An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 36

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172

USA > Washington > Skagit County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 36
USA > Washington > Snohomish County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 36

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).

On the day after the battle Sheriff Perkinson went to Samish, where he secured all the others and brought them to Mount Vernon. The preliminary hearing was completed on August 17th before Justice Anable. John White, who had taken no active part in the conflict, was discharged. Worden was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and bound over in the sum of two thousand dollars. .At the trial following he turned state's evidence and was discharged. The other three, Baldwin, Perkins and Loop, had also been charged with the

same crime, but since the death of Wheeler it was changed to murder in the first degree, and they were each bound over in the sum of ten thousand dollars.

The trial of Baldwin, Perkins and Loop began on October 23d, Judge Henry McBride presiding. It attracted considerable attention throughout the county. Eminent lawyers appeared on both sides. Prosecuting Attorney Geo. A. Joiner was assisted by J. T. Ronald, ex-mayor of Seattle, while the defense was conducted by Messrs. Sinclair & Smith, assisted by Colonel Lindsay and Judge Turner of Seattle. Two days were consumed in securing a jury, after which the addresses of the counsel and the hearing of the witnesses were begun. Archie McRea, J. Lewis of Edison, John Eckenberger and John White all testified to having heard Perkins and Baldwin make threats against the life of Wheeler and a number of other witnesses testified to the bad feeling between the men.

Captain Dean stated that he saw the fight, and that the defend- ants attacked Wheeler, also that he saw no revolver in Wheeler's hands during the melce. Wheeler, in his dying statement, which was accepted as evi- (lence, said that he had been attacked by the defendants and struck with canes and clubs; that he tried to escape but was closely pressed ; that he finally drew a revolver and shot at Baldwin ; that he then ran around the warehouse but was pursued and shot. The defense tried to prove that Wheeler was the aggressor and that Baldwin fired only in self-defense. The defendants all stated that Wheeler fired the first shots, also that he warned them to keep off the dock, claiming, moreover, that there was no agreement between them to attack Wheeler.

The case came to an end November 1st, and the following day the jury brought in a verdict of man- slaughter against all the defendants. They were sentenced by Judge McBride on November 12th, Baldwin to ten years in the penitentiary, Perkins to five and Loop to one year, and each to pay a fine of one dollar in addition. The costs in the case amounted to two thousand four hundred and fifty dollars and five cents, besides the sheriff's cost bill.

During the winter of 1895-6 a number of at- tempts were made to organize a county immigra- tion association, which attempts were not eminently successful. Officers were elected, as follows : President, HI. S. Conner: vice-president, F. L. Crampton : secretary, H. P. Downs ; treasurer, R. (). Welts. Some preliminary work was done, but the support was not enthusiastic, and the enterprise gradually died out.

In 1896 there was a movement to organize the county into townships according to a state law pro- viding for such organization whenever the inhabi- tants elect. There was an election held to decide the question, at which six hundred and eighty-seven votes were cast in favor of township organization

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and four hundred and fifty-five against, but in spite of this decided majority, the matter was for some reason allowed to drop.

By 1896 there had begun to be considerable improvement in the general condition of affairs. The erops for that year were very good, and the price of oats had risen from ten dollars and fifty cents to twelve dollars per ton, but the year did not pass by without the usual floods, which occurred that season in the middle of November. On the 12th and 13th Chinook winds blew, which melted large amounts of snow that had accumulated in the mountains, and in a short time the Skagit river was raging. For a time the water threatened to overflow the new levees along Mount Vernon's front, but a large number of men turned out with pieks and shovels and built dikes along the top of the levees. By these means the town was saved from being flooded. The opposite side of the river was not equally fortunate, however, for two breaks occurred, one near F. C. Ward's place, the other at the home of Dennis Storrs, letting a flood of water over the whole region ; a building at Hamil- ton and one at old Sedro were destroyed ; railroad

traffic was suspended for nearly a week; six hun- dred feet of the Great Northern track between the bridge and Burlington were washed out, while between Mount Vernon and Stanwood over a mile was destroyed.

An attempt at murder, of a dastardly and fiend- ish nature, was committed at Prairie at about two o'clock on the morning of December 5th. C. L. LePlant, J. C. LePlant and L. B. Walters were sleeping soundly in one room of the LePlant brothers' home, when some one exploded a charge of dynamite under the house and blew it into splin- ter. Strange to say, the occupants were praeti- cally uninjured, though the floor of the room was entirely blown away, allowing them to drop to the bare ground below. A heavy cook stove was thrown from the next room clear over the bed and fell next to where the wall had been. C. L. Le- Plant was the first to recover his senses and he im- mediately dug the other two out from the mass of debris to find that fortunately none of them had received any worse injuries than a few bruises and a bad shaking up. It was never discovered who the cowardly would-be assassin was.

CHAPTER V

SKAGIT COUNTY, 1897-1905

The year 189: witnessed a general revival of business that was very gratifying after the long period of stagnation, and once more the buzz of the saw-mills and the hum of industry were heard throughout the county. The Skagit News of July 26th says: "It is said that these days the Skagit county shingle-mill men are about as happy as shingle men can get over the prosperous condition of their business and the encouraging outlook for the future. Every mill in the county is running full time and many of them putting in from twelve to fourteen hours a day with 'snags' of orders ahead." This was a great and very pleasing change from the former dullness and every one was pleased with the prospect that the back of the hard times was broken and that business had onee more started into life and activity.

The attention of the courts was occupied for a time in 189; by an Indian murder case. In July four Indians, Charlie Moses, Johnnie Tommy, Johnnie Town, and John Enich, all Skagit Indians, were arrested for the murder, on the 5th of May.

of Kelly Annan, a Nookachamps Indian. At the trial Johnnie Town and John Enich turned state's evidence and told their story of the killing, which was as follows: The four Indians had made a drive of shingle bolts for Joe Richardson from Hamilton to Mount Vernon, and had started baek in their canoes from Mount Vernon early in the afternoon, accompanied by their wives and also by Kelly Annan. In the evening they camped about half a mile above the Great Northern bridge and proceeded to fill up on whiskey. In a short time a quarrel broke out between Johnnie Tommy and Kelly Annan, in which the latter threatened to bewitch the former. At this moment Charlie Moses came up and struck Kelly Annan two blows on the head with an ax; then Johnnie Tommy cut his throat with a knife, whereupon they weighted the body with a bag of sand and sunk it in the river. It seems that Paul Jesus, a brother of Kelly Annan, heard of the affair, but was pacified by a number of presents.

Charlie Moses and Johnnie Tommy admitted

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being camped at the place specified, but denied that they had had any whiskey or that Kelly Annan had been with them, saying that they had not seen him for a long time. The trial of the two Indians was completed in October and on the 12th they were sentenced by Judge Houser, Charlie Moses receiving four years in the penitentiary and Johnnie Tommy five. The counsel for the defense, Messers. Sinclair & Smith, appealed the case to the supreme court, but the final decision and sentence, delivered in April. Is9s, were the same as those delivered in the first instance.

It was in 189; that the news of the wonderful Klondike discoveries caused such wild excitement throughout the Northwest. Not since the days of California had such a fever of excitement been seen. Men by the hundreds forsook their occupations and joined the grand rush to the gold-fields of the North. Skagit county. being on the line of the Alaska travel, received its full share of glowing tales of gokl and wealth; and, led by these tales, many of her citizens embarked in the search for the gold and the wealth. In July and August a large number left for the Klondike. among them 1 .. D. Metcalf. Jack Papin. J. K. Thomas. J. W. Prilliman. Joe Stroud, James Eastwood. Peter Jamison, J. N. Parker. L. D. Ferguson, Dennis Storrs, Fred Siegel. Amber Thi- bert. Fred Bonchier. Mark Rowan. H. C. Frizelle. Key Pitman. Frank Stackpole, T. M. Gares, J. M. McCreary. W. S. Riblett, Ole Dickson. C. S. Moody. Dr. J. N. Harris. James Dunlap, John Matson, John Lucky. Arthur Everett. John Bridcott, William Moss. John Matley, John Lloyd, Eugene Taylor. Fred Slack. R. O. Welts, Will Knox. F. A. Gard- ner. W. E. Harbert. all of Mount Vernon ; Robert Woodburn, Richard Ball of La Conner: Wiley Roach of Lyman ; W. V. Wells, Douglass Allmond. Peter E. Nelson. Daniel Sullivan of Anacortes : George Reed of Burlington ; William Heffron of Hamilton; R. Lambier of Sterling, and Charles McDowell of Woolley. The Skagit News of Au- gust 2d remarked that it was only the near approach of winter that kept almost the entire male popula- tion of Skagit county from joining the grand rush and predicted that if the favorable reports con- tinued the county would be almost depopulated in the spring.

And yet it is certain that only a small portion of these hopeful adventurers achieved a fortune, while those who stayed at home, at least some of them, did, if we may judge by the following from the Skagit News of August 9th : "Talk about your Klondikes, they are nothing to a fish trap among the islands of northwest Washington. One trap. owned by Rolla Davis, furnishes enough fish to keep the Ana- cortes cannery employed all the time. From a sin- gle raising ten thousand fish were taken, netting its owner eight hundred dollars, and there were twenty thousand fish left in the trap. Mr. Davis has a contract for three years at eight cents apiece.

It is estimated that he will clear thirty thousand dol- lars this season."

In November a most unusual and astonishing event occurred, namely, a flood in the Skagit river. November 12th there was a very warm Chinook wind; on the following day the river rose rapidly, and early the next morning began pouring over the levees. The people of Mount Vernon rushed out and tried to stop the flood by raising the levees, but their efforts were of no avail; then they rushed back to their houses and places of business and tried to secure their goods against damage. A few were unsuccessful even in this. Buildings were flooded and sidewalks torn up and debris washed through the streets all over town, the southern part, as usual, suffering the most. A break occurred there. letting in a rush of water which carried everything before it with tremendous force. Several exciting experiences were recorded by the News, probably the most exciting being that of Mr. Winkler, who was in his house when the break occurred, directly in the path of the torrent. The house was turned around and broken in two. Mr. Winkler didn't have time to make his escape, but was obliged to jump up and stand on the door-knob while the water rose up to his chin. At length the door-knob broke off. so Mlr. Winkler swam to the window and climbed up astride of the lower sash. He remained in this position with the water up around his waist for several hours, until finally a boat was snubbed down to him and he was rescued. Several other men were resened from house-tops and stumps, two after remaining all night on the latter.

Between Mount Vernon and the sound the levees were overflowed in all directions, but fortu- nately the damage was not very severe, being con- fined principally to oats and hay which had not been placed high enough to escape the water. The wagon bridge at Mount Vernon, which had stood so many hard knocks, was injured by a huge jam of logs so that it could not be used for several days. Steam- boat slough, the only navigable channel at the mouth of the river, was blockaded and it was with diffi- culty that steamboats made their way through. The coast-line of the Great Northern was over- flowed and trains delayed, but the damage was not so great as usual.

The outbreak of the war with Spain in 1898 was heralded in Skagit county by the same enthusi- astic patriotism that was shown in every other county in the state and in the Union. A number of the young men of Skagit volunteered at once in the service of their country. Three of them, Frank B. Lippincott. George H. Gaches and J. G. McGlinn left on the steamship Senator on May 11th, and those who went at other times were Edwin Fred- lund, of Mount Vernon; William Chambers and Harry Craig, of La Conner; Frank Brown and Nicholas Polly, of Sedro-Woolley. Gaches and McGlinn were enrolled in Company B of Seattle.

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Lippincott in Company E of North Yakima, Fred- lund in Company G, Chambers in Company H. Craig with the First Idaho volunteers, and Brown and Polly also with the First Washington. Polly was seriously injured at the attack on Pasig church near Manila and never recovered from the effects.

Eighteen hundred and ninety-eight was a pros- perous year, with good erops and business activity. In the fall the people celebrated their good fortune by holding a county fair, which began October 6th and lasted three days, proving a grand success. The beautiful and varied displays showed the great resources of Skagit county to be such as the inhabi- tants themselves had not realized. The attendance during the three days was fully six thousand.

Prosperity and excellent conditions continued through the following year in constantly increasing measure. The News of December 25th gives a summary of the events of the county for that year which was, in part, as follows :

"The spring was very late and many crops were in danger of being ruined by the late rains. A portion of the Olympia marsh was inundated nearly all year. We had rains in July, a rather unusual occurrence. The ranchers, however, had planted their grain early and a fairly good crop was the result. Between intermittent showers, the merry hum of the separators was heard late into October. In some places the grain was first class and in others it was wiry and tough and frequently clogged the machines. The yield of oats ran as high as one hundred and fifteen bushels to the acre in some localities and seldom below eighty. The late rains lodged the grain, and it did not ripen as early as usual. The cost of harvesting was increased by the necessity of hiring men to raise the grain. There were about twenty-five threshing outfits at work during the summer. Several new ones were brought into the county at the commencement of the season. The oats were of a darker color than usual, but they were well filled out. While the yield of oats was large, that of hay was smaller. In some in- stances hay was ruined in the shock by its being too wet weather. The price of hay ranges from six dollars per ton upward, and oats from fifteen dollars per ton up.

"Many ranchers are paying more attention to dairying than they have in the past. Several of them have bought new separators and increased their herds of cows. The Alaska trade has created a demand for packed butter, and a great deal of Washington product is shipped there. As a rule, the farmers are getting better stock and disposing of the inferior animals as soon as convenient. This is noted in horses as well as in cattle. Where they had light stock they have in almost every case been replaced by a heavier animal.

"The salmon industry has taken wonderful strides the past year. The addition of new canner- ies at Anacortes brought up the amount of salmon

canned. Last year 3,350,000 salmon were canned in the different canneries in the county. These salmon filled 205,000 cases, and as there are four dozen cans in a case there was a total of 9,840,000 cans. They retail in the East at 25 cents a can. The valuation here was about $1,000,000. Two thou- sand five hundred sacks of elams were put up, making a total of 1,360 cases. The salmon caught on the river was mostly sold to Seattle houses and placed on ice and shipped East. The money from these drift-net men is no small item in itself.

"The state hatchery at Baker was sold to the government and is now being run steadily. An appropriation was made for a hatchery to replace the one sold, but Commissioner Little has neglected to put it in. The Skagit is the largest river on the sound and is entitled to more than a passing glimpse by the fish commissioner. More salmon ascend this river than all the creeks on the sound put together. A state hatchery is in operation at Samish lake.

"The shingle and lumber industry in on the in- erease. A large mill is being equipped at Mount Vernon. Seven hundred million shingles are being cut each year, and forty-five million feet of lumber. During the year almost through there were running twenty-nine shingle mills and fourteen lumber mills, employing about five hundred and fifty men. To supply these mills with material, and also outside mills, twelve hundred men were needed in the shingle bolt and logging camps. Business in the shingle and lumber trade has been quite brisk for the past year. Good prices and lots of orders made the mill men smile.

"A railway line has been surveyed around Chuckanut mountain by the Great Northern and active work will soon commence. They have also purchased a right of way up the Skagit valley and will build up as far as Sauk. This proposed exten- sion means much for the county."

The fall of 1899 was rendered memorable in many parts of the Union by the return of the soldier boys from the Philippines. Skagit county also had its returning heroes, and a reception was held in their honor at Mount Vernon on November 16th. The soldiers whose gallantry was thus honored were Corporal George Gaches, Company B. First Wash- ington volunteers, Corporal William Chambers, Company H of the same regiment, Corporal Edwin Fredlund, Company G. Private Garfield MeGlinn, Company B. Private Frank B. Lippincott, Jr., Com- pany E. Sergeant Harry Craig, of the First Idaho volunteers : also two soldiers not from Skagit, Ser- geant McCarty, Company H. Eighth infantry and Corporal Abbey. Company B. Fourth infantry.

Corporal Fredlund had had charge of the regi- ment signal service at Pasig church, during the bat- tle of Fay-Tay, and also at the advance on Morong. the only times that the Washington volunteers were ever used in the special service. Private MeGlinn had received honorary mention for special merito-

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rions services upon his discharge. The reception was held in the Mount Vernon opera-house, the chairman being llon. M. P Hurd. Eloquent ad- dresses were delivered by Hon. J. C. Waugh and Hon. 11. Y. Thompson, and an original poem enti- tled "The Washington Volunteer." was recited by the author. W. F. Robertson. A number of patri- otie musical selections were rendered by the glee club, consisting of Professor David, Addison Davis. W: S. Packard and J. Haddock Smith.

There were several important court proceedings in 1899, one of the most noteworthy being the trial of Joe Henry for the murder of Andrew K. Jack- son. The circumstances of the affair, as described by eve-witnesses, of whom there were several, were as follows: Joe Henry, who was an educated half- breed, was the postmaster at Urban on Sinclair island, or Cottonwood island, as it was also named. There had been trouble between Henry and Jackson for some time, the latter apparently being the ag- gressor. On the morning of the 13th of March Henry started down to the beach to get the mail from the steamer Buckeye. He had a paper for Jackson which he brought over to where the latter was standing and dropped at his feet, whereupon Jackson began calling him vile names, followed him down to the edge of the water and struck him a heavy blow on the chest. Henry then picked up a stone and threw it at his assailant, which caused the latter to attack him still more violently. Jackson threw Henry into the water, forcing his head below the surface and striking him in the face whenever he tried to escape. Finally the men were separated by C. B. Lutz, who happened to be near and Henry went up to his house, secured a rifle and shot Jack- son, who was following him, through the body so that he died in a few minutes, then gave himself up to the authorities. At the trial the prosecution was conducted by County Attorney M. P. Hurd, assisted by E. P. Barker of Mount Vernon, while llon. John F. Dore of Seattle and Il. D. Allison of Anacortes appeared for the defense. It took the jury only fifteen minutes to decide on a verdict of "not guilty."

Of a more serious nature was the murder of D. M. Woodbury, of Anacortes, at that place on September 1th. This was perhaps the most cold- blooded crime in the history of Skagit county, and the long and hard-fought trial which ensued was watched with intense interest. The following account of the crime was written by an eye-witness and appeared first in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer :

D. M. Woodbury, a prominent attorney and one of the most enterprising men of this region, was shot by Al. Hamilton at about three o'clock.

Hamilton had a quarrel with Billy Londerville and, it is said, threatened to kill him. Londerville, who was once on trial at Tacoma for shooting Miles Brotten, a policeman, complained to City Marshal Becker of his threats, and Becker had intended locking Hamilton up until he cooled off, but Hamilton resisted arrest, and as

he was armed with a revolver and showed fight, Becker concluded to delay taking him into custody until a less dangerous moment. The marshal started up the street for help and Hamilton followed, meanwhile making threats. Finally the marshal reached the bank building, in which City Attorney Allson had his office, and went upstairs to see the attorney, Hamilton continuing to follow. In this building are several offices, including those of D. M. Woodbury, Miss Trolson, the telephone agent, and Doug- lass Allmond. Allmond heard loud talking in the hall and finally heard some one say : "You -. if you move, I'd blow your head off." At this he rushed out of his office and found Hamilton covering Becker with a revolver, the distance between the two men being perhaps fifteen feet. Allmond advanced to within about ten feet of Ham- ilton, when the revolver was leveled at him, and Hamilton said, "If you move again, I'll kill you." This situation lasted several seconds, when Woodbury came out of his office and said: "What is all this about?" Hamilton told Woodbury to throw up his hands, punctuating his remarks by oaths. Woodbury started to speak further. when Hamilton swung his revolver from Allmond and fired, the distance between the two men being eighteen or twenty feet, and Woodbury fell instantly. Allmond started forward to close on Hamilton as the latter turned his revolver toward Woodbury, but after the shot was fired Hamilton quickly covered Allmond again. Woodbury, who had fallen, called : "Boys. I'm shot. He has killed me." After a few seconds more Hamilton glanced toward where Woodbury lay and Allmond jumped backward through a door and to an open window, where he called to people on the street below to send for a physician, that Woodbury was shot. When he returned to the hall, Hamilton had started to run downstairs. Becker follow- ing. At the top he collided with H. D. Allison. Half-way down he met E. Kasch, pointed the revolver at him and ordered him to get out of the way. As he passed, Kasch tripped him and he fell downstairs. At the bottom Becker jumped on him and at this point Martin McDonald came in from the outside and grabbed Hamilton's right arm and the revolver was taken away. Hamilton was then lodged in the city jail and taken later to Mount Vernon by Sheriff Wells.

Mr. Woodbury lingered in great pain until the 10th, when he died. Hamilton, a man of the worst type, already had a long record with the police, being known to them under four different names : Al. Hamilton, Al. Hawkins, Al. Harris and .Al. Thomas. He was said to be a leserter from the English navy. He had committed numerous acts of robbery and piracy and had been charged with two murders, his nefarious operations extend- ing over the whole of Puget sound.

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An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 36

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1906 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1172

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172