The headstone for William O'Leary in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery, Elma, Washington
From
HistoryLink's thumbnail history of Grays Harbor County:
"The county’s first permanent white settler was Irishman William O’Leary
(1821-1901), a recluse who supplied several stories as to his origins.
He paddled and trekked overland from Oregon to the Chehalis River, then
by canoe down to the future site of Cosmopolis, just above the river’s
outlet into Grays Harbor. O’Leary planted potatoes and a vegetable
garden, and built a split-cedar cabin in the style of the local tribal
peoples. While others built farms, businesses, industries, and towns,
O’Leary was content to grow and gather his own food and cut his own
hair. He remained fiercely independent and was regarded by his fellow
citizens as an 'odd character' (Van Syckle,
River Pioneers, 81)."