Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/41

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Spokane and Stevens Counties.
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and Yakima in the council; in 1866-67 B. L. Sharpstein represented Walla Walla and Stevens in the council, and J. J. H. Van Bokkelen represented Stevens in the house; in 1867-68 Stevens and Walla Walla were represented in the council by J. M. Vansickle. and in the house Stevens by W. P. Winans; in 1869 C. H. Montgomery represented Stevens in the house, and J. M. Vansickle, Stevens and Walla Walla in the council; in 1871 H. D. O 'Bryant represented Walla Walla and Stevens in the council, and W. P. Winans in the house. Stevens being in population the lesser county the joint councilman was always from the other part of the district. In the election of legislators the people there had some singular experiences. In I860 they chose Hon. W. H. Watson to represent them in the house. That part of the Territory was not entitled to a member according to law. On presentation of his claim at the capitol he was refused a vote, but as partial compensation was made doorkeeper. Watson seems to have been a butt of ridicule among the members. One committee suggested that His Excellency, the Governor, appoint Judge Watson inspector of customs at Colville, with the rank and pay of Indian agent, and another committee recommended to the legislature the creation of a new State east of the Cascade Mountains, with .Judge Watson as chief magistrate. In 1862 Charles H. Campbell was elected over B. F. Yantis by a vote of 48 to 38. Yantis went to Olympia to contest the propriety of his opponent's election. The latter was either frightened out of the field or concluded that it was not worth while, and made no appearance, Yantis being admitted with slight question and serving out the full term. In 1864 Isaac L. Tobey was re-elected to the House of Representatives. The pay of members then was $3 per day in currency, worth 40 cents on the dollar. As he could not get to Olympia on the mileage allowance and could not live there on the pay, Tobey resigned. The next year W. V. Brown was chosen to represent Stevens in the house, but he, too. refused the honor, and the county again was without a champion in that body. In 1866-67 there were no returns at the capital, but J. J. H. Van Bokkelen told the members that he had been elected. They took his word for it, and he served