Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 143

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History
Number of Pages: 992

USA > Washington > Chelan County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 143
USA > Washington > Ferry County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 143
USA > Washington > Okanogan County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 143
USA > Washington > Stevens County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 143

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

BUILDING THE SPOKANE FALLS & NORTHERN RAILROAD.

An interesting sketch of the building of the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway, which traverses Stevens county from its southern to northern boundary, was given in the Septem- ber, 1898, number of the Northwest Magazine by Editor E. V. Smally. Mr. Smally said : "A controlling interest in the stock of the Spokane Falls & Northern railroad was recently purchased by the banking house of J. P. Mor- gan & Co., of New York, and turned over to J. J. Hill, and the road is now an adjunct of the Great Northern system. Under the impres- sion that the road was likely soon to fall into the hands of the Canadian Pacific, a controlling interest was actually bought for the Northern Pacific; but Mr. Hill had been buying the stock for some time, and showed such disappoint- ment at failing to secure a controlling interest that the purchase for the Northern Pacific was turned over to him at exactly what it cost.

"This deal strikingly illustrates the degree of amiability which now prevails between the financial managers of the two great corpora- tions which compete, or ought to compete, for the railway business of the Northwest.

858

HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

"The Spokane Falls & Northern runs from Spokane northward into British Columbia reaching the great silver mining district around Lake Kootenai, and it has a short branch on the western side of the Columbia river to the Trail Creek gold mining camp, connecting with the main line with a car ferry. Its total track- age is about 200 miles. The original project- ors of this road were J. J. Brown of Spokane and E. V. Smally, of St. Paul, who carefully explored the country along the route of the line about twelve years ago, organized a company and paid for a preliminary survey.

"At that time the mines in British Columbia had not been discovered, and the purpose was to build only to the upper end of the Little Dalles rapids and to make use of the navigation of the river above that point for a connection with the Canadian Pacific at Revelstoke. Mines of considerable promise had then been opened in Stevens county, Washington, the chief of which was the Old Dominion, and there was promise of business enough from this source to support a railroad. The country to be penetrated was all pine forest and was not at all inviting for agri- cultural settlement.

"The original project was allowed to sleep for a time after the survey, but finally D. C. Corbin took hold of it. Mr. Corbin had been successful in opening a route by water and rail between Coeur d'Alene, employing the navi- gation of the lake and river and building a nar- row gauge road from the river up to Wardner. This line he sold to the Northern Pacific, and with the money he received and with other money which he obtained in New York on bonds of the new road, he built to the Colum- bia river above the rapids of the Little Dalles. Soon after came the remarkable discoveries of gold ore on Trail Creek and the great silver de- velopments around Kootenai lake, and he pushed the road on to meet these points. For a time there was a great rush of miners and pro- moters to the new British Columbia mines and the road did a large business. A number of

Spokane people made handsome fortunes in mining operations in the new districts. The Canadian Pacific hastened to open new lines by water and rail to both of the districts, however, and divided the business with Mr. Corbin's company. The road proved a great value to Spokane and was a powerful factor in lifting her out of the depression which followed the panic of 1893. It is probably a fair earning property today, but it does not do the large business which it did in the palmy time of the mining excitement.

"The ore brought over the Spokane Falls & Northern used to go for the most part over the Northern Pacific to the Helena smelter, or over the O. R. & N. and the Union Pacific to Denver. It will now no doubt be diverted to the Great Northern and hauled to the smelters at Great Falls, in which that company is inter- ested."

AN ORDERLY CAMP.

In the early days of Republic's boom, when all classes of people were flocking to the new camp, it would have been a miracle had there not been "gun plays" and an occasional "blood- spilling".contest. However, the camp was com- paratively orderly and the officers had but few occasions to make arrests, and for long lapses of time the justice's court would be without a case.

Speaking of the order maintained in the camp, a well known "sport" who was plying his trade in Republic in the boom days, one day delivered himself of the following, according to the Republic Pioneer :

"This is the most orderly camp I was ever in on this side of the line. I have been in all the mining excitements from Pioche to Fraser river and this place takes the cookie for law and order. To judge from the records one would take it that this was a pastoral commun- ity rather than a 'make-up from everywhere.' In the early days two thousand people could not

859

HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

live a week together without having rows and bloodshed. In old times when men from other camps rushed into a new place there would in- variably be more or less friction, either among the 'sports' or the miners. Take Pioche, for instance. It was a 'man for breakfast' at least twice a week, and I have seen half a dozen men killed in a week's time.

"In Bodie it was shoot all the while. The pop of the ever-ready six shooter was so com- mon that people finally would not take the trouble half the time to rush to the scene, sim- ply being satisfied to ask the participants' names and take another drink, letting the newspapers of the camp inform them of the details. Toom- stone was a hard camp, but not so bad as Bodie.

" Since the decadence of those places I have noticed a gradual toning down of the people who flock to new camps. They are less quar- relsome and less inclined to use the revolver with deadly intent. The same way in gambling. It is impossible now to get up the games like we used to have. I have given the matter some study and have come to the conclusion that the race is degenerating-losing the nip, so to speak. It grieves me to confess it, but I feel that the good old days are gone never to re- turn.

"Will I take a drink? Well, that is the only pleasing feature of the prevailing situation. I try to crowd out these gloomy thoughts of the present by taking an occasional glass; but it is hard to suppress my emotions.

"And the old 'sport' drank as though he meant what he said."

OLD FORT COLVILLE.

"Colville," says the Kettle Falls Pioneer, "is a name musical to the Anglo-Saxon ear. Belonging to the British peerage it was first attached to the old Hudson Bay fur post above Kettle Falls, built when this was British soil. Romantically said to be derived from the visit of one of its lordly owners to this region in

the early part of the century, it has ever clung to the vicinity and been repeated in river, val- ley, mining district, Indian tribe, military post and village until now it covers nearly the entire country. The domain of old British Fort Col- ville extended from the Columbia river on the west to Echo Valley on the east, and from the Colville river on the south to Bruce's ranch and the Young America mine on the north, contain- ing about one hundred square miles, over all of which the fur company exercised absolute own- ership, besides controlling completely all the adjacent Indian tribes, governing from Fort Colville over 400 miles square of territory, monopolizing the Indian trade and reducing them as far as possible to a condition of peon- age. Failing to cultivate the soil themselves they refused to encourage agriculture among the Indians, thereby making the aborigine more dependant upon the company for necessities and luxuries that the whites had taught them to crave. Trading a lead bullet for a beaver skin and standing a musket on the floor and compelling the native to pile skins around it until they had reached the top, ere the purchase price was reached, was common practice then. Though occupied solely in trade the old Fort Colville people did not fail to prepare for war. Besides surrounding themselves with a strong stockade they mounted brass cannon in block- houses at the stockade corners, one of which cannon still remains at the fort, a link between the old British post and the present ; it escaped the dangers of ocean navigation around the Horn from England and withstood the turmoil of old Indian times, only to have the muzzle blown off in a recent Fourth of July celebra- tion. The ravages of time have left only one small building of all the original fort. This building, about sixty years old, is said to be the oldest in Washington. The old fort was in the fulness of its glory when the boundary sur- vey was run during the civil war, which dis- closed beyond a doubt that the southern line of the British possessions was far to the north of

860

HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

it, thus leaving the time-honored old British institution and the bulk of its territory upon Uncle Sam's soil."

SHE WITNESSED THE WHITMAN MASSACRE.

Thursday, October 21, 1897, Mrs. Eliza Warren, residing near Bridgeport, Douglas county, passed through Loomis, Okanogan county. She was then sixty-three years old. the first white child born in Oregon, of which Washington was then a part. She was on her way home from British Columbia. Mrs. War- ren was the eldest child of Rev. H. H. Spauld- ing, one of the earliest missionaries on the coast, who came out to Washington in 1833 with Dr. Marcus Whitman, murdered by the Indians at Waiilatpu in 1847. Of this massacre Mrs. Warren was an eye witness. She was born at Lapiwaii, and grew up among the red wards of her father's mission. At the age of thirteen she was sent to the school at Waiilatpu which was presided over by Dr. Whitman. Mrs. Warren's version of the massacre, as related to Frank M. Dallam, editor of the Palmer Mountain Prospector, is as follows :

"There were a number of grown people at the mission and quite a large school for those early days. She was there on the fatal morn- ing of the 29th of November, 1847, when the red fiends entered the mission intent upon mur- dering the minister and his followers. She wit- nessed that diabolical deed of blood. The scene was seared upon her memory leaving a cicatrix like the scar of a terrible burn. She tells the story of the tragedy in language that makes one's blood run cold. and even now she can not mention the circumstances without a drawn and painful look upon her face that is an indication of how intense was the suffering and trial of that bloody period. Most of the children were too young to realize the horrible fate in store for them. The scholars were ranged up before the bloody-thirsty, cruel, brutal, treacherous devils.

The largest boy hid himself in the garret when the attack was made. He was missed, for the Indians were well acquainted with every mem- ber of the little community. They had fre- quently visited the mission, had often accepted and partaken of the kindly hospitality of the good old man and his excellent wife. Whit- man had ministered unto them corporally as well as spirtually. He had fed them as well as preached to them, and healed them in sickness and relieved them in distress. They knew every- thing in and about the mission. The largest boy was missed. His retreat was discovered. One of the Indians whom he knew called to him to surrender, as no harm would come to him. The lad descended with fear and trembling and as he reached the foot of the ladder, and at the very side of Eliza Spaulding, now Mrs. Warren, the fiend brained him with a hatchet. The little girl saw them shoot Mrs. Whitman as she came from the house in which Whitman had already been killed, and she also saw others of the small community shot and cut down, fathers in the presence of wives, sons before mothers, and in- discriminate slaughter. Thirteen victims hardly satiated the murderous executioners. The little girls and women were saved for a fate worse than death. Mrs. Warren could speak the Indian language as fluently as hier own, and for this reason alone she escaped the indignities, the cruel torture, the frightful captivity that was the lot of the other female prisoners.

"She was forced to act as interpreter, and in that capacity she was held a prisoner for some weeks until the negotiations were completed that eventually resulted in the surrender of all the prisoners. Mrs. Warren's story of that ex- hibition of savage ferocity seems incredible at this age, and yet it is but a description of a massacre that is familar to every resident of the state. It loses none of its horror with the lapse of time, and when it is heard from the lips of one who passed through the terrible or- deal the hearer wonders that a single member of the infamous Cayuse tribe. the perpetrators of

861

HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

the outrage, were ever permitted to survive the deed."

FATHER DE ROUGE AMONG THE INDIANS,

The following interesting description of a trip among the red men of the great northwest is from the pen of Father de Rouge, at the head of the St. Mary's Mission, and was written ex- pressly for this history :

"In those early days there were no bridges, no wagon roads and no ferries. I started from Colville with, an Indian, for the Okanogan river, going back to my log mission at Lake Omak. The water was high, and there ap- peared no available way of crossing Kettle river. We were compelled to get along as best we could, falling over the rocks with our pack horses, and sometimes the way was so steep that the whole pack would fall over the tail of the horse, and we were obliged to become packers ourselves to the top of the rocks, and then re- pack our horses.

"We came to a place where we had, finally, to cross the Kettle river to reach Okanogan, and there was no boat. We stopped, and after awhile my Indian boy said, 'I will make a boat.' So, with an axe he made a paddle. and rolling a log into the stream he, horse-back like, on the log, tried his luck. The stream was so strong that in five minutes I could not see him any more. After two hours of anxiety and fear I saw him come back with a boat which he had found on the other side somewhere. We con- tinued our journey, camping with the Indians. One day we had to cross the river on the ice, but, as spring was arriving, in the middle of the river the ice was gone leaving a large hole. The winter trail had been following right over it. We stopped and my Indian went up the river to see if the ice would carry us. All at once my two horses, who were restive and did not like to wait, started on the ice and went, one after the other into the hole. For two hours we had to fight the current to prevent it tak- ing the horses under the ice. Finally

we got hold of the ropes of the horses, and the Indian began to unpack them, while I held the ropes. All was wet; our sugar gone; our provisions ruined. But the horses could not jump on the ice. Who can tell how we pulled them out? I held the head of the horse on the ice and the Indian pulled him up on the other side by the tail.

"After a few weeks up the Okanogan we started for Chelan. The weather was cold and stormy. We could find no one on the road, and the Indian became very tired. Being afraid we could not find shelter for the night we retraceć our steps to a log house I had seen on the road. There was no one there and we went in and were fortunate enough to find a sack of flour. We made bread and had supper. A good fire warmed us thoroughly. The next morning, thanks to the flour, we had breakfast and re- turned to the old mission.

"One of the greatest hindrances to civiliza- tion among the Indians has always been the in- fluence of the medicine men in the tribes. They are supposed to have had an apparition of a bird, a wolf or a snake, who communicated to them a certain power to cure all sickness. They pretend, also, to send sickness and death to their enemies if they want to, and every winter they were holding dances to frighten the'bad spirits'; to make the spring come; to make the salmon come up the river, etc. etc. The missionaries always had trouble to stop these superstitions which have not yet disappeared. They will not use medicine or call doctors, but will, first of all, call the medicine men. These, of course, have to get several horses, saddles, blankets or money to do their work and cure. Even though the reservation laws forbid these things very little has been done to stop them. The medi- cine man keeps the people afraid of him, and compels them to do as he wishes, even to giving him money right along to keep them from being sick. His little animal told him that it should be so. His little animal told him to call the dance, etc.

"In one dance on the Okanogan the medi-

862

HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

cine man had a basin full of deer blood and compelled a woman to drink it. A medicine man used to cut pieces from his own flesh and eat them in the dance to show how brave he was. Now it is a shame that such dances are going on today right among the white settle- ment (as well as on the reservation), and the officers should put a stop to them. They will say, 'We have no state laws for it." Why do they not make them ?"

RACING BETWEEN INDIANS.

Henry Carr, at present auditor of Okanogan county, is one of the pioneers of the country. In the fall of 1890 Mr. Carr made a trip along the frontier near the International Boundary line. He says :

"The occasion was one of great eclat, sev- eral hundred Indians with their squaws and klootches having assembled, arrayed in all their finery and decked in their gaudiest colors. Be- sides the reservation Siwashes, the Tonasket and Similkameen tribes from British Columbia were on hand in full force.

"Strictly speaking it was not a potlatch, as that implies a giving or interchange of presents. but the uncertain issue of the races makes that designation highly appropriate. The race-track is the broad bosom of the earth, each rider choosing his own ground. The distance run is three or four miles with a turn back to the starting point. The riders start themselves. and it is always very fair and even, without any jockeying or quibbling. If the result is close enough to be doubtful the race is run over.

"The contests are all made up on the spot between individuals and follow each other as quickly as the terms are arranged. The riders strip down to their birthday garments with a breech-clout for ornament and every muscle free for action. When within half a mile of the finish the backers of the horses take a hand. They range alongside or behind the flying herd and with whips, sticks. clubs or any thing

handy. belabor their respective favorites for all they are worth. It is great sport. Horse and rider both catch it, and if the excited gambler misses one he get the other. Every lick counts and the backer has the satisfaction of knowing that if he loses the race he took his money out in pounding.

"Fire-water was plentiful, and the bucks all wore a comfortable jag. The only trouble was caused by a couple of whites and was quickly settled. Chief Moses was present and made a speech, urging industry. sobriety and morality. The Similkameen tribe seemed the most prosperous and intelligent and generally got away with the stakes. Chief Tonasket is in favor of opening the reservation, alloting lands in severalty, freer intercourse with the whites and more general adoption of their customs. Upon the whole I am much more favorably im- pressed with the Indian after meeting him under his own vine and fig tree, so to speak, and noting the good feeling, kindliness and sense of fair- ness which rules in their home life."

"CONCONULLY KATE."

"There is a small granite slab on the banks of Conconully Creek that marks the grave of one of the first white women who ever came to Okanogan county," said Fred Loomis, of Loomiston, at the Snoqualmie, to a reporter of the Seattle Press-Times. "'Conconully Kate,' as she was called, was one of the most remarka- ble women I have ever seen. There is not much doubt that she was insane, for she was always restless, riding about from one camp to the other and never staying long in one place. Those who believed that she was possessed by the devil, although it is rather mean at this late date to cherish that delusion, do not deny that her face did not in the least resemble a demon's. She was undeniably pretty. and to us. with whom woman was but a memory, she seemed to be a vision of beauty. Notwithstanding this the superstitious Siwash, and even some of the miners, believed that she was possessed of the evil eye, and had the power to inflict death on

863

HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

those she chose to punish. There was no doubt that she occasionally killed somebody, but then it was absolutely necessary to her own safety to do so, and so far as I know she relied upon her ability as an expert shot for defense.

"She wore a suit of buckskin that bore a very close resemblance to the clothing the rest of us wore, and rode one of the most evil-dis- posed cayuses that I have ever seen. She seemed to have some particular object in view. She said she was prospecting, but most of us believed she was searching for somebody. The probability is that she escaped from some asy- lum and came to that section to keep from being captured or to search for some one whom she imagined was in that part of the country. All that is known concerning her death is that one night the despairing shriek of a woman's voice reverberated through the canyon, and the next day she was dead on the rocks below. Not a single Indian woman would assist at the burial, and if she had concealed on her person any papers that might have revealed the secret who she was, or from where she came, they were never found, for we buried her that day on the little green mound which is now marked by the granite slab of which I spoke. There are hundreds who may have seen this tombstone who think that it marks the grave of some ill- fated prospector, for the superstitious dread of the Indians has, in a measure, communicated itself to the white persons who know the story, and they never mention her name."

THE EMBRACE OF DEATH.

"Half way up the west side of Palmer Mountain there are three rude headstones marking the tombs of three Klickitat Indian girls who died in captivity many years ago," said Edward Wanicutt, a former well known prospector and mine owner of Okanogan county.

"Many years ago the Coeur d'Alene In- dians who were at that time a warlike race

often overran the domains of the Siwash, car- rying off his horses, his cattle and not infre- quently his wife and daughter. The Klickitats are great travelers and they roam about from one place to another always, however, respect- ing the property rights of others. One night, so the story is told, a party of Klickitats were attack by the Coeur d'Alenes who were re- turning from one of their pilgrimages of in- vasion. The Coeur d'Alene braves were routed, but not until they had carried off three Klickitat maidens who were highly prized by the warriors of other tribes because of their beauty, endurance and skill in the preparation of food. The pursuit was so hot that the captors found it would be necessary to release the Klickitat women or adopt some other stratagem. Three young men of the tribe vol- unteered to bring the captives to the Coeur d'Alenes provided they were allowed to have them for squaws. The old chief reluctantly gave his consent, as he had fully intended that at least one of the beautiful captives should brighten his own tepee. It was better than to lose them altogether, however, and the three braves took the women to this cave in Palmer Mountain. From there they watched the res- cuing party on the plains below, and when the young Klickitat girls saw their people dis- appear on the trail of the Coeur d'Alenes all their hopes of liberty vanished.

"That night there was a feast, for they had not neglected to store the cave with food and bearskins. The Kliciktat girls laughed merrily. In Chinook, the universal Indian dia- lect they carried on a sprightly conversation with the hated and despised Coeur d'Alenes, and sang blythe songs for their entertainment. At last the feast was over and the Indians, fol- lowing the tribal custom, married each other. The last words of the simple and primitive ceremony had scarcely been said when, almost simultaneously, three terrified shrieks reverbe- rated through the cavern. In the couch of each warrior had been concealed the deadly yellow

864

HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

rattlesnake, and each Klickitat maiden had held each victim securely until the venomous reptiles had plunged their fatal fangs again and again into the flesh of the warriors. Each couch was, literally, a den of snakes. The Kliciktat maidens were immediately put to death by the terrified Coeur d'Alenes, but they expected no less, as they had, also, been bitten by the reptiles. Only one of the three Coeur d'Alenes lived, and he was captured and burned at the stake near where Fort Spokane now stands, by the returning Klickitats. The tragedy was so unusual that the proverbial stoicsm of the Indian did not restrain him from telling the facts be- fore he was burned alive, and the Klickitats put up the rude headstones of which I spoke at the beginning of this narrative. The tale traveled from one tribe to another and even to this day it is a proverb among the Coeur d'Alenes that the 'embrace of the Klickitat maiden is death.' "

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 143

Author: Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History Number of Pages: 992

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History
Number of Pages: 992