island City, being among the very first that settled in that section. Our subject grew to manhood in the environments of the frontier, gaining a good education from the public schools and in careful reading. He remained under the parental roof until 1882, in which year he came to Wallowa county, or the territory that is now embraced in this county, and selected a homestead on Prairie creek, seven miles east from the present Joseph. Here he engaged himself in tilling the soil and in raising stock until 1888, then sold out and went to the Imnaha country, taking land near Park. For a decade he was occupied in tilling this land and in raising stock there and then sold that property also, it still being unsurveyed. He returned to Joseph and selected land where he now resides, five miles east from the town on Prairie creek. His first purchase was one-half section and now he owns seven hundred and sixty acres, having steadily added by purchase. His estate is one of value and is constantly being made more valuable by the careful attention and management that he gives to it. It is well improved and produces abundant crops of the cereals and other forage used in his industry of raising stock. He is numbered with the most successful stockmen of the county and is prospered in all his ways.
Mr. Furgason married Miss Annie Gillaspie, a native of Illinois, and daughter of Elden and Melvina (McAllister) Gillaspie, and a niece of D.A. McAllister. This wedding occurred on March 5, 1882, at Island City, Union county. Our subject is identified with the Masons, Joseph Lodge, No. 81; with I.O.O.F., Silver Lake Lodge, No. 84; and with the B.P.O.E. of La Grande. Mr. Furgason takes the interest of the intelligent citizen in political matters, and has ever wrought for the advancement of the interests of the county, manifesting a broad public spirit and capabilities that commend him to all. They have the following children: Alexander, born January 23, 1994; Henry E., born June 25, 1885; Mary, born April 24, 1887; Leander F., born August 27, 1889; Minnie R., born July 19, 1891; Charles, born March 13, 1893