History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana/Washington/Chapter 9

History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana

Chapter 9

3390862History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana — Chapter 9

CHAPTER IX.

PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.

Remarkable Growth of the Territory—Demand for Statehood—Enabling Act—State Convention—Character of the Delegates—Constitution Ratified—Waiting for a Proclamation—Meeting of First State Legislature—Character of Members—Unexpected Delay of the Presidential Proclamation—Election of Senators.

From 1880 to 1888 the progress made in Washington was phenomenal, and was felt in every direction—in commerce, manufacture, banks, corporations, schools, growth of towns, improved styles of building, construction of railroads, mining, agriculture, and society. New towns had sprung up among the firs and cedars, the Puget Sound country, and out of the treeless prairies almost in a night; and hitherto unimportant villages had become cities with corporate governments, grand hotels, churches, colleges, and opera-houses.

The board of trade of Tacoma in 1886 declared that "the commercial independence of Washington territory accompanying the completion of the direct line of the Northern Pacific railroad to tide-water should be supplemented by its political independence as a state of the American union. Admission cannot in decency be delayed many years longer, whatever party influences may sway congress. The census of 1890 will show a population within the present limits of the territory exceeding 200,000, and a property valuation of at least $200,000,000."^[1] Governor Squire had said in a report to the secretary of the interior that among the reasons for the admission of the territory were the "sterling, patriotic, and enterprising character of its citizens; its present and prospective maritime relations with the world; its position as a border state on the confines of the dominion of Canada, the most powerful province of Great Britain; its wealth of natural resources and growing wealth of its people; the efficiency of its educational system, requiring that its school lands should be allotted and utilized; its riparian rights should be settled, capital and immigration encouraged, and the full management and control of municipal and county affairs should be assumed by the legislature, which is not allowed during the territorial condition."

Governor Semple, in his report for 1888, gave the population as 167,982, showing that the prophecy of the board of trade was not an over-estimate of the probabilities. The taxable property was given at $84,621,182, or a gain of $65,698,260 in ten years, which being taken from the assessment roll was considered conservative enough for the minimum; for as the governor quaintly remarked: "Whatever else an average American citizen may neglect, he never forgets to beat down the assessor." The revenue produced by a tax of two and a half mills was $212,734.92, showing the ability to erect and maintain the necessary public works as they should be required. There were in the territory in operation 762.2 miles of standard gauge railroads belonging to the North Pacific railroad company; and 282.6 miles of the same gauge belonging to the Oregon railway and navigation company; the Seattle, Lake Shore, and Eastern railroad company operated 58 miles of standard gauge road; the Columbia and Puget Sound railroad 44.5 miles; and the Puget Sound and Gray's Harbor railroad 10 miles—making in all 1,157.3 miles of broad-gauge railways. In addition, there were 40 miles of narrow-gauge road, divided between the Olympia and Chehalis valley, the Mill Creek F. and M. company, and the Cascade rail- road — making in all 1,197.7 miles, and the increase of mileage was augmenting yearly. The amount of coal mined in the territory in 1888 was 1,138,801 tons. The output in lumber of the Washington mills in four localities only for the year was 320,848,203 feet, their capacity being a million feet greater, shingles and lath in proportion. The amount consumed within the territory was 105,940,225 feet of lumber; 14,474,000 lath, and 12,921,250 shingles; the remainder was ex- ported. The estimated capacity of all the mills was 1,043,596,000 feet.

An insane asylum, costing $100,000, was completed at Steilacoom in 1888, in which were treated 200 pa- tients ; and $60,000 was appropriated for the erection of a hospital for the insane at Medical lake in eastern Washington, which was being expended on the work. Up to 1887 the territorial prisoners were confined in a private prison, under the control of contractors, but in 1887 a penitentiary was completed at Walla AValla, costing $153,000. At Vancouver a school for defect- ive youth was erected, partly by the citizens of that place donating land, and the rest by the legislature, making at two sessions appropriations for that pur- ]3ose. The national guard had completed its organiza- tion, the legislature having levied a tax of one fifth of a mill for military purposes, and consisted of two regi- ments of infantry and a troop of cavalry — in all 750 officers and men. These and various other matters, including the question of who should pick the hop crop in Puyallup valley, were reported to the secre- tary, and Governor Semple put it: We are rich and reputable, and do not require anybody to settle our bills. Give us the right to regulate our local affairs, and we will not only pay our own officers, but we will render much service to the union."

In 1888 Miles C. Moore of Walla Walla, republi- can, was appointed governor to succeed Semple, democrat, but only in time to be immersed in the excitement of a change of government forms, for congress, on the 22d of February, 1889 (very appropriately), passed an enabling act, proposing the terms on which the state of Washington might be admitted to the union. It commanded the governor to issue a proclamation on the 15th of April for an election of seventy-five delegates to a constitutional convention, the election to be held on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in May of that year. The delegates were directed to meet at the capital on the 4th of July for organization, and to declare, on behalf of the people, their adoption of the constitution of the United States, whereupon they should be authorized to form a constitution for the proposed state. The constitution should be republican in form, make no distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color, except as to Indians not taxed, and not be repugnant to the constitution of the United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence. It should provide, by ordinances irrevocable without the consent of the United States and the people of said states, that perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured, and no inhabitant of the state ever molested on account of his mode of worship; that the people of the state should forever disclaim all right to the unappropriated public lands lying within the boundaries thereof, or to the Indian reservations, which should remain under the absolute jurisdiction and control of congress; that the lands of non-resident citizens of the United States should never be taxed at a higher rate than the lands belonging to residents; that no taxes should be imposed by the state on lands or property therein belonging to, or which might be thereafter purchased or reserved by, the United States; but nothing in the ordinances should preclude taxing the lands owned or held by Indians who had severed their tribal relations and obtained a title thereto by patent or grant, except those lands which congress might have exempted from taxation, which the ordinances should exempt, so long and to such extent as such act of congress might prescribe. The debts and liabilities of the territory should be assumed and paid by the state. Provision should be made for the establishment and maintenance of public schools, which should be open to all the children in the state, and free from sectarian control.

On the other hand, upon the admission of the state, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in every township of said state, or where such sections or parts of sections had been disposed of, indemnity lands were granted to the state for the support of common schools, except where such sections were embraced in grants or reservations by the government, and until they were restored to the public domain. The lands granted for educational purposes should not be sold for less than ten dollars per acre, and only at public sale, the proceeds to constitute a permanent school fund, the interest only of which should be expended in their support. But the legislature had power to prescribe term^s on which the school lands might be leased, for periods of not more than five years, in quantities of not more than one section to one person or company; and such lands should not be subject to entry under any of the land laws of the United States.

Fifty sections of selected public land within the state should be granted for the purpose of erecting public buildings at the capital for legislative and judicial purposes. Five per centum of the proceeds of the sales of public lands within the state, which should be sold by the United States after its admis- sion, deducting all expenses incident to the same, should be paid to the state to be used as a permanent fund, the interest of which only should be expended for the support of common schools. Seventy-two entire sections were granted for university purposes, none of which should be disposed of at less than ten dollars per acre; but, like the common school lands, they might be leased. The schools and universities provided for in the act should forever remain under the exclusive control of the state, and no part of the proceeds arising from the sale of the granted lands should be applied to denominational schools, colleges, or universities. Ninety thousand acres should be also granted for the use and support of an agricultural college. In lieu of the grant of land for purposes of internal improvement made to new states by the act of September 4, 1841, and in lieu of any claim or demand by the state under the act of September 28, 1850, and section 2479 of the Revised Statutes, granting swamp and overflowed lands to certain states, and in lieu of any grant of saline lands, there was granted to the state of Washington, for the establishment and maintenance of a scientific school, one hundred thousand acres, the same amount for state normal schools; for public buildings at the state capital, in addition to the previous grant for that purpose; and for state charitable, educational, penal, and reformatory institutions, two hundred thousand each; and the state should be entitled to no other grants of land for any purposes. Mineral lands were exempted from all the grants, but lieu lands were allowed in their stead, where mineral should be found on the school sections. But there should be deducted from the amounts granted for any specific object, the number of acres before donated by congress to the territory for similar objects.^[2]

The fourth denomination in Olympia to erect a house of worship to the same deity was the baptist society, which, although somewhat numerous, did not file articles of incorporation until the 15th of March, 1872. The board of trustees were William H. Mitchell, Bennett W. Johns, M. E. Traver, F. W. Fine, and Roger S. Greene. Olympia Standard, Dec. 28, 1878. Two years afterward a church was erected and paid for, the pulpit being successively filled by Joseph Castro, Roger S. Greene, and J. P. Ludlow; one v/as also built at Seattle. In 1877 the baptist association of Puget Sound proposed to place a gospel-ship on the waters of the Sound — a floating missionary establishment, propelled by steam, which could visit all the out-of-the-way places on the Sound and in B. C. waters. * We would thus have work for our pastors, gospel bands, or general missionary, the readiest, cheapest, and most practical conveyance for years to come,' said the circular. Ludlow, Greene, and Wirth were appointed a committee to present the matter to the churches. Olympia Wash. Standard, Dec. 29, 1877. In time the little steamer was built and furnished—and used as a tug-boat.

There were several preachers, chiefly methodists, who followed the mining exodus from the Willamette Valley in 1862–4, and who held services weekly wherever a congregation could be had. Ebey's Journal, MS., 8, 77. The first minister settled in eastern Washington, not of the Roman church, was P. B. Chamberlain, who in the spring of 1864 purchased a building known as Ryan's Hall and fitted it up as a church, where he made war on wickedness with a singleness of purpose rare in modern times. Chamberlain founded the first congregational church in Washington. Nine years afterward a church of this denomination was organized at Olympia, which purchased the lot and building formerly owned by the catholic church on Main street for a few hundred dollars, and in Sept. 1874 repairs had made the edifice fit to be again dedicated to religious worship. Services were kept up to 1876 by volunteer preaching, C. A. Huntington, George H. Atkinson, and Cushing Eells officiating. The first regular pastor was G. W. Skinner, who remained but six months, when he returned to Kansas, and David Thomas succeeded him.

In 1885 there were in Olympia seven churches, including the modern Roman catholic and the unitarian, the latter in charge of D. N. Utter. Seattle had six, Port Townsend three, and the whole number for western Washington was about thirty. The whole number in eastern Washington was given at nineteen, seven of these being at Walla Walla, namely, the methodist, Cumberland presbyterian, episcopal, congregational, catholic, seventh-day adventists, and united brethren.

A school was opened in Olympia, Nov. 22, 1852, by A. W. Moore, first teacher and postmaster on Puget Sound after its settlement by American colonists. Moore died in 1875, aged 55 years, having always labored for the best interests of society. The first school-house, it is claimed, was on the Kindred farm, on Bush prairie, and was erected by the Kindred family and their neighbors. Phillips first taught in this place. During the winter of 1852–3 a tax was levied on the Olympia precinct, and money collected to erect a public school-house, which was demolished by the heavy snow of that winter, as before related. The Columbian of July 16, 1853, remarks that it had known of only three schools north of Cowlitz landing, one in Olympia, taught by E. A. Bradford, one at the house of William Packard, taught by Miss White, and one near the house of S. D. Ruddell, taught by D. L. Phillips, probably the one above mentioned.

About this time the owners of the Seattle town site offered a liberal donation of land to the methodist church if they would erect an institution of learning, to be called the Seattle Institute, within 2 years. The matter was laid before the conference by Benjamin Close, but the offer does not appear to have been accepted. Meantime the common school at Olympia was continued, Moses Hurd, C. H. Hale, and D. R. Bigelow being trustees.

In May 1854 Bernard Cornelius, from Victoria, V. I., and graduate of Trinity college, Dublin, took charge of the Olympia school, and seems to have been a competent and industrious educator. He proposed to establish a 'classical, mathematical, commercial, and training school,' and conducted the public instruction of the youth of the district for one year satisfactorily, when he set up a private school, with what success I know not. In Dec. 1856 the methodists incorporated the Puget Sound Wesleyan Institute, located on a point of land midway between Olympia and Turawater. The school opened that year under the charge of Isaac Dillon and wife. The trustees were D. R. Bigelow, G. A. Barnes, C. B. Baker, F. A. Chenoweth, A. A. Denny, G. M. Berry, R. H. Lansdale, A. S. Abernethy, James Biles, W. S. Parsons, William Wright, J. S. Smith, W. D. Van Buren, T. F. Berry, B. F. Yantis, W. N. Ayres, Edward Lander, W. W. Miller, J. F. Devore, John Briscoe, G. K. Willard, Isaac Dillon, L. A. Davis, W. Rutledge, Morris Littlejohn, R. M. Walker, C. H. Hale, and Elwood Evans. In Ebey's Journal, MS., iii. 45, I find mention of a school-house erected at Port Townsend in 1855, where a Mr Taylor had opened a school; and I find that the public school of Seattle was closed in Oct. 1860, owing to the mining excitement having carried off the teacher, while other schools at Port Madison, Teekalet, Whidbey Island, Port Townsend, and Olympia were in a flourishing condition.

As there was no school fund from the sale of the 16th and 36th sections until the same should be surveyed, and the commissioner of the land-office having decided that the grant was not available until the territory should become a state, the common schools were supported by a tax annually levied, and by fines arising from a breach of any penal laws of the territory.

County superintendents were provided for by the law of 1854, to be elected at the annual elections. In 1861 it was enacted that a territorial superintendent should be chosen triennially by the legislature, whose duty it should be to collect such information as might be deemed important, reporting annually to that body, and supervising the expenditure of the school fund. An act approved Nov. 29, 1871, provided that the territorial superintendent should be elected in joint convention of the legislature during that and every subsequent session, his duties being to disseminate intelligence in relation to the methods and value of education, to issue certificates to teachers, call teachers' conventions, consolidate the reports of county superintendents, recommend text-books, and report to the legislative assembly, for all of which he was to receive $300. Nelson Rounds was the first sup. under the this law, and gave an elaborate report. He was a graduate of Hamilton university, and was in the methodist ministry nearly 40 years. During this time he was connected with several schools, and was four years editor of the Northern Christian Advocate. He came from Binghampton, N. Y., to take the presidency of the Willamette University in 1868, but resigned in 1870 and removed to Washington. He died at Union Ridge Jan. 2, 1874. Olympia Standard, Jan. 10, 1874. Congress passed a special act in 1873 providing that the ter. supt should be appointed by the gov. and confirmed by the council. In a synopsis of the reports of the public schools of Washington by G. H. Atkinson for the centennial of 1876, it is stated that the number of school-houses reported was 283, the number of pupils enrolled 7,116, the amount paid to teachers about $55,000 in 1875, and other minor facts.

Eastern Washington was in a somewhat more chaotic state with regard to education. Walla Walla, however, being the historic battle-ground of sectarianism, derived a benefit from it in the way of schools. Whitman Seminary was chartered in 1859-60, and built in 1867, to commemorate the labors and tragic death of Marcus Whitman, missionary to the Cayuses.

The first private school taught in Walla Walla was opened in 1864, by P. B. Chamberlain and wife. There was also a public school of 63 pupils. The catholic schools for boys and girls were well sustained. There was also St Paul's episcopal seminary for young women, and two other private institutions of learning, besides the three free schools of the city. The catholics established the hospital of St Mary's, with accommodations for about 70 patients.

Vancouver had a greater number of academies in proportion to its population in 1885 than any other town in Washington. The Sisters' House of Providence, established in 1856, was the oldest academy then in the territory, besides which the methodists and episcopalians had a eminary, and the catholics a boys' school, in addition to the public school. The Ellensburg Academy, located at Ellensburg, Kittitass co., was founded in 1884, by James H. Laurie. It had a good attendance from the start. By act of congress approved July 2, 1862, 30,000 acres of land for each senator and representative to which the states were respectively entitled was granted for agricultural colleges. Under the provisions of this act the legislature of 1864-5 passed an act establishing Washington College at or near Vancouver, and vested its government in a board of trustees, of which the governor was ex officio a member. Trustees—E. S. Fowler, M. Wintler, John Sheets, S. W. Brown, Gay Hayden, and John H. Timmons. Wash. Stat., 1864-5, 32-6. At the following session congress was informed by memorial of the selection of a site, the purchase of which was contracted for, and the lands selected, but that upon attempting to enter this land the trustees had been notified by the commissioner of the general land-office that the act of congress was only applicable to states. The memorial prayed for the extension of the benefits of the act to Washington territory. This gift was, however, withheld until the state should become entitled to it under the act.

Of libraries, the territorial was the first, being a part of the endowment of the general government on the establishment of the territory of Washington. The books were purchased by Gov. Stevens, and numbered about 2,000, including unbound documents, with a pair of globes, and five mounted maps. B. F. Kendall was appointed first librarian, and held office until Jan. 1857, when Henry R. Crosbie was elected. At this session of the legislature the librarian was made territorial auditor, the joint salary amounting to $325. This arrangement lasted till 1862. Urban E. Hicks succeeded Crosbie in 1858, followed by A. J. Moses in 1859, and J. C. Head in 1860, who was reelected in 1861. In 1862 Thomas Taylor was chosen librarian, and R. M. Walker elected auditor. In Feb. 1858 an act was passed incorporating the Steilacoom Library Association. The incorporators were: A. B. Deelin, A. F. Byrd, E. A. Light, W. H. Wallace, W. R. Downy, W. P. Dougherty, William Lane, S. McCaw, B. Pierce, Frank Clark, Sherwood Boney, O. H. White, E. M. Meeker, William N. Savage, and Nathaniel Orr. Wash. Stat., 1857-8, 47-8. In 1860 a library of 300 vols was established at Port Madison. At Seattle, in 1862, the university library was established. It numbered in 1862 800 vols. The Temperance Tacoma Lodge of Olympia established a library in 1869 of 700 vols. A catholic library was organized at Vancouver in 1870 which in 1872 numbered 1,000 vols. In the following year at a meeting of the citizens of Vancouver a library association was formed, and in 1872 Tumwater followed with a collection of 200 vols. Walla Walla organized a library association and free reading-room, which was supported by citizens for the benefit of strangers, and had a literary and lecture society, to which the officers from the garrison gave much time. The literary society was established as early as 1865.

The first printing done in this section was at the missionary station of Lapwai, in what was then Oregon, and was afterward Washington, and finally Idaho. The printer was Edwin O. Hall of the Honolulu mission, subsequently editor of the Polynesian. Accompanied by his wife, he visited Lapwai in the spring of 1839, bringing with him a small press and material, to the value of $500, a present from the Honolulu converts. With this he instructed Smith and Rogers of Lapwai in the printing art, remaining until 1811, during which time translations of a part of the book of Matthew, some hymns, and school primers were printed in the Nez Percé language for Spalding's use in teaching. The historic press was placed among the public relics of Oregon.

The earliest newspaper published in Washington was the Columbian, first issued at Olympia, Sept. 11, 1852, by J. W. Wiley and T. F. McElroy. The press on which it was printed was the one on which the first number of the Oregonian was printed. It was an old Ramage, and was discarded by Dryer after a year or two, purchased for Olympia, sent to Port Townsend, and thence on L. B. Hastings' schooner to its destination. In March 1853 Wiley retired from the Columbian, which had remained neutral in politics, devoting itself to the establishment of the territory, and was succeeded by J. J. Beebe, who remained in the firm only four months, retiring July 13th.

On the 17th of Sept. McElroy retired, and Matt. K. Smith took charge of the paper. This proprietorship lasted until Dec. 3d, when J. W. Wiley and A. M. Berry appeared as publishers, Wiley being editor, and the Columbian was changed to the Washington Pioneer, 'a straight-out, radical democratic journal.' In Feb. 1854 the name was changed to Pioneer and Democrat, which it retained during the most interesting portion of territorial history. At the same time R. L. Doyle joined the publishing firm, and Berry, going east to attend to the printing of the territorial statutes, for which they had taken a contract, died in Aug. at Greenland, N. H. Doyle had issued a prospectus of a journal to be called the Northwest Democrat, in Nov. 1853, but was induced to come into the arrangement with Wiley as above. On Dec. 10, 1854, George B. Goady became associated with the publishers of the Pioneer and Democrat, and in Aug. 1855 became sole publisher, Wiley remaining editor; but in Aug. 1856 retired, and C. Furste became publisher in connection with Wiley. The latter soon drew out of the publishing business, leaving Furste to conduct it alone, who also joined the editorial staff in Feb. 1857. In May 1853 Furste became sole editor and proprietor. He sold the paper to James Lodge in Nov. 1860 who assumed the entire control, but the paper was discontinued in the spring of 1861. Wiley died March 30, 1860, at Olympia, in his 40th year.

The second newspaper published in Washington was the Puget Sound Courier, a whig journal issued at Steilacoom May 19, 1855, by William B. Affleck and E. T. Gunn for about one year. The Courier was revived in Olympia in Jan. 1871, and issued weekly by the Puget Sound Printing Co. Bagley and Harned published it from June 1 to Nov. 15, 1873, when the firm became C. B. Bagley & Co., and in Nov. 1875 C. B. Bagley alone. The first number of the Puget Sound Daily Courier was issued in Jan. 1872, and in Dec. 1874 it suspended for lack of support, but reissued as the Daily Courier early in 1877, having consolidated with the Olympian, which had a brief existence. The Washington Republican was first published at Steilacoom April 3, 1857, Frank Balch editor, and W. B. Affleck printer. It was designed to promulgate the principles of the then new republican party, and advocate the election of W. H. Wallace to the office of delegate to congress. When it had served its purpose it suspended. Ebey's Journal, MS., v. 16. The Puget Sound Herald, published by George W. Lee and Charles Prosch at Steilacoom, March 12, 1858, was printed on the press which had served for the Courier and Republican in turn. It passed entirely into the hands of Prosch the second month of its existence, who undertook the somewhat difficult task of publishing an impartial and politically independent newspaper. That he succeeded, by laboring for the material interests of the Puget Sound region, in keeping his journal alive through several years of the most depressing period of its financial history, proves his ability as a journalist. The Northern Light was started at Whatcom about the 1st of July, 1838, by W. Bausman & Co. , but suspended in Sept. when that place was deserted. The Port Townsend Register, conducted by Travers Daniels, was first issued at that place Dec. 23, 1859. It was devoted to news, literature, and local interests. In March 1860 Daniels returned to Va and Mr Whitacre took charge. The paper did not long survive, being suspended in August. It was, however, subsequently revived by P. M. O'Brien and H. M. Frost as publishers, and H. L. Sutton editor, with democratic politics. The North-West began its precarious existence early in July 1860 at Port Townsend. It was conducted by E. S. Dyer in the beginning, who was independent in politics. He issued but one or two numbers, however, before John F. Damon, the publisher, took the editorial chair, who conducted a republican paper for a time with no very encouraging prospects, when it expired in Dec. 1861. The Vancouver Chronicle was started in July 1860 by L. E. V. Coon and John M. Murphy, and devoted to the material interests of the territory. In the following Sept. Murphy retired from the Chronicle. H. G. Struve edited it until about the close of 1861, when the name was changed to Vancouver Telegraph, and Urban E. Hicks assumed editorial control. The Register was subsequently revived and is still published.

The 'Olympia Washington Standard was founded by John Miller Murphy Nov. 17, 1860. In March 1861 was founded the Weekly Pacific Tribune of Olympia, a republican paper, which at first appeared without individual sponsors, but which, having the territorial patronage, took a longer lease of life than many of its predecessors. In 1866 R. W. Hewitt had charge of the paper, followed in 1867 by Charles Prosch & Co., in 1868 by Charles Prosch, later by Charles Prosch & Sons, in 1870 by Charles Prosch & Son, and in 1872 by Charles Prosch again, and in 1873 by Thomas W. Prosch. In Dec. 1867 an attempt was made to establish a daily, which was not successful; but on the 4th of Oct., 1869, a daily was published, the first of the Olympia Daily Pacific Tribune regular issues. The Daily Pacific Tribune appeared in Tacoma in 1874, with Thomas W. Prosch editor, and in Seattle in 1875 with the same editor, who was succeeded in 1878 by E. A. Turner, Charles Prosch remaining publisher. The Overland Press was next started at Olympia by Alonzo M. Poe, publisher and editor, presumably to fill the place of the Pioneer and Democrat with the democratic party. It was first issued in July 1861, and survived for a year or two, being edited by B. F. Kendall at the time of his death in Jan. 1862, soon after which it suspended. In the mean time, the eastern portion of Washington being rapidly settled, a paper was started at Walla Walla called the Northern Light, in September 1S61, by Daniel Dodge, who had contemplated setting up his establishment at Seattle. It had a brief existence.

The Washington Statesman followed on the 29th of November, published by N. Northrup, R. B. Smith, and R. R. Rees. It was subsequently purchased by W. H. Newell, formerly connected with the Dalles Mountaineer, who used it in support of democratic principles down to the time of his death, twenty years later. It was ably conducted, and prospered, its name being changed to Walla Walla Statesman after a few months. Nehemiah Northrop was a native of New York. In 1853 he, in company with his brother Henry and Alonzo Leland, published the Portland Democratic Standard. In 1859 he was one of the proprietors of the San Francisco Evening Journal, but sold his interest in 1860, and the following year removed to Walla Walla. He died in Feb. 1863 of consumption, at the age of 27 years. Olympia Wash. Standard, Feb. 28, 1863.

The Golden Age was first published at Lewiston, then in Washington territory, August 11, 1862, by A. S. Gould, who had been connected with a Portland paper, and was subsequently engaged in journalism in Utah. It passed into the hands of Alonzo Leland, who has conducted it for many years. In politics it was republican under Gould and democratic under Leland. The Walla Walla Messenger was started at that place by R. B. Smith and A. Leland in Aug. 1862, but was not long published. On the 15th of August, 1863, the first number of the Washington Gazette appeared without the names of editor or publisher. On the 10th day of Dec. it reappeared as the Seattle Gazette, with W. B. Watson editor, and ran until June 1864, when it suspended, Watson being elected to the legislature on the republican ticket. The Washington Democrat was next started at Olympia in Nov. 1864, which, as its name indicated, was devoted to anti-administration politics, its editor being U. E. Hicks. It had but a brief existence. The Far West was a magazine published by E. W. Foster at Olympia, devoted to morals, religion, health, education, and agriculture. Like all other such publications, it failed because it could not compete with better ones received daily from older communities. It was first issued in 1865. The Olympia Transcript first appeared November 30, 1867, published by E. T. Gunn and J. N. Gale. The following year T. F. McElroy and S. D. Howe were principal owners, but about 1870 it passed entirely into the hands of Gunn, who owned and conducted it to the time of his death in 1885. In politics it was independent.

The Weekly Message was first published at Port Townsend by A. Pettygrove in May 1867. It was a small sheet, with only a local interest. It was succeeded by the Argus, also edited by Pettygrove, and later by C. W. Philbrick. The Territorial Republican issued its first number Aug. 10, 1868, published by J. R. Watson. As its name implied, it was in the interest of republicanism. After running one year the Republican Printing Co. became its publishers, but it was extinct before 1872. The Weekly Intelligencer, of Seattle, published its initial number on the 5th of Aug., 1867. It was neutral in politics, and issued by S. L. Maxwell. It began publishing a tri-weekly Aug. 9, 1870, and a daily in Sept. following. The Walla Walla Union, the first republican paper published in the Walla Walla Valley, issued its initial number on the 17th of April, 1869, being published by an association of citizens. In May, R. M. Smith & Co. were announced as publishers. It continued, with P. B. Johnson editor, as an able country journal. The Walla Walla Watchman was a denominational paper. The Alaska Times, conducted by Thomas G. Murphy, was first issued at Sitka, April 23, 18G9, but owing to lack of support and changes in the military department, was removed to Seattle October, 23, 1870, where it was published weekly as a Sunday paper for a year or two longer, when it suspended. The Puget Sound Dispatch was founded in 1869 by C H. Larrabee and Beriah Brown. Brown was from Wisconsin, and had been editor of a republican paper at Sacramento, Cal., and of a democratic paper at San Francisco, and was what was known as a copperhead in war times. Though an able writer, Larrabee soon dropped out of the journal, and Brown conducted it alone in the interests of democracy. In 1878, after several changes, it was merged in the Intelligencer. It was the first paper to publish a daily. The North Pacific Rural, a farmer's journal, and the Post were both started in 1878. The Post was soon consolidated with the Intelligencer. The Seattle Evening Herald was first issued July 5, 1882, by a company consisting of W. G. C. Pitt, T. H. Bates, and Thaddeus Hanford. It was printed with the material of the old Pacific Tribune. The Mirror was issued as a temperance journal, the Sunday Star a society paper, both of Seattle. The Temperance Echo was published at Olympia by J. H. Munson, in 1872, as the organ of the grand lodge of the good templars, devoted to temperance, education, and morality. The Kalama Beacon, issued first in May 1870, was owned and controlled by the Northern Pacific railroad company, and published in its interest. It was suspended when the railroad work was temporarily discontinued in Washington territory. The North Pacific Coast, a semi-monthly journal devoted to the dissemination of information concerning Washington, was first published at New Tacoma, Dec, 15, 1879, presumably in the interest of the land department of the Northern Pacific railroad company. No names of publishers creditors appeared. The Weekly Ledger, an independent journal, 'devoted to the development of the resources of Washington,' began publication at New Tacoma by Radebaugh & Co. in April 1880. Then there was the Tacoma News; also the Bellingham Bay Mail, edited and published by James Powers, republican in politics; the Vancouver Independent, W. Byron Daniels editor; the Spirit of the West, Walla Walla, B. M. Washburne editor, independent in politics; Olympia Northwest Farmer; the Dayton News, founded in 1874 by A. J. Cain; the Waitsburg Times; and Columbia Chronicle, of eastern Washington; and the weekly Puget Sound Express, Steilacoom, Julius Dickens editor.

WASHINGTON INDIAN RESERVATIONS.

The Indian reservations of Washington occupy land as follows: There were five reserves belonging to one agency, the Puyallup, covering altogether about 29,000 acres. The reservation situated on this river contained over 18,000 acres, for the most part heavily timbered. The aggregate of land tinder cultivation was in 1885 less than 1,000 acres, though over 150 home- steads had been taken, chiefly in forty-acre lots, Nisqually reservation, on that river, contained 4,717 acres. The Cliehalis reservation, half of which was good agricultural land, contained 4,224 acres. On Shoalwater Bay were reserved 340 acres. The Squoxin reservation covered an island in JNIason co., containing about 1,500 acres, little of which was improved. Tulalip agency embraced the reservations of Tulalip Bay, Muckleshoot prairie, Port Madi- son, Swinomii-h River, and Lummi delta, at the mouth of the Nooksack River, comprising 52,C48 acres. The headquarters for these various reserva- tions was at Tulalip Bay, where there were between 15,000 and 20,000 acres of the richest land. This agency was in charge of the catholics, who had a chapel on each of the reservations. Schools were taught, and about three fourths of the Indians cultivated gardens or farms. The Indian town was built in a triangular form around a flag-staff and crucifix, Neah Bay agency, located in the extreme north-west corner of the county of Clallam, contained 23,000 acres for the use of the Makahs, who numbered between 500 and GOO. The land was chiefly mountainous and heavily timbered, and the Indians, who were a sea-going tribe and lived by seal-hunting and otter-fishing, had not adopted a civilized mode of living to any extent. These Indians had a methodist teacher. The Queniult agency comprised the Queniults, Queets, Hohs, and Quilleliutes, none of them numerous tribes, and only the first two living upon the reservation, which contained 224,000 acres of heavily timbered land, in- accessible for half the year. Only about twenty acres were cultivated in 1885, but these people, like the Makahs, lived on the products of the ocean fisheries, and were by no means poor, their houses being comfortable and themselves well-fed. Little progress was made in changing their mode of life. The Skokomish agency on the Skokomish River comprised something over 5,000 acres, of which about 1,300 were suitable for tillage and pasturage, the remainder being either in heavy forest or valueless. The tribes located here were the Sklallams and Twanas, later making considerable progress toward comfortable living. The Twanas resided on the reservation and sent their children to school, also clearing and planting, and cutting saw-logs for sale to the mills. But the Sklallams lived in a number of Villages some 50 or 75 miles from the agency, often near milling establishments. At Jamestown, the largest of their towns and the residence of the chief, the Indians had purchased the land—200 acres—and erected a school-house and church. Their habits were temperate and industrious.

East of the Cascade Mountains the Yakima agency extended over a reservation containing nearly 900,000 acres, with a population of 3,000, which would give to every man, woman, and child belonging to the agency some 250 acres. The actual amount under any kind of improvement was about 5,000. Large herds of cattle and horses roamed over the remainder, all of which was good farming and grazing land. The Colville agency had nominal control of eight different tribes, aggregating over 3,000 persons, including the Colville, Okanagan, Spokane, Kalispel, Sanpoil, Mithow, Nespilem, and Lake Chelan, bands mainly of non-treaty Indians, and some of them refusing to admit the authority of the U. S., though peaceably disposed. During mining times in the following years the Yakima war, the supt made use of the officer in command as a local agent to regulate their intercourse with the white population and preserve the peace. It was not until April 9, 1872, that a reservation was set apart for them by executive order, including the Colville Valley, and with which they were pleased. Against including this valley, in which there were about sixty white settlers, there was an immediate protest, v.diich led the president to issue an order on the following 2d of July confining the reservation to the country bounded on the east and south by the Columbia, on the west by the Okanagan, and north by B. C. Olympia Transcript, July 27, 1872; //. Misc. Doc, 1873-4, 122, 43d cong. 1st sess. This caused a counter-protest from agents and Indians. The change was, however, adhered to, but the Colville Indians continued to occupy that valley in common with white settlers, the Jesuits taking cliarge of their spiritual affairs, as they had done since 1842. A further grant was made on the west side of the Okana- gan in April 1879, whereby the reservation was extended on the west side of the Okanagan to the Cascade Range, making the reserved land comprise all the country in east Washington west of the Columbia and noith of about 48° 30', containing about 4,000 square miles, or between two and three million acres. On the 6th of March, 1880, a tract bounded on the east by a line run- ning south from where the last reservation crossed the Okanagan to the mouth of said river, and thence down the Columbia to the junction of the stream which is the outlet of lake Chelan, following the meanderings of that lake on the west shore to the source of the stream which feeds it, thence v/est to the 44th degree of longitude, and north to the southern boundary of the re- serve of 1879, containing about 600,000 acres, was allowed for a reservation for the non-treaty Indians under Chief Moses, who claimed it by virtue of services rendered the U. S. in preventing an Indian war. Walla Walla Statesman, April 10, 1880; Ind. Af. Rept, 1879, i. 80. There were in all about four and a half million acres of land set apart for the use of some 14,.S00 men, women, and children remaining in 1879, giving 323 acres to each individual, tuition and other benefits being free. Of this land some was very poor, more particularly the Colville reservation, but there was much good land.

EXPLORATIONS, ROADS, AND RAILROADS.

Frequent reference has been made in the narrative of Washington history to the opening of roads to give the Puget Sound region land communication with other parts of the country, and open a way for the mails. In 1852 the only means of access from the Columbia River was by a cattle-trail, while immigrants and their luggage were conveyed in canoes up the Cowlitz River, after which they were compelled to take to the rude trail cut by the immi- grants of 1845. Warbass & Townsend, storekeepers at Monticello, adver- tised in Dec. 1852 to forward passengers and freight, saying that the mail- boat would leave for Cowlitz landing every Tuesday morning at 6 o'clock. They had some ' very large bateaux running on the river capable of accommo- dating 8 or 10 families and their plunder, including wagons, yokes, chains,' etc. A bateau managed by 8 or 9 expert Indians would reach Cowlitz landing in about three days, the distance from Fox's landing, or Rainier, on the Columbia being 34 miles. Olympia Columbian, May 14, 1853. Five days were oftener required for the passage, and the charges were heavy. Subscriptions were taken in Dec. 1852 to raise money to construct a wagon- way up the east side of the Cowlitz to connect at the landing with this road. A petition was also circulated for signatures praying the Oregon legislature for an appropriation to aid the citizens of northern Oregon in surveying and completing a territorial road from the Columbia to the head of Puget Sound, a distance of eighty miles. This road was put under contract in 1853. A movement was at the same time set on foot to open a road over the Cascade Mo intains to- ward Walla Walla. In the summer of 1852 R. H. Lansdale explo ed a route up the Snohomish River via the Snoqualimich fork to the grea-< falls, and thence eastward to the base of the mountains, where it followed uo the south fork of the * Dewamps or Black River' to the summit of the mountains. The trail then turned directly toward the head waters of the middle fork of the Yakima, and thence down the mountains towards the Columbia. This ap- pears to have been the first survey of the Yakima pass by citizens of the U. S. A portion of this route was an old Indian trail which could then have been traversed by pack-trains without serious inconvenience. Lansdale, who resided on Whidbey Island, proposed to begin the construction of a road over this route in the follov/ing spring, which would have brought the immigration to the lower portion of. the Sound. Ebey, the member of the Oregon legisla- ture from that region, failed, however, to obtain the approval of that body to establish a territorial road from Snohomish falls to Fort Walla Walla, the assembly preferring to memorialize congress fcr a military road. But he se- cured instead a road law for the counties on Puget Sound, which partly ac- complished the object desired. This law provided for the accumulation of a road fund out of a tax of four mills on the dollar, which, with the assistance of subscriptions by persons interested, would be sufficient to construct a good wagon-road from the mouth of the Cowlitz to Olympia, and of another across the Cascade Mountains. Before work could be begun in the spring, news was received that congress had appropriated $20,000 for a military road from Fort Steiiacoom to Fort Walla W^alla. Fearing government delay in furnish- ing the money for its construction, and wishing to have a road opened for the next immigration to come direct to Puget Sound, the people undertook the work themselves, and endeavored to bring the road to Fort Steiiacoom, thus inviting congressional aid, and securing a terminus near Olympia. A sur- vey was therefore made of the Nachess pass, and the road brought down the valley of White River to the junction of Green River, where it turned south across the Puyallup to Fort Steiiacoom. The road company proceeded to its task, about fifty men enlisting for the work on the promise of some 150 sub- scribers to the fund that they should be paid. Before its completion gov- ernment surveyors were in the field under McClellan at the head of the west- ern division of the Stevens exploring expedition. McClellan's instructions from the secretary of war, dated May 9, 1853, were to use every exertion to open a road over the Cascade Mountains in time for the fall emigration; but as McClellan did not arrive at Fort Vancouver until past the middle of June, nor leave it iintil July 27th, whence he proceeded northward, dividing his party, and examining both sides of the Cascade range, he could do nothing more than guarantee the payment of $1,300 earned by the men working on the last division of the road west of the mountains, promise to reconmiend the payment by congress of $5,700 still due the citizens' company, and give his approval of the pass selected.

The road was so far completed that a small immigration passed over it with wagons and cattle, reaching their destination with less suffering than usual. Had it been more numerous, it would have been better for the next immigration. But congress never reimbursed the road-makers. In the fol- lowing summer Richard Arnold exhausted the $20,000 appropriation without much improving the route, making but a single change to avoid the steep hill on the Puyallup, where wagons had to be let down with ropes. This, like all the military roads on the coast, was a miserable affair, which soon fell into disuse, as the people were unable to complete it, and the Indian wars soon practically put a seal upon it.

^ Early in 1854 F. W. Lander undertook at his own cost the survey of a railroad route from Puget Sound by the valley of the Columbia to the vicinity of the South pass, or Bridger's pass, of the Rocky Mountains, with a view to connecting Puget Sound by rail with a railroad to California, Lander's idea being that a direct line to Lake Superior would be exposed to severe cold, injurious to the material and the service of the road. He objected, besides, that, in the event of a war with England, it would be too near the frontier, and also that a railroad on a frontier was not in a position to develop territory. Lander's Railway to the Pacific, 10–14. Lander made his reconnoissance, of which I have given some account in my History of Oregon, the territorial legislature memorializing congress to make an appropriation compensating him for the service. Wash. H. Jour., 1854, 167. His report was published, and congress appropriated $5,000 to defray the expense of the survey. U. S. Stat. at Large, 1854-5, 645; Gov. Stevens without doubt having influenced both the territorial and congressional action. The legislature, at its first session, en- acted laws for the location of territorial roads from Steilacoom to Seattle, from Steilacoom to Vancouver, from Seattle to Bellingham Bay, from Olym- pia to Shoalwater Bay, from Cathlamet to the house of Sidney S. Ford in Thurston county, from Shoalwater Bay to Gray Harbor, and thence to inter- sect the road to Olympia, from Puget Sound to the mouth of the Columbia, from Seattle to intersect the immigrant road, and from Olympia to Monti- cello. Wash. Stat., 1854, 463-70. These various acts were intended to pro- vide a complete system of communication between the settlements as they then existed. Others were added the following year. They v/ere to be opened and worked by the counties through which they passed, the costs to be paid out of the county treasury in the manner of county roads.

George Gibbs and J. L. Brown undertook to explore a route from Shoal- water Bay to Olympia in Dec. 1853, and had proceeded a part of the way, when they were compelled to return by stress of weather and scarcity of provi- sions. The exposure and hardships of the expedition resulted in the death of Brown. In the following July, E. D. Warbass, Michael Schaffer, Knight, and Geisey set out from Cowlitz landing to locate a road to Shoalwater Bay, which resulted in opening communication between the settlements on the coast, and points along the route inviting settlement. By this route, also, Astoria, the distributing point for the mails, could be reached. The first legislative body had memorialized congress relative to establishing a mail-route between Astoria and Olympia, but by the course marked out for the territorial road to Cathlamet. Subsequently, in 1866, $10,000 was asked for to open a wagon-road from the Columbia at Cathlamet to the Boisfort prairie, to there intersect the road to Olympia. Neither request was granted, though the latter was repeated in 1873. The legislature of 1854 also required their delegates in congress to endeavor to procure an appropriation of $50,000, and a section of land in each township along the different territorial roads, to be located by the road commissioners, to aid in the construction of these highways and the necessary bridges. It asked, moreover, for $30,000 to be expended in opening a practicable wagon-road from Vancouver to Steilacoom; for $25,000 for a military road from The Dalles to Vancouver; and for .$25,000 to complete the military road over the Cascades, and to pay the people the amount expended by them in opening it. Wash. Jour, House, 1854, 163-6. To the propositions for roads connecting the military stations, congress lent a willing ear and granted the appropriations asked for, but gave no heed to the appeal to complete and pay for the road to Walla Walla, for which the legislature continued to petition year after year. During the summer of 1855 a reconnoissance was made of a line of road from The Dalles to Vancouver, and from Vancouver to Steilacoom. The first was com- pleted Nov. 23, 1856, but in the following winter was so injured by heavy rains as to require ten thousand dollars to repair it, which was expended on it in 1857. The road to Steilacoom was begun at Cowlitz landing, on tiie west side of the river, and constructed as far as Steilacoom by Nov. 1, 1857.

Upon petition from the legislature of 1855-6, $35,000 was appropriated for a road from Steilacoom to Bellingham Bay, and a reconnoissance was made the following year. In 1863 a franchise was granted to complete the military trail to Whatcom, followed by another petition in 1864 to congress to continue the road to its northern terminus. In Jan. 1858 an appropriation was asked to construct a road from Fort Townsend down the west side of Hood Canal to intersect the road to Cowlitz landing and Vancouver, which was refused. The legislature of 1859-60 combined two rejected projects in one, and asked in vain for a military road from Baker Bay, at the mouth of the Columbia, via Shoal water Bay and Gray Harbor, to Port Townsend. Again a military road was asked from Port Townsend to False Dungeness, where the town of Cherbourg was located, afterward called Port Angeles, with a like failure. Another memorial in 1866 prayed for an appropriation for a military road from Port Angeles to Gray Harbor, upon the ground that the character of the Indians in Clallam co. deterred settlement and improvement; and also that in the event of a blockade of the straits by a foreign power a road to Gray Harbor would be useful in transporting military stores to any point on Puget Sound. But as no foreign war threatened, the other reasons were found lacking in cogency.

By act of congress approved Feb. 5, 1855, $30,000 was appropriated, at the recommendation of Stevens and others connected with the Northern Pacific railroad survey, for the construction of a military road from the great falls of the Missouri to Fort Walla Walla, a distance not far short of 700 miles, John Mullan being the officer assigned to the survey. See Mullan's Military Road, in which he relates the inception of this project. Mullan was a member of Stevens' exploring party. His report contains a great deal of information, and the topographical map accompanying it, the Avork of T. Kolecki, is the best in the whole series of transcontinental explorations. This expedition determined the existence of an atmospheric river of heat, varying in breadth from one to a hundred miles, giving mild winters in the lofty regions of the Rocky Mountains. This work was interrupted by the Indians. In the success of this road the people of Washington saw the realization of their dream of an immigrant highway from the east direct to Puget Sound, the northern location being peculiarly acceptable to them for the reason that it made necessary the completion of a route over the Cascade Mountains.

No difficulty seems to have been experienced in procuring appropriations for this road, which was looked upon as the forerunner of a Pacific railway, besides being useful in military and Indian affairs. As to its use in peopling the Puget Sound region, it had none. A few troops and one small party of immigrants entered the territory by the Mullan road previous to the coming of the gold-seekers, who quickly peopled two new territories. Next to the original immigrant road, it has been a factor in the history of the north-west. Mullan was assisted in his surveys by A. M. Engell and T. H. Kolecki topographers, C. Howard civil engineer, B. L. Misner astronomer, J. Mullan physician and geologist, Talalem and Smith general aids, and E. Span gler wagon-master. Or. Statesman, "^laij , 1859. His escort consisted of 100 men of the 9th infantry under N. WicklifTe. Lewis Taylor was assistant surgeon, George E. Hale private secretary, Augustus Sohon and Kolecki topographical engi- neers. David Williamson superintended the advance working party. S. F. Bulletin, May 26, 1861. The cost of the road was ^S"23O,O00. Mulian's rept, in Sen. Doc.y 43, 37th cong. 3d sess.; Bancroft's Hand- Book, 1863, 321.

In Jan. 1859 the legislature memorialized congress relative to a military road from Seattle via the Yakima pass to Fort Colville. The merits of this pass had long been understood. Its repute among the Indians had deter- mined the location of Seattle. BeWs Settlement of Seattle, MS., 7. McClellan, in 1853, had surveyed it and pronounced it practicable for a wagon-road or railroad. In the summer of 1859 the citizens of King co. had expended about $1,300 in opening a wagon-road from Snoqualimich prairie to Rattlesnake prairie, but failed to receive an appropriation for their work. In the summer of 1860 some settlers of the Snohomish Valley explored a route through the Cascade Mountains between the sources of the Skihomish River aud the Wanatchee. Snoqualimich pass was explored in 1862 through the efforts of Robert Smallman, who circulated a petition and obtained the means to open a horse-trail by this route to the east side of the mountains, an appropriation of two townships of land being asked for the following year to construct a Page:History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.djvu/417 Page:History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.djvu/418 Page:History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.djvu/419 Page:History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.djvu/420 Page:History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.djvu/421 Page:History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.djvu/422 Page:History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.djvu/423 Page:History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.djvu/424

↑ The state auditor in November 1889 reported the resources of the commonwealth from taxes, licenses, prison labor, etc., at $372,866.35.
↑ See p. 216, note, on the misapplication of the university lands.

[1] The state auditor in November 1889 reported the resources of the commonwealth from taxes, licenses, prison labor, etc., at $372,866.35.

[2] See p. 216, note, on the misapplication of the university lands.

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