An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 28

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 28
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 28
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 28

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).

The work was pushed with energy. R. A. Habersham was given charge of the survey, and soon had made a preliminary reconnoissance of

109

IIO

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

the line as far as Pasco. He reported having found no serious obstructions and that on no part of the road, as far as his survey extended, would there be a grade of more than one hundred feet to the mile, the maximum being at the head of Rock creek. On April 8th the Columbia Valley & Goldendale railroad effected a consolidation with a similar company which was being formed in Pasco by filing supplementary articles of incorporation. The name of the road was changed to the Pasco, Goldendale & Columbia Valley Railroad Company, and it was decided to push forward the further survey necessary at once. Commenting on the commencement of this work, the Oregonian of April 15th said: "Mr. R. A. Habersham leaves this morning to locate the line of the Columbia Valley & Golden- dale railroad from Goldendale eastward to a junction with the Northern Pacific at Pasco, a distance of one hundred and ten miles. This section of the road passes through a belt of wheat lands, containing about fourteen hundred square miles, second to none on the northwest coast, and will also furnish an outlet to market for one hundred and twenty square miles of fine timber land on the ridge between the Columbia river and Yakima valleys. The extension of the road through that magnificent timber and min- eral belt north of the Columbia, as contemplated by its projectors, makes it an enterprise of great importance. It is intended to begin the work of constructing the road as soon as the line is located and other preparations completed, as funds for the construction are already assured."

As laid out by Engineer Habersham, the route of the proposed road lay through a fine agricultural section for the first ten miles, then through an open yellow-pine forest to Bickleton via Cleveland, thirty miles; thence down the Glade into the Horse Heaven country, and from that through the branches of what is known as Badger canyon, through the Kennewick country and over the Northern Pacific bridge to Pasco.

But though the Pasco, Goldendale & Colum- bia Valley Railroad Company maintained its existence for some time and exerted itself to interest outside capital in its enterprise, making surveys and compiling statistics for the purpose, its road failed to materialize. The facts were that the undertaking was too large for local cap- italists, and that it was impossible to convince outside men that the country was sufficiently developed to justify investment in the project. The people did not, however, abandon their efforts to secure a road, and hardly a year passed between that date and the building of the Columbia River & Northern without some rail- way project to keep up the hopes of the isolated inhabitants.

The pioneers of Klickitat county were doomed for more than the usual number of years to the usual struggle of pioneer peoples to secure

the building of railroads and the larger develop- ments incident thereto. Indeed, the country is yet without adequate facilities, though there seems to be no good reason why this condition should last much longer.

The railway proposition of 1890 was that of extending G. W. Hunt's Oregon & Washington railroad from its western terminus at Hunt's Junction to Portland. Mr. Hunt required, as a condition precedent to this, that the citizens along the route or in its terminal city should take at par two million dollars of the first mort- gage bonds of the road, which were made paya- ble January 1, 1930, and bore interest at six per cent. per annum. These bonds were to be taken and paid for at the rate of one hundred thousand dollars immediately on the completion of each ten miles of the extension, work to begin at Portland and proceed eastward. Should the people comply with the terms of this proposal, Mr. Hunt undertook to have the road completed and in operation on or before December 13, 1891.

Of course, this proposed extension of the Hunt system was of great interest to the Klicki- tat residents, as it would traverse their country from east to west. They were, therefore, greatly rejoiced when a despatch was received from Portland, dated April 8, 1890, stating that the Hunt subsidy was completed and that Mr. Hunt had been notified to go ahead with his road at once. Mr. Hunt did go ahead. Considerable surveying and preliminary work was done, but there the matter rested, and eventually the entire Hunt system passed into the hands of the Northern Pacific. Once more the hopes of the Klickitat people were disappointed, for though the assignees were expected to carry out the plans of Mr. Hunt, they have not thus far seen fit to do so.

The season of 1889 was one of very moderate harvests in Klickitat county, and the winter following it was so severe as to cause a heavy loss of both cattle and sheep. In its issue of March 6, 1890, the Sentinel remarked that the winter was still holding out in the Bickleton coun- try and that the supply of hay was growing small, but that those who had some on hand were dividing with those who had none in an effort to reduce the loss to a minimumn. As is usual, however, the stockman's misfortune was the agriculturist's gain, for the heavy snows of winter caused unusual crops of cereals next season. "One year ago," says the Courier of August 15, 1890, "the Klickitaters were groaning in sorrow; to-day they are singing pæans of joy. And why this great change? From a very light crop to the finest the world has ever seen! The crop of eastern Klickitat to-day beats the record ten-fold and the granger is again on top."

An incident of the fall of 1890, of some importance, was the exodus of citizens of Klicki-

III

KLICKITAT COUNTY.

tat county to the vicinity of Mount Adams, caused by the finding of some rock in that region which assayed over three hundred and sixty dol- lars to the ton. J. J. Golden was the owner of the ore. As it was claimed that an abundance of the same kind of rock was obtainable, natur- ally considerable excitement resulted from it, especially as the region was but a short distance from the line surveyed by Hunt's engineers. But like many another excitement in the North- west, it did not result in the discovery of any- thing of importance.

Of more vital moment to the future of Klicki- tat as of other parts of the country was the pass- age of a bill in congress declaring that "there is forfeited to the United States, and the United States hereby resumes title to all lands hereto- fore granted to any state or corporation to aid in the construction of a railroad," where such road was not then constructed and in operation. This act threw open for settlement and development thousands of acres in western Klickitat, though there was, of course, some earned railroad land in the eastern part of the county, owing to the proximity of the Northern Pacific's main line to that section.

Perhaps a copy of the assessor's summary for the year 1890 may be of interest as furnishing a general idea of the country's development at that time, and a basis of comparison with the present. It shows: Horses, mules and asses, 10, 135, valued at $217, 159; cattle, 9,755, valued at $128,478; sheep, 32,466, $62,983 ; hogs, 4,789, $9,383 ; wagons and carriages, 982, $28,374; sew- ing machines, 320, $3,197; watches, clocks, 154, $1,405; melodeons, organs, etc., 113, $3,820; piano fortes, 4, $240; agricultural implements valued at $19,870; goods, merchandise and lum- ber, valued at $32,595 ; improvements on public lands, $92,453; real estate assessed to individu- als, 124,063 acres, valued at $2.96 per acre; assessed to the Northern Pacific Railroad Com- pany, 345,592, valued at 50 cents per acre. According to the United States census, the pop- ulation of the county at this time was 5, 167.

The season of 1891 appears to have been1 another prosperous one for farmers and fruit raisers. Notwithstanding the somewhat backward spring, crops and prices and general conditions were good. Abundant rain in the early part of July caused the wheat to fill well, improving its quality and enhancing its value to the purchaser and the price received by the farmer.

The year was one of quiet development. Little happened of a sensational character, except the exploitation of the celebrated North Dalles scheine which most of those who were residents of the Pacific coast states at the time will well remember. Briefly stated, the history of the case, compiled from official documents and other information furnished by J. T. Rorick, is as follows:

Rev. Orson D. Taylor was the originator and moving spirit of the scheme. He had come to The Dalles about 1880 as a Baptist missionary, and had taken charge of the church at that place. He soon came to be recognized as a man of unus- ual shrewdness and business talent. Late in the eighties he conceived his town-site project and began the acquisition of land lying opposite The Dalles, in the bend of the Columbia river. Here there is a tract of thousands of acres of low land, rocky in parts, excellent for grazing purposes in other portions, and in a few places arable. Across it and in the path of the strong winds blowing up the river, is a wide strip covered with sand dunes, eternally drifting. A town site in this territory would not be a natural outlet for any country except that in the immediate vicin- ity, a region perhaps ten by ten miles, some of it worthless and little of it valuable for anything but grazing.

Taylor first homesteaded a hundred and sixty acres at the Big Eddy, the foot of the rapids. He then bought seven hundred and twenty acres from Frank P. Taylor, of The Dalles, paying therefor ten dollars an acre; then he purchased one thousand and fifty acres from George B. Rowland for ten thousand five hundred dollars. By picking up three or four small tracts, he became, by 1890, the owner of over two thou- sand acres, lying in an irregular body east of the Rockland ferry landing. This land was heavily mortgaged to banks in The Dalles and to other money lenders.

July 5th, 1890, Taylor organized the Inter- state Investment Company, capitalized at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, divided into shares of the par value of five thousand dollars each. He retained half of the stock himself. The remainder he sold in lots of one and two shares each, principally to Oregonians, though some of it was disposed of in the east. The Investment Company, of which Taylor was elected president and general manager, pur- chased the property of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, one-third cash, the remainder in two notes for fifty thou- sand dollars each. Then they platted the town of North Dalles and began operations. During the next four months the company sold about forty thousand dollars' worth of lots to people living in Oregon and Washington; over nine thousand dollars were realized from sales to per- sons in the vicinity of The Dalles and in Klicki- tat county. The plats of the property on exhibi- tion at The Dalles and elsewhere were beauti- fully executed and showed a town site half by three-quarters of a mile in extent. A fine boule- vard was pictured as extending along the river, and trolley lines traversed the principal streets and avenues of this city on paper. A beautiful park was also shown, the site of which is to-day marked by three desolate-looking trees. Three

112

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

railroads were shown as actually constructed, the Hunt system down to Vancouver, the Northern Pacific along the north bank, and The Dalles, Klickitat & Northern, whose southern terminus was North Dalles. The line of the last-men- tioned road followed the Klickitat river, the trifling circumstance that no road could both fol- low the river and terminate at Northi Dalles, the mouth of the stream being some nine miles from the town, apparently having been entirely over- looked by the map-makers. The plat also showed the proposed steamboat portage road terminating at North Dalles.

The pamphlet issued by the company vouch- safed the information that North Dalles was eighty miles from Portland and could be reached either by rail or by water, that it was self-evident that North Dalles was destined to rival its sister cities, Spokane, Tacoma and Seattle; that it "surpassed in natural products and location," and finally, that it was the "outlet of the wealthy Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas country."

In March, 1891, the company watered its stock by organizing the Interstate Improvement Company, to which the Investment Company transferred its bond for a deed given by Taylor and wife, in consideration of notes for one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars and stock in the new company. Four thousand five hundred shares of Improvement Company stock, of the par value of one hundred dollars each, were issued and placed on the eastern market. Tay- lor held three thousand shares as trustee and one in his own right, besides the notes for one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars. The name of the town was changed to Grand Dalles. Taylor became general manager, also special sales agent, with a commission of twenty-five per cent. on lots sold and ten per cent. on stock. He secured as his confidential clerk and assistant salesman a Californian named S. L. Skeels, whom he had met in Spokane. Offices were opened at Cleve- land, Ohio; Buffalo, New York, and Saginaw, Michigan, and within two years the sales of lots and Improvement Company stock aggregated one hundred and ninety thousand dollars. Skeels reported directly to Taylor, who himself made no reports for a long time, and when at last he was compelled to do so, submitted very unsatisfactory ones.

The Improvement Company, of which Rev. J. F. Ellis was president, issued a handsome descriptive pamphlet in 1891, the title page of which read: "Grand Dalles, the Imperial Gate- way of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, Head of Ocean Navigation on the Columbia River."

"This booklet," said the preface, "is issued to answer such questions as naturally arise where investment is proposed.

"That the answer should be truthful and trustworthy, the company owning Grand Dalles hired a gentleman of ability to go upon the

grounds and examine carefully the condition and surroundings, charging him particularly to write nothing that he could not verify either by his own observation, the testimony of witnesses or official facts and figures."

The old story of the town's greatness was retold, though the wording was carefully studied and displayed much ingenuity in arranging statements in themselves not far from the truth in such a way as to create a wholly false impres- sion. When this could not be done, false state- ments were made without scruple. The Oregon & Washington Railroad Company was down on the map accompanying for a line along the Columbia. The Dalles, Goldendale & Northern went north over the Columbia river divide, which a mountain goat could hardly climb on the grade indicated; the Hunt railroad was still pictured, and the Portage road was also noted. A beautiful painting had been made of the coun- try at that point, a fac-siniile of which was shown in the booklet. In the picture a suspen- sion bridge, proposed, was shown connecting The Dalles, Oregon, with Grand Dalles, though the only one who ever proposed such a structure was Taylor himself or his associates.

In 1891 Taylor organized a shoe company. The Improvement Company subscribed ten thou- sand dollars, very little of which was ever paid, while the others, citizens of Wasco and Klickitat counties, subscribed ten or twelve thousand dol- lars more, and an imposing three-story frame building with a high tower was erected on a lofty promontory facing the Columbia. Machinery was installed; for two or three weeks forty or fifty men were employed, and some good shoes were manufactured: then the creditors closed the business down. The lumber that went into the building was never paid for; neither was the machinery, and only a small part of the laborers' wages was ever paid. The experiment cost the people about fourteen thousand dollars. Its monument is a weather-beaten, empty old shell in Grand Dalles. A box factory was also erected at this time, which never produced anything of moment, and the building is now in use as a barn. But, notwithstanding the complete fiasco of the two enterprises, they resulted in the exten- sive advertising of the town and the sale of many lots. Taylor was a past master in the art of advertising.

In Saginaw, Taylor sold two shares of Investment Company stock to the man who ulti- mately caused his downfall and nearly landed him in prison. This man was Dr. Daniel B. Cornell, a well-known physician. Taylor also entered into a contract with Cornell for the sale to him of three hundred and fifteen lots for thirty-two thousand one hundred and sixty dol- lars, the agreement being that on payment of one-third the price, Cornell was to receive bonds for deeds, and upon payment of eighty-five per

113

KLICKITAT COUNTY.

cent., full possession. Cornell was aiming to sell at an advance, but before he completed pre- liminaries and began operations, he discovered things concerning Taylor which caused him to draw back and the contract was never carried out

In December, 1892, J. T. Rorick, of Michi- gan, the purchaser of one five thousand dollar- share of stock, came out to start a paper at Grand Dalles. Cornell also came out to investi- gate, and he and Rorick together began an inquiry. Finding that Taylor had made no reports, they cornered Skeels at Buffalo, put him in the "sweat box" and forced from him damag- ing confessions. Skeels blamed Taylor for every- thing that was wrong, excusing himself on the ground that he was only an employee, and turned over all the evidence he possessed. Later Skeels addressed the directors of the company and did all he could to straighten matters, claim- ing that formerly he had simply been following directions of his employer.

Cornell and Rorick succeeded in getting Tay- lor deposed from office in June, 1893. Going before the Multnomah county grand jury, they secured his indictment on about sixty different counts, charging embezzlement of fifty thousand dollars. However, after two years of waiting, the prosecuting attorney entered a nolle prosequi in the case, the only thing he could do because of a peculiar Oregon statute relating to embez- zlement known as the "mingling fund" law.

Dr. Cornell, S. H. Blakely and Joseph Sea- man, all well known Saginaw men who had subscribed Investment Company stock, there- upon made complaint in the circuit court of Sag- inaw county, charging Taylor with obtaining money under false pretenses. This was in 1895. At the same time the two companies began civil action to force Taylor to give an accounting, instituting litigation which did not terminate until January, 1902.

Taylor was arrested at The Dalles in July, 1895, by Detective Parker Owen, of the Saginaw police force, who, after a series of adventures, succeeded in landing his prisoner at Saginaw. In December, 1895, the case in which Cornell was complaining witness came up for trial before Judge Snow. Taylor's attorney raised technical objections touching the legality of the statute upon which the prosecution was based, and the matter had to go to the supreme court. Defend- ant's counsel secured an agreement on the part of all concerned to rest the Cornell case and carry up the Seaman case. This was done, and in a short time the supreme court ordered the circuit court to try the case. In December, 1896, by consent of all arties, the Cornell case was taken up, and Taylor was found guilty and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. An appeal was taken to the supreme court, to which body the appellants somehow made it appear

that Taylor was a second time in jeopardy for the same offense when the conviction was secured, hence the court ordered the prisoner released. The prosecution, knowing that the other cases were much weaker than Cornell's, dropped everything, and Taylor went forth a free man. He beat his lawyers out of their fees and out of money borrowed from them, and they bitterly and unequivocally denounced him in the press as a criminal of the first water.

Between trials Taylor was liberated on a cash bond furnished by George H. Williams, of Ore- gon, his western attorney. After his first trial on the Cornell case, Taylor borrowed twenty thousand dollars, giving as security a property on Mill creek, in Oregon, which was mortgaged to Williams for its full value. The man who loaned the money had been present at the trial and heard all the evidence, yet he could not resist the subtle power of. the gifted promoter. This mortgage was, however, discharged recently.

The only business building in the famous town of Grand Dalles at the present time is a postoffice. A drearier, more desolate-looking array of shacks and rock piles and sand cannot be found in the Northwest, though further back from the river is some fine grazing land. Per- haps not more than a score of people live in the immediate vicinity.

The year 1892 appears to have been one of activity and prosperity among the farmers and stockmen of the country. That those engaged in the lumber industry were not idle is evident from statistics compiled by the Puget Sound Lumberman, showing the output of Klickitat for the year as follows: D. W. Pierce & Son, 1,000,- 000 feet ; John Hoggard & Son, 1,000,000; Lever- ett & Company, 500,000; O. P. Shurtz, 800,000; Warren & Company, 500,000; Beaverstock & Jones, 500,000; N. C. Norton, 400, 000; Oto Saw- mill Company, 4, 000, 000; Cameron & Company, 500, 000 ; total, 9,600,000 feet. The same author- ity estimated the output of shingles as follows: M. S. Bishop, 2,000,000; Hale & Son, 1, 300, 000; Thompson Brothers, 1,550,000; Flekinger & Buckley, 2, 100, 000 ; Leverett & Company, 1,400,000; total, 8,350,000.

The most sensational occurrence of the year was the killing of William Dunn by John Green and the trial which grew out of it. The scene of the homicide was the Blockhouse settlement, seven miles northwest of Goldendale, and the date June 25th. It appears that the victim and his slayer had had a quarrel previously over some cattle which Dunn claimed that Green had stolen from him, and of course there was ill- feeling between them in consequence. On the fatal day Green and a companion named William Mehan were at John Cleaves' hotel at Blockhouse when Dunn rode up and began tying his horses to the hitching post just west of the house. Green, who was within, came out and said,

112

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

railroads were shown as actually constructed, the Hunt system down to Vancouver, the Northern Pacific along the north bank, and The Dalles, Klickitat & Northern, whose southern terminus was North Dalles. The line of the last-men- tioned road followed the Klickitat river, the trifling circumstance that no road could both fol- low the river and terminate at North Dalles, the mouth of the stream being some nine miles from the town, apparently having been entirely over- looked by the map-makers. The plat also showed the proposed steamboat portage road terminating at North Dalles.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 28

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