BONUS EPISODE: Mabel, The Spelled-Backward Namesake of Lebam, Washington

Feliks Banel's guest on this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY is Ruth Leonard of Lacey, Washington - the granddaughter of Mabel of Lebam. Ruth's grandmother's full name was Mabel Pearl Goodell Thompson. Mabel's father, Jotham Goodell founded the community of Half Moon, in what's now Pacific County along Highway 6, about midway between the communities of Frances and Holcomb . When the US Post Office rejected "Half Moon" for the post office there circa 1890, Jotham Goodell came up with an alternate: Lebam, which was his three or four-year-old daughter Mabel's name spelled backward. In this conversation, Ruth Leonard brings her grandmother to life through memories of Mabel and of the community of Lebam. Mabel Pearl Goodell Thompson, who gets no more than a sentence or two in Washington state placename books as Lebam's namesake, is rendered by her granddaughter as a three-dimensional human being. CASCADE OF HISTORY spoke with Ruth Leonard on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. Links to more information as well as images related to most topics discussed on the show are often available at the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/cascadeofhistory CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via flagship station SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle. Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes. "LIKE" the Cascade of History Facebook page and get updates and other stories throughout the week, and advance notice of live remote broadcasts taking place in your part of the Old Oregon Country.