Evans, Bill W. (William Wapato), 1921-2003
Biographical note
William W. “Bill” Evans was born in Manson, Washington, in 1921. He was a member of the Moses-Columbia people, one of the 12 bands that make up the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Evans attended Kinman Business School in Spokane, and later a trade school in Seattle. In 1950, he married Lucille Heyen, and they raised six children together. In 1952, he returned with his family to Manson, where he worked on the Evans family orchard. Evans also worked on the construction of the Rocky Reach Dam and later at the Wanapum Dam, both on the Columbia River. He owned the Wapato Point Resort on Lake Chelan and the Mill Bay R.V. Park in Manson. Evans died in 2003.
Sources: Vital records in Ancestry.com; information provided by Evans in his interview; Evans’s obituary on Find A Grave, 2003 (accessed December, 2025), https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37694709/william_wapato-evans
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Oral history interview with Bill W. Evans
Oral history interview with Bill W. Evans, conducted by Clark Hansen on April 10, 1999, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Evans discusses the history of the area near Lake Chelan, Washington, the town of Manson, and the Colville Indian Reservation, particularly how the area and its people were affected by irrigation projects and dam construction in the Columbia River Basin.