Jasper P. Jonquil Traditional Cache

Because the name intrigued me, I did some further research. Many of the dessert recipes (not Miracle Whip Cake) were contributed by Peri Jonquil, daughter of Jasper and Olivine Jonquil. There is a picture of her -- she looks to be in her mid 50’s -- with a group of women all similarly dressed in knee-length dresses, heels, and pearls. The sepia tones don’t do her justice, I’m sure, but I digress. The dessert recipes Peri contributed were attributed to her father. She was quoted as saying, “My Father made the most divine cakes and candies from my mother’s recipes!”

Looking into Mr. Jonquil’s past, I discovered another coincidence that made me smile. Back in 1901 he was working in the Weyerhaeuser / Denkmann property. Considering the vastness of their property it should be no surprise when I discover people that have worked there when it was first being established, but it usually does.

Jasper was born in 1868 to migrant workers. The family moved around a lot, depending on where they were needed; harvesting oranges and limes in California, apples and pears in Oregon, cherries and wheat in Washington. Desiring to settle down in one place, at age 18 he married a 15 year old young woman, Juanita, from another migrant family, and they settled in Yakima. Before his wife was even a legal adult, they had two children and had fallen on hard times. The Jonquil family headed west because Juanita’s doctor told her that failing health would be much improved by sea air, and there was nothing to hold them in Yakima anyway.

It’s unclear where they first settled or how long the sea air helped poor Juanita, but in 1899 he was a widower with two young children to care for. His father had also died somewhere along the way and his mother had moved in to assist with raising the children. Jasper found work with the crew to do some logging. It was a rough and tumble kind of gang he worked with but he found pleasure in going home to his mother and children each evening. However, that contentment didn’t last and when one day, the woman that often came into the tree farm to bring treats wore an emerald green dress, his heart was smitten and there was no turning back for him. He began courting Olivine Peridot and wooing her with compliments on her sweet treats and emerald eyes.

Within a few years, he had convinced her to be his wife and mother to his children, and daughter to his mother. They discovered a mutual affinity to working in the kitchen together and although I’m sure he never let on to the guys on his team, he could make a flan with flawless texture, soufflés that rose to the roof of the stove, and peanut brittle that was worth breaking a rotten tooth on. Jasper and Olivine’s house was always full of good smells and laughter. Olivine’s father and Jasper’s mother both lived in the house along with the two growing children, and when Peri was born, it made the family complete.

Peri adored her father and loved the smell of wood on his clothing when he came home from work as much as she loved the smells that came from the family kitchen. Her mother would create and test recipes, but Peri was a daddy’s girl and loved it best when Jasper made treats. The recipes she contributed to the cookbook were her favorites of what he would make as a special treat just for her.

Cache is located in the same area where Jasper P. Jonquil spent working the best years of his life. You can download updated trailmaps by following this link.