William H. Moody was born on Oct. 5, 1860. His parents were Zenas and Mary Stephenson Moody. His father was elected as the seventh Governor of Oregon serving from 1882-1887. William was educated in the Willamette Valley. His father was involved in numerous activities including establishing a wool warehouse in The Dalles. In 1901 his father built a wool warehouse in Shaniko after the railroad was built from the Columbia River to the community. William was sent by his father to operate the warehouse and other enterprises in Shaniko. William married Clara McFarland and they lived in The Dalles after their marriage. They had one son.

William went alone to begin operations at Shaniko while Clara and their son remained in The Dalles for educational purposes. Once William got the warehouse operation running smoothly Clara and their son Adelbert moved permanently to Shaniko. The business became quite profitable as Shaniko became one of the largest wool shipping centers in the world. Sheep ranchers from Central Oregon freighted their wool to Shaniko for storage in the Moody Warehouse. Moody had encouraged Eastern wool buyers to come to Shaniko to bid on the good quality wool stored in his warehouse.

The Moodys became wealthy in the warehouse bossiness. They lived a somewhat luxurious life in the small community. They would import special food items from Portland and The Dalles that would be shipped by rail to Shaniko. One hundred pound blocks of ice were wrapped with sawdust and imported to store perishable items.

Clara was a well known for her cooking skills and the Moody home was often the site of social gatherings. When the warehouse crew started early in the morning to load out stock Clara would bake donuts and have them taken to the crew along with a large pot of coffee. The Moodys also traveled extensively throughout the West.

William suffered a severe stroke in 1914 and could not return to work at the warehouse. Clara kept a nurse to care for William. He died on June 14, 1919 and was buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in The Dalles. About two years later she sold the warehouse but maintained her home in Shaniko. The Great Depression resulted in most of her investments failing and she began boarding people in her home. She passed away in 1933.

Contributed by Steve Lent, Historian