An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 62

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 62
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 62
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 62

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).

That the people elsewhere were feeling the condition of financial depression was impressed upon the minds of the settlers of Kittitas valley early in the spring of 1894. It will be remembered that about this time a man named Coxey had con-

ceived the idea of making a personal appeal to congress for help for the unemployed. He thought to back up his appeal by an organized army of petitioners who should accompany him to Washington and personally second his demand. The people of Ellensburg and the surrounding country made their first acquaintance with this army of unemployed on their march to the Na- tional capital, on Friday, May 4th, when a few straggling members of the advance guard reached town. Saturday increased the number materially and by Sunday about two hundred had arrived. Among these was "Jumbo" Cantwell, the com- mander of the Tacoma legion. The men were without supplies, or any means of providing them, except by begging, tramp fashion, as they went along.

Donations were made by the meat markets and bakery ; farmers and business men gave flour and vegetables and a dinner was served on Sunday, May 6th, to about two hundred and fifty men. On each day following they were similarly fed by the townspeople and farmers. For about ten days they continued to arrive and depart, although they ex- perienced some difficulty in boarding outgoing trains, as the railway officials took to running their freight cars through at a high rate of speed to pre- vent the men from stealing rides. A great many, notwithstanding, managed to get out on the trains, and some probably walked to Yakima.

Finally, to get rid of the remainder, the council in special session apportioned seventy-five dollars' worth of provisions for the Industrial Army, and with these the last of them departed, some drifting down the river on rafts and in boats.

One boat, containing eighteen men, was upset and four of its occupants were drowned, three swam ashore, and eleven were rescued from a log on which they found lodgment. One of the bodies was washed ashore below the scene of the wreck. On the following day it was recovered and interred by the county. The remains were identified as those of J. Werner, of Spokane, who had joined the army at Ellensburg.

"It has been estimated," says the Capital, "by those who watched the army closely, that from 1,200 to 1,500 men passed through Ellensburg in ten days. While here they lived as well as, if not better than, many of our workingmen, and of course their sustenance was a heavy drain on the community, and their departure caused no regret. As a body they conducted themselves in a very orderly and lawful manner and our people have no cause for complaint on that score. We are well rid of them and should be thankful for our fortune."

In June of the disastrous year 1894 occurred the great railroad strike, which was called through sympathy with the strikers in the Pullman Car Company's works. This tie-up was so far reaching in its results as to almost completely block all land traffic throughout the country. The strike took

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effect at Ellensburg June 28th. Every train was deserted by its crew and both passenger and freight transportation was brought to a standstill. Among the delayed trains was a special of thirteen Pull- man tourist sleeping cars, containing Brigadier Gen- eral Curry and staff and eleven companies of state militia en route to Olympia to attend the state en- campment. No trains were moved until July 30th, on which date a crew to man one was obtained.

For the most part the strike in the Kittitas sec- tion was conducted in an orderly manner and few deeds of violence were committed. After the strike had continued about fifteen days, however, it was found that some of the more lawless had burned a bridge near Thorp. To this act the Yakima Her- ald of July IIth made the following reference :

"The great railway strike now raging through- out the nation is making itself felt in Kittitas county. Another outrage perpetrated by the strikers was the wanton burning of the costly bridge at Thorp Mon- day night, July 9th. The structure was one known as a combination bridge, wood and iron, the span of which was two hundred and fifty feet long. It will take weeks to replace it, although it is thought that a crossing may be effected in a few days by means of false work. The disturbance of traffic is working a hardship on farmers and busi- ness men all along the line of the road."

On the 13th of July, traffic began to move again. In the evening two passenger trains that had been laying at Ellensburg pulled out for the west and that night the special with the militia left. At the same time a passenger started east.

Two companies, A and D, of the Fourteenth in- fantry from Vancouver were stationed at Ellensburg during the strike. Detachments of these went east and west on the trains as a guard, getting off at Hope or Tacoma, and coming back on the return trains. Every train was guarded and a sufficient reserve was left in camp to provide against emer- gencies. The troops were withdrawn July 29th, after three weeks' stay.

By degrees the strikers resumed work, and those that still held out were replaced by others, until finally about the last of July, conditions became normal once more. Those going into the service of the Northern Pacific were required to take pledges binding them to support the constitution of the United States and to obey all orders of the United States courts.

Later in the year a strike was instituted in the coal mining regions. It resulted from an attempt on the part of the Northern Pacific Coal Company to reduce the scale of prices for mining coal at the Roslyn mine twenty per cent. The proposition submitted by the company was that they would pay eighty cents instead of a dollar a ton, with one dol- lar for hand picked coal, and in turn they would agree to furnish five days' work a week instead of two. They stated as a reason for the proposed reduction that if accepted they would be enabled to

close a contract with the Union Pacific Railroad Company for five hundred tons a day. The miners held a conference at which it was decided to offer a compromise. This offer being refused by the company, another conference was had at which it was voted to strike. The company allowed a certain time for the men to agree to their terms, at the end of which time, they said, they were determined to fill the places of the strikers from without, if such a course became necessary. The miners were stead- fast in their demands. In its issue of July 26, 1894, the Capital said :

"Last Saturday (2Ist) was the time limit for signing the coal company's agreement at Roslyn, but not a miner signed. General Manager Kang- ley is now in Seattle consulting. The company states that the places of the strikers will be filled at once, as it intends to operate the mines before August 15th. A detachment of regulars was sent up to Cle-Elum from the camp here on the 24th. The miners have been drilling at Roslyn for several weeks past ; and as they have not been in an amia- ble mood, trouble is expected."

When it was announced by Manager Kangley that new men would be put in the Roslyn mines, a number of the old miners declared themselves in favor of accepting the company's terms and return- ing to work. At a meeting held August 6th, ninety- four of them voted for a resumption of work at the wages offered. They were outnumbered, however, one hundred and seventy votes being cast against the proposed resumption, but on the following day another meeting was held at which a decidedly dif- ferent conclusion was reached. This time only twelve out of a total of five hundred and seventy- two expressed themselves in favor of continuing the strike. As a result hundreds of applications for work were filed and on Wednesday, August 8th, operations were resumed after a suspension of three months' duration.

During the following year (1895) occurred in Kittitas one of those tragic and now rather rare outbreaks of the mob spirit which once was so ram- pant in western life. The two homicides which led to the sensational lynching of Sam and Charles Vin- son, father and son, occurred in the Teutonia saloon, August IIth. About six o'clock in the evening Samuel Vinson, who was without doubt under the influence of liquor, followed John Buerglin into the saloon and tried to compel him to treat. Buerglin refused with the words, "I loaned you two dollars and you have not paid it. You cannot drink with me." A quarrel ensued which resulted in Buerglin's being stabbed and Vinson's being severely beaten over the head.

While Vinson, the father, was quarreling with Buerglin in an effort to get him to treat, Vinson, the son, looked in at the saloon door. Seeing the bar- tender come around in front of the bar, he walked in and with drawn revolver compelled him to retire. Then Michael Kohlhepp, one of the proprietors of

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the saloon, took a club and attempted to drive the young Vinson out, but when Kohlhepp got within four feet of him, he fired, shooting Kohlhepp through the lung. The latter, however, retained sufficient strength to throw and hold his assailant until the city officers arrived and took both Vinsons into custody. Michael Kohlhepp was shot a few minutes after six o'clock and died before eight. John Buerglin walked to the office of Dr. Newland, who after an examination . of the wound, found reason to hope for his recovery. He died, however, on Tuesday afternoon, August 13th.

After the demise of Buerglin there was strong talk of a lynching, but the prevailing opinion among the law abiding citizens was that such ex- treme measures would not be resorted to. As the evening advanced, however, matters began to as- sume a serious aspect, and by ten o'clock the streets were crowded with men. Sheriff Stinson placed six guards on duty, remaining with them himself, while Deputy F. D. Schnebly, after locking the steel cage, took the keys and went away. It was believed that the sheriff and guards could keep off any ordinary crowd and it was thought that even if a mob should get possession of the jail, they would not be able to break in through the steel bars of the cage, which were warranted to be proof against tools.

Contrary to the general impression among the citizens that the agitation would end in talk, a de- termined mob had collected by eleven P. M., at the jail. About forty in number, all fully armed with guns, revolvers, sledge hammers and railroad iron, they appeared before the door of the sheriff's office at the courthouse. On being refused admission they smashed in the door, whereupon the officers were covered by the guns of the mob and compelled to surrender. The crowd demanded the keys of the cage. On being told that Schnebly had taken them with him one of the men remarked that it was un- kind of him to be aivay with the keys when the peo- ple wanted them, but that they could get in just the same. Two men were sent with Sheriff Stinson for the keys but failed to find Schnebly; consequently it was determined by those in charge to break in. This was no small job, as it was necessary to des- troy the jail lock which was protected by a small iron box. The mob, however, divided the work among themselves and for two hours wrought en- ergetically. Inside the doomed men took matters calmly considering the circumstances. Young Vin- son maintained his reputation for bravado, swearing occasionally at his "blood hunters," as he styled them, and fanning out the flickering candle flame with his hat whenever he felt like doing so, appar- ently enjoying the annoyance which he, in this way, caused the men at work. The father seemed more keenly to appreciate what was coming and for the most part maintained a sullen silence.

At last about one o'clock the bars surrounding the main lock were cut, the so-called chisel proof steel being in fact of poor quality; the door was

broken down and the prisoners secured after a short struggle in which the old man's head was severely cut and bruised. Meanwhile efforts had been repeatedly made on the part of several citizens, to disperse the mob but without avail. Judge Graves came from his home in answer to a summons and vainly en- deavored to induce the men to retire, and other attempts of similar character were likewise futile.

The cell door being at last forced open, ropes were speedily passed around the necks of the doomed men, who, surrounded by their guards, were led away to the residence lot of Ed. Dickson on the corner of Seventh and Pearl streets, where the mob intended to hang them to an electric light pole. Mr. Dickson strenuously objected, however, plead- ing the enfeebled and nervous condition of his wife, and presently the crowd moved one block farther east to Pine street. Here a small cottonwood tree was found, to the lower limbs of which the unfor- tunate father and son were soon hanging.

The street was so dark that only the vague out- lines of the crowd could be distinguished, and al- though all but the leaders were unmasked, it was not possible to recognize any of them. Only a part of the city was aware of what was going on. and even some of the people who lived in the immediate neighborhood of the jail and the tree did not hear of what had happened until next morning.

Sam Vinson was fifty-five years of age at the time of the lynching and Charles was twenty-nine. They were a worthless pair. The father when sober was no worse than many other citizens who would not be classed as criminals, but the son was a thor- oughly desperate man and had been arrested several times for stock stealing. There is no doubt that they were guilty of killing the two men in the Teutonia saloon, but it is not certain that a jury would have found either guilty of a capital offense.

"The lynching," says the Yakima Herald of August 22, 1895, "was no doubt largely due to the fiasco in which the trials of the Roslyn bank robbers resulted. The first trial terminated in a conviction, but it was subsequently proven that the convicted men were innocent, and they were given their lib- erty. Then the real criminals were arrested and a disagreement of the jury resulted. By this time the county was nearly bankrupt and there being no money with which another trial could be had. Judge Graves ordered the prisoners turned loose."

An attempt was made to overtake and punish the parties responsible for this outbreak of mob violence. Eight persons were arrested by Sheriff Stinson on evidence furnished by the prosecuting attorney, namely, William Kennedy, Mike Linder, ex-deputy treasurer ; John Bush, a wagon maker; Frank Ue- helacher, partner of Kohlhepp, who was killed by Charles Vinson ; Frank Feigle, and Frank Groger, brewers ; Robert Linke and Patrick Desmond, farm- ers. Bush, Desmond and Groger were discharged - for lack of evidence. The five others were held for trial on information filed by Engene E. Wager,

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prosecuting attorney, charging them with murder in the first degree, committed August 14, 1895, when in the language of the information, "they did pur- posely and of their deliberate and premeditated mal- ice kill Samuel Vinson by means of a rope placed and tightly drawn around the neck of the said Sam- uel Vinson." Judge Graves being disqualified be- cause of having witnessed a part of the affair, the accused were given a trial before Judge T. J. Humes, of King county. The case went to the jury September 20th, and on the 21st the matter was ter- minated as far as the judiciary was concerned by the rendering of a verdict of not guilty, contrary to what would have been expected from the evidence and the judge's charge.

The year 1895 was a year of small profits to both farmers and business men. Although crops were good in the, valley, priccs were extremely low. Barley sold at seventeen cents a bushel, the lowest price ever recorded in the history of Kittitas county, and on account of the exceptionally low price of wool, the sheep industry was badly demoralized. Thus it came to pass that many of the farmers and merchants found themselves in straitened cir- cumstances. Dairy products, however, brought uni- formly good prices throughout the year and indeed throughout all the hard times proved one of the main reliances of the farmers.

The winter of 1895-6 was unusually long, cold and disagreeable. Snow fell to the depth of twenty feet at the Stampede tunnel and to an exceptional depth throughout the valley. A late cold and frosty spring followed in which considerable damage was done to fruit. However, the early summer months were warm and favorable and in a great measure atoned for the severe winter and backward spring. Nevertheless, as the result of a hot, dry per- iod in July, 1896, water for irrigation was scarce during the late summer, and in consequence, the cereal crop for the year was somewhat short as com- pared with former more favorable seasons. The loss on this account was mostly confined to the late sowing, however, as the fall grain was pretty well matured before the hot weather commenced and was much less affected by the drouth. In this respect Kittitas valley suffered less than many other sections of the country. The hay crop of the valley was ex- ceptionally heavy and was harvested without any deterioration from rain. The prices of cereals reached a point much in advance of the previous sea- son, wheat going up to seventy cents, and so the farmers were compensated in some measure for loss sustained by them through deficiency in yields.

The period between the 13th and the 18th of November, 1896, was one of exceedingly high water in the Kittitas valley. It began raining on Friday, November 13th, and continued with increasing force during Saturday and Sunday. On Monday it snowed all afternoon and most of the night. Such was the condition of affairs at Ellensburg and in the mountains the storm was no doubt much worse. Not

a little snow was on the ground at the time, and when the heavy rains came, speedily melting it, a flood was the inevitable result. Throughout the whole of Saturday night, the river rose at a mar- velously rapid rate and by Sunday morning it was over its banks in many places. All day Sunday it continued to rise. Many people in the vicinity of Thorp had to leave their homes for higher ground ; all the lower levels were covered with water and the railroad track was threatened in many places. El- lensburg was cut off from all railroad com- munication for several days, bridges being washed out both above and below the town. Tuesday morn- ing brought cooler weather and a consequently speedy amelioration of conditions. The water fell as rapidly as it had risen and in the afternoon traffic began to be resumed. This flood was regarded by many as phenomenal though it had its counterpart, according to the statement of an early settler, about twenty years previous, when under similar conditions a still harder rush of waters occurred.

The unusual flood of 1896 was followed by an exceedingly cold period of about ten days' duration. Eight inches of snow fell in the Kittitas valley and at other points much heavier falls were reported. The snow in the hills was so deep as to cause stock men much apprehension for the safety of their cat- tle. November 28th, the thermometer registered twenty-eight degrees below zero, indicating the coldest weather for that season of the year since the advent of white men into the valley. The weather during the whole month was very unusual.

Early in the year 1897 evidences of the return of prosperity to the country began to be everywhere manifested, and the Kittitas people were among the first to feel the effect of the new and improved con- ditions. The crops for the season were excellent and that coupled with the advanced prices due to the improved financial condition of the country gave a new impetus to business and brought prosperity to all classes.

The hay crop of the season was exceptionally heavy, in fact surpassed that of all previous years, and it sold readily in the local market for nine dol- . lars and upwards a ton. Wheat also was a good crop, and early in the season reached the seventy cent mark. Oats, barley and other cereals were also a splendid yield and sold readily for fair prices. The wool clip of the county for the year, estimated at about 600,000 pounds, sold at seven and eight cents a pound, and remunerative prices, abundant crops and ready markets soon restored commercial faith and prosperity.

And it was not alone in the farming districts that good times were working out their beneficent results. In August, 1896. reports show that the Roslyn coal mines were working only one and a half and two days a week, and that all operations were confined to level No. 2, no coal being taken out below. al- though much money had been spent in opening up the shaft and preparing for work. In August, 1807,

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the mines were being operated to their fullest ca- pacity and the railroad was being sorely taxed to haul away their product. The output for the month of November was 48,365 tons and the December product was close to 60,000 tons. All the miners were kept steadily employed; indeed, it was even found necessary to work overtime, that the de- niands might all be supplied.

Considerable excitement was occasioned during the early months of the year by the trial of Thomas Johnson for the murder of George Donahue, a hom- icide which had occurred in June of the preceding year. Briefly stated the facts in the case are these : Ill feeling of long standing had existed between the two men. This eventually led to a quarrel, the final result of which was the shooting. The tragedy oc- curred in Peshastin mining district. Donahue was shot three times, two bullets entering his leg, one above and one below the knee; the third passed through his body killing him. Johnson immediately gave himself up, and at the preliminary examination before Judge Boyle, in Ellensburg, was bound over to appear at the next session of the Superior court in January. The trial was postponed, however, on account of the serious illness of one of the jurors, until the 3d of the following March, when the case was again called. Some forty or fifty witnesses were examined during the trial. The crime charged was murder in the first degree. The defense ad- mitted the shooting of Donahue but entered a plea of self defense. From a legal standpoint this trial was one of the hardest fought battles that ever took place in the Kittitas county courts. Much interest was manifested by the general public and during its progress the courtroom was each day filled with a crowd of interested spectators. While the attor- neys were making their arguments, all available standing room was occupied and the court judging the building unsafe for such an assembly ordered the aisles cleared. The arguments of counsel lasted from nine o'clock in the morning of Saturday, March 13th, until ten in the evening, each attorney being allowed two and a half hours. On the morn- ing of the 14th, after six or seven hours' delibera- tion, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

July 19th, 1897, an event occurred which threw the entire northwest and many other parts of the United States and the world into the tem- porary madness of a mining excitement. On that date the steamer Portland drew quietly up to an anchorage in Seattle with over seven hundred thousand dollars' worth of gold from the far north safely stowed away in her hold. This was the first large shipment of treasure from the rich Klondyke gold fields, while stories of fabulous wealth together with this substantial earnest of the richness of the north land occasioned an excitement throughout the entire northwest un- equaled since the days of the Idaho placers. The result was an immediate rush for the land of treas- ure, where according to reports from fifty to two

hundred dollars had been taken out to the pan. Some of the people mentioned by the press as among those who returned with fortunes were from this valley, and that made the local interest all the greater. Within a week a large company of Kittitas citizens had set out for the rich Eldorado. But this was not the only effect of the gold strike, for it was soon found that to get supplies across the mountain passes on the road to the new gold fields pack horses were necessary. Thus a new market was created for all the small horses of the valley, which sold readily for from twenty to twenty-five dollars a head.

While the Klondyke was attracting the attention at home and abroad, the local mining interests were not being neglected entirely. For some time the Swauk country had been coming to the front as a gold producer, and according to the report of the director of the mint, Kittitas county had taken the lead in 1895 in mineral production in the state of Washington, having furnished one-third of all the gold mined in the state that year. One week in September, 1897, four bonds for deeds for min- ing properties in the Swauk country were filed. Clean-ups of one hundred dollars a week were com- inon ; some as high as three hundred and fifty dollars to the man were reported, and throughout the en- tire year the district yielded a goodly output of gold.

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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 62

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