Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 6/Washington Activities in History
WASHINGTON ACTIVITIES IN HISTORY.[1]
The early history of "Old Oregon" is that of Washington until the latter separated from the parent Territory. The history of the voyages of discovery along the ocean coast, the explorations across the continent, the trapping and trading ventures of American and foreign companies, the grand and heroic work of the early missionaries and the pioneers of the great Northwest, is the common heritage of the sister States on opposite sides of the mighty Columbia.
Prior to the separation in 1853, good newspapers had been established in Olympia, the capital of Washington, and at no time since has the country west of the Cascade Mountains been without one or more of them.
Our early history was thus gathered week by week, in the most painstaking way by the men who wrote the matter for those early journals, and printed it.
Of course the official records of the Territory, its counties and municipalities, have been preserved, and they have suffered but little loss by fire or the ravages of time.
To these two sources must we apply for most of the materials for the history of Washington, that still remains to be written. There have been many more or less pretentious efforts in this direction, but as they were prepared more with an eye to pecuniary results than for the preservation or presentation of our history, they have but little historic value.
Many of the early-day men here, of literary tastes, prepared manuscripts of more or less historical value, but most of these were gathered up by the publisher of a voluminous history of the Pacific states and* territories that emanated from San Francisco in the early eighties, and have thus been lost to us until the possessor of the collection shall have sold it to those who will throw it open to the searchers and writers of history.
Elwood Evans and James G. Swan were the historians of Washington's early days. They came here about the time of our territorial organization, and remained in active life until after the transition to statehood. Both were liberally educated and of literary tastes. They were trained observers and careful writers, and the commonwealth is the loser because they did not give wider range to their historical work. Much of Swan's writings appeared under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute of Washington City, a sufficient guaranty of their accuracy, while most of Evans' work appeared in the newspapers and in publications where the identity of the writer was not disclosed. He was a lawyer by profession, and a politician as well, whose predilections and prejudices were equally pronounced. His mind was that of the advocate rather than the judge. In all the controversies connected with the Indian war, the claims of the missions and the Hudson Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Companies, the adjustment of our northern boundaries, and varied public questions of nearly forty years, he took an active part as counsel in the courts or as a partisan in the newspapers. For this reason, due caution should betaken in accepting his published views on those questions.
In the early days of the Territory he devoted much painstaking effort to the collection, writing, and rewriting of pioneer history. He knew almost every man of note in the Northwest, and he was endowed with a happy faculty of eliciting facts concerning our early social, material, and political history. He also gathered almost complete files of the early local newspapers and publications, which later mostly came into my possession, while most of his manuscripts went to Bancroft in California. That he failed to present a complete history of pioneer times in Washington was a loss that can never be made good. His mantle fell upon no worthy successor.
At the Tacoma Hotel, July 2, 1891, pursuant to a call from Charles W. Hobart, a public meeting was held to organize a State historical society. Little was done beyond discussion as to ways and means. October 8 of the same year an organization was effected, the following becoming the charter members of the "Washington State Historical Society," viz., Elwood Evans, Edward Huggins, James Wickersham, L. P. Bradley, Henry Bucey, John Flett, J. N. Houghton, Edward N. Fuller, Charles W. Hobart, Philo G. Hubbell, and Miss Nannie Wickersham, of Pierce County; Edward Eldredge, Henry Roeder, S. Caldwell, of Whatcom County; Clarence B. Bagley, J. B. Houghton, of King County; T. I. McKenney, C. M. Barton, Allen Weir, R. H. Lansdale, of Thurston County; W. P. Gray, of Franklin County; Thomas J. Smith, of Whitman County.
A constitution and by-laws were adopted, and Elwood Evans unanimously chosen president, where he was retained for five years.
The most notable work of the Society was that of celebrating, on May 7 and 8, 1892, the hundredth anniversary of the discovery of Gray's Harbor, one of the most momentous events of our early history. The celebration was largely attended by citizens of Oregon and Washington; its proceedings were given at length in the leading journals of the coast, and later were issued in pamphlet form by the Society. The gathering was on Gray's Harbor, as near as possible to the place of original discovery. Beginning September, 1899, a quarterly, with the title, The Washington Historian, was published by the Society and continued for two years. Thus was preserved interesting, varied, and important matter that future historians will find invaluable. It is a matter of sincere regret that it did not receive the support it deserved that it might have continued its career of usefulness down to the present.
The Society had to depend upon funds raised by private subscription, and the long period of financial depression that soon followed its birth left it without means to carry on its work with any degree of effectiveness, especially in the gathering of original matter. For years it has had a pleasant home in rooms provided for it in the City Hall, and the publishers of the State have been liberal in their contributions of regular and transient newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets, so that it has a valuable collection in this line.
During the last two sessions of the state legislature friends of the Society presented strong arguments for granting aid to the Society from the public treasury, and two years ago $3,000 were included in the appropriation bill for that purpose, but that clause was vetoed by the executive; last session $2,000 were set apart for the same purpose, but have since been diverted to other uses.
Most of its first members have died or moved from the State, and of late years it had little more than a nominal existence. This fact led to the organization of a society of the same kind in Seattle, about three years ago, where considerable interest is taken by a large number of ladies and gentlemen of literary tastes in the history of the State. This later body took the name of "The Washington State University Historical Society." While several of its members have done a large amount, individually, of historical work, as a body the Society has accomplished little outside of erecting several monuments. Four of these have been put up under its auspices, but the credit of securing the funds for their construction and erection belongs almost solely to Prof. E. S. Meany, who occupies the historical chair at the State University, and is also secretary of the historical society. He devotes his vacations and time not taken up in educational work to traveling all over the Northwest, and securing by means of pen and camera an immense amount of original material, particularly regarding the Indians of the Columbia basin, of Puget Sound, and along the rugged shores of the Pacific from Shoalwater Bay to Fuca Straits.
The first monument was set up at Friendly Cove,Nootka Sound, on the spot where Vancouver and Quadra met in August, 1792, to negotiate or carry out some of the details of the treaty of October 28, 1790, between Spain and Great Britain.
The second occasion was in October, 1904, when two monuments were erected on San Juan Island to mark the places of the military camps during the period of joint occupation, prior to the award of that archipelago to the United States.
At Nespelum, in Okanogan County, this State, June 20, 1905, a fourth memorial tablet was set up to mark the last resting place of the famous Indian Warrior, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces.
Efforts are now making for the union of the two societies, with rooms at the State University. If this good work shall be accomplished the new body will undoubtedly be able to obtain substantial recognition from the state legislature, so that with the aid of the professors of the university and the students coming from all parts of the State much original material of great value can be gathered. There is already in the library of that institution a large collection of books, pamphlets, and papers devoted to the history of the Northwest, and if to this shall be added those belonging to the two societies a valuable historical nucleus will be the result.
- ↑ Reported to the Historical Congress, Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, August 21-23, 1905.