The Polwarths originated in Berwick on Tweed Scotland, which is now part of England.  In the early 1800's, Lord Polwarth's eldest son, James Polwarth, married a gypsy named Anne Gow.  As was typically done in this situation, James was banished to the new world and settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  They found life very difficult in Halifax  as James had been raised to be a lord and not to support a family.  To earn money, Anne read palms and tea leaves on the wharfs in Halifax.

 James Polwarth and his wife had 4 children.  The oldest, John Bruce Polwarth was greatly influenced by his mother and later married a young woman named Elspeth Craib.  Like John Bruce's mother, Elspeth was a mystic and helped support them by reading palms and tea leaves.  One day Elspeth read the palm of a pirate from the Barbary Coast and told him to return there immediately as he would find good fortune.  Upon his return the pirate was so grateful that he told her where he had buried his treasure.  Soon after that John Bruce and Elspeth booked passage upon the brig "Robert" which was sailing around Cape Horn to San Francisco.  There they planned to fish with Elspeth's brother before they continued their journey north.

When they reached San Francisco after six months of dangerous sailing they bought a fishing boat and named it the "Robert" after the boat on which they sailed around Cape Horn.  In San Francisco they had four children, the oldest of whom was also named John Bruce.  While in San Francisco Elspeth had a vision of where the pirate told her to go.  She now felt that she knew the exact place and how to get there.

On the basis of this vision, they sailed north on the brig Robert.  Their directions were: to sail north to a big river, sail up the big river past a big island; then to a big waterfall where there would be a big rock.  They found a place that matched that criteria - what is now called "Little Cape Horn" on the Columbia River, approximately 6 miles east of Cathlamet and 12 miles west of Longview.  This was where they settled in 1852.

In 1868 John Bruce Polwarth applied for citizenship  in Clatsop County, Oregon.  Six years later, in 1874, he drowned in the Columbia River when his son was 12 years old.

On November 4, 1879, at age 16, young John Bruce left for college at the University of Manitoba and graduated in 1882 at age 18.  He then returned to "The Cape" to continue fishing to help support his family.  For six years he fished and studied law in the bottom of a Columbia River fishing boat until one winter when the high waters destroyed the cannery and their store of salted fish.  In 1890 he was admitted to the Bar in  Oregon and in the State of Washington.  He served as the first prosecuting attorney in Wahkiakum County, Washington.

In 1891, the land at the Cape was granted to Elspeth Polwarth through a grant signed by President Benjamin Harrison.  In 1907, John Bruce married Irene Fisher.  They had three children - the youngest was a son who was named (of course) John Bruce.  They all lived at the Cape until war broke out in 1941, at which time young John Bruce left to serve as a captain in the army.  In 1944 he married Margaret Jane Williamson and in 1945 another John Bruce was born.  In the summer of 1964, this young John Bruce spent a summer clearing off the area west of the Cape Rock to be sold.  

The Polwarth family lived in Rosedale (near Gig Harbor, Washington) but continued to visit the cape frequently until the death of John Bruce (senior) in 1968.  In 1971 John Bruce married Glenda Schellenberg and they lived away from the Northwest while he served in the United States Navy.  In 1988 the remaining Cape Property once again became a large part of the lives of the Polwarths when they purchased the 14 acres East of the Cape Rock  from John's mother.  In 1994, John's mother passed away and the property divided was among the three siblings.

Although almost every generation of John Bruce was expected to dig for the gold as part of their chores, none was ever found.   However, the beauty of the property is enough treasure for anyone.  And, of course, on January 22, 1980 the fifth John Bruce Polwarth was born.  You can find out about him by going to the Johnny page of this website.