USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. II > Part 20
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54
The tragic events we have narrated, though in direct contra- diction to established law, grew out of that higher law of self- preservation, a condition of things not unusual upon the frontiers, where repeated miscarriage of justice or some temporary rule of ruffianism calls for a self-administrated justice, a remedy sharp and sure, which not only cures the present evil, but gives warn- ing to ill-doers generally, lest similar deeds invite a like retribu- tion. We now pass to a brief outline of
THE ANTI-CHINESE AGITATION
as it developed in Seattle near the close of 1885, when a wave of similar excitement swept over Western Washington, and, in the case of the Queen City, ended in strife and bloodshed, only quelled by the intervention of the federal authority. Want of space forbids an exhaustive examination or even enumeration of the causes which brought this long-slumbering volcano of sup- pressed feeling to an eruptive result. Race antagonism, busi- ness depression, and lack of enforcement of the Exclusion Act were all factors which, united with Eastern strikes and labor dis- turbances, determined the settlers of the Territory to abate a nuisance which they believed was becoming unbearable without recourse to the processes of law-in a word, they determined that the immoral, filthy-feeding Mongolian should no longer rival or menace the white in the field of honest wage and profit- able employ. There were 3276 Chinese by actual count in the Territory, most of whom resided in the principal cities of the sound. It was impossible to Americanize them ; it was, there- fore, determined that they should be evicted, and that without delay. The sentiment that " the Chinese must go" was not con-
311
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
fined to the uneducated working class ; on the contrary, it found many approvers among those holding public trusts and high in social position. On September 25th an anti-Chinese congress, with delegates from many parts of the Territory, was held in Seattle. This body issued an edict that the Chinese must leave Western Washington before November 1st. This decision was endorsed at Tacoma on October 3d following, and delegates were appoint- ed to carry it out in that city-a movement which largely en- couraged the excitement in Seattle. Meanwhile, the work of expulsion went on in the smaller towns of Pierce, King, and other counties. On November 4th Governor Squire issued his proclama- tion, warning all good citizens to refrain from acts of violence. Upon the night following its appearance a mass-meeting was held in Seattle, where the opinions of both parties-for they were not without their champions-were fully ventilated. The antagonism aroused by acrimonious words only served to com- plicate and intensify the difficulties of the situation. Saturday, March 7th, an anti-Chinese meeting was called, and there were grave apprehensions of trouble ; to such an extent did this feel- ing exist that as a measure of precaution the revenue cutter Oli- ver Wolcott lay off Yesler's wharf with ports open and guns shotted. Sheriff McGraw assembled hundreds of deputies who had been previously sworn in. The two companies of territorial militia were also held in readiness at their armories. The fed- eral authorities at this juncture interfered. President Cleveland issued his proclamation, the United States troops were directed to act, and Lieutenant-Colonel J. D. DeRussy was ordered to move with his command from Vancouver barracks to Seattle. They arrived on Sunday, November 8th. General John Gibbon, the senior office of the Department of the Columbia, reached Seattle the same evening. These energetic preparations had a quieting effect. For a time the excitement subsided, and the Post Intelligencer, one of the most enterprising journals on the Pacific slope, reported on November 10th that " Seattle was as quiet as it was possible for a city to be occupied by a military force." During November fifteen persons were indicted under the Ku-Klux Act, tried and acquitted. Matters had apparently regained their normal condition, and the United States troops were withdrawn. Weeks went by-the trouble was not dead, but sleeping. On the evening of Saturday, February 6th, an
312
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
anti-Chinese mass-meeting was held at the Bijou Theatre. A committee of fifteen was appointed to visit Chinatown, ostensi- bly to see if the Mongolians were observing the city's sanitary regulations. Headed by the chief of police, and attended by an enormous crowd, they commenced their work early Sunday morning. The occupants were called to the doors, and while engaged in answering questions their goods were removed and loaded into wagons. The Chinese were obliged to submit, and generally acquiesced with as good a grace as possible. They were then conducted with their effects to the ocean dock, where the steamer Queen of the Pacific lay ready to sail for San Fran- cisco. At this juncture Sheriff McGraw arrived upon the scene and ordered the crowd to disperse. The fire bells were rung, the Home Guards called out, and Governor Squire, who was in the city, issued his proclamation. It was received with howls. The Home Guards were taunted and jeered and the authorities openly defied. Money was subscribed and collected to pay the fare of the expelled Mongolians on the steamer to San Fran- cisco, but an injunction was obtained and the vessel held at her dock. About midnight a movement to send the Chinese by train to Tacoma was prevented by dispatching the cars with a sufficient guard two hours ahead of time. We are compelled to omit the details of occurrences which finally led to the bloody encounter of the next day ; suffice it to say that an attempt was made to return to Chinatown all the Mongolians who did not willingly (?) depart by the Queen. They marched under escort of the Home Guards. A rush was made upon them, followed by a general mêlée. The crowd were repeatedly warned to fall back, but disregarded the admonition. Under the leadership of a powerful man named Charles G. Stewart, they charged the Guards, seizing the muzzles of their guns and endeavoring to dis- arm them. It was a critical moment ; the Guards were being overpowered ; suddenly, without any order being given, several rifle shots rang out, the assailants fled precipitately, leaving four of their number writhing on the muddy street. Stewart,, who had fought desperately, urging on his followers and scream- ing curses on the Chinese till his strident tones could be heard above the roar and tumult of the crowd, was among the fallen ; but though wounded to the death, he vainly attempted to rise, uttering dreadful oaths, while his distorted face_indicated rage
315
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
rather than pain. Re-enforced by the Seattle Rifles, the soldiers loaded with ball cartridge in full view of the crowd, when they were further strengthened by the arrival of Company D, under the gallant Captain Haines, and the fight was stayed. The scene at this moment was sufficiently dramatic-the troops, stern and determined, formed a hollow square, within which the terrified Chinese grovelled on the ground, while without surged the fren- zied crowd, gesticulating and screaming like demons. The wounded men were removed to the hospital, where Stewart died on the following day ; the soldiers then continued to face the threatening mob, not a man flinching for nearly an hour, when the crowd dispersed sufficiently to permit the removal of their charges to Chinatown. Martial law was then declared, and a call for volunteers issued. The federal power was invoked, and the United States troops were once more posted in the streets of Seattle. The direct conflict was over, peace having been practi- cally restored previous to the arrival of the federal forces. We must omit the legal proceedings that followed, ending finally in the acquittal of the few persons held for trial ; and so ended a conflict whose personal dislikes and bitter heart-burnings out- lived the events which precipitated it. Peace was restored, law and order once more reigned triumphant, and the Queen City entered upon an era of prosperity, which continued until inter- rupted by the great fire of 1889.
THE GREAT FIRE OF SEATTLE.
Standing upon the heights of Tacoma on that fateful June 6th, 1889, it was the lot of the writer to see the clouds of smoke rising nearly thirty miles away, that hung like a pall over the business portion of the Queen City's busiest mart of trade. The great fire had begun its work of devastation, inaugurating a calamity apparently irreparable at the time, but in reality a blessing in disguise, for though it destroyed millions of property, it was to be deplored only for the loss inflicted upon individuals, the city itself being positively benefited by the conflagration. This grew out of the fact that the burned section was owned by comparatively few, and covered extensively by leasehold ten- ants, many of whom were occupants by verbal contract. These were disposed to hold on, claiming in many instances life tenure or long-time leases. Considerable litigation was in progress to
316
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
dispossess, and the effect was to retard improvement. The fire cleared the docket, and the original owners being assured of the character of their neighbors and the style of buildings to be erected, have replaced the burned buildings with much hand- somer and more substantial structures ; but at the time it was hard to find any silver lining to this threatening cloud, or per- ceive the bow of future promise. Nor is it to be wondered at ; for within the space of one hundred and twenty acres, divided into sixty blocks, it eliminated in twelve hours' time property to the value of $10,000,000. The rising sun beheld thorough- fares lined with attractive and costly buildings, filled with yet more valuable merchandise ; the dawn of another day saw these streets a confused mass of tottering walls and smoking ruins. The weather was bright and clear on that almost ideal June 6th ; there had been no rain for weeks, and the fated structures were dry as tinder. The mischief began on the north side of Seattle's business centre ; the fire started in a building on the northwest corner of Front and Madison streets, owned by Mrs. M. J. Pontius. The cause, as usual, was trivial. In the base- ment of this frail wooden tenement was a paint shop kept by James McGough. A workman boiling glue allowed it to run over on the stove, setting fire to some shavings below ; he at- tempted to extinguish it with a pail of water, but so unskil- fully that the whole lighted mass was scattered upon the floor, igniting the oil and turpentine and carrying the flames to the apartments above. The fire department were promptly on the ground, but the water failed, and the slender streams seemed rather to irritate than subdue the evil. The work of ruin was begun. The opera house soon fell a prey ; the Denny Block burned furiously ; it leaped the street, and the houses across the way were wrapped in flames. The terrible heat rendered it im- possible to combat the evil efficiently. Men who attempted it were obliged to retreat with burning garments, and the hose melted where it lay. The magnitude of the danger was now fully appreciated, and the whole fire department was called to repel the foe. Unhappily its chief was absent, and his assistant proved incompetent to meet the emergency. Discipline, so necessary to efficient and concerted action, was at an end. Mayor Moran organized the crowds who thronged the streets, utilizing them not only to fight the flames, but to protect prop-
317
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
erty rescued from the buildings already destroyed. Attempts were made to check the progress of the conflagration by blow- ing up buildings, but in vain. It was hoped that the brick walls of the San Francisco Store might stay its course, but it swept them away. And so the fire fiend continued to hold high carni- val till it rested at last as if weary of destruction. Meanwhile, the neighboring and even distant cities were entreated to send aid. Tacoma, Seattle's rival sister of the sound, was the first to respond. A hose company of forty men arrived in fifty-eight minutes by special train, and dashing into the burning city, amid. the cheers of its distressed inhabitants, went to work right gal- lantly ; and later on the noble City of Destiny, forgetting all but the need of her sister in distress, contributed thousands to re- lieve her necessities. Nobody asked that day whether the great snow mountain that looked down, white-robed, like an angel of peace upon the scene, should be called Tacoma or Rainier, and there has ever since been a kinder feeling between the dwellers in these rival cities. As " one touch of nature makes all the world akin." so the sorrow of the hour called forth for the in- habitants of afflicted Seattle a sympathy which took practical shape and form. Provisions flowed in by the carload ; tents, blankets, every necessary that the occasion demanded were given with a wide-open hand not only by Tacoma, but by the towns and cities throughout the State. The dweller on the Pacific slope has a great big heart in time of trouble, and the people of Seattle should be the last to gainsay it. Engines and men were sent during the time of need not only from Tacoma, Port Town- send, Snohomish, and Olympia, but even from Portland and Victoria, B. C. The militia was called out, and Colonel Haines, with the First Regiment of the National Guard, ren- dered most efficient service. The steamers Ancon and Mexico lay at the wharves, and were fully freighted with rescued valu- ables ; when the fire approached the docks, they hauled out into the stream and saved everything committed to their care. The safe-deposit vaults also proved places of security. Good order was enforced by the strong arm of the law. Thirty arrests were made, and one thief, who attempted to snatch a purse from the hand of a lady, was pursued and narrowly escaped lynching. One case of incendiarism occurred. No lives were lost, but many narrow escapes were chronicled. Out of the ashes of this
.
1
318
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
fire rose, phoenix-like, this twin angel of good, demonstrating' the pluck, energy, and reliance upon self and a Providence that overrules all things for the best on the part of the people of Seat- tle-who, ere the ashes of their ruined city grew cold, planned for its more substantial reproduction-and, better still, it called forth a great-hearted sympathy throughout the Pacific slope, which ignored all petty jealousies and engendered a kinder and more brotherly feeling, whose influence remains to-day.
Poetically the situation may not inaptly be portrayed through the following lines, suggested by this fearful visitation :
" Though evils might menace and fire swcep all, You rose, like the Phoenix, to conquer or fall ; For when the blow fell, and your city lay black 'Neath the pall of the smoke clouds that soared from its wrack, Ascending to heaven to tell the sad tale, While the red embers flew on the wings of the gale, You showed your reliance by helping yourself. Not waiting to grieve o'er the grave of your wealth, Ere its ashes could whiten foundations were laid, And your city rejoiced in revival of trade. Though your store was a shanty, your mart but a tent, You faced each disaster with spirit unbent, And let the world see that 'the Evergreen State ' For the springtide of fortune could labor and wait, Till her Queen City rose from that furnace of flame In a garment more fair, without blemish or stain. While Tacoma, your rival, with wide open hand, Bade you trust in a bounty her best might demand. And know that henceforth whate'er you might call The mountain whose truce-flag o'ershadows you all, Tacoma or Rainier, you ne'er could forget The eyes that grew dim when your own were tear. wet, Whose sympathies ran like the prairie's swift flamc, And forgot in your sorrow all questions of gain."
-BREWERTON.
And now let us pass from the " Queen City," leaving her to grow and increase, holding her " coign of vantage" as she sits in her beauty overlooking the calm waters of Elliott Bay, and taking the carpet of the Oriental magician or the wings of the balmy Chinook upon some breezy morning, fly far inland to observe and chronicle the manifold advantages of " Spokane the Wonderful," whose varied excellencies are well worthy of a separate descrip- tion ; but before doing so we will pause for a moment and inter- polate a chapter which treats of a subject, or, rather, of subjects,
Eng My F. G. Kernon, NY
.
321
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
so fair and withal so intimately connected with the story of the " Queen City," just completed, that even Spokane, the central gem of the Valley of the Waters, must veil her lesser charms and give place to the superior beauties of " Mercer's ship-load of girls ;" so, place aux dames.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
EARLY SETTLERS OF WASHINGTON FIND WIVES AMONG THE MAIDENS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND THE EMPIRE STATE.
" The Mayflower of New England blooms beneath no foreign air, And Southern woods refuse the robe their Northern sisters wear, When rainbow hues of frost are laid with varied tint and dye, As sadly through the solemn shade the gusts of autumn fly ; But these transplanted human flowers from Massachusetts Bay Still blossom 'neath our Western bowers, and bloom anew to day, While some were gathered 'neath the hills, in vales their childhood knew, Where proudly sits the Empire State beside Atlantic's blue. Their sweetness perfumes many a home by pine-clad Puget Sound, Till whese the mother brightly bloomed the daughter now is found ; These maidens of the distant East, no flowers half so fair, Journeyed afar to find their mates, as summer birds to pair, To meet a love full warm and true, beside the sunny sound, And realize 'neath some settler's home the happiness they found." -BREWERTON.
THE following narrative, whose incidents are most graphically told in the columns of the San Francisco Examiner by the pen of their able correspondent, who would seem to have exhaus- tively interviewed the hero of its adventures, Mr. Mercer, now the editor and proprietor of a newspaper at Cheyenne, needs no apology at our hands for its reproduction in the pages of this story of the Evergreen State. Strangely enough, it has, so far as we have been enabled to discover, never yet found a place in any history of the Northwest or even in that of Seattle, the theatre of its dénouement, and of all the cities of the sound most deeply interested in its consequences. Yet, considering its far- reaching influences upon the future of the then unborn State, it cannot be ignored. Moreover, it is just possible that this infu- sion of Puritan blood, with its mingled flavor of Boston culture and New England shrewdness, combined with those graces sel- dom wanting in the daughters of the Empire State, may in some measure account for the happy blending of all that is sweetest and best in the fair matrons and blooming maidens of the Wash-
323
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
ington of to-day. But we will let Mr. Mercer, then a young man of twenty-six, who looks back, as well he may, with no lit- tle pride to this praiseworthy and most notable undertaking of his early life, speak in his own words. It must have required no small amount of courage, to say nothing of administrative ability, to engineer his attempt and chaperone a party of three hundred girls from ocean to ocean via Cape Horn, in the year of grace 1865, with the sole object of providing the hardy pioneers of Puget Sound with much-needed helpmates. As his very in- teresting narrative goes to show, he succeeded, but bankrupted himself in so doing. To quote the interview literally, he says :
"I overloaded myself with girls," said Mr. Mercer, "and broke my back financially, but from every other point of view the expedition was a success. The results were notably good. To-day many of those New England girls are the leaders of so- ciety in the Puget Sound country. They are wives and mothers in many of the wealthiest and best families of Seattle, Olympia, and other towns of the State. So far as I can learn, all but one of my cargo got married soon after reaching the coast.
" In Washington Territory thirty years ago
" ' There was lack of woman's nursing, There was dearth of woman's tears.'
" In fact, the women were not there to nurse or cry. There were few real homes because there were few women. The sturdy blows of the axeman, the work of the pioneer farmer, the labors of the lone fisherman, were all unrelieved by the companionship, ministrations, and transforming hand of woman. Western Wash- ington was a dense forest jungle. The population was largely made up of lumbermen from Maine and the provinces, with an influx of men from the Southern and Middle States. The great forests, the mighty rivers and lofty mountains had just begun to yield their treasures. Men alone were hewing the pathway of empire. The dual touch of humanity, the composite forces which make the perfect civilization, were lacking.
" I was President of the Washington Territorial University, then just completed, and with but few students. I went through the Territory, visiting logging camps and settlements, to awaken an interest in school matters. Seeing the need of teachers, I arranged for bringing out thirty school ma'ams from Massachu- setts. The acquisition was hailed with delight. The only
324
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
trouble was that they were too promptly grabbed up and mar- ried off ; but the experiment was so successful that I began to have visions of the greater scheme. The women were pleased with their reception and good fortune, and enjoyed the new life which they had entered upon. I brought out the school teach- ers in May, 1864. In the spring of 1865 I determined to attempt the importation of women on a large scale.
" Historical parallels are not wanting in the record of similar enterprises," said Mr. Mercer. "The Romans captured the Sabine women and made them wives. The London colony sent to Virginia in 1631 ninety maidens to become wives of the James- town settlers. In the early days of the settlement of Quebec France sent out a shipload of young women to Canada. All these experiments resulted happily, and, full of enthusiasm, I started for New York with the great plan in my mind. I arrived there in April, 1865. My plan was to leave for Washington the next day and interest President Lincoln in the idea. I had conned over a nice little speech to make to him, referring to the fact that the war was over, and that he had a large number of idle transports and steamers, and that I had use for one of those steamers in a good cause. I would say : 'The war has made thousands of widows and orphans. We have a world of young men of good, enterprising character in the Puget Sound coun- try, and we want to bring out five hundred women from the East. Give me a United States vessel and men to manage it. I will furnish the coal and provide for the provision and other ex- penses, and guarantee the best results.' I had letters from the school teachers who had gone to the coast, and from prominent men of Washington and Oregon.
" That night came the fearful news that shocked the whole civilized world-the assassination of President Lincoln. This event changed my plans, and I went to Boston to lay the scheme before John A. Andrew, the great war Governor. The Gov- ernor's office was besieged by men interested in various war mat- ters, army officers, freedmen's agents, contractors, etc., and I had great difficulty in procuring an interview. The third day I gained access to the Governor, who received me very cordially, and when I had explained my enterprise to him he said at once, very heartily, 'It's a good thing, and I will aid you in every way possible.'
Alstom
John Arthur.
1
327
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
" He gave me the entrée to his office at all hours, and stated that owing to the pressure of public business he could not give the personal attention to the matter he desired to. 'But,' said the Governor, ' I will give you a letter to a friend of mine who will help you.'
" He then gave me a letter of introduction to the Rev. Ed- ward Everett Hale, asking him to interest himself in the matter. Mr. Hale gave me a pleasant reception, and we spent the evening together, talking over the subject in its various phases. The result was that he pledged himself to co-operate with me, which he did in a very peculiar way the next Sunday.
" I strolled into the church before the services had begun and took a seat in the central part of the audience-room. One of the ushers came and said that Mr. Hale wished to speak to me. I walked up the aisle, and Mr. Hale came down the steps, grasped me by the hand, and led me up on the platform. The church was rapidly filling at this time, and we sat and talked together until the opening exercises, when I found myself cor- ralled.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.