USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > An illustrated history of Walla Walla County, state of Washington > Part 15
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basic elements of a prosperous commonwealth. A saw-mill was erected at the head of the val- ley, and the town of LaGrande sprung into being, having about fifteen houses in the fall of 1862. Flour sold there at fifteen dollars per hundredweight.
In November, 1862, we have the authority of the Washington Statesman to maintain that the town of LaGrande had a population of one hundred, two stores, one hotel and a blacksmith shop. In March, 1862, Lewiston, at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, had been laid out as a town, Wallula gaining a similar prestige in the following month, being located on the Columbia river. At the close of the year 1862 Walla Walla, a city of less than one hundred houses, nest- ling at the base of the Blue mountains; La- Grande, in the mountain valley, as noted; the military trading post at The Dalles: Pinkney City (Colville). in Spokane county, consti- tuted, with the two previously mentioned, the village settlements established between the Rocky and Cascade ranges. Besides these there were, of course. the primitive mining towns in the mountains, the same being, how- ever. little more than camps.
It was exceedingly gratifying to the in- habitants of this section to find that the win- ter of 1862-3 proved as mild and equable as had the previous one been austere and rig- orous. Up to the beginning of February, 1863. there had been practically no winter, and a grateful Chinook wind cleared the val- ley of snow, on the 16th of that month, the snow having, in fact, been in evidence for but a week. This represented the end of the win- ter.
CHAPTER VIII.
POLITICAL HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY,-1863-1866.
The legislature of 1858, by the erection of Spokane county, made the Snake river con- stitute the north and east boundary line of Walla Walla county, which still included all the territory between the Cascade range and the Columbia river, with the exception of Klickitat county. In January, 1863, the legis- lature of the territory created the county of Stevens: the same being taken from Walla Walla county and located west of the Colum- bia, along the borders of the British posses- sions and north of the Wenatchee river. The new county was attached to Spokane for ju- dicial purposes.
The little city of Walla Walla had thus far been on the direct route to the mines and had grown and prospered through the influ- ence of the pack trains which were fitted out within her gates and through the flocking of the miners to the place to spend their gold in various ways. But in the latter part of 1862 gold had been discovered in the famous Boise basin, in what is now the state of Idaho. This discovery deflected the line of gold- seekers from Walla Walla, which was now to one side of the most direct line for the trans- portation to the new region of the passengers and freight coming up the Columbia river. The tide of emigration to the new mines set in in the spring of 1863, and this led to the establishment of a new town at the confluence of the Columbia and Umatilla rivers, the name of the latter being given to the new village.
From that point a line of stages was put in operation over the emigrant road to the Boise basin, and though Walla Walla suffered somewhat from the deflection of travel and traffic, yet the energy and progressiveness of her merchants and citizens proved adequate to maintain to a large extent her trade prestige, which attracted many over from the slightly more direct route to the mines. Two stage lines gave a daily service between Walla Walla and Wallula, and these were taxed to accommodate passengers, who paid five dol- lars fare, while the transportation of freight between the two points was effected by the payment of twenty dollars per ton. After July I a tri-weekly mail was received from and dispatched to The Dalles, this service proving of great value. Some idea of the amount of freight passing through the country may be gleaned from the fact that, upon the comple- tion of their thirteen-mile Dalles and Celilo railway, the Oregon Steam Navigation Com- pany sold to the government for the sum of forty-three thousand dollars the teams they had been utilizing for the transportation of freight.
POLITICAL MATTERS IN 1863.
At the time of the county election in 1863 a delegate to congress was to be chosen, and owing to the diverging opinions in regard to the Civil war, then in progress, party alle-
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
giance came to the front in the territory to a jury resulted in various charges of official mal- much greater extent than at any previous time. feasance, negligence and even peculation. The situation may be briefly summed up by the com- parison of the figures representing the avail- able assets and the total indebtedness of the county on October 10, 1863. the report of the jury having been rendered on the 22d of that month. The total in the treasury at the date noted aggregated only $2.199.14. while the total amount due on county orders presented was $21,286.00, and on those not presented ali additional $2.294.42, making a total of $23,- 580.42. The jury caustically remarked in its report that "The county officers' books, pre- vious to the present incumbents, have been so imperfectly kept that it is impossible to derive a correct conclusion from them." This led to a spirited campaign, the prime ob- ject of each party being, of course, to secure the election of their congressional candidate. George E. Cole, of Walla Walla, was the can- didate of the Democratic party, and the Re- publican party spared no effort to reduce to the greatest extent possible his home majority. The Radical vote of the county in the year 1863 constituted only a little over one-third of its voting population, but a ticket was placed in the field for the sole purpose of maintain- ing a party organization, for the influence it might have in a territorial election. The re- sult of the election in the county, on July 13, 1863, was as follows, the total vote cast hav- ing been a trifle less than six hundred : George E. Cole, the Democratic candidate for dele- gate to Congress, received 398 votes, while THE RECORD OF THE YEAR 1864. the Republican candidate, J. O. Raynor, re- ceived 146. Mr. Cole was ultimately elected by the vote of the territory. The only Re- publican elected on the county ticket was S. B. Fargo, prosecuting attorney, and that the greater portion of the voters must have re- frained from balloting on this candidate is evident when we revert to the fact that only: forty-seven votes were cast, of which Mr. Fargo secured all but two. The other officers elected were as follows: Joint councilman, Daniel Stewart; representatives, S. W. Bab- cock, F. P. Dugan and L. S. Rogers ; sheriff, W. S. Gilliam; auditor, L. J. Rector ; assessor, C. Leyde, who removed from the county later on, J. H. Blewett being appointed to sticceed him, February 1. 1864; coroner, L. Danforth; and county commissioner, Thomas P. Page.
The finances of the county at the close of the year 1863 were somewhat suspiciously in- volved, and the investigation made by the grand
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The early spring of 1864, ushered in after an exceptionally mild winter, seemed to give a spontaneous revival to the trade and mining activities east of the Cascades. Walla Walla showed herself capable of holding her own. and though not a city that vaunted herself, no one could deny that her precedence was still assured. The first line of stages between Walla Walla and the Boise basin was put in operation in the spring of this year by George F. Thomas & Company. though within the preceding year three different companies had been operating express business over the route in question. Walla Walla became, or continued, a central point for ontfitting between the Columbia and the mining districts, notwithstanding the op- position offered by Umatilla, as already men- tioned. Near the headwaters of the Columbia river, in the British possessions, the Kootenai mines had been discovered, and this soon di- verted much of the emigration from Boise to
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
the new mines. All this tended to beget a greater confidence in the future of the Walla Walla valley, which was growing to be re- garded as a most favorable place for permanent settlement.
The progress of the war of the Rebellion brought about an enrollment for a draft in the county, in 1864, and this indicated that there were 1,133 men in the county eligible for and subject to military duty, but the Democrats made the claim at the time that fully three hundred of this number had been improperly enumerated, being simply transient residents, er: route to the mines. This enumeration, how- ever, taken in connection with the ballot list of the last election, offers the only available data relative to the population of the county in 1864.
The Statesman was authority for the infor- mation that the debt of the county at the close of the year 1864 aggregated seventeen thou- sand dollars, of which three thousand should be charged to defaulting officials, and four thousand five hundred dollars to loss by de- preciation in the value of the county script, which was issued to pay for the county jail. The assessment rolls of the year give the property valuation of the county at $1.545.056, -an increase of more than four hundred thou- sand dollars over that of the preceding year.
What was, perhaps, the most important event of the year, as bearing upon the develop- ment and substantial growth of this section of the country, was the fortunate discovery to which another writer refers as follows: "It was also found in 1864 that the uplands of the Walla Walla country would produce grain, one of the farmers having gathered thirty-three bushels to the acre from a field of fifty acres, sowed the previous fall, on the hills that here-
tofore had been considered useless for agri- cultural purposes. This was a more important discovery than that of the mountain gold-fields, for it was a bread mine, opened for millions that are yet to come. The drouth of 1864 did not prevent a bounteous wheat harvest, and a larger surplus of grain than ever before in the valley, much of which was sold at from one and a half to two cents per pound."
ELECTION OF 1864-LOYALTY TO THE UNION.
1
The Democrats of Walla Walla county held a convention in the city of Walla Walla on the 18th of May, at which time resolutions were adopted which indicated that at least the ma- jority of those assembled were loyal to the Union cause. That there was a percentage of voters in the county in sympathy with the cause of the Confederacy was but natural, but these were not so rabid as to withdraw their al- legiance from their party by reason of the reso- lutions which signified the animus of the con- vention mentioned. Under title of the "Reg- ular Democratic Ticket" the Democrats of the county placed a county and legislative ticket in the field, the opposition being represented by a ticket whose caption was "Unconditional Union Ticket."
The total number of votes cast was six hun- dred and twenty-eight,-a gain of only twenty- six over the number polled in 1863. It was claimed that fully one hundred legal voters failed to avail themselves of the franchise. James McAuliff, who was later, and for many years, mayor of the city of Walla Walla, of which he is still an honored resident, was candi- date for the office of treasurer on both tickets, and the result of the election was as follows :
7
HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
Office. Name. Politics. V'ote.
Prosecuting Attorney. J. H. Lasater
Dem .. 357
Prosecuting Attorney. S. B. Fargo
Rep. 219
Councilman
. A. G. Langford Dem 344
Representative. .A. L. Brown Dem 373
Representative .F. P. Dugan Dem. 32.1
Representative
E. L. Bridges Dem 337
Representative. .O. P. Lacy. Dem 325
Representative. B. N. Sexton Rep. 280
Joint Representative .. Alvin Flanders Rep. 269
Probate Judge J. H. Blewett Dem .346
Treasurer
.James McAuliff.
Dem .5×1
Assessor.
William H. Patton .. Dem 323
Surveyor
.. Charles White. . .. Dem 352
Coroner
A. J. Thibodo. .. Dem .341
County Commissioner. H. D. O'Bryan
.. Dem . . . . . 345
For special tax, 230; against special tax, 865.
The early spring of 1865 was marked by a renewed rush of emigrants to the mining dis- triets in the north. As early as February it was reported that there were more than a thou- sand miners congregated in Portland, where they awaited The opening of navigation on the Columbia that they might make their way on- ward to the mines of the "upper country." They were followed by many other eager searchers for the hidden aurific deposits. Ag- riculture was gradually advancing in extent and importance in the Walla Walla country, and prices still continued high. In June eggs were selling in Walla Walla for forty cents per dozen and in September wheat commanded one dollar and a quarter per bushel. The city of Walla Walla was visited by a disastrous fire on the 3d of .August, and many valuable docu- ments were destroyed, including the county as- sc-ement rolls, town plats and city records. In this year the town of Waitsburg. on the Touchet river, had its inception, the micleus of the now prosperous municipality being a school-house and a flouring mill.
POLITICS IN 1805.
The political situation in 1865 was such as Io arouse a more determined party interest than
had hitherto been evidenced. The Democratic party girded its loins and claimed to have gained in numerical strength through the later immigration : while the Republican party per- fected a thorough organization. The delegates of the latter to the territorial convention were instructed to support Elwood Evans for con- gressional delegate, but the successful candi- date for nomination was Arthur A. Denny. who had been for four years register of the land office at Olympia.
While the Democratic convention of Walla Walla county conceded that political expe- dieney authorized the selection of a congres- sional delegate resident west of the Cascades. they instructed their delegates to present the name of James H. Lasater for the office in case of disagreement as to choice of a candidate from the coast country. James Tilton was, however, the nominee of the territorial convention. The result of the election in Walla Walla county was as follows, the election taking place on the 5th of June :
Office.
Name.
Politics. Vote.
Delegate.
Arthur A. Denny. Rep. . .. 336
Delegate
James Tilton. . . .. Dem .406
Prosecuting Attorney. . S. B. Fargo.
Rep ... 815
Joint Councilman. .
. Anderson Cox .. Rep. .864
Representative ..
J. D. Mix
Dem
.896
Representative.
. James McAuliff. .Dem
892
Representative.
A. G. Lloyd
Dem.
Representative.
.T. G. Lee. Den.
. B. N. Sexton Rep. .854
Joint Representative. . J. M. Vansyckle. . . Dem
.867
Sheriff
.A. Seitel.
Rep.
.4117
Auditor.
J. II. Blewett
Dem 399
Assessor
11. M. Hodgis.
Dem .393
Surveyor. .. r. F. Berry
.359
School Superintendent. J. L. Reeser
Dem
3-6
Corone
A. J. Miner
Dem.
County Commissioner .. D. M. Jessee.
Dem ..
.. 396
Representative
.At this election the total vote cast in the county was 749, a gain of 122 over the num- ber of ballots cast at the election of the preced-
HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
ing year. The several precincts in the county were respectively represented in this total as follows : Walla Walla. 539 : Wallula. 54: Upper Touchet, 96: Lower Touchet, 39; Pataha, 16; Snake River, 5. The average Democratic vote of Walla Walla city was 291 and the Republican 238. It is to be noted that in all the other precincts majorities were given to the Republican candidates, but the Democratic ticket was victorious, with the exception of not occupy the seat.
two candidates, as is shown by the returns en- tered above. The Republican candidate for congressional delegate was elected by a ma- jority of over one thousand. Anderson Cox was elected joint councilman to fill a vacancy caused by the removal of Daniel Stewart from the territory, but the latter returned and claimed the seat when he was advised that a Republican had been elected. Singularly enough, he did
CHAPTER IX.
GENERAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY,-1866-1874.
In the winter of 1865-6 much snow fell in the Walla Walla country, the same having reached a depth of eighteen inches in December, 1865. This unusual precipitation worked great hardships to the stock-raisers and to teamsters on their way from the mountains. On January 16, 1866, began another snow storm, which continued three days, leaving to its credit fully eighteen inches of snow in the valley. This was practically obliterated by a Chinook wind which swept the valley in the opening days of February. Navigation on the Columbia was opened on the 22d of the same month, and the spring opened early and fav- orably, though cloudy weather of unusual per- sistency cast its gloom over a portion of the month of March. The rush of gold-seekers to Montana mines was inaugurated in the carly spring, this having been pronounced "the cul- mination of the prosperous mining epoch that placed Walla Walla upon a basis of perma- nence." Apropos of this, the Washington Statesman of April 13. 1866, speaks as follows :
In the history of mining excitements, we doubt whether there ever has been a rush equal to that now going on to Montana. From every point of the compass, they drift by hundreds and thousands, and the cry is, " still they come." The excitement promises to depopulate portions of California, and from our own territory, as well as Oregon, the rush is unprecedented. The stages that leave here go out loaded down with passengers, all bound for Blackfoot. In addition to the usual conveyances, men of enterprise have placed passenger 1rains on the route between Walla Walla and Blackfoot, and those trains go out daily, with full passenger lists. Fare, with provisions furnished, eighty dollars.
With the ever increasing population in the mining districts the problem of supplying the camps became one of great importance, and the question of transportation was one of utmost significance, since supplies would naturally be secured through the medium affording the minimum rates. Goods could be drawn from two sources of supply, San Francisco or Chi- cago, and the rate war was on. The price per ton for the transportation of supplies from San Francisco to Ilelena, Montana, by way of Owyhee and Snake rivers, in 1865, was three hundred and forty-five dollars ; by way of Port-
L. of C.
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
land and the Snake river to Lewiston, thence by land to Helena, three hundred and twenty dollars : by way of Portland to Wallula, thence by land to Helena, two hundred and seventy- five dollars : and by way of Portland to White Bluffs, thence by land to same destination, two hundred and seventy dollars. This data is derived from information collected and pub- lished by the San Francisco chamber of com- merce.
During the summer of 1865, according to reliable authority, more than one hundred pack trains, averaging fifty animals each, with three hundred pounds to the animal, thus aggregat- ing seven hundred and fifty tons, were sent forth from different points on the Columbia river to Montana. The cost of transportation was fully two hundred and forty thousand dollars, and the value of the goods aggregated about one million, two hundred thousand dol- lars. These data will afford an idea as to the vast amount of freight which was transported through the Walla Walla valley in 1865, and at the opening of the succeeding year the White Bluffs route was enabled to offer a rate of five dollars less per ton than was Walla Walla. The Oregon Steam Navigation Company fav- ored the former route, as they were desirons of building up a town at White Bluffs. but this aroused the protest of the teamsters of Walla Walla, twenty-six of whom appended their signatures to a card which stated that in prefer- ence to any other point on the Columbia river, they preferred Wallula as the point from which to transport freight to Montana. This protest had due influence, and thus Walla Walla was enabled to hold her own.
Within the year 1866 an unsuccessful at- tempt was made to annex Walla Walla county to Oregon, a memorial being presented to the Oregon legislature advocating such assimila-
tion. This movement was inaugurated by Anderson Cox, to whom reference has been made in connection with the election of 1865. He succeeded in pushing the enterprise through the Oregon legislature, and held it in the back- ground in that of Washington. The scheme was headed off in large part through the efforts of Hollon Parker, who visited Washington City for the special purpose. It is a fact worthy of great interest that if the region south of Snake river had been annexed to Oregon its vote in presidential elections would have been sufficient to turn the scale in favor of the Democratic candidates, and the election of 1876 would have gone to Tilden instead of Hayes.
The Democratic party elected every candi- date at the annual county election held June 4, 1866, the result being as follows: Joint coun- cilman ( for Walla Walla and Stevens coun- ties). B. L. Sharpstein : representatives, D. M. Jessee. R. Jacobs, R. R. Rees, H. D. O'Bryan and Thomas P. Page; treasurer, James Mc- Auliff : assessor. H. M. Hodgis; school super- intendent. W. G. Langford; county com- missioners. T. G. Lee and H. A. Livingston. W. L. Gaston was appointed county surveyor in the following December. Commissioner Livingston met an accidental death, on the 24th of August, and on the 3d of December Elisha Ping was appointed to fill the vacancy. The county had as yet provided practically no ac- commodations for the several officials, who la- bored under great disadvantages by reason of their inadequate quarters, which were indif- forently shifted from place to place, with no provisions for property filing records and docu- ments. The county jail, used jointly by the city, was a disgrace to the county and afforded so little surety against the escape of prisoners. who were occasionally placed in irons on this account .- a thing that should have not been
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
required. In the year 1866 an abortive attempt was made to patch up the old building, the city enclosing the structure with a high board fence, for the privilege of using it, and the county magnanimously contributing a paltry sum, which was utilized in reinforcing the apertures made by escaping prisoners, and in fitting up, over the cells, a room for the jailor to occupy.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY IN 1867.
The productive energies of the Walla Walla valley, along the lines which have in the full- ness of time contributed most largely to the precedence and substantial prosperity of the section, began to be more self-assertive during the year 1867, . since this year marked the in- ception of exporting flour to the coast, this rep- resenting at the time the sole manufactured product of Walla Walla county. A few bar- rels were shipped in an experimental way, and after the adjustment of freight rates by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, which appeared to have discriminated against such shipments at one time, the enterprise graciously expanded. The amount of flour shipped to The Dalles and Portland from April 19 to June 2, 1867, aggregated four thousand, seven hun- died and thirty-five barrels, the transportation rates being six dollars per ton to either point. The shipment of flour to the mining districts within the year was approximately the same in amount as that of preceding years. Later in the season a firm of Walla Walla merchants nade the further experiment of shipping wheat to the coast, forwarding fifteen thousand bush- els, and proving unquestionably that grain could be thus transported down the Columbia to the coast markets at a profit. It will be readily understood that these two experiments,
ii so they may be designated, were, with their legitimate and normal results, of transcendent importance to the rapidly developing Walla Walla valley. As has been justly said in a pre- vious historical publication : "This was the beginning of the outward movement of the products of the county, made as a experiment, under circumstances that proved the practi- cability of a steady exportation of flour by the millers of this valley, and a consequent market for the vast quantities of grain it was capable of producing."
. POLITICAL. 1
A review of the political situation in 1867 shows that there was an extraordinary interest and activity in the ranks of both the Demo- crats and the Republicans. The principal point of contest and interest was in the selection of a delegate to congress, each party having a num- ber of aspirants for the important office. The people east of the Cascades felt that they were entitled to have a candidate selected from their section of the territory, inasmuch as the honor had hitherto gone to a resident of the sound country. From the eastern section of the ter- ritory were five Democrats and two Republic- ans whose names were prominently mentioned it! this connection, and while the Republican convention for Walla Walla county sent an uninstructed delegate to the territorial conven- tion, a vigorous effort had been made in favor of the candidacy of Judge J. E. Wyche. At the county Democratic convention the delegates chosen were instructed to give their support to W. G. Langford, of Walla Walla, so long as seemed expedient. They were also instructed to deny their support to any candidate who endorsed in any degree the project of annex- ing Walla Walla county to Oregon. In the
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