Engaged in the dual occupation of farming and raising stock, the subject of this sketch has done excellent work in the development and improvement of the reservation country and is deserving of representation in the volume of its history.
George E. Tatko was born in Germany, on March 13, 1859, being the son of John and Aggie (Meyer) Tatko, natives of Germany; the father died in 1873 and the mother in 1862. The father was born in 1820.
Our subject grew to young manhood and was educated in his native country. He heard of the excellent opportunities in the new world and came hither seeking the road to fortune. He worked in the railroad shops in Allentown, Pennsylvania; whither he had come from New York, his landing place. Three years were spent in the shops and then Mr. Tatko came to Iowa and farmed near Osage for two years. In 1889 he came thence to Spokane and worked in a saw mill for one year. The next move was to the vicinity of Palouse in Whitman County, where he farmed for five years. At the opening of the reservation in 1895, he came hither and took his present place, one half mile south from Ilo. This has been the family home since that time and Mr. Tatko is one of the’ enterprising residents and leading farmers of this section.
In 1894, at Lewiston. Mr. Tatko married Mrs. Cynthia Lenz, a native of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. She has the following brothers, Joseph and John Strubble. Mr. Tatko has one sister, Sophia, still in Germany, and has one half brother, Jacob, also in Germany. Mr. Tatko is a member of the I. O. O. F. and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Tatko is a Democrat and is an advocate of better schools. He owns now one half section of land which is well improved and in addition to doing general farming, he raises cattle and hogs, being one of the prosperous men of the section.
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Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903