Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 84

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 84
USA > Washington > Ferry County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 84
USA > Washington > Okanogan County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 84
USA > Washington > Stevens County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 84

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At the first meeting in the new county seat, Ruby, it was decided that for the time being two offices were all that would be required- one for the auditor, twenty feet square, and one for the sheriff, 10x20. It was also decided to

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HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

erect a county jail, "to be made of scantling, six inches wide, and two inches thick, spiked together with spikes, not more than six inches apart." A lease was taken on a building for county offices situated on lot 6, block 7, on Main street, Ruby.

At the general election, November 6, 1888, the permanent location of the county seat was made. The popular vote showed that Concon- ully, which until the spring of this year had been known as Salmon City, was far in the lead of all other contestants. The vote certi- fied to by the canvassers was: Arlington, I; Salmon, I; Ruby, 157; Conconully, 357. February 9, 1889, the county records were re- moved from Ruby to Conconully. For $25 per month a building for court house purposes on lot B, block 36, was rented. During the winter of 1889-90 a jail was erected. With the expiration of the lease on the building used for court house purposes, in February, 1890, there was experienced considerable difficulty in deciding upon another suitable for the serv- ice required of it. A number of propositions were made to the commissioners, accompanied, also, by several protests and counter proposi- tions. It was finally decided to rent the build- ing known as the Lockwood hotel, together with the lot upon which it was located, for the term of one year, at a stipulated rental of $8 per month payable in county warrants. The lease was drawn. Before the deal was closed, however, in anticipation of difficulty in obtain- ing possession of the Lockwood hotel, the com- missioners considered seriously the proposition of accepting the offer of H. Beigle, which was for the sum of $1 to lease the building then occupied by the county officials for the term of two years. This liberal offer was supplemented by another, agreeing to furnish the building then occupied by Mr. Beigle as his place of business, for the purpose of sessions during the terms of superior court, for two years, Mr. Beigle offering to vacate the premises on or before the first day of the next term of court.

He, also, agreed not to utilize the building dur- ing the term of two years for the saloon busi- ness. All this, however, came to naught, for on Monday, December 8, 1890, a new house was secured for county business, the records being removed into Ballard & Carr's building, for which a monthly rental of ten dollars was paid. This was a log cabin located on the ground where now stands the Hotel Elliott. May 31, 1891, another removal was made to lots one and two, block H, Conconully, where the official home of the county has since re- mained. The sum of $2,495 was appropriated for work and material on this building which thus became the property of the county. Al- though no publicity was given to the matter at the time the result has been eminently satis- factory to everybody, and proved the sagacity of the commissioners.

At the session of the first state legislature of Washington, during the winter of 1889-90, two bills were introduced which met with no little opposition from the citizens of Okanogan county. One of them, Senate Bill No. 106, was fathered by Senator Luce, January II, 1890; the other, House Bill No. 151, was intro- duced by Mr. Hamilton. The former bill required a mining claim to be surveyed by a deputy United States mineral surveyor within three months from the date of location, and further provided that the notice of such claim should be immediately recorded. The House Bill of Mr. Hamilton was entitled "An Act to secure persons and animals from danger aris- ing from mining."

Both of these measures were deemed inimi- cal to the best interests of the miners of the en- tire state as well as Okanogan county. In Con- conully notices were immediately posted calling for a mass meeting of miners and citizens in- terested to be held at Collins hall, Conconully, on the evening of March 19th. At this meet- ing the following resolutions were passed and the subjoined petition forwarded to the mem- bers of the legislature in session at Olympia :

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HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

We, the citizens and mine owners of Okanogan county, state of Washington, on this 19th day of March, in mass meeting assembled do ordain and resolve as follows, to wit:

WHEREAS, We believe that the provisions of Senate bill No. 106, introduced by Senator Luce in the Senate January 1I, 1890, entitled "An Act concerning mines, and declaring an emergency," and House bill No. 151, introduced by Mr. Hamilton in the house January 10, 1890, entitled "An Act to secure persons and animals from danger arising from mining," are inimical to the best interests of the state, and will greatly retard the growth and development of the mining sections therein, and,

WHEREAS, We believe that a great majority of the prospectors and mine owners in the mining portions of said state can not comply with the provisions of said act, and,

WHEREAS, We believe it to be a great injustice to prospectors and miners who are seeking to locate the same, and,

WHEREAS, We believe that the enactment of said laws would in effect greatly retard, if not wholly stop, the development of the mining portions of the state, so far as prospecting for mines is concerned, and,

WHEREAS, The existence of mines is only known and discovered by the efforts of prospectors, and that their interests should be subserved by law, and that their efforts should not be crippled by laws unwhole- some and suicidal to their interests, and,

WHEREAS, We believe and know that the passage of the bills referred to is unwholesome and would be suicidal to their interests and to the interests of all the people residing in the mining districts. And now. therefore, be it unanimously

Resolved, That the people of Okanogan county be requested to sign petitions directed to the Legislature of the State of Washington protesting against the pass- age of said bills, and in the event that the said bills have passed and have not yet become laws by virtue of the signature of the Governor of the State of Wash- ington, then and in that event, the Governor by the said petition be requested to veto said bills.

E. W. LEE, Chairman. F. M. BAUM, Secretary of meeting.

Following is the form of the petition for- warded to the legislature :

To the Honorable, The Legislature of the State of Washington :

We, the undersigned resident miners and mine owners of the county of Okanogan, do respectfully peti- tion your Honorable body to not pass Senate bill No. 106 introduced by Senator Luce in Senate January II, 1890, entitled "An Act concerning mines and declaring an emergency," and House bill No. 151, introduced in

the house by Harry Hamilton January 10, 1890, entitled "An Act to secure persons and animals from danger arising from mining," or in the event that said bills have already passed and not yet become laws by virtue of the Governor's signature, we respectfully petition the governor to veto the said bills, and we your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray.

Neither of these objectional bills ever be- came laws. The winter of 1889-90 was un- usually severe and stock suffered greatly. Con- cerning this "hard winter" the Okanogan Out- look, published at Conconully, of date March 22 says :

"It is true that a large number of stock have perished and that a few parties have lost almost their entire bands. But the fact of the matter is that in every case where a heavy loss has occurred the stock has been what is termed 'immigrant stock.' That is, stock that was driven into the country last summer and fall and had not become accustomed to the range. They were poor and in no condition to with- stand even a moderately cold winter. Besides in a majority of these instances no feed had been provided and no preparation made for their care during the winter. We hope the ex- periences of the past season will have the effect of inducing stock men to take the precaution of putting up a quantity of feed every year, and if it is not needed for two or three years let it accumulate until such time as it will be needed. Such winters as the last have occurred before and are liable to occur again. That is what robs the profits of stock raising in any country and must be guarded against."

Saturday, December 27, 1890, a number of delegates from the surrounding country met at Conconully for the purpose of organizing a county board of trade. The principal object of this convention was to devise ways and means for a suitable representation at the Chicago World's Fair. At that period it was in contemplation to hold the fair in 1892, but it was postponed until the spring of 1893. M. G. Barney was elected president, George Pfunder, George J. Hurley, W. J. Dorwin, H.

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HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

Hamilton, William B. Fisher, I. A. Navarre, vice-presidents; F. M. Baum, secretary, Will- iam W. Weeks, treasurer. Messrs. Barney, Baum, Weeks, Hurley and Yeargin were ap- pointed a committee on by-laws. J. C. Love- joy, J. Neiderauer and George Pfunder were elected delegates to the state meeting of county boards at Olympia, January 12. Governor Laughton and "Okanogan" Smith were desig- nated to co-operate with the delegation and elected honorary members. The delegates were also instructed to call on the surveyor-general with reference to surveying agricultural lands. The charter members of the Okanogan County Board of Trade were:

J. C. Lovejoy, D. S. Jones, W. J. Dorwin, William W. Weeks, Edward Lathrop, H. C. Davis, George E. Pfunder, E. C. Sherman, R. R. Hargrove, F. M. Baum, J. Neiderauer, C. F. Webb, Maurice Duvall, S. Lichtenstadter, Charles Herrmann, H. Hamilton, M. G. Bar- ney, F. J. Waterman, George J. Hurley, A. H. Alford, C. F. Hane, J. W. Jewett, T. S. Dick- son, F. J. Cummings, S. S. Collins, F. M. Wright, D. W. Yeargin, Elmer Lockwood, R. H. Redmond, J. C. Robertson, R. D. Seibert, Charles Seibert.

At the next meeting, Wednesday evening, the following vice presidents were elected : Okanogan precinct, H. F. Smith ; Toats Coulee, George H. Noyes; Salmon, F. J. Waterman ; Ruby, W. J. Dorwin ; Loop Loop, J. B. Ton- kin; Johnson, A. J. Squires; Spring Coulee, L. C. Malott; Columbia, D. W. Yeargin ; Upper Methow, F. M. Wright; Lower Methow, K. K. Parker ; Chelan, I. A. Navarre; Entiat, T. J. Cannon; Wenatchee, C. E. S. Burch.

It cannot be denied that the Okanogan County Board of Trade accomplished much good. Such matters as the securing of better mail facilities for the county, the clearing of the channel of the Columbia river at Rock Island rapids, the transportation question and the proposition of Seattle to assist in adver-

tising mineral resources of the county by estab- lishing a mining bureau in connection with the Seattle Chamber of Commerce were taken up and earnestly discussed. It was decided by the Okanogan board that prompt and concerted action in connection with these enterprises was imperative and for the best interests of the county. Committees were appointed and in- structed to carry out the work laid down by the board. All took hold with a will, and al- though results were not, in each case all that might be desired, much was accomplished that redounded to the credit and benefit of the county at large.

The census roll of 1892 having shown a population of over 2,500, on August 16, of this year, the county was classified in the 26tl class. Two attempts were made at different periods to remove the capital of Okanogan from Conconully to Chelan, one in 1894; the last in 1898. At these periods the greater portion of the present Chelan county, was in Okanogan county, and therefore the town of Chelan, on the lake of that name was eligible to county seat honors, and with sufficient sup- port from the voters in the territory affected might secure it.

October 2, 1894, a petition signed by W. S. Boyd, et al, praying for the removal of the county seat was presented to the Okanogan commissioners. Following is the text of the petition :

"State of Washington, County of Okanoganl. ss: To the honorable Board of County Com- missioners of Okanogan County, State of Washington :

"Whereas the present location of the county seat at Conconully is so far removed from the center of population and so nearly inaccessible to a majority of the inhabitants of said county, and believing that the best interests of the county will be subserved by removing the county seat to a more central location, the undersigned, electors of said county, respectfully petition your honorable body to

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order and advertise an election to be held at the next general election, to submit the proposi- tion of locating said county seat at the town of Chelan in said county on lot numbered three (3) in section numbered thirteen (13), township twenty-seven (27), north range twenty-two (22), E. W. M., and as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray."

Upon completion of the reading of this document it was immediately moved by Com- missioner Pogue that it be rejected. The ground upon which Commissioner Pogue based his objection was insufficiency, in that the petition did not show a sufficient number of particulars for, the removal of "any town or city," but that it appeared from the said peti- tion and other competent evidence, that the lot to which it was prayed that the county seat be removed was not a town or city. Commis- sioner Pogue desired that the county attorney prepare a form of order denying the petition. It will be observed by the reader that the peti- tion did not ask for the removal of Conconully per se, as suggested by Commissioner Pogue, but merely its official charaterization as the capital of Okanogan county.

The motion of Commissioner Pogue was seconded by Commissioner Spader, and was unanimously sustained, Messrs. Pogue, Spader and McGillivry voting in the affirmative. Ex- ception to the action was at once filed by W. A. Reneau, Esq., representing the signers of the petition. Concerning the proceedings of the Okanogan county commissioners in regard to this matter the record reads as follows :

"In the matter of the petition of W. S. Boyd and seven hundred others, more or less, for the removal of the county seat of Okanogan county, Wasington, praying the board of coun- ty commissioners of said county to submit the proposition of locating the said county seat at the town of Chelan in said county on lot numbered 3, in section numbered 13, township 27 north, range 22 E., W. M .; now on this 2d

day of October, 1894, the above question being under consideration by the board of commis- sioners, and the petitioners appearing by Hon. W. A. Reneau, and the commissioners being advised in the premises by their counsel, the county attorney, F. W. Hankey, and it appear- ing to the board from the petition and from authentic plats of the town of Chelan and lot No. 3, section 13, township 27 north, range 22 E., W. M., that the said lot three is not in the town of Chelan, and is no part of any town of city incorporated or unincorporated, and the board having found by unanimous vote that the said petition should be rejected upon the grounds that it does not appear therefrom that a sufficient number of qualified voters have prayed for a submission of the question of the removal of the county seat to any city or town as provided by law.

"And it having been found by a unanimous vote that the petition prays for the submission of the removal of the county seat to a parcel of land not within any incorporated or unincor- porated town or city ; the counsel for petitioners having been heard in the premises and the ad- vice of the county attorney having been had; and the said board having decided by a unani- mous vote that the said petition is insufficient in law and for that reason was rejected; it is therefore ordered that the same be, and is here- by denied and rejected."

Thereafter the matter of county seat re- moval was held in abeyance four years. Dur- ing the summer of 1898 the question was again sprung upon the citizens of Okanogan county. The commissioners were presented with a peti- tion signed by 529 voters asking that the capital be removed to Chelan and that the proposition for such removal be submitted to the voters of the county, the question to be decided at the succeeding general election. To the commis- sioners the petition appeared to be regular in form. It contained the required number of signers, and the same was granted, the propo-

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sition being ordered to be submitted to the voters at the general election to be held in November, 1898.

Meanwhile the question of a division of the county had been injected into the discussion, and this fact, of course, militated against the success of the new county seat "boomers." It was proposed to form a new county, partly from the territory of Okanogan, to be called Chelan, a full account of which may be read in the history of Chelan county. On the day of election Conconully won at the polls mainly through the apathy of voters who were con- vinced that a division of the county was im- minent. The people in the southern portion of the county were on the eve of division and they did not support the proposition for removal of the county seat. The vote was, for removal 253 : against removal, 550, divided among the precincts as follows :

For.

Against.

Okanogan

Golden

Similkameen

Toats Coulee

Johnson Creek

Salmon

Ruby

Spring Coulee

Columbia

Brewster

Lower Methow

Silver

Winthrop

Squaw Creek

Chelan

Lakeside

Stehekin

Wenatchee

Wenatchee Lake

Meyers Creek

Toroda

Entiat

253

550

In July, 1899. it appeared from the reports of the assessor that Okanogan county contained a population in excess of 4,000. The county was raised to the 23d class. In November of this year the question of county division was

paramount. News was received that Judge Neal, holding court at Davenport, Lincoln county, had decided that a new county to be called Chelan could be formed. To this propo- sition a large number of the people of Okano- gan seriously objected. They did not wish to be separated from the Chelan territory. The fol- lowing proceedings of the county commission- ers voice the sentiments at that period enter- tained by a large number :

"Whereas, in pursuance of the act relating to the creation of the County of Chelan from territory now principally covered by Okanogan county, His Honor, C. H. Neal, Superior Judge of Okanogan county ; has fixed a time for hear- ing thereof, and whereas it is the sense of a large majority of the people of this county, as we believe, that such division as contemplated by said act would be a detriment and unjust.

"Be it resolved, that the prosecuting attor- ney be requested to be and appear at said hear- ing, and at such other hearings as may in fu- ture be had, and for and on behalf of Okanogan county take all proper and lawful means to pre- vent such division of the county as may to him seem right and proper."

For a time the commissioners continued to oppose the formation of the new county of Chelan. Attorney H. N. Martin, of Davenport, Lincoln county, was employed by them as spe- cial counsel to look after the interests of Okan- ogan county. An enumerator was also secured to take a census of the Methow country, as it had been provided by the proceedings already had in the matter of division that there should be at least 4,000 inhabitants left in Okanogan county following division. Hence the Methow census. But January 17, 1900, the order of the commissioners opposing the formation of the new county was revoked and all proceed- ings of this nature were dropped. In August of this year a settlement between the counties of Okanogan and Chelan was reached, Chelan agreeing to pay Okanogan county the sum of $77,000 in county warrants.

---

CHIEF JOSEPH.

CHAPTER II.

PASSING EVENTS, 1891-1903.

In the early part of January, 1891, the vicin- ities of Conconully and Ruby were thrown into wild excitement by rumors of a possible, if not probable, uprising of the Okanogan Indians. The attributed incentive for this was for the purpose of avenging the lynching of an Indian boy, named Stephen, by a party of white men in the early morning hours of Thursday, Janu- ary 8, 1891. While the tragic circumstances surrounding the affair were sufficient to create considerable alarm among the more timid of the scanty population at that time living in the county, there does not appear, from the pres- ent historical perspective, to have been any im- minent danger of such an uprising at any period. Three lives, however, were sacrificed, and it is quite probable that these gruesome tragedies, following fast upon the heels of each other, inspired the citizens, and particularly the women of the communities interested, with the wildest alarms.

Among the residents near Ruby and Con- conully in 1890-91 was a colony known as "Boston men." Early in the month of Decem- ber, 1890, a "klootch" on the Colville Indian reservation said that she had observed that a usually sprightly and high-spirited lad about sixteen years of age, was greatly depressed and mysterious in manner. This was Stephen. He appeared sleepless, unable to eat and generally downcast and melancholy. It was only after a great deal of persuasion, according to the story of the "klootch," accompanied by certain threats naturally appealing to the superstition incident to Indian character, that he confessed that he lived in terror of his life as he had killed a "Boston man," and was afraid he would be

caught and made to pay the penalty of his crime. Stephen said that he was with a friend who was attempting to grow a moustache. Together they had met a freighter who had ridiculed his friend and told him that he would soon be "All same like Boston man." His friend had sworn vengeance against the Boston freighter, declar- ing that he would kill him. They afterward came upon the man on the reservation and, on his refusal to "potlatch" them some tobacco his friend had made him shoot the Boston man, whose name was S. S. Cole, killing him. They had then "cached" the body about three- fourths of a mile away. Since then remorse and fear had preyed upon him and he was forced to unbosom himself.

The tenor of this confession finally came to the ears of the sheriff of Okanogan county. He dispatched two deputies to arrest the In- dians supposed to be guilty of the murder. The latter fled. Then ensued a long pursuit during which, at one time, one of the Indians lay con- cealed beneath a pile of blankets and saddles upon which the two deputies rested. Finally the two deputies separated, but one of them, Lee Ives continued the chase. He caught the friend of Stephen in a cabin at the confluence of Chiliwhist Creek and the Okanogan river. While Ives was atempting to arrest the Indian the latter shot at him at close range. Ives re- turned the fire killing his man, who was called Indian John, about twenty years of age. It was he, who according to young Stephen's con- fession, had caused him to kill Cole.

There are few Indian stories devoid of some tincture of romance. Captain John, the father of the boy, Stephen, in conversation with a

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resident of Ruby, declared that the boys were innocent of the murder of Cole. He said that the story was simply a wicked machination of the "klootch," who was enamored of the slain Indian; that she had manufactured the alleged confession of Stephen in a fit of jealous anger.

January 2, Justice of the Peace Richard Price, of Ruby, received word that young Ste- phen, the Indian boy who had been for some time wanted for the assassination of S. S. Cole, was at Omak Lake, on the reservation, and that he desired to give himself up. In the chapel of St. Mary's Mission the lad was found sur- rounded by forty or fifty others, and a pow-wow ensued. It was finally agreed that the boy should be surrendered and, after a preliminary examination, released on bail. Tuesday, the 5th, Stephen was brought to Ruby, and turned over to the sheriff, who carried him before Jus- tice Fifield, at Conconully, for a hearing. The court refused bail and committed Stephen to the county jail. A writ of habeas corpus was im- mediately sworn out and on the afternoon of the same day the prisoner was examined before United States Commissioner George J. Hurley. M. C. Barney, of Conconully, appeared for the defense. The court ruled that the prisoner was entitled to bail and placed the amount at $1,000.

Thursday morning following twenty horse- men swept silently yet swiftly through the town of Ruby. The newly fallen snow muffled the sound of their horses' hoofs; the slumber of the camp was not disturbed by their movements. Their mission was an errand of death. This band had been organized in the vicinity of Alma. Arriving at Conconully the party called on the jailor, Thomas Dickson, and compelled him to admit them into the steel cage where the Indian boy was confined. He was taken thence and Dickson locked up in his place. The close of this tragic scene was at the foot of the grade about one-half mile from Conconully. The gibbet was a large tree standing by Mr. D. J. McGillivery's fence. Here the lifeless body was left swinging in the frosty air of early morn;

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Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 84

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