History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 89

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1134

USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 89
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 89
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 89

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The required majority for locating the county seat was three-fifths. The result of the election in 1912 was that Kennewick received a majority, but not enough, being about fifty-five per cent of the whole. Benton City had but two and a half per cent, while Prosser carried the remainder. The vote of the Columbia River section was thrown solidly for the River city, and that result was sufficient to demonstrate the uncertainty of either section counting with confidence on the permanent location. To a man up a tree and taking a calm unprepossessed view from the outside, it would seem that the contention of Benton City for the county seat by reason of the geographical center, has some elements of reasonableness.

One thing is rather noticeable in all these county seat and state capital con- tentions-the extreme desire of certain towns for selection to the official head- ship seldom brings the growth or the wealth anticipated. People seem to have an intense eagerness to secure locations of official headquarters, but when secured the gain is usually disappointing. A city must have genuine commercial rea- sons to attain development.

In 1916 and 1917 an effort by the county authorities to proceed with the building of a court house without referring the question to the voters resulted in injunction proceedings which, after defeat in the lower court, were sustained in the Supreme Court. As a result the whole matter of county seat and county buildings in "in the air".

SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY.

As we have already discovered in Yakima and Kittitas counties, the inhab- itants of this favored valley appreciate to the full the primal need of an intel- ligent citizenship. They have seen therefore that the public schools are the very corner-stone of American Democracy. Hence, here, as in the older regions, we find the school instruction, as well as the school buildings, the objects of jealous

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care. Benton County has made generous outlay for the intellectual nurture of her boys and girls.

We derive from data for 1917 provided by Mrs. Lowa M. Crawford, super- intendent of schools, the following :

Value of school buildings and grounds $338,920

Value of apparatus, furniture and books 186,890 1

Number of library books 7,947

Number of free school text books 25,712

Seating capacity of buildings 3,781 1

School census

2,722

School enrollment 2,557

There are at the present time thirty-seven districts. Prosser is Number Sixteen and Kennewick is Number Seventeen. Rather oddly the number of teachers is precisely the same, twenty-one, in each.

As a historical item of much interest we note that the first school in what is now Benton County was opened at Prosser in 1884. Mrs. Emma Warnecke, now living on her home place near Prosser, was the teacher. We have the pleasure of including a contribution from Mrs. Warnecke in our "Chapter of Recollections." As one of the genuine builders of all that is worthiest in this typical American community, Mrs. Warnecke is entitled to the profound respect of all present and future readers.

We have received from Mrs. Crawford the directory of the teaching force for the current year, and with the certainty that our readers will be glad to see it we include it here.

TEACIIERS OF BENTON COUNTY, WASHINGTON, 1918-19.

District. Name. Address.

J-1 C. A. Parker, Mrs. Alice Parker, Prosser.

2 Mrs. Linnie A. Mitchell, Paterson.

3 E. Pearl Evans, Hover.

4 Grace West, Prosser.

5 Ina Wall, Prosser.

6 Chas. W. Holt, Mrs. Leah Ludwick, Elsie B. Nebergall, Eva E. Chellis, Myrtie Gray, Helen N. Gale, Viola A. Noonan, Mrs. Zada R. Rosaaen, Beryl L. Holt, Jennie B. Dresser, Richland.

7 J. C. Faulkner, Mira McLeod, Mabel Greene, Norine M. Sutherland, White Bluffs.

9 Omie Cochran, Kennewick.

9 Cecilia Dunegan, Mottinger.

10 Isabelle Blizard, Prosser.

11 Ada A. Adams, Prosser.

13 Clarence L. Henry, Nettie A. Snyder. Lois Gammon, Marilla Meikle, Mary McGee, Finley.

14 Ina Whitehead, Prosser.

15 Vera S. Purdy, Prosser.

16 P. A. Wright, Warren C. Hodge, Caroline C. Hardick, Mrs. Edith G. Hawley, Allene Dunn, Ethel G. Hughes, Pearl I. Hutchinson, K. Hill, Grace A. Van Bergh, Gertrude Slaght, Grace D. Mason, Lillian Wise,

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Mrs. Helen Hill, Mabel E. Smith, Elizabeth Griffith, Emma Moore, Mrs. Dora E. Thompson, J. S. Harrison, Mina B. Hickok, Dora L. Williams, Velma L. Wehner, Prosser.

17 H. H. Hoffman, Mrs. Marjorie S. Turner, Gertrude Krafft, Caroline Turnquist, Ethyle M. Thomas, Mary Mann, Grace Mitchell, Bertha S. Wolf, Lora E. Maxwell, Susan M. Evans, Mrs. Nettie Morris, Lila E. Marcy, Mrs. Pearl C. Tripp, Zelah R. Evans, Pearl Shepardson, Lena Wolflin, Winnie Darby, Mrs. Lucille K. Prichard, Frances H. Golds- worthy, Annie Cavanaugh, Marian Morgan, Kennewick.

19 Florence Schlosser, Horse Heaven.

20 Mrs. Elma Potter, Kiona.

22 P. R. Bradley, Mrs. Lula M. Johnson, Coila Parker, Hover.

23 Gladys Hudnall, Kennewick.

26 Anna Lindblad, Whitcomb.

27 H. Lacey Squibb, Fannie E. Chase, Daisy M. Chase, Ruth Terpening, Mary Wolford, Nina M. McGuire, Valma Grant, Kiona.

28 Mrs. Lois E. Mathews, Paterson.

29 C. A. Perkins, W. L. Beaumont superintendent, Mrs. Rhoda A. Evett, Cornelia M. Weissmiller, Mrs. Ellen Clark, Hanford.

31 Dorothy Card, Prosser.

33 John M. Collins, Allegra Baxter, Kennewick.

34 May Newman, Cold Creek.

34 Nettie A. Fuerst, Vernita.

35 Hazel M. Barnes, Kennewick.

36 Mrs. Magdalena Bale, Mary Bale, Prosser.

37 Hazel W. Besse, Prosser.

The religious, fraternal and commercial institutions of the county will find their more fitting place in the chapter on the cities and towns. There is, how- ever, an institution belonging entirely to the farmers which has been of so remarkable a character that it deserves a place in the records of the county. We refer to the Pomona Grange. This has played a great part in building up the productive interests as well as the social life of the county. Facts in regard to this important organization have been secured from Mrs. G. W. Wilgus of Prosser, who has been one of the members from the beginning. As a type of similar organizations which are rendering an invaluable service to our farming communities, Pomona Grange is worthy of special record.

PART III

CHAPTER VI

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE VALLEY-KITTITAS AND YAKIMA COUNTIES

CLE ELUM AND ROSLYN-COAL DISCOVERED- CLE ELUM FIRE: DESCRIPTION AND EDITORIALS FROM THE "ECHO"-CLE ELUM HISTORY-THE CLE ELUM "ECHO" -LODGES-SCHOOLS-ROSLYN-FIRE AND STRIKE-BANK ROBBERY AT ROSLYN --- ROSLYN CHURCHES-ROSLYN INCORPORATED-HEAVY VOTING AT PRIMARIES (1918)-MINERS ELECT OFFICIALS-FROM COAL CENTERS TO ORCHARDS-THE VILLAGE OF THORP-TOWN OF SELAH-SELAH GAP AND PAINTED ROCKS-SODA SPRINGS-NACHES-AHTENUM, WILEY CITY, TAMPICO, MOXEE CITY-BELOW POHOTECUTE-"HOW IT HAPPENED"-WAPATO-TOPPENISH-TOPPENISH EX- CEEDS LOAN QUOTA-TOWNS ON NORTH SIDE OF RIVER-PARKER BOTTOM- ZILLAH AND GRANGER-THE NORTHWEST MAGAZINE ON "IRRIGATED LANDS"- GRANGER-SUNNYSIDE AND GRANDVIEW-SCHOOLS OF SUNNYSIDE-CHURCHES IN SUNNYSIDE-THE SUNNYSIDE "SUN"-SOME SUNNYSIDE PRODUCTS-GRAND- VIEW-GRANDVIEW ROLL OF HONOR-CROP STATISTICS-IRRIGATION BRINGS GOLD FROM LAND.

In the preceding pages we have described the physical features of the Yakima country, and have narrated the successive stages of discovery and fur trade, prior to settlement. We have seen the period of rivalry between our own country and others for possession of this goodly land. The beginnings of settlement have passed in review before us. We have noted also the develop- ment of the industrial, political, intellectual, social and moral life of the region. We have still further given special chapters to the growth of the two chief cities, Yakima and Ellensburg. But we have not yet paid a visit to those inter- esting and attractive smaller towns which, each in its own sphere, has created the same kinds of instrumentalities of community life and has exemplified similar qualities of enterprise and similar ideals of citizenship with the two larger and older towns, and without which, indeed, those larger towns would have no life.

We shall undertake, therefore, in this chapter to conduct the reader through the land of our story, endeavoring to reveal something of the appearance of the country and its life, and pausing at the frequent towns and villages for a closer view of people and things.

There have been various possible methods of travel, past and present. In immigrant days the ox-team, with considerable foot work, was the regular method. A stage later, in the cowboy and mining era, it was all horseback and pack-saddle, with the hurricane deck of a bucking cayuse to furnish the varia- tions. There were flat boat and steamboat periods, and then the Concord coach with the six galloping horses and such tornadoes of picturesque "cuss words" as no other method of conveyance could engender. And then the long-waited-

760

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for, much-lauded, and still more loudly-cursed railroad. Last of all the Ever- green, or Sunset, or some other, paved highway, over which the all-conquering auto may shame the outgrown old fogies of transportation. The auto is the "cock of the walk" just now, but look out! Winging its way out of the blue ether, shaking from its glistening wings the dust of battle in which its first life has been nurtured, comes soaring above the clods and gravel the angelus of a new dawn of transportation, the flying chariot of the air, born in battle, but now the harbinger of a new peace-the airplane, symbol of the Twentieth Century. But that is somewhat in the future, and for our present purpose it will be safe to rely upon the train or the auto or both. And, in fact, the beauty of a per- sonally conducted tour of this sort is that we can employ all sorts of vehicles at any and all times.

One railroad traverses the Yakima Valley from its eastern edge on the Columbia River to its extreme western limit at the Cascade summit. Another entering also at the eastern border traverses the same general course as far as Yakima. Yet another entering the borders of our section at the point just above Priest's Rapids on the Columbia, makes its course in great spirals up the high- lands north of Rattlesnake Mountain straight across the Kittitas plains to Ellens- burg, and thence to the crossing of the Cascade Mountains by the Snoqualmie Pass. Through that same pass the state has laid out one of the great scenic routes of the continent, the Yellowstone Trail. Now we may enter this charmed land of our story either from east or west, either going up or going down. Suppose, however, that we go down, remembering Virgil's sounding lines, in which he assures us-facilis descensus Averno, and thinking that we shall prob- ably not have occasion to test the rest of his assertion, Sed revocare gradum, hoc opus, hic labor est. Having decided to descend we will necessarily enter the Yakima from the Sound region.

To any one appreciative of the beauty and wonder of nature and responsive to the vicissitudes of time and place, there is always a certain marvel in leaving the soft, humid air, the towering evergreens, the moss-grown rocks and logs, the flying scud, the salty breeze, the widening vistas of inlet and bay with the hulls of ships and the smoke of engines, which he has known on the seaboard side, then mile by mile rising, till vast, misty canons, and snow-streaked cliffs, and at cer- tain open windows in the forests he may be dazed and almost driven to his knees by the vision of "the Mountain that was God", and then a pause on the top of the world, and vast reaches east and west assure him that he has gone his highest, and then down, down, trees less frequent, moss giving way to grass, widening plains far distant in the clearer, dryer air, and then he realizes that he is really in the "East of the Mountains."

Such is some of the panorama which passes in review as we progress by auto up and through the Snoqualmie Pass, and then down the Yellowstone Trail toward the Kittitas Valley.

But our leading aim on this journey after all is to see the towns. Hold on, though, we can never afford to hurry so as to miss a long pause at that perfect symposium of beauty and delight, the lakes, Kachess, Keechelus and Cle Elum, and to view the great reservoir systems established there by Government for irrigating over a half million acres of fertile land far down the Yakima.

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Any one with the ordinary susceptibilities of a normal human creature would almost inevitably pause long enough also to fish in those enticing lakes or the limpid streams that go singing away from them to compose the central stream.

CLE ELUM AND ROSLYN

But those abounding joys must not hold us back too long and within a few miles only from the lakes we find that we are nearing the great coal center of the extreme upper part of the valley. Here we are at Cle Elum and Roslyn, the centers of the greatest coal producing region of the Pacific Coast.

With the towering mountains to the south and the rugged hills to the north, and the sweeping streams of the Yakima and Cle Elum joining a few miles above, and the fine timber along the courses of those streams, Cle Elum has indeed a picturesque location, albeit somewhat shut in. Cle Elum is said to mean "swift water." There is quite a valley below the town and on the Teanaway across the ridge to the northeast. These valleys, though narrow, are very fertile.

Most people, thinking of this as a coal and lumber region and having the impression that it is so much within the snow belt as to be of a very cold, for- bidding climate, are much surprised to learn that there are many beautiful and productive farms centering at Cle Elum. Fruit of a fine quality is produced and the finest of flowers attest the life-giving qualities of soil and atmosphere. Cle Elum has indeed a heavy snowfall, the usual amount of moisture for the year being from 30 to 40 inches, and the elevation is about 2,000 feet, but the climate is pleasant and invigorating to a remarkable degree, and with the developments sure to come the town has every prospect of being not only a prosperous business center (that it is sure to be) but a home place of many attractions.

We learn that the founders of Cle Elum were Thomas L. Gamble (later known as Judge Gamble) and Walter J. Reed. Mr. Gamble took up a quarter section of land in Section 26, Township 20 North, and Range 15 East, in April, 1883. Mr. Reed took a claim adjoining Mr. Gamble's on the west. On those two preemption claims the town was laid out. The date of these filings was three years prior to the discovery of coal, and those pioneer settlers were think- ing of farming land rather than mineral. It is true that scattered discoveries of coal ledges had been made in 1883 and 1884, but in 1886 a definite discovery of a large ledge of good coal in paying quantities made it clear that a most important stage had come in the history of the region. Population began to enter. The N. P. R. R. was seeking a route over the Cascade Mountains.

COAL DISCOVERED

Some assert that the selection of the Stampede Pass was determined by the coal discovery. In the Spring of 1886 the railroad engineers under Mr. Bogue and Mr. Huson were making their survey through the region. It was plain that somewhere in that general vicinity a station would become established. Mr. Reed took into partnership with himself Thomas Johnson of Ellensburg and laid out sixty-five acres as a site. This was legally dedicated on July 26. Mr. Johnson had owned a sawmill on Wilson Creek, and now he moved the mill to

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the new location. The partners, Reed and Johnson, established what was un- doubtedly the largest mill up to that time in central or eastern Washington, cutting 40,000 feet per day. At the same time, Frederick Leonhard, who with his brother-in-law, Gerrit d'Ablaing, had been carrying on a mill on Cooke Creek and later on the Naneum, moved to the vicinity of Cle Elum. They cut a large part of the lumber for the Stampede tunnel.

October 11, 1886, was a great day for Cle Elum, for on that day the first Northern Pacific Railroad train pulled into the station. Following the arrival of the railway, the raw little town began to grow rapidly. Two stores were built and stocked in 1886, one by Thomas Johnson, the other by Theron Staf- ford. A school district was laid out, having generous boundaries, for thus far there were few children in the district. The old Reed preemption cabin was transformed into a schoolhouse, and the salary for the teacher was raised by subscription. Mr. Reed had meanwhile built a hotel, which continued to be the chief hotel in the place. The first local election in Cle Elum occurred No- vember 2, 1886. H. C. Witters was first justice of the peace, followed by the first inhabitant, Judge Gamble. A postoffice was established with the beginning of 1888, Dr. Wheelock becoming first postmaster. In that year Mr. Gamble laid out the larger part of his farm in a new town which he called Hazelwood. Subsequently this plat was relaid as the Hazelwood addition to Cle Elum.

It appears from the narrations of the people that Cle Elum has been a vic- tim of fires to even a greater degree than Ellensburg. A considerable part of the town was destroyed on July 23, 1891, by a fire which attacked the town from burning trees, and having been checked to all appearance again began in the Stafford store. Losses were entailed estimated at $50,000, with but scanty insurance.

But the earlier fires were all surpassed by the great disaster of June 25, 1918. We derive from the "Cle Elum Echo" of July 5th, a full account of this truly appalling calamity to the promising young city of Cle Elum.

Editorial comment in the "Echo" gives light on the situation and the bravery with which the citizens faced their losses and at once set about repair- ing them.

CLE ELUM SWEPT BY FIRE

IMPORTANT FIRE FACTS

Loss $500,000.

Burned area, seventy acres.

Number mercantile houses lost thirty.

Number houses destroyed 205.

Estimated homeless people 1,800.

Estimated homeless families, 350.

Gross fire loss to merchants and mercantile business, $223,350.

Total insurance by sixteen merchants, $57,950.

Number merchants not carrying insurance, fourteen.

Greatest length burned area, 4,350 feet.

Duration of fire, 12:20 p. m. to 4 p. m.

Cle Elum suffered the greatest calamity in its history Tuesday afternoon

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when twenty-nine blocks, covering an area of seventy acres, were laid waste by fire in less than four hours and fully 1,800 people were rendered homeless, causing suffering, destitution and half a million dollars financial loss. Nearly one-half of its business concerns were swept out of existence and 205 houses were laid in ashes. No lives were lost, fortunately, though there were two or three narrow escapes. The brightest side of the catastrophe, if it can be said to have one, lies in the fact that it occurred in broad daylight and in the splendid spirit with which the people are meeting their misfortunes.

The first estimates of financial loss placed it at a million but careful inves- tigation has shown it was too high, unless the losses of individuals run higher than reported. Insurance was extremely light, due to high insurance rates prev- alent here on wooden buildings, where most of the loss occurred.

Relief work has been carried on in a highly satisfactory manner, thanks to quick local organization under the chairmanship of Mayor Balmer, who is also head of the Red Cross here, and to the prompt response of the North- western headquarters of the National Red Cross Society, together with aid from neighboring towns. Fire sufferers threw themselves vigorously into the work alongside of those more fortunate and for the first two days everybody here concentrated their entire efforts upon relieving the distress. Temporary relief has been provided in every instance that could be found and the city is now approaching the serious problems presented by permanent construction work. Outside assistance will have to be obtained in carrying this through, but the plans under consideration do not contemplate charity, merely financial assistance for people who are willing to help themselves and eventually pay for what they get. The Independent Coal & Coke Company is rendering substantial assistance in every way to its men and announcement is made this afternoon that the N. W. I. Company will cooperate generously. Most of the homeless people are miners and their families. Local relief work today passed into the hands of the Cle Elum branch of the Red Cross and the Minute Women while a citizens' committee and the city officials will handle reconstruction work.

ORIGIN OF FIRE

It seems to be clearly established after the most careful investigation and re-checking of testimony by Prosecuting Attorney McGuire, Chief of Police Bunker, Fire Warden Bringhurst of Seattle and others, that the fire originated in a pile of rubbish lying alongside the rear south wall of the Rose Theatre building at its intersection with the Moss store. At this point there had been for some time past a lot of old boards, banana crates, paper, excelsior, etc., which had gradually accumulated. The two buildings had separate walls with an air space of perhaps a foot between them, forming a regular funnel for any blaze. All evidence is that the fire started there, and not from the inside of either building, about 12:20 Tuesday noon. How it started is still a mystery and may always remain one, but it is generally ascribed to the throwing away of a cigarette or a lighted match because this dangerous practice had been re- ported previously in that vicinity.

Gaining headway unobserved, the air space between the buildings acted as a

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bellows would and when discovered the flames were shooting up the side of the Theatre building and covering the rear of the Moss store. A number of ladies report having seen it and shouting the alarm. Mona Moss from an upstairs window reported it to her mother down below and she ran to the front of the store calling for help, and phoned. Mrs. J. L. Snyder, who lives with her daughter in the back of the City Library building, where she is librarian, heard the crackling and running out behind that building discovered it. She stated that she believed it might have been put out with a common garden hose, but none was at hand. Her cries of fire attracted attention on Pennsylvania Ave- nue. Widow Davis, who lives right back of the Rose Theatre, also saw the blaze in its incipiency.

The fire bell shortly rang out its dreaded summons and the fire boys, under Chief Carr, responded with promptness, with only a hundred yards to run with the hose. Walter Steele, manager of the theatre, ran from his home opposite the Reliable garage and with a Milwaukee brakeman entered his building. He states that after lie reached there the flames broke through the wall behind the stage and catching the heavily dyed movie curtain, crashed into a roar like an explosion. His first thought was to save his three machines, but in their sus- pended room, reached only by a slight ladder, the thing was impossible. One man started to save films but Steele shouted a warning and they scrambled for the entrance doors. The "Miner Echo" representative, who arrived at this mo- ment, saw only a mass of fire over the stage, which spelled a fire beyond the reach of ordinary fighting, and fire in the Moss store told the coming story only too plainly.

GALE FANS FLAMES

Outside, the heaviest wind in days, coming straight down the Yakima River from the mountains directly west, amounted to a gale and doomed the whole block of frame buildings which formed the entire east side of Pennsyl- vania Avenue in the block. With a snarl and a roar the great flames flung their challenge upward to the clear skies and began their mad career which was to bring sorrow and misery to hundreds and deal the city a staggering blow. The black clouds arose and darkened the scene and then rolled eastward across the town. With the rising heat the wind increased, a natural tendency, until burning cinders and pieces of wood were carried hundreds of feet, igniting the Jones building at the other end of the block on First Street, within a few min- utes after the fire broke out.

Shingle roofs in the path of the wind one by one picked up these burning embers, smoked and then burst into flame. It was no time at all until the entire block, with the exception of two buildings with fireproof roofs (First National Bank and the Kinney buildings, both but two years old) was a seething cauld- ron of fire. The heat grew so intense that the Oblak cigar store beside the Rose Theatre could not resist it and residences on the opposite side of Second Street were fairly blistered. On the south side of First Street, which is an unusu- ally broad avenue, windows cracked but all buildings were saved by lying out- side the course of the fire.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 89

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920 Publication date: 1919 Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1134

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1134