His parents were Tyrus Himes and Emeline Holcombe, and soon after George's birth they attended a lecture by Samuel Parker recounting his experiences in the Oregon Country.

Biles chose the difficult Naches Pass, and the train arrived in the lower Puget Sound, where Tyrus filed a Donation Land Claim for 640 acres near Olympia.

"[10] Beginning in 1871, Himes published a semi-monthly newspaper, The Commercial Reporter, for ten years, with a circulation of 500 readers.

[12] Himes published a succession of books, including William L. Adams' History of Medicine and Surgery,[13] Banks, Censor Echoes, Rob Roy Parrish, Echoes from the Valley, Eels, Hymns in the Chinook Jargon Language, and the first two volumes of poetry by Joaquin Miller.

When he published Lang's History of the Willamette Valley in 1885, the book was such a commercial failure that Himes became bankrupt.

[citation needed] In 1886 Himes was elected secretary of the Oregon Pioneer Association, a position he would keep for decades.

[7] Himes died on January 6, 1940, at the age of 95, at Coffey Memorial Hospital in Portland, two to three weeks after suffering a stroke.