Page 315 - PGM Compendium

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Of
M⸫W⸫ James Biles: 1859-1860, 1867-1868

James Biles was a native of Virginia, but he had reached
Kentucky by 1853 when he embarked on the Oregon Trail with
his wife Nancy and their seven children. They were members of
the wagon train, called the "Longmire Party," Biles serving as
leader and captain, that blazed a trail over the Natches Pass in the
Cascade Mountains. It was the first wagon train to come directly
into Western Washington without first going to Oregon.

When the group encountered a seemingly impenetrable 30 foot
bluff about 25 miles north of Mount Rainier, Biles came up with
the idea to make ropes from oxen hides, tie them to the wagons
and lower the wagons over the cliff, thus allowing the party to
avoid being stuck in the late fall snows of the mountains. He
settled first on Grand Mound Prairie where he built a tannery. He
moved to Tumwater, and in 1859 built the Biles Tannery on the
site of the old Olympia Brewery.

He filled many places of honor and trust in his county, and represented his district several times in the
Territorial Legislature. Of particular note he was appointed to be part of a commission to superintend the
erection of the Capitol building at Olympia. As a Mason he was always honored and esteemed by his
brethren, and was always a faithful worker in the quarries. He was one of the few brethren who met in
convention on the 7th day of December 1858, and formed the Grand Lodge of Washington. He was elected
its first Senior Grand Warden, and in 1859 the brethren elected him as the second Grand Master of the
Jurisdiction. He would then serve as Grand Treasurer from 1860 to 1867, when he was again elected
Grand Master.

During his second tenure Most Worshipful Brother Biles introduced Freemasonry into the distant territory
of Alaska by his granting of a Dispensation for the establishment of Alaska Lodge at Sitka on April 14,
1868.

Most Worshipful Brother James Biles was born in Hopkins County, Kentucky, on March 3, 1812, and
passed from the mortal coil on February 5, 1888.

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