Banjer, I was searching for a town in Washington called "Kerriston" that didn't seem to be on any map. I told my father about this search (it had to do with a fascinating letter written in about 1912 by my great uncle to my great grandmother, to do with a mining accident and a minor miracle in getting aid). Dad told me to contact the folks at the University of Washington Libraries in the Pacific Northwest Collection. I got an email back with a legal description of the town. Lucky I'd spent years dealing with legal descriptions in my Forest Service days, and I in fact pulled out a Forest Service map and found the "town," now simply a private inholding of bare land on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

So, you may well want to check out local university libraries with Special Collections. They'll have finding aids for going through their collections that are available to the public. These are often online. I've posted a link to a Mudcat discussion of such things. Good luck! (Those were great photos you posted--you made your case as far as family resemblance!)

SRS