USA > Washington > History of Washington; the rise and progress of an American state, Vol. III > Part 18
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equal in price to that minimum, should be asked for, with a proviso that the right to acquire or commute should be exercised but once; also that single women should be placed on the same footing as those who were married. He urged the need for geologic and geographic surveys, and for an appropriation to continue and complete the survey of the northern route for a railroad. Congress ought to promote the building, simultaneously, of railroads across the continent both to the great harbor of Puget Sound and that of San Francisco, if a practicable route was found for the latter. Of the practicability of the former he had no doubt. "I am firmly of the opinion," he adds, "that these great undertakings should be controlled and consummated by the people themselves, and every project of a govern- ment road should be discountenanced."
The enactment of certain laws obviously necessary for the establishment of government was suggested, and in order that the territory might be provided as speedily as possible, with as complete and perfect a system of statutes as could be devised, he recommended that a commission be appointed to draft the necessary acts and submit them for the consideration of the legislature. There was need to create several new counties at once, and to change the boundaries of some of the old ones; to appoint county offices and provide regulations for the conduct of county business; for an election law and a militia law, and, as to the latter, he made several suggestions as to what would be requisite, or desirable, in the creation and regulation of a force for which the territory and its people might, at any time, have most urgent need. Unfortunately this recommendation was neglected at this session, and the people were soon to have occasion to regret it most seriously.
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The message strongly recommended the immediate settle- ment of all claims which the Hudson's Bay Company or the Puget Sound Agricultural Company might prefer for such property or possessory rights as they might be found to have in the territory, and he suggested a legislative inves- tigation, and report, as to the probable value of these claims, and a recommendation as to the method to be pursued to remove these companies from the territory. He advised the legislature that these companies would no longer be allowed to trade with the Indians in the territory, and that notice had already been given to that effect, under instruc- tions from the secretary of state, and that the Hudson's Bay Company would be allowed until the first of July following to wind up its affairs on this side of the boundary. After that time the laws regulating intercourse with the Indians would be rigidly enforced.
The legislature was also informed of the appropriation of $5,000 made by Congress for a territorial library. This appropriation the governor had already expended in the purchase of books, many of which he had personally selected before starting west, and arranged to have them forwarded by sea. He had also corresponded with many learned societies, and with the proper parties in all the States and territories in regard to their publications, and had arranged to have many of them contributed to the library.
The message concluded by urging the legislature to pro- vide "a system of education which shall place within the means of all the full development of the capacities with which they have been endowed. Let every youth, however limited his opportunities, find his place in the school, the college, the university, if God has given him the necessary gifts. A great champion of liberty said, more than two
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hundred years ago, that the true object of a complete and general education was to fit a man to perform justly, skil- fully and magnanimously, all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war. Congress has made liberal appro- priations of land for the support of schools; and I would recommend that a special commission be instituted to report on the whole school system. I will also recommend that Con- gress be memorialized to appropriate land for a university."
Nearly all the recommendations and suggestions of this able message, except that pertaining to the militia, were accepted and followed. The appointment of a commission to draft such acts as were most necessary, was approved and the commission provided for by the first act of the assembly, and Chief Justice Edward Lander, William Strong, late associate justice in Oregon, and Justice Monroe, were appointed. Wiser selections could not have been made. These commissioners were already trained in the law, familiar with its forms, and experienced in its administration. They knew better than anybody else then in the territory could know, what would be required to set up a government, maintain public order, provide for public improvements, establish courts and regulate the practice in them; to create counties, and make the varied regulations required for the guidance of their officers; to define crimes and various offenses, and prescribe their punishment, as well as to pro- vide for levying, collecting and disbursing a revenue. They knew also how to avail themselves of the experience of others in establishing similar governments, and to choose what was best from what had already been put to the test of experience; and they knew how to put all these things in form, so that they would conform to the organic law, and stand the test of administration.
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As the people were already more familiar with Oregon laws than any other, it was desirable to adopt them so far as possible, but as they were in some confusion, owing to the inexperience of its legislature, in adopting from other territories the laws with which they were most familiar, these commissioners followed the code of New York, with occasional changes adopted from those of Indiana and Ohio, the States from which two of the commissioners had been appointed.
The organic act provided that the session of the legislative assembly should not extend beyond one hundred days, but at the end of sixty-four days this first legislature had com- pleted its work, and its members were ready to return to their homes. In this short time they had, with the help of the commissioners, prepared and adopted a fairly complete code of civil procedure, a criminal practice act, a probate law, a general election law, together with nearly all the other statutes necessary for conducting and regulating the business of a territory, and so well had their work been done that Elwood Evans, himself a lawyer of no mean ability, says of it, that "it substantially continued the great body of the statutory law of Washington, throughout its territorial exis- tence. The innovations made by subsequent legislatures upon that collection of laws-uncodified because each sub- ject matter must be confined to a separate enactment, but regarding each act as a chapter, rather than a code-under the guise of so-called amendments, in no way improved the very creditable system, which had emanated from those two vigorous legal minds and learned jurists, Edward Lander and William Strong."
The legislature also created a number of new counties, and changed the boundaries of some of the old ones, or
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defined them more particularly. Cowlitz County was set off from the southeastern side of Lewis County, and the northern part of Clarke County, but extended east only to the first range line east of the meridian.
A few days later Wahkiakum County was set off from the eastern part of Pacific and the western part of Cowlitz counties, as the latter had been created only a few days earlier. Jefferson County was divided by an east and west line, and its northern part erected into a new county called Clallam.
Skamania was cut from the eastern part of Clarke and Lewis counties. Its western boundary began on the northern bank of the Columbia "at a point due north of 'Rooster Rock'" on the southern bank of the river, and running "thence north to 46° 30' north latitude, thence along said parallel east to the Rocky Mountains, thence along the base of the Rocky Mountains to the southeastern corner of the territory of Washington, and thence down along the boundary line of Oregon to place of beginning." Its county seat was located "on the southeastern corner of the land claim of F. A. Chenoweth at the Cascades."
Whatcom County was cut from Island County. Its boundary began "at the northern point of Perry's Island; thence east to the summit of the Cascade Mountains; thence north along the summit of said mountains, to the interna- tional boundary line; thence west along said line to the Canal de Arrow (de Haro), through the middle of the channel of the Canal de Arrow, to the Straits of Juan de Fuca; thence through the straits and the mouth of Ring- gold's Channel, to the place of beginning." The county as thus bounded included San Juan Island, which Governor Douglas was already preparing to claim, or had claimed
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as British territory, and it was through the administration of the county's business that the claims of the United States and those of Great Britain to this island finally began to be brought to an issue.
A new county was also cut from the northwestern part of Thurston as it then existed, and named Samamish. As originally created it extended to the ocean. Its name was subsequently changed, after the death of Secretary Mason, and it became, and still remains, Mason County. The original name was that of a large Indian tribe then occupying the country west of Budd's Inlet .*
Chehalist County was taken from the southwestern part of Thurston and included all the western portion lying south of Samamish County.
Walla Walla County was the last of the eight counties created by this legislature. Its western boundary began at a point on the northern shore of the Columbia, opposite Des Chutes River, and included all of eastern Washington, and all of northern Idaho and Montana that then formed a part of the territory, that part of Skamania County lying east of the boundary thus described being also included in it. There were, at the time this county was created, but few settlers in all the vast region included within its limits, and these were mostly people who had been employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. Governor Stevens had found
* Bancroft thinks the Indian name should be Suquamish but L. D. W. Shelton, son of David Shelton, who came to the county with his father in 1851, and resided there for more than fifty years, in which he acquired an intimate knowledge of the Indians and their names, as well as their customs and habits, says it should be Sa-hah-mish.
t This is one of the few western Washington Indian names, which has, or is supposed to have, a meaning. It is said to mean "sand," and the Indians applied it to the river because it had many sandbars in it at low water.
EARLY CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES.
The figures in this engraving are Father Chirouse (the one with a cane) who served in both eastern and western Washington-while seated beside him is Father F. X. Prefontaine, the last survivor of the party. who died recently in Seattle. Standing behind Father Chirouse is Father Lajeunesse, and the other standing figure is Brother McStay, a lay missionary
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
of die zubney's bus ness her theodw oneof the United States and those of Great Pritain finally began to 7
Thurston as if then eu Sammamish. As
originally created it erudo! Tes name was
molequemily changed vos Man- Savary Mason,
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Mibs Trade Caurwy wie the last of the eight counties musi 14 legislature In western boundary began ... northern shore on the Columbia, opposite Ramt, and included all of eastern Washington, w enkiem Idaho and Montana that then formed i pro dfse mystery, that part of Skamania County lying wod de benodary thus described being also included in IN Theje areer, at the ome this county was created, but low subeni ir all the vant region included within its limits, and there wwwy mostly people who had been employed by the Howhan's Bay Company. Governor Stevens had found
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two of these, named Bumford and Brooke, occupying Whit- man's old farm at Waiilatpu, while south of the Touchet were "many more farms, mostly occupied by the retired employees of the Hudson's Bay Company." About thirty miles from Walla Walla Father Chirouse, with two laymen, had established a mission, and were engaged in teaching the Indians.
As in the case of the other counties, commissioners and county officers were appointed for this county, by the act creating it. George C. Bumford, John Owens and Dominic Pambury were named as commissioners; Narcisse Raymond, sheriff; and Lloyd Brooke, probate judge; but none of these officers qualified. The county also was allowed two repre- sentatives in the legislative assembly, but none appeared from it at its next session, no election having been held. The county seat was established "on the land claim of Lloyd Brooke," and at the next session he was appointed county auditor and county treasurer, in addition to his duties as probate judge. It was not until the fall of 1858, after the Indian war, that settlers began to enter this part of the territory in sufficient numbers to organize a county govern- ment. On the 10th of January 1859 officers were appointed for it, and on the 15th of March succeeding, a quorum of the commissioners named in the act met and appointed the officers necessary to carry on a county organization. At the July election in 1859, county officers were elected for the first time. The county seat was then called Steptoe- ville, for General Steptoe, but on the 7th of November 1859, the commissioners changed this name to Walla Walla,* and designated it as the county seat.
* This name is thought, by the Rev. Myron Eells, to come from " Walat-
sa," a Cayuse and Nez Perce word, meaning rippling water. Another
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Some important joint resolutions were also passed at this session, asking Congress to create certain necessary ports of delivery; to establish a marine hospital; to build light- houses at certain points where they were already urgently needed; to make the salary of the collector of customs at Olympia equal to that of the collector at Astoria, and to reimburse Balch and Collector Moses for the expenses incurred in the rescue of the goldhunters shipwrecked on Queen Charlotte's Island in 1851. Another joint resolution asked Congress to recognize the manhood of George Bush, the colored man, who had been a member of the first party of settlers to arrive on the Sound, but who, as the laws then were, was not entitled to the benefits of the donation act. This resolution was unanimously adopted, and at the follow- ing session of Congress a special* act was passed, confirming to him the section of land which he had taken almost ten years earlier, which he had industriously cultivated ever since, and the produce of which he had so largely devoted to the relief of his fellow settlers. Two years earlier the Oregon legislature had passed an act exempting George
authority thinks it means "valley of water." It seems more likely to be a purely onomatopoetic word, like gurgle, suggested by the sound of rippling water.
* AN ACT FOR THE RELIEF OF GEORGE BUSH, OF THURS- TON COUNTY, WASHINGTON TERRITORY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the claim of George Bush to six hundred and forty acres of land in Thurston County, Washington Territory, in virtue of his early settlement, continued residence and cultivation, as set forth in the memorial passed on the seventeenth of March, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, by the legisla- tive assembly of the Washington Territory, be, and the same is hereby, confirmed-the one-half to the said George Bush, and the other half to his wife; and it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general of the said Territory of Washington, to designate and set apart the quantity of land
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Washington, a colored man, who had settled near Centralia, from the provisions of the law which forbade free people of color from settling in the territory. Washington subse- quently acquired a considerable tract of land, and became a man of moderate wealth in his time.
This legislature also divided the territory into new judicial districts, fixed the terms of court in each, and assigned the judges among them. The counties of Walla Walla, Ska- mania, Clarke, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and Pacific constituted the first judicial district, to which Associate Justice O. B. McFadden was assigned. Lewis, Chehalis, Thurston and Samamish composed the second district and Justice Monroe was assigned to it, but early in the summer of 1854 he was superseded by the appointment of Frances A. Chenoweth, who continued to hold court in the district until late in January 1855, when the legislature made a reassignment whereby Chief Justice Edward Lander was sent to the second district, and Associate Justice Chenoweth to the third. As originally composed, this district included the counties of Pierce, King, Island, Jefferson, Clallam and Whatcom, and the chief justice was assigned to it. On the rearrange- ment in January Justice Chenoweth and the chief justice exchanged places.
Even at that early day the territory had a treasurer and anditor, though their duties were not onerous, nor their
aforesaid, to embrace the residence and settlement of the said George Bush, according to the lines of the public surveys, and for the claim hereby confirmed, but not in such a manner as to interfere with any valid or adverse right, if any such exists, to any part of the land claimed as afore- said; and upon the presentation of a certificate from the surveyor- general, designating the land which may be set apart under this act, a patent shall issue, if the proceedings are found regular by the Commis- sioner of the General Land Office.
Approved February 10, 1855.
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responsibility great. The general government provided by appropriation for the salaries of the governor and other officers appointed by the president, and for the members of the legislature, but a territorial auditor and treasurer were to be appointed by the legislature. In accordance with this law, D. R. Bigelow was appointed auditor, and William Cook treasurer. Their accounts at the end of the first year showed that the treasurer had received only a few cents more than $5. Soon after their appointment, and probably before even this small sum had been received, the legisla- ture, in consideration of the extra services performed by the district attorney, had passed an act for his benefit, directing the territorial treasurer to pay him "out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $250, for services rendered as prosecuting attorney for the territory at the recent term of the district court." It also directed the secretary of the territory to pay the code commissioners who had prepared all, or nearly all, of the acts which they had passed, the sum of $10 per day, for the time they had been employed, and their clerks $7 per day. It also passed acts to incorporate the city of Steilacoom; the Cowlitz Steam Boat Company; Olympia Lodge No. 5 Free and Accepted Masons, and acts locating territorial roads from Steilacoom to Seattle; from Steilacoom to the county seat of Clarke County, then Columbia City; from Seattle to Bellingham Bay; from Olympia to Shoalwater Bay; from Cathlamet to the house of Sidney S. Ford in Thurston County; from Shoalwater Bay to Gray's Har- bor, and thence to intersect a road from Shoalwater Bay; from Olympia to the mouth of the Columbia River; from Seattle to the immigrant trail, and from Olympia to Monticello.
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The legislature also adopted a device for a territorial seal, which is said to have been prepared by Lieutenant J. K. Duncan of Governor Stevens' surveying party. It presented a rather portly young female in the foreground, apparently making a curtsy to the ocean, while she pointed with one well rounded arm to a glory above her head, through which appeared the Chinook word Alki, meaning by and by. An anchor at her side indicated that she was to be regarded as the goddess of hope. In the background were a settler's wagon and cabin, with a city in the distance, and around the whole were the words "Territory of Washington 1853."
Before the legislative assembly had been in session thirty days, Governor Stevens asked for and the legislature passed a joint resolution declaring that "no disadvantage would result to the territory, should the governor visit Washington, if, in his judgment, the interests of the Northern Pacific Railway survey would thereby be promoted."
The governor had been prompted to ask for the passage of this resolution by information he had received from Wash- ington, that the influences he had from the first looked for to oppose any benefit from his railroad survey, were already at work and likely to render valueless all that he had done. He had already exceeded the appropriation provided for the work, and would be compelled to ask for an extra sum to meet the deficiency. This might be, and indeed subse- quently was, made use of to discredit his work and, but for the fact that he was in Washington when the time came, would have been used to his own discredit also.
During all the time the legislature was in session, he and his assistants were busily engaged in preparing the report of this survey. Lieutenants Donelson, Lander, Arnold and
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Grover, and Messrs. Gibbs and Tinkham, as well as Captain McClellan, who had been sent to look for other possible routes across the mountains, to explore passes in the Cas- cades, or to make special examinations that the main party had not been able to make as it came westward, completed their work-or failed in it as Mcclellan did-and arrived at Olympia. Lieutenant Mullan remained in the Rocky Mountains nearly all winter, during which he crossed the main continental divide six times, extending his explorations as far as Fort Hall, and traveling nearly a thousand miles. Tinkham completed the examination of the country between Walla Walla and the Nachess Pass, which Lander had been assigned to and abandoned, and these energetic assist- ants brought to headquarters, when they arrived, a mass of information much of which had been gathered at the most inclement season, and which was of the greatest possible value. As soon as it was reduced to writing, with proper maps and illustrations accompanying, it was forwarded to the secretary of war, who was none too well pleased with it, either because of its completeness or the favorable show- ing made.
In February the governor received a peremptory order from Secretary Davis, disapproving his arrangements, and directing him to disband his winter parties and bring his railroad work to a close. It was probably this order that led him to ask the legislature for the resolution above referred to.
The session was not yet half over, but his attendance upon its deliberations was not necessary. He had no power either to approve or veto its acts; these were all required to be submitted to Congress for its approval. So far as his duties as governor were concerned he could therefore be
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absent from the capital with as little detriment to the public business then as at another time. He accordingly pre- pared at once to set out for the national capital.
Fortunately his railroad work had now been pushed for- ward so far by his great activity and industry, that all its greater problems were solved. There was much remaining that it would have been beneficial to do, but it was in the nature of details. That a railroad could be built without encountering insurmountable difficulties, from an engineer- ing point of view, and operated without great increase of cost on account of an inhospitable climate and inclement weather, had been admirably demonstrated. The cost of this demonstration had been greater than was anticipated, and he had drawn drafts on Washington for some $16,000 in excess of the appropriation, and these had been or were likely to be dishonored. He therefore prepared to go east immediately in order to save his work and his drafts from discredit, if that were at all possible.
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