USA > Washington > History of Washington; the rise and progress of an American state, Vol. III > Part 17
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As the season advanced the people at Olympia began to make preparations to give the governor and his party a suitable reception when he should arrive. They did not know just when to expect him, and as things then were they had little hope of learning of his approach, much in advance of his arrival, unless he should himself send word to them, as he might do if he cared to receive any special demonstration, or ceremonious welcome. He happened to be a man who cared little for such idle display. Had he so
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
wished, or had he even given opportunity for it, he might no doubt have been met at the Cowlitz or the Skookum Chuck by a committee of citizens, or he could have come by way of Fort Steilacoom and had a military escort accompany him to the end of his journey, but he had nothing of the kind. He rode into Olympia in the evening of November 26th, accompanied by a few members of his party, and drew rein at the Washington Hotel, of which Edmund Sylvester had formerly been "the gentlemanly proprietor," but where Mr. Stanley now ruled in his stead. A heavy rain was falling at the time, and the party were much bedraggled in consequence but the citizens gave them little opportunity to make prepara- tions for their welcome. Although the committee of arrange- ments were taken by surprise, at the moment, the people flocked to the hotel, and within half an hour, according to the "Columbian," its principal room was thronged with them. One flag was displayed from the liberty pole, and another from the roof of Kendall & Co.'s store; the small but well- voiced cannon, which had already done service in expressing the satisfaction of the Olympians on other occasions of importance, was brought out into the main street, where a hundred guns were fired, and "the governor was received," as Editor Wiley assures us, "almost literally into the arms of a warm-hearted, patriotic people, in the rough garb of bold and adventurous American freemen." A brief address of welcome was made by Editor Wiley, to which the gover- nor replied, with almost equal brevity, and almost every sentence was received with applause. He said that the work which he had just completed had demonstrated that a transcontinental railroad was entirely practicable. Two passes had been explored through each of the three ranges of mountains that intervened between the headwaters of
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
the Mississippi and Puget Sound, and a road could be built and operated through either of them. He saw no reason why such a road might not be built at an early day. The great roadstead of Puget Sound lay on the direct route of Asiatic commerce, and it would soon be filled with the ships which were to carry on the trade of the new continent with the old. "I have already seen much of our territory," he said in conclusion, "and am convinced that it is to play no secondary part in the future progress of the country."
All this was most gratifying to everybody present, and was heartily applauded. The other officers of the new government present, several of whom had arrived much earlier, by way of the isthmus and San Francisco, were then called for, and Judge Monroe, Marshal Anderson, Chief Justice Lander and Secretary Mason made short responses. Colonel W. H. Wallace of Steilacoom, a Whig candidate for delegate, who was also present, was called out and assured the governor that the whole people joined heartily in the welcome tendered him.
The next issue of the "Columbian" appeared as the "Pio- neer," and announced that it would henceforth be a Demo- cratic paper, all of the Whig interests in the nonpartisan "Columbian" having been purchased by Democrats of the most orthodox kind. In announcing the change it took occasion again to review the progress made since its first issue, noting particularly the organization of the new territory, and the completed exploration for a Pacific rail- road, which there was now so much reason to believe would soon connect the Sound with the Eastern States. "All this has been completed in little more than one short year. Who can anticipate the future of our territory ?"
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
The marshal had now completed the census he had been required to take, and had found the population of the territory to be distributed as follows :
COUNTIES.
POPULATION.
VOTERS.
Island,
195
80
Jefferson,
189
68
King,
170
III
Pierce,
513
276
Thurston,
996
381
Pacific,
152
61
Lewis,
616
239
Clarke,
1,134
466
Total,
3,965
1,682
Clarke County being the ancient seat of the Hudson's Bay Company, and nearest the Willamette Valley, for which most of the emigrants had set out, and through which all of them had passed, until the Cascade road was opened, naturally had the largest population. It was most acces- sible to the settlers, and many of the Hudson's Bay employees had taken claims there. Thurston County, in which the Simmons party had fixed their homes, and to which they had done much to induce others to follow them, was next. The Hudson's Bay stations on the Cowlitz and at Nisqually had helped to populate Lewis and Pierce counties, because they furnished the settlers a convenient place to procure supplies, and many of their employees, as their terms of service expired, took claims there.
On passing the summit of the Rocky Mountains, the governor arrived on the eastern border of the new territory, and he had immediately issued his proclamation, dated
221
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
September 29th, assuming his authority. Two days after his arrival in Olympia he issued another appointing Monday, the 30th day of January 1854, as the day for holding an election to choose a delegate to Congress, nine members of the Territorial Council and seventeen members of the House of Representatives. The territory was also divided in judi- cial districts, of which Clarke and Pacific counties composed the first, Lewis and Thurston the second, and Pierce, King, Island and Jefferson the third. The times and places for holding court in these districts were also fixed, and Olympia February 27th was designated at the place and time for the meeting of the first territorial legislative assembly. From time to time thereafter, as occasion required, other proc- lamations followed, designating election precincts and making such other announcements as occasion required.
While the people were preparing for and holding the election, the governor and those who had assisted him in his railroad work set about preparing his report, with the maps and illustrations to accompany it. This was a considerable undertaking, but it was carried forward with industry, and when completed was published by the government in three quarto volumes, admirably illustrated, making one of the most complete and valuable reports of the kind which had, up to that time, been made or published. Its value is indicated by the fact that the Northern Pacific was, more than a quarter of a century later, located and constructed, throughout practically its entire length, on the line which this reconnoissance had shown not only to be practicable, but the most favorable in the region explored.
Those who aspired to places in the territorial legislature, or to represent the new territory as its delegate in Congress, and their friends and admirers were already actively engaged
222
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
in their campaign work, and as soon as arrangements could be made the nominating conventions were held. As the Democrats were then in the ascendancy, most interest was manifested in their work. Their first territorial conven- tion was held at Cowlitz Landing. Up to the time of its assembling G. N. McConaha, who had now removed from Olympia to Seattle, was one of the leading candidates for the nomination as delegate, and would probably have won, but just as the delegates were assembling, copies of Cali- fornia papers were received, containing some accusations of a serious nature, which he realized he could not effec- tually refute without sending to Sacramento, where he had lived for a few years, for evidence. This would require time and might imperil the success of his party, and he accordingly refused to continue the race. He was made chairman of the convention, as he had been of that which sat at Monticello, a year earlier, and prepared the memorial which had secured the division of the territory. When it was proposed to follow the two-thirds rule, then and still popular in democratic conventions, he left the chair tempora- rily and made a ringing speech against it, and it was defeated. More than one ballot was necessary to secure even a majority, and when at last Columbia Lancaster was nominated, with only two votes more than those given to his competitors, McConaha advanced to the bench on which he was sitting and facing him, but addressing the convention, recited Timothy Dwight's famous poem commencing:
"Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise!"
with most dramatic effect. McConaha was a man of parts, and a very eloquent and effective speaker, and would easily have won a position of commanding influence in the terri- tory, had he not met an early and untimely death. The
COLUMBIA LANCASTER.
Washington's first delegate in Congress. He was one of the earliest settlers north of the Columbia River, and the first patent issued by the government under the donation land act, was issued to him and his wife.
AND PROGRESS
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Up to the time of its had w removed from
didates for
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would require ces of lox party, and he the :* He was made he had boca of that which and prepared the memorial of the wormrory When it -thirds rule, then and still s, he left the chair tempora- ainst it, and it was defeated. ry to secure even a majority, Lancaster was nominated, with given his competitors, Mich on which he was sitting ay the modan, recited
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223
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
entire poem of six stanzas was listened to by the convention with the attention that every speaker regards as the fullest evidence of approval, and at the conclusion received hearty applause.
Colonel W. H. Wallace was nominated by the Whigs, who held their convention at Olympia. There were several contestants for the nomination, but Wallace, who had only arrived in the territory that year, won it. He was a lawyer of no mean ability, and had held several places of trust and prominence in Iowa, the State from which he came to Washington.
The campaign was conducted with the spirit naturally to be looked for, following the activity with which it had been begun. Lancaster was elected, receiving 698 votes to 500 cast for Wallace. Simmons, who ran independent, in spite of the fact that he had sought the nomination from the Democrats, received only 18 votes. This Bancroft attributed to his lack of education,* though it seems more likely to have been nothing more than the result which frequently and very naturally follows, when an individual, though personally popular as Simmons always was, seeks to win votes as an independent candidate, after having been defeated in a convention of his party. He felt his defeat keenly, and is said to have regarded it as the beginning of the misfortunes by which he lost most of the property he had early accumulated on the Sound.
* Both Evans and Bancroft say that Simmons could neither read nor write, but there are in the old letter files of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, now owned by Mr. Clarence B. Bagley of Seattle, several letters apparently written and signed by him. Both the body of the letters and the signatures are in the same handwriting, and they are all in the same handwriting, which would not be likely to be the case if he had required to have his. letters written by another. The letters are still entirely legible; the writing is regular and the spelling generally
224
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
While the people were busy with the election, the governor was actively at work with matters of equal importance. Colonel M. T. Simmons was appointed agent for the Puget Sound Indians, with B. F. Shaw and Orrington Cushman as interpreters and assistants, and they were sent to visit the several tribes, hold conferences with their chiefs, and obtain such information in regard to their numbers, habits and relations with neighboring tribes as would be indis- pensable when the time for treaty making arrived. A. J. Bolon was also appointed agent for the tribes east of the Cascades, and William H. Tappan for the south tribes living along the Chehalis, Shoalwater Bay and the Colum- bia, and both were instructed in regard to their duties.
Having thus done all that could be done at the time to organize the Indian service, and to get the territorial govern- ment in operation; having apportioned the work of preparing the report of his railroad survey among his assistants, and got it well started, and having dispatched Captain McClellan to explore the Snoqualmie Pass and make an investigation of the east shore of Admiralty Inlet, as far north as Belling- ham Bay, and A. W. Tinkham to examine the Nachess Pass, which Lieutenant Lander had not explored as he had been directed to do, the governor determined to make a tour of the Sound, get acquainted with the settlers on its shores and islands, meet and confer with the Indians when possible, and generally to acquire such information as was
accurate. They are certainly not the letters of an illiterate man. Sim- mons was employed by Stevens as Indian agent and in other capacities, where one who could not write would seemingly be of little service, and although Evans is almost always to be relied on-always in fact where there was a record to rely on-and notwithstanding the fact that he knew Simmons personally, and almost intimately, for a number of years, he seems in this case to have been mistaken.
225
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
certain to be useful. Accompanied by Mr. George Gibbs, the scientist, he set out in a small sailboat called the Sarah Stone and, although the weather was inclement, he made a complete tour of the lower Sound, stopping at Steilacoom, Seattle, Skagit Head and Penn's Cove on Whidby Island, the mouths of the Skagit and Samish rivers, Bellingham Bay, and then making an excursion among the San Juan Islands, by way of the Rosario and De Haro straits, went to Victoria, where he met Governor Douglas and had a con- ference with him in regard to the interests of the Hudson's Bay Company in Washington, and their relation to the government of the territory and nation. Returning he called at Port Townsend, and later paid a visit to the coal mines east of Seattle.
After reaching Olympia he prepared a report on Hudson's Bay affairs. He had now visited all of the Company's forts and other properties in Washington except Fort Okano- gan, and personally examined them, having come west from Fort Colvile to Olympia, by way of Walla Walla, the Dalles, Vancouver and the Cowlitz, and he estimated their value at not to exceed $300,000. He recommended that a commission be appointed to adjudicate the Company's claims, and that an appropriation be made for that purpose. This report was addressed to the secretary of state, who approved it, and it was laid before Congress. A bill making the provision recommended was immediately prepared and passed the Senate during the following session, but failed in the House. Settlement was delayed for many years and when finally made, long after Governor Stevens' death, cost the government more than twice the amount he had estimated, though far less than the Company had by that time made claim for.
CHAPTER XLII. THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE.
O N THE day appointed by the governor's proc- lamation, February 27, 1854, the first territo- rial legislature assembled in Olympia. The "Pioneer" gives the interesting information that the average age of its members was only twenty-eight years; that ten of them were farmers, seven lawyers, four mechanics, two merchants, two lumbermen, one civil en- gineer and one surveyor.
The place of meeting was on the second floor of a plain two-story frame building fronting the bay, near the foot of Main Street. The first floor was occupied as a general store by Parker, Coulter & Co., and the legislative chambers were reached by a stairway on the outside.
"Let us take a look into that unpretentious little frame building," says Hon. W. H. Struve, in his address to the Washington Pioneer Association in 1886, and the picture as he had drawn it can scarcely be improved. "In a little dingy room, known as the Council chamber, we see the nine pioneer members of the Council, presided over with impartiality, ability and dignity by Hon. George N. McConaha, the gentleman from King and Pierce-a young man of fine legal training and quick wit and rare eloquence, and a resident of Seattle, who met a sad death by drowning, on his way home in a canoe, with Captain Barstow and a party of Indians, between Alki Point and Vashon Island, leaving a widow and two little children to mourn his tragic death. In front of him sits Elwood Evans, chief clerk, as efficient and prompt in this place as in every other station which he was ever called upon to fill.
"Arranged around these functionaries, in a semicircle, we see Daniel Bradford of the Cascades, a sharp, keen- sighted business man, who built the first wooden track
230
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
railroad over the Cascade portage, and afterwards long connected prominently with the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. He emigrated to New York, with a large fortune, early, about 1865, lost what he had made, and died com- paratively poor.
"Next is W. H. Tappan, engaged in farming on Lewis River, opposite St. Helens, an Englishman, a painter and an artist of no mean merit, who moved to Pike's Peak during the first Colorado gold excitement, and died a few years since at Denver.
"Then comes Seth Catlin, the sterling old Jeffersonian Democrat, the sage of Monticello, which place he named after his distinguished prototype-a man of strong common sense, who died some twenty years since on the Cowlitz River, leaving to his numerous progeny an honorable name.
"And here is Henry Miles-Private Henry Miles, who, during the Indian war, valiantly held the fort, with Sergeant Packwood, at the crossing of the Nisqually River, who is still alive and robust in health and spirits, a leading and prominent citizen of Lewis County, identified with all her interests, a bedrock Democrat and full of incidents and reminiscences of pioneer life.
"Next comes D. R. Bigelow and B. F. Yantis, representing Thurston County, both intelligent and conscientious and up- right citizens and legislators; the former living, the latter dead.
"Then there is Lafayette Balch, an old mariner, and the founder of Steilacoom, long since dead; and William P. Sayward, the original projector and builder of the Port Ludlow mills, yet reported to be living in San Bernardino County, California.
"Strolling into the room styled, by courtesy, the Hall of Representatives, we find the deliberations of the House
231
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
presided over by Francis A. Chenoweth, as speaker, a man of fine ability, afterward a chief justice of the supreme court, and still living, I believe, at Corvallis, Oregon, engaged in the practice of his profession.
"Benjamin F. Kendall, a man of extraordinary talents as a lawyer, the first superintendent of Indian affairs under President Lincoln, is the chief clerk. He was murderously shot to death in his office in Olympia in 1862, for words editorially spoken by him in the 'Overland Press.'
"King County is represented by Hon. Arthur A. Denny, our honored fellow citizen, whose name is the synonym of probity and honor, who, in his official capacity of late years as register of the Olympia land office, and as delegate to Congress, chosen in 1865, served his country faithfully and well, and who enjoys the merited esteem of all his acquaintances.
"The leader of the Thurston County delegation is Calvin H. Hale, still hale and hearty, a man of level head and busi- ness ideas, who has frequently since been honored by the suffrages of the people; who served as Indian superin- tendent under Lincoln, and who is a true type of an American citizen. His colleagues are David Shelton, still living at Shelton's Point, in Mason County; Ira Ward, residing at Tumwater; and L. D. Durgin, who died a few years since at Puyallup.
"Island County sends Samuel D. Howe, also a man of affairs and sterling parts, for many years Indian agent and assessor of internal revenue in the territory, now residing at Port Townsend.
"From Clarke County there was J. A. Bolon, who, while Indian agent, was foully murdered by the Yakima Indians, in 1855, and whose death produced the terrible Indian war
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
which devastated this territory for the next eighteen months. John D. Biles, also from Clarke, and in 1850 speaker of the House, is now living in Portland, Oregon, connected with the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company as tax agent. Henry R. Crosby, also a useful and influential member, and a celebrated justice of the peace in Whatcom County during the famous San Juan controversy, and who afterwards moved to Utah, now, I believe, still lives in Washington City. The remaining member from Clarke is A. Lee Lewis, a plain but intelligent farmer on Lewis River, a native of the Red River of the North, and long since dead.
"Pierce County sends L. F. Thompson, a well known, prominent and public-spirited citizen, and now a successful hop grower in the Puyallup Valley; Henry C. Mosely, afterward the first register of the land office, long since dead; and John M. Chapman, still living at Olympia.
"From Jefferson County we find Daniel F. Brownfield, who, I believe, is living yet in King County, somewhere on the shore of Lake Washington.
"And last, but not least, the old county of Lewis sends H. D. Huntington, one of the patriarchs of the numerous Huntington family, pioneer settlers on the Cowlitz River, who by their thrift, industry, intelligence and patriotism, have set a worthy example for others to emulate and follow; and also John R. Jackson, the first clerk of the district court in Lewis County, the noble-hearted pioneer, who, at his house at Highlands, used to dispense hospitality with a lavish hand to the weary traveler, on that worst of all bad roads, which used to connect Olympia with the Colum- bia River."
By a strange succession of sudden deaths Pacific County was left without representation in this legislature, through
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
practically the whole session. J. L. Brown, one of the candidates, died just before the election, and Jehu Scudder, who was nominated in his place, was elected but died before the legislature assembled. Henry Feister was chosen to fill the vacancy thus made, as soon as a special election could be held, and made all haste to reach the capitol, which he did on March 29th. He was sworn in and took his seat, but that evening, while talking with a friend, was stricken with apoplexy and died almost immediately. As there was not time to elect another member before the legislature would adjourn, the seat remained vacant to the end of the session.
As soon as the legislature was organized Governor Stevens sent to it his first message. It was an admirable state paper, showing that he had employed the scant three months, since his arrival in the territory, in industrious efforts to ascertain its needs, and in studiously considering what it was best to do or have done, to advance its interests and promote its welfare. Trained as he had been throughout his whole life in employments where energy was not required, and enterprise but little appreciated, it is not a little sur- prising that he should in so short a time be able to exhibit so much knowledge of the physical characteristics, and the material and political needs of the territory, as are shown in this document, and that he should be prepared to suggest so much that might be done, and such admirable ways of doing it.
The people of a new territory have much to hope for from the general government. Being few in numbers, they can accomplish but little themselves, while their needs are great. The people of Washington, at that time numbering barely 4,000, and occupying a most remote position on the frontier,
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
had special and urgent need for the attention of Congress, and the governor and its legislature could render them no better service than by the judicious preparation of memorials presenting their most urgent necessities.
The governor's work in exploring a route for a railroad across the continent, and the anxious care he had taken to make his exploration as complete as possible; the special examinations he made, or tried to have made, of the passes through the mountains; the work already done by the settlers on the Cascade road, as well as the observations he had been able to make since his arrival, had given him a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the roads that would be first and most urgently needed, and realizing, as he cer- tainly did, the need of roads for the advancement of settle- ment, he recommended that memorials be prepared asking for aid in completing a road from the Columbia River at Vancouver to the Sound, and thence along its eastern side to Bellingham Bay. Outside the territory, but urgently needed for its development, was a grander road which could be built only by the government, extending from the head of navigation on the Missouri River to the Columbia at Walla Walla, where it would connect with the road, which had already been provided for from that point to Steilacoom. The mail service ought to be improved; the land laws should be extended to the territory; a surveyor general should be provided for it, and liberal appropriations made for surveys; the Indian title to lands which the settlers were already appropriating and improving ought to be extinguished, and as yet no arrangement had been made to extinguish that title to lands east of the Cascades; an amendment of the do- nation law, so as to authorize a commutation by paying the minimum price for the lands, or by making improvements
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