An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 60

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 60
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 60
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 60

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 principal opposition to the division, it is stated, came from the merchants, bankers and real estate men of Ellensburg who feared the building of a town of importance in the proposed county, which with its rich mining interests would rival Ellensburg and take therefrom much of the trade now received from the western portion of the county. The farmers and taxpayers aside from the class named were generally favorable to the division because they claimed that the extra ex- pense of preserving law and order in the mining districts had increased their burden of taxation. But the proposal failed to receive the favorable attention of the legislature.

Notwithstanding the partial failure of crops in Kittitas valley in 1889 and the losses to the stock- men due to the hard winter following, the next year found the valley in a flourishing and prosperous condition. Indeed, the time was past when small losses would affect the county or retard its growth. The property values according to the assessment rolls were increasing steadily from year to year.

The United States census for 1890 credited Washington with a population of 349,496, and Kit- titas county with a population of 8,761, placing it

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twelith among thie counties in point of population. This was, by comparison with the state auditor's report, a gain of more than 2,000 in three years. By precincts, the county's population is officially given as follows: Easton, 172; Ellensburg, 2,758; Martin, 77; No. 17, 504 ; No. 18, 992; No. 19, 4II ; Rosa, 12; township fifteen, 15; township sixteen, 21; township seventeen, 288; township eighteen, 328, township nineteen, 117; township twenty, 45; Cle-Elum, 337; Deerlick Swamp, 2; Fish Lake, 17; Lake Katches, 2; Mission Creek, 185; McCallum, 8; Ryepatch, 3; Ronald, 409; Roslyn, 1,481 ; Sea- ton's mill, 28; Silver Dump, 99; Swauk, 34; Tean- away, 14; Wenatche, 81; unsurveyed lands, 38; Wenatche Point, 203; total 8,761.

The fourth annual county fair was successfully held on the Kittitas County Agricultural Associa- tion's grounds at Ellensburg, September 8th to 12th inclusive, and proved to be a very congenial and profitable gathering. At the Northwest Indus- trial exposition, held at Spokane during the closing days of October, 1890, Kittitas county was awarded a gold medal, a silk banner and a superb mountain goat head for the best combined mineral and agri- cultural display and for the greatest variety of natural products. H. C. Walters was in charge of the exposition.

It was at this time becoming more and more apparent to the farmers of the valley that a larger supply of water must be secured for utilization in the agricultural development of the valley, and dur- ing the years 1891 and 1892, a movement was set on foot for the construction of a canal that would furnish water to at least eighty thousand acres in addition to that already irrigated. A corporation was formed known as the Kittitas Valley Irrigation Canal Company, the following named gentlemen being the incorporators: W. H. File, W. J. Magee, Willard S. Sargent and J. H. Wells. The capital stock was one million dollars; the object the con- struction of the upper ditch previously projected and the irrigation of the land of Kittitas valley. The men promoting this scheme were possessed of ample means and courage to carry through any feasible undertaking, and it was generally believed they would achieve an excellent success. Com- menting upon the scheme and its reception by the farmers and merchants, the Register, in its issue of June 14, 1892, says :

"The business men of Ellensburg and the farm- ers of Kittitas valley, who have withstood the great fire of 1889 and the short crops for the past three years, which latter were caused by a scarcity of water for irrigation purposes, must certainly feel proud to know that an immense crop is assured for this year, and that the long-talked-of water canal is an assured thing. Ellensburg is in the cen- ter of a valley containing two hundred thousand acres of as fine land as can be found. Our farmers have pledged thirteen thousand acres and twenty of our business men seven thousand acres to Mr.

J. H. Wells, the promoter of the high line ditch. This land will be put under water this year, as Mr. Wells has gone east to secure the capital required for the enterprise and promises quick action. Be- sides payment for the water right on these twenty thousand acres, the company will receive a dollar an acre per year maintenance fee."

In October of the same year contracts were let to J. A. McDonald for the construction of the canal. Thirty miles of clearing contract were sub- let to Messrs. Matthewson and Charles Dickson, of Tacoma, between Easton and the mouth of the Swauk. In November eleven hundred men were reported at work on the right of way. In all about twenty thousand dollars were spent in surveys and clearing ; then unfortunately the undertaking had to be abandoned because of the advent of financial stringency and wide spread industrial stagnation.

Early in the year 1892 occurred one of those heartrending accidents such as occasionally happen in the course of human activities. About two o'clock in the afternoon of May 9th there was an explosion in the Roslyn mines causing the death of forty-five men. Two boys coming from the mine with a donkey and a car of coal were forcibly expelled from its mouth and after them came a cloud of smoke and gas. As soon as the nature of the accident was surmised a party of twelve men under Foreman Harrison were sent into the mine in search of those within. They found little trouble in descending. When passing between the third and fourth levels they discovered the bodies of Harry Campbell and Leslie Pollard (colored), both of which were with difficulty borne by them to the surface, where the reappearance of the rescuers was awaited with not a little anxiety. It was hoped that many of the imprisoned miners might escape, but when the first bodies were examined, despair and gloom possessed the hearts of all.

By 12 o'clock fourteen bodies had been removed, all more or less bruised and burned, and nearly all so disfigured that they could not be identified. Then the gas in the mines became so oppressive as to compel the search party to suspend operations until the mine could be repaired. Thursday, the 12th, the work of bringing out the dead was re- sumed, and by Friday night forty-five bodies had been recovered.

Relative to this melancholy disaster, George Harrison, foreman of the mine, expressed himself thus in an interview with a reporter of the Seattle Press-Times :

"I was at the office when the explosion occur- red. I went to the mines at once and called for volunteers. The men responded nobly and worked unceasingly. At noon yesterday there was no fire damp in the mine, as is demonstrated by every man working with a naked lamp; no safety lamps. There must have been a sudden outburst of gas. No expense was spared by the company to prevent accidents. The mine is considered a model mine.

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The stoppings are built of cement and rock. New fans and air courses were recently put in. The men are satisfied that everything possible was done. The company has nothing to conceal and desires this to be known."

Justice Thomas L. Gamble, of Cle-Elum, held the coronor's inquest over the dead, the local jus- tice, Henry Smith, being disqualified because of his close connection with the miners. The inquest was hield at Roslyn. The testimony brought out the fact that the rooms in the slope were examined regularly by competent fire bosses and that as they found the mine somewhat disposed to give forth heavy gases, they repeatedly warned the miners to be careful. From the evidence submitted, M: Gamble says it is quite clear to him how the explo- sion occurred, though the jury did not fix the indi- vidual responsibility for the affair. Among the miners working on the seventh level near the main entry was one who was inclined to be careless, and in his efforts to effect a junction between the room and the entry, over zealous. This junction was nearing completion at the time the explosion occurred and there remained but a narrow wall to be pierced. The fire boss cautioned the men against shooting this breast as there was great danger from gas. However, the miner in question showed by his manner and remarks that he intended to "shoot" the wall anyhow. Again the fire boss warned him. A little later the explosion occurred. When the coronor's jury visited this particular room they found drill holes in the wall and around thiem indications of exploded powder. The miner to whom reference is made was discovered sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, some dis- tance from the drill holes. He was undoubtedly killed by the concussion which resulted from the explosion. It is Judge Gamble's belief that he "shot" the wall contrary to good judgment and repeated warnings and that the great disaster resulted there- from. The jury was composed of four business men and two miners; it sat eight or ten days in the Roslyn town hall. Its verdict was as follows:

"We, the undersigned, summoned to inquire into the cause of the death of the persons whose bodies were found in coal mine No. I, Roslyn, having been duly sworn according to law and having made such inquisitions, after inspecting the bodies and hearing the evidence adduced, upon our oath, each and all say that we find the deceased (naming the dead) came to their death by the explosion of fire damp in mine No. I. We further find that said explosion was caused, in our opinion, by deficient ventilation, all of which we duly certify."

The Northern Pacific Coal Company finally agreed upon a compromise with those who in- stituted suits for damages whereby the surviving relatives were paid varying sums of money and the suits dropped.

In September of the same year, came news from the mining district that set the whole western

country ablaze with excitement. A bold and suc- cessful attempt at robbery had been made on the bank of Ben E. Snipes & Company, at Roslyn. The manner in which the robbery was conducted as can be gathered from the newspapers of the time was as follows :

Five armed men rode up to the door of the bank, which three of them entered while the two others stood guard outside. Cashier Abernethy was writ- ing when the first robber entered, and turning to wait upon the supposed customer, found himself facing a forty-five Colts revolver. Dr. Lyon, who had just entered, turned to go out, but was brought to a halt by a pair of Colts revolvers in the hands of the second robber. The third desperado picked up a pistol belonging to Cashier Abernethy and knocked him down with it. The cashier arose, his head streaming with blood, and was told to keep quiet if he wanted to live. The third robber then walked to the safe, which happened to be open, and taking out the coin and bills, shoved them into a canvas bag, which he then threw over his shoulder. The three men thereupon departed, joining the two who had remained without to guard the approaches to the bank.

Just before the robbers had made their sudden ap- pearance, F. A. Frasier, assistant cashier, had step- ped out. As soon as he perceived what was trans- piring he came with a shot gun, but a ball from the rifle of one of the robbers, wounding him in the hip, prevented his interference. A colored man also was shot in the leg, and several others narrowly escaped injury or death at the hands of the murderous gang. The robbery successfully consummated, the five des- peradoes mounted as many fleet horses, which had been held in readiness by one of their number, and speedily disappeared via the trail which leads over the mountains to the northward of Roslyn.

The sheriff was notified forthwith, and speedily organizing a large posse, started in hot pursuit. Manager W. R. Abrams, of the firm of Snipes & Company, offered a reward of one thousand dollars for the apprehension of the robbers. This was sup- plemented by an offer of an equal amount by Cashier Abernethy and of five hundred dollars by Governor Terry.

The robbers were dressed as cowboys and showed themselves to be expert in horsemanship and the use of weapons, executing their plans in a manner that would have done credit to the James gang. As Saturday was pay day at the Roslyn mine. $40,000 arrived from Tacoma that morning. It was this the robbers were after. They presumed it was on deposit in the bank for distribution, hut fortunately it had been taken to the company's office. What are supposed to have been three of the gang were noticed by coal company officials at the depot in Cle-Elum at five o'clock Saturday morning when the money was transferred from the Northern Pacific car to the coach on the Roslyn branch.

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By seven o'clock of the day on which the robbery took place, thirteen of the pursuing posse came in contact with three of the desperadoes, and a few shots were exchanged but, owing to the darkness, it was impossible to tell with what effect to the fug- itives. None of the posse was hurt. The next morning three horses were found on the trail taken by the robbers, and marks on them evinced that they had been hard ridden. Later in the day two of them were identified as having been among the animals ridden by the desperadoes Saturday. The other horse was a pack animal laden with provisions and clothing. Two of these animals were retained in the hope that their original owners might be found by the brands.

The sheriff's posse returned after a search of several days' duration, having failed to find any new trail of the gang. The same day another Ros- lyn party also returned, reporting that they had fol- lowed the trail of the robbers along the high ridges to a point east of Mount Stuart, where was found the remains of a fire where clothing had been burnt. The ashes were still warm.

A detective named M. C. Sullivan was placed on the trail of the desperadoes and toward the end of November he arrested Cal Hale, Tom Kimzie and George Zachary in eastern Oregon on a warrant issued upon the affidavit of F. A. Abernethy, the cashier of the bank, charging these men and others with being the perpetrators of the crime. The war- rant called for the arrest of Byron Barnard in ad- dition to the men named, but for some reason he was not taken into custody, though he telegraphed his address to the chief of police at Portland, Ore- gon, on learning that he was wanted.

Hale, Kimzie and Zachary were given a prelimi- nary trial Monday, November 28th, before Justice Boyle. The defendants were without counsel. They asked time to summon witnesses in their behalf, but it was unnecessary that testimony for the defense should be heard in the preliminary hearing, and the request was denied. Cashier Abernethy posi- tively identified Hale as the one who had assaulted him with a revolver, afterwards taking $5,000 in money from the safe, while Doctor Lyon asserted that Kimzie was the man who held him up while the robbery was being committed. Other witnesses also identified the three as members of the gang and the bond of each was fixed at $10,000. Two others were arrested later but both were discharged after preliminary hearing.

A large reward had been offered for the appre- hension of the robbers, and it was the intention of the state to spare no expense in its efforts to capture and convict the responsible parties. Attorney Henry J. Snively, of North Yakima, was retained by the state to assist Prosecuting Attorney McFall. The trial was first set for January 3d, but had to be postponed twenty-seven days, an important witness for the state being sick. Meanwhile E. E. Wager had become prosecuting attorney, and he with Mr.

Snively conducted the state's case. The attorneys for the defense were Frost & Warner and A. Mires.

As may be imagined the interest in the trial was intense. That it was not local merely is evinced by the fact that a special correspondent was sent by the New York World to report the proceedings for that paper. About thirty-five witnesses were summoned from eastern Oregon to testify in behalf of the ac- cused, while the state called about fifteen, two or three of whom were from that section and the re- mainder from Kittitas county.

On request the defendants were granted separate trials, Cal Hale's being called first. A jury was se- cured with little trouble, the members of which were E. B. Mason, J. K. Morrill, Isaac Burns, J. F. Leclerc, L. Raskins, D. R. Richards, Harrison Houser, E. S. Coleman, D. Hannon, T. M. Mc- Candless, W. A. Rice and S. T. Packwood. The taking of testimony occupied three days, twelve witnesses for the state and seventeen for the defense being examined. The story of the robbery, as told by F. A. Abernethy, Dr. J. H. Lyon, George M. Jenkins, Mrs. Clemens and Mrs. Veach, all of Ros- lyn, was in accord with the statement of facts already made. They fixed the date as between two and three o'clock in the afternoon of September 24, 1892. According to the review of their testimony made by the press of the time, it was substantially as follows : While Cashier Abernethy was alone at work two men and Dr. J. H. Lyon, a resident physician, entered. Both the cashier and the doctor were ordered to throw up their hands. One of the robbers immediately walked over to where Mr. Abernethy was standing and dealt him a stunning blow on the head with a gun. A third man entered, and covering Professor George M. Jenkins and a colored man named Smith, who were joined by a boy named Hewitson, he compelled them all to hold up their hands and watch the robbery. Their two confederates stood outside, one holding the fine saddle horses ridden by the gang, while the other guarded the street. The vault was open and it took but a few minutes for one of the men to secure the money, which amounted to over $5,000 in gold, silver and paper, besides which some checks were taken. This man, the apparent leader of the gang, was identified as the defendant by Abernethy, Lvon and Jenkins; Mrs. Clemens also identified Hale as one of the gang that rode away from the bank. Attempts to further identify Hale only re- sulted in eliciting the information that the prisoner closely resembled the man connected with the rob- bery. The testimony of George M. Jenkins brought out the fact that ten of the pursuing posse tracked the robbers from Roslyn to the Teanaway trail crossing, where several shots were exchanged with the posse by three of the desperadoes without effect ; that the trail led toward the river and that the nosse withdrew unsuccessful on the afternoon of September 25th.

The main efforts of the defense were directed

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to establishing the good character which Hale bore among his neighbors. An attempt was also made to establish an alibi. The evidence bearing on Hale's reputation in Oregon was especially favorable to him, but the positive testimony of those who said they saw the defendant commit the crime made a stronger impression upon the minds of the twelve jurors, for after five hours' deliberation, they re- turned . a verdict of guilty as charged.

The case against Thomas A. Kimzie was called February 7th. The same attorneys appeared as in the Hale trial. A .special venire of jurors was issued and returned, and after nearly forty had been rejected, the following were chosen : F. D. Schnebly, A. C. Steinman, Jolin Olding, A. Welty, James Hornbeck, Chris. Johnson, John F. Denton, F. G. Hume, John Gilmour, William Beers, David Mur- ray and Frank Martin.

The general character of the testimony was similar to that given in the Hale case, the prosecu- tion seeking to establish the identity of the defend- ant as one of the robbers, and the defense setting up an alibi and offering proof of the good character of the accused at home. Dr. Lyon, George Jenkins, John Hewitson, Mrs. Veach and E. G. Hanlon swore positively that Kimzie was one of the men engaged in the robbery. Marshal Beal testified that a man closely resembling Kimzie drove him back when the shooting began, but was not posi- tive that Kimzie was the man. Cashier Abernethy failed to identify Kimzie as the man who assaulted him, on the contrary claimed that he was not the man. Johnny Hewitson testified that Kimzie was the man who ordered Professor Jenkins and himself inside the bank during the robbery. Several wit- nesses for the defense testified as to Kimzie's reput- tation and whereabouts on September 24th. The case was given to the jury on the 8th, without argument. As might be expected from the con- tradictory nature of the testimony, the jury failed to come to any agreement ; seven standing out for acquittal and five for conviction. The charge against George Zachary was dismissed on the ground of insufficient evidence and later the two others were discharged on account of strange de- velopments in the case, for while these trials were in progress, some new and exceedingly interesting complications had arisen. From a woman in Salt Lake City word was received by the authorities to the effect that the wrong men were being held for the crime. She offered to give information as to who the guilty ones were, if she could be assured that she would be protected from their assaults. Deputy Sheriff Banks and F. A. Abernethy made a trip to Salt Lake to interview the woman. Upon her statements a warrant was secured for the ar- rest of George, William and Thomas McCarty, of Baker City, Oregon, one Ras. Lewis, alias Chris- tiansien, and two others. Deputy Sheriff Banks started for Baker City, Oregon, with a requisition for the three McCarty brothers. Arriving April

2d, he found Chief Farley, of Denver, there in quest of Tom McCarty, who was, it appears, also charged with having committed robbery in Colora- do, and together they started for their men.

The warrants were turned over to Sheriff Conde, of Baker City, for service as the law required. It was ascertained that George McCarty was on Cracker creek, about forty-five miles from town and that William was at Haines. Deputy Kinison was despatched with a party to arrest George, an undertaking which was accomplished without diffi- culty. It was agreed that Banks and Farley should arrange with Sheriff Conde for the arrest of Wil- liam. Sheriff Conde consented to start immedi- ately, but insisted that it was unnecessary to take assistance; that if William McCarty knew he was wanted he would come in and give himself up. Banks and Farley protested and Conde finally con- sented to call for them at ten o'clock that morning, April 3d. They waited until eleven in the evening but no Conde appeared, though when they inquired as to the cause of his delay they were assured that he would soon come. He failed utterly to do so, however, and at eleven o'clock next day, April 4th, it was ascertained that he had started for Haines alone. Farley immediately set out after him, and overtaking him, rode into town in his company.

Upon arriving at the McCarty place, the officers were informed by a boy that William was out on the ranch, from which, however, he was expected to return soon. They then drove away, each in his own direction, having first agreed to meet later and make the arrest together. When Farley met Conde an hour afterward, the latter was much excited and said that William and Tom McCarty had held him up and made their escape. The story he told was that he saw William coming in on a horse, went out to meet him, and told him that he had a warrant for his arrest on a charge of complicity in the Roslyn bank robbery. William agreed to go with the sheriff if he would accompany him to the house. Conde did so. Just as they arrived at the door, Tom McCarty came out with a Winchester and getting behind the officer, compelled him to go into the house where he was disarmed and held a prisoner by Eck. McCarty until William and Tom had made good their escape. When Tom drew his gun on Conde he exclaimed : "You want to arrest Bill, do you? Well, you can't do it. I am the one that is responsible for this business, but you will never take me alive."

A message was sent to Baker City to raise a posse 'at once to scour the country for the escaped men. This message was the first intimation Mr. Banks had that the arrest had been attempted and he was greatly puzzled at the action of Sheriff Conde. A posse was quickly raised and started in pursuit of the McCarties. Their horses were found about ten miles out from town, but the where- abouts of the men could not be discovered although it was thought that they were hiding somewhere

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near. Thus by the false confidence and bungling of the Baker county officer was the one chance of arresting the MeCarties lost. Deputy Banks re- turned home April 7th, accompanied by Chief Farley, who, as before stated, had come from Den- ver in search of Tom McCarty, wanted in that town for holding up M. V. Moffatt on the street a few years previous and taking $21,000 from his person.

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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 60

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