USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. II > Part 34
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" Flashing surges of San Salvador" ?
At length it falls, but not, like its predecessor of the centuries gone by, does it wake the echoes of the forests, to become a vic- tim to the rottenness of dull decay. Its progenitor of 1492 fell before the eating tooth of time, slowly gnawing it away ; its sturdy successor of 1892 cost many an axe stroke ere it reluc- tantly parted from its long-rifted holds. It succumbs at last ; but though it lies denuded of every bough, no pine of Puget Sound, through all its borders, has ever found or ever will fulfil a nobler mission. Two hundred and thirty eight feet of its gigantic length is carefully selected, cut into convenient sections for transportation by rail, loaded upon the cars, and then sent thundering through the mighty barriers of the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains to its distant destination upon the shores of Lake Michigan. It reaches its bourne, is reunited, and raised in front of the State of Washington's headquarters, where it proud- ly stands to-day, the highest flagstaff in the world, bearing aloft the banner of the republic, and before the eyes of a multitude, including every tongue and kindred under heaven, flinging to
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the breeze the flag that for a hundred years, with its glorious combination of the lily and the rose, wedded to an azure field close studded with stars, points the dwellers upon earth to homes where sixty millions of people represent and enjoy the highest culture and largest measure of progress yet accorded to mankind.
So it came to pass that this pine of Puget Sound assists at the celebration of his heroic achievement who, "building far bet- ter for others than he knew," "gave to Castile and Leon a new world," earning for himself but obloquy and neglect. Yet the flight of years, through the varied fortunes of four successive centuries, the most prolific in radical revolutions that have ever issued from the womb of time, have revised his record, and, so far as posterity could effect it, righted his many wrongs, only adding to the fame of that brave explorer so justly called " the greatest admiral of any age." And thus we conclude this his- tory most fitly by recalling recollections of the. theme which fur- nished the material for its initial chapter-the opening of the first door by Columbus to the discovery, settlement, and civiliza- tion of the great Pacific Northwest.
The Muse of History has fulfilled her appointed task, and now her sister of Poetry would fain crave permission to add her tribute to the many, far more worthy of so grand a theme, which have already been laid at the feet of Christopher Colon, the first to dare the mystery of the unknown Western seas.
A COLUMBIAN ODE.
To Celebrate the Fourth Centennial of the Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the greatest Admiral of any age.
BY COLONEL G. DOUGLAS BREWERTON. " Columbus to Castile and Leon gare a new world."
PILOT of solitary seas, Where never sail had dared the breeze With loving clasp the centuries keep Thy fame who sowed where others reap ! 'Twas thine to ope the sunset gates Beyond whose doors the unknown waits, The long-sealed portals of the West, And find new fields for hope and rest, Giving to Castile and Leon A grander world to grace their throne.
Come, bid the ghostly past recall, Her pictures hung on history's wall, Stand on the Pinta's sloping deck, See the light clouds her canvas fleck ; Mark the strange fashion of her sails, Her hull too weak for wintry gales ; The Admiral so stern and gray, Who guides that fleet on doubtful way, Scanning the floatage of the sea, To read in drifting weed and tree ; Or birds storm-blown, with weary wing, Who in some tropic forest sing, Hopes that his failing faith deny, ' Mid dreary wastes of wave and sky.
The world grows old : what years have fled To join the buried centuries' dead :
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Since first upon brave Colon's sight Gleamed o'er the sea that trembling light, Like watchfire blazing on the strand, Welcoming to an unknown land ; 'Twas well that thou of all thy crew Should be the first that flame to view. What was thy thought, when through the night Thine eye beheld its fitful light ; What the wild joy by pride suppressed When o'er the ocean's troubled breast God sent thee sign of peace and rest ; Of hope deferred, at last fulfilled ; Of deep detraction, doubly stilled, Gave answer to each galling sneer, That cost thee many a secret tear, When priestly scorn and princely laugh Could find amid thy wheat but chaff.
Hark ! from thy consort comes a cheer - A sullen boom salutes thy ear ; Borne on the midnight breeze along The keynote of thy victory song, The signal gun that greets the land, Telling of triumph close at hand ; And then, as if they did but wait To usher in with solemn state, The greatest era of the age, With sky and ocean for its stage, The clouds withdraw to let the light Of full-orbed moon illume the night, And on the breakers' outer wall Bid floods of silvery radiance fall, Lighting the beach before unseen, Though clearly now its sand dunes gleam With transient beam to fleck the foam ; Where billows die with mournful moan, To-morrow thou shalt see them smile, Kissing the tropic's palm-clad isle ; When at thy feet strong men shall fall And worship thee as lord of all.
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Enjoy thine hour, full brief the span, Of harvest given here to man. Poor the best meed of mortal gain, So slow to wax, so swift to wane.
Discoverer of the sunset gate, A convict's chain and warders wait For thee in lands to which you gave A mighty empire to enslave, When Romish cross and Spanish yoke . Should forest liberty revoke, And bring from far, through greed of gold, The dead its green savannahs hold.
A kingly gift shall crown thy fame, With grace to wear thy martyr chain ; First decoration of the cross, Won by self-sacrifice and loss, That shame unmeet lends glory now, A brighter halo binds thy brow, For he to whom that Old World gave New homes beyond the Western wave --- Best legacy of ills well borne- Is now the theme of highest song. The sculptor's choice for grand design, More precious grown than buried wine, Thy genius now seems most divine. Thy royal lot, how rich, how rare, Nations unborn thy griefs shall bear, And sympathetic hearts shall sigh For thee, while stars illume the sky.
Unnumbered millions greet to-day Thy little fleet that anchored lay Beside that sheltered island shore That thou didst call San Salvador ; With storm-tossed hull and wind-rent sail, And rigging tangled by the gale, Like tired sea-birds glad to rest, And 'scape the ocean's angry breast.
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Fit emblem of the spirit brave, Who led them o'er the Western wave, To rich mankind with blessings rare, Of virgin soil and purer air, Gifts grander far than fancy dreamed, Though full, perchance, his largesse seemed.
Then bid the nations nobly keep His day who sowed that we might reap. With grand parade and boom of gun, With banners blazing to the sun, As conquerors crown their victories won, With pomp processional and feast, With poet's lay and prayer of priest, With words of eloquence that sweep The throng as breezes stir the deep ; The Old World joining with the New, Shall patient sufferance review, When thou didst grope through gloom and dark To find the earth a refuge ark, Where generations yet unborn Shall swell thy grand triumphal song.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
THOUGHITS SUGGESTED BY THESE VARIED BIOGRAPHIES.
ALL lives are teachers-none are lost, However torn or tempest-tost, They stand like watch-fires on the shore, As beacon lights brave ocean's roar, To mark the shoals where barks went down 'Neath stress of storm and battle frown, Or stranded on some hidden reef, Through pilotage of false belief Sailed blindly on to meet a fate Whose warning note came all too late ; Or grandly rising like the peak That only angel steps may seek, Become a harbinger to hope, Giving ambition broader scope, And e'en though mists a moment hide The rock-ribbed bulwarks of its side, Comes forth at length its crown to wear
'Neath brighter skies and purer air, Whose lesson simple faith divines, Though dense the cloud, the sun still shines- Then in these humble records find, To culture strange through fate unkind, Of hard hands holding axe or plow, Hands soon to rest from labor now, This lesson, born of toilsome years, Of life's long struggle, strife, and tears. Or e'en from those by fortune blest, Who, borne upon the billows' crest, That neap tide flowing on to fame, Half found, half earned a higher name, Owing to circumstance the place That after wisdom came to grace, Work as they wrought, whate'er the field, Trusting to God for final yield : So shall thy life full rounded stand And answer make when death demand. .
-BREWERTON.
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YESLER, HENRY L. - In no summary of the forces and agencies which have combined to make the city of Seattle what it is to-day should be omitted the part borne by the subject of this sketch. He was one of that small band of pioneers who, in the early fifties, settled upon the present site of Seattle and laid the foundations, and have since largely aided in the development and building up of the city. For nearly forty years he was a conceded power for good in the com- munity, and he has left in many places and on many things the impress of his individual work. His career and achievements forcibly illustrate what may be accomplished by one who pursues earnest purposes and makes right use of his opportunities.
Mr. Yesler was born in Washington County, Md., in 1810. His early years were years of toil, and he had but little chance for gaining an education, a short period of instruction in the log school-house of his native place completing his opportunities in this direction. What he afterward acquired in the way of edu- cation was gained by self-application and in the great school of experience. At an early age he learned the trade of carpenter and millwright, and during his apprenticeship he devoted his leisure hours to reading and study. In 1830 he removed to Massillon, O., where for nineteen years he was engaged in the saw- mill business. In 1851 he emigrated to Portland, Ore., and after working at his trade for a brief period went to California, and for a short time operated a mine at Marysville. Desiring an opportunity to make use of his experience in the saw- mill business, he sought a location on tide-water suitable for his purposes. About this time he formed the acquaintance of a sea captain who had been trading on Puget Sound, and from him learned of its wonderful harbors and the abundance of timber near at hand. Hither, accordingly, he came, arriving on the present site of Seattle in October, 1852. A few settlers had already located in the woods close to the shore, and their claims had been selected, although they had not filed them in the Land Office, which at that time was at Oregon City. When Mr. Yesler informed them of his plans to start a saw-mill, their lines were so changed as to let him in, and he selected a claim adjoining the shore, upon which is now the main business and residence section of the city. The modest steam saw-mill, the first built on the Sound, was put in operation early in 1853, and at once became the centre of activity in this section. Here most of the men of the town earned their money, and here the ships came for their cargoes and dis- charged their groceries. In the early days Mr. Yesler employed many Indians as laborers in his mill, treating them so kindly that in the hostilities of 1855-56 lie was able to be of great service to the Territory. Near the close of the war, at the request of Governor Stevens, he made a perilous trip to the hostile camp to propose terms of agreement. After returning with the replies of the chiefs, he made a second trip, accompanied by only two friendly Indians, and brought back with him one hundred of the late hostile Indians, delivering them at the executive mansion. At another time, by a timely warning sent to the naval authorities, he saved the settlement from massacre. While extensively interested in other busi- ness enterprises, Mr. Yesler continued to conduct his saw-mill at Seattle until shortly before the great fire of June 6th, 1889, and afterward engaged in the same business at Yesler, on Lake Washington. When Seattle began its later and won- derful growth under the stimulus of immigration, Mr. Yesler's claim became year
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by year more valuable. Much of it he sold, but some of the original claim he retained until his death, most of which is in the very heart of the city. His losses by the great fire of 1889 were very heavy ; but with characteristic energy, as soon as the smouldering ruins would permit, he set about the erection of some of the finest buildings in the State.
In politics Mr. Yesler was originally a Democrat ; but after the great Civil War he became an active Republican. He was frequently called by his fellow- citizens to positions of public honor and trust, and his official duties were per- formed with the same energy and reetitude of purpose which marked his private business transactions. On the organization of the Territory he was made Auditor, which office he held several terms. He was Commissioner of King County several times, and twiee Mayor of Seattle. In 1886, during his last term as Mayor, oc- curred the memorable Chinese riots ; and though not a friend of foreign labor, he did all in his power to suppress mob violence. Mr. Yesler was married in Ohio to Saralı Burgert, a most estimable lady, who shared in the privations and trials of his pioneer life, and is most kindly remembered in Seattle. She died in August, 1887. Two children were born of this union, both of whom died at an early age. Mr. Yesler was again married in 1890 to Minnie Gagle, a native of his old home in Ohio.
Mr. Yesler died December 16th, 1892. As a business man he possessed a shrewd, practical, well-balanced mind, while his reputation as an honorable gen- tleman of the highest integrity was firmly established. During a business career which covered a period from the pioneer days of Seattle to the time of his death, he retained the respeet and confidence of the entire community. He led a very industrious life, and had his share of the rebuffs of fortune ; but patient and well-directed effort triumphed over every obstaele and amassed an ample fortune which was honestly and fairly won. All his efforts were in directions whieli added to Seattle's prosperity, and every dollar he acquired enriched the entire community.
BLALOCK, DR. NELSON G., born in North Carolina, February 17th, 1836, was edueated in the common sehools of his native State, and spent one year in college in Tennessee. After leaving the Tennessee college, he was married Au- gust 1st, 1858, to Miss Pantha A. Durham, an accomplished and estimable lady, who proved a true helpmeet to him during the various trials and vicissitudes through which they were destined to pass .. When he entered Jefferson College, which he did in 1859, his means barely suffieed to pay his way, and it was only by rigid economy that he was enabled to continue until he graduated in 1861. From college he went to Mount Zion, Maeon County, Ill., where he practised his profession until the spring of 1862, when he entered the One Hundred and Fif- teenth Illinois Infantry Volunteers as Regimental Surgeon, where he remained until September, 1863, when ill health forced him to abandon the service. May 18th, 1864, his wife died, leaving two children, one of whom, Yancey C., still lives. While speaking in this connection, a few words concerning this worthy son, upon whom will fall the mantle of his father, may not be amiss. Although but thirty-two years of age, he has already taken front rank among the rising physi- cians and surgeons of the day, and has successfully performed many difficult
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surgical operations, and in a manner that would do credit to surgeons much older and with a great deal more experience than himself. Dr. Blalock was married the second time December 10th, 1865, to Miss Marie E. Greenfield, in Mount Zion, Ill.
The history of his life up to May, 1872, had been one continuous struggle without perceptibly getting ahead, and so the doctor concluded to sell out his lit- tle possessions at Mount Zion and seek his fortune in the Northwest, and he arrived in the Walla Walla Valley October 11th of the same year, after four months and a half of the hardships of the plains, without money and without credit. He at once started his teanis at hauling freight, at the same time practis- ing his profession in a small way. His reputation as a first-class surgeon was soon established, and his services were in such demand that he was compelled to be on the go night and day in order to answer the calls made upon him. Now the real native progressiveness which was inherent in his nature began to assert itself. His was not a disposition that could meekly follow in the beaten paths of those that had gone before. Others had passed over the alkali lands lying along the base of the Blue Mountains as worthless ; but the doctor saw in them rich grain fields and fruitful orchards if properly worked, and every dollar that he could spare was devoted to the purchase of these so-called worthless lands, and through his untiring industry over five thousand acres of what was at one time a barren alkali desert has blossomed forth into waving grain fields. As a proof that his intelligence had not been at fault, in 1881 he harvested ninety thousand bushels of wheat and barley. Having thus demonstrated that his theory as to the productiveness of the soil of that section was correct, the doctor decided to enlarge his field of operations. He saw that it was costing the settlers of Walla Walla Valley large sums of money annually to procure the wood and lumber necessary for their use, and he cast about for a means of reducing the cost of these commodities to the consumer. The idea of a flume to the mountains came to him, and to see an opening for an industry whereby the general people would be benefited meant immediate action on his part. In 1874 he commenced the con- struction of a flume, and by 1880 had twenty-eight miles in operation, which had cost him over $56,000. He also expended nearly $200,000 in building mills, get- ting out timber, etc. While this enterprise was of invaluable benefit to the citi- zens of the Walla Walla Valley, it proved a very disastrous investment, from a financial standpoint, for the doctor, lie losing in the neighborhood of $80,000 in the operation. He then organized a company known as the Blalock Wheat Grow- ing Company, of which he was elected President. This company purchased a twenty-thousand-acre farm between the John Duty and Columbia rivers, in Wasco County, Ore., which was successfully and profitably cultivated.
Having shown up the agricultural mines of wealth that lay hid len in these acid alkali soils, the doctor next decided to try the experiment of fruit-raising ; and his fine fruit farm near Walla Walla is a living monument to his sagacity and enterprise. This farm contains four hundred acres, of which three hundred are set out in fruit, sixty acres of which bore fruit in 1892, from which he realized the neat sum of $10,000. In company with two other gentlemen, the doctor is now engaged in opening to cultivation a tract of land containing forty-five hun- dred acres, situated near Castle Rock, in the Columbia River on the Washington
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side, and known as Long Island, all of which will be planted in orchard, over four hundred thousand young trees being already growing for this purpose.
The above is only a brief résumé of the most important agricultural operations in which Dr. Blalock has been actively engaged, but serves to show the great en- terprise and determination to benefit humanity which has moved him to the fur- therance of those plans most calculated to promote the happiness of his fellow- men. Not only has he been an active pioneer in the field of agriculture and fruit- raising in the Walla Walla Valley, but he has always been found in the front ranks of those laboring to promote the best interests of the State at large, and the con- fidence which he has inspired in the people of the State has been fully evinced by the positions of honor and trust to which he has been elevated. Twice has he served the city of Walla Walla as Mayor, and his broad and liberal policy while officiating in that capacity tended to materially advance the city's welfare and won for him the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1889, and assisted in framing the present Constitution of the State. But perhaps the field in which he has won the most honors and displayed to the best advantage that deep interest in the welfare and advancement of the State which has characterized his whole life was developed when it was decided that the young and growing State of Washington should be fitly represented at the World's Fair. In 1890 delegates from the various cham- bers of commerce, boards of trade, and other representative men of the State, met at Olympia and formed what was known as the World's Fair Association of Washington. On account of his peculiar fitness for the position, Dr. Blalock was unanimously chosen President of the association. The result of the association's labors was the passage of an act of the Legislature, which was approved by the Governor March 7th, 1891, providing for the appointment of a commission for the collection, exhibition, and maintenance of the products of the State of Washing- ton at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. Dr. Blalock was chosen a member of this commission, and at a meeting held at Olympia, August 21st, 1891, he was unanimously elected President, and at a subsequent meeting he was chosen Executive Commissioner, after which time he devoted all his energies, time, and means, to the end that Washington might be properly represented at the World's Fair.
HEWITT, HENRY, JR., was born in Lancashire, England. His father was a Lancashire farmer, but a desire to better his condition led him to leave England for the United States the year his son was born. Settling at Racine, Wis., he sent for his family, who arrived the following year. He became a street con- tractor, and having established a favorable reputation at Racine during a three years' residence there, he removed to Chicago, to undertake a sub-contract on the Illinois Canal. This venture proved disastrous, as the chief contractor of the works absconded, and Mr. Hewitt was compelled to dispose of everything he had to meet the claims of his workmen. Again cast upon his own resources, he moved to Wisconsin and took up a farm claim near Milwaukee. He followed farming but a short time, however, and in 1848 was living in Milwaukee. From there he moved to Neenah, Wis., and later to Kaukauna. It was during these fre- quent migrations of the family that Henry Hewitt picked up what little education
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he could. Schools at that time in Wisconsin and Illinois were few and far be- tween, and the circumstances of the family did not permit the father to send his son to a good educational establishment. His education was therefore neglected, and it was not until after he had laid the foundation of his fortune that he ac- quired the best part of the literary education that he now possesses. Under his father's eye, however, he acquired a business training that proved of immense value. While yet a boy he was employed as time-keeper, and at sixteen years of age was superintendent of the workmen engaged on some of his father's con- tracts. Even at this early age he showed signs of that wonderful tact and shrewd- ness in business which have since enabled him to reach the highest pinnacle of financial success. Two years later he was admitted to partnership with his father, and engaged in the construction of a canal, receiving his pay in timber lands. The knowledge then acquired directed his attention to the lumber business, and having made about $20,000 as his share of the profits from his first venture as a contractor, he invested the whole amount in timber lands, and formed logging camps to market the product.
This was during the period of the Rebellion, and by the close of the war he had accumulated a large fortune. His father was in partnership with him, but fearing a panic, insisted on selling out at the close of the war, and Henry bought his interest and made $30,000 by the transaction. Father and son then en- tered into the banking business at Menasha, Wis., but the latter soon acquired almost the entire control and management of the concern. In this capacity he displayed the same business sagacity that had made him the foremost lumberman of the State, and the Hewitt banking concern soon became one of the wealthiest and. most prosperous institutions of the State. He still owns a half interest in this bank, which is managed by his father and brother. Meanwhile Mr. Hewitt was extending his operations in all directions. He had purchased sixty thousand acres of pine lands in Wisconsin, and had acquired the controlling interest in ten thousand acres of mineral lands along Lake Superior, from the iron mines of which he receives an income of $40,000 a year. He became Vice-President of the Manufacturers" Bank at Appleton, visited Arizona and Mexico, and built a smelter on the borders of Mexico. Full of the restless spirit of enterprise, he sent inspectors to look up the iron and coal lands of Washington, and on the strength of their reports he hastened West to share in the untold wealth of that region. He came to Tacoma in 1888, where he met Colonel Chauncey W. Griggs, of Minnesota, Mr. C. H. Jones, of Michigan, and President Oakes, of the North- ern Pacific. In May, 1888, in conjunction with Colonel Griggs, with whom he had had former business relations, he obtained from the Northern Pacific Rail- road contracts for the sale of some eighty thousand acres of the choicest timber land lying near Tacoma, and said to be the finest body of timber in the United States. Associated with other prominent capitalists they formed the St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company, and at once built a mill at a cost of $250,000. Mr. Hewitt pushed this enterprise with characteristic vigor, and in the space of nine months eleven miles of railroad had been completed, the mill erected, and twenty-four million feet of lumber sawed. This accomplished, the company aided in the formation of a bank of their own, and took a half interest in the Traders' Bank of Tacoma. Meanwhile Colonel Griggs had arrived from St.
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