Looking for that fourth pot

Palouse Pottery Company, founded in 1904, produced a ton of crock pots during the short time it was in operation. Currently, I am looking for my fourth Palouse Pottery piece so I can give it away.

I don’t remember when or where I got my first piece, a gallon crock.

Since I am from Palouse, I decided to try to find pieces of Palouse Pottery for each of our four children.

I gave my first piece away, and while visiting Palouse a couple of years ago found my second piece. This one was a 10-gallon crock, and I bought it at a secondhand store on Palouse’s main street. It was run by Heidi Styer, a daughter of a woman I graduated from high school with.

I shipped this off to another member of our family.

A subsequent visit to the same secondhand store produced a “little brown jug” made by Palouse Pottery.  This one made its way to the third new owner. That left one to go. Heidi has a pretty good collection of Palouse Pottery pieces, but she wouldn’t part with one of them.

She did say she would look for another pottery piece for me, but nothing has turned up yet.

My plan is to go down and see her in the spring.

Occasionally, a pot will turn up on eBay, but they are snatched up quickly.

The pottery company made a variety of pots. All three that I have found and sent on are different.

I have been told that the clay used by the Palouse firm came from a local source. I know of one clay source about halfway between Palouse and Viola, Idaho, some four miles south of Palouse.

I messed with the clay when I was a young person, but never knew if that location was the source for Palouse Pottery.

So the search goes on, but I will never give up.

So, here’s to that fourth piece — so I can also give it away.