OEXERAIi I.IBRARY
PARKCHURCH
-i'Z I^ M I K A. , >r . Y.
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Bancro
ft, Hubert Howe, 1832-
1918,
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Hi St or'
y of Washington, . /
^ Idaho
, and Montana ^
THE WORKS
HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT
THE WORKS
HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT
VOLUME XXXI
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON, IDAHO, AND MONTANA
1S45-1S89
SAN FRANCISCO
THE HISTORY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
1890
Allen CouTity Public Library
900 Webster Street
PC Box 2270
Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
Entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1890, by
HUBERT H. BANCROFT,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
All Rights Reserved.
J'
PREFACE.
1216705
In my History of the Northwest Coast I have
brought down the annals of Washington, Idaho, and
•Montana to the end of the fur company regime, in
1846, at which time the question of boundary between
the possessions of Great Britain and those of the
United States was determined, the subjects of the
former power thereupon retiring from the banks of
the Cokmibia northward beyond the Hne of latitude
49°. In the History of Oregon I have likewise given
much of the early affairs of the territory treated of in
this volume, that territory for a time being a part of
Oregon; just as in the history of Washington much
is given of the history of Idaho, and in the history
of Idaho much of Montana.
Under the term Northwest Coast I originally
included all that vast region of North America north
of the 42d parallel and west of the Rocky Mountains,
Alaska alone excepted. When, in 1846, the south-
ern line of British Columbia was determined, all that
remained was called Oregon. Later, from Oregon
was set off Washington; from Washington was set
off Idaho; and from Idaho, for the most part, was
set off Montana. Thus for some part of the history
of Montana we look to the annals of Idaho, Wash-
ington, Oregon, and the Northwest Coast; for part
of the history of Idaho we look to the annals of
Washington and the rest; and for the history of
Washington we must have also the histories of Ore-
gon and the Northwest Coast. I have been thus
explicit on this point, in order that the people of
Washington, Idaho, and Montana might thoroughly
understand how the histories of their respective sec-
tions are distributed in this series — histories which
if segregated from the series and issued separately
would each fill a space equal to two of my volumes.
There were those among the early pioneers who
came to the Northwest Coast some who deter-
mined, while securing to themselves such homes as
they might choose out of a broad expanse, to serve
their government by taking possession of the terri-
tory north of the Columbia River, not as Vancouver
had done fifty-seven years before, by stepping on
shore to eat luncheon and recite some ceremonies to
the winds, nor as Robert Gray had done, a few years
later, by entering and naming the great River of the
West after his ship; but by actual settlement and oc-
cupation. I need not repeat here the narrative of
those bold measures by which these men of destiny
achieved what they aimed at. I wish only to declare
that they no more knew what was before them than
did the first immigrants to the Willamette Valley.
Nevertheless, it fell out that they had found one of
the choicest portions of the great unknown north-
west ; with a value measured not alone by its fertile soil,
but also by its wonderful inland sea, with its salt-
water canals branching off in all directions, deep, safe
from storms, always open to navigation, abounding in
iish, bordered many miles wide with the most aiagnifi-
cent forests on earth. It did not require the im-
agination of a poet to picture a glowing future for
Puget Sound, albeit far away in the dim reaches of
time. To be in some measure connected with that
future, to lay ever so humbly the corner-stone, was
worth all the toil and privation, the danger and the
isolation, incident to its achievement.
Not only was there this inland sea, with its treas-
ures inexhaustible of food for the world, and its fif-
teen hundred miles of shore covered with pine forests
to the water's edge, but surrounding it were many
small valleys of the richest soils, watered by streams
fed by the pure snows of the Cascade and Coast
ranges, half prairie and half forest, warm, sheltered
from winds, enticing the weary pilgrim from the
eastern side of the continent to rest in their calm
solitudes. It was true that the native wild man still in-
habited these valleys and roamed the encircling moun-
tains, to the number of thirty thousand; but in so vast
a country three times as many would have seemed
few; and the incomers were the sons of sires who had
met and subdued the savage tribes of America as
they pushed their way westward from Plymouth Rock
to the Missouri and beyond; therefore they had no
hesitation now in settling in their midst. They had
been bred to the belief that "the British and Ind-
ians" would melt before them.
The sources of material for writing this volume are
similar to those which have enabled me to write all
my volumes; namely, all existing printed matter,
books, public documents, and newspapers, together
with many valuable manuscripts, the results of hun-
dreds of dictations, containing the experiences of those
first upon the ground in the various localities, or who
have in any manner achieved distinction in organiz-
ing society and government in these domains.
CONTENTS OF THIS YOLUME.
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
1845-1853.
PAGE
Attitude of the Hudson's Bay Company — Michael T. Simmons and Asso-
ciates Proceed Northward — Settle at Budd Inlet — Paget Sound —
Highlands — Tumwater — Bush Prairie — Chambers Prairie — Neali Bay
— Marriages and Births — The Indians Pronounce against tlie White
Man— Effect of California Gold Discovery— The Timber Trade-
Towns Laid out — Whidbey Island Settled — Occupation of the Coast
Country 1
CHAPTER II.
POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
1845-1853.
Public Meetings— Settlers versus the Puget Sound Agricultural Com-
pany — Representation in the Oregon Legislature — Movements
toward the Foundation of the New Territory of Columbia — Memo-
rial to Congress — If not a Territory, then a State — Queen Charlotte
Island Expedition — The Oregon Legislature Petition Congress for a
Division of Territory— Congress Grants the Petition— But instead of
Cohimbia, the New Territory is Called Washington — Officers Ap-
pointed — Roads Constructed— Immigration 39
CHAPTER III.
OKGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT,
1853-1855.
Governor Isaac Ingalls Stevens— His Life and Character— Railroad Sur-
veys — Political Parties — Election — First Legislative Assembly — Its
Personnel and Acts — Early Newspapers — County Organizations —
Federal Courts— Land Claims and Land Titles— Koads, Mails, and
Express Companies — San Juan Island — Indian Troubles — Treaties
and Reservations — Stevens in Eastern Washington 70
(ix)
CHAPTER IV.
INDIAN WAKS.
1S55-1856.
PAGE
Causes of the Indian Outbreak — Discovery of Gold near Fort Colville —
Yakimas Hostile — Expeditions of Major 0. G. Haller into the Snake
and Yakima Countries — Yakima Campaign of 1855 — Movement of
Troops on the Sound — Attack on Seattle — War Vessels on the Sound
-^ Walla Walla Campaign of the Oregon Volunteers — Operations of
the Second Oregon Regiment — Attack on the Cascades — Colonel
Cornelius Returns to Portland 108
CHAPTER V.
INDIAN WARS.
Action of the Governor — Disposition of Forces — New Battalions — Plan
of Campaign— Battle of White River— On the Sound — Martial Law
—Fighting at John Day River and Grand Rond— East of the Cas-
cade Range — Stevens in the Hostile Country — Failure of his Council
— Lechi's Betrayal, Arrest, Trials, and Execution — Assassination of
Quiemuth — Termination of Hostilities on tlio Sound — Result — War
Debt — Clarke and Wright's Campaign — Defeat of Steptoe — Battles
of Four Lakes and Spokane Plains in the Yakima Country — Walla
Walla Country P^eopened 157
CHAPTER VI.
THEOUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
1855-1867.
Party Politics — Election of Delegate — Martial Law — Stevens Chosen
Delegate — Death of Stevens— His Character — Governor McMullin —
Fraser River Mining Excitement — Its Effect on Washington — Ser-
vices of Secretary Mason— Governor Gholson— Henry M. McGUl —
The Capital Question — The University — Governor Wallace — Gover-
nor Pickering — The Custom-house Controversy— Inundation of Port
Angeles 201
CHAPTER VII.
MINING AND TOWN-MAKINO.
1SG1-1S63.
Organization of the First Washington Infantry— Companies from Califor-
nia — Gold Discoveries — Military Road — Fraser River Travel — Col-
ville Mines — The Malheur Country— The Similkameen Mines —
American Miners in British Columbia — Gold Discoveries on the
Clearwater— On Snake River— Protest of the Nez Perces— Pierce City
PAGE
— Oro Fino — Lewiston— Very Rich Diggings — California Eclipsed—
Salmon River Mines — Political Kffect — Winter Sufiferings — Powder
and John Day Rivers — Florence and Warren Diggings— Bois^ Mines
—Organization of the Territory of Idaho 227
CHAPTER VIII.
GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
1S63-1S86.
Effect of Territorial Division— Election of Delegate— Negro Suffrage —
Party Politics — The Legislature — Peace and Progress — Steamboating
—Navigation Companies — Clearing Rivers — Public Buildings— In-
sane Asylum and Penitentiary — Legislative Divorces— Government
Reservations — Judicial Affairs — Another Delegate — Governor Flan-
ders — Governor Salomon— Governor Ferry— Governor Newell— Era
of Railways — More Elections — Political Platforms — Convention-
Woman's Rights— Legislature 264
CHAPTER IX.
PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
Remarkable Growth of the Territory — Demand for Statehood — Enabling
Act — State Convention — Character of the Delegates — Constitution
Ratified— Waiting for a Proclamation — Meeting of First State
Legislature — Character of Members — Unexpected Delay of the Presi-
dential Proclamation— Election of Senators 301
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
CHAPTER I.
PHYSICAL FEATURES AND NATURAL WEALTH.
Territorial Limits — The World's Wonder-land — Rivers, Mountains, and
Valleys — Phenomenal Features— Lava-fields — Mineral Springs-
Climate — Scores of Limpid Lakes — Origin of the Name ' Idalio ' — In-
difference of Early Immigrants — Natural Productions — Game — Food
Supply— Fur-bearing Animals — First Mormon Settlement — County
Divisions of Idaho as Part of Washington 393
CHAPTER II.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
1 862-1 S66.
Mineral Discoveries— Counties and Towns — Imirigration — Routes to
the Mines — Indian Wars— Forts — Quartz-mining— Companies and
Claims— More Town-building— Stage-roads-Sliding Clubs— Traffic
and Travel— Oregon versus California— Mail Contracts— Prospecting
and Mining— New Districts— Output of Precious Metals 406
CHAPTER III.
POLITICAL AFFAIRS.
18G3-1885.
Matters — Acting Governor Daniels — Governor Lyon — Secession Sen-
timents — Crimes and Punishments — The Magruder Massacre — Vigi-
lance Committees — Political and Highway Robberies — Acting Gov-
ernor Smith — The Capital Question — Legislatures — Character of
Lyon— Acting Governor Howlett— Governor Ballard— Gibbs— Mars-
ton — Curtis — Bowen — Bennet — Judges — Governor Thompson —
Brayman — Neil — Buun — Politics — Territorial Limits — Federal and
Territorial Officers 442
CHAPTER IV.
THREATENING ASPECT OF AFFAIRS.
1861-1874.
Tribal and Territorial Divisions of the Aborigines — Attitude of the Nez
Perce Nation — Gold Discovery on the Nez Perce Reservation —
Council at Lapwai — Terms of Treaty Disregarded by the White
Men — Aboriginal Diplomacy — Big Thurder and the Missionaries —
Terms of the New Treaty — Claim of Eagle-from-the-light — Speech
of Lawyer — Conference with Joseph 481
CHAPTER V.
INDIAN WARS.
1874-1878.
March of the Cavalry — Attitude of Joseph — His Opinion of Indian Res-
ervations — Indian Outbreaks — Military Companies in the Field —
The Governors of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho — Battle of Cotton-
wood — Jealousies between Regulars and Volunteers — Battle of Clear-
water— Flight of Joseph— Battle of Ruby Creek— On Snake Creek
^Surrender of Joseph — Another Indian Treaty — Disaffection of the
Bannaoks— Further Fighting — End of Hostilities 497
CHAPTER VI.
NATURAL WEALTH.
1865-1885.
Mining Prosperity and Reverses— Early and Later Developments— The
Several Gold and Silver Mining Districts- -The Snake River Region
— Production — Base Metals — Iron Veins — Salt — Sulphur — Soda—
Mica— Stone— Agriculture— Soil— Grasses and Grazing — Forests-
Climate— Health — Boundless Possibilities
CHAPTER VII.
MATERIAL AND SOCIAL PEOGKESS.
PAGE
Ada County— Creation of the Capital of Idaho— Origin and Development
of Towns — Farming Settlements — Orchards — Stock-raising — Pio-
neers — Alturas County — Mineral and Agricultural Lands and Settle-
ment — Bear Lake County — Boise, Cassia, Custer, Idaho, Kootenai,
Lemhi, Nez Perce, Oneida, Owyhee, Shoshone, and Washington
Counties — Public Lands in Idaho — Social Condition — Education —
Religion— Benevolent Societies— Public Improvements — Railroads
and Telegraphs 541
HISTORY OF MONTANA.
CHAPTER I.
KATURAL WEALTH AND SETTLEMENT.
1728-1862.
The Name — Configuration and Climate — Game— Stock-raising Advan-
tages — Minerals and Metals— Catacombs — Mauvaises Torres — Early
Explorations — Fur-hunters and Forts — Missionaries and Missions —
Overland Explorations — Railroad Survey — Wagon-roads — Early
Steamboats— Gold Discoveries— The Cattle Business— First Settlers
— New Counties of Washington
CHAPTER II.
TOWN-BUILDING AND SOCIETY.
1862-186't.
Exploring Expeditions — Pioneers of Montana — Prospecting Parties— Or-
ganization of Districts — Stuart and Bozeman — De Lacy — Biograph-
ical Sketches of Settlers— Freights and Freight Trains— Early Soci-
ety of the Mines— Road-agents and Vigilance Committees — Legally
Organized Banditti— The Sheriff Highwayman and his Deputies — A
Typical Trial — Wholesale Assassination and Retribution
CHAPTER III.
POLmCAL AND JUDICIAL.
1864-1866.
Organization of the Territory— Boundaries Established— Governor Edger-
ton — Judges Appointed — First Legislature — Seat of Government —
Seal — Map^Meagher, Acting Governor — Party Issues — Convention
— Election— Early Newspapers— Vigilance Committee Influence—
Eastern Solons — Difficulties Encountered by the Early Judges—
Beidler — More Legislation — Governor Smith — Education — Assay
Office — Surveyor-general — Removal of Capital 642
CHAPTER IV.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
1866-1SS6.
Special Legislation — All Made Null by Congress— Useful Laws— The Cap-
ital Question— Party Issues— The Several Legislatures — Governor
Ashley — Governor Potts — Newspapers — Railway Legislation — The
Right-of-way Question — Territorial Extravagance — Northern Pacific
Railway — Local Issues — Retrenchment and Reform 666
CHAPTER V.
INDIAN WARS.
1855-1882.
The Blackfoot Nation— Crows and Sioux— Their Lands and their Charac-
ters—The Old, Old Issue— Treaty -making— Treaty -breaking, Fight-
ing, and Finishing — Movements of Troops — Montana Militia Com-
panies—Establishing Forts- Expeditions for Prospecting and Dis-
covery — Reservations — Long-continued Hostilities —Decisive Meas-
ures 690
CHAPTER VI.
MINING AND CATTLE-RAI.S1NQ.
Influx of Prospectors— Continued Mineral Discoveries— Alder and Last
Chance Gulches — Mining Adventures — Some Notable Discoveries —
Hydraulic Machinery — Quartz-mining — Transportation — Routes
and Freights— The Business of Cattle-growing— Ranges— Brands-
Round-up — Product and Profit — Further Mining Developments —
Condition of Agriculture and Horticulture 720
CHAPTER VII.
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT.
1870-1888.
Condition of Montana from 1870 to 1880— Countries Compared— Total
Production in 1888— Price of Labor— Railroad Era — Agriculture —
Lumbering — Wages — Transportation Companies — Coal — Looses in
Cattle — Mining Development — Butte — Pliillipsburg— Deer Lodge —
Helena — Great Falls — Bentou^Eastern Montana — Moral and Social
Condition 750
CHAPTER VIII.
PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
Convention of 1S84 — Election of Delegate and Legislature— Republican
and Democratic Conventions — Territorial Officers — Governor Leslie
Appointed — Legislative Sessions and Enactments — Memorials con-
cerning Mineral Lauds — The Northern Pacific Railroad — Laws to
Guard Elections— Thomas H. Carter, Delegate— B. F. White, Gov-
ernor — Enabling Act Passed by Congress — Constitutional Convention
— Features of the Constitution — Political Troubles 781
AUTHOEITIES COI^SULTED
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON", IDAHO,
AND MONTANA
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Americ3,n Mining Index.
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(xvii)
xviii AUTHORITIES CONSULTED
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AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. xix
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Grover (Lafayette), Notable Things in Or. History. MS. ; Public Life. MS.
Hall (James), Sketches of the West. Cincinnati, 1834; Philadelphia, 1835.
Hancock (Samuel), Thirteen Years' Residence on the Northwest Coast. MS.
Hanford (Abby J.), Indian Attack on Seattle. MS.
Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. London, 1860.
Harper's Magazine. New York, 1854 et seq.
Harrison (J. M.), Harrison's Guide, etc., of the Pacific Slope. San Fran-
cisco, 1872.
Harvey (Mrs Eloise), Life of McLoughlin. MS.
Hayden (F. V.), Geol. Survey. Washington (D. C), 1873 et seq.
Hays' Scrap-Books. 129 vols.
Hayt (E. A.), in Sec. Inter. Rept, 1878-9.
Healdsburg (Cal.), Russian River Flag; Standard.
Helena (Mont.), Herald; Independent; Post; Republican; Rocky Mtn Ga-
zette.
Hesperian. San Francisco, 1858 et seq.
Hill (N. D.), in Wash. Ty Sketches. MS.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. xxi
Hines (Gustavus), Oregon and its Institutions. New York, 1868; Oregon:
Its History, etc. Buffalo (N. Y.), 1851; Voyage Round the World, etc.
Buffalo (N. Y.), 1850.
Historical Magazine, etc. Boston (Mass.), 1857 et aeq.
Hittell (John S.), Commerce and Industry of the Vac. Coast. San Fran-
cisco, 1882; Resources of California. San Francisco, 1874; Scrap-Books;
Manufactures; Washington Territory.
Hofen (L.), History of Idaho County. MS.
Honolulu (S. I.), Friend; Polynesian.
Hopkins (C. T.) and Ringot (J.), Ship-building on the Pae. Coast. San
Francisco, 1867.
Howard (Jacob M.), Speech in U. S. Senate, April 16, 1869.
Howard (0. O.), in MUitary Repts Dept Columbia, Sept. 1, 1876.
Howison (N. M.), Report on Coast, Harbors, etc., of Oregon, 1846. Wash-
ington, 1848.
Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound Agric. Co.'s Claims. Montreal (Can.), and
Washington (D. C). 1868 et seq. Memorials Presented to the Commis-
sioners, April 17, 1865.
Humboldt (Nev.), Times.
Hutchings' Calif ornia Magazine, 1857 et seq.
Hutton (J. M.), Early Events, etc. MS.
Idaho City (Id.), News; Union; World.
Idaho: General Laws, 1863-^ et seq.; House and Council Journals, 1863-4
et seq. ; Scraps; Supt Pub. Instruction Reports, 1865 et seq.
Jackson (Cal.), Amador Ledger.
Jacksonville (Or.), Dem. Times; Sentinel.
Judge (Jas), in Walla WaUa Statesman, July 30, 1870.
Kelley (Hall J.), Hist, of the Settlement of Oregon. Springfield (Mass.), 1868.
Kenyon (F.), Laws of Idaho Relating to Quartz. San Francisco, 1866.
Kip (Lawrence), Army Life on the Pacific. New York, 1859. Indian Coun-
cil in the Valley of the Walla Walla. San Francisco, 1855.
Kirchoff (Theodor), ReisebUder und Skissen aus Amerika. New York, 1875,
1876. 2 vols.
Knapp (H. H.), Statements of Events in Idaho. MS.
Knox (Thos W.), Underground World, etc. Hartford (Conn.), 1878.
Kohl, in Pac. R. R. Reports, xii. Washington {D. C), 1860.
La Conner (Wash.), Puget Sound Mail.
La Grande (Or.), Mountain Sentinel, in Idaho World.
Langevin (H. L.), Report, 1852. Ottawa (Can.), 1872.
Langley (H. G.), Pacific Coast Directory, 1869 et seq. San Francisco.
Larocque, Skagit Mines.
Lawson (Jas S. ), Autobiography. MS.
Lee (D.) and Frost (J. H.), Ten Years in Oregon. New York, 1844.
Lewis (Phil. H.), Coal Discoveries in Wash. Ty. MS.
Lewis and Clarke's Travels to the Source of the Missouri River, etc. Lon-
don, 1814.
Lewiston (Id.), Golden Age; Journal; Northerner; Radiator; Signal.
London Times, Jan. 12, 1861.
Lord ( Jno. K. ), Naturalist in Vancouver's Island, etc. London, 1866.
Los Angeles (Cal.), Herald; Republican; Star.
Louisville (Ky), Courier-Journal, in Boise Statesman, Jan. 8, 1876.
Ludlow (F. H.), Heart of the Continent. New York, 1870.
Ludlow (Wm), Rept of a Reconnoissance, etc., 1875. Washington, 1876.
Macfarlane (Jas), Coal Regions of America. New York, 1873.
Maize (H. B.), Early Events. MS.
Kii AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Mariposa (Cal.), Gazette.
Marshall (!'. W. M.), Christian Missions, etc. New York, 1864. 2 vols.
Martin (R. M.), Hudson's Bay Territories, etc. London, 1849.
Marysville (Cal.), Appeal.
Mayne (R. C), Four Years in Br. Col. London, 1862.
McCabe (Jas D. Jr.), Comprehensive View of Our Country, etc. Philadel-
phia, etc., 1876.
McClure (A. K.), Three Thousand Miles through the Rocky Mountains.
Philadelphia, 1869.
McConnell (W. J.), Idaho Inferno. MS.
McCormick (S. J.), Almanac for Wash., Oregon, etc. Portland (Or.), 1854
et seq.; Portland Directory, 1863 et seq. Portland (Or.).
McCracken (Jno.), Early Steamboating. MS.
McKay (Jas Wm), Recollections of Hudson's Bay Co. MS.
Meagher (Thos F.), in Harper's Magazine, Oct. 1867; in Hays' Scraps, Min-
ing, iii., 25-6.
Meeker (E.), Washington Territory, etc. Olympia, 1870.
Mercer (A. S.), Washington Territory, etc. Utica (N. Y.), 1865.
Mercer (Thos), in Bell's Settlement of Seattle. MS. ; in Wash. Ty Sketches.
MS.
Meteorological Register, U. S. Army, 1843-54. Washington (D. C), 1855.
Methodist Episc. Church Ann. Conferences, 1856 et seq. San Francisco.
Miller (Joaquin), in Walla Walla (Wash.) Statesman, Dec. 11, 1880.
Miner (The), San Francisco, 1866 et seq.
Missoula (Mont.), Missonlian; Pioneer.
Modesto (Cal.), News.
Montana: Hist. Soc. Contributions, Helena, 1876 et seq.; Scraps.
Montana Pub. Doc: Auditor's Reports, 1866 et seq.; Council Journals, 1864
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of Gov. Potts, 1877; Reports of Gov. to Sec. of Interior, 1S66 et seq.
Monteith (Jno. B.), in Rept Sec. Interior, 1877-8.
Monterey (Cal.), Democrat.
Morris (Wm G.), Address before Soc. Cal. Volunteers, April 25, 1866. San
Francisco.
Morse (Eldridge), Notes of Hist, and Res. of Wash. Territory. 24 vols. MS.
Morse (Jed.), Rept to Sec. of War on Indian Affairs. New Haven (Conn.),
1822.
Moseley (H. N.), Oregon: Its Resources. London, 1878.
MuUan (John), Miners' and Travellers' Guide, etc. New York, 186!); Rept
on the Construe, of a Military Road, etc. Washington, 1868; in Walla
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Murphy and Harned, Puget Sound Business Directory, 1872.
Napa (Cal.), Register.
National Almanac, 1863 et seq. Philadelphia, etc.
Neil (Gov. J. B.), Message to Idaho Legislative Assembly, in Silver City
(Id.) Owyhee Avalanche, Dec. 18 1880; Message, 1882; Reports to Sec.
of Interior, 1880, 1882.
Newberry (.J. S.), Report in Pac. R. R. Reports, vi.
New Tacoma (Wash.), Tacoma Herald; Ledger; North Pac. Coast.
New York Tribune, in Helena (Mont.) Gazette, Sept. 6, 1873.
Nichols (Rowena), Indian Affairs. MS.
Nidever (Geo. ), Life and Adventures. MS.
Niles' National Register. Baltimore and Philadelphia, 1811 et seq.
Northern Pac. R. R. Settlers' Guide, n.pl., 1872.
Oats (J. W.), in The Californian, Feb. 1880.
Olympia Club Conversations. MS.
Olympia (Wash.), Columbian; Echo; Overland Press; Pacific Tribune; Pio-
neer; Pioneer and Democrat; Puget Sound Courier; Territorial Repub-
lican; Transcript; Washington Standard.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. xxui
O'Meara (Jas), in Idaho World, Oct. 2, 1867.
Oregon Ai-chives. MS.
Oregon City, Enterprise; Oregon Sjjectator.
Oregon Pub. Doc. as follows: Adj.-Geul Report, 1S66; Jour. Council, 1852-3,
1853-4; Jour. House, 1865; Jour. Senate, 1860, app.
Oregon and Washington Scraps.
Oregon and Washington; Statement of Delegation in Regard to War Claims.
n. impt.
Overland Monthly, in Bois^ Statesman, Sept. 10, 1870.
Overland Press, in Portland Wy. Oregoniau, April 30, 1864.
Owens (Geo.), Directory; East of Cascade Mountains. San Francisco, 1865.
Oxford, Idaho Enterprise.
Palmer (Joel), Journal of Travels over the Rocky Mountains, etc. Cincin-
nati, 1852.
Parker (J. G. ), Puget Sound. MS.
Peirce (H. M.), Memoranda. MS.
Pengra (B. J.), Report of Recent Surveys, etc. Eugene City (Or.), 1865.
Pettygrove (F. W.), Oregon in 1842. MS.
Phelps (T. S.), Reminiscences of Seattle. Philadelphia, 1881.
Plummer (A. A.), in Wash. Ty Sketches. MS.
Pomeroy (Wash.), Independent.
Portland (Or.), Advertiser; in Sac. Union, Nov. 23, I860; Bee; Bulletin;
Columbia 'Evng Telegram; Herald; New Northwest; Oregon Deutche
Zeitung; Oregonian; Pac. Clirist. Advocate; Standard; West Shore.
Portland (Or.), Board of Trade Report, 1877.
PortTowusend (Wash.), Argus; Democ. Press; Message; Northwest; Register.
Price (Henry A.), in Niles' National Register, Ixiii., 242-3.
Quigley (Hugh), Irish Race in California, etc. San Francisco, 1878.
Rabbison (A. B.), Growth of Towns. MS.
Rawlings (Thos), Confederation of the Br. N. Amer. Confederation. Lon-
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Raymond (R. W.), Mining Industry of the States, etc. New York, 1874;
Statistics of Mines, etc. Washington, 1873; in H. Ex. Doc, 210, 42d
Cong. 3d Sess.; H. Ex. Doc, 141, 43d Cong. 1st Sess.; H. Ex. Doc,
177, 43d Cong. 2d Sess.; H. Ex. Doc, 159, 44th Cong. 1st Sess.
RedBlufif (Cal.), Independent; Sentinel.
Redwood (Cal.), Gazette.
Kemy (Jules) and Brenchley (Julius), Journey to Great Salt Lake City.
London, 1861.
Reno (Nev. ), Gazette.
Renton (Wash.), Coal Company. San Francisco, 1874.
Riblett (Frank), Snake River Region. MS.
Richmond (Ind.), Herald, in Silver City Owyhee Avalanche, Dec. 9, 1871.
Richardson (A. D.), Beyond the Mississippi. Hartford (Conn.), 1807.
Roberts (Geo. B.), Recollections. MS.
Roder (Henry), Bellingham Bay. MS.
Roseburg (Or.), Independent; Plaindealer.
Rossi (I'Abbie), Souvenirs d'un Voyage en Oregon et en Californie. Paris,
1864.
Ruby City (Id.), Owyhee Avalanche.
Rusliug (Jas F.), Across America. New York, 1874.
Russell (Florence), Child Life in Oregon. Boston (Mass.), n. d.
Sacramento (Cal.), Bee; Record-Union; Union.
Saint-Amant (M. de), Voyages en Californie et dans I'Or^gon. Paris, 1854.
St Louis (Mo.), Democrat, in S. F. Bulletin, July 28, 1871; Times-Journal,
March 11, 1879.
xriv AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
St Paul (Minn.), Pioneer, in Helena (Mont.) Independent, June 13, 1878.
Salem (Or.), Mercury; Oregon Argus; Statesman; Unionist; Willamette
Farmer.
Salinas (Cal. ), City Index.
Salomon (Gov. E. S.), Message to Wash. Legis. Assembly, 1871.
Salt Lake City, Ueseret News; Herald; Telegraph; Tribune; Union Vedette.
San Buenaventura (Cal.), Free Press.
San Diego (Cal.), Union.
San Francisco newspapers as follows: Abend Post; Advocate; Alta Califor-
nia; Bulletin; Cal. Christ. Advocate; Call; Chronicle; Comml Herald
and Market Rev. ; Comml Review; Courrier de San Francisco; Elevator;
Evening Picayune; E.xaminer; Golden Era; Herald; Journal of Com-
merce; Mining Review; Mining and Scientific Press; Monitor; Pacific
News; Pacific Rural Press; Post; Stock Report; The Pacific; Times;
True Californian; Visitor.
Saxton (Chas), in Niles' National Register, Ixix., 242.
Sayward (W. T.), Pioneer Reminiscences. MS.
Scenes in the Rocky Mountains. Philadelphia, 1846.
Scliultz (Mrs T.), Early Anecdotes. MS.
Seattle (Wash.), Intelligencer; Post; Puget Sound Dispatch; Puget Sound
Gazette; Puget Sound Semi-weekly; Tribune; Washington Gazette.
Shasta (Cal. ), Courier.
Shoup (G. L.), Idaho Territory. MS.
Shuck (0. T.), Representative and Leading Men, etc. San Francisco, 1870,
1875.
Silliman (Benj.), Amer. Journal of Science and Arts. New Haven (Conn.),
1819 et seq.
Silver City (Id.), Owyhee Avalanche.
Simmons (M. T.), in H. B. Co. Evidence in H. B. Co. Claims; in Ind. Affairs
Report, 1857, 1858.
Simpson (Sir G.), Narrative of a Journey Round the World. London, 1847.
2 vols.; in Rept Hudson's Bay Co., July, Aug., 1857.
Siskiyou County (Cal.), Affairs. MS.
Smyth (John H.), Law of Homestead, etc. San Francisco, 1875.
Snohomish (Wash.), Northern Star.
Solano (Cal.), Suisun Herald.
Sonith (Sec. R. G.), m Rept Hudson's Bay Co., July, Aug., 1857.
Spalding (H. H.), in Van Tramp (J. C), Prairie and Rocky Mtu Adventures,
etc. St Louis (Mo.), 1860.
Spence (Thos), Settler's Guide in the U. S., etc., 1862.
Spirit of Missions. New York, 1868.
Spokane Falls (Wash.), Spokane Times.
Star (F. R.), Idaho. MS.
Steele (Alden H. ), With the Rifle Regiment. MS.
Steele (Fred.), in Gen. Orders Hdqrs Dept Columbia, Nov. 1, 1867.
Steilacoom (Wash.), Puget Sound Express; Herald.
Stevens (I. I.), Address on the Northwest. N. Y., Dec. 2, 1858; Washing-
ton, 1858; in Ind. Affairs Report, 1854; Letter to R. R. Convention, etc.,
Washington (D. C), 1860; Message to Wash. Legis. Assembly, 1856-7,
in H. Jour., app., i.-xxiii.; Narrative, in Pac. R. R. Reports, xii.; Proc.
declaring Pierce Co. under Martial Law, in Wash. H. Jour., 1856-7,
app., xxxix. ; Remarks on War Expenses of Wash, and Oregon, etc.,
Washington (D. C), 1860.
Stockton (Cal.), Independent.
Strahorn (Robt E ), Resources and Attrao. of Idaho, etc. Boise City (Id.),
1881: To the Rockies, etc. Chicago, 1881.
Strong (Wm), Hist, of Oregon. MS.
Stuart (Mrs A. H. H.), Rept of Board of Immigration to Wash. Legia. As-
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cerning, etc., its Soil, etc. Olympia, 1875.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED, xxv
Stuart (Granville), Montana as It is. New York, 1SG5. In Montana Hist.
Soc. Proceedings, i. n. impt.
Susanville (Cal.), Lassen Co. Advocate.
Sutherland (Thos A.), Howard's Campaign against Nez Perce Indians, 1877.
Portland, 1878.
Swan (Jas G.), in Boston (Mass.) Ev. Transcript, May 25, 1857; Northwest
Coast, etc. New York, 1857; Scrap-Books. 2 vols; Wash. Sketches.
MS.
Swan (J. M.), Colonizations. MS.
Sylvester (Edward), Founding of Olympia. MS.
Symous (T. W.), in S. Ex. Doc. 186, 47th Cong. 1st Sess.
Tacoma (Wash.), Pac. Tribune.
The Dalles (Dr.), Dalles Inland Empire; Mountaineer.
The Mining Industry. Denver (Colo.), 1881.
Thompson (A. W.), Law of the Farm. San Francisco, 1876.
Thornton (J. Q.), Or. and California iu 1848. New York, 1849; Oregon
History. MS.
Tod (John), New Caledonia. MS.
Tolmie (Wm F.), Journal, 1833. MS.; Puget Sound and N. W. Coast.
MS.
Townsend ( Juo. K. ), Narrative of a Journey, etc. Philadelphia, 1839.
Tribune Almanac. New Y'ork, 1838 et seq.
Tucker (Eph. W.), Hist, of Oregon. Buffalo (N. Y.), 1844.
Tuscarora (Nev.), Times-Review.
Twiss (Travers), Oregon Question. London, 1846.
Umatilla (Or.), Advertiser; Columbia Press.
U. S. Pub. Doc. as follows: Acts and Resolutions, 1853-4 et seq.; Bureau of
Statis. Reports, 1854 et seq. ; Census, 1850 et seq.; Commerce and Nav.
Reports, 1857 et seq.; Commercial Relations, Reports, 1858 et seq.;
Commissioner's Reports: Agriculture, 1855 et seq.; Education, 1854 et
seq.; Indian Affairs, 1854 et seq.; Internal Revenue, 1863 et seq.; Lands,
1855 et seq.; Director of Mint Reports, 1863 et seq.; Congress. Direc,
1853-4 et seq.; House Journals, 1853-4 et seq.; H. Com. Repts, 376,
35th Cong. 1st Sess.; no. 630, 43d Cong. 1st Sess.; no. 1505, 4Cth
Cong. 2d Sess.; Ex. Doc, 93, 35th Cong. 1st Sess.; no. 1, 42d Cong.
3d Sess.; Life Saving Service Reports, 1880 et seq.; Messages and Docs.,
1853^ et seq.; Official Registers, 1853 et seq.; Postmaster-Genl Re-
ports, 1853 et seq.; Quartermaster -Genl Reports, 1849 et seq.; Reply of
U. S. to Hudson's Bay Co.'s Claims, Washington, 1872; Sec. Interior
Reports, 1854 et seq.; Sec. Treasury Reports, 1854 et seq.; Sec. AVar
Reports, 1849 et seq.; Senate Journals, 1853-4 et seq.; S. Com. Reports,
47, 41st Cong. 2d Sess.; S. Ex. Doc, 16, .33d Cong. 2d Sess.; no. 5, 34th
Cong. 3d. Sess.; S. Misc. Doc, 266, 35th Cong. 1st Sess.; Surgeon-Genl
Circular no. 8, 1875; Surveyor-Genl Reports, 1854 et seq.; U. S. Evi-
dence, in Hudson's Bay Co.'s Claims, Washington, 1872.
Utah, Hand-Book of Reference, etc. S. L. City, 1884.
Vallejo (Cal.), Chronicle.
Vancouver (Wash.), Chronicle; Clarke County Register; Independent.
Van Tramp (Jno. C.), Prairie and Rocky Mtn Adventures. St Louis (Mo.),
1860.
Viagero Universal. Madrid, 1796-1801. 43 vols.
Victor (Mrs F. F.), All over Oregon and Washington. San Francisco, 1872;
River of the West. Hartford (Conn.), 1870.
Victoria (V. I.), British Colonist; Colonist and Chronicle; Victoria Gazette.
Virginia City (Mont. ), Capital Times; Madisonian; Montana Democrat; Mon-
tana Post; Virginia and Helena Post.
Virginia City (Nov.), Evng Chronicle; Union.
xxvi AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Waddingtoa (Alfred), Fraser Mines Vindicated. Victoria (V. I.), 185S;
Overlaad Koute through Br. N. America. London, ISIJS.
Waitsburgh (Wash.), Times.
Walla Walla (Wash.), Spirit of the West; Statesman; Union; Washington
DeQioerat; Watchman.
Washincton (D. C), Chronicle, in Virginia and Helena (Mont.) Post, Oct. 15,
1866.
Washington: Scraps; Sketches. MS.
VVashingtoa Territory: Correspondence Relating to Indian Hostilities, in S.
Ex. Doc. 66, 34th Cong. 1st Sess.; Settler's Guide. New York, n. d.;
New York, 1878; True Exhibit of in 1880. New Tacoma (Wash.),
1880; Women's Christ. Tem. Union.
Washington Territory Pub. Doc. as follows: Board of Immigr. Circular,
March 1, 1878; Council Journal, 1854 et seq.; Governor's Messages,
1854 et seq. ; House Journal, 1854 et seq. ; Opinions of Supreme Court,
1854^64; Revenue Law, 1869; Road Laws, 1877; School Law, 1877,
Statutes, 1854 et seq.; Territorial Officiai Reports; Adjutant-Genl,
1854 et seq.; Comptroller, 1854 et seq.; Governor to Sec. of Interior;
1855 et seq.; Librarian, 1855 et seq.; Supt Pub. Instruction, 1873 et seq.;
Surveyor-Genl, 1854 et seq.
Weed (Ohas E ), Queen Charlotte Island Expedition. MS.
Whatcom (Wash. ), Bellingham Bay Mail.
Wheeler (Geo. M), U. S. Geolog. Surveys West of the One Hnndreth Me-
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White (Elijah), Concise View of Or. Territory. Washington, 1846; Ten
Years in Oregon. Ithaca (N. Y.), 18.50.
Wliite (Z. L.), in Hay den (F. V.), Great West. Bloomington (HI.), 1880.
Whitney (J. ]).], Notice of the Mtu Heights in the U. S. San Francisco,
1862.
VVhitworth (Geo. F.), Statement. MS.
Wilkes (Chas), U. S. Explor. Expedition, 1838-42. Philadelphia, 1844 et
seq. 25 vols.
Wdkeson (Saml), Wilkeson'a Notes on Puget Sound, n. impt.
Williams (Henry T.), Pacific Tourist. New York, 1876.
Wiuuemucca (Nev,), Silver State.
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Wislizeuus (F. A.), Ausflug Nach den Felsen-Gebirgen im Jahre 1839. St
Louis (Mo.), 1840.
Wolfe (J. M.), Mercantile Guide. Omaha (Neb.), 1878.
Wood (0. E. S.), in Century Mag., May 1884.
Wood Bros., Live Stock Movement, 1880-4. n. impt.
Wood (H. Clay), Young Joseph and Nez Perce Indians. Portland (Or.),
1876.
Woodland (Cal.), Detiiocrat.
Wyoming Indians and Settlers. MS.
Yakima (Wash.), Wy. Record; SignaL
Yale (C. G.), in Burchard's Prod, of Prec. Metals, 1380. Washington
(D. C), 1881.
Yankton (Dak.), Press-Dacotaian.
Yesler (H. L.), Settlement of Wash. Territory. MS.
Yreka (Cal.), Wy. Journal, Dec. 4, 1861; Union.
Zibriskie (Jas C), Pub. Land Laws of the U. S. San Francisco, 1870.
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON,
CHAPTER r.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
1845-1853.
Attitude of the Hudson's Bay Company — Michael T. Simmons and
Associates Proceed Northwakd — Settle at Budd Inlet — Puget
Sound — Highlands— Tumwater — Bush Prairie— Chambers Prairie
— Neah Bay — Marriages and Births — The Indians Pronounce
against the White Man — Effect of California Gold Discovery
—The Timber Trade— Towns Laid out — Whidbey Island Settled —
Occupation of the Coast Countky.
Doctor John McLoughlin, autocrat of Fort Van-
couver, at the instigation of the London managers
of the Hudson's Bay Company, but contrary to his
own judgment, exercised his influence to induce the
incoming citizens of the United States not to locate
themselves north of the Columbia River, as in the
partition presentl}' to be made all that region would
probably be British territory. To the average Amer-
ican emigrant of that day the simple fact that a
Britisher should wish him not to settle in any certain
part of the undivided territory was of itself sufficient
incentive for liim to select that spot, provided it was
not much worse than any other. There must be
some special attraction in the direction of Puget
Sound, else the fur company would not so strongly
advise people not to go there.
So thought Michael T. Simmons, a stanch Ken-
2 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
tuckian, whom the reader has met before, in the
history of Oregon, he being of the immigration of
1844, and spending the ensuing winter with his
family at Fort Vancouver, where he made shingles to
pay expenses, his wife meanwhile improving the time
by giving birth to a son, named Christopher, the first
American born in western Washington.
Simmons was a fine specimen of a man, and a good
representative of the class that went into Washington
about this time, determined to remain there, particu-
larly' if England's majesty ordered them out. Just
past thirty, having been born at Sheppardsville
the 5th of August, 1814, possessing the grand
physique of the early men of Kentucky, unlettered
though not unenlightened, he possessed the qualities
which in feudal times made men chiefs and founders
of families. His courage was equalled only by his
independence; he could not comprehend the idea of a
superior, having come from a land wherein all were
kings though they ruled only a pigsty or a potato-patch.
He had intended to settle in the valley of Rogue
River before so much had been said against his going
north, but this determined him. During the Avinter
of 1844-5, with five companions/ he proceeded north-
ward, but only reached the fork of the Cowlitz,
whence he returned to Fort Vancouver. Again he
set out the following Jul}' with eight others,^ and
guided beyond Cowlitz prairie by Peter Border, who
had performed the same service fur Wilkes in 1841,
he not only reached the Sound, but made a canoe
voyage as far as Whidbey Island, satisfying himself
of the commercial advantages of this region. Then
he made his selection at the head of Budd Inlet,
where Des Chutes River drops by successive falls a
distance of eighty feet, constituting a fine mill-power.
The place had the further advantage of being at no
' Hem-y Williamson, James Loomis, and Henry, James, and John Owens,
none of whom finally settled north of the Columbia.
^George Waunch, David Crawford, Charles Eaton, Niniwon Evcrman,
Seyburn Thornton, William Shaw, David Parker, and John Hunt.
SIMMONS THE PIONEER. 3
great distance from Fort Nisqually, the only supply
post in this part of the territory, with the French
settlements to the south of it on the Cowlitz prairie
constituting a link with the Columbia River and
Willamette settlements. The selection for the pur-
poses of a new community in a new country was a
good one, and was prompted by a desire somewhat
similar to that of the methodist missionaries to get pos-
session of Oregon City, on account of the water-power.
Having chosen his site, he returned to the Colum-
bia to remove his family, which he did in October,
accompanied by James McAllister, David Kindred,
Gabriel Jones, George W. Bush, and tlieir wives and
children, five families in all, and two single men, Jesse
Ferguson and Samuel B. Crockett, these seven men
being the first Americans ' to settle in the region of
Pnget Sound,* although John R. Jackson, of the
same immigration, had been a little beforehand with
them in point of time, and selected a claim five miles
north of the French settlements, and ten miles be-
yond the Cowlitz landing, on a small tributary of that
river, near the trail to the Chehalis,^ which site he
called Highlands, and where he had already erected
a house."
'I purposely leave out Richmond, -who was not a 'settler,' and who aban-
doned the mission. Fergnson married Margaret Rutledge May 29, 1853.
Olyiiipia Columbian, June 4, 1853.
* Evei-y part of the great Washington Inlet was now coming to be called
Pnget Sound. It so appear.9 in the writings of almost all authors, besides
being always referred to in conversation by that name. Admiralty Inlet
was found too long a name, and the first settlements of both English and
Americans were upon that portion called after Puget, which tended to estab-
lish its use, for in passing up and down these waters it was not easy to dis-
cern where one division ended and another began. Says Eugene Ellicot, of
the U. S. coast survey, who has been in that service since 18U4: 'Vancouver
named the head of the sound above Dana's passage Puget Sound. Twenty
years ago the designation had extended itself in popular use as far as
Point Defiance (at the foot of The Narrows). Now it is applied to the
whole sound as far as Bellingham Bay. Instead of Admiralty Inlet, the U. S.
chart now calls it Puget Sound. Ellicot's Puget Sound, MS., i. Indeed, how-
ever it happened, it is not correct to call these waters, in some places wellnigh
fathomless, by tlie name of sound, which implies shallowness, but there is
no withstanding custom and convenience.
* Sometimes called Chickeeles. See Native Races, i. 303.
* Jackson, I am told, intended going to the Sound, and as early as March
set out with the design of taking up the water-power at the falU of Des Chute%
4:: THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
It required fifteen days to open a road for the pas-
sage of the ox-teains from Cowlitz landing to Budd
Inlet, a distance of less than sixty miles. Simmons
named his place New Market, but subsequent settlers
called it by the Indian, and more appropriate, name of
Tumwater,'' which it keeps, and which to avoid confu-
sion I shall hereafter use.
The seven Puget Sound settlers took their claims
within a radius of six miles, Kindred two miles south
of Tumwater, McAllister about six miles north-east,
and the others intermediate, on a sandy plain now
known as Bush prairie, from George W. Bush.® In
the same summer or autumn George Waunch located
himself on the Skookum Chuck, making the ninth
man not in the Hudson's Bay Company's service who
settled north of the Cowlitz farm in 1845.
The first house was built on Kindred's claim, at the
west edge of Bush prairie,^ Simmons building at
which he had heard of; but owing to the difficulty of trayel at this season, he
proceeded no farther than Simon Plomondon's place on the Newaukum Kiver, a
confluent of the Chehalis. But about the second week in July he again set forth
for Puget Sound, accompanied by W. P. Dougherty, H. A. G. Lee, Joseph
Watt, Jacob Haldry, and Stewart. The Oregonians turned back from the Che-
halis, and Jackson, after exploring the country in that vicinity, returned to the
Cowlitz and took a claim as above stated. While returning for his family he
met Simmons' party. John R. Jacksou was a native of IJurham, parish of
Steindrop, England, born Jan. 13, 1800. He landed at New York Sept. 27,
1833, and went directly to 111., where he settled Nov. 5th, leaving his first
American home for Or. in 1844. He was a butcher, kept a piiblic house at
Highlands, and dispensed good-cheer with good-humored hospitality during
the early days of Washington. His house was a rendezvous for the transac-
tion of public business, the first courts in Lewis county being held there, and
there was discussed the propriety of a separate territorial organization. He
died May 5, 1873. Olympia Transcript, May 31, 1873.
'Signifying strong water, referring to the falls. This word disjdaced
both the Des Chutes or Falls River of the French, and the New Market of
Simmons. It is now common usage to say Tumwater Falls as well as Tum-
water town. Skookum Chuck, the Chinook jargon for rapids, is better ver-
nacular for strong water, and is the name of a branch of the Chehalis.
^George W. Bush (colored) was bom in 1790 in Penn., but in early life re-
moved to Mo., and in 1844 to Or., finishing his long journey by going to
•-'uget Sound. He was respected and honored by the pioneers for his gener
,us and charitable traits and manliness of character. He resided on the
irairie whicli bears his name until April 5, 1863, when he suddenly died of
Hemorrhage by the bursting of a blood-vessel. His son George became
liighly esteemed citizen, who was made president of the Washington Indus-
trial Association, and whose wheat, raised on Bush prairie, was awarded the
first premium at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Morse's Wash.
Ter., MS., i. 54.
» Mrs Tabitha Kindred, who was many years a widow, died June 12, 1872,
EAELY ANNALS OF TUMWATER. 6
Tumwater the following summer. These men had
enough to do to discharge their debts to the Hudson's
Bay Company. McLoughlin and Douglas, who, not-
withstanding their efforts to turn the American settlers
south of the Columbia, seeing they would go north,
gave the officers of the company on Cowlitz prairie
and at Fort Nisqually orders to furnish Simmons'
company with 200 bushels of wheat at eighty cents a
bushel, 100 bushels of pease at one dollar, 300 bushels
of potatoes at fifty cents, and a dozen head of cattle
at twelve dollars each.^" During the winter they were
visited by a party of four men, who proceeded as far
as Nisqually, but did not remain in this region." In
March Mrs McAllister '" gave birth to a son, who was
named James Benton, the first American born on
Puget Sound.
In the following j^ear as many American men set-
tled north of the Cowlitz and about the head of the
Sound as in 1845, but not as many families. At the
confluence of the Skookum Chuck and the Chehalis,
half-way from the Cowlitz landing to Tumwater, two
claims were made by Sidney S. Ford " and Joseph
Barst. Those who went to the Sound were Charles
H. Eaton,^* and his brother Nathan, who located him-
at the age of 89, having resided ou Bush prairie 27 years. Oli/mpia Transcript,
June 15, 1872. The children were two sons, John and B. Kindred, and two
daughters, Mrs Parrot of Oregon City, and Mrs Simmons of the Cowlitz. Olym-
pia Courier, June 15, 1872. Mrs Gabriel Jones died July IS, 1868. Her
home was two miles from Tumwater. Olympia Standard, July 25, 1868. She
was 70 years of age, and had been several years a widow.
'" Evans' Historical Memoranda, consisting of a compilation of newspaper
articles, chiefly written by himself, prepared as the foundation to future his-
torical writing, and which he has generously placed in my hands, has furnished
me with this item.
"They were Wainbow, Wall, Smith, and Pickett.
" Mrs McAllister died in 1874. Steilacoom Express, Sept. 10, 1874.
" Ford was born in New York in 1801, and died Oct. 22, 1866. His wife,
Nancy, was born in New York in 1806. They were married in 1823, and re-
moved to Michigan in 1834, to Missouri in 1840, and to Oregon iu 1845.
Their children and descendants made their home on Ford prairie, about the
head waters of the Chehalis.
'*Eaton was an immigrant of 1843. He was born in Oswego co., N. Y.,
Dec. 22, 1818, removing to Ohio at an early age, whence he came to Oregon.
In the Indian war of 1855 he was commissioned capt. In 1856 he removed
to Tenalcut prairie, and again to Yakima Valley in 1S70, where he was en-
gaged in stock-raising. He died at Yakima City Dec. 19, 1876.
6 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
self on the east side of Budd Inlet, on what is now
called Chambers prairie, being the first to take a
claim north of Tumwater; Edmund Sylvester ,^^ of
Oregon City, who, in partnership with Levi L. Smith,
took two half-sections of land, one directly on Budd
Inlet, two miles below Tumwater, and the other on
the edge of Chambers prairie; Alonzo Marion Poe,
Daniel D. Kinsey, and Antonio B. Rabbeson.'" Sev-
eral other persons arrived at the Sound during the
autumn, but did not remain at that time."
In January 1847 three brothers from Marion county,
named Davis, one with a family, arrived at Tumwater,
besides Samuel Cool, A. J. Moore, Benjamin Gordon,
Leander C. Wallace, Thomas W. Glasgow, and Sam-
uel Hancock.'^ In March there arrived Elisha and
"Sylvester was born in Deer Isle, Maine. For antecedents, see Ilist. Or.,
i. 424, this series. His manuscript, entitled Olympla, which affords me many
authoritative items of early history, is especially useful in the present volume.
""Eabbeson was born in 1824, and was by trade a carpenter. He came to
Oregon from New York City in 1846, and immediately went to Puget Sound,
settling near Sylvester's claim, where he still resides. His manuscript,
Orowth of l^ownn, contains a narrative of the immigration of 1846, with good
character sketches of some of the men in it, followed by an interestmg account
of the settlement of Washuigton, his reason for coming to the Sound being a
preference for salt-water. Most writers place Wallace in the immigration of
1847, but Eabbeson says he came with him in 1846. Growth of Towns, MS.,
13. This is the Wallace killed in the attack on Nisqually iu the spring of
1849. Hist. Or., ii. 67-8, this series. In January 1854 Eabbeson married
Lucy Barnes of Olympia.
" Elisha and William Packwood, Jason Peters, Thomas Canby, and Elisha
and James McKindley examined the country and returned to the Willamette
to winter. Two of them only finally settled north of the Columbia. £i-a>is'
Hist. Mem., 11. The names of David Coiner and J. E. Conat also appear as
settlers of this year, but more I do not know about them.
"Hancock left Independence, Mo., in the spring of 1845, but remained
in Or. City one year. He then started to go to Puget Sound with two others,
names unknown, by the way of the Columbia, Baker Bay, the Pacific Ocean,
and the strait of Fuca. They succeeded in drawing their canoe across the
neck of sand north of Cape Disappointment, but the sight of the ocean in
Nov. disheartened them, and they decided to try walking from the coast in-
land, hoping to reach the Sound in that way. But Hancock, seized with
fever, was left In charge of the Indians, who, after extorting every article he
possessed, conveyed him to Astoria, where he recovered. What became of
his companions docs not appear in his Thirteen Years' Residence in Washing-
ton Territory, MS., from which I take his biography. After recovery, he
again set out for the Sound by the way of the Cowlitz, arriving at Tumwater
early in 1847, and going to work at shingle-making like the others. In the
spring of 1849 Hancock went to Cal. for gold, where he had a great many ad-
ventures, if we may credit the marvellous stories contained in his Thirteen
Years. On returning to Puget Sound in tlie autumn of 1849, he brought a
stock of goods to sell to settlers and natives, and having disposed of a portion,
PACKWOOD AND HANCOCK. 7
William Packwood, with their families. The first
settled on land later owned by David J. Chambers.
Packwood abandoned it in August to return to the
Willamette. William Packwood took a claim on the
set out to explore for coal, having heard that this mineral was to be found
in the neighborhood of the Sound. In these explorations he spent some
months, probably trading at the same time with the Indians. In 1850 or
spring of 1851 he took some goods to Neah Bay; but the Indians being hos-
tile, he was compelled to save himself by an artifice, writing in tlie presence
of the savages, and telling them that it was to bring the chief of all the white
men to avenge him if slain. Their superstitious fear of paper missives, the
power of which they had witnessed without understanding, conquered their
love of plunder, and they carried him safely to Port Townsend. On his re-
turn he once more explored for coal on the Snohomish and Stilaguamish riv-
ers, where he found it, and discovered also the Cedar and Dwamish rivers.
In Nov. 1851 he took passage in the brig Kendall, which was in the Sound,
and went to S. F. to purchase machinery for a saw-mill, together with another
stock of goods. Having completed his purchases, he shipped them on board
a vessel, the Kayuga, for Puget Sound. Captain Davis was ignorant of nau-
tical science, and had never laeen upon the coast of Oregon. When Hancock
recognized the entrance to the strait of Fuca, Davis declined to enter, and to
test the matter, a boat was seut ashore with Hancock, the mate, and tliree
other persons, at an unknown island. A fog coming down hid the vessel, and
the party were detained three days; and no sooner did the fog clear away
than the natives discovered and attacked them, compelling them to put to
sea. In the mean time the vessel was quite lost to sight. Two days mora
passed on another small island, but here again the Indians caused them to
take to their boat. Several days more were passed in this manner before the
party was finally rescued by some Indians from V. I., under orders fi-om an
officer of the H. B. Co., to whom they had reported the condition of the boat's
crew. Clothing and provisions were despatched to them, and they were
brought to Sooke harbor, where they received unlimited hospitality for three
days. On coming to Victoria the Kayur/a was found to be there, having by
chance got into the strait and to port, but without endeavoring to pick up
that portion of her crew and passengers left without provisions on an unknown
coast. But that was not all. A considerable portion of Hancock's goods had
been sold, for which no satisfaction could be obtained in a foreign port. The
summing up of the whole matter shows that he was disappointed in his project
of building a mill at Clallam Bay, and was subjected to much loss, which lie
endeavored to make up by furnishing timber for the California market. lu
the autumn of 1852 he removed to Neah Bay, determined to establish a trad-
ing-post among the Indians, which he succeeded in doing, though not without
building fortifications and having some narrow escapes. He afterward pur-
chased an interest in the brig Eaule, Wolfe master, and traded with the Ind-
ians on the northern coast, until the brig was blown on shore and wrecked,
and the savages had despoiled it of its cargo. From this expedition he re-
turned alive, after many adventures with the savages and the exercise of much
tact in averting their hostile intentions. Escaping to Clyaquot Bay, he found
the schooner Demaris Cove, Capt. Eli Hathaway, lyiug there, which returned
with his party to Neah Bay; but the Indians having become more threaten-
ing than before at that place, Hancock determined to remove his
Whidbcy Island, and did so — there being no vessel in port— by lashing
three canoes and covering them with planking, on which the movables were
placed, a ship's long-boat being also loaded and towed behind. A sail was
rigged by setting cedar planks upright, and then the craft was navigated 100
miles to Penn Cove. There he settled, and married Susaoa Crockett. Hia
death occurred in Sept. 1883, at Coupeville.
8 THE FIRST SETTLEMEJJTS.
soutli bank of the Nisqually, and there remained."
During the summer John Kindred, J. B. Logan, B.
F. Shaw, Robert Logan, and A. D. Carnefix joined
the settlement at the head of the Sound, and on the
10th of June the Skookum Chuck settlement was re-
enforced by the birth of Angeline Ford,^" the first
American girl born north of the Columbia. Late in
the autumn there arrived at the Sound Thomas M.
Chambers, with his sons, David, Andrew, Thomas J.,
and McLean, two of whom had famiUes,^ and George
Brail and George Shazar.
From Nisqually the settlers obtained pork, wheat,
pease, potatoes, and such other needful articles as the
company's stores furnished. In 1846 Simmons put
up a small flouring mill at Des Chutes falls, in a log
house, with a set of stones hewn out of some granite
blocks found on the beach, which was ready to grind
the first crop of wheat, if not to bolt it; but unbolted
flour was a luxury after boiled wheat.
"Pack wood was a native of Patrick co., Va, bom in 1813, removing with
his father Elisha to lud. ia 1819. In 18.34 he migrated to Mo., and ten years
later to Or., finally coming to rest on the Nisqually. There was a large fam-
ily of the Packwoods, six of whom arrived in Or. in 1845. See list on p. 526
and 530, IJist. Or., i., this series. In 1848 William went to Cal., where his
brother Elisha was then residing, but appears to have returned without much
improving his fortunes. He constructed a ferry on the Nisqually, and re-
mained on his claim— with the exception of a period of service in the Indian
war of 1855 — until 1867, when he sold it to Isaac P. Hawk. Later he made
his residence at Centreville, on the Northern Pacific railroad. For many
years Packwood occupied his summers in exploring the mountains east and
west of the Sound, the pass at the head of the Cowlitz having been discovered
by and named after him, and some valuable mineral deposits reported by him,
especially of anthracite coal. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., i. 54-87.
'" Miss Ford raan-ied John Shelton.
'^ This family was of Scottish origin, but had been for half a century in tha
U. S., residing in Ind. and Ky. They emigrated to Or. in 1845. Their goods
being detained at The Dalles, in Feb. 1846, the sons constructed a flat-boat,
12 by 20 feet, with a whip-saw and liammer, using oak pins for nails, and
loading it \^^th 13 wagons and the goods of seven families, descended the Co-
lumbia. Thomas M. Chambers settled on the prairie south-east of Olympia,
which bears his name, and where Eaton had settled before him. Here he
lived, and at an advanced age died. David J. located on a smaller plain 3i
miles east of Olympia, and made a fortune in stock-raising; Andrew settled
between the Nisqually plains and Yelm prairie. The first mill in Pierce oo.
was erected by Thomas M. , on Chambers Creek near Steilacoom. He was bom
in Ky in 1791, and died at Steilacoom Dec. 1876. Rebecca, wife of Andrew
J. Chambers, died June 29, 1853. On the 18th of January, 1854, he married
Margaret White.
LUMBER AND LOVE. 9
Late the following year a saw-mill was completed
at Tumwater, built by M. T. Simmons, B. F. Shaw,
E. Sylvester, Jesse Ferguson, A. B. Rabbeson, Ga-
briel Jones, A. D. Carnefix, and John R. Kindred,
who formed the Puget Sound Milling Company, Oc-
tober 25, 1847, Simmons holding the principal num-
ber of shares, and being elected superintendent. The
mill irons, which had been in use at Fort Vancouver,
were obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company.
The lumber found a market among the settlers, but
chiefly at Nisqually, where it was sent in rafts, and
also a little later was in requisition to erect barracks
and officers' quarters at Steilacoom.^" Shingle-making
was also an important industry, shingles passing cur-
rent at Fort Nisqually in exchange for clothing or other
articles. Room for idlers there was none, and this
was fortunate, since indolence in contact with savagery
soon breeds vice, aggravated by enforced solitude.
Daniel D. Kinsey was the first lucky bachelor to
secure a mate in these wilds, by marrying, on the 6th
of July, 1847, Ruth Brock, M. T. Simmons, one of
the judges of Vancouver county, officiating. Samuel
Hancock and A. B. Rabbeson were the first to vary
shingle-making with brick-making, these two taking
a contract to burn a kiln of brick in July 1847, on the
farm of Simon Plomondon at the Cowlitz. And thus
they not only held their own in the new country, but
increased in property and power.
As early as the summer of this second year they
had begun to recognize the necessity of communica-
tion between points, and in August blazed out a trail
from Tumwater to the claim of Sylvester and Smith,
two miles below on the Sound, which now began to be
called Smithfield, because Levi L. Smith resided
there, and because it came to be the head of naviga-
tion by the law of the tides.
2- The date of the lease from Simmons, proprietor of the claim, is August
20, 18-47, to continue for 5 years with the privilege of ten. The site described
was the north-west part of the lower fall. Evans' Hist. Mem., ii.; Hist. Or.,
ii. 70, thia series.
10 THE rmST SETTLEMENTS.
In the autumn of 1847, rendered memorable by the
massacre at Waiilatpu, which alarmed these feeble
settlements, and by the prevalence of measles among
the Indians, for which the white people knew them-
selves held responsible by the miserable victims and
their friends, there were few additions to the popula-
tion. Jonathan Burbee, an immigrant of that year,
took to himself some land on the little Kalama River;
Peter W. Crawford, E. West, and James 0. Raynor
located claims on the Cowlitz near its mouth, being
the first settlers in this vicinity ,^^ and Andrew J.
Simmons took a claim on Cowlitz prairie, where he
died February 1872.='*
Nor were there many accessions to the population
of the Sound in 1848. Rev. Pascal Ricard, oblate
father, established a mission three miles below Tum-
water, June 14th, on the eastern shore of the inlet,
and thereby secured half a section of land to the
church. Thomas W. Glasgow made a tour of explo-
ration down the Sound, and took a claim on Whidbey
Island, the first settlement attempted there, and
situated north-east from the Port Townsend of Van-
couver, directly facing the strait of Fuca. Here he
erected a cabin and planted potatoes and wheat. His
loneliness seems to have been alleviated during his
brief residence, a half-caste daughter testifying to the
favor with which he was regarded by some native
"In 1S47, when Crawford, whose biography is given in my Hist. Or., i.
647, was looking for a place to settle, the only white persons living on the
Cowlitz were Antoine Gobain, a Canadian, who had charge of the H. B. Co. 'a
warehouse on the west bank of the river about two miles from the Columbia,
and Thibault, another Canadian, who lived opposite on the east bank. From
there to the Cowlitz farms all was an unbroken wilderness. Crawford and
West took their claims adjoining each other on the cast bank, where Crawford
permanently had his home, and Raynor on the west bank, where he designed
laying out a town. Crawford's iVar., MS., 98. Owen W. Bozarth, who was
of the immigration of 1845, settled, as I suppose, about this time on Cathla-
pootle or Lewis River, so called from the land claim of A. Lee Lewis, about
7 miles above the mouth.
^' Olympia Wash. Standard, March 2, 1872. I find mention of Alexander
Barron, who died in Feb. 1878; William Rutledge, who died June 1872;
Henry Bechman, who died April 1879; Felix Dodd, who ilied the same month
and year; J. H. Smith, who died May 1879; and John E. Pickuell— all of whom
settled north of the Columbia this year.
GLASGOW ON WHIDBEY ISLAND. 11
brunette;''^ yet he returned to Tumwater to secure
other companions, and persuaded Rabbeson and Carne-
fix to accompany him back to his island home.
On the voyage, performed in a canoe, they pro-
ceeded to the head of Case Inlet, and carrying their
canoe across the portage to the head of Hood canal,
explor'ed that remarkable passage. Carnefix turned
back from the mouth of the Skokomish River,^®
Glasgow and Rabbeson continuing on to Whidbey
Island, which they reached in July. But they were
not permitted to remain. Soon after their arrival a
general council of the tribes of the Sound was held
on the island, at the instigation of Patkanim, chief of
the Snoqualimichs, to confer upon the policy of per-
mitting American settlements in their country. It
was decided that Glasgow must quit the island,
which he was at length forced to do,^' escaping by
the aid of an Indian from the vicinity of Tumwater.
*° Glasgow's daughter married William Hastie. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS.,
i. 113.
^^ It was the turn of Carnefix to cook and attend to camp work. A chief
seeing this thouglit him to be a slave, and offered to purchase him. The jests
of his companions so annoyed Carnefix that he abandoned their company.
Evans' Hist. Mem. ii.
^' Patkanim exhibited the tact in this instance which marked him as a
savage of uncommon intelligence. Parade has a great e£Fect upon the human
mind, whether savage or civilized. Patkanim gave a great hunt to the assem-
bled chiefs. A corral was constructed, with wings extending across the island
from Penn Cove to Glasgow's claim, and a drive made with dogs, by which
more than 60 deer were secured for a grand banquet at the inauguration of
the council. Patkanim then opened the conference by a speech, in which he
urged that if the Americans were allowed to settle among them they would
soon become numerous, and would carry off their people in large tire-ships
to a distant country on which the sun never shone, where they would be left
to perish. He argued that the few now present could easily be exterminated,
which would discourage others from coming, and appealed to the cupidity of
his race by representing that the death of the Americans in the country
would put the Indians in possession of a large amount of property. But the
Indians from the upper part of the Sound, who were better acquainted with
the white people, did not agree with Patkanim. The chief of the bands about
Tum%vater, Snohodumtah, called by the Americans Grayhead, resisted the
arguments of the Snoqualimich chief. He reminded the council that previous
to the advent of the Americans the tribes from the lower sound often made
%var upon the weaker tribes of his section of the country, carrying them
off for slaves, but that he had found the presence of the Boston men a
protection, as they discouraged wars. Patkanim, angered at this opposition,
created a great excitement, which seemed to threaten a battle between the
tribes, and Rabbeson becoming alarmed fled back to the settlements. Two
days later Glasgow followed, being assisted to escape by a friendly Indian,
but leaving behind him all his property. Id., 11-12.
12 THE FIEST SETTLEMENTS.
Glasgow seems to have taken a claim subsequently
in Pierce county, and to have finally left the terri-
tory.^^
During this summer Hancock took a claim on
the west side of Budd Inlet, and built a wharf and
warehouse; but having subsequently engaged in
several commercial ventures involving loss, lie finally
settled in 1852 on Whidbey Island, Patkaniui having
in the mean time failed in his design of exterminating
the American settlers. Rabbeson, glad to be well
away from the neighborhood of the Snoqualimich
chief, went with Ferguson to work in the wheat-
fields of the Cowlitz farm, now in charge of George
B. Roberts, where they taught the Frenchmen how
to save grain by cradling, after which the new
method was high in favor and the cradling party in
demand.
All at once this wholesome plodding was inter-
rupted by the news of the gold discovery in Califor-
nia, and every man who could do so set off' at once
for the gold-fields. They made flat-boats and floated
their loaded wagons down the Cowlitz River to where
the old Hudson's Bay Company's trail left it, drove
their ox-teams to the Columbia River opposite St
Helen, and again taking the trail from the old Mc-
Kay farm, which the Lees had travelled in 1834,
emerged on the Tualatin plains, keeping on the west
side of the Willamette to the head of the valley.
They here came into the southern immigrant road,
which they followed to its junction with the Lassen
trail to the Sacramento Valley, where they arrived
late in the autumn, having performed this remarkable
journey without accident.^
''In July 1858 he married Ellen Horan. Olympia Pioneer and Dem.,
July 30, 1858.
^See Hist. Or., ii. 45, this series. Also liahbeson's Orowth of Towns, MS.,
11-12; Hancock's Thirteen Yews, MS., 105-17. Sylvester, who with Eab-
beson, Fergusiin, and Borst went to California in the spring of 1849, describes
the route as I have given it. His company had one wagon and 4 yokes of
oxen ; and there were three other wagons in the train. They started in April
and reached Sacramento in July. Olympia, MS., 13-15.
GOLD AND INDIANS. 13
The rush to the mines had the same temporary
eft'ect upon the improvement of the country north of
the Columbia that I have noticed in my account of
the gold excitement in the Willamette Valley. Farm-
ing, building, and all other industries were suspended,
while for about two years the working population of
the country were absent in search of gold. This inter-
ruption to the steady and healthy growth which had
begun has been much lamented by some writers,^
with what justice I am unable to perceive; because
although the country stood still in respect to agricul-
ture and the ordinary pursuits of a new and small
population, this loss was more than made up by the
commercial prosperity which the rapid settlement of
the Pacific coast bestowed upon the whole of the Ore-
gon teiritory, and especially upon Puget Sound, which
without the excitement of the gold discovery must
have been twenty years in gaining the milling and
other improvements it now gained in three.
In the mean time, and before these results became
apparent, the settlements on the Sound were threat-
ened with a more serious check by the Snoqualimichs,
who about the first of May attacked Fort Nisqually
with the intention of taking it, and if they had suc-
ceeded in this, Patkanim's plans for the extermination
of the white people would have been carried out. In
this afifair Leander C. Wallace was killed, and two
other Americans, Walker and Lewis, wounded, the
latter surviving but a short time. For this crime
Quallawort, a brother of Patkanim, and Kassass,
another Snoqualimich chief, suffered death by hang-
ing, as related in a previous volume.®^ This was a
somewhat different termination from that anticipated.
Patkanim, even after the Snoqualimichs were re-
'"Evans says, in his Hist. Mem. 16, that 'the exodus in search of gold was a
grievous check, and that j'ears of sober advancement and industry were re-
quired to recuperate from its consequences.' 1 have mentioned in uiy history
of Oregon that other writers take the same view.
^^hist. Or., ii. 67-8, 80.
14 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
pulsed, sent word to the American settlers that they
would be permitted to quit the country bj'- leaving
their property. To this they answered that they
had come to stay, and immediately erected block-
houses at Tumwater and Skookum Chuck. This
decided movement, with the friendship of the Indians
on the upper part of the Sound, and the prompt
measures of Governor Lane, who arrived March 2d
at Oregon City, followed by the establishment of
Fort Steilacoom about the middle of July, crushed
an incipient Indian war.^^
The outbreak did not seriously interrupt the dawn-
ing fortunes of the settlers, who were scrupulously
careful to prevent any difficulties with the natives by
a custom of uniform prices for labor and goods, and
perfect equity in dealing with them.^*
Owing to the California exodus, the year 1849
was remarkable only for its dearth of immigration.
" Writers on this attack on Nisqually have laid too little stress on Pat-
kanim's designs. Taken in connection with the proceedings of the previous
summer at Whidbey Island, the intention seems clear; the quarrel -with the
Nisquallies was but a pretence to account for the appearance at the fort of
the Snoqualimichs in their war-paint. The killing of the Americ:;ns was but
au incident, as tbey could not Cave known that they should meet a party of
the settlers there. The plan was to capture the fort and the supply of
ammunition, after which it would have been quite easy to make an end of
the settlements, already deprived by the exodus to California of a large share
of their fighting material. The H. B. Co., confident of their influence with
the Indians, either did not suspect or did not like to admit that the Snoqua-
limichs intended mischief to them, thougli Tolmie confesses that when he
went outside the fort to bring in Wallaces body he was aimed at; but the
person was prevented firing by a Siuahoniish Indian present, who reproved
him, saying, 'Harm enough done for one day.' Tolmic's Pugel Sound, JIS.
35. All accounts agree that Patkanim was inside the fort when the firing
by the Snoqualimichs was commenced, and that it began when a gun was
discharged inside the fort to clean it. May not this have been the precon-
certed signal ? But the closing of the gates with the chief inside, and the
firing from the bastion, disconcerted the conspirators, who retreated to co\er.
*'Evans mentions in his Hist. Mem. , 1 2, that Patterson, an immigrant of 1 S47,
who afterward left the country, became indebted to an Indian for bringing
his family up the Cowlitz River, but could not pay him, and gave his note for
12 months. At the end of tlie year the Indian came to claim his ])ay, bub
still the man bad not the money, on learning which the Indian offered to take
a heifer, which offer was declined. The Indian then went to the white set-
tlement at Tumwater and entered his complaint, when a meeting was called
and a committee appointed to return with him to the house of the debtor,
who was compelled to deliver up the heifer. This satisfied the creditor and
kept the peace.
BACK FROM THE MINES. 15
But by the end of the year most of the gold-hunters
were back on their claims, somewhat richer than
before in the product of the mines. Early in January
1850 there arrived the first American merchant vessel
to visit the Sound since its settlement. This was the
brig Orbit, William H. Dunham master, from Calais,
Maine. She had brought a company of adventurers
to California, who having no further use for her, sold
her for a few thousand dollars to four men, who
thought this a good investment, and a means of get-
ting to Paget Sound. Their names were I. N. Ebey,
B. F. Shaw, Edmund Sylvester, and one Jackson.
There came as passenger also Charles Hart Smith, a
young man from Maine and a friend of Captain Dun-
ham. M. T. Simmons, who had not gone to the mines,
had sold, in the autumn of 1849, his land claim at Tum-
water, with the mills, to Crosby^* and Gray, formerly
of Portland, for thirty-five thousand dollars. With
a portion of this money he purchased a controlling
interest in the Orbit, and taking C. H. Smith as part-
ner, sent the brig back to San Francisco with a cargo
of piles, with Smith as supercargo, to dispose of them
and purchase a stock of general merchandise. The
vessel returned in July, and the goods were opened at
Smithfield, which by the death of Smith ^^ had come to
"Captain Clanrick Crosby was a navigator, and first saw the waters of
Puget Sound in command of a ship. He continued to reside at Tumwater
down to the time of his death, Oct. 29, 1879, at the age of 75 years. His wife,
Phoebe H., died Nov. 25, 1871. Their children are Clanrick, Jr, William,
Walter, Fanny, Mrs George D. Biles, and Mrs J. H. Naylor. Nen) Tacoma
Herald, Oct. 30, 1879. Crosby was speaker of the house of representatives
in 1864. Bancroft's Hand-book, 1864, 353.
'^Levi Lathrop Smith was born in the st.ate of New York, and studied for
the presbyterian ministry; but migrating to Wisconsin, became there attached
to a half-caste girl, a catholic. To marry under these circumstances
would be a violation of rule, and he made another to remove to Oregon. But
his health was affected, and he suffered with epilepsy. He was elected to
the Oregon legislature in 1848, but did not live to take his seat, being
drowned in the latter part of August while going from his claim to Tumwater,
attacked, it was supposed, by convulsions, which overturned his canoe. He
built the first cabin in what is now the city of Olympia, on Main Street, half-
way between Second and Third streets, a cabin IG feet square, of split cedar,
with a stone fire-place, a stick chimney, and roofed with four-feet shingles
held on with weight-poles. The cabin had one door, a:ul three ]i;in(s of glass
for a window; a rough puncheon floor, and a I'ough partition cliviiling oil' a
bedroom and closet. The furniture consisted of a bedstead, made by boring
16 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
be the sole property of Sylvester, and was now called
Olympia, at the suggestion of I. N. Ebey.^^ Sylvester's
claim on the prairie was abandoned when he took pos-
session of the claim on the Sound/'^ and was taken by
Captain Dunham of the Orbit, who was killed bj^ being
thrown from his horse ^' July 4, 1851, the government
reserving the land for his heirs, who long after took
3ssion.
In order to give his town a start, Sylvester offered
to give Simmons two lots for business purposes,
which were accepted; and a house of rough boards,
two stories high — its ground dimensions twenty feet
front by forty in depth — was erected at the corner of
First and Main streets, and the cargo of the Orbit
displayed for sale,^' Smith acting as clerk. The firm
holes in the upright planking and inserting sticks to support the bed, two
tables, some benches, and stools of domestic manufacture. The furniture of the
table was tin, and scanty at that. Two acres of land were enclosed, in which
com, be.-ms, pumpkins, squashes, potatoes, pease, turnips, cabbages, melons,
cucumbers, beets, parsnips, carrots, onions, tomatoes, radishes, lettuce,
parsley, sweet fennel , peppergrass, summer-savory, and sunflowers were culti-
vated. The live-stock Ijelonging to this establishment comprised 5 hogs, 3 pigs,
7 hens, a cock, a cat and dog, a yoke of oxen, and a pair of horses. These de-
tails are taken from a humorous document supposed to have been written
by Smith himself, still in the possession of a gentleman of Olympia. As a
picture of pioneer life, it is not without value. A diary kept by Smith has
also been preserved, in which appear many hints of his sad and solitary mus-
ings upon his life in the wilderness and his disappointed hopes. Evans' Hist.
Notes, 4.
'^ Evaiis' Historical Notes, a collection of authorities on the early settle-
ments, with remarks by Evans, gives Ebey as the author. Sylvester says,
speaking of Ebej', 'We got the name from the Olympic range;' from which I
have no doubt Evans is correct. The town was surveyed by William L.
Frazer in 1850; and afterward by H. A. Goldsborough, who, it will be remem-
bered, remained in the territory when the U. S. steamer Massachusetts sailed
away in the spring of 1S50. Hist. Or., ii., chap, ix., this series.
^'Sylvester, in his Olympia, MS., does not mention L. L. Smith, but
speaks only of himself, and gives the impression that he alone settled at
Olympia in 184G. This evasion of a fact puzzled me until I came upon the
explanation in Evans' Hist. Notes, 2, where he mentions Sylvester's reticence
in the matter of Smith, and tells us that it arose from an apprehension that
Smith's heirs might some time lay claim to the towTi site and disturb the
title. This fear Evans declares to be groundless, and that Sylvester 'lawfully
survived to the sole ownership of Smith's claim,' by the partnership clause of
the Oregon land law.
"Swan, in Olympia Club, MS., 6.
" The Orbit, being of little or no use to her owners, Simmons having sold
his mills, was taken to the Columbia by Captain Butler for her owners in
the summer of 1851. She got into the breakers on the bar and was aban-
doned. The tide returning Seated her into Baker Bay in safety. Some per-
sons who beheld her drifting took her to Astoria and claimed salvage; but
COMMERCIAL BEGINNINGS. 17
had a profitable trade, as we may well believe when
cooking-stoves without furniture sold for eighty dol-
lars.'"' American commerce was thus begun with a
population of not more than one hundred citizens of
the United States in the region immediately about
Puget Sound.^^ Three of the crew of the British
ship Albion settled in the region of Steilacoom;
namely, William Bolton, Frederick Rabjohn, and
William Elders. If it is true, as I have shown in a
previous volume,*^ that the Americans, as soon as they
were armed with the power by congress, exhibited a
most unfriendly exclusiveness toward the British com-
pany which had fostered them in its way, it is easy
to perceive that they were actuated partly by a feel-
ing of revenge, and a desire for retaliation for having
been compelled to show the rents in their breeches as
a reason for requiring a new pair," and to account for
the rents besides, to prove that the Indian trade had
not been interfered with. Now these irrepressible
Americans were bringing their own goods by the
ship-load, and peddling them about the Sound in
canoes under the noses of the company. It was cer-
tainly an unequal contest when legal impediment was
removed.
Simmons brought her back to the Sound, where she was finally sold at mar-
shal's sale, and purchased by a company consisting of John M. Swan, H. A.
Goldsborough, and others, who loaded her with piles and undertook to navi-
gate her to the S. I. They met with a gale in Fuca Straits and had their
rigging blown to pieces, but managed to get into Esquimault harbor, where
they sold the vessel to the H. B. Co. for $1,000. The company refitted her,
changed her name to the Discover]/, and used her on the northern coast until
1858, when she was employed as a police vessel on Fraser River in collecting
licenses. Afterward she was resold to Leonard, of tlie firm of Leonard &
Green of Portland, and her name of Orhi/. restored; she was taken to China
and again sold, where she disappears from history. She is remembered as the
first American vessel that ever penetrated to the head of Puget Sound, or en-
gaged in a commerce with Americans on its waters. Olympia Club, MS. , 2-8.
"Rabbeson, in Olympia Club, MS., 3.
*'Rabbeson says that in the winter of 1849 or spring of 1850. at the time
the British ship Albion was lying at Dungeness cutting spars, he went down
to that port with Eaton and others, and in returning he fell in with an Amer-
ican vessel coming up for piles, which he piloted to the upper sound, securing
the contract for furnishing the cargo. He thinks her name was The Pleiades,
and the next vessel in the sound the Robert Bgwen. Growth of Towns, MS., 14.
"Hist. Or., ii., 104-6, this series.
"Sylvester's Olympia, MS., 12.
Hisi. Wash.— 2
X8 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
In the Orbit came John M. Swan," who in 1850
settled on a claim immediately east of Olympia, which
became Swantown. Another passenger was Henry
■ Murray, who took a claim east of Steilacoom. In July
Lafayette Balch, owner of the brig George Emory,
arrived at Olympia with a cargo of goods, which he
unloaded at that jjlace; but finding he could not get
such terms as he desired from the owner of the town
lots, he put his vessel about and went down the Sound,
establishing the town of Port Steilacoom, putting up
a large business house, the frame of which he brought
from San Francisco, and to which he removed the
goods left at Olympia to be sold by Henry C.
Wilson,*^ who appears to have arrived with Balch,
and who settled on the west shore of Port Townsend
on the 15th of August. On the 15th of October
I. N. Ebey took up the claim from which Glasgow
had been ejected by the Indians on the west side of
Whidbey Island, about a mile south of Penn Cove.
R. H. Lansdale about the same time took a claim at
the head of Penn Cove, where the town of Coveland
was ultimately laid out. In November the George
Emory, which had made a voyage to San Francisco,
brought up as passengers half a dozen men who in-
tended getting out a cargo of piles for that market,
and who landed five miles north of Steilacoom. One
of their number, William B. Wilton, selecting a claim,
built a cabin, and the adventurers went to work with
a will to make their fortunes. Their only neighbor
"I do not know Swan's antecedents, except that he was in the mines in
April 1S49, and that after working there for three months he became ill, and
determined to go north as soon as he could get away, for his health. Find-
ing the Orbit about to sail, he took passage in her. His idea was to go to
v. I., but when he arrived at Victoria he found the terms of colonization
there repulsive to him, and went on with the vessel to the head of Puget
Sound, where he remained. Swan's Colonization, MS., 2.
*5 Wa.ih. Sketches, MS., 38-9; Sylvexter's Olympia, MS., 19-20; Sican's
Colonization, MS., 4-5. Wilson married Susan P. Keller in Oct. 1854. She
was a daughter of Captain Josiah P. Keller of Maine, who settled at Port
Gamble, or Teekalet Bay, in the autumn of 1853, with his family. He was
born in 1812, and emigrated to Puget Sound from Boston. He was a useful
and respected citizen, being the founder of the village of Teekalet. His
death occurred June 11, 1862, at Victoria. Port Townsend Northwest, June
1862.
PORT TOWNSEND. 19
was William Bolton, who could not have been very
well supplied with the requirements for a life in the
woods, as they were unable to obtain oxen to drag
the fallen timber to the water's edge, and in April
1851 abandoned their enterprise, after disposing of
as much of the timber they had felled as could be
loaded on a vessel without the aid of oxen. Two of
their number, Charles C. Bachelder and A. A. Plum-
mer,*** then went to Port Townsend, and took claims
on Point Hudson, about a mile north-west of Wilson,
where they were joined in November by L. B. Has-
tings and F. W. Pettygrove, formerly of Oregon City
and Portland, who had ruined himself by speculating
in property at Benicia, California. In February,
J. G. Clinger*'^ and Pettygrove and Hastings took
claims adjoining those of Bachelder and Plummer
on the north and west, and soon these four agreed
to lay out a town, and to devote a third of each of
their claims to town-site purposes — a fair division,
considering the relative size and location of the
claims. Bachelder and Plummer, being unmarried,
could take no more than a quarter-section under the
Oregon land law, which granted but 160 acres as a
donation when such claim was taken after the 1st of
December, 1850, or by a person who was not a resi-
dent of Oregon previous to that time. Pettygrove
and Hastings,*'' having both emigrated to the territory
*^ Plummer was a native of Maine. He was a saddler in the quartermas-
ter's department under Parker H. French on tlie march to El Paso of the 3d
infantry in 1S49. From El Paso he went to Mazatlan, and thence by the
bark Phmdx to San Francisco in May 1850. In the spring of 1851 he took
passage on the George Emory, Capt, Balch, for Puget Sound. Wash. Sketches,
MS., 37; &ee aXso Solano Co. Hist., 157.
•' Pettygrove and Hastings arrived in the schooner Mary Taylor, from
Portland. Plummer, iu Wash. Sketches, MS., a collection of statements taken
down by my short-hand reporter, says that into his cabin, 15 by 30 feet, were
crowded for a time the families of Pettygrove, Hastings, and dinger. Houses
were erected as soon as they conveniently could be on the claims taken by
these settlers, and could not have been ready much before spring.
'^Biiggs, in his Port Townsend, MS., containing a history of the immigra-
tion of 1847, early Oregon matters, and an account of the settlement of Port
Townsend, says that Hastings was in his company crossing the plains.
Briggs settled on the Santiani, where Hastings paid him a visit, persuading
him to go to Puget Sound. Hastings and Pettygrove then went over to look
for a location, and fixed upon Port Townsend.
20 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
previous to 1850, and being married, were entitled to
take a whole section, but their land, being less favor-
ably situated for a town site, was worth less to the
company; hence the terms of the agreement.
The new town was named after the bay upon which
it was situated. Port Townsend, and the owners con-
stituted a firm for the prosecution of trade.*"
As timber was the chief marketable product of the
country, and as Hastings and Pettygrove were owners
of tliree yokes of oxen, the company at once set to
work cutting piles and squaring timbers; at which
labor they continued for about two years, loading sev-
eral vessels,'^" and carrying on a general merchandise
business besides."
In May 1852 Albert Briggs settled a mile and a
half south from Port Townsend,"'^ and in September
came Thomas M. Hammond, who took a narrow strip
of land west of the claims of Hastings and Wilson,
and which, coming down to the bay, adjoined Briggs
on the north.^^ The names of all the donation-land
"In the agreement between the partners, says Briggs, $.'?,000 was to be
put into a joint stock to carry on merchanJising and a tishery, neither part-
ner to draw out more than the net income according to their share; but at
the end of three years the original stock might be drawn from the concern.
A condition was imposed, on account of habits of intemperance on the part of
Baclielder and Pettygrove, that if any member of the firm should be declared
incompetent by a vote of the others to attend to business on account of drink,
he should forfeit his interest and quit the company. Bachelder lost liis share
by this agreement, receiving a few hundred dollars for his land from Petty-
grove. He died at Port Ludlow not long after. Id. , 24-5.
*" The brig Weilingsley several times, brig James Marshall once, ship Tal-
mcr once, and bark Mary Adams once. Plummer, in Wanh. Sk-eti-he.i, M8., 40.
^' The first house erected in Port Townsend after Plummer's was by R. M.
Caines, for a hotel on Water Street, later occupied as the Ari/un newspaper
office. Then followed residences by Wilson, J. G. Clinger, who had taken a
land claim a mile and a half south of the town, Benjamin Ross, wlio with his
brother R. W. Ross had located land fronting on the Fuoa sea at the head of
the strait, William Webster, John Price, and E. S. Fowler, who had a stock
of merchandise. Plummer, in Wash. Sketclu'$, MS., 40-1. Mrs Clinger was
the mother of the first white child born in Port Townsend.
^" Briggs was born in Vt. He arrived in Or. in 1847 with the immigration,
in company with Lot Whitcomb, and worked at his trade of cai'penter for a
year or more, settling at last on the Santiam, where he remained until 18.>2,
when he went to the Sound on the solicitation of his friend Hastings. He
lirought his family, and built, according to his own statement, the first frame
house and brick chimney at or near Port Townsend, and brought the first
horses and cattle to the place. Port Towiixend, MS., 1, 35.
"Hammond was a native of Ireland, born about 1820, arrivc^d in the U.
S. in 1829, and came to Cal. in 1849 with the gold-seekers. J. B. BeideUnan
LOW AND TERRY. 21
claimants about Port Townsend are here mentioned
in my account of its settlements.
In the latter part of August 1851, in the van of
the immigration, arrived at Portland John N. Low
and C. C. Terry. In September they took their
cattle and whatever live-stock they possessed down
the Columbia, and by the Hudson's Bay Company's
trail to the valley of the Chehalis, where they were
left, while Low ^* and Terry proceeded to the Sound
to explore for a town site, fixing at last upon Alki
Point, on the west side of Elliott Bay, where a claim
was taken about the 25th, and a house partially con-
structed of logs. They found that others were pre-
paring to settle in the vicinity, and were encouraged.
John C. Holgate, a young man and an immigrant of
1847, who had served in the Cayuse war, had visited
the east side of Elliott Bay in 1850, selecting a claim
for himself."^
Previous to the arrival of Low and Terry at Alki
Point, Luther M. Collins took a claim in the valley
of the Dwamish or White River,'^^ and before they
& Co. of San Francisco wished him to start a fishery and cut piles for that
market. He took passage on the bark Powhatan, Captain Mellen, for Pnget
Sound, but by the timj he was ready to begin business the firm had failed,
and Hammond cast in his lot with the settlers of Port Townsend. Wash.
Sketches, MS., 95-7.
^^John N. Low was bom in Ohio in 1820. He removed to 111., where
he married, in 1S48, L_'dia Colburn, bom in Pcnn. Low brought to Or. a
herd of choice stock for dairy purposes, which were the first selected A'lieri-
can cattle taken to the Sound country, and seems to have had a more definite
purpose in emigrating than many who came to the Pacific coast at that
period. Morse'.t Wash. Ter., MS., i. 118-19. Charles Carroll Terry was a
native of New York state.
^■' I follow the account of Mrs Abby J. Hanford, who, in a manuscript
giving an account of the Settlement of Seattle and the Indian War, makes this
positive statement concerning Holgate's visit. Mrs Hanford was a sister of
Holgate, whose family came to Or. in 18o3, and to Wash, in 18o4. Mrs
Elizabeth Holgate, mother of Mr.s Hanford, was born at Middlcton, Ct, in
1796; was married at Pittsburg, Pa, in 1818, to A. L. Holgate, who died in
1847, and accompanied her children to Or. She died in Jan. 1880, at the
house of her daughter, whose husband's land adjoined that of J. C. Holgate.
Seallle Intelligencer, Jan. 24, 1880.
''The river system of this region is peculiar; for example. White Riv^er
and Cedar River both rise in the Cnscade Mountains and have a north-west
course. Cedar flows into Lake Washington, from which by the same mouth but
a different channel it runs out again in a south-west course, called Black River,
22 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
returned to Portland, Collins, Henry Van Assalt, and
Jacob and Samuel Maple arrived and settled upon the
Dwamish, where they had previously taken clainis.*'^
Leaving their house half built, the settlers at Alki
Point returned to Portland, where Low had left his
wife and four children. Here they found Arthur A.
Denny, also from Illinois, although born in Indiana,
with a wife and two children ; William N. Bell, a na-
tive of Illinois, with a wife and two children; and C.
D. Borem, with a wife and child; besides David T.
Denny, unmarried — who were willing to accept their
statement that they had discovered the choicest spot
for a great city to be found in the north-west.
On the 5th of November this company took pas-
sage on the schooner Exact, Captain Folger, which
had been chartered to carry a party of gold-hunters
to Queen Charlotte Island, and Low's party with a iew
others to Puget Sound. The Alki Point settlers ar-
rived at their destination on the 13th, and were dis-
embarked at low tide, spending the dull November
afternoon in carrying their goods by hand out of the
reach of high water, assisted by the women and chil-
dren. "And then/' says Bell, artlessly, in an auto-
graph letter, "the women sat down and cried."^^ Poor
women! Is it any wonder? Think of it: the long jour-
into White Eiver, joining the two by a link little more than two miles long.
Below thia junction White River is called Dwamish, vrith. no better reason
than that the Indians gave that name to a section of the stream where they
resided. There is a link by creeks and marshes between White River and
the Puyallup, and the whole eastern shore of the Sound is a network of rivers,
lakes, creeks, and swales, the soil of the bottom-lands being very rich, but
overgrown with trees of the water-loving species. Prairie openings occur at
intervals, on which the settlements were made.
*' I am thus particular in the matter of priority, because there is a slight
but perceptible jealousy evident in my authorities as to the claim to prece-
dence in settlement. From the weight of testimony, I think it may be fairly
said tliat the Dwamish Valley was settled before Alki Point. Jacob Maple
was bom on the Monongehela River, Green county, Pennsylvania, 1798. His
father removed to Jcfl'erson county, Ohio, in 1800, and died in 1812. The
family subsequently lived in southern Iowa, from which they emigrated to
Oregon by the way of California, arriving in 1851. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS.,
ii. 8. Another settler claiming priority is Martin Taf teson, who took a claim
ou Oak Harbor in 1851. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxi. 43-5.
"'I have a valuable dictation by Mr Bell, entitled the Settlement of Seattle,
MS., in which many historical facts are set forth in an interesting manner.
FOUNDING OF SEATTLE. 23
ney overland, the wearisome detention in Portland,
the sea-voyage in the little schooner, and all to be set
down on the beach of this lonely inland sea, at the
beginning of a long winter, without a shelter from the
never-ceasing rains for themselves or their babes. It
did not make it any easier that nobody was to blame,
and that in this way only could their husbands take
their choice of the government's bounty to them. It
was hard, but it is good to know that they survived
it, and that a house was erected during the winter
which was in a measure comfortable.^^
Low and Terry laid out a town at Alki Point, call-
ing it New York, and offering lots to those members
of the company who would remain and build upon
them. But the Indians in the vicinity had given in-
formation during the winter concerning a pass in the
Cascade Range which induced the majority to remove
in the spring of 1852 to the east side of the bay, where
they founded a town of their own, which they called
Seattle, after a chief of the Dwamish tribe residing in
the vicinity, who stood high in the estimation of the
American settlers.^"
D. T. Denny, W. N. Bell, A. A. Denny, and C.
D. Boren took claims in the order mentioned on the
east shore, D. T. Denny's being farthest north, and
Boren's adjoining on the south a claim made at the
''Bell's house was constructed of cedar planks split out of the tree, the
Oregon cedar having a straight grain. These planks were made smoother
with carpenter's tools, and were joined neatly in tlie flooring. Some window-
Bash were obtained from Olympia, and the ' first house in King county ' (I quote
Bell) was after all a decent enough domicile when it was completed.
*" Seattle is described as a dignified and venerable personage, whose car-
riage reminded the western men of Senator Benton; but I doubt if the Mis-
souri senator would have recognized himself, except by a very great stretch of
imagination, in this naked savage who conversed only in signs and grunts. It
is said that Seattle professed to remember Vancouver— another stretch of the
imagination. See Olympia Wash. Standard, April 25, 186S; Eichardsoii's
Missis. ,416. It is well known that the Indians north of the Columbia change
their names when a relative dies, Swan's N. W. Coast, 189, from a belief that
the spirits of the dead will return on hearing these familiar names. Seattle,
on hearing that a town was called by his name, and foreseeing that it would
be a disturbance to his ghost when he should pass away, made this a ground
for levying a tax on the citizens while living, taking his pay beforehand for
the inconvenience he expected to suffer from the use of his name after death.
Fester's Wash. Ter., MS., 6; Murphy, in Appleton's Journal, 11. 1877.
24 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
same time by D. S. Maynard from Olympia, who in
turn adjoined Holgate, and who kept the hrst trading-
house in the town. Seattle was laid ofi' upon the
water-front from about the middle of Maynard's claim,
a larger one than either of the others,*^ and on which
the first house was built, to the north line of Bell's
claim. Then in the autumn came Henry L. Yesler,
who was looking for a mill site, and who was admitted
to the water-front by a re-arrangement of the contig-
uous boundaries of Boren and Maynard.*^
*' JIaynard came to Or. in Sept. 1850, and took his claim uiKler the dona-
tion law as a married man, and as a resident prior to Dec. 1850, which would
have entitled him to G40 acres. But on the 2'2d of Dec, 1852, he obtained
from the Or. leg. a divorce from Lydia A. Maynard, whom he had married in
Vt, on the •28th of August, 1828, and left in Ohio when he emigrated. In
Jan. 1853 he married Catherine Broshears, and soon after gave the required
notice of settlement on his claim, acknowledging his previous marriage, but
asserting that his first wife died Dec. 24, 1852. In due course a certificate
•was issued to Maynard and wife, giving the west half of the claim to the hus-
band and the east half to the wife. But the commissioner of the general land-
office held that the heirs of Lydia A. Maynard should have had the east half,
she being his wife when he settled on the land, and until the following Dec.
These matters coming to the ears of the first Mrs Maynard and her two sons,
they appeared and laid claim to the land, and the case being considered upon
the proofs, neither Lydia A. Maynard nor Catherine Maynard received any
part of the land, the claim of the first being rejected because she had acquired
no rights by her presence in the country previous to the divorce, nor could
she inherit as a widow after the divorce — an iniquitous decision, by the way,
where no notice has been served — and the claim of the second being rejected
because she was not the wife of Maynard on the 1st of Dec, 1850, nor within
one year thereafter. The 320 acres which should have belonged to one of
these women reverted to the government. Maynard died in 1873. Pur/et
Sound DUpalch, March 14 and April 18, 1872; Seattle InlMiijencir, March
17, 1S73, Feb. 10, 1877; S. F. ^ita, March 2, 1873.
«* Yesler was a native of Maryland: went to Ohio in 1832, and emigrated
thence in 1851 to Or., intending to put up a saw-mill at Poitland; but the
■wri-ck of the Genei-al Warren at the mouth of the river and other fancied
drawbacks caused him to go to Cal. and to look around for some land in that
state; but meeting a sailing-master who had been in Puget Sound, he learned
enough of the advantages of this region for a lumbering estabhshment to de-
cide him to go there, and to settle at Seattle. Yesler's was the first of the
saw-mills put up with a design to establish a trade with S. F., and being also
at a central point on the Sound, became historically important. The cook-
bouse belonging to it, though only a ' dingy-looking hewedlog building about
25 feet square, a little more than one story high with a shed addition on the
rear,' was for a number of years the only place along the east shore of the
Sound where comfortable entertainment could be had. 'Many an old Puget
Sounder,' says a correspondent of the Puget Sound Weekly, 1800, 'remembers
the happy hours, jolly nights, strange encounters, and wild scenes bo has
enjoyed around the broad fireplace and hospitable board of Yesler's cook-
house. ' During the Indian war it was a rendezvous for the volunteers; it
was a resort of naval officers; a judge — Lander — had his office in a comer of
it; for a time the county auditor's office was there; it had served for town-hall,
court-bouse, jail, military headquarters, storehouse, hotel, and church. Eleo-
DECADENCE OF NEW YORK. 25
Before proceeding to these decisive measures, the
town-site company made a careful hydrographic sur-
vey of the bay, Bell and Boren paddling the canoe
wliile Denn}^ took the soundings. On the 23d of May,
1853, the town plat was filed for record,^^ Bell keep-
ing his claim separate, from which it was long called
Belltown. Being really well situated, and midway
between Port Townsend and Olympia, it rewarded its
founders bj^ a steady growth and hy becoming the
county seat of King county. Its population in 1855
was about three hundred.
The embryo city of New York never advanced l)e-
yond a chrysalid condition; but after having achieved
a steam saw-mill, a public house, and two or three
stores, and after having changed its name to Alki,
an Indian word signifying in the future, or by and
by, which was both name and motto, it gave way to
its more fortunate rival. It had a better landing
than Seattle at that time, but a harbor that was ex-
posed to the winds, where vessels were sometimes
blown ashore, and was otherwise inferior in position.''*
Terry, at the end of two years, removed to Seattle,
where he died in 1867."^ Low went to California
and the east, but finally returned to Puget Sound
and settled in Seattle.
In the spring of 1853 there arrived from the Wil-
lamette, where they had wintered, David Phillips*'*
tions, social parties, and religious services were held under its roof. The first
sermon preached in King co. was delivered there by Clark, and the first suit at
law, which was the case of the mate of the Franklin Adams for selling the ship's
stores on his own account, was held here before Justice Maynard, who dis-
charged the accused with an admonition to keep his accounts more correctly
thereafter. For all these memories the old building -was regretted when in 1 865
it was demolished to make room for more elegant structures. Yeder's Wash.
Tcr., MS., 13. D. S. Smith of Seattle is, though not the first settler at
that place, the first of the men who finally settled there to have visited the
place, on a whaling-vessel which entered tlie Sound in 1837. Seattle Pac.
Tribune, June 24, 1877; Pngel Sound Dispatch, July 8, 1876.
^Morse's iVash. Ter., MS., ii. 6.
^Ellicotfs Puget Sound, MS., 19.
'» Terry had a trading-post at Alki, as well as Low and S. M. Holdemess.
In 1856 he married Mary J. Russell, daughter of S. W. Kussell, of tlie White
River settlement. After her husband's death in 1873, Mrs Terry married
W. H. GiUiam, but died in 1875.
^"Phillips was a native of Penn., but for some years anterior to 1852
26 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
and F. Matthias from Pennsylvania, Dexter Horton
and Hannah E., his wife, and Thomas Mercer, from
Princetown, ininois,^^ S. W. Eussell, T. S. Eussell,
Hillery Butler, E. M. Smithers, John Thomas, and
H. A. Smith. They came by the way of the Cowlitz
and Oljmipia, whence they were carried down the
Sound on board the schooner Sarah Stone, which
landed at Alki, where the six last mentioned re-
mained for the summer, removing to Seattle in the
autumn. J. R. Williamson, George Buckley, Charles
Kennedy, and G. N. McConaha and family, also
arrived about this period, and settled at Seattle. A
daughter born to Mrs McConaha in September was
the first white native of King county.
There settled in the Dwamish or White River
Valley, not far from the spring of 1853, William
Ballston, D. A. Neely, J. Buckley, A. Hogine, J.
Harvey, William Brown, a Mr. Nelson, and on Lake
Washington*^ E. A. Clark.
The pursuits of the first settlers of Seattle and the
adjacent country were in no wnse different from those
of Olympia, Steilacoom, and Port Townsend. Tim-
ber was the most available product of this region, and
to getting out a cargo the settlers on the Dwamish
River first applied themselves. Oxen being scarce
in the new settlements previous to the opening of a
resided in Iowa. He went into mercantile business in partnership with
Horton, having a branch house in Olympia. They dissolved in ISOl, and
Phillips took the Olympia business. In 1870 they reunited in a banking
establishment in Seattle. In the mean time Phillips was elected to several
county offices, and 3 times to a seat in the legislature of Wash. He was at
the time of his death, March 1872, president of the pioneer society of W. T.
Olympia Transcript, March 9, 1872; Seattle Intelligencer, March 11, 1872.
«■ Mercer, in Wash. Ter. Sketches, MS., 1-3.
'*At this time the lakes in the vicinity of Seattle were not named. In
1854 the settlers held an informal meeting and decided to call the larger one
Washington and the smaller Union, because it united at times the former with
the bay. Mercer, in Wash. Tcr. Sketches, MS., 6. It is not improbable, says
Murphy, in Appleton'a Journal, 11, 1877, that the government will open a
canal between lake Washington and the Sound, which could be done for
$1,000,000, in order to make the lake a naval station. It ia 25 miles long,
Z to 6 miles wide, an altitude above sea-level of 18 feet, sufficient depth to
float the heaviest ships, and is surrounded by timber, iron, and coal, which
natural advantages it is believed will sooner or later make it of importance
to the United States. Pwjet Sound Dispatch, July 8, 187G; Victor's Or. and
Wash., 246.
NEW DUNGENESS. 27
road from Walla Walla over the Cascade Mountains,
there was much difficulty in loading vessels, the crew
using a block and tackle to draw the timber to the
landing.^'
They cultivated enough land to insure a plentiful
food supply, and looked elsewhere for their profits, a
policy which the inhabitants of the Paget Sound region
continued to pursue for a longer period than wisdom
would seem to dictate. Many were engaged in a
petty trade, which they preferred to agriculture, and
especially the eastern-born men, who were nearly all
traders. To this preference, more than to any other
cause, should be attributed the insignificant improve-
ments in the country for several years.
About the time that Seattle was founded, B. I. Mad-
ison settled at New Dungeness, near the mouth of the
Dungeness River. He was a trader in Indian goods
and contraband whiskey, and I fear had many imi-
tators. His trade did not prevent him from taking
a land-claim. Soon afterward came D. F. Brown-
field, who located next to Madison. During the sum-
mer, John Thornton, Joseph Leary, George B. Moore,
John Donnell, J. C. Brown, and E. H. McAlmond set-
tled in the immediate vicinity of New Dungeness, and
engaged in cutting timber to load vessels. They
had four yokes of oxen, and were therefore equipped
for the business. That season, also, George H. Ger-
rish located himself near this point, and kept a trad-
ing-post for the sale of Indian goods.
In the following spring came the first family,
Thomas Abernethey and wife. C. M. Bradsbaw™ and
™ The first vessel loaded at the head of Elliott Bay was the Leonesa, which
took a cargo in the winter of 1851-2. I have among ray historical correspond-
ence a letter written by Eli B. Maple concerning the first settlement of King
county, who says that his brother Samuel helped to load this vessel in Gig
Harbor, which he thinks was the first one loaded on the Sound, in wliich he
is mistaken, as I have shown. This member of the Maple family did not
arrive until the autumn of 18D2, when he joined his father and brother in the
Dwamish Valley.
'"Charles M. Bradshaw was born in Penn., came to Or. with the immigra-
tion of 1852, and settled soon afterward near New Dungeness, on Squim's prairie,
28 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
several other single men followed, namely, S. S. Ir-
vine, Joseph Leighton, Eliot Cline, John Bell, and
E. Price. Irvine and Leighton settled east of New
Dungeness on Squim Bay. The second family in the
vicinity was that of J. J. Barrow, who first settled on
Port Discovery Bay in 1852, but removed after a
year or two to Dungeness. Port Discovery had
other settlers in 1852-3, namely, James Kaynier,
John E. Burns, John F. Tukey, Benjamin Gibbs,
Richard Gibbs, James Tucker,'^ Mr Boswell, and Mr
Gallagher.
There was also one settler on Protection Island in
1850, James Whitcom, who, however, abandoned his
claim after a few months of lonely occupation. ^^ Chi-
macum Valley had also one settler, R. S. liobinson,
in 1853.
There was no part of the country on the Sound that
settled up so rapidly during the period of which I am
speaking as Whidbey Island. This preference was
where he remained until 1SG7, when he remoTed to Port Townsend. He
studied law, and was admitted to practice in IS04, after wiiich l.c was several
times elected to the legislature, and twice made attorney of the 3d judicial
district, as well as member of the constitutional convention in 1878. il'ash.
Sketches, MS. , 59.
"Tucker was murdered in 18C3. It will appear in the course of this his-
tory that murders were very frequent. Many of them were committed by
the Indians from the northern coast, who came up the strait in their canoes,
and ci-uising about, either attacked isolated settlements at night, or seized and
killed white men travelling about the Sound in canoes. The first vessel that
came into the harbor of New Dungeness for a cargo was the John Adams, in
the spring of 1853. Jewell, her master, started with his steward to go to
Port Towusend in a small boat, and never was seen again. The Indians ad-
mitted that two of their people had murdered the two men, but as it could
not be shown that they were dead, the accused were never tried. McAlmond,
>\ ho was a competent ship-master, sailed the vessel to S. F. An eccentric
man, who obtained the soubriquet of Arkansaw Traveller by his peregrinations
in the region of Dungeness in 1854, was shot and killed by Indians while
alone in his canoe. Tlie crime came to light, and the criminals were tried
and sentenced; but one of them dieil of disease, and the other escaped by an
error in the entry of judgment. Bradshaw, in Wash. Sketches, MS., C5-6.
'^Protection Island was so named by Vancouver because it lay in front of
and protected Port Discovery from the north-west winds. The first actual
or permanent settlers on this island were AVinfield Ebey, brother of I. N.
Ebey, and George Ebey, his cousin, who took claims there in 1854. Ebey'a
Journal, MS. Whitcom was a native of Ottawa, Canada, who came to Puget
Sound in 1S52, and first located himself on the Port Gamble side of Foul-
weather Elufl' — also named by Vancouver — in the service of the milling com-
pany at that place, putting the first fire under the boilers of Port Gamble
mill. He left the Sound in 1854, but returned in 1S72.
WHIDBEY ISLAND SETTLEMENT. 29
owing to the fact that the island contained about six
thousand acres of excellent prairie land, and that the
western men, who located on farms, were accustomed
to an open country. No matter how rich the river-
bottoms or poor the plains, they chose the plains
rather than clear the river-bottoms of the tangled
jungles which oppressed them. Whidbey Island pos-
sessed, besides its open lands, many charms of scenery
and excellences of climate, together with favorable
position; and hither came so many of the first agri-
culturalists that it was the custom to speak of the
island as the garden of Puget Sound. Its first per-
manent settlers were, as I have mentioned, Isaac N.
Ebey and R. H. Lansdale."
Lansdale first fixed his choice upon Oak Harbor,
but removed to Penn Cove in the spring of 1852.
The legislature of 1852-3 organized Island county,
and fixed the county seat at Coveland, on Lansdale's
claim. He continued to reside there, practising med-
icine, until he was made Indian agent, in December
1854, when his duties took him east of the Cascade
" I. N. Ebey was from Mo., and came to Or. in 1848 just in time to join
the first gold-hunters in Cal., where he was moderately successful. His wife,
Eebecca Wliitby, nie Davis, came to join her husband, bringing with her their
two sons, Eason and Ellison, in 1S51, in company with the Crockett family.
Mrs Ebey, a beautiful and refined lady, was the first white woman on Whid-
bey Island. A daughter was born to her there. She died of consumption
Sept. 29, 185.3, and Ebey married for his second wife Mrs Emily A. Sconce.
In 1853 George W. Ebey, a young man and cousin to I. N., immigrated to
Puget Sound in company with other cousins named Royal. In 1854 came
Jacob Ebey, father of I. N., his mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Blue,
boni in Va, his brother Winfield Scott Ebey, two sisters, Mrs Mary Wright
and Ruth Ebey, two children of Mrs Wright, whose husband was in Cal.,
and George W. Beam, who aiterward married the daughter, later Mrs Almira
N. Enos of S. F. Mrs Enos has placed in my hands a series of journals kept
by members of her family, covering a period between April 18.34 and April
18G4, in which year Winfield died of consumption. Jacob Ebey, who died in
Feb. 1SC2, was born in Penn. Oct. 22, 1793. He served in the war of 1812,
under Gen. Harrison. He emigrated to 111. in 18.32, and in the Black Hawk
war commanded a company in the same battalion with Captain Abraham Lin-
coln. Subsequently he removed to Adair county, Missouri, whence the fam-
ily came to Washington. The death of his wife, which occun-ed iu 1859, was
hastened liy the shocking fate of her son, Isaac N., who was murdered at his
own home by the Haidali Indians, in one of their mysterious incursions, in
the summer of 1857, concerning which I shall have more to say in another
place. George W. Beam died in 18C6. This scries of deaths makes the
history of this pioneer family as remarkable as it is melancholy.
30 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
Mountains, where he remained for some years.''* The
other settlers of 1851 were Uric Friend, Martin Taft-
son, WiUiam Wallace and family, James Mounts,
Milton Mounts, Eobert S. Bailey, Patrick Doyle,
and G. W. Sumner. In 1852 came Walter Crock-
ett,'^ with his son John and family, and five other
children, Samuel, Hugh, Charles, Susan, and Wal-
ter, Jr, Judah Church, John Chondra, Benjamin
Welcher, Lewis Welcher, Joseph S. Smith and fam-
ily, S. D. Howe, G. W. L. Allen, Eichard B. Hol-
brook, born and bred near Plymouth Rock, George
Bell, Thomas S. Davis, John Davis, John Alexander
and family, Mr Bonswell and family, N. D. Hill,'*
Humphrey Hill, W. B. Engle, Samuel Maylor,
Thomas Maylor, Samuel Libbey, Captain Eli Hatha-
way, and Mr Baltic.
In the spring of 1853 the brig J. C. Cabot, Dryden
master, brought to the island from Portland John
Kellogg, James Busby, Thomas Hastie, Henry Ivens,
John Dickenson, all of whom had families, Mrs Ee-
becca Maddox and five children,'' Mrs Grove Terry
and daughter Chloe, E. L. Doyle, who married Miss
Terry, Nelson Basil, and A. Woodard, who subse-
quently went to Olympia. Others who settled on
Whidbey Island in 1853 were Edward Barrington,'*
Eobert C. Hill, Charles H. Miller, Nelson Miller,
Captain Thomas Coupe, who founded Coupeville,
Joiin Kenneth, Isaac Powers, Captain William Eob-
" Richard Hyatt Lansdale was born in Md in 1812, but bred in Ohio, and
removed to Ind., then to 111., and finally to Mo. in 1846. In 1849 ho came
to Or. via Cal., entering the Columbia in Oct. He was first auditor of Clarke
CO., and first postmaster north of the Columbia. He purchased half of
Short's town site at Vancouver, which he lost and abandoned.
"Walter Crockett, Sen., died Nov. 25, 1864, aged 83 years. Seallle Inid-
Ugenci-r, Dec. 6, 18G9.
'^ Nathaniel D. Hill was born in Pa in 1824, and came to Cal. in 1850; was
employed in the S. F. custom-house; went to the mines and on a farm in So-
noma Valley, but finally embarked with his brothers for Puget Sound, and
settled on Whidbey Island. Wanh. Sketches, MS., 79-81.
" Mrs Maddox married L. M. Ford of Skagit River in November 1855.
Id., 41.
"Edward Barrington died in Jan. 1883. Port Townscnd Argus, Jan. 26,
1883. Coupe died in 1877.
BELLINGHAM BAY. 31
ertson,"^ Charles Seybert, Thomas Lyle, all of whom
had families, Henry McClurg, Captain B. P. Barstow,
Edward Grut, Lawrence Grenman, Marshall Camp-
bell, Jacob S. Hindbaugh, George W. Ebcy, and
Charles Thompson.
When I have added the names of Samuel Hancock,
John Y. Sewell, Thomas Cramey, John M. Izeth,
Dana H. Porter ,«" Winfield S. Ebey, and George W.
Beam, who settled the following year, I have enu-
merated most of the men who at any time have long
resided upon Whidbey Island, so quickly were its
lands taken up, and so constant have been its first
settlers.
Settlement ^vas extended in 1852 to Bellingham
Bay. William Pattle, while looking for spar timber
among the islands of the Fuca sea, landed in this ba}^
and while encamped upon the beach observed frag-
ments of coal, which led to the discovery of a deposit.
Pattle posted the usual notice of a claim, and went
awa}' to make arrangements for opening his coal mine.
During his absence Henry Roder,*^ who was looking
"Robertson was bom in Norfolk, Va in 1809. At the age of 27 he began
sea-going, and first came to S. F. in command of the bark Creole. He was
afterward iu command of the brig Tarquina, which he owned, and which
brought him to Puget Sound in 1852. Taking a claim on Whidbey Island,
he continued to trade to S. F. until 1855, when he sent his vessel to the S. I.
in charge of his first officer, who sold her and pocketed the proceeds. Rob-
ertson lost §30,000 by this transaction, but had a competency remaining. He
was first keeper of the light erected in 1860 on Admiralty Head, on the west
coast of the island, /d., 30-1.
'" Porter was inspector of spars at Port Ludlow some years later. He died
in March 1880.
s'Eoder was a native of Ohio, and came to Cal. in 1850. His partner, R.
v. Peabody, and himself had the usual adventures iu the mines, narrowly
escaping death at the hands of the famous Joaquin Murieta. After spending
two years in mining and trading, Roder and Peabody went to Or. City to
engage in sabnon-fishing, but were diverted from their purpose by the liigh
price of lumber consequent upon the great fire in S. F., and determined to
build a saw-mill. Visiting Puget Sound with this object in view, they were
led by information obtained at Port Townsend to erect their mill at Belling-
ham Bay, on a stream which dried up as soon as the winter rains were over, a
misfortune which, added to a fall in the price of lumber, nearly ruined Roder
and Peabody. These facts, with a general account of the histoi-y of the lower
sound and Bellingham Bay, are obtained from Coder's BuHingham Bnii, MS.,
an excellent authority, and also from a well-written autograph Sketch by
Edward Eldridge, who settled at the same time with Roder, Roder,
32 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
for a place to establish a saw-mill, arrived from San
Francisco on the schooner William Allen, with R. V.
Peabody, Edward Eldridge,^^ H. C. Tage, and Wil-
liam Utter, Henry Hewitt and William Brown.
Roder, Peabody, and a millwright named Brown,
whom they found at Olympia, formed the Whatcom
Milling Company, taking the Indian name of the
place where their mill was situated as a designation.
Hewitt and William Brown, who were engaged in
getting out logs for the mill, in the summer of 1853,
discovered coal on the land adjoining Rattle's claim,
and sold their discovery for $18,000, Roder and Pea-
body having just abandoned this claim for one more
heavily timbered.*^ About the same time came L. N.
Collins, Alexander McLean, Mr Roberts, and Mr Lyle,
with their families, wliich completes the catalogue of
American settlers in this region in 1853.
In the autumn of 1852, on account of devastating
fires in California, and the great immigration of that
year to Oregon, a milling fever possessed men of a
speculative turn, and led to the erection of several
saw-mills besides those at Seattle and Bellingham
Bay. In March 1853 the Port Ludlow mill was
erected by W. T. Sayward ^ on a claim taken up by
J. K. Thorndike the previous year. It was followed
the same season by the Port Gamble mill at the
Eldridge, and Peabody still reside at Whatcom on Bellingham Bay. Roder
married lilizabeth Austin of Oliio.
8' Eldridge was a sea-faring man, and shipped at N. Y. for S. F., where he
arrived in 1849, and went to the mines. Not making the expected fortune,
he joined the P. M. Steamshiji Tennessee in 1850, but married and returned
to mining, which he followed for a year, when on going to S. F. to take pas-
sage to Australia he met Roder, a former acquaintance, and was persuaded to
accompany him to Puget Sound. Mrs Eldridge was the first wliite woman
in the Bellingham Bay settlement. Eldiidge has occupied some official posi-
tions, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1S78.
'^ lu a chapter on minerals, I shall give this history more particularly.
*• Sayward was a native of Maine. He came to Cal. via Mexico, arriving
in the spring of 1849. The narrative of his business experience in 1849-51
forms a story of unusual interest, which is contained in a manuscript by him-
self called J'ioneer Remeniscencea, very little of which, however, relates to
Washington. The mill which he built was leased in 1858 to Amos Phinney
& Co., who subsequently purchased it. See also Sylvester's Olympia, MS., 21,
and Wash. SUichts, MS., 42.
CHINOOK AND BAKER CITY. 33
entrance to Hood Canal, erected by the Puget Mill
Company, the site being selected by A. J. Talbot.
Almost simultaneously Port Madison and Port Blakely
were taken up for mill sites, and somewhat earlier
C. C. Terry and William H. Renton erected a mill
at Alki, which was removed two or three years later
to Port Orchard.''
From 1847 to 1853 there had been a steady if slow
march of improvement in that portion of the terri-
tory adjacent to the Columbia and Cowlitz rivers and
the Pacific ocean. A few faniilies had settled on
Lewis River, among whom was Columbia Lancaster,
whom Governor Abernethy had appointed supreme
judge of Oregon in 1847, vice Thornton, resigned, but
who removed from Oregon City to the north side of
the Columbia in 1849. In the extreme south-west
corner of what is now Pacific county were settled in
1848 John Edmunds, an American, James Scar-
borough, an Englishman, John E. Pinknell, and a Cap-
tain Johnson; nor does it appear that there were any
other residents before the returning gold-miners —
being detained now and tlien at Baker Bay, or com-
ing by mistake into Shoalwater Bay — discovered the
advantages which these places ofl'ered for business.
William McCarty had a fishery and a good zinc house
at Chinook in 1852; and Washington Hall was post-
master at that place in the same year, and it is
probable they settled there somewhat earlier. In
1850, the fame of these places having begun to spread,
Elijah White, who had returned to the Pacific coast,
essaj^ed to build upon Baker Bay a town which he
named Pacific City, but which enjoyed an existence''*
of only a year or two.
'^ Teskr'a Wash, Ter., MS., 4-5. Port Orchard was named after an officer
of Vancouver's ship Discovery, May 24, 1792. See also Ellicott'sPunet Sound,
MS.. 24.
'^Lawson, in his Autohiaqraphy, MS., 35, gives some account of this
enterprise. He says tliat White was the originator of it. ' I do not know,'
he observes, 'whether he made any money out of the sclicme. but he did suc-
ceed in making a number of dupes, among whom was James D. Holman.'
HiaT.lVA8H.— 3
34 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
That great expectations did attach to Pacific City
was made apparent by a petition signed by A. A.
Skinner and 250 others to have it made a port of
entry and deliver3^*'^
About the same time that Pacific City was at its
best, Charles J. W. Russell, who was engaged in trade
there, settled on Shoalwater Bay, and turned his at-
tention to taking oysters, with which the bay was
found to be inhabited.' In 1851 Russell introduced
Shoalwater Bay oysters into the San Francisco mar-
ket, carrying them down by the mail-steamer. In
the autumn Captain Fieldstead took a load of oysters
to San Francisco, which arrived in a damaged condi-
tion. Anthony Ludlum then fitted out the schooner
Sea Serjient for Shoalwater Bay, which succeeded in
saving a cargo, and a company was formed to carry on
a trade in oysters, composed of Alexander Hanson,
George G. Bartlett, Garrett Tyron, Mark Winant,
John Morgan, and Frank Garretson, who purchased
the schooner Rohert Bruce, after which the town of
Bruceport was named,*- and entered into the business
of supplying the California market. In the autumn
of 1852, besides the above-named persons, there were
at Shoalwater Bay Thomas Foster, Richard Hillyer,
John W. Champ, Samuel Sweeny, Stephen Marshall,
Holman had expended $28,000 in erecting and furnishing a hotel. White
represented that there might be found at Paciiic City a park filled with deer,
school-houses, handsome residences, and other attractions. A newspaper
was to be started there by a Mr Shephard; a Mr Hopkins was engaged to
teach in the imaginary school-house, and others victimized in a similar manner.
Holman, who was the most severe sufferer, vacated the hotel and took a claim
in the neighborhood, which the government subsequently reserved for military
purposes. Twenty-nine years afterward Holman received |25,000 for his
claim, and had land enough left to lay out a sea-side resort, which he called
Ilwaco. -Sac. Transcript, June 29, 1850; Or. Spectator, Aug. 22, ISuO; U. S.
Statutes at Large, xx. 604. Holman was born in Ky in 1S14, bred iu Tenn.,
and came to Or. in 1846. Aforse's IVash. Ter., MS., ii. 88-9.
8'Oc. Statesman, April 4, 1850; S. F. Pacific News, Aug. 1, 1850; S. F.
Courier, Sept. 21 and Oct. 2, 1850.
**I take this account from an article published in the/S. F. Bulletin, where
it is eaid the schooner was burned while lying at her landing, and the com-
pany forced to go ashore, wliere they encamped on the south side of North
Bay, and from being known as the Bruce company, gave that name to the
place as it grew up. Evans' Hist. Mem., 21; Pac. li. Jl. Reports, i. 465.
SHOALWATER BAY. 35
Charles W. Deuter, Richard J. Milward, A. E. St
John, Walter Ljaide, and James G. Swan.**
A transient company of five men were at the same
time engaged in cutting a cargo of piles for San Fran-
cisco, and during the autumn Joel L. Brown, Samuel
Woodward, J. Henry Whitcomb, Charles Stuart, Joel
and Mark Bullard, and Captain Jackson, of the immi-
gration of that year, settled on the bay. Bi'own's
party cut a wagon-road across the portage between
Baker and Shoalwater bays. Brown intended erect-
ing a trading-house and laying out a town, but died
before he had fairly got to work,'"' at his house on the
Palux River. Later in the same season Charles
Stuart took a claim on the Willopah River; and
David K. Weldon and family from San Francisco — -
Mrs Weldon being the first white woman in this set-
tlement — built a residence and trading-house at the
mouth of the Necomanche or North River, besides
*' Author of The North-west Coast, or Three Years' Residence in WoKhington
Terr'Uori/, which, besides being an entertaining narrative, is a valuable au-
thority on Indian customs and ethnology. Swan was born in Medford, Mass. ,
Jan. 11, 1818; a son of Samuel Swan, an East Indian trader, who was lost on
Minot's ledge, Cohasset, Mass., in 1823, while on his homeward voyage from
the west African coast with a cargo of palm-oil, ivory, and gold-dust, in the
brig Hope Still of Boston. His maternal uncle, William Tufts, was super-
cargo for Theodore Lyman of Boston, in the ship Guatimozin, in ISOG, and
was wrecked on Seven Mile beach. New Jersey, on his return, Feb. 3, 1810.
Stories of the Nootka, Neah Bay, and Chinook chiefs were familiar to him in
his childhood, and his interest in the aboriginal inhabitants was greater than
that of a casual observer, as his remarks are more happily descriptive or
scientific. Ho left Boston in the winter of 1849, in the ship jiob Boy, Thomas
Holt, arriving in S. F. in the spring of 1850, where he bought an interest in
the steamboat Tehama, running to Marysville, acting as purser of the boat.
He was concerned in other entei-prises with Farwell and Curtis, until becom-
ing acquainted with 0. J. W. Russell, who invited him to make a visit to
Shoalwater Bay, he determined to remain, and take a claim at the mouth of
the Querquelin Creek, where he resided until 1856, when he went east and
published his book, returning in 1859 to Port Townsend. In 1862 he was
appointed teacher to the Makah Indians at Neah Bay, and filled that position
for four years, when he again went east and published a second book on the
Makah Indians, with a treatise on their language, which was issued as
authoritative by the Smithsonian Institution in 1869, as was also another paper
on the Haidah Indians of Queen Charlotte Island. In 1875 Swan was ap-
pointed commissioner to collect articles of Indian manufacture for the national
museum, which were exhibited at the great exposition of 1876 iu Philadelphia,
besides having occupied many public places of more honor than profit. He
was later a practising lawyer of Port Townsend. These facts, witli much more
for which I have not space, I find in his autograph Sketches of Washington
Territory, MS. , in my collection.
<" Swan's N. iV. Coast, Gi.
36 THE FIRST SETTLEilENTS.
which he erected, in company with Greorge Watkins,
the first saw-n:iill in this part of the territory in
1852-3. Woodward settled on the Willopah River, ten
miles from its mouth, being the first to locate on that
stream. "'^ Whitcom was the second,^^ followed by-
William Gushing, Gardiner Crocker, Soule, Christian,
and Geisy.
On the Boisfort prairie, previously settled by Pierre
Chelle, a Canadian half-breed, C. F. White was the
first American settler in 1852."^ From 1851 to 1853
near Claquato settled H. N. Stearns, H. Buchanan,
Albert Purcell, A. F. Tullis, L. A. Davis, Cyrus
White, and Simeon Bush.
In the winter of 1850-1 John Butler Chapman,
from the south side of the Columbia, made a settle-
ment on Graj' Harbor, and laid out the town of Che-
halis City. But the undertaking languished, getting
no further than the erection of one house, when Cliap-
man, finding himself too remote from aftairs in wliich
he was interested, removed to the Sound, and with his
son, John M. Chapman, took a claim adjoining Balch
at Steilacoom, and competed with him for the dis-
tinction of founding a city at this point, his claim
finally relapsing to the condition of a farm. In 1852
J. L. Scammon, from Maine by way of California, set-
tled several miles up the Chehalis from Gray Harbor,
wlaere Montesano later was placed, with four others
^^3torse's Wash. Tcr., MS., ii. 74; Swan's N. W. Coast, 05.
'- J. H. Whitcom was bom in Vt in 1S24, removed to Ohio at the age of
1.3 years, married in that state, and went to 111. in IS45, whence he came to
Or. in 1847, and to Shoalwater Bay in 1852. Morse, who has expended much
labor in searching out pioneer families, says that in 1854 S. P. Soule, S. A.
Soule, E. Soule, Charles Soule, Christian, and Geisy settled in the vicinity
of Shoalwater Bay. The Geisy families, of which there were two, were mem-
bers of the communistic association of Pennsylvania farmers, who had emi-
grated to Wisconsin ; but being dissatisfied, had sent this Geisy as agent to look
out lands in Or. or Wash. He selected land on the Boisfort prairie, near Bul-
lard, Crocker, and Woodward, and soon after brought out 40 families. The
Geisy families, however, h.aving met with several losses by death from acci-
dent and natural causes, and being unable to gain control of Woodward's
landing on the river, which they desired for their community purposes, be-
oame discouraged and left the country.
" North Pacific. Coast, Jan. 15, 1880.
WARBASSPORT AND CASCADE. 37
who did not remain. In the two succeeding years
the lesser ChehaHs Valley was settled up rapidly,
connecting with the settlements on the upper Che-
halis made at an earlier period by H. N". Stearns, H.
Buchanan, Albert Purcell, A. F. TuUis, and L. A.
Davis; and the Cowlitz Valley, which was also being
settled, but more slowly.
Jonathan Burbee, who removed to the mouth of the
Cowlitz in 1848, was drowned on the Columbia bar
in the winter of 1851-2, when a schooner which he
had loaded with potatoes for California'* was lost; but
his family remained. Next after him came, in 1849,
H. D. Huntington, Nathaniel Stone, Seth Catlin,
David Stone, James Redpath, James Porter, and R.
C. Smith, the three first named having large families,
now well-known in Oregon and Washington. Their
claims extended from near the mouth of the Cowlitz
on the west side for a distance of tw^o or three miles.
The next settlement was at Cowlitz landing, made
by E. D. Warbass,''^ in July 1850, when Warbassport
was founded by laying off a town and opening a trading-
house. About the same time a settlement was made
on the north side of the Columbia at the lower cas-
cades,by George Drew, who had a town surveyed called
Cascade, where a trading-house was established by
George L. and George W. Johnson, F. A. Chenoweth
and T. B. Pierce. Contemporaneously, at the upper
cascades, Daniel F. and Putnam Bradford, B. B.
Bishop, Lawrence W. Coe, and others had settled,
'* Swan says that Captain Johnson, John Dawson, and another man were
drowned together while crossing the Columbia in a boat; that before this,
McCarty was drowned while crossing the Wallacut River, returning from a
visit to Johnson, and that Scarborough died before Johnson at his home.
This was all previous to 1854.
'=> Warbass was born in N. J. in 18"25, came to Cal. in 1849, where he was
an auctioneer at Sac. , but his health failing there, he visited Or. , and ended by
settling on the Cowlitz, though he explored the Snohomish and Snoqualimich
rivers in 1851, and iu 1853 assisted Howard to explore for coal. He was post-
master under postal agent Coe in that year, and continued to reside on the
Cowlitz until 1855, when he volunteered as captain of a company to fight the
Indians. He became a post sutler afterward at Bellingham Bay and San
Juan Island, where he then resided, and was county auditor and member of
the legislature from San Juan county. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., ii. 54; Attn
California, Nov. 2, 1852.
38 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
and the Bradfords liad also established a place of
trade.''^
These were the people, together with some who
have yet to be mentioned, and others who may never
be mentioned, who had spread themselves over the
western portion of Washington previous to its organ-
ization as a territory, concerning which I shall speak
presently.^''
^Or. Spectator, Aug. 28, 1850; Cole's Ride, 319. _
" I h.ive gathered the following names of the pioneers of 1852 not men-
tioned in the foregoing pages: Rev. Daniel Bagley, Rev. D. R. McMillan, R.
M. Hathaway, Smith Hays, Logan Hays, Gilmore Hays, Stephen Hodgdon,
Samuel Holmes, John Harvey, Richard B. Holbrook (married Sirs Sylvester,
nie Lowe, of Maine), John Hogue, Levi L. Gates, Chac/es Graham, William
H. Gillan and family, Daniel B. Fales, wife and children. Felt, Cortland
Etheridge, W. B. Engle, Shirley Ensign, Joel Clayton, Joseph Cushman, Levi
Douthitt, Frank P. Dugan, Gideon Bromfield, George A. Barnes and wife,
Anna, Thomas Briggs, J. 0. Brown, John Buckley, James Allen, G. W. L.
Allen, ^V. B. D. Newman, William Jarmin, Daniel Kaiser, A. W. Moore,
John W. McAllister, Caleb Miller, Thomas Monroe, Stephen P. McDonald,
Joseph Mace, William Metcalfe, Samuel McCaw, F. McNatt, Abner Martin,
Asa W. Pierce, F. K. Perkins, James Riley, B. Ross and family, Daniel
Stewart, Samuel D. Smith, David Shelton and wife, Christina, M. C. Sim-
mons, James Taylor, Thomas Tallentire and family, Amos F. TuUis, J. K.
Thomdyke, William TurubuU, J. S. Turner, John Vail, Charles Vail, D. K.
Welden, H. R. Woodward, G. K. Willard, Benjamin Welcher, Lewis Welcher,
William C. Webster and family, Samuel Woodward, John Walker, James R.
Watson, B. F. Yantis, Judah Cliurch, from Pontiac, Michigan, died in 1853,
aged 60 years. William Rutledge, who settled on Black River, near Lake
Washington, was also an immigrant of 1852. He died June 1, 1872, aged 78
years.
CHAPTER It.
POUTICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
1845-1853.
Public Meetings— Settleks veesos the Pctoet Sound AcRicuLTtrRAL Com-
pany—Representation IN 'jhe Oregon Legislatore— Movements
TOWARD THE Foundation of the New Territory of Columbia —
Memorial to Congress— If not a Territory, then a State— Queen
Chaklotte Island Expedition — The Oregon Legislature Petition
Congress for a Division of Territory — Congress Grants the Peti-
TON — But Instead of Columbia, the New Territory is Called Wash-
ington — Officers Appointed— Roads Constructed — Immigration.
In the previous chapter I have made the reader ac-
quainted with the earhest American residents of the
territory north of the Columbia, and the methods by
which they secured themselves homes and laid the
foundations of fortunes by courage, hardihood, fore-
sight, by making shingles, bricks, and cradling-ma-
chines, by building mills, loading vessels with timber,
laying out towns, establishing fisheries, exploring for
coal, and mining for gold. But these were private
enterprises concerning only individuals, or small groups
of men at most, and I come now to consider them as
a body politic, with relations to the government of
Oregon and to the general government.
The first public meeting recorded concerned claim-
jumping, against which it was a protest, and was held
in Lewis county, which then comprised all of the ter-
ritory north of the Columbia and west of the Cascade
Mountains not contained in Clarke county, and prob-
ably at the house of John R. Jackson, June 11, 1847.
The second was held at Tumwater November 5, 1848,
(33)
40 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
and was called to express the sentiments of the Amer-
ican settlers concerning the threatened encroachments
of the Puget Sound Agricultural Association. "This
fall," says an old settler, "the company conceived the
design of making claim under the treaty for the
immense tract called the Nisqually claim, lying south
of the Nisqually River, and with that view drove a
large herd of cattle across the river." The American
residents, in a convention called to order by M. T.
Simmons and presided over by William Packwood,
passed a series of resolutions, a copy of which was pre-
sented to W. F. Tolmie, the agent in charge of Fort
Nisqually, by I. N. Ebey who had just arrived in the
country, and Rabbeson, with the declaration that the
Americans demanded the withdrawal of the Hud-
son's Bay Company's herds to the north side of the
Nisqually within one week from the day the notice
was received.
The preamble set forth that the herds of the com-
pany would soon consume all the vegetation of the
country ranged by them, to the detriment of the set-
tlers on the south or west side of the river; and that,
as these cattle were wild, if suffered to mix with do-
mesticated cattle they would greatly demoralize them.
It was thereupon resolved that the Hudson's Bay
Company had placed obstacles in the way of the
Americans who first designed settling oa Puget
Sound — referring to the Simmons colony — using mis-
representation and fraud to prevent them, and even
threatening force; that they held the conduct of Tolmie
censurable in endeavoring to prevent settlement by
Americans on certain lands which he pretended were
reserved by the terms of the treaty of 1846, although
he knew they were not; that this assumption of right
was only equalled by the baseness of the subterfuge
by which the company was attempting to hold other
large tracts by an apparent compliance with the
organic land law of the territory — that is, by taking
claims in the names of servants of the company who
A PROTEST OF AMERICANS. 41
did not even know where to find the lands located in
their names, but who were compelled to agree to con-
vey these lands to the company when their title
should have been completed.
They declared that they as American citizens had
a regard for treaty stipulations and national honor,
and were jealous of any infringement of the laws of
the country by persons who had no interest in the
glory or prosperity of the government, but were for-
eign-born and owed allegiance alone to Great Britain.
They warned the company that it had never been the
policy of the United States to grant pre-emption
rights to other than American citizens, or those who
had declared their intention to become such in a legal
form, and that such would without doubt be the con-
ditions of land grants in the expected donation law.
They declared they viewed the claims and improve-
ments made subsequent to the treaty by the Puget
Sound Agricultural Company as giving them no
rights; and as to their previous rights, they were only
possessory, and the United States had never parted
with the actual title to the lands occupied, but that
any American citizen might appropriate the land to
himself, with the improvements, and that the claims
held by the servants of the company would not be
respected unless the nominal settlers became settlers
in fact and American citizens.^
Within the week allowed the company to withdraw
their cattle from the Nisqually plains they had with-
drawn them, and there was no trouble from that source.
The threat implied in the resolutions, to sustain any
American citizen in appropriating the lands claimed
by the company and not by individuals who had re-
nounced allegiance to Great Britain, together with the
improvements, was carried out to the letter during the
' Or. Spectator, Jan. 11, 1849. I. N. Ebey is said by Rabbeson to have
draughted the resolutions, though Rabbeson was chairman of the committee,
and S. B. Crockett the third member. He knew of the long feud between
certain of his countrymen and the Hudson's Bay Company, and without know-
ing the merits of the case on either side, was prepared in any event to be strongly
American.
42 POLITICS AXD DEVELOPMENT.
following twelve years, their lands being covered with
squatters, and the products of the Cowlitz farm taken
away without leave or compensation/ not by the men
who composed this meeting, but by others who adopted
these views of the company's rights.
The land laid claim to by the agricultural company,
in their memorial to the joint commission provided
for by the convention between the United States
and Great Britain March 5, 1864, was "the tract of
^George B. Roberts, in his Recollections, MS., S9, 91, 94-, spealis very feel-
ingly of what he was compelled to suifer from 1S46 to ISji, by reason of his
membership and agency of the company at the Cowlitz farm. ' The fortunes
of the company were upon the fast ebb,' he says, 'and rather than go north,
or elsewhere, I thought i had better settle as a farmer on the Newaukum. I
made out very poorly as a settler, and when Stevens' war broke out, I left ray
family and went for a short time as mail-guard, but was soon employed as a
clerk to Gen. Miller, quartermaster-general of volunteers ... In the Fraser
Eiver excitement of 1858, I went to Victoria and arranged with Tolmie,
then agent of the P. S. A. A., to carry on the Cowlitz farm on a small scale
for my own benefit; but I was to keep the buildings in repair and the farm
at its then size until some action was had with the government. I took pos-
session unopposed, and all went well until my hay was put up in cocks, when
here came a lot of fellows, armed with rifles, and carried it all off. One of these
squatters was the justice; so my lawyer, Elwood Evans, recommended chang-
ing the venue. The jury decided that they knew nothing of treaties, and of
course I had all the e.xpense to bear. The company said the crops were mine,
and they would have nothing to do with it. Then followed the burning of a
largo barn, etc., poor Kendall's letter and murder, then injunction and disso-
lution, the loss of papers by the judge when the time of trial came, so as not
to ijronounce, and so this matter went from 1859 to 1871. . .The judge was
a federal appointee, and in theory independent, but liable to be unseated at
any time and returned to the people whom he had offended... I could not
with any grace relinquish the property entrusted to my care, to say nothing of
the squatters rendering me too poor to leave. Whether the company from any
sinister motives helped these troubles I know not. I leave to your imagina-
tion the state I was kept in, and my family; sometimes my windows at night
■were riddled with shot, my fences set open, and in dry weather set on fire.
It was an immense effort to unseat me, and cheat the government of these
lands, and all the clamor against the P. S. A. A. was for nothing else. . .
The P. S. A. A. one year paid Pierce county $7,000 in taxes, but it is likely
the company was astute enough to do so with the view of the record showing
the value of their property at that time. In 1870 or 1871 Salucius Garfielde
succeeded in getting donation claims for the "hardy pioneers." Well, I
always thought a pioneer was a person who hewed out a farm, not one who
violently took possession of a beautiful property that had been carefully, not
to say scientifically, farmed for over thirty years.' This shows to what acts
the sentiment adopted by the early settlers toward the Puget Sound Com-
pany influenced rude and unscrupulous or ignorant and prejudiced men; and
also the injustice inflicted upon individuals by the carrying-out of their views.
For the previous biography of G. B. Roberts, see iJist. Or., i. 3S-9, this
series. Ho finally settled at Cathlamet, where he kept a store, and lield the
offices of probate judge, treasurer, and deputy auditor orVVahkiakum county.
He died in the spring of 1883, and his wife, Rose Birnie, a year or two earlier.
See note on p. Ill of vol ii., Iliiit. Or.
THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. 43
land at Nisqually, extending along the shores of
Puget Sound from the Nisqually River on one
side to the Puyallup River on the other, and back
to the Cascade Range, containing not less than
261 square miles, or 107,040 acres," with "the land
and farm at the Cowlitz consisting of 3,572 acres,
more or less," * which they proposed to sell back to
the United States together with the Hudson's Bay
Company's lands, and the improvements and live-stock
of both companies, for the sum of five million dollars.
They received for such claims as were allo\yed $750,-
000. That the sum paid for the blunder of the
government in agreeing to confirm to these companies
their claims without any definite boundary was no
greater, was owing to the persistent effort of the
settlers of Washington to diminish their possessions.*
Another specimen of the temper of the early settlers
was shown when the president and senate of the
United States sent them a federal judge in the person
of William Strong. They refused, as jurors, to be
bidden by him, "in the manner of slave-driving," to
repair to the house of John R. Jackson to hold court,
when the county commissioners had fixed the county
seat at Sidney S. Ford's claim on the Chehalis, at
which place they held an indignation meeting in
October 1851, M. T. Simmons in the chair.^
When the Hudson's Bay Company in 1845 made
a compact with the provisional government of Oregon
to give it their support on certain conditions, there
existed no county organization north of the Columbia
River, except as the counties or districts of Tualatin
and Clackamas extended northward to the boundary
of the Oregon territory, declared by the legislature
'iVew Tacoma North Pacific Coast, June 15, 1880, 180.
*At a meeting held at Steilacoom in May 1851, it i3 stated that Tolmie
as the company's agent had diminished their claim to 144 square miles, after
the passage of tlie land law, but that he was using every means to drive
settlers off that tract, with what success I need not say. Or. Spectator, June
5, 1851.
*See Hist. Or., ii. 162, this series.
44 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
of 1844 to be at the parallel of 54° 40', when, as no
American citizens resided north of the Columbia at
that time, no administration of colonial law had ever
been necessary; but on the compact going into effect,
and Americans settling in the region of Puget Sound,
the district of Vancouver was created north of the
Columbia, and officers appointed as follows: James
Douglas, M. T. Simmons, and Charles Forrest dis-
trict judges, and John R. Jackson sheriff."
On the 19th of December 1845 the county of
Lewis was created "out of all that territory lying
north of the Columbia River and west of the Cowlitz,
up to 54° and 40' north latitude," and was entitled to
elect the same officers as other counties, except that
the sheriff of Vancouver county was requii-ed to assess
and collect the revenue for both districts for the year
1846. No county officers were appointed, but the
choice of judges and a representative was left to the
people at the annual election in 1846, when W. F.
Tolmie was chosen to represent in the legislature
Lewis county, and Henry N. Peers ^ Vancouver
county, while the privilege* of electing judges was
not regarded.
Dugald McTavish, Richard Covington, and Rich-
ard Lane, all Hudson's Bay Company men, were ap-
pointed judges of Vancouver district to fill vacancies,
but no appointments were made in Lewis county.
At the session of 1846 a change was made, requiring
the people to elect their county judges or justices of
the peace for the term of two years, at the annual
election. Under this law, in 1847 Vancouver county
•The legislature of Angust 1S45 established a bench of county judges to
hold office one, two, and three years, and the same body in the following
December made the three years' judge president of the district court of his
district. Or. Laws, lS4.'?-9, 32-,3. Douglas was president of the district court
of Vaucouver; Simmons held oiBce two years and Forrest one year.
'Peers was a talented young man of the H. B. Co., a good versifier, and
fair legislator.
* This was simply a privilege granted by resolution of the legislature of
1845, these officers being appointed by that body, and vacancies filled by tho
governor until December 1846, when an act was passed providing for th8
election of judges and other county officers. Or. Spectator, Jan. '21, 1847.
LEWIS AND VANCOUVER COUNTIES. 45
elected Hichard Lane, R. R. Thompson, and John
White, one man of the fur company and two Ameri-
cans, justices of the peace, and Henry N. Peers rep-
resentative; while Lewis county elected Jacob Wooley,
S. B. Crockett, and John R. Jackson justices,' and
Simon Plomondon, Canadian, for representative.
Vancouver county elected William Bryan sheriff and
assessor, Adolphus Lee Lewis treasurer, and R.
Covington county clerk; Lewis county elected M.
Brock assessor, James Birnie treasurer, and Alonzo
M. Poe sheriff.^" Tlie vote of Lewis county at this
election gave Abernethy the majority for governor,
which he did not have south of the Columbia.
In 1848 Lewis county was not represented, the
member elect, Levi Lathrop Smith, whose biograph}-
I give elsewhere, having been drowned; Vancouver
county was represented by A. Lee Lewis. Little
legislation of any kind was effected, on account of the
absence of so large a part of the population in Cali-
fornia. For the same reason, the only general news-
paper in the territory, the Oregon Spectator, was
suspended during several months of 1849, covering
the important period of the erection of a territorial
government under the laws of the United States by
Joseph Lane, appointed governor of Oregon by Pres-
ident Polk, and on its resuming publication it gave
but briefly election and legislative news. From this
meagre statement, it appears, however, that the ap-
portionment of representatives under the new order
of things allowed one joint member for each branch
of the legislature for Lewis, Vancouver, and Clatsop
counties, Samuel T. McKean of the latter in the
council, and M. T. Simmons of Lewis in the lower
house." The territory having been laid off into
' Simmons must have acted as judge of Lewis county iirevious to this,
though appointed for Vancouver, foi- the marriage of Daniel D. Kinsey and
Ruth Brock was solemnized in July 1S47 t)y 'Judge' Simmons. Evans' Iliat,
Notes, 9.
•" Or. Spectator, July 22, 1847.
"M, Oct. 18, 1849.
46 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
three judicial districts, Lewis county being in the
third, the first territorial legislature passed an act
attaching it to the first district, in order that the
judge of that district, Bryant, the other judges be-
ing absent, might repair to Steilacoom and try the
Snoqualimich who had shot two Americans at Nis-
qually in the March previous, which was done, as I
have full}^ related elsewhere;^' this being the first court
of -which there is any record in Lewis county, and the
first United States court north of the Columbia.
The member from the north side of the Columbia
■was absent from the long term held after the adjourn-
ment in July; and as McKean was more interested
in Clatsop than Lewis or Vancouver, the settlers of
the latter counties felt themselves but poorly repre-
sented, the most important act concerning their divis-
ion of the territory being the change of name of Van-
couver to Clarke county.'* In the following year they
were in no better case, although they elected for the
first time a full set of county officers. McKean was
still their councilman, and another member from
Clatsop their assemblyman, Truman P. Powers, a
good and true man, but knowing nothing about the
wants of any but his own immediate locality. How-
ever, by dint of lobbying, a new county was created
at this session out of the strip of country bordering
on Shoal water Bay and the estuary of the Columbia;
and in 1851 the three counties north of the river were
able to elect a councilman, Columbia Lancaster, and
a representative, D. F. Brownfield, in whom they put
their trust as Americans. Alas, for human expecta-
tions! Both of these men, instead of attending to the
needs of their constituents, entered into a squabble
over the location of the seat of government, and with
idiotic obstinacy remained staring at empty benches
in Oregon City with three other dunces for two
weeks, when they returned to their homes.
"Hist. Or., ii. 79-80, this series.
"Ur. Jour. Council, 1849, 09.
CHAPMAN'S SCHEME. 47
Now, the people south of the Columbia, whose rep-
resentatives were ever on the alert to secure some
benefits to their own districts, were not to be blamed
for the state of affairs I have indicated in_the_ remote
region of Puget Sound, or for not embodying in their
frequent memorials to congress the wants and wishes,
never properly expressed in the legislative assembly.
But with that ready jealousy the people ever feel of
the strong, they held the territorial legislature guilty
of asking everything for the Willamette Valley and
nothing for Puget Sound. This feeling prepared
their minds for the development of a scheme for a new
territory, which was first voiced by J. B. Chapman,
a lawyer, the founder of Chehalis City," a trading
politician and promoter of factions. He had lived in
Oregon City or Portland, but conceived the idea of
enlarging his field of operations, and in the winter of
1850-1 explored north of the Columbia for a proper
field. On the 17th of February, 1851, he wrote to
A. A. Durham of Oswego, on the Willamette, that
he found "the fairest and best portion of Oregon north
of the Columbia," and that no doubt it must and would
be a separate territory and state from that of the
south. "The north," he said, "must be Columbia
Territory and the south the State of Oregon. How
poetical! — from Maine to Columbia; and how mean-
ing of space !"^^ The letter was signed 'Carman and
Chapman,' but no one ever heard of Carman, and
Evans, who made special inquiry, thinks he was a
myth.
Chehalis City being too remote, and wanting in
population for the centre of Chapman's designs, he re-
moved soon after to the Sound, where he attempted
to establish Steilacoom City, adjoining the Port Steil-
acoom of Balch, but failed to secure his object of sup-
^* J. B. Ch.ipman also located a paper town on the upper Chehalis, which
he- called Charleston, but which never had a real existence. Evans' Division
of the Territory, 1., being a collection of printed matter on the subject, with
notes by Elwood Evans.
'^ Or. Spectator, April 10, 1851; Olympia Standard, April 28, 1868; Evans'
Division of Terrilori).
48 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
planting the latter. In politics he was nacre success-
ful, because he contrived to assume the distinction of
originating the idea which he had only borrowed from
those who were nursing their wrath over wrongs, and
of anticipating a contemplated movement by getting
it into print over his signature.
Tlie first real movement made in the direction of a
new territory was on the 4th of July, 1851, when the
Americans about the head of the Sound met at Olym-
pia to celebrate the nation's birthday. Chapman,
being, as he asserts, the only lawyer among them, was
chosen orator of the occasion, and in his speech re-
ferred to "the future state of Columbia" with an en-
thusiasm which delighted his hearers. After the
ceremonies of the day were over, a meeting was held
for the purpose of organizing for the effort to procure
a separate government for the country north of the
Columbia, Claurick Crosby, the purchaser of the Turn-
water property of M. T. Simmons, being chairman of
the meeting, and A. M. Poe secretary. The meeting
was addressed by I. N. Ebey, J. B. Chapman, C.
Crosby, and H. A. Goldsborough.^^ A committee on
resolutions was appointed, consisting of Ebey, Golds-
borough, Wilson, Chapman, Simmons, Chambers, and
Crockett. The committee recommended a convention
of representatives from all the election precincts north
of the Columbia, to be held at Cowlitz landing on the
29th of August, the object of which was to "take into
careful consideration the present peculiar position of
the northern portion of the territory, its wants, the
best method of supplying those wants, and the pro-
priety of an early appeal to congress for a divisiou of
the territory."
" H. A. Goldsborough was a brother of Louis M. Goldsborough, com-
mander of the Massachusetts, which waa in the Sound in the spring of 1850,
making an examination of the shores with reference to military and naval
reservations, and the security of commerce. H. A. GoUlsborough remained
at Olympia when the Massachusetts left in July, and became a resident of the
territory. He devoted much time to exploring for minerals, and discovered
coal on the Stilaguamish River as early as the autumn of 1850. Or. Specta-
tor, Nov. 14, 1850. He was the first collector of internal revenue iu Wash.
PETITION FOR A NEW TERRITORY. 49
To this motion the settlers on the Cowlitz made a
quick response, holding a meeting on the 7th of July
at the house of John R. Jackson, who was chairman,
and E. D. Warbass secretary. At this meeting
Chapman was present, and with Warbass and S. S.
Ford reported resolutions favoring the object of the
proposed convention. The committee of arrangements
consisted of George Drew, W. L. Frazer, and E. D.
Warbass, and the corresponding committee of J. B.
Chapman and George B. Roberts.
When the convention assembled on the day ap-
pointed there were present twenty-six delegates.^'^
The business the convention accomplished was the
memorializing of congress on the subject of division,
the instruction of the Oregon delegate in conformity
with this memorial, the petitioning of congress for a
territorial road from some point on Puget Sound to
Walla Walla, and a plank road from the Sound to the
mouth of the Cowlitz, with suitable appropriations.
It also asked that the benefits of the donation land
law should be extended to the new territory in case
their prayer for division should be granted. It de-
fined the limits of twelve counties, substantially in
the form in which they were established by the Ore-
gon legislature; and having made so good a beginning,
adjourned on the second day to the 3d of May follow-
ing, to await the action of congress in the interim,^*
when, if their prayer should have been refused, they
were to proceed to form a state constitution and ask
" From Monticello, near the mouth of the Cowlitz, Seth Catlin, Jonathan
Burbee, Robert Huntress; from Cowlitz landing, E. D. Warbass, John R.
Jackson, W. L. Frazer, Simon Plomondon; from Newaukura, S. S. Saunders,
A. B. Dillenbaugh, Marcel Birnie, Sidney S. Ford, James Cochran, Joseph
Borst; from Tumwater, M. T. Simmons, Ulanrick Crosby, Joseph Broshears,
A. J. Simmons; from Olympia, A. M. Poe, D. S. Maynard, D. F. Brownfield;
from Steilacoom, T. M. Chambers, John Bradley, J. B. Chapman, H. C. Wil-
son, John Edgar, and F. S. Balch. Or. Statesman, Sept. 23, 1S51.
'^The memorial was prepared by Chapman, Balch, and M. T. Simmons.
The other committees were as follows: Territorial Government, Chapman,
Jackson, Simmons, Huntress, and Chambers; Districts and Counties, Brown-
field, Wilson, Crosby, Jackson, Burbee, Plomondon, Edgar, and Warbass;
Rights and Privileges of Citizens, Huntress, Maynard, and Chapman; Internal
Improvements, M. T. Simmons, Burbee, and Borst; Ways and Means, Frazer,
A, J. Simmons, and Bradley.
50 POLITICS AND DEVELOPJIENT.
admission into the union! Such was the expression
of the representatives ^' of Lewis county — for every
precinct represented was in the county of Lewis, Pa-
cific and Clarke counties having sent no delegates.
The grievances suffered were in fact chiefl}^ felt in
the region represented at the convention.
Soon after the Cowlitz meeting occurred the con-
flict of the jurymen of Lewis county, before referred
to, with their first federal officer, Judge Strong. In
accordance with an act of the legislature authorizing
and requiring the county judges, any two of whom
should constitute a board of county commissioners for
the selection of a county seat, the place of holding
court was fixed at S. S. Ford's claim on the Cheha-
lis. But Judge Strong preferred holding court at
Jackson's house, twenty miles nearer to the Cowlitz
landing, sending a peremptory order to the jurymen
to repair to Highlands, which they, resenting the im-
periousness of the judge, refused to do, but held a
public meeting and talked of impeachment. Chap-
man, for purposes of his own, glossed over the offence
given by Strong, both he and Brownfield, as well as
Lancaster, siding with the federal officers against the
people on the meeting of the legislature in December;
"Chapman, in his autobiography in liivingston's Eminent AntcricanK, iv.
436, says that, after much exertion, ' he obtained a convention of 15 members,
but not one parliamentary gentleman among them, hence the whole business
devolved upon him;' that he 'drew up all the resolutions' and the memorial,
though other members offered them in their own names, and so contrived that
every name should appear in the proceedings, to give the appearance of a
large convention; and that neither of the men on the committee with him
could write his name. Autobiographies should be confirmed by two cred-
ible witnesses. In this instance Chapman has made use of the circumstance
of Simmons' want of education to grossly misrepresent the intelligence of the
community of which such men as Ebey, whose private correspondence in my
possession shows him to be a man of refined feelings, Goldsborough, Catlin,
Warbass, Balch, Crosby, Wilson, and others were members. As to Simmons,
although his want of scholarship was an impediment and a mortification, he
possessed the real qualities of a leader, which Chapman lacked; for the latter
was never able to achieve either popularity or position, though he strove hard
for botli. The census of 1850 for Lewis county gives the total white population
at 457, only six of whom, over twenty years of age, were not able to write.
It is probable that not more than one out of the six was sent to the conven-
tion, and he was appointed on account of his brain-power and consequent in-
fluence.
THE FIRST NEWSPAPER. 51
and the affairs of the whole trans-Columbia region,
not attended to by J. A. Anderson of Clatsop and
Pacific counties, were suffered to pass without notice.'^"
This, however, Anderson did for them: he pre-
sented a petition from J. B. Chapman and fiftj'-five
others for the establishment of a new county, to be
called Simmons, and the readjustment of the eastern
boundary of Lewis county. The boundary of the
new county was defined as described by the commit-
tee on counties of the August convention, but the
council amended the house bill by substituting Thurs-
ton for Simmons; and the limits of Lewis on the east
were removed fifteen miles east of the junction of the
forks of the Cowlitz, running due north to the south-
ern boundary of Thurston county.
In joint convention of both branches of the legis-
lature, I. N. Ebey was elected prosecuting attorney
for the third judicial district, receiving fourteen votes,
and the ubiquitous Chapman two.^^ Ebey being pop-
ular, energetic, and devoted to the interests of his
section, much comfort was derived from this legisla-
tive appointment. Meantime congress took no notice
apparently of the memorial forwarded by the conven-
tion of August, nor did the citizens north of the Co-
lumbia assemble in May to frame a state constitution
as they had threatened, yet as they could not seriously
have contemplated. But as a means to a desired end,
The Columbian, a weekly newspaper, was established
at Olympia,-^ which issued its first number on the 11th
of September, 1852; and was untiring in its advocacy
of an independent organization. It was wisely sug-
'" Evans says, in his Division of the Territory, 5, that when he came to
Puget Sound J. B. Chapman was extremely unpopular, and he doubts if,
anxious as the people were for an organization north of the Columbia, they
would have accepted it with Chapman as an appointee, which he was aiming
at. He did not get an appointment, as he confesses in his AiUobiociraphy.
■" The first judges of Thurston county were A. A. Denny, S. S. Ford, and
David Shelton. Otymjna Columbian, Nov. C, ISol. See also Or. Jour. Vcuu-
cil, 1S51-2, 68.
■" Thf Columbian was published by J. W. Wiley and T. F. McEU;oy, the
latter having been connected witli the Spectator. McElroy retired in Sep-
tember 1853, and M. K. Smith became publisher.
POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
that, as many influential citizens would be as-
sembled at the house of J. R. Jackson on the 25th
of October to attend the sitting of the court, the op-
portunity should be seized to make arrangements
for another convention, a hint which was adopted.
On the 27th of September a meeting was held,
and a general convention planned for the 25th of Oc-
tober, at Monticello. It was considered certain that
all the inhabitants about Puget Sound would vote for
a separate organization, but not quite so evident that
those living upon the Columbia, and accustomed to
act with the people south of it, would do so. By
holding the convention at Monticello, it was hoped to
influence the doubtful in the direction of their wishes.
At the time appointed, the delegates assembled
and organized by electing G. N. McConaha president
and R. J. White secretary. After an address b}* the
president, a committee of thirteen ^^ was selected to
frame another memorial to congress, which contained
the following arguments: It was desired to have or-
ganized a separate territory, bounded on the south and
east by the Columbia; and for these reasons: the teni-
tory was too large ever to be embraced within the lim-
its of one state, containing as it did 341,000 square miles,
with 640 miles of sea-coast, while the proposed terri-
tory would embrace about 32,000 square miles, that
being believed to be of fair and just extent. Those
portions of the undivided territory lying north and
south of the Columbia must, from their geographical
positions, become rivals in commerce. The southern
portion, having now the greatest number of voters,
controls legislation, from which fact it was evident
that northern Oregon received no benefit from con-
gressional appropriations, which were subject to the
disposition of the legislature. The seat of govern-
ment was, by the nearest practicable route, 500 miles
from a large portion of the citizens of the territory.
''Quincy A. Brooks, D. S. Maynard, William W. Plumb, Alfred Cook, J.
R. Jac'ison, E. L. Finch, A. F. Scott, F. A. CI:. Ue, V. S. llatlmway, E. A.
Allen, E. H. Winslow, SetU Catlin, and N. Stone constituted the committee.
TERRITORY OF COLUMBIA. 53
A majority of the legislation of the south was opposed
to the interests of the north. Northern Oregon pos-
sessed great natural resources and an already large
population, which would be greatly increased could
they secure the fostering care of congress. Where-
fore they humbly petitioned for the early organization
of a territory, to be called the Territory of Columbia,
north and west of the Columbia River, as described.
Then followed forty-four names of the most influen-
tial citizens of Lewis and Thurston counties.^*
As before, the convention appointed a meeting for
May, and adjourned; the memorial was forwarded to
Lane, and the proceedings were made as public as the
Oregon newspapers could make them.
But matters were already slowly mending north of
the Columbia. There had been some valuable acces-
sions to the population, as the reader of the previous
chapter is aware; a good many vessels were coming
to the Sound for timber,-' which gave employment
to men without capital, and brought money into the
country, and the influence of United States laws were
"G. N. McCouaha, Seth Catlin, R. J. White, J. N. Law, Q. A. Brooks,
C. C. Terry, C. S. Hathaway, A. J. Simmons, E. H. VVinslow, S. PlomonJon,
A. Cook, H. A. Goldsborough, A. F. Scott, G. Drew, W. N. Bell, M. T. Sim-
mons, A. A. Denny, H. C. Wilson, L. M. Collins, L. B. Hastings, G. B.
Roberts, S. S. Ford, Sen., N. Stone, B. C. Armstrong, L. H. Davis, J. Fowler,
C. H. Hale, A. Crawford, S. D. Rundell, H. D. Huntington, E. J. Allen, W.
A. L. McCorkle, A. B. Dillenbaugh, N. Ostrander, J. R. Jackson, C. F. Por-
ter, D. S. Maynard, E. L. Finch, F. A. Clarke, H. Miles, Wm W. Plumb, P.
W. Crawford, A. Wylie, S. P. Moses. Comr]. Globe, 1832-3, 541; Columbian,
Deo. 11, 1852; Or. Statesman, Jan. 1, 1853; Olympia Standard, May 9, 1SG8.
^^ No list of vessels was kept previous to ^ho arrival of a collector in Nov.
1851; but between the 15th of that month and the last of June following
there were 38 arrivals and departures from Olympia, as follows: Bi'igs,
Georije Emory, Orbit, G. IF. Kendall, John Davis, Franklin Adams, Daniel,
Leonesa, Jane, Ear/le; brigantine, Mary Dare; schooners. Exact, Demaris
Cove, Susan Sturges, Alice, Eranldin, Mary Taylor, Cynosure, Honolulu Packet,
Mexican, Cecil; bark, Brontes; steamer, Beaver. The memoranda made by
the collector was as follows: Brigantine Mary Dare and steamer Beaver seized
for infractions of the U. S. revenue laws. U. S. sloop of war Vincennes, ^y. L.
Hudson commander, visited the Sound, obtained supplies and exercised her
batteries. Sloop Georgiana wrecked on Queen Charlotte Island, her passen-
gers and crew taken prisoners by the Indians. Schooner Demaris Cove
promptly sent to their relief by the "collector. Schooner Harriet, from the Co-
lumbia, bound to S. F. with passengers and freight, blown to about lat. 55°,
lost sails, etc.; came into port in distress. Brig Una totally wrecked at
Cape Flattery. Olympia Columbian, Sept. 11, 1852.
54 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
beginning to be felt in the presence of a customs office
as well as a district court. In May 1851 President
Fillmore commissioned Simpson P. Moses of Ohio col-
lector of customs, and W. W. Miller of Illinois surveyor
of the port of Nisqually, on Puget Sound. These offi-
cials arrived in the months of October and November,
Miller overland and Moses by the Nicaragua route,
then newly opened.^^ With the latter came the family
of the collector, two unmarried women named Relyea,'^'^
A. B. ]\Ioses, brother of the collector, and Deputy Col-
lector Elwood Evans, who later became so well known
in connection with the history of Washington and its
preservation in a written form.^^ There came also, as
passengers from San Francisco, Theodore Dubosq, J.
M. Bachelder and family, and John Hamilton. ^^
I have already in a previous volume related with
what ardor Collector Moses adopted the anti-Hudson's
Bay Company tone of the early settlers, and how he
brought the government into debt many thousand
dollars by seizures of British vessels ^° after the re-
moval of the port of entry to Olympia. The seizure
of the Beaver and the Mary Dare'^^ occurred about
''' Evans says the collector sailed from N. Y. August }4th in the steamship
Prometheus, which connected with the Independence at San Juan del Sur, ar-
riving at S. F. Sept. 17th. The remainder of the voyage to Puget Sound was
pel-formed in the brig George Emory, owned by Lafayette Balch of Port Steil-
acoom, which left Oct. '24th, and arrived off Port Townseud Nov. 10th, where
the collector and his deputy were SM'orn in by Henry C. Wilson, justice of
the peace of Lewis county. Notes on Sctllemenl , 15; iV. W. Coast, MS., 1.
-' Louisa Relyea married Frederick Myers, and her sister John Bradley,
Evans' Notes on Settlement, 16.
'^ Evans was born in Philadelphia, Dec. 29, 1828. Wishing to come to
the Pacific coast, he was tendered the appointment of deputy clerk to the col-
lector of Puget Sound, and accepted. He returned to Philadelphia in 18j2,
and came out again in 185.S as private secretary to Gov. Stevens. From that
time he carefully observed and noted the progress of events, in which he took
no insignificant personal interest. By profession a lawyer, he residcil at Olym-
pia from 1851 to 1879, when he removed to New Tacoma. He married Elzira
Z. Gove of Olympia, formei'Iy of Bath, Maine, on the 1st of January, 1856.
^ Hamilton was a brother-in-law of Bachelder. He was drowned March
27, 1854, on the ill-fated e.\pedition of Major Lamed, U. S. A. Evans' Notes
on Settlement, 16.
'" Hist. Or., ii. 105-8, this series.
" Moses appointed I. N. Ebey and A. J. Simmons tempor.ary inspectors,
and on the 1st of December directed Ebey to make a strict examination, which
resulted in finding $500 worth of Indian goods on board the Heaver, and on
the Mary Dare a contraband package of refined sugar weighing 230 pounds.
By the 103d section of the act of March 2, 1799, refined sugar could not be
OLYMPIA IN EARLY DAYS. 55
the last of November, and on the 20th of January a
special term of court was held at Olympia to try these
oases, this being the first term of the federal court in
Tliurston county, Judge Strong presiding, Simon B.
Mayre of Portland being attorney for the Hudson's
Bay Company, and David Logan of the same place
acting for the United States district attorney, Ebey,
in these cases. Quincy A. Brooks acted as clerk of the
court, and A. M. Poe as deputy marshal. At this
term were admitted to practice Brooks, S. P. Moses,
Ebey, and Evans.
Evans describes, in a journal kept by him at that
time, and incorporated in his Historical Notes on
Settlement, the appearance of Olympia in the winter
of 1851-2. There were "about a dozen one-story
frame cabins of primitive architecture, covered with
split-cedar siding, well ventilated, but healthy. There
were about twice that number of Indian huts a short
distance from the custom-house, which was in the
second story of Simmons' building, before described,
on the first floor of which was his store, with a small
room partitioned off for a post-office."
It was during the month of November that the
Exact arrived at Olympia with the gold-seekers for
Queen Charlotte Island, after leaving the Alki Point
settlers. The Exact brought, as settlers to Olympia,
Daniel B. Bigelow, a lawyer and a Massachusetts
man who crossed the continent that summer. His
first case was a suit between Crosby and M. T.
Simmons, growing out of a question of title to the
Tumwater claim, Bigelow representing Simmons and
J. B. Chapman being Crosby's attorney. James
Hughes and family also arrived by the Exact.
The rumor which led the Portland company to
charter this vessel to take them to Queen Charlotte
imported in packages of less than 600 pounds, under penalty of forfeiture of
the sugar and the vessel in which it was imported. It was also shown that
the Beaver had anchored at Nisqually and sent boats ashore. These were the
infractions of the revenue law on which the seizures were made.
56 POUTICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
Island was first brought to Puget Sound by one
McEwen, mate of the sloop Georgiana from Australia.
McEwen exhibited gold in chunks which had been
chiselled out of quartz- veins in rock on the island, and
created thereby such an excitement that a company
was immediately raised to visit the new gold region,
Goldsborough at the head. On the 3d of November
the adventurers sailed from Olympia in the Georgiana,
with tools and provisions, and arrived on the 18th in
the harbor on the east side of the island, called Kom-
shewah by the natives, though their true destination
was Gold Harbor on the west side. On the following
day the sloop was blown ashore and Avrecked, when
the Haidahs, a numerous and cruel tribe, plundered
the vessel, took the company prisoners, and reduced
them to slavery. Their final fate would probably
have been death by starvation and ill treatment, but
for a fortunate incident of their voyage.
On coming opposite Cape Flattery, the sloop was
boarded by Captain Balch of the Demaris Cove, who
on learning her destination promised to follow as soon
as he should have met the George Emory, then due,
with the collector of Puget Sound on board. In
pursuance of this engagement, the Demaris Cove ran
up to the island in December, where she learned from
the Indians of the wreck of the Georgiana, and being
in danger from the natives, Balch at once returned to
the Sound to procure arms and goods for the ransom
of the prisoners.
On hearing what had happened. Collector Moses,
after conferring with the army officers at Fort Steil-
acoom, chartered the Demaris Cove and despatched
her December 19th for Queen Charlotte Island, Lieu-
tenant John Dement of the 1st artillery, with a few
soldiers, A. B. Moses, Dubosq, Poe, Sylvester, and
other volunteers, accompanying Captain Balch. On
the 31st the schooner returned with the ransomed
captives, to the great joy of their friends, who held a
public meeting to express their satisfaction, giving
CAPTIVE GOLDSEEIvERS. 57
unstinted praise to the collector for his prompt action
in the matter."'^
'- The details of the Georgiana affair are interesting and dramatic. The
Indians took possession of every article that could be saved from the vessel,
which they then burned for the iron. They swooped down upon the shivering
and half-drowned white men as fast as they came ashore through the surf —
some able to help themselves, and others unconscious, but all finally surviv-
ing — to strip them of their only possessions, their scanty clothing. This last
injury, however, was averted on making the chief understand that he should
be paid a ransom if their safety and comfort were secured until such time as
rescue came. They escaped the worst slavery by aflfecting to be chiefs and
ignorant of labor. Their sufferings from cold and the want of bedding, etc.,
were extreme, and their captivity lasted 54 days. The pay deiiiauded for
each person was 5 four-point blankets, 1 shirt, 1 bolt of muslin, and 2 pounds
of tobacco, besides all the [lunder of the vessel. S. D. Howe and three others
were permitted by the savages take a canoe and go to Fort Simpson for relief,
but their efforts were a partial failure.
The names of the rescued captives were, of the vessel's crew, William Row-
land, captain: Duncan McEwen, mate; Benjamin and Richard Gibbs, sailors;
Tamaree, an Hawaiian cook; passengers, Asher Sargent, E. N. Sargent, Sam-
uel D. Howe, Ambrose Jewell, Charles Weed, Daniel Show, Samuel H. Wil-
liams, James McAllister, John Thornton, Charles Hendricks, George A. Paige,
John Remley, Jesse Ferguson, Ignatius Colvin, James K. Hurd, William Ma-
hard, Solomon S. Gideon, George Moore, B. F. McDonald, Sidney S. Ford,
Jr, Isaac M. Browne, and Mr. Seidner. I find, besides the reports made at
the time by S. D. Howe, George Moore, Capt. Rowland, and subsequently by
Charles E. Weed, an account by the latter among my manuscripts, under the
title of Weed's Charlotte Island Expedition, from all of which I have drawn
the chief facts. Weed was 27 years of age, a native of Ct, and had just come
to Olympia by way of the Willamette from Cal. George A. Paige, a native
of N. H., had served in the Mexican war, and had been but a short time in
Or. He remained on the Sound, serving in the Indian wars, and receiving an
appointment as Indian agent at Port Madison. He died at Fort Colville in
1868. See references to the Geonjiana affair, in Or. Slafeswan, Feb. 15 and 24,
and March 9, 1852; Or. Spectator, Jan. 27, 1852; JS^ew Taconia Ledger, July
9, 1880.
While the Olympia gold -seekers were experiencing so great ill fortune, the
Exacl's company, which left the Sound somewhat later, succeeded in landing,
and spent the winter exploring the island, which they found to be a rocky
formation, not susceptible in the higher parts of being cultivated, though the
natives at Gold Harbor raised excellent potatoes and turnips. The climate
■was severe, and no gold was found except in quartz veins, which required
blasting. The Indians had some lumps of pure gold and fine specimens of
quartz stolen from a blast made by the crew of the H. B. Co. 's brigantine Una
a short time previous. This vessel was stranded on Cape Flattery, Dec. 26th,
the passengers getting ashore with their baggage, when they were attacked
by the Indians, who would have killed them to get possession of their goods
had they not fled, leaving everything in the hands of the savages, who burned
the vessel. The crew and passengers, among whom were three women, were
so fortunate as to signal the Demnris Cove on her way to rescue the Olympia
company, which took them on board and carried them to Fort Victoria. The
Indians of Gold Harbor, though they did not prevent the Exacts company
from prospecting, represented that they had sold the island to the H. B. Co.,
and were to defend it from occupation by Americans. The prospectors re-
remained until March, when they returned to Puget Sound, bringing a few-
specimens obtained from the natives. The Exact refitted and returned in
March. Three other vessels, the 2V;)fc, Glencoe, and Vancouver, advertised
to take passengers to the island, but uothmg like success followed the expedi-
68 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
But if the persons concemed approved of the action
of the collector, the government did not, and refused
to, pay the expenses of the rescue, which Moses in
a letter to Secretary Corwin of the treasury as-
sumed that it would do; and the collector of Puget
Sound was reminded somewhat sharply that it was
not his business to fit out military expeditions at the
expense of the United States, the first cost of which
in this case was seven or eight thousand dollars.^*
But congress, when memorialized by the legislature
of Washington at its first session, did appropriate
fifteen thousand dollars, out of which to pay the claims
of Captain Balch and others, as in justice it was
bound to do. Had the collector waited for the gov-
ernor to act, another month would necessarily have
been consumed, during which the captives might have
perished.
On the meeting of the Oregon legislature, ten days
tions. According to the 5. F. Alia of April 1, 1859, a nugget weighing §250
was obtained from the natives by the captain of the H. B. Co.'s str Labou-
chere. The Indians refused to reveal the location of the gold mine, but offered
to procure more of it for sale; and it is certain that the company did buy a
large amount of gold from them about this time. A third vessel, the brig
Eagle, was fitted out at Portland for prosecuting gold discovery on the nortli
coast, and for trading with the Indians. On the 9th of August, while attempt-
ing to enter a harbor on V. I., the brig was wrecked, the crew and passengers
reacliing the shore with only a few articles of food and clothing. No sooner
had they landed than they were stripped and their lives threatened. On the
lUh the party contrived to escape in a whale-boat, coasting along the island
for live days, subsisting on shell-tish, being treated barbarously by the natives,
who attacked them in Nootka Sound, taking two of them prisoners. The re-
mainder of the company escaped to sea and were picked up by a trading ves-
sel soou after. On board the rescuing vessel were some friendly Indians, who
volunteered to undertake the ransom of the captives, which they succeeded
in doing, and all arrived safely in Puget Sound in Sept. Olympia Columhian,
Sept. 11, 1852. Report of Ind. Agent Starling, in U. S. Sen. Ex. Doc, 1, v. i.
pt i. 464, 32d cong. 2d sess. Some of the gold-seekers being left on Queen
Charlotte Island, wishing to return home, and not having a vessel to bring
them, four men set out in an open boat, 14 feet long by 4J wide, carrying one
small sail, and neither chart nor compass. After many dangers from the sea
and savages, they reached Whidbey Island in an exliausted condition, after
Ijeing 15 days at sea. Their names were Ellis Barnes, .James C. Hedges,
Clement W. Snmner, and Thomas Tobias. The Indians of the northwest
coast were at tliis time, and for a number of years later, troublesome to the
daring pioneers of the northern coast. During the summer of 1852 the north-
ern Indians committed depredations on the schr Franklin, Capt. Pinkham,
and at difl'crcnt times many murders on Puget Sound. Olympia Columbian,
Sept. 18, 1 852.
S3 For the papers in the case, see Jlouxe Ex. Doc, 130. 32d cong. 1st sess.
NEW COUNTIES. 69
after the Cowlitz convention, Lancaster, the council-
man whose term held over, did not appear to take his
seat, but resigned his office at so late a moment, that
although an election was held, Seth Catlin being
chosen against A. A. Denny, it was too late to be of
use to the region he represented; but F. A. Chen-
oweth and I. N. Ebey being members of the lower
house in addition to Anderson of Clatsop and Pacific,
there was a perceptible change from the neglect of
former legislatures, and it is probable, if no action had
been taken looking to a separate territory, that the
Puget Sound country would have obtained recogni-
tion in the future. But the Oregon legislators were
not averse to the division, the counties south of the
Columbia having, as the northern counties alleged,
diverse commercial interests, and being at too great a
distance from each otlier to be much in sympathy.
But the legislature adopted without demur a reso-
lution of Ebey's that congress should appropriate
thirty thousand dollars to construct a military road
from Steilacoom to Walla Walla. Four new counties
were established, Jefferson, King. Pierce, and Island.
Two joint representatives were allowed, one for Island
and Jefferson, and one for King and Pierce. Pacific
county was also separated from Clatsop for judicial
purposes, and the judge of the 3d district required to
hold two terms of court annually in the former.^*
On the 10th of January Chenoweth introduced a
resolution in the house in regard to organizing a ter-
ritory north of the Columbia. On the 14th Ebey
reported a memorial to congress as a substitute for
"The county seat of Jefferson was fixed at Port Townsend ; of King at
Seattle; and Olympia was made the county seat of Thurston. The commis-
sioners appointed for Jefferson co., to serve until their successors were
elected, were L. B. Hastings, D. F. Browufield, and Albert Briggs; H. C.
Wilson sheriff, and A. A. Plummer probate clerk. For Island co., Samuel
B. Howe, John Alexander, and John Crockett; George W. L. Allen sheriff,
and R. H. Lansdale probate clerk. For King eo., A. A. Denny, John N.
Lowe, and Luther N. Collins; David C. Boren sheriff, and H. D. Yesler pro-
bate clerk. For Pierce co., Thos M. Chambers, William Dougherty,
Alexander Smith; John Bradley sheriff, and John M. Chapman probate
clerk. Or. State>mian, Jan. 22, 185."?; Columbian, Jan. 29 and Feb. 19, 1853j
iiorth Pacific Coast, vol. i., no. 1, p. 16.
60 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
the resolution, which he asked the assembly to adopt,
and which passed without opposition or amendment,
the only question raised in connection with the sub-
ject being the division by an east and west line,
some members contending that Oregon should include
Puget Sound and all the country west of the Cas-
cade Mountains, while the country east of that range
should form a new territory — an opinion long held by
a minority in view of the admission of Washington
as a state. Such a division at that time would have
made Portland the capital.'®
But Lane had not waited to hear from the Oregon
legislative assembly concerning the division of the
territory. Immediately on receiving the memorial
'^ Oli/mpia Columbian, May 9, 1SG8. The memorial was as follows: 'Your
memorialists, the legislative assembly of Oregon, legally assembled upon the
first Monday in December, A. D. 18o2, would respectfully represent unto your
honorable body that a period of four years and six months has elapsed since
the establishment of the present territorial government over the territory of
Oregon; and that in the mean time the population of the said territory has
spread from the banks of the Columbia River north along Puget Sound, Ad-
miralty Inlet, and Possession Sound, and the surrounding country to the
Canal de Haro; and that the people of that territory labor under great incon-
venience and hardship by reason of the great distance to which they are re-
moved from the centreof the present territorial organization. Those portionsof
Oregon territory lying north and south of the Columbia River must, from their
geographical position, difierence in climate, and internal resources, remain in
a great degree distinct communities, with different interests and policies in
all that appertains to their domestic legislation, and the various interests that
are to be regulated, nourished, and cherished by it. Tlie communication be-
tween these two portions of the territory is difficult, casual, and uncertain.
Although time and improvement would in some measure remove this obstacle,
yet it would for a long period in the future fonn a serious barrier to the pros-
perity and well-being of each, so long as they remain under one government.
The territory north of the Columbia, and west of the great northern branch
of that stream, contains a sufficient number of square miles to form a State,
which iu point of resources and capacity to maintain a population will com-
pare favorably with most of the states of the union. Experience has proven
that when marlied geographical boundaries which have been traced by the
hand of nature have been disregarded in the formation of local governments,
that sectional jealousies and local strifes have seriously embarrassed their pros-
perity and characterized their domestic legislation. Yourmemorialists, forthese
reasons, and for the benefit of Oregon both north and south of the Columbia
River, and believing from the reservation of power in the first section of the
organic act that congress then anticipated that at some future time it would be
necessary to establish other territorial organizations west of the Rocky Moun-
tains, and believing that that time has come, would respectfully pray your
honorable body to establish a separate territorial government for all that por-
tion of Oregon territory lying north of the Columbia River and west of the
great northern branch of the same, to be known as tlie Territory of Columbia.'
Or. Statesman, Jan. 29, 1803; Columbian, Feb. 1-2, 1853.
WASHINGTON, NOT COLUMBIA. 61
cf the Monticello convention, which was about the
beginning of the second session of the thirty-second
congress, he presented it in the house by a resolution
requesting the committee on territories to inquire into
the expediency of dividing Oregon, and framing a new
territory north of the Cohiuibia, by the name of Co-
kuubia Territory, which resolution was adopted. On
the 8th of February, 1853, the house proceeded to the
consideration of the bill prepared by the committee.
The bill did not confine the new territory to the lim-
its described in the memorial, but continued the line
of partition from a point near Fort Walla Walla, along
the 46th parallel, to the Rocky Mountains, making a
nearly equal division of the whole of Oregon. The
arguments used by Lane in favor of the bill were the
same as those given in the memorial, with the addi-
tion of some explanations and statements more effect-
ive than veracious, but which may have been necessary
to success; as, for instance, the statement that the pop-
ulation of the proposed territory was as great as that
of the whole of Oregon at the time of its organization
into a territory ,^^ whereas it was about one third.
Stanton of Kentucky moved to substitute the
name of Washington for that of Columbia, to which
Lane agreed, notwithstanding it was an ill-advised
change. The vote of the house was taken on the
10th, the bill passing by a majority of 128 to 29.
The senate passed it on the 2d of March without
amendment, the president signing it the same day.^'^
Thus painlessly was severed from the real Oregon
that northern portion over which statesmen and pio-
neers had at one time so hotly contended with Great
Britain.
Information of this act did not reach those inter-
ested until near the last of April. About the middle
of May it became known that I. I. Stevens of An-
'^The census of Washington, taken in 1853, and finished in Nov., fixed
the wliite population at 3,005. Swim's N. W. Coast, 491.
^^ House Jour., 8, 210, .S2d cong 2dsess.: Coiiq. G'obe, vol. 26,555, 1020,
32d cong. 2d sess. ; Olympia Columbian, April 23, 1853.
62 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
dover, Massachusetts, had been appointed governor,
Edward Lander of Indiana chief justice, John R.
Miller of Ohio and Victor Monroe of Kentucky
associate justices, and J. S. Clendenin, of Louisiana
United States district attorney. Miller falling ill,
Moses Hoagland of Millersburg, Ohio, was appointed
in his place, but did not accept, 0. B. McFadden
of Oregon being subsequently appointed to his
district. J. Patten Anderson of Mississippi was
appointed United States marshal, and directed to
take the census.^^ I. N. Ebey was appointed col-
lector of Puget Sound, in place of S. P. Moses, re-
moved ; ^" and not long afterward A. B. Moses was
appointed surveyor of the port of Nisqually, in place
of Miller, removed.
The marshal was the first of the federal officers to
arrive, reaching Puget Sound early in Jul}^, accom-
panied by his family. He was soon followed by
Judge Monroe, and in September by Judge Lander,
C. H. Mason, secretary of the territory, and District
Attorney Clendenin and family. Governor Stevens
did not reach Olympia until about the last of Novem-
ber, his proclamation organizing the government
being made on the 28th of that month. Before pro-
ceeding to discuss his administration, the rapid
" According to the census completed in the autumn of 1853 by the mar-
Bhal, the several counties were populated as follows:
Name. Popnlatioii. Voters.
Island 195 SO
Jefferson ISO C8
King 170 lU
Pierce 513 276
Thurston 096 3S1
Pacific 152 61
Lewis 616 2.30
Clarke 1, 1,34 400
Total 3,965 1,082
W. T. House Jonr., 1854-5, 185; 01 ijmpia Columbian, Nov. 26, 1853.
*' Moses was accused of retaining a lady's private wardrobe, of shielding
a mutinous crew, and conniving at smugglini^ by the H. B. Co. 's servants.
Or. Slalexman, Dec. 4, 1852. None of the cliarges I think could be sustained;
but the secretary of the treasury instituted a suit against him for $7,608.70,
balance due the United States, and caused his indictment as a defaulter. Id.,
Jan. 17, 1860.
ATTRACTING IMMIGRANTS. 63
changes taking place in the territory compel a brief
review of its progress in a material point of view.
The most important thing to be done for a new
country is the laying-out and improvement of roads.
No country ever suffered more from the absence of
good roads than Oregon, and the pioneers of the
Puget Sound region realized fully the drawback they
had to contend against to induce immigrants from
the border states to come to the sliores of their new
Mediterranean after having reached the settled Valley
Willamette. The only way in which they could hope
to secure. large families of agricultural people and nu-
merous herds of cattle, with work-oxen and horses,
was to have a road over the Cascade Mountains on
the north side of the Columbia as good as the one
around the base of Mount Hood on the south side.
As early as 1850 it was determined at a public meet-
ing to make the effort to open a road over the
mountains and down the Yakima River to Fort
Walla Walla, to intersect the immigrant road from
Grand Rond. A sum of money was raised among
the few settlers, and a company of young men, headed
by M. T. Simmons, was organized to hew out a high-
way for the passage of wagons to the Sound.'"'
Another incentive to this labor was the alleged dis-
covery of gold on the Yakima and Spokane rivers by
J. L. Parrish and W. H. Gray, while making a tour
through the eastern division of Oregon. The under-
taking of opening a road through the dense forests
and up and down the fearfully steep ridges proved
too great for the means and strength of Simmons'
company, and only served to fix the resolve to com-
plete the work at some future time.
There was, previous to 1852, no road between
Olympia and Tumwater, or between Tumwnter and
'"According to Gray, Pierre C. Pambrun of Fort Walla Walla, and
Cornelius llogers, first explored the Nachess pass at the head of the Yakima.
Or. Speclator, May 12, 1849.
64 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
Cowlitz landing. The first mail contract over this
route was let July 11, 1851, and the mail carried on
horseback, in the pockets of A. B. Rabbeson,^' Sim-
mons being postmaster at Olympia, and Warbass at
the Cowlitz, or Warbassport. The road was so much
improved in 1852 that a niail-wagon was driven over
it that year,*^ yet with great difficulty, being avoided
as much as possible by passengers.*^ In 1853 an
express line was established over the route by John
G. Parker and Henry D. Colter carrying mail and
light packages on horseback," nor was there much
improvement in tliis route for another two or three
years.
In 1853 it was again resolved to open the road for
" Edbbeaon's Growth of Toions, MS. , 15.
*»Id.; Puqet Sound pir., \Sri-2.
''The mail carrier in 1853 was James H. Yantis, son of B. F. Yantis of
Mound Prairie, who died August 7th of that year. Oli/mpia Columbian, Au-
gust 13, 1853. B. F. Yantis was a Kentuckian, born March 19, 1807. He
removed to Mo. in 1835, and to the Pacific coast in 1852. He occupied many
positions of trust in Wash., and served as justice of the peace and legislator.
After the creation of Idaho territory he resided there for some time and served
in the legislature, but finally returned to Puget Sound, where he died in 1879.
Olym/iia Standard, Feb. 15, 1879.
*' John G. Parker, long a resident of Olympia, and later capt. of the steam-
boat Messenger, came to S. F. in 1851 as messenger for Gregory & Co., and
to Puget Sound in 1853 as an agent to close the afliairs of a trading-house kept
l.y Wright & Colter at Olympia. Finding that there was no way of cany-
iug money between Puget .Sound and S. F. except by lumber vessels, which
were irregular and often went to the S. I., he decided to remain in Wash., in
view of which he bought out the interest of his employers, and established
Parker & Colter's express, carrying the mail through to the Cowlitz in a
single day by relays of horses, a distance of 70 miles, to connect with Adams'
express at Portland. At the end of 18 montlis Colter absconded with several
thousand dollars belonging to the firm, which put an end to the first express
company. The second express enterprise was by A. B. Stuart, who began
business in 1854, followed by Wells, Fargo & Co. in Feb. 1850, and by
Charles E. Williams of Olympia in April 1858, who continued in the business
for 10 years, during which mail facilities were greatly increased throughout
the territory. The first passenger line to the Cowlitz, to connect with boats
to Portland, was started In Dec. 1854, by W. B. Goodell, who furnished
passage by stage or riding horses for §10 from Olympia to Warbassport. The
contract for carrying the mail was not then lot to an express company. Ward
& Robinson of Olympia had the contract from 1854 to 1858, when Henry
Winsor took it. He carried passengers to and from Olympia to Eaiuier ou
the Columbia for $15; by w-agon to Cowlitz landing, and from there to Monti-
cello either by canoe or horses as preferred. The cauoe was used a good deal
until about 18GS. The wagon-road was not then, nor many years later, a good
one, but in summer it compensated for the discomforts of the ride by giving
the traveller a view of the most magnificent fir forest in the world, the boles
of the trees towering 100 or 150 feet without a limb; while 100 feet above,
their tapering tops seem to pierce the sky.
A NEW ROAD. 65
the immigration to come into the new territory over the
Cascade Mountains. A general meeting of citizens
was held at Olympia May 14th to discuss the subject
in all its bearings, when G. N. McConaha, Whitfield
Kirtley, Charles Eaton, John Edgar, and E. J. Allen
were chosen road-viewers to report upon the practi-
cability of the undertaking.*^ At the end of three
weeks a report was made of the route from Olympia
to the summit of the Cascade Range, and by the
middle of July volunteers were at work upon the sur-
vey, who so far succeeded in their design as to cut a
way by which thirty-five wagons reached the shores
of the Sound that autumn,^* bringing between one and
two hundred men, women, and children, to populate
the rich valleys of White and Puyallup rivers.*'
*^ At this meeting was read a statement furnished by Blanchet, catholic
bishop of Walla Walla in 1S47, who had a knowledge, gained from the Ind-
ians, of the passes of the mountains. The priests were in the habit of visiting
tlie Sound with the Indians for guides.
''■This enterprise will receive further mention hereafter. The men who
labored for it were, besides those before mentioned, George Shazer, B. F.
Yantis, William Packwood, B. F. Shaw, John Alexander, B. Close, A. W.
Moore, E. Sylvester, James Hurd, and W. W. Plumb. The men who worked
upon the eastern end of the road were Whitfield Kirtley, Edwin Marsh, Nel-
son Sargent, Paul Ruddell, Edward Miller, J. W. Fonts, John L. Perkins,
Isaac M. Brown, James Alverson, Nathaniel G. Stewart, William Carpenter,
E. L. Allen, A. C. Burge, Thomas Dixon, Ephraim Allyn, James H. Allyn,
George Githers, John Walker, John H. Mills, R. S. More, R. Forman, Ed.
Crofts, James IJoise, Robert Patterson, Edward Miller, Edward Wallace,
Lewis Wallace, James R. Smith, John Barrow, and James Meek.
"Among them were John W. Lane and wife, Samuel Ray, William Ray,
Henry Mitchell, H. Rockenfield, James Barr, J. A. Sperry, William Claflin,
Evan Watts, J. J. Ragan, William McCreary, G. Miller, John Nelson, J. Lang-
myre, wife and 5 children, E. A. Light, wife and child, William M. Kincaid,
wife and 6 children, Isaac Woolery, wife and 4 children, Abram H. Woolery,
wife and S children, and Peter Judson, wife and 2 children, composing the
first train of 47 persons. This train had 62 work-oxen, 20 cows, and 7
mares. There were, besides, J. W. Woodward, John B. Moyer, Z. Gotzan,
Aaron Rockenfield, Norman Kilborn, Isaac Lemmon, R. A. Finnell, William
R. Downey, wife and children, John James Downey and daughter, Abiel Mor-
rison, Charlotte his wife, and family, George Haywood, James Bell, John Bell,
W. H. Brannou and family, John Carson and wife, Israel Wright, Byrd
Wright, Frank Wright, Van Ogle, and Addison S. Persham, most of whom
crossed by the Nachess pass. Many of them had families and friends who are
not named here. Other immigrants of this year were William H. Wallace,
Elijah E. Baker, David C. Forbes, J. H. Cleale, John L. Clarke, Mason Guess
(married Miss Downey), William H. Williams, G. F. Whitworth and family,
Mrs Sarah Thompson, J. Stillman, Peter Stiles (died in 1877, aged 91 years),
W. B. Sinclair (marrried a daughter of J. N. Low), J. R. Roundtree, James
H. Roundtree, WiUiam Ryan, A. H. Robie, E. G.Price, W. H. Pearson, Wil-
liam Newton, Mrs Rebecca Maddox and children (Joseph, Michael, T
Hisi. Wash.— 5
66 POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
John Thomas and John Nelson ^ founded the White
River settlement. Owing to the peculiar system of
drainage of these rivers, to which I have referred, by
which the same stream has several names, it is neces-
sary to remark in this place that Wliite River settle-
ment means that portion of the common valley be-
tween the Dwamish and Black sections. Above the
junction of Black and White rivers is what is known
as the Slaughter settlement, which was founded by
C. E. King, W. H. Brannan, Joseph Brannan, Joseph
Lake, Donald Lake, H. Meter, E. Cooper, W. A. Cox,
D. A. Neely, M. Kirkland, and S. W. Russell.
The Black River Valley was settled in 1854 by
0. M. Eaton, H. H. Tobin, and Mr Fanjoy, who
built a saw-mill at the entrance of Cedar River,*'
which was burned by Indians the following year.
William N. Kincaid ^° settled in the Puyallup '' Valley,
together with Isaac Woolery, A. H. Woolery, W.
Boatman, J. H. Bell, T. R. Wright, I. H. Wright,
G. Hayward, A. Benson, I. McCarty, I. Lemmon,
Thomas Owen, Daniel Lane, Thomas Hadley, H.
Whitesell, R. More, R. Nix, A. S. Persham, and D.
Warner. A settlement had been commenced at the
mouth of the Puyallup River in the spring of 1852,
and 2 others), J. Mowerman, wife and children, H. Meter, Christopher Ken-
nedy, Franklin Kennedy, W. Krice, B. P. Kendall, James Kymes, Joel
Knight, Michael Luark and family, Joseph Lake, Donald Lake, Lenark, J. B.
Ladee, Lambert, Williani Lane and family, Henry Ivens, Tyrus Himes, James
Biles, Martin V. Harper, Baily Gatzert, Alonzo B. Dillenbaugh, J. C.
Davis, Perry Dunfield, Simeon Cooper, E. Cooper, John Dickenson, W. C.
Briggs, Joseph N. Baker, John E. Bums, Rev. C. Biles and family, P. Ahem,
H. Patterson, M. Kirkland, and W. A. Cox.
*^ Nelson was a native of Norway. The Seattlt Intelligencer, in Oli/mpia
Transcript of Feb. 1, 1873, states that Nelson settled first on White River
in 1852. If so, he did not come with the immigration named above, though
he is set down as one of them in the Olympia Columbian, Oct. 15, 1853, a
good authority.
*'Nono of these men were living in 1857. Tobin died and his widow mar-
ried E. M. Smithers, who had settled between Smith's Cove and Salmon Bay,
but who went to reside on the Tobin place after his marriage with Mrs Tobin.
Eaton and Fanjoy were murdered by the Indians while en route to the Colville
mines in 1855. Morse's Wash. Ter., ii., MS. 8-10.
'"Kincaid died in Feb. 1870, at his home iu the Puyallup Valley, aged 75
years. Seattle Inlellinencer, Feb. 2, 1870.
^' Puyallup signifies, in the Indian tongue, shadow, from the dense shade
of its forest. Evans' Puyallup Address, in New Tacoma Ledger, July 9, 1880.
PROGRESS OP SETTLEMENT. 67
when Nicholas Delin took a claim at the head of Com-
mencement Bay, just east of the present town site
of New Tacoma.^^ In October Peter Judson of the
immigration settled on the town site, which had been
previously taken and abandoned by Jacob Barnhart.
James Biles settled at Tumwater. Tyrus Himes ^*
took a claim six miles east of Olympia. James Allen
settled in Thurston county/* John L. Clarke and J.
H. Cleale °' took up their residence in Olympia. Most
of the immigration chose claims in the fall of 1853.
Those who followed the next year also immediately
selected land, these two immigrations being the last
that were permitted to take donation claims. The
Indian war of 1855-6, and the insecurity of life in iso-
lated settlements for a number of years, caused the
abandonment of the greater part of the farms just
opened, and it was not until 1859 that settlement was
reestablished in the valleys where the first direct over-
land immigration made their choice.^^
Owing to the many hinderances to growth which
*^ It was taken for a mill site, and in 185.3 M. T. Simmons and Smith Hays
■went in partnership with Delia to put up two saw-mills, one on his claim and
one on Skookum Bay. One mill was completed that spring, and two cargoes
of lumber shipped on the Geurge Emory, Captain Alden Y. Trask, but that
was all. The site was unfavorable, the lumber having to be rafted a mile to
tlie vessel.
^ These two worthy pioneers were united by more than the usual bonds
of fellowship in trials, Himes having been rescued from short rations for
himself and family of wife and four children, at the Rocky Mountains, and
brought through to Puget Sound by the warm-hearted Kentuckian who led
the tirst train through the Nachess pass. Himes was born in Troy, Pa, April
U, 1818. He married, in May 1843, Emmeline Holcomb of Le Roy, Pa.
After making several removes, he settled in Lafayette, 111., where he was in
comfortable circumstances, when he was seized with the Oregon fever, and
started for Polk co. ; but having miscalculated the requirements of the jour-
ney, and being thrown upon the hospitality of Mr. Biles, he was led to Wash-
ington. He diedin April 1879, at his home in Thurston co. George H. Himes,
job printer of Portland, Or., is the eldest son of Tyrus Himes. Evans, in
Tram. Or. Pioneer Asso., 1879, 49-53.
" Allen was born in Pa, Nov. 3, 1798, and removed while young to Ohio.
He married in 1815, and lost his wife in 1836, after which he remained un-
married, accompanying his children to Puget Sound in 1853, and residing
there until bis death in 1868. Olympia Transcript, Nov. 2, 1868.
6^ Clarke and Cleale both died in 1873. Olympia Courier, Oct. 4, 1873;
Olympia Transcript, May 17, 1873.
'^ Evans says that Arthur Miller returned to the Puyallup in 1859, fol-
lowed in 1860 by J. V. Meeker, and in 1861 by a sufficient number of families
to justify the establishment of a post-office, of which J. P. Stewart was post-
master for 12 years. New Tacuma Ledijer, July 9, 1880.
68 . POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT.
the territory encountered, and which I shall attempt
to set forth in this volume, the Pioneer Association
of Washington " set its limit of pioneer settle-
ment at 1860, at about which time these difficulties
began finally to disappear. It will be observed that
there were no large annual accessions to this territory
as there had been south of the Columbia, and that
although it commenced its existence after the other had
conquered many obstacles, and with seemingly superior
advantages, its situation proved unfavorable to rapid
development.
In jSTovember 1853 a steam-packet, the Fairy, was
placed upon the Sound by her owner and master, D.
J. Gove, to ply between the settlements;^^ and the
first of a line of clipper-built lumbermen, the Live
Yankee, for the trade between the Sound and Saa
Francisco, was being constructed at Bath, Maine,
during the summer, while a constantly increasing fleet
of American vessels visited these waters. Schools
had been opened in several neighborhoods, but for ob-
vious reasons there was no system of education estab-
lished. Of ministers there were enough, but not
much church-going, and as yet no churches nor sec-
tarian institutions of any kind except the catholic Ind-
ian mission near Olympia. But with a population of
"In Jan. 1871 a meeting was called at Columbia Hall, in Olympia, for
the purpose of perfecting the organization of a pioneer association, the call
being signed by C7 names of residents from a period antedating 18G0. The
committee on constitution and by-laws, consisting of Joseph Cushman,
Elwood Evans, E. T. Gunn, Benjamin Hamed, Levi Shelton, S. Coulter,
W. W. Miller, and 0. B. McFadden, reported Feb. 15th. The requisition for
membership was a residence in the territory previous to Jan. 1, 1860, or on
the Pacific coast prior to Jan. 1, 18.')5. Olympia Transcript, Feb. 18, 1871.
David Phillips, firet president of the society, died in March 1872. Seattle In-
telligencer, March 11, 1872. A call similar to the first was made at Van-
couver in October 1874, signed by Joseph Petrain, M. R. Hathaway, A. M.
Andrew, John Proebstel, R. D. Fales, David Wall, WQliam H. Traut, B.
F. Preston, Guy Hayden, S. P. McDonald, H. L. Caples, John F. Smith, G.
H. Steward, and S. B. Curtis. F. W. Bier, S. P. McDonald, and G. T. Mc-
Connell were appointed a committee on constitution and by-laws. This society
sought to limit the pioneer period to Jan. 1, 1856, the Columbia River section
of the territory being a much older settlement than Puyet Sound. By the
same rule, the pioneers of eastern Washington should be allowed until 1865
or 1868. Vancouver Begister, Aug. 7, 1874, Oct. 9, 1874.
"'Olympia Columbian, tiov. 4, 1803. Rabbeson afterward owned the i^uw-y.
She was blown up in Oct. 1857, at Olympia.
PROSPECTS. 69
less than 4,000, not quite 1,700 of whom were voters,
the ambitious young commonwealth was already talk-
ing of a railroad from the Skookum Chuck coal-fields,
discovered in 1850, to Olympia, and J. W. Trutch
was engaged in surveying a route ^^ in the autumn of
1853. In this chaotic but hopeful condition was the
new territory of Washington, when on the 26th of
November, 1853, Governor I. I. Stevens arrived at
Olympia to set in motion the wheels of government.
" Olympia Columbian, Oct. 2 and 16, 1853.
CHAPTER III.
ORGAOTZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
1853-1S55.
GoTEKNOR Isaac Ingalls Stevens— His Life and Character — Raieroad
SuEVBTs — Political Parties— Election — First Legislative Assem-
bly — Its Personnel and Acts— Early Newspapers — County Organ-
izations — Federal Courts — Land Claims and Land Titles — Roads,
Mails, and Express Companies — San Juan Island — Indian Troubles
— Treaties and Reservations— Stevens in Eastern Washington.
Isaac Ingalls Stevens, the man who had been sent
to organize the government of Washington, was one
fitted by nature and education to impress himself
upon the history of the country in a remarkable de-
gree. He was born at Andover, Massachusetts, and
educated in the military school of West Point, from
which he graduated, in 1839, with the highest honors.
He had charge for a few years of fortifications on the
New England coast. He had been on the staff of
General Scott in Mexico, and for four years previous
to his appointment as governor of Washington had
been an assistant of Professor Bache on the coast
survey, which gave him the further training which
was to make his name prominent in connection with
the survey for the Northern Pacific railroad — the his-
toric road of the continent — the idea of which had for
thirty years been developing in connection with the
Columbia River and a route to China.
Congress having at length authorized the survey
of this and other routes to the Pacific, Stevens was
placed in charge of the northern line, whose terminus,
by the progress of discovery and events, was now
GOVERNOR AND POLITICS. 71
fixed at Puget Sound. He was to proceed from the
head waters of the Mississippi to this inlet of the Pa-
cific, and report not only upon the route, but upon the
Indian tribes along it, with whom he was to establish
friendly relations, and, when practicable, to treat.
The manner in which the survey was conducted is
spoken of in another portion of my work, and I pro-
ceed here with the narration of territorial affairs.^
The day appointed by Governor Stevens for electing
a delegate to congress and members of a council and
house of representatives was the 30th of Januarj^ 1854,
the members chosen to convene at Olyinpia February
27th following. In the time intervening, two political
parties oi'ganized and enacted the usual contest over
their candidates. The democratic candidate for dele-
gate to congress, Columbia Lancaster, is not unknown
to the reader. He had served the county of Lewis
in the council of the Oregon legislature, if service it
could be called, in which he did nothing but cover him-
self with ridicule. His whig opponent was William
H. Wallace,^ and the independent candidate M. L. Sim-
' The officers appointed to assist Stevens in the survey of a railroad route
were W. T. Gardiner, capt. 1st dragoons; George B. McClellan, brev. capt.,
assigned to duty as capt. of eng. ; Johnson K. Duncan, 2d lieut 3d art. ; Rufus
Saxton, Jr, '2d lieut 4th art.; Cuvier Grover (brotlier of L. F. Grover of
Oregon), 2d lieut 5th art.; A. J. Donelson, 2d lieut corps of engineers: John
Mullan, Jr, brcv. 2d lieut 1st art. ; George .F. Suckley and J. G. Cooper,
surgeons and naturalists; John Evans, geologist; J. M. Stanley, artist (the
same who was in Oregon in 1847-8); G. W. Stevens and A. Remenyi, astron-
omers; A. W. Tinkham and F. W. Lander (brother of Judge Lander), civil
engineers; John Lambert, draughtsman. Washington {City) SejmUk, May
7, 1853. The survey was to be commenced from both ends of the route, to
meet somewhere west of the Rocky Mountains. McClellan, who had charge
of the west end of the line, arrived in S. F. in June 1853, and proceeded to
explore the Cascade Range for passes leading to Puget Sound, starting from
Vancouver, and dividing his party so as to make a reconuoissance on both
sides of the range the same season. The narratives of these surveys contained
in the Pacific R. R. reports are interesting. Several persons connected with
the expeditions remained on the Pacific coast; others have since revisited
it in an official capacity, and a few who are not mentioned here will be men-
tioned in connection with subsequent events.
^Wallace was born in Miami county, Ohio, July 17, 1811, whence he re-
moved when a child to Indiana, and in 1839 to Iowa, where he served in both
branches of the legislature. He was appointed receiver of public moneys at
Fairfield, Iowa, holding the office until Pierce's administration, when he re-
moved to Washington, in 1853. His subsequent career will be given here-
after. His death occurred Feb. 8, 1879. Olympia Standard, Feb. 15, 1879;
New Tacoma Herald, Feb 14, 1879.
72 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
mens, who, notwithstanding his popularity as a man
and a democrat, received only eighteen votes.^ Wal-
lace received 500, and Lancaster 690. Democracy
was strong on the north side of tlie Columbia, as it
was on the south, but it had not yet assumed the same
dictatorial tone,* and Lancaster, who had affiliated
with the wliigs in 1851 in Oregon, was a thorough
enough democrat in 1853.* He had a talent for hu-
morous story -telling, which in debate often goes as far
as argument or forensic eloquence before a promiscu-
ous assemblage. The unsuccessful candidates were
John M. Hayden,^ surgeon at Fort Steilacoom, F. A.
' Simmons' influence naturally declined when he was put in comparison
and competition with men of diiFerent degrees of educatiun, and he felt the
embarrassment and humiliation of it keenly. To it he ascribed the loss of his
property, which occurred later. Although a man of large frame and good
constitution, he died at the age of 53 years, Nov. 15, 1807. He was buried
with imposing ceremonies by the masonic order, of which he was a member,
having subscribed liberally toward the erection of a masonic hall at Olympia
in 1854. Olympia Standard, Nov. 2.3, 18G7.
* Joseph Cushman was appointed by a democratic legislature first probate
judge of Thurston co. He was bom at Middlebuiy, Mass., March 13, 1807,
and was a lineal descendant of Robert Cushman of the Mayllower company,
had a good home education and a Boston business training, hence was a val-
■uable man in any community, besides being an orator of ability, and ready
writer. He went to South America in 1849, and after a brief stay in Valpa-
raiso, came to C ilifornia, and engaged in jobbing goods on the Sacramento
River. Making the acquaintance of Samuel Merritt, owner of the brig G.
W. Kendall, he took charge of Merritt's business, established in Olympia in
1852, Merritt running a Une of vessels, and having a trading-house at that
place. In 1857 Cushman was admitted to practice as an attorney, and suc-
cessfully defended Luther M. Collins, who was charged with murder in con-
nection with the execution of an Indian outlaw. In 1855 he was nominated
by the free-soil party for delegate to congress, but was beaten by J. P. An-
derson, democrat. In the Indian war he enlisted as a private in Eaton's
compauy of rangers, and was one of the party besieged on Lemmou's land in
the Puyallup Valley, remaining in the service until the close of the war. He
was president of the first board of trustees for Olympia in 1869. In 1861 he
was appointed by President Lincoln receiver of public moneys in connection
with tlie land-oflice, which appointment he held until 1870. His name is in-
corporated with the history of the capital of Washington particularly, and
with the country in general. He died Feb. 29, 1872. Olympia Echo, March
7, 1872; Olympia Standard, March 2, 1872.
* P. W. Crawford relates how by a little sharp practice he procured the
nomination in convention of his friend Lancaster, who lived on or near the
Columbia, against the candidates of the Sound district, by dividing the votes
against hira, and as they failed, gathering them in solid for the remaining
candidate. Narr., MS., 267.
*Hayden was strongly supported by Pierce co., having resided at the fort
ever since its establishment, practising his profession also outside the military
reservation. Being recalled to the east in 1854, companies A and C, 4th in-
fantry, presented him a flattering farewell address, published in Olympia
Pioneer and Dem., Jan. 21, 1854.
THE LEGISLATURE. 73
Chenowetli, Judge Strong, Gilmore Hays/ and W.
H. Wallace.
In the legislature, which organized by choosing
G. N. McConaha^ president of the council, and F. A.
Chenoweth speaker of the lower house, there was a
■democratic majority of one in the council ' and six in
' Gilmore Hays was a native of Ky, but resided in Mo., where he was dis-
trict judge, wheu the gold discovery drew him to Cal. Keturniag to Mo., he
led a train of immigrants to Oregon in 1852, and in 1853 settled on Des
Chutes Eiver near the head of Budd Inlet. The year 1852 was the time of
the cholera on the plains, and Hays lost hia wife and two children, who were
buried near Salmon Falls of Snake Elver, together with the wife of B. F.
Yautis. There remained to him three sous, James H., Charles, and Robert,
and one daughter, who married J. G. Parker, all of whom reside in Olympia.
In the same company were John P. and Isaac Hays, his brothers, N. Ostran-
der, Hilary Butler, James Scott, and their families, Thomas Prather, George
Fry, and others. When the Indian war threatened, he was first to volunteer,
his was the first company raised, and throughout he was of much service to
the territory. After the termination of the war, he returned to Mo., but in
1863 removed to Idaho, and was useful to the supt of Ind. affairs for Washing-
ton in arranging treaties with the natives. Failing health caused him to
return to Puget Souud, where he died October 10, 1880. Olympia Trauscrijn,
Oct. 30, 1880; Olympia Standard, Oct. 29, 1880; Olympia Courier, Oct. 29,
1880.
'McConaha was drowned, in company with P. B. Barstow, in the Sound,
on the 23d of May, 1854. His widow, Ursula, had a series of other losses
and misfortunes. An 8-year old daughter was burned to death in March
1858, a son was killed by a vicious horse, and another son terribly maimed
by an accident. In August 1859 she married L. V. Wyckoff of Seattle.
' The first legislative assembly was composed of nine councilmen, as follows:
Clarke county, Daniel F. Bradford and William H. Tappan; Island and Jeifer-
Bon, William T. Sayward; Lewis and Pacific, Seth Catlin and Henry Miles;
Pierce and King, Lafayette V. Balch and G. N. McConaha; Thurston, D. E.
Bigelow and B. F. Yantis. H. M. Frost of Pierce was elected chief clerk, and
U. E. Hicks of Thurston assistant clerk. Hicks was county clerk of Thurston.
He figured a good deal in politics, served in the Indian war of 1 855-6, and
afterward edited one or more newspapers. He emigrated to Washington from
Mo. in 1850, with his young wife, who <^ied Nov. 16, 1853, aged 21 years.
He married, Jan. 21, 1855, India Ann Hartsock. Frost served but a part of
the term, and resigned, when Elwood Evans was elected and served from
March 8th to May 1st. J. L. Mitchell of Lewis was elected sergeant-at-arms,
and W. G. Osborn of Thurston door-keeper. The council being divided into
three classes by lot. D. R. Bigelow, Seth Catlin, and W. H. Tappan drew
the three-years term; B. F. Yantis, Henry Miles, and G. N. McConaha, the
two-years term; W. T. Sayward, D. F. Bradford, and L. Balch, the one-year
term. The house of representatives consisted of seventeen members, one
from Island county, S. 1). Howe (whig); five from Clarke, J. D. Biles, F. A.
Chenoweth, A. J. Bolan, Henry R. Crosbie, and A. Lee Lewis (whig); one
from Lewis, H. D. Huntington (whig) — John K. Jackson and F. A. Clarke
received the same number of votes, and the second member from Lewis was
not elected; one from Jeflferson, D. F. Brownfield; one from King, A. A.
Denny (whig); three from Pierce, L. F. Thompson, John M. Chapman, and
H. C. Moseley; four from Thurston, Leonard D. Durgin, David Shelton, Ira
Ward (whig), and C. H. Hale (whig); one from Pacific, Jehu Scudder, who
died before the legislature convened. Scudder was one of the first settlers iu
Pacific county, and was much regretted. A singular fatality attended the
74 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
the house of representatives ; but there was no undue
exhibition of partisan zeal, nor any occasion for it,
the assembly being impressed with the importance of
the public duties which had been assigned to them.
The organization being completed on the 28th, Gov-
ernor Stevens was invited to communicate to the
legislature a message, in which he made certain state-
ments which will not be out of place here as an
introduction to his administration and the history of
the territory.
After a just encomium upon the country and its
natural advantages for commerce, he reminded them
that as the Indian title to lands had not been extin-
guished, nor a law passed for its extinguishment,
titles could not be secured under the land law of
congress, and the public surveys were languidly con-
ducted. He spoke of the importance of a road to
Walla Walla, another to the Columbia, and one along
the eastern shore of the Sound to Bellinghara Bay,
and advised them to memorialize congress on the
urgent necessity for these roads, to prevent suffering
and loss to the immigrations. He counselled them
to ask for a surveyor-general of the territory, and
that liberal appropriations might be made for the
surveyors, that they might keep in advance of the
settlements. He proposed to request an amendment
to the land law making it possible to acquire title by
the payment of the minimum valuation, by a resi-
dence of one year, or by improvements equal to the
minimum valuation, and that single women should
be jjlaced on the same footing with married women.
He recommended the early settlement of the boundary
representatives from Pacific. In the first instance, J. L. Brown was nom-
inated, and died before the election. His successor, Scudder, who was nom-
inated after his death and elected, did not live to take his seat. Henry Feister
was then chosen to fill the vacancy, but died of apoplexy on the evening of
the day on which he was sworn in. Feister also left a family. AnoUier
election being ordered, James C. Strong was chosen, and took his seat April
14, 1S54. Olympia Pioneer and Dem., April 15, lSr>4. B. F. Kendall was
elected chief clerk, and J. Phillips assistant clerk, of the lower house; Jacob
Smith of VVhidbey Island sergeant-at-arms; and J. H. Round tree door-keeper.
Vli/mpia Pioneer and Dem., March 4, 1854.
MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR STEVENS. 75
line between Washington and the British territory
on the north, and that congress should be memorial-
ized on this subject, and on the importance of contin-
uing the geographical and geological surveys already
commenced. He made the usual prophetic remarks
on the Pacific railroads,^" referred to the inefficient
mail service, of which I have spoken at length in the
history of Oregon, gave same advice concerning the
preparation of a code of laws, and adverted to the im-
portance of organizing new counties east of the Cas-
cade Range, and readjusting the boundaries of some
of the older ones.
In referring to the position occupied by the Hud-
son's Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural companies,
the governor declared them to have certain rights
granted to them, and lands confirmed to them, but
that the vague nature of their limits must lead to
disputes concerning their possessions, and recom-
mended that congress should be memorialized to
extinguish their title. As to the right of the
Hudson's Bay Company to trade with the Indians,
that he said was no longer allowed, and under instruc-
tions from the secretary of state he had already
informed the company that they would be given until
July to wind up their affairs, after which time the
laws regulating intercourse with the Indians would
be rigidly enforced.
He recommended a special commission to report on
a school system, and that congress should be asked to
appropriate land for a university; also that some mili-
tary training should be included in the curriculum of
the higher schools. An efficient militia system was
declared to be necessary in a distant territory, which
"'Iq my judgment, with such aid as the government can rightfully furnish
as a proprietor in making surveys and granting lands, the energies of our
people are adequate to building not simply one, but three or four roads. Our
commerce doubles in 7 years, our railroads in 4 or 5 years, and we have reason
to believe that for some years to come this rate of increase will be accelerated.
... I am firmly of opinion, however, that these great undertakings should
be controlled and consummated by the people themselves, and tliat every
project of a government road should be discountenanced. ' Wash. Jour. Council,
1854, 14.
76 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
must in case of war be compelled for a time to rely
upon itself; and this he thought, with the arms and
ammunition to which the territory would be entitled
under the laws of congress, would enable it to protect
itself from any foreign invader." Such is a brief
abstract of the first message of the first governor of
Washington, which is an epitome also of the condition,
needs, and prospects of the new commonwealth.
Most of the suggestions made by the governor were
carried out in some form.
Immediately after organization, the house adopted
for the territorial seal a device furnished by Lieutenant
J. K. Duncan of Stevens' surveying expedition.^'^
The first bill passed was on the 1st of March, an act
providing for a board of commissioners to prepare a
code of laws for the territory; the board appointed
consisting of judges Edward Lander, Victor Monroe,
and "William Strong, who adopted as many of the
" Wash. Jour. Council, 1S54, 10-18.
" On one side, a log cabin and an immigrant wagon, with a fir forest in the
background; on the other, a sheet of water being traversed by a steamer and
Bailing- vessels; a city in perspective; the goddess of hope and an anchor in
the centre, the 6gure pointing above to the significant Indian word 'Alki' — by
and by. Olympia Pioneer and Dem., Feb. 25, 1854; Wash. Jour. House,
1854, 14.
laws of Oregon as they found practicable, and other
suitable ones from other codes," the laws originated
by the legislature being chiefly local.
The counties of Sawamish," Whatcom,^' Clallam,
Chehalis, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Skamania, and Walla
Walla^® were created, the latter with the county seat
"on the land claim of Lloyd Brooks," now the site of
the city of Walla Walla. The county seat of Clarke
county was fixed at Vancouver,'^ "on the east side
^^Slrong's Hist. Or., MS., 62. J. W. Wiley ot the Pioneer and Democrat,
a new name for the Columbian, was elected territorial printer by the legisla-
ture, but A.M. Berry, Wiley's partner, was appointed to superintend the print-
ing of the laws in the east. He died of malignant small-pox soon after reach-
ing his home in Greenland, N. H., at the age of 29 years, and the laws were not in
readiness for the next legislature. Alfred Metcalf Berry came to the Pacific
coast in 1849, and to Or. in 1850 for his health. In Dec. 18.5,3 he formed a
partnership with Wiley, and the name of Columbian being no longer signifi-
cant, the publishers changed it to yVashin/jtoii. Pioneer. In Jan. 1834 fi. L.
Doyle brought a press and material to Olympia, with the intention of starting
a new paper to be called the Northwest Democrat, but finally consolidated
with the Pioneer, which then became the Pioneer and Democrat. See Wash.
Pioneer, Jan. 28, 1854. Soon after the death of Beny, George B. Goudy,
another young man, became associated with Wiley as publisher, the firm be-
ing Wiley, Goudy, & Doyle, but Doyle retired before the end of the year
(1855), and only Wiley and Goudy remained, Wiley being editor. Goudy was
elected territorial printer Jan. 27 1855, the Pioneer and Democrat remaining
the official paper of the territory until a republican administration in 1861.
He was a native of Indianapolis, Ind., and born in 1828. He came to Or. in 1849,
and for a year had charge of the publication of the Spectator. He married Eliz-
abeth Morgan of Lafayette, Or., in Sept. 1854, and removed to Olympia early
in 1855. His connection with the Pioneer and Democrat ceased in Aug. 1856.
He died Sept. 19, 1857, leaving a wife and child. E. Furste succeeded Goudy
as publisher of the Pioneer and Democrat. In May 1858 Wiley retired, leav-
ing Furste publisher and editor. Wiley died March 30, 1860, at the age of
40, the victim of intemperate drinking. He was born in Ohio, was possessed
of brilliant talents, and impressed his mind and energy upon the history of
his adopted country, but fell by a power mightier than himself. Pioneer and
Dcm., March 30, 1860. In November 1860 Furste sold the paper to James
Lodge, who found the change in public sentiment against tlie dcmocratip
antecedents of this journal, which lost precedence, and was discontinued not
long after. Historically, the Pioneer and Democrat is of more importance
than any other journal or journals.
'•Sawamish county, first organized March 13, 1854, had its name changed
to Mason Jan. 3, 1864, in honor of Charles H. Mason, first secretary of the
territory. The county officers appointed on its organization were: commis-
sioners, Wesley Gosnell, Charles Graham, Lee Hancock; sherifT, Finis K.
Simmons; judge of probate, Alfred Hall; auditor, V. P. Morrow; treasurer,
Orrington Cushman ; justice of the peace, Aaron M. Collins. Olympia Pioneer
a«<<i»em.,May27, 1854.
^^Commissioners appointed for Whatcom county were William CuUen,
H. C. Page, R. V. Peabody; sheriff, Ellis Barnes; auditor, A. M. Poe.
"^Commissioners appointed for Walla Walla were George C. Bamford,
John Owen, Dominique Pambrun; sheriff, Narcisse Itaymond; judge of pro-
bate and justice of the peace, Lloyd Brooke.
" Vancouver is called Columbia City in the act. This patriotic change of
78 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
of Mrs Esther Short's land claini," and by the same
act Mrs Short's dwelling was made the legal place
of holding courts until suitable buildings should be
erected by the county.^^ The county seat of Che-
name occurred about 1S51 or 1852, but I fail to find any mention of it. I
think it was done on the motion of the first postmaster at that place, R. H.
Lansdale, who had the post-office called Columbia City. The name, how-
ever, would not pass in tlie face of long usage, and the Washington legisla-
ture at its second session changed it to Vancouver. The
appointed for Clarke county by the first territorial legislature were William
Dillon, C. C. Stiles, and Mr Fairchilds; sheriff, George W. Hart; judge of
probate, Henry GuUifer; auditor, William Ryan; treasurer, Henry Burlin-
game; justices of the peace, Solomon Strong, Michael Tubbs; coroner, William
Si. Simmons; assessor, Henry C. Morse; constable for Vancouver precinct,
Moses Kirkham, for Cathlapootle precinct, C. C. Bogarth, for Washougal
precinct, Berry Paten.
'* Officers were appointed for all the counties already in existence, as well as
the new cues, and as the list furnishes a guide to the distribution of the pop-
ulation, they are here given. Skamania county commissioners, S. M. Hamil-
toc, .Joseph Robbins, Jacob W. Scroder; sheriff", E. F. McNoll; judge of
probate, Cornelius Salmer; treasurer, J. H. Bush; auditor, George W.
Johnson; justices of the peace, N. H. Gales, B. B. Bishop, and Lloyd Brooke.
Cowlitz county commissioners, Thomas Lowe, A. A. Abemethy, Seylor
Rue; justice of the peace for Monticello precinct, Nathaniel Stone; constable,
R. C. Smith; judge of probate, Nathaniel Ostrander; auditor, Charles Hol-
nian; treasurer, Alexander Crawford; sheriff, James Huntington; assessor,
Benjamin Huntington; justice of the peace for Oak Point precinct, W.
H. Harris; constable, P. A. Smith.
Wahkiakum county commissioners, James Birnie, Thompson Dray, Aus-
tin Nye; auditor, Newell Bcarfs; treasurer, James Birnie, Jr; sheriff, Wil-
liam Stilwell; judge of probate and justice of the peace, Solomon Stilwell.
Pacific county commissioners, George T. Eastabrook, P. J. McEwen, Daniel
Wilson; judge of probate, George P. Newell; justice of the peace, Ezi-a Wes-
ton; constable, William Edwards.
Lewis county commissioners, Henry R. Stillman, Thomas Metcalf, J. C.
Davis; judge of probate, James Gardiner; auditor, Horace H. Pints; jus-
tices of the peace, Charles F. White, O. Small, N. Stearns, F. Delin; con-
stables, Baptiste Bone, William C. Many; sberifF, J. L. Mitchell; auditor,
Martin Budson; treasurer, C. C. Pagett; coroner, George B. Roberts; super-
intendent of common schools, A. B. Dillenbaugh.
Thurston county commissioners, Sidney S. Ford, Sen., David J. Chambers,
James McAllister; auditor. Urban E. Hicks; sheriflf, Franklin Kennedy;
assessor, Whitfield Kirtley; judge of probate, Stephen D. Ruddell; treasurer,
Daniel R. Bigelow; justices of the peace, Nathan Eaton, Joseph Broshears,
W. Plumb; superintendent of schools, Elwood Evans; constable for Olym-
pia precinct, Franklin Kennedy.
Chehalis county commissioners, George Watkins, John Vail, John Brady;
auditor, A. 0. Houstou; treasurer, D. K. Wcldon; judge of probate, James
H. Roundtrec; sheriff, M. A. Fairfield; justices of the peace, William M.
BuUard, C. L. Russell, I. L. Scammon.
Pieree county commissioners, William P. Dougherty, L. A. Smith, William
N. Savage; treasurer, H. C. Perkins: sheriff, C. Dunham; assessor, Hugh
Patterson; coroner, Anthony Laughlin; justices of the peace, H. M. Frost,
George Brown, Samuel McCaw; auditor, G. Bowlin; judge of probate, H.
C. Moselcy; constables, William McLucas, William Sherwood.
King county commissioners, Thomas Mercer, G. W. W. Loomis, L. M.
Collins; judge of probate, William A. Strickler; sheriff, G. D. Boren; auditor,
CAPITAL AND COURTS. 79
halls county was fixed temporarily "at the house of
D. K. Wcldon ; " of Cowlitz, at Monticello ; and of
Skamania, at the "south-east corner of the land claim
of F. A. Chenoweth."
Olympia was fixed upon as the temporary seat of
government, the judicial districts were defined, and
the judges assigned to them as follows: the first dis-
trict comprised Walla Walla, Skamania, Clarke, Cow-
litz, Wahkiakum, and Pacific counties, Judge McFad-
den; second district, Lewis, Chehalis, Thurston, and
Sawamish counties. Judge Monroe; third district,
Pierce, King, Island, Clallam, Jefferson, and What-
com, Judge Lander. At the second session of the
legislature Lander was assigned to the second district,
and the judge of that district to the third, which
brought the chief justice to the more central portion
of the territory. In their districts the judges were
required to reside, and to hold two terms of the dis-
trict court annually in each county, except in those
which were attached to some other for judicial pur-
poses, like Walla Walla, which was attached to
Skamania, and Chehalis to Thurston.
The first federal court held in Washington after
the organization of the territory was by the proclama-
tion of the governor on the 2d day of January, 1854,
at Cowlitz landing, by Judge Monroe, wlio in May
held regular terms in all the counties of his district
according to the act of the legislature, and to the
H. L. Yesler; treasurer, William P. Smith; superintendent of schools,
Henry A. Smith; assessor, John C. Holgate; justices of the peace, John A.
Chase, S. L. Grow, S. W. Kussell; constables, B. L. Johns, S. B. Simmons,
James N. Roberts.
Jefferson county commissioners, J. P. Keller, William Dunn, F. W. Pet-
tygrove; treasurer, J. K. Thomdyke; sheriff, W. T. Sayward; judge of pro-
bate, L. B. Hastings; auditor, A. A. Plummer; justices of the peace, J. P. Kel-
ler, William Webster, F. W. Pettygrove, J. K. Thomdyke; assessor, J.
Clinger.
Clallam county commissioners, E. H. McAlmond, E. Price, Daniel F.
Browufield; sheriff, Charles Bradshaw; justice of the peace, G. H. Gerrish;
assessor, J. C. Brown; treasurer, Mr Fitzgerald; judge of probate, John
Margrave; auditor, G. B. Moore.
Island couuty commissioners, John Alexander, John Crockett, Ira B.
Powers; sheriff, Hugh Crockett; auditor, R. H. Lansdale; assessor, Hum-
phry Hill.
80 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
satisfaction of the people. Yet in October lie was
removed, upon the false representation of some per-
sons unknown that he had absented himself from the
territory.'^ F. A. Chenoweth was appointed in his
place, and was present as the judge of the 2d judicial
district at the meeting of the supreme court in Olym-
pia in December,^" the bench now containing but one
of the original appointees for Washington, Lander, the
chief justice.^^
There was none of that romantic attempt at creating
something out of nothing in the first acts of the Wash-
ington legislature which invested with so much inter-
est the beginnings of government in Oregon, for the
legislators had at the outset the aid of United States
judges and men familiar with law, besides having the
government at their back to defray all necessary ex-
penses. There is therefore nothing to relate concern-
ing their acts, except in instances already pointed out
in the message of Governor Stevens, where certain
local interests demanded peculiar measures or called
for the aid of congress.
The most important matter to which the attention
^'Oli/mpla Pioneer and Dem., Oct. 21, 1834. Monroe died at Olympia
Sept. 15, 1856, aged 40 years. He was buried on the point on Budd Inlet
near the capitol at Olympia, but 15 years afterward the remains were rein-
terred in the masonic cemetery. Olympia Transcript, March 13, 1S09.
■'"Id., Dec. 9, 1854.
2' Edward Lander was a native of Salem, Mass. He was graduated at Har-
vard in 1836, and soon after entered the law school at Cambridge. His first law
practice was in Essex co., but in 1841 he removed to Ind., where he was soon
appointed prosecuting attorney for several counties, and subsequently judge
of the court of common pleas of the state. His habits were said to be correct,
his manners dignified and polished, and his legal and literary attainments of
a high order. Boston Times,ia Olympia PioneerandVem., Jan. 1, 1854. For
McFadden's antecedents, see Hist. Or., ii., chap, xi., this series. He died of
heart disease, at the age of 58 years, at the residence of his son-in-law, W. W.
Miller of Olympia, in June 1875, after a residence of 22 years in the territory,
during which he was a member of the legislature and delegate to congress.
Spirit of the West, June 26, 1875; Olympia Transcript, July 3, 1S75; U. S.
House Jour., 4.Sd cong. Istsess., 13. F. A. Chenoweth was born in 1819, in
Franklin co., Ohio, and admitted to the practice of law in Wisconsin at the
age of 22 years. He came to Or. in 1849, and settled on the north side of the
river near the Cascades, being elected to the legislature from Lewis and
Clarke counties in 1852. In 1863 he removed to Corvallis, where he was again
electeil to the Or. legislature, and to the presidency of the Willamette Valley
and Coast railroad. Portland }Vest Shore, July 1877.
LAND LAWS. 81
of the national legislature was called was a change in
the land law, to effect which congress was memorial-
ized to grant them a surveyor-general of their own,
and a land system "separate ft'om, and wholly discon-
nected with, that of Oregon territory. "^^
By comparing the demands with the memorials of
the Oregon legislature from time to time, it will be
perceived that the earth hunger was not all confined
to the people south of the Columbia. And by refer-
ence to my History of Oregon, the reader may learn
to what extent congress responded to the demands of
'^ The amendments petitioned for were: 1. To be relieved from the prohibi-
tion preventing the holders of donation certificates from selling any portion
of their claims before they received a patent; their certificates to be prima
facie evidence of title. Suggestions were given as to the manner of establish-
ing a claim by witnesses before the surveyor-general. 2. That persons enti-
tled to a donation should be permitted to take irregular fractions of land.
3. That town proprietors should be authorized to convey lots by valid deeds,
the same as if a patent had been issued. 4. That when either parent of a
child or children should have died upon the road to Washington, the survivor
should be entitled to as nmch land as both together would have been entitled
to; provided the land taken in the name of the deceased should be held in
trust for the children. Or when either parent should have started for or
arrived in the territory, and the other, though not yet started, should die,
having a child or children, the surviving parent should be entitled, bjr com-
plying with the provisions of the law, to the full amount that both parents
and such child or children would have been entitled to had they all arrived
in the territory. Or that when both parents should die after having begun
their journey to Washington, or before locating a claim, having a child or
children, such child or children should, by guardian, be entitled to locate as
much land as both parents would have taken under the law had they lived.
5. That widows immigrating to and settling in the territory should be allowed
to take the same amount of land as unmarried men, by compliance with the
law. 6. That all persons who should have located claims under the provis-
ions of the donation law prior to the 1st of Jan., 1852, should be entitled to
their patents as soou as the land should have been surveyed, and they have
obtained a certificate from the surveyor-general. And that all persons who
should have located claims subsequent to the 1st day of Jan., 1852, should be
entitled to patents by residing thereon for the term of two years, or by hav-
ing made improvements to the amount of four hundred dollars; provided, that
the removal of timber from the public-lands without intention to reside thereon
should be regarded as trespass; the improvements to be estimated by the
increased value of the lands by clearing, cultivating, fencing, and building.
7. That all American citizens, or those who had declared their intention to
become such, including American half-breeds, on arriving at the age of twen-
ty-one, should be entitled to the benefit of the donation act. 8. That the
provisions of the law be extended to an indefinite period. 9. That each sm-
gle person should be entitled to receive 160 acres, and a man and wife double
that amount; provided, that the estate of the wife should be sole and sepa-
rate, and not alienable for the debts or liabilities of the husband. 10. That
all persons who had failed or neglected to take claims within the time pre-
scribed by law should be permitted to take claims as if they had but just
arrived in the country. Wash. Jour. Council, 1854, 179-81.
Hist. Wash.— 6
82 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
both legislatures in the matter of amount of bounty
and limit of time.^* A surveyor-general and register
and receiver were given to Washington; in no other
wise was a separate land system granted; but the new
territory was entitled to the same privileges with Ore-
gon, no more or different.^*
^Hist. Or., ii., chap, x., this series. The points gained by an act of con-
gress passed July 17, 1S54, were the withdrawal of town sites from the pro-
visions of the donation act, and subjecting them to the operation of the act of
May 23, 1844, ' for the relief of citizens of towns upon lands of the United
States, under certain circumstances,' and the reduction of the time of occu-
pancy before purchase to one year; the repeal of that portion of the land law
■which made void contracts for the sale of land before patent issued, provided
that sales should not be valid unless the vendor should have resided four
years upon the land; the extension of the preemption privilege to Oregon and
Washington; the extension of the donation privilege to 1855; the grant of
two townships of land for university purposes; the donation of 160 acres of
land to orphans whose parents, had they lived, would have been entitled to a
donation; and the appointment of a register and )'eceiver for each of the two
territories. Waish. Ter. Statutes, 1854, 53-5.
"The subject of amended land laws for their territory was not permitted
to drop with this attempt. When the privileges of the old donation act ex-
pired in 1 855, a petition signed by 200 settlers was presented to congress,
asking that the clause in that act which required them to reside for 4 years
consecutively on their claims before receiving a certificate should be ex-
punged, and that they be allowed to purchase them at the rate of §1.25 an
acre, counting the value of their improvements as payment; the amount of
labor bestowed being taken as evidence of an intention to remain a permanent
settler. Olijmpia Pioneer and Dem., Aug. 19, 1855. No change was made as
therein requested. Tilton, the surveyor-general appointed for Washington,
was directed to join with the surveyor-general of Oregon in starting the sur-
vey of his territory, carrying out the work as already begun, and using it as a
basis for organizing the Washington surveys in that part of the country where
the settlers most required a survey. U. S. It. Ex. Doc, vol. i., pt i., 33d cong.
1st sess. In his first report, Sept. 20, 1855, Tilton asked for increased com-
pensation per mile for contractors, owing to the difficulty of surveying in
Washington, where one enormous forest was found growing amidst the decay-
ing ruins of another, centuries old, in consequence of which horses could
not be used, and provisions had to be packed upon the backs of men, at a great
cost. /(/., vol. i., pt i., 292, 34th cong. 1st sesS. .
W. Vf. De Lacy ran the standard meridian from Vancouver through to
the northern boundary of Washington. The Willamette meridian fell iu the
water nearly the whole length of the Sound, compelling him to make re-
peated offsets to the cast. One of these offsets was run on the line between
range 5 and 6 east of the Willamette meridian, which line runs throuuh the
western part of Snohomish City. After the close of the Indian war, De
Lacy ran and blazed out the line of the military road from Steilacoom to
Bellingham Bay, with the assistance of only one Indian, Pirns, who afterward
murdered a settler on the Snohomish River, named Carter. Morse'x Wtxsh.
Ter., MS., xx. 3C-7. The total amount surveyed under the Oregon office was
1,876 miles, the amount surveyed under Tilton previons to Dec. 1855, 3,663
ailes, and the quantity proposed to be surveyed in the next 2 years, 5,688
miles, all west of the Cascade Range. The Indian wars, however, stopped
work for about that length of time. It was difficult to find deputies who
would undertake the work, on account of Indian hostilities, even after the war
was declared at an end. Deputy Surveyor Dominick Hunt was murdered on
LANDS AND TITLES. 83
Next in importance was a memorial relative to the
extinguishment of the Indian title, congress being
urged to make provisions for the immediate pur-
chase of the lands occupied by the natives; and this
request was granted, as I shall soon proceed to show.
Congress was also asked to change the organic act of
the territory, which apportioned the legislature by the
number of qualified voters, so as to make the appor-
tionment by the number of inhabitants, which was not
allowed. Not less important than either of these was
a memorial concerning the Puget Sound Agricultural
Company, and the difference of opinion existing be-
tween the company and the citizens of Washington in
relation to the rights of the association under the
treaty of 1846. The memorial set forth that the then
present moment was an auspicious one for the extinc-
tion of their title, and gave as a reason that "build-
ings, once valuable, from long use are now measurably
worthless; and lands once fertile, which paid the tiller
of the soil, are now become destitute of any fertilizing
qualities; that said farms are now less valuable than
the same amount of lands in a state of nature;" and
congress was entreated to save the country from this
Whidbey Island in the latter part of July 1858. Olympia Pioneer and Dem.,
Aug 6, 1858; Land-office Sept, 1858. The field of operations in 1858 was on
Shoalwater Bay, Gray Harbor, Whidbey Island, and the southern coast of
the Fuca strait. As there was but one land-office in the territory, and that
one situated at Olympia, the land commissioner, at the request of the territo-
rial legislature, recommended the formation of three new districts. No action
was taken, and in 1858 the legislature passed another resolution asking for
three additional land districts, one to be called Columbia River Land Dis-
trict. The commissioner again made his former reconimeudation, the house
committee on lands recommending two new districts. U. S. Misc. Doc. \30,
vol. ii., 34th cong. 1st sess.; Id., doc. 114; Id., doc. 30, vol. i., 35th cong. 2d
Bess.; [/. S. H. Com. Kept, 376, vol. iii., 35th cong. 1st sess. On the IGth of
May, 1860, congress passed an act to ' create an additional land district in
Washington territory,' but provided no appropriation for carrying out its
purpose until the following year, when the office at Vancouver was established.
In 1857 a bill was brought before the house of representatives to extend the
public surveys east of the Cascade Mountains. The senate referred the mat-
ter to the secretary of the interior, who declared there was no necessity for
the bill, and that it would render emigration overland dangerous by exciting
the Indians. U. S. Sen. Misc., 28, 34th cong. 3d sess. It was not until the
close of the Indian war east of the mountains in 1858 that the land laws
were extended to that region. In 1862 the legislature memorialized con-
gress for a land-office at Walla Walla, which was established. Wash. Slat.,
1861-2, 139.
84 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
deterioration.^' The memorial also stated that at the
period of the ratification of the treaty the amount of
land enclosed by the Puget Sound Company at Cow-
litz and Nisqually did not exceed 2,000 acres, yet
that the company claimed 227 square miles, or in other
words, all the land over which their herds of wild stock
occasionally roamed, or to which they were from time
to time removed for change of pasture. The Ameri-
cans held that the treaty confirmed onl}^ the lands en-
closed by fences. They had settled upon and improved
the unenclosed lands in many instances; yet they had
received written notices from the agents of the com-
pany commanding them to vacate their homes or be
served with writs of ejectment and trespass; for which
causes congress was petitioned to take steps to ascer-
tain the rights of the company, and to purcliase
them.'^"
A joint resolution was also passed instructing the
delegate to congress to use his influence with the ad-
ministration to eflTect a settlement of the disputed
boundary between the United States and Great Brit-
ain, involving the right to the islands of the archipel-
ago of Haro, the matter being afterward known as
the San Juan question, and to take some steps to
remove the foreign trespassers from the islands — a res-
olution suggested, as we already know, by the message
of Governor Stevens.^^
'^ This remarkable statement is corroborated by subsequent irritcrs, who
account for the impoverishment of the soil by the substratum of gravel, which,
when the sod was disturbed, allowed the rains to wash down, as through a
filter, the component parts of the soil. For the same reason, the cattle-ranges,
from being continually trampled in wet weather, received no benefit from the
dung of the animals, and deteriorated as stated above. On the plains between
the Nisqually and Puyallup rivers, where once the grass grew as tall as a man
on horseback, the appearance of the country was later one of sterility.
*" Wash. jour. Council, 1854, 183-5. Two other memorials were passed
at this session; one asking that the claim of Lafayette Baioh for tlie expense
incurred in rescuing the Georrjiana's passengers from Queen Charlotte Island
be paid, and one praying congress to confirm the land claim of George Bush,
colored, to him and his heirs. Id. , 185-8. As to tlie first, congress had already
legislated on that subject. Cong. Olohe, xxx. 125.
" The other joint resolutions passed related to the establishment of a mail
service, by the way of I'uget Sound, between Olympia and other points in
Washington to San Francisco, New York, and New Orleans; to appropriations
for territorial and military roads; to light-houses at Cape Flattery, on Blunt's
TERRITORIAL OFFICERS. 85
The selection of territorial officers by the legislature
resulted in the appointment of William Cook treas-
urer, D. B. Bigelow auditor, F. A. Chenoweth pros-
ecuting attorney of the first judicial district, D. R.
Bigelow for the second, and F. A. Clarke for the
third. B. F. Kendall^ was chosen territorial librarian.
The legislature adjourned May 1st, after passing 125
acts, and conducting its business harmoniously.
That which appears as most deserving of comment
in the proceedings of this body is a resolution passed
early in the session, that, in its opinion, no disad-
vantage could result to the territory should the gov-
ernor proceed to Washington city, "if, in his judgment,
the interest of the Pacific railroad survey and the
matters incident thereto could thereby be promoted."
Stevens was anxious to report in person on the results
of the railroad survey. In anticipation of this, he
made a voyage down the Sound, looking for the best
point for the terminus of the Northern Pacific, and
he named Steilacoom, Seattle, and Bellingham Bay
as impressing him favorably.-* But there were other
matters which he wished to bring to the attention of
the government in his capacity of superintendent of
Island, and at New Dungeness; to an appropriation for a marine hospital; to
a requisition for arms and equipments for tlie male citizens of the territory
between the ages of 18 and 45; to the completion of the geological survey; to
the building of an arsenal; to having Columbia City, Penn Cove, Port Gam-
ble, Whatcom, and Seattle made ports of delivery; to having the office of the
surveyor of customs removed from Nisqually to Steilucoom; to increasing the
salary of the collector of customs; and to the advantage of annexing the Sand-
wich Islands; with some lesser local matters. Among the latter was oue set-
ting forth that Henry V. Colter, one of the farm of Parker & Colter's express,
had absconded with |3,875 of the government funds, and instructing the del-
egate to urge congress to confer authority upon the accounting officers of the
treasury to place that amount to the credit of the secretary of the territory.
This matter has been already referred to in Parker's account of the earliest
mails and express companies. It is said that Colter afterward fell heir to a
fortune of $200,000. Olympia Transcript, Aug. 8, 1874.
^ Wash. Jour. Council, 1854, 116. The first appropriation for a public
library, $5,000, was expended by Stevens. The report of the librarian for
IS54 was that there were 2,130 volumes in the library. Stevens said in his
first message that he had taken care to get the best books in each department
of learning, and that he had applied to the executives of every state and ter-
ritory and to many learned societies to donate their publications. In 1871
the territorial library contained over 4, 100 volumes, besides maps and charts.
Wash. Jour. House, 1871, app. 1-86.
*' Olympia Pioneer and JJem. , Jan. 28, 1854*
86 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
Indian affairs for Washington, and as a commissioner
to ascertain what were the rights and what was the
property of the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound com-
panies in Oregon and Washington, as well as to urge
the settlement of the northern boundary of the latter
territory.^"
The matter of the boundary line between the island
of Vancouver and Washington was a later question.
The earliest conflict arose in 1854 between I. N.
Ebey, in the discharge of his official duties as collector
""In Stevens' report ia found a liat of all the forts of the H. B. Co.,
with their rank and value, and the amount of cultivated land, making the
whole foot up no more than §300,000, whereas they received twenty years
later more than double that amount. The other information contained in tlie
report relates to the segregation of the land claimed by the companies into
donation lots, with the names of the squatters, and is of interest in the history
of the early settlement of the country. The following are the names of the
so-called trespassers: At Fort Vancouver, Bishop Blanchet, for a mission
claim, the same 640 acres being claimed by James Graham of the H. B. Co.
The county of Clarke also claimed IGO acres of the same land as a county seat,
which was allowed, as I have mentioned elsewhere. Over all these claims
the United States military reserve extended. Immediately east of Vancouver
640 acres were claimed by Forbes Barclay (British), and the same tract by an
American, Ryan, who resided on it and cultivated it, while Barclay lived
at Oregon City. Adjoining wa;s a claim of 640 acres, which, after passing
through several hands — a servant of the company. Chief Factor Ogden, and
Switzler — was finally sold to Nye, an American. A tract 4 miles square above
these claims, and embracing the company's mills, was claimed by Daniel
Harvey (British); but 040 acres, including the grist-mill, were claimed by a
naturalized citizen, William F. Crate; and 640, including the saw-mill, by
Gabriel Barktroth, also a naturalized citizen. A portion of this section, with
the mill, was claimed by Maxon, an American. On the Camas prairie, or
Mill Plain, back of this, were settled Samuel Valentine, Jacob Predstel,
and Daniel Ollis, Americans. On the river above Nye were Peter Duuning-
ton and John Stringer. Mrs Esther .Short, widow of Daniel V. Short, claimed
640 acres adjoining the military reservation. The other claimants on the
lands near Vancouver were George Maleck, American, and Charles Prew,
naturalized, who claimed the same section, Maleck residing on it. Francis
Laframboise, Abraham Robie, St Andrew, and James Petram held each 040
acres as lessees of the H. B. Co. Seepleawa, Isaac E. Bell, John C. AUman,
T. P. Dean, Malky, William H. Dillon, David Sturgess— also claimed by Geo.
Harvey, British subject— George Batty, James Bowers, Linsey, John Dillon,
Ira Patterson, Samuel Matthews, Clark Short, Michael Trobb, John B.
Lee, George Morrow, J. L. Myers, George Weber, Benjamm Olney, Job
Fisher, William M. Simmons, Alexander Davis, Americans, each claim-
ing from .320 to 040 acres, were residing and making improvements on land
claimed by the H. B. Co. on the Columbia, and in several instances by indi-
viduals under the treaty, but only when not resided upon by these claimants.
This list was made by I. N. Ebey for Governor Stevens. U. S. Sen. Ex. Doc,
37, 33d cong. 2d sess. W. H. Dillon resided at Dillon's Ferry, near Van-
couver. His daughter Olive married Matthias Spurgeon, who was born in
Muscatine, la, and migrated to Or. in 1852, residing for 7 years in Dillon's
family. He went to Idaho during early mining times in that territory, but
returned and engaged in fanning near Vancouver.
THE SAN JUAN TROUBLE. 87
of customs, and a justice of the peace under the colo-
nial government of Vancouver Island, named Griffin.
Ebey finding San Juan Island covered with several
thou.sand head of sheep, horses, cattle, and hogs, im-
ported from "Vancouver Island without being entered
at tlie custom-house, was questioned by Griffin as to
his intentions in paying the island a visit, and declined
to answer, but proceeded to encamp near the shore.
On the following day the Hudson's Bay Company's
steamer Otter ran over from Vancouver and anchored
in front of Ebey's encampment, sending a boat ashore,
in which was Mr Sankster, collector of customs for
the port of Victoria, who also desired to know Ebey's
errand, and was told that he was there in his official
capacity of collector for the district of Puget Sound.
Sankster then declared that he should arrest all per-
sons and seize all vessels found navigating the waters
west of Rosario strait and north of the middle of the
strait of Juan de Fuca.
This growl of the British lion, so far from putting
to flight the American eagle, only caused its repre-
sentative to declare that an inspector of customs should
remain upon the island to enforce the revenue laws of
the United States, and that he hoped no persons pre-
tending to be officers of the British government would
be so rash as to interfere with the discharge of his offi-
cial duties. Sankster then ordered the British flag to
be displayed on shore, which was done by hoisting it
over the quarters of the Hudson's Bay Company on
the island.
During these proceedings James Douglas, governor
of Vancouver Island and vice-admiral of the British
navy, was on board the Otter, waiting for Ebey to
capitulate. Sankster even proposed that he should
go on board the Otter to hold a conference with his
excellency, but the invitation was declined, with a
declaration that the collector of Puget Sound would
be happy to meet Governor Douglas at his tent. Soon
after, the steamer returned to Victoria, leaving a boat
«8 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
and crew to keep watch; and Ebey next day appointed
and swore into office Inspector Webber, whom he
stationed on San Juan Island.^^
This occurrence was in the latter part of April or
first of May 1854, about the time that Governor
Stevens left the territory for Washington city, and
was probably occasioned in part by the intimations
given in the message of the governor and resolution
of the legislature that the question of boundary would
be agitated, with a desire and determination on the
part of Douglas to hold the islands in the Fuca straits
when the struggle came. This subject furnished a
valid reason for wishing to secure the attention of the
heads of government. The extinguishment of the
Indian titles was perhaps more imperative than any
other, and to this Stevens addressed himself with the
energy, ability, and straightforwardness which were
his characteristics, supplementing the feebler efforts
of Lancaster, and with Lane of Oregon coming to the
rescue of the most important bills for Washington,^'^
and really doing the work of the delegate. In his
readiness to assume every responsibility, Stevens re-
sembled Thurston of Oregon, but was more solidly
and squarely built, like Napoleon, whom he resembled
in figure, and less nervously irritable. No amount of
labor appalled him; and when in the midst of affairs
of the gravest importance, he was alert and buoyant
without being unduly excited.-
The appropriations obtained for Washington by
Lancaster, assisted by Stevens and Lane, were $30,-
000 for a military road from the great falls of the
Missouri to intersect the road leading from Walla
Walla to Puget Sound. This was a scheme origi-
" Ohjmpia Pioneer and Dem., May 13, 1S54. For a chapter ou the San
Juan ditficulty, see Hist. Brit. Columbia, this series.
'^ Lane added to his bill amendatory of the land law, which passed in July,
a section giving Washington a surveyor-general. Ho consented that Wash-
ington should have the arsenal, should congress grant one jointly to both ter-
ritories, and in various ways helped on the delegate, all of whose letters home
complained that he could not get the attention of congress. Had he been a
Thurston or a Lane, he would have compelled the attention of congress.
APPROPRIATIONS BY CONGRESS. 89
nating with Stevens, who thought by making the Mis-
souri River a highway, and constructing a road from
its head waters to the navigable waters of the Co-
lumbia, or to intersect with the old immigrant road, to
shorten the distance tr'avelled by wagons and lessen
the hardships of immigration, as well as to avoid the
danger from Indian attacks on a portion of the road
by the South pass. For this reason, and to cultivate
the friendship of the Indians, as well as to make a
more thorough exploration of the Blackfoot country
for railroad passes, he left lieutenants Grover and
Mullan and Mr Doty in the mountain region west of
the Missouri through the winter of 1853-4, during
which the line of road across the Rocky Mountains,
from Fort Benton to Cceur d'Alene Lake, was marked
out, and afterward used as the route for the expendi-
ture of the congressional appropriation named above,
and which, from the fact that Mullan was appointed-
to construct it, took the name of the Mullan road.
An appropriation of $25,000 was made for the con-
struction of a military road from Fort Dalles to Fort
Vancouver, and of $30,000 for a road from Vancouver
to Fort Steilacoom; for light-houses at Cape Shoal-
water, Blunt's Island, Cape Flattery, and New Dun-
geness, $89,000; and for buoys at the entrance of
Dungeness and the anchorages on Puget Sound,
$5,000. Some increase was made in the salaries of
territorial officers, and a liberal appropriation for the
Indian service, including $100,000 to enable Stevens
to treat with the Blackfoot and other tribes in the
north and east portions of the territory.
Washington territory, or that portion of it to which
its early history chiefly relates, was surrounded by
and at the mercy of the most numerous, if not the
most warlike, native tribes of the original territory
of Oregon. The census in Stevens' report, 1853-4,
gave the whole number of Indians in western Wash-
ington as between seven and eight thousand, and
so ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
east of the Cascade Mountains between six and seven
thousand. ^^ Besides the tribes actually resident about
the Sound, the settlements were liable to incursions
from the Haidahs of Queen Charlotte Island, and
even from the tribes of the coast as far north as
Fort Simpson, these tribes being good seamen, and
possessing large and strong war canoes, in which they
made long voyages to commit a murder or a theft.^*
The Indians on the sea-coast of Washington and along
the strait of Fuca were sometimes guilty of murder,
and those about the settlements could not always
withstand the temptation to commit a robbery, for
which they were promptly punished when detected,
but no serious outbreaks had yet occurred since the
organization of the territory.
In July 1852 the United States coast surveying
steamer Active, James R. Alden commanding, with a
surveying party under lieutenants Davidson and Law-
son, entered Neah Bay, and encamped on the shore
near the trading post of Samuel Hancock, having
gained the full consent of the Makahs living there
in order not to give offence. The steamer then pro-
ceeded on a preliminary survey up the strait to Dun-
geness and Port Townsend, Davidson establishing
astronomical stations at the latter place and Port
Angeles, after which he returned to Neah Bay, and
the Active again left for Shoalwater Bay to make a
survey there before the close of the season, leaving
the party of nine persons at Neah Bay without the
means of quitting that station until she should re-
turn. The camp was well armed with rifles, cavalry
pistols, shot-guns, and revolvers, and although not
"/»<?. Aff. Bept, 1854,249.
" On the '26th of September, 1852, the American schooner S^isan Stnrpes,
Bailing along the coast of Queen Charlotte Island with a light breeze, was
surrounded by thirty canoes, the Indians professing a desire to sell some fish.
When they were near enough, they simultaneously sprang on board, taking
possession of the vessel, stripping the crew naked, and taking them on shore
prisoners, after which they burned the vessel. The captives were rescued by
the H. B. Co. 's steamer Beaver, from Fort Simpson, with the exception of
one man, whom the Indiana refused to release. His fate it is needless to
conjecture. Olympia Columbian, Jan. 1, 1863.
. INDIANS AND SMALL-POX. 91
apprehending any clanger, were prepared for an attack.
AH went well for a few days after the departure of
the steamer, when a fleet of canoes containing between
150 and 200 Nitinats from Vancouver Island an-
chored in the bay, most of them remaining in their
boats. Thinking this a precautionary measure to
avoid quarrels between the resident tribes and the
strangers, the surveying party remained in negligent
satisfaction, pleased with this apparent discretion of
the visitors.
But Hancock, who was buying fish oil of them, had
discovered, by overhearing on the second day a con-
versation not intended for his ears, a plot to massacre
himself and the surveying party, and possess them-
selves of the goods and arms of both. He hastened
to impart this information to Davidson and Lawson,
who immediately loaded all their arms, threw up a
breastwork, and detailed a night-watch. Hancock,
who had two men at his post, made preparations for
an attack, and himself mounted guard. During the
night some Indians came ashore and proceeded in the
direction of the surveyors' camp, but being challenged
by the guard, retreated to their canoes, which took
their departure at daybreak. The plot originated
with the Vancouver Island Indians, the Makahs being
reluctant accomplices, fearing the vengeance of the
white people. Happily nothing came of it, and noth-
ing was said about it to the Makahs. ^^
Not long afterward the schooner Cynosure, Fowler
master, from San Francisco, visited Neah Bay, having
on board two Makahs, and a white man sick with what
proved to be small-pox. The disease had been com-
municated to Indians, who soon fell ill and spread the
contagion among their tribe, who perished by scores
from its ravages. Not being able to control it, they
conceived the idea of running away fi-om the scourge,
and fled to Vancouver Island, where they communi-
^^Lawso-iVs Autohiography, MS., 51-3; Hancock's Thirteen Years, MS.,
273-8.
92 ORGAKIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
cated it to the Nitinats. The beach at Neah Bay
was strewn with the unburied bodies of the miserable
Makahs, who were no longer able or willing to attend
the sick or bury the dead. At the end of six weeks
the disease abated, but the tribe had lost a large
percentage of its members, and was plunged in grief.
After a few months of brooding over their losses, they
came to the conclusion, as they had never experienced
such a visitation before Hancock came to live among
them, that he must have originated the plague, and he
was threatened with death if he remained. His trad-
ing post was therefore vacated in the spring of 1853.'®
In September 1853 a large party of the Makahs
visited New Dungeness in their canoes, encamping
on a sand-spit at the entrance to the harbor, having
among them an Indian who had killed Albert Pet-
tingill near Port Townsend in the previous spring.
On being informed of this by a Clallam, McAlmond,
Bradshaw, Abernethy, Cline, Brownfield, and Moore,
being all the settlers who were in the neigliborhood
at the time, met, and having sent for reinforcements,
finally delegated Brownfield to seek an interview with
the Indians and demand the surrender of the mur-
derer. But upon visiting their camp, the Makahs
refused to deliver up the guilty one, challenging the
white men to battle. Being reenforced by J. C.
Brown, H. W. Watkins, and William Failing, the
settlers attempted to enter the Indian camp, when
they were fired upon. Firing followed from both
sides, and in the affair two Indians were killed, two
wounded, and one white man slightly hurt by a ball
in the neck. Darkness put an end to the engagement,
which was conducted in canoes, and the Indians dis-
persed, the murderer going to Port Townsend.'^
On hearing of the attempted capture and the escape
'^Id., 278-86, 333. Swan, in his Norlhwent Coast, 55-6, refers to the
prevalence of a light form of small-pox at Shoalwater Bay, which did not
carry off white men, but was fatal to Indians. Hancock also relates that one
of the Makahs who first had the disease recovered, but his people, holiling him
responsible for its introduction, killed him. Thirieen. Years.
Olynqna Columbian, Oct. 8 and 15, 1853.
)pie, n
MS.,
DEPREDATIONS BY NATIVES. 93
of the murderer, Captain Alden pursued him from
port to port in the Active, and succeeded in overtak-
ing him at Port Ludlow, where the chiefs of his tribe
coming on board were detained until the criminal was
given up. He was tried and found guilty at the Oc-
tober term of the 3d district court in 1854, together
with an accoraplice.^^
Early in March 1854 William Young, in the em-
ployment of C. C. Terry at Alki, while looking for a
land claim with a canoe and a crew of three Snoho-
mish, was killed and robbed, two of the Indians
being found with his clothing and other property in
their possession. Suspecting themselves about to
be arrested, they fled to Holme Harbor, Whidbey
Island, whither they were pursued by the sheriff, T.
S. Russell, of King county, with a posse of four men,
who made the arrests, but were fired upon by the
friends of the prisoners and four of their number
wounded, one of whom, Charles Cherry, died soon
after returning to Seattle.^' Nine Indians, including
one of the murderers, were killed, and the other one
secured, who confessed not only the killing of Young,
but also of one of his confederates in a quarrel over
the spoil. This Indian was imprisoned for several
months, but finally discharged.
About the same time the Clallams at Dungeness
having killed Captain Jewell and his steward. Lieu-
tenant Floyd Jones, 4th infantry, with a squad of
men repaired to the disturbed district, where two
Indians were killed and several slightly wounded in
an encounter between the Clallams and the military
and settlers. On hearing of these troubles. Governor
Stevens made a visit to the lower Sound; but in the
mean time the murderers, three in number, were ar-
'"W. H. Wallace and Elwood Evans defended Pettingill's murderers;
Joseph S. Smith and B. F. Kendall defended Jewell's murderers, and the Ind-
ian who killed Church. Ohjmpia Pioneer and Dem., Oct. 21, 1854.
"A petition was sent to congress asking relief from the loss sustained by
T. S. Russell, F. M. Syner, and Robert R. Phillips by reason of their wounds
and consequent inability to labor. Wash. Jour. Council, 1854, 205-6.
94 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
rested, and three others underwent flogging for
theft.*"
In consequence of the affair at Hohue Harbor,
Major Larned, who took command of Fort Steilacoom
in July previous, proceeded to Whidbey Island with
a detachment of nine soldiers, to endeavor to restore
peace to the settlement at that point. While return-
ing in a government surf-boat, navigated by John
Hamilton of Steilacoom, all were lost b}' the sudden
upsetting of the craft in a squall off Port Madison,
except two privates, who clung to the boat and drifted
ashore near Seattle.*^
No Indian agents as yet having been commis-
sioned for Washington, Governor Stevens, as superin-
tendent of Indian affairs, appointed ]\I. T. Simmons
special agent for the Puget Sound district. Simmons
entered upon his duties b}^ publishing a request to all
good citizens to aid in the suppression of liquor-selling
to Indians, by informing him of every such infraction
of the law which became known to them; by advising
persons employing Indians to have a written contract
witnessed by a white man; and by refraining from
punishing suspected Indian criminals except upon cer-
tain proofs of their crimes. With this caution ob-
served, he hoped to be able to preserve the peace.
Soon after the appointment of Simmons west of the
Cascade Mountains, Stevens appointed A. J. Bolan,
member of the legislature from Clarke county, special
agent for the district extending east of the Cascades
to the Bitter Root Mountains, and W. H. TaT)pan,
councilman from Clarke county, special agent for the
Columbia River district.
In April 1854 the Snohomish voluntarily hanged
two of their own people at Seattle for the murder
'"Joseph S. Smith and B. F. Kendall defended these Indians, and also the
murderer of Judah Church, who was killed in March 18o3. Olym/iia Pioneer
and Dim., Oct. 21, 18.54. They were all convicted, but escaped.
«' The dro\vned were Major Lamed, who left a family at Fort Steilacoom,
John Hamilton, Corporal Jirah T. Barlow, John Mclntyre, Henry Hall,
Lawrence Fitzpatrick, Charles Ross, John Clark, and Henry Lees. Id. , April
8. 1854.
INDIAN WARS. 95
of a white man at Lake Union, in July previous, and
the most friendly relations seemed establislied in
that quarter About the same time James Burt
murdered an Indian of Fort Simpson, near Olympia,
was tried and acquitted, but fled the territory to avoid
the vengeance of the tribe. In the estimation of the
public, the white man should have been punished,^^
and apprehensions of the consequences of this act
were expressed in the Olympia newspaper.
In the latter part of May ten large war canoes,
containing several hundred northern Indians, appeared
at Vancouver Island, and a party of eight coming on
shore, shot Charles Bailey, an Englishman, whom
they mistook for an American. Governor Douglas
ordered out a force from the fort at Victoria, pursuing
them to their canoes, two of which proceeded to Bel-
lingbam Bay, landing at the claim of a settler named
Clayton, who, perceiving from their demeanor that
hostilities were intended, fled to the woods, pursued
by the Indians, and escaped to the house of Captain
Battle, where some of the Lummi tribe were found
and sent to alarm the settlements. Clayton, Battle,
and five others, in order to avoid being taken should
the enemy have found the trail of the fugitives, em-
barked in a canoe, and anchored off" the house of Bat-
tle, in readiness to escape by water should the Indians
attack by land. Here they remained from Satur-
day afternoon to 10 o'clock Sunday night, when all
went ashore except two — David Melville and George
. Brown — who were left to keep guard. During the
night Richard Williams, one of the shore party, dis-
charged his gun to clean it, the arm having been wet
the day before. His fire was returned by a volley
out of the darkness and from the water. At the
sound of the firing, some friendly Indians came to the
rescue, and the enemy was driven off". The two men
in the boat were never seen again, but as their canoe
"/rf., May 20, 1854; rept of Capt. Stoneman. in U. S. H. Ex. Doc., 88,
z., V]o-&, 3dth cong. 1st sess.
96 OEGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
was found on the beach the next morning, covered
Avith blood, it was supposed that they were surprised
while asleep and beheaded, as was customary with
these northern Indians. The murderers then robbed
several houses on Bellingliam Bay and Whidbey
Island, and disappered. Secretary and acting gover-
nor Mason and Agent Simmons, on learning that
armed northern Indians had appeared in the waters of
Washington, immediately repaired to Fort Steilacoom,
and with a small detachment of soldiers proceeded
down the Sound to ascertain the condition of affairs
in that quarter. Nothing, however, was effected be-
yond making a display of the intention of the United
States to punish crimes committed against its citi-
zens, when able. Upon receiving advices from the
Secretary, Governor Stevens called the attention of
the war department to the inadequacy of tlie force
stationed at Paget Sound, and the necessity for some
means of transporting troops other than by canoes.
The absence of steam-vessels on the Sound made
the communication of news slow and uncertain, as it
also made the chance of succor in case of need nearly
hopeless. The Fairy, which ran for a short time, had
been withdrawn, and for the period of nine months
nothing faster than a sailing vessel or canoe could be
had to transport passengers or troops from point to
point, while land travel north of Seattle was imprac-
ticable. At length, in September 1854, the steamer
Major Tompkins, Captain James M. Hunt, owned by
John H. Scranton, was brought from San Francisco
and placed upon the Sound to ply regularly between
Olympia, where a wharf had been erected by Edward
Giddings, Jr, on the flat north of the town," and
Victoria, calling at the intermediate ports. Very
soon afterward the custom-house was removed from
Olympia to Port Townsend, and the revenue-cutter
Jefferson Davis, Captain William C. Pease, arriving
''Sylvester's Olympia, MS., 22; Parker's Wa^^h. Ter.,US.,5-6i Eldridge'a
Sketches, MS., 11; Wash. Jour. Council, 1854, 209-10.
LOSS OF THE MAJOR TOMPKINS. 97
for service on the Sound, sensibly relieved the feeling
of isolation of the inhabitants of the northern counties.
In October the murderers of Captain Jewell and
Church escaped from Fort Steilacoom, and Acting
Governor Mason offered a large reward for their re-
apprehension. These Indians were retaken in Decem-
ber, when the Major Tonvphins, with the revenue-cutter
carrying troops in tow, proceeded to a camp of the
Clallams on Hood Canal, to demand the surrender of
the convicts. Already Simmons had secured Church's
murderer, but the tribe refused to give up the others.
When the soldiers under Lieutenant Nugent landed,
the savages fled, and the only result of this expedition
was the destruction of their camp and winter supply
of salmon. The cutter also fired some shots into the
woods before leaving, by which five Clallams were
reported to have been killed. On the return down
the canal, Simmons succeeded in capturing a Clallam
chief known as the Duke of York," and detained him
as a hostage for the surrender of the escaped con-
victs, who were finally delivered, and taken to Steila-
coom. The Indians were terrified by the rapidity
with which the Major Tompkins followed them, and
the certainty with which they were overtaken in
flight, and it was believed the moral effect of the fear
inspired would be effectual to prevent crimes. To
the chagrin of the white population and the relief of
the Indians, the Major Tompkins was lost the night
of the 10th of February, 1855, by being blown on the
rocks at the entrance to Esquimalt Harbor, Vancou-
ver Island, her passengers all escaping to land. Her
place was filled soon after by the Water Lily, owned
by C. C. Terry.
**This Indian and his two wives. Queen Victoria and Jenny Lind, have
become historical characters in Washington, being often referred to by
writers visiting Port Townsend, where they resided. Swan, in his Wash.
Sketch, MS., S, makes mention of them, saying that the Duke of York lived at
one end of the beach, and at the other a remnant of the Chimakum tribe.
Nothing less like the personages they were named after could be imagined
than these squalid beach dwellers.
Hist. Wash.— 7
98 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
Governor Stevens returned to Olympia with hia
family** on the 1st of December, in time to be present
at the opening of the legislature*^ on the 4th of that
month.
In his message the governor referred to the Indian
disturbances on the immigrant road to Oregon and
Washington,*^ as well as the troubles on the lower
part of the Sound, and the eflPect they were likely to
have upon the immigration of the following years,**
** Accompanying the governor on his first arrival was his nephew, George
Watson Stevens of Lawrence, Mass., 22 years of age. He was a young man
of talent and education, from whom much was expected; but was accidentally
drowned in the Skookum Chuck, Feb. 16, 1S85. Olympia Pioneer and Dem.,
Feb. 24, 1855.
^' The members of the council elected to fill the places left vacant by the
expiration of the short term and other causes were Jefferson Huff and Ira
Patterson from Clarke and Skamania, C. C. Terry and W. A. Strickler from
Pierce and King, and A. M. Poe from Island, Clallam, Jefierson, and What-
com counties. Catlin, of the former council, was chosen president; Butler
P. Anderson, chief clerk; A. J. Moses, assistant clerk; J. L. Mitchell, ser-
geant-at-arms; William Cullison, door-keeper.
The lower house was composed of William McCool, of Skamania county;
C. C. Stiles, Chas S. Irby, William Hendrickson, Henry R. Crosbie, of Claike;
John Briscoe, of Pacific and Wahkiakum; George Watkins, of Chehalis and
Sawamish ; Charles H. Spinning, Charles F. White, of Lewis; Stephen
Guthrie, William Cock, Benjamin L. Henness, \Villiam P. Wells, of Thurs-
ton; William H. Wallace, Frank Clarke, Samuel McCaw, of Pierce; John Car-
son, of Pierce and King; A. A. Denny, of King; Timothy Heald, of Je9"erson
and Clallam; R. L. Doyle, of Island and Whatcom; A. S. Abemethy, of
Cowlitz, Crosbie was chosen speaker; B. F. Kendall was elected chief clerk;
R. M. Walker, assistant clerk; Milton Mounts, sergeant-at-arms; William
Baily, door-keeper. H'os/i. Jour. House, 1854-5, 8-9, 16.
"The massacre of the Ward train, in Hist. Or., ii., chap, xiv., this series,
and the killing of Georjge Lake, Walter G. Perry, and E. B. Cantrell, immi-
grants to Washington, is referred to here. Ebey's Jour., MS., 12-15, 17, 19,
23, 25.
*°The immigration to Washington by the road opened in 1853 to Walla
Walla was not large. The road had been further improved, but was not yet
good. Jacob Ehey and W. S. Ebey, with six others of the family, Harvey
H. Jones, A. S.Yantia, Moses Kirtland, M. Cox, T. J. Headley, Henry
Whitsill, George E. King, the families of Lake and Perry killed by the
Indians, C. P. Anderson, Charles Van Wormer, William Goodell, A. D.
Neely, J. R. Meeker, M. W. Morrow, James Kirtley, W. N. Ayers, in all
about 20 families and 200 head of stock, passed over this route. Olympia
Pioneer and Dem., Sept. 16 and Oct. 15, 1854. In Ebey's Journal, MS., i.
101, I find mention of A. J. Bradley, Dick Bradley, John'Waste, Judson, H.
H. Jones, S. P. Burr, and hints of the settlements already made and to be
made in White and Puyallup valleys. Porter's claim was the first after
leaving the mountains in White River Valley. ' King, Kirtland, Jones, and
others, ' s.ays Ebey, ' will probably locate in this vicinity,' and by reference
to Morgan's map of Puget Sound I find these names, and that of Cox on White
River. Three miles from Porter's was ConneU's prairie, and three mi4cs
farther was Fennellis' prairie; six miles to the Puyallup bottoms, where some
houses were being put up; nine miles after crossing the Puyallup to J.
Montgomery's claim cast of Steilacoom, and near that place the claim of Peter
TREATIES WITH THE NATIVES. 99
and again recommended the enrolment of the militia,
before which an application to the secretary of war
for arms and ammunition must fail, and expressed the
hope that the people would give him their support
in arranging "on a permanent basis the future of the
Indians in the territory." Feeling the necessity of
this work, the governor very soon set about it, and
concluded on the 26th of December a treaty with the
several tribes at the head of the Sound. Three small
reservations were made, as follows: an island op-
posite Skookum Bay, two sections of land on the
Sound west of the meridian line, and an equal amount
on the Puyallup River near its mouth. Under this
treaty the Indians had the right to fish as usual, to
pasture their horses on any unclaimed land, and to
gather their food of berries and roots wherever they
did not trespass upon enclosed ground, or to reside
near the settlements provided they did nothing to
make their presence objectionable. Between six and
seven hundred signed the treaty, which, besides their
annuities, gave them teachers, a farmer, mechanics,
and a physician, and manifested their satisfaction.*"
This treaty was immediately ratified by the senate.
On the 22d of January, 1854, a treaty was con-
cluded with about 2,500 natives on the eastern shore
of the Sound. The treaty was held at Point Elliott,
near the mouth of Snohomish River. Speeches were
made by Seattle, Patkanim, and other chiefs of influ-
ence, all expressive of friendship for the white people
and pleasure at the treaty, and a reservation was agreed
upon on the Lumimi River. Then followed a treaty
Smith. According to the same authority, Judson Van Wormer and Goodell
went to Mound Prairie, south of the Nisqually River, to find claims. S. P.
Burr died on the road, but his family arrived. Mrs Meeker died on the
Platte. Meeker and Mrs Burr were married after arriving in the territory.
Ezra Meeker, later a well-known hop-grower in the Puyallup Valley, and
author ot a pamphlet on Washington, was already settled ou a claim east of
Steilacoom. Daniel Smalley and George W. Davidson settled near New
Dungeuess in the autumn of 18j4, but they were not of the overland immi-
gration. Many arrived by sea, or from the Columbia. Wash. Tcr. Skelchas,
MS., 68.
*' Wash. Jour. Council, 1854-5, 15; Olympia, Pioneer and Dem., Deo. 30,
1854.
100 ORGA>«"IZATIOX OF GOVERNMENT.
with the tribes farther north, at which a thousand
were present, who consented readily to tlie terms, the
chiefs using the occasion to display their oratory, but
in a friendly fashion. A reservation was selected
about the head of Hood Canal. Soon afterward the
Makahs of Cape Flattery and other tribes at the en-
trance to the straits were treated with; and lastly a
council was held with those on the Chehalis River
and the coast, the whole business being transacted in
less than three months, and in the winter season, such
was the energy with which the governor addressed
himself to the duties of Indian superintendent.*"
But after a week of negotiation, in tbe latter case
the council broke up without coming to any agree-
ment on account of each of the fragments of tribes,
five in number, desiring a separate reservation, to
which Stevens refused his consent."
Having completed the labor of extinguishing Indian
titles west of the Cascade Mountains, with the ex-
ception of the Cowlitz, Chinooks, Chehalis, and Que-
niults, who together numbered about eight hundred,
Stevens next prepared to enter upon the same duties
in eastern Washington. While on his survej'ing expe-
dition, he had been at much pains to become acquainted
*» Swan, in his Northwest Coast, 327-48, gires some idea of how Stevens
accomplished so much work. It was greatly advanced by his habit of having
agents on the ground some time beforehand. He has been accused, particu-
larly by Tolraie, in his Paget Sound, MS., 37, of forcing treaties upon tlio Ind-
ians without giving them time to consider sufficiently what was proposed.
But Swan makes a difierent statement. Special Agent Tappan was sent in
advance to gather up the Indians of his district and take tlicm to the place
of meeting on the Chehalis Kiver, where H. D. Cook and Sidney Ford, Jr,
would meet him with the coast tribes. Swan, J. G. Cooper of the railroad
survey, George Gibbs, and others were invited to be present. The treaty-
ground was on the claim of James Pilkington, 10 miles above Gray Harbor,
where a comfortable camp was arranged, and where ample time was taken to
make the Indians acquainted with the propositions offered them. The prin-
cipal interpreter for the white men was B. F. Shaw, colonel of the newly or-
ganized militia, who gave the speech of the governor in jargon to an Indian
interpreter from each tribe, who repeated it to his people— a slow but sure
method of conveying his meanin".
5' Swan though t Stevens should have yielded. Perhaps it would have been
more politic; but Palmer of Oregon, after many years of acquaintance with
Indian affairs, says it is a mistake to have many reservations. It certainly is
much more expensive to the government. Swan believed the Indians sliouUl
liave boon humored in their dislike of each other and their attachment to
localities.
MORE TREATIES. 101
with all the tribes upon his route within or bordering
upon his-district, and to prepare their minds for treaty-
making. He had particularly commissioned James
Doty, one of his assistants, who remained at Fort
Benton in charge of the meteorological post at that
place for a year, to inquire into all matters pertaining
to the Indian tribes in that quarter, and who was
made a special agent for that purpose.®^ Lieutenant
MuUan, who was employed in the Flathead country for
the same length of time, was instructed to give much
attention to Indian affairs, and apparently gained a
strong influence over them; and Lieutenant Saxton
also remained some time with the Nez Perces in order
to give and obtain information.
In October Mullan and Doty arrived, the first at
Vancouver and the second at Olympia, and when
Stevens returned a few weeks later from Washington
city, they were ready to report in person. In Janu-
ary 1855 Doty was despatched with a small party
east of the Cascade Mountains to make arrangements
with the Yakimas, Walla Wallas, Nez Perces, and
Palouses, for a grand council, which, by agreement
with Superintendent Palmer of Oregon, was appointed
for the 20th of May, Kamiakin, chief of the Yaki-
mas, himself directing that the council should be held
in the Walla Walla Valley, near the site of the pres-
ent city of that name, because it was an ancient
council-ground.
At the time and place agreed upon the council was
held, and treaties signed by the chiefs of the Yakimas,
Walla Wallas, Nez Perces, and Cayuses, the narra-
tive of which is contained in another volume. ^^ Sev-
eral weeks were consumed at the treaty-grounds, and
it was the middle of June before Stevens was ready
'''^Pac. S. E. Kept, xii. 113.
'^ Hist. Or., ii., chap, xiv., this series. Briefly, the tribes assembled
gave the superintendents unexpected trouble in making treaties, Kamiakin
having conspired with other chiefs to destroy the commissioners and seize-the
government property which was stored at Fort Walla Walla. Lawyer, head-
chief of the Nez Perces, was able to prevent the conspiracy being carried out,
but not to prevent what followed.
102 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
to proceed to the Blackfoot country, where arrange-
ments had been made for a treaty council in October.
While en route every opportunity was used to culti-
vate confidential relations with the Indians, and
treaties were entered into with the upper Pend d'Ore-
illes, Kootenais, and Flatheads. A delegation of the
Nez Perces, under the special agency of William
Craig of Lapwai, attended him to the Blackfoot coun-
cil, where a treaty of peace was entered into between
the Blackfoot nation and this tribe, and where a suc-
cessful conference was held with this powerful and
predatory people.^* The news of the Blackfoot treaty
was despatched to Olympia by the governor's special
expressman, W. H. Pearson, who returning October
29th met Stevens' party two days' travel west of Fort
Benton, on their way home with the intelligence that,
so far from keeping their treaty obligations, the Yaki-
mas, Walla Wallas, Cayuses, Palouses, and a part of
the Nez Perces were at war with the white people,
and that it would be impossible for him to reach
s* Stevens was assisted in his labors by Special Agent Doty; by commis-
sioned agent R. H. Lansdale, whose district tliis was ; by Gustavus Sohon, 'a
private iu the 4th infantry, who was with Mr Mullan the year previous in
the Bitter Root Valley, and had shown a great taste as an ai-tist and ability
to learn the Indian language, as well as facility in intercourse with the Ind-
ians;' by Albert H. Robie, 'a most intelligent young man, who, from a
cook-boy in 1853, had in a year and half become an intelligent herder and
woodsman, and was also desirous of being engaged on the service;' Pac. R. 11.
Eept, xii. 196; and Special Agent Thomas Adams, one of his aids in 1853.
His messenger was W. H. Pearson, whom Stevens describes as 'hardy, intel-
ligent, bold, and resolute,' and as being 'acquainted with all the relations
between Indians and white men, from the borders of Texas to the forty-niuth
parallel.' Pearson carried the news of the Walla Walla council to Olympia,
and returning overtook Stevens in the Flathead country in time to start back
again July 18th with the results of a council with that nation. On the 27th
of August ho again overtook Stevens' party at Fort Benton, the distance to
Olympia and back — 1,750 miles — being accomplished in 28 days, some of
which were not used in travel. He rode the 260 miles from Fort Owen to
Fort Benton in less than three days. One thing which Stevens never forgot
to do was to give credit where it belonged, even to his humblest servants;
but this feat of Pearson's he mentions as showing the practicability of travel
in eastern Washington. His thirteen-year-old son Hazard, who accompanied
him on this journey to the Blackfoot country, was sent as a messenger to the
Gros Ventres to bring them to the council-ground at the mouth of Judith
River, and rode 150 miles from 10 o'clock of one day to half-past 2 o'clock of
the next, without fatigue. Stevens was detained beyond the time contem-
plated by having to wait for keel-boats from below on the Missouri River
with the treaty goods, the water being low.
STEVENS' JOURNEY. 103
Olympia through the Indian country, advices from
army officers recommending him to go down the Mis-
souri River, and return to Washington territory by
the way of New York. Instead of taking this hu-
mihating advice, Stevens at once determined to push
forward at all hazards. Sending Doty back to Fort
Benton for a large supply of ammunition, with addi-
tional arms and horses, he encamped his men to await
Doty's return, and on the 31st, with only A. H. Robie
and a Delaware Indian interpreter, started to ride
express to Bitter Root Valley, to communicate with
Agent R. H. Lansdale, in charge of the Flatheads.
At Fort Owen*^* he overtook the Nez Perce delega-
tion, whom he found informed of the war which had
broken out in the Yakima country, and also that a
portion of their own tribe were disaffected and some
of them hostile, while all the other tribes who had
been parties to the treaty of Walla Walla were un-
doubtedly so. However, after a conference, the whole
party of fourteen, including the war-chiefs Looking
Glass, Spotted Eagle, and Three Feathers, promised
friendship, and agreed to accompany Stevens as a part
of his escort, offering if he should go through the
Nez Perce country to send a large party of young
luen with him to The Dalles. He halted but one
day, and moved down to Hell Gate pass to wait for
Doty, who overtook him on the 11th of November,
and where he was detained until the 1 5th completing
preparations for the contemplated march. He crossed
the Bitter Root Mountains on the 20th, in three
feet of snow, the horses of the train being one night
without grass. When twenty -five miles from the Coeur
d'Alene Mission, he again travelled in advance of the
train, with only Pearson, Craig, and four of the Nez
Perces.
Information had been brought to Stevens that it
5^ Fort Owen was a stockade, the residence of John Owen and his brother,
stock-raisers in the Bitter Eoot Valley. They had abandoned their place
previous to the passage of the railroad expedition from fear of the Blackfoot
tribe, but had reestaClished it.
104 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
was tlie intention of the hostile tribes to cut off his
return, and he had no means of knowing to what ex-
tent the Ca3ur d'Alenes and other tribes on his
route had been influenced or brought into the com-
bination for war. But judging it best to seem uncon-
scious of danger, he did so, "throwing ourselves into
the midst of the Indians with our rifles in one hand,
and our arms outstretched on the other side, we ten-
dered them both the sword and the ohve-branch."
To the Nez Perces he had given instructions to
entertain the Cceur d'Alenes with stories of the
Blackfoot council, and talk of the advantages of the
treaty which would reheve them in tlie future of the
depredations to which they from time immemorial
had been subjected by this people.
The plan succeeded. The Coeur d'Alenes, taken
by surprise, met the governor and his party with a
cordial welcome; but when the first involuntary pleas-
ure of meeting was over, they began to remember
what the emissaries of Kamiakin, who were but five
days gone, had told them of him, their manner changed,
and they seemed undecided whether to commit them-
selves to peace or war.
Without giving them time to retract, Stevens has-
tened on, as soon as his train had overtaken him to the
Spokane country, where he had resolved to hold a
council. Arrived at the i^lace of Antoine Plante,^*
Indian runners Avere despatched to the lower Spokanes,
Pend d'Oreilles, and Colville Indians, and invitations
sent to Angus McDonald at Fort Colville, and also
to the Jesuit fathers Ravelli and Joset of the Col-
ville and Cceur dAlene missions, to bring them to-
gether in conference.
Several days elapsed before all arrived, and when
they were met, it seemed doubtful if peace could be
obtained. "I had there," said Stevens in his official
report, "one of the stormiest councils, for three days,
''Plants was a half-breed living ia the Spokane country, 'near the prairie
intermediate between them and the Coeur d'Alenes.'
DEALINGS WITH THE INDIANS. 105
that ever occurred in my whole Indian experience,"
because he would not promise the Indians that the
United States troops should not cross to the north
side of the Snake River. "Of course," says Father
Joset, "the governor could not promise such a thing.
He made several promises, but he evaded that c[ues-
tion." "
But when the Indians had heard a complete refu-
tation of the tales told tliem by the agents of Kamia-
kin, and been assured of protection so long as they
remained friendly, they took heart and appeared
satisfied; and Stevens conquered, as he had at the
Walla Walla council, by force of jsersonal will as well
as argument, the chiefs ending by consulting him on
all points as if he had been their father, and confiding
to him all their vexations and anxieties.
But there was another danger to be encountered.
The Spokanes insisted that the Nez Perces were
hostile, though Stevens had hitherto had entire
confidence in their good faith. Being put upon his
guard when he was rejoined by the party from the
Blackfoot council under Looking Glass, he set his
interpreter to spy upon this chief, who was at length
overheard explaining to a Spokane chief a plan to
entrap the treaty-maker when he should arrive in
the Nez Perce country, and advising the Spokanes
to a similar course. Says Stevens: "I never com-
municated to Looking Glass my knowledge of his
plans, but knowing them, I knew how to meet them
in council. I also knew how to meet them in his
own country, and it gave me no difficulty. "'**
^'Iwas so fortunate as to secure, through the industry of Mrs Roweua
Nichols of Whitman county, Washington, a copy of some of Joset's writings,
in which is a pretty full account of this council of Stevens with the Spokanes
and others. It is contained in a manuscript by Mrs Nichols, called Indian
Affairs in Oregon.
^"Pac. R. B. Rept, xii. 225. Tliis incident shows that Looking Glass was
no more sincere in signing the treaty of Walla Walla than was Kamiakiu or
Penpeumoxmox. Father Joset says that somebody having told the Indians
that it was for their interest to make a treaty, 'as the wliites wouUl have their
lands anyway,' they agreed to make a mock treaty in order to gain time and
prepare for war. Nichols' Iiid. Aff., MS., 3.
106 ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
The Spokanes offered to escort him through the
country of the "hostile Nez Perces," but Stevens
declined, to show that he had no favors to ask, as well
as to lessen the danger of collusion between Looking
Glass and the Spokanes. He despatched Craig with
a part of the Nez Perce delegation to Lapwai in ad-
vance, to invite their people to and arrange for holding
a council, as also to procure him an escort to The
Dalles. To enlarge his party of white men, he organ-
ized a battalion of miners and others waiting to get
through the hostile country, called the Stevens Guards
and Spokane Invincibles, by which means he added
twenty men to his escort who wished to go to The
Dalles. "When all were mustered in he had a company
of fifty. For these he procured the best horses in the
country, reducing every pack to eighty pounds, in
order that he might fight or fly^^ as occasion required;
and thus equipped, set out to encounter, for aught he
knew, the combined war force of the confederated
tribes. But a forced march for four days in rain and
snow brought him to Lapwai, where Craig was
awaiting him, with the Indians prepared for a council,
which was immediately called.*"
In the midst of it an Indian express arrived from
Walla Walla with the news of four days' fighting and
the death of Peupeumoxmox. It had been previously
agreed that a large force of Nez Perces should accom-
pany Stevens to The Dalles, but the knowledge of
''/nc?. War Expenses Speech, 12.
•^o William Craig was born in Greenbriar co., Va, in ISIO. He entered
the service of tlie American Fur Company in 1830, and for ten yeara led the
life of a trapper. When the fur companies broke up, about 1840, he came to
Or., and settled not long after at Lapwai, near Spalding's mission, to which
he rendered valuable assistance in controlling the Indians. He .also was of
much service to Gov. Stevens in making treaties with the Indians of eastern
Washington. Stevens appointed hiin on his staflf, with the rank of lieuten-
ant-colonel, and he was afterward ai)pointed Indian agent at Lapwai, for
which position he was well fitted, and which he held for a long time. 'But
for his liber.ility he would have been rich, but he has given away enough to
make several fortunes.' Walla Walla Union, Oct. 23, 1869. 'He was the
comrade in the mountains of Kit Carson, J. L. Meek, Robert Newell,
Courtenay Walker, Thompson, Eabboin, and a host of other bnave men whose
names are linked with tlie history of the country.' Walla Walla Statesman,
in Portland Oregonian, Oct. 30, 1869.
STEVENS' RETURN. 107
the occupation of the country by the Oregon troops
rendered this unnecessary, and the next day, accom-
panied by sixty-nine well-armed Nez Perce volunteers,
in addition to the Stevens Guards, he set out for The
Dalles by the way of the seat of war.
Here are a few men who settled in Washington at an early period, but
who had first resided in Oregon:
Solomon Strong, born in Erie co., N. Y., Nov. 11, 1817. At the age of
fourteen years removed to Ohio, thence to Iowa, and thence, in 1847, to Or.,
with an ox-team, with his wife and one child, George W., born iu 1845, in
Iowa. Strong settled on a claim seven miles from Portland, residing there
until Sept. 17, 1850, when he took a donation claim in Cowlitz co., on which
ho has resided ever since. Mrs. Strong was the first white woman on the
north side of Lewis river. He was elected justice of the peace in 1852 iu
what was then Clarke CO., and appointed co. commissioner by Gov. Stevens,
to which office lie was afterwards elected for eleven and a half years. On the
organization of Cowlitz co., was elected to the same office and soon resigned.
He married, Jan. 5, 1845, Miss Mary A. Bozartb, of Mo.; has ten children.
Squire Bozarth, born in Hardin Co., Ky, Jan. 11, 1792, married there, in
ISIG, Millie H. Willis, a native of Va, born 1802. He removed to Mo. and
Iowa, and in 1845 came to Oregon overland with his wife and eight children,
namely, Owen W., Sarah A., Lorana, Christopher C, Julia A., Squire Jr,
Jldlie W., born in Mo., and Emma C, born in la. Three children, Elizabeth
Bozarth Lantze, Mrs Mary A. Strong, and John S. Bozarth, came two years
later. Mr Bozarth first settled in Washington co.. Or., but removed to the
Columbia river opp. Vancouver, and again, iu 1850, to Lewis river, where he
took a donation claim on the North Fork, where he died March 16, 1853.
.John S. Bozarth settled on Lewis river iu 1852. In 1852 he had married
Arebreth Luelling, a native of 111., who came to Or. in 1847. He died iu
March 1882, leaving seven children, all born on Lewis river.
C. C. Bozarth, born in Marion co.. Mo., in 1832, Jan. 1st, married, in
1803, Mrs Rhoda R. Van Bebber, born in 111., a daughter of Jacob John,
who came to Or. in 1852. He resided on Lewis river and had four children.
He was engaged in farming until 1881, when he went to general merchan-
dising at Woodland, Cowlitz Co. In 1856 was assessor of Clarke Co., and
again in 1864 and 1866, and of Cowlitz co. from 1875 to 1879. He was justice
ot the peace fourteen years; was an assemblyman from Clarke co. in 1861-2,
and held the position of postmaster at Woodland.
F. N. Gdrig, born in Germany in 1824, came to U. S. in 1848, lived two
years in Washington, D. C, went to 111., and in 1853 came to Or., locating
on the Columbia river, near St Helen. Iu 1865 removed to Cowlitz co.,
Wash. He married, in 1851, Christine Heitraaun of Germany. Thsy had
seven sons and one daughter, their eldest being born upon the journey to
Or., at Green river. He owns over one thousand acres, and is a wealthy
citizen of Cowlitz Co.
Ruben Lockwood was born in Springfield, Vt, in 1822, but reared in
Ohio. He came to W. T. in 1852 with his wife and step-daughter. Miss
Anna C. Conway, and settled on the North Fork of Lewis river, in Clarke co.
Being a teacher, he was employed in Oregon City, at The Dalles, and in Peta-
luma, Cal., still keeping his home in Wash. He was married in 1850 to
Mrs Mary C. Conway, of Crawfordsville, Ind. Their children are S. F.
LockwooLl, born in Oregon City, and Lillie C. Lockwood. The son married
Miss Pauline Brozer, a native of Clarke co.
William A. L. McCorkle, born in Rockbridge co., Va, in 1826, reared in
Ohio, came to Cal. iu 1849, and to Cowlitz Valley in 1850, settling nine miles
from its mouth. Married Diana Saville, a native of that Co., and has two
sons, John W. and Eugene.
CHAPTER IV.
INDIAN "WAKS.
1S55-1856.
Causes of the Indian Outbreak— Discovert op Gold near Fort Col-
viLLE — Yakimas Hostile— Expeditions of Major 0. G. Halleu into
THE Snake and Yakima Countries — Yakima Campaign of 1855—
Movement of Troops on the Sound— Attack on Seattle— War Ves-
sels ON the Sound— Walla Walla Campaign of the Oregon Volun-
teers—Operations OP the Second Oregon Regiment — Ai-tack on the
Cascades — Colonel Cornelius Returns to Portland.
The reader of Oregon history will remember that
mention is made of the massacre of the Ward train by
the Snake Indians near Fort Boise in the autumn of
1854. Major Granville O. Haller, stationed at Fort
Dalles, made a hasty expedition into the Snake coun-
try, intended to show the Indians that the govern-
ment would not remain inactive while its citizens were
subjected to these outrages. The march served no
other purpose than to give this notice, for the guilty
Indians had retired into their mountain fastnesses,
and the season being late for recrossing the Blue
Mountains, Haller returued to The Dalles. The fol-
lowing summer, however, he led another expedition
into the Boise Valley, and following up the trails,
finally captured and executed the murderers.
Hardly had he returned to Fort Dalles when news
reached him of trouble in the Yakima country. In
the spring of 1855 gold had been discovered in the
region of Fort Colville, which caused the usual rush
of miners to the gold fields, making it difficult for Gov-
ernor Stevens to restrain his escort from deserting.*
^ Pac. R. It Jlcpt, 201. (108)
PIERRE JEROME AND BOLON. 109
He proceeded on his mission, informing the tribes
of the Upper Columbia, Kettle Falls, Spokanes, Pend
d'Oi-eilles, and Coeur d' Alenes, that on his return he
would negotiate with them for the sale of their lands.
But the Indians were not satisfied with their
treaty, nor with the influx of white men. About the
first of August Pierre Jerome, chief of the Kettle
Falls people, declared that no Americans should pass
through his country. From Puget Sound several
small parties set forth for Colville by the Nisqually
pass and the trail leading through the Yakima coun-
try by the way of the catholic mission of Ahtanahm,
and about the middle of September it was rumored
that some of them had been killed by the Yakimas.
A. J. Bolon, special agent for the Yakimas, was on
his way to the Spokane country, where he expected
to meet Stevens on his return from Fort Benton, and
assist in the appointed councils and treaties with this
and the neighboring tribes. He had passed The
Dalles on this errand when he was met by Chief
Gariy of the Spokanes with these reports, and he at
once turned back to investigate them.
The catholic mission, near which was the home of
Kamiakin, was between sixty and seventy miles in a
north-easterly direction from The Dalles, and to this
place he determined to go in order to learn from Ka-
miakin himself the truth or falsity of the stories con-
cerning the Yakimas.^ Unattended he set out on
this business, to show by his coming alone his confi-
dence in the good faith of the tribe, and to disarm
any fears they might have of the intentions of the
white people.^ His absence being protracted beyond
' The Ahtanahm mission was established by the oblate fathers who came
to the country in 1S47, and by Brouillette. It was in charge of Pandosy iu
1855, but owing to the absence of this priest, was, at the time of Bolon'a
visit, temporarily iu charge of Brouillette. This priest seems to have been
unfortunate in the matter of being housed by American-killing Indians.
' Gibbs says that Kamiakin had avoided meeting Bolon since the treaty,
but that Skloom, his brother, had told Bolon that a war council had Vicen held
in the Grand Rond Valley, and that he, Skloom, had spoken against war:
and that Lawyer also informed Bolon of this council. Bolon must have
hoped to influence Kamiakin. Swan's N. W. Coast, 426.
110 KTOIAN WARS.
the time required, Nathan Olney, agent at The
Dalles, sent out an Indian spy, who returned with
the information that Bolon had been murdered while
returning to The Dalles, by the order of Kamiahin,
and by the hand of his nephew, a son of Owhi, his
half-brother, and a chief of the Umatillas, who shot him
in the back while pretending to-escort him on his home-
ward journey, cut his throat, killed his horse, and
burned both bodies, together with whatever property
was attached to either.
All this Kamiakin confessed to the Des Chutes
chief, who acted as spy, saying that he was deter-
mined on war, which he was prepared to carry on, if
necessary, for five years;'* that no Americans should
come into his country ; that all the tribes were invited
to join him, and that all who refused would be held
to be foes, who would be treated in the same manner
as Americans — the adults killed, and the children en-
slaved. The report of the spy was confirmed by a
letter from Brouillette, who wrote to Olney that war
had been the chief topic among the Yakimas since
their return from the council.'* It was now quite cer-
tain that an Indian war, more or less general, was at
hand.
Without any authoritative promulgation, the rumor
of the threatened coalition spread, and about the 20th
of September returning miners brought the report
that certain citizens had been killed in passing through
the Yakima country. As soon as it became certainly
* This boast was not an idle one. Gibbs says that the Yakimas had laid
in large stores of ponder, and that Qualchin, the son of Owhi, had pur-
chased 300 pounds at The Dalles some time before the war conuncnccd.
He further says that Kamiakin did not intend to begin the war so soon,
but meant to wait until the Columbia should be frozen, so that no succor
could reach the people at The Dalles and elsewhere. Swan's iV'. W. Coaxt,
427-8.
^Letter of 0. Huraason in Or. Statesman, Oct. 6, 1855; Armstronrfs Or.,
108; DoiceU's Scrap-liook, 89, 96, 100; Parrish's Or. Anecdotes, RIS., 80;
Gray's IJist. Or., 95; Strong's Hist. Or., MS., 56, 60; Valmer's rept to com.
of Ind. a£F., in U. S. II. Ex. Doc, 93, pp. 55-61, 34th cong. 1st sess., Ind.
AfF., vol. 34; letter of Supt Palmer, in Or. Statesman, Oct. 13, 1855; U. S.
II. Ex. Doc, 1, p. 335, 51"2-15, vol. i., part i., 34th cong. 1st sess.; Ibid.,
p. 73-89, vol. i., part ii.; Stevens' Speech on War Claims, 6, 16.
RAINES AND HALLER. Ill
known,' Acting Governor Mason made a requisition
upon forts Vancouver and Steilacoora for troops to
protect travellers by that route, and also intimated to
the commanding officers that, as Governor Stevens
expected to be in the Spokane country in September,
under the circumstances a detachment of soldiers
might be of assistance to him.
Meanwhile Major Raines, who regarded Kamiakin
and Peupeumoxmox as the chiefs most to be dreaded,
ordered eighty-four men under Haller from Fort Dalles
to pass into the Yakima country and cooperate with
a force sent from Steilacoom. Haller set forth on
the 3d of October. His route lay over a gradual
elevation for ten miles north of the Columbia to the
summit of the bald range of hills constituting the
Klikitat Mountains. Beyond these was the Kliki-
tat Valley, fifteen miles in width, north of which
stretched the timbered range of the Simcoe Mountains,
beyond which again was the Simcoe Vallej^ on the
northern boundary of which, about sixty miles from
The Dalles, was the home of Kamiakin and the
Ahtanahm mission, the objective point of the expedi-
tion.
It was not until the third day, and when the troops
were descending a long hill to a stream skirted with
dense thickets of small trees, that any Indians were
seen. At this point, about three o'clock in the after-
noon, the Indians attacked,'^ being concealed in the
thick undergrowth mentioned. There was a sharp en-
gagement lasting until nightfall, when the Yakimas
withdrew, leaving Haller with eight killed and
•The first person known to be killed by the Yakimas was Henry Mattice
of Olympia. One of the Batons, the first settlers east of Tuinwater, was
also killed, and other citizens of Puget Sound, to the number of about 20,
among whom were Fanjoy, Walker, and Jemison of Seattle.
' Cram, in his Top. Mem., 90, says that Haller attacked the Indians with-
out authority from his commanding officer, quoting from Raines' official
address to the Yakimas to prove it, which runs as follows: 'I sent this hand-
ful of soldiers into your country to inquire into the facts of the murder of
Indian agent Bolon; it was not expected that they should fight you. ' Haller,
in his report, says he was attacked, and Raines' reproof of the Yakimas
shows that he was. No other version was ever given until Cram undertook
to vindicate the course of Gen. Wool.
112 INDIAN WAES.
wounded men. That night the troops lay upon their
arms. In the morning the attack was renewed, the
Indians endeavoring to surround Haller as he moved
to a bold eminence at the distance of a mile. Here the
troops fought all day without water and with little food.
It was not until after dark that a messenger was de-
spatched to The Dalles to apprise Raines of the situ-
ation of the command and obtain reenforcements.
The cavalry horses and pack-animals, being by this
time in a suffering state, were allowed to go free at
night to find water and grass, except those necessary
to transport the wounded and the ammunition. To-
ward evening of the third day the troops moved
down to the river for water, and not meeting with
any resistance, Haller determined to fall back toward
The Dalles with his wounded. The howitzer was
spiked and buried, and such of the baggage and pro-
visions as could not be transported was burned. The
command was organized in two divisions, the advance
under Haller to take care of the wounded, and the rear
under Captain Russell to act as guard. In the dark-
ness the guide led the advance off the trail, on discov-
ering which Haller ordered fires to be lighted in some
fir trees to signal to the rear his position, at the same
time revealing it to the Indians, who, as soon as day-
light came, swarmed around him on every side, fol-
lowing and harassing the command for ten miles.
On getting into the open country a stand was made,
and Haller 's division fought during the remainder of
the day, resuming the march at night, Russell failing
to discover his whereabouts. When twenty-five miles
from The Dalles Haller was met b}^ Lieutenant Day
of the 3d artillery with forty-five men, who, finding
the troops in retreat, proceeded to the border of the
Yakima country merely to keep up a show of activity
on the part of the army. Lieutenant W. A. Slaughter
with fifty men had crossed the Cascades by the Nachess
pass, with the design of reenforcing Haller, but finding a
large number of Indians in the field, and hearing that
RAISING TROOPS. 113
Haller was defeated, prudently fell back to the west
side of the mountains.
Such were the main incidents of Haller's Yakima
campaign, in which five men were killed, seventeen
wounded, and a large amount of government property
destroyed, abandoned, and captured." The number of
Indians killed was unknown, but thought to be about
forty.
Preparations for war were now made in earnest,
both by the military and the citizens, though not
without the usual attendant bickerings. A proclama-
ation was issued, calling for one company to be en-
rolled in Clarke county, at Vancouver, and one in
Thurston county, at Olympia, to consist of eighty-
seven men, rank and file, with orders to report to
the commanding ofHeer-s of Steilacoora and Vancouver,
and as far as possible to provide their own arms and
equipments. The estimated number of hostile Ind-
ians in the field was 1,500. Application for arms
was made by Mason through Tilton, the lately arrived
surveyor-general, to Sterrett and Pease, commanders
respectively of the sloop of war Decatur and the
revenue-cutter Jefferson Davis, then in the Sound, and
the request granted.
There was organized at Olympia the Puget Sound
Mounted Volunteers, Company B, with Gilmore Hays
as captain, James S. Hurd 1st lieutenant, William
Martin 2d lieutenant, Joseph Gibson, Henry D. Cock,
Thomas Prather, and Joseph White sergeants; Joseph
S. Taylor, Whitfield Kirtley, T. Wheelock, and Joha
Scott corporals — who reported themselves to Captain
Maloney, in command of Fort Steilacoom, on the 20th,
and on the 21st marched under his command for White
River to reenforce Slaughter, quartermaster at Steila-
coom, who had gone through the Nachess pass into tiie
' A herd of cattle being driven out for the troops was captured. Two
young men, Ives and Ferguson, escaped by flight and stratagem, suffering
ten-ibly from wounds and famine, one of them being two weeks in getting to
114 INDIAN WARS.
hostile country with forty men, and had fallen back to
the upper prairies, but who awaited the organization of
an army of invasion to return to the Yakima countr}'.
After due proclamation. Mason issued a commis-
sion to Charles H. Eaton to organize a company of
rangers, to consist of thirty privates and a comple-
ment of officers.^ The company was immediately
raised, and took the field on the 23d to act as a guard
upon the settlements, and to watch the passes through
the mountains. On the 22d a proclamation was
issued calling for four companies, to be enrolled at
Vancouver, Cathlamet, Olympia, and Seattle, and to
hold themselves, after organizing and electing their
officers, in reserve for any emergency which might
arise. James Tilton was appointed adjutant-general
of the volunteer forces of the territory, and Major
Raines, who was about to take the field against the
Yakimas, brigadier-general of the same during the
continuance of the war. Company A of the Mounted
Volunteers organized in Clarke county was com-
manded by William Strong, and though numbering
first, was not fully organized until after Company B
had been accepted and mustered into the service of
the United States. Special Indian agent B. F.
Shaw, who took the place of Bolon, was instructed
by Mason to raise a company and go and meet and
escort back Governor Stevens. Several companies
were raised in Oregon, as I have elsewhere related,
J. W. Nesmith being placed in command, with orders
to proceed to the seat of war and cooperate with
Raines.
On the 30th of October Raines marched for the
Yakima country, having been reenforced by 128 regu-
lars and 112 volunteers from Washington, including
Strong's company of 63 and Robert Newell's company
•The rangers were officered by C. H. Eaton, captain; James McAllister,
James Tullis, A. M. Poe, lieutenants; John Harold, Charles E. Weed,
W. W. Miller, S. Phillips, sergeants; S. D. Rheinhart, Thomas Bracken,
S. Hodgdon, James Hughes, corporals. Objmpiii Piona r and Dem., Oct. 26,
1S55.
NESMITH'S CAMPAIGN. 115
of 35 men, making a force of about 700. On the 4th
of November Nesmith, with four companies of Oregon
volunteers, overtook Raines' command, proceeding
with it to the Simcoe Valley, where they arrived on
the 7th. Little happened worth relating. There
was a skirmish on the 8th, in which the Oregon vol-
unteers joined with the regulars in fighting the
Indians, who, now that equal numbers were opposed
to them, were less bold. When it came to pursuit,
they had fresh horses and could always escape.^"
They were followed and driven up the Yakima, to a
gap through which flows that stream, and where the
heights had been well fortified, upon which they took
their stand; but on being charged upon by the regu-
lars, under Haller and Captain Augur, fled down the
opposite side of the mountain, leaving it in possession
of the troops," who returned to camp. The Indians
showing themselves again on the 10th, Major Arm-
strong of the volunteers, with the company of Captain
Hayden and part of another under Lieutenant Hanna,
passed through the defile and attempted to surround
them and cut off their retreat; but owing to a mis-
understanding, the charge was made at the wrong
point, and the Indians escaped through the gap, scat-
tering among the rocks and trees. On the 10th all
the forces now in the Yakima country moved on
toward the Ahtanahm mission, skirmishing by the way
and capturing some of the enemy's horses, but find-
ing the country about the mission and the mission
itself quite deserted. After a few more unimportant
movements Nesmith proceeded to Walla Walla, to
'"Lieut Philip Sheridan, escorting Lieut R. S. Williamson of the topo-
graphical engineers, who happened to be at Vancouver, was present with a
detatchment o£ dragoons. Uept of Major-General Raines to Atljt-Gciieral
Thomas, in military archives at Vancouver. I will here remark, that every
facility has been afforded me by the military department of Oregon for seeing
and copying documents and reports. Special courtesy has been shown by
generals Clark, Jeff. C. Davis, and 0. 0. Howard, and their staff-oliicers, for
which I here make my grateful acknowledgments.
"In crossing the Yakima River two soldiers were drowned; and in a
skirmish which the volunteers under Captain Cornelius had with the Indians,
George Holmes of Clackamas county and Stephen Waymire of Polk county
were wounded. Letter of Marion Co. Volunteer, in Or. Statesman, Nov. 24, 1855.
116 INDIAN WARS.
hold that valley against hostile tribes, while Raines,
leaving his force to build a block-house on the south-
ern border of the Yakima country, reported in person
to General Wool, who had just arrived at Vancouver
with a number of officers, fifty dragoons, 4,000 stand
of arms, and a large amount of ammunition. Wool
ordered the troops in Oregon to be massed at The
Dalles to await his plan of operations, which, so far as
divulged, was to establish a post at the Walla Walla
to keep in check the other tribes while prosecuting
war against the Yakimas. An inspection of the
troops and horses, however, revealed the fact that
many of the soldiers were without sufficient clothing,
and that few of their animals were fit for service.
The quartermaster was then directed to procure
means of transportation from the people of tlie Wil-
lamette, but owing to the heavy drain made upon them
in furnishing the volunteer force, wagons and horses
were not to be had, and they were ordered from
Benicia, California, and boats and forage from San
Francisco. Before these could arrive the Columbia
was frozen over, and communication with the upper
country completely severed; but not before Major
Fitzgerald with fifty dragoons from Fort Lane had
arrived at The Dalles,^^ and Keyes' artillery company
had been sent to Fort Steilacoom to remain in garri-
son until the return of milder weather.
The ice remained in the lower Columbia but three
weeks, and on the 11th of January, 1856, the mail-
steamer brought despatches informing Wool of Indian
disturbances in California and southern Oregon, which
demanded his immediate return to San Francisco.
While passing down the river he met Colonel George
Wright, with eight companies of the 9th infantry regi-
ment, to whom he assigned the command of the Colum-
bia River district ; and at sea he also met Lieutenant-
Colonel Silas Casey, with two companies of the same
'^ At the moment of Haller'a defeat Fitzgerald had been ordered to the
Yakima country, but owing to troubles in touthern Oregon, of which at the
time Kaiues was not informed, was unable to obey the order at ouce.
MILITARY QUARRELS. 117
regiment, whom he assigned to the command of the
Puget Sound district.
Colonel Wright was directed to establish his head-
quarters at The Dalles, where all the troops intended
to operate in the upper country would be concentrated ;
and as soon as the ice was out of the river, and the
season would permit, to establish a post in the neigh-
borhood of Fort Walla Walla, and another at the
fishery on the Yakima River, near the crossing of the
road from Walla Walla to Fort Steilacoom ; and also
an intermediate post between the latter and Fort
Dalles, the object of the latter two posts being to pre-
vent the Indians taking fish in the Yakima or any of its
tributaries, or the tributaries of the Columbia. The oc-
cupation of the country between the Walla Walla and
Snake rivers, and on the south side of the Columbia,
it was believed, would soon bring the savages to terms.
During this visit, as. indeed on some other occasions
both before and after. Wool did not deport himself
as became a man occupying an important position.
He censured everybody, not omitting Raines and
Haller, but was particularly severe upon territorial
ofiicers and volunteers. He ordered disbanded the
company raised by order of Mason to go to the relief
of Governor Stevens returning from the Blackfoot
country," although Raines put forth every ai'gument
to induce him to send it forward. This conduct of
Wool was bitterly resented by Stevens, who quoted
the expressions used by Wool in his report to the de-
partments at Washington, and in a letter to the gen-
eral himself.^* The effect of Wool's course was to
raise an impassable barrier between the regular and
" Letter of Nesmith to Curry, Nov. 30, 1855, iu Evans' Military Orijan-
ization, 84; Dalles corr., Or. Statesman, Nov. 10, 1855.
"-Sen. Ux. Doc, 66, 45, 34th cong. 1st sess., Ind. aff. 34. Official van-
ity and jealousy are said by James G. Swan to have been at tlie bottom of
Wool's hostility to Stevens. According to Swan, Wool and Stevens met at
the Rasette House in San Francisco in 1854, when Wool related an incident
of the battle of Buena Vista, taking all the glory upon himself. Stevens
reminded him that Taylor was chief in command and Wool second. The
rebuke displeased Wool, who reveuged himself when he found an opportu-
nity. Letter in Olympia Transcript, May 9, 18G8.
lis INDIAN WAES.
volunteer officers, and to leave the conduct of the war
practically in the hands of the latter.
Meanwhile affairs on the Sound were not altogether
quiet. From the rendezvous at Nathan Eaton's
house, on the 24th of October, 1855, went nineteen
rangers under Captain Charles Eaton to find Leschi,
a Yakima-Nisqually chief, who was reported disaf-
fected; but the chief was not at home. Encamping
at the house of Charles Baden, Eaton divided his
company and examined the country, sending Quarter-
master Miller^' to Fort Steilacoom for supplies.
While reconnoitring, Lieutenant McAllister and M.
Connell,'^ of Connell's prairie, were killed, and the
party took refuge in a log-house, where they defended
themselves till succor came.
Elsewhere a more decisive blow was struck. As
early as the 1st of October Porter had been driven
from his claim at the head of White River Valley,
and soon afterward all the farmers left their claims and
fled to Seattle with their families, where a block-house
was erected. Soon after the sloop of war Decatur
anchored in front of Seattle, the commander offering
his services to assist and defend the people in case of
an occasion arriving; Acting-governor Mason, who
had made a tour of White Valley without meeting
any signs of a hostile demonstration, endeavoring to
reassure the settlers, they thereupon returning to
gather their crops, of which they stood much in need.
The Indians, who were cognizant of all these move-
ments, preserved a deceitful quiet until Maloney and
Hays liad left the valley for the Yakima country, be-
lieving that they were doomed to destruction, while the
" W. W. Miller was a native of Ky, but had spent liis youth in Mo. and
111., and came to Wash, in 1S52, where he resided in Olympia to Jan. 24,
1S76, when he died, at the ago of 54. He was appointed surveyor of customs
by the president, and quartermaster-general by Gov. JIason. In later years
he was twice mayor of Olympia, and was known as a successful man in busi-
ness. He married a daughter of Judge McFadden.
'^Connell was a discharged soldier, but a man of good repntation, and had
been employed as mail carrier between Olympia and Steilacoom. Oli/mpia
Pioneer and Dern., Nov. 9, 1S55.
WHITE RIVER MASSACRE. 119
inhabitants left behind were to become an easy prey.
On the morning of the 28th, Sunday, they fell upon
the farming settlements, killing three families of the
immigration of 1854, H. H. Jones and wife, George
E. King and wife, W. H. Brannan, wife and child,
Simon Cooper, and a man whose name was unknown.
An attack was made upon Cox's place, and Joseph
Lake wounded, but not seriously. Cox, with his wife
and Lake, fled and escaped, alarming the family of
Moses Kirkland, who also escaped, these being all the
settlers who had returned to their homes. The attack
occurred at eight o'clock in the morning, and about
the same hour in the evening the fugitives arrived at
Seattle, twenty-five miles distant. On the following
morning a friendly Indian brought to the same place
three children of Mr Jones, who had been spared, and
on the same day C. C. Hewitt, with a company of
volunteers, started for the scene of the massacre to
bury the dead, and if possible, rescue some living.
That the settlers of the Puyallup below the cross-
ing did not share the fate of those on White River
was owing to the warning of Kitsap the elder," who,
giving the alarm, enabled them to escape in the night,
even while their enemies prowled about waiting for
the dawn to begin their work of slaugliter. Fi'om
the Nachess River Captain Maloney sent despatches
to Governor Mason by volunteers William Tidd and
John Bradley, who were accompanied by A. B. Moses,
M. P. Burns, George Bright, Joseph Miles, and A.
B. Rabbeson. They were attacked at several points
on the route, Moses'* and Miles'^ losing their lives,
and the othei^s suffering great hardships.
" Kitsap county was named after this Indian.
''A. Benton Moses was born in Charleston, S. C. He enlisted as a volun-
teer in the Mexican war, serving under Scott and Taylor, being promoted to
the rank of lieut. He served under Lt-col Weller at Monterey and Marin,
and afterward as aide-de-camp to Gen. Childs. After the Mexican war he
came to Cal., and went on an expedition against the southern Cal. Indians;
and subsequently was deputy to Col Jack Hays, sheriff of S. F., until his
brother was appointed collector of the district of Puget Sound, when he ac-
companied him to Washington.
"Joseph Miles held the rank of lieut-col of the Thurston co. militia, and
120 INDIAN WARS.
In the interim, Captain Maloney, still in ignorance
of these events, set out with his command to return to
Steilacoom, whence, if desired, he could proceed by
the way of The Dalles to the Yakima Valley. On
reaching Connell's prairie, November 2d, he found the
house in ashes, and discovered, a mile away from it, the
body of Lieutenant McAllister. On the morning of
the 3d fifty regulars under Slaughter, with fifty vol-
unteers under Haj^s, having ascertained the where-
abouts of the main body, pursued them to the crossing
of White River, where, being concealed, they had the
first fire, killing a soldier at the start. The troops
were unable to cross, but kept up a steady firing across
the river for six hours, during which thirty or more
Indians were killed and a number wounded. One
soldier was slightl}'' wounded, besides which no loss
was sustained by the troops, regular or volunteer.
Maloney remained at Camp Council, keeping the
troops moving, for some days. On the 6th Slaughter
with fifty of Hays' volunteers was attacked at the
crossing of the Puyallup, and had three men mortally
wounded,'^'^ and three less severely.
The oflficer left in command of Port Steilacoom
when Maloney took the field was Lieutenant John
Nugen. Upon receiving intelligence of the massacre
on White River, he made a call upon the citizens of
Pierce county to raise a company of forty volunteers,
who immediately responded, a company under Cap-
tain W. H. Wallace reporting for service the last of
October.
By the middle of November the whole country
between Olympia and the Cowlitz was deserted, the
justice of the peace of Olympia. At the time of his death he had a contract
for erecting the capitol at tliat place. He was a good citizen and useful
man. Evans, in Olympia Pioneer and Dcm., Nov. 9, 1855.
'" The shot that killed John Edgar passed tlirough his lungs, and severely
wounded Addison Perham of Pierce co. Tlio third was a soldier named
KcUett. Three others, Andrew Burge, Corporal MogcU, and one of the regu-
lars, were also wounded severely. Kept Lieut John Nugen, in ICasA. Mess.
Gov., 1857, 188.
SPECIAL AGENTS. 121
inhabitants, except the volunteers, comprising half
the able-bodied men in the territory, having shut
themselves up in block-houses, and taken refuge in
the towns defended by home-guards.^^
Special Indian agent Simmons published a notice
on the 12th of November, that all the friendly Indians
within the limits of Puget Sound district should ren-
dezvous at the head of North Bay, Steilacoom, Gig
Harbor, Nisqually, Vashon Island, Seattle, Port
Orchard, Penn Cove, and Oak Harbor; J. B. Webber
being appointed to look after all the encampments above
Vashon Island ; D. S. Mavnard to look after those at
Seattle and Port Orchard; R. C. Fay and N. D.
Hill to take in charge those on Whidbey Island, as
special agents. H. H. Tobin and E. C. Fitzhugh
were also appointed special agents. The wliite inhab-
itants were notified that it might become necessary to
concentrate the several bands at a few points, and
were requested to report any suspicious movements
on the part of the Indians to the agents. By this
means it was hoped to separate the friendly from the
hostile Indians to a great extent, and to weaken tlie
influence of the latter. At this critical juncture, also.
Governor Douglas, of Vancouver Island, sent to Nis-
'ii There wers 22 block -houses or stockades erected by the settlers during
the war, as follows: at Davis', Skookum Chuck, Henness, near Mound prairie,
on Tenalcut prairie, at Nathan Eaton's, two on Chambers' prairie, one at
Bush's, Goodell's, Euddell's, Rutledge's, two at Tumwater, one at DofHe-
meyer's, one on Whidbey Isl., one at Port Gamble, one on the Cowlitz (Fort
Arkansas), one on Mime prairie, one at Port Ludlow, one at Meigs' Mill, two at
the Cascades, one at Boisford prairie. Kept of W. W. De Lacy, capt. eng.
W. T. v., in Wash. Mess. Gov., 1857, 55. Others were subsequently erected
by the volunteers and troops, to the number of 35 by the former and 4 by
the latter, or 02 in all. One at Cowlitz landing, French settlement near
Cowlitz farm, Chehalis Eiver, below the Skookum Chuck, Tenalcut plain
(Fort Miller), Yeltn prairie (Fort Stevens), Lowe's, on Chambers' prairie,
two at Olympia, one at Packwood's ferry (Fort Raglan), two at Mont-
gomery's crossing of the Puyallup (Fort White), two at ConneU's prairie,
two at crossing of White River, South prairie (Fort McAllister), on the
Dwamish (Fort Lander), Lone Tree point, on the Snohomish (Fort Ebey),
on the Suoqualimich below the falls (Fort Tilton), ou the Snoqualimich
above the falls (Fort Alden), Port Townsend, Wilson's Point, Bellingham
Bay, Skookum Chuck, Vancouver, Fourth prairie (near Vancouver), Washou-
gal, Lewis River, Walla Walla (Fort Mason), Michel's fork of Nisqually
(Fort Preston), Ivlikitrt prairie, near Cowlitz. The regular companies built
Fort Slaughter, on Muckleshoot prairie; Fort Maloney, ou Puyallup river;
Fort Thomas, on Green river; and a block-house ou Black River. Id.
122 INDIAN WAES.
qnally the Hudson's Bay Company's steamer Otter,
an armed vessel, to remain for a time, and by her also
fifty stand of arms and a large supply of ammunition
to General Tilton, in compliance with a request for-
warded by Acting-governor Mason, November 1st.
The volunteer forces called out or accepted having
all rejjorted for service, Captain Maloney arranged a
campaign which was to force the friendly Indians upon
their reserves, and to make known the lurking-places
of their hostile brethren. Lieutenant Slaughter was
directed to proceed with his company to White and
Green rivers; Captain Hewitt, who was at Seattle
with his volunteers, was ordered to march up White
and Green rivers and place himself in communication
with Slaughter; while Captain Wallace occupied the
Puyallup Valley within communicable distance, and
Captain Hays took up a position on the Nisqually
River, at Muck prairie, and awaited further orders.
Lieutenant Harrison, of the revenue-cutter Jefferson
Davis, accompanied the expedition as first lieutenant
to Slaughter's command. Upon the march, which be-
gan on the 24th of November, Slaughter was attacked
at night at Bidding's prairie, one mile from the Puy-
allup, and sustained a loss of forty horses during a
heavy fog which concealed the movements of the Ind-
ians. On the morning of the 26th E. G. Price of Wal-
lace's company, while attending to camp duty, was shot
and killed by a lurking foe. The chiefs who commanded
in the attack on the night of the 25th were Kitsap
and Kanascut of the Klikitats, Quiemuth and Klow-
owit of the Nisquallies, and Nelson of the Green
River and Niscope Indians. During two nights that
the troops were encamped on this prairie the Indians
continually harassed them by their j^ells, and by
crawling up out of the woods which surrounded the
little plain, and under cover of the fog coming close
enough to fire into camp in spite of the sentries, who
discharged their pieces into the surrounding gloom
without eflect. Beiuir reeuforced on the 2Gth with
DEATH OF LIEUTENANT SLAUGHTER. 123
twenty-five men of the 4th artillery, just arrived at
Fort Steilacoom, Slaughter divided his force, Wal-
lace's company encamping at Morrison's place, on the
Stuck, where they remamed making sorties in the
neighborhood, while the main command were occupied
in other parts of the valley, no engagement taking
place, as the Indians kept out of way in the day-time,
which the heavy forest of the Puyallup bottoms ren-
dered it easy to do.
Thus passed another week of extremely disagreeable
service, the weather being both cold and rainy. On
the 3d of December Lieutenant Slaughter, with sixty
men of his own command and five of Wallace's, left
Morrison's for White River, to communicate with
Captain Hewitt, and encamped at the forks of White
and Green rivers, on Brannan's prairie, taking posses-
sion of a small log house left standing, and sending
word to Hewitt, who was encamped two or three
miles below, to meet him there. While a conference
was being held, about seven o'clock in the evening of
the 4th, the troops permitting themselves a fire beside
the door to dry their sodden clothing, the Indians,
guided by the light, sent a bullet straight to the heart
of Slaughter, sitting inside the doorway, who died
without uttering a word. They then kept up a con-
tinuous firing for three hours, killing two non-com-
missioned ofiicers, and wounding six others, one mor-
tally.^' Nothing that had occurred during the war
cast a greater gloom over the community than the
death of the gallant Slaughter.
Captain E. D. Keyes, whom Wool had left in com-
mand at Fort Steilacoom, now notified Mason that it
was found necessary to withdraw the troops from the
field, as the pack-horses were worn down, and many of
the men sick. This announcement put an end for the
22 The officers killed were Corporal Barry, 4th inf., Cor. Clarendon of
Wallace's co.; mortally wounded, an artilleryman of Keyes' co.; and severely
wounded, privates Beck, Nolan, McMahon, and Grace. Olympia Pioiteer and
Dem., Dec. 14, 1855. Slaughter's remains were taken down White Eiver to
Seattle, and sent to SteUacoom, where was his family.
124 INDIAN WARS.
time to active operations against the Indians, and the
troops went into garrison at such points as promised
to afford the hest protection to the settlers, v/hile the
volunteers remained at places where they might
waiting for the next turn in affairs.
The snow being now deep in the mountain
communication with the Indians east of the Cascades
was believed to be cut off; and as the Indians west of
the mountains had ceased to attack, there seemed
nothing to do but to wait patiently until spring, when
General Wool had promised to put troops enough into
the field to bring the war to a speedy termination.
Thus matters moved along until the companies mus-
tered into the service of the United States on the
Sound were disbanded, their three months' time hav-
ing expired.
For several weeks the citizens of Seattle had been
uneasy, from the belief that the friendly Indians gath-
ered near that place were being tampered with by
Leschi. About the 1st of January, 1856, it was dis-
covered that he was actually present at the reserve,
making boasts of capturing the agent; and as the
authorities very much desired to secure his arrest,
Keyes secured the loan of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's steamer Beaver, and sent Maloney and his com-
pany to seize and bring him to Fort Steilacoom. But
as the jBeaver approached the shore to effect a landing,
Leschi drew up his forces in battle array to meet the
troops, who could only land in squads of three or four
from a small boat. Finding that it would not be safe
to expose his men in such a manner, and having no
cannon to disperse the Indians, Maloney was com-
pelled to return to Steilacoom without accomplishing
the object of the expedition.
Keyes then determined to make another effort for
the capture of Leschi, and embarking for Seattle in
the surveying steamer ^c^ive, James Alden command-
ino-, endeavored to borrow the howitzer and launch of
the Decatur, which was refused by the new commander,
GANSEVOORT'S CAMPAIGN. 125
Gansevoort, upon the ground that they were essential
to the protection of the town, and must not go out of
the bay. Keyes then returned up the Sound to pro-
cure a howitzer from the fort, when Leschi, divining
that his capture had been determined upon, withdrew
liimself to the shades of the PuyaUup, wiiere shells
could not reach him.
Captain Gansevoort took command of the Decatur
on the 10th of December, 1855, three days after she
had received an injury by striking on a reef, then un-
known, near Bain bridge Island, and it became neces-
sary to remove her battery on shore while repairing
her keel, a labor which occupied nearly three weeks,
or until January 19th, when her guns were replaced.
Very soon after a young Dwamish, called Jim, noti-
fied Gansevoort that Indians from the east side of the
mountains, under Owhi, had united with those on the
west side under Coquilton, with the design of dividing
their forces into two columns, and making a simulta-
neous attack on Steilacoora and Seattle, after destroy-
ing which they expected to make easy work of the
other settlements.
The plan might have succeeded as first conceived,
Hewitt's company being disbanded about this time,
and the Decatur being drawn up on the beach; but
some Indian scout having carried information of the
condition of the man-of-war to the chiefs, it was de-
cided that the capture of the ship, which was supposed
to be full of powder, would be the quickest means of
destroying the white race, and into this scheme the
so-called friendly Indians had entered with readiness.
Gansevoort, feeling confident that he could rely
upon Jim's statement, prepared to meet the impend-
ing blow. The whole force of the Decatur was less
than 150 men and officers. Of these a small company
was left on board the ship, while 96 men, eighteen
mariners, and five oflicers did guard duty on shore.
Seattle at this time occupied a small peninsula
12S INDIAN WARS.
formed by the bay in front, and a wide and deep
swamp at the foot of the heavily wooded hills behind.
The connection of the peninsula with the country
back was by a narrow neck of land at the north end
of the town, and the Indian trail to lakes Washington
and Union came in almost directly opposite Yesler' s
mill and wharf, where a low piece of ground had been
filled in with sawdust. The only other avenue from
the back country was by a narrow sand-spit on the
south side of the Marsh, which was separated from
the town only by a small stream. Thus the longer
line of defence was actually afforded by the swamp,
and the points requiring a guard were those in front
of the sand-spit and the lake trail ; and it was thus
that Gansevoort disposed of his force, three divisions
being placed to guard the southern entrance, which
was most exposed, and one directly across the northern
trail.
For two nights guard had been maintained, when
on the 24th the Active reappeared at Seattle, having
on board Captain Keyes, Special Agent Simmons, and
Governor Stevens, just arrived from east of the moun-
tains after his escape from the hostile combination in
that country. It does not appear in the narratives
whether or not they had a howitzer on board. Leschi,
at all events, had already left the reservation. Next
day the Active j^roceeded down the Sound to visit the
other reservations, and learn the condition and temper
of the Indians under the care of agents, and Captain
Gansevoort continued his system of guard-posting.
On the beach above Yesler's mill, and not far from
where the third division, under Lieutenant Phelps,
was stationed, was the camp of a chief of the Dwa-
mish tribe, known to the white settlers as Curley,
though his proper name was Suequardle, who pro-
fessed the utmost friendship for his civilized neigh-
bors, and was usually regarded as honest in his pro-
fessions, the officers of the Decatur reposing much
confidence in him. On the afternoon of the 23th
SEATTLE IN DANGER.
Kg^-
REFERENCE.
0. TTorth Block House.
b. Mrs. Hol^te's House.
c. Yesler'sMill.
d. Yesler's House.
e. Madame Damnable.
/. Plumnier's House.
g. Plummer'8 Hen House
h. Howitzer.
i. South Block House.
k. Tom Pepper's House.
1. Esplanade House.
II. Banicades.
jT
.f='n^Sl
Attack on Seattle.
128 INDIAN WARS.
another chief from the lake district east of Seattle,
called TecuQiseh, came into town with all his people,
claiming protection against the hostile Indians, who,
he said, threatened him with destruction should he
not join them in the war upon the settlers. He was
kindly received, and assigned an encampment at the
south end of town, not far from where the first, sec-
ond, and fourth divisions were stationed, under lieu-
tenants Drake, Hughes, and Morris, respectively.
At five o'clock in the afternoon the Decatur crew
repaired to their stations, and about eight o'clock
Phelps observed, sauntering past, two unknown Ind-
ians, of whom he demanded their names and purpose,
to which they carelessly answered that they were Lake
Indians, and had been visiting at Curley's encamp-
ment. They were ordered to keep within their own
lines after dark, and dismissed. But Phelps, not being
satisfied with their appearance, had his suspicions still
further aroused by the sound of owl-hootings in three
different directions, which had the regularity of sig-
nals, and which he decided to be such. This impres-
sion he reported to headquarters at Yesler's house,
and Curley was despatched to reconnoitre. At ten
o'clock he brought the assurance that there were no
Indians in the neighborhood, and no attack need be
apprehended during that night.
Two hours after this report was given, a conference
was held at Curley's lodge, between Leschi, Owhi,
Tecumseh, and Yark-Keman, or Jim, in which the
plan was arranged for an immediate attack on the
town, the 'friendly' Indians to prevent the escape of
the people to the ships in the bay,^^ while the warriors,
assembled to the number of more than a thousand in
the woods which covered the hills back of town, made
the assault. By this method they expected to be
able to destroy every creature on shore between two
o'clock and daybreak, after which they could attack
the vessels.
» The bark Brontes was lying opposite the south end of the town.
JIM SAVES THE TOWN. 129
Fortunately for the inhabitants of Seattle and the
Decatur's crew, Jim was present at this council as a
spy, and not as a conspirator. He saw that he needed
time to put Gansevoort on his guard, and while pre-
tending to assent to the general plan, convinced the
other chiefs that a better time for attack would be
when the Decatur's men, instead of being on guard,
had retired to rest after a night's watch. Their plans
being at length definitely settled, Jim found an oppor-
tunity to convey a warning to the officers of the De-
catur. The time fixed upon for the attack was ten
o'clock, when the families, who slept at the block-
house, had returned to their own houses and were de-
fenceless, "with the gun standing behind the door," -*
as the conspirators, who had studied the habits of the
pioneers, said to each other.
During the hours between the conference at Cur-
ley's lodge and daylight, the Indians had crept up to
the very borders of the town, and grouped their ad-
vance in squads concealed near each house. At 7
o'clock the Decatur's men returned to the ship to
breakfast and rest. At the same time it was observed
by Phelps that the non-combatants of Curley's camp
were hurrying into canoes, taking with them their
property. On being interrogated as to the cause of
their flight, the motiier of Jim, apparently in a great
fright, answered in a shrill scream, "Hiu Klikitat
copa Tom Pepper's house! hi-hi-hiu Klikitat!" — that
is to say, "There are hosts of Klikitats at Tom Pep-
per's house," which was situated just at the foot of
the hills where the sand-spit joined the mainland,
and which was within range of Morris' howitzer.
Instead of being allowed to breakfast, the men were
immediately sent ashore again, and given leave to get
what rest they could in the loft of Yesler's mess-house,
where refreshments were sent to them, while Captain
Gansevoort ordered a shell dropped into Tom Pepper's
^' Havford's Ind. JFar, MS., 9-16; Yesler', Wash. Ter., MS., 9-11; Phelps'
Rem. Stanley 6-14.
Hist. Wash.— 9
130 INDIAN WARS.
house, to make the Indians show themselves if there.
The effect was all that could have been anticipated.
The boom of the gun had not died away when the
blood-curdling war-whoop burst from a thousand
stentorian throats, accompanied by a crash of mus-
ketry from the entire Indian line. Instantly the four
divisions dashed to their stations, and the battle was
begun by Phelps' division charging up the hill east of
Ycsler's mill, while those at the south end of town
were carrying on a long-range duel across the creek
or slough in that quarter. Those of the citizens who
were prepared also took part in the defence of the
place. Astonished by the readiness of the white men
and the energy of the charge, the Indians were driven
to the brow of the hill, and the men had time to re-
treat to their station before the enemy recovered from
their surprise.
Had not the howitzer been fired just when it was,
in another moment the attack would have been made
without warning, and all the families nearest the ap-
proaches butchered before their defenders could have
reached them; but the gun provoking the savage war-
cry betrayed their close proximity to the homes of the
citizens, who, terrified by the sudden and frightful
clamor, fled wildly to the block-house, whence they
could see the flames of burning buildings on the
outskirts. A lad named Milton Holgate, brother of
the first settler of King county, was shot while stand-
ing at the door of the block-house early in the action,
and Christian White at a later hour in another part
of the town. Above the other noises of the battle
could be heard the cries of the Indian women, urging
on the warriors to greater efforts; but although they
continued to yell and to fire with great persistency,
the range was too long from the points to which the
Decatur's guns soon drove them to permit of their
doing any execution; or if a few came near enough
to hit one of the Decatur's men, they were much
more likely to be hit by the white marksmen.
ASSAULT REPULSED. 131
About noon there was a lull, while the Indians
rested and feasted on the beef of the settlers. Dur-
ing this interval the women and children were taken
on board the vessels in the harbor, after which an at-
tempt was made to gather from the suddenly deserted
dwellings the most valuable of the property contained
in them before the Indians should have the opportu-
nity, under the cover of night, of robbing and burning
them. This attempt was resisted by the Indians, the
board houses being pierced by numerous bullets while
visited for this purpose; and the attack upon the
town was renewed, with an attempt on the part of
Coquilton to bear down upon the third division in
such numbers as to annihilate it, and having done
this, to get in the rear of the others. At a precon-
certed signal the charge was made, the savages plung-
ing through the bushes until within a few paces be-
fore they fired, the volley delivered by them doing no
harm, while the little company of fourteen marines
met them so steadily that they turned to shelter
themselves behind logs and trees, in their character-
istic mode of fighting. Had they not flinched from
the muzzles of those fourteen guns — had they thrown
themselves on those few men with ardor, they would
have blotted them out of existence in five minutes by
sheer weight of numbers. But such was not to be,
and Seattle was saved by the recoil.
As if to make up for having lost their opportunity,
the Indians showered bullets upon or over the heads
of the man-of-war's men, to whose assistance during
the afternoon came four young men from Meigs' mill,
the ship's surgeon, Taylor, and two others, adding a
third to this command, besides which a twelve-pounder
field-gun was brought into position on the ground, a
discharge from which dislodged the most troublesome
of the enemy in that quarter.
In the midst of the afternoon's work, Curley, who
had been disappointed so far of his opportunity to
make himself a place in history, and becoming excited
132 INDIAN WARS.
by the din of battle, suddenly appeared upon the scene,
arrayed in fighting costume, painted, armed with a
musket and a bow in either hand, which he held ex-
tended, and yelling like a demon, pranced oddly about
on the sawdust, more ludicrous tlian fear-inspiring,
until, having exhausted some of his bravado, he as
suddenly disappeared, thus giving testimony that his
friendship for the white race was no greater than his
courage.
This defiance of his quondam friends came from
anticipating an occasion to distinguish himself at a
later hour of the day. Toward evening the assailing
Indians were discovered placing bundles of inflam-
mable materials under and about the deserted houses,
preparatory to a grand conflagration in the evening,
by the light of wliich the Indians on the reservation
and those in the two camps on the beach at Seattle
were to assist in attacking and destroying the block-
house with its inmates. This information, being
gathered by scouts, was brought to Gansevoort in time,
who resorted to shelling the town as a means of dis-
persing the incendiaries, which proved successful, and
by ten o'clock at night firing had ceased on both sides.
Shells had much more influence with the savages
than cannon-balls; for they could understand how so
large a ball might fell a tree in their midst, but they
could not comprehend how a ball which had alighted
on the ground, and lain still until their curiosity
prompted an examination, should 'shoot again' of it-
self with such destructive force."® What they could
not understand must be supernatural, hence the evil
spirits which they had invoked against the white
people had turned against themselves, and it was use-
less to resist them. In short, they felt the heavy
hand of fate against them, and bowed submissive to
its decree. When the morning of the 27th dawned
'= No report of the number of Indians killed ever appeared, nor could it be
known. It is probable, however, that many were killed and carried off by
their friends. Numeroua guesses have been made, varying from 10 to 00.
FORTIFICATIOXS AT SEATTLE. 133
the hostile force had disappeared, taking what cattle
they could find; "the sole results," says Phelps, whom
I have chiefly followed in the narration of the attack
on Seattle, "of an expedition which it had taken
months to perfect, and looking to the utter annihi-
lation of the white settlers in that section of the
country." I have it from the same authority that
news of the attack was received at Bellingham Bay, a
hundred miles distant, in seven hours from its com-
mencement, showing the interest taken in the matter
by the tribes all along the Sound. Their combination
was to depend upon the success of the movement by
Leschi and Owhi, and it failed; therefore they con-
cealed their complicity in it, and remained neutral.
Leschi, however, affected not to be depressed by the
reverse he had sustained, but sent a boastful message
to Captain Gansevoort that in another month, when
he should have replenished his commissary depart-
ment, he would return and destroy Seattle. This
seeming not at all improbable, it was decided to erect
fortifications sufficiently' ample to prevent any sudden
attack; whereupon H. L. Yesler contributed a cargo
of sawed lumber with which to erect barricades be-
tween the town and the wooded hills back of it.
This work was commenced on the 1st of February,
and soon completed. It consisted of two wooden walls
five feet in height and a foot and a half apart, filled
with earth and sawdust solidly packed to make it
bullet-proof^*' A second block-house was also erected
on the summit of a ridge which commanded a view of
the town and vicinity, and which was armed with a
rusty cannon taken formerl}^ from some ship, and a
six-pounder field-piece taken frona the Active, which
returned to Seattle on hearing of the attack. An
esplanade was constructed at the south end of the town,
in order to enable the guns stationed there to sweep
the shore and prevent approach by the enemy from the
water-front; clearing and road-building being carried
''i'esler's Wash. Ter., MS., 9.
134 INDIAN WAES.
on to make the place defensible, which greatly im-
proved its appearance as a town.
On the 24th of February, 1856, the United States
steamer Massachusetts arrived in the Sound, com-
mander Samuel Swartwout assuming the direction
of naval matters, and releasing the Active from de-
fensive service at Seattle, where for three weeks her
crew under Johnson had assisted in guarding the
barricades. About a month later another United
States steamer, the John Hancock, David McDougall
commander, entered the Sound, making the third
man-of-war in these waters during the spring of 1856.
The Decatur remained until June. In the mean time
Patkanim had stipulated with the territorial author-
ities to aid them in the prosecution of the war against
the hostile tribes. For every chief killed, whose
head he could show in proof, he was to be paid eighty
dollars, and for every warrior, twenty. The heads were
delivered on board the Decatur, whence they were
forwarded to Olympia, where a record was kept.^'
In April a large body of Stikines repaired to the
waters of the gulf of Georgia, within easy distance of
the American settlements, and made their sorties
with their canoes in any direction at will. On the
8th the John Hancock, being at Port Townsend, ex-
pelled sixty from that place, who became thereby
nmch offended, making threats which alarmed the
inhabitants, and which were the occasion of a public
meeting on the following day to request the governor
and Commander Swartwout to send a war-steamer to
cruise between Bellingham Bay and the other settle-
ments on the lower Sound and Fuca Sea."'* During
" Phelps describes Patkanim aa he returned from Olympia with his com-
pany after being paid oif, in April, 'an-ayed in citizen's garb, including
congress gaiters, white kid gloves, and a white shirt with standing collar
reaching half-way up his cars, and the whole finished off with a flaming red
necktie.' Patkanim had 80 warriors of the Snoqualimich and Skokomish
tribes, and was assisted by a chief called John Taylor.
'"' Olympia Pioneer and Dent., April 25, 1850. I find in the jonrnal kept
by W. S. Ebey, who lived on Whidbey Island, frequent reference to the
depredations of the northern Indians. They visited the island on the morn-
ing of Jan. lyth, committing a number of thefts, taking the property of settlers,
HOSTILITIES ON THE SOUND. 135
the whole summer a feeling of insecurity and alarm
prevailed, only alleviated by the cruising of the men-of-
war. That they still infested these waters at mid-
summer is shown by the account of Phelps of the
departure of the Decatur from the Sound in June,
which he says was "escorted by our Indian friends,
representatives from the Tongas, Hydah,Stickene, and
Shineshean tribes," until abreast of Victoria. They
were glad to see the vessel depart.
In October a small party of Stikines attacked a
small schooner belonging to one Valentine, killing one
of his crew in an attempt to board the vessel, and
severely wounding another. They were pursued by
the Massachusetts, but escaped. At the same time
other predatory detachments of a large party landed
at different points, robbing the houses temporarily
vacated by the owners, and not long afterward visited
the Indian reservation near Steilacoom and carried
off the potatoes raised by the reserve Indians. At
the second visit of the robbers to the reservation, the
Nisquallies killed three of the invaders, in conse-
quence of which much alarm existed.
Swartwout then determined to drive them from
the Sound, and overtaking them at Port Gamble on
the 20th, found them encamped there in force. Wish-
ing to avoid attacking them without sufficient appar-
ent provocation, he sent a detachment under Lieu-
tenant Young in a boat to request them to leave the
Sound, offering to tow their canoes to Victoria, and in-
viting a few of the principal chiefs to visit the ship.
To these proposals they returned insolent answers, ges-
ticulating angrily at the officers and men, challenging
them to come ashore and fight them, which Young-
was forbidden to do.
and also articles belonging to the revenue-cutter Rival. Ebey mentions that
lu Feb. the people on tlie mainland were apprehensive of an attack, and were
collecting at Belliugham Bay, where a company was organizing for defence.
The Chimakums near Port Townseud fled to the island for protection from
the northern Indians, of whom they were much afraid. Ebey' 6 Journal, MS.,
iii. 226-9, 253-4, 255; BaUou'a Adventurer, MS., 16.
136 INDIAN WARS.
A second and larger expedition was fitted out to
make another attempt to prevail upon the Indians to
depart, bj a display of strength united with mildness
and reason, but with no better effect, the deputation
being treated with increased contempt. The whole
of the first day was spent in useless conciliation, when,
finding his peaceable overtures of no avail, Swartwout
drew the Massachusetts as close as possible to their
encampment, and directly abreast, and stationed the
Traveller, a small passenger-steamer running on the
Sound at this time,^" commanded for this occasion by
Master's mate Cummings, with the launch of the Massa-
chusetts commanded by Lieutenant Forrest, both hav-
ing field-pieces on board, above the Indian encampment,
where their guns would have a raking fire upon it.
Early in the following morning Lieutenant Semmes
was ordered to take a flag of truce and reiterate his
demand of the day before, pointing out to the Indians
the preparations made to attack them, and the folly
of further resistance. They were still determined to
defy the power which they underrated because it
appeared suppliant, and preparations were made for
charging them and using the howitzer, which was
carried on shore by the men in the launch wading
waist-deep in water. Even after the landing of the
men and gun they refused to consider any propositions
looking to their departure, but retired to the cover of
logs and trees with their arms, singing their war-
songs as they went.
When there could no longer be any doubt of their
warlike purpose, an order was given to fire the Travel-
ler's field-pieces, which were discharged at the same
instant that a volley blazed out of the nmzzles of sixty
guns in the hands of the Indians. The ship's battery
■^ J. G. Parker owned the Traveller. It was a small iron steamer, which
in 1855 was shipped from S. F. on the brig /. B. brown, and run for two
years carrying the mail. It was afterward sold to Capt. Horton, who
chartered it to the Indian department, and was lost at Foulweather Bluff.
I'arker continued in the steamboat business, and ran the Memtnrjer for some
time between Olympia and Seattle. In his Puget Sound, MS., 0-14, is a his-
tory of early steamboating, complete and valuable.
KILLING OF EBEY. 137
was then directed against them, and under cover of
the guns, the marines and sailors on shore, led by
Forrest and Semmes, charged the Indian encamp-
ment situated at the base of a high and steep hill
surrounded by a dense undergrowth and by a living
and dead forest almost impenetrable. The huts and
property of the Indians were destroyed, although a
desperate resistance was made, as futile as it was
determined. After three hours the detachment re-
turned on board ship, firing being kept up all day
whenever an Indian was seen. During the afternoon
a captive woman of the Stikines was sent on shore
to offer them pardon, on condition that they would
surrender and go to Victoria on the Massachusetts,
their canoes being destroyed; but they answered that
they would fight as long as one of them was left
alive. However, on the morning of the 22d the
chiefs made humble overtures of surrender, saying
that out of 117 fighting men 27 had been killed and
21 wounded, the rest losing all their property and
being out of provisions. They were then received
on board the Massachusetts, fed, and carried to Victoria,
whence their passage home was assured.
Swartwout in his report to the navy department
expressed the conviction that after this severe chas-
tisement the northern Indians would not again visit
the Sound. In this belief he was mistaken. On the
night of the 11th of August, 1857, they landed on
Whidbey Island, went to the house of I. N. Ebey,
shot him, cut off his head, robbed the premises, and
escaped before the alarm could be given. This was
done, it was said, in revenge for the losses inflicted
by the Massachusetts, they selecting Ebey because of
his rank and value to the community.^"
"" Ebey was in his bouse on the island with bis wife, liis three children, and
George W. Corliss and wife. At one o'clock he was awakened by the bark-
ing of dogs, and going to the door, opened it. The other inmates of the house
beard two shots fired, and soon after Mrs Ebey saw her husband at the win-
dow of her room with bis band pressed to his head. She called to him to
come in through the window, but he appeared not to bear or understand.
Two other shots were then fired, when he fell. The Indians being for the
138 INDIAN WARS.
Numerous depredations were committed by them,
which nothing could prevent except armed steamers
to cruise in the Fuca strait and sea." Expeditions
to the Sound were made in January, and threats that
they would have five heads before leaving it, and
among others that of the United States inspector at
San Juan Island, Oscar Olney. They visited the
Pattle coal mine at Bellingham Bay, where they
killed two men and took away their heads. They
visited Joel Clayton, the discoverer of the Mount
Diablo coal mines of California, living at Bellingham
Bay in 1857, who narrowly escaped, and abandoned
his claim on account of them.^^ Several times they
reconnoitred the block-house at that place, but with-
drew without attacking. These acts were retaliatory
of the injury suffered in 1856.^^
moment busy witU their victim, Mrs Corliss sprang out of the window, which
opened on a piazza, followed by Mrs Ebey and the children, and a moment
after by Corliss, who had remained to liold fast the door between them and
the ball of the hoiise which the Indians were entering. He then retreated
through the window, and fleeing to the woods, all escaped the bullets sent
after them in the darkness. Mrs Corliss, who was a daughter of Judson,
who settled on Commencement Bay in 1853, ran to the house of R. C. Hill,
over half a mile away, and gave the alarm. Believing that a descent of the
northern Indians upon the settlements of the lower sound, such as they had
long dreaded, liiul been begun, the women and children were hurriedly
gathei\'il at the lumse of Harmon, and preparations made for defence. When
ilayliglit came tlie murderers were gone, and with them the head of Ebey,
from which they took the scalp, afterward recovered by the H. B. Co., and
placed in possession of his niece, Mrs Almira N. Enos of S. F. Victoria
Gazette, Nov. 4, 1858; Puget Sound Herald, Dec. 9, 1859; Ebey's Journal,
MS., vi. 282; H. Ex. Hoc, 39, 11-12, 35th cong. Istsess.; Overland Monthly,
xi. 205.
^' As early as January following the chastisement given by the Massa-
chusetts, these Indians visited the Sound. At Whidbey Island they created so
much alarm that a company of 35 men was organized in April, with 1!. V.
Peabody captain and George W. Beam and C. U. Vail lieutenants, to defend
the settlements. Mey's Journal, MS., v. 29. In May several families aban-
doned their houses through fear of them. In June 1858 they attacked a
party of miners six miles from Whatcom, killing all but two, who escaped.
Several hundred dollars' worth of goods were taken. Joseph Foster of SeattU
was among the killed. Olympia Pioneer and Dem., June 18, 1858.
'^lioder's Bellimjham Bay, MS., 22^.
'' The various mounted volunteer companies engaged in war or defence
during Mason's administration were the following: Companies A, Capt. Wil-
liam Strong, and B, Capt. Gilmore Hays, were mustered into the regular service
and furnished their own horses; companies E, Capt. Isaac Hays, F, Capt. B.
S. Henness, K, Capt. John R. Jackson; Cowlitz Rangers, Capt. H. W. Peers,
Lewis River Rangers, Capt. William Bratton, in the service of the territory,
fiuuislied their own horses; Stevens Guards, Capt. Higgins, were furnished
liorses by gov.; Spokane Inviucibles, Capt. Yaniis, horses partly furnished
PEUPEUMOXMOX HOSTILE. 139
Immediately on learning what had occurred in the
Yakima country, in October 1855, Indian agent
Olney, at The Dalles, hastened to Walla "VValla in
order, if possible, to prevent a combination of the
Oregon Indians with the Yakimas, rumors being in
circulation that the Cayuses, Walla Wallas, and Des
Chutes were unfriendly. He found Peupeumoxmox
encamped on the north side of the Columbia, a circum-
stance which he construed as unfavorable, although by
the terms of the treaty of Walla Walla the chief pos-
sessed the right for five years to occupy a trading
post at the mouth of the Yakima River, or any tract
in possession for the period of one year from the rati-
fication of the treaty, which had not yet taken place.^*
Olney declared in his oflScial communications to R.
R. Thompson at this time, that all the movements of
Peupeumoxmox indicated a determination to join in
a war with the Yakimas. Thompson was not sur-
prised, because in September he had known that
Peupeumoxmox denied having sold the Walla Walla
Valley, and was aware of other signs of trouble with
this chief ^'
At this critical juncture the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's officers, McKinlay, Anderson, and Sinclair,
by gov. and partly by volunteers; Puget Sound Eangers, Capt. Charles
Eaton, furnished their owu horses; Nez Perce Volunteers, Capt. Spotted
Eagle, furnished their own horses and equipments. Inf. companies: C,
George B. Goudv, D, Capt. W. H. Wallace (part of them mounted), G, Capt.
W. A. S. McCo'rclde, M, Capt. C. C. Hewitt, I, Capt. I. N. Ebey, J, Capt.
A. A. Pluninier, Nisqually Ferry guards, Serg. William Packwood. Adj.-
Gcn. Re/it,ia ira.s/(. J/rss. h'ov., 1857. See also Iiode>-'s Bell hifiham Bay, MS.;
Eh,>/'.s./ournal,US.; Morris' Wash. Ter., MS.; BaUou'sAdv.,'MS.; Hav/ord's
Ind. War, MS.; Tes/er's Wash. Ter., MS.; Parker's Puget Sound, MS.,
passim.
3' Palmer, in ff. Ex: Doc, 93, 22, 34th cong. 1st sess.; Ind. Aff. JRept,
vol. 34.
'^'"Portland Times, Oct. 21, 1855. There were in all about 60 white men,
women, and children in the country on tlie W'alla Walla and Umatilla riv-
ers. Lloyd Brooks, T\ho came to Vancouver in 1849 as chief clerk to
quartermaster Captaiu Ruf us lutjalls, was one. In 18.53 he went to the Walla
W'alla Valley tu raise cattle U^S. Ev. II. B. Co. Claims, 127. He returned
to Vancouver, married a daughter of Gen. E. Hamilton, ter. sec. under
Gaines, and resided in Portland after 1862. Other Americans were Bromford,
Noble, Victor Trcvitt, \V. H. Barnhart, Wolf, and Whitney. There were,
besides these, the H. B. Co.'s few people at the fort, and the French and half-
breed settlers about the catholic mission of Father Clierouse, near Waiilatpu.
140 INDIAN WARS.
the latter in charge of the fort, in conference with
Ohiey, decided to destroy the ammunition stored at
Walla Walla to prevent its falling into the hands of
the Indians; accordingly a large amount of powder
and ball was thrown into the river, for which Ohiey
gave an official receipt, relieving Sinclair of all re-
sponsibility. He then ordered all the white inhab-
itants out of the country, including Sinclair, who was
compelled to abandon the property of the company
contained in the fort,^'^ valued at $37,000, to the
mercy of the Indians, together with a considerable
amount of government stores left there by the Indian
commissioners in June, and other goods belonging to
American traders and settlers.
Colonel Nesmith, of the Oregon Mounted Volun-
teers, on returning to The Dalles, reported against a
winter campaign in the Yakima Valley, saying that
the snow covered the trails, that his animals were
broken down and many of his men frost-bitten and
unfit for duty, so that 125 of them had been dis-
charged and allowed to return to their homes. In
tlie mean time the left column of the regiment had
congregated at The Dalles, under Lieutenant-Colonel
James K. Kelly, and Governor Curry ordered for-
ward Major M. A. Chinn to Walla Walla, where he
expected to meet Nesmith from the Yakima country.
On learning of the general uprising, while en route,
Chinn concluded it impossible to enter the country,
or form a junction with Nesmith as contemplated;
'"Evidence of WUliam Charles, in H. B. Co. Ev. H. B. Co. Claims, 173.
This was the end of the company's occupation at Walla Walla, later known
as WalUila. The end of their occupation of forts Hall and Bois6 occurred
about the same time — Fort Bois(5 a little earlier, and Fort Hall a little later.
The Indians about the former post were imbittered, seeing the company's
agent on good terms with Major Haller and the American soldiei's, and be-
cause he refused to sell them ammunition. Fort Hall was abandoned because
it Qould not, on account of the Indian hostilities, be communicated with in
the usual way, wliich was by Walla Walla and Boise from Vancouver. 'Our
two expressmen, Boisclere and Desjardins, had been killed between Fort Hall
and Walla Walla. I had orders from Chief Factor McTavish to have the
company's efTectsat Fort Hall, men and property, withdrawni to the Flathead
post by a party sent from there for them, which was done, the active theatre
of hostilities not being so much in the direct course of that party.' Angus
McDonald, in JJ. B. Co. Ev. II. B. Co. Claims, 162.
END OP THE WALLA WALLA CHIEF. 141
hence he determined to fortify the Umatilla agency,
whose buildings had been burned, and there await re-
enforcements. Arriving there on the 18th of No-
vember, a stockade was erected and named Fort
Henrietta, after Major Haller's wife. In due time
Kelly arrived and assumed command, late reenforce-
ments giving him in all 475 men.
With 339 men Kelly set forth for Walla Walla on the
night of December 2d. On the way Peupeumoxmox
was met at the head of a band of warriors displaying
a white flag. After a conference the Indians were
held as prisoners of war; the army marched forward
toward Waiilatpu, and in an attack which followed
the prisoners were put to death. Thus perished the
the wealthy and powerful chief of the Walla Wallas.^^
A desultory fight was kept up during the 7th and
8th, and on the 9th the Indians were found to have
rather the best of it.''' On the 10th, however, Kelly
was reenforced from Fort Henrietta, and next day the
Indians retired, the white men pursuing until night-
fall. A new fortification was erected Ijy Kelly, two
miles above Waiilatpu, and called Fort Bennett.
It was now about the middle of December, and
Kelly, remembering the anxiety of Governor Curry
to have him take his seat in the council, began to pre-
pare for returning to civil duties. Before he could
^ Though coming to them under color of peace, it waa charged upon tlie
chief that he intended to entrap them. However this may have been, the vol-
unteers, not content with putting so powerful an enemy out of the way,
amused themselves that evening in camp by cutting off bits of his scalp as
trophies; and when the scalp was entirely gone, the assistant surgeon of the
regiment cut off his ears, and it was said that some of his fingers were taken
off. Parrish probably exaggerates somewhat when he says: 'They skinned
him from head to foot, and made razor-straps of his skin.' Or. Anec, MS., 87.
^'Killed: Capt. Charles Bennett of Co. F, the same who was connected
with James Marshall in the discovery of gold in Cal. ; 2d Lieut J. M. Burrows,
Co. H, Simon S. Van Hagerman, Co. I. Mortally wounded, who lived but a
few hours: E. B. Kelsey, Co. A; Henry Crow and Casper Snook, Co. H;
Joseph Sturdevant, Co. B; Jesse Flemming, Co. A. Dangerously wounded:
Capt. Layton, and privates T. J. Payne, Nathan Fry, and F. Crabtree, Co.
H; J. B. Gervias, Co. K. Severely wounded: Capt. A. V. Wilson, Co. A;
Capt. L. Munson, Co. I; Ser.-Maj. Isaac Miller, Co. H; Private G. W. Smith,
Co. B. Slightly wounded: PrivatesA. M. Addington, Co. H; Franklin Duval,
Co. A. El-am, Or. Mil. Organization, 90. On the 9th and 10th, wounded, A.
Shepard, Ira Allen, and John Smith. Estimated Ind. killed and wounded, 100.
142 INDIAN WAHS.
leave the command he received intelligence of the
resignation of Nesmith, and immediately ordered an
election for colonel, which resulted in the elevation to
the command of Thomas R. Cornelius, and to the office
vacated by himself of Davis Layton. The place of
Captain Bennett was filled by A. M. Fellows, whose
rank in his company was taken by A. Shepard, whose
office fell to B. A. Barker. With this partial reorgan-
ization ended the brief first chapter in the volunteer
campaign in the Walla Walla Valley.
On the evening of the 20th Governor Stevens
entered the camp, having made his way safely through
the hostile country, as related in the preceding
chapter. His gratitude to the Oregon regiment
was earnest and cordial, without that jealousy which
might have been felt by him on having his terri-
tory invaded by an armed force from another.^^
He remained ten clays in the Walla Walla Valley, and
finding Agent Shaw on the ground, who was also
colonel of the Wasliington militia, a company of
French Canadians was organized to act as home-guards,
with Sidney S. Ford captain, and Green McCafferty
1st lieutenant. Shaw was directed to have thrown
up defensive works around the place already selected
by Kelly as the winter camp of the friendly Indians
and French settlers, and to protect in the same man-
ner the settlers at the Spokane and Colville, while
cooperating with Colonel Cornelius in any movement
defensive or oflPensive which he might make against
the Indians in arms. He agreed with the Oregon
officers that the Walla Walla should be held by the
volunteers until the regular troops were ready to take
the field, and that the war should be prosecuted with
vigor.
Before leaving Walla Walla, Governor Stevens ap-
pointed WiUiam Craig his aid during the Indian war,
and directed him to muster out of the service, on re-
turning to their country, the sixty-nine Nez Perc^
"See Stevens' Speech on the War Debt, May 13, 1858,
KELLY'S RECEPTION'. 143
volunteers enrolled at Lap-wai, 'with thanks for their
good conduct, and to send their muster-rolls to the
adjutant-general's office at Olympia. Craig was di-
rected to take measures for the protection of the Nez
Perces against any incursions of the hostile Indians,
all of which was a politic as well as war measure, for
so long as the Nez Perces were kept employed, and
flattered, with a prospect of pay in the future, there
was comparatively little danger of an outbreak among
them. Pleased with these attentions, they offered to
furnish all the fresh horses required to mount the
Oregon volunteers for the further prosecution of the
campaign.
Kelly resigned and returned to Oregon, though
afterward again joining his command. Stevens has-
tened to Olympia, where he arrived the 19th of Jan-
uary, finding affairs in a deplorable condition, all
business suspended, and the people living in block-
houses.^" He was received with a salute of thirty-
eight guns.
The two companies under Major Armstrong, whom
Colonel Nesmith had directed to scour the John Day
and Des Chutes country, while holding themselves in
readiness to reenforce Kelly if needed, employed
themselves as instructed, their services amounting to
little more than discovering property stolen from im-
migrants, and capturing 'friendly' Indians who were
said to be acting as go-betweens.
During the remainder of December the companies
stationed in the vicinity of The Dalles made fre-
quent sorties in the direction of the Des Chutes and
John Day countries, and were thus occupied when
Kelly resigned his command, who on returning to
Oregon City was received with acclamations by the
people, who escorted him in triumph to partake of a
public banquet in his honor, regarding him as a hero
"Kept of I. I. Stevens to the see. war, in Sen. Ex. Doc, 66, 6-S, 34th
cong. 1st sess.; Ind. Aff. Eepl, vol. 34; Or. Argus, Jan. 12, 185(5; Graver's
Pub. Life, MS., 58.
144 INDIAN WARS.
who had severed a dangerous coalition between the
hostile tribes of southern Oregon then in the field
and those of Puget Sound and northern Washington.
As many of the 1st regiment of Oregon Mounted
Volunteers who had served in the Yakima and Walla
Walla campaigns were anxious to return to their
homes, Governor Curry issued a proclamation on
the 6th of January, 1856, for a battalion of five com-
panies to be raised in Linn, Marion, Yamhill, Polk,
and Clackiuas counties, and a recruit of forty men
to fill up Captain Conoyer's company of scouts, all
to remain in service for three months unless sooner
discharged. Within a month the battalion was
I'aised, and as soon as equipped set out for Walla
Walla, where it arrived about the first of March.
Colonel Cornelius, now in command, set out on the
9th of March with about 600 men to find the enemy.
A few Indians were discovered on Snake River, and
along the Columbia to the Yakima and Palouse,
which latter stream was ascended eight miles, the army
subsisting on horse-flesh in the absence of other provis-
ions. Thence Cornelius crossed to Priest's Rapids,
and followed down the east bank of the Columbia to
the mouth of the Yakima, where he arrived the 30th,
still meeting few Indians. Making divers disposition
of his forces, with three companies on the 31st Corne-
lius crossed the Columbia, intending to marcli through
the country of Kamiakin and humble the pride of this
haughty chief, when he received news of a most star-
tling nature. The Yakimas had attacked the settle-
ments at the Cascades of the Columbia.
Early in March Colonel Wright, now in command
at Vancouver, commenced moving his force to The
Dalles, and when General Wool arrived in Oregon
about the middle of the month, he found but three
companies of infantry at Vancouver, two of which he
ordered to Fort Steilacoom, a palpable blunder, when
TROUBLE AT THE CASCADES. 145
it is recollected that there was a portage of several
miles at The Cascades over which all the government
stores, ammunition, and other property were compelled
to pass, and where, owing to lack of transportation
above, it was compelled to remain for some length of
time, this circumstance offering a strong motive for
the hostile Klikitats and Yakimas, whose territory
adjoined, to make a descent upon it. So little atten-
tion was given to this evident fact that the company
stationed at The Cascades was ordered away on the
24th of March, and the only force left was a detach-
ment of eight men, under Sergeant Matthew Kelly,
of the 4th infantry, which occupied the block-house
erected about midway between the upper and lower
settlements, by Captain Wallen, after the outbreak
in October." A wagon-road connected the upper
and lower ends of the portage, and a wooden railway
was partly constructed over the same ground, an im-
provement which the Indian war had lendered neces-
sary and possible. On Rock Creek, at the upper end
of the portage, was a saw-mill, and a little below, a
village of several families, with the store, or trading-
house, of Bradford & Co. fronting on the river, near
which a bridge was being built connecting an island
with tlie mainland, and also another bridge on the
railroad. At the landing near the mouth of Rock
Creek lay the little steamer Mary, the consort of the
Wasco, and the first steamboat that ran on the Co-
lumbia between The Cascades and The Dalles. At
the lower end of the portage lived the family of W.
K. Kilborn, and near the block-house the family of
George Griswold.
All that section of country known in popular
phraseology as The Cascades, and extending for five
miles along the north bank of the Columbia at the
rapids, is a shelf of uneven ground of no great width
between the river and the overhanging cliffs of the
mountains, split in twain for the passage of the
146 INDIAN WARS.
mighty River of the West. Huge masses of rock lie
scattered over it, interspersed with clumps of luxu-
riant vegetation and small sandy prairies. For the
greater part of the year it is a stormy place, subject
to wind, mist, snow, and rain, but sunny and delight-
ful in the sunuiier months, and always impressively
grand and wild.
At half-past eight o'clock on the morning of the
26th of March, General Wool having returned to
California and Colonel Wright having marched his
whole force out from The Dalles, leaving his rear un-
guarded, the Yakimas and Klikitats, having waited
for this opportunity to sweep down upon this lonely
spot, suddenly appeared at the upper settlement in
force. The hour was early and the Mary had not yet
left her landing, her crew being on their way to the
boat. At the mill and the bridges men were at
work, and a teamster was hauling timber from the
mill.
Upon this scene of peaceful industry, in a moment
of apparent security, burst the crack of manj^ rifles,
a puff of blue smoke from every clump of bushes
alone revealing the hiding-places of the enemy, who
had stationed themselves before daylight in a line
from Rock Creek to the head of the rapids, where the
workmen were engaged on the bridges. At the first
fire several were wounded, one mortally. Then began
the demoniacal scene of an Indian massacre, the
whoops and yells of the attacking party, the shrieks
of their victims as their hurried flight was inter-
I'upted by the rifle-ball, or their agonies were cut
short by the tomahawk. At the mill, B. W. Brown,
his wife, a girl of eighteen years, and her young
brother were slain, scalped, and their bodies thrown
into the stream. So well concerted and rapid was
the work of destruction that it was never known in
what order the victims fell. Most of the men at
work on the bridges, and several families in the vicin-
ity, escaped to Bradford's store, which being con-
SIEGE OF THE CASCADES. 147
structed of logs afforded greater security than board
houses.
It chanced that only an hour before the attack
nine government rifles and a quantity of ammunition
had been left at Bradford's to be sent back to A'^an-
oouver. With these arms so opportunely furnished,
the garrison, about forty in number, eighteen of
whom were capable of defence, made preparations for
a siege. The Indians, having taken possession of a
bluff, or bench of land, back of and higher than the
railroad and buildings, had greatly the advantage, be-
ing themselves concealed, but able to watch every
movement below.
In order to counteract this disadvantage, the stairs
being on the outside Of the building, an aperture was
cut in the ceiling, through which men were passed up
to the chamber above, where by careful watching they
were able to pick off an Indian now and then. A
few stationed themselves on the roof, which was
reached in the same way, and by keeping on the
river side were able to shelter themselves, and get an
occasional shot.*^ Embrasures were cut in the walls,
which were manned by watchful marksmen, and the
doors strongly barricaded.
While these defences were being planned and exe-
cuted, James Sinclair of the Hudson's Bay Company,
who happened to be at The Cascades, the door being
opened for an instant, was shot and instantly killed
by the lurking enemy. ''^ A welcome sound was the
'Toot, toot!' of the Mary's whistle, now heard above
the din of war, showing that the steamer had not
been captured, as it was feared — for upon this de-
pended their only chance of obtaining succor from
The Dalles.
*- The first Indian killed was by Bush, who shot jnst as the savage was
about to fire on Mrs Watkins, who was running to Bradford's. Letter of
L. W. Coe, in Historical Correspondence.
''Sinclair became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1S49.
Congress in 1S75, at the prayer of his widow, granted her a land claim of 640
acres in the Vi'alla Walla Valley. U. S. Statutes, 1S75-6, Priv. Acts, 3-4.
INDIAN WAES.
The escape of the Mary was indeed a remarkable
episode in that morning's transactions. Her fires were
out, only a part of her crew on board, and the remain-
der on their way to the landing, when the Indians
fired the first volley. Those on shore were James
Thompson, John Woodard, and James Herman.
Holding a hurried consultation, Thompson and
Woodard determined on an eflfort to save the boat,
while Herman ran to the shelter of the woods and up
the bank of the river. While hauling on the lines to
get the boat out into the stream, the Indians pressed
the two gallant men so closely that they were forced
to quit their hold and seek the concealment of the
neighboring thickets. The steamer was then attacked,
the fireman, James Linsay, being shot through the
shoulder; and the cook, a negro, being wounded, in
his fright jumped overboard and was drowned. The
engineer, Buckminster, having a revolver, shot an
Indian, and the steward's boy, John Chance, finding
an old dragoon pistol on board, also despatched an
Indian, firing from the hurricane-deck.
In the midst of these stirring scenes the steamer's
fires were started, and Hardin Chenoweth, going up
into the pilot-house and l3'ing flat upon the fioor,
backed the boat out into the river, though the wind
was blowing hard down stream. It was at this
moment of success that the Marijs whistles, sharp
and defiant, notified the people in the store that she
was oflf to The Dalles for help, and which sustained
their spirits through the many trying hours which
followed. The boat picked up the families of Vander-
pool and Sheppard, who came out to her in skifls, and
also Herman of their own crew, after which she
steamed rapidly up the river.
When the men on the bridges rushed into Brad-
ford's store three men were left upon the island, who
afterward attempted to reach that refuge without
being discovered by the Indians. Those on the look-
out in the store could see that it was impossible, and
A DAY OF TERROR. 149
shouted to them to lie down behind the rocks. Find-
lay, the first man admonished, obeyed. The Indians
had now reached the island; and as Bailey, another
•workman who had not heard or not obeyed the caution,
came running, he was mistaken for one of the enemy
pursuing Findlay, and fired on, receiving a wound in
the leg and arm. Both, however, sprang into the
water; and although Bailey came near being carried
over the falls, they reached the landing in front of the
store and were hastily admitted. The third man,
James Watkins, in attempting to follow, was discovered
and shot through the arm. He dropped behind a
rock, his friends shouting to him to lie still and they
would rescue him; but they were not able to do so,
and his wounds being too long neglected, he died.
In the mean time the mill, lumber-yard, and several
houses had been buimed, and the assailants endeavored
to fire the store by projecting upon it brands of pitch-
wood and hot irons. They also threw stones and mis-
siles of various kinds to dislodge the men on the roof,
but the distance from which these missiles were sent
rendered them comparatively harmless, the occasional
fire which took in the shingles being promptly ex-
tinguished by brine from a pork-barrel carefully
poured on with a tin cup, no water being obtainable.
In a few hours the want of water became a fresh
source of torment. Of the forty persons shut up in
the small compass of the lower story of the building,
four were wounded, one dead, and the majority of the
wliole were women and children. The only liquids in
the place were two dozen bottles of ale and a few
bottles of whiskey, which were exhausted in the
course of the day, and all were waiting impatiently for
the cover of darkness to bring some water from the
river. But the Indians had reserved a new ware-
house and some government property to be burned
during the night to furnish light for tlieir operations,
and to prevent the escape of the besieged. In this
extremity a Spokane, brought up by Mr Sinclair,
150 INDIAN WARS.
volunteered to procure the needed water. Strip-
ping himself naked, he threw hiuaself on the slide used
for loading boats, and slipping down to the river, re-
turned witli a bucketful for the wounded. The second
day and night were j)assed like the first, no more
water being procured until the morning of the 28th,
when, the fires of the enemy having died out, the
Spokane again ventured to the river, and this time
filled two barrels, going and coming with incredible
swiftness. The steamer not yet having returned, and
fears being entertained of her captui'e, the body of
Sinclair was shoved down the slide into the river by
the same faithful servant.
While these scenes were being performed at the
upper Cascades, the people below were also experi-
encing a share in the misfortunes of their neighbors.
The first intimation of an attack at the block-house
was hearing a few shots, and the shouts of men run-
ning from above warning others. Five of the little
garrison of nine were in the fort at that moment.
Hastening down-stairs they found one of their com-
rades at the door, shot through the hip. The em-
brasures were opened, and the cannon run out and fired
at the Indians, who could be seen on a hill in front.
Immediately afterward the citizens came fleeing to the
fort for protection, drawing the fire of the Indians,
which was returned by the soldiers until all left alive
were sheltered. Firing from both sides continued for
four hours, when, seeing that the Indians were about to
burn a large building. Sergeant Kelly again dispersed
them with the cannon. Toward night a soldier who
had been wounded near the block-house in the aiorn-
ing made his way in and was rescued. During the
night the Indians attempted to fire the block-house,
without success, prowling about all night without do-
ing much damage. During the forenoon of the 27th
three soldiers made a sortie to a neighboring house,
and returned safely with some provisions. In the
AT THE LOWER CASCADES. 151
afternoon the cannon was again fired at a large party
of Indians who appeared on the Oregon side of the
river, which served the purpose of scattering them,
when four of the soldiers and some of the citizens
sallied out to bring in the dead and wounded, and to
search the deserted houses for arms and ammunition.**
At the lower Cascades no lives were lost in the
attack. On the morning of the 26th W. K. Kilborn,
who owned and ran an open freight-boat on the Co-
lumbia, walked up to the lower end of the portage
railroad to look for a crew of the Cascade Indians to
take his boat up the rapids to that point, but was met
by a half-Spanish Indian boy whom he had known on
French Prairie in the Willamette Valley, and who
endeavored to show him that it was unsafe for him to
be in the neighborhood, because the Yakimas and
Klikitats had been about the lodges of the local
Indians the night before. Kilborn took the lad with
him to the office of Agent G. B. Simpson, close by,
where he still persisted in imploring them to fly,
telling them they were surrounded by hostile Indians
on every side. At that instant came the boom of the
cannon at the block-house above, and the half-breed
darted down the road to give the alarm to the families
below, followed by Kilborn, who was soon overtaken
by a mounted man crying, "Run for your lives, they
are fighting at the block-house!"*^ On reaching his
boat he found his family and that of Hamilton already
on board, and instantly put off, a few men who had
guns remaining to protect their property. As he was
about to land for some purpose a short distance below,
these men shouted to him, "Do not land; here they
"The names of the garrison at the block-house were M. Kelly, Frederick
Beman, Owen McManus, Lawrence PLOOuey (killed in the first attack), Smiley,
Houser, Williams, Roach, and Sheridan; the latter four being those who
went out to bring in the dead and wounded on the second day. Indian Hos-
tilities in Oregon and Washington Territories, 11-12, being a compilation of
correspondence on the subject transmitted to congress by the president o£ the
U. S. in July 1856.
*^ This was one of 3 carpenters at work who ran for the block-house,
overtook the cars on the way, cut the mules loose, and mounting them, spread
the alarm. Letter of L. W. Coe, in Historical Correspondence.
152 INDIAN WARS.
come!" and hearing the report of small arms, he kept
on down the river, arriving at Vancouver before dark
with the news of the outbreak.
In the mean time the men who had remained to
protect their property were in a perilous situation.
They at first entertained the idea of barricading the
government wharf-boat, but having no ammunition,
were obliged to abandon it. They remained on guard,
however, until the Indians, having marauded their
way down, began firing on them from the roof of a
zinc house, which afforded a good position, when, find-
ing it useless to remain longer, they pushed out into
the river with a schooner and some bateaux lying at
#1.
C^ti^^;,
^'^ jg^
Upper and Lower Cascades.
the landing, Thomas Pierce being wounded before
attaining a safe distance, and proceeded down the
river. Two men who at tlie first alarm fled to the
mountains stole down at night and escaped in an old
boat which they found at the landing to the south side
of the river, where they lay hidden in the rocks until
relief came.
When the news of the attack on The Cascades was
received at Vancouver great consternation prevailed,
it being reported that Vancouver Avas the objective
ALARM AT VANCOUVER. 153
point of the Yakimas, and there were not men enough
at that post to make a good defence after sending the
succor demanded at The Cascades. As there had
been no communication between the upper and lower
towns, the extent of the injury done at the former
place could only be conjectured. The commanding
officer, Colonel Morris, removed the women and chil-
dren of the garrison, the greater part of the ammu-
nition, and some other property to the Hudson's Bay
Company's fort for greater safety, while he refused
arms to the captain of the volunteer home-guard,** in
obedience to the orders of General Wool.
At an early hour of the 27th the steamboat Belle
was despatched to The Cascades, conveying Lieuten-
ant Philip Sheridan with a detachment of the single
company left by Wool at Vancouver. Meeting on
the way the fugitives in the schooner and bateaux,
they volunteered to return and assist in the defence
of the place, and were taken on board the steamer.
At ten o'clock the Belle had reached the landing at
the lower end of the portage, stopping first on the
Oregon side, where Sheridan and a part of his com-
mand proceeded up the river on foot to a point
opposite the upper town to reconnoitre, where he
learned from the Cascade Indians the state of affairs
at that place, and also that the block-house had been
attacked. Sheridan returned and landed his men on
the Washington side, despatching a canoe to Vancouver
for more ammunition.
The Indians did not wait to be attacked. While
the troops and howitzer were disembarking on a
large sand island, Sheridan had two men shot down,
and was compelled to retreat some distance from the
cover of the Indians, the steamer dropping down in
*^ I take this statement from a correspondent of the Olympia Pioneer and
Democrat of April 25, 1856, who says that Kelly of the volunteers went to
the officer in command at that post, and requested to be furnished with arms,
as all the arms in the county had gone to furnish a compauy in the 6eld^
Captain Maxon's. 'He was insulted — told to mind his own business.' A few
duys later a consignment of anus from the east arrived, for the use of the
territory, and the settlers were furnished from that supply.
154 INDIAN WARS.
company. A council of war was then held, and it
was decided to maintain their ground, which was
done with much difficulty, through the remainder of
the day, the troops not being able to advance to the
relief of the block-house, although the diversion
created by the arrival of troops caused a lull in the
operations of the Indians against that post.
A company of thirty men was raised in Portland
on the evening of the 26th, by A. P. Dennison and
Benjamin Stark, aids to Governor Curry, which was
augmented at Vancouver by an equal number of
volunteers, and proceeded to the lower Cascades in
the steamer Fashion, arriving somewhat later than
the Belle, and being unable to render any assistance,
for the same reason which prevented the regular
troops from advancing — too numerous an enemy in
front. They landed, however, and sent the steamer
back, which returned next day with forty more volun-
teers, and a recruit of regulars, all eager for a fight.
The boat also brought a supply of ammunition
from Vancouver, which being placed upon a bateau
was taken up opposite the block-house where Sheri-
dan intended to cover his men while they lauded, with
the howitzer. But just at this moment a new factor
entered into the arrangement of the drama, which
gave to all a surprise.
When the Mary arrived at The Dalles on the 26th,
Colonel Wright had already moved from the post, and
was encamped at Five-Mile Creek, so that informa-
tion of the attack on the Cascades did not reach liim
before midnight. At daylight he began his march
back to The Dalles, with 250 men, rank and file, and
by night they were on board the steamers Mar-y and
Wasco, but did not reach the Cascades before daylight
of the 28th, on account of an injury to the steamer's
flues, through having a new fireman since the wound-
ing of Lindsay on the 26th.
Just as the garrison in the store were brought to
RELIEF FROM THE DALLES. 155
the verge of despair, believing the Mary had been
captured, not knowing of Sheridan's arrival at the
lower Cascades, having but four rounds of ammunition
left, and having agreed among themselves, should the
Indians succeed in firing the house, to get on board a
government flat-boat lying in front of Bradford's and
go over the falls rather than stay to be butchered — ■
at this critical moment their eyes were gladdened by
the welcome sight of the Mary and Wasco, steaming
into the semicircular bay at the mouth of Rock Creek,
loaded with troops. A shout went up from forty
jjersons, half dead with fatigue and anxiety, as the
door of their prison was thrown open to the fresh air
and light of day.
No sooner had the boats touched the shore than
the soldiers sprang up the bank and began beating
the bushes for Indians, the howitzer belching forth
shot over their heads. But although the Indians had
fired a volley at the Mary as she stranded for a few
moments on a rock at tlie mouth of the creek, they
could not be found when hunted, and now not a Ya-
kima or Klikitat was to be seen.
Colonel Wright then organized a force, consisting of
the companies of captains Winder and Archer, 9th
infantry, and a detachment of dragoons under Lieu-
tenant Tear, 3d artillery, with a howitzer under Lieu-
tenant Piper, the whole under Colonel Steptoe, which
was ordered to advance to the block-house and thence
to the lower landing. Just at the moment when
Sheridan was approaching the shore lined with hos-
tile Indians, with the suspected Cascade Indians on
an island on the other side of his bateau, and when
the attention of the savages was divided between
their morning meal and the approach of the soldiers,
a bugle was heard in the direction of the upper Cas-
cades, and Sheridan beheld descending a hill Steptoe's
column. The Indians being thus particularly notified
of the army's advance, the opportunity for a surprise
was destroyed, and in another instant the enemy had
156 INDL.\N WARS.
vanished out of sight like ants in a sand mound.
One Indian only was killed by Steptoe's command,
and a soldier's life paid for that. This tragedy ended
with the execution of nine Indians concerned in the
massacre.
After a few brushes with the enemy, Cornelius,
leaving his command in the Klikitat Valley, went to
Portland to confer with Governor Curry, when the
northern regiment was disbanded, two companies be-
ing organized out of it, one to serve in the WalJa
Walla country, and one in the Tyghe Valley, which
latter force was increased to two companies in May.
About the same time Colonel Wright marched through
the Klikitat and Yakima country, but without effect-
ing anything decisive.*'
*' Major, now Colonel, Granville Owen Haller has been too intimately
connected with the history of Washington for many years to be here dis-
missed without further notice. He was born in York, Penn., Jan. 31, 1S19,
and educated in the jjrivate schools of the town. lu 1839 he was an appli-
cant for a scholarship at West Point, but on examination before a board of
military officers at Vt''ashington, received a coniuiission as 2d lieutenant, 4th
U. S. infantry, to date from Nov. 17, 1839. He served in the Indian terri-
tory and Florida in 1840-41, and in the Mexican war in 1846. He was or-
dered to the Pacific coast in 18.52, arriving by sea in 1853, and being stationed
at The Dalles until 1856. When the southern states seceded he was ordered
east and placed in active service with the army of the Potomac. Upon Lee's
invasion of Pennsylvania, he was placed on the staff of Gen. Couch, and
assigned to York and Adams counties to keep the general informed of the
movements of the enemy. Soon after Lee's defeat at Gettysburg, and wliile
making out reports of the services performed by volunteers, and the expenses
incurred, an order was sent Gen. Couch to relieve Major Haller, who on re-
porting for orders found himself dismissed. This wrong, whicli was the work
(if an unknown enemy, was a painful blow to Haller. After many efforts to
obtain a liearing he returned to Wasliington, settling at Coupeville on Whidbey
Island. Here, after sixteen years of waiting for justice, he received tidings of
a joint resolution by congress ordering a court of inquiry in his case. The
court found that the dismissal was based on charges of disloyalty by a single
officer, and not made by the president, but by the secretary of war. 'ihe
testimony in the case, both of military and civil witnesses, completely refuted
the charges, and tlie dismissal was pronounced wrongful. Major Haller being
restored to the service with the rank of colonel, but the restoration of rank
carried with it no back pay. Gen. Couch's testimony was, "I do not think
there were any fighting generals of the army of the Potomac, if they had been
in York in tlio position of Major Haller, that could have done any better
than he did. I thought so at the time, and I think so now." Col Haller is
now a resident of Seattle, and having passed his 63d year, is retired.
Col Haller is the author of a valuable MS. entitled Kainlalin in History,
abio of TIk' San Juan [inhi-ojUo, of wliich he knew more tlian any one. His
wife was Miss Henrietta M. Cox of Baltimore, by whom he has five children,
two daughters, and three sons.
CHAPTEE V.
INDIAN WARS.
1856-1858.
Action op the Governor — Disposition op Forces — New Battalions —
Plan of Campaign— Battle of White River— On the Sound— Mar-
tial Law — Fighting at John Day River and Grand Rond — East of
THE Cascade Range— Stevens in the Hostile Country- Failure of
HIS Council — Leschi's Betrayal, Arrest, Trials, and Execution — ■
Assassination of Quiemuth- Termination of Hostilities on the
Sound — Result— War Debt — Clarke and Wright's Campaign —
Defeat of Steptoe— Battles of Four Lakes and Spokane Plains in
THE Yakima Country — Walla Walla Country Reopened.
"When Governor Stevens returned to his capital
from the Blackfoot country, he was to some extent
deceived as to the perils which threatened the Puget
Sound region. He approved of the energetic course
of Mason, and advocated the vigorous prosecution of
the war. But from what he had seen east of the Cas-
cades, and from what he knew of the indolent habits
of the tribes on the Sound, he was disposed to think
the war was to be carried on in the Yakima and
Walla Walla valleys rather than at home.
In a special message delivered extemporaneously to
the legislative assembly, January 21, 1856, three days
after arriving in Olyinpia, he recited the history of
the war as he understood it. The people of the ter-
ritory, he said, had urged upon congress the impor-
tance to them of extinguishing the Indian title to the
country. To this the Indians consented with appar-
ent willingness. Being appointed a commissioner to
treat with them, he had applied himself to- the duty,
158 INDIAN WARS,
and successfully treated with the different tribes, ex-
plaining to them with the most minute care the terms
to which they had agreed. But the Indians had
acted treacherously, inasmuch as it was now well
known that they had long been plotting against the
white race, to destroy it. This being true, and they
having entered upon a war without cause, however he
might sympathize with the restlessness of an inferior
race who perceived that destiny was against them, he
nevertheless had high duties to perform toward his
own, and the Indians must be met and resisted by
arms, and that without delay, for seed-time was com-
ing, when the farmers must be at the plough. The
work remaining to be done, he thought, was compara-
tively small. Three hundred men from the Sound to
push into the Indian country, build a depot, and op-
erate vigorously in that c|uarter, with an equal force
from the Columbia to prosecute the war east of the
Cascades, in his opinion should be immediately raised.
The force east of the mountains would prevent reen-
forcements from joining those on the west, and vice
versa, while their presence in the country would pre-
vent the restless but still faltering tribes farther north
from breaking out into open hostilities. There should
be no more treaties; extermination should be the re-
ward of their perfidy.
On the 1st of February, in order to facilitate the
organization of the new regiment, Stevens issued an
order disbanding the existing organization, and revok-
ing the orders raised for the defence of particular lo-
calities. The plan of block-houses was urged for the
defence of settlements even of four or five families,^
the number at first erected being doubled in order
that the farmers might cultivate their land; and in
' At Nathan Eaton's the defences consisted of 16 log buildings in a square
facing inwards, the object being not only to collect the families for protection,
but to send out a scouting party of some size when marauders were in the
vicinity. Stevens, in Sen. Ex. Doc, 66, 32, 34th cong. 1st sess.; Ind. Aff.
Bept, 34. Fort Henness, on Mound prairie, was a large stockade with block-
houses at tlie alternate corners, and buildings inside tlie enclosure. On
Skookum Bay there was an establishment similar to that at Eaton's.
REORGANIZATION OF TROOPS. 159
addition to the other companies organized was one of
pioneers, whose duty it was to open roads and build
block-houses.
The first regiment being disbanded, the reorganiza-
tion progressed rapidly, and on the 25th the second
regiment was organized into three battalions, desig-
nated as the northern, central, and southern; the
northern battalion to rendezvous at the falls of the
Snoqualimich and elect a major, the choice falling
upon Captain J. J. H. Van Bokelin." It numbered
about ninety men, supported by Patkanim and his
company of Indian allies, and built forts Tilton and
Alden below and above the falls.^ The central bat-
talion was commanded by Major Gilmore Hays, and
had its headquarters on Connell's prairie. White
River,* communicating with the rear by a ferry and
block-house on the Puyallup, and block-houses at
Montgomery's, and on Yelm prairie, besides one at
the crossing of White River, communicating with the
regular forces at Muckleshoot prairie and Porter's
prairie, farther up the valley.
The southern battalion, organized by Lieutenant-
colonel B. F. Shaw, was raised upon the Columbia
River, and partly of Oregon material,^ obtained by
'The northern battalion consisted of Company G (Van Bokelin 's), com-
manded by Daniel Smalley, elected by the company; Company I, Capt. S. D.
Howe, who was succeeded by Capt. G. W. Beam; and a detachment of Com-
pany H, Capt. Peabody. ITo-sA. Mess. Gov., 1857, 3S-41.
' To I. N. Ebey belongs the credit of making the first movement to block-
ade the Snoqualimich pass and guard the settlements lying opposite on Whid-
bey Island. This company of rangers built Fort Ebey, 8 miles above the
mouth of the Snohomish River. He was removed from his office of collector,
the duties of which were discharged by his deputy and brother, W. S. Ebey,
during the previous winter while he lived in camp, through what influence I
am not informed, il. H. Frost of Seattle was appointed in his stead. This
change in his affairs, with the necessity of attending to private business, prob-
ably determined him to remain at home. George W. Ebey, his cousin, was
2d lieut in Smalley's company.
' The central battalion was composed of Company B, Capt. A. B. Rabbe-
son; Company C, Capt. B. L. Henness' mounted rangers; a train guard under
Capt. 0. Shead; the pioneer company under Capt. Joseph A. White, 1st lieut
Urban E. Hicks; and Company F, a detachment of scouts under Capt. Calvin
W. Rwindal. Wash. Mexs. Gov., 1857, 38.
''The southern battalion consisted of the Washington Mounted Rifles,
Capt. H. J. G. Maxon, Company D, Capt. Achilles, who was succeeded by
Lieut Powell, and two Oregon companies, one company, K, under Francis M.
160 INDIAN WARS.
advertising for volunteers in the Oregon newspapers.
Other companies were accepted from time to time as
the exigencies of the sorvice required, until there were
twenty-one in the field,* the whole aggregating less
than a thousand men. The regiment was assigned
to duty, and furnished with supplies with military
skill by the commander-in-chief, whose staff-officers,
wisely chosen,' kept the machinery of war in motion,
the detention of which so often paralyzed the arms
of Governor Curry's volunteers. Between Curry
and Stevens there was perfect harmony, the latter
often being assisted by the governor of Oregon in
the purchase of supplies, a service which was always
gratefull}^ acknowledged.
The plan of the cainj^aign as announced by Stevens
was to guard the line of the Snohomish and Snoqual-
imich pass by the northern battalion, to drive the
enemy into the Yakima country with the central
battalion by the Nachess pass, and to operate east of
p. Gofif, of Marion co., and another, Company J, under Bluford Miller of
Polk CO. Or. Statesman, March 11 and May -20, 1856.
^ For convenience of reference, they are named here: Co. A, organized and
commanded by Lieut-col Edward Lander; the Walla Walla Co., organized
out of friendly Chehalis and Cowlitz Indians by Sidney S. Ford, capt. ;
Clarke Co. Rangers, organized by Capt. WilUam Kelly; Co. E, Capt. C. W.
Riley, succeeded by Lieut J. Q. Cole; Co. H, Capt. R. V. Peabody; Co. L,
Capt. E. D. Warbass; Co. N, Capt. Richards, succeeded by Capt. Williams;
Co. M, consistmg of 10 white men and 43 Nez Percys, Henri M. Chase, capt.;
a CO. of Squaxon scouts under Lieut. Gosnell; and a company of Cowlitz Ind-
ians under Pierre Charles.
' Lieut-col Lander was retained on the governor's staff, and Jared S.
Hurd, E. C. Fitzhngh, and H. R. Crosbie were also appointed aids, with the
rank of lieut-col, in addition to tlie appointments made in Dec, of Craig an<l
Doty. Edward Gibson was appointed e.xtra aid. B. F. Shaw was elected
lieut-col of the 2d regiment in April. W. W. Miller still held the oiEce of
quartermaster and commissary-general at Olympia. Warren Grove was
appointed quartermaster and commissary at Steilacoom, F. Mathias at
Seattle, A. H. Robie at The Dalles, Charles E. Weed at Olympia, R. M.
Hathaway at Vancouver, and R. S. Robinson for the northern battalion, at
Port Townsend, and C. C. Pagett in Lewis county. Commanding officers
chose their own adjutants. Tdton remained adjutant-general, C. H. Arm-
strong regimental quartermaster and commissary with tlie right wing of the
2d regiment in the field; and Lieut-col Hurd supt of all business on the
Columbia. W. W. De Lacy was appointed adjutant of the southern bat-
talion, Humphrey Hill of the northern, and B. F. Ruth of the central
battalion. G. K. Willard was surgeon and purveyor of medicine and medi-
cal stores at headquarters; M. P. Burns surgeon of central battalion, D. R.
Bigelow of northern battalion. Other surgeons were Justin Millard, Albert
Eggers, and U. G. Warbass.
PRISONEGS HANGED. 161
the Cascade Range with the southern battahon.
On the occasion of the governor's reconnoissance of
the Sound, which took pkxce in January, the Snoqual-
imich chief Patkanim tendered his services as an ally,
and upon consultation with Agent Simmons was ac-
cepted. He at once took the field with fifty-five well-
armed warriors, accompanied by Simmons, L. M. Col-
lins, and T. H. Fuller. On the 8th of February they
reached Wappato prairie, five miles below the falls of
the Snoqualimich, and learning that there was an en-
campment of the hostile Indians at the falls, Patkanim
prepared to attack them, which he did, capturing the
whole party. An investigation showed them to be
Snoqualimichs, with the exception of three Klikitat
emissaries engaged in an endeavor to enlist them on
the side of the hostile combination. Patkanim, how-
ever, now that he had entered upon duty as an ally
of the white people, carried his prisoners to camp at
Wappato prairie and tried them each and every one, the
trial resulting in the discharge of the Snoqualimichs,
and one of the Klikitats, whose evidence convicted the
other two and caused them to be hanged. Their
heads were tlien cut off and sent to Olympia, where a
price was to be paid.
From the Klikitat who was allowed to live it was
ascertained that there were four different camps of
the enemy on the east side of White River, at no
great distance apart, above the point where the mili-
tary road crossed it, and that Leschi was at one of
them, while the crossing of the river was guarded
above and below. This information was immediately
sent to Olympia.
Patkanim at once proceeded to White River to at-
tack Leschi, whom it was much desired by the gov-
ernment to arrest. But when he arrived there he
found that wily chief alert and on his guard. Being
strongly posted in the fork of a small tributary of
White River, a sharp engagement followed, resulting
in considerable loss. Of the number killed by Pat-
HisT. Wash.— H
162 INDIAN WARS.
kanim, all but two were on the farther side of the
stream, and he was able to obtain but two heads,
which were also forwarded to Olyrapia. He returned
after this battle to Holme Harbor, Whidbey Island,
to prepare for further operations, it now being con-
sidered that he had fully committed himself to the
cause of the white people. He remained faithful,
and was of some further assistance, but objected to
be commanded by white officers, preferring his own
mode of fighting.
About the 13th of February Captain Maloney left
Fort Steilacoom with lieutenants Davis and Flem-
ing and 125 men, for the Puyallup, where he con-
structed a ferry and block-house, after which he moved
on to White River, Colonel Casey, who had arrived
on the steamship Republic in command of two com-
panies of the regular 9th infantry, following a few days
later with about an equal number of men.
On the 22d Captain Ford of the volunteers left
Steilacoom for White River with his company of
Chehalis scouts, in advance of Hays' company, and
White's pioneers, who followed after, establishing
depots at Yelm prairie and Montgomery's, and mov-
ing on to the Puyallup, where they built a block-
house and ferry, after which, on the 29th, they pro-
ceeded to the Mucldeshoot prairie, Henness following
in a few days with his company, a junction being
formed with Casey's and Maloney's commands at that
place, Governor Stevens himself taking the field on
the 24th, when the volunteers moved to the Puyallup.
Up to this date the war had been confined to the
country noi'th of Steilacoom, although a wide-spread
alarm prevailed throughout the whole country. But
the watchful savages were quick to perceive that by
the assemblage of the regular and volunteer forces in
the White River country they had left their rear
comparatively unguarded, and on the 24th attacked
and killed, near Steilacoom, William Northcraft, in the
service of the territory as a teamster, driving off his
FIGHT AT WHITE RIVER. 163
oxen and the stock of almost every settler in the
vicinity. On the 2d of March they waylaid William
White, a substantial farmer living near Nathan
Eaton's jilace, which was subsequently fortified, kill-
ing him and shooting at his family, who were saved
by the running-away of the horses attached to a
wagon in which all were returning from church. A
family was also attacked while at work in a field, and
some wounds received. These outrages were perpe-
trated by a band of forty savages under the leadership
of chiefs Stahi and Quiemuth, who had flanked the
troops in small detachments, and while Casey's at-
tention was diverted by the voluntary surrender of
fifty of their people, most of whom were women and
children, whom it was not convenient to support while
at war, but which were taken in charge by the Indian
department. This new phase of affairs caused the
governor's return to Olympia, whence he ordered a
part of the southern battalion to the Sound. On
the 4th of March, a detachment of regulars under
Lieutenant Kautz, opening a road from the Puyallup
to Muckleshoot prairie, when at no great distance
from White River, discovered Indians and attacked
them, Kautz sheltering his men behind piles of drift-
wood until Keyes reenforced him, when the battle
was carried across the river and to the Muckleshoot
prairie, where a charge being made, the Indians scat-
tered. There were over a hundred regulars in the
engagement, one of whom was killed and nine
wounded, including Lieutenant Kautz. The loss of
the Indians was unknown.
In the interim the volunteers of the central battal-
ion had reached Connell's prairie, where an encamp-
ment was formed. On the morning of the 8th
Major Hays ordered Captain White's company of
pioneers, fifty strong, to the crossing of White River,
to erect a block-house and construct a ferry, sup-
ported only by Captain Swindal with a guard of ten
men. They had not proceeded more than a mile and
164 INDIAN WARS.
a half from camp before the advance under Lieuten-
ant Hicks was attacked by 150 warriors, who made
a furious assault just as the detachment entered tlie
woods that covered the river-bottoms, and were de-
scending a hill. Almost simultaneously the main
company received a heavy fire, and finding the odds
against him. White despatched a messenger to camp,
when he was reenforced by Henness with twenty
men, and soon after by Martin with fifteen. The
battle continuing, and the Indians making a flank
movement which could be seen from camp. Van Ogle
was despatched with fifteen men to check it. So
rapid were their manoeuvres that it required another
detachment of twelve men under Rabbeson to arrest
them.
The Indians had a great advantage in position,
and after two hours of firing, a charge was ordered
to be made by a portion of the volunteers, while
White's company and Henness' detachment held their
positions. The charge was successful, driving one
body of the Indians through a deep marsh, or stream,
in their flight, and enabling Swindal to take a posi-
tion in the rear of the main body on a high ridge.
It being too dangerous to charge them from their
front, where White and Henness were stationed,
they being well fortified behind fallen timber on
the crest of a hill, Rabbeson and Swindal were
ordered to execute a flank movement, and attack
the enemy in the rear. A charge being made
simultaneously in front and rear, the Indians were
completely routed, with a loss of between twenty-five
and thirty killed and many wounded. The loss of
the volunteers was four wounded.
This battle greatly encouraged the territorial
troops. The Indians were in force, outnumbering
them two to one; they had chosen their position, and
made the attack, and were defeated with every cir-
cumstance in their favor.*
^Rept of Major Hays, in Wash. Me^s. Gov., 1857, 290-2.
DESULTORY WARFARE. 165
This affair was the most decisive of the spring cam-
paign of 1856 on the Sound. After it the Indians did
not attempt to make a stand, but fought in small
parties at unexpected times and in unexpected places.
It would indeed have been difficult for them to have
Ibught a general engagement, so closely were they
pursued, and so thickly was the whole country on the
east side dotted over with block-houses and camps.
The block-house at the crossing of White River was
completed, the Indians wounding one of the construc-
tion party by firing from a high bluff on the opposite
bank. A station was made at Connell's prairie, called
Fort Hays, by the volunteers, and another, called Fort
Slaughter, on the Muckleshoot prairie, by the regu-
lars. A block-house was established at Lone Tree
point, three miles from the Dwamish, where Riley's
company was stationed to guard the trail to Seattle.
Later Lieutenant-colonel Lander with company A
erected a block-house on the Dwamish, fifteen miles
from Seattle. Captain Maloney erected one on Por-
ter's prairie, and Captain Dent another at the mouth
of Cedar River. The northern battalion, after com-
])leting their works on the Snoqualimich and leav-
ing garrisons, marched across the country to join the
central battalion by order of the commander-in-chief;
and Colonel Shaw of the southern battalion added
his force to the others about the last of the month.
At this juncture Governor Stevens proclaimed
martial law; his forces were readjusted, and a desul-
tory warfare kept up throughout the entire region.
On John Day River, where the enemy had congre-
gated in numbers. Major Layton of the Oregon vol-
unteers captured thirty-four warriors in June, and in
July there was some fighting, but nothing decisive.
Colonel Shaw also did some fighting in the Grand Rood
country, but there, as elsewhere, the Indians kept the
aruiy on the move without definite results.
In these white raids many Indian horses were taken,
and all government supplies stopped. Obviously no
166 INDIAN WARS.
more effective method of subduing the Indians could
be adopted than to unhorse them and take away their
supplies. The march of the several detachments of
regulars and volunteers through the Indian country
forced the neutral and needy Indians to accept the
overtures of the United States government through
the Indian and military departments, and they now
surrendered to the agents and army officers, to the
number of 923, comprising the Wasco, Tyghe, Des
Chutes, and a portion of the John Day tribes, all of
whom were partially subsisted by the government.
About 400 of the Yakimas and Klikitats who sur-
rendered to Colonel Wright during the summer were
also assisted by the government agents.
Soon after a battle on the Grand Rond, Major
Lay ton mustered out his battalion, the time of the
Oregon troops having expired, leaving only Shaw's
battalion in the Walla Walla Valley, to hold it until
Colonel Wright should be prepared to occupy it with
the regular troops, who had not fought nor attempted
to fight an engagement during the summer. A scout-
ing party of Jordan's Indian allies, in recovering 200
captured horses, killed two hostile Indians, the sole
achievement of a regiment of troops in the field for
four months. About the 1st of August Wright re-
turned to Vancouver, leaving Major Garnett in com-
mand of Fort Simcoe, and the Indians at libertj^ to
give the volunteers employment, which they were
ready enough to do.®
^The 2d regiment of Washington volunteers was officered, so far as the
official correspondence shows, as follows: Co. A, Capt. Edward Lander; 1st
lieiit A. A. Denny, vice H. H. Peixotto resigned; 2d lieut D. A. Neely; H.
A. Smith surgeon; strength 53 rank and file. Non-com. officers, John Hen-
ning, C. D. Biven, J. lloss, Jacob Wibbens, James Fielding, Walter Graham,
David Manner, Asa Fowler. Co. B, Capt. Gilmore Hays, promoted to major
by election; 1st lieut A. B. Eabbeson, elected capt. vice Hays; 1st lieut Van
Ogle, vice Rabbeson, and John Brady, vice Van Ogle, commanded lastly by
Captain Burntrager; 2d lieut William Martin; 2d lieut William Temple, vice
Martin resigned. Non-com. officers, Frank Ruth, D. Martin, M. Goodell, N.
B. Coffey, J. L. Myres, T. Hughes, H. Hortou; strength 52 men rank and
file. Co. C, Capt. B. L. Heuness; 1st lieut G. C. Blankensliip; 2d lieut F. A.
Goodwin; non-commissioned officers, Joseph Cushman, William J. Ye.iger,
Henry Laws, James Phillips, WiUiam E. Klady, Tliomas Hicks, S. A. Phil-
lips, "H. Johnson; strength 67 rank and file. Co. D, Capt. Achilles; 1st
STEVENS' MOVEMENTS. 167
Governor Stevens was unable to push forward any
troops east of the Cascade Range for two months
after the Oregon troops were withdrawn upon the
understanding that Colonel Wright was to occupy the
Walla Walla Valley. In the mean time tlie hostile
tribes enjoyed the fullest liberty up to the appearing
of the southern battalion, and those previously friendly,
being in ignorance of the intention of the authorities
toward them, made this an excuse for withdrawing
their allegiance.
Lieutenant-colonel Craig, w4io with his auxiliaries
had been using his best endeavors to hold the Nez
Forces and Spokanes constant to their professions,
met the volunteers in the Walla Walla Valley, and
escorted Captain Robie with the supply train under
lieut Powell; strength 44 rank and file. Co. E, Capt. Charles W. Riley;
strength 21 men rank and file; commanded lastly by Lieut Cole. Co. F,
Capt. Calvin W. Swindal; 1st lieut J. Q. Cole; strength 40 rank and file.
Co. G, J. J. H. Van Bokelin; promoted to maj. hj election; 1st lieut Daniel
Smalley, elected capt. vice Van Bokelin; 2d lieut G. W. Ebey; strength 55
rank and file. Co. H, Capt. E. V. Peabody; strength 42 rank and file. Co.
I, Capt. S. D. Howe; 1st lieut G. W. Beam, elected capt. vice Howe; Thomas
Sinnot, vice Beam; 2d lieut Beuj. Welcher, vice John Y. Sewell resigned;
strength 35 rank and file. Co. J, Capt. Bluford Miller; 1st lieut Anthony
W. Pressley; 2d lieut Andrew Sheppard; strength 40 rank and file. Co. K,
Capt. Francis M. P. Gofif; 1st lieut Israel Hedges; 2d lieut Thomas Waite;
strength 101 rank and file. Goff also mentions Lieut Hunter. Co. L, Capt.
E. D. Warbass; 1st lieut J. W. Anderson; 2d lieut J. B. Bouchard; strength
91 rank and file. Co. M, Capt. Henri M. Chase; 1st lieut V. L. La Fontaine;
2d lieut Louis Rabion ; strength 53 rank and file; 10 white men, 43 Nez Perces.
Co. N, Capt. Richards; 1st lieut John Estes; 2d lieut Williams in command;
strength 74 rank and file. Washington Mounted Rifles, Capt. H. J. 6.
Maxon; 1st lieut Ed Barrington; 2d lieut Curtiss; strength 95 rank and file.
Clarke County Rangers, Capt. William Kelly; 1st lieut J. D. Biles; 2d lieut
P. Ahern; strength 81 rank and file. Pioneer Co., Capt. Joseph A. White;
1st lieut U. Hicks; 2d lieut T. McLean Chambers; non-com. officers, Daniel J.
Hubbard, Columbus White, Marcus ^McMillan, Henry G. Parsons, Isaac
Lemmons, James Bums, William Ruddell, William Mengle; strength 40 rank
and file. Fourteen of this company, under Hicks, did duty as mounted men.
^^■alla Walla Co., Capt. S. S. Ford; strength 29 rank and file. Train Guard,
Capt. Shead; strength 47 rank and file. Nisqually Ferry Guard, strength
9 men. Lewis Co. Rangers, Capt. John R. Jackson; 1st lieut Jackson Barton,
succeeded by Anderson; 2d lieut Round tree, succeeded by Balisti;
strength 67 rank and file. Cowlitz Rangers, Capt. H. W. Peers; strength
unknown. Indian auxiliaries, Snohomish chiefs Patkanim and John Taylor
capt.; strength 82. Squaxon Indians, Lieut Gosnell capt.; strength 10.
Chehalis Indians, Capt. S. S. Ford, Jr; strength 17. Cowlitz Indians, Pierre
Charles capt.; strength 9. Wash. Mass. Gov., 1857, 28-30, and general mili-
tary correspondence. Changes being frequent, I am at a loss where to place
lieuts Temple, Mounts, and G. W. Martin. The staff-oflioers have been men-
tioned in a previous note.
168 INDIAN WARS,
his charge to the Nez Perce country. On the 24th
of July Robie returned and communicated to Colonel
Shaw, just in from the Grand Rond expedition, the
disagreeable intelligence that the Nez Perces had
shown a hostile disposition, declaring the treaty
broken, and refusing to receive the goods sent them."
This would have been unwelcome news at any time,
but was most trying at this juncture, when half the
force in field was quitting it to be mustered out of ser-
vice. This exigency occasioned the call for two more
companies of volunteers. Subsequent to making the
call, Stevens decided to go in person to Walla Walla,
and if possible to hold a council. A messenger was
at once despatched to Shaw, with instructions to send
runners to the different tribes, friendly and hostile,
inviting them to meet him on the 25th; but accompa-
nying the invitation was the notice that he required
the unconditional surrender of the warring bands.
Stevens urged Colonel Wright to be present at the
council, and to send three companies of regulars, in-
cluding all his mounted men, to the Walla Walla Val-
ley for that occasion. Wright declined the invitation
to participate in the council, but signified his intention
of sending Steptoe to Walla Walla to establish a post
in that eountry.
On the 19th of August, Stevens set out from
The Dalles with a train of 30 wagons, 80 oxen, and
200 loose animals, attended only by his messenger,
Pearson, and the employes of the expedition. A day
or two behind him followed the baggage and supply
train of Steptoe's command. He arrived without
accident at Camp Mason on the 23d, sending word
in all directions to inform the Indians of his wish to
meet them for a final adjustment of their diflficulties
at the councihground five miles from Waiilatpu. At
1° See letters of W. H. Pearson and other correspondents,, in Or. Statesman,
Aug. 5, 1856; Or. Arum, Aug. 2, 1850; Olympia Pionei-r and Dem., Ang.
5, 1856. Pearson, who was in the Nez Percd country, named the hostilechiefs
as follows: Loolfiag Glass, Three Feathers, Ked Bear, Eagle-from-the-light,
Rad Wolf, and Man-with-a-ropu-iu-his-mouth.
FRUITLESS COUNCIL. 169
the end of a week a deputation of the lower Nez
Perces had come in with their agent, Craig. At the
end of another week all this tribe were in, but on the
same day Father Ravelli, from the Coeur d'Al^ne
mission, arrived alone, with the information that he
had seen and conversed with Kamiakin, Owhi, and
Qualchin, who refused to attend the council, and also
that the Spokanes and other tribes declined to meet
the superintendent, having been instigated to this
course by Kamiakin, who had made his headquarters
on the border of their country all summer, exercising
a strong influence by the tales he circulated of the
wrong-doing of the white people, and especially of
Governor Stevens, and enmity among the northern
tribes.
On the 10th the hostile Cayuses, Des Chutes, and
Tyghes arrived and encamped in the neighborhood of
the Nez Perces, but without paying the customary
visit to Governor Stevens, and exhibiting their hos-
tility by firing the grass of the country they travelled
over. They had recently captured a pack-train of
forty-one horses and thirty packs of provisions from
The Dalles for Shaw's command, and were in an
elated mood over their achievement.
The council opened on the 11th of September, and
closed on the 17th, Stevens moving his position in the
mean time to Steptoe's camp for fear of an outbreak.
Nothing was accomplished. The only terms to which
the war chiefs would assent were to be left in posses-
sion of their respective domains. On his way back to
The Dalles with his train of Indian goods, escorted
by Shaw's command under Goff, on the 19th and 20tli
several attacks were made and two soldiers killed.
Assisted by Steptoe, Stevens finally reached his des-
tination in safety. After this mortifying repulse Gov-
ernor Stevens returned to the Sound. Wright re-
paired to Walla Walla with an additional company of
troops, and sent word to all the chiefs to bring them
together for a council. Few came, the Nez Perces
170 INDIAN WARS.
being represented by Red Wolf and Eagle-from-the-
light, the Cayuses by Howlish Wampo, Tintinmetse,
and Stickas, with some other sub-chiefs of both
nations. None of the Yakimas, Des Chutes, Walla
Wallas, or Spokanes were present; and all that could
be elicited from those who attended the council was
that they desired peace, and did not wish the treaty
of Walla Walla confirmed.
Wright remained at Walla Walla until November,
the post of Fort Walla Walla^^ being established on
Mill Creek, six miles from its junction with the Walla
Walla River, where the necessary buildings were
completed before the 20th. In November Fort Dalles
was garrisoned by an additional company under
brevet Major Wise. The Cascade settlement was
protected by a company of the 4th infantry under
Captain Wallen, who relieved Captain Winder of the
9th infantry. The frontier being thus secured against
invasion, the winter passed without many warlike
demonstrations.
About the 20th of July the volunteer companies
left on the Sound when Shaw's battalion departed for
Walla Walla were disbanded, the hostile Indians be-
ing driven east of the mountains, and the country
being in a good state of defence. On the 4th of Au-
gust Governor Stevens called a council of Indians at
Fox Island, to inquire into the causes of discontent,
and finding that the Nisquallies and Puyallups were
dissatisfied with the extent of their reservation, not
without a show of reason, he agreed to recommend an
enlargement, and a re-survey was ordered on the 28th,
which took in thirteen donation claims, for which con-
gress appropriated nearly $5,000 to pay for improve-
ments.
Having satisfied the Indians of his disposition to
deal justly with them, he next made a requisition upon
" Old Fort Walla Walla of the H. B. Co. being abandoned, the name waa
transferred to this post, about 23 miles in the interior.
CAPTURE OF LESCHI. 171
Colonel Wright for the delivery to him of Leschi,
Quiemuth, Nelson, Stahi, and the younger Kitsap, to
be tried for murder, these Indians being among those
who had held a council with Wright in the Yakima
country, and been permitted to go at large on their
parole and obligation to keep the peace. But Wright
was reluctant to give up the Indians required, saying
that although he had made no promises not to hold
them aecountable for their former acts, he should con-
sider it unwise to seize them for trial, as it would have
a disturbing effect upon the Indians whom he was
endeavoring to quiet. Stevens argued that peace on
milder terms would be a criminal abandonment of
duty, and would depreciate the standing of the au-
thorities with the Indians, especially as he had fre-
quently assured them that the guilty should be pun-
ished; he repeated his requisition; whereupon, toward
the last of the month, Major Garnett was ordered to
turn over to the governor for trial the Indians named.
The army officers were not in sympathy with what
they deemed the arbitrary course of the governor, and
Garnett found it easy to evade the performance of so
uncongenial a duty, the Indians being scattered, and
many of them having returned to the Sound, where
they gave themselves up to the military authorities
at Fort Steilacoom.
A reward, however, was offered for the seizure and
delivery of Leschi, which finally led to his arrest about
the middle of November. It was accomplished by
the treachery of two of his own people, Sluggia and
Elikukah. They went to the place where Leschi was
in hiding, poor and outlawed, having been driven
away by the Yakimas who had submitted to Wright,
who would allow him to remain in their country only
on condition that he became their slave; and having
decoyed him to a spot where their horses were con-
cealed, suddenly seized and bound him, to be delivered
up to Sydney S. Ford, who surrendered him to
Stevens at Olympia.
172 INDIAN WARS.
The particular crime with which Leschi was charged
was the killing of A. B. Moses, the place being in
Pierce county. Court had just adjourned when he
was brought in, but as Judge Chenoweth, who resided
on Whidbey Island, had not yet left Steilacoom, he
was requested by the governor to hold a special term
for the trial of Leschi, and the trial came off on the
1 7th of November, the jurj' failing to agree. A second
trial, begun on the 18th of March, 1857, resulted in
conviction, and the savage was sentenced to be hanged
on the 10th of June. This action of the Governor
was condemned by the regular army officers, there
being in this case the same opposition of sentiment
between the civil and military authorities which had
existed in all the Indian wars in Oregon and Wash-
ington — the array versus the people.
Proceedings were instituted to carry the case up
to the supreme court in December, which postponed
the execution of the sentence. The opinion of Mc-
Fadden, acting chief justice, sustained the previous
action of the district court and the verdict of the
jury. Leschi's sentence was again pronounced, the
day of his execution being fixed upon the 22d of Jan-
uary, 1858. In the mean time Stevens had resigned,
and a new governor, McMuUin, had arrived, to
whom a strong appeal was made by the counsel and
friends of Leschi, but to no effect, 700 settlers pro-
testing against pardon. When the day of execution
arrived, a large concourse of people assembled at
Steilacoom to witness the death of so celebrated a
savage. But the friends of the doomed man had
prepared a surprise for them. The sheriff of Pierce
county and his deputy were arrested, between the
hours of ten and twelve o'clock, by Lieutenant Mc-
Kibben of Fort Steilacoom, appointed United States
marshal for the purpose, and Frederick Kautz, upon
a warrant issued by J. M. Bachelder, United States
commissioner and sutler at that post, upon a charge
of selling liquor to the Indians. An attempt was
EXECUTION OF LESCHI. 173
made by Secretary Mason to obtain the death-warrant
in possession of the sheriff, which attempt was frus-
trated until after the hour fixed for the execution had
passed, during which time the sheriff remained in cus-
tody with no attempt to procure his freedom.
So evident a plot, executed entirely between the
prisoner's counsel and the military authorities at Fort
Steilacoom, aroused the liveliest indignation on the
part of the majority of the people. A public meeting
was held at Steilacoom, and also one at Olympia, on
the evening of the 22d, at which all the persons in
any way concerned in the frustration of the sentence
of the courts were condemned, and the legislature re-
quested to take cognizance of it. This the legislature
did, by passing an act on the following day requiring
the judges of the supreme court to hold a special ses-
sion on or before the 1st of February at the seat of
government, repealing all laws in conflict with this
act, and also passing another act allowing the judges,
Chenoweth and McFadden, Lander being absent from
the territory, one hundred dollars each for their ex-
penses in holding an extra session of the supreme
court, by which the case was remanded to the court
of the 2d judicial district, whither it came on a writ of
error, and an order issued for a special session of the
district court, before which, Chenoweth presiding,
Leschi was again brought, when his counsel entered
a demurrer to its jurisdiction, which was overruled,
and Leschi was for the third time sentenced to be
hanged ; and on the 1 9th of February the unhappy sav-
age, ill and emaciated from long confinement, and weary
of a life which for nearl}^ three years had been one of
strife and misery, was strangled according to law.
There is another case on the record showing the
temper of the time. Shortly after Leschi's betrayal
and arrest, Quiemuth, who had been in hiding, pre-
sented himself to George Brail on Yelm prairie, with
the request that he should accompany him to Olympia,
and give him up to Governor Stevens to be tried.
174 INDIAN WARS.
Brail did as requested, three or four others accom-
panying him. Arriving at Olyrapia at half-past two
in the morning, they arou.sed the governor, who, placing
them all in his office, furnished fire and refreshments,
locked the front door, and proceeded to make ar-
rangements for conveying the j^arty to Steilacoom
before daylight.
Although caution was used, the fact of Quiemuth's
presence in the town became known, and several per-
sons quietly gained access to the governor's office
through a back door, among whom was James Bun ton,
a son-in-law of James McAllister, who was killed
while conversing with some of Leschi's people. The
guard saw no suspicious movement, when suddenly a
shot was fired, there was a quick arousal of all in the
room, and Quiemuth with others sprang to the door,
where he was met by the assassin and mortally
stabbed. So dimly lighted was the room, and so
unexpected and sudden was the deed, that the
perpetrator was not recognized, although there was a
warrant issued a few hours later for Bunton, who, on
examination, was discharged for want of evidence."
Few of the Indian leaders in the war on the Sound
survived it. Several were hanged at Fort Steilacoom ;
three were assassinated by white men out of revenge;
Kitsap was killed in June 1857, on the Muckleshoot
prairie, by one of his own people, and in December fol-
lowing Sluggia, who betrayed Leschi, was killed by
Leschi's friends." Nelson and Stahi alone survived
when Leschi died. His death may be said to have
been the closing act of the war on Puget Sound; but
it was not until the ratification of the Walla Walla
treaties in 1859 that the people returned to their
farms in the Puyallupand upper White River valleys.'*
So antagonistic was the feeling against Stevens con-
12 0/i/mpia Pioneer and Dem., Nov. 28, 1856; Elridge's SJcetch, MS., 9.
^^Olympia Pioneer and Dem., July .3 and Deo. 11, 1857.
'* Patkauim dieil soon after the war was over. Tlic Pioneer and Democrat,
;a,n. 21, 18.79, reniarkcii: 'It Is just as well that he is out of the way, as in
4)ite of everything, we never believed in his friendship. ' Seattle died in 1866,
WAR CLAIMS. 175
duct of the war at the federal capital, that it was
raany years before the war debt was allowed.
The labors of the comruission appointed to examine
claims occupied almost a year, to pay for which con-
gress appropriated twelve thousand dollars. The total
amount of war expenses for Oregon and Washington
aggregated nearly six millions of doUars.^^ When the
papers were all filed they made an enormous mass of
half a cord in bulk, which Smith took to Washington
in 1857." The secretary of war, in his report, pro-
nounced the findings equitable, recommending that
provision should be made for the payment of the full
amount."
never having been suspected. Knssasa, chief of the Cowlitz tribe, clied in
187G, aged 114 years. He was friendly, and a catholic. Olympia Morning
Echo, Jan. 6, 1876.
'5 Deady's Hist. Or., MS., 35; Graver's Pub. Life, MS., 59; Or. Statesman,
Oct. 20, 1857, and March 30 and April 6, 1858; //. Ex. Doc, 45, pp. 1-16,
35th cong. 1st sess. The exact footing was |4,449,949.33 for Oregon; and
$1,481,475.45 for Wasbington=|5,931,424.78. Of this amount, the pay due to
the Oregon volunteers was $1,409,604.53; and to tlie Washington volunteers
$.519,593.06.
"Said Horace Greeley: 'The enterprising tem-itories of Oregon and
Washington have handed into congress their little bill for scalping Indians
and violating squaws two years ago, etc., etc. After these [the Frencn
Spoliation claims] shall have been paid half a century or so, we trust the
claims of the Oregon and Washington Indian-fighters will come up for con-
sideration.' New York Tribune, in Or. Statesman, Feb. 16, 1858.
" On the Oregon war debt, see the report of the third auditor, 1860, found in
H. Ex. Doc, 11, 36th cong. 1st sess.; speech of Grover, in Confj. Globe, 1858-
9, pt ii., app. 217, 35th cong. 2d sess.; letter of third auditor, in //. Ex.
I)oc., 51, vol. viii. 77, 35th cong. 2d sess.; Statement of the Or. and Wash,
delegation in regard to the war claims of Oregon and Washington, a pamphlet
of 67 pages; Dowell's Scrap-Book of authorities on the subject; Or. Jour. Sen.,
18G0, app. 35-6; Dowell's Or. Ind. Wars, 138-42; Jessup's Rept on the cost of
transportation of troops and supplies to California, Oregon, and New Mexico,
2; rept of commissioner on Indian war expenses in Oregon and Washington,
in H. Ex. Doc, 45, 35th cong. 1st sess., vol. ix. ; memorial of the legislative
assembly of 1855-6, in H. Misc. Doc, 77, 34th cong. 1st sess., and //. Misc.
Doc, 78, 34th cong. 1st sess., containing a copy of the act of the same legisla-
ture pro\'idLng for the payment of volunteers; report of the house com-
mittee on military affairs, June 24, 1856, in //. liept, 195, 34th cong. 1st sess.;
reports of committee, vol. i., H. Rept, 189, 34th cong. 3d sess., in H. Reports
of Committee, vol. 3; petition of citizens of Oregon and Washington for a
more speedy and just settlement of the war claims, with the reply of the
third auditor, Sen. Ex. Doc, 46, 37th cong. 2d sess., vol. v.; Report of the
Chairman of the Military Committee of the Senate, March 29, 1860; Rept Com.,
101, 36th cong. 1st sess., vol. i. ; communication from Senators George H.
Williams and W. H. Corbett, on the Oregon Indian war claims of 185,5-6,
audited by Philo Callender, which encloses letters of tlie third auditor, and
B. F. Dowell on the expenses of the war, Washington, March 2, 1808, in
M. Misc. Doc, 88, p. 3-10, ii., 40th cong. 2d sess.: report of sen. com. on
176 INDIAN WAR9.
The number of white persons known to have been
killed by Indians^ in Oregon previous to the establish-
ment of the latter on reservations, including the few
fairl}'^ killed in battle, so far as I have been able to
gather from reliable authorities, was nearly 700, be-
sides about 140 wounded who recovered, and without
counting those killed and wounded in Washington.'^
Two events of no small significance occurred in the
spring of 1857 — the union of the two Indian superin-
tendencies of Washington under one superintendent,
J. W. Nesmith of Oregon, and the recall of General
Wool from the command of the department of the
Pacific. The first was in consequence of the heavy
expenditures in both superintendencies, and the sec-
ond was in response to the petition of the legislature
of Oregon at the session of 1856-7. The successor
of Wool was Newman S. Clarke, who paid a visit to
the Columbia River district in June.'"'
interest to be allowed on the award of the Indian war claims, in Sen. Com.
liept, 8, 37th cong. 2d sess.; letter of secretary of the treasury, contain-
ing information relative to claims incurred in suppressing Indian hostilities in
Oregon and Washington, and which were acted and reported upon by the
commission authorized by the act of August 18, 1856, in .Ven. Ex. Dor., 1 aud
2, 42d cong. 2d sess. ; report of the committee on military affairs, June 22,
1874, in 7/. Beptsof Com., 873, 4.Sd cong. 1st sess.; letter from the third
auditor to the chairman of the committee on military affairs on the subject of
claims growing out of Indian hostilities, in Oregon and Washington, in //.
Ex. Doc, 51, .35th cong. 2d sess.; vol. vii., and Id. Doc, vol. iv., 36th cong.
Ist sess.; communication of C. S. Drew, on the origin and early prosecution
of the Indian war in Oregon, mSen. Misc. Doc, 59, 36th cong. 1st sess., relat-
ing chiefly to Eogue Kiver Valley; Stevens' Speech on War Expenses be/ore the
Committee of Military Affairs of the Ilottse, March 15, 1860; Stevens' Speech
on War Claims in the House of Representatives, May 31, 1858; Speeches of
Joseph Lane in the House of Representatives, April 2, 1856, and May 13, 1858;
Speech of I. I. Stevens in the House of Representative.^ Feb. 31, 1859; Alto,
California, July i, 1857; Or. Statesman, Jan. 26, 1858; Dowdl and Gibhs'
Brief in Donnell vs Cardivell, Sup. Court Decisions, 1877; Early Affairs
Siskiyou County, MS., 13; Swan's iV. W. Coast, 388-91.
'*See a list by S. C. Drew, in the N. Y. Tribune, July 9, 1857. Lindsay
Applegate furnishes a longer one, but neither list is at all complete. See also
letter of Lieut John Mullan to Commissioner Mix, in Mullan's Top. Mem.,
32; Sen. Ex. Doc, 32, 35th cong. 2d sess.
" I arrived at this estimate by putting down in a book the names and the
number of persons murdered or slain in battle. The result surprised me,
although there were undoubtedly others whoso fate was never certainly as-
certained. This only covers the period which ended with the close of the
war of 185.5-6; there were many others killed after these years.
20 The distribution of United States troops in the district for 1857 was two
NESMITH AND CLABKE. 177
Nesmith olid not relieve Stevens of his duties as
superintendent of Washington until the 2d of June,^'
soon after which General Clarke paid a visit to the
Columbia River district to look into the condition of
this portion of his department.
Nesmith recommended to the commissioner at
Washington City that the ti^eaties of 1855 be ratified,
as the best means of bringing about a settlement of the
existing difficulties, and for these reasons: that the
land laws permitted the occupation of the lands of
Oregon and Washington, regardless of the rights of
the Indians, making the intercourse laws a nullity, and
rendering it impossible to prevent collisions between
them and the settlers. Friendly relations could not
be cultivated while their title to the soil was recog-
nized by the government, which at the same time
companies of the 4th infantry at Fort Hoskins, under Capt. C. C. Augur;
detachments of the -Ith inf. and 3d art. at Fort Yamhill, under Lieut Phil.
H. Sheridan; three companies of the 9th inf. at Fort Dalles, Col Wright in
command; one co. of the 4th infantry at Fort Vancouver, Colonel Thomas
Morris in command; one co. of the 3d art. at the Cascades, under Maj. F. 0.
Wyse; three companies of the 9th inf., under Maj. R. S. Garnett, at Fort
Simcoe; one co. each of the 1st dragoons, 3d art., 4th and 9th inf., Col E. J.
Steptoe in command, at Fort Walla Walla; one co. of the 9th inf., under
Capt. G. E. Pickett, at Fort Bellingham, on Bellingham Bay, established to
guard the Sound from the incursions of northern Indians; one co. of tlie 9th
inf., under Capt. D. Woodruff, in camp near Fort Bellingham, as escort to
the northern boundary com. ; one co. of the 4th inf., under Maj. G. O. Haller,
at Fort Townsend, two and a half miles from Port Townsend; one comiiany
of the 9th inf., under Lieut D. B. McKibl>en, at Fort Slaughter, on Muckle-
Bhoot prairie, near the junction of White and Green rivers; two companies
4th inf., Capt. M. Malouey in command, at Fort Steilacoom; and en route
for Fort Walla Walla, arriving in the autumn, one company of the 1st dra-
goons, under Capt. A. J. Smith, making, with one company at Fort Ump-
qua, a force of between 1,500 and 2,000 regular troops, to hold in subjection
39,000 Indians.
" Nesmith found the agents already in charge of the Indians in the Puget
Sound district to be E. C. Fitzhugh at Bellingham Bay, G. A. Paige at Kit-
sap reservation, M. T. Simmons general agent for Puget Sound, E. C. Fay at
Penn's Cove, Whidbey Island, Thomas J. Hanna at Port Townsend (vice E.
S. Fowler), W. B. Gosnell in charge of the Nisqually and Puyallup Indians
on the Puyallup reservation, S. S. Ford in charge of the Cowlitz, Chehalis,
Shoalwater Bay, Willopah, Quilehutes, and other coast tribes in this quarter,
A.J.Cain in charge of the Indians on the north side of the Columbia from Van-
couver to opposite The Dalles, assisted by A. Townsend, local agent at White
Salmon, A. H. Robie in charge of the Yakima district, William Craig in
charge of the friendly Cayuses, R. H. Lansdale in charge of the Flathead dis-
trict. The Nez Percys had declined an agent, fearing he might be killed,
which would involve the tribe in war, and the other tribes were unfriendly
and without agents. A. P. Dennison had charge of the district of eastern
Oregon. Iml. Aff. Kept, 1857, 325-83.
178 INDIAX WAES.
failed to purchase it, but gave white people a right to
settle in the country.
About the middle of April 1858 Colonel Steptoe
notified General Clarke that an expedition to the north
seemed advisable, if not absolutely necessary, as a
petition had been received from forty persons living
at Colville for troops to be sent to that place, the
Indians in the vicinity being hostile. Two white men
en route for Colville mines had been killed by the
Palouses, who had also made a foray into the Walla
Walla country and driven off the cattle belonging to
the army. On the 6th of May Steptoe left Walla
Walla with 130 dragoons, proceeding toward the
Nez Perce country in a leisurely manner. At
Snake River he was ferried across by Timothy,
who also accompanied him as guide. At the
Alpowah he found thirty or forty of the Palouses,
who were said to have killed the two travellers, who
fled on his approach. On the 16th he received in-
formation, that the Spokanes were preparing to fight
him, but not believing the report, pursued his march
northward" until he found himself surrounded by a
force of about 600 Indians in their war-paint — Pa-
louses, Spokanes, Cceur d'Alenes, and a few Nez
Perces. The}^ had posted themselves near a ravine
through which the road passed, and where the troops
could be assailed on three sides. The command was
halted and a parley held with the Spokanes, in which
they announced their intention of fighting, saying that
they had heard the troops had come to make war on
them, but they would not be permitted to cross the
Spokane River.
Informing his officers that they should be com-
pelled to fight, Steptoe turned aside to avoid the
dangerous pass of the ravine, and coming in about a
mile to a small lake, encamped there, but without dar-
ing to dismount, the Indians having accompanied them
^^ Letter of Steptoe to Gov. McMuUiii, July 16, 1858, MS.; letter of Lieut
Gregg, in Iml. Af. Rept, 1S58, 27'2.
STEPTOE'S CAMPAIGN. 179
all the way at a distance of not more than a hundred
yards, using the most insulting words and gestures.
No shots were fired, either by the troops or Indians,
Steptoe being resolved that the Spokanes should fire
the first gun; and indeed, the dragoons had only their
small-arms, and were not prepared for fighting
Indians.^^
Toward night a number of chiefs rode up to the
camp to inquire the occasion of the troops coming
into the Spokane country, and why they had cannon
with them. Steptoe replied that he was on his way
to Colville to learn the causes of the troubles between
the miners and Indians in that region. This the
Indians professed to him to accept as the true reason,
though they asserted to Father Joset that they did
not believe it, because the colonel had not taken the
direct road to Colville, but had come out of his way
to pass through their country — a fact of which Steptoe
was himself unconscious, having trusted to Timothy
to lead him to Colville.^ But though the chiefs pro-
fessed to be satisfied, they refused to furnish canoes
to ferry over the troops, and maintained an unyield-
ing opposition to their advance into the Spokane
country. Finding that he should have to contend
against great odds, without being prepared, Steptoe
determined upon retreating, and early on the morning
of the 1 7th began his return to the Palouse.
In the mean time the Coeur d'Alenes, who were
gathering roots in a camas prairie a few miles distant,
had been informed of the position of affairs, and were
urged to join the Spokanes, who could not consent to
let the troops escape out of their hands so easily. As
they were about marching, Steptoe received a visit
from Father Joset, who was anxious to explain to him
the causes which led to the excitement, and also a
slander which the Palouses had invented against
himself, that he had furnished the Indians with
^Sleptoe's Letter to Gov. McMulVm, MS.
^'Statement of Father Joset, iu il/rs Nichols' ImJ. Affairs, MS., 7; report
of Colouel Steptoe, iu Clarke and WrhjhCs Campaign, 17.
INDIAN WARS.
ammunition. It was then agreed that an interview-
should be had with the principal chiefs; but only
the Coeur d'Al^ne chief Vincent was found ready to
meet Steptoe. In the midst of the interview, which
was held as they rode along, the chief was called
away and firing was commenced by the Palouses, who
were dogging the heels of the command. What at
first seemed an attack by this small party of Indians
only soon became a general battle, in which all were
engaged. Colonel Steptoe labored under the disadvan-
tage of having to defend a pack-train while moving over
a rolling country particularly favorable to Indian war-
fare. The column moved, at first, in close order, with
the supply train in the middle, guarded by a dragoon
company, with a company in the front and rear. At
the crossing of a small stream, the Indians closing in
to get at the head of the column. Lieutenant Gregg,
with one company, was ordered to move forward and
occupy a hill which the Indians were trying to gain
for that purpose. He had no sooner reached this po-
sition than the Indians sought to take possession of
one which commanded it, and it became necessary to
divide his company to drive them from the new posi-
tion.
By this time the action had become general, and
the companies were separated, fighting by making
short charges, and at a great disadvantage on account
of the inferiority of their arms to those used by the
Indians. As one of the dragoon companies was en-
deavoring to reach the hill held by Gregg's company,
the Indians made a charge to get between them and
the hill to surround and cut them off. Seeing the
movement and its intention, Lieutenant Gaston, who
was not more than a thousand yards ofi", made a dash
with his company, which was met by Gregg's company
from the hill, in a triangle, and the Indians suffered the
greatest loss of the battle just at the spot where the
two companies met, having twelve killed in the charge.-^
" The Indian loss in the battle of Steptoe Butte— called Tehotomimme
A BLOODY FIGHT. 181
Among the killed were Jacques Zachary, a brother-
in-law of the Coeur d'Alene chief Vincent, and James,
another headman. Victor, an influential chief, also
of the Cceur d'Alenes, fell mortally wounded. The
rage of the Coeur d'Al(5nes at this loss was terrible,
and soon they had avenged themselves. As the troops
slowly moved forward, fighting, to reach water, the
Indians kept up a constant raking fire, until about 11
o'clock, when Captain Oliver H. P. Taylor and Lieu-
tenant William Gaston were killed.^* To these officers
had been assigned the difficult duty of flanking the
column. Their loss threw the men into confusion,
harassed as they were by the steady fire of the enemy,
but a few of them gallantly defended the bodies of
their officers and brought them off the field under a
rain of bullets.^'
It now became apparent that water could not be
reached by daylight, and though it was not much past
noon, Steptoe was forced to remain in the best po-
sition he could obtain on the summit of a hill, on a
small inclined plain, where the troops dismounted and
picketed their animals. The men were then ordered
to lie down flat upon the ground, and do their best
to prevent the Indians taking the hill by charges, in
which defence they were successful. Toward even-
by the Indians — a place about seven miles from the present town of Colfax,
was estimated by the Indians at 9 killed and forty or fifty wounded; but
Steptoe in his report mentions that Lieut Gregg had seen 12 dead Indians
together at one spot, and that many others were seen to fall. Clarke and
Wri:/ht's Campau/n, 18.
"'Mrs Nichol's Indian Affairs, MS., 9. Taylor was a graduate of West
Point of 1S46, and only a few weeks previous to his death had brought out
his wife and children to the Pacific coast. Gaston was a graduate of 1856,
and an officer of great promise. Ind. Aff. Eept, 1858, 274.
''■'' First Sergeant Wm 0. Willams, privates R. P. Kerse and Francis
Poisell, were honorably mentioned for this. Williams and another sergeant,
Edward Ball, were wounded and missing afterward. They succeeded in
eluding the Indians, and reached the Snake River crossing alive. Williams
was then killed by the Indians, who permitted Ball to escape and return to
Fort Walla Walla. Kip's Army Life, 11. This book of Lieut Lawrence Kip,
3d artillery, is like his Indian Council at Walla Walla in 1S55, a small volume
containing Ills personal observations on the operations of the army in the In-
dian country of Washington. It embraces a number of subjects — the origin
of the war, the march from The Dalles, and the various incidents of the cam-
paign of Col Wright following the disaster of Steptoe's expedition — very
pleasantly written.
182 INDIAN WARS.
ing the ammunition, of which tliey had an insufficient
su])ply, began to give out, and the men were suffering
so severely from thirst and fatigue that it was with
difficulty the three remaining officers could inspire
them to defend themselves.^' Six of their comrades
were dead or dying, and eleven others wounded.
Many of the men were late recruits, insufficiently
drilled, whose courage these reverses had much dimin-
ished, if not altogether destroyed.
Nothing remained now but flight. The dead
officers were hastily interred; and taking the best
horses and a small supply of provisions, the troops
crept silently away at ten o'clock that night and
hurried toward Snake River, where they arrived
on the morning of the 19th. Thence Steptoe re-
turned to Fort Walla Walla.
One of the reasons, if not the princijial one, assigned
by the Coeur d'Alenes for their excitability and pas-
sion was that ever since the outbreak in 1855 they
had said that no white settlements should be made in
their country, nor should there be any roads through
it; and they were informed a road was about to bo
opened from the Missouri to the Columbia by the
United States government in spite of their protest."''
They were opposed, also, to troops being sent to Col-
ville, as they said that would only open the way for
more troops, and again for more, and finally for the
occupation of the country.
General Clarke, learning from Father Joset that
the Coeur d'Alenes were penitent, offered to treat
'* ' To move from one point to another we had to crawl on our hands and
knees, amid the howling of the Indians, the groans of the dying, and the
whistling of balls and arrows.' Letter of Lieut Gregg, in Ind. Aff. Jiept, 1858,
274.
'"This referred to the wagon-road afterward opened by John MuUan, 1st
lieut 2d art., in charge of the construction of a military road from Fort
Benton to Fort Walla Walla. See il/««an'.v Military Eoad Report. The only
Soint on which Steptoe could congratulate himself in his report on his expe-
ition was that it had undoubtedly saved the lives of Jlullan's whole com-
mand, who, had they proceeded into the Spokane counti'y as intended, with-
out being warned of the hostility of the Indians, would have been slaughtered.
As it was, they remained at The Dalles. Letter of Wright, in Clarke, and
Wriijht's Cnmpaiftn, 22; Report of the Secretary of War ISoS, 3J1; letter of
Steptoe, Jd., 350.
WRIGHT AND GARXETT. 183
with them on easy conditions, considering their con-
duct toward Colonel Steptoe; he sent their priest
back to them with passports, which were to conduct
their chiefs to Vancouver should they choose to
come.
But the Coeur d' Alines did not choose to come.
True, they had professed penitence to their priest,
begging him to intercede for them, but as soon as his
back was turned on them, they, with the Spokanes
and Kalispels, led by the notorious Telxawney, brewed
mischief. The Coeur d'Alenes openly denied consent-
ing to Father Joset's peace mission, and were incensed
that he should meddle with things that did not con-
cern him. After this, attacks on miners and others
continued.
In June General Clarke held a consultation of offi-
cers at Vancouver, colonels Wright and Steptoe be-
ing present, when an expedition was determined upon
which should not repeat the blunders of the previous
one, and Colonel Wright was placed in command.
Three companies of artillery were brought from San
Francisco, one from Fort Umpqua, and Captain
Judah was ordered from Fort Jones, in California,
with one company of 4th infantry. The troops in-
tended for the expedition were concentrated at Fort
Walla Walla, where they were thoroughly drilled in
the tactics which they were expected to practise on
the field, the artillerymen being instructed in light
infantry practice, with the exception of a single com-
pany, which practised at artillery drill mounted.
No precaution was neglected which could possibly
secure discipline in battle.
At the same time that the expedition against the
Spokanes and Coeur d'Alenes was preparing, another
against the Yakimas was ordered, under the command
of Major Garnett, who was to move, on the 15th of
August, with 300 troops, northward toward Colville,
thus assisting to drive the hostile Indians toward one
184 INDIAN WARS.
common centre. Before leaving Fort Walla Walla,
on the 6tli of August, Wright called a council of the
Nez Perces, with whom he made a 'treaty of friend-
ship,' binding them to aid the United States in wars
with any other tribes, and binding the United States
to assist them in the same case, at the cost of the gov-
ernment; and to furnish them arms whenever their
services were required. The treaty was signed by
Wright on the part of the United States, and by
twenty-one Nez Percys, among whom were Timothy,
Richard, Three Feathers, and Speaking Eagle, but by
none of the greater chiefs already known in this his-
tory. The treaty was witnessed by six army officers
and approved by Clarke.^" A company of thirty Nez
Perce volunteers was organized under this arrange-
ment, the Indians being dressed in United States uni-
form, to flatter their pride as allies, as well as to
distinguish them from the hostile Indians. This com-
pany was placed under the command of Lieutenant
John MuUan, to act as guides and scouts.
On the 7tli of August Captain Keyes took his de-
parture with a detachment of dragoons for Snake
River, where, by the advice of Colonel Steptoe, a
fortification was to be erected, at the point selected
for a crossing. This was at the junction of the Tu-
cannon with the Snake River. It was built in the
deep gorge, overhung by cliffs on either side, 260 and
310 feet in height. The fortification was named Fort
Taylor, in honor of Captain 0. H. P. Taylor, killed in
the battle of the 17th of May. The place would have
afforded little security against a civilized foe, but was
thought safe from Indian attack. A reservation of
G40 acres was laid out, and every preparation made
for a permanent post, including a ferry, for which a
large flat-boat was provided.
'" Tliis treaty wa3 the subject of criticism. Miillan attributed to it the good
conduct of the Noz Percys, but particularly as preventing a general coalition
of the Indian tribes, 'and a fire in our rear, which if once commenced must end
in our total destruction.' Jiul. Aff. liejit, 1S58, 281.
AT FORT TAYLOR. 185
On the 18th Wright arrived at Fort Taylor, and
in a few days the march began. The dragoons num-
bered 190, the artillery 400, and the infantry 90. The
last were organized as a rifle brigade, and armed with
Sharpe's long-range rifles and minie-ball, two im-
provements in the implements of war with wliich the
Indians were unacquainted. On the 31st, when the
army had arrived at the head waters of Cheranah
River, a point almost due north of Tort Taylor, 76
miles from that post, and about twenty south of the
Spokane River, the Indians showed themselves in
some force on the hills, and exchanged a few shots
with the Nez Perces, who were not so disguised by
their uniforms as to escape detection had they desired
it, which apparently they did not. They also fired
the grass, with the intention of making an attack
under cover of the smoke, but it failed to burn well.
They discharged their guns at the rear-guard, and
retreated to the hills again, where they remained.
Judging from these indications that the main body of
the Indians was not far distant, and wishing to give
his troops some rest before battle, after so long a march,
Wright ordered camp to be made at a place in the
neighborhood of Four Lakes, with the intention of
remaining a few days at that place.
But the Indians were too i.mpatient to allow him
this respite, and early in the morning of the 1st of
September they began to collect on the summit of a
hill about two miles distant. As they appeared in
considerable force, Wright, with two squadrons of
dragoons commanded by Major W. N. Grier, four
companies of the 3d artillery, armed with rifle mus-
kets, commanded by Major E. D. Keyes, and the
rifle battalion of two companies of the 9th infantry
commanded by Captain F. T. Dent, one mountain
howitzer under command of Lieutenant J. L. White,
and the thirty Nez Perces under the command of
Lieutenant John Mullan, set out at half-past nine in
the forenoon to make a reconnoissance, and drive the
1S6 INDIAN WARS.
enemy from tbeir position, leaving in camp the equi-
page and supplies, guarded by one company of artillery,
commanded by lieutenants H. G. Gibson and G. B.
Dandy, a howitzer manned, and a guard of fifty-four
men under Lieutenant H. B. Lyon, the ^Yhole com-
manded by Captain J. A. Hardie, the field-officer of
the day.=*i
Grier was ordered to advance with his cavalry to
the north and east around the base of the hill occu-
pied by the Indians, in order to intercept their retreat
when the foot-troops should have driven them from
the summit. The artillery and rifle battalion, with
the Nez Perces, were marched to the right of the hill,
where the ascent was more easy, and to push the Ind-
ians in the direction of the dragoons. It was not a
difficult matter to drive the Indians over the crest of
the hill, but once on the other side, they took a stand,
and evidently expecting a combat, showed no dispo-
sition to avoid it. In fact, they were keeping up a
constant firing upon the two squadrons of dragoons,
who were awaiting the foot-troops on the other side
of the ridge.
On this side was spread out a vast plain, in a beau-
tiful and exciting panorama. At the foot of the hill
was a lake, and just beyond, three others surrounded
by rugged rocks. Between them, and stretching
to the north-west as far as the eye could reach, was
level ground; in the distance, a dark range of pine-
covered mountains. A more desirable battle-field
could not have been selected. There was the open
jDlain, and the convenient covert among the pines
that bordered the lakes, and in the ravines of the
hillside. Mounted on their fleetest horses, the Ind-
ians, decorated for war, their gaudy trapping glaring
in the sun, and singing or shouting their battle-cries,
swayed back and forth over a compass of two miles.
" The entire transportation of Wright's command consisted of about 400
mules, .325 belonging to the quartermaster's department, six to each company,
and one to each officer. Only the dragoons were mounted. Kip's Arm// Life,
THE BATTLE BEGUN. 187
Even their horses were painted in contrasting white,
crimson, and other colors, wliile from their bridles
depended bead fringes, and woven with their manes
and tails were the plumes of eagles. Such was
the spirited spectacle that greeted Colonel Wright
and his command on that bright September morning.
Soon his plan of battle was decided upon. The
troops were now in possession of the elevated ground,
and the Indians held the plain, the ravines, and the
pine groves. The dragoons were drawn up on the
crest of the hill facing the plain; behind them were
two companies of Ke3res' artillery battalion acting as
infantry, and with the infantry, deployed as skir-
mishers, to advance down the hill and drive the Ind-
ians from their coverts at the foot of the ridge into
the plain. The rifle battalion under Dent, composed
of two companies of the 9th infantry, with Winder
and Fleming, was ordered to the right to deplo}^ in
the pine forest; and the howitzers, under White, sup-
ported by a company of artillery under Tyler, was
advanced to a lower plateau, in order to be in a posi-
tion for effective firing.
The advance began, the infantry moving steadily
down the long slope, passing the dragoons, and firing
a sharp volley into the Indian ranks at the bottom of
the hill. The Indians now experienced a surprise.
Instead of seeing the soldiers drop before their mus-
kets while their own fire fell harmless, as at the bat-
tle of Steptoe Butte, the effect was reversed. The
rifles of the infantry struck down the Indians before
the troops came within range of their muskets.
This unexpected disadvantage, together with the
orderly movement of so large a number of men, ex-
ceeding their own force by at least one or two hun-
dred,^' caused the Indians to retire, though slowly at
^-Wright, in his report, says there were '400 or 500 iiiounteil warriors,'
and also • large numbers of ludiaus ' in the pine woods. Vidian's Top. Mem.,
19. Kip says the Indians ' outnumbered us,' p. 59 of Arm;/ Life, but it is not
probable. Wright had over 700 iigl\ting men. Subtracting those left to
guard the camp, there would still be a number equal to, if not exceeding, the
Indians.
188 INDIAN WARS.
first, and many of them to take refuge in the woods,
where they were met by the rifle battalion and the
howitzers, doing deadly execution.
Continuing to advance, the Indians falling back,
the inflmtry reached the edge of the plain. The dra-
goons were in the rear, leading their horses. When
taey had reached the bottom of the hill they mounted,
and charging between the divisions of skirmishers,
rushed like a whirlwind upon the Indians, creating a
panic, from which they did not recover, but fled in all
directions. They were pursued by the dragoons for
about a mile, when the latter were obliged to halt,
their horses being exhausted. The foot-troops, too,
being weary with their long march from Walla Walla,
pursued but a short distance before they were recalled.
The few Indians who still lingered on the neighboring
hilltops soon fled when the howitzers were dis-
charged in their direction. By two o'clock the whole
armj'^ had returned to camp, not a man or a horse
having been killed, and only one horse wounded.
The Indians lost eighteen or twenty killed and many
wounded.^*
For three days Wright rested unmolested in camp.
On the 5th of September, resuming his march, in about
five miles he came upon the Indians collecting in large
bodies, apparently with the intention of opposing his
progress. They rode along in a line parallel to the
troops, augmenting in numbers, and becoming more
demonstrative, until on reaching a plain bordered by
a wood they were seen to be stationed there awaiting
the moment wlien the attack might be made.
As the column approached, the grass was fired,
which being dry at this season of the .year, burned
with great fierceness, the wind blowing it toward
the troops; and at the same time, under cover of the
smoke, the Indians spread themselves out in a cres-
cent, half enclosing them. Orders were immediately
" Report of Secretary of War for ISoS, 38(3-00; report of Wright, iu Mtil-
lau'e Top. Mem., 19-20; Or. Statemnan, Sept. 21, ISJS.
DEFEAT OF THE FOE. 189
given to the pack-train to close up, and a strong
guard was placed about it. The companies were then
deployed on the right and left, and the men, flushed
with their recent victory, dashed through the smoke
and flames toward the Indians, driving them to the
cover of the timber, where they were assailed by
shells from the howitzers. As they fled from the
havoc of the shells, the foot-soldiers again charged
them. This was repeated from cover to cover, for
about four miles, and then from rock to rock, as the
face of the country changed, until they were driven
into a plain, when a cavalry charge was sounded, and
the scenes of the battle of Four Lakes were repeated.
But the Indians were obstinate, and gathered in
parties in the forest through which the route now
led, and on a hill to the right. Again the riflemen
and howitzers forced them to give way. This was
continued during a progress of fourteen miles. That
afternoon the army encamped on the Spokane River,
thoroughly worn out, having marched twenty-five
miles without water, fighting half of the way. About
the same number of Indians appeared to be engaged
in this battle that had been in the first. Only one
soldier was slightly wounded. The Coeur d'AIenes
lost two chiefs, the Spokanes two, and Kamiakin
also, who had striven to inspire the Indians with
courage, received a blow upon the head from a falling
tree-top blown off" by a bursting shell. The whole
loss of the Indians was unknown, their dead being
carried oS the field. At the distance of a few miles,
they burned one of their villages to prevent the
soldiers spoiling it.
The army rested a day at the camp on Spokane
River, without being disturbed by the Indians, who
appeared in small parties on the opposite bank, and
intimated a disposition to hold communication, but
did not venture across. But on the following day,
while the troops were on the march along the left
bank, they reappeared on the right, conversing with
190 INDIAN WARS.
the Nez Perces and interpreters, from which commu-
nication it was learned that they desired to come with
Garry and have a talk with Colonel Wright, who ap-
pointed a meeting at the ford two miles above the falls.
Wright encamped at the place appointed for a
meeting, and Garry came over soon after. He stated
to the colonel the difficulties of his position between
the war and peace parties. The war party, greatly
in the majority, and numbering his friends and the prin-
cipal men of his nation, was incensed with him for being
a peace man, and he had either to take up arms
against the white men or be killed by his own people.
There was no reason to doubt this assertion of Garry's,
his previous character being well known. But
Wright replied in the tone of a conqueror, telling
him he had beaten them in two battles without losing
a man or animal, and that he was prepared to beat
them as often as they chose to come to battle; he did
not come into the country to ask for peace, but to
fight. If they were tired of war, and wanted peace,
he would give them his terms, which were that they
nmst come with everything that they had, and lay
all at his feet — arms, women, children — and trust to
his mercy. When they had thus fully surrendered,
he would talk about peace. If they did not do this,
he would continue to make war upon them that year
and the next, and until they were exterminated.
With this message to his people, Garry was dismissed.
On the same day Polatkin, a noted Spokane chief,
presented himself with nine warriors at the camp of
Colonel Wright, having left their arms on the oppo-
site side of the river, to avoid surrendering tliem.
Wright sent two of the warriors over after the guns,
when one of them mounted his horse and rode away.
The other returned, bringing the guns. To Polatkin
Wright repeated what had been said to Garry; and
as this chief was known to have been in the attack
on Steptoe, as well as a leader in the recent battles,
he was detained, with another Indian, while he sent
SURRENDER OF BIG STAR. 191
the remaining warriors to bring in all the people, with
whatever belonged to them. The Indian with Polat-
kin being recognized as one who had been at Fort
Walla Walla in the spring, and who was suspected of
being concerned in the murder of the two miners in
the Palouse country about that time, he was put
under close scrutiny, with the intention of trying him
for the crime.
Resuming his march on the 8tli of September,
after travelling nine miles, a great dust where the
road entered the mountains betrayed the vicinity of
the Indians, and the train was closed up, under guard,
while Major Grier was ordered to push forward with
three companies of dragoons, followed by the foot-
troops. After a brisk trot of a couple of miles, the
dragoons overtook the Indians in the mountains with
all their stock, which they were driving to a place of
safety, instead of surrendering, as required. A skir-
mish ensued, ending in the capture of 800 horses.
With this booty the dragoons were returning, when
they were met by the foot-troops, who assisted in
driving the animals to camp sixteen miles above
Spokane Falls. The Indian suspected of murder was
tried at this encampment, and being found guilty, was
hanged the same day about sunset.
After a consultation on the morning of the 9th,
Wright determined to have the captured horses killed,
only reserving a few of the best for immediate use, it
being impracticable to take them on the long march
yet before them, and they being too wild for the ser-
vice of white riders. Accordingly two or three hun-
dred were shot that day, and the remainder on the
lOth.^* The effect of dismounting the Indians was
quickly apparent, in the offer of a Spokane chief, Big
Star, to surrender. Being without horses, he was
permitted to come with his village as the army passed,
and make his surrender to Wright in due form.
'* Brown's Autobiography, MS., 40; Clarke and Wright's Campaign, 393-4;
Kip's Armij Life, 78.
192 INDIAN WARS.
On the lOtli the Coeur d'Alenes made proposals
of submission, and as the troops were now within a
few days' march of the mission, Wright directed them
to meet him at that place, and again took up his
march. Crossing the Spokane, each dragoon with a
foot-soldier behind him, the road lay over the Spokane
plains, along the river, and for fifteen miles through
a pine forest, to the Coeur d'Alene Lake, where camp
was made on the 11th. All the provisions found
cached were destroyed, in order that the Indians
should not be able, if they were willing, to carry on
hostilities again during the year. Beyond Coeur
d'Alene Lake the road ran through a forest so dense
that the troops were compelled to march in single
file, and thfe single wagon, belonging to Lieutenant
Mullan, that had been permitted to accompany the
expedition, had to be abandoned, as well as the lim-
ber belonging to the howitzers, which were thereafter
packed upon mules. The rough nature of the country
from the Coeur d'Alene Lake to the mission made
the march exceedingly fatiguing to the foot-soldiers,
who, after the first day, began to show the effects of
so much toil, together with hot and sultry weather,
by occasionally falling out of ranks, often compelling
officers to dismount and give them their horses.
On the 13th the army encamped within a quarter
of a mile of the mission.^' The following day
Vincent, who had not been in the recent battles,
returned from a circuit he had been making among
his people to induce them to surrender themselves to
Wright; but the Indians, terrified by what they had
heard of the severity of that officer, declined to see
him. However, on the next day a few came in,
bringing some articles taken in the battle of the 17th
of May. Observing that no harm befell these few,
'* The Coeur d'Alfine mission was situated in a pretty valley in the moun-
tains, with a branch of the Cceur d'Alfine River watering it, the mission
cliurch standing iu the centre of a group of houses, a mill, the residences of
the priests, bams for storing the produce of tlie Indian farms, and a few dwell-
ings of the most civilized of the Indian converts. MuUan'a Top. Mem., 37.
END OF THE CAMPAIGN.
others followed their example. They were still more
encouraged by the release of Polatkin, who was sent to
bring in his people to a comicil. By the l7th a con-
siderable number of Coeur d' Alines and Spokanes
were collected at the camp, and a council was opened.
Wright's CAiiPAioN.
The submission of these Indians was complete
and pitiful. They had fought for home and country,
as barbarians fight, and lost all. The strong hand of
a conquering power, the more civilized the more ter-
rible, lay heavily upon them, and they yielded.
An arbor of green branches of trees had been con-
structed in front of the commander's tent, and here in
state sat Colonel Wright, surrounded by his officers,
to pass judgment upon the conquered chiefs. Father
Hist. Wash.— 13
Joset and tlie interpreters were also present. Vincent
opened the council by rising and saying briefly to
Colonel Wright that he had committed a great crime,
and was deeply sorry for it, and was glad that he and
his people were promised forgiveness. To this hum-
ble acknowledgment Wright replied that what the
chief had said was true — a great crime had been com-
mitted ; but since he had asked for peace, peace should
be granted on certain conditions: the delivery to him
of the men who struck the first blow in the affair with
Colonel Steptoe, to be sent to General Clarke; the
delivery of one chief and four warriors with their
families, to be taken to Walla Walla; the return of all
the property taken from Steptoe's command; consent
that troops and other white men should pass through
their country; the exclusion of the turbulent hostile
Indians from their midst; and a promise not to commit
any acts of hostility against white men. Should they
agree to and keep such an engagement as this, they
should have peace forever, and he would leave their
country with his troops. An additional stipulation
was then offered — that there should be peace between
the Cceur d'Alenes and Nez Perces. Vincent then
desired to hear from the Nez Perces themselves,
their minds in the matter, when one of the volunteers,
a chief, arose and declared that if the Coeur d'Alenes
were friends of the white men, they were also his
friends, and past differences were buried. To this
Vincent answered that he was glad and satisfied ; and
henceforth there should be no more war between the
Coeur d'Alenes and Nez Perces, or their allies, the
white men, for the past was forgotten. A written
agreement containing ah these articles was then for-
mally signed. Polatkin, for the Spokanes, expressed
himself satisfied, and the council ended by smoking
the usual peace-pipe.
A council with the Spokanes had been appointed for
the 23d of September, to which Kamiakin was invited,
with assurances that if he would come he should not
PEACE AXD HANGINGS. 105
be harmed; but he refused, lest he should be taken to
Walla Walla. The council with the Spokanes was
a repetition of that with the Coeur d' Alines, and the
treaty the same. After it was over, Owhi presented
himself at camp, when Wright had him placed in irons
for having broken his agreement made with him in
1856, and ordered him to send for his son Qualchin,
sometimes called the younger Owhi, telling him that
he would be hanged unless Qualchin obeyed the sum-
mons. Very unexpectedly Qualchin came in the fol-
lowing day, not knowing that he was ordered to ap-
pear, and was seized and hanged without the formality
of a trial. A few days later, when Wright was at
Snake River, Owhi, in attempting to escape, was shot
by Lieutenant Morgan, and died two hours afterward.
Kamiakin and Skloom were now the only chiefs of
any note left in the Yakima nation, and their influence
was much impaired by the results of their turbulent
behavior. Kamiakin went to British Columbia after-
ward, and never again ventured to return to his own
land.
On the 25th, while still at the council-camp, a num-
ber of Palouses came in, part of whom Wright hanged,
refusing to treat with the tribe. Wright reached
Snake River on the 1st of October, having performed
a campaign of five weeks, as efibctive as it was in
some respects remarkable. On the 1st of October
Fort Taylor was abandoned, there being no further
need of troops at that point, and the whole army
marched to Walla Walla, where it arrived on the 5th,
and was inspected by Colonel Mansfield, who arrived
a few days previous.
On the 9th of October, Wright called together the
Walla Wallas, and told them he knew that some of
them had been in the recent battles, and ordered all
those that had been so engaged to stand up. Thirty-
five stood up at once. From these were selected four,
who were banded over to the guard and hanged.
Thus sixteen savages were offered up as examples.
196 INDIAN WARS.
While Wright was thus sweeping from the earth
these ill-fated aboriginals east of the Columbia, Gar-
nett was doing no less in the Yakima country. Ou
the 15th of August Lieutenant Jesse K. Allen cap-
tured seventy Indians, men, women, and children,
with their property, and three of them were shot.
Proceeding north to the Wenatchee River, ten Ya-
kimas were captured by lieutenants Crook, McCall,
and Turner, and five of them shot, making twenty-four
thus killed for alleged attacks on white men, on this
campaign. Garnett continued his march to the Oka-
nagan River to inquire into the disposition of the
Indians in that quarter, and as they were found
friendly, he returned to Fort Simcoe.
Up to this time the army had loudly denounced
the treaties made by Stevens; but in October Gen-
eral Clarke, addressing the adjutant-general of the
United States army upon his views of the Indian re-
lations in Oregon and Washington, remarked upon
the long-vexecl subject of the treaties of Walla Walla,
that his opinion on that subject had undergone a
change, and recommended that they should be con-
firmed, giving as his reasons that the Indians had
forfeited some of their claims to consideration; that
the gold discoveries would carry immigration along the
foothills of the eastern slope of the Cascades; that the
vallej^s must be occupied for grazing and cultivation ;
and that in order to make complete the pacification
which his arms had effected, the limits must be drawn
between the Indians and the white race.^" It was to
be regretted that this change of opinion was not
made known while General Clarke was in conmiand
of the department embracing Oregon and Washing-
ton, as it would greatly have softened the asperity of
feeling which the opposition of the military to the
treaties had engendered. As it was, another general
received the plaudits which were justly due to Gen-
eral Clarke.
" Clarke and Wright^a Campairj)!, 83.
A NEW DEPARTURE. 197
By an order of the war department of the 13th
of September, the department of the Pacific was
divided, the southern portion to be called the depart-
ment of California, though it embraced the Umpqua
district of Oregon. The northern division was called
the department of Oregon, and embraced Oregon
and Washington, with headquarters at Vancouver.^'
Walla Walla VALLEr.
General Clarke was assigned to California, while Gen-
eral W. S. Harney, fresh from a campaign in Utah,
was placed in command of the department of Oregon.
General Harney arrived in Oregon on the 29th of
October, and assumed command. Two days later he
issued an order reopening the Walla Walla country
*'' Puget Sound Herald, Nov. 5, 1S53; Or. Slatenman, Nov. 2, ISoS.
198 INDIAN WARS.
to settlement. A resolution was adopted by the
legislative assemblies of both Oregon and Washing-
ton congratulating the people on the creation of the
department of Oregon, and on having General Harney,
a noted Indian-fighter, for a commander, as also upon
the order reopening the country east of the moun-
tains to settlement, harmonizing with the recent act
of congress extending the land laws of the United
States over that portion of the territories. Harney
was entreated by the legislature to extend his protec-
tion to immigrants, and to establish a garrison at
Fort Boise. In this matter, also, he received the ap-
plause due as much to General Clarke as himself,
Clarke having already made the recommendation for
a large post between Fort Laramie and Fort Walla
Walla, for the better protection of immigrants.^*
The stern measures of the army, followed by pacifi-
catory ones of the Indian department, were preparing
the Indians for the ratification of the treaties of 1855.
Some expeditions were sent out during the winter to
chastise a few hostile Yakimas, but no general or con-
siderable uprising occurred. Fortunately for all con-
cerned, at this juncture of affairs congress confirmed
the Walla Walla treaties in March 1859, the Indians
no longer refusing to recognize their obligations.'''
At a council held by Agent A. J. Cain with the Nez
Percys, even Looking Glass and Joseph declared
they were glad the treaties had been ratified; but
Joseph, who wished a certain portion of the country
set off to him and his children, mentioned this matter
to the agent, out of which nearly twenty years later
grew another war, through an error of Joseph's son
in supposing that the treaty gave him this land.''"
The other tribes also signified their satisfaction.
Fort Simcoe being evacuated, the buildings, which had
cost $60,000, were taken for an Indian agency. A
^'Rtpt of the Secretary of War, ISoS, 413; S. F. BuUetiii, Dec. 30, ISoS;
Or. Laws, 1858-9, iii.; C'oiifi. Globe., 1857-8, app. 5U0.
^^Pui/et Sound Herald, April 29, 1859; Or. Argus, April 30, 1859.
'"See Ind. Aff. Kept, 1859, 420.
HARNEY IN COMMAND. 199
portion of the garrison was sent to escort the boun-
dary commission, and another portion to estabhsh
Harney depot, fourteen miles north-east of Fort Col-
ville," under Major P. Lugenbeel, to remain a stand-
ing threat to restless and predatory savages, Lugen-
beel having accepted an appointment as special Indian
agent, uniting the Indian and military departments
in one at this post.
General Harney had nearly 2,000 troops in his de-
partment in 1859. Most of them, for obvious reasons,
were stationed in Washington, but many of them
were employed in surveying and constructing roads
both in Oregon and Washington, the most important
of which in the latter territory was that known as the
Mullan wagon-road upon the route of the northern
Pacific railroad survey, in which Mullan had taken
pai't. Stevens, in 1853, already perceived that a
good wagon-road line must precede the railroad, as a
means of transpoi'tation of supplies and material along
the route, and gave instructions to Lieutenant Mullan
to make surveys with this object in view, as well as
with the project of establishing a connection between
the navigable waters of the Missouri and Columbia
rivers. The result of the winter explorations of Mul-
lan was such that in the spring of 1854 he returned
to Fort Benton, and on the 17th of March started
with a train of wagons that had been left at that post,
and with them crossed the range lying between the
Missouri and Bitter Root rivers, arriving at canton-
ment Stevens on the 31st of the same month. Upon
the representation of the practicability of a wagon-
road in this region, connecting the navigable waters of
the Missouri with the Columbia, congress made an
appropriation of $30,000 to open one from Fort Ben-
ton to Fort Walla Walla. The troubles of the gov-
ernment with Utah, and the Indian wars of 1855-6
*' Companies A and K, 9th inf. , ordered to establish a wintering jilace and
depot for the escort of the N. W. boundary com., readied this place June
20, ISJQ. A pleasant spot, one mile square, reserved. Sen. Ex. Doc, 52, 36th.
cong. 1st sess., 271.
200 INDIAN WARS.
and 1858, more than had been expected, developed
the necessity of a route to the east, more northern
than the route by the South Pass, and procured for it
that favorable action by congress which resulted in a
series of appropriations for the purpose." The re-
moval of the military interdict to settlement, followed
by the survey of the public lands, opened the way for
a waiting population, which flowed into the Walla
Walla Valley to the number of 2,000 as early as April
1859,''^ and spread itself out over the whole of eastern
Washington with surprising rapidity for several years
thereafter, attracted by mining discoveries even more
than by fruitful soils."
" MuUaii's Military Eoad Kept, 2-12.
" Letter of Gen. Harney, in U. S. 3Iess. and Docs, 1859-60. 96.
" 1 introduce here a notice of a pioneer and soldier in the Ind. war, whose
biography escaped my attention where it should have appeared, iu chapter
David Shelton, son of Lewis Shelton and Nancy Gladdin, his wife, and
grandson of Roderick Shelton and Usley Willard, his wife, of Va, was born
in Buncombe co., Va, Sept. 15, 1812, migrating with his parents to JIo. ter-
ritory in 1819. He married Frances Willson, born in Ky, May 30, )S;i7,
and removed in 1838 to the Platte Purchase, settling near St Joseph, where
he lived until 1847, when he emigrated to Oregon, taking up a claim on
Sauve Island, which he sold in 1848, and went to the California gold mines,
returning to Portland in 1849, where he remained until 1852, when be re-
moved to W. T. in company with L. B. Hastings, F. W. Pettigrove,
Thomas Tallentine, and B. Boss on a small schooner, named the Mari/
Taylor. Shelton and Ross remained in Olympia until 185.3, in which year
he settled on Skookura bay, and was appointed one of the three judges of
Thurston co., which at that time comprised the whole Puget Sound coun-
try. He was elected to first territorial legislature, and introduced the bill
organizing Sawamish co. (the name being subsequently changed to Mason), of
which he was the first settler. He served in the Indian war of 1S55-G, as a
lieutenant iu Co. F., W. T. vols. Mrs Shelton died April 15, 18S7, at the
age of 70 years. Shelton was a man of strong convictions, and a power in
the community where he lived. His children were Lewis D. W., born in
Andrew co., Mo., in 1841; John S. \V., born iu Gentry co., Mo., in 1844;
Levi T., born in Clackamas co.. Or., in 1848; Mary E., born in Portland,
Or., in 1850; Franklin P., born in Olympia, Or., in 1852; James B., born in
Mason co., VV. T., in 1855; Joicie A., born in Mason co., W. T., iu 1857.
Franklin P. died in 1875.
Another pioneer of 1853, Henry Adams, was born iu Greenville, Conn., in
1825, came to Cal. in 1849, to Or. iu 1850, and to W. T. in 1853, settling at
Seattle, where he worked at carpentry. He took a donation claim in 1855
on White river, his present liome. He was the first auditor elected in King
CO., and served as county commissioner.
I. J. Sackman, bom near Mansfield, Ohio, in 1830, came to Cal. in 18.50,
returning home in 1851, but only to emigrate to Seattle, W. T. He engaged
iu lumbering at Port Orchard, remaining there until 1877, when he removed
to Port Blakely and openeil a hotel, which he owns. He married Mrs
Phillips, a step-daughter of Capt. VVra Reuton, of Port Blakely mills.
CHAPTER VI.
THROUGH FOUE ADMINISTRATIONS.
1S55-1867.
Party Politics — Election of Delegate — Maktial Law — Stevens Chosen
Delegate — Death of Stevens — His Chakactek — Governor McMol-
LiN — Frasek River ISIining Excitement— Its Effect on Washington
^Services of Secretary Mason — Governor Gholson — Henry M.
McGill — The Capital Question — The University — Governor Wal-
lace—Governor Pickering— The Custom-house Controversy — In-
undation OF Port Angeles.
With the organization of the territory, the demo-
cratic party north of the Columbia had prepared to
marshal its ranks and act with the democrats of
Oregon wherever they could be mutually helpful in
resisting what they denominated the "tyranny of the
federal party." It had not succeeded in effecting its
object, when it suffered to be elected to congress
Columbia Lancaster, whose politics were as nonde-
script as his abilities were inferior. In 1855 a more
thorough party organization was perfected^ for the
election of a delegate to succeed Lancaster.^ The
choice of the convention fell upon J. Patton Ander-
son, the first United States marshal of the terri-
tory, who resigned his office in March with the
design of running for delegate, his place being subse-
"^ Ebey's Journal, MS., iii. 8.
2 la the democratic convention on the first ballot Lancaster received 18
votes, but never exceeded that number. Stevens received 13, I. N. Ebey 7,
J. P. Anderson 7. Stevens withdrew his name on the Gth ballot, and on
the 29th ballot Anderson received 38 votes. Judges Lander and McFaddeu
and H. C. Moseley were balloted for, receiving from 15 to 20 votes each.
Olumpia Pioneer and Dem., May 12, lSd5.
(201)
202 THROUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
quently filled by the appointment of George W,
Corliss.^
The opposing candidate of the whig party was
Judge Strong,* Anderson's majority being 176 out of
1,582 votes, 41 of which were cast for a free-soil can-
didate, Joseph Cushman.
Stevens, while having with him the ultra anti-
Indian element, had become unpopular in other quar-
ters. His martial-law measure, among others, was
severely criticised. Stevens' excuse for it was that
only in that way certain white residents of Pierce
county having Indian wives could be effectually
secured from intercourse with the enemy. In March
1856 the governor caused them to be arrested upon
a charge of treason, without the formality of a civil
process, and sent to Fort Steilacoom with a request
to Colonel Casey to keep them in close confinement.^
Two law practitioners, W. H. Wallace and Frank
Clark of Pierce county, early in April, determining
to vindicate the majesty of law, set out for Wliidbey
Island, where resided Judge Chenoweth, to procure a
writ of habeas corpus, when Stevens, equally deter-
mined, thereupon proclaimed martial law in Pierce
county.
Then followed a performance which for stubborn
persistency on both sides was not unlike the Leschi
affair. Casey notified the governor that in the case of
a writ of habeas corpus being served upon him, he
should feel compelled to obey its mandates, where-
upon Stevens i-emoved the prisoners to Olympia, out of
^Corliss came to Salem, Or., about 1S52, and thence to Tuget Sound.
He removed to Las Cruces, Cal., where, on the IGth of Jan. 1S(J4. lie was
murdered, with his wife, n^e Lucretia R. Judson, daughter of Peter Judsou,
and a Mr Shepherd, in his own liouse, which was burned over their bodies.
The murderers -were never discovered. Ebiy's Journal, MS., vii. 121. It
will be remembered that ;Mr and Mrs Corliss were at the house of I. N. Ebcy
on the night when he was murdered, but escaped. A strange fate pursued
them to the same end. Saltm Statesman, Feb. 29, 1SG4.
*Gilmore Hays, \V. H. Wallace, George Gibbs. A. A. Denny, and C. C.
Hewitt were the other whig candidates. Olympia Pioneer and Democrat,
May 12, 1855.
^The persons arrested were Lyon A. Smith, Charles Wren, Henry Smith,
John McLeod, John JilcPeel, Henry Murray, and Pelor Wilson. Eoana' Mar-
tial Law, i.
POLITICAL CONTROVERSIES. 203
Chenowetli's district. Chenoweth, being ill, requested
Chief Justice Lander to hold court for him at Steila-
coom, which Lander proceeded to do, but was arrested,
and with his clerk, John M. Chapman, taken to Olym-
pia and detained in custody three or four days. Indig-
nation meetings were held, and congress appealed to,
public opinion being divided. Lander opened the dis-
trict court the 12th of May at Olympia, and next day
the governor placed Thurston county under martial
law. Thereupon the governor was cited to appear
before the chief justice at chambers, and refused, while
the governor caused the arrest of the chief justice for
ignoring martial law. Lander, declining parole, was
sent to Camp Montgomery.
Thus attempts and contempts, writs and restrictions,
continued, which, however interesting and instructive
fit the time, it would be irksome for us to follow.
The Pierce county men were tried by a military com-
mission, and martial law abrogated. But the end was
not yet; for over innumerable technicalities, in which
lawyers, judges, citizens, officials, and military men
had become involved, wrangling continued throughout
the year, B. F. Kendall,^ bitterly opposed to Stevens,
' Bezaleel Freeman Kendall, like Elwood Evans, crossed the continent in
1853 with Stevens. He was a native of Oxford, Maine, and a graduate of
Bowdoin college. His talents are highly praised by all his biographers.
Evans, who knew him well, saya that he possessed a grand physique, was a
fine scholar, able writer, powerful speaker, hard student, and of thorough in-
tegrity, but ambitious, aristocratic in his feelings, bitter in his prejudices,
and indiscreet in his utterances. ' The newspapers cannot too highly paint
his contempt for the opinions of others, his bitterness of expression, his un-
qualified style of assault upon any with whom he differed.' Ho carried this
strong individuality into a journal which he edited, called the Overland Prcsf:,
and which was the occasion of his death, Jan. 7, ISfiS. Kendall had been
clerk of the legislature, territorial librarian, prosecuting attorney of the Olym-
pian jud. dist; had been sent on a secret mission by Gen. Scott, and appointed
Indian agent in the Yakima country, but soon removed on account of his im-
periousness. After his removal he published the Press, and used it to attack
whomsoever he hated. He was the attorney and warm friend of George B.
Roberts of the Puget Sound Co. On the 25th of October an attempt was
made to burn the buildings of this company ou Cowlitz farm. Kendall boldly
charged the incendiarism on Horace Howe, a farmer residing on the Cowlitz,
who, on the 20th of Dec. 1862, met Kendall in Olympia and struck him over
the head with a small stick, in resentment. Kendall retreated, and Howe
pursued, when Kendall drew a pistol and shot Howe, inflicting a dangerous
wound. A few weeks later a son of Howe shot Kendall through the heart.
Or. Slntcsmaii, Jan. 19, 1863; S. F. BuUctln, Jan. 12, 1803; Wash. Scraps,
146; Olymiiia Wash. Standard, Jan. 10, 1803.
204 THROUGH FOUR ADMIXISTRATIONS.
having been meanwhile appointed United States dis-
trict attorney by Lander.''
The matter having been brought to the attention
of the president, Governor Stevens was reprimanded
by the executive through the secretary of state, wlio
assured him that, although his motives were not ques-
tioned, his conduct in proclaiming martial law did not
meet with the approval of the president.*
Soon it was rumored that Stevens would-be re-
moved, when his friends announced that they would
send him as delegate to congress in 1857, and imme-
diately set about marshalling their forces to this end.
This being the year when the republican party was
first organized in the territory, the election campaign
was more hotly contested than usual, Stevens being
a southern democrat like Lane, while the new party
took direct issue with the south.
The candidate put forward by the republicans was
A. S. Abernethy,* a mild-mannered man, like his
brother George Abernethy of Oregon, and having
nothing either in his character or his history to hang-
praise or blame upon, could not contend for the peo-
ple's suffrages with Stevens — Stevens, who had a mag-
netic presence, a massive brain, great stores of knowl-
edge, which he never paraded, although in private a
brilliant talker, a memory like Napoleon,^" whose small
stature he approached, and bristled all over with
'The documents in this case are contained in Sen. Doc, 98, xiv., 34th
cong. Istsess.; Id., 41, viii., .34th cong. 1st sess.; Jd., 47, viii., 34th cong.
Sdsess.; Id., 78, 34th cong. 1st sesa.; S. Misc. Doc, 71, iii., 35th cong. 1st
sess. Many are to be found in the Olympia Pioneer and Democrat from May
to August; and comments in tlic Oregon Statesman and Portland Oreyoman,
S. F. Alta; New York Courier and Inquirer, Feb. 14, 1857; New York Times;
Philadelphia Ledrjer, July 4, 185G; Phelps' Reminiscences of Seattle, 34; Ore-
l/on Weekly Times; New York Herald, June 27, 1856; Waxhington l/nion;
Washington Republican, April 17, 1857; but the most complete collection of
papers on the subject is Evans' Martial Law, bc.'ore quoted. See also Cong.
Globe, 1855-6, pt 2, 1517, 34th cong. 1st sess.
^Scn. Ex. Doc, 41, 56, 34th cong. 3d sess.; Wash. Jour. Council, 185C-7,
app. vi.
" A new party paper was started at Steilacoom, called the Washington Re-
publican, by A. S. Abernethy, B. R. Bigelow, and J. P. Keller. Ebey's Jour-
nal, MS., T. 10.
^"Providence (E. I.) Journal, July 12, 1802.
STEVEXS FOR COXGKESS. 205
points to attract the electricity of a crowd. Besides
these qualities, which might be relied upon to give
him success in a campaign, he was regarded by the
volunteers as their proper representative to procure
the payment of the war debt, against which General
Wool was using his powerful influence. Not an ora-
tor or debater, and with almost the whole argument-
ative talent of the territory arrayed against him,^^
his election was a foregone conclusion from the first.
Stevens' majority over Abernethy was 463 out of
1,024 votes.'^ He resigned his office of governor on
the 11th of August, one month less two days after his
election, the full returns not being made before the
last week in July. Secretary Mason filled his place
as acting governor until the arrival of his successor
in September.
It would occupy too much space to follow in detail
the public acts of Washington's first governor. ^^ He
labored as untiringly for the territory he represented
in congress as he had at home, and was met by the
same opposition, preventing during his first term the
" Salucius Garfiekle, a captivating speaker, then newly appointed receiver
of the land-office at Olympia, took part in the political debates of this cam-
paign for Stevens. When Stevens was nominated in 1S59 Garfielde opposed
him; but when Garfielde was nominated in 1S61 Stevens supported him.
Ebei/s Journal, MS., v. 77.
'^ The sparseness of the population and small increase is shown by the fol-
lowing comparative statement. At the first election for delegate, in 1S54,
the total vote was 1,216, in 1855, 1,582, and in 1857, 1,585. Olympia Pioneer
and Dem., Sept. 11, 1857. Alexander S. Abernethy came from N. Y. to
Cal. in 1849 by steamer, and in March 1850 proceeded to Or. by the bark
Toulon. He soon purchased a half-interest in the Oak Point saw-mill, of
George Abernethy, owner, and repaired to that rather solitary spot to
reside. He was one of the movers for a territory north of the Columbia,
a member of the second legislative assembly, and a member of the council
in 1856-7. He was one of the organizers of the republican party in the
spring of 1857, and was nominated by the new party for delegate. After the
election of Stevens he remained in private life, holding some county offices
until the constitutional convention at Walla WalL-v in 1878, when he was
chosen a member. A modest, riojht-minded, and moderately successful man,
Abernethy fills an honorable place in the history of Washington. He contin-
ued for many years to reside at Oak Point. Letter of A. S. Abernethy, in
Historical Correspondence.
"Evans' Puyallup Address, in New Tacoma Ledper, July 9, ISSO; Tester's
Wash. Ter., MS., 11; Evans' N. W. Coast, MS., 4-5; '/lays' Scraps, Mininij, iii.
25; Swayi's Wash. Sketches, MS., 14-15: Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., vii. 23-a
20ff THROUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
passage of any bill looking to the payment of the war
debt. He urged the claims of the territory to this
money, to roads, public buildings, coast defences, a
superintendent of Indian affairs, and additional Indian
agents, tlie payment of Governor Douglas of Van-
couver Island for assistance rendered acting governor
Mason in 1855, more land districts and offices, and
the survey of the upper Columbia. None of these
measures were carried through in the session of
1858-9. But he was returned to congress in the latter
year, running against W. H. Wallace, and beating him
by about 600 votes out of less than 1,800. At the
session of 1860-1, a land-office was established in the
southern part of the territory, called the Columbia
River district; an appropriation of $100,000 was ob-
tained to be expended on the Fort Benton and Walla
Walla road begun by Lieutenant Mullan; $10,000 to
improve the road between Cowlitz landing and Monti-
cello ; and appropriations for fulfilling the treaties with
the Walla Walla, Cayuse, Umatilla, Nez Perce, Flat-
head, and confederated tribes, and the coast tribes of
Washington; and an act was passed giving to the
territory an Indian superintendent and a fuller corps
of agents. At the close of this session, also, congress
agreed upon a plan for paying the war debt, after re-
ducing it one half.
In April 1861 Stevens returned to Olympia, look-
ing grave and careworn, for he had taken deeply to
heart the troubles between the north and south.
Being a pro-slavery democrat," yet a determined sup-
porter of the government, he had labored earnestly to
prevent secession, but as he probably knew, with little
effisct. Almost simultaneously with his arrival came
the news that Fort Sumter had been taken by the
South Carolinans, and civil war begun.
" Stevens was chaii-man of the Breokenridge wing of the democracy after
the division in the iiarty in 1860, for which he was flenounced by the legisla-
ture of his territory iu certain resolutions. See Was!i. Jour. House, ISGO,
."^37-8. He accjuiesced in the election of Lincoln, and urged Buchanan to dis-
miss Floyd and Thompson from his cabinet. Shiick's Representative Men, 501.
SECTIONAL POLITICS. 207
There were in Washington, as in Oregon, many
southern democrats; and there was in the democratic
party itself a tradition that nothing should be per-
mitted to sunder it; that to depart from its time-hon-
ored principles and practices was to be a traitor.
Stevens met the crisis in his usual independent spirit.
His first words to the people of Olympia, who con-
gregated to welcome him home, were : "I conceive my
duty to be to stop disunion."'^ He had returned
with the intention of becoming a candidate for reelec-
tion, but when the convention met at Vancouver he
withdrew his name, promising to sustain the choice of
the delegates, this falling upon Salucius Garfielde, who
had been for four years receiver in the land-oflfice.
Again he urged the duty of the party to support the
government, and procured the adoption of union res-
olutions by the convention; yet such was the hostility
which pursued him, that many newspapers represented
him as uniting with Gwin and Lane to form a Pacific
republic. ^^
He remained but a few weeks on the Pacific coast,
hastening back to Washington to offer his services
to the president, and was appointed colonel of the 79th
New York regiment, the famous Highlanders, on the
death of their colonel, Cameron. Stevens' service,
beginning July 31, 1861, was first in the defences of
Washington. In September he was commissioned
brigadier-general, and commanded a brigade in the Port
Royal expeditionary corps from October to March 1 862.
From March to July he was in the department of the
south. On the 4th of July he was commissioned a
major-general of volunteers, but the senate refusing
to confirm the appointment, he continued to serve as a
general of brigade in the northern Virginia campaign,
though in conmiand of a division. At the battle of
Chantilly, while leading his faltering command in a
charge, himself carrying the flag which the color-
'^ Olympia Pioneer and Dem., May 16, 18GI.
"Of. Statesman, May 20 and August 12, 1861.
208 THROUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
bearer, stricken clown by a shot, was about to let fall,
he was struck in the head by a ball and died upon the
field. But his courage and devotion had saved the
city of Washington, for had Pope's army been forced
to capitulate, the nation's capital would have been
involved in the disaster.^''
When the intelligence of the death of Stevens
reached Washington, the grief of all classes was sin-
cere and profound. The war had readjusted party
lines; personal jealousies had been forgotten; nothing
could any one recall that was base or dishonorable,
but much that was lofty and manly, in the dead hero.
When the legislature met, resolutions were passed in
his honor, and crape was ordered to be worn for ten
days. So mutable is human regard I The legislature
of Rhode Island also formally regretted his loss.
The most touching, because the most sincere and
unaffected, tribute to his character was contained in
a eulogistic letter by Professor Bache of the coast sur-
vey, in whose office he spent four years. "He
was not one who led by looking on, but by ex-
ample. As we knew him in the coast-survey office,
so he was in every position of life . . . This place he
filled, and more than filled, for four years, with a devo-
tion, an energy, a knowledge not to be surpassed, and
which left its beneficient mark upon our organiza-
tion. . .Generous and noble in impulses, he left our
office with our enthusiastic admiration of his character,
appreciation of his services, and hope for his success. "^^
Thus died, at forty-four years of age, a man whose
talents were far above those whom the president too
often appoints to the executive office in the terri-
tories. As a politician he would always have failed,
"Letter of a corr. in Olympia WasTi. Standard, Oct. 25, 1862; Baltks of
America, 305.
^^ Providence Journal, Jan. 12, 1863; Boston Joiirnal, Sept. 5, 1862; Coast
Survey, 1862, 432-3. Stevens married a daughter of Benjamin Hazard of
Newport. His son Hazard, 21 years of age, captain and adjutant, was
wounded in the battle in which hia father lost his life. There were, besides
this son, thi-ee daughters in the family, who long resided in Washington.
Olympia Waah. Standard, Oct. 25, 1802.
GOVERNOR McMULLIN. 209
despising the tricks by which they purchase success;
but as an explorer, a scientist, or an army commander,
he could have reached to almost any height. His
services to Washington are commemorated by the
county east of the northern branch of the Columbia
bearing the name of Stevens.
The successor of Stevens was Fayette McMullin
of Virginia, a politician, whose chief object in coming
to Washington seems to have been to get rid of one
wife and marry another." He held the executive office
only from September 1857 to July 1858, when he
was removed. His administration, if such it can be
called, embraced the period rendered memorable by
the Fraser River gold-mining excitement, of which I
have given a full account in my History of British Co-
lumbia, to which the reader is referred for particulars.
The Hudson's Bay Company had for three years
been in the receipt of gold-dust purchased of the
Indians in the region of Fraser River with lead, ounce
for ounce, when in the winter of 1857-8 some of this
gold found its way to Olympia, and caused the great-
est excitement here as elsewhere all along the coast.
Men ruslied to the mines from every quarter, and the
prices of labor, provisions, lumber, and real estate on
the Sound advanced rapidly. There were many
routes to the new mines, and divers outfitting posts;
but a policy of exclusiveness on the part of the fur
company authorities prevented Washington from re-
ceiving the advantages which would otherwise have
accrued to the territory.
While the great gold excitement of 1858 gave a new
life and impetus to certain branches of business in the
"McMulliu petitioned the legislature of 1857-8 for a divorce, which was
granted, and in July 1858 he married Mary Wood, daughter of Isaac Wood
of Thurston county. He returned with his wife to Va, and during the civil
war was a member of the confederate congress. After the conclusion of the
war he was little known in public afifairs. He was killed at the age of 70
years by a railroad train, Nov. 8, 1880, at Wytheville, Va. Olympia Pioneer
and Dem., May 1, Aug. H, Sept. 11, 1857; Or. Statesman, June 30, 1857,
Aug. 3 and Dec. 21, 1858; Bancroft's Hand-Book, 1864, 350; Olympia Tran-
script, Nov. 13, 1880.
Hist. Wash.— 14
210 THROUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
Puget Sound country, it failed to build up trade and
cities in that region, as some sanguine speculators had
hoped. The good that it did came afterward, when
many disappointed adventurers, chiefly young men,
not having been able to reach the gold-fields, or re-
turning thence poorer than they went, as some gold-
seekers always do return, sought work, and finally
homes on the government land, and remained to help
subdue the wilderness and cultivate the soil. From
this class Puget Sound nearly doubled its population
in two years.
Another benefit to the country resulted from the
impetus given to intelligent explorations, made both
in quest of the precious metals and in the search for
passes through the Cascade Mountains that might lead
more directly to the mines on the upper Fraser. It
made the country thoroughly known to its older in-
habitants, and caused the laying-out of roads that
opened to settlement many hitherto unappropriated
valleys and isolated prairies, completing the unpre-
meditated explorations made during the Indian wars
of 1855-6. Attempts were made this summer to
open a pass at the head waters of the Skikomish
branch of the Snohomish River by Cady and Parkin-
son, who were driven back by the Indians. An ex-
ploration was also made of the Skagit, with a view to
constructing a road up that river to the mines, and
W. H. Pearson led a large mining party through the
Snoqualimich Pass, intending to proceed to Thomp-
son River by the Similkameen route, but was pre-
vented by the Yakimas and their allies. A large
immigration to the British Columbia mines subse-
quently took place by the Columbia River route, and
in 1861 Governor Douglas, as a means of depriving
Americans of the benefit of free-trade, established a
higher rate of duty on goods conveyed over the
border, although the Hudson's Ba}'^ Company were
allowed to carry goods from Nisqually across the line
without hinderance.
GOVERNORS MASON AND GHOLSON. 2U
After the removal of McMuUin, and until the ar-
rival of his successor, Mason again became acting
governor, soon after which he died. No man in
Washington had a firmer hold upon the esteem of the
whole community than Mason, who for six years had
held the office of secretary, and for nearly half that
time of vice-governor. Efficient, prompt, incorrupti-
ble, and courteous, he deserved the encomiums lavished
upon him in post-obit honoi's.-" Stevens pronounced
his funeral oration, and he was buried from the capital
with imposing ceremonials. The legislative assembly
of 1864 changed the name of Sawamish county to
Mason, in honor of his services to the territory.
The third governor of Washington was Richard D.
Gholson, of Kentucky, and like his predecessors, a
radical democrat. He arrived in July 1859, and offi-
ciated both as governor and secretary until Mason's
successor, Henry M. McGill, arrived in November.
The following May Gholson returned to Kentucky
on a six months' leave, during which such changes
took place in national politics as to cause him to re-
main away,^^ and McGill officiated as governor until
April 1861, when W. H. Wallace was appointed to
the executive office by President Lincoln, L. J. S.
Turney being secretary.
The administration of Gholson and McGill was
marked by events of importance to the territory, per-
*" Charles H. Mason was born at Fort Washington on the Potomac, and
was a son of Major Milo Mason of Vt, deputy quartermaster-general under
Jackson in his Indian campaigns. His mother was a native of Provideuce,
R. I., where C. H. Maaon resided after the death of his father in 1837, grad-
uating at Brown university with distinction in 1850, being admitted to the
bar in 1831, and associated as a partner with Albert C. Green, atty-gen. of the
state for 20 years, and afterward U. S. senator. In his 2.3d year lie was
recommeuded to the president for the appointment of district attorney of
Rhode Island, but was appointed instead to ihe secretaryship of Washington.
He was reappointed at the time of his death. Olympia Pioneer and Dew,.,
July 29, 18J<J; Or. Statesman, August 9, 1859; Puget Sound Herald, April
15, 1859.
^' Gholson wrote a letter urging the legislature of Ky to call a convention
and appoint commissioners to the southern congress at Montgomery, Alabama,
who should pledge the state to stand by the south in the attempt to secede.
S. F. Bulletin, Aug. 30, 1S59; Or. SlaUnman, March 11, 1861.
212 THROUGH FOUR ADMIXISTRATIOXS.
taining to the quarrel over the San Juan boundary,
in which the territorial authorities were permitted to
participate in an insignificant degree, owing to the
military occupation of the island. The not unimpor-
tant troubles with the northern and local Indian
tribes^ gave the governor frequent occasion for anx-
iety. Besides those murders and emeutes to which
I have already referred, D. Hunt, deputy United
States surveyor, was murdered on Whidbey Island in
July 1858. Seven miners were also attacked and
killed on their way to Fort Langley, and a white
woman captured about the same time. If a party of
two or three men set out to perform a canoe journey
to the lower waters of the Sound, they ran the risk
of meeting their executioners in another Indian canoe
in one of the many lonely wastes on Admiralty Inlet.
At length, in February 1859, two schooners, the
Ellen Maria and Blue Wing, mysteriously disappeared
while en route from Steilacoom to Port Townsend.
The latter was commanded by a young man named
Showell, and carried several passengers, among whom
was E. Schroeder, a well-known and respected Swiss
merchant of Steilacoom, lately appointed sutler to
Major Haller. Various rumors were afloat concern-
inor the fate of the vessels, in which Indians were
mentioned as accessory to their loss, but the crime, if
any, could not be traced to any tribe or individuals,
until in July 1860, when, at the trial of an Indian for
another offence at Victoria, one of the Indian wit-
nesses irrelevantly gave a clew to the matter. The
guilty persons, it seems, were Haidahs, for whom
'^ Strong says that Gholson, who had never held any oflSee, and had large
ideas of the importance of an executive position, felt it his duty to suppress
the northern Indians in some way, and finally hit upon the happy project of
getting out a proclamation authorizing the citizens of the territory to arm and
fit out vessels for the purpose of making reprisals against the English for per-
mitting the northern Indians to leave British Columbia and commit depreda-
tions in Washington territory— regular letters of marque and reprisal ! Strong,
to whom he showed the proclamation, assured liim it would make him the
most famous man upon the Pacific coast. But Tilton, who was also informed
of it, put a stop to it. However, the story leaked out, and Gholson received
many a sly innuendo. This was during the San Juan difficulty, when there
were live British ships of war at Victoria. Slromj's Hist. Or., MS., 72-4.
CAPITAL AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 213
requisitions were several times made on Governor
Douglas, but refused upon one pretext or another,
until the criminals had escaped, when it was granted.
Another matter which occasioned some agitation
during the administration of McGill was the location
of the public buildings of the territory. By the or-
ganic act the governor could convene the first legisla-
ture where he pleased; but that body was then, at its
first session, or as soon as expedient, to establish the
seat of government at such a place as it deemed
eligible, which place was, however, subject to be
changed by an act of the assembly at some future
time. At the session of 1854-5 the legislature fixed
the capital at Olympia, the university at Seattle, with
a branch at Boisfort plains, and the penitentiary at
Vancouver. ^^ In January 1858 the university was
relocated on Cowlitz prairie without a branch. Work
was begun on the state-house, which, however, was
suspended by the Indian war.
At the session of 1856-7 congress appropriated
$30,000, in addition to the $5,000 granted in the or-
ganic act, which had been in part or in whole ex-
pended; and then commenced the advancement of
competitive claims for the honor and profit of securing
one or other of the public buildings.
A determined effort was made in 1859-60 by a
faction to remove the capital from Olympia to Van-
couver, but as strongly resisted by a majority of the
assembly. The matter coming up again at the next
session, the effort was renewed, and the matter having
been previously arranged by trading, acts giving Van-
couver the capital, Seattle the university, and Port
Townsend the penitentiary were passed without dis-
cussion in the lower house, and being sent to the
council, passed that body without argument also, the
president's vote constituting the majority.^* Such
^Stat. Wash., 1854-5, 6, 8, 9.
^' Paul K. Hubbs of Port Townsend was president of the council. A. M.
Poe said that he was pledged not to vote for removal. Letter of Poe to W. S.
Ebey, in the Euos Collection.
214 THROUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
was the haste of the legislative traders, that the all-
important enacting clause was omitted in the wording
of the bill locating the capital, which thereby became
inoperative. It was also illegal in another point, hav-
ing located the capital permanently,''^ which the legis-
lature had no right to do, according to the organic
act of the territory.
Another act was passed at the same session requir-
ing the people to vote at the next election upon the
seat-of-government question, which being done, Olym-
pia received a large majority over all competitors.-®
This result brought on a contest similar to that
between Oregon City and Salem, a part of the legis-
lature going to Vancouver and a part to Olymj^ia,
neither place having a quorum. Two weeks were
spent in waiting for a decision of the supreme court
upon the validity of the opposing laws, when it was
decided that for the reasons above named Olympia
still remained the capital ; and that although the vote
of the people carried with it no binding force in this
case, yet the wish of the people, when so plainly e:::-
pressed, was entitled to consideration by courts and
legislatures.'^^ This settled the matter so far as the
capital was concerned, the Vancouver seceders re-
turning to Olympia,'^' where the capital has since
remained.
Previous to the removal of the seat of government
to Vancouver, Governor McGill having become re-
sponsible for the proper outlay of the government
appropriation,'^ in which he was opposed by the same
^'Oh/mpia Wash. Standard, Feb. 28, 1861; Ebey's Journal, MS., vi. 391;
Steilaroom Piiget Sound Herald, Feb. 28, 1862.
2" Olympia, 1,239; Vancouver, 639; Steilacooni, 203; Port Townsend, 72;
Walla Walla, 67; Seattle, 22; scattering, 23. Olympia Wash. Standard, Apr .
19, 1862.
" The opinion was given in reference to the case of Eodolf va A. Mayhew
et al., where there was a question of jurisdiction, the court being directed to
1)6 held at the ' seat of government.' It was argued by Garfielde, Lawrence,
Chenoweth, and Hubbs; Evans and Lander, contra.
'^Olympia Wash. Standard, Dec. 2.3, 1861; S. F. Bulletin, Dec. 23, 1861;
Or. Statesman, Dec. 23, 1861.
''Neither McMullin nor Gholson would give bonds, and Judge McFadden,
who held the drafts, was about to send them back to Washington.
UNIVERSITY. 215
clique of politicians which effected the subsequent
trade, had let contracts for clearing the land donated
by Edmund S}dvester for the site of the capitol, and
preparing the foundations of legislative halls and ter-
ritorial offices. The removal of the capital by the
next legislature was a part of the political programme,
which in the end failed in fact and intent. But the
adverse proceedings delayed the erection of a state-
house until 1863, when there was completed a struc-
ture of wood at Olympia which has served the
purposes of the territory for many years.
The university was suffered to remain at Seattle on
condition that ten acres of land should be donated for
a building site where the commissioners should select
it. This condition was complied with by A. A.
Denny giving eight acres, and Edward Lander and
C. C. Terry the remainder. The corner-stone was
laid in May 1861, but the university for many years
failed to rank above a preparatory school, partly
through mismanagement of its funds,'" and also by
'"The legislature, in Jan. 1862, re-incorporated the university, -which was
previously chartered in 1860 while it was located on the Cowlitz prairie,
creating a board of regents consisting of Daniel Bagley, Paul K. Hubbs, J.
P. Keller, John Webster, E. Carr, Frank Clark, G. A. Meigs, Columbia Lan-
caster, and C. H. Hale, in whom was vested the government of the institu-
tion. Three regents were to be elected each year, the length of the terms of
the first nine to be determined by lot. In case of a vacancy the governor
might appoint. The regents had power to elect a president of the board, and
a president of the faculty; to fix the number of assistants, and determine
their salaries. They could remove either, and could appoint a secretary,
librarian, treasurer, and steward, and remove the same; but the treasurer
could never be, in any case, a member of the board of regents. They were
entitled to hold all kinds of estate, real, personal, or mixed, which they might
acquire by purchase, donation, or devise. The money received for the sale
of lands or otherwise was to be paid to the treasurer, and as much as was
necessary expended by the regents in keeping up the buildings and defraying
expenses; the treasurer only to give bonds, in the sum of §15,000 to the gov-
ernor. There was also a board of visitors to consist of three persons, and both
regents and visitors were to receive pay out of the university fund for tlieir
actual and necessary expenses, all orders on the treasurer to be signed by
the secretary and countersigned by the president. IFasA. Slat., 1861-2, 43-6.
In an act in relation to the management and safe-keeping of the moneys
arising from the sale of university lands, another board, called 'university
commissioners,' whose business it was to locate and sell the two townships of
land granted by congress to the suppoi-t of a university, were associated with
the regents and other officers named above, all together constituting a board
of directors, with liberty to loan the fund derived from the sale of land, or
any part of it, at 12 per cen^ interest, and for any time from one to ten years,
Calh(
216 THROUGH FOUR ADMIMSTRATIONS.
reason of an insufficient population to support a higher
order of college.
the loans to be secnred by mortgage on real estate of twice its valae. TIm
interest thus accruing was to be set apart for the support of the university,
and to be under the control of the regents, the principal to ren»ain an irre-
ducible fund. The laws required annual reports from both boards and the
treasurer. Id.. 60.
On tlie 10th of October, 1862, a primary collegiate school was opened for
pils of both sexes, under the charge of A. S. Mercer, assisted by Mrs V.
Ihoun, the terms to continue five months. The reports of the different
boards showed that in 1861 20,524 acres of the university land had been sold;
bringing §30,787.04, and 830,400.69 had been expended in the erection of
buildings. The receipts for lands in 1862 amounted to §16,748.03, of Tvhich
§10,215.73 had been expended on improvements, leaving §6,959.24, on hand,
and 28,768 acres of land unsold. Wash. Jour. Council, 1862-3, app. xvi.-xx.
The president of the board of regents, Rev. D. Bagley of the raethodist
church, was also president of the board of commissioners to select and sell
the lands of the university, and so zealous was he to sell, and so careless was
he in his accounts, that the legislature of 1866-7 repealed all former acts
granting authority to the boards of regents and commissioners, and appoint-
ing a new board of regents consisting of B. F. Denuisou, D. T. Dennj', Frank
Mathias, Harvey K. Hines, and Oliver F. Gerrish, granting them power to
make full investigation of the affairs of the university and report thereupon.
Wash. Stat., 1867, 114. The new board elected Dennison president, Denny
treasurer, and William H. Taylor secretary.
In the mean time there had been several changes in the school. W. E.
Barnard appears to have been the second president of the faculty, if such a
board could be properly said to exist, and he resigned in April 1S66, the re-
gents appointing Rev. George F. Whitworth, who accepted npon au agree-
ment that the salary should be §1,000 in coin, payable quarterly, in addition
to the tuition fees, and the free use of the buildings and groimds. The grade
of scholarship was low, as might be expected under the circumstances of the
recent history of the country, and the number of pupils probably never ex-
ceeded 60, nearly all of whom belonged to Seattle. The new board of regents
found §5.85 in the treasury, and only 3,304^ acres of land remaining unsold out
of 46,080 acres donated by congress. About 8,000 acres had been sold on credit
without security, and about 11,000 on securities which were w-orthless, and
at prices illegally low. For the remainder of the 25,456 acres remaining after
the erection of the university buildings, there was nothing to show but about
six dollars in money and between 3,000 and 4,000 acres of laud. In their
report to the legislature, the board made Bagley in debt to the univei-sity
$13,919.34 in coin, and responsible for the other losses sustained by the uni-
versity fund, having illegally acted as president and treasurer of the board,
and disburser of the moneys received. Rept in Wash. Jour. Council , 1867-
8, 76-104. On account of this condition of affairs the school was closed in
June 1867, and the buildings and property taken in charge by the new board.
The report of the new board of regents being referred to a select committee of
the legislature, the findings of the regents were reversed, and §2,314.76 found
due Bagley from the university for services. The committee exonerating Bag-
ley consisted of Park Winans, John W. Brazee, and Ira Ward, assisted by
Rev. H. K. Hines of the methodist church, and member of the board of
regents. Id., 187-202. Nothing was done by the legislature at this session
except to appoint A. A. Denny and W. H. Robertson regents in place
of D. T. Denny and H. K. Hines, whose terms had expired. Wash.
Stat., 1867-8, 78, the assembly not knowing how to act in the matter.
At the session of 1869 a report was made by the regents showing that
$4,112.52 had been received into the treasury, §1,335.86 of which had been
paid in liquidation of debts existing under the first regency; and §08.20 re-
McGILL AND WALLACE. 217
The administration of McGill, although an acci-
dental one, was energetic and creditable. He com-
bined, like Mason, executive ability with that savoir
faire which left those who would have possibly been
his enemies no ground for hostility.^^ His attitude
during the San Juan and extradition difficulties was
dignitied and correct, leaving a record alike honorable
to himself and the territory.
The appointment of Governor "Wallace in 1861
was followed immediately by his nomination to the
delegateship of the territory. In Washington as in
maining in the treasury. The school had been reopened on the 12th of April
1S69 by John H. Hall, who agreed to teach three years for $600 per annum.
There were 70 students in attendance, 23 of whom were not residents of
Seattle, and the university was not incurring any debts. Wash. Jour. House,
18G9, 149-53. The governor, Alvan Flanders, declared in his message that
'everything connected with the management of the university lands up to
1867 cau be described only by saying that it was characterized by gross ex-
travagance and incompetency, if not by downright fraud; and that the
history of the institution was a calamity and a disgrace, ' all that remained of
the munificent grant of congress being a building possibly worth |15,000.
He suggested asking congress for further aid, which if granted should be
protected from similar waste. Instead, congress was memorialized to bestow
a grant of swamp and tide lands for school purposes and internal improve-
ments. Wash. Stat., 1859, 527-8, a prayer it was not likely to listen to after
the use made of the former liberal grant. The university struggled along,
unable to rise out of its slough of despond for almost another decade. The
first assistance rendered by the legislature was in 1877, when it appropri-
ated 11,500 for each of the years 1878 and 1879 to defray the expenses of
tuition, and establishing 45 free scholarships, the holders to be between the
ages of 16 and 21 years, and bona fide residents of the territory six months
before their appointment. Each councilman and each assemblyman could ap-
point one from his district or county; each of the district judges one, and
the governor three from three dlflferent counties. Wash. Stat., 1877, 241-3.
Tlie first graduate was Miss Clara McCarty, in 1876. The annual register for
1880 sliovvs 10 graduates in all, only one of these, W. J. Colkett, being of the
male sex. The faculty consisted in the latter year of the president, J. A.
Anderson, and wife, Louis F. Anderson, A. J. Anderson, Jr, with 3 male and
3 female assistants. President Anderson raised the standing of the institu-
tion, which continued to improve, and has turned out graduates very credit-
able to it and the succeeding faculty.
" McGill was Irish, having immigrated to the U. S. at the age of six years.
He came to S. F. in 1857, returning to Washington, D. C, in 1858, where ha
was assistant, and then acting, private secretary to President Buchanan. In
1859 he was one of the commissioners of the court of claims, until made secre-
tary of Washington. On his retirement from executive office he resumed the
practice of law, and in March 1862 was elected U. S. prosecuting attorney for
Puget Sound district. He was also elected a member of the territorial assem-
bly for 1863-4 on the republican ticket. For a time he was president of the
board of regents of the territorial university. In 1868 he revisited Ireland.
Quigley's Irish Race, 414-16.
218 THROUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
Oregon, the democratic party, as such, had been forced
to abandon its ancient rule, and it was now the party
of the union which held the reins of government.
Wallace had been a whig; he was now a republican.
That was the secret of his sudden success. Running
against Garfielde, democrat, and Judge Lander, inde-
pendent, he beat the former by over 300 votes, and
the latter by 1,000. Yet the legislature of 1861-2
voted down a series of resolutions presented by repub-
lican members sustaining the course of the general
government and discountenanchig the project of a
Pacific confederacy.^^
The democracy were not yet willing to resort to
arms to save the union from overthrow by their po-
litical brethren of the south, and the legislature was
democratic still. But the following session of 18G2-3,
very soon after convening, the joint assembly passed
very strong resolutions of support to the government
in suppressing the rebellion, partly the result of in-
creasing republican sentiment, and partly also, no
doubt, from a feeling of sorrow and regret for the loss
of the territory's one war hero, I. I. Stevens,'^ and
not a little from a fear of losing the patronage of a
republican administration.
'^ There appears upon the journal of the council a set of loy&l resolutions,
sent up from the hoase, which are ' referred to the committee on foreign rela-
tions, with instructions to report the first clay of April next' — two months after
adjournment! Wash. Jour. Council, 1861-2, 207-8. The members who com-
posed this council were James Biles, A. R. Burbank, John Webster, Paul K.
Hubbs, B. F. Shaw, Frank Clark, J. M. Moore, J. A. Simms, and H. L.
Caples. The house then made a second attempt to pass some joint resolu-
tions of a loyal character, but they were voted down before going to the
council. The yeas on the second series were John Denny, father of A. A.
Denny, M. S. Griswold, Lombard, McCall, John V. Smith of Clarke county,
J. S. Taylor, William Cock, and J. Urquhart. The nays were John Aird,
C. C. Bozarth, J. E. Bates, Beatty, Chapman, B. L. Gardner, Gilliam, T. D.
Hinckley, Holbrook, T. Page, John H. Settle, Smith of Walla Walla county,
B. F. Ruth, Thornton, Edward A. Wilson, W. G. Warbass. Not voting,
J. L. Ferguson, William Lean, A. S. Yantis, and Williamson. Olympia Wash.
Standard, March 22, 1862.
''General F. W. Lander, who belonged to the R. R. expedition of 1853,
and who laid out the wagon-road on the south side of Snake River to Salt
Lake, a younger brother of Judge Lander, though lie could not be said to be
a resident of Washington, was held in high esteem for his services. Ho died
of wounds received in battle at Edwards' Ferry, much regretted on the Pa-
cific coast. Olympia Standard, March 22, 1862; Or. Statesman, May 5, 1862.
GOVERNOR PICKERHSTG. 219
The resignation of Wallace on his election as dele-
gate was followed by a brief interregnum, during which
the secretary, L. J. S. Turney, acted as governor.
Tlie next appointee was William Pickering of Illi-
nois/* who arrived at Olympia in June 1862. In
December Secretary Turney was removed and Elwood
Evans appointed in his place. Evans' commission
having been sent to him without a bond, Turney re-
fused to vacate the office.'*' Both claiming the exclu-
sive right to act, the financial affairs of the officials and
legislators were for some time in an embarrassed con-
dition. Pickering proved to be acceptable as an
executive, and Evans was well qualified for the secre-
taryship; so that peace reigned in the executive office
for a longer term than usual, and the legislature me-
morialized congress against the removal of Pickering
ia 1866-7, but a commission having already issued,
he was forced to give way. During 1865 Evans was
acting governor, filling the office to the satisfaction of
the territory as well as the republican party.
Since the days when the first collector of customs,
Moses, had worried the Hudson's Bay Company, and
other British men, ship-captains, and owners, and since
Ebey had established a deputy on the disputed island
of San Juan, matters had proceeded quietly in the
customs department. Ebey was succeeded by Morris
H. Frost^" of Steilacoom, who held the office for four
years, and C. C. Phillips of Whidbey Island followed
for a short term of nine months, when, in August
1861, the new administration sent out from Ohio an
''Pickering was a Yorkshire Englishman who came to the U. S. in 1S21
and settled in 111., where for thirty j'ears he had known Lincoln, from whom
he received his appointment. He was 60 years of age, and was sometimes
called William the Headstrong. Pacific Tribune, June 8, 1872. On the ap-
pointment of a successor he retired to a farm in king co., but soon after re-
turned to 111., where he died April 22, 1873. His son, William Pickering,
remained in Washington. Seattle IntelUqencer, April 27, 1873.
'^0/-. Statesman, Deo. 29, 1862; iVash. Scraps, 146; Sen. Jour., 39th
cong. 2d sess.
^^ M. H. Frost later resided at Mukilteo. He was boi'u in New York in
1806, removed to Mich, in 1832, and to Chicago in 1849. He crossed the
plains in 1832 and settled on Puget Sound. Morse's Wash. Ter., JIS., xxi. 1.
220 THROUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
incumbent named Victor Smith, who was not only
clothed with the powers of a collector of United States
revenue, but commissioned to inquire into the manner
in which the government moneys were disbursed in
other departments — a treasury spy, in short, who en-
joyed the confidence of the authorities at the national
capital, but who, as it turned out, did not possess the
requisite discretion for so dangerous an office, the con-
sequence of which was that others, through jealousy
perhaps, were spying upon him.
The first offence of which Victor Smith was plainly
shown to be guilty was that of plotting to remove the
custom-house from Port Townsend to Port Angeles,
upon the pretence that the former place was not a
good harbor in all weathers, but really, as it was
averred, that he might speculate in town lots, he be-
ing shown to be the owner of a fifth interest in the
Port Angeles Company's town site." A legislative
memorial was forwarded to congress in December
1861 in favor of Port Townsend, and asking for an
appropriation to erect a suitable custom-house at that
place.
Another offence of the imported custom-house offi-
cial was that he was an abolitionist, a word of hatred
and contempt to the democracy. To be an intermed-
dler between master and slave, and to attempt to alter
the settled order of things in the district of Puget
Sound, where an appointee from the east was likely
to be regarded as an interloper, were serious counts
against the new collector. It was not long, therefore,
before an apparent defalcation was discovered, and an
outcry raised which made it necessary for him to
repair to Washington.
In the interim, and before he reached the capital.
Secretary Chase, whose confidence Smith seems to
have enjoyed to a singular degree, recommended to
conarress the removal of the custom-house from Port
PORT TOWNSEND AND PORT ANGELES. 221
Townsend to Port Angeles, and a bill was passed re-
moving it in June 1862.^^ This redoubled the ani-
mosity with which the Port Townsend faction regarded
the Port Angeles faction. Nor was the feeling les-
sened by the action of the government in first apply-
ing to Port Angeles the operation of a "bill for in-
creasing revenue by reservation and sale of town
sites."** Under this act, the land which the original
town company had claimed and surveyed for the city
of Cherburg was reserved by the government, which
resurveyed it and sold the lots at auction to the
highest bidder, the company not neglecting their
opportunity to secure a perfect title.
When Smith departed to Washington to explain
to the proper authorities the condition of his accounts,
and showed that the alleged defalcation was simply
a transfer of $15,000 from one fund to another,*" in
which action he was borne out by authority vested
in him by the treasury department, he appointed
J. J. H. Van Bokelin deputy inspector and collector
for the period of his absence. Hardly was his back
turned upon Port Townsend when Captain J. S. S.
Chaddock of the revenue-cutter Joe Lane, acting
upon information received, proceeded to take posses-
sion of the custom-house, where he left installed as
collector Lieutenant J. H. Merryman of the revenue
service. This was in June 1862. In August Victor
Smith returned to Puget Sound in the steam revenue-
cutter Shuhrick, commanded by Lieutenant Wilson,
and demanded of Merryman the surrender of the
keys of the custom-house; but this Merryman refused
unless he were shown Smith's commission from the
department at Washington, or his special authority
for making the demand, neither of which were pro-
duced. Instead, Smith returned to the cutter, had
her brought into the harbor, her men armed, her
»»5era. Misc. Doc, 67, .S7th cong. 2d sess.; JJ. S. Acts, 127-8. Smith was
reputed to be a cousin of Secretary Chase. Morse's Waxh. Ter., MS., xvii. 43.
»» Brigr/s' Port Townsend, US.', 32-.3; S. F. BuUelin, July 24, 1802.
*» Olympia Standard, Aug. 23, 1863.
222 THROUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
guns shotted and brought to bear upon the town.
Two officers with a party of marines then landed
and demanded of Merryman to deliver up to them the
custom-house keys, but were refused. Upon this
Wilson himself went ashore and made a formal requi-
sition for the possession of the custom-house papers
and moneys, when the government property was sur-
rendered, and to avoid further trouble, taken on board
the Shubrick, where the business of the office was
transacted until it was removed to Port Angeles in
September.''^
The people of Washington territory had never yet
been granted a satisfactory mail communication, but
by an arrangement of the postal agent with the Eliza
Anderson, a passenger-steamer running between Puget
Sound ports and Victoria, had for some time enjoyed
a sombre satisfaction in being able to get woixl to and
from Victoria in a week. But on the arrival of tlie
Shubrick, Smith, who was authorized to introduce re-
trenchment into the public service wherever it could
be done, assumed charge of the mail service, and made
the Shubrick carrier, which having a regular route
away from the mail route, was anything but a proper
mail carrier. This disturbance of their already too
limited means of communication roused a tornado of
invective about the ears of the self-constituted postal
agent.
Immediately after the belligerent performances of
the Shubrick, Governor Pickering, attended by United
States Marshal Huntington, Ex-governor McGill,
Major Patten of the regular service, and a number of
citizens of Olympia, repaired to Port Townsend on the
Eliza Anderson, to inquire into the conduct of Col-
lector Smith in threatening to bombard that town.
But the witty and audacious revenue gatherer ex-
hibited his correspondence with the secretary of the
treasury, and smiling benignly, assured his visitors that
whatever they might think of his methods, he was un-
*^ Olympia Standard, Aug. 9, 1862; S. F. Bulktiii, Aug. 11, 1862.
ARREST OF SMITH. 223
doubtedly a favorite of the power which made them, as
well as him, of which he was able to furnish abundant
evidence. Although this could not be gainsaid, there
still remained the suspicion that the confidence of the
government might be misplaced, and a few days later,
when the Shubrick stopped at Port Townsend to leave
and take the mail, Marshal Huntington attempted to
board her with a warrant, but was not permitted to
do so. On the 13th the Shubrick sailed for San
Francisco, to which place she conveyed the collector,
leaving the Eliza Anderson to carry the mails as
heretofore, to the great joy of the business community.
In good time Smith returned, having caused the
arrest of Merryman for carrying away certain moneys,
and the custom-house was established at Port Angeles,
wliere two hundred people had gathered in anticipa-
tion of soon building up a commercial city, Port
Townsend being thrown into alternate paroxysms of
rage and despair at being bereft of its prospects of great-
ness. At the meeting of the grand jury at Olympia
in October, four indictments were found against
Smith; namely, for resistance to a duly authorized
officer of the law, for embezzlement of the public
funds, for procuring false vouchers, and for assault on
the people of Port Townsend. Smith eluded arrest
for a time, but finally surrendered voluntarily, and
gave bail for his appearance at court, where no case
appears to have been made against him which the
courts were competent to try. The government
which appointed him saw fit to remove him little
more than a year afterward, and apppoint L. C.
Gunn in his place.
With regard to the claim of Port Angeles to be
considered the better point for a custom-house, Mc-
Clellan, when surve3'ing the shores of Puget Sound,
reported favorably upon it," as the "first attempt of
nature on this coast to form a good harbor." It was
well protected from the noi'th winds by the sand spit
« Pac. S. li. Kept, xu. 278.
224 THROUGH FOUR ADMIOTSTRATIONS.
of Ediz Hook, three miles in length, running out east-
ward, and from the south-east gales by the mainland,
and had a good depth of water, besides lying more
directly in the path of commerce than its rival. The
town site was also called superior to Port Townsend,
although it had the same high bluff back of the nar-
row strip of land bordering the harbor. Three small
streams ran down from the highlands back of it and
furnished abundance of water, the custom-house, a
fine large structure, being built at the mouth of the
canon through which one of these rivulets ran, Smith's
residence adjoining it, and the other buildings being
near these central ones.
In the winter of 1863 a catastrophe occurred. For
several days the stream just mentioned was dried up,
the unknown cause being a landslide, which had fallen
into the narrow gorge about five miles from Port An-
geles, and by damming up the water formed a lake.
On the afternoon of the 16th of December, it being
almost dark, a terrible roaring and tearing sound was
heard in the canon, and in a few moments a frightful
calamity was upon the until now prosperous new
town. The earth which formed the dam had at
length given way, freeing a body of water fifteen feet
in height, which rushed in a straight volume, carrying
everything before it, and entirely changing the face
of the ground swept by it. Crushed like an egg-shell,
the custom-house fell and was carried out into the
harbor. Deputy Collector J. M. Anderson, formerly
of Ohio, and Inspector William B. Goodell, lately
master of the tug General Harney, stood at the front
entrance of the building as the water and debris it
carried struck the rear side. Their bodies were found
two hundred feet away, covered four feet deep with
earth and fragments of buildings and furniture.
Neither Smith, the late, nor Gunn, the newly ap-
pointed, collector, were in Port Angeles. Mrs Smith,
with four young children, and Mrs Randolph were in
the dwelling adjoining the custom-house, which, be-
A TOWN DESTROYED. 225
ing partially protected from the first shock by a solid
mass of piled-up lumber, fell, but was not carried
away. Groping about in the darkness, stooping under
the wreck, with the water up to her waist, Mrs Smith
found and saved not only all her children, but another
woman, who was lying under the water, held down
with fragments of the walls. In a short time the
flood had passed, and men in boats with lanterns were
hurrying to the rescue of those in the direct course of
the watery avalanche. No lives were lost except
those of the two custom-house officers/^ but the town
was in ruins, and although an effort was made to re-
suscitate it by removing what remained to a better
site higher up the coast, it never recovered from
the calamity, and gradually diminished in population,
until it was reduced to the condition of a small farm-
ing community.
The custom-house safe being found with the office
papers and books, the government sustained only the
loss of the furniture of the building. The most serious
damage fell upon Smith, who owned and had leased tho
custom-house for a term of four years. This, with
his residence, furniture, books, and a considerable sum
of money, was snatched away in a moment, while he
was in Washington endeavoring to adjust his affairs
with the government. In 1865 the custom-house
was returned to Port Townsend, and in that year, also,
the principal figure in the short and singular history
of Port Angeles disappeared from the world's stage
as suddenly as his town had done, eighteen months
previous, when the steamship Brother Jonathan, Cap-
tain De Wolf, struck an unknown rock near Crescent
City, and went down with 300 passengers on board,
among whom was the talented but eccentric Victor
Smith."
<3 Collector Gunn, in a letter to the .?. F. Bulletin, Jan. 28, 1864, says that
Anderson was a refined, intelligent, amiable, and conscientious man, and an
invaluable ofBcer from his hab.JS of industry and his strict adherence to the
requirements of law. Goodell had been appointed only two weeks previous,
and was a man much esteemed. He left a wife and three children.
" Smith broHsht out from Ohio several members of his family. The light-
HisT. Wash.— 15
226 THROUGH FOUR ADMINISTRATIONS.
By the catastrophe at Port Angeles all the papers
relating to the statistics of commerce were destroyed,
leaving a blank in this chapter of early history which
can never be satisfactorily filled.*^
house at Tatoosh Island was given in charge of his father. Tvro of his sisters
long had in charge the light on the California coast near Wilmington.
Another married Mr Stork of Olympia.
*^ The collectors foHowing Gunn in office were Frederick A. Wilson, M.
S. Drew, Salucius Garfielde, Henry A. Webster, and Bash. Gunn came to
Or. in 1852, and was associated with H. L. Pittock in the publication of the
Oregonian, and was subsequently for many years editor of the Olympia
Transcript. He died at Olympia, Aug. 23, 1885.
CHAPTER VII.
MUSTTNG and TOWN-lVIAKINa
1S61-1S63.
Organization of the First WASHtiVaTON Intantrt — Companies from
California — Gold Discoveries — Militakt Road — Fkaser River
Travel— CoLviLLE Mines— Tue Malheur Countrt— The Similka-
meen Mines — American Miners in British Columbia— Gold Discov-
eries on the Clearwater — On Snake River — Protest op the Nez
PERcfe— Pierce City — Ono FiNO— Lewiston — Vert Rich Diggings —
California Eclipsed— Salmon River Mines — Political Effect —
Winter Sufferings — Powder and John Day Rivers — Florence and
Warren Diggings — Boise Mines— Organization or the Territory
OF Idaho.
I HAVE related in Oregon II. how Colonel Wright
•was left in command of the department of Oregon
when General Harney was invited to Washington
upon a pretence of being needed to testify in the
Oregon and Washington Indian-war-debt claims, in
order to pacify the British minister and Governor
Douglas by removing him from proximity to the
San Juan Island boundary-war ground; and also that
General Scott recommended merging the military
department of Oregon in that of the Pacific, with
headquarters in San Francisco. In the latter part
of 1860 this idea was carried out, and General E. V.
Sumner was placed in command of the Pacific depart-
ment, relieving General Johnstone, whom the people
of Oregon and Washington feared might be sent to
command the Columbia district. Fortunately for
them, since they had come to have entire confidence
in Wright, that officer was retained in his important
position during the critical period of the breaking-out
(227)
228 MIXING A^^D TOWN-ilAKING.
of the rebellion. The depletion of his command, and
the measures resorted to in order not to leave the
north-western frontier defenceless, I have referred to
in my History of Oregon.
The news of President Lincoln's proclamation call-
ing for volmiteers did not reach Washington until
about the 1st of May, and on the 10th McGill, who
was at that time still acting governor, issued a call
for the organization of the militia of the territory
under the existing laws, each company to report at
once to headquarters and be at the call of the presi-
dent should their services be required.^ Adjutant-
general Frank Matthias immediately appointed en-
rolling officers in each of the counties of the territory,
both east and west of the Cascade Mountains, and
required all men subject to military duty to report
themselves to these officers. There were at this time
twenty-two organized counties, and not more than six
thousand men between the ages of sixteen and sixty
capable of bearing arms.^ In the Puget Sound re-
gion there was also need of able-bodied men to repair
the damages sustained by several years of Indian
wars and mining excitement.
Late in the summer of 1861 Wright was placed in
command of the department of the Pacific, and Colo-
nel Albermarle Cacly of the 7th infantry succeeded to
that of the district of the Columbia. About the last
of the year Wright, now a brigadier-general, appointed
Justin Steinberger, formerly of Pierce county, Wash-
ington, but then in California, to proceed to Pugut
Sound, with the commission of colonel, and endeavor
to rais&a regiment to be mustered into the regular
service. Steinberger arrived in January ; but the ut-
'Steilacoom Herald, May 10, 1861; Olumpia Pioneer and Dem., May 17,
1861.
^ The first company formed appears to have been the Port Madison Union
Guards, 70 men; William Fowler capt.; H. B. Manchester 1st lieut; E. D.
Kromer 2d lieut; non-com. officers, A. J. Tuttle, Noah Falk, William Clen-
dcnin, Edgar Brown, S. F. Coombs, R. J. May, J. M. Guiudon, Joliu Taylor.
This cnmpany was organized in May. In June the Lewis County Rangers,
mounted, were organized at Cowlitz landing; Henry Miles capt.; L. L.
Dubeau 1st lieut; S. B. Smith 2d lieut. Olympia Standard, July 20, 1801.
MILITARY ORGANIZATION. 229
most he could do was to raise four infantry companies,
one each at Whatcom, Port Townsend, Port Mad-
ison, and Walla Walla.^ In California he raised four
more companies, with which he returned to Vancouver
in May, relieving Colonel Cady of the command of
the district. As three others were then organized in
California, enlisting was ordered discontinued in Wash-
ington. In July General Alvord took command of
the district, and Steinberger repaired to Fort Walla
Walla, where he relieved Colonel Cornelius of the
Oregon cavalry. The regiment was not filled, how-
ever, until the close of the year. On the 5th of Jan-
uary, 1863, Governor Pickering addressed a communi-
cation to the speaker of the house of representatives,
informing him that the First Regiment of Washing-
ton Infantry, organized pursuant to order of the war
department, October 1861, was full, and had been re-
ceived into the service of the United States, and sug-
gested to the legislature to give some expression,
either by memorial or joint resolution, of the confi-
dence of that body in this regiment, whether it re-
mained where it then was or should be called out of
the territory in the service of the United States, and
invoking for it the favorable notice of the general
government, praying that in the event of a reorgani-
zation of the army this corps might be retained in
service in Washington.* It was so ordered.
A portion of the regiment was stationed at Fort
Pickett, another portion was with Steinberger at
Walla Walla, and the territory had at length and for
a time the satisfaction of seeing men with no alien
tendencies in its places of trust.
Although it was designed that the Oregon cavalry
should be used against the Shoshones, who for eight
years had grown more and more presumptuous and
hostile, and the Washington infantry be kept to gar-
'The enrolling officers were R. V. Peaborly, H. L. Tibballs, Egbert H.
Tucker, and Moore and Caunaday of Walla Walla. Sieilacooin Herald, March
20, 1SG2.
* Wash. House Jour., 1S62-3, app. xxiii.-xxiv.
220 MINING AND TOWN-MAKING.
rison the several posts in the territory, the companies
east of the mountains were compelled to support the
cavalry on several expeditions against the Indians, in
which long and exhausting marches were performed,
the history of which has been given in my History of
Oregon, but to which some reference is also due in
this place.
On the opening of the transmontane country east
of the Cascades in October 1858, there was a sudden
overflow of population into its sunny vales,^ attracted
thither chiefly by the reputed gold discoveries both
north and south of the Columbia, on the Malheur and
other streams of eastern Oregon, as well as on the
Wenatchee River, in the latitude of the Snoqualimich
Pass, and about Colville. Many were discouraged
miners, who found the soil and climate of eastern
Washington so agreeable and productive as to suggest
settlement.
The construction of the military road to Fort Ben-
ton drew a considerable number in the direction of
the Bitter Root Valley, forming apart of the immense
and rather indefinite county of Spokane, attached for
judicial purposes to the county of Walla Walla, and
consequently far from the seat of any court.* The
stream of travel toward Fraser River, which crossed
the Columbia at The Dalles, pursuing a north-east
course to Priest Rapids, and a north course thence
by Okanagan lake and river to the Thompson branch,
or deflecting to the west, reached the main Fraser 200
miles above Fort Yale, stood in need of military pro-
tection, as did also the boundary commission, one part
of which was at Semiahmoo Bay, and the other at
Lake Osogoos, near the Rock Creek mines.'
' Ruble & Co. erected a steam saw-mill near Walla Walla iu 1S59. Or.
Argus, Jan. 29, 1S59. Noble & Co. erected another in eastern Oregon the
same year. The first grist-mill erected at Walla Walla, in 18G0, -Has owned
by H. H. Reynolds, Simms, and Capt. F. T. Dent. EUioU's Hid. Idaho, 64-5.
6 Wagh. Jour. Jfotise, 18G0-1, .3o-6.
'Capt. D. Woodruff, with a co. of the 0th inf., was at Semiahmoo, and
two companies of the same regiment un<lcr Capt. J. J. Archer at La];e
Osogoos, in the summer of \So'J. Mess, and JJocn, 1839-00, pt ii. 111-12.
STEAMBOATS AND GOLD MINES. 231
For the safety of these disconnected groups of peo-
ple, Fort Colville was established in May 1859. The
Dalles, being the one entrepot for so wide a region,
rapidly developed into a commercial town, with a
journal of its own/ and a population ever increasing
in numbers if not in worth; horse-thieves, gamblers,
and all the criminal classes which follow on the heels
of armies and miners giving frequent employment to
the civil and military authorities.
In the spring of 1859, also, the little steamer Colonel
Wright was built at the mouth of Des Chutes River,
by R. R. Thompson and Lawrence W. Coe. She
made her first ti'ip to old Fort Walla Walla on the
18th of April, returning on the 20th, and taking a
cargo of goods belonging to Joel Palmer, intended for
the mines, as far up the river as Priest Rapids. In
June she ascended Snake River to Fort Taylor, at the
mouth of the Tucannon. A steamboat on the Upper
Columbia gave trade another impetus, and Walla
Walla, first called Steptoe City, became a rival of
The Dalles in a short time.
The passage of gold-hunters though the Colville
country revived an interest in that region. Many
unsuccessful miners returning from Fraser River, or,
prevented by high water from operating there, were
led to explore on the upper Columbia and as far east
as the Bitter Root Valley, where they made from five
to eight dollai's a day, and where living was less
costly than on Fraser River. Even the military offi-
cers and soldiers became gold-hunters, adding not a
little information concerning the mineral resources of
the country to that furnished by mining prospectors.^
' The Dalles Journal, edited and published by A. J. Price, at $5 per year,
weekly.
' Captain Wallen's expedition discovered gold in the Malheur country; and
Captain Archer reported finding the color of gold almost everywhere on the
march from Priest Rapids to the Similkameen, with tlie best prospects iu the
vicinity of the Wenatchee and Methow rivers. An extensive copper mine
was discovered on the Okinakaue River; and lead was found on Lake
Chelan and Pend d'Oreille. Corr. Dalles Journal, in S. F. Alta, Aug. 12, 1859.
Major Lugenbeel, in command of the new military post at Colville, informs
the Portlaiui Advertiser that the mines at the mouth of the Pend d'Oreille,
232 MINING AND TOWN -MAKING.
The soldiers on guard at the commissioners' camp
in October discovered gold on the Similkameen, where
they could take out twenty dollars a day with pans,
besides walking five miles to and from camp. The
discovery was as much as possible suppressed, from
a fear that a crowd of persons would be attracted
there at the beginning of winter, whom there was
no means of supplying with food when the military
stores should be removed for the season. Miners
were warned also not to begin preparations too early
in the spring, when the bars of the river would be
under water; but the fact was not concealed that
the quality of Similkameen gold was superior, being
coarse, and equal in coin to seventeen or eighteen dol-
lars an ounce. ^"^
Nothing could, however, overcome the eagerness of
men to be first upon the ground. By the middle of
November companies were organizing in Portland, the
mining fever threatening to reach the height of 1858;
and by the end of February the first party set out,
consisting of twenty men, led by J. N. Bell of The
Dalles. These, with fifty others who had wintered
there, were the earliest at the new diggings. In
March all the floating population of the Walla Walla
Valley, with some companies from Yreka, California,
were on their way to Similkameen. They were fol-
lowed by other Oregon companies, one of whom, led
by Palmer, undertook the enterprise of opening a
wagon-road from Priest Rapids to the Similkameen.
Fifty or sixty tons of freight were shipped to the
rapids on the Colonel Wright, whence it was taken in
wagons the remainder of the distance." Several par-
ties left the Willamette in small boats, intending to
which have been worked several times, yield very well to every successive
working; that coarse gold exists on the Salmon River, a northern tributary
of the Pendd 'Oreille; and that miners working about forty -five miles from his
post averaged §5 to $10 per day. S. F. Alia, Aug. 12, 1859; S. F. BaUetin,
July 21 and 29, and Aug. 11, 1859.
">Corr. Portland AVws, \a S. F. Alia, Nov. 2 and 15, 1859. Shuswap
coarse gold was worth §18.50. Pond d'Orcille gold was found in scales 17 or
18 carats fine. Similkameen gold resembled that of Yuba River, CaL
" Or. Argus, March 24 aud 31, 18C0.
MINING EXCITEMENT. 233
make the journey to the mines, a distance of 500
miles, with no other conveyance. Similar nerve was
exhibited by companies from Puget Sound, which, as
early as the 10th of March, were on the move to cross
the Cascade Range at the different passes, and suc-
ceeded in doing so. Those who arrived thus early
could not make more than expenses, the best mining
ground being under water. Many turned back ; others
pressed on to Quesnelle River; and others occupied
themselves in prospecting, and found gold on Rock
Creek, one of the head waters of Kettle River, which
entered the Columbia near Colville, and on the Pend
d'Oreille. During the summer the Similkameen
mines paid well, and in September new diggings were
discovered on the south fork of that river.^''
^he Rock Creek and Similkameen mines proved
to be in British territorj^, American traders being
taxed over $100 for the privilege of selling goods
there."
The Cariboo placers wiere discovered in August
1860, but their fame was not much spread before
winter, and migration thither did not set in before
the spring of 18G1. When it did begin, it equalled
that of 1858. Claims were taken up on Harvey's and
Keethlcy's creeks, in August, that yielded all the way
fi-om eight to fifty dollars per day to the man. Five
men in one company took out in six days $2,400.
Four men took out in one day over eighteen ounces,
worth over $300, and so on. There was sent out by
express the first month $30,000, besides what re-
mained in the hands of 250 men in the mines. The
reports from Cariboo greatly stimulated mining dis-
covery in the region lying on cither side of the boun-
dary line of United States territory.
There had been a discovery made in the spring of
1860 destined to work a rapid and important change
^^Ebey's Journal, MS., vi. 34S.
" Corr. PorUaitd Advertiser, Oct. 26, 1860; Or. Ar^a, Dec. 29, ISOa la
1861 there were about 20,000 miuers, mostly American, ia B. C,
234 MINING AND TOWN-MAKING.
in eastern Washington, although overshadowed for a
time by the placers which I have here named. From
a letter written April 30, 1860, to the Oregon Argus,
the discovery appears to have been made a short time
before.
E. D. Pierce, a trader among the Indians, had long
known that the country east of the great bend of the
Snake River was a gold-bearing one, but owing to the
hostility of the Indians, he did not prospect it, and
for several years resided in California. De Smet had
known of it at an earlier period, and in 1854 a Mr
Robbins of Portland had purchased some gold of the
Spokanes, farther north.
In 1858 Pierce again visited the Nez Percd country
but found no opportunity to search until after the
ratification of the Nez Perce treaty, and the general
cessation of hostilities. Early in 18G0 he found means
to verify his belief in the auriferous nature of the
country on the Clearwater branch of Snake River,
reporting his discovery in April at Walla Walla. It
does not appear from the public prints that the story
of Pierce received much credence, though the corre-
spondent spoken of above reported that some returned
Similkameen miners, and others from Walla WaUa,
had gone thither.
Pierce did not at once return to the Clearwater, on
account of the opposition of the Indian and military
departments, who dreaded the renewal of trouble with
the Nez Perces and Spokanes should a mining popu-
lation overrun their reserved territory. About the
first of August, however, Pierce, with a party of only
ten men,** set out from Walla Walla to make a con-
clusive examination of the country in question ; having
done which he returned with his party to Walla Walla
in November, giving all the information which he
" The names of the ten were Horace Dodge, Josepli L. Davis, J. R. Beiie-
field, Bethuel Ferrel, Jonathan E. Smith, W. F. Basaett, Frank Turner, David
Diggings, Samuel B. Reed, and John W. Park. Oli/mpia Pioneer and Demo-
crat, April 20, 1861. Bassett id said to have discovered the first gold on Canal
Gulch, wliero Pierce City is situated. Lewk' Coal Discovei'^es, M6. , 10-17; I'tc-
tors Jliver of the West, 540-1.
PIERCE'S DISCOVERIES. 23S
himself possessed concerning the new gold- field lying
150 miles east of that place, and believed to be rich.
The diggings were dry, and yielded eight to fifteen
cents to the pan. The route to the mines was directly
through the Nez Perce reservation."
Pierce now endeavored to organize a large company
to return with him and winter in the mines; but the
representations of those who feared to provoke another
Indian war discouraged most of those who would have
gone, and only thirty-three accompanied him. The
party was followed as far as Snake River by a de-
tachment of dragoons, whose duty it was to prevent
their intrusion on the reservation, but who failed to
execute it.
Pierce's party of less than forty men remained in
the Nez Perce country preparing for mining when
spring should open. The snow in December was six
inches deep, and during a portion of the winter three
feet in depth. The men occupied themselves building
comfortable cabins, sawing out planks for sluice-boxes,
and sinking prospect holes. They found the gold of
the earth to be very fine, requiring quicksilver to col-
lect it, though coarse gold was also discovered in the
quartz with which the country abounded. Tlie dig-
gings were situated in gulches and cafions of streams
of too general a level to make it convenient washing
the dirt and disposing of the debris. The gold was
found in a red, and sometimes a bluish, earth of de-
composed granite mixed with gravel of pure white
quartz. Much black sand appeared on washing it.
Pierce himself, though convinced of the richness of
the present discovery, freely exposed the disadvan-
tages, and declared, moreover, his beUef that these
mines were but the outskirts of still richer mining
territory.
Pierce had hardly reached his camp on the Clear-
water before he received a visit from A. J. Cain, the
'^ Or. Argns, May 12, 1860; Pionerr and Democrat, Nov. 9, 1860; Sacra-
mento Un'wn, Dec. 0, ISCO; S. F. Bulleiiii, Aug. 21, 1S60, and March 21, 18G6;
Angela's IdaJio, 23.
236 MIXDCG AND TOWX-MAKIXG.
Nez Perce Indian agent, wlio did not find it necessary
to interfere with the party, but on the contrary, ex-
pressed himself pleased with their behavior. The
agent might have obtained the consent of the Nez
Perces to the presence of a single party of miners in
their country; but when in February others com-
menced to follow, they were intercepted and turned
back, a few who succeeded in passing the Indian picket
being warned that they would be required to return
in the spring.
Knowing how impossible it would be, when spring
opened, to prevent a migration to the Clearwater
gold-fields, Superintendent E. R. Geary, held a con-
ference with Colonel Wright in reference to the
threatened complication in Indian matters. The re-
sult of the consultation was that the superintendent
repaired to the upper country, held a council, and
made a treaty with the Indians to meet the exigencies
of the coming mining excitement, promising them
military' protection, and the enforcement of the United
States laws — a compact of necessity rather than a
matter of choice with the natives.
Some weeks before the treaty was negotiated,
miners were en route from Walla Walla and Portland,
and merchants from the former place had taken goods
to Pierce City, situated at the mouth of Canal Gulch,
on Oro Fine Creek, to be in readiness for the coming
demand. At the time the treaty with the Nez
Perces was concluded, 300 miners were already in the
Oro Fine district. A month later there were 1,000,
with immigration coming in rapidly from California,
overland. As the spring advanced the excitement
increased, and a line of steamers was put upon the
Columbia to accommodate the thousands that rushed
impetuously to this richest of all the gold-fields yet
discovered north of the Columbia.^*
The route travelled was by steamer to old Fort
Walla Walla, thence by stage to Walla Walla town,
^"Olympia Pioneer and Democrat, Feb. 24, March 15, April 5 and 26, 1861.
TOWN OF SLATERVILLE. 237
and thence by pack-horses or teaixis to the mines, the
whole distance from Portland, where the traveller
embarked, being 436 miles. Horses, saddles, wagons,
provisions, clothing, mining tools, and camp equipage
were in demand at Walla Walla in 1861, the mer-
chants, at least, having found a bonanza.
In IMay the Colonel Wright made the first trip ever
consummated by a steamer to the mouth of the Clear-
water, and up that stream to within twelve miles of the
forks, or within less than forty miles of Pierce City.
A town was immediately founded at this landing,
called Slaterville, after its founder. It contained in
May five houses of canvas, two of which were pro-
vision stores, two private dwellings, and the other a
drinking-saloon. The saloon was roofed with two
blankets, a red and a blue one. On its side was writ-
ten the word "whiskey" in charcoal, and inside, a bar-
rel of the liquid constituted the stock in trade. Two
bottles and two drinking-glasses composed the furni-
ture. Fifty white persons were to be found in and
about Slaterville at this time. Following the Colonel
Wright, the Tenino, the second steamer on the upper
Columbia, made a few trips to this place, but it
was soon found to be impracticable for a landing on
account of the rapids in the Clearwater, which could
only be navigated for a short season of the year.
The last trip of the Tenino was made before the
close of the month, her final departure taking place
June 1st.
The next cargo of freight and load of passengers
were landed, by necessity, at the confluence of the
Clearwater and Snake rivers, on the south side, which
was in direct contravention of the terms of the treaty
made in April. There did not seem to be any alter-
native, the mountains rising abruptly on the north
side, and this being the natural head of navigation.
When the treaty was made, the head of navigation
was at old Fort Walla Walla, or in rare cases at the
mouth of the Tucaunon River. Already this was all
238 MINTNG AND TOWN-ilAKING.
changed, and the route most travelled was up Snake
River to the Clearwater. By the 10th of June the
navigation company and the miners had settled it that
a town must be built at this point. The site was
most favorable, being a level piece of ground between
the two rivers, sloping gently back a mile or two to
the high prairies beyond. The name fixed upon was
Lewiston, in compliment to Merriwether Lewis, the
discoverer of the Clearwater and Snake rivers, who
had been entertained by the father of the head chief
of the Nez Perces, Lawyer, almost at the very spot
where Americans were now mining for gold. Two
weeks after it was first used as a landing, Lewiston
had a population and business of considerable impor-
tance. Pack-trains daily departed thence to the
mines, laden witli the goods brought up by tlie
weekly steamboat, the town at once taking on an air
of having come to stay, which its excellent location
fully justified. The military authorities, however,
who were pledged to protect the Indians in their
rights, prohibited the erection of permanent buildings,
and the Nez Perce agent called the attention of the
public to the breach of treaty committed by them in
their invasion of the reservation twice reserved.
But remonstrances were unavailing when opposed
to the determination of 3,000 persons already occupy-
ing the foot-hills of the Blue Mountains, and whose
number was daily increasing. Lawyer, and the head-
men generally, perceived the difficulties in which the
white men would be placed if denied access to the
mines, or a lauding for their goods, and accepting
some compensation, they allowed the town site of
Lewiston to be laid off in October. That the Nez
Perces were not averse to the coming of white nien
among them was evident from their obliging and
friendly conduct. The better class of Indians as well
as white men reprobated the introduction of intoxicat-
ing liquors; but otherwise, expecting the treaty to be
observed in regard to territory, they made no very
THE ORO FINO MIXES. 239
great protest against the presence of miners on the
reservation.
As the summer advanced, new" discoveries were
made and other mining towns sprang up. Oro Fino
City, a rival of Pierce City, in the early part of June
had sixty houses, built of logs, ten stores of general
merchandise, and various other shops. The popula-
tion was about 500, most of whom lived in teats.
Three families were settled there, the whole of the
inhabitants with this exception being males. A
wagon-road was completed from the mouth of the
Clearwater to Pierce City in June,^'' crossing the
south branch of that river.
In July 5,000 men were scattered over the mining
region, now no longer confined to Oro Fino district.
Two saw-mills were in process of erection," and trade
was already overdone, so many merchants had has-
tened their goods into the country. In Oro Fino
City building lots sold for from $100, to $200, and
with a log-house on them, from $500 to $1,000.
Carpenters' wages were nine and ten dollars a day, and
common labor from three and a lialf to six dollars.
As to what the miners were making, that depended
upon the locality. The first discovery was inferior
in richness to later ones. On Rhodes Creek, which
emptied into the Oro Fino one and a half miles above
Pierce City, claims paid from twelve to twenty-five
dollars a day to the man. The heavy expenses of
opening a claim, however, greatly lessened the profits;
lumber costing twenty cents a foot, and nails forty
cents per pound, in addition to the high price of
labor. A few claims yielded fifty, seventy, and a
hundred dollars to the man.^"
" This road was cut out by Mr Athey of Oregon City. Or. Argun, July 27,
1861. Mr Mulkey of Washington co., Oregon, drove the first team into Oro
Fino.
" One of these pioneer mills was erected by A. M. and L. M. Starr. Ore-
gonian, Aug. 21, 1861.
"G. C. Robbins of Tortland reported to the press in August that 2,500
practical miners were at work on Rhodes Creek, Oro Fino Creek, Canal Gulch,
MO MIXING AXD TOWN-MAXING.
With the usual restlessness of miners, a party of
fifty-two men left the Oro Fino district in May to ex-
plore and prospect the south fork of the Clearwater
and its tributaries. This stream was almost unknown,
being far to the north of the travelled roads between
the Rock}^ and Blue mountains, and even remote from
the trails made by the fur-hunters. Proceeding seven-
teen miles above the north branch of South Fork,
they crossed from the north to the south side of the
stream, keeping up the river to the junction of the
south branch of the South Fork, up which they con-
tinued for six miles, or until they arrived at the vil-
lage of the chief of that district of the Nez Perce
country, Coolcoolsneenee, who objected to this infrac-
tion of treat}' agreements, which excluded white men
from the south side of the Clearwater.
After a prolonged interview with the chief, who
insisted upon an observance of the treaty, thirty of
the party turned back. The remaining twenty-two
crossed the South Fork to the north side, and pro-
ceeded along up the stream by the southern Nez
Perce trail to the bufialo-grounds, going about twenty
miles from the crossing in an easterly course, until
they came to where three branches of the South Fork
met. Here they made an examination of the earth,
and obtained from twelve to twenty-five cents to the
pan of shot and drift gold.
and French Creek, and that 4,000 or 5,000 men were making a living in other
ways. His report on the yield of the mines was as follows: Jarvis & Co.,
four men, $10 per clay to the man; James & Co., five men, $10 per day to the
man; McCarty & Co., four men, $10 each; Vesay & Co., eight men, §7 to §8;
Hook & Co., six men, $10 to $12; Jones & Co., four men, $10 to$12; Dunbiir
& Asar, $10 to $12; Shaflfer & Co., fourteen men, $60; Paine & Co., twenty
men, $70; Mortimer & Co., twenty-four men, $70 to $80; Hatch & Co., five
men, $16 to $20; Thomas & Co., fourteen men, $18 to $20; Rillery & Co.,
seventeen men, $16 tt.$17; Blakely & Co., nine men, $1G to $20; Smalley &
Co., ten men, $16; Boon & Co., eight men, $16; California Co. , nine men, $16;
Ncwlanil & Co., six men, $16; Hickox & Co., five men, $16 to $20; Let 'Er
Rip & Co., eleven men, $16 to .$20; Hoyt&Co., eight men, $12; Felton&Co.,
$16; Sparks &. Co., $1.'5; Rossi & Co., $15; Rhodes & Co., eleven men, 300
ounces per day to the company. On French Creek, Antoine Pillir, T. Lapoint,
M. Giimon, John Lesot, Harkum, and Quirk were making each $10 to $12
per day. Portland Oregonian, Aug. 26, 1861; S. F. Herald, Nov. 14, 1801;
Yreka Journal, Dec. 4, ISOl.
About one third of the party returned to Oro Fino,
where they arrived on the Gth of June, exhibiting
their specimens, and after purchasing a supply of pro-
visions, immediately rejoined their associates in the
new diggings.^"
The discovery on South Fork led to a rush of several
hundred Oro Fino miners, some of whom returned be-
fore winter. Other diggings were found on the north
side of the Clearwater, on Newsom Creek, where from
eight to fifteen dollars a day were obtained. The
opposition of the Indians to the intrusion of white
men on the South Fork for a time restrained the
mining population, but good reports continuing to
come from there, a fresh migration set in, and by
September a town called Elk City was laid off between
Elk and American creeks of Red River, the main
branch of South Fork, which contained 2,000 inhabi-
tants, several business houses, and forty dwellings
already erected or in process of construction."
Elk valley, or prairie, was about seven miles in
length, and not more than half a mile in width. The
mountains on either side were low and covered with
small pines. From the tops of these ridges flat ravines
sloped down at intervals, covered with rich grass, and
watered by springs. Elk City was situated a mile
from the lower end of the valley, on a flat between
two of these ravines, which gave it a greater extent
of view. On the west the mountains rose ridge
above ridge toward the great spur of the Bitter Root
range, which the miners were obliged to cross to reach
it, and Elk Creek, its meanderings marked only by
occasional clumps of willows, flowed along the western
border of the town. The distance from Elk City to
Oro Fini. was 120 miles. Between it and the cross-
ing of the South Fork were two rugged ranges, one
fifteen miles, the other twenty-five miles over, sepa-
'"Corr. Portland Oregonian, June 20, 18C1. The only name given of any
one belonging to this party is McGill, in S. F. Bulletin, July 3, 1861.
" J/ai-e'.s Enrly h'veiils, MS., 11.
Hist. rt'Asa.— 16
242 MINING AND TOWN-MAXING.
rated bj Newsom Creek.^^ On every side in this local-
ity rose ledges of pale red or rose quartz. Between
the mountains were intervals of beautiful grassy
prairies; on the mountains heavy pine forests. Game
abounded, the principal being the elk, of which there
were large bands. The country was, in fact, very
different from the California miner's preconceived
ideas of a gold country. But experience had proved
that gold might exist either under barren sands, rich
alluvium, or the frozen mosses of a Cariboo; and cer-
tainly this was a pleasanter country to live and mine
in than Cariboo. The objection to it was that the
mining season, so far up in the mountains, must be
comparatively short; and in order to make up for the
expense of a long idle winter, it was important to se-
cure a considerable sum during the summer. It was
also necessary to lay in a sufficient stock of provisions
to last while the heavy snows suspended travel.
Some who preferred wintering in Walla Walla left
the mines early to avoid the snow; but the majority
remained, and for these the traders provided by hurry-
ing in ample stocks of goods as long as the weather
permitted.^' Such was the energy and enterprise of
the latter class, that by the first week in September
a trail six feet wide was cut through forty miles of
timber on the mountains between Elk City and the
South Fork, obstructions removed, and the hills
graded where required. In October, in spite of treaty
obligations, a white man had taken up a farm on the
road, and erected a cabin of the nature of a wayside
inn, called the Mountain House.
At this period of the development of the Clearwater
mines, there were comparatively few except Oregon
and Washington men engaged in mining or trade in
" 'The gold at Newsom Creek is a deep red, and heavier and coarser than
that found at Oro Fine' Corr. Portlnnd Advertiser.
"The first firm to take goods to Elk City was John Creightou & Co.
Flour sold from §16 to $20 per 100 pounds, and groceries in proportion. The
only cheap article of food was beef, at 12 to 15 cents per pound, and vegetables
Bold by Indians.
BALANCING ACCOUNTS. 243
the Nez Perc^ country. The sale of whiskey, repro-
bated by the majority, was carried on, notwithstand-
ing the danger that it might involve the miners and
Indians in trouble. Few crimes, however, were com-
mited this season. One American was shot in a
drunken quarrel with a Frenchman, and one packer
was murdered and robbed on the road. Some instances
of sluice-robbing occurred at Oro Fino; and horse-
stealing by an organized band of thieves began.
By the end of summer, when the mining season
was expected to close, the profits of the outlay in
opening up the gold-fields began to be speculated upon
b}- the press; and although no doubt was entertained
of the riches contained in the gold region, or that it
would continue to yield well for a longer period than the
Fraser mines, which were already worked out,-* it was
asserted that the Willamette Valley was a million dol-
lars worse off" for the discovery. And yet the Willa-
mette Valley was, as far as cash was concerned, already
poor, on account of the long period of Indian wars, and
the non-payment of the war debt, while the weekly
receipt of gold-dust at Portland was nearly $100,000.-^
These jealous writers admitted that this money was
developing in various wa3'S the natural resources of
an immense region east of the Cascade Mountains,
but chiefly on the Washington side of the Columbia.
Even The Dalles, which had received a great impetus
from the Colville and Fraser River migrations, was
but little benefited by this one ; for now that the steam-
ers carried freight and passengers directly to Lewis-
ton, the business of supplying miners was transacted
either at that place or at Portland.^® Others with
more comprehensive views remarked that the gold
^* Anrjdo's Idciho, 23.
'^ This statement is taken from the Oregon Statesman, the most conserva-
tive paper in Oregon, and the one always opposed to muling ventures, or any
enterprises not directly beneficial to the Willamette Valley. See Statesman,
Sept. 9 and Nov. 4, 1861.
'" The Colville and Oro Fino mines helped Portland greatly; and in 1861
bnilt up the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. Loaded drays used to stand
in line half a mile long, unloading at night freight to go in the morning, that
involved a fortune. Deadt/'a Hist. Vr., MS., 37.
244 MIXING AND TOWN-MAKING.
discoveries came opportunely for Oregon, the disburse-
ment of" money in the country by the army pay-masters
and quartermasters having almost ceased through tlie
withdrawal of the regular troops to participate in
the civil war. It was also remarked that, contrary
to the ideas generally entertained of the value of the
country east of the mountains for agriculture, those
persons who had taken up farming claims on the route
from The Dalles to Lewiston had raised fine crops,
and were getting high prices for them. This was the
beginning of a better understanding of the capabilities
of the soil in what has since become one of the best
wheat-producing countries in the world, but which
was up to this period considered as a grazing country
only.
The opinion had been repeatedly expressed that
the Clearwater mines were but the outskirts of some
richer central deposit. In the hope of verifying this
belief, prospecting parties had been traversing the
country in an easterly and southerly direction during
the entire summer of 1861. The party which success-
fully proved the theory consisted of twenty-three men
who left Oro Fino in the early part of J.uly to pros-
pect on Salmon River. After testing the bars on
this river for a distance of 100 miles, with encouraging
results, they retraced their steps to a point about
seventy-five miles south of Elk City, to which place
they desired to go in order to lay in a stock of pro-
visions. At the point mentioned, the company
divided, nine of them remaining to hunt, and to
examine the country for a practicable route through
the great masses of fallen timber which obstructed
travel in the direction of the Clearwater.
In their reconnoissance, while travelling over a wet,
boggy flat on the top of a high mountain twenty miles
north of Salmon Kiver, they stopped to rest in a
temporary camp, when one of the explorers laid a
wager with another that the color of gold could not
SALMON EIVER AND MILLERSBUKG. 245
be found in that country. In sport the wager was
accepted, and in a short time the prospector having
taken a pan of dirt from the roots of an upturned tree,
found it to contain five cents' worth of gold. Upon
this wholly unexpected and flattering prospect the
party proceeded to examine the creeks and gulches
ill the immediate vicinity, obtaining five, ten, twenty-
five, and even seventy-five cents to every pan of dirt
washed. They then followed their former associates
to Elk City, where, after resting for a few days, they
purchased a montli's supplies and returned to their
discovery, accompanied hy a few others.^''
The discovery was made in September, and in
October a town called Millersburg was laid off" on
Miller Creek, where the richest diggings were found.
From the first pan of dirt taken out of the first hole
sunk in this creek $25 was obtained. In the course
of an afternoon Miller washed out $100. The remain-
der of the company then staked off" claims and began
operations with vigor. Working only with a rocker,
each claim averaged from $75 to $i00 daily to the
man. With a pan alone $75 was obtained in ten
hours, and in one gulch five men took out $700 in the
same time.
During the first two weeks in October fifty men
were mining at Millersburg, and a radius of five miles
had been prospected. To get a winter's supplies to
camp was the first care of those on the ground, to
which end they expended much labor upon a pack-
trail to Elk City. The first train that left Elk City
under the guidance of Leech became lost in a snow-
storm, and after wandering about for two weeks, re-
turned to the starting-point. But in the mean time
three trains belonging to Creigliton had left Elk City
'' The names of a few only of the discoverers of the Salmon River mines
have beeu preserved. These are John H. Bostwick, B. B. Rogers, Nathan
and Samuel Smith, John J. Healey, T. H. Miller, Leech, More, and Hall.
The Smiths were old Yreka miners. The lucky pan-holder at this last dis-
covery was a Frenchman named Michel. Brislow's Encounters, MS., 10;
CoiT. Or. Statesman, Oct. 28, 18C1; Portland Oregonian, Oct. 21, 18G1.
246 MINING AND TOWN-ilAKING.
and proceeded as far as Camas prairie, ten miles south
of the Clearwater, where they were met by Eagle-
from-the-light, who peremptorily ordered them to turn
back, and observe the treaty made in April. They
endeavored to pacify the justly offended chief, and
pushed on.^^
By the first of November there \wre 1,000 men on
the creeks and gulches of the new district, believed
at that time to be limited to a small extent of
territory. Elk City and Oro Fino were soon almost
deserted. Although a large amount of provisions
was hurried into Millersburg, not enough could be
taken there before the snow had stopped the passaga
of ti^ains to support all who had gone there, and by
the middle of November many were forced to return
to Oro Fino a distance of 100 miles, to winter, lest
starvation should attack the camp before spring.
The snow was already over two feet deep, and the cold
severe, so that frozen feet very frequently disabled
the traveller for the remainder of the season.
The excitement which hurried men to the Salmon
River mines was intense. Nor was it without justi-
fication; for every report from there confirmed and
strengthened the accounts given by the first explorers,
though some who had gone there returned with-
out any treasure.-* The weight of evidence was to
'*C. W. Berry of Scott Bar, Cal., was the first to arrive with a stock of
goods, Oct. 18th, and located himself ou Nasan's Gulch. Or. Slalesman, Jan.
6, 1802.
-'A Dalles correspondent of the Or. Statesman of Dec. 2d wrote: ' One of my
acquaintances arrived here on Thursday (Nov. 22d) with 55 i»unds of gold-
dust, nearly all the product of a few days' labor on .Summit Flat, Salmon
River.' Also, '300 pounds of gold-dust was taUen on the last steamer to Port-
land.' 'The mines are paying from $50 to $150 per day to the hand.' Or.
Statesman, Nov. 4, 1861. John Creighton, writing to J. C. Isaacs of Walla
Walla, says: 'Our company of eleven men made $600 in one week.' Par/it
Sou7id Herald, Nov. 7, 1801. 'John Munroe, of Yamhill county, took out
$180 in an afternoon; the ne.\t day 2J lbs; and the next day 5 lbs (equal to
&G0O and $1,200). John Malone panned out $400 the tirst day on his claim.
Bostwick of Cal., $80 in a day. Smith (three-fingered) took 46i ounces ($697)
out of one hundred buckets of dirt. Maroon Scott is making $100 a day. H.
.S. Case writes that the mines are paying from $25 to §400 a day to the man.
Wagesare$10and$12aday.'Po»VteH(/ Oregonian, Nov. 14, 1861. 'Twoi
took out 80 ounces in one day.
.and $100 to $200 with rockers.'
\a.y.' Portland Uregonian, Nov. 14, 1861. 'Two men
day. Many were making $50 a day with the pan,
;kers.' /bid., Nov. 5. 'Wc have heard of two men
RICH CLAIMS. 247
the eflFect that these mines excelled in richness the
placer mines of California in their best days. Of
their extent, men were not so certain.
A letter to the Portland Times of November 25th
stated that while the correspondent was at the Salmon
River mines, in the latter part of October, he had
known from personal observation some claims to yield
from thirty to eighty dollars to the pan. One panful
of dirt from Baboon Gulch contained $151.50. The
same claim yielded $1,800 in three hours, two men
working it with a rocker. This claim belonged to a
man named Weiser, the same after whom Weiser
River in Idaho was named. John Munsac of Yam-
hill county, Oregon, purchased a claim for $1,800,
and from two pans of the dirt took four ovmces of
gold. In two weeks he had taken out forty-five
pounds of dust! It was no uncommon thing to see,
on entering a miner's cabin, a gold-washing pan meas-
uring eight quarts full to the brim, or half filled, v/ith
gold-dust washed out in one or two weeks. All
manner of vessels, such as oyster-cans and yeast-pow-
der boxes, or pickle-bottles, were in demand, in which
to store the precious dust. A claim was held in small
esteem that yielded only $12 a day, as some claims
did, while hundreds of others returned from one to
four ounces for a day's labor.
Owing to the lateness of the season and the hostil-
ity of the Shoshones, whose territory bordered on the
Salmon River basin, the question of the extent of
these rich gold mines was necessarily left undeter-
mined until spring should open the roads and
who took out six pounds of gold in two days.' Or. Ar(jns, Nov. 16, 1S61.
'William Purvine of Mossman's express writes. . .Men are now making (Oct.
lOtli) S30 to |loO per day to the hand with the old-fashioned rocker of 1849,
and I verily believe that when water and ordinary improvements are brought
to bear, that in many of the claims nov/ being worked with rockers f 1,0(X) a,
day to tlie hand will be realized as readily as a half-ounce is at Oro Fluo or
South Fork diggings. These are all gulch diggings, and easily worked.
Twenty-five-cent dirt here is worth as much as gl dirt in the old mines.' Or.
Statesman, Oct. 28, 1S61; Portland Times, Nov. 2.5, 1861; .S'. F. Alia, Nov. 4
and Dec 27, 18G1; Boisd Citi/ Capital (J lironide, Aug. 4, 1869; Sacramento
Union, Dec. 1, 1862.
248 MINING AND TOWN-MAKING.
strengthen the hands of the miners. As far as could
be judged from external appearances, there was an
extent of countiy comprising a thousand square miles
similar to that where the mines were being worked.
This area was included in a basin rinnned with
mountains that seemed, when viewed from a distance,
like the broken walls of an extinct volcano, while the
basin itself might have been the burnt-out crater. A
deep caiion extended around inside and next to the
mountain walls, and thrown up in the centre were
countless small buttes, overgrown with small pine and
tamarack trees. Fires had burned off the growth on
some of them; others were covered with blackened
stems, where the fire had only partially done its work,
and others were green. Where the. ground was bare
of trees, bunch-grass had sprung up.
Between these buttes were the gulches in which
the gold was found, being simply strips of lowland,
covered with a tough sod from six to twelve inches in
thickness. The lowest parts of these gulches were
marshy or boggy. All of them had numerous rami-
fications. Under the thick turf was a depth of from
one to. six feet of loam, and under the loam a red
gravel, in which was the gold, in small round particles
and of a red color. Underneath this was a solid bed
of white quartz gravel, or hard-pan, in place of bed-
rock, of from six to eighteen inches in thickness, and
under all another bed of loose quartz gravel mixed
with watei". Very little clay was found in the mines.
The method resorted to for obtaining M-ater for min-
ing purposes was to dig holes or wells of a ccmvenient
depth, which soon filled from the moist gravel. The
rockers were placed beside these holes, and the water
used over and over until it became very thick, when
the well was emptied and allowed to fill again over
night.
The early part of the winter of 1861-2 was not
severe. New diggings were discovered at Florence,
thirty miles nortli of the first discovery, before pros-
GOLD AND POLITICS. 249
pecting was interrupted; and all during the month of
December companies from the outside were exploring
and opening routes to the mines, the most promising
of which was by the old emigrant road to the Grand
Rond Valley, thence by an Indian trail to Snake
River and beyond, after which there were fifty miles
to be opened over a range of mountains. December
closed with the heaviest storms hitherto known in
Oregon, extending over the whole north-west coast
and California, snow and floods interrupting travel in
every direction. At the time of this interruption to
communication there were between 500 and 800 men
in the Salmon River mines, and every kind of provis-
ions was worth a dollar a pound, excepting beef, which
was still cheap.
The sudden migration to Salmon River did not by
any means depopulate the Clearwater mines, which
continued to yield as well as at first.^" The return of
man}^ to winter in Oro Fino, where some mining could
still be done, kept business alive in that district. Those
Avho could afford to be idle went to Lewiston, which
now, in spite of prohibition, was a growing town;
while those who had accumulated large sums returned
to the world and society to enjoy their wealth.
Politically, the effect of the Clearwater gold discov-
ery was remarkable. Walla Walla county with Sho-
shone attached elected four representatives, and with
Missoula a joint councilman,^^ more votes being cast
">0r. Statesman, Oct. 14, 1S61.
"J. M. More of Walla Walla was coimcilman. The representatives were
Gillam, Babcock, Beatty, and Smith. From the manner of keeping the jour-
nals of this session, it is impossible to learn to what counties the members of
the legislature belonged, or their full names. A contest over a seat reveals
as much as is here given; and if Stevens or Spokane county was represented,
it does not appear on record. It should be explained that Stevens county,
created in Jan. ISoS, comprised the greater portion of the territory between
the Cascade and Bitter Root mountains. The legislature of 18G1-2 reestab-
lished it of a lesser size and gave it the name of Spokane. At the following
session its boundaries were rearranged and the name of Stevens restored to
that portion lying east of the Columbia. The legislature of 1863-4 dispensed
altogether with the county of Spokane, which was reunited to Stevens; but
in 1879 another Spokane county was taken from Stevens on the east side,
with the county seat at Spokane Falls.
250 MINING AND TOWN-MAKING.
in the counties of Walla Walla and Shoshone than in
any two west of the Cascades. A new county called
Nez Perce was organized hy the miners in the Oro
Fino district during the summer,^" which was legally
created and organized by the legislature the following
winter, along with the county of Idaho, and the terri-
tory was redistricted in order to give a federal judge
to this region. The judicial districts as newly defined
made the 1st, or mining district, embrace Walla Walla
and the counties east of that, P. Oliphant presiding;
Chief Justice James E. Wyche being assigned to the
2d, or Columbia River district, and C. C. Hewitt to
the 3d, or Puget Sound district.'**
The legislature found itself much embarrassed by the
situation. Three judges had no more than sufficed
when the business of the courts was confined to the
region west of the Cascades, when suddenly the popu-
lation east of the mountains became sufficient to re-
quire, with the great extent of territory, two if not
three more. One of the expedients proposed was to
grant the probate courts of the several counties civil
and criminal jurisdiction, provided the supreme court
then in session should give a favorable opinion upon
''^ The slieriflf was Gillespie, the clerk Bradley, the justice of the peace
Stone. Ealph Bledsoe was the first councilman elected from Nez PerciS
county. Idaho county was was fiist called El Dorado.
^'McFadden, who was associate justice until 1S58, was then made chief
justice until 1862, with William Strong and Edmund C. Fitzhugh associate
justices for the same period, and Charles S. Weed U. S. marshal. Fitahugh,
whom the reader will remember as identified with the development of coal
and other interests about Bellingham Bay, and as special Indian agent and
aid of Gov. Stevens during the Indian war, was indicted and tried and ac-
quitted, after his appointment, fur killing a man named Wilson several years
before in a quarrel. He was one of the seconds in the Broderick-Terry duel
in San Francisco, a southcruer, and having the convivial habits of his class,
but withal considered a good man. The republican administration appointed
Wyche chief justice, with Oliphant and Hewitt associates. Wyche was a
Mississippian by birth, and a union democrat. He was appointed from Michi-
gan. His wife was a daughter of W. W. Bancroft of Granville, Ohio. The
clerk of the court in Walla Walla district was Bennett Sexton, whose wife
was a sister of Mrs. Wyche. Sexton died in 1809. Wyche died of consump-
tion Aug. 28, 1873, on the cars, while en route to the east. While residing
at Vancouver he lost his eldest daughter; his wife and remaining daughter
survived him but a short time; thus all the family passed rapidly away, and
the old Harney Castle which they inhabited was sold. The United States
district attorney appointed by the republican administration was John J.
McGilvra of Chicago.
COURTS AND ROADS. 231
the right of the territorial assenJbly, under the organic
act, to confer such jurisdiction. By the advice of the
federal judges, acts were passed establishing a district
court at the county seat of each county, said court to
have concurrent jurisdiction within its own boundaries,
except in those cases where the United States was a
party, in the same manner and to the same extent as
before exercised by the federal district courts, with
right of appeal to the supreme court of federal judges;^*
the counties to pay the expenses of these courts.
The assessed valuation of taxable property in the
county of Walla Walla in 1861 was nearly half a mil-
lion dollars, which must have been much less than the
real value at the close of the year. Two steamboats
were now running upon the upper Columbia, built at
a cost of $G0,000. Pack-trails had been opened
through the hitherto inaccessible mountain regions,
wagon-roads projected and to some extent completed
to the most important points, and ferries established
on all the rivers they intersected, and all chiefly by
private enterprise.''^ A company was incorporated to
^*Wa^h. Ter. Stat., 1861-2, 9. A bill passed the council 'creating Judges
of the Plains in Walla Walla county.' As the bill never became a law, the
qualifications of this high-sounding order of judiciary are not known. Wash,
Jour. Council, 1SG1--2, 213.
'^ A reference to the local laws of 1861-2 shows that J. K. Bates, who was
a member of the legislature at this term, was authorized to construct a bridge
across the Spokane River on the road from Walla Walla to Colville. The
right to keep ferries was granted as follows; To D. W. Litchen thaler and John
C. Smith across Snake River opposite Powder River; to Green White and C.
B. Driggs across Snake River at the mouths of Grand Rond River; to John
Messenger and Walter H. Manly across Salmon River on the Nez Perc6 trail
to Fort Bois6; to Gilmore Hays across Snake River within one mile from the
junction of the Cleai-water; to E. H. Lewis and Egbert French across the
Columbia near The Dalles; to J. T. Hicklin across the Yakima between the
mouths of the Ahtanaham and Nachess; to W. D. Bigelow across Snake River
on the territorial road from Walla Walla to Colville; to Lyman Shaffer and
W. F. Bassett across the south branch of the Clearwater on the main wagon-
road from Lewiston to Oro Fino; to Orrington Cushman on the same stream
at or near the camp of Lawyer; to W. W. De Lacy and Jared S. Hurd on
Snake River at some point between Grand Rond and Powder rivers, to be
selected by them; to M^. W. De Lacy and his associates on Salmon River; to
George A. Tykel to grade a bluff of Snake River in constructing a wagon-road
and establishing a ferry over the same near the mouth of Powder River; to
Richai'd Holmes and James Clinton across Salmon River on the Indian trail
from Lapwai to Grand Rond Valley; to .John Diuinhaller on the main Clear-
water two miles above Lewiston; to W. GreemHUe at or near the mouth of
Slate Creek on Salmon River; to Sanford Owens to build a bridge across the
232 MINING AND TOWN-MAKING.
construct a railroad from old Fort Walla Walla to the
town of that name, which was eventually built and
operated. Printing-presses had been taken to Waila
Walla, and public journals established,^^ and the place
became an incorporated city, and a county seat by act
of legislature in January.
Two thirds more population was contained in the
counties east of the mountains in December than in
the whole lower Columbia and Puget Sound region,
.settled sixteen years before. And the empire-makers,
believing that they had no interest in Pugct Sound,
but that Olympia was too distant a capital, instructed
their representatives to endeavor to get a memorial
to congress from the legislature, asking that the east-
ern division of the territory might be set off and organ-
ized as an independent political entity. The council,
however, declared that no good reason existed for a
separation, which could not benefit the transmontane
portion, and would seriously retard the growth and
improvement of the Puget Sound region, in which all
had a mutual interest as a seaboard,^' and refused to
sanction the prayer to congress. It consented, instead,
to ask that body to establish a land-office at Walla
Walla for the convenience of those desiring to take
farms in either of the new counties east of the Cas-
cades, which in due time was granted.
It would be impossible to imagine greater hardships
than were endured by a certain number of over-san-
guine persons who took the risk of remaining in the
Salmon River Mountains without an adequate supply
of food. Men continued to force their way in until
February. After that for several weeks the trails
south brancli of the Clearwater on the road from Lewistou to Elk City. The
rates for foot-passengers on these ferries were generally ."^O cts, loose cattle
5 J cts, two-horse wa^ou $2.50, four-horse wagon $3.50, si.\-liorse wagon $1.50,
horse and buggy $2.2.'), pack-animal 75 cts.
*»Tho Walla Walla Messenger, by R. B. Smith; the Northrrv Lipht, by
Daniel Dodge; and the Washiiirilon Statesman, by Northup, E^cs & Co. The
latter afterward became the Walla Wa'la Statesman.
=' Wash. Jour. Council, lSGl-2, 312-13.
SNOW AND STARVATION. 253
were obliterated or blockaded by snow, and those who
had neither money nor provisions suffered all the hor-
rors of slow starvation. And this state of aifairs
lasted until Maj'. G. A. aSToble started on the 21st
of December to go from Oro Fino to Florence,^' the
latest new town which had sprung up in the Salmon
River district, having with him a small pack-train.
He was ten days toiling through snow-drifts a distance
of 125 miles, and would have perished but for assist-
ance from Indians.
He found a town regularly laid out, with building
lots recorded and fenced in, all under a city govern-
ment. The buildings were of logs, dragged halt' a mile
on hand-sleds. By the last of January nothing to
eat could be purchased, excepting flour at $2 a pound.
Some of the miners earned enough to keep soul and
body together by warming water to wash out the
gold from earth, obtained with much exertion and ex-
posure by digging down through several feet of snow.
The consequence of this, and of insufficient food, was
rheumatism, scurvy, and diseases of the chest.^' Dur-
ing the latter part of winter the snow was from seven
to ten feet deep; yet some men who lived on a scanty
supply of bread and weak coffee without sugar, in
trying to provide themselves with these necessaries,
were compelled to remove this amount of snow from
their claims in order to work them enough to pay for
such food.
It was not until the first of May that pack-trains
could come to within ten or twelve miles of Florence.
For the remainder of the distance the goods were car-
'8 According to Elliott's Hist, of Idaho, Florence was named after a step-
daughter of Furber, formerly of Siskiyou co., Cal., who came with her mother
to Salmon River in May 18G2; but as the town was laid off and named some
months before that date, this statement seems questionable.
'' Noble says that in one case of sickness the patient had lived for five
weeks on flour, and tea made by steeping the young leaves of the fir. Another
had lived on flour .and snow-water for two months. A young man whose
home was one of plenty complained of ' nothing but a kind of weakness all
over,' which pre\-ented his getting out of his cabin. He had lived two weeks
on four pounds of flour and the inner bark of the pine tree, with snow-water
for drink.
254 MINING AND TOWN-MAKING.
ried In on the backs of men, at forty cents a pound trans-
portation, and the starving were glad to perform this
labor for the wages/" These were only incidents of
mining life, and did not affect the reputation of the
mines, which in the spring of 1862 drew a wild crusade
of gold worshippers toward them from every hand.
The steamship Cortes, as early as February 13th, landed
700 California miners at Portland, and proceeded to
Bellingham Bay with still another company, destined
for Cariboo. There was plenty of ground from
which to choose, for eastern Oregon as well as
Washington and British Columbia was now known
to be a gold-field. In April the regular line carried
600 or 700 on each trip, and on the 5th of May three
ocean steamers, the Panama, Oregon, and Sierra-
Nevada, were at Portland together, their passengers
crowding up the Columbia day and night as fast as
the river steamboats could carry them, and on the
6th the Brother Jonathan arrived with another 600.
It was in vain that the newspapers in California
and Oregon endeavored to check the rush, at least
until the roads in the upper country were opened to
travel. The Portland Advertiser of the 1 4th of March
published a fair warning, that the snow at The Dalles
was still two feet deep, and from one to four feet be-
tween there and Lewiston, with a greater amount in
the mountains east of Lewiston ; that provisions along
the whole distance were exhausted, and no entertain-
ment could be had, nor any transportation, not even
on riding or pack animals, the cattle being all either
frozen or too thin to travel; that the weather was still
severe, and no wood along the route from The Dalles
to Lewiston, except at long intervals a few willow
poles; and those who should undertake to walk would
he in danger of perishing with cold. But miners had
been pouring into Oregon for a month when this no-
tice was given, and they were not likely to stop then,
when spring was so near. Nor did they. The Dalles
*''0r. Argus, March 22, AprU 12, and May 31, 1S62.
WAITING FOR SPRING. 255
was at one time so crowded with people unable to pay
the high prices of provisions that a mob was raised,
who proceeded to help themselves at the stores. In
general, however, men bore their privations with
dogged endurance, hoping for better things.
Nor were the Oregonians more prudent than
strangers who knew less of the country, the climate,
and the phenomenal effects of the floods and frosts of
the winter of 1861-2. Some had mining claims to
which they were anxious to return; others, farmers,
had lost heavily by the floods of December, and were
in haste to retrieve their fortunes. Traders were de-
sirous of being first to bring their goods to a market
where gold-dust was more plentiful than flour, sugar,
or bacon;" and all had good reasons for their precipi-
tancy in the matter of getting to the mines. Most
of those crowded into The Dalles began moving for-
ward about the 17th of March, when a saddle-train
arrived from Walla Walla, bringing the first passen-
gers that had come through since the disasters of
January.*" They brought 400 pounds of gold-dust,
sufficient apology for the haste of the crusaders. By
the 22d a change in the weather had left the roads in
an almost impassable state, and the streams too high
to be forded. Fortunately for those not already upon
the way, the steamboat Colonel Wright succeeded about
this date in forcing a passage from Celilo to old Fort
Walla Walla, where J. M. Vansyckle had laid off a
town called Wallula, and was making improvements
at the landing,*^ and regular navigation to this point
was soon resumed, although the water in the Snake
River was still too low to admit of a passage to Lew-
iston. At this place during the winter the suffering
had been great from want of adequate shelter, most
of the population living in tents. Fuel was scarce,
*' Flour sold at Walla Walla on the 3(1 of March for $24 per pound. Or.
Statesman, March 24, 1802.
"/yjs*. Or., ii., ch. xix., 484, thia series.
^ 'Jlr and Mrs Charles Pope recently lield a "drawing-room" entertain-
ment at Wallula, in the cabin of a wharf-boat, the only building of any note
in that city.' Or. Statesman, May 26, 1862.
256 MI>nNG AND TOWN-MAKIXa
and provisions both scarce and high." At length,
when the snow melted in the upper country, the Co-
lumbia rose to a stage which in INIay inundated Lew-
iston, The Dalles, and the lower portions of Portland.
The first trains reached Powder River about the
last of April; the first that arrived at Salmon River
not before the middle of jNIay, the goods being carried,
as I have said, on the backs of starving men the last
twelve or fifteen miles, many of them becoming snow-
blind while performing this labor. When the product
of the winter's work, with all its disadvantages, began
to appear, it increased the mining furore. The dift'er-
ent gulches in the Florence district were found to
yield per day to the rocker from $30 to $250. Some
great strikes were made, as when Weiser took out of
Baboon Gulch $6,600 in one day, and half that
amount in another, one panful of dirt yielding $500.
The average yield of these placers was $75 per diem. *^
Prospecting began by the middle of May. In the
latter part of June there were thousands of men
ranging the country in every direction. Some put
their number at 25,000. It is moi'e probable that in
the autumn, after the emigration from California and
the east was all in, there were 20,000 persons in the
**S.F. Bulletin, March 31, 1S62.
*' A few items may be worth preserving as a part of the country^ physical
history. Baboon Gulch was named after an old Dutch miner known as
Baboon, who left the diggings in the spring with 75 lbs of gold-dust. The
claim was purchased by Gideon Tibbits while it was still yielding $1,000
daily. Miller Gulch, named after one of the discoverers, Joseph Miller,
yielded him $7,000 and he sold it for $4,000. Claims on the creek were held
at from $15,000 to $30,000. Wells, Fargo & Co. brought down from these
mines on the 20th of Jiay 120 lbs of gold-dust, and about the same amount
from the Nez Perc<5 mines, besides that in the hands of eighty passengers. It
was estimated that $300,000 passed through The Dalles every week. Or.
Stnlesman, June 2 and July 7, 1S62. The Julia brought down from The
Dalles 1,000 pounds of the dust on the 30th of July. Porlhand Oregonian,
July 31, 1862. There were 186 claims on Miller's Creek, worked by .5.')3 men,
tlie yield for 8 months being $2,785,536. A general average of the product
of the Florence mines would give 3,000 miners something over $t. 000 for a
season's work. But there really was no general average, some getting little
and some much, as in every other business; the newspapers contained stories
of individual success that would fill a volume. Gold-dust was weighed by
the pound at Floi'cnce. Farnham's Florence aiul IVarren, MS. , i. 'I saw two
men walk out of Milleraburg with 50 pounds of gold-dust ' Mrs Schultz, in
Furly Anecdotes, MS., 3.
POWDER RIVER IiIINES. 257
mines of Clearwater, Salmon, Powder, and John Day
rivers/"
From these mines, the accounts received were gen-
erally flattering, though occasionally a disappointed
adventurer expressed his disgust at adverse fortune
in terms more forcible than elegant. As to Powder
River, after it had been pretty well prospected it was
set down as rich, but not of the extraordinary richness
of Salmon River. Water was scarce, and until ditches
were constructed to carry water from Elk Creek to
the flat below, where the claims were located, no
sluicing or rapid work could be accomplished. There
wei'c about 1,000 persons in the Powder River mines
by the middle of June. Among them were many from
the mines of Washoe in Nevada." Others followed
during the summer, and a considerable proportion of
these settled in eastern Oregon,*^ in the neighborhood
of the mines.*^ They found a beautiful country of
rolling plains, and long sunny slopes partially wooded
with stately pines, of fertile vallej's, and free-flowing
streams of excellent water at frequent intervals; and
last, but not least, unlimited grazing, making this the
stock-raiser's paradise. Several important discoveries
^^Jnd. Aff. Bept, 1862, 422-3; Or. Statesman, June 2, 1862; Bristoiv's
Rencounters, MS., 15.
*' The most famous man on the Pacific coast, after James Marshall, was
H. M. Comstock, who tried his luck in Oregon, which had failed to make him
rich in Nevada. He was very active locating both placer and quartz mines,
constructing ditches, and making other improvements. He surveyed a road
from Powder River shorter and better than the old one, expending $8,000
upon it, and petitioning the Oregon legislature for a charter. The matter
was placed in the hands of J. M. Kii-kpatrick, elected from Baker county,
organized by the mining population in 1862, who was not admitted to a seat,
and the charter was lost. Comstock and Lytle opened the first quarts! vein
in which free gold was visible, on Powder River. Or. Statesman, June 16,
1SG2. On the 1 1th of August he discovered another lode, from which he took
|450 the same day. S. F. Bulletin, Aug. 27, 1862. It docs not appear that
this mine made Comstock rich, or that any mine ever could.
*' W. S. Ebey, who spent a season in the Powder River and John Day
mines, remarks upon this immigration, which came by the way of Humboldt,
Queen, and Owyhee rivers. Journal, MS., viii. 05.
"Mrs Theodore Sohultz, of Valencia Street, San Francisco, in a manu-
script called Early Anecdotes, gives a graphic picture of the immigration from
Cal. o\erland. With her husband and 4 other men, with 17 pack-animals,
she travelled from her home in that state to Florence mines, encountering all
the hardships of the season, the great flood, and tlie danger from Indians,
which they luckily escaped. She was the first white woman in Millersburg.
"Hist. 'Wash.— 17
258 MIXING AND TOWN-MAKING.
were made in the region both east and west of the
Blue Mountains, some of which mining ground turned
out a large amount of bullion,®" and some of which is
still mined, but the main rush was to the country east
of Snake River.
About the 1st of August, James Warren, a "shift-
less individual, a petty gambler, miner, and pros-
25ector," made up a party in Lewiston for a tour through
the Salnioa River basin, and returned in less than a
month with the report of new and rich diggings."
Unlike the Florence mines, the Warren diggings were
deep as well as rich. The mining ground extended
about sixteen miles north and south along the creek,
and the gold assaj^ed from $12 to $17 an ounce.®-
This proved to be one of the most valuable discov-
eries made. The diggings outlasted the Florence
mines, and when the placers were exhausted on the
creek bottoms, still yielded to hydraulic treatment
returns nearly as rich as the placers.
Notwithstanding the unsavory reputation of the
discoverer, Warren's diggings were worked chiefly by
practical miners and men of good character, many of
whom long remained there in business. '^^ In Novem-
ber 400 men were mining at Warren's, taking out an
average of from $14 to §20 daily.^*
Three years afterward the population was 1,500,
which dwindled two years later to 500. When the
^° The John Day minps began to be worked in August. About 1 ,000 men
were at work on the middle branch in September, and 500 on the north
branch. Many handsome nuggets were found in the Powder and John Day
mines. Owens' Dis., 1SG5, 143; Walla Walla Statesman, Aug. 27, 1862; Fort-
land Oregonian, Sept. 29, 1802.
^Ulo/er's IJist. Idaho County, MS., 2-4; Hutton's Early Events, MS., 6.
'■ Farnham't Florence a^ul Warren, MS., 1. Kdwin Famham was one of
the pioneers of Florence, where he went in 1862, and afterward to Warren.
His manuscript is principally a comparison between the two camps. Farnhum
later lived in S. F.
»' J. W. Seaman, Judge Beatty, Judge Taliaferro, and D. Mulford were of
Calaveras co., Cal., and Mark Evaus of 8an Joaquin. J. Bradford, another
pioneer, antecedents unknown. Mrs Shultz was again the lirst white woman
in these diggings, and gives a good account of their law-abiding population.
Rice was one of the first locators. IJufloii'si Earli/ Events, MS., 5.
^* Lewiston Goklen Age, Nov. 13, 1SG2.
PE.OSPECTIXG OX BOISE RIVER. 2o9
mines had been worketl for ten years they were sold
to Chinese miners, some of whom became wealthy.
Late in the summer of 1862, the opinion of old
miners that a rich deposit would be found farther to
the south than any yet discovered was verified. Many
companies were searching for such a field," but the
successful party was one which left Auburn, Baker
county, Oregon, about the middle of July, proceeding
east to Snake River and up it to Sinker Creek, above
the mouth of the Owyhee, where, the company divid-
ing, one portion returned to a point opposite Boise
River, and having made a skitf and ferried them-
selves over to the south side of that stream, followed
along it to a junction with the immigrant road, where
they again constructed a raft and crossed to the north
bank of the Boise, where now stands the city of that
name.^^
Proceeding north, but being interrupted by the im-
passable ca lions of the country, they succeeded in
entering the basin of the Boise River by following a
divide which brought them to a stream twelve miles
south-west of the present town of Idaho City. After
prospecting this stream for three miles on the south
side, they proceeded the next day down the north side
into the basin and to a larger stream. Here they
obtained excellent indications, and spent a week ex-
amining the ground higher up, finding it to be rich
for fifteen miles. While encamped at Grimes' Pass,
they were fired upon by some Shoshones who had
Jiung upon their trail for several days. Grimes, Wil-
son, Splawn, and the Portuguese pursued the attack-
s' .s'acramerefo Union, June 24, 1862.
■■'The original company on this search were Joseph H. Bransetter, Jacob
Westenfeldter, David Fogus from Indiana, Moses Splawn, C. Stanford, Ser-
geant Smith, John Reynolds of Walla Walla, Samuel Moore of Calaveras
CO., Cal., John Phillips and David Rodgers of Linn co., Dr., Wilson of
Portland, an Englishman name unknown, four Portuguese names unknown,
all under the leadership of George Grimes of Or. City. Twelve took the
route above described. What became of the six remaining is not related.
Portland Oregonian, March 30 and 31. 1863; BraiiMetler's Discov. Boise Bagin,
MS., 4.
260 MINING AND TOWN-MAKING.
ing party into the mountains, when Grimes was shot
and instantly killed, having at the same moment shot
an Indian. ^^
Being too few in numbers to remain in a hostile
country, the eleven returned to Walla Walla by the
same route they travelled in going out, arriving about
the 1st of September, and bringing between $4,000
and $5,000 in gold-dust, with which they purchased
supplies for another season in the mines. A company
of tifty-four men was quickly organized and armed to
return to Boisd basin, where they arrived on the 7th
of October.-'* After a fortnight spent in determining
the value of the new mines, all of the company but
twenty returned to Walla Walla to obtain provisions,
while those left behind occupied themselves in build-
ing a stockade and cabins for the company. In spite
" Grimes was hastily burled on the divide between Elk Creek and the
principal stream, which bears liis name. The body was reinterred the follow-
ing summer in a gi-ove of hackmatack, pine, and tamarack trees near the place
of his death. A mining claim was set off for his widow by his associates, and
a person deputized to work it for her in order to hold it. This individual
sold it for $3,000 and went away -nith the money. The widow, unaware of
this rascality, in the summer of 1864 paid a visit to Bois(5 to look after her
interests. The miners raised §3,000 for her by subscription. 'That amount,'
said the jBoi.se' Kcics, ' the citizens of this basin feel they owe the unfortunate
lady, and they will pay it— not as a charitable donation, but as a just and
eijuitable debt.' It was first proposed that the legislature should legalize a
ta.K on the Boise miners, who themselves favored this method, but It was not
done. Portland Orcgoiiian, Nov. 4, 1863. The Indian who shot Grimes had
acted as guide. He was killed by a party led by Standiffcr in jrarsult of the
murderers of two other miners, in the summer of 1803. Smnstetter'n Discov.
Uoixe Basin, MS., 4.
^^ As they were passing down Burnt River they met a company of belated
immigrants from Iowa and Wisconsin, who had started in March for the Sal-
mon Kiver mines. The Indians had risen all along the route, breaking up the
Overland Stage Company's stations, driving off their horses and killing whom-
soever they could. This company managed to keep the road to Fort Bridgcr,
and taking Lander's cut-ofl', reached Fort Hall. When within 40 miles of that
place the Baunacks threatened them, but finding them ready to fight, finally
withdrew, only to attack a smaller party, nearly every one of which they killed.
Forty miles west of Fort Hall the Iowa company came upon the dead and
wounded of the Adams party. See Hist. Or., ii. 19, 469-76, this series. While
burying the dead they were attacked, and had some of their company wounded.
On amviiig at Catherine Creek, they were met by the Oregon cavalrj', under
Colonel Maury, who left Fort Walla Walla to escort the Immigration soon
after Colonel Steinberger of the" I st Washington infantry arrived at that post
to take command. One of the immigrant company mentioned above was
Slierlock Bristol, now of Buena Vista, Idaho. Bristol was born in Cheshire,
Connecticut, June 5, 1815. He immigrated from Ripera, Wis., and is the
author of an interesting manuscript on fda/io Nomenclature. After first go-
ing to Auburn, Bristol in December joined the miners at Bois^.
BOISE JUNES. 261
of an effort that had been made to keep the discovery
secret, the returning party met on the road another
company of between fifty and sixty foUowing their
former trail; and it was not many days before a rush
to the Boise mines succeeded.
The distance of the new discovery from Walla
Walla was about 300 miles, and 70 due east from
old Fort Boise. The basin in which it was situ-
ated is a picturesque depression among the mountains
about thirty miles square, hitherto unknown to the
inhabitants of the Pacific coast. The face of the
country varied from grassy meadows to timbered hills
and abrupt mountain precipices. The climate, so far
from being severe, admitted of sleeping in the open
air in jSTovember.^'' The camps could be approached
with wagons to within fifteen miles, with a pos-
sibility of ultimately making that portion of the road
passable for wagons. The first camp of the pioneers
of this region was on Grimes' Creek, and was named
Pioneer City, sometimes called Fort Haynes; but
owing to the selfishness of the original discoverers, it
received from those who arrived subsequent!}' the
euphonious appellation of Hog'em. There are several
Hog'ems on the maps of mining districts, probably
originating in the same cause. Mutation in the con-
dition of eastern Washington such as had occurred
during the year could not but effect some political
changes. The county of Boise was created January
12, 1863, comprising all the country lying south of
Payette River and between Snake River and the
Rocky Mountains, with the county seat at Bannack
City.*^" A large number of charters were granted for
roads, bridges, ferries, and mining ditches, in every
''Wm Purvine, in Or. Statesman, Deo. 22, 1S62; Boisi News, Sept. 29,
1803.
'" A county called Ferguson was also established out of that portion of
Walla Walla bounded by Wenatcheo River on the north, the Simcoe Moun-
tains on the south, the Cascade Mountains on the west, and the 120th inerid-
ian on the east. The name of this county was changed in 1SG5 to Yakima.
BancrotVs Iland-Booh, 1S64; New Taconia N. P. Coast, Dec. 15, 1880, 16;
Wash. Ter. Stat., 1862-3; Local Laws, 4-5.
262 MINING AND TO"UTST-iIAKING.
part of the territory from Yakima to Bois^ River,
and from the 44th to the 49th parallel. The city of
Lewiston was incorporated, having become, in the
eyes of its founders," a commercial mart of greater
promise than others, for the reason that it was at the
terminus of river navigation, and centrally located
with regard to the whole Snake River country. It
had already, like older cities, large mercantile estab-
lishments, hotels, mills, gambling-houses, churches, a
newspaper, the Golden Age, issued first on the 2d of
August by A. S. Gould,"" and a line of four-horse
coaches to Walla Walla and Wallula, while along the
line of the road farms were being rapidly improved.
In short, eastern Washington had outgrown the
Puget Sound region, and was demanding a separate
goverimient. Committees were appointed in every
mining district to procure signers to a petition asking
the legislature to memorialize congress on the subject.
But the legislature refused to agree to such a menio-
lial. A bill was introduced, and passed in the council,
to submit for ratification by the people the constitu-
tion of the state of Idaho, intended to effect the
desired organization, which was defeated by the lower
house substituting "state of Washington."*^ But
congress, to which the petitioners appealed directly,
regarded the matter more favorably for the mining
interest, passing an act, approved March 3, 1863, or-
ganizing the territory of Idaho out of all that portion
of Washington lying east of Oregon and the 11 7th
meridian of west longitude.
^' The land was still owned by the Nez Percys. Jagger & Co., Trevitt &
Co., and Yates & Lane were the owners of all the wooden buQdings. Or.
Statesman, May 12, ISC'2. Its first mayor after incorporation was A. M.
Kelly; recorder, R. H. Johns; councilmen, Hill Beachy, D. M. Lessey, F. H.
Simmons, William Kaugbnian, and James McNeil; marshal. SchwatUa. As
early as Feb. 1862 its citizens had adopted rules for town government, and
made provisions for preempting lands and holding town lots. The first coun-
cilmen elected under these rules were Joseph Uerring, llobert Dyson, and
James Bowers. Dyson acted as president of the board and justice of the ijcace.
Portland Oregonian, Feb. 20, 1S62.
^2 Gould came from Cal. to Portland, and was employed on the Portland
Times until he went to Lewiston with a press of his own. He was afterward
in Utah, and died in S. F. about 1879.
'3 Wash. Jour. Council, 1SG2-3, I J7, 164.
DIVISION OF THE TERRITORY. 2G3
Although the loss of a large extent of rich mining
territory was regarded with disapproval by the re-
mainder of the population, the benefit to the whole of
the more rapid development of all the resources of
the country was cause for congratulation, both then
and later, the mines having given an impetus to the
growth of the territory that agriculture alone could
not have done in a long period of time. The area
left comprised 71,300 square miles, with a population
in 18G3 of 12,519, which, although small, was nearly
double that oif 18G0.
Owiug to delays, I am compelled to make room for one of the pioneers of
Wash, on this page.
Charles Biles was born in Warren cc, Tenn., in Aug. 1809, and reared
on a farm in N. C, removing when 19 years old to Christian co., Ky. In
18:52 lie married, and in 1835 removed to 111., soon returning to Hopkins co.,
Ky, where he resided until 1853, when he emigrated to W. T. in company
wi;h his brother James, their families, ami C. B. Baker, Elijah Baker, and
William Downing, and their families, being a part of the lirst direct immi-
gration to tlid territory, via the wagon road through the Nachess pass. Mr
Biles settled upon Grand Mound Prairie in Thurston co. , farming, and some-
ti;ne3 preaching as a minister of the Cumberland presbyterian church. He
died Feb. 26, 1869, leaving two sons (one having died after emigrating) and
two daughters, namely, David F., Charles N., Mrs M. Z. Goodell, and Mrs
I. B. Ward.
David F. Biles was born in Ky in 1833, coming with his parents to W. T.
In ISo-t he took a claim in Thurston co., and in ISoo became a deputy U. S.
surveyor, but the Indian war coming on interrupted work, and he took to
soldiering in defence of the settlements, resuming his surveying when peace
was restored. From 1858 to 1862 he resided in Cosmopolis, Ciiehalis co.,
Ijut then removed to a homestead claim near Elma, on the line of the Satsop
railroad to Gray Harbor, where he owns 400 acres of land. He served many
years as county surveyor, and some time as school superintendent. He
married in 1854 Miss Mary J. Hill, who was a member of the immigration
of 1853, and had 5 sons and 1 daughter.
Cliarles N. Biles, born in 1844 in Ky, was educated in Portland, Or. In
1870 he settled in Montesano, Chehalis co., and engaged in surveying, and
wai county auditor and treasurer several terms. He married iliss E. J.
Medcalf.
Another Chehalis co. pioneer is I. L. Scammon, who was born in Me in
1822, came to Cal. in 1849-50, making the voyage on the 63-ton schooner
Li/tlc Traveller. In the autumn of 1850 he took passage for the Columbia
river, which was passed by mistake, the vessel making Siioalwater bay.
Making his way overland to the Columbia, he went to Salem, Or., and to
tlie southern mines, but returning to W. T. took a donation claim on the
Chehalis river, where the old town of Montesano, now known as Wynooehee,
grew lip about him. He married Miss Lorinda Hopkins in 1844, who rejoined
him in W. T. in 1859. The first sermon preached in the region of Montesano
was delivered by Rev. J. W. Goodell at Scammon's house, and the second
school in the county was on his place, in 1859. The children of this pioneer
are, Harriet, married Edward Campbell; George, m. Clara Nye; Cornelia
.Jane, who died; Eva, who m. I. R. Edwards; Edith, who m. P. B. Briscoe;
Elli, who m. Charles H. Finmet, county surveyor; Norman, wlio accident-
ally shot himself when about 17 years of age.
CHAPTER VIII.
GOVERIDiIENT AXD DEVELOPMENT.
1SU3-1S86,
Effect of Terbitorial Division — Election of Delegate — Negro Sut-
FKAGE — Party Politics— The Legislature— Peace and Progress —
Steamboating — Navigation Companies— Clearing Rivers— Public
Buildings — Insane Asylum and Penitentiary- Legislative Divorces
— Government Reservations— Judicial Affairs- Another Dele-
gate—Governor Flanders — Governor Salomon — Governor Ferky
— Governor Newell — Era of Railways — More Elections — Political
Platforms — Convention — Womajj's Rights — Legislature.
With the setting-off of the territory of Idaho from
that of Washington came the close of a long period
of exciting events, and the beginning of a reign of
peace and constant, gradual growth. Some slight
temporary inconvenience was occasioned by the ampu-
tation from the body politic of several counties be-
tween two sessions of the legislature, when no provis-
ion could be made for the reapportionment of repre-
sentatives, the legislature of 18G3-4 consisting of but
seven councilmen and twenty-four assemblymen.'^
George E. Cole, democrat, was elected delegate to
congress in 1863.'^
' Organization was delayed from Dec. 7tli to 22(1 by tlie balloting for pres-
ident of council, 0. B. MoFadden being at length cUoscu, and for chief cleik,
L. D. Durgin. Or. Statesman, Jan. 3, 180-t. Clanrick Crosby was elected
speaker by the house, and J. L. McDonald clerk. Wash. Scraps, 149. At
the session of 1864-"), Frank Clark was president of the council, and James
Tilton chief clerk, while F. P. Dugan was chosen clerk.
^ Cole was postmaster at Corvallis in 1858. He had been member of tlie
Oregon legislature in 1851-3, but falling out with his party, removed east of
the mountains in 1801, and engaged in trade and steamboating, residing at
Walla AValla. Deady'a Scrap- liimk, i\. In 1862 he was in the storage and
comuiission business at Lcwiston : butiu the following year returned to Walla
( 2M )
He received some votes of union men, although
repudiated by the repubhcan party as a peace demo-
crat in war times, or of that class of politicians known
as copperheads, who were amiably willing to con-
done rebellion, but without the nerve openly to
oppose the government. However this may have
been. Cole was subsequently appointed governor of
Washington by a republican administration, and again
postmaster of Portland under President Grant.
At the election for delegate in 18G5 A. A. Denny
of Seattle, republican, was elected by a large majority
over James Tilton, who, like Cole, was charged with
entertaining sentiments inimical to the course of the
government in suppressing secession.^
There was in Washington a party strongly opposed
to the reconstruction acts of congress, which favored
the readmission of representatives to congress from the
ten excluded states, and demanded for the tei^ritory
a vote in congress, and the exclusive right to define the
elective franchise, or in other words, to exclude negroes
from the polls. Among this class were to be found
many of Tilton's supporters.
Denny's successor as delegate was Alvan Flanders,
of Wallula, an active business man, who left the dem-
ocratic party before the date of the civil war.^ Flan-
ders was opposed by Frank Clark of Steilacoom, his
Walla, and ran against L. S. S. Tumey and Joseph Raynor. Cole received
1,572 votes, Raynor l,3S7,Turney 98. IKasA. Scrap.i, 06. E,aynor was a meth-
odist preacher, who was statinned at Oregon City two years before. ]V<dla
IValla Statesman, June 20, 1863. Cole was appointed governor in 1866. His
wife was a Miss Cardwell of Corvallis.
^ Garfielde and Evans labored for the election of Denny, who had been a
member of the legislature from ISo-t to 1861, and register of the land-office at
Olympia subsequently until elected delegate. Deuuy was later member of a
bankiug firm at Seattle. McFadden, A. J. Lawrence, and J. H. Lassater
cauvassed the territory for Tilton. Il'a»7i. Scraps, 156-8; S. F. Alta, May 2,
1SG7.
* Flanders came to S. F. in 1851, and was zealously interested with Baker
in forming the first republican club of that city. In 1858, in connection with
C. A. Washburn, he started the S. F. Daily Times, a republican paper. He
also represented S. F. in the Cal. legislature, being reelected once or more.
He was appointed by President Lincoln to a position in the mint, and after-
ward to the land-office of the Humboldt district. In March 1863 he removed
to Wasliington and entered into business with Felton of Wallula. Oregouian,
iu Olympia Pac. Tribune, April 27, 1867.
266 GOVERJfMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
majority over Clark ° being 153 out of 5,000 votes, so
close was the contest.*
The last two elections had been carried by un-
doubted republicans, and a republican executive and
secretary had administered affairs for four years, when
President Johnson saw fit to remove Pickering, and
furnish the late delegate Cole with a commission as
governor, dated November 21, 186G, as the Oirgonian
declared, with "partisan motives." The senate, hovv-
ever, declined to confirm the commission, and Cole, who
had qualified and entered upon the duties of his ofl5ce
without waiting to hear from the senate, was com-
pelled to abdicate at the end of two months, and after
several nominations by the president,' Marshall F.
Moore was confirmed as governor, and E. L. Smith
as secretary of the teri'itory. Smith arrived on the
27th of June, and assumed the duties of acting gov-
ernor until the advent of Moore,^ late in the summer.
^ Frank Clark was born Feb. 10, 1S34, atBiughampton, N. Y., and studied
law at Lowell, Massachusetts. He came to Washington in lSo'2, settling in
Steilacoora, where he resided until about 1875, when be removed to New Ta-
coma, where he was a suecessful lawyer. When Clark first came to Puget
Sound he took work in a saw-mill, but having an aptitude for politics, was
chosen to the legislature, after which he rose in public life to a candidacy for
the delegateship. He died suddenly of parnlysis Jan, S, 1883, while en route
to Lewis county to attend court. Clark was twice married, first to a
daughter of R. Downey of the eai-ly iiiiniigratiou, and second to L. Scho-
field of Vancouver. Oli/mpia ]Vash. litaiulard, .Jan. 12, 1883; New 7'acoma
Ledger, Jan. 12, 1883.
" Olympia Pac. Tribune, June 27 and July 6, 1867. In the union ten-i-
torial convention, held April IGth at Vancouver, 16 votes being necessary toa
choice. Holmes, Wyche, Garfielde, Abcrnethy, and Flanders first received
scattering votes; afterward Blinn and Denny were named. In the democratic
convention, Clark, Lancaster, Dugan, Laugford, Lawrence, McFadden, and
Vansyckle appeared as candidates, their pkatform being the same as in 1865,
with the addition of disapproving the exemption of U. S. bonds from taxation.
Olympia Wash. Standard, May 4, 1867.
' Wash. Jour. House, 1866-7, 139.
8 Marshall F. Moore was born at Binghamton, N. Y., Feb. 12, 1829. Ho
graduated at Yale college, studied law, and began practice in New Orleans,
where he remained five years, removing at the end of that time to Sioux City,
Iowa, where he was elected prosecuting attorney, and subsequently judge of
the court of common pleas. He again changed his residence to Ohio, where
he married the daughter of P. Van Trump of Lancaster. He served through
the civil war, under McClellan in Va, and in the department of the Cumber-
land, participating in the battles of Rich Mountain, Shiloh, Chickamau/ja,
and most of the battles of Sherman's Georgia campaign, lie vas promoted
to the rank of brevet brigadicr-gcncral for gallantry at the battle of Joneaboro'.
While leading a brigade at the'battio of Missionary Ridge he received severe
wounds, from which he was unconscious for five days. His health was much
TERRITORIAL OFFICIALS. 267
Moore made a good impression upon the legislature,
which, b}' the way, was the first elected and held under
an amendment of the organic law allowing biennial
instead of annual sessions. The amendment was made
in consequence of a memorial to congress in 18G4-5,
setting forth that no necessity existed for annual ses-
sions, and that the per diem was inadequate to the
expense.*
The legislature of 1865-6 in another memorial re-
quested that the people of the territory might be per-
mitted to elect their own governor, judges, and other
officers. The Oregonians assigned as reasons for a
similar request that the federal judges did not remain
in the country, and asserted that they had men among
themselves competent to be made judges. The Wash-
ingtonians, with more tact, refrained from referring to
this thought in their minds, but simply complained of
absenteeism and its evils.
The answer to their first memorial was the amend-
ment spoken of above, which enacted that after the
session of 1866-7 the legislature should meet but once
in two years, that members of the council should be
chosen for four years and assemblymen for two years,
and that they should receive six dollars a day instead
of three as formerly, with the same mileage as before;
the first election for members of the biennial legisla-
ture to take place in 1867. The chief clerk was al-
lowed six dollars a day, and all the other officers
elected by the legislature five dollars, including an
additional enrolling clerk."'
With I'eference to the petition to be permitted to
elect the territorial officers, congress sought to cure
the evil complained of by enacting that no officer ap-
shattered by these injuries, but he was promoted to the rank of brevet major-
general, March 13, 1805. His next appointment was to the executive ohair
of a north-west ten-itory. Ob/mpia Pac. Tribune, March 3, 1870; Port Towns-
end Mcusengp.r, March 4, 1870. E. L. Smith was from Galesburg, 111.
» Wash. Stat., 1864-5, 155-6, 10; Id., 1865-6, 210-20.
'"On the organization of the legislature at its first biennial session, C. M.
Bradshaw was chosen president of the council, and Richard Lane chief clerk.
Later on in the session H. G. Struve was made president, and Elwood Evans
enrolling clerk. Wash. Jour. House, 1807, 207.
268 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
pointed should be allowed compensation out of the
public funds before he should have entered upon his
duties at the proper place, nor should he receive pay
for any time he might be absent without authority
from the president. In the event of the death or dis-
ability of an J? judge of the federal courts at the time
appointed for holding a session, either of the other
judges might hold his court. Should the governor die
or be otherwise incompetent, the secretary should act
in his place, and receive a salary equal to that of gov-
ernor. These laws put an effectual check upon the
practice of governors and judges of spending a large
l^ortion of their time jourue3nng to and from Wash-
ington city, and of delegates procuring executive
appointments in order to receive double mileage.
It is not my intention to go into the particulars
of the political contests of this pei'iod, when the
amendments to the constitution of the United States
provoked the same criticism and opposition from
the democratic party in Washington that they did
elsewhere, and when certain territorial politicians
assumed a belligerent air because congress 'interfered'
in the concerns of 'our territory.' I have alluded in
my History of Oirgon to the great influx of immigra-
tion from the southern and border states, and their
eifect upon the political and social condition of the Pa-
cific coast, during the period of the civil war in the east
and the mining discoveries in the west. It is greatly
to the credit of the original pioneer settlers, many of
whom were southern born and bred, that notwith-
standing the pressure upon society of a large disorgan-
izing element, they maintained the balance of power
and performed their duty toward the government.
Moore's administration opened auspiciously, much
pains being taken by him to place himself in sympathy
with the whole people by studying their interests. It
was said that his first message, delivered soon after
EULE OF GOVERNOR MOORE. 269
his arrival, was a surprise to the legislature, which
had not expected so elaborate a document from a new
appointee. From it might be gathered a more or
less complete statement of the condition of affairs in
the territory in 1867.
After a long series of interruptions, it was once
more prosperous and progressive, in the enjoyment of
health, plenty, and peace, with a rapidly increasing
population, as shown by the vote cast at the election
in June," which exceeded the vote of the previous
year by one thousand. The agricultural, commercial,
and mineral resources of the country were being de-
veloped, and its exports increasing. During the cur-
rent year steamboats had been placed on the Chehalis
and Cowlitz rivers, opening to commerce settlements
hitherto remote.^^
" The annual election was first set for the first ^londay in Sept., but in
1855 was changed to the second Monday in July. In 1866 the day o£ elec-
tion was changed to the first Monday in June.
'^ The first charter granted to a steamboat company on the Cowlitz River
was toSeth Catlin, John R. Jackson, Fred. A. Clarke, Henry N. Peers, George
B. Roberts, and their successors, by the legislature of 1854-5. Was/i. Slut.,
1854, 459. This company failed to make any use of its charter. The legis-
lature of 1858-9 granted to Royal C. Smith and Noyes H. Smith and their
associates permission to incorporate the Cowlitz River Steam Navigation
Company, for the purpose of improving the bed of the Cowlitz River, and
keeping upon it a steambo;it or boats suitable for carrying freight and pas-
sengers between the two points named, upon condition th,at a steamer should
be put upon the river within six months, and the obstructions removed in
nine months, failing to do which they forfeited their chai-ter. But this com-
pany also failed to accomplish its object. Upon condition of improving and
navigating the river, the legislature of 1862-3 granted to Nathaniel Stoue
and his associates, under the name of the Monticello and Co%vlitz Landing
Steamboat Company, the exclusive right to navigate the Cowlitz. This com-
pany placed a boat on the river in the spring of 1864, when the Oregon Steam
Navigation Company put on an opposition boat. The I'e.iciie and Rainier
were bnilt for this trade. The Monticello company filed a bill against them,
and prayed for an injunction. The case was tried before Judge Wyche, who
held that the exclusive grant of the legislature was void, because in conflict
with the powers of congress to regulate commerce among the several states of
the union, and the injunction was denied. S. F. Bulletin, June 24, 1864;
Wajih. Scraps, 132-3. The river was found to be navigable for steamers to
Cowlitz landing only in the season of high water until the government should
have made large appropriations for its improvement, which was never done,
and there remained the primitive canoe, or the almost equally primitive
'stage,' to convey passengers from Cowlitz landing to Alonticello, whence they
were conveyed in small boats across the Columbia to Rainier, where they were
picked up by a passing steamboat. But in Sept. 1867 the O. S. N. Co. began
to run a boat regularly to Monticello to connect with Hailley's tri-weckly line
of stages, which was the improvement to which Gov. Jloore alluded in hia
message. The legislature of 1859-60 passed au act incorporating the Che-
270 GOVEKNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
"Within the year just ended, Alaska had been
added to the United States territory, giving Wash-
halis Steamboat Navigation Company, for the purpose of improving that
stream and rendering it navigable from Gray Harbor to Davis' landing, or
farther, if practicable, conditioned upon Thomas Wright and his associates
having a steamer running on Gray Harbor and Chehalis River within six
months after the passage of the act. Wash. Stat, 1859-60, 4S9-60. The
same legislature memorialized congress to grant $15,000 for the improvement
of the river, which was not appropriated; but in June 1860 §20,000 was
granted to erect a light-house at the entrance to the harbor, and buoy out the
channel. The latter service was performed in 1867 by Capt. Bloomfield. The
steamer Enterprise, which had been running on Eraser River and adjacent
waters, was taken to Gray Harbor in the summer of 1859. S. F. Alta, July
13, 1859. The legislature of 1861-2 passed an act making the Chehalis navi-
gable from its mouth to Claquato, at the crossing of the territorial road.
Again, in Jan. 1866, a company was incorporated, consisting of S. S. Ford,
Courtland Ethridge, A. J. Miller, J. Boise, 0. B. McFadden, S. S. Ford, Jr,
J. Brady, S. Benn, Reuben Redmond, and G. W. Biles, and others resident
in the vicinity of the Chehalis, with the ' purpose of manufacturing lumber
and flour, developing the resources of the Chehalis Valley, and navigating
the waters of Gray Harbor and its tributaries by steam or other vessels,' etc.
No requirement as to time was laid upon this company, but in the autumn of
1866 they placed a small steamer, called the Satsall, on the river, and in the
spring of 1867 the Carrie Davis, which made regular trips. In the autumn
the Goff brothers of Tumwater put on a stern-wheel boat of light di-aught,
which ascended as far as Claquato. Ohjmpia Standard, Jan. 18, 1868. The
legislature of 1867-8 memorialized congress to appropriate §10,000 to remove
obstructions and improve navigation; and by joint resolution inquired why
the light-house had never been erected for which money had been appropri-
ated. The Oregon Steam Navigation Company was first incorporated by the
Washington legislature in Deo. 1860, the incorporators being required to
register all their steamers and vessels subject to taxation in Clarke county.
Wash. Stat., 1860-1, 72; Hist. Or., ii. 480-2, this series. In Jan. 1862 there
was incorporated the Columbia Transportation Company of the Territory of
Washington, with headquarters at Vancouver, T. H. Smith, A. D. Sanders,
Milton Aldrich, E. S. Fowler, De.vter Horton, WUliam W. Miller, Peter J.
Moorey, A. S. Abernethy, and Charles C. Phillips as corporators. This or-
ganization was formed to run in opposition to the 0. S. N. Co. It built sev-
eral steamboats, and ran on the upper as well as lower Columbia for a season,
but finally sold out to the monopoly. Approved at the same time was an act
incorporating the Puget Sound and Columbia River Railroad Company, to
build and operate a railroad from Steilacoom to Vancouver; the capital stock
$15,000,000, which might be increased to §50,000,000; the road to be com-
menced within three years, and completed within ten. The movers in this
enterprise were .1. B. Webber, P. Keach, Lafayette Balch, Thomas Chambers,
S. McCaw, .J. W. Nye, Lewis Lord, Richard Covington, John Aird, Lewis
Sohns, George W. Hart, C. Lancaster, T. J. Demarco, George Woods, Enoch
S. Fowler, Paul K. Hubbs, H. Z. Wheeler, J. P. Keller, A. A. Denny, H.
L. Yesler, Charles Plummer, W. W. Miller, A. J. Chambers, James Biles,
H. D. Huntington, Charles Holman, Cyrus Walker, Frank Clark, William
W. Morrow. A company was also incorporated in Jan. 1863 for the purpose
of clearing the Puyallup River of obstructions and rendering it navigable as
far as the mouth of the Stuck, consisting of Cyril Ward, William Billings, A.
J. Perkins, Israel Wright, John Carson, John Walker, Isaac Woolery, Abra-
ham Woolory, J. P. Stewart, Miller, R. S. Moore, William M. Kincaid, Jon-
athan McCarty, L. F. Thompson, Archibald McMill.au, Sherman, J. B. Leach,
W. H. Whitesell, Aronomous Nix, Isaac Lemmon, Van Ogle, Daniel E. Lauc,
Edward Lane, William Lane, H. W. BeiTy, James H. Downey, R. M. Downey,
F. C. Seaman, and Willis Boatmim. The act required the company to begin
STEAMBOATS. 271
ington a comparatively central position with respect
to the Northwest Coast, which could not but be
clearing the river within three months, and each year to clear at least one
mile of the channel from all drifts, jams, sunken logs, or other obstructions
to the passage of flat-boata or other small craft, and within five years have
cleared the whole distance; after which completion of tlie work, certain rates
of toll might be collected. The act was amended at the next session to allow
ten years for the completion of the work of clearing the river from obstruc-
tions to the mouth of the Stuck. Whatever work was accomplished was ren-
dered valueless by the accumulations of drift. In 1875 McFadden, delegate,
secured an appropriation from congress for the survey of the Puyallup River.
Pacijic Tribune, March 26, 1875. The survey was made, and embraced that
portion of the river from the mouth to the forks. It was proposed to deepen
the channel sufficiently to admit of the passage of boats drawing 2^ feet. In
18G4 much interest was shown in the Columbia River pass of the Cascade
Mountains, two companies being incorporated to build a railroad at the port-
age on the Washington side; one by Peter Donahue, Williaui Kohl, and Al-
e.>cander P. Ankeny, called the Washiugton Railroad Company, and auother
by William C. Parsons and Richard Harris, called the Middle Cascade Port-
age Company, neither of which ever made any use of their franchise. Wash.
Stat., 1864-5, 108-20. Subsequent to the close of the Fraser River mining
excitement and the opening of the country east of the Cascades, which drew
mining travel up the Columbia instead of by Puget Sound, the numerous
boats employed in these waters had been withdrawn, and the only craft left
were sailing-vessels, a steam revenue-cutter, and the mail passenger-steamer
Eliza Anderson, running between Olympia, Victoria, and way-ports. I have
mentioned in an earlier chapter the Major Tompkins as the first mail and pas-
senger steamer employed on Puget Sound, in 1854. She was lost at Victoria
harbor after running about one year, and was succeeded by the Traveller,
Capt. J. G. Parker, which ran from Olympia to Victoria for two years car-
rying the mail. She was then sold to Horton, who chartered her to the Ind-
ian department, which needed a steamer to carry their officers and goods to
the various reservations, and was lost, March 1858, at Foulweather Bluff, to-
gether with five persons, Thomas Slater, Truman H. Fuller, special Indian
agent, John Stevens, George Haywey, and a sailor, name unknown. Fuller
was from the state of New York. He came to Puget Sound as purser of the
Major Tomphinn, and after she was lost was engaged by the Indian depart-
ment. Olympia Pioneer and Dem., March 19, 1858. She wasan iron steamer,
built at Philadelphia, and brought out around Cape Horn in sections. This
was the first steamer that ran upon the Dwamish, White, Snohomish, and
Nootsack rivers. She rendered important services carrying men and supplies
to forts and camps. In 1855 was incorporated the Puget Sound Navigation
Company, consisting of William H. Wallace, William Cock, H. A. Golds-
borough, H. L. Yesler, Charles C. Terry, James M. Hunt, and John H.
Scranton. Scranton went to S. F. as agent for the company and purchased a
tug-boat, the Champion, which, however, does not appear to have reached
the Sound. He purchased also the passenger steamer Younrj America at
Portland; but she was burned at Crescent City while on lier way from S. F.
to Vancouver with 1,000 troops under Major Prince. Scranton seems to have
been unfortunate. He owned the Major Tompkins, which was lost this year.
In 1856 he purchased the screw-propeller Constitution, together with W. E.
Moulthrop, which ran from Olympia to Victoria with the mails for about
three years before and during the Fraser River times. The Constitution was
built in New York in 1850 by Ward & Price, who sold her at Panamd ia
1851 to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, andafterwaxd sold to Scranton.
Her engines were taken out in 1860, and she became a lumber carrier about
the Sound, though her timbers were still good in 1873. Portland Herald, Feb.
13, 1873; E'lerfs Journal, MS., v. 100, 105, 137. Captains A. B. Gove and
James M. Hunt commanded the Constitution on the Sound during 1867-9.
272 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
beneficial to it, with the stimulation to trade which
the change in the nationality of the Russian posses-
sions must bring with it/^
In December 1859 the Eliza Anderson succeeded the Constitntion as a mail
carrier. She was built on the Columbia by Farman for George and John
Wright of Victoria, whose father owned the ill-fated Brother Jonathan. The
Anderson was commanded by D. B. Finch, and ran for about 8 years on the
same route. She was laid up in 1880. During a part of this time a small
steamer, the J. B. Libhey, built at Utsalady, carried the mail from Seattle to
Penu Cove, Whidbey Island, and from there through the Swinomish slough
to Whatcom, Bellingham Bay. During the busy times of Fraser Elver min-
ing rush, the Julia, from the Columbia River, and the Wilaon 6. Hunt, Sea
Bird, and Suriirise from San Francisco, ran on the Sound, returning to other
routes on the subsidence of travel and increase of business on the Columbia,
and one steam-vessel performed the carrying on the Sound between Olympia
and Victoria. Parker's Pugct Sound, MS., 5-9. At the session of 1865-6 the
Puget Sound Steam Navigation Company was reincorporated by W. T. Say-
ward, Thomas Deane, E. S. Fowler, H. L. Tibbals, 0. F. Gerrish, P. M.
O'Brien, C. B. Sweeny, W. W. Miller, Isaac Lightner, S. W. Percival. S. D.
Howe, G. K. Willard, Sam. Coulter, T. F. McEloy, J. L. McDonald, and
their associates, to navigate the waters of Washington, V. I., and B. C. Waxh.
Stat., 1865-6, 193-4. Nothing was ever done by this company for the benefit
of navigation. Boats continued to arrive from S. F. for the business of the
Sound for several seasons: the tug-boat Besolute, Capt. Cuindon, in 1859,
which blew up in 1867; the small side-wheel steamer Hanger ^o. 2, Capt. J.
S. Hill; tl\e Black Diamond in 1861; the Cyrus ]Yalker, a tow-boat, in 1865;
the Josie UcNear, Capt. Crosby, in 1868, which carried the mail for the con-
tractors, Hailley, Crosby, & Windsor. She ran on the Sound for less than
a year, when she was traded to the O. S. N. Co. for the New World, Capt.
Windsor, which had been a Hudson River steamer, but ran away and came
to the Pacific coast. Her history was eventful, having carried passengers on
the Hudson, Sacramento, and Columbia rivers, and Puget Sound. She
proved too large and expensive, and was sold to the Wrights of Victoria.
The Olympia was the next mail and jiassenger boat, Capt. Finch. The nc.Nt
contractors were L. M. & E. A. Starr, who ran the steamer .4 /(Wa, Capt.
Parker, a good passenger boat, to Victoria, sometimes connecting at Port
Townsend with the English steamer Isabel. The Zephyr, Capt. Thomas
Wright, ran at the same time. They subsequently built at S. F. the North
Pacijic, which was brought up to take the Alula's place iu 1871, and was
carrying the mail in 1878. Parker's Puget Sound, MS., 8-9. In the mean
time small jobbing and freight steamers have multiplied, owned chiefly by
individuals, as the J. B. Libbey, Chehalis, Ooliah, Favorite, Phantom, Polit-
hofsky, Iluby, Success, Cello, ilary Woodruff, Addie, and the A. E. Starr.
In 1876 the I'uget Sound Transportation Company was incorporated, aud
built two boats, the Messenger, Capt. J. G. Parker, and the Daisy, Capt. C.
H. Parker, making a line from Olympia to Mount Vernon on the Skagit
Kiver. The company has since bought and sold several other boats. In
1881 a spirited competition was kept up for a season between the boats of the
Puget Sound Transportation Company and Starr's line, the Otter and Annie
Stewart. In the autnmn of 1881 the 0. S. N. Co. purchased Starr's line, and
added some of their old boats, the Welcome, Idaho, aud Emma llayward.
In the following year another company was formed, called the Washington
Steam Navigation Company, wliose boats were the City of Quincy, Daisy,
Wanhinyton, and Mervin. J. G. Parker, in Historical Correspondence, MS.,
1884.
"Message of Governor Moore, Washington Jour. House, 1867-8,30-1.
The policy of the Alaska Company was not to encourage trade, but rather to
oppose it.
VARIOUS MEASURES. 273
A reciprocity treaty had also been negotiated with
the Hawaiian Islands, from which it was expected
that Washington would obtain sugar at a reduced
price, and the Hawaiian kingdom purchase more
largely of the territory's lumber and other products."
The inadequacy of the mail service it was suggested
should be made the subject of a memorial to congress.^^
The legislature accordingly petitioned for a mail route
by sea from San Francisco to Olympia, instead of by
land from the Columbia; for steamship service be-
tween Olympia and Sitka; for a weekly mail to As-
toria by the way of the Chehalis, Gray Harbor,
Shoal water and Baker bays; and for improvements
in other routes, and for increased compensation in
certain cases, which have since been granted. The
necessity of codifying the laws was urged, and of ap-
pointing commissioners for that purpose without delay.
An act was accordingly passed authorizing the gov-
ernor to appoint "three discreet persons" as code
commissioners, to revise, digest, and codify the statute
laws of the territory. The three persons chosen were
J. H. Lassater, Elwood Evans, and B. F. Dennison,^®
who made their report to the legislature of 1869,
which met in October, in accordance with an act
passed in January 1868 changing the time of hold-
ing the sessions of the legislative assembly.
Another subject of executive advice was the proper
care of the insane, at the time provided for by con-
tract with the lowest bidder. No territorial asylum
was provided where their condition could be amelio-
rated until 1871, when an asylum at Steilacoom was
prepared for their reception. ^"^
"No such benefits resulted as were anticipated by Gov. Moore; the effect
of reciprocity with inferior nations being to assist them at the expense of the
other side.
'* The government discriminated unjustly, by paying a subsidy of 06,000
in coin for carrying the mail from Victoria to Fort I'ickett on San Juan
Island, and §10,000 in depreciated currency for carrying it from Victoria to
Olympia and back, once a week. The tri-weekly mail from Portland to
Olympia was detained at the latter place from two to four days.
^^Olympia Standard, Oct. 9, 1870; Wash. Stat., 1867-8, 04.
" The legislative assembly of 1861-2 authorized the gov. and auditor to
HiBT. Wash.— 18
274 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
For several sessions previous to 1862 the legislature
had granted divorces indiscriminately." When Gov-
ernor Pickering came to observe this, he made a
serious appeal to the legislature to cease dissolving
the marriage bond and leave this matter to the coui'ts,
where the impediments were few enough, but where,
at least, some examination would be made into the
merits of the applicant's case. Notwithstanding, six-
teen unions were dissolved by the legislatures of
1862-3, and at the following session Pickering again
called attention to the practice, which was not there-
contract for the care of the insane, the contract being let to the St Jolin luna-
tic asylum at Vancouver, in charge of the Sisters of Charity. A fund was set
aside out of the general fund of the territory to pay for their keeping, and
tliey were kindly cared for. A memorial was forwarded to congress, asking
that an appropriation might be made to erect a building somewhere on the
Sound which should serve both for a marine hospital, which was needed, and
an asylum for the insane. But congress had not responded, when the legisla-
ture of 1S66-7 passed an act again authorizing the governor and auditor to
make contracts for the care of the insane, the contractors giving bonds for the
proper performance of their duties, and the law requiring them to report an-
nually to the governor. A board of inspectors was appointed to visit the
asylum quarterly, and to audit the accounts submitted by the institution.
The patients were removed from St John's, Vancouver, to a private asylum
in charge of James Huntington and son, located in the Cowlitz valley oppo-
site Monticello, where the accommodations were inadequate, and where by
the unusual flood of Dec. 1867 the improvements were swept away. It was
in reference to these facts that Gov. Moore called for a radical change in the
system adopted, and advised the purchase of a farm and the erection of an
asylum which would meet the requirements of those sufiering from mental
diseases, who, with intelligent treatment, might be restored to society. At
the session of 1867-8, however, nothing was done except to petition congress
for a grant of land, the proceeds of which should be expended in providing a
fund for the erection of a suitable building and the support of the insane.
But at the following terai an act was passed authorizing the purchase of the
government buildings at Fort Steilacoom, should they be offered for sale, and
appointing the governor and auditor commissioners to secure the prop-
erty. The purchase of the abandoned military quarters was effected in Jan.
1870, by James Scott, territorial secretary, and other commissioners appointed
by the legislature, Delegate Flanders having in the mean time proposed to
congress to donate them to the territory. H. Ex. Doc, 202, 42d cong. 2d sess.;
Id. Doc, 175; Cong. Olohc, 1868-9, 554; Olympia Transcript, Feb. 27, 1869.
The price paid for the buildings was $850. In March 1873, soon after the
settlement of the Puget Sound Company's claims, congress did donate the
military reservation for asylum grounds, gi^^ng Washington one of the most
beautiful sites on the Sound for the use of the insane. The patients were re-
moved in Aug. 1871. The number of patients in 1870 was 23. In 1877 it
was 67. There were 25 acres of ground in cultivation, and 300 fruit-trees set
out. Tacoma Herald, April 14, 1877. The disbursements for the insane in
1879 wore §52,325. Olympia Standard. Oct. 10, 1879.
■*In 1860-1 there were granted 17 divorces, in 1861-2 13, and in 1862-3
16. There seems to have been some connection between the gold-mining ex-
citement and the desire for freedom.
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 275
after renewed; but an act was passed in January 1866
declaring marriage to be a civil contract, and doubt-
less intended to prevent legislative divorces, as civil
contracts could only be annulled by the courts.^"
Nevertheless, a bill was passed in January 1868
dissolving a marriage, which on presentation to Gov-
ernor Moore was returned without approval, and the
legislature declined to pass it over the veto, by a vote
in the house of three to twenty-four. Subsequent
efforts to revive the practice failed. This tendency
to dissolve marriage ties was the more remarkable
when it is remembered that the male population
greatly exceeded the female, many men having taken
wives from among the Indian women.-" A. S.
Mercer of Seattle in 1865 made a movement to
establish asocial equilibrium, by importing a ship-load
of unmarried women from the Atlantic states, widows
and orphans of soldiers, but the influence of a single
adventure of this kind was hardly perceptible.
Among the public institutions of which the terri-
tory had long had need was a penitentiary, the only
prison in use for felons being the county jail of Pierce
county, from which escapes were of frequent occur-
rence. In January 1867 congress set aside for the
purpose of erecting a suitable prison the net proceeds
of the internal revenue of the territory from the 30th
of June, 1865, to the same date of 1868, provided the
amount should not exceed twenty thousand dollars.
The legislature appointed a comiBittee to wait upon
the collector to ascertain the amount due the terri-
tory,*^ which fell far beneath the appropriation, the
" Wash. Siat., 1865-6, 80-85; Wash. Jour. House, 1867-8, 400.
•"Morse, in his Wash. Ter., MS., xv. 34^5, speaks of this condition o£
society in the Haro archipelago more particularly. Orcas Island was settled
chiefly by returned Fraser River miners, who nearly all took Indian wives.
As late as 1879 there were but 13 white women on that island. On Lopez
Island the first white woman settled in 1869, Mrs J. L. Davis. There were
more purely white families on Lopez than Orcas; San Juan had later a more
nearly equal division of the se.xes than the smaller islands of the group, but
miscegenation prevailed to a considerable extent in all the northern settle-
ments. See also Oli/mpia Wash. Standard, Sept. 30, 1865.
^' Philip D. Moore was collector of internal revenue in 1867. He was suc-
ceeded by Edward Giddings, who was bom in Niagara county, New York, in
276 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
grant of $20,000 being doubled before the penitentiary
buildings proper were begun."^
No event could better illustrate the change which
ten years had made in the condition of Washington
than the abandonment in the spring of 1868 of Fort
Steilacoom. So far as the natives of the Puget Sound
region were concerned, their millenium had come,
their eternity begun, and they would learn war no
more. Contentedly they digged their little farms on
the reservations, hired themselves out as farm-hands,
fished, raced horses, held jJO^Zac/ies,^^ gathered berries
for sale, or spent their trifling earnings in whiskey,
which caused many, both men and women, to adorn,
in the picturesque enjoyment of dolce far niente, the
curb-stones and door-steps of the various towns in the
vicinity of their reserves, day after day. Whiskey,
as applied to the noble savage, is a wonderful civilizer.
A few years of it reduces him to a subjection more
complete than arms, and accomplishes in him a hu-
mility which religion never can achieve. Some things
some men will do for Christ, for country, for wife and
children : there is nothing an Indian will not do for
whiskey.
May 1822. He served several years in the office of the state controller at
Albany, under Silas Wright and Millard Fillmore, coming to the Pacific coast
in 1849. He returned in 1850, married, and brought out his wife, residing in
California 3 years, when he removed to Puget Sound, having his home at
Olympia. He was chief clerk in the surveyor-general's office from 1S62 to
1865, and afterward deputy surveyor until appointed assessor of internal reve-
nue. He was succeeded in that office by J. R. Hayden, but in 1875 displaced
Hayden as collector of internal revenue, which position he held at the time of
bis death in 1870. Olympia Pac. Tribune, Feb. 26, 1875; Ohjmpia Standard,
April 29, 187C.
^' The legislature of 1869 appointed John McReavy, Fred. A. Clarke, aud
L. F. Thompson commissioners to select a site for a penitentiary, ' at or near
Steilacoom.' The land selected was donated by John Swan and Jay Emmons
Smith, a free gift to the ten-itory of twenty-seven acres on the south-east shore
of McNeil Island, about five miles by water from Steilacoom. Its situation
was all tliat could be desired, being healthful and beautiful. The secretary
of the interior, however, who liad the matter in hand, would take no steps
toward building until the land was deeded to the United States, and money
enough placed in his hands by appropriation to complete some portion of the
work. Finding that $20,000 would be insufficient, he directed a suspension
of the work until congress should move in the matter, which it would only
do by being memorialized by the legislature and importuned by its delegate.
The further appropriation was not made until 1873.
'" A poi-lach was a ceremonious feast held on certain occasions, when pres-
ents were given.
THE NATIONS. 277
But it was not altogether, nor in the first place, the
allurement of strong drink which reduced the red men
to submission. Troops on one hand, and government
agents with presents on the other, had accomplished
the reduction; and now in 1868 there was no longer
any use for the troops, and the occupation of the
Indian agent would last but a few years longer. In
the interim, teachers and preachers contended with
the other civilizer, rum, to the salvation of some and
the utter reprobation of others. In the haste and
exigency of the times, and dreading an Indian war,
numerous small reservations had been left here and
there about the Sound, which in these ten years had
come to lie at the doors of the principal towns, the
temptations of which few Indians could resist. It
would have been better to have banished them to the
sea-coast, as in Oregon, and kept up a military guard
to hold them there, than that they should mix with
the foremost civilization of the day.'^*
2* In 186S the Tvar department ordered to be sold the government buildinga
at Gray Harbor and Fort Chehalis, erected in the autumn of 1859, when the
Chehalis tribe threatened the new settlements at the mouth of the river of
that name. These posts were abandoned at the breaking-out of the war of the
rebellion. Ivd. Aff. Repl, 1860, 187; Olympia Traiiscript, Feb. 22 and Dec.
26, 1868. The only military stations left in Washington in 1868 were Van-
couver, T. L. Elliott in command; Colville, W. C. M. Manning in command;
Camp Steele (formerly Pickett,. but changed on account of Pickett's secession),
Thomas Grey in command; and Cape Disappointment, R. G. Howell in com-
mand. Bept of Sec. War, 1868, 40th cong. 3d sess., 742. In 1866 the head-
quarters of the department of the Columbia was removed to Portland, followed
soon after by the whole staff and the commissary stores. The legislature of
AVashington remonstrated, but headquarters remained at Portland until June
1S7S, when the war department ordered a return to Vancouver. The terri-
torial legislature had very frequently to remind the general government of
the defenceless condition of its sea-coast, as well as of danger from Indian tribes
in its midst. From 1854 to 1858 congress was annually petitioned to place a
man-of-war on the Northwest Coast. During the Indian wars the Decatur,
Hancock, and Massachusetts did good service, and the latter was left on the
Sound to watch the Indians. But slio was too large and slow for that service.
In 1859-60 the legislature petitioned to have the Shubrkk, which first visited
the Sound in July 1858, put in place of the Massachusetts, which was not
granted until Victor Smith became collector in 1861, when he secured her
services as revenue-cutter, in place of the Jefferson Davis, Capt. \V. C. Pease,
a sailing vessel which had answered that pui-pose from 1854 to 1861. In Dec.
1866, all war vessels having been withdrawn from the Sound, while there ^las
a British naval station at Esquimault harbor, V. I. , the pride if not the fears
of the representatives of the people became alarmed, and congress was memo-
rialized to ' station such a number of vessels of war upon the waters of Puget
Sound as are essential to our security, as well as to convince foreign powers
278 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
The political quarrels of 1867 culminated in an act
of the legislature, passed in January 1868, redistrict-
ing the territory, and assigning the federal judges in
such a manner that Hewitt was given the county of
Stevens for his district, and required to reside there ;
while Wyche was given Walla Walla, Yakima, Kliki-
tat, Skamania, Clarke, Cowlitz, Pacific, Wahkiakum,
Lewis, Mason, Thurston, and Chehalis; and the latest
appointee, C B. Darwin, was assigned to the counties
of Pierce, King, Kitsap, Clallam, Whatcom, Island,
and Jefferson,-' but in order to relieve Wyche, was
required to hold court at Olympia for the counties of
Thurston, Lewis, Chehalis, and Mason. The old war
was renewed against republican measures, which had
only been suppressed while the integrity of the union
W' as in danger. Whatever the ability or want of abil-
ity of Hewitt, who had held the judgeship for eight
years, it was not that question that assigned him to
that the general government has the interest and honor of her most remote
settlements at heart.' Wash. Stat., 1866-7, 260. At the following session
congress was memorialised to erect fortifications at such points on the Sound
as the war department might deem expedient.
In 1871 the following reservations were made by the government for the
erection of fortifications in the future: at New Dungeness; at entrance to
Squim Bay, Protection Island ; on each side of the entrance to Port Discovery;
at Point Wilson, including Point Hudson and Point Marrowstone at the en-
trance to Port Townsend Bay; at both sides of the entrance of Deception
Pass; at Admiralty Head, opposite Point Wilson; at Volcano Point, or Double
Bluif, Whidbey Island; at Port Ludlow Bluff, Foulweather Bluff, and Whis-
key Pit, at the entrance to Hood's canal; at Point Defiance and Point Evans,
at the Narrows. All these reservations were large enough for extensive
works. Reservations were also made at Neah Bay, which was in contempla-
tion for a port of refuge. Gov. mess., in Oli/mpia Transcript, March 11, 1871.
With half these fortifications the whole of Washington would be safe from
invasion except through the gulf of Georgia and B. C. The above points
were selected by generals Halleck and Steele in 1866. Portland Oregonian,
July 25, 1866. The matter had been under consideration a longer time. H.
Ex. Doc, 65, vii., 35th cong. 2d sess. The legislature continued to petition
for these fortifications, but up to 1884 none have been erected or even begun.
In 188-1 the arsenal at Vancouver was closed, and the territorial arms, 478
Springfield rifles, turned over to Gov. Newell, with the ammunition.
2^ The county of Quillehuyte was organized at tlic session of 1867-8, com-
prising the territory on the coast from the mouth of the Wyatch River south-
east along the Olympia range to where the 124th meridian crosses the 48th
parallel, thence south along the meridian to the north boundary of Chehalis
county, and from there west to tlie ocean. Wash. Stat., 1867-8, SO-1. It
was later included in Clallam, Jefferson, and Mason ; Gideon Browufield, John
C. Brown, Aurelius Colby, John Weir, and Smith Troy were appointed county
officers, sliowing that the coast country was becoming settled.
FEDERAL APPOINTMENTS. 279
Stevens county to hold court and reside at Fort Col-
ville. The same persons who made war upon Hewitt
openly declared that Darwin should be removed, as
well as some other oflScials.'^*
Congress did not look with favoring eyes upon the
act of the legislature heaping contumely upon the
appointments of the president and senate, refusing to
confirm it.-^ But when Grant came to the presidency
a sweeping change was made, which saved the male-
contents the trouble of scheming against the old bench
of judges, by the appointment of B. F. Dennison
chief justice, and Orange Jacobs and James K. Ken-
nedy associates,-^ with A. W. Moore chief clerk, and
Philip Ritz marshal.^" In 1871 Jacobs was appointed
chief justice, with Rodger S. Greene and James K.
Kennedy associate justices, and E. S. Kearney mar-
shal. In 1872 J. R. Lewis succeeded Kennedy.^"
The presidential appointments of 1869 included a
new governor, Flanders, who^ it was said, had in-
tended to return and run again for delegate, but was
prevented by the commission of executive. James
Scott was appointed secretary. Colonel Samuel
Ross, late commander of Fort Steilacoom, Indian
superintendent/^ Elisha P. Ferry surveyor-general,
26 Although this was a political quarrel, there was another good reason for
the removal of Darwin — the seduction of the wife of another official. Darwin
was a scholarly judge, which Hewitt was not; but Hewitt was honest, which
Darwin was not.
'TOong. Globe, 1S67-S, 3709.
^'Kennedy had been prosecuting attorney of the 3d judicial district.
Olympia Pacijic Tribune, March 12, 1869.
'^Ilitz was an early settler of the Walla Walla Valley, where he introduced
fruit culture, writing many pamphlets upon the resources of the country, and
advocating the speedy construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He
made a very valuable contribution to my Library in the form of a manuscript
monograph upon the Walla Walla Valley. A town in the Spokane country
is named after him.
'"Lewis had been a judge in Idaho. ' He is reputed, ' says the Olymjyia Pac.
Tribune, May 14, 1872, 'to have been one of the ablest, most honorable, and
incorruptible judges that have ever occiipied the bench of Idaho. '
" Samuel Ross was a native of N. Y. ; enlisted as a drummer-boy in the
Sth inf. at 16 years of age (1837), and wag brevetted a 2d lieut in 1S4S. Re-
signing, he studied law in Ohio, and was practising in Iowa when Sumter
fell. He then joined the army, was severely wounded at Chancellorsville, and
was subsequently brevetted col in the regular and bi'ig.-gen. in the volunteer
service. Finally he was sent to Washington, and after his last appointment
280 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
Edward Giddings^^ assessor of internal revenue, Haz-
ard Stevens collector, and United States district at-
torney Leander Holmes.
Salucius Garfielde and Mai^liall F. Moore then be-
came candidates for the delegateship, the former as
the choice of the republicans, the latter of the demo-
cratic party. Garfielde, was elected, and secured
some of the ends for which he was nominated.'^
Moore died in February of the following year, from
the effects of old wounds received in the civil war,
sincerely regretted by the people of the teri'itory.^*
The republican jDarty, which had been in the ascend-
ancy for several years, elected a republican majority
to the legislature in 1869,^'' but it was losing power
as Indian agent, was placed on the retired list as a brig. -gen. in 1871 by the
solicitation of Delegate Garfielde. Olympia Courier, June 15, 1872; Seattle
despatch, in Pac. Tribune, May 17, 1872; Seattle Intelligencer, July 31, 1880.
In 1875 congress reduced his rank to a colonelcy. He -sves accidentally drowned
while battling in Osceola Lake, near Peekskill, N. Y., July 10, 1880. New
Haven Palladium, July 13, 18S0.
2-Edward Giddings was born in Niagara co., N. Y., May 20, 1822. His
boyhood was spent at home, and a portion of his youth in the office of the
comptroller at Albany. He came to Cal. in 1849, and to Puget Sound in 1852,
residing at Olympia, where he erected the first wharf for the discharge of
sea-going vessels. He was collector of internal revenue for the district of
Olympia at the time of bis death in April 187G. Olympia Trans. , April 29, 1876.
^' Garfielde, if the testimony of both parties can be credited amid so much
detraction of public men, varied his politics according to the winds of for-
tune; Olympia Standard, May 8, 1869; Olympia Pac. Tribune, April 24,
1869. George B. Roberts, in his Sacollections, MS., 91, says that the settlers
on the lands of Puget Sound Ag. Co. elected Garfielde that he might secure
them the patents to the land on which they had squatted. In a memorial to
congress, passed Jan. 9, 1867, the legislature had said that at the time of
settlement of Washington, American citizens believed that the treaty with
Great Britian in 1846 gave the foreign companies only the lands actually
enclosed and occupied at that date; and that under this belief they had
entered upon, claimed, and improved, according to the donation act, the
unoccupied land, unjustly claimed by those companies, and now asked that
they should be secured in their homes and property by proper legislation,
without being subjected to other or greater expense in obtaining patents than
settlers on other parts of the public domain. Wash. Stat., 1866-7, 250-1.
This was simply asking that the sovereignty of a portion of the territory still
in dispute should be determined, for the welfare of aU concerned; and inas-
much as Garfielde contributed to this result, he was of service to the country
he represented. Garfielde was appointed collector of customs in 1873.
3»See eulogy in Walla Walla Statesman, April 30, 1870.
25 xhe officers of the council were, William McLane president, C. B. Bagley
chief-clerk, EdAvin Eels enrolling clerk, C. H. Blake assistant clerk, S. W.
Beall sergeant-at-arms, Daniel House door-keeper, S. H. Mann chaplain.
The house organized with George H. Stewart speaker, Elwood Evans chief
clerk, Charles B. Curtiss assistant clerk, Elizabeth Peebles enrolling clerk, I.
V. Mossman sergeant-at-arms, Edwin A. Stevens door-keei)cr. Wash. Jour.
Council, 1869, 15; Wash. Standard. Oct. 9, 1869.
McFADDEN, FLANDERS, AND SALOMON. 2S1
by dissensions and struggles for place within itself,
of which the reviving democratic party eagerly took
advantage. Garfielde, who held the delegateship
nearly three years, on account of a change in the time
of elections ^^ was not permitted to take his seat until
December 1870. He served his term, and was renomi-
nated by the republican party in 1872, but was beaten
by 0. B. McFadden, the democratic candidate,^'' who
since the incoming of Lincoln's administration had
been living in the retirement of an ordinary law prac-
tice, or serving in the legislature. He went to Wash-
ington city, but was unfitted for duty by severe
illness during a portion of his term, and died the year
following his return. McFadden had the faults and
the virtues that recommended him to his constituents,
a warm heart and ready adaptability to surroundings,
which was counted to him sometimes for judicial
weakness. He was buried with imposing ceremonies
from the house of his son-in-law, Ex-surveyor-general
W. W. MiUer.^
Flanders did not long retain the executive office,
being succeeded in April 1870 by Edward S. Salomon
of Chicago, a German Jew, lawyer by profession, and
a colonel in the 8 2d Illinois volunteers during the
civil war, where he won wounds and honors, after
which the quiet and ease of Olympia life must have
2«Li 1S69 Senator Williams of Oregon introduced a bill in the senate,
■which became a law, providing that the elections for delegate to the 42d con-
gress, in Washington, should be held on the first Monday in June 1870, which
law left the territory without a representative in congress for the whole
year following Flanders' appointment as governor. Cong. Globe, 1868-9, 1080.
Another bill was introduced and passed in the spring of 1872, changing the
time of election to November of that year. Olympia Pac. Tribune, May 10,
1872. These changes were said to have been made for party purposes. The
Olymjyia Wash. Standard, March 2, 1872, charges the last one to the ' manip-
ulations' of Garfielde, 'who dreads to enter the contest with the existing
division in his party. '
"' The total vote for Garfielde was 3,.513; for McFadden 4,274. Although
the former received a larger vote than in 1870, the democrats polled a much
greater one, showing a striking change either in public sentiment or in the
politics of the later accessions to the population, which is more probable.
'^Olympia Transcript, July 3, 1875; Walla Walla Union, July 3, 1875;
Vancouver Register, July 2, 1875.
282 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
seemed a summer holicla3^^ James Scott still re-
mained secretary. The officers elected *° in the terri-
tory now began and closed their terms in the year
intermediate between the elections for delegate, the
congressional and executive terms corresponding, and
the legislative appointments coming between.*^
On the expiration of Salomon's term he was suc-
ceeded by Elisha Pyre Ferry, surveyor-general, his
appointment making way for a new officer in the land
department, which was filled by Lewis P. Beach, a
pioneer of 1849.^-^ Perry held the office of governor
from April 1872 to April 1880, when William A.
Newell was appointed.^^
Perry's administration was not eventful in wars **
or political changes, but covered a period of active
^'Salomon and his German regiment were much commended by generals
Schurz and O. O. Howard. He fought at Gettysburg and Chaacellorsville.
Puget Sound Express, Jan. 14, 1875; S. F. Aha, April 2.5, 1870.
*" The territorial officers were J. G. Sparks auditor. Hill Harmon treasurer,
James Rodgers public printer, and S. H. Mann librarian. Pacific Dir., 1870,
134.
*' The president of the council in 1871 was H. A. Smith of Snohomish,
chief clerk Elwood Evans, assistant clerk James M. Hayes, sergeaat-at-arms
R. L. Doyle, enrolling clerk Annie F. Tuck, chaplain J. R. Thompson. In
the lower branch of the legislature J. J. H. Van Bokkelen was chosen speaker,
W. S. Baxter chief clerk, W. Byron Daniels assistant clerk, A. B. Young
enrolling clerk, D. P. Wallace sergeant-at-arms, David Helsler door-keeper.
Wash. Jour. Council, 1871, 4-9.
*^ Beach was from Seneca Falls, N. Y. He came to the Pacific coast in
the early days of gold-mining, and to Puget Sound in 1861, where he had fol-
lowed logging, printing, farming, and surveying at different times, being an
industrious and able man. He died on returning from a visit to Washington
city in the spring of 1873, of pleuro-pneumonia. Olympia Wash. Standard,
May 3, 1873.
" W. A. Newell was a native of Franklin, Ohio, whose family removed to
that state from New Jersey. He returned there and entered Rutger's college,
graduating in the class with U. S. Judge Bradley and Senator Frelinghuysen,
after which he studied medicine at the university of Permsylvania, becoming
accomplished in surgei-y. He was elected to congress in 1846, and again in
1848, and was chosen governor of New Jersey in 1856. In 1864 he was again
returned to congress. He ran against George B. McClellan in 1877 for gov-
ernor, but was beaten, and in 1880 President Hayes tendered him the office of
governor of Washington, which he accepted. It is said of him that while in
congress he originated the life-saving system now in use on the coasts of the
U. S., by which many thousands of lives have been saved; and also that he
made the first movement to establish an agricultural bureau. He was over
60 years of age when appointed to Washington, but hale and vigorous. Tren-
ton (N. J.) Gazelle, in Olymyia Wash. Standard, May 21, 1880; Puget Sound
Nail, May 29, 1880; Nao Tacoma N. P. Coast, May 15, 1880.
**It witnessed one Indian war of brief duration in which Idaho was the
sufferer. Of this I shall speak later.
RULE OV GOVERNOR FERRY. 283
growth. He reestablished civil government over
the Haro archipelago in October 1872, by making it
temporarily a part of the county of Whatcom, until
reorganized by the legislature/' and was a witness of
the closing scenes of the Hudson Bay Company's
occupation of the territory through the claims of the
Puget Sound Agricultural Company.
It was during Ferry's administration, also, that
the Northern Pacific Railway constructed the Puget
Sound division from Kalama to New Tacoma, passing
Olympia eighteen miles to the east, in resentment for
which slight put upon the capital the citizens of
Thurston county constructed with their own money
and labor, the women of the county assisting,*^ a
narrow-gauge railway from Olympia to Tenino, a dis-
tance of fifteen miles, which was completed and opened
for travel in July 1878.
The territorial secretaries during Ferry's adminis-
tration were J. C. Clements, 1872 to 1875, Henry Gr.
Struve*' from 1875 to 1877, and N. H. Owings''* from
1877 to 1884. Ferry's administration extended over
*' An 'act to create and organize the county of San Juan' out of the islands
forming the Haro archipelago was passed October 31, 1873, the county-
seat being temporarily located at the 'old landing of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany.' Charles McCoy, Samuel Trueworthy, and Joseph A. Merrill were ap-
pointed county commissioners. Wash. Stat., 1873, 4G1-3.
*« The building of this railroad was made a labor of love by the volunteer
work accorded to it. The governor and territorial ofBcers, and all the most
prominent citizens, worked at clearing and grading on regular days, called
tield-days, when their wives and daughters accompanied them to the place
indicated by the superintendent of construction, and carried with them ample
stores of provisions, which, being prepared and served by them with much
mii-th and amiability, converted the day of labor into general holiday.
*' Struve had been in the regular armv as a soldier, having enlisted in the
1st regiment of dragoons in 1854. The iVcw York Sun of April 28, 1875, ac-
cused him of desertion for having failed to report himself to a provost-marslial
within 60 days after the issuance of Lincoln's proclamation of March 11, 1865
— which failure, according to law, made him forever incapable of holding
office. But this stigma was explained away subsequently, the president
having, owing to some peculiar circumstances, cancelled his enlistment
and ordered his discharge. Olympia Wash. Standard, Oct. 3, 1875. Struve
married a daughter of H. M. Knighton, mentioned in my History of Oregon.
He was prosecuting attorney of the 2d jud. dist for 1868-9, and for a time
was editor of the Vancouver Register.
"N. H. Owings was bom in Indiana. He served in the union army dur-
ing the rebellion. At its close he was appointed register of the land-olhce in
Colorado, and subsequently held the office of special agent of the postal rail-
way service. Olympia Wash. Standard, March 31, 1877.
964 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
four biennial sessions of the legislature,*^ during which
time the laws were frequently amended and improved,
the legislation of Washington being from the first
liberal and progressive. The revised statutes of
the United States, approved June 1874, made some
changes in the mode of filling territorial offices. Jus-
tices of the peace and all general officers of militia
were required to be elected by the people, in such a
manner as the legislature might prescribe; but all
other officers not provided for in the revised statutes
should be appointed by the governor and confirmed
b}' the council. This new system of appointment re-
moved from the governor the opportunity of exercis-
ing any arbitrary power, and affected all territories
aliJve.
The democratic convention of 1874 renominated
McFadden, who, being at that time ill in Pennsylva-
nia, telegraphed the withdrawal of his name. B. L.
Sharpstein of Walla Walla was then made the nomi-
nee of the party for delegate to congress. Sharpstein
was a lawyer of good abilities who had represented
his county in the territorial council in 1866-7. J.
;M. ^Nlurphy of the Olympia Standard was chairman
of this convention, which met at Vancouver.
The republican convention, which met at the same
place, chose Thomas H. Brents''" of Walla Walla
*' The officers of the legislature in 1873 were William McLane president
of the council, Beriah Brown chief clerk, J. N. Gale assistant clerk, Levi
Sheltou sergeant-at-arms, William Fowler door-keeper, C. A. Huntington
chaplain. In the lower house N. T. Caton was speaker, Charles W. Frush
chief clerk, Jason E. Ebey assistant clerk, W. Gness engrossing clerk, Mary
O'Neil enrolling clerk, Jacob Isaac sergeant-at-arms, and Rev. P. E. Hyland
chaplain. Wash. Jour. Council, 1873, 5-7.
'"Says W. C. Johnson of Oregon City, in an address before the Oregon
Pioneer Association in 1881: 'Brents got his start in the "brush end" of
Clackamas county. His father in early days was county commissioner.
Young Brents learned something in district school, was for a short time in
college at McMinnville, Yamhill county, read law, practised iu San Fran-
cisco several years, and tlicn settled at Walla Walla, wliere he acquired a
good practice and is highly esteemed. He is exceedingly industrious, book-
ish in his tastes, and is one of God's noblemen — an honest man.' Portland
Oreoonian, Juno 21, 1881. Brents was at one time expressman in the upper
country, about 1861-2, during the excitement about the Nez Ferci and Salmon
River mines.
ELECTION OF DELEGATE. 285
chairman, and nominated Judge Jacobs for delegate.
Jacobs immediately resigned the chief justiceship,
which was conferred upon Judge Lewis, the vacancy
created by his promotion being filled by S. C. Win-
gard, United States prosecuting attorney, whose place
was taken by John B. Allen of Olympia." Jacobs
was elected by a large majority, the counties east of
the mountains for the first time casting the greater
number of votes for a republican nominee®^ for the
delegateship, showing that the class of voters which in
1862-4 overflowed from the south-western states
upon the Pacific coast was being either eliminated or
outnumbered.'^^
The democratic convention of 1876 nominated John
Paul Judson, son of John Paul Judson, senior, who
settled on Commencement Bay in 1853, where New
Tacoma now stands." He was a member of the legal
fraternity of the territory, of good talents and unas-
suming address; but he was unable to carry the terri-
tory against Jacobs, who was reelected by the repub-
lican party. At the following congressional election
in 1878 Thomas H. Brents was returned by the same
party, and served two terms in congress. At his
first election he ran against N. T. Caton, democrat,
also of Walla Walla, beating him by over thirteen
hundred votes out of thirteen thousand.
The platform resolutions adopted by the democrats
in 1878 were, 1st, unalterable opposition to the dis-
memberment of the territory, and approval of state
'^The position was first oflfered to R. H. Milroy, late superintendent of
Indian affairs for Washington. Allen was spoken of as a 'rising young man.'
Olympia Padjic Tribune, Feb. 12, 1S75.
"Id., Nov. 1874. Sharpstein had 3,560; Jacobs 4,934.
^^llxeOlumpia Transcript, May 12, 1877, remarks that 'Andrews, recently
appointed clerk of the U. S. court at Seattle, is the first eastern Washington
man ever appointed to a federal position on Puget Sound.'
^* J. P. Judson, Sr, emigrated from Prussia to the U. S. in 1845, and set-
tled in 111., where he resided until 1853. His sou was born in Prussia in
1840. He earned the money in mining on the Fraser River with which he
paid for two years' schooling at Vancouver. In 1863 he was territorial libra-
rian, and chief clerk of the house of representatives in 1S64, after whicli he
was employed as school-teacher xmtil he finished his law studies in 1867. He
was a partner in the law office of Judge McFadden. Walla Walla Union,
Oct. 7. 1876.
286 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
government; 2d, extension of time to the Northern
Pacific Railroad; 3d, improvement of the Snake and
other rivers by the general government. The 6th
resolution declared the Indian-reservation system a
failure, and called for the breaking-up of the tribal
relation, or the consolidation of reservations into one,
which should be under military control. The 5th res-
olution charged upon the republican party a wide-
spread commercial distress.
The platform of the republicans protested against
an irredeemable currency; favored extension of time
to the Northern Pacific Railway, provided it should
construct twenty-five miles of road annually; approved
the restoration to the public domain of the lands of
the branch line originally located over the Skagit
pass of the Cascades; besought government aid in
the construction of the Seattle and Walla Walla rail-
road ;^^ opposed the dismemberment of the territory;
urged the passage of an enabling act for state pur-
})oses by congress; denounced Chinese immigration
and the existing management of the Indians.^^ From
these two schedules of party principles and aims the
general drift of territorial affairs at this period may
be gathered.
Ever since 1867-8 a movement had been on foot to
annex to Washington that strip of country forming a
handle to Idaho on the north, comprising the counties
of Nez Perce, Shoshone, and Idaho." These counties
did not all lie in the "long narrow strip" described in
a legislative memorial to be only fifty miles wide, but
congress w^as asked to assume that they did. And
these veracious memorialists did "further show" that
'^Tlie Seattle and Walla Walla railroad was built in the same manner as
the Olympia and Tenino road, by the exertions of the people of Seattle. The
first ground was broken in 1874, when on the 1st of May the citizens, men,
women, and children, turned out and graded a mile of road before nightfall.
On the 1 4th they repeated this action and graded another mile. Having
made this beginning, the work was carried forward, and 20 miles of road
intended to be the Cascade division of the Northern Pacific was completed.
SecUtle Post-Intelllgenccr, Sept. 15, 18S3.
'^Oli/mpia Iraimript, Oct. 19, 1878; Olympia Stajidard, Sept. 14, 1878.
^'See petition of Washington legislature, in IFasA. Stat., 1867-8, 176-7.
VIEWS OF THE PARTIES. 287
the representatives of the said counties in order to
reach Boise City were compelled to travel through a
large portion of Washington and Oregon, a distance
of over 500 miles, at a great expense to their territory;
to cure which evil, it was claimed that they desired to
travel 125 miles farther, at the expense of Washing-
ton, to reach Olympia!
There was, indeed, a wish on the part of those
inhabitants of Idaho north of the Salmon Range to
be reunited to Washington. In 1873 another memo-
rial was passed in the legislature of Washington, setting
forth the benefits to be derived to the north of Idaho
from annexation,'^* which received as little attention
in congress as the former one. Not long after, a
scheme was found to be on foot to create a new terri-
tory out of eastern Washington and northern Idaho,
this being the dismemberment to which both repub-
licans and democrats were opposed in the laying-down
of their principles.
Both parties were agreed in disapproving of the
reservation system, which had brought on another
Indian war, in which that portion of the Nez Perces
which acknowledged Joseph as chief had massacred
an entire settlement in Idaho and alarmed the whole
country.'* Both parties wished for the completion of
the Northern Pacific Railroad, and favored extension
of time as a means to that end. Both believed the
time had come for a state constitution, being satis-
fied that as a territory congress would ignore their
demands for internal improvements, harbors, and
coast defences, with an unjust degree of parsimony on
one hand and favoritism on the other.^"
'■' Waah. Stat., 1S73, 608.
*'Soe History of Idaho, this volume.
*" From the report of the secretary of war for 1SS3 it appears that the
whole amount expended on river and harbor improvements in the United
States between 17S9 .ind 1882 was $105,790,501, the most of it subsequent to
1861. Tho whole share of the Pacific coast in these appropriations amounts
to $2,157,233, of which California has had $1,492,428, Oregon §649,305, Idaho
110,000, and Washington territory $5,0001 S. P. Chronicle, Jan 25, 1884.
Population and apportionment of representatives aside, such parsimony,
where a proper degree of expenditure would produce more magnificent results
288 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
The legislature of 1867-8 passed an act to submit
the question of calling a constitutional convention to
the people at the next general election, but the meagre
vote polled in 1869 showed them to be indifferent or
undecided. The legislature of that year passed an-
other act calling for a vote in 1870, and making it
the duty of the next legislature, should there be a
majority in favor of a convention, to provide for the
holding of it." Again the people were indifferent.
The legislature of 1871 repeated the enactment of
1869, with the addition that the governor should give
notice in his proclamation that the legal voters of the
territory were required to vote for or against a state
convention, but with the same result as before. In
1873 another act was passed of a similar nature, in
the hope, by mere iteration, to bring the voters up to
the mark of taking an interest in the matter. The
whole vote cast "against convention" was less than a
fourth of the popular vote for delegate, but enough to
defeat the movement.
In its turn, the legislature of 1875 took up the sub-
ject, passing another act similar to the last,*" which
called out in 1876 a vote of over 7,000, and a majority
for convention of 4,168. Accordingly the succeeding
legislature''' appointed a state constitutional convention
to be held at Walla Walla in June 1878, the delegates
being elected in April.
than in almost any portion of the union, is a short-sighted policy in the fed-
eral government, which every year renders more distasteful to the people on
the Pacific coast.
^^ Seattle Intelligencer, May 23, 1870.
''The president of the council in 1875 was B. F. Shaw, chief clerk A. J.
Cain, assistant clerk C. C. Perkins, sergeant-at-arms Charles Stockton, door-
keeper Frank Lampson, enrolling clerk Emma Nichols, engrossing clerk Clara
Gove. Speaker of the house Elwood Evans, chief clerk R. G. O'Brien, assist-
ant clerk S. L. Crawford, sergeant-at-arms Luke Moore, door-keeper F. M.
Jones, enrolling clerk James A. Hughes, engrossing clerk Estella Galliher.
If'atft. Jour. House, 1875, (>-10.
^T. M. Reed was chosen president of the council in 1877, and T. B. Mur-
ray chief clerk. In the house, R. G. Newland was elected speaker, and R. G.
O'Brien chief clerk. Olympia Wash. Standard, Oct. 6, 1877. Miss C. E.
Myers was chosen enrolfing olerk, and Miss S. Galliher engrossing clerk, for
the house; Fannie Baldwin enrolling, and Anna Knighton engrossing, clerk
for tlie council. Wash. Joiir. House, 1877, 7-S. In the council were 5 repub-
licans and 4 democrats; in the house IG republicans and 13 democrats.
SHALL WASHINGTON BE A STATE? 289
Notwithstanding the election of delegates took
place as ordered by proclamation of the governor, the
newspapers complained of the apathy of the people,
accounting for it by saying they feared the movement
would fail in congress. But the real reason was, that
a majority of the voting class were willing that con-
gress should continue to pay the expenses of the mu-
nicipal government until the population, then less
than 40,000, reached the number of 124,000 required
by the general apportionment bill to give them a
member of congress. Outside of Washington it was
admitted that if any territory might claim exemption
from the law it was this one, possessing an immense
area and great resources, and lacking only population,
which would rapidly be drawn thither when it should
become a state, with all the advantages of equality
with the other Pacific states.** At home the argu-
ments put forward to overcome the apathy of the
people at large was the increased value of property
likely to result from admission into the union, which
would more than offset the expense of state govern-
ment; the appropriations which would be due, and
the position of north Idaho, which was waiting to be
joined to Washington, but could not be until the lat-
ter should be admitted, with this territory included
within its present boundary.'''
In the mean time the delegate in congress, Jacobs,
acting on the result of the election of 1877, introduced,
by way of an entering wedge, a bill for the admission
of Washington as a state of the union, in December
1877. After it was settled that there was really to be
a constitutional convention, the subject of a name for
the future state was discussed more than any of the
more important issues, a large number of the inhab-
tants clinging to the name of Columbia, by which it was
first presented to congress for territorial organization.^
"5. F. Chronicle, Dec. 28, 1877; Id., April 8, 1878; S. F. Bulletin, June
29, 1878.
<^'0!ympia Transcript, Oct. 24, 1878.
^ Uhjmpia Wash. Standard, April 6, 1863.
Hist. Wash.— 19
290 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
The convention met at Walla Walla June 11,
1878, a delegate from northern Idaho being also
present, but without a vote. A new boundary was
fixed for the eastern portion of the state, including
the panhandle of Idaho. In the declaration of rights
it was said that "no person on account of sex should
be disqualified to enter upon and pursue any lawful
business, avocation, or profession,"*'' but all attempts
to have stricken out the word 'male' as a qualifi-
cation for voters failed. The instrument gave the
legislature power to amend itself, made the sessions
biennial, gave that body authority to adopt the sys-
tem known as the preferential system in dealing
representatives, and limited its sessions to forty days.
Special legislation was forbidden; no lotteries could
be authorized, or divorces granted. The courts were
reorganized; taxes made uniform under general laws;
the power to tax corporate property could never be
suspended; the public school fund could never be
reduced; educational and penal institutions should
be provided; the legislature should have power to
change the location of the seat of government, which
^' Tlii3 declaration of the righta of women was the outcome of several
years of effort on the part of the advocates of woman suffrage, the apostle of
which was Mrs Abigail Scott Duniway of Oregon, proprietor of the New
Northwest, a journal devoted to the enfranchisement of women. She began
the canvass of Oregon and Washington in 1S70, making at first rather
awkward attempts at oratory, but rapidly improving, until her speeches
on the suffrage question commanded attention everywhere. Mrs Duniway
attended the Walla Walla convention as a reporter. An act was passed
in 1871 with the evident design of putting an end to Mrs Duniway's
seiges of the legislatures. It declared that 'hereafter no female shall
have the right of ballot or vote at any poll or election precinct in this
territory, until the congress of the United States of America shall, by
direct legislation upon the same, declare the same to be the supreme law
of the land.' Wajih. Slat. 1871, 175. However, in 1879 an act was passed
entitled 'An act to establish and protect the rights of married women, ' as
follows: 'Sec. 1. All laws which impose or recogui2e civil disabilities upon
a wife, which are not imposed or recognized as existing as to the husband,
are hereby abolished. Sec. 2. Henceforth the rights and responsibilities
of the parents, in the absence of misconduct, shall be equal.' 'The framers
of this absurd law did not perceive that they were merely heaping responsi-
bilities upon women without allowing them the means of adequately dis-
charging them. Nor did the Olympia newspaper editor see more clearly
when he called this ' the first married woman's emancipation bill on this
continent.' The bill, such as it was, passed without a dissenting voice.
Oli/mpia StaMard, Nov. 21 and Dec. 6, 1879.
THE CONSTITUTION. 291
should be submitted to a vote of the people at the
general election next following the adoption of the
constitution; the qualifications of voters who were
citizens of the United States were a residence of six
months in the state, and thirty days in the county,
and aliens must have declared their intention of be-
coming citizens six months before voting. Three
articles were left to be voted upon separately, namely,
local option, a temperance measure; woman sufirage;
and the annexation of the panhandle counties of
Idaho.
Such, briefly, was the instrument which occupied
the delegates twenty-four days in completing. It
was submitted to the people at the November elec-
tion for delegates, and by them adopted."^ Congress
had passed no enabUng act; the convention was
purely voluntary, and therefore the constitution in-
effectual until ratified.
Delegate Thomas H. Brents, elected in November,
offered the state of Wasliington for adoption into the
union immediately on taking his seat in congress, but
the candidate for the honors of statehood was not re-
garded in the national legislature with favor, although
a rapid growth had set in with the development
brought about by navigation and railroad companies,
and the territory was in a solvent financial condition.
The members of the legislature of 1879 were still
largely of the pioneer class, about half the members
having resided in the territory for twenty-five years.
The other half were young men of more recent immi-
grations,^^ the newer element promising soon to be the
'8 The following is a list of the delegates: W. A. George, Elwood Evans,
and S. M. Gilmore were delegates at large; S. M. Wait, B. F. Dennison,
and Charles H. Larrabee, from the judicial districts; C. M. Bradshaw, H. B.
Emory, D. B. Hannah, Francis Henry, A. S. Abernethy, George H. Stuart,
0. P. Lacey, L. B. Andrews, from council districts; and J. V. Odell and
Alonzo Leland were delegates from north Idaho. A. S. Abernethy_ was
elected president of the convention, W. Byron Daniels secretary, assisted
by William S. Clark, Henry D. Cook, sergeant-at-arms, John Bryant and
John \V. Norris, messengers. Id., June 22, 1S78.
^^ The Neiv Tacoma herald, Oct. 30, 1879, is my authority for the follow-
ing condensed biographies: President of the counsel, Francis H. Cook, born
292 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
founders, and to become themselves builders of em-
pire. In the judiciary there had occurred a change
in Ohio; age 28; came to the territory in 1871; publisher of the Herald.
Elliot Cline, born in Pa; age CO; immigrated in 1852; farmer by occupation;
residence New Dungeness. J. H. Day, born in Va; age 60; immigrateil in
1862; druggist; residence Walla Walla. S. G. Dudley, born in N. Y.; age
45; immigrated in 1874; farmer; residence Seattle. R. O. Dunbar, born in
111.; age 45; immigrated in 1846; lawyer; residence Goldendale.
J. B. La Du, bom in N. Y.; age 45; immigrated in 1853; farmer; residence
Mount Coffin. John McGlynn, born in Ireland; age 34; came in 1872; hotel-
keeper; residence La Conner. L. M. Ringer, born in Va; age 44; came in
1873; merchant; residence Almota. A. F. TuUis, born in Ind. ; age 49; im-
migrated in 1852; farmer; residence Chehalis. Allen Weir, chief clerk,
born in Cal.; age 25; came in 1800; publisher; residence Port Townsend.
Samuel Greene, assistant clerk, born in Mass. ; age 42; came in 1874; farmer;
residence Seattle. W. R. Andrews, enrolling clerk, born in Mich. ; age 28;
came in 1861; lawyer; residence La Conner. Emma Knighton, born in Or.;
age 21; came in 18G0; residence Olympia. J. H. Wilt, sergeant-at-arms,
born in Ohio; age 26; came in 1876; teacher; residence Walla Walla. G.
W. Brant, door-lieeper, born in Mo.; age 25; came in 1852; wheelwright;
residence Vancouver. Ruth Bigelo w, messenger, born in the territory ; ago
19; residence Olympia. Robert Wilson, watchman, born inN. Y.; age 47;
immigrated in 1855; hatter; residence Walla Walla. J. R. Thompson,
chaplain, borninEng.; age 38; came in 1870; presbyterian preacher; resi-
dence Olympia.
In the lower house, George H. Stewart, speaker, born in Ind.; age 48;
immigrated in 1850; lawyer; residence Vancouver. J. N. Baker, born iu
Ky; age 32; immigrated in 1853; farmer; residence Oakville, Chehalis co.
H. Blackman, born in Maine; age 32; came in 1872; lumberman; residenco
Snohomish City. C. Catlin, Ijorn in 111. ; age 35; came in 1850; farmer; res-
idence Frceport, Cowlitz co. M. F. Colt, born in N. Y. ; age 42; came in
1865; merchant; residence Walla Walla. P. D. Jorup, born in Denmark;
age 34; came in 1860; hotel-keeper; residence Utsalady. J. M. Dewarc,
born in Scotland; age 55; came in iS59; farmer; residence Walla Walla.
Levi Farnsworth, born in Maine; age 70; immigrated in 1850; shipwright;
residence Yakima. J. J. Foster, born in South Carolina; age 55; came in
1864; farmer; residence Walikiakura co. T. C. Frary, age 39; came in
1876; physician; residence Pomeroy. J. E. Gandy, born in Wis.; age ."2;
came in 1865; phy.sician; residence Puyallup. I). C. Guernsey, born in
Wis.; age 34; came in 1871; merchant; residence Dayton. M. V. Harper,
born in Tenn. ; age 40; immigrated in 1853; surveyor; residence Goldendale.
S. W. Hovey, born in Maine; age 46; came iu 1857; cashier of Port Gamble
Mill Co. ; reside'nce Port Gamble. D. F. Pereival, born in Maine; age 39;
came in 1872; farmer; residence Rock Creek. J. A. Perkins, born iu 111.;
age 38; came in 1861; farmer and land speculator. F. C. PurJj', born in
Tenn.; age 52; settled in 1854; farmer; residence Skokomish. F. JI.
Rhoades, born in Ohio; age 47; immigrated in 1847; farmer; residence Key,
Thurston co. Henry Pvoder, boi-n in Germany; age 54; came in 1S5I;
farmer; residence Whatcom co. B. F. Shaw, born in Mo.; age 51; immi-
grated in 1844; farmer; residenco near Vancouver. L. P. Smith, born iu
Maine; ago 64; came in 1869; watchmaker; residence Seattle. Alfred
Snyder, born in N. J. ; age 51 ; came in 1870; salesman at Port Blakeley.
D. J. Storms, born in Ohio; age 05; came in 1872; farmer; residence Waits-
burg. J. A. Taylor, born in N. Y.; age 54; immigrated in 1845; farmer
and agent for farm machinery; residence Walla Walla co. M. R. Tilley,
born in Ind. ; age 45; immigrated in 1852; livery-stable; residence Olympia.
S. Troy, born in Pa; age 46; camo in 1873; farmer; residence New Dnn-
geuess. A. H. Tucker, born in N. H.; age 40; immigrated iu 1852;
APPOINTMENTS. 293
in 1878, R. S. Greene being appointed chief justice,
the place he vacated being filled by John P. Hoyt,™
of Michigan. Judge Wingard was reappointed. The
other federal officers of this administration were
N. H. Owings, secretary; C. B. Hopkins, marshal;
J. B. Allen, United States attorney; William
McMicken, collector of internal revenue; J. E,. Hay-
dcn, deputy collector; Robert G. Stuart, receiver of
public moneys at Olympia; Josiah T. Brown, register
of the general land-office; and C. B. Bagley, deputy.
By an act of congress, approved June 19, 1878, a
change of apportionment was made, to take effect in
1881, which reduced the maximum of members of the
lower house of the legislature to twenty-four from
thirty, and increased the council from nine to twelve.
In 1884, William A. Newell was succeeded in the
executive office by Watson C. Squire," a veteran of
mechanic; residence Port Townaend. C. P. Twiss, born in N. H.; age 50;
came in 1870; farmer; residence NapaWne. D. B. Ward, born in Ky; age
41; came in 1859; teacher; residence Seattle. W. H. White, born in Va;
age 37; came in 1871; lawyer; residence Seattle. W. C. Porter, chief clerk,
born in N. Y. ; age 45; came in 1876; lawyer; residence Poraeroy. William
Hughes, assistant clerk, born in Wales; age 31 ; came in 1875; printer; res-
idence Seattle. Louis B. Noble, enrolling clerk, born in Wis.; age 26;
came in 1878; lawyer; residence Walla Walla. Emma Harmon, assistant
enrolling clerk, born in Wash.; age 23; residence Stoilacoom. L. P. Berry,
sergeant-at-arms, born in Ind. ; age 36; immigrated in 1853; commission
merchant; residence Colfax. G. D. Keller, door-keeper, born in Maine;
age 71; came in 1858; farmer; residence on White River. F. Seidel, watch-
man, born in Germany; age 32; came in 1879; carpenter; residence Seattle.
W. S. Hayes, messenger, born in Ky; age 68; farmer; residence near Olym-
pia. D. N. Utter, chaplain, born in Ind.; age 35; came in 1875; unitarian
preacher; residence Olympia. The republicans had a small majority in either
liouse, and 7 on a joint ballot. The religion of the assembly was repre-
sented by 5 Presbyterians, 4 methodists, 4 congregationalists, 2 baptists, 2
catholics, 2 unitarians, 2 episcopalians, and 1 lutheran. Olymvia Wash.
Standard, Oct. 24, 1878.
•" Hoyt had been appointed governor of Arizona, but resigned. Olympia
Transcript, Dec. 28, 1878.
" Governor Squire was born at Cape Vincent, N. Y., May IS, 1838. He
graduated from the Wesleyan university of Middleton, Conn., in 1859, and
commenced the study of the law, but the war of the rebellion calling him to
the service of his country, he enlisted in 18G1 as a private, being promoted
to be first lieutenant of co. F., 19th N. Y. infantry. When the three months'
men were discharged he resumed his studies in Cleveland, O. , and graduated
from the Cleveland law school in 1862, after which he raised a company of
sharp-shooters, and was given the command of a battalion of the same, serv-
ing in the army of the Cumberland. Subsequently he was judge advocate
of the district of Tennessee, serving on the staffs of Maj.-Qen. Rousseau and
294 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
the civil war and a man of rare administrative ability.
During his term, and for several preceding years, the
history of Washington, apart from the anti-chinese
riots of 1885-6, was one rather of material develop-
ment than of political significance. Up to that date,
the employment of chinese in large numbers had
been almost a necessity, since for the construction of
the transcontinental and other railroads no adequate
supply of white labor was available. But now the
herding in cities and towns of hordes of chinamen
was becoming a serious menace to society, and to the
working classes an ever-present source of uneasiness.
Thus in 1885, an attempt was made by the Knights
of Labor, an organization mainly composed of foreign-
ers, to expel them from the territory. At Tacoma
they were compelled to leave at a month's warning;
at Squak two were killed ; but it was at Seattle and
among the coal-miners that the agitation assumed
its most aggravated form, resulting in bloodshed
and general disorder. Fortunate it was that at this
juncture a ruler was at the helm of state whose
soundness of judgment and promptness of action were
equal to the emergency.
On the 5th of November Governor Squire issued
a proclamation calling on the citizens to preserve the
peace; but the very next day a number of chinese
houses were set on tire by an infuriated mob. There-
upon troops were ordered from Vancouver, and a
statement of the situation forwarded to the secretary
of the interior, resulting in a proclamation by the
Maj.-Gen. Thomas. On the close of the war, he became agent for the Rem-
ington Arms CO., and managed their operations to the amount of §15,000,000.
In 1876 he became interested in Washington, removing in 1879 to Seattle,
where he engaged in a number of enterprises tending to build up the city of
his adoption, also becoming the owner of one of the largest dairy farms in
the territory. In recognition of his efforts to secure for Washmgton the
long-coveted boon of statehood, he was elected president of the statehood
committee held at EUensburg in January 1889, and as president also of the
permanent committee labored eissiduously in framing the memorials after-
ward presented to congress, until finally his efiforts and those of his colleagues
were crowned with success. As a soldier, a statesman, and a politician his
reputation is stainless, and there are none whose career has been more
closely identified with the prosperity and development of Washington.
THE CHINESE RIOTS. 295
president, which was duly published and promulgated.
For a time the disturbance subsided, only to break
out again in more violent phase in February of the
following year, when lives were lost in the effort to
protect the chinese, and overt rebellion existed
against the constituted authorities. The governor
then adopted the extreme measure of declaring mar-
tial law, and thus with the aid of the citizens and troops
at length succeeded in restoring order. Though such
a course subjected him to the abuse of the proletariat
and to the hostile criticisms of a portion of the press,
his action was appi'oved by all the more conservative
and law-abiding people of the community. By the
Cleveland cabinet he was warmly commended, and
as a token of its approval his resignation was not ac-
cepted until long after the democrats succeeded to
power. His conduct also received the approbation of
the legislature, and of such representative associations
as the Seattle chamber of commerce and the bar as-
sociation of King county.'^
During the regime of Governor Squire, and at his
recommendation, several long-deferred public needs
were supplied, among them the building of the peni-
tentiary at Walla Walla, the addition of a manufac-
turing department to the penitentiary at Seatco, and
the erection of a new insane asylum at Steilacoom.
The finances of the territory were carefully adminis-
tered, and at the close of 1885 it was free from debt,
and with an available surplus of nearly $100,000.
His reports to the secretary of the interior are de-
serving of more than passing notice, as models of
political literature, on the preparation of which no
money or pains was spared. The one for 1884 was
declared by that official to be "the best that had ever
been given by any governor of any territory." So
great was the demand for it throughout the east, that,
" Tlie entire official correspondence relating to the Seattle riots, together
with a careful presentation of the matter, will be found in Governor Squire's
report to the secretary of the interior for 188(5.
296 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
the government edition being exhausted, the North-
ern Pacific railroad company ordered at its own ex-
pense a special edition of five thousand copies witli
accompanying maps. In the opening paragraph the
governor states that as no report had been forwarded
since 1879, while those issued before that date were
somewhat meagre in their treatment, he has thought
it best to make a full representation of the more im-
portant facts connected with the resources and devel-
opment of the territory. "For this purpose," be
says, "I have diligently corresponded with the audi-
tors and assessors of all the counties of the territory,
furnishing them printed blanks to be returned, and
with all the managers of its various educational and
business institutions. Besides drawing on my own
knowledge of the territory, gleaned during a residence
here during the past five or six years, I have gath-
ered and compiled a variety of important facts from
leading specialists in reference to the geographical,
geologic, and climatic characteristics, the coal and
iron mining, horticultural, agricultural, and manufac-
turing interests, the fisheries, and the flora and fauna
of the territory.
" The data thus offered, together with the summary '
reports of our charitable and penal institutions, and
an exhibit of the financial condition of the territory,
if published, will not only be of great service in en-
couraging and stimulating our people, but will fur-
nish reliable information to the intending immigrant,
and will indicate to congress the rightful basis of our
claim for admission into the union of states."
In the report for 1885 we have a careful revision
of the previous document, including more recent data.
Again the government edition was speedily exhausted,
whereupon a special edition of ten thousand copies was
issued by authority of the legislature, and included
the governor's biennial message for 1885-6. Under
the title of the Resources and Development of Wash-
ington Territory, it was scattered broadcast through-
INCREASE IN POPULATION. 297
out the United States and Europe, not only by the
Northern Pacific railroad, but by real estate firms and
by the citizens of Washington. To the representa-
tions of the two reports is largely due the immense
volume of immigration within the last half-decade,
and more than anything else that has been written
they have aided in securing admission to statehood.
The population of Washington increased from
75,000 in 1880 to 210,000 in 188fi, owing chiefly to
the rapid construction of railroad lines. The North-
ern Pacific company operated at the beginning of
this year 455 miles of railway within its limits; the
Oregon Railway and Navigation company, 295 miles;
the Columbia and Puget Sound railroad company,
44 miles; the Puget Sound Shore railroad company,
23 miles; and the Olympia and Chehalis railroad,
15 miles — making, with some newly completed por-
tions of roads, 866 miles of railroad, where a few
years previous only a few miles of local railway ex-
isted. The efi:ect was magical, all kinds of business
growth keeping an even pace with transportation.
Leaving out the lumber and coal trade of western
Washington, and the cattle trade of eastern Wash-
ington, each of which was very considerable, the
Northern Pacific shipped to the east 4,161 tons of
wheat and 1,600 tons of other grains, while the Ore-
gon company carried out of southeastern Washington
250,000 tons of wheat, flour, and barley. The ton-
nage of Puget Sound vessels, foreign and domestic,
amounted to 1,240,499 tons, and the business of ship-
building was active.
The federal and territorial officers, during the ad-
ministration of Governor Squire, were N. H. Owings,
secretary; R. S. Greene, chief justice; J. P. Hoyt,
S. C Wingard, and George Turner, associate justices;
Jesse George, United States marshal; John B. Allen,
United States district attorney; William ]\IcMicken,
surveyor-general; C. Bash, customs collector; C. B.
Bagley and E. L. Heriff, internal revenue collectors;
298 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
John F. Gowey, registrar, and J. R. Hayden, receiver
of the United States land-office at Olympia; F. W.
Sparhng, registrar, and A. G. Marsh, receiver at
Vancouver; Joseph Jorgensen, registrar, and James
Braden, receiver at Walla Walla; J. M. Armstrong,
registrar, and J. L. Wilson, receiver at Spokane; and
R. R. Kinne, registrar, and J. M. Adams, receiver at
Yakima. Thomas H. Brents was delegate to con-
gress.
In 1887, Eugene Semple of Oregon, democrat, was
appointed governor of Washington. Semple had
been a newspaper editor, and possessed fair talents,
with industry. He found public affairs somewhat
disquieted on the questions of statehood and woman
suffrage. After the defeat of equal suflrage by the
popular male vote of 1878, the legislature had, in
1883-4, passed an act conferring upon women the
privilege of voting at all elections. Later, this act
was pronounced unconstitutional, and after voting
at two elections, serving upon juries, and holding
various offices, the women of the commonwealth were
disfranchised. But there was a sufficiently strong
sentiment in favor of the political equality of the
sexes to make it a party question in 1886, the repub-
licans having incorporated equal suffrage in their
platform, while a respectable majority in both houses
of the legislature were pledged to vote for a bill re-
storing the woman suffrage law.
Another matter upon which the legislature was
divided was the proposition revived to remove the
capital from Olympia to some more central location,
favorable mention being made of North Yakima'^ and
'^ Yakima City was incorporated Dec. 1, 1S83. Twelve months later, when
it had 400 inhabitants, the surveyors of the Northern Pacific railroad laid out
the town of North Yakima, 4 miles distant from the old town, upon a broad
and liberal scale, and proposed to the people of the latter that if they would
consent to be removed to the new town they should be given as many lots
there as they poasessed in the old, and have besides their buildings moved
upon them without cost to the owners. Such an agreement in writing was
signed by a majority of the citizens, and in the winter and spring of 1884-5
over 100 buildings were moved on trucks and rollers, hotels, a bank, and
THE CORPORATION LAW. 299
EUensburg. Those who were laboring for this end
expected that the long-coveted panhandle of Idaho
would be joined to Washington, and intended to use
that accession of territory as a lever to eftect the re-
moval of the capital east of the mountains. But the
people of western Washington strenuously opposed
the transference of the government offices to the Ya-
kima valley, and succeeded in preventing it.
The legislature of 1887 appointed a commission to
codify the laws of Washington, consisting of W. H.
Doolittle of Tacoma, J. H. Snively of Yakima, Thomas
H. Came of Seattle, and A. E. Isham of Walla Walla.
As the passage of the enabling act rendered it un-
doubted that the state constitution would difier
materially from the organic law of the territory, the
commission suspended its labors until the state con-
stitution had assumed definite form, when it reviewed
its work.
The corporation law received particular attention,
making provision for freights, for the rights of differ-
ent roads to the use of each other's tracks, and the
rights and duties of stockholders. All telegraph and
telephone companies were given the right of way on
the lines of railroad companies on equal conditions.
Railroads might pass along streams, streets, or high-
ways M'here life and property were not endangered,
but the companies must restore either of these to its
former condition of usefulness. Every railroad must
construct not less than five miles of road each year
until completed, or forfeit its charter. Foreign rail-
roads could not enjoy greater privileges than domestic
roads. An annual report was to be made by each
railroad to the stockholders, subject to the inspection
of the secretary of state; besides which a sworn an-
nual statement was required of the officers of each
company.
other business houses doing their usual business while en route. This was a
good stroke of policy on the part of the railroad, general land commissioner,
and the company, as it definitely settled opposition, both to tlie new town and
the corporation, which also secured a year's growth for North Yakima in
ninety days' time. Subsequently the town had almost a phenomenal growth.
300 GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
The federal officers during Semple's second term
were N. H. Owings, secretary ; K. A. Jones, chief jus-
tice; W. G. Lang-ford, George Turner, and Frank
Allyn, associate justices. Charles S. Voorhees suc-
ceeded Brents as delegate to congress.'* James
Shields succeeded Hayden in the receiver's office of
the land department, and John Y. Ostrander was
appointed registrar in 1886.
'* John B. Allen, republican, was chosen for congressman by a majority in
1887 of 7,371, over Voorhees, democrat, but was prevented taking his seat in
congress by the prospect of the passage of an enabling act.
Among the leading citizens of Washington, in addition to those mentioned
elsewhere in this volume, the following residents of Spokane Falls are worthy
of note:
J. N. Glover, a Missourian by birth, and, it may be said, the founder of
the city, settling there, or rather on its site, in 1873, and purchasing from two
squatters named Downing and Scranton the tract of land on which their
shanties were then the only buildings. First as the owner of a saw-mill,
next as a contractor, then as the leading organizer and president of the First
National Bank, and finally as mayor of Spokane, he has won for himself his
well-earned wealth and reputation.
In connection with the First National Bank should be mentioned Horace
L. Cutter, who w£is also one of its organizers. A native of Cleveland, 0.,
in 1871 he removed to Colo, on account of his health, and in tlie following
year to Cal., where for eight years he was secretary of the San Jose Savings
Bank. Settling at Spokane Falls in 1882, he was appointed cashier and
manager of the First National, and has since been a promoter of several lead-
ing enterprises, as the electric light and cable-road companies. He was also
one of the founders of the board of trade, of w hich he is treasurer, and of
the public library, of which he is president.
The president and manager of the Traders' National Bank is E. J. Brickell,
a native of Ind., but most of whose lifetime has been passed in 111. and Nev.,
where he engaged in merchandising and lumbering. In 1884 he settled at
Spokane, where he is now the owner of one of the largest hardware stores.
Among the directors of this bank, and its former vice-president, is R. W.
Forrest, a Pennsylvanian by birth, and now one of the capitalists of Spokane,
where his residence dates from 1879.
Others deserving of notice are Col D. P. Jenkins, a native of 0., and a law-
yer by profession, who, after serving almost throughout the civil war, resumed
practice, first in Teun. and Ind., and later in Colo and W. T., whither he re-
moved for his health's sake, settling at Spokane in 1879; J. D. Sherwood, a
son of the late B. F. Sherwood of San Francisco, and wlio, as one of those
who established the electric-light works, as president of the cable company,
and in connection with other enterprises, has helped to build up his adopted
city; W. Pettet, an Englishman, who visited California in 1840, and in 1886
made his permanent home at Spokane, where he purchased the first electric-
liglit plant and organized the" company by which it was operated; E. B.
Hyde, a native of Wisconsin, who came to Spokane in 1881, two years later
building, in conjunction with others, the Union block, and since that date add-
ing a number of handsome edifices to the improvements of the city; W. M.
Wolverton, a native of la, who, in 1881, the year after his arrival, erected
tlie first brick building in Spokane, where, until retiring from business in
1886, he was the owner of a flourishing hardware store.
CHAPTER IX.
PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
Remaekable Growth of the Territory — Demand for Statehoob — En-
abling Act — State Convention — Character of the Delegates —
Constitution Ratified— Waiting for a Proclamation— Meeting op
First State Legislature- Character of Members — Unexpected
Delay of the Presidentlal Proclamation — Election of Senators.
From 1880 to 1888 the progress made in Washing-
ton was phenomenal, and was felt in every direction
— in commerce, manufacture, banks, corporations,
schools, growth of towns, improved styles of building,
construction of railroads, mining, agriculture, and
society. New towns had sprung up among the firs
and cedars, the Puget Sound country, and out of the
ti'eeless prairies almost in a night; and hitherto un-
important villages had become cities with corporate
governments, grand hotels, churches, colleges, and
opera-houses.
The board of trade of Tacoma in 1886 declared that
"tlie commercial independence of Washington terri-
tory accompanying the completion of the direct line
of the Northern Pacific railroad to tide-water should
be supplemented by its political independence as a
state of the American union. Admission cannot in
decency be delayed many years longer, whatever
party influences may sway congress. The census of
1890 will show a population within the present limits
of the territory exceeding 200,000, and a property
valuation of at least $200,000,000."^ Governor
^The state auditor iu November 1889 reported the resources of the com-
monwealth from taxes, licenses, prison labor, etc., at §372,860.3.5.
(301)
302 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
Squire had said in a report to the secretary of the
interior that among the reasons for the admission of
the territory were the "sterhng, patriotic, and enter-
prising character of its citizens ; its present and pro-
spective maritime relations with the world ; its position
as a border state on tlie confines of the dominion of
Canada, the most powerful province of Great Britain ;
its wealth of natural resources and growing wealth of
its people; the efficiency of its educational system, re-
quiring that its school lands should be allotted and
utilized; its riparian rights should be settled, capital
and immigration encouraged, and the full manage-
ment and control of municipal and county affairs
should be assumed by the legislature, which is not
allowed during the territorial condition."
Governor Semple, in his report for 1888, gave the
population as 167,982, showing that the prophecy of
the board of trade was not an over-estimate of the
probabilities. The taxable property was given at
$84,621,182, or a gain of $65,698,260 in ten years,
which being taken from the assessment roll was con-
sidered conservative enough for the minimum ; for as
the governor quaintly remarked: "Whatever else an
average American citizen may neglect, he never for-
gets to beat down the assessor." The revenue pro-
duced by a tax of two and a half mills was $212,734.92,
showing the ability to erect and maintain the necessary
public works as they should be required. There were
in the territory in operation 762.2 miles of standard
gauge railroads belonging to the North Pacific railroad
company; and 282.6 miles of the same gauge belong-
ing to the Oregon railway and navigation company;
the Seattle, Lake Shore, and Eastern railroad com-
pany operated 58 miles of standard gauge road; the
Columbia and Puget Sound railroad 44.5 miles; and
the Puget Sound and Gray's Harbor railroad 10 miles
— making in all 1,157.3 miles of broad-gauge railways.
In addition, there were 40 miles of narrow-gauge road,
divided between the Olympia and Chehalis valley, the
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 303
Mill Creek F. and M. company, and the Cascade rail-
road — making in all 1,197.7 miles, and the increase of
mileage was augmenting yearly. The amount of coal
mined in the territory in 1888 was 1,133,801 tons.
The output in lumber of the Washington mills in four
localities only for the year was 320,848,203 feet, their
capacity being a million feet greater, shingles and
lath in proportion. The amount consumed within the
territory was 105,940,225 feet of lumber; 14,474,000
lath, and 12,921,250 shingles; the remainder was ex-
ported. The estimated capacity of all the mills was
1,043,590,000 feet.
An insane asylum, costing $100,000, was completed
at Steilacoom in 1888, in which were treated 200 pa-
tients ; and $60,000 was appropriated for the erection
of a hospital for the insane at Medical lake in eastern
Was]:ington, which was being expended on the work.
Up to 1887 the territorial prisoners were confined in
a private prison, under the control of contractors, but
in 1887 a penitentiary was completed at Walla Walla,
costing $153,000. At Vancouver a school for defect-
ive youth was erected, partly by the citizens of that
place donating land, and the rest by the legislature,
making at two sessions appropriations for that pur-
]5ose. The national guard had completed its organiza-
tion, the legislature having levied a tax of one fifth of
a mill for military purposes, and consisted of two regi-
ments of infantry and a troop of cavalry — in all 750
officers and men. These and various other matters,
including the question of who should pick the hop
crop in Puyallup valley, were reported to the secre-
tary, and Governor Semple put it: "We are rich and
reputable, and do not require anybody to settle our
bills. Give us the right to regulate our local affairs,
and we will not only pay our own officers, but we will
render much service to the union."
In 1888 Miles C. Moore of Walla Walla, republi-
can, was appointed governor to succeed Semple,
democrat, but only in time to be immersed in the
304 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
excitement of a change of goverament forms, for con-
gress, on the 22d of February, 1889 (very appropri-
ately), passed an enabling act, proposing the terms on
which the state of Washington might be admitted to
the union. It commanded the governor to issue a
proclamation on the 15th of April for an election of
seventy-five delegates to a constitutional convention,
the election to be held on the first Tuesday after the
second Monday in May of that year. The delegates
were directed to meet at the capital on the 4th of
July for organization, and to declare, on behalf of the
people, their adoption of the constitution of the United
States, whereupon they should be authorized to form
a constitution for the proposed state. The constitu-
tion should be republican in form, make no distinc-
tion in civil or political rights on account of race or
color, except as to Indians not taxed, and not be
repugnant to the constitution of the United States
and the principles of tlie Declaration of Independence.
It should provide, by ordinances irrevocable without
the consent of the United States and the people of
said states, that pei'fect toleration of religious senti-
ment shall be secured, and no inhabitant of the state
ever molested on account of his mode of worship; that
the people of the state should forever disclaim all
right to the unappropriated public lands lying within
the boundaries thereof, or to the Indian resei'vations,
which should remain under the absolute jurisdiction
and control of congress; that the lands of non-resident
citizens of the United States should never be taxed
at a higher rate than the lands belonging to residents;
that no taxes should be imposed by the .state on lands
or property therein belonging to, or which might be
tliereafter purchased or reserved by, the United
States; but notliing in the ordinances should preclude
taxing the lands owned or held by Indians who had
severed their tribal relations and obtained a title
thereto by patent or grant, except those lands wJiich
congress might have exempted from taxation, which
EDUCATIONAL CONSIDERATION. 305
the ordinances should exempt, so long and to such
extent as such act of congress might prescribe. Tlie
debts and liabilities of the territory should be assumed
and paid by the state. Provision should be made for
tlie establishment and maintenance of public schools,
which should be open to all the children in the state,
and free from sectarian control.
On the other hand, upon the admission of the state,
sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in every
township of said state, or where such sections or parts
of sections had been disposed of, indemnity lands were
granted to the state for the support of common
schools, except where such sections were embraced in
grants or reservations by the government, and until
they were restored to the public domain. The lands
granted for educational purposes should not be sold
for less than ten dollars per acre, and only at public
sale, the proceeds to constitute a permanent school
fund, the interest only of which should be expended
in their support. But the legislature had power to
prescribe terms on which the school lands might be
leased, for periods of not more than five years, in
quantities of not more than one section to one person
or company; and such lands should not be subject to
entry under any of the land laws of the United States.
Fifty sections of selected public land within the
state should be granted for the purpose of erecting
public buildings at the capital for legislative and
judicial purposes. Five per centum of the proceeds
of the sales of public lands within the state, which
should be sold by the United States after its admis-
sion, deducting all expenses incident to the same,
should be paid to the state to be used as a permanent
fund, the interest of which only should be expended
for the support of common schools. Seventy-two
entire sections were granted for university purposes,
none of which should be disposed of at less than ten
dollars per acre; but, like the common school lands,
they might be leased. The schools and universities
Hist. Wash.— 20
306 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
provided for in tlie act should forever remain under
the exclusive control of the state, and no part of the
proceeds arising from the sale of the granted lands
should be applied to denominational schools, colleges,
or universities. Ninety thousand acres should be
also granted for the use and support of an agricul-
tural college. In lieu of the grant of land for pur-
poses of internal improvement made to new states by
the act of September 4, 1841, and in lieu of any claim
or demand by the state under the act of September
28, 1850, and section 2479 of the Revised Statutes,
granting swamp and overflowed lands to certain
states, and in lieu of any grant of saline lands, there
was granted to the state of Washington, for the
establishment and maintenance of a scientific school,
one hundred thousand acres, the same amount for
state normal schools; for public buildings at the
state capital, in addition to the previous grant for
that purpose; and for state charitable, educational,
penal, and reformatory institutions, two hundred
thousand each; and the state should be entitled to
no other grants of land for any purposes. Mineral
lands were exempted from all the grants, but lieu
lands were allowed in their stead, where mineral
should be found on the school sections. But there
should be deducted from the amounts granted for any
specific object, the number of acres before donated by
congress to the territory for similar objects."
The sum of twenty thousand dollars, or as much
as might be necessary, was appropriated for defray-
ing the expenses of the state constitutional conven-
tion. The state should constitute one judicial district,
to be attached to the ninth judicial circuit. There
should be appointed one district judge. United States
attorney, and United States marshal, the judge to
receive a salary of $3,500, and to reside in his dis-
trict, and the clerks of the court to keep their offices
at the state capital; the regular terms of court to
' See p. 216, note, on the misapplication of the university lands.
THE REPRESENTATIVES. 307
commence in April and November. The courts of
the state were made the successors of the territorial
courts, whose business should be transferred to them
without prejudice.
The constitutional convention might, by ordinance,
provide for the election of officers for full state gov-
ernment, including members of the legislature, and
rspresentatives in congress; but the state govern-
ment should remain in abeyance until the admission
of the state into the union. Should the constitution
be ratified by the people, the legislature might as-
semble, organize, and elect two senators of the United
States, whose election being certified by the governor
and secretary of state, they should be admitted to seats
in congress on the admission of the state into the union;
and the officers elected to fill state offices should in
the same manner proceed to exercise their functions.
The election for the ratification of the constitution
should take place on tlie first Tuesday in October.
Such, in brief, was the compact to be accepted and
ratified.
The delegates met on the 3d of July, at Olympia,
and proceeded to business on the 4th.* They were
^ The several countiea were represented as follows in the convention:
Stevens, S. H. Manly, J. J. Travis; Spokane, C. P. Coey, Geo. Turner,
J. Z. Moore, J, J. Browne, T. C. Griffitts, H. F. Suksdorf, Hiram E. Allen;
Lincoln, H. W. Fairweather, B. B. Glascock, Frank M. Dallam; Kittetass,
J. A. Shoudy, A. Mires, J. T. McDonald; Whitman, J. P. T. McCloskey,
0. H. Warner, E. H. Sullivan, J. M. Reed, James Hungate, Geo. Comegys;
Adams, D. Buchanan; Garfield, S. G. Cosgrove; Franklin, W. B. Gray;
Columbia, M. M. Goodman, R. F. Sturvedant; Walla Walla, Lewis Neace,
D. J. Crowley, B. L. Sharpstein, N. G. Blalock; Yakima, W. F. Prosser;
Clarke, Louis Johns, A. A. Lindsley; Skamania, G. H. Stevenson; Pacific,
J. A. Burk; Wahkiakum, 0. A. Bowen; Cowlitz, Jesse Van Name; Mason,
Henry Winsor, John McReavy; Chehalis, A. J. West; Jefferson, Allen Weir,
George H. Jones, H. C. Willison; Skagit, James Power, Thomas Hay ton, H.
Clothier; Whatcom, J. J. Weisenberger, E. Eldridge; Snohomish, A.
Scliooley; Island, J. C. Kellogg; Kitsap, S. A. Dickey; King, R. Jeff's,
T. T. Minor, T. P. Dyer, D. E. Durie, John R. Kinuear, John P. Hoyt, M. J.
McElroy, Morgan Morgans, George W. Tibbetts, W. L. Newton; Pierce, T. L.
Stiles, JP. C. Sullivan, Gwiu Hicks, H. M. Lillis, C. T. Fay, R. S. Moore,
Robert Jamison; Thurston, John F. Gowey, T. M. Reed, Francis Henry;
Lewis, 0. H. Joy, S. H. Berry.
From the Oregonian of July 4, 1889, I make the following excerpts:
Gwin Hicks was the youngest member of the convention. He was born at
308 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
a conservative body of men, chosen from the various
Olympia, Oct. 28, 1857. He resided in Portland, Oregon, from 10 to 18
years of age; took a course in the university of California, supporting him-
self by his trade of printing, which he afterward followed in Portland;
removed to Tacoma in 1883, and was engaged on the Neu-s as editor, and
afterward was appointed deputy collector of internal revenue for Wash.,
serving 4 years. He was, at the time of his election, manager of the Tacoma
Real Estate and Stock Exchange.
Hiram E. Allen, born Aug. 1, 1857, at Crawfordsville, Ind., removed to
Wash, in 1872, practised law at Spokane Falls in partnership with his
brother, Joseph S. Allen. He was also a brother of Hon. J. B. Allen.
Jacob T. Eshelman, born near Memphis, Mo., in 1852, came to Gal. in
1876, taught school in Napa Co., came to Wash, in 1S7S, resided in Klickitat
CO. until 18S7, removed to North Yakima where he was appointed clerk of
the U. S. land-office. He was nominated by the Klickitat democratic con-
vention for services rendered to the party in that co. His profession was
that of a Ghristian minister,
John R. Kinnear, of King co., was born in Indiana, but removed to
Woodford CO., Illinois, at the age of 7 years. Ho was reared on a farm, and
educated at Washington high school. Eureka college, and Knox college, where
he took a regular course. He enlisted in the army during the war, and
served three years as a private, being in 20 great battles. After the close of
the war he took a course at the Ghicago law school, and practised in Paxton,
111., for 15 years. In 1883, he removed to Seattle, and in 1884 was elected
representative from King co. In 1888 he was elected to the council, but
the passage of the enabling act prevented his taking his seat. In June 1889
he was chosen a member of the constitutional convention, and took an ac-
tive part in framing that important instrument. He was chairman of the
committee on corporation, and secured the insertion of the clause in the con-
stitution prohibiting trusts, and another prohibiting persons or corporations
supporting armed bodies of men in the state, for any purpose. He received
130 votes in the republican state convention for governor.
George Comegys, born in St Charles co., Mo., in 1839, came to Or. in
1850 with his father, educated at the Willamette university, admitted to
practise law in the supreme court of Or. in 1877, removed to Whitman co.,
Wash., in 1878, engaged in law practice, stock-raisiog, and mining, repre-
sented Whitman co. in the legislature of 1881, and was speaker of the house.
William F. Prosser, born in 1834 near Williamsport, Penn., had an aca-
demic education, taught school, studied law, emigrated to Cal. in 1854, en-
gaged in mining; was the first republican candidate for the legislature in
Trinity co. in 1860; went east to enlist in the union army in 1861, served
in the army of the Cumberland, was commissioned major, and lieut-col and
col in the Tennessee cavalry regt; located after the war on a farm near Nash-
ville, was elected to the legislature of Tenn. in 1867, and to congress in 1868;
was postmaster at Nashville for 3 years, was a commissioner to the centen-
nial exhibition at Phila in 1876; was appointed special agent of the general
land-office for Or. and Wash, in 1879, served 6 years, and was removed by a
change of administration; located a land claim where the town of Prosser
was laid out in Yakima co., elected auditor of that co. in 1880, and member
of the convention in 1889. He married Miss Flora Thornton of Seattle.
Jesse F. Van Name was born in Earlsville, La Salle co., 111., in 1857,
educated in the public schools, taught school, went to the Black hills, to
Kansas and Colorado, read law with Judge McAuncUy of Fort Collins, went
to New Mexico and Arizona, and in 1882 came to Wash. Taught school in
Cowlitz valley, and resumed law studies, was appointed clerk of the 2d
judicial dist, and was admitted to the bar, locating in Kalama in 1889.
R. O. Dunbar, born in III. in 1845, came to Or. in 1846, was educated at
Willamette university, studied law with Hon. Elwood Evans in Olympia, and
began practice in 1870; removed to Klickitat co. in 1877; was elected mem-
BIOGRAPHICAL. 309
classes. The coustltution which, they framed for ac-
ber of the territorial council in 1879, prosecuting attorney of the district iu
1882, speaker of the house iu 1885, and probate judge of Klickitat co. iu
1888.
B. B. Glascock, born in Ralls co.. Mo., in 1843, came to Yolo co., Cal.,
in 1852, removed to Wash, in 1883, locating at Sprague and engaging in
farming and stock-raising. Was a member of the California constitutional
convention in 1878, and member of the senate for the two sessions imme-
diately following the adoption of the new constitution.
A. J. West was born in county Roscommon, Ireland, iu 1839, emigrated
to Ontario, Canada, received a common-school education, taught school, and
worked iu a lumber-mill. When the war of the rebellion broke out he went
to Mich., enlisted, was commissioned Ist lieut, volunteer infantry, fought
iu 16 battles, was wounded while charging Fort Wheaton, was in command
of his company at the surrender of Gen. Lee, and was commissioned captain
in May 18G5, a few days before his discharge. Engaged in lumbering in
Mich, for 14 years at Saginaw, and filled several town and county offices.
In 1884 removed to Aberdeen, Chehalis co., and went again into tiie manu-
facture of lumber.
N. G. Blalock was born in North Carolina iu 1836 on a farm, was educated
iu the common scliools, except one year in Tusculum college, Tenn., paying
by laboring nights aud moruings for his tuition; entered Jefferson medical
college iu 1859, graduating iu 1861, and being commissioned asst surgeon of
the 115th III. vols in 1862, aud was discharged on account of ill health in
1804. Came to Wash, iu 1873, invested in dry foot-hill lands reputed worth-
less tor agriculture, but which proved most productive. In 1881 he raised
on 2,200 acres 90,000 bushels of wheat. In 1S7S and 1879, built a ilume
from the mountains down into the valley, 28 miles, costing $56,000, for the
purpose of conveying lumber, wood, and rails. His improvements greatly
stimulated farming in Walla Walla valley.
H. W. Fairweather, born in St Johns, N. B., in 1852, came to the U. S.
in 1865. He was in railroad employ iu Wyoming for 3 years, came to Wash,
in 1871, was again in the service of transi^ortation companies, and relieved
D. L. Baker of the management of the Walla Walla aud Columbia River
railroad. In 1879, became superintendent of the Idaho division of the N. P.
for 3 years; in 1883, passenger agent of the N. P. and O. R. & N. comiianies,
filling this position for 6 years. He was president of the 1st National Bank
of Sprague, and director of the 1st National Bank of Spokane Falls; was
mayor of Sprague, aud chief of ordnance with the rank of colonel on the
staff of Gov. Moore. He married Miss Matilda Curtis in 1885.
Francis Henry was born in Galena, 111., in 1827, was a lawyer by profes-
sion, served as a lieutenant in the Mexican war, came to Cal. in 1851, and
to Wash, in 1S62, residing permanently in Olympia; served three terms in
tlie territorial assembly; was delegate to the constitutional convention of
1878; served 4 terms as probate judge of Thurston co.; was president of the
board of trustees of Olympia; chief clerk of the legislative council of 1887-8,
clerk of the supreme court, aud treasurer of the city of Olympia.
H. C. Willison was born on a farm iu Tippecanoe Co., Ind., in 1845,
graduated from the university of the city of New York, served on the
medical staff' of public charities and correction of New York, came to Wash.
iu 1873, settled at Tacoma, was appointed physician to the territorial asylum
aud penitentiary at Steilacoom in 1874, and was instrumental in securing
the passage of a bill establishing the hospital for the insane on more sanitary
aud humane principles than the former contract system. He removed to
Port Townsend in 1885, where he continued to practise medicine.
M. M. Goodman, born in Mo. in 1856, came to Cal. in 1870, attended the
Pacific university, graduating in 1877, studied law, and was admitted to the
bar. In 1880 he renioved to Wash., locating at Dayton. He was the only
democrat elected to the territorial council in 1888.
310 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
ceptance or rejection by the people was an instrument
C. H. Warner was born in the state of N. Y. in 1836, migrated in 1847
to Wis., and in 1854 to 111.; was educated at Mt Morris, 111., college, taught
school, and studied law. In 1802 he came to Cal., engaging in cattle-raising
in Sierra co. ; in 1807 went into flour milling in Oakland; in 1879 came to
Wash., and engaged in milling at Colfax. He was a memljer of the legisla-
ture in 1883; appointed register of the land-office at Walla Walla in 1885;
was chairman of the democratic convention which met at Walla Walla iu
1884, and also of the territorial democratic committee.
J. P. T. McCroskey was born in East Tennessee in 1828, came to Cal. in
1852, via Panama, settled on Santa Clara valley, made some money in
wheat-raising and lumber-making, returned to Teuu., purchased a planta-
tion, and set up a cotton-gin and large flouring-mill; but the civil war
caused serious reverses, from which he had not recovered, when in 1879 he
removed to Wash, with his family of ten children, and located on 640 acres
9 miles north of Colfax.
Samuel H. Berry, born in Osage co., Mo., in 1849, received a liberal
education, was principal of the Linn high school, and county surveyor, mi-
grated to Wash, in 1881, and located iu Lewis co., where he pursued teach-
ing and surveying, and was county auditor for four years.
James Z. Moore, born in Jefferson co., Ky, in 1845, removed to Mo.
in 1856, was educated at Miami university, Oxford, 0., graduating in 1887,
and attending Harvard law school at Cambridge, Mass. In 1868 he was
admitted to the bar in Owensboro, Ky, and had a very successful prac-
tice. In 1884 he was a delegate to the Chicago republican convention, and
was elected the Ky member of the republican national committee. In 1886
he removed to Spokane Falls, Wash., and was member of a prominent law
firm.
Edward Eldridge was born at St Andrew, Scotland, in 1828, went to sea
in 1841, to Cal. in 1849, and to Wash, in 1853, as mentioned iu this history.
He made himself one of the finest homes in the country, at BoUingham Bay;
has held various offices, was speaker of the house in 1866, president of the
conventions which nomimated Denny, Flanders, and Gaifield for congress,
one of the three delegates at large in the constitutional convention at VV^alla
Walla in 1878.
R. S. Moore was born in Scotland in 1828, immigrated to Conn, in 1831,
to Iowa in 1848, to 111. in 1850, and to The Dalles iu 1852, removing in 1853
to Steilacoom. He was county commissioner of the first territorial elections
for territorial and county officers in 1854, and twice re-elected; was first
lieut of CO. D, 1st regt of Wash, vols during the Ind. war of 1855; and was
one of the company that cut a wagon-road through the Nachess pass iu 1853.
George Turner was born in Medina, Knox Co., Mo., in 1S50, and bred a
lawyer. He held the office of U. S. marshal for the southern and middle
district of Alabama, and was appointed associate justice of Wash, in 1884 by
Arthur. He was chairman of the republican state committee in Ala. from
1876 to 1884; member of the national convention from Ala. in 1876-S0-84,
and in the latter two, member at large and chairman of the delegation; and
was one of the 306 in the convention for Grant.
Theodore L. Stiles, born at Medway, Ohio, educated in the public schools,
at the Ohio university, and at Amherst, Mass., college, studied law at
Columbia college law school, and entered a law office in New York as a
clerk for one year, after which he began practice. In 1877 he went to India-
napolis, thence to Arizona in 1878, remaining in Tucson until 1887, when he
came to Wash, and settled in Tacoma.
James Power, born in Ireland in 1849, but reared in Ohio, was by occu-
pation a printer, and worked on the Ohio State Journal. In 1870 he removed
to Washington City, where he worked in the government printing-office
until 1873, when he came to Wash, and started the Mail at Whatcom, re-
moving it in 1879 to La Conner. He served as inspector of the Puget Sound
BIOGRAPHICAL. 311
well adapted to tlieir needs. It dealt with corporations
district for some time, and represented Whatcom, Snohomish, and Island
counties in the upper Iiouse of the legislature in 1883.
John F. Gowey, horn in North Lewisburg, Ohio, in 1846, was admitted
to the bar in 1809, member of the Ohio legislature in 1873-4^5, and pros-
ecuting attorney of his county two terms, 1876-9. He was appointed
receiver of the U. S. land-oiBce at Olympia in 1882, serving four years, and
was a member of the territorial council at the session of 1887-8. Leaving
the practice of the law, he became president of the First National bank of
Olympia, and mayor of that city.
Austin Mires, born in Les Moines co., la, in 1852, came to Or. with his
jjarents in 1853, who settled on a farm in Umpqua valley, where he resided
until he was 21 years of age, being educated at the different academies in
Douglas and Polk counties, and in his turn teaching and learning the print-
ing trade. He was appointed mail agent in 1887, resigned in 1880, and went
to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he took a law course at the university, gradu-
ating in 1882. He was admitted to the bar in Or. in 1882, and elected chief
clerk of the senate of the Or. legislature. In 1883 he removed to Wash.,
locating at EUensburg. When the town was incorporated, Feb. 26, 1885,
he was elected mayor, serving two terms; was subsequently city attorney
and city treasurer; and was elected vice-president of the EUensburg National
bank on its organization.
Addison A. Lindsley, born in Wis. in 1848, and reared in N. Y., came to
Portland in 1868; occupation, surveyor and civil engineer; removed to Cal.
in 1874; was elected surveyor of the city and county of San Francisco in 1879;
removed to Wash, in 1881; was a member of the legislature from Clarke co.
in 1883-6; and was engaged in dairying and stock-raising on Lewis river.
Lewis Johns, born in Germany in 1827, came to the Pacific coast in 1852,
and worked at the trade of a painter until 1 866, when he began merchandis-
ing at Vancouver, and was engaged in manufacturing biisiness on Puget
Sound and Columbia river. He built the first barrel factory in the territory,
at Puyallup, in 1883, and in connection with others established the First
National bank at Vancouver, of which he was elected president. He repre-
sented Clarke co. in the council; held the ofiBce of mayor for 6 years, and
was appointed by Gov. Squire a trustee of the School for Defective Youth at
Vancouver.
J. J. Weisenburger, born in Bureau co.. 111., in 1855, came with his pa-
rents to the Pacific coast in 1862, settling in Nevada City. He was bred a
lawyer, admitted to practice in 1879, and removed to Wash, in 1883, locating
at Whatcom, where he was city attorney and justice of the peace.
D. Buchanan, born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1 820, immigrated to Wis. in
1850, and to Ritzville, Wash., in 1885. Occupation, farmer.
E. H. Sullivan, born in Eaton co., Mich., in 1850, migrated to Neb. in
1855, and to Or. in 1862, removing to Wash, in 1877. He was admitted to
the practice of the law at Colfax in 1880, where he continued to reside, and
was elected prosecuting attorney in 1884.
D. J. Crowley, born in Bangor, Me, in 1854, of Irish parentage, came to
Wash, in 1880, and practised law at Walla Walla, as a partner of John B.
Allen, delegate in congress.
R. Jeffs, born in New York in 1827, came to King co., Wash., in 1857,
and was justice of the peace for 15 years.
Dr J. C. Kellogg, born in Yates co., N. Y., in 1821, came to Wash, when
it was a part of Oregon, settling at South Bay, Whidbey Island, where he
continued to reside, and served several terms in the legislature.
John Hoyt, bom in Ohio in 1842, came to Wash, in 1879; for eight years
was judge of the supreme court; had been a member of the Mich, legislature
2 terms, and speaker of the house, and was appointed governor of Arizona.
He was a member of the banking firm of Dexter, Horton, & Co. of Seattle.
Frank M. Dallam, born in Mo. in 1849, but raised in 111., came to Wash.
312 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
especially, as required by the public, and settled the
in 1SS2, settling at Spokane Falls; was printer, publisher, and editor of
several journals in 111. and Cal., and established the Spokane Falls Revieio.
John M. Reed, born in Mo. in 1842, removed to Or. in 1869, and to Wash.
in 1879; had been a member of the Or. legislature from Clackamas eo., and
county commissioner of Whitman co., W. T. ; by occupation a farmer.
0. H. Joy, born in N. H. in 1830, came to Cal. in 1849, where he assisted
in forming the mining laws; removed to Wash, in 1878, and settled at Bris-
fort in Lewis co., as a farmer and mill-owner.
Trusten P. Dyer, born in Warren co.. Mo., in 1856, graduated from the
Central Wesleyan College of Warrenton in 1874, taught school for 3 years,
was admitted to law practice in 1875, was chief clerk of the registry depart-
ment of the St Louis post-office, city attorney of St Louis in 1885-6, prosecut-
ing attorney for St Louis co., twice elected to the legislature, colonel of tlie
National Guard of Mo., and member of the national convention of Chicago.
He settled in Seattle 1888, was first president of the Harrison legion of
that city, and married Miss Mary A. Pontius, also of Seattle.
Thomas Milburne Reed, born in Sharpsburg, Ky, in 1825, attended such
schools as the country then afforded during the winter terms, at the age of 1 S
began teaching and studying at the same time, and was clerk iu a country
store. When gold was discovered in Cal. he came by sea from N. O. to the
Pacific coast, mined 2 years, formed a partnership with John Conness, after-
ward U. S. senator from Cal., in a store at Georgetown; went to Eraser river
in 1858, and thence to Olympia, W. T., where he continued to reside, with the
exception of 2 years in Idaho during the Salmon river gold rush. He was
returned to the Wash, legislature from Lewiston in 1862-3, and to the Idaho
legislative body in 1864; was admitted to practice law in Idaho, but returned
to Olympia iu 1865, and qualified himself as practical surveyor and civil en-
gineer, becoming chief clerk in the office of the U. S. surveyor-general for
7 years, after which he resumed surveying. In 1876 he was elected a mem-
ber of the Wash, council, was chosen president at the session of 1877, and
appointed by the governor auditor-general the same year.
H. F. Suksdorf, born in Schleswig Holstein, Germany, in 1843, came to
the U. S. in 1858, settling upon a farm in Scott co., Iowa, where he worked
until 20 years of age, when he began his studies at the Quincy, 111., acad-
emy and Iowa state university, graduating from the law deiJartment in
18T0. Was appointed deputy U. S. marshal to take the census of Davenport,
1870; elected delegate to the liberal republican national convention at Cin-
cinnati in 1872, which nomiuated Horace Greeley for president; removed to
Or. in 1872, was deputy county clerk under J. A. Smith; was appointed
U. S. supervisor of census for Or. in 1880, and removed to Spokane Falls,
Wash., in 1881, engaging in farming.
T. T. Minor, born in Conn., in 1844, was educated in the public schools,
and studied medicine. At the age of 17 years he volunteered as a ^irivate
soldier in the 7th Conn, regt, was made hospital steward, and afterward asst
surgeon of the 1st S. C. regt. In 1864 he resumed his medical stuilies, and
received his diploma from Yale in 1867. The following year he came to
Wash, for the Smithsonian institution, and decided to make his home on Puget
Sound. He was chiefly instrumental in establishing the marine hospital at
Port Townsend, but subsequently removed to Seattle, of which city he was
mayor, and a most influential and helpful citizen. His death occurred by
drowning in the Sound, together with Col G. M. Haller, son of Col G. 0.
Haller, and Lewis Co.x, while hunting in canoes, iu Dec. 1889.
S. H. Marly, born in Norwalk, O., in 1847, came to Wash, in 1882.
He was a physician, and had represented Whatcom, San Juan, and Skagit
counties iu the territorial legislature, where he was instrumental iu placing
the insane asylum in Pierce co.
Lewis Neace, born in Germany in 1835, migrated to the U. S. in 1847,
was brought up in Penn. , and came to Wash, iu 1 859, locating in Walla Walla
CO., where he continued to reside, farming and stock-raising.
BIOGRAPHICAL. 313
vexed question of tide-lands/ which it claimed for the
state, except such as had been patented by the United
States, thus setthng disputed titles. It provided for
five supreme judges, and ordained superior courts in
all the counties. It fixed the number of representa-
tives at not less than 63, nor more than 99, and
the senate at not more than half nor less than a
third of that number, the first legislature to have 70
members in the house and 35 in the senate. The
salaries fixed upon for state officers were liberal with-
out being extravagant, and left the question of the
seat of government to the choice of the people at
the election for the constitution; or if not decided
1880. He had served as deputy circuit clerk iu 111., and bad been county
commissioner in Or.
P. C. Sullivan, born in Nebraska in 1809, came to Wash, in 1883, settling
in Colfax with his brother E. H. Sullivan iu legal business, but removed to
Tacoma in 1888.
J. .J. Travis, born iu Tenn. in 1858. He was appointed to the Colville
lud. agency during the administration of President Cleveland.
J. J. Browne, born iu Ohio in 1844, was brought up iu Ind., and became
a lawyer by profession. He removed to Kansas and thence to Or., finally
locating at Spokane Falls, in Wash., where he was president of the Browne
National bank, and ranked as the first capitalist of the city.
George H. Stevenson, born in Iron co.. Mo., came to Wash, in 1882,
and located at the Cascades, where he engaged in salmon fishing. He was
auditor of Skamania co., and a member of the legislature of 1887-S.
Tliomas Hayton, 57 years of age, came to Wash, iu 1876, and settled on a
farm in Skagit co. , near La Conner.
S. A. Dickey, born in Penn. iu 1858, was a teacher, and superintendent
of schools in Kitsap co., near Silverdale.
H. M. Lillis was a teacher in the public schools of Tacoma, and member
of the city council.
C. T. Fay was GO years of age, and had for a number of years resided in
the territory, and was one of the commissioners of Pierce co.
* The vexed question of tide-lands was settled only as to the future; but
the trouble of Seattle and Tacoma was that Valentine and McKee held tide-
land in front of these towns which had been taken up with scrip authorized
by congress, to be issued in payment for certain lands acquired by Valen-
tine, known as the Mirande Slexican grant, in Sonoma co., Cal., and which
he deeded to the U. S. ; the terms of the certificates being that locations
could be made on any 'unoccupied, unappropriated public lands of the U. S.,
not mineral,' etc. The cases to be settled in the courts will involve the ques-
tion of the right of the U. S. to give or sell the land properly belonging to the
future state. The Seattle and Walla Walla R. co. had received a dona-
tion of these lands from the city of Seattle, and held them peaceably for
years; but after outside lands began to be valuable, there arose trouble with
squatters, who disputed the right of the city to these lands belonging to the
government. The same trouble existed at Tacoma, and even at Walla
314 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
then by a majority of all the votes, to another elec-
tion between the two places having the highest num-
ber of votes; and when it should be located, it could
not be changed except by a two-thirds vote of all
the electors of the state. Three articles were to be
voted upon separately, namely, woman suffrage, pro-
hibition, and the seat of government.^
Conventions were held, and party forces marshalled
for the election of state officers and representatives,
to be held at the same time that the election for the
constitution was commanded to be had; namely, on
the 1st of October. The returns showed that there
were 40,152 votes for the constitution, and 11,879
against it. For woman suffrage, 16,527, and 34,513
against.^ For prohibition, 19,546, and 31,487 against.
For the capital at Olympia, 25,490 votes; for North
Yakima, 14,718; for Ellensburg, 12,833; for Centralia,
607; Yakima, 314; Pasco, 120; scattering, 1,088—
leaving the seat of government to be decided in the
future.
The state officers elected were John L. Wilson,
congressman; Elisha Pyre Ferry ,^ governor; Charles
E. Laughton, formerly lieutenant-governor of Ne-
vada, lieutenant-governor; Allen Weir, secretary of
state; A. A. Lindsley, treasurer; T. M. Reed, auditor;
William C. Jones, attorney -general; Robert B. Bryan,
superintendent of public instruction; W. T. Forrest,
commissioner of public lands. The supreme judges
elected were Ralph 0. Dunbar, Theodore L. Stiles,
John P. Hoyt, Thomas J. Anders, and Elman Scott.
Every candidate elected was republican.
^ I am aware that this summary of the constitution is too brief to do jus-
tice to that instrument, but space does not permit me to make an extended
review. Fortunately, tlie instrument itself is open to all in the laws of the
new state.
'' The suffragists laid the defeat of their cause to the prohibitionists, who
were hated by the taloon men, who lumped the two together and fought
both. A good many women voted under the law of 1883, but their votes
were not counted, and some suits at law were threatened to grow out of it.
• E. P. Ferry was a popular man with all parties, although he polled only
the regular majority of liis party, 8,979, aud'I regret that his modesty has
left his antecedents unknown to me.
DELAY OF ADMISSION. 315
The election for state senators and representatives
was an overwhelming triumph for the republicans,
there being but one democratic senator and six dem-
ocratic representatives elected, making the republican
majority on joint ballot 96. ** The choice of republican
senators was therefore assured. Owing to a delay in
the issuance of the presidential proclamation,'' the
state was not admitted until after the legislature had
assembled. Considerable confusion and agitation fol-
lowed, the several senatorial candidates improving the
time in labors to increase their following.'" The state
* Tliese are the names of the first state senators, with their counties: F.
H. Luce, Adams, Franklin, and Okanagan; C. G. Austin, Asotin and Gar-
field; 0. T. Wooding, Chehalis; Henry Landes, Clallam, Jefferson, and Sau
Juan; L. B. Clough, Clarke; H. H. Wolfe, Columbia; C. E. Foraythe,
Cowlitz; J. M. Snow, Douglas and Yakima; Thomas Paine, Island and
Skagit; W. D. Wood, J. H. Jones, 0. D. GUfoil, John R. Kinnear, W. V.
Kinehart, King; W. H. Kneeland, Kitsap and Mason; E. T. Wilson, Kitti-
tass; Jacob Hunsaker, Klickitat and Skamania; J. H. Long, Lewis; H. W.
Fairweather, Lincoln; B. A. Seaborg, Pacific and Wahkiakum; John S.
Baker, L. F. Thompson, Henry Drum, Pierce (Drum was the one democrat
in the senate); Henry Vestal, Snohomish; Alexander Watt, E. B. Hyde, B.
C. Van Houton, Spokane; H. E. Houghton, Spokane and Stevens; N. H.
Owings, Tlmrston; Piatt A. Preston, Geo. T. Thompson, Walla Walla; W.
J. Parkinson, Whatcom; John C. Lawrence, J. T. Whaley, A. T. Farris,
Wliitman.
The representatives were W. K. Kennedy, Adams; William Farrish,
Asotin; L. B. Nims, J. D. Medcalf, Chehalis; Amos F. Shaw, John D.
Geoghegan, S. S. Cook, Clarke; A. B. Luce, Clallam; A. H. Weatherford,
H. B. Day, Columbia; Chandler Huntington, Jr, Cowlitz; E. D. Nash,
Douglas; C. H. Flummerfell, Franklin; W. S. Oliphant, Garfield; George
W. Morse, Island; Joseph Kuhn, Jefferson; J. T.Blackburn, W. 0. Rutter,
W. H. Hughes, Alex. Allen, W. J. Shinu, George Bothwell, F. W. Bird, F.
B. Grant, King; M. S. Drew, Kitsap; J. N. Power, J. P. Sharp, Kittitass;
Bruce F. Purdy, R. H. Blair, Klickitat; S. C. Herren, Charles Gilchrist,
Lewis; P. R. Spencer, T. C. Blackfan, Lincoln; John McReavy, Mason;
Harry Hamilton, Okanagan; Charles Foster, Pacific; George Browne, A.
Hewitt, George B. Kandle, Oliff Peterson, James Knox, Stephen Judson,
Pierce; J. E. Tucker, San Juan; J. E. Edeus, B. D. Miukler, Skagit; George
H. Stevenson, Skamania; Alexander Robertson, A. H. Eddy, Snohomish;
J. W. Feighan, J. E. Gandy, S. G. Grubb, J. S. Brown, A. K. Clarke, E.
B. Dean, Spokane; M. A. Randall, Stevens; W. G. Bush, Francis Rotch,
Thurston; Joseph G. Megler, Wahkiakum; Joseph Painter, Z. K. Straight,
James Cornwall, Walla Walla; R. W. Montray, George Judson, Whatcom;
J. C. Turner, E. R. Pickerell, J. T. Peterson, R. H. Hutchinson, B. R.
Ostrander, Whitman; John Cleman, Yakima. The democrats in the house
were Weatherford, Nash, Flummerfell, McReavy, Judson, and Stephenson.
' The delay was occasioned by the omission of the signature of Gov. Moore
to the certificate attached to the copy of the constitution forwarded, the en-
abling act requiring it to be signed by both the governor and secretary.
'" The candidates were, in eastern Washington, John B. Allen, Thomas
H. Brents of Walla Walla, and S. B. Hyde and Ex-judge George Turner of
Spokane. Tacoma furnished Gen. J. W. Sprague and Walter J. Thompson,
316 PROGRESS AOT) STATEHOOD.
was admitted on the 11th of November. Although
the legislature had convened on the 6th of November
as required by the constitution, voting for senators
could not take place, as the lieutenant-governor could
not take his seat as president of the senate until the
Monday following, which was the 18th, and to that
day the inauguration ceremonies were postponed.
Governor Ferry was sworn in by Justice John P.
Hoyt, and very great enthusiasm prevailed at the
capital. On the following day the legislature being
fully organized, balloting for senators took place im-
mediately, J. B. Allen" being chosen on the first ballot
in both houses, the vote being 25 in the senate and
46 in the house — total 71. On the second ballot
Watson C. Squire was chosen by a vote of 30 in the
senate, and 46 in the house — total 76, the remainder
scattering.
The justices of the supreme court had already drawn
their terms, Scott and Anders drawing the two slips
marked three, and Stiles and Dunbar those marked
five, which left Hoyt the seven year term. Scott re-
and Seattle, Ex-gov. Watson C. Squire. These were the principal aspirants,
although Ex-congressman Voorhees of Colfax was in the field, with Chauncey
W. Griggs of Tacoina. S. C. Hyde of Spokane Falls withdrew before the
elecvion.
Thompson was the youngest man in the race. He was born in Wis. in
1S53, was educated in the common schools of Burlington, and learned the trade
of carpentry. At 18 years of age he began to go west, living a few months
in Iowa, in Hebron, Nebraska, 2 years, where he was deputy county treas-
urer. On attaining his majority in 1873, he formed a law partnership, and
in 1875 was admitted to practice. He also organized a bank, and engaged
in stock-raising and various undertakings, in which he was successful. In
1883 he removed to Wash., locating in Tacoma, where he purchased the
bank of A. J. Baker, organizing the merchants' national bank, of which he
became president. From a capital of §50,000 it has increased to §250,000.
Out of his wealth he donated |20,000 to establish a training school of manual
skill at Tacoma. He served in the legislature in 1886, and was elected to
the senate in 1887-8.
" John Beard Allen was born in Crawfordsville, Montgomery co., Ind.,
May IS, 1843, received a common school education, and in 18G4 enlisted in
the 13Sth Ind. infantry, serving in Tenn. and Ala. until mustered out,
when he went to Rochester, Minn., as agent for a grain firm. He read law,
and attended the law school at Ann Arbor, Mich., being admitted to prac-
tice in 1869, and coming to Wash, in 1870, and opening an office in Oly mpia.
His talents were soon recognized, and he was appointed U. S. attorney for
W. T., which position he held for ten years. He removed to Walla Walla
in 1881, and was, as elsewhere mentioned, elected to congress, though he
did not take his scat.
THE NEW STATE. 317
quested that Anders, who was his elder, should be
elected chief justice, which was so done. Solomon
Smith of Goldendale was elected clerk, and the rules
of the territorial supreme court were adopted for the
time, the court adjourning to the first Monday in
January.'"
Although the new-made state liad been thirty-six
years in the condition of a territory, few of its mem-
bers were born on its soil. Yet the average age
of its first senators was not far from forty years,
although the young majority had mingled with them
a dignifying proportion of pioneers, as a few threads
of silver on the brow of a mature man add dignity to
his still evident youthfulness. Only about half a
dozen members of both houses had resided in the
territory from the year of its organization; several
were Oregonians or Californians by birth, and a few
were of foreign birth. Almost enough to constitute
a company had fought in the battles of the civil
war ; some had in other states gained experience as
legislators, and in both bodies there was a high order
of practical intelligence.'^
'2 Chief Justice Anders was born in Seneca oo., Ohio, in 1838, and admit-
ted to the bar at Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1863. He came to Wash, in 1S71,
W.IS associated with Thomas H. Brents of Walla Walla in law practice, and
was ijrosecuting attorney of that district for five terms.
'^ C. G. Austin was born in Avon, Ohio, March 18, 1846. Served in the
war of rebellion, was twice clerk of the 7th judicial district of Minnesota,
and after removing to Wash, was appointed clerk of the district court for
Garfield and Asotin counties. His business was that of a dealer in grain and
agricultural machinery.
John S. Baker was born in Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 21, 1861, and removed
to Tacoma in 18S1.
L. B. Clough was born in Waterbury, Vt, May 12, 1850. He removed to
Vancouver, W. T., in 1877, and engaged in fruit-raising. He was elected
sheriff in lb84, and served two years. In 1888 he was elected representative
from Clarke Co., but the legislature not assembling, he was elected state
senator.
Henry Drum was born in Girard, Macoupin co.. Til., in 1857, and educated
at the Illinois state university. He removed to Hebron, Nebraska, where
he was a banker, and also engaged in stock-raising until 1883, wlien he re-
moved to Tacoma, where he, with Walter J. Thompson, purchased the bank
of New Tacoma, which was reorganized as the Merchants' National bank, of
which he was, when elected to the senate, vice-president. He was president
of the school board of Tacoma, and was elected mayor in 1SS8, serving one
year; and was director in several commercial enterprises.
A. T. Farris was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, which he left in 1867, and
318 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
The macliinery of the new state was now in motion,
removed to Wash, in 1883, where he engaged in hardware business at Pull-
man. He was elected to the legislature in 1888, and state senator in 1889.
C. E. Forsythe was born in Penn., in 1850, and received a common school
education, with au apprenticeship at carpentering. In 1875 he removed to
Hood river. Or. , but settled in Kelso, Wash. , where he taught school. He
was elected county auditor in 1880, on the republican ticket, serving four
years; was also clerk and deputy clerk of the district court. Subsequently
engaged in real estate and acquired a comfortable fortune.
O. D. Gilfoil was born at Rhinebeck, N. Y. , July 8, 1863. He was brought
up on a farm, but worked himself up to a railroad contractor. In Wash, he
built bridges and constructed other works on the Lake Shore, Seattle,
and Eastern R. R. He was the youngest man in the senate.
H. E. Houghton, who migrated from Wisconsin to Wash., was about fifty
years of age, and had been a state senator in Wis. He was several times
city attorney of Spokane Falls, where he was member of the law firm of
Houghton, Graves, and Jones.
Jacob Hunsaker was a native of Illinois, about forty-four years of age.
In 1846 his parents emigrated to Dr., and he obtained his education at
Pacific university, after which he taught school in Or. and Wash. He
went to Peru and spent a year on the Challas, Lima, and Oroya R. R., in the
employ of Keith &. co., returning in 1873 to Thurston co., where he married
a daughter of Hon. A. J. Chambers of Olympia, and finally settled in
Klickitat co., as a merchant and farmer. He was county commissioner for
four years.
E. B. Hyde was born in Utica, Winnebago co.. Wis., Jan. 13, 1849, and
resided on a farm until he was thirty years of age. He removed to Wash,
in May, 1881, settling at Spokake Falls. He was the first marshal of that
city, holding the office four terms; was a member of the city council two
years, and held other minor offices. His business was real estate and bank-
ing. He was a delegate from Wash, to the Chicago republican convention,
which nominated Benjamin Harrison for president.
J. H. Jones of King co. was born in England in 1857, soon after which
his parents removed to the U. S., settling in Penn. He was a coal-miner in
Penn., and on removing to Wash., in 1885, again engaged in coal mining.
He was elected to the legislature in 1888, and the state senate in 1889.
W. H. Kneeland was born in Lincoln, Me, Dec. 11, 1848. He secured
an education by alternate study and teaching. In 1869 he engaged in lum-
bering in Penn., and in 1876 became interested in the oil regions. About
1880 gas-wells were discovered in the northern end of the petroleum belt in
the state of N. Y., and he conceived the idea of converting the gas to practi-
cal use. To this end he organized a company with half a million capital stock,
and constructed t^ie Empire gas line, with over 100 miles of pipe, and with
about 8,000 patrons. In 1882 he sold out all his property, and removed to
Wash., engaging in lumber business in Mason co. He was unfortunate, los-
ing all his capital, but afterwards partially recovering from his losses.
Henry Laudes was born in Germany in 1843, but emigrated thence with
his parents in 1847. In 1861 he enlisted in a union regiment, serving through
the war. At its close he removed to Wash., went to the mines of B. C, was
appointed Indian trader at Neah Bay reservation for six years, after which
he established himself in business at Port Townscnd. He held various city
offices, and was member of the board of commissioners to locate the govern-
ment buildings, the territorial penitentiary, and the site of deaf, mute, blind,
and feeble-minded schools. Ho founded the First National bank of Port
Townsend in 1883, of which he was president; was a projector of and direc-
tor in tlie Port Townsend Southern R. 11. company, eind president of the
Olympus water company, besides being colonel of the national guard of
Wasiiington.
John U. Lawrence was born at Mount Gilead, Morrow CO., Ohio, in 1801.
BIOGEAPHICAL. 319
and running without any perceptible jar. It was
Hia father ilying when he was yonng, he removed with his mother to eastern
^yaslullgton in 1S78. He was county superintenileat of schools, and mem-
ber of the territorial board of education; also for one term superintendent of
public instruction. Later he engaged in real estate business.
J. H. Long was born near Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 27, 1845, and removed
to Iowa with his parents in 1860. In 1864 he drove an ox-team to Bois6
City, Idaho, as payment for his board en route, and in 1865 made a further
remove to Lewis co., Wash. He was elected county assessor in 1869, treas-
urer in 1873, member of the legislature in 1877, and joint councilman of
Lewis and Thurston counties in 1881. He began life in Wash, as a farm
hand, but became a proprietor, and engaged in cheese-making in several
places, also in milling, being president of the Chehalis flouring mill com-
pany, and in stock-raising. He married in 1868 a daughter of Stephen Hodg-
den, a pioneer of 1849. His daughter married Wm B. Allen, a banker of
Tacoma.
F. H. Luce was born in Wisconsin, May 23, 1859. He studied medicine,
but removed to Wash, in 1887, and engaged in real estate and banking at
Davenport, Lincoln co.
Thomas Payne of Skagit co. was born in New York City in 1855, and
removed to Wash, in 1882. He was a telegraph operator, having charge of
Mount Vernon station.
J. M. Snow was a civil engineer at Waterville, and about 35 years of age.
N. H. Owings was born in Indianapolis, Dec. 21, 1836, and educated at
a seminary in that city. He graduated from the law school of the North-
western Christian university, and commenced practice in Indianapolis.
When the rebellion occurred, he enlisted in the Clay Guards in Washington
City to guard the white house, and served 60 days, when he was honorably
discharged. He was appointed by Lincoln a general staff-officer, with the
rank of captain, and served on the staff of Grant and Sherman, receiving one
promotion and two brevets, resigning in 1865 with the rank of lieut-col. He
Was appointed special agent of the post-office department, and subsequently
asst superintendent. On the 5th of Feb., 1877, he was appointed secretary
of Washington territory, and held the office four terms.
W. J. Parkinson was born in Ireland, May 10, 1844, removing with his pa-
rents to New York in 1845. He prepared for college at Wilbraham academy,
Mass., and later attended the Wesleyan university at Middleton, Conn., and
Columbia law school in New York City. He was a member of the famous 44th
Ellsworth regiment of N. Y. volunteers in 1861, after which he was clerk in
the private olEce of the secretary of war. In 1806 he was admitted to prac-
tice at the bar in New York. Removing to Kansas, he was elected attorney
of Labette co. in 1867. Subsequently he became principal of a seminary in
N. C, but returned to Saratoga co., N. Y., and was vice-president of the
county agricultural society in 1887-8, and stumped the state of N. Y. for
Harrison and Morton in 1888.
Piatt A. Preston of Walla Walla co. was born in Saratoga co., N. Y., in
1837. He removed to Omaha, Neb., in 1853^, where he was employed by
the Omaha and Nebraska ferry company. In 1860-1 he went to Colorado,
Montana, and Idaho, and in 1866 settled at Waitsburg, Wash., where he
engaged in milling and merchandising with his brother, W. G. Preston, and
S. M. Wait, and also in farming and stock-raising. He was elected to the
territorial legislature, and was mayor of Waitsburg for several years.
W. V. Rinehart of King co. was born in Clinton co., Indiana, in 1836.
He resided in Oregon for many years, and served in the 1st Oregon cavalry,
1862-5, being commissioned captain and major. In 1883 he removed to
Seattle.
B. A. Seaborg, from Pacific co., was born of Swedish parents, at Wasa,
on the coast of Finland, July 29, 1841, removing to the U. S. iu 1867, and
to Astoria, Or., iu 1873, whence he again removed to Uwaco, on the north
320 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
richly endowed by nature and by the general govern-
side of the Columbia in 1880. Here be formed the Aberdeen packing com-
pany, and esta1:ilished a salmon cannery, as well as one at Gray Harbor and
Bay Centre. He was interested in transportation and other enterprises for
the public benefit. In 1883 he was elected commissioner of Pacific co. He
was appointed pilot commissioner by three successive gorernors, and elected
school director of his district.
George F. Thompson of Walla Walla was about 40 years of age, and a
lawyer by profession. He bad resided in the territory for 12 years, and had
held the offices of prosecuting attorney, probate judge, and mayor of the
city of Walla Walla.
L. P. Thompson was born in Jamestown, Chatauqua co., N. Y., in 1827,
and received a common school education. In 1848 he migrated to Chicago,
whence in 1849 he went to Sacramento, Cal. Observing that Oregon lumber
was in great demand, he went to Milwaukee, Or., spending two years in
alternate lumbering and mining. In 1852 he removed to Steilacoom and
built a mill near Fort Nisqually, which he operated until the Indian war of
1855, when he held a commission in the regular army and later in the volun-
teer service in the quartermaster's department. He was a member of the
first legislative assembly of Wash, territory; served in the Indian depart-
ment several years; introduced hop-growing north of the Columbia; was an
incorporator and director of the Merchants' National bank of Tacoma; a
director of the Washington National bank and president of the Farmers' and
Merchants' bank of King co., and was an extensive hop-grower at Sumner.
B. C. Van Houton was about 38 years of age and a successful business
man of Spokane Falls, being president of Citizens' National bank, and audi-
tor of Spokane co. for two years.
Samuel Vestal was born in Clinton co., Ohio, in 1845, and removed to
Wash, in 1872. He taught school in Cowlitz co. until 1876, when he engaged
in merchandising at Kalama, being elected county treasurer the same year,
and re-elected in 1878 and 1880. In 1879, his store being consumed by fire,
he formed a mercantile partnership with H. C. Comegys, and together they
removed to Snohomish, where he was elected to the state senate.
H. H. Wolfe of Columbia co. was a native of Ohio, engaged in merchan-
dising and farming at Dayton, Wash. He had been a long time in the terri-
tory.
Alexander Watt was born in Jefferson co., Ohio, in 1834, immigrating to
Cal. with his parents in 1849. He mineil and prospected for gold in every
territory of the northwest and in B. C, finally settling in Yamhill Co., Or.,
where lie married and followed farming. In 1879 he removed to Spokane
CO., Wash., and was elected county assessor in 1888, and state senator in
1889.
John T. Whalley was born near Manchester, Eng., in 1856, and came to
the U. S. in 1871, settling in Illinois where he had relatives. In 1873 he
again migrated, this time to Or., where he was employed on farms in Yam-
hill and Washington counties for one year, when he began a course of
study, graduating at Forest Grove in 1881. During this time he supported
himself by laboring during vacations, or teaching. At the end of the course
he went east and studied two years at Yale divinity school, and one year at
Andover theological seminary, after which he was settled at Lawrence, Mass.,
for three years. He then returned to the west and resided at Colfax, Wash.,
with the intention of engaging in raising blooded cattle and horses.
Eugene T. Wilson was born at Madison, Wis., Dec. 11, 1852. At the
age of 13 years his parents removed with him to Montana. In 1876 he came
to Columbia CO., Wash., and served in the Indian war of 1877 as 1st lieut of
Idaho volunteers. In 1881 he established the Ponieroy Republican, after-
wards the East Washingtonian, which he sold out, and in 1883, in company
with F. M. MoCnlly, purchased the Columbia Chronicle of Dayton. This also
was disposed of iu 1887 to O. 0. White, its original proprietor. In 1885-6
BIOGRAPHICAL. 321
ment. Its legislature would require several months,
he served as clerk of the legislative council; and in 1887 removed to Ellens-
burg, where he took charge of a mercantile establishment, which was con-
sumed by fire in 1889. He was a member of the city council of EUensburg.
William D. Wood was born in Marin co., Cal., Deo. 1, 1858. He resided
there on a farm, and by labor earned the means to educate himself at the
Napa collegiate institute, and by teaching paid his expenses at the Hastings
law school of S. F. He also became a skilled stenographer. In 1882 he
removed to Seattle, and the same year he was elected probate judge of Ki n g
CO. Ho was president of the Wood brothers' land and trust company, and
made real estate investments and improvements at Green lake near Seattle.
C. F. Wooding was a native of Michigan, about forty years of age, and
a banker at Aberdeen. He was also engaged in improvements at Gray
Harbor.
The members of the house of representatives were known as follows:
Alexander AUen, born in Scotland in 1842, emigrated thence with his
parents in I8i9, settUng iu Wis. He served in the 24th Wisconsin reg't
during the war. In 1875 he came to Wash., first residing in Port Madison,
but removing to Seattle. By occupation a ship-builder, he was made super-
intendent of the Seattle dry-dock company.
F. W. Bird, aged about forty years, was a locomotive engineer, who had
followed his calling in King co. for 15 years; but had seen the want of build-
ing material in Seattle, and turned his attention to the manufacture of
brick.
John T. Blackburn was born iu Yorkshire, Eng., Aug. 14, 1844, and was
apprenticed to a horticulturist. He emigrated to 111. in 1867. In 1873 he
married Miss J. P. Giddings, niece of Joshua R. Giddings of Ohio, and in
1884 removed to Vashon island, Puget Sound, where he engaged in farming.
He was appointed postmaster at Vashon iu 1885, and notary public in 1SS7.
In 1888 he was elected to the legislature which did not assemble.
C. T. Blackfan was born in IU. and served in the union army, where he
was known as the baby of Gen. Harrison's brigade. In 1879 he removed to
farm in Wash.
H. Blair was born on a farm in Polk co.. Mo., Sept. 19, 1855, where he
resided until he came to his majority, when he voted for a republican presi-
dent. In 1877 he removed to Vancouver, teaching school in Clarke co., and
studying medicine. He graduated from the medical department of the
Willamette university in 1883, after which he began the practice of his pro-
fession and settled in Biokleton, 1886.
George Bothell of King co. was born in Clarion co., Penn., in 1844, and
served during the war of the rebellion iu the 135th Penn. infantry and 14th
Penn. cavalry, being captured by Early's forces, July 4, 1864. He came to
Wash, in 1879, and engaged with his brother in logging and shingle-making
at Bothell, at the head of Lake Washington.
Josiah S. Brown was born March 6, 1845, in the parish of Burton, Sun-
bury CO., iu New Brunswick. When 9 years of age he removed to Aroostook
CO., Me, where he lived on a farm, and attended the district school. He
served through the civil war, being in almost all the famous battles of the
rebellion, was wounded, and was but twenty years of age when mustered
out in 1865. Iu 1867 he joined the engineer battalion of the U. S. army,
and came to the Pacific coast in 1868, serving in five states and territories,
and being wounded in the Modoc war, and specially mentioned for gallantry.
After this last service he came to reside in Spokane co.. Wash., on a farm.
He was a delegate to the republican territorial convention at EUensburg in
1888, and to the republican state convention at WaUa Walla in 1889.
George Browne was born in Boston in 1839, and was an employee of a bank
iu Wall street. New York, before the war broke out. During the war he
was a staff officer; after its close, he began making investments in different
Hist. Wash.— 21
322 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
with the assistance of the code commissioners, to
localities, and in 1887 settled in Tacoma, where he became one of the incor-
porators o£ the Tacoma and St Paul lumber company, and one of the owners
of the Fern Hill Motor railway.
W. O. Bush, son of George W. Bush, the colored pioneer of Wash., was
born in Mo. in 1832. He was a successful agriculturist, his exhibits of
wheat at the centennial exposition in 1876 taking the premium over all
other wheat in the world. His certificate was deposited in the state library
at Olympia.
A. K. Clarke was born in Windsor co., Vt, in Dec. 1849. In 1862 he
joined a Vermont regiment, and was in the battle of Gettysburg before he
was 14 years old. He served throughout the war, and after the war began
attendance at a military university; but the habit of active life was too
strong, and he entered the regular army in 1866, serving in Indian wars for
20 years, his last fighting being in the Nez Perce war of 1877. He was dis-
charged in 1879 from Fort Coeur d' Alene, and settled at Rockford, in Spo-
kane CO.
John Cleman was born in Lane co.. Or., in 1855, and removed to a stock
farm in Yakima co., Wash., in 1865. There he spent his life; married, had
children, improved his land, and never engaged in politics. His friends sent
him to the first state legislature.
S. S. Cook, also born in Or., in 1854, represented Clarke co., where he
had resided 10 years. He was a stone-mason, and had contracts in Seattle.
James M. Cornwall was born in Orange co., Ind., Aug. 7, 1834, and reared
on a farm, in Edgar co.. 111. At the age of 18 he started with an elder brother
to cross the plains. James settled on a land claim a few miles west of Port-
land, and farmed it for ten years, having in the mean time married Miss Mary
A. Stott. In 1860 he visited Oro Fino mines, and examined the Walla Walla
valley with reference to settlement, taking up laud near Dry creek for a cat-
tle raucho. That winter, the severest in the history of the country, killed
off all his stock. In 1868 ho purchased a farm 9 miles from Walla Walla,
where he made his home. He was elected joint representative of Whit-
man and Walla Walla counties in 1881.
Henry B. Day was born in Tazewell co., Va, in 1830. He removed to Wis.
in 1847, and to Or. in 1851. In 1859 he took cattle into the Walla WaUa
country, afterwards mining in Montana, trading and packing until 1870,
when he turned his attention to sheep-raising and .atook busiuess generally,
settling at Dayton.
E. B. Dean was born in Iroquois co., HI., in 1842, and reared on a farm.
He served in the 18th Iowa infantry during the rebellion. His occupation
is that of a brick-mason.
M. S. Drew was born in Machias, Washington Co., Me, in 1827. He mi-
grated to Minn, when 18 years of age, and in 1852 came to the Pacific coast,
via Panama isthmus. Two years later he settled at Port Gamble in the em-
ploy of the Puget mill company, where he remained, except when serving
two years as collector of customs for Puget Sound district, under Grant's
administration.
A. H. Eddy was born at San Jose, Cal., in 1853. Reversing the usual
rule, he moved eastward to Illinois, Texas, Colorado, returning to Cal. aud
practising as a physician. In 1881 he came to Wash., and engaged in con-
tracting and building.
John J. Edens, from Skagit co., was born in Marshall co., Ky, in 1849,
and removed to Knox co.. Mo., at the age of 12 years. He joined the state
militia in 1861, and in 1862 enlisted in the 10th Missouri cavalry at St Louis,
being in 14 battles. In 1867 he went to Denver, and in engaged in contract-
ing and freighting. In 1871 settled at Guemes in Skagit co.; has held sev-
eral county offices, and was once elected joint representative of Skagit and
Snohomish counties.
William Farriste was born in Riohibucto, New Brunswick, in 1835, of
BIOGRAPHICAL. 323
make and revise the laws, which body is in session as
Scottish parents, and engaged in lumbering and mercantile pursuits in that
country. He removed to Wash, in 1S78, where he again engaged in lumber-
ing, and was never in any political office.
J. W. Feighan was bom in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1844, but removed to Ky.
He graduated at Miami university in Ohio, in 1870, and studied law in the
Cincinnati law school, graduating iu 1872. He had previously been in the
service of his country from 1862 to the end of the war of the rebellion. He
was prosecuting attorney of Lincoln co., Kansas, for six years, and was com-
mander of that department of the grand army of the republic; and ran for
congress on the republican ticket in the 2d district of Ky in 1878. He came
to Spokane Falls in 1887, and was for a short term city attorney.
C. H. Flummerfell was born July 31, 1863, in Delaware, Warren co.,
N. J. He studied telegraphy and bookkeeping, holding various positions
after the age of 19; was local agent of the N. P. E. R. at Hawley, Minn.,
and in 1885 located at Pasco, Wash., in the same capacity, where he remained
for three years. Becoming interested in cattle-raising he removed Aitapia
in the same county where he attended to his stock and acted as telegrapli
operator for the railroad company.
Charles E. Foster was born in Bristol, Me, Sept. 3, 1844. At the com-
mencement of the war he enlisted in the 32d Massachusetts volunteers,
served through the war. In 1864 President Lincoln issued orders for 12,000
men who had followed the sea, and who were in the army, to be transferred
to the navy. Foster having a seafaring knowledge was transferred, and was
with Farrgut on the U. S. sloop-of-war Richmond, and honorably discharged
in 1865. After this he followed the sea for 12 years, removing to Wash,
with his family in 1877, settling at South Bend, on Shoal water bay, where
he erected a hotel.
J. E. Gandy was born at Fond du Lac, Wis., in 1847. He served through
the war as a jjrivate in the Union army, and at its close was commissioned a
surgeon in the regular army. He came to Wash, in 1875, and practised
medicine at Spokane Falls.
.1. D. Geoghegan was born in Galway, Ireland, about 1843, and at 3 years
of age landed in New York, where he attended the public school. In 1862,
being then in St Paul, Minn., he enlisted, served through the war, and in
1866 was commissioned iu the regular army. He resigned in 1869, came to
the Pacific coast, and served in the Modoc and Fez Perce Indian wars, since
which he has resided at Vancouver, where he is in provision and grocery
trade.
Charles Gilchrist was born in Scotland, in 1841, and educated there.
At 20 years of age he migrated to Canada, and began farming; afterward
mined in Nevada and California; and finally made a fortune in lumbering at
Washoe, after which he returned to Scotland. In 1878 he came to Wash.,
and purchased a saw-mill at Centralia, where he founded the Lewis county
bank, ot whicli he became president.
Frederick J. Grant was born at Janesville, Ohio, Aug. 17, 1862, and
graduated at La Fayette college, Penn., in 1883, when he removed to
Seattle, and was for 5 years editor of the Post- Intelligencer. He was elected
a member of the Walla Walla state convention of Sept. 4, 1889.
S. G. Grubb was born in Meadville, Penn., in 1834, educated at tlie
Meadville Normal school and Alleghany college, and taught school. By
trade he was a mason. He enlisted as a private during the war, and was
promoted to 2d lieutenant at Chickamauga. In the march to the sea he
was ordnance oflScer for the artillery of the 14th army corps. After the war
he engaged in lumbering in northern Michigan, and in 1884 removed to
Wash., where he took a homestead claim.
Harry Hamilton was born at Muneie, Ind., in 1859, where he lived on a
farm until 1883. The following year he settled upon a tract of land in what
was then Stevens co., Wash., 35 miles from ConconuUy, and engaged in
stock-raising.
324 PROGRESS AJTD STATEHOOD.
I write, and there I leave theni, confident in the
L. C. Herren was born in North Carolina, iu 1856, educated at Firmin
university and Wakeforest college, and graduated at Greensboro law school
in 1880. He was collector of internal revenue o£ the 11th division of N. C.
in 1882; came to Wash, iu 1884, and was elected to the legislature iu 1888.
A. S. Hewitt was born iu the state of N. Y., iu 1853. He came from
Ohio to Wash, in 1877, and was for many years a locomotive engineer, help-
ing to organize the order of brotherhood of locomotive engineers. He en-
gaged in real estate business upon the rapid rise of Tacoma, in which he was
extremely fortunate.
W. H. Hughes was 35 years of age, and a native of N. Y., who came to
Wash, in 1874. Residence Seattle.
Chandler Huntington was born in Multnomah co.. Or., Feb. 24, 1849.
His parents removed within the same year to Monticello, on the Cowlitz
river, where he has resided ou a stock-farm ever since. He was son of
H. D. Huntington, member of the first territorial legislature.
R. H. Hutchinson was born at Dixon, Lee co.. 111., iu 1859, where he re-
sided until 21 years of age, receiving a good education. He taught school,
and studied law, being admitted to practice in 1887, when he removed to
Wash.
George H. Judson was born in Thurston co.. Wash., iu 1859, and re-
moved to Whatcom co., which he represented in 1870. He graduated from
the Seattle university in 1882, witli the degree of B. S., and engaged iu
surveying and engineering.
Stephen Judson was born in Prussia, in 1837, his parents emigrating
with him to the U. S. in 1845, and settling at Galena, 111. In 1853 they
crossed the plains with an ox-team, and entered Wash, by the Nachess pass,
residing since that time continuously in Pierce co. He was sheriflf of the
CO. from 1861 to 1869; was elected to the lower house of the territorial legis-
lature iu 1871, 1873, and 1881; was co. treasurer one year, and trustee of
the Steilacoom asylum for the insane.
George Kandle was born in Savannah, Mo., in 1851, and immigrated
with his parents to Portland, Or., the same year. In 1852 they removed to
Wash., and finally settled 15 miles south of Steilacoom, in 1865. In 1871
he removed to Tacoma, and took charge of a general merchandise store.
He was four times elected county auditor, and in 1878 began real estate
and insurance business. He was a member of the board of trustees of the
Steilacoom asylum for the insane, and a member of the city council.
William K. Kennedy was born in Chicago, in 1851, of Scotch-Irish par-
entage, and educated there. He removed from Iowa to Wash., and settled
near Ritzville.
J. A. Kuhm was born in Penn., in 1841, was a lawyer by profession,
came to Wash, about 1869, and had served several terms in the territorial
legislature.
A. B. Lull was a physician, residing at Port Angeles.
John McReavy was born in the state of Maine, in 1840. He had resided
for several years in the territory, and was a merchant at Skokomish. He
was a member of the constitutional con.
WiKiam J. Meade was born in Busti, Chautauqua, N. Y., in Sept. 1856,
brought up on a farm, educated at Jamestown collegiate institute «nd col-
lege, taught school, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1881. In
1883 he came to Wash., and practised law in Tacoma. Iu 1884 was elected
town clerk, and held tlie office until 1889. He was also a member of the
Fidelity title insurance and abstract company, and clerk of the Tacoma
school district for 3 years, and a member of the Tacoma board of health.
G. Medcalf was a native of Canada, thirty-seven years of age, a butcher
Ijy occupation, at Montesano, and had resided many years in the territory.
D. B. Miukler w;is born iu Wis. in 1849, and bred a farmer. In 1874 he
came to Wash., settling in Skagit, in lumbering business, in 1877.
BIOGEAPHICAL. 325
hope that their work will be performed with a con-
G. W. Morse was born in Brunswick, Me, in 1S30, and his father being a
shipbuilder, had sailed all over the globe. He came to Wash, about 18(34,
helped build the General Harney, one of the first vessels built ou Puget
Sound, and ran a trading vessel from Olympia to Alaska. He settled finally
at Oak Harbor, on Whidbey island.
VV. R. Moultray was born in Steelsville, Crawford co., Mo., in 1852, and
obtained a good business education. He came to Wash, with his father in
1872, and worked at common labor and contracting for four years. He then
purcliased a trading-post at Nooksack crossing, and carried on a profitable
business for a year, when he began hop-growing, which he found remuner-
ative. He married Miss Lizzie Walker in 1877.
E. D. Nash was born in Chautauqua co., N. Y., in 1836, but resided in
Mo. from 1853 to 1SS3. He served in the 12th Missouri cavalry as major
during the rebellion. He came to Wash, in 1883, and engaged in milling
and merchandising.
J. G. Megler was born in Germany, in 1838, came to the U. S. in 1848,
attended school in New York City, learned the trade of a tinsmith, and wf ut
to Cairo, 111., in 1853. When the war was in progress he entered the gun-boat
service as paymaster's clerk, was promoted to mate and ensign, and was in
the battles of Shiloh, Fort Henry, Donelson, and Vicksburg. After the war
be came to Wash., and engaged in the business of canning salmon.
L. B. Nims was born in Wattsburg, Erie co., Penn., in 1836, removing,
when three years old, to Wis. He engaged in teaching, but the Pike's
peak gold fever drew him westward, and for several years he drifted about
in aU the Pacific states and territories, returning home and entering Ripon
college, Wis., in 1862, where he remained two years. In 1884 he removed
to Wash, from Minn., settling in Chehalis co., erecting a hotel in Cosmopolis,
near the mouth of the Chehalis river.
W. S. Oliphant was bom at Olive Green, Noble co., Ohio, in 1849, and
bred a farmer. He came to Wash, in 1880, and was elected to the legisla-
ture of 1888, which did assemble.
B. R. Ostrander was born in Ohio, in 1843, and removed to a farm in 111.,
in 1855. He served in the civil war, and wag mu.stered out as orderly ser-
geant, CO. H., 83 111. vols, in July 1865, after which he attended Lombard
university in Galesburg, and married in 1870. Subsequently he was on-
gaged in lumber and grain business for eleven years, in 111., and dealt in
lumber two years in Colorado, removing to Wash, in 1883, and engaging in
raising blooded stock.
Joseph C. Painter came to Wash, in 1850 from St Genevieve co.. Mo.
At the breaking out of the war he returned east, and served in the union
army to the close of the contest.
J. T. Person was born in White co., Tenn., in 1856, removing to Mo. in
1859, and residing on a farm. He came to Wash, in 1881, settling at Endi-
cott, and engaging in merchandising.
Oliff Peterson of Pierce co. was born in Knox co.. 111., in 1848, remov-
ing in 1857 to Des Moines, la. Before he was fourteen years of age he en-
listed in the 20th regt of Iowa vols, and served as a private to the close of
the war, being wounded several times. After the war he was a contractor
in la. In 1875 he came to Wash., settling in Pierce co., where he had, in
1889, 1,800 acres, and was engaged in hop and hay raising and dairying,
besides owning property in Tacoma. He was for several years warden of
the insane asylum at Steilacoom.
E. R. Pickerell was born on a farm in Porter co., Ind., in 1858. He at-
tended a seminary at Stewartsville, Mo., the academic schools of the Mis-
.souri state university, and afterwards the law school, and was admitted to
the bar in 1883. In 1884 he came to Wash., locating at Palouse City, where,
with W. D. Irwin, he founded the Palouse News, but soon after sold out his
interest and confined himself to the practice of his profession. He was a
326 PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
scientious desire to lay strong and broad and deep
delegate to the convention of 18S8, and chairman of the committee on per-
manent organization.
AJfred A. Plummer was born in Port Townsend, Sept. 7, 1856, being the
son of A. A. Plummer, the pioneer settler of that place. He was county
commissioner for four years, and was business manager of the Port Townsend
foundry and machine company when elected to the legislature.
Isaac N. Power was born in Olympia, March 16, 1852, and removed to
Whidbey island when one year old, residing there until 1876, when he en-
tered the medical department of the Willamette university at Salem, Or.,
from which he graduated in 1877. He became associated with Dr Minor of
Port Townsend in the marine hospital, but removed in 187S to La Conner,
and later to Neah bay. After five years of practice he took a course of lec-
tures in the Pacific medical college of San Francisco, and in 1883 located iu
EUensburg.
Bruce F. Purdy was born in Salem, Or., in 1854, and removed to Wash,
in 1875, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. His parents were
from Ohio.
Marcy H. Randall was born at Ames, Montgomery co., N. Y., in 1842,
migrated to Wis. with his father in 1849, was educated at Carroll college,
Waukesha, and was for some years domiciled with his elder brother, Alex.
W. Randall, who was governor of Wis., and P. M. general under President
Lincoln. In 1861 enlisted in Chicago in the 12th 111. infantry, was commis-
sioned as captain in co. A, U. S. colored troops, resigned in 1865 on account
of ill health, and removed to Jlontana, where he followed mining and stock-
raising until 1886, when he came to Wash., locating on a stock farm near
Kettle Falls.
Alexander Robertson was born in Hamilton, Canada, in 1844, and came
to Wash, iu 1870, settling near Stanwood, and engaging in farming and stock-
raising. He served through the war of the rebellion in the union army, hav-
ing his eyes seriously injured in the service.
Francis J. Rotch was born in Albany, N. Y., Feb. 15, 1863, was educated
at tlie Johns Hopkins university, Baltimore, and at the Dresden polytech-
nic school in Europe. On returning home he went into the lumber trade in
Wis., and removed in 1888 to Wash., where he was secretary of the Seattle
lumber manufacturing company on the Portland branch of the N. P. R. R.
W. C. Rutter was born in Westmoreland co., Penu., in 1854, was brought
up on a farm, received a liberal education, being specially devoted to min-
eralogy and mining science. He came to Wash, in 1887.
John P. Sharp was born in Harrison co., Ohio, in 1842, removed with hia
parents to Mo. in 1848, and to Or. in 1852, settling in Lane co. Afterwarda
spent some years in eastern Or. and Idaho, and married Miss Rowland of
Yamhill co.. Or., in 1865, removing to and settling on a farm in Yakima co..
Wash. He was elected county commissioner in 1876, and again appointed
to the office to fill a vacancy, and was a school director and road supervisor.
Amos P. Shaw was born in Franklin, N. H., in 1839, and lived on a farm
until 1859, when he went to the then unorganized territory of Dakota, and
was elected a member of the provisional legislature that met at Sioux Falls
in the winter of 1859-60. Enlisted in the union army in 1862, and served
three and a half years; was sheriff of Clay co.. Da, from 1866 to 1869, waa
secretary of the territorial council in 1869, member of the house of represen-
tatives in 1871 and 1875, and of the council in 1881. He came to Vancouver
in the autumn of that year, bought and cleared land, and planted a prune
orchard. Returning to Dakota in 1884, was appointed warden of the peni-
tentiary, and served two years. Returned to Wash, in 1887, and formed a
company to raise and pack prunes.
W. A. Shinn came to Wash, from the eastern states in 1884, was a drug-
gist, and about 35 years of age.
P. K. Spencer was born in Warren Co., Ind., in 1849, received a high
BIOGRAPHICAL. 327
the foundations of a commonwealth destined to un-
imagined greatness.
school education, and graduated in 1873 from the Indianapolis business col-
lege. He went to Kansas the same year, engaging in mercantile pursuits,
and from there came to Wash, in 1880, being employed as a clerk in a store
(or four years. He was appointed auditor for Lincoln co., and elected for
two succeeding terms. Was elected joint representative for Lincoln, Douglas,
Adams, and Franklin counties in 1888.
George H. Stevenson was born in Iron co., Mo., in 1857. He came to
Wash, in 1882, settling at the Cascades. He was elected county auditor in
1882 and 1884; joint representative from Skamania, Clarke, and Cowlitz
counties in 1886; was appointed inspector of customs to succeed A. L. Sharp-
stein, but declined to qualify, fearing to jeopardize his seat in the legisla-
ture. He was in the fishery business.
Zebulon E. Straight was born in Wajme co., N. Y., in 1840, removed to
Wis. in 1846, to Iowa in 1860, and to Minn, in 18G1, where he learned the trade
of watchmaker and jeweller. In 1870 he came to Wash., establishing him-
self in Walla Walla City. He was three times elected to the city council,
and was a member of almost every political convention held in his town in
18 years, including the state convention of 1889.
J. E. Tucker of San Juan co. was born in Ohio, about 1839, and came to
Wash, in 1881, settling on a farm at Friday Harbor. He was a lawyer by
profession, and served during the war in the 50th and 69th Ohio regts. He
was probate judge of San Juan co.
John C. Turner was born in Cal. in 1853, had an academic education, and
the trade of a cabinet-maker. He went to Or. in 1877, residing for three
years in Portland and The Dalles, removing to Colfax in 18S0. In 1883
he became deputy auditor and recorder, and in 1885 was appointed to fill
the place of autlitor made vacant by the death of his principal, being elected
to the office in 1887. He married a daughter of John Boswell of Colfax.
He resided at the time of his election on a 1,000 acre farm, 4 miles S. E.
from Colfax.
A. H. Weatherford was born in Putnam co.. Mo., in 1853, went to Or.
in 1864, and came to Wash, in 1871, residing in Columbia co. until 1880,
when he went to Wasco Co., Or., where he held the office of commissioner.
In 1886 he returned to Wash., and was elected representative from Columbia
CO. in 1888.
WASHINGTON RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
The manufactured products exported are: first, lumber, the chief article of
commerce; lime, a valuable product on account of its almost entire absence
over a great extent of Oregon and California; barrels, staves, wooden pipe,
the proper trees for which manufactures abound in the small valleys
about the Sound; canned fish, and coal— if that may be named with manu-
factures. The other products exported are wheat and other grains, flour,
wool, hides, live-stock, potatoes, and hops.
Puget Sound, from its position, extent, depth of water, and its contiguity to
the materials required, should be oueof the greatest ship-building stations in the
world. In addition to the bodies of iron and coal lying adjacent to navigable
water, the immense forests that skirt its shore line for more than 1,100 mUes
furnish abundance of excellent timber for constructing every part of sea-
going-vessels, from the tough knees of the tide-land spruce to the strong
durable planks of red fir, abies douglasii, and the tall tapering masts of yellow
fir, abies grandis. Oak, arbutus, myrtle, and maple furnish the fine-grained
woods required for fiinishing the interior of vessels.
The great merit of the firs is their size and durability, with their habit of
growing close together like canes in a brake, and to an immense height with-
out knots or branches. It is not uncommon to find a tree having a diameter
of four feet at a distance of ten feet from the ground, wliioh has attained an alti-
tude of 300 feet; nor is it unusual to find spar timbers 150 feet long with a
diameter of eighteen inches, perfectly straight and sound. The mills on Puget
Sound find no difficulty in furnishing squared timbers of these dimensions,
and often cut plank from 60 to 90 fee*- in length. The fir has not the cor-
rosive acid qualities of the oaks, and therefore iron bolts are not subject to
corrosion, but are held so tenaciously by the strong and pitchy fibre of the
wood that they will break sooner than be drawn out.
Numerous tests have been made by the French of the strength of fir spars,
as compared with those of Riga, which showed that while the bending and
breaking resistance of the two were about the same, the American wood pos-
sessed a notable advantage in density, having a flexible and tenacious fibre
that might be bent and twisted several times in contrary directions without
breaking. Nor has the fir been found lacking in durability. It has been the
only wood in use for repairing sea-going vessels on the north-west coast, as
well as for building numerous river boats and sea-going vessels, which remain
sound after many years of service. White cedar, another valuable timber for
ship-building, is found in certain localities about the Sound and on the Colum-
bia River.
Want of familiarity -ivith the materials to be found on the Pacific coast
made ship-builders cautious, and it was only gradually that they gained con-
fidence. The first vessel built on Puget Sound was the schooner JI. C. Page,
at Whatcom, by Peabody & Roder, in 1S53. Her first business was a
charter offered by the H. B. Co. to carry sheep to San Juan Island in 1854.
Eoder's Betlingham Ban, MS., 29-30. The same year Bolton & Wilson built
the clipper sloop Rob Hoy five miles below Steilacoom. Olympia Columbian,
Oct. 15, 1853. H. D. Morgan established a ship-yard at Olympia in 1854,
and launched the Emily Parker, a schooner of 40 tons, built to run between
ports on the Sound. She was chartered by J. G. Parker. Parker's Puget
Sound, MS., 4. The schooner Elsie, 20 tons burden, built at Shoahvatcr Bay
(S28)
SHIP-BUILDING. 329
in 1854 by Capt. Hillyer, Swaii's N. W. Coast, 282-3, completes the list of
vessels that were put up in Washington waters for these two years. About
April 1855 the little steamer Water Lily, owned by William Webster, and
built at some port on the Sound, commenced running between Olympia and
Pttget SotruD.
Port Townsend with passengers and freight. Olympia Pioneer and Dem.,
April 7, 1855. The first steamer of a good size built on t>n Sound was the
Julia Barclay, known commonly as the Julia, at Port Gamble. She waa
330 RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
a stem-wheel boat built for the Fraser River trade, and owned by George
Barclay of S. F., but subsequently sold to the 0. S. N. Co. Victoria Gazette,
Sept. 18, 1S58; Ebey's Journal, MS., vi. 171. The first ocean steamer con-
structed of native woods in the waters of the Sound was the Oeorge S. Wright,
launched May 12, 1860, at Port Ludlow. She was originally planned by
William Hammond, Jr, and partially built by him. It was the intention
to have named her the .4 . V. Brown, after the postmaster-general. But her
frame being sold to John T. Wright, Jr, who enlarged it, she was called first
after him, and then George S. Wright, after another member of the family.
It was as the George S. Wright that the vessel was known on the coast. Port
Townsend Register, May 16, 1860; Portland Times, April 30, 1860. She ran
from Portland to Victoria for some years, and then from Portland to Sitka. She
was wrecked in Jan. 1873, returning from Sitka, it was supposed, in the
vicinity of Cape Caution, at the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound. Every
soul on board perished, either by di'owning or at the hands of the Indians,
and no reliable account of the disaster was ever received. Among the lost
were Maj. Walker and wife, and Lieut Dodge of the army. Port Toumsend
Argus, March 18, 1873. There is no complete list of the vessels built previous
to 1868. In the report of the surveyor-general for that year it is stated that
29 vessels had been completed and launched, some of them reaching 600 tons.
Zabrishie's Land Laios, 1076; and in Browne's Resources (1869), 574, I tind it
stated that probably about 50 sea-going vessels had been built, up to that
time, on the Sound south of Port Townsend. The returns made in the 7?e-
ports of Commerce and Navigation are imperfect. Between 1858 and 1866
there are no returns, a deficiency only partly accounted for by the destruction
of the custom-house papers at Port Angeles in 1863. The J. B. Libbey, a 70-
ton steamer, was launched from the mill premises of Grennan & Cranney,
Utsalady, in December 1862, built by Hammond, Calhoun & Alexander.
Wash. Scraps, 98. In 1865 or 1866 a small steamer was built at Port Madi-
son for the Coal Creek Mining Company, to be used in towing coal barges on
Lake Washington. Seattle Dispatch, Dec. 2, 1876. A steamer for the Sacra-
mento Eiver was built at Port Ludlow in 1866; and another three miles below
Olympia, by Ethridge, the same year. Olympia Pac. Tribune, Feb. 10, 1866.
In 1867 the Ghehalis, for the Chehalis Eiver, was built at Tumwater, men-
tioned elsewhere. The following year a steam yacht, the Success, was built
at Snohomish by Thomas Coupe, and launched in May, at which time another
was in process of construction — probably the Favorite. S. F. Call, May 10,
1868. In 1869 was buUt the popular passenger steamer Alida, at Seattle, 114
tons burden. Port Townsend Argus, Jan. 23, 1875.
Ship-yards are numerous; ship-builders William Hammond and E. S.
Cheasty at Port Ludlow; Grennan & Cranney at Utsalady, and later at
Snohomish; Meigs & Co. at Port Madison, under the superintendence of A.
J. Westervelt — the lumbering and ship-building company incorporated in 1877,
Port Madison and S. F., capital $1,000,000. Meigs had a ship-yard in 1869
or before, as above. Olympia Wash. Standard, Dec. 1, 1867; Walla Walla
Union, Aug. 14, 1869. H. Williamson at Steilacoom; Hammond, Calhoim &
Alexander at Utsalady; Crowell at the same place; Thompson at Port Lud-
low; Oliver Engleblom at Port Blakeley; Bryant at Port Madison; Hammond
at Seattle; all before 1870, and who may be considered as pioneers in ship-
building. After that the business declined. In 1869 18 vessels, including
two steamers, were buUt, but the following two years witnessed great dul-
ness in the lumber trade, affecting all other branches. Victor's Or., 269;
Meeker's Wash. Ter., 34. In 1871 a thousand-ton ship was built at Port
Madison — the Wildwood, sold after 4 years in the lumber trade for a third
more than her original cost. S. F. Alta, April 1875 — and at Seattle a steamer
in 1872, from which time there has been an increase in the number of yards
and of vessels built. Middlemas had a ship-yard at Port Ludlow in 1870;
Westervelt at Port Madison in 1871; there was another at Freeport — later
called Milton — in 1872; Boole had one at Utsalady at the same time; in 1873
Reed Brothers rented Yesler's yard at Seattle and moved their business to
SHIP-BUILDING. 331
that place from Port Madison, and in 1874 Hall Brothers from Cal. estab-
hshed themselves at Port Ludlow; after which ship-building became a more
prosperous industry. Tacoma Herald, May 28, 1875. At Port Madison were
built after 1862 the barkentine W. H. Ganley, 360 tons; the bark Legal
Tender, 1863, 190 tons; bark Northivest, 1805, 315 tons; bark Tidal Wave,
1869, 600 tons; the whole four being for the use of the mill in can-ying
lumber. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 4G. Also in 1870 the schooners
Margaret Crockard, 169 tons; W. S. Phelps, 90 tons; and in 1873 the Mart/
Hare, 64 tons, and Empire City, 732 tons. The Empire City was taken to
S. F. and converted into a steamer. It was claimed that building the steamer
in this manner saved |10,000 to her o^vners. Seattle Intelligencer, Nov. 22,
1873. In 1874 the barkentine S. M. Stetson of 707 tons was built at Port
Madison, and ia 1876 the sch. Robert and Minnie, 99 tons, and str Dispatch,
66 tons. Portland Board of Trade Report, 1877, 34. At Port Ludlow the sob.
Light Wing was built in 1870, 101 tons; and bark Forest Queen, 511 tons; in
1873 sloop Z. B. Heywood, 107 tons; in 1874 barkentine Pio Benito, 278 tons;
and schooners Annie Gee, 155 tons; Ellen J. McKinnon, 70 tons; Twilight, 185
tons; Jessie Nicherson, 185 tons; and sloop Mary Louisa, 155 tons. S. F.
Bulletin, Feb. 10, 1875. The Ellen J. McKinnon in 1879 became water-logged
in a gale and foundered, only one out of 10 persons on board escaping. S. F.
Post, April 24, 1879. In April 1875 the schooner Cassie Hayward, 200 tons,
was launched at Port Ludlow, and in Nov. the schooners La Gironde, 205
tons; the American Girl, 220 tons; besides the Annie Lyle, Ida Schnauer,
Emma Utter, and Wm L. Beebe, built the same year. Seattle Pac. Tribune,
Nov. 27, 1876. In the following year there were launched at this port the
schs Courser, 357 tons; Reporter, 337 tons; Premier, 307 tons; barkentine
Quickstep, 423 tons; and sloop Katie Stevens, 5 tons. Portland Board of Trade
Report, 1877, 34. In 1881 there were built at Port Ludlow the barkentines
Wrestler, 470 tons; the Kitsap, 694 tons; and the sloop Mystery of G tons
register. Seattle Intelligencer, Sept. 3, 1882. From the ship-yard at Seattle
in 1870 were launched the sch. Planter, 121 tons; the stv James Mortie, 8 tons;
and the barge Diana, 24 tons. In 1871 the strs Comet, 56 tons; Clara, 26 tons;
Zephyr, 162 tons; and the sch. Lolita, 120 tons. In 1874 the sch. C. C. Per-
kins, 27 tons; the scow Schioabacher, 19 tons; and the strs Ada, 81 tons, and
Lena C. Gray, 155 tons. In the following year there were launched at Seattle
the strs Nellie, 100 tons; Minnie May, 5 tons; and the barkentine Kate
Flickenger, 472 tons. In 1879 the str George E. Starr was launched at Seattle.
She was built for L. M. Starr of the Puget Sound S. N. Co., was 150 feet
long, 28 feet beam, and 9 feet hold. Seattle Intelligencer, April 17 and Aug.
13, 1879. In 18S1 there were built at the same place the City of Seattle, a
sloop of 7 tons; the sch. Two Jacks, 6 tons; and the strs Jessie, 12 tons; Sea
Witch, 38 tons; Alki, 45 tons; and Lillie, 80 tons. At Milton, opposite
Seattle, were built the Etta White, str, 97 tons, in 1 87 1 ; the str George Seabeck,
39 tons; the scow M. S. Drew, 28 tons; and the sch. Big River in 1872; the
scow Western Terminus, 56 tons, in 1873; and the barkentine Ella, 260 tons,
in 1874. S. F Bulletin, February 10, 1875. At Port Blakeley was built in
1868 the double-topsaU sch. Alice Haake, 104 feet keel, 115 feet deck, 30 feet,
beam, and 10 feet hold; owned by J. C. Haake & Co., S. F. S. F. Alta, Jan.
10, 1868. In 1870 the sch. Ontario, 14 tons; in 1872 the str Blakeley, 176
tons; and scows Uncle Davy, 33 tons, and George, 24 tons; in 1874 the schs
Alice, 232 tons; Una, 200 tons; and barkentine R. K. Ham, 569 tons; in 1881
the schrs Lottie Carson, 226 tons, Maria Smith, 365 tons, A7inie Larson, 377
tons, and str Hamet, 8 tons. Seattle Intelligencer, 1882, passim. At Port
Discovery, in 1872, the schrs Marietta, 141 tons, and Serena, 206 tons; in 1874,
the barkentine Discovery, 416 tons. At StUlaquamish two small sloops were
built between 1870 and 1876, the Undine and Artful Dodger; at Whidbey
Island the schooner Dolly Varden, 19 tons, and sloop Albion, 8 tons; at Port
Gamble the schooner George Francis Train, 28 tons, in 1873, and steamer
Yakima, 174 tons, in 1874. On Orcas Island the sch. Orcas was built in 1873,
11 tons; at Steilacoom the s\oo^ Magnolia, 12 tons, and scow Red Cloud, 34
332 RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
tons; at Taconia the sloop Polly, 9 tons, in 1874; at Fidalgo Island the sch.
Fidcdgo Traveller, 9 tons, in 1876; at Port Townsend the sch. Jennie, 15 tons;
at Ar'cada the str Biz, 80 tons, in 1S81. At Olympia, in 1876, were built the
strs Capital, 24 tons, and Messenger, 121. In 1877 the Seabeok Mill Co. built
the bark Cassandra Adams, 1,127 tons, and the tug Sichard Holyoke; and in
1880 a ship with a keel 214 feet long, beam 44 feet, 17 feet hold, and single-
decked, probably the largest single-decked vessel afloat. Seattle Intelligencer,
July 1, 1879. John Kentfield & Co. of S. F. also built a sch. at Seabeok in
1880. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 8. In ISSl two barkentines were built
there, the Retriever, 548 tons, and the M. Winhelman, 532 tons. The only
steamboat built in the eastern part of the Puget Sound collection district,
which included Colville, was the Forty-nine, owned by Leonard White. She
was launched at U. S. Fort Colville, Nov. 18, 1865. She was 114 feet long
and 20 feet 4 inches wide. She was run as high up as Death Rapids, 270
miles. See a very interesting account of her trip in Leighton's Life at Puget
Sound, 63-74. This little book, by Caroline Leighton, published in 1884,
is unique in description of Wasliington Ute from 1865 to ISSl, and of the
natural scenery of the country. The incidents are well chosen and style de-
lightfully natural.
In 1869, a report was made on ship-building to the board of marine under-
writers of S. F., by their secretary, C. T. Hopkins, and by Joseph Riugot, in
favor of using the Puget Sound and Oregon timber for ships, and showing
that the economy in wood more than counterbalanced the higher wages of
shipwrights on this coast, and the expense of importing copper, cordage, and
other articles. Cordage, linseed oil, pitch, tar, and turpentine could be man-
ufactured here; and so in time could iron and copper. This report declared
that ' sailing vessels of any size and description can be built at Puget Sound, at
Coos Bay, on the Columbia River, and at several other points north of S. F.,
of as good quality as the vessels built of Maine materials, and for less money
in gold than at New York or Boston, provided the business be undertaken
on a large scale by experienced and prudent mechanics, backed up by a large
capital. ' Bophins' ShipSuilding, 26. The cost per ton of a first class New
York sailing vessel, exclusive of coppering, was, for a 100-ton vessel, $115, 300
tons 1109, 600 tons $96, 1,000 tons $87. The jforlhicest, 315 tons, built
in the Sound, cost §87 per ton coppered; the Tidal Wave, 600 tons, cost $83
per ton without copper; the Forest Queen, 511 tons, cost $117 perton with-
out copper; the TFiWMiood of 1,000 tons, $73 per ton coppered; the barkentine
Modoc, built at Utsalady in 1 873, $99 per ton without copper. These varia-
tions in cost depended upon the amount of capital at hand and local circum-
stances. To construct a 1,200-ton ship there were required 10,000 working
days of all classes of mechanics and laborers, 3,500 days in the yard. Olympia
Transcript, March 18, 1876; Tacoma Pac. Tribune, Sept. 24, 1874.
Propositions to form a company with five millions capital to enter upon
ship-building on Puget Sound was made by the S. F. board of underwriters
in 1874, which was not, however, acted upon, the chief difiiculty appearing to
be that mechanics could not be secured in sulBcient numbers at reasonable
wages, owing to the expense at that time of travelling from Maine to Wash-
ington. Undoubtedly the shipping interest has suftered through the indiflfer-
ence of congress to its importance. What with the whale and other fisheries
of the Northwest Coast, and the coal and lumber trade, large fleets of vessels
of moderate size should be furnished by Puget Sound ship-yards. Down to
ISSO there had been between forty and fifty steamers built and employed in
the Puget Sound trade. Oli/mpia Pac. Tribune, Sept. 14, 1872; Stuart's Wash.
Ter., 14; New Tacoma N. P. Coast, Jan. 15, 1880.
Prior to 1872 there were between 90 and 100 sailing vessels built, most of
them of small size, for the local freight service, the larger ones for the lum-
ber trade. In the ten years following there were from ten to twenty vessels
built annually, yet the vast inland sea still looked solitary, and hundreds of
miles of wooded shores were as silent as when Vancouver explored them
nearly a century before. During the year ending June 30, 1878, 69 sailing and
MARITIME COMMERCE. 333
39 steam vessels were documented at Port Townsend, the port of entry of
Puget Sound collection district, with a carrying capacity of 31,000 tons. This
tonnage was exceeded by only 28 of the 125 collection districts of the U. S.
American vessels in the foreign trade entered in the same year were 263, with
a tonnage of 152,828; there were cleared 2S4, with a tonnage of 167,178. This
surpassed that of vessels so entered and cleared during the same time at 120 of
the 125 ports of entry in the U. S., being exceeded only by Boston, Charles-
ton, New York, Detroit, and San Francisco. Repl of Chief of Bureau of
Stalistks, 1878, pt ii. 802-4. Foreign vessels entered at Port Townsend dur-
ing the same time 46, with a tonnage of 19,915; cleared 61, with a tonnage of
30,962. This was exceeded by but 31 out of the 125 ports of entry of the
U. S. American ocean steam-vessels in the foreign trade entered during the
same time at Port Townsend were 178, with a tonnage of 130,471; cleared
183, with a tonnage of 131,432; exceeded by only 2 other ports of entry in
the U. S. — N. Y. and S. F. The tonnage of foreign ocean steam-vesseLs in
the foreign trade, which entered and cleared at Port Townsend during the
year ending June 30, 1878, was exceeded but by 10 other ports of the U. S.
It was estimated that at least 75 deep-sea vessels ia the general coasting
trade, which were enrolled and licensed, and did not make entry or clear-
ance, were employed in the Puget Sound trade, only about one third of which
wei-e documented in this district, the remainder in S. F. In 1880 there
cleared from Port Townsend, for the four months from July to Oct., 66 Amer-
ican sailing vessels for foreign ports, with a tonnage of 46,244. For the same
■months in 1881 the tonnage of this class was 65,393. The number of Ameri-
can vessels entering from foreign ports in the same months of 1880 was 62;
in 1881 it was 115. The number of American steam-vessels entering from
foreign ports in the same months of 1880 was 30; in 1881 it was 72. The
number clearing was 33 in 1880, and 73 ia 1881. The increase in ocean ton-
nage from and to foreign ports during the same months of 1881 over 1880 was
100 per cent.
Out of the large number of vessels which have come and gone in the thirty-
four years since the Orbit sailed up to Olympia, few comparatively have been
wrecked. I have mentioned the loss of the Robert Bruce by fire in Shoal-
water Bay, and the brig Una on Cape Flattery, both in 1851. In 1852 the
northern Indians reported the wreck of an unknown vessel on the coast of
V. I., with all on board lost. Hancock's Thirteen Tears, MS., 234-5. In the
winter of 1852-3 the brig Willimantic, Capt. Vail, was driven ashore at Eld
Island, at the entrance to Gray Harbor, but she did not go to pieces. After
vainly attempting to launch her toward the sea, she was dragged across the
island and launched on the other side. Swan's N. W. Coast, 43; Davidson's
Coast Pilot, 171. In Sept. 1853 the brig Palos was wrecked on Leadbetter
Point, at the mouth of Shoalwater Bay. Passengers saved, but the capt.
drowned. In 1854 a ChUeau bark was wrecked ofif Cape Classet by becoming
water-logged; 14 persons drowned, 1 saved, but died of exhaustion at Steila-
coom. Or. Statesman, April 11, 1854. In this year, also, the steamer South-
erner was wrecked near the mouth of the Quillehuyte River. Hist. Or. , ii.
this series. H. Y. Sewell, of Whidbey Island, went across the mountains to
the wi-eck to save the mail, was taken prisoner by the Indians, and held for
some time, but succeeded in his undertaking. He was the first white man
to cross the Olympian range to the coast so far north. Morse's Wash. Ter.,
MS., ii., 58. The schooner Empire, Capt. Davis, loaded with oysters, struck
on a spit at the north entrance of Shoalwater Bay, where she remained fast
and perished. Swan says that the Empire and Palos were both lost through
carelessness, and were the only vessels -wrecked at this entrance up to 1856.
Northwest Coast, 365. The Hawaiian bark Louika, Capt. Willfong, went
ashore on San Juan Island in July 1855. She was a total loss. Ebey'x Jour-
nal, MS., iii., 73, 81. The Major Tompkins, wrecked ofif Esquimault harbor,
Feb. 25, 1855, has been noticed. No lives lost. Olympia- Pioneer and Dem.,
March 3, 1855. Also the Fairy, the first steamer in any trade on the Sound.
She blew up at her wharf at Steilacoom. Id., Oct. 23, 1857. The i
334 RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
Sea Bird was burned on Fraser River, 14 milea above Langley, Sei^t. 10, 1858.
The Traveller, a Sound steamer, was lost in 1838, with five persons on board,
by foundering. Olympia Pioneer and Dem., March 12, 1S5S; Morse's Wash.
Ter., MS., iv. 60. In 1859 the schooner Caroline was upset on her way into
the Sound, near the Lummi Islands; no lives lost. Ebey's Journal, MS., vi.
126. In Jan. of the same year the brig Cyrus, at port San Juan, was wrecked
in a gale, and became a total loss. Or. Statesman, Jan. 25, 1859. The ocean
steamer Northerner, Capt. Dall, running between S. F. and the Sound ports
with the mails, was lost by striking a sunken rock tw^o miles below Blunt
reef, opposite Cape Mendocino, Jan. 5, 1860, and 30 lives lost. Steilacoom
Herald, Jan. 20, 1860; Ebey's Journal, MS., vi. 260. The American clipper
ship Northe7-n Eagle, valued at $60,000, was bumed in Esquimault harbor in
Sept. 1859. She was en route to Puget Sound to load with lumber for Mel-
bourne. Loss from $100,000 to $150,000. Steilacoom P. S. Herald, Oct. 8,
1859. On the 10th of May, 1860, the ocean mail-steamer Panamd, Capt.
Hudson, went ashore on Point Hudson, at the entrance to Port Townsend
hai-bor. She was worked off at high tide, and continued to visit Sound
ports as late as 1876. Ebey's Journal, MS., vi. 306. Says C. M. Bradshaw,
in Wash. Ter. Sketches, MS., 69-70: ' Before the erection of the light-house it
was not unusual to hear guns iii-ed in the night as signals of distress, or to
awake and find some good ship beating upon the beach, at the mercy of the
remorseless surf. On such occasions the settlers would rally and assist in
getting tlie seamen on shore, and saving property from the wreck for the ben-
efit of its owners, or aid in getting the ship off, if possible, without fee or
reward. Many is the ship-master who has had abundant reason to thank the
Dungeuess farmers for assistance in dire necessity.' In May 1859 the bark
Mary Slade, from Steilacoom to S. F., was wrecked near Mendocino, and be-
came a total loss; no lives lost. In March 1802 the schr Tola was capsized
in a squall near San Juan, and Capt. Maloney and all her passengers and
crew, except two, drowned. Ebey's Journal, MS., vii. 81. The schr Bestless
soon after capsized and drifted on Maylor Point, Whidbey Island, where it
was broken up. The sloop Cornet, running between Penn Cove and Utsalady
Mills, a distance of 10 miles, disappeared with all on board, supposed to have
been sunk by ice. Wash. Scraps, 19, 131. A large British ship was wrecked
on Race Rocks, in the Strait of Fuca, and a heavy cargo of goods lost, in the
winter of 1862. Or. Statesman, Dec. 22, 1862. The British ship Fanny and
Hawaiian bark Jlosalia were wrecked on Discovery Island, at the entrance to
the Canal de Haro, in the spring of 1868; no lives lost. Seattle Intelligencer,
March 30, 1868. The schr Growler was wrecked in the spring of 1867, and
such of the crew as escaped were slain by the northern Indians. Portland
Oregonian, May 18 and June 30, 1807. The schr Champion was wrecked at
Shoalwater Bay in April 1870. Seattle Intelligencer, May 2, 1870. The schr
Sosa Perry was cast away at the enti-ance to Shoalwater Bay, Oct. 2, 1872.
The crew were rescued by the light-house tender /SAuirici. Olympia Tran-
script, Oct. 12, 1872. The Walter Raleigh was lost near Cape Flattery in the
winter of 1872. S. F. Call, Deo. 14, 1872. The Nicaraguan ship Pelican was
lost at the west end of Neah Bay in Jan. 1875; no lives lost. The American
ship Emily Famum, Austin master, struck on a rock off Destruction Island,
Nov. 18th, and broke up. Two men were drowned. About the same time the
schr Sunshine was found bottom up, off the mouth of the Columbia. She had
25 persons on board, all lost. Olympia Wash. Standard, Dec. 11, 1875. The
bark David Iloadley ran ashore on Rocky Point, in the Straits, Dec. 4, 1880,
and was lost. The steam tug-boat Resolute exploded her boiler in North Bay,
15 miles from Olympia, Aug. 19, 1808; six lives lost. Olympia Pac. Tribune,
Aug. 22, 1808. The most shocking calamity in the way of shipwreck which
has ever happened in Washington waters occurred in the loss of the old and
unsea worthy ocean mail-steamer Pacific, Nov. 4, 1875. She left Victoria in the
morning, and in the e\'euing, about 40 miles south of Cape Flattery, she col-
lided with a sailing vessel and went down in less than an hour, with 275 souls
on board. Two persons only were saved. The two saved, who were picked
WRECKS, PILOTS, AND LIGHT-HOUSES. 335
up from floating debris 36 and 48 hours after the wreck, were a quartermas-
ter, name unknown, and a Canadian, Henry Frederick Jelly. The loss of
ship and cargo was estimated at $125,000, and the treasure on board at
$88,000. S. F. Call, Nov. 9 and 11, 1875. Since this disaster three large
steam-colliers, belonging to the Central Pacitio R. Co., have been wrecked —
the Mississippi, burned at Seattle; the Tacoma, going ashore at the mouth of
the Umpqua; and the Umatilla, running on the rocks at false Cape Flattery,
all within the years 18S3-4. The two lost at sea were doubtless lost
through the wrong policy of the company in employing captains unacquainted
with the coast. The escape of vessels from shipwreck for many years on the
Sound, where there was no system of pilotage established, and light-houses
were wanting, is worthy of remark. Pilotage has never been deemed im-
portant, owing to the width of the straits and the depth of water; but
light-houses have been urgently demanded of congress by successive legisla-
tures. Pilotage was not established by act of the legislature until 1S67-8.
ITo-fA. Stal., 1867-8, 33-9. The chairman of the first board was E. S.
Fowler, and the secretary James G. Swan. During 186S 9 pilots were ap-
pointed, 4 of whom resigned, and one was dismissed. The service was not
considered remunerative, and was alleged to be unnecessary by many, who
contended it was simply taxing commerce for the benefit of individuals.
Olympia Transcript, March 28 and Oct. 3, 1868; Port Towiisend Message, Oct.
8, 1868; Wash. Jour. Council, 1869, app. 21-7; Olympia Wash. Standard,
Dec. 10, 1880. The organic act of Oregon territory appropriated fifteen
thousand dollars for the construction of light-houses at Cape Disappointment
and New Dungeness, and for buoys at the mouth of the Columbia. U. 8. Stat.
1848-9, 323. Another act, passed a fortnight later, making appropriations
for light-houses and for other purposes, appropriated money for the above-
mentioned lights, and for another on Tatoosh Island, oflf Cape Flattery, at the
entrance to the Strait of Fuca. H. Misc. Doc, vol. i. 57, 31st cong. Istsess.
Congress, in Aug. 1854, appropriated $25,000 for a light-house on Blunt or
Smith Island, in the straits; the same amount for a light-house at Shoalwater
Bay; and for the erection of the Tatoosh and New Dungeness lights, in addi-
tion to any balance that might remain in the treasury after the completion of
the Cape Disappointment light-house, belonging to that appropriation, $39,000.
Eight thousand dollars was also granted for placing buoys at the entrances
of Shoalwater Bay and New Dungeness harbor. Cong. Globe, 2249, 33d cong.
1st sess.
The light house at Cape Disappointment was not completed as soon as ex-
pected, owing to the loss of the bark Oriole with the material on board in 1853.
The contractors, Gibbons and Kelly, recovered $10,558 from the government
for the loss of their material. H. Ex. Doc, 113, 2-3. Lieut G. H. Derby
was appointed to superintend the construction of light-houses on the Oregon
and Washington coast in 1854, Olympia Pioneer and Dem., July 22, 1854,
when the work was finally begun at the mouth of the Columbia. It was com-
pleted about 1856, and orders issued to begin the work on the others; but the
Indian war and other causes delayed operations for some time. The first
light displayed at New Dungeness was on the 12th of Dec. 1857. Mey's Jour-
nal, MS., V. 203; Light-house board rept, in H. Ex. Doc, 3, 287, 35th cong.
2d sess. It was of the third order of Fresnel. Tatoosh Island light was
displayed about the same time. These two light-houses were erected under
the superintendency of Isaac Smith. Those on Blunt Island and at Shoal-
water Bay were completed in 1858. In 1872 a first-class steam fog-whistle
was added, the fog-bell in use being insufficient. Gov. 's mess. , in Wash. Jour.
Home, 1858-9, IS. The Tatooshes were much disturbed by the light on the
island; they said it kept away the whales, which did not come in their usual
numbers that season. Ind. Aff. Rept, 1858, 232, 236-8; Davidson's Coast Pilot,
1 79-80. A light-house was completed and light exhibited at Admiralty Head,
or Kellogg Point, on Whidbey Island, in Jan. 1 861 , an appropriation of twenty-
five thousand dollars having been made in 1856 for this purpose. Finance
Rept, 1861, 205; Olympia Wash. Standard, Jan. 26, 1861; U. S. Statutes,
336 RESOURCES AM) INDUSTRIES.
1855-6. The light-house board in their report for 1S72 represented that the
rapidly increasing commerce of Puget Sound demanded an increase of lights,
and asked for an appropriation of §25,000 each for light-houses at Point No-
Point, between Port Townsend and Seattle, at West Point, entrance to
Dwamish Bay, and at Point Defiance, nine miles north of Steilacoom. To erect
a steam fog-whistle at New Dungeness, $8,000 was asked for. Congress in
the following March appropriated the required sums for the fog-whistle, and
for a light-house at Point No-Point. Cong. Globe, app. 271, 42d cong. 3d sess. ;
Gov.'s mess., in Wash. Jour. Council, 1871, app. 110; H. Ex. Doc, 2, 549-
50, 42d cong. 3d sess. A bell struck by machinery at interval of ten seconds
was added in 1880. The legislature in 1858-9 petitioned for a light-house on
Hood Canal, and another on Point Roberts, the most northern point of the
straits leading into the gulf of Georgia. The next legislature memorialized
congress on the need of a light at Gray Harbor; and the assembly of 1860-1
asked for one at the north-west point of Vashon Island, another at the entrance
to Belllngham Bay, and a third at Point Hudson. The sum of |20,000 was
appropriated in June 1860 for a light-house at Gray Harbor, but nothing hav-
ing been done toward erecting one in 1805, the legislative assembly of that
winter memorialized congress on the subject. The number of light-houses had
not, however, been added to, notwithstanding periodical memorials, and sug-
gestions as to Alki Point, Foulweather Blufif, and Cypress Island, in addition
to those before prayed for, when in 1876 negotiations were in progress to pur-
chase land at Point No-Point for the purpose of estabUshiug a light at that
place. A light has since been established there. There were in 1884 ten
lights on the whole coast of Washington, including the Strait of Fuca and
Puget Sound; on Cape Disappointment or Hancock, one of the 1st order,
Shoal water Bay one of the 4th order; Cape Flattery one of the 1st order;
Ediz Hook (Port Angeles) one of the 5th order; New Dungeness one of the
3d order; Smith or Blunt Island, Admiralty Head, and Point Wilson each
one of the 4th order; Point No-Point one of the 5th, and at West or Sandy
Point one of the 4th order. A light of the 1st class can be seen about 20
miles, of the 5th half that distance. List of Light-houses, 1884, 66.
An act of congress approved June 20, 1874, authorized the establishment
of three life-boat stations on the coast of Washington, with keepers at §200
a year. Life-Saving Service Rept, 1876, 55-7- The act, on account of many
imperfections, was practically inoperative. To remedy this inefficiency, con-
gress in 1878 passed another act organizing the service into a regular estab-
lishment under a general superintendent, whose powers and duties were de-
fined by law, prolonging the period of active service from the first of Sept. to
the first of May, increasing the pay of the keepers, and extending their func-
tions so as to include those of inspectors of customs, and detailing oiBcers of
the revenue marine corps for the duty of inspecting these stations. The sta-
tions authorized in 1874 were at Neah Bay, on the Indian reservation; at
Shoalwater Bay near the light-house landing; and at Baker's Bay, Cape Dis-
appointment. These three life-saving stations were not completed until 1878,
and cannot be regarded as of very great value, since they are dependent upon
the services of volunteers, who might not be at hand in the moment of need.
From a memorial passed by the legislature of 1859-60, it appears that a
marine hospital being necessary, I. N. Ebey, then collector of customs at Port
Townsend for the district of Puget Sound, entered into a contract with
Samuel McCurdy, April 2, 1885, to receive into his hospital all sick and
disabled seamen, and provide for them the proper medical attendance, with
board and lodging, for the sum of four dollars per day for each patient. In
Nov. McCurdy joined the volunteer service as surgeon of the northern bat-
talion, and remained with it until it disbanded in 1856, when he renewed his
contract with Ebey's successor, M. H. Frost, at the price of three dollars per
day for each patient, continuing to receive and provide for disabled seamen
until July 1858, when the contract passed into other hands, McCurdy having
received nothing for his services and outlay. Wash. Stat., 1859-60,503. Mc-
Curdy had several successors. P. JI. O'Brien, who died a resident of San Jos6,
LUMBER TRADE. 337
Cal. , was at one time medical director of tlie marine hospital at Port Townsend,
but being in aympatliy with rebellion, liis resignation was desired and accepted.
O'Brien was one of the organizers of the Hibernia Bank of S. F., and died
wealthy. Quvjler/s Irish Race, 475-6. One of the most worthy and success-
ful of the directors was T. T. ISIinoi-, who was for several years in charge, and
made many improvements. Minor was born in Conn., and educated at Yale
college, where he was studying medicine when the war of the rebellion began.
Althougli but 17 years of age he enlisted as a private, and was assigned to
the medical department in Higginson's IstS. C. colored regiment. In 1804 ho
was promoted to be surgeon. At the close of the war he returned to his
studies at Now Haven. In 1868 he was appointed to visit Alaska and make
a collection illustrative of the resources of that territory. On his return he
settled at Port Townsend and took charge of the marine hospital, while
also conducting a private hospital. Portland West Shore, Dec. 1876.
The chief article of export since 1851 has been lumber. The piles and
squared timbers constituting the earliest shipments were cut by settlers and
sliip crews and dragged by hand to the water's edge. The skippers paid eight
cents a foot for piles delivered alongside the vessel, and sold them in S. F.
for a dollar a foot. Among the first vessels after the Orbit and the George
Emory to load with timber was the G. W. Kendall. She was sent to Puget
Sound toward spring in 1851 to get a cargo of ice by her owner, Samuel
Merritt of S. F. When he returned (lie captain met Merritt with the an-
nouncement, 'Doctor, water don't freeze in Puget Sound!' But he had
brought back a profitable cargo of piles, and the doctor was consoled for his
disappointment. Contemporary Biog., ii. 94. Getting out spars became a
regular business before 1856. Thomas Cranney was one of the first to make
it a trade, about 1855. He says he had 9 yokes of cattle, with ropes and
blocks equal to 90 more, and with all this power was from 2 to 3 days gettmg
out one spar. But after he had completed his expensive education, he could
haul 2 in a day with a single block and lead. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., x.xii.
47-S. On the island of Caamauo, in 1858, a company of Irish Canadians were
getting out masts for shipment to Europe. Mossi's Souvenirs, 165; Stevens'
Northwest, 9-10. For this market the timber had to be hewed to an eight-
sided form from end to end. For the Chiua market they were hewed square
to where they pass through the vessel's deck, and above that round to the
end of the stick. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 48. Later they were
made square to avoid import duties. A skidded road was prej^ared on which
the spar was to run, a heavy block was made fast to it, and another to a tree
ahead, the oxen slowly pulling it by the rope between, along the track, the
forward block being shifted farther ahead as the spar advanced, until the chute
was reached, which conducted it to the vessel. S. F. Alta, Oct. 20, 1862. In
loading spars some space is necessarily left, which is filled in with pickets
and lath from the mills. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 48. But previous to
this, as early as 1855, the bark Anadyr, Capt. J. H. Swift, sailed from Utsa-
lady witli a cargo of spars, consigned to the French navy-yard at Brest. Tho
shipment was made by Brennan and Thompson to fill a contract made by
Isaac Friedlander of S. F. In 1857 the same ship took a cargo of spars fi'om
Utsalady to the English navy-yard at Chatham. The spars sent to France
were subjected to rigid tests, and found equal to the best. Since 1856 spara
have been regularly sent to these markets, and to Spain, Mauritius, China,
and elsewhere. The Dutch ship Williamherg, in 1856, took out over 100
spars from 80 to 120 feet long, aud from 30 to 43 inches diameter at tho but,
the largest weighing from 18 to 20 tons apiece. iS. F. Alta, Dec. 29, 1856;
Sat:. Union, Nov. 13, 1857. The first vessel direct from China that ever ar-
rived iu Puget Sound was the Lizzie Jarvis, in Oct. 1858, to load with spars
for that empire. In 1 860 the first cargo of yellow-fir spars was shipped to the
Atlantic ports of the U. S. in the Laicsoii, of Bath, Maine. These sticks w ere
from UO to 118 feet in length, and were furnished by the Port Gamble mill
company. Fort Toinisend Northwest, Aug. 1800. In the following year
Hist. W.ish.— 22
338 EESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
the ship Tndiaman loaded with spars at Utsalady for the Spanish naval sta-
tion near St Urbes, and the ship Trite Briton for London. Jd., Oct. 26, ISGl;
Wuih. Scraps, 20; Seattle Intelligencer^ Aug. 20, 1879. The annual shiimient
is about three cargoes. In 1869 2,000 spars were shipped, at a value of
$2,067,000. Scammon, in Overland Monthly, v. 60.
Milled lumber, owing to the necessities of California, was early in demand
on Pun;et Sound. From the date when Yesler first established a steam-mill
at Seattle there has been a forward progress in the facilities and extent of
this first of manufactures, until in 1S79, a year of depression, the estimated
product of the Sound mills was 120,500,000 feet. The pioneer lumbering es-
tablishment on Puget Sound was erected iu 18i7, by M. T. Simmons and as-
sociates, at Tumwater, as I have said. Its first shipment was in 1848, when
the H. B. Co.'s str Beaver took a cargo for their northern posts. Olympia
Transcript, May 23, 1868. The second saw-mill was erected by James Mc-
Allister, in 1851. it was a small gate or sash mill driven by water-power,
cutting from 500 to 1,000 feet per day. Wash. Ter. True Exhibit, 1880, 59;
Dayton l)em. State Jour., Nov. 17, I8S2. A. S. Aberuethy erected a water-
power mill at Oak Point on the Columbia in 1848-9. In 1872 it was turn-
ing out 4,000,000 feet of lumber annually. Victor's Or. and Wash., 64. In the
winter of 1852-3 Yesler put up a steam saw-mill at Seattle, which turned out
from 10,000 to 15,000 feet per day. The sawdust was used iu fiUing in marshy
ground on the beach, where it forms a considerable part of the water-front uf
the city. The mill-waste and slabs were converted into a wharf. The mill
was rebuilt in 1863. Ten years afterward the old machinery was in use in
a grist-mill at Seattle. Ycsler's Settlement of Seattle, MS., 1, 3, 7.
In 1852 a mill was erected at Shoalwater Bay by David K. Weldon and
George Watkins. Swan's N. W. Coast, 64-5. In the spring of 1853 Nicholas
Delin, M. T. Simmons, and Smith Hays formed a partnership to erect two
mills, one at the head of Commencement Bay, and the other upon Skookum
Bay, north-west of Olympia. The first was completed in May, and 2 cargoes
of lumber were shipped on the George Emory to S. F. ; but the mill provetl to
be badly situated, and was abandoned, even before the Indian war. Evans,
in Nero Tacoma Ledger, July 9, 1880. A mill was built in the wintQi- of
1S52-3 at Whatcom, Belliugham Bay, by Eoder & Peabody, but water
failed iu summer. Its capacity was 4,000 feet per day during high water. It
was burned in 1S73, and not rebuilt. Roder's Bellingham Bay, MS., 17; El-
drid:/c's Sh'trh, JIS., 4. At Port Ludlow, G. K. Thorndike, in 1852, began
erecting a mill; in the spring following he was joined by W. T. Sayward
of S. F., and a large steam-mill built. In 1858 it was leased to Arthur Phiu-
ney for $500 a month, who finally, in 1874, purchased the property. Say-
ward's Pioneer Beminiscences, MS., 34. Phinney died in 1887, and on the
settlement of the estate the mill was bought by the Puget Mill Co. for §64,000.
Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xiii. 1-2; S. F. Chronicle, Nov. 9, 1878. Anotlier
large mill was begun in 1852 by the Puget Mill Co., at Port Gamble, by Jo-
siah P. Keller, W. C. Talbot, and Andrew J. Pope. A village sprung up,
originally called Teekalet. These proprietors purchased large tracts of tim-
ber. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 43. The capacity of the Port Gamble
mill in 1879 was 36,000,000 feet annually.
Iu 1852 Edmund JIartin, J. J. Phelps, and Ware built a steam-mill at
Appletree Cove on the west side of Admiralty Inlet. Martin was afterward
a large liquor-dealer in S. F., and cashier of the Hibemia Bank. He died
about 1880. Before this mill was fairly in successful operation it was sold to
G. A. Meigs in 1853, who removed it to Port Madison the same year. In
Dec. 1854 it was burned, but rebuilt, and in March 1861 the boilers of the
new mill exploded, killing 6 men and stopping work for 2 weeks, when it
resumed and ran until May 1864, when it was destroyed by fire, but was
again rebuilt. In 1872 the firm was Meigs & Gawley. Owing to business
complications and embarrassments from losses, it was not until 1877 that
Meigs was able to clear the cstablislmicnt, and to associate with himself others
who formed the Meigs Lumber and Ship-building Company. Of all the
MILLS ON THE SOUND. 339
himbering establishments none wei-e more complete than this. Its ca-
pacity in 1880 was 200,000 feet in 12 hours, and it could cut logs 132 feet long.
It has au ii'ou and brass foundery, machine, blacksmith, and carpenter shops,
and ship-yard. The village was a model one, with neat dwellings tor the opera-
tives, a public hall, library, hotel, and store. Masonic and good templar's
lodges, with dancing assemblies, lectures, and out-door sports, were features of
the place. About 300 people were employed, and no liquor sold in the place.
Miegs was a Vermonter. Yesler's Wash. Ter. , MS. , 5-6; ilurphy and Harned's
P. S. Directory, 1872, 147; Seattle Pac. Tribune, Aug. 17, 1877, Scainraon, in
Ocerlaiid Monthly, v. 59; Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 44-6. Another of the
early mills was that of Port Orchard. It was first put up at Alki Point, called
New York, by C. C. Terry and William H. Eenton in 1853-4, but removed
after 2 or 3 years to Port Orchard, which had a better harbor. The mill was
afterward sold to Coleman and Glynden, who rebuilt it in 1868-9, but became
bankrupt, and the mill was burned before any capital came to relieve it.
Ycder's Wash. Ter., MS., 4-5; Seattle Intelligencer, March 11, 1869. After
selling the Port Orchard mill, Renton & Howard went to Port Blakeley, 10 miles
distant from and opposite to Seattle, and erected a large lumbering establish-
ment, costing 880,000, and capable of turning out 50,000 feet a day. It began
sawing in April 1864, cutting an average of 19,000,000 feet annually down to
18S0, when its capacity was increased to 200,000 per day. Howard died
before the completion of the mill, in 1803, and the firm incorporated as Kenton,
Holmes & Co., but in 1876 became again incorporated as the Port Blakeley
Mill Company, with a capital of |600,000. Wash. Ter. True Exhibit, 1880,
60. This mill shipped, in 1883, 54,000,000 feet of lumber, and could cut 200,-
OOJ feet in 12 hours. It had 80 saws of all kinds; 19 boilers and 7 engines,
with a united power of 1,200 horse. It was lighted by 16 electric lights, and
was every way the most complete lumbering establishment in this, if not in
any, country. In 1858 the frame of the Utsalady mill was hewn out for Gren-
nau & Cranney, who began sawing in Feb. 1858. The sole owner in Dec. 1869
was Thomas 'Crannoy. In 1873, Cranney & Chishohn owned it; but in 1876
it was sold to the Puget Mill Co. for about $35,000, and was closed for two
years. It cut for 11 years au average of 17,000,000 feet annually, and after-
ward more than double that amount. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., x.xii. 43, 47-8.
In IS.jS-9 S. L. Mastick & Co. of S. F. erected a mill at Port Discovery,
which iu the first 18 months cut 8,500,000 feet of lumber. It employed in
137 1 50 men, and turned out 12,000,000 feet of lumber and 200,000 laths.
This amount was increased in 1874 to 18,000,000 feet annually, but dropped
to 12,000,000 from 1875 to 1879; smce which time its capacity has been
doubled. Id., MS., xxiii. 2-3; Portland Oregonian, May 29, 1875. In 1862 a
firm known as the Wasliington Mill Company, consisting of Marshall Blinn,
W. J. Adams, John R. ^Villiamson, W. B. Sinclair, and Hill Harmon, built
a mill at Seabeck on Hood Canal, with au average capacity of 11,000,000
feet per annum, at a cost of $80,000. Blinn & Adams were the principal
owners. In 1879 Adams was sole proprietor. The establishment owned two
vessels, the Cassandra Adams and the Dublin. In 1865 J. R. Williamson
and others built a mill at Freeport (now Milton), opposite Seattle, which was
sold to Marshall & Co., about 1874. Its capacity was about 35,000 feet
per day. In 1868 Ackerson & Russ of Cal. erected a mill at Tacoma (then
called Commencement City). In 1877 the firm was Hanson, Ackerm.an & Co.,
and the mill was cutting over 81,000 feet per day. iVew Tacoma Ledger, May
7, 1880; Otympia Transcript, Feb. 15, 1870; Portland West Shore, Oct. 1877.
Of local nulls and those conuected with other manufacturers, run by water or
by steam, there were about 50 others iu western ^Vashington, on Gray Harbor,
Shoalwater Bay, the Willopah, Chehalis, Cowlitz, and Columbia rivers, and
scattered through the settlements.
In a review of the market for 1880 it was stated that the capacity of the
Pn;4et Sound mills was about two hundred million feet a year, and the ship-
ments about eight million feet under that. Walla Walla Statesman, Jan. 27,
1883; Commercial Herald, in La Conner P. S. Mail, Feb. 12, 1881. The
;j40 EESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
capacity of these mills is given in 1883 as 1,306,000 feet daily, or over three
liuudreJ millions annually.
An interesting feature of the lumber business is that part of it known aa
' logging,' which is carried on by companies, on an extensive scale. Wilkexon'a
Puget Sound, 13-14; Kept of Com. Agriculture, 1875,332; Emns' Wash. Ter.,
41-2; Dayton Dem. Slate Journal, Nov. 17, 1SS2.
The second most important article of export from Washington is coal.
The first discoveries were made in the Cowlitz Valley in 1 848, whence several
barrels were shipped to Cal. to be tested, but which was condemned as a poor
quality of lignite. Leivis' Coal Discov., MS., 8, 13; S. I. Polynesian, v. 2, 7;
Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., ii. 57. About that time, or previous to 1850, a
Frenchman named Kemeau discovered coal on the Skookum Chuck, which
created considerable interest at Olympia, and was the motive which inspired
the first idea of a railroad toward the Columbia, a sui-vey being made by J.
W. Trutchin the autumn of 1852. In 1849 Samuel Hancock, while trading
with the Lummi, was told that they had seen black stones at Bellingham Bay.
Subsequently he found coal on the Stillaquamish, but was forbidden to work
it by the Indians who told him of it. Hancock's Thirteen Years, MS., 145-9,
174; Olympia Columbian, Oct. 16, 1852.
In 1850 H. A. Goldsborough explored several affluents of Puget Sound and
found croppings of coal on a number of them, of which an analysis was made
in Feb. 1851, by Walter R. Johnson for the secretary of the navy. About
this time the P. M. S. Co. employed agents to explore for coal in Oregon and
Vv"ashington, one of whom, William A. Howard, afterward in the revenue
service, together with E. D. Warbass, made an expedition from the Chehalis
up the coast to a point north of Quinault. Meanwhile William Pattle, an
English subject, who was looking for spar timber among the islands of the
Haro archipelago, found coal at Bellingham Bay in Oct. 1852, .nnd took a
claim on the land just south of the town site of Sehome as subsequently lo-
cated. Two other claims were taken adjoining by Pattle's associates, Morri-
son and Thomas. They succeeded in negotiating with a company called the
Puget Sound Coal Mining Association. From 1860 to 1879 there was an
average annual yield of thirteen thousand tons. Another coal deposit was
discovered iu 1862 ou the Strait of Fuca not far from Clallam Bay, by J. K.
Thorndike, and in 1867 was organized the Phoenix Coal Mining Co.
The earliest attempted development of coal west of Admiralty Inlet was
by Dr R. H. Bigelow, who partially opened a coal vein on Black River,
known as the Bigelow mine, lying about ten miles south-east from Seattle.
There was no means of getting coal to navigable water without expensive im-
provements in roads and barges, and the mine was abandoned. About 1807
S. B. Hinds & Co. of Seattle purchased the claim, and sunk a shaft to the
vein, a distance of 70 feet; but the mine never became productive of market-
able coals.
East of Seattle several discoveries were made about 1859, some of which
have proved valuable. David Mowery, a Pa German, found coal on his claim
in the Squak Valley, fourteen miles east of the Sound. With W. B. Andrews,
he took out a few tons, which were disposed of in Seattle. At a later date,
William Thompson also mined in this coal to a small extent, when it was
abandoned. Lewis' Coal Discoverirs, MS., 1. A claim of 100 acres of coal
land eleven miles south-east of Seattle was taken up in 1863 by Philip H.
Lewis, and work begun upon it in the following year. Lewis was born in
111. in 1828, and came to Or. from Cal. in 1851. His example was followed
by Edwin Richardson, who took a claim next to him, while Josiah Settle
claimed another quarter-section adjoining. Richardson changed his location
more than once, finally fixing upon the one later worked by the Seattle Coal
and Tr.iusportation Co. Tho origiu.al owners opened a road in 1867, and
brought out one hundred and fifty tons in wagons, which was sold for ten
dollars a ton at the wharf in Seattle, and bumcil on some of tho steamers that
plied on the Sound. The mine was then sought for, and a company consist-
COAL MIXES. 341
ing of Daniel Bagley, George F. Whitworth, P. H. Lewis, Josiah Settle, and
Salucius (jarlielde, called tlie Lake Wasbiugtou Company, was formed. Bag-
ley puiil'used the Richardson claim and a portion of each of the other two,
W hitworth owning a part of Lewis' claim. Clarence Bagley and Garfielde
took up some additional land, which went into the company organization.
The object of the new arrangement was to get a rail or tram road from the
east side of Lake Washington to the coal beds. A company was formed, and
au act passed by the legislature of 1SG6-7 incorporating the Coal Creek Eoad
Company. W'tsh. Slat., 1S66-7, 202-3. The road company was composed of
W. W. Perkins, John Denny, Henry L. Yesler, John J. McGilvra, C. J.
Noyes, C. H. Hale, and Lewis C. Gimn. Capital stock §5,000, with power
to increase to §500,000. In Aug. following the mining company incorporated
as the Lake Washington Company, with a capital stock of §500,000, with the
privilege of increasing it to a million. Lewis withdrew from the mining or-
ganization, after which it sold out, in 1870, to Ruel Robinson, Amos Hurst,
and others, residents of Seattle, for §25,000, all the land that had been pat
in being included in the sale, the new organization styling itself the Seattle
Coal Company. Under the new management there was a tramway built from
the mine to Lake Washington, and a wooden road on the west side of the
lake to Seattle. A scow was built for transportation across the lake; a small
steamer, the Phantom, was constructed for towing. In 1872 Robinson sold to
C. B. Shattuck and othei-s of S. F. for §51,000, and capital put in; since
which the Seattle mine has produced well, and been a profitable investment.
The company had steam tow-boats on lakes Washington and Union, the Clara
and Chehalis, connecting with the tramway from the mine across the isthmus
between the lakes, and from Lake Union to the wharf in Seattle. The flat-
boats were run upon trucks across the isthmus, and thence across the second
lake, to avoid handling. Meeker's Wash. Ter.; ilcFarlau's Coal Regioiui
Goucbjear's Coal Mines, 100-7; Seattle InteUigencer, Sept. 11, 1871.
The discovery next in point of time and importance to the Seattle coal was
that of the Eenton mine. David Mowery fia-st made the discovery, but not
thinking well of the coal, sold the claim to Robert Abrams about 1860. It
w;is not until 1873 that it was again remembered, when E. M. Smithers, on
his adjoining cMm, found pieces of coal in a small stream on his farm, and
following up the indications, tunnelled into the hill where they appeared,
striking at the distance of 100 feet two horizontal ledges of pure coal e.vtend-
ing into it. Having demonstrated the contents of his land, he sold it for
§25,000 to Ruel Robinson, who also purchased the adjoining lands of Abrams
and McAllister. A company was at once formed, with a capital of §300,000.
A number of mines have been prospected, and a great abundance of coal
found to exist on the east side of the Sound. Among others was the Cedar
Mountain mine, on the same ridge with the Renton; and near the junction of
Cedar and Black rivers the Clymer mine was discovered at an early day on
the land of C. Clymer. On the Stillaquamish, the Snohomish, and the Skagit
rivers, coal was known to exist. La lioque's Skagit Mines, MS., 21. It had
long been known by some of the early residents of the Puyallnp Valley that
coal was to be found there. Ea-stwiek's Pugel Sound, MS., 3. The first actual
prospecting was done by Gale and two half-breeds named Flett. This small
company took a mining claim in 1874, drifting in about sixty feet, on a vein
discovered on Flett Creek, a tributary of South Prairie Creek, which is a
brani !i of the Puyallup. During the same season E. L. Smith of Olympia, a
surveyor, discovered coal about half a mile north of the Gale mine, on land
belonging to the Northern Pacific R. Co., which led to an examination of the
country over an area of twenty-five square miles in the coal district.
It is conjectured that the region about Steilacoora is underlaid with a coal
deposit. But it is fai-ther south than this that the actual discoveries have
been made. In 1865 a vein was fonad upon the land of Wallace and P. W.
Crawford opposite to and two miles above Moiiticello. The construction of
the Northern Pacific railroad from the Columbia to the Sound re\-ived the
interest in the coal-fields of the region south of Olympia. J. B. Montgomery,
342
RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
contractor upon that road, in 1872 purchased nine hundred acres of coal lands
near the Chelialis River between Claquato and Skookum Chuck, and two miles
•west of the road. It was proposed to clear the obstructions from the Chehnlia
sufficiently to enable a steamer to tow barges from Claquato to Gray Harbor
for ocean shipment, but this scheme has not been carried out.
In 1873 the Tenino mine, within half a mile of the Northern Pacific road
track, was prospected by Ex-gov. E. S. Salomon and Col F. Bee of S. F.
The Olympia and Tenino R. Co. took shares, and called it the Olympia
Railway and Mining Co.
Kino County Coal-Fields.
Another mine near Clielialis station on the Northern Pacific was opened
in 1875 by Rosenthal, a merchant of Olympia.
A mine known as the Seatco, situated on land owned by T. F. McElroy
and Oliver Shead of Olympia, near the Skookum Chuck station, was opened
in 1877. In the autumn of 1879 it had a daily capacity of fifty tons.
Coal-oil has been discovered in some parts of these extensive coal regions.
George Waunch, of pioneer antecedents, sent samples to Portland, in 1808,
from the Skookum Chuck district. It was also found in the Puyallup Valley
near Elhi in 1882. The annual production was estimated in 1880, for tlie
whole of Washington, to be 161,708 tons.
Gold and silver mining is still carried on in Washington, although as an in-
GOLD ANT) SILVER. 343
tlustry it is comparatively small. For the year ending in May ISSO, the total
value of the deep mine production was reported at |22,0.S6, the principal part
of this being from the Peslioston district in the Yakima country, and of placer
mines .11-20,019. In 1881 the yield was not much if any more, and in 1883
the production of the precious metals had fallen off from foiTner figures, not
reaching to §100,000. This is not altogether from a poverty of resources, but
is partly due to the more sure and rapid returns from other industries vi hieh
have been enjoyed in eastern Washington for the last decade. The Yakima
country was the first to give any returns from quartz-mining. The gold is
free-milling, and it is believed will give place at a greater depth to silver.
„.•; i
i
j
The total amount of land surveyed in Washington down to June ISSO was
15,959,175 out of the 44,796,100 acies constituting the aiea of the state. For
many years the fortunate combination of soil and climate in eastern Washing-
ton, whereby all the cereals can be produced in the greatest abundance and
of the highest excellence, was not understood. The first settlers in the Walla
W'alla Valley went there to raise cattle on the nutritious bunch-grass which
gave their stock so round an appearance with such glossy hides. The gold
crusade carried thither merchants and settlers of another sort, and it was
found that people must eat of the fruits of the earth in the country where
U4: EESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
their tents were pitched. This necessity led to farming, at first in the creek
valleys, then on the hill-sides, and lastly on the tops of the hills quite away
from the possibility of irrigation, where to everybody's surprise wheat grew
the best of all. It then began to be known tliat where bunoh-grass would
naturally grow, wheat especially, and the other cereals, would flourish sur-
prisingly. The area of wheat land in eastern Washiugton has been estimated
as capable of yielding, under ordinary culture, more than a hundred million
bushels annually, 50 to 60 bushels to the acre being no uncommon return.
Messarje of Governor Ferry, 187S, 4-6.
The soil which is so fruitful is a dark loam, composed of a deep rich allu-
vial deposit, combined with volcanic ash, overlying a clay subsoil. On the
hills and southern exposures the clay comes nearer to the surface. The
whole subsoil rests on a basaltic formation so deep as to be discoverable only
on the deep watercourses. The climate is dry, with showers at rare inter-
vals in summer, with fall rains and brief winters, during which there is usually
some snowfall, and occasional hard winters when the snow is deep enough to
fill all the streams to overflowing in the spring, which comes early.
The first wheat-fields of western Washington were those cultivated by the
H. B. Co. in the Columbia and Cowlitz valleys, which yielded well, the Cow-
litz farm producing from 30 to 50 bushels per acre of white winter wheat.
The heavily timbered valleys about Puget Sound furnished tracts of open
land well adapted to wheat-growing, but taken as a whole this region has
never been regarded as a grain-producing countiy. The reclamation of tide-
lands about the mouths of the rivers which flow into the Fuca Sea, opposite
the strait of that name, added a considerable area to the grain-fields of
western Washington.
The first settlers upon the tide-lands were Samuel Calhoun and Micliael
Sullivan, who in 1864 took claims on the Swinomish River or bayou, which
connects with the Skagit by extensive marshes. Sullivan made his first en-
closure in 1865, and three years afterward raised a crop of 37 acres of oats.
He sowed five busliels of seed to the acre, intending to cut it for hay, but
allowing it to ripen, obtained 4,000 bushels of oats. Calhoun raised 21 acres of
barley in 1809 with like favorable results. From this time there was an
annual increase of reclaimed land. Its productiveness may be inferred from
the statement that on 600 acres at La Conner, belonging to J. S. Conner, about
1.000 tons of oats and barley v ere produced annually. Mome's Wash. Ter.,
MS., xxii. 13. There were in 1875 about 20 settlers on the Swinomish tide-
lands, who had 100 acres each in cultivation, and raised on them 40 bushels
of spruig wheat, SO bushels of winter wheat, 75 bushels of barley, and 80
bushels of oats to the acre. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 15.
In 1881 the experiment was tried of shipping cargoes of eastern Wash-
ington and Oregon wheat by the way of Puget Sound, instead of via Port-
land, Astoi'ia, and the mouth of the Columbia, to avoid the risk of the bar
and a part of the expense of pilotage and lightering.
No climate in the world is more suited to the growth of nutritious grasses
than that of Washington. The bunch-gross of the eastern division is, how-
ever, from being dry a large portion of the year, not so well adapted to tlie
uses of dairymen as the lush growth of the moister climate of Puget Sound,
where the rich bottom and diked lands yield from three to four tons of hay
to the acre. Dairy products have not yet been counted amongst the articles
of export, because farmers liave preferred to eng.age in other branches of busi-
ness. Up to 1877 there was no cheese in the markets of the territory except
that which was imported. In that year two cheese factories were started,
one at Claquato by Long & Birmingham, and another at Chimacum, in Jef-
ferson county. The former made over 23,000 lbs the first year. The North-
era Pacific cheese factory, at Chimacum, nine miles south-west of Port Towns-
en<l, was a gradual growth, William Bishop being a pioneer of 1856, who
settled in the Chimacum Valley and cleared and improved a farm. When ho
had 60 cows he began cheese-uiakiug for the market abroad, producing 1,500
H)S of cheese and 50 H)s of butter per day. A third factory was established
FABMING AND FISHERIES. 345
in 1879 by Long & Birmingham on the Maddox farm, in White River Val-
ley, the prospecjt being that the Puget Sound farmers would convert their
graiu-CelJs into hay-fields to a considerable extent, and that dUiry-farming
would become the chief business on the valley and tide lands.
The experiment of hop-farming was first tried in 1804: by Jacob Sleeker,
who planted a half-acre on his farm in the Puyallup Valley. The yield was -JOO
pounds, which sold for 85 cents per pound. Thompson & Meade estab-
lished the first hop-yard in 1872. The following year Eziu and J. V. Meeker
and J. V. Stewart followed. The desire to encourage agriculture has led to
the formation of agricultural societies in several counties of the temtory,
^^■alla Walla taking the lead, by a few persons calling a meeting in Feb. 1SG5,
to be ln:ld April 22d, for the purpose of organizing. It was not until 1867
that a fair was held, the address at the opening of the exhibition being pro-
nounced by Philip Ritz. In 1869 the Washington Agricultural and Manufac-
turing Society was formed and incorporated under the laws of the territory.
Land was purchased, buildings erected, and the first fair of the new organi-
zation held in Sept., from the 21st to the 25th, 1870. A pomological and
horticultural society was also formed this year at Walla Walla. Clarke county
organized, in July 1868, an agricultural and mechanical society, and held a
fair the following Sept., the opening address being by Governor Salomon.
Whatcom county organized an agricultural society in 1806, and Lewis county
in 1877. This being the oldest farming region away from the Columbia, the
society was prosperous at the start, and the first exhibit a good one. C. T.
Fay was chosen president, and L. P. Venen delivered the opening address.
Vancouver Begidei; Oct. 1, 1870; Olympia Transcript, Oct. 12, 1872; Ohjmpia
Wash. Standard, June 2, 1S77. In 1871 a meeting was held in Olympia in
the interest of agriculture by a mutual aid society, or farmer's club, which
displayed specimens of productions. The meeting was addressed by Judge
McFadden at the close of the exhibit, and steps taken to organize a territorial
agricultural society, under the name of W"estern Washington Industrial As-
sociation, which held its first annual exhibition in Oct. 1872 at Olympia. The
second annual territorial fair was held at Seattle, in the university grounds.
One of the great natural resources of western Washington which has been
turned to account is the fish product, although as yet imperfectly understood
or developed. The whale fishery is prosecuted only by the Indians of Cape
Flattery and the gulf of Georgia. Among the species taken on the coast are
the sperm whale, California gray, right whale, and sulphur-bottom. Up the.
strait of Fuca and in the gulf of Georgia hump-backs are numerous. For-
merly the Indians took more whales than now, their attention being at present
turned to seal-hunting. With only their canoes and rude appliances the
Makahs of Cape Flattery saved in 1856 oil for export to the amount of §8,000.
Ohjmpia Pioneer and Dem., March 5, 1856; Stevens' Nortliu-est, 10; Wash.
Toporj., 15, 31; ReptCom. Ind. Aff., 1858,232. Cod of two or more varieties
arc found from Shoalwater Bay to Alaska and beyond. They are of excellent
quality when properly cured. The climate of Alaska being too moist, and the
air of California drying them too much in the curing process, rendering them
hard, it is believed that in Puget Sound may be found the requisite moisture,
coolness, and evenness of climate to properly save the cod for export, but no
systematic experiments have been made. It was the practice as early as 1 856-7
to pickle cod instead of drying, and for several years 200 barrels annually
were put up. In 1861 cod were very plentiful in the strait of Fuca, so that
the schooners Sarah Newton, the Elizabeth, and other Puget Sound vessels
picketl up several thousand pounds. In 1869 cod brought from §16 to §20
per barrel. In 1864 Thomas H. Stratton fitted out the sch. Brandt for the
cod and halibut fisheries. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xrii. 47-8. In Jan.
1806 the legislature memorialized the president, asking that arrangements be
made with Russia to enable U. S. fishing- vessels to visit the various ports in
the Russian possessions to obtain supplies, cure fish, and make repairs; also
to enable Puget Sound fishermen to obtain the same bomity paid to those of
346 RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
the Atlantic coast, and that ships be sent to surrey the banks to Bering
Straits. The same year Crosby took the forty-ton schooner Sjjrai/ to the fish-
ing-grounds, leaving Port Angeles June 1st, and returned in October with nine
tons of codfish taken in the Kadiak Sea, 1 ,000 miles north of Puget Sound. In
1869 two schooners, the Ada M. Fryeund Shooting Star, arrived on the North-
west Coast from Rockland, Maine, with full crews, to engage in cod-fishing,
other vessels following. Nineteen vessels sailed from S. F. the same season for
the Okhotsk Sea on a fishing expedition, and returned with an average of 55,000
fish each. The ensuing year the catch amounted to 1,000 quintals. As late
as 1878 Slocum, of the schooner Palo, advised the Portland board of trade
concerning the existence of codfish banks off the coast of Washington, from
Shoalwater to Neah bays, and solicited aid in establishing their existence.
Halibut grounds were known to be located nine miles west of Tatoosli
Island, in 56 fathoms of water, and these fish abound in the Fuca Sea and
Rellingham Bay, but are not found in the Sound or Hood Canal. Strong
and Webster put up 100 barrels in 1857. In 1874 halibut was furnished to
the .S. F. market, packed in ice, and again in 1879, the fish arriving in good
condition. The schooner Emibi Stephens was built for this trade with ten ice
compartments. Port Townsend Anjiis, Sejit. 5, 1874; Hesperian Mag., iii.
409; Portland Oregonian, Aprils, 1879: llitteU's Commerce and Industries,
359. The average size of the haliliut caught on this coast is 60 pounds, the
largest weighing 200. They are taken with a hook and line from March to
August.
Herring have for several years been an article of export from Puget Sound.
E. Hammond and H. B. Emery establislied a fishei-y at Port Sladison about
1870. The herring, thougli of good flavor, are sm.aller than those of the At-
lantic, and are caught with a seine. A thousand barrels of fish have been
taken at a single haul. This fishery has put up 10,000 boxes, of six dozen
cacli, of smoked and dried herring in a season, and delivered them on the
wharf for 30 cents a box. Seattle Rural, March 1877, 36. This establishment
has pressed from herring 2,000 gallons of oil per month. Other herring fish-
cries were on San Juan Island and at various other points on the Sound.
The eulachan, or candle-fish, so called becanso when dried it burns like a
candle, is another marketable fish of the coast from Cape Blanco to Sitka. It
resembles smelt, is very fat, and of fine grain and delicate flavor. It appears
in shoals, and i.s tauylit with a scoop-net or rake. The Indians formerly took
t'.iera to make oil, liut the H. B. Co. salted them down in kegs for eating.
They are now dried like herring.
Sturgeon are plentiful in the Columbia and Eraser rivers, and in the in-
terior lakes of BritishColumbia. They are superior in size and flavor to the At-
lantic sturgeon, being less tougli and less oily, and are found in the markets of
Portland and S. F. The H. B. Co. manufactured isinglass from them for
export.
Rock-cod and tomcod are taken in the Sound, and are regnlarlj' furnished
to the markets; as are also smelts, sardines, flounders, perch, turbot, skate,
chub, plaice, stickleback, and other varieties. A kind of shark, known as
dog-fish from its long jaws and formidable teeth, visits the Sound in great
shoals in the autumn, and is used by the Indians for food and oil. Ebet/'s
Journal, MS., iii. 42. In 1871 S. B. Pardee made oil from dog-fish at Gig
Harbor. Ohjmpia Wash. Standard, April 8, 1871. In the following year a
CO. was incorporated under the laws of Cal. as tlie North Pacific Commercial
Company, the principal object of which was the taking of dog-fish for oil.
The works were located on Fox Island, ten miles from Steilacoom, the site
taking the name of Castlenook. The daily catch by means of wears, pounds,
seines, and trawls was from 3,000 to 4,000 large fish. One hundred and sev-
enty-seven fish were taken at one set of the lines at Oyster Bay. Olympia
Transcript, May 2, 1868.
As soon as spring opens, or whenever the weather will permit after the
first of Jan., the Indians at Cape Flattery put out to sea in their canoes a dis-
tance of 10 or 15 miles to catch seals, which at this season of the year are
SEALS AND OYSTERS. 347
migrating north in myriads, and on a bright day may be seen for miles jump-
ing, splashing, and playing in the water. When fatigued with this sport
they turn over on their backs and go to sleep, at which time the Indians ap-
proach cautiously and dart their spears into the nearest. They catch eight
or ten a day in this manner. Later they used the pilot-boat to go out and
return, taking their canoes and cargoes on board. Port Tovmsend Message, Jan.
31, 1871. Occasionally they killed forty or fifty a day.
Ten vessels were employed in 1S81 , the catch being about 8,000 seal-skins,
worth from §7 to $9 each. The number of Indians engaged was over 200, and
their profit on the season's catch about $200 each for skins, besides 1,500 gal-
lons of oil for food.
The sea-otter, which formerly was taken in great numbers at Point Gren-
ville, GO miles north of Suoalwater Bay, has become comparatively rare. The
Neah Bay Indians monopolize the hunt on that part of the coast, while at
Gray Harbor white men take them, using rifles, and perching themselves on
ladders placed at intervals aloug the beach, from which they can discern the
otter, which seldom comes nearer than 300 yards. It requires skill to shoot
them swimming at that distance, but thny have been killed at 800 yards.
Tlie average was about two otter-skins a month to each hunter, worth from
S30 to .SoO each. Land otter-skins were very rare; but about four thousand
beaver pelts were annually shipped from Washington.
The lirst discovery of oysters on the Pacific Coast was made at Shoalwater
Bay by C. J. W. Russell, between 1849 and 1851. In the autumn of 1851
the schooner Two Brothers, Capt. Fieldsen, came into the bay an<l loaded with
oysters for S. F. Theyall died on the way, but another attempt by Anthony Lud-
lum, was more successful. A writer in the Portland ]Yest Shore, Aug. 1878,
claims the discovery for Fieldsen; but as Swan was on the ground soon after,
and knew all the persons concerned, I adopt his account. Natural oyster-beds
stretched over a distance of thirty miles in length and from four to seven
in width. These beds were common property. The first territorial legisla-
ture passed an act prohibiting the taking of oysters by any pei'son who had
nut been a resident of the territory for one month, without a license. The
next legislature prohibited their being gathered by non-residents. The use of
dredgers was forbidden, the oystering season was designated, and all small
oysters were to be returned to their beds. The legislature of 1364-5 granted
Michael S. Drew and associates the exclusive privilege of planting, cultivat-
ing, and gathering oysters in Port Gamble Bay, and to Henry Winsor and L.
D. Durgin the same exclusive right in Budd Inlet.
An act approved Oct. 31, 1873, granted to each person planting oysters in
localities where no natural beds existed ten acres, to hold while the plantmg
should be regularly maintained. Locations could be made in detached parcels,
and in Shoalwater Bay 20 acres might be taken; but in no case might the
beds interfere with the logging interest. \^ here marketable oysters were
bedded a location was restricted to 20,000 feet supei-ficial area. Tliese
privileges were to extend to citizens of the territory only.
Li 1861-2 the oysters at Shoalwater Bay were nearly all destroyed by frost
and low tides. Their enemies were the skates and drum-fish, co pirotect them
against which it was sometimes necessary to surround the beds by a fence of
closely set pickets.
In 1853-4 there were from 150 to 200 men on Shoalwater Bay and affluents
wlio lived chiefly by oystering. V]} to 1859 all the oysters shipped came from
natural beds, but in that year planting began. The trade steadily increased
until the opening of the first transcontinental railroad, when the shipment of
eastern oysters began , which materially decreased the demand for the native
moUusk. The shipments made from Shoalwater Bay in 1874 amounted to
120,000 baskets. Portland Went Shore, Aug. 1878, 2. This locality had now
to contend not only with the importation of eastern oj'sters, but with the beds
of Totten Inlet and other parts of Puget Sound, which ship by railroad in any
desired quantities, while the ,Shoalwater Bay oystermen must ship in large
quantities, because they depend on vessels. Natural beds of oysters are found
348 RESOURCES A^D INDUSTRIES.
everywhere in Puget Sound, the quality and size being affected somewhat by
the locality and tlie density of the masses iu wliich they grow, the better tish
being where they are most scattered. Near Olympia they exist iu banks sev-
eral feet thick. They are abundant iu all the tide-waters adjacent to the
strait of Fuca, in Bellingham Bay, in Commencement Bay, and are found in
Gray Harbor. The native oyster has a slightly coppery taste, which does not
come from copper beds, but from the mud flats in which they grow, aud it
disappears with cooking. They are of a delicate flavor, not so rank as the
eastern oyster. The Olympia beds are said to be superior to others. In 1880
$100,000 worth were shipped from the beds in the Sound to Portland.
Another shell-fish which is found in inexhaustible quantities in Washing-
ton is the clam, of which there are several species, from the immense quohog,
the meat of which will weigh three pounds, to the small blue clam, preferred by
some to the oyster, the white clam, also small, and the long razor-clam of the
ocean beach. This testaceous fish has furnished many generations of Indians
with a considerable portion of their food supply, and fed hungry white men
as well in the early settlements of the country. Narrative of B. F. Brotun,
MS. In 1879 a company was formed in Olympia for the preserving of clams
by the process of canning, similar to the method used in preserving beef and
salmon, and from which a delicious chowder was quickly prepared for the
table. The company consisted of E. N. Ouimette, N. H. Ownings, S. G.
Ward, J. K. Hayden. Olyvqna Wash. Standard, April 2, 1880.
Salmon-fishing, one of the most important of the resources of both Oregon
and Washington, I have treated of in my History of Oregon. There are
many salmon taken in the Sound and its affluents, though not so easily caught,
or of so uniformly good quality, as those of the Columbia. In 1873 V. T.
TuU of Olympia established a salmon fishery at Mukilteo, principally for
putting up fish in barrels. The first year 500 bbls were packed at Mukilteo,
after which the fishery was moved temporarily to Seattle to take the late run
up the Dwamish River, which is usually large. Fifteen hundred good large
salmon have been taken at one h;iul of the seine in the Puyallup. Olymiia
Columbian, Sept. 10, 1853. In 1877 Jackson Myres & Co., formerly of Port-
land, erected a canning establishment at Mukilteo, and made of it a suc-
cessful entei-prise; but it had not, in ISSO, been followed by any others. The
catch of 1877 ^^■as ostimatcil at 10,(11 )lt cases, and over 2,000 barrels, valued at
$77,300. Snolw.n^sh Xf.rili.nt ,Si,ir, Srj.t. 22, 1S77; Olympia Transcript, Dec.
1,'1877. In lyyi CuiljLtt & iLieleay, of Portland, foimded a fishery at
Tacoma. Sixty liarrtls %\eie packed iu five days, only three men being em-
ployed. New Tacoma Tribune, Nov. 14, 1874. In 1S76 John Bryggot, a
Norwegian, founded another fishery at Salmon Bay, six miles north of
Olympia. In 1878 a company of Puget Sound men established a fourth at
Clallam Bay. They put ux> the first season 600 casks of salmon and 700
of halibut. Morse's Wash. Tcr., MS., xviii. 17-18. In the following season
D. H. Hume established a fishery near Steilacoom for the puipose of salt-
ing salmon. In 1880 H. Levy, of Seattle, went to London with 100 barrels
to introduce Puget Sound salted salmon to that market. In 1SS2 a salmon-
packing establishment was opened at Old Tacoma by Williams. Salmon ran
in great numbers this year. One boat brought iu a thousand fish. Queniult
River, on the coast, produced salmon quite equal to the best Chinook or
Columbia River fish, though they were small, averaging five pounds. The
territory has by legislative enactment endeavored to save the salmon product,
it being unlawful to place traps, or other obstructions, across streams with-
out leaving a chute for the passage of fish. An act of 1868 also pro-
vided for an inspector of salmon in each county where it was put up for ex-
port. All packages marked bad by the inspector were condemned. No pack-
ages could be sold unbranded with the name of the packer and the year of
the catch; and penalties were imposed for counterfeiting brands.
Iu February 1859 an act was passeil prohibiting non-residents from taking
fish on tlie beach of the Columbia, between Point Ellis and Cape Hancock.
Wash. Stat., 1858-9, 26. On the 26th of Jan., 1861, J. T. Lovelace and W.
SALMON AND CATTLE. S49
H. Dillon were granted the exclusive right to fish in the Columbia for a dis-
tance of one mile along its banks, and extending from low-water mark half a
mile towiii-d the middle of the stream. An act of the legislature of 1805
gave C. C. Terry and Joseph Cushman the right to introduce into and stock
the waters of lakes Washington and Union with shad and alewives, with the
exclusive privilege for 30 years of taking all these fish in these lakes, and
their tributaries and outlets, provided the lakes should be stocked within 5
years. This law was modified in 1S69 by substituting the name of Frank
Matthias for that of Terry, by the addition of white-fish, and by extending
the time for jilanting, and also making the grant 30 years from that time.
The value of the salmon exported in barrels or cans is not given authen-
tically in any published reports. During the season of 1880, 160,000 cases of
canned salmon were shipped from the Washington side of the Columbia to
foreign markets, each case containing four dozen one-pound cans, or 7,680,000
pounds of fish ready for the table. The price varied from year to year. Be-
tween 1870 and 1881 it ranged from §9.50 to S-i a case, averaging nearly
$6 a case, making a total average for canned salmon of about §900,000 annu-
ally. Pickled or salt salmon sold at from $G to 88 a barrel, and each cannery
puts up from 300 to 800 barrels in addition to the canned fish. Giving a value
merely conjectural but moderate for the salted salmon of the Sound from
half a dozen fisheries, and that of the Columbia pickled salmon from eight
or more factories, another §50,000 may be safely supposed to have been added
to the sum total for salmon.
Thei-e is but one other source of wealth to be noticed in this place, which
pertains principally to the eastern division of the territory, namely, live-
stock. Two thirds of this part of the territory is excellent grazing land, and
has raised immense herds of cattle and sheep, which have been a convenient
means of income to the people. Nothing has been required generally, exceiit
to herd sheep and brand cattle, which fed at pleasure over the boundless
stretches of unoccupied land. Great as has been the reputation of the Walla
Walla Valley, from the time when Bonneville and Missionary Parker won-
dered at the riches of the Cayuses, represented by their hundreds of horses,
the Yakima country eclipses it as a, stock-range, both on account of pastur-
age and mildness of climate. The Palouse region, later converted into grain-
fields, has also been a famous stock-range for many years; and for many years
to come there will be enough uufenced land to support millions of dollars'
worth of cattle, horses, and sheep. Aboxit one winter in five is severe enough
to require the housing and feeding of cattle. It is then that the stock-raiser,
grown careless and confident, has cause to lament his indolence in not pro-
viding for the protection of his property. Yet, with occasional severe los.ses,
Washington has had from an early day a sure and easy means of livelihood,
if not of wealth.
To what an extent the people of the Puget Sound country and the Cowlitz
and Chehalis valleys depended upon their cattle for sujiport was illustrated in
1 8C3, wdien the government prohibited for a time the exportation of live-stock.
The order was in consequence of Canada being made a field of operations for
the leaders of the rebellion, and the danger that supplies might be shipped to
them from the British provinces. It was not intended to aft'ect Washington.
S. F. Alia, July 30, 1863: Portland Oreqonian, Sept. 3, 1863; Or. Argus, Aug.
17, 1SG3. Exports into V.I. from the Pacific United States in 1862 amounted
to three millions of dollars. Of this amount about one million was in cattle
from Oregon and Washington that were carried by the way of Portland and
Puget Sound to Victoria. Those driven into B. C. east of the Cascades were
not taken into the account. They were to stock the country, as well as for
beef. A small proportion of them only were from Oregon, while they repre-
sented the ready cash of the farmers of Washington. The order from the de-
partment of state deprived them of this income, as well as the British colonies
of beef. Victor Smith was then collector of the Puget Sound district; and
although Governor Pickering was of opinion that the law was not applicable
350 RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
to the territory, he insisted xipon its observance. Much of the hostility felt
toward the collector and his schemes came from this. Pickering visited Gov.
Douglas to explain the embargo, and for a number of months much excitement
and evident inconvenience prevailed on both sides of the straits. When at
last the embargo was raised, there wras a corresponding rejoicing. Instantly
the H. B. Co. despatched a steamer for a cargo of live-stock, and the money
market was relieved. But there had also been evasion of the law by the ship-
ment of cattle to San Juan Island, then neutral territory, and thence to V. I.
For a brief period the patriotic citizens of Puget Sound had cause to congrat-
ulate themselves that the boundary question was still unsettled.
The prices obtained for cattle in the early settlement of the country were
great, as great almost as in Oregon when the Willamette Cattle Company was
formed in 1838. I find several entries in Ebey's Journal, MS., which throw
light on this subject. In volume v. 26, he says that his brother, I. N. Ebey,
sold, in 1857, four Spanish cows with calves for §80 each. The following year,
at a sale of cattle on Whidbey Island, by W. S. Ebey, 49 head brought §2,324.
At another sale in 1859, at the same place, 25 cows and heifers brought §059,
or an average of over $38 each, common stock. In 1863, when the embargo
was raised, beef cattle on foot, for shipment, brought from 3 to 6 cents per
pound, showing the gradual decline in prices with the increase of numbers.
Notwithstanding this decline, the value of live-stock exported from
Puget Sound in 1867-8 was $106,989 for 9,476 animals of all kinds. In the
following year there were exported over 13,000 animals at an aggregate
value of nearly $200,000. The total value of live-stock in the territory in
1870 was $2,103,313; in 1873 there were 23,000 neat-cattle owned in Walla
Walla county alone, and 20,000 sheep. For a number of years cattle and
sheep were driven from the plains of eastern Washington to Nebraska to be
shipped to eastern markets. Sheep were sometimes two or three years on the
road, notwithstanding the first Oregon importations overland came through
from the Missouri in one season. Sheep-raising both for mutton and wool be-
came a most profitable industry in all parts of the territory, but particularly
in the eastern division. Lirge tracts of land on the Cowlitz prairie, the Ni*j-
qually plains, the idlamls of the Haro archipelago, and Whidbey Island are
peculiarly adopted to shccp-farming, while the whole of eastern Washmgtou
is favorable both in climate and natural food to the production and improve-
ment of sheep. Inferior breeds average five pounds of wool per annum, and
the finer breeds as much as in any country of the world. It was estimated
that in 1865, 50,000 pounds of wool were shipped from Washington to Cal.,
which brought the highest average price in the market because cleaner than
the Cal. wool. Yet sheep were comparatively scarce considering the demand,
and worth $4 each by the drove. In 1870, according to the census report,
nearly 200,000 pounds of wool were exported. Since that time large numbers
of sheep have been driven out of the territory.
Historically speaking, the H. B. Co. introduced the first sheep, both com-
mon from Cal. and Saxony and merino from Eng. Watt and other Oregon
stock-farmers followed later with various improved breeds. The first wool
shipment of Washington was 15,000 pounds from Puget Sound in 1860 by
William Rutledge, Jr, for which he paid from twelve to sixteen cents per
pound. Olympia Pioneer and Dem., July 27, 1860. The wool was of good
quality and neatly put up. A legislative act was passed in Jan. 1860 incor-
porating the Puget Souud Woollen Manufacturing Company of Tumwater,
but nothing ever came of it except the name, which was suggestive of what
ought to be done, if no more. Again, five years later, the Washington
Woollen Manufacturing Coiqpany of Thurston county was incorporated, with
like results. There was an attempt made by A. R. Elder and Clark to estab-
lish a woollen-mill on Steilacoom Creek. The carding-machine was purchased
by Elder in North Andovcr, Massachusetts, with the design of putting it up
in Olympia, but Clark selling out to Elder, it went to Steilacoom. A build-
ing 50 by 80 feet was erected, four stories high. The factory had a capacity
for carding 250 pounds a day, three spinning-jacks of 240 spindles each, and
SHEEP, HORSES, AND FLOUR. 351
four looms of different sizes. The cost was over |33,000, and it wa.s com-
pleted, together with a boarding-house for operatives, iu the spring of 1870.
It was bid off at auction for f 16,OjO in June 1871, when it stopped running.
Oli/mpiaPar. Tribune, April 11, 1868; Oii/mpia Commercial Age, Jan. 8, 1870;
Oii/mpia Wash. Standard, Oct. 29, 1870; Olympia Transcript, June 17, 1871.
Alfred Kidgely Elder was born in Lexington, Ky, Aug. 16, 1806. He re-
moved to Springfield, 111., where he was a neighbor and friend of Lincoln.
He came to Oregon in 1849 and settled in Yamhill county, where he farmed
aud preached, being a presbyterian. In 1802 he was appointed Indian agent
at the Puyallup reservation, where he resided for 8 years. He was subse-
quently elected probate judge of Thurston county. He died Feb. 14, 1882, at
Olympia. Three sous aud 4 daughters survived him. Olympia Conner, Feb.
17, 1882. The first successful woollen company was one organized in Dayton,
Columbia county, of which S. 51. Wait was president and Reynolds of Walla
VValla a large owner. The foundation was laid in 1872, the capital stock be-
ing .$40,000. Over $30,000 was paid out in 1878 for raw wool.
The natives of eastern Washington found horse-raising a profitable pursuit,
and white breeders are equally prosperous. They are raised with little ex-
pense, which enables the owner to sell them cheap at home, while they bring
a good price abroad for speed and endurance. Hog-raising, especially adapted
to the coast counties, has been neglected, although hogs will thrive on clover
and grasses, and could be cheaply fattened on pease, to which the soil and cli-
mate are peculiarly favorable. Corn, upon which farmers east of the Missouri
depend for making pork, does not produce a good crop in the moist and cool
climate of western Washington, but grows and ripens well in the eastern
portion of the territory, aud, together with the waste of the wheat-fields,
should furnish the material for much of the meat consumed on the coast.
Bees were introduced into the territoi'y about 1858 from southern Oregon, but
little honey has been furnished to the markets. That which is made in the
Columbia River region, and sold in Portland, is of great excellence, white,
pure, and of a delicate flavor.
Of manufactures from native resources, flour is one of the most important.
The first flouring-mill in the territory was erected at Vancouver iu 1830 by
the H. B. Co., and was a set of ordinary mill-stones run by ox-power. In
1832 a mill was erected seven miles above Vancouver, on Mill Creek, to i-un
by water-power. Whitman built a small flouring mill at Waiilatpu, which
was in use about 1840. The first American colony on Puget Sound erected a
rude grist-mill at the falls of the Des Chutes, in the village of Tumwater, iu
1846. This sutBced to pulverize the wheat, but not to bolt the flour. In
1851-2 a good grist-mill was erected by Drew at Cowlitz landing, and later
in the same year a larger one on the Chehalis by Armstrong. In 1854 Ward
& Hays of Tumwater built a complete flouring mill at that place, which
superseded the pioneer mill of Simmons and his neighbors. The next flour-
hig mill was put up by Chambers at the mouth of Steilacoom Creek, in 1858.
In'lSliO there were, according to the U. S. census, no more than six mills in
the territory. Langley's Pacific Coast Directory for 1871-3 gave a table of 23,
all run by water-power except Yesler's, at Seattle, and erected at an aggre-
gate cost of over §300,000, two thirds of that amount being invested in
Walla Walla county, at that time recently settled. Several were erected iu
that county between 1864 and 1867, among them a mill by S. M. Wait on the
Touchet, in 1865, this being the initial point in the settling of Waitsburg.
Wait's mill had a capacity of 100 barrels a day, being exceeded only by one
other mill in the territory at that time, that of the Lincoln mill at Tumwater,
which could grind 150 ban-els daily. The average capacity of all the mills
was about 40 barrels, or a little over 900 barrels daily. S. M. Wait was the
first man to export flour from tlie Walla Walla Valley. Having a surplus,
he sent a cargo to Liverpool, realizing a profit of $1 a barrel, which, consid-
ering the then high rates of transportation to Portland to be shipped alioard
a vessel, was a noteworthy success. H. P. Isaacs of Walla Walla was one of
352 RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
the first millers in the valley, and became proprietor of the North Pacific
iliUs at that place. In 18S0 there were 16 grist-mills east of the Cascades,
against 11 in 1873.
Lime was first made in 1860 on the west side of San Juan Island, by
Augustus Hibbard. He was killed by N. C Bailey, his partner, in a quaiTel
about an Indian woman, June 17, 1868. The works remained closed and in
possession of the military authorities from that time to 1871, when Hibbard's
heir came from the east and reopened them. Two years afterward he died.
Before his death Bailey returned and took possession of his interest. James
McCurdy held a mortgage on tlie works, taken in 1866, and when Bailey died
in 1874 be came into possession of the whole. The San Juau Island lime-
works are the largest north of Cal., and of great value to the country. The
average sales for several years prior to 1879 were from 1,200 to 1,500 barrels
per annum. The capacity of the kilns was 26,400 barrels. There were ten
acres of limestone at the M cCurdy works. It was of a light gray color, very
compact, and suitable for building stone if not too costly to work.
New lime-works were opened on the north end of the island in 1879 by
Messrs Ross & Scurr, who had as much limestone as McCurdy. The same
year McLaughlin & Lee opened a third kiln on the east side of the island,
with a capacity of 275 barrels, and burned about one kiln a week. This
ledge was first worked by Roberts, who was drowned about 1863. La Name
of Victoria then claimed it, but failed to perfect his title subsequent to the
settlement of the boundary question, and it was taken by the present owners.
On Orcas Island was the Port Langdou lime-kiln, situated on the east side of
Buck's Bay, first worked about 1862 by Shottler & Co. It was sold to Daniel
McLaughlin, of the last-named firm, and R. Caines in 1874, Caines subse-
quently buying out McLaughlin. Between 1874 and 1879 more than 20,000
ban-els of lime were sold from this quarry, which covered but two acres. The
kiln had a capacity of 1 75 barrels, and burned forty per day.
In 1S7S a quarry was opcue.l on land leased from the Northern Pacific R.
Co., situiitea ill the riiyalUip Valley near Adlerton station. Two furnaces
were miming in Xow, owned liy C'ronk & Gritfith, having an aggregate
capacity of 27-3 lianels. An extensive quarry was discovered iu 1882 on the
SUagit River; and limestone was reported as found near Walla Walla in 1872.
The production of lime iu ISSO was 65,000 barrels, worth $84,500.
A kindred industi-y was the manufacture of cement from nodules of a yellow-
ish limestone found on the banks of the Columbia about the mouth of the
river. This manufacture was commenced in 1868 by Knapp & Burrell of
Portland, at Knappton opposite Astoria. The works yielded in the beginning
35 barrels daily.
Taking into consideration that both Oregon and Washington are stock-
raising countries, little attention is paid to the manufacture of leather.
Three small tanneries, at Tumwater, Olympia, and Steilacoom, complete the
list. The first was erected by James B. Biles and Young, in 1857, and was still
in operation iu 1 885.
Soap was first made at Steilacoom in March 1862 by the Messrs Meekers.
The manufacture was discontinued.
The manufacture of tobacco, from plants grown by himself, was begun at
Elhi, Pierce county, by T. E. Patton, in 1877.
Fruit canning and drying was first engaged in by an organized company
in 1883, at Walla AValla.
Brooms have for several years been manufactured at Olympia, and broom-
corn raised in Yakima county.
Gloves were first made at a factory established in Olympia in 1880 by
Weston & Swichart.
A sash, door, and blind factory was established at Tumwater in 1871 by
Leonard, Crosby, & Cooper. Cooper soon became .sole manager.
A chair factory was erected at Seattle in 1879 by Newell k Cosgriff,
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS. 353
The Seattle lumber mills run machinery for manufacturing sash, doors, and
blinds, and scroll and ornamental work for house-building.
Water-pipe was first manufactured in 1868, at Tumwater, by W. N. Hor-
ton. In 1870 C. H. Hale and S. D. Howe were admitted to a partnership,
and the company called the Washington Water -Pipe Manufacturing and
Water Company. It subsequently passed into the hands of D. F. Finch. The
capacity of the works was from 2,500 to 3,000 feet per day of finished pipe.
The material used was wood, bored, bound with iron hoops, and soaked in as-
phaltum. In 1877 a new company was organized in S. F., under the title
fo American Water-Pipe Company, witli a capital of $250,000, for the Jpur
pose of manufacturing wooden pipe at Tumwater for both gas and water
service.
Two stave, box, and excelsior mills are operated on a large scale at Seattle
and Puyallup by the S. F. MattuUath Manufacturing Company. The build-
ings at Seattle cover four acres, 200 persons are employed, and the staves and
heads for 5,000 barrels a day turned out. The waste is used to make boxes.
This company have patented several machines, and have a process of their
own for making barrels. The sides are made of a single sheet, which takes
the place of separate staves. These sheets are cut from a large log by revolv-
ing it against a large knife. Another patent of this company is a petroleum-
barrel, which is a tin cask inside a wooden one, the intervening space being
filled with cement. HUteWs Commerce and Industries, 624-5.
The Puyallup factory employs sixty men, and turns out 1,500 barrels per
day, the staves and heads being sent to S. F. to be set up. Excelsior is made
at this establishment from the Cottonwood trees of the bottom-lands.
Wagon-making is carried on to some extent. The first stage-coach. Con-
cord make, ever built north of S. P. was manufactured in Walla Walla in
1867.
The first brick was made in the territory by Samuel Hancock, on the Cow-
litz prairie. Good brick were scarce as late as 1867, and brought twenty dol-
lars a thousand.
The largest brewery in Washington is at Seattle, owned by Schaffer &
Howard.
Until quite recently no iron-works of any extent existed north of the Co-
lumbia. The Port Madison Mills had a machine-shop attached to their lum-
ber establishment previous to 1S70. In 1877 Lister & Burse opened work
in an iron-foundery at Kew Tacoma, employing twenty men. In 1878 the
North Pacific Foundery and Machine-shop, Seattle Coal Company's machine-
shop, and the Williamson Machine-shop were all running at Seattle. The
North Pacific Company put up new works the following year. There was
also a foundery at Walla Walla.
In 1880 the Puget Sound Iron Company, Cyrus Walker president, erected
a furnace for smelting iron near Port Townsend. The place was called Iron-
dale, where work was commenced in January 1881. The first iron was made
on the 23d of that month. Ore used was obtained from the iron-beds which
underlie the dairy farm of William Bishop at Chimacum, and from Texada
Island in the gulf of Georgia. The Chimacum mine was a stratum of bog-
ore twenty-two inches thick, lying two feet beneath the surface, and exten-
sive enough to keep a forty-ton furnace running for twenty years. The Tex-
ada mine was found in a fissure vein eighty feet wide, cont lining 62 per cent of
metal, the quantity of which is inexhaustible, and the quality excellent, al-
though the ore has to be desulphurized by i-oasting. The ores, delivered at
the furnace, cost about two dollars a ton, including a royalty to the owners.
The Chimacum iron being soft and the Texada hard, they are mi.xed to obtain
the proper density. Charcoal is made from the timber at hand; lime is brought
from San Juan and Orcas islands at a dollar and a half a ton— all of which
greatly cheapens and facilitates the production of the iron, which is worth in
the market thirty dollars per ton. The experiment being successful beyond
expectation, the works are being enlarged.
HiBT. Wash.— 2S
354 COUNTIES AND TOWNS.
COUNTIES AND TOWNS OF WASHINGTON.
Of the three judicial districts into which Washington is divided, the first
comprises the counties of Walla Walla, Whitman, Stevens, Spokane, Colum-
bia, Yakima, Lincoln, Garfield, Kittitass, and Klikitat; the second, Ska-
mania, Clarke, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, Thurston, Lewis, Chehalis, and
Mason; the third, Pierce, King, Snohomish, Whatcom, Island, San Juan,
Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap. Walla Walla co. in 18S0 had an area of
1,600 square miles, a population of 6,212, and taxable property to the amount
of §2,971,560. New Tacomci N. P. Coast, Feb. 1, ISSO. Whitman co. was
established by setting off the southern portion of Stevens, Nov. 21, 1871. It
was named after Marcus Whitman, its first American settler. Recent settle-
ment began in 1870. Its area was 4,300 square miles; population 7,014;
taxable property 11,237,189. The first county commissioners were G. D.
Wilbur, William R. Kexford, and Henry S. Burlingame; sheriff, Charles
D. Porter; treasurer, W. A. Belcher; auditor, John Ewart; probate judge,
John Denny; supt. of schools, C. E. Wbite; coroner, John Fincher; com-
missioners to locate the county seat, William Lucas, Jesse Logsdon, and
J. A. Perkins. The county seat is Colfax. Wash. Stat., 1871, 134-5. Henry
H. Spaulding, son of the missionary Spaulding, was born at Lapwai, in Idaho,
Nov. 24, 1839. He settled at Almota in 1872, and opened the first road to
Colfax. In 1875 he married Mary Warren, and has several children. L. M.
Ringer, born in Washington CO., Ind., in 1834, immigrated to Or. in 1870,
settling at Eugene, In 1872 be took a land claim 3 miles from the present
town of Colfax. Five years later he removed to Almota and erected a flouring
mill, half of which he sold to Adams Bros & Co., forming a partnership with
them in merchandising, subsequently purchasing their interest. He married,
in 1859, Sophie W. Owen, and had in 1875 six children. Stevens co. had
a remaining area of 3 or 4 times that of Whitman, and in 1879 Spokane co.
was set off from it with a pop. of 4,262. Its valuation in 1 SS5 was over a million
and a half. County seat, Spokane Falls. Daniel F. Percival, bom in Bangor,
Me., in 1839, immigrated to Montana in 1866, whence he went to San
Diego, Cal., and thence, after a residence of 2 years, to Or., where be spent 2
years. In 1872 he spttled in Spokane co., at farming and stock-raising. He
was elected county commissioner in 1876, and was a member of the legislative
assembly in 1877 and 1879. He married Lizzie Blytho in 1871. Residenceat
Cheney. Elijah L. Smith, bom in Jefferson, Iowa, in 1842, came overland to
Or. with his father, Elijah Smith, a resident of Salem, aged 80 years, having
a numerous family. Of 1 1 children of the elder Smith 3 sons resided in Wash-
ington, and the remainder in the Willamette Valley. Elijah L. married Julia
Tate in 1871. In 1862 he went to the Florence mines, and followed the Rocky
Mountains from Kootenai to Arizona, working in every camp of importance.
In 1873 he came to the Spokane country to engage in stock-raising, where he
remained permanently, with the exception of 4 years spent in Or. In 1879 ho
took up a body of land surrounding Medical Lake. William Bigham, bom in
Amsterdam, N. Y., in 1831, came by sea to Cal. in 1852, where he mined for
6 months, going to Or. in the autumn, and residing there until 1859, when he
removed to the Walla Walla Valley, having manied, 2 years previous, Jane
Ann Kelly. In 1870 he removed to Butte Creek in Wasco co., where he re-
mained until 1878, when he returned to Washington and settled at Cheney in
Spokane co. , where he engaged in the business of stock-raising. Vroman W. Van
Wie, bom in Cayuga co. , N. Y. , in 1833, came overland to Cal. in 1852. Mined
on the upper Sacramento until the following spring, and then drove a freight
team to Shasta. He soon returned to San Francisco and suppbed milk to
customers for 5 years, after which he farmed in the vicinity of San Jos6 for
some time. In 1861 he came to the Walla Walla Valley, going lience to the
Florence mines, and to Montana, following the Rocky Mountains south to
the Colorado River, then going to Pabranagat and White Pine, Ncv._ He
built the first house in Shcnnantown. Afterward he returned to Washing-
ton with the N. P. R. R. party which first broke sod at Kalama, and remained
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 355
in the Paget Sound country 3 years. In 1872 he settled in Stevens co. (later
Spokane) and engaged in stock-raising. In 1 8S4 he went into merchandising at
Medical Lake, the firm being Campbell & Van Wie. His farm was 3i miles
from the lakes. He married, in 1871, Mrs M. L. Harris. Columbia co. was
set off from the eastern portion of Walla Walla, Nov. 11, 1875. County seat,
Dayton; pop. in 1880, 6,894; taxable property, $1,048,050; area, 2,000 square
miles. S. L. Gilbreth, born in Knox co., Tenn., in 1825, immigrated to
Oregon, and settled in Yamhill co., in 1852. In 1859, or as soon as the
Walla Walla Valley was opened for settlement, he removed to his residence
4 miles from Dayton, and was the first sheriff of the county. He married,
in 1859, M. H. Fanning, and had in 1855 3 sons and 6 daughters. His
brother, Joseph Gilbreth, who came to Or. with him, died in Yamhill co.
Yakima co., established in 1865, area 9,224 square miles; had a popu-
lation in 1SS5 of about 2,000, and a valuation of about §1,000,000. Comity
seat, Yakima City. Among the settlers of Yakima co. was L. H. Adkins, who
was bom in Syracuse, N. Y. , in 1838, and came to Honey Lake Valley, Cal., in
1860. Thence he went to Nevada, and in 1862 started to the Salmon River
mines in Id., but stopped in the Powder River Valley, Or., being one of the
first California company which came overland to these mines. Adkins went
to driving a freight wagon between Caiion City and The Dalles, or Boisfi City,
and was so occupied 3 years. In 1865 he opened a photograph gallery In
Umatilla, and subsequently a livery-stable, but failed, and went next into the
dairying business. In 1867 he was appointed postmaster at Umatilla, and
had a contract to carry the mail to the Yakima country for 6 years. In 1872
he settled in Yakima City at hotel-keeping, having married Flora Markham
of the former place.
George S. Taylor, born in Fountain co., lud., in 1832, at 20 years of age
removed to Iowa, where he resided 12 years, immigrating to Umatilla co. Or.,
in 1864, and removing to Yakima co., Washington, in 1866. He settled in
the Selah Valley, 8 miles from Yakima City, on a stock farm, when there
were but 2 families in the valley, those of Alfred Henson and William Mc-
Allister. Taylor was married in 1857 to Rebecca McLaughlin.
H. M. Benton was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1836. He came to Cal.
by sea in 1S59, around the Horn in a sailing vessel. He sailed for 3 years
between San Francisco and China and Japan, then came to the Columbia
River and \ -as employed by the 0. S. N. Co. to run their steamers, until 1869,
when be settled in the Ahtanam Valley, Yakima co., which was then with-
out towns except the small settlement of Moxie, the county seat, opposite the
present Yakima City. He was elected auditor in 1872, to succeed C. P. Cook,
the first auditor of the county, and served 5 years. He was first clerk of the
district court, when 1 clerk was allowed for each court, and deputy clerk
when only one was allowed in a district. There being no county buUdings,
he carried the county records about with him, until the district court was
established. Judge J. R. Lewis organized the first court, and first sundajr-
school, in what was known as Schanno's Hall, the only public room in tu?
county. The first grand jury met in a small school-room outside the limits of
the town. Previously justice had been loosely administered. James Cathrell
was justice, in a case of assault, and there not being a sufficient num',er or
men for a jury, put the sheriff on the panel. The man was bound over to
appear at the next term of court at Colville — Yakima being, it was believed,
joined to Stevens co. for judicial purposes, whereas it belonged to Walla
Walla. Such was pioneer law. Benton married, in 1869, Mary A. Allen, a
native of Oregon. They had 2 children, the eldest of whom was the first
white native of Ahtanam Valley.
A. J. Splawn, born in Holt co.. Mo., in 1845, immigrated to Linn co.. Or.,
with his mother and family in 1852. He settled in the Yakima Valley in
1801 , when only 2 other men, Charles Splawn and M. Thorp, were in that part
of the country, the former being the first sheriff of the county. Two other
brothers settled in Yakima Valley. A. J. Splawn married Melissa Thorp in
1868; and again in 1873 married Mary A. Davison.
356 COUNTIES AND TOWNS.
Garfield county was established in 1881 out of the eastern portion of Co-
lumbia CO. County seat, Pomeroy.
George W. James, born in Muskingum co., Ohio, in 1836, immigrated to
Cal. overland, in company with 1 brother, Preston James, in 1856, remaining
in Honey Lake Valley 3 years, when he went to Virginia City, Nev., anil
froui there to Sacramento Valley in 1862, taking a farm near Marysville, where
he resided 7 years. In 1878 he left Cal. for the Walla Walla Valley, settling
in Columbia co. (now Garfield), near Ilia. He married Kosanna Sharp in 1856,
and had 4 sons and 3 daughters.
Moses Wright, born in Franklin co., Va, came to Cal. overland with the
Tornado Train in 1851. He went to Siskiyou co. and engaged in packing,
which he followed until 1857, when he removed to Benton co., Or., with his
brother John, who resided near Corvallis. In 186-4 he returned to Cal.
with horses and cattle, remaining there 3 years, settling in Walla Walla Val-
ley in 1867, near Ilia, in what is now Garfield co. Ho married Louisa Spawr
in 1863, by whom he has 3 sons. She died, and in 1884 he was married again
to Mrs Huldah Lewis.
Ransom Long, bom in Kanawha co.. West Va, in 1812, immigrated over-
land in 1852 to the Willamette Valley, Or., with his brother Gabriel. In
1872 he removed to Walla Walla Valley, settling near the present town of
Pomeroy, in Garfield co. He was married, in 1833, to Rosette Clark, and had
5 sons and 2 daughters.
William C. Cams, born ia Niagara, province of Ontario, C. E., in 1835,
came to Cal. in 1858 by sea. He resided in Cal. until 1865, when he went
to Montana, i-emaining there until 1878. In that year he settled in Garfield
CO., 8 miles from Pomeroy.
N. C. Williams, bom "in Surrey co., N. C, in 1824, came overland by rail
in 1873, settling near Pataha City. He married, in 1848, Catherine B. Martin,
and had 5 sons and 6 daughters, all of whom, with one exception, settled
about him.
George W. Burford, born in Lloyd co., Ind., in 1832, immigrated overland,
in Mason's Train, to Yamhill co., Or., in 1852, with his father and family,
consisting of 8 children. In 1854 he went to Yreka, Cal., to work in the
mines, and in 1858 returned to Polk co.. Or. In 1862 he married S. E. Cul-
lough, by whom he has 3 daughters, and 3 years afterward went to reside at
The Dalles, whence he came to Ilia in 1877.
Kittitass county was organized out of Yakima county in 1884. County
seat, EUensburg. It is rapidly filling up with farmers and stock-raisers.
Some of the pioneers are the following: Samuel C. Miller, bom in Ashland
CO., Ohio, in 1823, came to Cal. in 1852, overland, and settled in Nevada co.,
where he resided 9 years, less 1 spent east. In 1861 he removed to Umatilla,
Or. , engaging in the business of packing freight to the mines of J ohn Day,
taking two partners, so extending his lines in 1864 as to have trains running
in all directions where packing was requu-ed. In 1872 the firm removed to
the Wenatchee Valley, then in Yakima CO., bringing a train load of goods,
buying out another trading firm, Ingraham & McBride, and setting up a.s
merchants, where there was but one other white man, John Goler. One of
his pa-tners, Frank Freer, died in 1878, leaving David Freer and Miller to
continue the business. The Freers were also from Ohio, and came out in
1855 and 1857. There were in 1SS5 11 families iu Wenatchee Valley and 44
voters, the first settlers being single men. This valley, says Miller, is 800
feet lower that the Kittitass Valley, after which the county is named, which
recommends it to fruit-growers and farmers.
Thomas Haley, bom in Onondaga co., N.Y., in 1847, came to Washington
in 1869, and settled in Kittitass Valley, engaged in farming and stock-raising.
Married, in 1878, Vancha Hackctt, a native of Or.
Charles B. Reed, born in Indiana town and county, Penn., in 1838, went
to Pike's Peak in search of gold in 1860, and thence to Montana in 1863. He
discovered the Snow Shoe Gulch mines of Butte district, with Joseph Bowers
and Jack Swartz, in the winter of 1864-5, and went from there to Deer Lodge,
KITTITASS AND KLIKITAT. 357
where he rcniainetl until 1869. Starting for Puget Sound, he was attracted
by the advantages of Kittitass Valley for stock-raising, and remained here,
where iu 1S83 he was appointed postmaster. He married Mary Ebey, a
native of Perm., at Deer Lodge, in 1865, and liad 4 sons and 1 daughter. His
second son was the first boy bom in Kittitass Valley. Reed, with F. D.
Schnebly, Charles S. Schnebly, Charles Kenneth, and John Catlin, constituted
a party who went out to capture the Yakima murderers of the Perkins family
iu 1878. William Splawn headed another party which joined Reed's, and
they with the assistance of chief Moses effected the capture, and prevented
a war.
David Murray, bom in Maine in 1831, came to Cal. in 1852 by sea, and
went to the mines at Aubum, but returned to the ship which brought him
out. Queen of the East, Capt. Bartlett, and helped to unload the dry-dock,
which she had in her hold, at Mare Island. For 3 or 4 years he mined and
worked at the navy-yard altemately, and in 1859 purchased a farm near
Mare Island, Avhere he resided until 1862, when he went to the British
Columbia mines, remaining in that country 10 years, when he returned to
Cal. and the east. In 1870 he settled in Yakima co., Washington, of which
he was a commissioner, but in 1883 removed to Kittitass Valley, and resided
at EUensburg. His business was stock-raising. He married Minnie May of
111. in 1878, who died in 1885.
Charles P. Cooke, born in Erie co., Ohio, in 1824, was brought up in San-
dusky City. Ho came to Cal. overland in 1849, and after 1 year in the mines
of the south fork of Feather River removed to Independence, Polk co., Or.
On the establishment of a post-office at that place in 1851, and the appoint-
ment of Leonard Williams postmaster, Cooke was made his deputy, until
1853, when he was appointed postmaster, which oifice he held until 1867. He
was also a justice of the peace from 1851 to 1867, when he removed to the
Yakima country, settling in Moxie Valley, across the river from the present
Yakima City. On the 17th of March, a few days after his arrival, the county
was organized, only 17 voters being present. In June 1868 he was elected
auditor for 2 years, and was chosen county commissioner several times. In
1870 he removed to Kittitass Valley. In 1873 he was elected joint assembly-
man for Yakima and Klikitat counties; and in 1875 was again elected from
Yakima co. The legislature of 1883 appointed him one of the commissioners
of the new county of Kittitass, which he helped to organize the following
year, when he was elected joint assemblyman for Yakima and Kittitass
counties. Cooke says that in 1870 there were only 6 other white settlers iu
what is now Kittitass CO., viz., F. M. Thorp, Charles Splawn, Mathias Baker,
S. R. Geddes, Tillman Houser, and P. Doveran, all with families. There were
about as many single men. Cooke married Susan E. Brewster, bom at Saratoga,
N. Y., but brought up in Ohio, a descendant of the Vandercooks of the old
Dutch colony of N. Y. They had 6 sons and 4 daughters. This is the same
Cooke family which furnished Jay Cooke, Henry D. Cooke, and in Or. E. N.
Cooke.
Thomas Johnson, born in Prescott, Canada West, in 1839, immigrated to
Vancouver, V. I., iu 1862, and settled in Klikitat co., on the north side of
the Columbia, the following yea/, running a ferry between Rocklin and The
Dalles tor 3 years. In 1871 he surveyed the town of Goldendale, erected the
first house and store, and opened trade, and also built the first flouring mill,
destroyed by fire in 1875.
The first organization of Klikitat co. in 1859 having been practically aban-
doued, but three families residing there, viz., Parrott, J. S. Bergen, and
Doty, in 1867 the legislature again appointed county officers. H. M. Mc-
Nary and A. Schuster were chosen commissioners, A. H. Simmons sheriff,
William Council treasurer, and Johnson auditor, which office he held for 3
years, after which he was elected probate judge, and again treasurer. In
1882 he removed to Kittitass VaUey, having a contract with the N. P. R. R.
to furnish lumber. He erected a largo mill and opened a store, which prop-
erty was destroyed by fire in 1883, enl ailing a loss of $26,000. Johnson mar-
ried Ann Connell of Spruceville, C. ^^^, in 1866.
358 COUNTIES AND TOWNS.
John A. Shoudy, bom in Rock Island co., HI., in 1840, served in the U.
8. army during the civil war, and in 1864 immigrated to the Pacific coast via
Panamd, spending 1 year in Cal. In 1865 he removed to Seattle, on Puget
Sound, and in 1871 to the Kittitass Valley, where he purchased the email
stock of merchandise of A. J. Splawn, and settled down to trade with the 12 or
1 4 other settlers, where in 1 885 there were 4 general merchandise stores, carry-
ing each a stock of from §25,000 to $40,000. Shoudy took a preemption claim,
a soldier's homestead claim, of 160 acres each, and having purchased another
160 acres, laid out the town of Elleusburg, naming it after his wife, Mary
Ellen Stewart of Ky, whom he married in 1867. Shoudy was in 1882 elected
to represent Yakima co. in the legislative assembly.
James H. Stevens, bom in Beaver co., Penn., in 1842, immigrated via
Seattle in 1873, and settled at once on a farm in the Kittitass Valley, where
he raised wheat, which he used to fatten hogs, with a profit. He married
Mary C. Rego of Ind. in 1870, and had 2 children.
John P. Sharpe, born in Harrison co., Ohio, in 1842, came to Or. overland
with his parents in 1852, and settled in Lane co. In 1862 he removed to the
neighborhood of The Dalles, and in 1874 again removed to Kittitass Valley,
for the purpose of raising stock. In 1865 he married Nancy J. Roland, a
native of Or. , and had 8 children.
John M. Shelton, born in Wythe co., Va, in 1841, went to Pike's Peak
for gold in 1860, revisiting his home and returning to Denver in 1S65, where
he remained until 1882, when he came to Kittitass Valley to reside. He
married Carrie C. Jones of Mo. in 1866, and has 4 children.
Klikitat county, which was established Dec. 20, 1859, has an area of
2,088 square miles. The county seat was first temporarily located on the
land claim of Alfred Allen. First co. com., Alfred Allen, Richard Tartar,
and Jacob Halstead; probate judge, Willis Jenkins; sherifif, James Clarke;
auditor. Nelson Whitney; assessor, Edwin Grant; treasurer, William Mur-
phy; justice of the peace, John Nelson. Wash. Stat., 1859-60, 420-1. The
boundary of this county was changed in Jan. 1801 by extending the west line
north to the north-east corner of Skamania co. , and thence east to a point due
north of the mouth of Rock Creek, thence to the Columbia, and back through
the middle of the river to the place of beginning. The county seat was then
located 'upon the land of G. W. Phillips,' until fixed by a majority of the legal
voters of said county at a general election. Nelson was then appointed probate
judge, Jenkins treasurer, Phillips auditor, W. T. Waters sheriflf, James H.
Hermains, A. Waters, and A. Davis co. com. , 0. J. McFarland, S. Peasly, and
W. T. Murphy justices of the peace. In Jan. 1867 the county seat was located
at Rockland by legislative enactment, but subject to be changed by a majority
of votes at the next election. A new set of officers were appointed to hold
until others should be elected. Rockland remained the county seat until
it was removed to Goldendale. This county contains the Yakima Indian
reservation. It had a population in 1871 of 2,898, and taxable property to
the amount of ^732,737. Sew TacomaN. P. Coast, Feb. 1, 1880.
Skamania, which embraces the mountainous region of the Cascades,
was established in 1854 by the first territorial legislature, can never be
a populous county. Its area is 2,300 square miles, pop. 495, and tax-
able property $143,793. Co. seat Lower Cascades. Clarke co., whoso his-
tory has been often referred to, has an area of 725 square miles, pop. 4,294,
taxable property $924,100. County seat Vancouver. Cowlitz, set off from
Lewis in 1854, has an area of 1,100 square miles, a pop. of 1,810, and taxable
property to the amount of $938,170. Co. seat Kalama. Wahkiakum co.,
established in 1854, has an area of 360 square miles, population 504, taxable
property $158,606. County scat at Cathlamet. Pacific co. , organized in 1851
by the Or. legislature, has an area of 550 square miles, pop. 1,315, taxable
property $379,258. Co. seat Oysterville. Thurston co., established in 1852
by the Or. leg., has an area of 750 square miles, a pop. of 3,246, and taxable
property amounting to $1,628,108. Co. seat Olynipia. Lewisco., established
in 1845 by the Or. leg., has an area of 1,800 square miles, pop. 2,095, taxablu
WHATCOM COUNTY. 359
property $743,571 County seat Chehalis. Id. Chehalis co,, established in
1854, has an area of 2,800 square miles, pop. 808, taxable property $304,801.
County seat Moutesano. Mason county, organized as Sawatnish in 1854, has
a present area of 900 square miles, pop. 560, taxable property $570,331. Co.
seat Oakland. Pierce co. was organized by the Or. leg. in 1852. It has an
area of 1,800 square miles, a pop. of 2,051, and taxable property to the amount
of $1,669,444. Co. seat Steilacoom, later changed to New j?acoma. King co. ,
established in 1852, has an area of 1,900 square miles, pop. 5,183, taxable
property $1,997,679. Co. seat Seattle. Snohomish co. was established in
1861. The first com., K. C. Ferguson, Henry McClurg, and John Hervey;
sheriff, Jacob Summers; auditor, J. D. Fowler; probate judge, Charles Short;
treasurer, John Harvey. The co. seat was located at Point Elliot, or Mukil-
teo, until it should be changed by election of the voters of the county. Its
present county seat is Snohomish City; area of the county 1,000 square miles,
pop. 1,080, taxable property $390,354. Wliatcom co. was first organized in
March 1S54 out of a portion of Island co. The next leg. located the co. seat
at the land claim of R. V. Peabody until the com. should select a site. Wash.
Stat., 1854, 475. Area 3,840 square miles, pop. 2,331, taxable property
$735,003. Co. seat Whatcom, on the Peabody claim.
The earliest settler in Whatcom co. was William Jarman, an Englishman
formerly in the service of the H. B. Co. , who located liimself on the Samish River
in 1852. To Whatcom co. belong certain islands of the Haro or Fuca archipel-
ago, one of which is Lummi Island, 9 miles long by 1| miles wide, the south
end being a bold eminence rising 1,560 feet, and the north end level forest
land. There is also an island, or delta, formed by the two mouths of the
Nootsack River, on which is the reservation of the Nootsacks. Christian
Tutts was the first permanent settler on Lummi. Samish Island is 3J
miles long, lies east and west, and varies in width from 25 rods about the
middle to 260 rods at the western, and a mile at its eastern end. It was set-
tled first in 1870, by Daniel Dingwall, followed by a number of farmers. Bel
Ungham Bay Mail, April 6, 1875. Fidalgo Island contains about 25,000
acres, and combines a remarkable variety of scenery, soil, and climate. The
eastern portion, fronting on Swinomish Slough, is connected with the main
island only by a narrow peninsula, and is occupied as the reservation of the
Swinomish Indians, containing about 7,000 acres. The first white settlement
was made on Fidalgo Bay, probably, by William Monks. The island has a
number of bays offering attractions for settlement — Simelk, Fidalgo, Padilla,
and Squaw bays. Mount Erie, 1,250 feet high, rises about 2 miles south-west
of the head of Fidalgo Bay. Lake Erie, and several small lakes, add diver-
sity to the landscape. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xvi. 25-6. Guemes Island,
first settled in 1862 by J. F. Mathews, contains about 7,000 acres, most of
which is occupied. There is a post-office and steamboat landing on Ship
Hai'bor channel. There is a copper mine on this island, discovered by Hugh
D. O. Bryant, born in Georgia, one of the Or. pioneers of 1843. He removed
to Puget Sound in 1853, residing first at Olympia, but settling on Guemes
Island in 1S06. The copper mine is on his farm, and was located and tested
in 1875. It is in the hands of a stock company at present. Cypress Island
was settled in 1869, by J. M. Griswokl. It is about five miles long and three
miles wide, has a mountain 1,525 feet high, with lakes and diversified scen-
ery. Only a small portion of the kind is tillable. Secret Harbor, Strawberry
Bay, and Eagle Harbor are the settlements. Sheep-raising and fishing are
the industries of the island. Sinckair Island, sometimes called Cottonwood,
lies between Cypress and Lummi islands, containing an area of 1,050 acres,
of which 1,000 are cultivable. It was settled by A. C. Kittles in 1868. Kit-
tles went from Cal. to the Eraser mines, thence to Orcas and Fidalgo islands,
and finally here. Ho keeps cattle and sheep. There were no white women on
Sinclair or Cypress islands in 1885. The first settlement on Skagit River was
made in 1859 by William H. Sortwell, formerly of Snohomish. On the Noot-
sack the first resident was Patterson, who cut the first cattle-trail from where
Ronton now stands. There are many Swedes and Norwegians on the Skagit
and Swinomish, who make excellent farmers.
360 COUNTIES AND TOWNa
Island CO. was established in Jan. 1853, just before the organization of the
territory. Its first limits were very indefinite, and "Whatcom county was
taken ofi' from it. Its present area is 250 square miles, embracing Camano
and Whidbey islands. The area of the latter is 115,000 acres, of the former
30,000. Pop. 633; taxable property S372,821. Co. seat Coupeville.
San Juan county was established October 1873, being constituted of the
islands of the Haro archipelago, containing an area of 280 square mUes, pop-
ulation of 838, and taxable property to the amount of $182,147. Co. seat
San Juan.
The Ha.ro Archipelago.
San Jnan co. was in dispute between Eng. and the U. S. when, daring the
Fi'aser River excitement, it received a first rapid accession of American pop-
ulation. Many of these settlers will hardly come under the Washington
Pioneer Society's rule for pioneers, yet to all intents and purposes belong to
that class, and deserve mention. C. Rosier was a soldier in Co. D, 9th U.
S. infantry, under Captain Pickett, from 1855 <to 1860. After his discharge
he settled on the island of San Juan. Robert Frasier settled in November
1859. He came to the coast in 1856, and went to Fraser River in 1848. D.
W. Oaks, a native of Maine, went to the Fraser mines in 1858 from Cal., and
returning settled on the island three weeks before Pickett landed with Am.
troops, and helped to raise the first Am. flag. McGan-y was another settler
of 1859, whose widow remained ou the island. S. V. Boyce, a returned
miner of 1859, erected the first building in the town of San Juan. Charles
McKay and Henry Quinlan also selected homes on the island the same year.
CLALLAM COUNTY AND SEATTLE. 361
Frederick Jones came to Puget Sound iu 1S54, left in 1S56, returned in 1858,
aud settled on the east side of San Juan Island, south of Friday Harbor. He
is a sheep-farmer and fruit-grower. Rev. Thomas J. Weeks, the first prot-
estant minister to settle on San Juan, acquii-ed title after the abandonment
of Camp Pickett to the quarters formerly occupied by the officer in conunand,
and he and Pvobert Firth secured possession of this historic ground. Morse's
Wash. Ter., MS., xv. 36-42. Morse gives many other names from 1862 to
1870. The part of the settlement has been made since 1870.
Clallam co. was organized by the first ter. leg. in April 1854. Its area is
2,050 square miles, population 469, taxable property $154,351, co. seat New
Dungcness. Ifeio Tacoma, JV. P. Coast, Feb. 1, 1880. Jefferson co. was es-
tablished in 1852 by the Or. leg. Its area is 2,500 square miles, population
1,427, taxable property, |469,161, co. seat Port Townsend. Kitsap co. was
established iu Jan. 1857, under the name of Slaughter, in memory of the gal-
lant officer of that name who defended the firesides of the early settlers
against the hostile chief whose name the com. finally adopted, and whose
home was on the peninsula which constituted the co. between Admiralty In-
let and Hood Canal. The first board of co. com. were Daniel S. Howard, G.
A. Meigs, and Cyrus Walker; sherifl^, G. A. Page; auditor, Delos Waterman;
assessor, S. B. Hines; treasurer, S. B. Wilson; justices of the peace, William
Hubner, William Eenton, and M. S Drew. Wash. Stat. , 185Q-1 , 52. A sup-
plementary act provided that the legal voters of Slaughter co. should at the
next annual election decide upon a name for the county, which they did. A
third act appointed Henry C. Wilson probate judge for the county. The area
of Kitsap is 540 square miles, pop. 1,799, taxable property ^1,044,673, co. seat
Port Madison. Quillehyute co. was created in Jan. 1868, out of that portion
of the coast south of the Quiliehyute Kiver, north of Chehalis co., and west
of the Olympic range; but there being not pop. enough to fill the co. ofiices,
the act was repealed the following year. Wa,^h. Stat.
Taking the population and wealth of the first district, which is purely an
agricultural one, and comparing it with that of the other two, which are largely
commercial, it appears, according to the statistics for 1879, furnished by the co.
ofiicers, that eastern Washington had at that time a pop. in its six counties only
five thousand less than western Washington with its eighteen counties, and
had fcixable property to the amount of §8,185,774, against $12,761,080 on the
west side of the mountains. Four counties were organized since 1879 in the
eastern division. The growth of the country on both sides of the Cascades
has been rapid, almost doubliug its population in five years, and adding 50
per cent to its capital, which in a new country is a large increase.
Seattle, the metropolis of Washington, in 1880 had 7,000 inhabitants, and
property valued at something over four millions. Its manufactures com-
prised three ship-yards, three founderies, two breweries, one tannery, three
boiler-shops, six sash and door factories, five machine-shops, six saw-mills,
three brick-yards, three fish-packing factories, one fish cannery, one barrel
factory, one ice factory, one soda-water factory, besides boot and shoe shops,
tin-shops, and other minor industries. The commerce of Seattle with the coast
Une of settlements was considerable; but the chief export is coal from the
mines east of Lake Washington. There were few public buildings except
churches, of which there were ten, besides the hall and reading-room of the
Young Jlen's Christian Association. The university, whose early history
has been given, was in as flourishing a condition as an institution without a
plentiful endowment could be. In connection with the university there was
a society of naturalists numbering 23 young men, whose cabinet was valued
at §3,000. The building occupied by their cabinet was furnished by A. A.
Denny, to be enlarged as required. The officers were: W. Hall, president;
E. S. Meany, vice-president; H. Jacobs, secretary; F. M. Hall, assistant
secretary; C. L. Denny, librarian; A. M. White, treasurer; and J. D. Young,
marshal. Seattle Evening Herald, Dec. 22, 1883. The lesser towns of King
county are: Newcastle, Renton, Dwaraish, Black River, Fall City, Slaughter,
White River, Snoqualimich, Squak, Quilleyute, and Quillieene.
362 COUNTIES AND TOWNS.
The second town in size on Puget Sound in 1SS5 was New Tacoma, popu-
lation 4,000. Old Tacoma, become a suburb of its younger rival, was a pretty
village facing the bay around a point a little to the west of the new town.
The first to project a town on Commencement Bay was Morton M. McCarver,
who belonged to the Oregon immigi-ation of 1S43. In 1S68 he visited Puget
Sound in search of the probable terminus of the Northern Pacific railway,
and fixed upon Commencement Bay. Together with L. M. Starr and James
Steele he purchased the land of Job Care and laid off the town of old
Tacoma, built a house, and induced Ackerson and Hanson to erect a mill
there. He gave 200 or 300 acres to the railroad company, and purchased sot-
eral thousand more for them, the temiinus being located, as it was beUeved,
on this laud July 14, 1873. He died April 17, 1S75. Letter of Mrs Julia A.
McCarver, in Historical Correspondence, MS. McCarver was born iu Lexing-
ton, Ky, Jan. 14, 1807. He settled in Galena, 111., in 1830. He took part
in the Black Hawk war, founded the town of Burlington, Iowa, had a stake
in Chicago and Sacramento, but lost heavily by fire in Idaho, and suffered by
the failure of Jay Cooke & Co. Pacijic Tribxme, April 23, 1875; Portland
Welcome, March 28, 1875; Olympia Courier, April 24, 1875; Or. City Enter-
prise, April 23, 1873; Gilbert's Logging and S. B. Building. Tacoma was
•ailed by Ackerson after the Indian name of Mount Tokomah, meaning great-
ness. Wash. Scrajys, 230. New Tacoma was laid out principally on the dona-
tion claim of Peter Judson of the immigration of 1853, while old Tacoma
site was purchased from Job Carr, a more recent settler. New Tacoma owes
its first rapid growth to the promise of the manipulators of the Northern
Pacific railroad to make it the terminus. It was laid out by Ex-surveyor-
general James Tilton and Theodore Hosmer on the heights overlooking the
bay, about two miles south-east of the old town, and was divided into 500
blocks of si-f lots each, and planned by Olmstead, modelled after Melbourne.
The site is fine, being high above the water, with the PuyaUup Valley at its
door and Mount Tacoma rearing its triple crest high above the Cascade range
directly to the east, and seeming not an hour's journey away. The first
municipal election of New Tacoma was held on Monday, June 8, 1874. Job
Carr, A. C. Campbell, J. W. Chambers, A. Walters, and S. C. Howes were
elected town trustees. It was chosen the seat of Pierce county in 1880.
Tacoma Tribune, June 12, 1874.
Olympia in 18S5 was next to New Tacoma in point of population, number-
ing 3,500. The first land claim taken on the site was located in 1846 by
Levi L. Smith, and held in partnership with Edmund Sylvester. First cus-
tom-house established at Olympia Nov. 10, 1851. First weekly mail to the
Columbia from this place in 1851; first mail from here down the Sound car-
ried in 1854. First newspaper published here Sept. 11, 1852. First store or
American trading-house opened here by M. T. Simmons in 1850. There had
been a trading-house on the east side of Budd Inlet previously, at the catho-
lic mission. The first child born in Olympia was a son to S. P. Moses, the
first collector of customs. The first marriage of Americans in the territory
was at Tumwater, a suburb of Olympia, in 1848, between Daniel D. Kinsey
and Ruth Brock, M. T. Simmons officiating. First school in the territory
taught in 1852, in a small building on the site of the present post-office, by
A. W. Moore. First term of court held on Puget Sound — except the extraor-
dinary one of 1849J-was held at Olympia Jan. 20, 1852. The first session
of the legislature was held in the building now occupied by Breckenficld as .i
tobacco-store. First town incorporated on Puget Sound was Olympia, in
1859. First trustees were George A. Barnes, Joseph Cushman, James Cush-
man, T. F. McElroy, and Elwood Evans. First marshal, W. H. Mitchell.
Waish. Standard, Jan. 13, 1872. First hotel put up in 1851, the Columbian,
was torn down in 1872. Olympia Transcript, March 9, 1872. Swanton, a
suburb of Olympia, separated from it only by a creek, and a thriving village,
was na 
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