USA > Washington > Asotin County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Washington > Columbia County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Washington > Garfield County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume I > Part 20
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
TERRITORIAL DELEGATES
1857-I. I. Stevens, democrat.
1859-I. I. Stevens, democrat.
1861-WV. H. Wallace, republican.
1863-George E. Cole, democrat-from Walla Walla.
1865-A. A. Denny, union.
1867-Alvin Flanders, union-from Walla Walla.
1869-Selucius Garfielde, republican ; J. D. Mix, of Walla Walla, democratic candidate.
1870-Selucius Garfielde, republican.
1872-O. B. McFadden, democrat.
1874-Orange Jacobs, republican; B. L. Sharpstein, democratic candidate, Walla Walla.
The next election came in 1876 and there was a considerable falling off in the vote on account of county division in the previous year. It may be worth noting that the total vote of Walla Walla County in each election was as follows: 1857, 39;1859, 164; 1861, 361; 1863, 590; 1865, 742; 1867, 1.088; 1869, 1,124; 1870, 1,201 ; 1872, 1,555; 1874, 1,549.
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In the election of 1876, the total vote was 938. It is also interesting to note that in every single election up to the time of county division and in fact to 1878, when T. H. Brents of Walla Walla was the candidate, the county went demo- cratic, and that, as we shall see later, the republicans carried most elections after that date to the present time.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS
1853-6-I. I. Stevens. 1857-8 Fayette McMullan.
1859-60-W. H. Wallace.
1862-5-William Pickering.
1866-7-George E. Cole.
1867-8-Marshall F. Moore.
1869-70-Alvin Flanders.
1870-2-E. S. Salamon.
1873-9-E. P. Ferry.
Three of the above incumbents of the gubernatorial chair were Walla Walla men : Cole, Flanders, and Salamon.
In 1869 Philip Ritz of Walla Walla was United States Marshal. S. C. Win- gard, for many years one of the most honored of the citizens of Walla Walla, was United States attorney in 1873, and associate justice in 1875-82. After his long service under the Federal Government he made his home in Walla Walla until his death at an advanced age.
WALLA WALLA CITY
Turning now from the county and its relations to the territorial and national Government, to Walla Walla City, we may for the sake of topical clearness repeat a little of what was given in earlier chapters.
By act of the Legislature of January 11, 1862, Walla Walla became an in- corporated city, with the limits of the south half of the southwest quarter of section 20, township 7 north, range 36 east. The charter provided for the elec- tion, on the first Tuesday of each April, of a mayor, recorder, five councilmen, marshal, assessor, treasurer and surveyor. All vacancies were to be filled by ap- pointment of councilmen, except mayor and recorder. The council also had the power to appoint a clerk and attorney.
The first election under the charter occurred on the first day of April, 1862, at which election the total vote was 422. In the Statesman of April 5 there is a criticism in rather mild and apologetic terms for the loose and careless manner in which the judges allowed voting. The assertion is made that men who were well known to reside miles out of the city were allowed to vote. Not over three hun- dred voters, according to the paper, were bona fide residents. A well considered warning is made that such a beginning of city elections will result in a general illegal voting and ballot-box stuffing. In the Statesman of April 12 is a report of the first council meeting on April 4. At this first meeting the votes of the election of the first were canvassed, showing that out of the 422 votes, E. B. Whitman had received 416. The recorder chosen was W. P. Horton, whose vote
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was 239 against 173 for W. W. Lacy. The councilmen chosen, whose votes ran from 400 to 415, were I. T. Rees, J. F. Abbott, R. Jacobs, B. F. Stone and B. Sheideman.
George II. Porter was chosen marshal by a vote of 269, with 136 for A. Seitel and 17 for A. J. Miner. E. E. Kelly was the choice for treasurer by the small margin of 219 to 200 for D. S. Baker. The assessor was L. W. Greenwell by 413 votes. A. L. Chapman was chosen surveyor by 305 against 119 for W. W. John- son. S. F. Ledyard was appointed clerk by the council, B. F. Stone was chosen president of the council at the meeting of April 10.
One of the first questions which the council had to wrestle with, as it has been most of the time since, was revenue and the sources thereof. The saloon busi- ness being apparently the most active of any at that time became very naturally the foundation of the revenue system. People supposed then, as many have since, that they could lift themselves by their boot straps and that a traffic which cost a dollar for every dime that it brought into the treasury was essential to the life of the town. However, a "dry town" at that day and age and in a place whose chief business was outfitting for the mines and serving as a home for miners off duty, would have been so amazing that the very thought would have been suf- ficient to warrant an immediate commitment for lunacy. If the spirits of the city authorities and citizens of that date could return and see the Walla Walla of 1917, with not a legal drop of intoxicating fluid, it is safe to say that "amaze- ment" would but feebly express their mental state. According to the revenue ordinance of that first council, a tax was to produce about a third, and licenses and fines the remainder of the city income. During the first six months the total revenue was $4,283.25, and the licensing of liquor sales and gambling tables amounted to $1,875. Taxes amounted to about $1,430. The rest of the revenue was from fines. We may note here by way of comparison that in 1866 the city revenue was $15.358.97, of which $9,135.13 was from licenses.
The year of 1862 was one of great activity. A. J. Cain laid out his addition, though the plat was not recorded till the next year. The Statesman of October 18th gives a glowing account of the improvements, stating that fifty buildings had been completed during the summer and that thirty more were in progress of con- struction. Most of these were no doubt flimsy wooden structures, but it is men- tioned that the buildings of Schwabacher Brothers and Brown Brothers & Co. had been nearly completed. At the head of Second Street A. J. Miner was erect- ing a planing mill, and a sash and door factory. Beyond the city limits Mr. Meyer had put up a brewery (this afterwards developed into the Stahl brewery on Second Street). In Cain's addition, where there had been only eight houses, the number was more than doubled. As a matter of fact, though there was much improvement at that time, our fair City of Walla Walla of the present, with its elegant homes and trees and flowers and broad verdant lawns, with paved streets and bountiful water supply, would not recognize the ragged, dusty, dirty, little shack of a town of which the Statesman was so proud in 1862. The ease with which the people of that time have adjusted themselves to all the conveniences and elegancies of the present day, shows something of the infinite adaptability of human nature, and still more it shows that the foundation build- ers of the pioneer days had it in them to create all the improvements of later days Raw as Walla Walla must have looked in the '6os, the essential conditions were
Courtesy of F. W. Paine
WALLA WALLA IN 1866
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there which have made our later age; rich soil, water, good surrounding country. industry, taste, brains, home spirit, good citizenship-and a certain reasonable amount of time. There we have all the elements that wrought between the Walla Walla of 1862 and that of 1917.
Early Walla Walla had the usual experience with fires, such occurring on June 11, 1862 ; May 8, 1864; August 3, 1865 ; and July 4, 1866. As a result of the first, Joseph Hellmuth undertook to organize a fire department. His public spirit was not very cordially supported, but subscriptions to the amount of $1,600 were received, and by advancing $500 himself, he secured an old Hunneman "tub" engine.
The most destructive of these early fires was that of August 3, 1865. The Statesman of August 4th gives a full account of it, estimating the loss so far as obtained at that time at $164,500. The paper adds $20,000 for loss not then re- ported. The heaviest losses were sustained by the Dry Goods Company of S. Elias & Brother, by the store and warehouse of C. Jacobs & Co., and by the Bank Exchange Saloon and dwelling house of W. J. Ferry. The building used for courthouse, with the county and city records, was destroyed. In 1863, a fire company was organized, Fred Stine being the leader in the enterprise.
Perhaps the most vital feature of a growing city is pure and abundant water supply. Walla Walla was fortunate in early days in the presence of a number of springs of pure cold water. But though that supply was abundant for a small place, increasing demands made some system of distribution imperative. There was also need for sufficient pressure for fire defense.
While the water system was at first a private enterprise, it became public property in due course of time, and hence it is suitable to begin the story in this chapter.
In 1866 and 1867 four of the most energetic citizens of the town took the initial steps in providing a system of water distribution. H. P. Isaacs, J. C. Isaacs, A. Kyger and J. D. Cook obtained a charter in 1866 and the next year established at a point near the present Armory Hall a plant consisting of a pump, a large tank, and a supply of wooden pipe. It almost makes one's bones ache in these effete days to think of the amount of labor which the pipes for that pioneer water system demanded. The pipe consisted of logs bored lengthwise with augurs by hand. It would not comport with the dignity of a historical work to suggest that the whole proceeding was a "great bore," but it was duly accomplished and the pipes laid. Water was derived from Mill Creek, but the system seems to have been somewhat unsatisfactory to the projectors, and Mr. Isaacs entered upon a much larger undertaking, that of establishing reservoirs in the upper part of town. It was not until after the date of county division that the reservoir system was fully installed. In 1877 the reservoirs were built on both sides of Mill Creek, one on what is now the property of the Odd Fellows Home and the other in the City Park. These reservoirs were filled from the large springs and for some years supplied the needs of the town. Mr. Isaacs is deserving of great praise for his unflagging energy in endeavoring to meet that primary need of the town. The corporate name of Mr. Isaacs' enterprise was the Walla Walla Water Company. The controlling ownership was ultimately acquired by the inter- ests represented by the Baker-Boyer Bank, and Mr. H. H. Turner became secre-
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tary and manager. That, however, was long subsequent to county division and the further history of the water system belongs to another chapter.
We perhaps should interject at this point the explanation that although chapters preceding this have been carried to the present date, we are bringing the political history of the city to the stage of county division only in order to har- monize with that of the county, and that point in case of the county constitutes a natural stage by reason of the marked change in all political connections occa- sioned by the division.
Among miscellaneous events having political connections may be mentioned that omnipresent and usually disturbing question of the fort. We have earlier spoken of its first location at the point now occupied by the American Theater, right in the heart of the city, and its removal in 1857 to the present location. It was maintained at full strength until the close of the Indian wars and then during the period of the Civil war there was a full supply of men and equip- ment. At times, as already narrated in an earlier chapter, there was much fric- tion between civilians and the military. The merchants and saloon-keepers, however, considered the presence of the Fort very desirable from a pecuniary standpoint. There were in those early days, as there have been more recently, an element in the city that attached an exaggerated importance to the presence of the soldiers as a business matter, while there was also another sentiment which became the most persistent and inherited one in the history of the town; that is, the sentiment that while the officers and their families composed the social elite, the common soldiers were taboo. This was perhaps the nearest to a caste system ever known in the free and unconventional society of Old Walla Walla. Between those two viewpoints, the business and the social, there was the larger body of citizens who shrugged their shoulders over the whole question, deeming it un- important either way. But when by order of Colonel Curry the Fort was abandoned, save for a small detachment, in the winter of 1865-6, there went up a great protest, and all the machinery, congressional and otherwise, was set in motion, as has been so familiar since down to the present date, to secure orders for the maintenance of the post.
No results were attained, however, and the Fort remained abandoned, until 1873.
Congress had, in fact, passed a law in 1872, for the sale of the military res- ervation, authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to cut it up into blocks and lots and dispose of it as his judgment warranted. The tract was surveyed and laid out by instructions from Washington. But as a result of the famous Modoc war in Southern Oregon, the view prevailed at headquarters that the rehabilita- tion and reoccupation of Fort Walla Walla would be wise. Accordingly, in August, 1873, six companies were established at the Fort, and from that date for nearly forty years the military was a constant factor in the life of this section.
The expenditures were very considerable. It is estimated in Gilbert's His- toric Sketches of 1882 that the Fort was then purchasing annually about 10,000 bushels of oats, 5,000 bushels of barley, 500 tons of hay, 200 tons of straw, 500 barrels of flour. besides large quantities of meat, wood, and other supplies. Perhaps the most excited and acrimonious discussions, public and private, in newspapers and otherwise, have dealt with the retention of the Fort, or with
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some phase of its life. Most of the features of the story came at a date long after county division.
Another event of that period, not strictly political, yet belonging to the public life of the community, was the completion on June 1, 1870, of the telegraph line between Portland and Walla Walla, via Wallula. This line was built by the O. S. N. Company. The office was at the southwest corner of Third and Main streets, and James Henderson was first operator. Mayor Stone sent this message to Mayor Goldsmith: "To the Mayor of Portland :- Greeting. Allow me to congratulate you upon the completion of the telegraph that places the first city of Washington Territory in direct communication with the first city of Oregon, and to express the hope that it is but the precursor of the iron rail that is to unite us still more indissolubly in the bonds of interest and affection."
A prompt response in like spirit came from Mayor Goldsmith of Portland.
Another event of importance, which also prepared the way for infinite political maneuvers and back-room deals was the establishment in 1871 of the Walla Walla Land District. As first constituted, the district embraced all of the territory east of the Cascade Mountains. Some appointees came from the East to fill the various positions, though the majority of them were local men, usually of the highest character. In this, as in other departments of government depend- ing to some degree on the favor or otherwise of members of Congress, there has been a certain proportion of pie-counter politicians who have kept up a regular procession toward the land office.
William Stephens, registrar, and Anderson Cox, receiver, were the first in the office, opening the doors on July 17, 1871. P. B. Johnson followed Mr. Stephens in 1875 and J. F. Boyer became receiver in 1872. Better men could not have been found in the Inland Empire.
Such may be regarded as the essential events to the limits of our space in the history of Walla Walla County and City to the time of county division. We have already given the tabulation of county officials, as well as that of those of the Territorial Delegates and Governors, together with such others as especially belonged to this region. We incorporate here a list of city officials to the same date.
CITY OFFICERS AND COUNCIL OF WALLA WALLA
1865
Mayor-George Thomas.
Council-W. A. Ball. I. T. Rees, Fred Stine, B. Sheideman, Wm. Kohl- hauff, O. P. Lacy.
City Clerk-A. L. Brown.
1866
Mayor-C. B. Whiteman.
Recorder-W. P. Horton.
Marshal-W. J. Tompkins. Treasurer-H. E. Johnson.
Assessor-O. P. Lacy.
Council-Fred Stine, I. W. McKee, Cal P. Winesett, Geo. Baggs, John J. Ryan.
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OLD WALLA WALLA COUNTY
1807
Mayor-James McAuliff.
Recorder-O. P. Lacy. Marshal-E. Delaney. Assessor-M. Leider.
Treasurer-H. E. Johnson.
Surveyor-W. L. Gaston.
Council -- C. P. Winesett, I. T. Rees, Wm. Kohlhauff, J. F. Abbott, W. Brown.
1868
Mayor-James McAuliff. Recorder-Lewis Day. Treasurer-H. M. Chase. Council-J. F. Abbott, Fred Stine, H. Howard, Wm. Kohlhauff, A. Kyger.
1869
Mayor-Frank Stone.
Recorder-O. P. Lacy.
Marshal-E. Delaney.
Treasurer-H. E. Johnson.
Assessor-J. E. Brown.
Surveyor-A. H. Simmons.
Council-James Jones, W. S. Miner, Thos. Tierney, P. M. Lynch, Thos. Quinn.
1870
Mayor-Dr. E. Shiel.
Recorder-W. P. Horton.
Marshal-E. Delaney.
Treasurer-H. E. Johnson.
Assessor-J. M. Rittenhouse.
Surveyor-A. H. Simmons.
Council-J. F. Abbott, H. M. Chase, G. P. Foor, Wm. Kolilhauff, N. T. Caton.
1871
Mayor-E. B. Whitman. Recorder-W. P. Horton.
Marshal-E. Delaney.
Treasurer-H. E. Johnson.
Assessor-M. W. Davis.
Surveyor-A. L. Knowlton.
Council-R. Jacobs, P. M. Lynch, N. T. Caton, G. P. Foor, Frank Orselli.
1872
Mayor-E. B. Whitman. Recorder-O. P. Lacy.
TB
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Courtesy of W. P. Winans
WALLA WALLA IN 1876
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OLD WALLA WALLA COUNTY
Marshal -- John P. Justice.
Treasurer-H. E. Johnson. Assessor-M. W. Davis. Surveyor-A. L. Knowlton.
Council-Sig. Schwabacher, N. T. Caton, M. C. Moore, I. H. Foster, John Stahl.
1873
Mayor-E. B. Whitman.
Recorder-I. D. Sarman.
Marshal-John P. Justice.
Treasurer-H. E. Johnson.
Assessor-M. W. Davis.
Surveyor-A. L. Knowlton.
Council-M. C. Moore, N. T. Caton, I. H. Foster, Wm. Neal, John Fall.
1874
Mayor-James McAuliff.
Marshal-John P. Justice.
Recorder-O. P. Lacy.
Treasurer-C. T. Thompson.
Assessor-J. B. Thompson.
Council-F. G. Allen, Z. K. Straight, Wm. Kohlhauff, Ed C. Ross.
1875
Mayor-James McAuliff. Marshal-John P. Justice. Recorder-J. D. Laman. Treasurer-F. Kennedy.
Assessor-S. Jacobs.
Council-O. P. Lacy, Ed C. Ross, M. Belcher, J. D. Laman, Wm. Kohlhauff. 1876
Mayor-Jas. McAuliff. Marshal-John P. Justice. Treasurer-H. E. Holmes. Assessor-S. Jacobs.
Council-G. P. Foor, Wm. Kohlhauff, A. H. Reynolds, O. P. Lacy, M. Belcher.
It remains in this chapter to speak of the events leading to the division of Old Walla Walla County. The first movement in that direction originated at Waitsburg. That active place, in the center of one of the fairest and most fertile tracts in all this fertile region, had come into existence in 1865. We find an item in the Statesman of June 30, 1865, to this effect: "Waitsburg is the name of a town just beginning to grow up at Wait's Mill on the Touchet. The people of that vicinity have resolved to celebrate the coming 4th, and are making arrangements accordingly. W. S. Langford of this city has accepted an
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invitation to deliver the oration." In 1869 a sentiment developed that the large area south of Snake River, 3,420 square miles, was too large for a single county, and that it was only a question of time when there must be another county. Not seeming to realize that if such event occurred the natural center must be farther east than Waitsburg, the citizens of the "Mill Town" pushed vigorously for their project of division, with their own town as the seat of a new county. A petition signed by 150 citizens was conveyed to Olympia by a delegation who presented it to the Legislature. Though their effort failed it served to keep the plan of division alive, and with a rapid flow of immigration into the high region of the Upper Touchet, the movement for a new county constantly grew. We have already spoken of the early locations on the Touchet and Patit. In 1871 and 1872, there became a concentration of interests which made it clear that a town would develop. It became known as Dayton from Jesse N. Day. llere was a location more suitable geographically than Waitsburg, and sentiment rapidly gathered around Dayton as the natural vantage point for a new county. Elisha Ping was chosen to the Territorial Council in 1874 to represent Walla W'alla County, and as a citizen and prominent land owner of Dayton he became the center of the movement.
The first boundary proposed called for a line running directly south from the Palouse ferry on Snake River to the state line, thus putting Waitsburg just within the new county. This was not acceptable to that place. If it could not be the county seat, it preferred to play second fiddle to Walla Walla rather than to Dayton. Mr. Preston went to Walla Walla to represent the Waitsburg sentiment. As a result a remonstrance against county division was prepared and forwarded to the Legislature. Representatives Hodgis, Lloyd, Lynch and Scott took positions in opposition to division. A. J. Cain and Elisha Ping conducted the campaign from the standpoint of Dayton. It became a three cornered com- bat in the Legislature. The Walla Walla people, as almost always is the case in a growing county, though it is very poor and selfish policy, opposed any divi- sion. The Waitsburg influence was for division provided it could have the county seat but otherwise opposed, and the Dayton influence was entirely for division with the expectation that Dayton would become the county seat. Like most county division and county seat fights, this was based mainly on motives of transient local gain and personal advantage, rather than on broad public policy for the future. But so long as human nature is at such a rudimentary stage of evolution it would be too idealistic to expect otherwise. But whether with large motives or small, the final outcome, as well as the subsequent divisions by which Garfield and Asotin were laid out, was for progress and efficiency. Walla Walla interests were overpowered in the Legislature and a bill creating Ping County was duly passed. This, however, encountered a snag, for Governor Ferry vetoed it. Another hill, avoiding his objections, naming the new county Columbia, was finally passed and on Nov. 11, 1875, Columbia County duly came into existence, embracing about two-thirds of Old Walla Walla County, being bounded by Snake River and the state line on the north, east and south, and by Walla Walla County on the west.
The history of the erection of Garfield and Asotin counties will belong prop- erly to a later chapter, and with this final view of old Walla Walla County as it had existed from 1859 to 1875, we pass on.
CHAPTER IV
THE EARLY TRANSPORTATION AGE
It is but trite and commonplace to say (yet these commonplace sayings embody the accumulated experience of the human race) that transportation is the very A. B. C. of economic science. There can be no wealth without exchange. There is no assignable value either to commodities or labor without markets.
New communities have always had to struggle with these fundamental prob- lems of transportation. Until there can be at least some exchange of products there can be no real commercial life and men's labor is spent simply on pro- ducing the articles needful for daily bread, clothing and shelter. Most of the successive "Wests" of America have gone through that stage of simple existence. Some have gotten out of it very rapidly, usually by the discovery of the precious metals or the production of some great staple like furs so much in demand and so scarce in distant countries as to justify expensive and even dangerous expedi- tions and costly transportation systems. During nearly all the first half of the nineteenth century the fur trade was that agency which created exchange and compelled transportation.
After the acquisition of Oregon and California by the United States there was a lull, during which there was scarcely any commercial life because there was nothing exchangeable or transportable.
Then suddenly came the dramatic discovery of gold in California which inaugurated there a new era of commercial life and hence demanded extensive transportation, and that was for many years necessarily by the ocean. The similar discovery in Oregon came ten years later. As we saw in Chapter Two of this part there came on suddenly in the early '6os a rushing together in old Walla Walla of a confused mass of eager seekers for gold, cattle ranges, and every species of the opportunities which were thought to exist in the "upper country." As men began to get the measure of the country and each other and to see something of what this land was going to become, the demand for some regular system of transportation became imperative.
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