USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 69
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 69
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 69
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When Toby got old, he went blind and Nancy used to lead him around with a rope. They were always well liked by the white people, and were re- ceived with hospitality every place they went.
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SHOOSHOOSKIN
Shooshooskin lived near what is now Shooshooskin Canyon. He was a great friend to the white people. He brought a plow on horse back from Nis- qually to help teach the Indians agriculture.
MEANING OF INDIAN NAMES
Mr. Austin Mires told us the meaning of the following Indian names. Kittitas means bread. The Indians would come here and get camas for their bread, so they called the valley Kittitas. Teanaway means place of fish and berries. Kaches is the Indian word for fish trap. Keechelus means bad lake. The Indians thought they saw ghost horses there.
Swank was a very good hunting ground, so the Indians called it Swauk, meaning good hunting ground. Taneum means Indian home. Kput, Craig's Hill, is an Indian word meaning the rib. Manashtash means camping ground. Umptanum means contentment.
The Indians named the Umptanum that because they were contented there. The snow melted very early there, and the deer would come. The Indians were very happy then, because they would kill the deer for their meat.
Chapter II.
PIONEER LIFE IN THIS VALLEY
Mrs. Austin Mires, Mrs. Damman and Mr. J. P. Becker are pioneers Ot this valley who told us of the experiences and hardships of pioneer life.
When they came, there were no roads into the valley, and they had to pick out the best places they could find to travel. They brought all their things in large covered wagons. The children always sat in the back part, and the mothers and fathers rode on the seat in front.
The houses were made of logs, and had puncheon floors, which means logs with the top side chipped off with an ax. They were not very smooth. If the people had two rooms to their house they thought it very fine. Mrs. Mires' father's house had four windows. They put one window on each side of the house, so they could see from all sides.
Most of the trading done by the pioneers was at The Dalles. It took them fourteen days to make the round trip. When they got their corn and wheat ground, they took it to Simcoe, which was seventy-five miles away.
When the pioneers came to this valley they could not bring much furni- ture, so they had to make the most of it. The children sat on three-legged stools, and the other people on benches. Sometimes they would make chairs. Their beds were built in tiers. The little children had to sleep on the bottom, the older children on top, and the grown people in the middle. If they wanted to stain their furniture they would take the bark of the alder and boil it. This made a red stain.
The people had three ways of cooking. One was over the camp fire, an-
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other over the fireplace in kettles hanging from cranes, and the third, in the Dutch oven. This was an iron kettle with three legs. The cover had a little ridge around the edge. They would put whatever they wanted to cook in it, set it on the coals, and put coals on top. Some people could bake in the Dutch ovens very well.
Their lights were from grease lamps or tallow candles. To make candles, a piece of string was tied on the end of a stick and dipped in hot tallow, and held up until cooled. This process was repeated until the candle was as large as the people wanted it.
The grease lamps were made of a tin pan filled with any grease, in which a twisted rag was placed for a wick. This light was fairly good, but it smoked so much and looked so dirty that most people preferred candles.
FIRST CHURCHES
The first church here was a Catholic mission to the Indians. The first Protestant preacher was Mr. George Kennedy, a Methodist, who taught school in Yakima and was not here regularly. The first Protestant teacher who was here regularly was Mr. David Thomas, a Presbyterian. He gave his sermons in a building meant for a saloon.
DONATION PARTY FOR MR. THOMAS
The first Winter that Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were here was very bad, and they did not have many provisions. They were living in a cabin in the woods. Mrs. Thomas visited Mrs. Damman. She told what a hard time they were having. Mrs. Damman thought they ought to give them a donation party. So all the neighbors brought provisions or money and went up to the Thomas' cabin. When they got there, they saw that Mr. Thomas had taken the straw out of the beds and was feeding it to the horses. He had some wet sticks on the stove trying to dry them. When he saw all of the provisions he was cer- tainly glad, for he knew that they would keep him from starving that Winter.
HOLIDAYS
Their entertainments were nearly all school programs. Every child spoke a piece or sang a song. On the Fourth of July the people all got together and had a big feast. On Christmas the children hung their stockings up, and Santa Claus would usually bring them cookies.
One Christmas Mr. Shoudy gave a party. All the people of the neighbor- hood came. They put the children to bed and the older people danced. Count- ing all the women, from little girls to old ladies, there were only thirteen.
SUBSTITUTE FOR COFFEE
Sometimes when the pioneers did not have coffee, they made it. They made it by drying and browning oats, peas, and barley. They would put mo- lasses in this mixture. This was their coffee.
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EARLY ELLENSBURG
In 1871 Mr. Jolin Shoudy came to Ellensburg and brought out Mr. Splawn. Mr. Shoudy was the man who started the town. His wife's name was Mary Ellen, so he named the town Ellensburg, in her honor.
Cattle raising was the chief industry in the early days. In the Fall the cowboys drove the cattle over the mountains to Seattle.
When Mr. Mires came here in 1883, there was a toll bridge over the Ya- kima River. If a man wanted to go across the river on foot it would cost ten cents ; if he was on horseback it cost twenty-five cents, and if he was in a wagon it cost fifty cents. This bridge was owned by Mr. Jacob Durr.
There were about a thousand people in the valley then, and a hundred and fifty in Ellensburg.
When any of the people got sick the neighbors would go over and take care of them until they got well, and when any of the people died, some of the men would make a coffin of wood and bury them in it.
The first church here was the Presbyterian. Mr. W. O. Ames was the first school teacher. The first butcher shop was owned by Mr. John Smithson. Other early stores were owned by Samuel L. Blumauer, Smith Brothers and Thomas Johnson.
The first brick building was built on the southeast corner of Fifth and Pearl. It is still in use. The first postoffice was where Fitterers' store is now. When the mail would come in, people would all go to the postoffice. That was the place they talked over dances and parties. Ben E. Snipes owned the first bank in the county.
The first water system was from the spring behind Robbers' Roost. It was called a water system because the water was piped to a few houses near the spring. Mr. Sanders owned the first large system. The reservoir was on Craig's Hill.
FIRST NEWSPAPERS.
The very first newspaper in Ellensburg was the "Kittitas Wau Wau," pub- lished by an early pioneer, Harry Bryant. It was a typewritten sheet, and it cost nothing, so could scarcely be called a regular newspaper, though it contained all the news and advertisements of the town. They turned out only forty or fifty papers at an issue.
The first real newspapers were owned by Mr. D. J. Schnebly and Mr. R. A. Chadd. Mr. Schnebly owned "The Localizer" and Mr. Chadd "The Stand- ard." Each man said his paper was the first. Mr. J. R. Wallace wrote for both papers. He would writen an item for one paper against the other, then would go to the other and write something against the one he had written just before. It was a long time before Mr. Schnebly or Mr. Chadd knew this.
With this view of the beginnings of the Kittitas as seen with the eyes of the children we shall be prepared to close this chapter, taking up the continuation of the story with the establishment of the new county in 1883. That date may very suitably be taken as the dividing line between the pioneer era and the later history.
CHAPTER II.
POLITICAL HISTORY AND LATER DEVELOPMENT OF KITTITAS COUNTY
COUNTY DIVISION-EDITORIALS-THE GRUMBLING FEW-A LOGICAL OPINION-PE- TITION FOR DIVISION-TO ALL PERSONS WHOM IT MAY CONCERN-AN ACT TO CREATE AND LOCATE THE COUNTY OF KITTITAS-PAY OF COUNTY OFFICERS- AN ACT TO CHANGE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN KITTITAS AND YAKIMA COUNTIES -INAUGURATION OF THE NEW COUNTY-FIRST COUNTY-ELECTION RECORDS -STATEHOOD WALLA WALLA STATESMAN'S REVIEW OF FUSIONIST CONVEN- TION, 1898-BRYAN'S VISIT-WOMAN SUFFRAGE-CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND- MENTS-ELECTION OF 1914 -ELECTION OF 1916-ELECTION OF 1918-LATER GENERAL HISTORY OF COUNTY-IRRIGATION-CASCADE IRRIGATION DISTRICT- SUMMARY OF ENGINEER'S REPORT ON CANAL IMPROVEMENTS-SPECIAL MEET- ING, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-RAILROADS-BUILDING THE C. M. & ST. P. RAILWAY THROUGH KITTITAS COUNTY-THE COAL MINES-KITTITAS EXHIBITS AT NORTHWESTERN INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITION, AS PUBLISHED IN "WASHINGTON STATE REGISTER."
The growth of the Kittitas Valley in the decade of the seventies, and the promise of greater things sure to follow, led inevitably to a demand for a new county. The combat for county division does not seem to have been so strenu- ous and bitter as it had been in some cases of county division. The original Yakima County was so large, and as time passed and irrigation systems became established the prospective production and population assumed so great magni- tude, as also the Kittitas Valley was so obviously a natural unit, that most of the farther-visioned men of Yakima dropped easily into the assumption that a new county was a foregone conclusion.
Nevertheless some of the most prominent men of Yakima steadfastly op- posed the erection of a new county. Among these was J. M. Adams, editor of the "Yakima Signal." He was one of the ablest men in Yakima and while he was the center of much controversy during his lifetime, none of his opponents ever had anything but admiration for his brain and vigor. Moreover he was the idol of the "Anti-Monopoly" and "Anti-Railroad" forces, and looked upon as a sort of tribune of the people. It therefore seemed rather out of character that he, an apostle of popular rights, should oppose what seemed a movement in the direction of local liberty. The attitude of the "Signal" in this county combat returned to plague Mr. Adams at a later time.
As indicating the conditions and sentiments, as viewed from the Kittitas end of the question, we incorporate here extracts from the "Kittitas Standard." From the issue of July 28, 1883. we take the following :
COUNTY DIVISION
Under this caption the editor of the "Yakima Record" discusses the question with courtesy and moderation-a quality rarely found with journalists now-a- days. With such people it is sometimes a pleasure to differ in opinion. It is,
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therefore, in all courtesy and kindness we shall look over some of the objections raised by the "Record" against division. The general tenor of the article admits the justice of our claim for division, but says it fears hatred and feuds may be engendered in the fight. Why should feuds be engendered if the justice of our claim is conceded? The "Record" intimates we are in debt some. We are, for a fact, and from present indications the debt is never liable to be less. Having the greatest number of people and the largest share of taxable property in this end of the county we of course pay the greatest proportion on the debt. We do not ask for a removal of the county seat, which by merit and justice we could claim, simply because we know if the county seat was removed the people of Yakima would labor under the same disadvantages we are now suffering. As great as the debt is, as we have stated before, we are willing to take our share of it and separate. Division in our opinion would act as an incentive to develop- ment by both counties. A friendly strife would arise in each to excel the other, and the people of each county would struggle to place before the world the clearest record. Again the editor of the "Record" politely suggests if we wait two years, then it will be time enough to "chain off the old heritage." Has he not thought that within the next two years the Northern Pacific Railroad lands will all be in market, and the records at Yakima of new deeds and mortgages for such lands will cost residents of this valley more than to support a new county. At the present time the cost of transcribing records would be nominal in comparison with the cost two years hence. We say let us have, if possible, one record, and that one our own, of all future conveyances. Elsewhere a correspondent also takes a view of the division question. We commend it to the perusal of our readers.
The "Yakima Record" wants to know the cause of the "Signal's" animus against Villard. We can tell you in a few words. Once upon a time, in the "sweet by and by," its editor called upon the railroad magnate. Just at that time "the magnate" was too busy to receive "small fry," so the "cut direct" was given. Previous to that time all was "serenity" with the aforesaid gent as far as the Northern Pacific Railroad was concerned. But the aforesaid "cnt direct" caused a change to come over the "spirit of his dreams." Some day we will tell the whole story. Till then we hope our Yakima contemporary will remain satisfied with the present explanation of what is now mysterious.
THE GRUMBLING FEW
There can be no better evidence of the benefit to come to the people from the building of railroads, says the "Northwest News," than is found in the grumbling of some of the old merchants on the line of the Northern Pacific. They have been reaping a harvest, which no one begrudges them, for they took the chances at a time when few men would venture so far from the protection of settled communities; but customers had to suffer from high prices. The monopoly might be small, but it is quite possible to have a grinding monopoly even in a country store. In one instance a merchant states that he has within the past ten or twelve years been doing a business of half a million a year, with an average profit of forty per cent. Of course he is rich, and like every other
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rich man, wants to be richer, and regards with displeasure any intruder that will cut his profits down. His customers, who are really the ones to be con- sidered, hail with exceeding satisfaction the change which will feed and clothe them better and cheaper, and the greatest good for the greater number is se- cured. In the same way there is a deal of grumbling among the stage men, and the citizens of stage stations. These little villages will, in many instances, be left miles away from the main line of travel, and those of them who were so short-sighted as to make their plans for a lifetime of stage-coaching, feel that they are greatly injured; meanwhile the main line of travel shifts to where hun- dreds are accommodated, and makes it possible for thousands, so there is more than ample compensation for the village loss. The stage men say their business is fast being ruined; that they have been driven from point to point, and that soon they will have no resource but to short routes into the country from the railroad stations. Some of them are inconsolable, and look gloomily forward to the time when they can no longer crack the whip over a six-in-hand and prance up to the roadside hotel as the chief event of the day; but the passengers do not share their gloom, and there are always more passengers than drivers- more to be served than serving, and so, again, the benefit comes to the many. This disposition to kick against the inevitable progress of the world is older than the oldest moss-back in the slowest corner of the most behind-hand region.
A LOGICAL OPINION
At New Tacoma Vice-President Oakes had no hesitation in saying that Tacoma has all the elements of great and permanent prosperity. It will always be the shipping point for the Carbon Hill and Wilkeson coal fields; it will be the great shipping point for the grain of eastern Washington.
In this declaration we find confirmation of the oft repeated assertion of the "Union," that upon completion of the Northern Pacific the business of shipping grain to the Liverpool market will be changed from Portland to Puget Sound. In further confirmation of our view, Colonel Oakes said: "The fact of the matter is that the company has felt that the farmers must be educated to the adoption of elevators for shipping grain; and, besides, there is really no absolute necessity for elevators or other provision than now exists until the line between Portland and Kalama is completed. When that is done the ele- vators will be got ready for the shipment of next year's crop."
It is evident that if grain is to be shipped in bulk it will be impossible for vessels to partially load at Portland and complete cargo at Astoria, from barges, as it is now necessary to do. To load in bulk elevators are absolutely necessary and to complete cargo from barges is an impossibility. Shipping in bulk will save to the farmer at least the interest on the cost of the sacks, and will doubtless add in other respects greatly to his profit.
We also see in the utterances of Colonel Oakes an earnest of the speedy completion of the road over the Cascade Mountains. Villard announced that the engineers had decided that the mountains could be crossed with a maximum grade of fifty-three feet per mile, a grade less by many feet than it is possible
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to obtain between Kalama and Tacoma. When to this decrease of grade we add the hundred miles of less distance, it becomes evident to a novice that the early completion of the road over the mountains is a business necessity .- Walla Walla Union.
From the "Standard" of September 15, we take an editorial and also a notice of a petition to be presented to the legislature.
PETITION FOR DIVISION
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September 15, 1883.
A petition is now in circulation in this county for the signatures of all legal voters praying that the legislature will divide Yakima County and create a new county out of the northern half thereof. The petition is not worded as strongly as we would wish, yet it sets forth a sufficient amount of grounds upon which, in justice to the people, we think the legislature should act favorably. The petition represents that the county is about two hundred miles long and ex- tends from the summit of the Cascade Mountains on the west to Columbia River on the east. In this scope of territory there is embraced an area nearly equal, if not more, than is contained in many states of the Union, which of itself is good grounds for favorable action on the part of the legislature. The pres- ent population of the county, the petition further recites, is principally located in the Ahtanum and Kittitas valleys, separated by a natural barrier-a moun- tain chain which renders access to the present county seat from this section very expensive, difficult in Summer and at times hazardous in Winter. This, we think, is unanswerable upon the part of those who are opposed to division, and as we set forth in a previous issue this particular point, we shall pass to the next clause in the petition. Again, it is set forth that in each of said valleys there is a thriving and prosperous town of about equal population, wealth and business interests, and located about fifty miles apart. This is true, and yet we think here is where the petition should have been more strongly worded The "business interests" of this section absolutely demand division as a matter of economy to its residents, without taking into consideration the question commerce. The construction of the Cascade division of the Northern Pacific Railroad insures a large accession to the present county, as well as enhances the value of all classes of property and increases the recording of transfers and titles, mortgages, etc. This fact is patent to all. Besides such a state of affairs is but constantly adding to the burdens of expense and inconvenience of this section as its population increases. Upon this point we would like some opposer of division to attack us. It may also be said here that residents of this section save the expenditure of large sums of money annually to themselves in the way of expenses. "This money will be retained in our own midst and go to enrich this section. At present such records at Yakima City are almost inaccessible and worthless to the northern half of the county." They are worth- less to this section from the difficulty of access to them, and the expense attend- ant upon a trip to the county seat to obtain that access to them. The petition then sets forth boundary lines asked for as follows: "Commencing at a point
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where the main channel of the Columbia River crosses the township line be- tween 14 and 15 north, range 23 east, and running west on said township line to the range line between townships 18 and 19 east; thence north on said line six miles to township line between townships 15 and 16 north; thence west on said line to the summit of the Cascade Mountains; thence north along the sum- mit of the Cascade Mountains to the Wenachie River; thence down the We- nachie River to the Columbia River; thence down the mid-channel of the Co- lumbia River to the place of beginning." This line starts in near Priest Rapids, thence runs west to a point on the ridge about two and a half miles above John Cleman's place on the Wenas. It then follows as near as practicable the ridge near the headwaters of the Umptanum. Thence due west across the Wenas about a mile below the Pressey place. These petitions are being circulated, as yet not thoroughly, but will be by the 10th of October. In the meantime those who desire can sign at any of the stores or saloons. We predict that the pe- tition will meet with universal approval.
TO ALL PERSONS WHOM, IT MAY CONCERN
Notice is hereby given that application will be made to the next Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington for the formation of a new county out of that portion of the Territory of Washington described and bounded as follows, to-wit: "Commencing at a point where the main channel of the Co- lumbia River crosses the township line between 14 and 15 north, range 23 east, Willamette Meridian, and running west on said township line to the range line between townships 18 and 19 east, thence north on said line six miles to township line between township 15 and 16 north; thence west on said line to the summit of the Cascade Mountains; thence north along the summit of the Cascade Mountains to the Wenachie River ; thence down the Wenachie River to the Columbia River; thence down the mid-channel of the Columbia River to the place of beginning." Embracing in the territory so bounded a portion of Yakima County, Washington Territory. The county seat to be located at Ellensburgh .- Many Citizens.
As almost always occurs in a county division issue the attack of the Kittitas people assumed two directions. They demanded either the county seat or a new county. The first demand was not so unreasonable as might seem at present date (1919). While neither Ellensburg nor Yakima had any assignable popula- tion in 1875 and hardly enough to weigh heavily even in 1880, the former town made the more rapid growth from 1880 to 1890. In the census of 1890 Ellens- burg had 2,768 inhabitants and North Yakima 1,535. Something of the pros- pects of more rapid development for the metropolis of the Kittitas was fore- shadowed in 1880 and onward, and the population on the Ahtanum, Naches, Selah, Moxee and Yakima, at the joining of those areas, seem to have been seriously alarmed at the thought that they were going to lose their birthright. The election of 1880 disregarded party lines and ran on the county seat issue. George S. Taylor of Selah was the democratic candidate for the legislature and John A. Shoudy of Ellensburg was the republican. The voters of Yakima,
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albeit the county was republican, all hung together in the support of Taylor. Their fears that Shoudy, if elected, would make it his central business to move the county seat, were no doubt well based. As a result, Taylor, a democrat, was elected.
The proposed removal failed of accomplishment.
For not only did the election of Taylor put an effectual damper on the re- moval scheme in the legislature, but a courthouse proposition locally turned to the retention of the county seat at the old place. For in 1882, just in the heat of battle, the old building in Yakima City, occupied by the county offices, was burned.
This event seemed to open the way to a decisive stroke by the Yakima forces, and. this was the immediate erection of a new courthouse. The county commissioners voted to proceed at once to the building of a new courthouse. While this was in progress the election of 1882 took place. As in 1880, Taylor and Shoudy were candidates. The Yakima people, seeing that the new court- house would likely nail down the county seat, felt that the best policy would be to "go easy" on the division question. Moreover the Kittitas people made a better campaign than before. The result was that in 1882 Shoudy was chosen to the legislature over Taylor. By a peculiar coincidence Shoudy had pre- cisely the majority, fifty-six, which Taylor had had in the preceding election. While the political campaign was in progress a peculiar legal question was de- veloped in connection with the new courthouse at Yakima City. S. T. Pack- wood of Ellensburg brought a suit to annul the action of the commissioners in authorizing the erection of a courthouse without submitting the question to popular vote. The court granted a temporary injunction to forbid the treasurer from honoring any orders for payments for work on the building.
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