An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 26

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146

USA > Washington > Kittitas County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 26
USA > Washington > Yakima County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 26
USA > Washington > Klickitat County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 26

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

No records were preserved of any business transacted during the former organization of the county, and Klickitat may be said, without great inaccuracy, to have begun its existence as a polit- ical organization in 1867. A number of years afterward an attempt was made by the territorial attorney to collect sixty-seven dollars taxes levied by the state against the county prior to January 28, 1867, but as no records could be produced and many of the officers elected during that time had left the county, the attempt failed.

By an act passed in the territorial legislature and approved January 18, 1868, the boundary lines of the county were changed so that com- mencing at a point in the mid-channel of the Columbia, opposite Mimaluse island, above five miles below the mouth of the Klickitat, the line ran north to the summit of the mountains and the headwaters of the Ahtanum, thence follow- ing the channel of the Ahtanum and Yakima rivers to the Columbia, and down the Columbia to the place of beginning. The following year

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the country lying north of the Toppenish was added to Yakima county.

Although the population of Klickitat could yet be numbered in three places of figures, the number of business enterprises in which the people had already embarked was sufficient to indicate the industrious nature of the few scat- tered settlers that had remained permanently in the valley. Stock-raising had from the first claimed a larger measure of attention than any other business, and, although the severe winter of 1861-62 had given a hard blow to the enterprise, it was still the chief occupation of the people. Ben E. Snipes, William Connell, the Burgen brothers, Watson Helm and a large number of others, were carrying on an extensive trade in cattle in the county, and sold each year large herds to the mines of British Columbia and Idaho. The wood business had also become an important industry. Abundance of material was at hand, as the mountains were covered with a thick growth of timber, and as the boats were entirely dependent upon wood for fuel, wood- hauling soon developed into an important indus- try. Stanton H. Jones, who himself was engaged in the enterprise, states that at one time for a period of two years ten large teams and a num- ber of small ones were engaged in hauling and furnishing wood to the Oregon Steam Naviga- tion Company at Columbus, at that time the only place with any business pretensions in the county. A hotel, store, butcher shop and sev- eral other small business houses were established there.

The lumber business also made a good begin- ning early in the history of the county. As has been previously stated, the first saw-mill was erected by a company of men in 1860. This was followed by another a few years later on Klicki- tat creek, above the site of Goldendale, and soon the lumber trade became an important source of revenue to the county. From an early publica- tion we glean the information that Klickitat pine was considered even at an early date very valua- ble for the making of patterns for foundry work. It has no hard grain like the fir, but is uniformly soft, and for that reason is peculiarly adapted to this purpose.

A few advance steps had also been made in agriculture, but not sufficient as yet to show what the county was capable of doing as a farming country. No one had as yet dreamed that Klick- itat was to become one of the great grain-raising counties of the territory. In 1870 John W. Bur- geh raised a small crop of wheat, and to him is given the credit of being the pioneer farmer of Klickitat. The following year a number of farmers in different parts of the valley sowed wheat and were rewarded with a very fair yield, the crops along the Swale averaging forty bush- els to the acre. During the year a grist-mill was built at The Dalles and a part of the wheat crop

was carried to that point and manufactured into flour for home consumption. Previous to that year all flour had been brought to the valley from Portland, and with the facilities for trans- portation then in use, it was both a difficult and expensive method of getting supplies. It was not to be many years, however, until the prob- lem was not how to get flour up the river, but how to reach a market outside for the surplus at home. Now that a beginning had been made in agriculture and it had been demonstrated that the valley was a good grain country, the progress in farming was rapid.

Up to 1872 there was not a town in all the county, and Klickitat then embraced a much larger area than at present, as its northern boundary followed the mid-channel of the Top- penish and Yakima rivers to the Columbia. J. L. Henderson had laid out a town and built a store at the point where the military road crossed the Little Klickitat, but, although he offered lots to any person who would build on them, the town never materialized and was abandoned. September 5, 1871, John J. Golden bought from L J. Kimberland the site of the present town of Goldendale, and the following year he platted a town site and gave it the name Goldendale. That year Thomas Johnson built a house in the new town, the front room of which he used as a store. There was then no other store in the county, although several had been opened previ- ous to this time.

As the location of the county seat at Rock- land was only temporary, it was decided by the commissioners, May 8, 1872, that the question of permanently locating the county seat be sub- mitted to the voters of the county at the next regular election to be held November 8, 1872. From the first, Goldendale, being in the midst of one of the best agricultural sections of the county, was considered to represent the farming interest of the district and was strongly opposed by the stockmen. Although the largest number of the voting population was in the valley, and it would have been to their own immediate interests to have Goldendale the county seat, still the influ- ence of the cattlemen was sufficiently strong to defeat it, although by a narrow margin. The vote stood seventy-seven for Goldendale and sev- enty-eight for Rockland.

Up to this time the county had increased in population very slowly. In 1872 there were not more than five or six hundred people in the county, but this is not surprising when we con- sider that the population of the entire territory in 1870 was less than twenty-four thousand. The time had now arrived, however, for a more rapid growth in the Klickitat valley. A start had been made in wheat-raising. People had also given some attention to fruit culture, though up to this time there were few, if any, bearing orchards. Some of the first settlers brought

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trees with them from Oregon, but the varieties were poor and the trees did not thrive. The first orchards of any importance were planted in 1870, and fruit-raising soon after became an important industry in the new county. The development of these various enterprises made it possible for a much larger population to subsist in the coun- try than could have done so in the live-stock in- dustry alone.

While settlement in the western part of the county had been fairly rapid during the early seventies, few had either the desire or courage to risk their fortunes upon the vast prairie east of Rock creek. That great region was presumed to be fitted only for stock-raising, and upon its broad expanse roamed thousands of cattle, horses and sheep. Stockmen alone claimed the vast range for more than two decades after the com- ing of the whites into southern Washington. Prior to 1871 Joseph Chapman, heretofore referred to, was the only permanent settler east of Rock creek, his ranch and wood-yard being situated near the mouth of the small stream which bears his name. In 1871 L. J. Kimber- land left Klickitat valley and settled upon the east fork of Rock creek. The following May Benjamin D. Butler, Robert M. Graham, H. A. South and L. J. Bailey pushed still further east and began the building of homes near the head- waters of Alder creek. They were twenty miles from any settlement, but with brave hearts they faced the rigors of the higher altitude and the difficulties which beset the path of the pioneer. They were discouraged in every possible way by the stockmen, who knew from experience what would result if a permanent settlement were effected, but they stayed, broke ground and built their rude log cabins. Mr. Butler filed the first homestead entry in this region, and Robert M. Graham the second. Others followed during the succeeding two years until, in 1874, the district had sufficient settlers to warrant the establish- ment of Alder creek precinct.

In November, 1873, the northern boundary of the county was again changed. Instead of fol- lowing the Toppenish and Yakima rivers to the confluence of the latter with the Columbia, it was made to correspond with the following official description : "Commencing at the northern corner of township six north, range twelve east; thence east along the northern boundary of township six north, to the point where that line intersects the Columbia river." This boundary line has since remained unchanged, although the western line was afterward moved. This change in the boundary of Klickitat decreased the area almost one-half, but as most of the territory added to Yakima county lay within the limits of the Indian reservation, it was not open to white settlement.

In 1873 a much large acreage of wheat was sown than on any previous year, and the neces-

sity for some method for home manufacture of the product began to be strongly felt. The closest point at which flour could be obtained was The Dalles. An immense amount of time and energy was expended each year in the trans- portation of the wheat to the mill and the flour back to the consumer, all which it was possible to save by erecting a grist-mill at home, a task simple enough if the capital could only be pro- cured. A movement was set on foot the follow- ing year by John Graham, Martin V. Harper, T. J. Harper, John W. Burgen, Egbert French and J. H. Alexander, to procure by private sub- scription the necessary funds to build a grist- mill, but the faith of the settlers was not yet sufficiently strong in the future prospects of the county to incline them to aid the enterprise. They felt certain it would be a losing proposi- tion. A few years later, however, the demand for a grist-mill became imperative, and Messrs. Chatfield, Smith, Marble and Nelson, in 1878, built at .Goldendale what was afterward known as the Klickitat mill. Almost simultaneously, Thomas Johnson built the Goldendale mills, giving inception to an era of rapid progress and prosperity in the county.

The manufacture of flour at home did not delay transportation of wheat abroad, as the amount of wheat grown in the valley was by this time sufficient to supply the home market and leave a margin for shipment. In 1876 the first export of wheat to an outside market was made, in round numbers about one thousand bushels. The following year the amount of wheat ex- ported increased to fourteen thousand; in 1878, it was forty-six thousand; in 1879, one hundred thousand. The wheat product for the entire state in 1879 was less than two million bushels.

The city of Goldendale for a long time met with the most bitter opposition from the stock- men So strong was their influence against the . town that, although Goldendale was more cen- trally and more conveniently located to accom- modate a majority of the people, a determined effort was made to prevent its being made the county seat. As it was known that in a fair vote Goldendale would obtain a substantial majority, influence was brought to bear by the friends of the town on the legislature to induce it to refer the question to a popular vote. Those who were interested in the advancement of the interests of Goldendale, were sufficiently far- sighted to perceive that the best way to build up the town was to lay out as many county roads leading into it as possible, thus making it an important center. This was accomplished with- out the opposition's even suspecting its object, and Goldendale, being made easily accessible from almost all parts of the county, soon became quite an important business point. When finally Rep- resentative Nelson Whitney succeeded in getting a bill through the legislature allowing a three-

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fifths vote to settle the question, Goldendale had very much the best of it. At the general elec- tion in November, 1878, about five-sixths of the votes were cast for Goldendale. In February of the following year the commissioners ordered the sheriff to move the county property to the site chosen for it by the ballots of the people. This proved a rather difficult undertaking, as the roads were blockaded with snow, about thirty inches having fallen just previously, but it was accomplished nevertheless, and in Goldendale the county offices and records have ever since remained.

During the year the people were again panic- stricken by a report that the Indians had broken out and were about to begin a war of extermina- tion on the white people. To the Bannock and Piute marauding expedition of 1878 more exten- sive reference will be made in another chapter, that on the Perkins affair, but it may be stated here that in June the disaffected tribes left Fort Hall, Idaho, with intent to form a junction with the tribes on the Umatilla reservation, then sweep northward to join the Yakimas, Spokanes, Coeur d'Alenes and other northern Indians in a grand effort to rid the country of whites and re-estab- lish the primitive condition of barbarism. But the bungling of the Indian leaders and timely and decisive action on the part of the government in hurrying troops to the scene, circumvented their plans and compelled them to abandon the expedition before they effected a crossing of the Columbia.

Many of the people, however, were thor- oughly frightened. Not a few of the settlers had come from Minnesota, where they had been dur- ing the Sioux troubles, and the memory of the horrors of those dreadful campaigns were fresh in their minds. They had no desire to see such a condition again. The result was very similar to that of 1866, many settlers hastily gathering what they could of their effects and leaving the valley precipitately. In one family a child died during the day on which they heard the report. Their terror was so great that they at once constructed a rude coffin, buried the remains without funeral service and left the valley the same night. Numerous other stories might be told of ridiculous things done by persons almost crazed with fear of the dread savage on the warpath, but the greater portion of the set- tlers were not so violently disturbed. Many had been in previous Indian wars and knew better the character of the red man, hence took a saner view of the difficulties and set to work to provide some sort of protection for themselves and their property. A company of mounted riflemen was hastily organized, with Enoch W. Pike as cap- tain. These were furnished with arms by the government, thoroughly drilled and otherwise placed in readiness for active service, should occasion demand it. A movement was also

started to build a fort at Goldendale, where most of the surrounding settlers had gathered for pro- tection, but timely interference of the United States troops quelled the trouble before the set- tlers had time to carry out their intentions. The Klickitat Rangers, as Captain Pike's men were known, were not called into active service against the Bannocks in 1878, but participated in the Moses campaign of the following year. An account of their movements at that time is given in the chapter which treats of the Moses demon- stration and the Perkins affair.

Although the people of Klickitat have three times been threatened by the Indians, the day of the red man has passed and not a single life has been taken by an Indian since the war of 1855-56.

By this time the valley of the Klickitat had become almost entirely settled, and the more remote districts of the country began to attract the attention of the immigrant. In 1878 Samuel P. Flower came to eastern Klickitat, together with his brother, Charles E. Flower, also George Lawman and David Sprinkle, and settled on Pine creek, ten miles south of the site of Bickleton. Two families, those of Joseph Nixon and William Fadden, farmers, had preceded the Flower party. Mr. Flower informs us that he found Ben Butler and sons, James and Marion, stockmen, and Dixon Gaunt, located on Six Prong creek ; Milton Imbrie, a farmer, on Pine creek, just above But- ler's; while up toward Bickleton, near Alder creek, were Robert M. and John Graham, L. J. Bailey, George W. McCredy, Angus Forbus, Gotfried Peterson, Martin Holbrook, Charles N. Bickle, Rasmus Gotfredson, and a few others whose names he has forgotten. Near Cleve- land's site were Ripley Dodge, Isaac Cousins, Ralph Cousins and Samuel Martin, who came in 1877, and Edward D. Morris, whose residence dated from June, 1878. Among the arrivals of the next two years were Simeon E. Warren, John Baker, George Alexander, Alcana Miller, Henry C. Hackley, Dickson P. Shattuck, in 1879; William A. McCredy and sons, Lycander I. Cole- man and sons, William J. Story, Josiah Smith and George H. Ellis. In 1879 Ephraim McFar- land built a saw-mill at the point where the pres- ent wagon road crosses the creek west of Bickle- ton. In later years several other mills were erected on the east end of Simcoe mountain.

The only serious setback the settlement in eastern Klickitat received in those early years was occasioned by the Indian scare of 1878 which resulted in nearly all the inhabitants fleeing to Goldendale. They made no attempt to prepare defenses near their homes. After the return of the people to their farms and stock, steady growth was resumed. As told elsewhere, two towns were soon established, Bickleton and Cleveland, and during the next few years settle- ment was rapid. According to a directory of Goldendale and Klickitat county published in

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1880, there were not to exceed one hundred claims taken at that time east of Rock creek.

Groups of settlers had also located at Pleasant Valley, Chamberlain Flats, Camas Prairie and other points throughout the county, but outside of these settlements, very few claims were taken. The first settlers were looking for the valleys as the most suitable locations, and the less desirable land'lying between they left to the later immigrants. By 1879, according to the Spokane Times, there were six postoffices in the county representing as many different settle- ments-Goldendale, Columbus, Block House, Klickitat Landing, White Salmon and Fulda.

In 1879 the assessed valuation of real estate for the entire county was only one hundred and fifty-two thousand three hundred and eighty- three dollars. As yet but a small proportion of the land was deeded, the major portion being still in the hands of the government, and for that reason most of the assessable property in the county was personal. The population had by this time grown to more than three thousand, an increase of about four hundred per cent. in six years.

When the vote to move the county seat to Goldendale carried, there was no courthouse in the county, court having been held in a rented building, but as soon as it was decided that Gold- endale was to be the county seat, the settlers in the valley determined to erect a courthouse. As the county was still but sparsely populated, the taxpayers had no desire to settle any large indebtedness upon the county, and it was there- fore decided to do the work by private subscrip- tion of money, materials and labor. The work was enthusiastically taken hold of by private individuals, and in due time a building valued at thirty-five hundred dollars was erected with- out a single dollar of expense to the county in the way of taxation ; a small jail of two cells was also built. The buildings were at that time among the best in Washington territory, which had not yet experienced its period of phenomenal development.

By 1880 grain-raising had become the master industry of the county, wheat, oats and barley being produced in abundance everywhere throughout the valley. Fruit culture also had become an important enterprise, although many of the orchards were still too young to bear. There were, however, some fine apple and peach orchards at Columbus, White Salmon and other points along the Columbia. It had also been demonstrated that all kinds of vegetables could be raised to advantage, as soil and climate and the fortunate absence of diseases and destructive pests united to make the valley especially suited to the growth and development of such products.

The winter of 1880-81 was unusually severe, causing large losses to the stockmen. Up to January Ist the weather was not unusual, but

during that month thirty inches of snow fell on the level, and because of sudden changes in the weather, became crusted over in such a manner as to prevent the stock from successfully forag- ing. The losses sustained by the sheepmen were especially severe. It is estimated that fully one- half of the sheep died, one man being left with only seventy out of a herd of five thousand. The cattle losses were also great, but as most of the stock for which winter feed was not provided were wintered in the Yakima valley at that time, the cattle that perished in Klickitat were few in comparison to the numbers that were lost in the surrounding country. The heaviest losses fell upon the inhabitants of the eastern end of the county.

The final change in the boundary lines of Klickitat county was made by an act approved November 29, 1881, by which the line between Klickitat and Skamania was established as fol- lows: "Commencing at a point in the mid-chan- nel of the Columbia river, directly opposite the mouth of the White Salmon river; thence up the said channel of White Salmon river as far north as to the southern boundary of township four north, of range ten east of Willamette meridian ; thence due west on said township line to range nine east of Willamette meridian; thence north following said range line till it intersects the southern boundary of Yakima county."

The people of Klickitat valley were slow in learning the value of their county as an agricul- tural district. It was with much doubt as to their success that they made the first experi- ments in farming. Nor were the results obtained altogether satisfactory. The nature of the soil was so different from that to which they had been accustomed that it was necessary to test the value of the land by a series of experiments before they were able to determine the crops for which it was best adapted. Previous to 1870 the crick- ets had been so numerous as to discourage all efforts at agriculture, and for a number of years it seemed that the stockmen, who claimed that Klickitat was intended for stock alone, had the best of the argument, but some there were who never lost confidence that the valley was a good farming region, and the results have ultimately justified their faith. By 1881 the wide stretch of valley land lying between the Columbia hills and the Simcoe range was for the most part given over to the agriculturist. During that year the farmers and business men of the county formed an agricultural society, the chief object of which was to hold an annual county fair for the benefit of the farming interests of the county. Grounds were procured and suitably laid out about a mile from the town of Goldendale. A pavilion was built sufficient in size for extensive exhibits; stalls were provided for stock; a race- · course was laid out ; a grand-stand built for spec- tators, and all was surrounded by a close, high

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board fence. The exhibit in the fall was of such a nature as to show that the farmers of the county were possessed of enterprise and energy, and that the county had justified their faith in it. Another important feature of the fair was the fruit exhibit. The settlers of the valley had their attention called for the first time to the importance of their county as a fruit country, when they saw displayed not only the hardy vari- eties, but even the more delicate semi-tropical fruits, all perfect in form and development.

Already the necessity for better methods of outside communication was beginning to be felt by the citizens of Klickitat valley. Hitherto, the local demand had been sufficient for all the products of the county except the stock, which was readily transported overland, but the .wheat fields were increasing year by year and it was evident that an outside market would soon be a necessity. A number of years before the gov- ernment had turned its attention to the opening of the Columbia river for navigation, but govern- ment methods are necessarily slow and the Cas- cade locks were not to be opened to navigation for fifteen years yet. During the year 1881 the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company had secured a right of way down the south bank of the Columbia river and was rapidly pushing to completion a new line of railroad to Portland. The following year this road was ready for traffic, opening a new outlet for the wheat crops of the valley, although it did not dispense with the necessity of crossing the Columbia by ferry.

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An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 26

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146