Iona was homesteaded by Mormon pioneers in 1884. His father had previously homesteaded in Pagosa in 1891. The area was first homesteaded by white settlers in 1869. He later homesteaded acreage along the Lacy Creek. Dutch settlers first homesteaded the plateau above the escarpment in the 17th century. Christopher and Rachel McWay homesteaded the property in the late 1870s. His father was born to Norwegian immigrant farmers who had previously homesteaded in North Dakota. Hillsboro was named after John Gillespie Hill, who homesteaded in the area in 1871. Wilber Harlan, a native of Indiana, homesteaded near Lucia in 1885. The area known as Pleasant Grove, Alabama was first homesteaded in September 1836. Enumclaw itself was homesteaded in 1879 by Frank and Mary Stevenson. Numerous European immigrants homesteaded the newly available lands on the Plains. In the first, to about 1900, thousands of Norwegians homesteaded on the Canadian prairies. Rika also homesteaded an adjoining piece of land. The land was quickly homesteaded and proved to be a rich agricultural area.