USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 70
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 70
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 70
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These orders had been taken at the Yakima National Bank, of which at that time J. R. Lewis was the president. Mr. Lewis was a resident of Seattle. Perceiving that if the restraining order of the court were made permanent, these orders might be very uncertain property, he hastened to the legislature and threw all his influence toward county division. The ground of his action was that he believed that division would influence Mr. Packwood to withdraw his suit and thus release the injunction. At the earliest opportunity Mr. Shoudy performed the commission which he believed the voters meant to lay upon him, and introduced a bill for the creation of the county of Kittitas.
The legislature duly passed the bill, the act was approved by Governor W. A. Newell on November 24, 1883, and thus the great step of the introduction of Kittitas into the sisterhood of counties in Washington Territory was accomp- lished.
The act is as follows :
AN ACT TO CREATE AND LOCATE THE COUNTY OF KITTITAS AND TO DEFINE THE BOUNDARIES THEREOF
SECTION I. BE IT ENACTED BY TIIE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE TER- RITORY OF WASHINGTON : That all that portion of Yakima County situated with- in Washington Territory and included within the following limits be, and the
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same shall be known as the county of Kittitas, viz .: Commencing at a point where the main channel of the Columbia River crosses the township line be- tween township fourteen and fifteen north, range twenty-three east, Willamette meridian, and running west on said township, to the range line between town- ships eighteen and nineteen east ; thence north on said line, six miles to the town- ship line between townships fifteen and sixteen north ; thence west on said town- ship line to the Naches River ; thence northerly along the main channel of said river, to the summit of the Cascade Mountains, or southwest corner of Pierce County ; thence north along the eastern boundaries of Pierce, King and Sno- homish counties to the main channel of the Wenachee River ; thence down said river to the Columbia River; thence down the main channel of the Columbia to the place of beginning.
SEC. 2. That Robert N. Canaday, Samuel T. Packwood and C. P. Cooke are hereby appointed a board of county commissioners for the county of Kit- titas, with all the powers as if regularly elected, who shall hold their offices until the next general election and until their successors are elected and qualified ; and said board of commissioners shall have power to select and appoint the remaining county officers, who shall serve until the next general election and until their successors are elected and qualified, for which purpose the county commissioners herein appointed shall meet at the county seat of Kittitas County within forty days after the approval of this act, and appoint the necessary offi- cers for said county, and perform such other duties and things necessary for a complete organization of the county of Kittitas.
SEC. 3. 'That the justices of the peace and constables who are now elected as such in the precincts of the county of Kittitas be, and the same are hereby, declared justices of the peace and constables of, and for the said county of Kittitas.
SEC. 4. That the county seat of said county of Kittitas is hereby tem- porarily located at Ellensburgh, at which place it shall remain until located per- manently elsewhere in said county by a majority of qualified electors thereof, and for which purpose a vote shall be taken at the next general election pro- vided for by statute; and the officers of election shall receive said vote and make return thereof, to the commissioners, who shall canvass the same and announce the result in like manner as the result of the vote for county officers: PROVIDED, That if there be not a majority vote in favor of such location of county seat at any one place at such general election, the qualified electors of the county shall continue to vote on that question at the next and each subse- quent general election until some place receive such majority, and the place so receiving a majority of all the votes cast shall be declared the permanent county seat of said Kittitas County.
SEC. 5. That all laws applicable to the county of Yakima shall be appli- cable to the county of Kittitas.
SEC. 6. That all taxes levied and assessed by the board of county com- missioners of the county of Yakima for the year A. D. 1883, upon persons or property within the boundaries of the said county of Kittitas, and all delinquent taxes heretofore due said county of Yakima shall be collected by its proper officers and paid into the treasury of said Yakima County, for the use of said
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county of Yakima : PROVIDED, That the said county of Yakima shall pay all the just indebtedness of said Yakima County: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That the county of Kittitas shall pay to the county of Yakima a just proportion of the net indebtedness of said Yakima County, the same to be determined as herein- after provided.
SEC. 7. That the auditors of the counties of Kittitas and Yakima are hereby constituted a board of appraisers and adjusters of the real estate and other property of Yakima County, and if they can not agree, the auditor of Klickitat County shall act as umpire, and for this purpose shall meet at Yakima City on the second Tuesday in January, A. D., 1884; then and there they shall appraise the value of all public property, both real and personal, belonging to the county of Yakima, and said board of appraisers and adjusters shall then proceed to ascertain the net indebtedness of said county of Yakima, which shall be done as follows, viz: Ascertain all the county justly owes in warrants, scrip or other just debts, which amount shall constitute the gross indebtedness of said county, from which deduct the amount of the unpaid portion of the as- sessment roll of 1883, and the amount of all delinquent assessment rolls which are considered collectable up to that date, and the amount of all moneys and other credits due the county, also the value of all public property belonging to the said county of Yakima, and the balance so found shall constitute the net indebtedness of said county of Yakima : PROVIDED, The real and persoual prop- erty thus deducted shall be the property of Yakima County after division.
SEC. 8. That the net indebtedness of the said county of Yakima, as found above, be divided equally between the counties of Yakima and Kittitas, in pro- portion to the taxable property of said counties as it legally appears on the assessment roll for the year 1883, and the said county of Kittitas shall cause a warrant or warrants to be drawn upon its treasurer, payable to the county of Yakima out of any funds not otherwise appropriated, for its full share of such indebtedness : PROVIDED, That if from any cause either or both of the above mentioned adjusters and appraisers fail or refuse to act as such, then, and in that case, the county auditors of the respective counties shall constitute a board of arbitrators and appraisers, and shall proceed as herein directed.
SEC. 9. That if the board of appraisers and adjusters as herein appointed shall not agree on any subject of value or settlement as herein stated, they shall choose a third man from an adjoining county to settle their differences, and their decision shall be final.
SEC. 10. That the compensation of the said board of appraisers and ad- justers shall be four dollars per day each, for each and every day necessarily employed herein, and the counties of Yakima and Kittitas shall pay the same equally.
SEC. 11. That the county auditor of Kittitas County shall have access to the records of Yakima County, without cost, for the purpose of transcribing and indexing such portion of the records of property as belongs to the county of Kittitas, and his certificate of the correctness thereof shall have the same force and effect as if made by the auditor of Yakima County ; it is hereby pro- vided, however, that nothing in this section shall permit the record books of Yakima County to be removed from the office of its auditor.
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SEC. 12. That the county auditor, for transcribing and indexing the rec- ords of Kittitas County, shall receive the sum of three dollars per day for each and every day so employed, to be paid by the county of Kittitas, and in addi- tion to his yearly salary as hereinafter provided.
SEC. 13. That the county of Kittitas shall be attached to the county of Yakima for legislative purposes, and to the second judicial district for judicial purposes.
. PAY OF COUNTY OFFICERS
SEC. 14. That the county commissioners of the county of Kittitas shall receive the sum of four dollars per day each for each and every day necessarily employed in the service of said county, and ten cents per mile for each mile necessarily traveled to attend said county business. The auditor shall receive a yearly salary of three hundred dollars per year, payable quarterly. The treas- urer shall receive a yearly salary of one hundred and fifty dollars per year, payable quarterly. The sheriff shall receive the same fees as are allowed to sheriffs of other counties by the statutes of Washington Territory. The pro- bate judge shall receive the regular fees of his office as prescribed by the laws of Washington Territory. The superintendent of public schools shall receive a yearly salary of forty dollars per annum, payable quarterly, and all other officers of the county shall receive the regular fees of their respective offices as prescribed by statute.
SEC. 15. That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to affect the just proportion of the school fund for the said county of Kittitas.
SEC. 16. That all acts or parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.
SEC. 17. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the governor.
Approved November 24, 1883.
A comparatively slight change in the line between Yakima and Kittitas was made on February 4, 1886, as seen from the act herewith quoted:
AN ACT TO CHANGE THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN KITTITAS AND YAKIMA COUNTIES
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington. SECTION 1. That the boundary line between Kittitas and Yakima counties, in Washington Territory, be and the same is hereby changed and shall hereafter be as follows, viz .: Commencing at a point where the main channel of the Columbia River crosses the township line between townships fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) north, of range number twenty-three (23) east of the Willa- mette Meridian, and running thence west on the said township line to the range line between ranges eighteen and nineteen east, thence north on said range line six miles, or to the township line between the townships fifteen (15) and six- teen (16) north, thence west on the said township line to the range line between ranges seventeen (17) and eighteen (18) east, thence north to the township line between township sixteen (16) and seventeen (17) north, thence west along said township line and a line prolonged due west, to the Naches River, and
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thence northerly along the main channel of the Naches River to the summit of the Cascade Mountains, or to the eastern boundary of Pierce County.
SEC. 2. That all acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act be and they are hereby repealed.
SEC. 3. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the governor.
Approved February 4, 1886.
Mr. Shoudy was received at his home in Ellensburgh as a conqueror. An extract from the "Register" denoting the sentiments awakened in Ellensburg by this event appears in the chapter on Ellensburg.
INAUGURATION OF THE NEW COUNTY.
By the terms of the bill providing for the new county Robert N. Canaday, Samuel T. Packwood, and C. P. Cooke were appointed county commissioners. From the well stored memory and records of Mr. Austin Mires we derive cer- tain valuable facts in regard to the initiation of the new government.
The commissioners met on December 17, 1883, in a room on the second floor of the three-story building of Smith Brothers which was on the southwest corner of Pearl and Third streets, on the ground later partially occupied by Friend & Flynn's barber shop. At this first meeting the commissioners appointed the fol- lowing county officers: sheriff, John C. Goodwin; probate judge, W. A. Bull; treasurer, Thomas Johnson; school superintendent, Irene Cumberlin ; surveyor, J. R. Wallace ; coroner, Dr. W. V. Amen ; sheep commissioner, E. W. Lyen.
At the session of the legislature which created Kittitas County an act was passed creating and conferring judicial powers, declaring the District Court of Kittitas County to be a court of record and fixing one regular term of court annually. That term should last one week, unless sooner adjourned, should open on the third Monday of October, and its meeting place should be at Ellensburgh. The county became part of the second judicial district, and that district was sub- divided for the purpose of choosing the prosecuting attorney. This act united Kittitas County with Yakima, Klickitat, Skamania and Clarke counties. The first prosecuting attorney in that subdivision was Hiram Dustin of Goldendale.
One of the echoes of the division question is stated by Mr. Mires to this effect. In the Republican territorial convention of September, 1884, the counties of Yakima and Kittitas had each three and a half delegates. Two sets of dele- gates appeared from Yakima, one headed by J. M. Adams of the "Signal", the other by C. M. Holton of the "Republic". The Adams group were supporting Edward Whitson as delegate to Congress. The animosities which had been excited by the opposition of the "Signal" to the creation of Kittitas were such that in the vote of the convention as between the two sets of Yakima delegates, the Kittitas delegation voted steadily against the Adams group. This resulted in seating the Holton delegation. That event insured the defeat of Whitson for congressional delegate. The nomination was secured by J. M. Armstrong. But the indefatigable Adams came back with a heavy counter blow, for he entered upon his great campaign in the support of. C S. Voorhees, as an anti-railroad candidate.
Voorhees was chosen by a heavy majority in Kittitas and went to Congress.
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In the same convention there was another little fracas as between these two sister communities on the two sides of the Umptanum Ridge. At that time five counties, Kittitas, Yakima, Spokane, Stevens and Lincoln, composed a council- man district in the legislature. J. A. Shoudy received the republican nomination for joint councilman. James B. Reavis of Yakima was nominated by the demo- crats for the same place. It has been asserted by some of Mr. Shoudy's sup- porters that a "trade" was entered into between Yakima republicans and H. W. Fairweather of Sprague by which Shoudy was thrown down in Lincoln County. However it appears that 1884 was a democratic year any way. Even in Kittitas County Reavis had 451 votes to 410 for Shoudy. Whatever the facts in that election, Kittitas "came back" at Yakima when the latter city made its great campaign for the removal of the capital from Olympia to Yakima in 1887-88.
The Ellensburgh influence was thrown directly against her neighbor, and in at least one of the elections that seems to have been a determining power. For in the election of 1889, Olympia received 25,448 votes: North Yakima, 14,707 ; Ellensburgh, 12,833. Thus it seems that if all the advocates of an East Side Capital had concentrated on either Yakima or Ellensburgh, the capital would have been moved. These events are narrated here as part of the interesting historical record, not to perpetuate animosities. In fact whatever warmth of feeling and expression may have existed thirty years ago have long since passed away.
FIRST COURT.
Another matter of much interest in those first years of county life was the first court session. As Austin Mires describes it, a hack-load of men, with the judge, came from Yakima over the Durr road to Ellensburg on Sunday, October 19, 1884. The judge was George Turner, the others were Austin Mires, J. A. Shoudy and M. M. Emerson. On the next day, October 20, at 10 o'clock the first conrt in Kittitas County was convened. The place of meeting was a two- story frame building facing south on Third Street, covering the ground reaching from about the back end of Van Gesen's drug store to the alley and known as the "Elliott Building". The attorneys in attendance were the following : Edward Whitson, John- B. Allen, Edward Pruyn, J. B. Reavis, Hiram Dustin, S. C. Davidson, J. B. Davidson, F. T. Thorp, Daniel Gaby, W. H. Peter, J. H. Naylor and Austin Mires.
That first term of court held over three days and part of a fourth. Of those first lawyers, three are still in active practice in Ellensburg ; Austin Mires, J. B. Davidson and Edward Pruyn. Mr. Davidson is at this date superior judge.
The first political conventions occurred also in 1884. The republicans met on August 23d, in Elliott's Hall with Dr. I. N. Power as chairman and Richard Price as secretary. On August 30th the democratic convention met in the same hall with John Amlin as chairman and G. W. Seaton as secretary. In September a few independents met and made nominations for sheriff, one commissioner and surveyor.
ELECTION RECORDS.
For reasons which we have given fully in the Yakima political records, the year 1884 was a democratic year. This was true both nationally and locally.
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It was the year when the sentiment existed that the republican party had become subservient to railroad influence and other plutocratic interests, and when the ever increasing tariffs seemed about to deliver the consumers over to specially favored industries. Cleveland became a rallying cry for those who believed that they might secure liberation through a change of administration and policy. Locally it was the year of the building of the Northern Pacific Railroad into the Yakima Valley.
Hailed by many as the great constructive agency in the history of the valley, some others looked upon the railroad as an octopus fastening upon the body of industry. The leader of this latter sentiment in Yakima was J. M. Adams of the "Signal", while Mr. Schnebly of the "Localizer" represented much the same position in Kittitas County. The result of the election, both in county and state, showed the wide-spread development of that opinion.
C. S. Voorhees, as democratic and anti-monopoly candidate, was elected by a strong majority over J. M. Armstrong, republican.
The vote for Voorhees in Kittitas County was 551 to 345 for Armstrong. All the democratic state nominees received majorities in the county, while every local democratic candidate, except J. S. Dysart for commissioner, was elected. The legislative and county officers chosen were as follows: joint councilman, J. B. Reavis ; joint representative, C. P. Cooke ; sheriff, S. T. Packwood ; auditor, W. H. Peterson : treasurer, J. J. Mueller ; probate judge, John Davis ; commis- sioners, R. F. Montgomery, J. S. Dysart, J. R. Van Alstine ; surveyor, G. W. Seaton ; superintendent of schools, Irene Cumberlin ; coroner, Dr. M. V. Amen ; sheep commissioner, C. P. Coleman.
A vote to erect a building for the county records was lost decisively.
The election of 1886 shows that the following precincts participated : Whit- son, Ellensburgh, West Kittitas, Tunnel City, Wenatchee, Mission Creek and Teanaway. In view of subsequent developments it is significant to note that a special election on local option was held in Kittitas County on June 28, 1886, and that Whitson precinct was the only one which returned a majority for banish- ing the saloon. In view of the fact that in later elections the Yakima Valley counties were the banner counties in support of state prohibition, the early oppo- sition to and subsequent support of prohibition in Kittitas and Yakima is very interesting. The general election of November, 1886, resulted in a democratic victory, though not by so pronounced a majority as its predecessor. C. S. Voorhees for Congress received 888 votes to 567 for C. M. Bradshaw, his repub- lican opponent. As may be noted these figures denote a very large increase in voting strength in the county, for in 1884 the total vote for congressman was 896, while in 1886 it totalled 1,455. It was during that two-year period that the Northern Pacific Railroad entered the Kittitas Valley. Due to this and many other influences the period was one of the greatest activity and influx of popu- lation that had been known in the whole history of central Washington.
The results of the election in the county offices in 1886 were as follows: joint councilman, C. P. Cooke, democrat ; representative, T. J. V. Clark, repub- lican : commissioners, J. S. Dysart and A. T. Mason, republicans, and S. L. Bates, democrat ; sheriff-assessor, S. T. Packwood, democrat ; treasurer, Henry Rehmke, democrat ; surveyor, E. J. Rector, who was succeeded by C. R. Smith
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by appointment by the commissioners : auditor, W. H. Peterson, democrat ; pro- bate judge, John Davis, democrat ; superintendent, Clara Peterson, democrat ; sheep inspector, E. W. Lyen, democrat ; coroner, Dr. N. Henton.
The election of 1888 was one of much interest, owing to the fact that the persistent agitation for statehood, repeatedly turned down, began now to show signs of fruitage.
It was confidently expected that before another election Washington would be a state. The Territory had grown enormously during the decade of the eighties.
By the census of 1880 there were 75,116 people, while that of 1890 showed a population of 349,390.
In few parts had there been a more rapid increase than in Yakima County, which in 1880 included the entire valley. In 1890 there were the two counties, of which Yakima had 4,429 people and Kittitas had 8,777, or a total of 13,206. With the inrush of population from all quarters came new enterprises, new inventions, new ambitions, a stir and bustle and hustle that the frontier com- munities of Washington had never known before. It was unavoidable that the demand for admission to statehood be loud and persistent. There was another reason for special interest in the election of 1888.
That was a Presidential year. The administration of Cleveland, the first democratic administration since 1856-60, had in some respects fulfilled and in some respects disappointed expectation. The two respects in which, in the judg- ment of the author, it deserved commendation were the very ones in which it had most drawn criticism; the civil service and tariff. Professional office hunters denounced the generally honest attempts of the administration to make merit rather than party service the basis of appointment, and the tariff pirates, who had built up a secret and skilful machine for turning the contents of other people's pockets into their own, were naturally hostile to any system of inspection of their pockets.
Predatory capital and ill-digested theories, socialistic and populistic demands, were all jumbled together in a fermenting mass during the last year of Cleveland's administration. When he was renominated and stood stoutly and doggedly on his former platform of reduced tariffs and when the supposed "business interests" rallied under the banner of Harrison, it became clear that there was going to be a vigorous campaign.
The result of the election of November 6, 1888, was a republican landslide.
Whether the voters understood the tariff issue or not they evidently did not design trusting another democratic administration to determine the policy of it. The hitherto triumphant Voorhees retired behind a cloud and John B. Allen of Walla Walla isued forth as delegate to Congress, to begin his brilliant career as a political leader for a time. His majority in the Territory was 7,371. His vote in Kittitas County was 792 to 776 for Voorhees. The legislative and local election for Kittitas showed the following choices: joint senator, J. M. Snow ; joint representative, Dr. J. N. Power ; prosecuting attorney, H. J. Snively ; sheriff, J. L. Brown : auditor, H. M. Bryant ; treasurer, Henry Rehmke : probate judge, John Davis; commissioners, J. W. McDonald, T. L. Gamble, J. N. Hatfield ; surveyor, A. F. York; coroner, Dr. W. H. Harris; superintendent, J. L.
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McDowell. Of the above, Messrs. Power, Snow, Brown, Bryant, Gamble, Hat- field, York, Harris and McDowell, were republicans and Messrs. Snively, Rehmke, Davis and McDonald were democrats.
STATEHOOD.
And now we reach the year 1889, the great year of admission of four states to the Union : Washington, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. In one of the chapters in Part II of this work we have given some extracts from the constitution of the new state, together with other matter pertaining to the great event. We need not, therefore, repeat those general facts at this point. The delegates representing Kittitas County in the constitutional convention were Austin Mires and J. A. Shoudy, republican, and J. T. McDonald, democrat. These delegates bore an honorable part in this organic law of the state. Article seventeen, asserting the ownership of the state to the tide lands, was constructed and presented by Austin Mires, being the last article offered. It has been one of the most important articles in the constitution.
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