From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

In 1906 cowboys in the Ephrata area rounded up a few thousand wild horses and sold them to buyers back East in what was known as “The Last Grand Roundup.” At the time this event was considered a final farewell to the era of the Old West in Eastern Washington.

But the day of the horse wasn’t quite over. Amazingly, horses were in so much demand by the European powers early in the Great War that buyers came all the way to Washington State to acquire the animals.

The following article was found in the Okanogan Independent, June 19, 1915:

 MORE HORSES FOR WAR

 “Another band of twenty-nine horses were purchased in Okanogan last week by Ted Lasley, representing contractors who are securing horses for the French and English governments to be used in the cavalry, artillery and commissary departments of the armies of the allies in the great European struggle now going on. For the past two months horse buyers have made frequent visits to the Okanogan valley and it is stated by Mr. Lasley that fully $100,000 has been distributed in different parts of the county for horseflesh and expenses of various kinds for the buyers. In Okanogan alone previous to the buying expedition last week they had spent $13,000, and the band that went out last week brought the sum total for this point to a figure near $17,000. The animals bring from $100 to $150 each, according to age, size and physical condition.”

By the time the United States entered the war in 1917, the use of horses was already starting to give way to more mechanized methods of assault as the 19th and 20th centuries overlapped on the battlefield.

The Okanogan Independent covered life in that region from 1905-1975. The Washington State Library has nearly a complete set available on microfilm.

The newspaper also organized and published in book form a series of local biographies in 1924 called Glimpses of Pioneer Life. WSL has this title available in hardcopy, as well as in online digital form.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

Shortly after losing the status of Clallam County seat in an election in 1890, many in the town of New Dungeness picked up and moved across the river forming a community called, interestingly enough, Dungeness. This new hamlet even had an optimistic (although short-lived) newspaper: The Dungeness Beacon.

The following item was found at random in the July 29, 1892 issue, reprinted from Port Townsend’s Key City Graphic:

 TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT.

 The Gay and Festive Sea Serpent in the Vicinity of Dungeness.

 “We clip the following harrowing tale from the Key City Graphic of July 21st:”

“Yesterday morning, while the steamer Monticello was coming from Angeles to this city, and when almost directly opposite Dungeness, Captain Oliver says he saw the water in the Straits lashed into foam. Drawing near, to the surprise of the captain and all on board, a huge sea serpent, wrestling about in the waters as if fighting with an unseen enemy, was seen. It soon quieted down and lay at full length on the surface of the water. Captain Oliver estimates it to be about fifty feet in length and not less than four feet in circumference of the body. Its head was projecting from the water about four feet. He says it was a terrible looking object. It had viciously sparkling eyes and a large head. Fins were seen, seemingly sufficiently large to assist the snake through the water. The body was dark brown in color and was uniform all along. From what he says it would be capable of crushing a yawl boat and its occupants.”

“As the steamer passed on its course, the snake was seen disporting itself in the water. At the time the Straits were calm, and there could have been no mistake in recognizing the object.”

Sea serpent reports in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in general and Dungeness in particular have a long history. L.E. Bragg in Myths and Mysteries of Washington describes a sea serpent that was seen so frequently in the Strait in the 1930s that the citizens of Victoria gave it a name: “So many came forward after these reports were published that editor Archie Wills of the Victoria Daily Times held a contest to name the sea serpent. The winning entry was ‘Cadborosaurus,’ or ‘Caddy’ for short, named for Cadboro Bay just north of Victoria where it had been seen. Even after limiting reports to those that were signed and verified, Wills compiled a list of around 100 people, including three sea captains and the pilot who flew the mail between Seattle and Victoria, who had seen the beast.”

But I’d like to propose a new name for the serpent, at least for the one who hangs around the Washington State side of the Strait:

DungeNessie.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

The settlement of Beaver, Washington is a little bit north of Forks. According to the USGS: “Originally, Beaver Camp, which had Beaver PO, was a logging camp located to the east of Tyee and moved west as the logging progressed. As Tyee continued to grow and Beaver Camp did not, the Post Office moved 2.4 km (1.5 mi) west to Tyee. In 1957, it was recommended that Tyee be renamed to Beaver.”

The original Beaver had a newspaper of its own. The only copies of this publication residing in Libraryland can be found the Washington State Library, as part of a microfilm reel entitled: Clallam County misc. Reel # 1.

The Beaver Leader began in 1890 and lasted until at least 1897, but by then it was known simply as The Leader. Editor Will A. Sparks was a champion for forming a new county made up of western Clallam and Jefferson counties. But we later find him in 1902 as editor of the Suburban Reporter in Columbia City (King County). In the following piece from the Feb. 18, 1895 issue of The Beaver Leader, Sparks relates a couple tales of embezzlement while advocating for home rule (a few parts are mangled so I have used the [***] symbol in those trouble spots):

 WE WANT DIVISION

 “Nothing appears to retard to onward march of the recent movement toward county division. It seems to take like wild fire and so far as we are able to conjecture from an observation of the sentiment in this immediate neighborhood, the people are of one mind on the subject of the formation of a new county. The petitions are being liberally signed, and when everyone is fully informed on the matter, the objection from the people of the proposed territory of the new county will be very slight. A general meeting of delegates,– one from each precinct in the proposed new county,– will meet at Beaver, on February 15th to decide on the preliminary arrangements in getting things into shape to present before our present session of legislators. We will then have done our best and the matter will rest in the hands of the legislature.”

“Apart from the general inconvenience of being compelled to travel 170 miles to get to the county seat, as they do in west Jefferson, and handy to 100 miles from the extreme west part of the county to Angeles, several minor considerations exert an influence, in this county, in creating a sentiment for county division. For instance the failure of the First National bank of Port Angeles taking down with it $42,000 of the county funds is generally thought to have resulted through inexcusable if not criminal negligence, which must have been in some [***] to our county officers. For it is preposterous and insulting to the [***] that the financial standing [***] institution harboring thousands of dollars of the people’s money was unknown to the persons responsible for the safety of the county funds. When the crisis came,– an event of vital interest to nearly every citizen of the county,– the newspapers of Angeles dismissed the whole matter with the bare assertion, variously worded, that ‘the bank had failed.’ Warrants depreciated in value and the effect was felt by everybody, but still the Angeles papers pursued the noiseless tenor of their way and said nothing. The commissioners with exasperating carelessness neglected fixing the treasurer’s bonds secure until they were at the mercy of the bondsmen. When, as a final bath of bitterness, the grand jury failed to indict any of the bank officials, it became reasonably certain that that the Angeles papers and leading citizens of Angeles and perhaps some of our county officials were uniting to shield the bank officials in their nefarious dealings.”

“Another instance is the case of Benjamin F. Schwartz, Esq., than whom, there is probably no greater rascal unhung. Mr. Schwartz came to Angeles, reported himself worth a cool half million, and in an incredibly short time was cock of the walk and hyas [sic] tyee of the whole hunting ground. He was feted, lionized and aped till you couldn’t rest; and to be patronized by him was to a person with aspirations of upper-tendom an occasion of unutterable joy. But Mr. Schwartz fell,– as high steppers sometimes do,– and was convicted of embezzlement; but being a man of inconceivably ‘high education’ and the very name of ‘refinement’ he was considerately sentenced to a paltry eighteen months instead of a deserving sentence of as many years.. This little incident as well as his subsequent escape from the Angeles jail,– which escape is universally believed and perhaps in some quarters known to have been pre-arranged,– was, if we remember rightly, passed without comment by those bull-dog guardians of the public– the newspapers of Angeles.”

“The Leader might mention several events that has happened in and around Port Angeles which seem to indicate that Port Angeles is selfishly addicted to the preservation of her own welfare and the hides of her citizens rather than the good of the whole county. But letting these pass, the limit of forbearance is nearly if not quite reached in the recent defalcation of ex-Treasurer Clump, his arrest and easy escape from the Angeles jailor; and the fact that his $60,000 bonds were so managed as to make it very improbable that they will cover a slight defalcation of $3,000, about one-twentieth of the bond given. These things and the fact that Angeles holds the balance of power in voting and consequently may, and undoubtedly does, elect officers friendly to her interests, as is illustrated in the last election when every officer elected hailed from Angeles, are some of the reasons why the people of the west End want to be let loose from Port Angeles.”

“It is of course expected that there will arise opposition to a division of Clallam county, and perhaps of Jefferson. It is stated, however, that Port Townsend and East Jefferson would offer no obstacle to losing a portion of her territory, and the Tribune Times of Port Angeles thinks that that city would offer no special objection to the proposed division. If it be true that there will be no opposition worth noting, with reasonable assistance from our members in the state legislature we ought to make the thing go. The assessed valuation of the West Commissioner district for 1894 is $500,295 and the total indebtedness is $255,375.34, according to a statement made by the county auditor.”

The movement for the new county died that year, but it still resurfaces now and then. Of course the most interesting part of Sparks’ story was the double embezzlements and double jail escapes by two pillars of the community.

In Port Angeles, Washington : a History, Paul Martin comments: “The History of the first banking effort in Port Angeles is sad indeed.” But for more dirt we need to dig some more.

In The story of Port Angeles, Clallam County, Washington; an historical symposium (1937), Jens Peter Christensen supplies an account of P.A.’s history in banking and the fate of Mr. Schwartz. He begins rather diplomatically:

“The history of banking in Port Angeles differs little from that of other budding towns of the West in the early nineties, except that its citizens might, at the time, have been more than ordinarily optimistic and gullible. These two tendencies of the human construction do not augur well for successful banking and the city’s experience in that line proved no exception to the rule.”

Later on in his essay, as Christensen approached the case mentioned above, he was more direct: “Mr. Schwartz, its president, was indicted for embezzlement of funds entrusted to him by James Stewart, a local attorney. While incarcerated in the city jail, pending the appeal of his case, he made his escape on a schooner under cover of night, and several months passed until word was received that he had been arrested at St. Louis. Our sheriff, Sam Morse, made the trip there to bring the embezzler back, and the day arrived when the city’s first bank president stood on the deck of a local steamer, manacled, and facing a large crowd of the curious who jeered at him. Stripped of his former self-confident air, he made a sorry picture, trembling at the sight of the large gathering,believing they were met en masse for the purpose of doing him harm.”

And let’s not forget the “Ex-Treasurer Clump.” His full name was Mussena Jacob Clump. He was handily elected as a Democrat to the office of County Treasurer in 1892, and apparently took off with tens of thousands of dollars in short order. Like Schwartz, he escaped jail and was eventually arrested in Boise, Idaho. He blamed the bank failure (and indirectly Mr. Schwartz) for his troubles.

Who knows, maybe both of these gentlemen were cellmates when they served time in Walla Walla.

Clump was pardoned by Gov. John Rogers. He moved to California where he continued to have legal problems. He died in Los Angeles in 1940, aged 93.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if the west end of Clallam and Jefferson counties are still the most likely to secede.

Click here to see a map of Clallam County at the time this article was written, digitized by the Washington State Library.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

If there is any doubt that Washington Territory was part of the Old West, the following information regarding vigilante groups in Columbia County in the 1870s-1880s should put that to rest.

This week’s reel grabbed at random turns out to be from Dayton, in Columbia County, in 1878. But before we dive in, let’s let Robert E. Ficken set the scene from his excellent work, Washington Territory (2002):

“Founded in 1872 on the upper Touchet, sixteen miles south of the Snake River, Dayton was the leading urban byproduct of expanding wheat production. City-like amenities included flour and woolen mills, a brick-walled store, a flourishing hotel, two churches and a ‘well regulated brass band.’ Dayton was nonetheless an uncivilized place of materialist ambition enveloped in dust from never-ending winds. The school closed when residents refused to pay taxes. ‘Young hoodlums,’ the loutish offspring of prosperous farmers, loitered about and ‘soiled doves’ occupied their own well-patronized quarter, separated from respectable folk by an appropriately festering ditch.”

(As an aside, Mr. Ficken was our very first speaker when we started our WSL lecture series in 2002)

The following Dayton News article appeared on the editorial page, March 2, 1878:

  CLAIM JUMPING

“There is considerable excitement in some localities in this county about Claim Jumping. Secret societies have been
formed, and there are indications that trouble is brewing. The following is one of the several notices which have been posted up:”

Railroad Commissioner's Map of Washington (1910)

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

Charleston was a city that used to exist just to the southwest of Bremerton. The settlement was still young when talk of the two cities merging first came up, given their mutual interest in the Naval shipping area. The book Kitsap County History (1977) presents a detailed chronology of Charleston, ending in December 1927, when voters decided in favor of consolidation.

One person who almost certainly voted against this measure was George M. Terrell. This early Charleston resident had arrived in the role of one of the first drydock inspectors, and later moved into the real estate and insurance fields. He was also a devout Baptist who was part of a group that formed the first church (Presbyterian) in town.

In addition, Terrell appears to have been something of a Christian political activist. In 1896 he resigned his post as City Treasurer in protest when the City Council voted to grant liquor licenses as a way to collect revenue. His obituary in the May 23, 1932 Bremerton Daily News Searchlight after his death at age 85 noted: “He was deeply interested in civic affairs of his chosen locality and was staunch in the carrying out of his convictions.”

Mr. Terrell’s letter to the editor in the May 29, 1909 issue of The Charleston Record (from the microfilm reel I grabbed at random this week) is a fun snapshot of how the two cities were regarded through the lens of a Charleston civic leader:

 AGAINST ANNEXATION

 “‘Everybody loves a lover.’ The sweet unselfish persistence of our Bremerton lover is a sight to tickle the angels– in hades, –but it does not excite even surprise in Charleston; we are surprised tho’ that Bremerton should assume that we have more suckers this year than last.–and such suckers! That man has used his thinker to mighty little purpose who does not instinctively shy and look to the safety of his pocket book when the confidence man comes with tears in his voice, pleading to him a great gain at the givers loss.”

E.D. Duff's General Store Ad

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

Even when this randomly found article in the July 29, 1911 issue of The Irondale News was published, the Jefferson County town was already declining. In the 1880s-1890s Irondale seemed destined to become the steel center for the Pacific Northwest, but it was not to be.

In between all the columns of news coverage about the metal industry, I found this odd little piece. It almost reads like the lyrics to the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. Just south of Port Townsend, Irondale was a waterfront town and interested in news of the Strait of Juan de Fuca:

 SEES MIRAGE IN STRAITS

 Officers of Tug Goliah Witness Remarkable Phenomena.

“Officers of the Tug Goliah reports having witnessed a wonderful mirage while crossing the Strait of Fuca Wednesday afternoon. During the mysterious phenomenon, which lasted nearly two hours, the Olympic mountain range was mirrored in the heavens while several vessels that appeared in the picture seemed to float in the clouds like so many aeroplanes.”

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

This week’s newspaper on microfilm picked at random is the Centralia Daily Chronicle for Feb. 9, 1909. The reporter who covered this ghost story must have been something of a Wise Guy.

Dealy McCracken, the main subject of this piece, was born De Laparis McCracken in North Carolina in 1838. He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and at some point was held as a POW. By 1887 he had moved his family to Lewis County, according the Territorial Census. He died in Winlock in 1925.

The Maplewood Rink still exists today in Centralia as the Rollerdrome.

The Centralia Daily Chronicle, which ran from 1908-1913, can be counted as an early ancestor of Centralia’s current newspaper, The Chronicle.

 WINLOCK MAN HAS GHOSTLY EXPERIENCE

 Strikes a Match in the Dark to Light His Cigar and Flare Reveals Reproachful Face of a Woman – Tried to “Chuck” Her Under the Chin, But Was Restrained by Invisible Substance.

 “‘I tell you there is a woman haunting me and I am going to leave this town. Do I believe in spooks?– Never saw one in my life before, but I tell you I saw Her. You can call her a spook or whatever you please, but I tell you I saw her and there is no doubt about it. I came here to visit relatives and I intended to remain several days, but there is one spot in this town where I see her everytime I pass at night. I have not looked for her in the daytime, but I know I have seen her face there in the dark.'”

“‘Dealy’ McCracken, of Winlock, stood on the platform of the Northern Pacific depot in Centralia a few days ago and wasrelating his experience in Centralia to a friend. ‘Dealy’ is a southerner. He rolled his r’s and ‘reckoned’ this and could not account for the harrowing experience which he stated he had undergone. He appeared as one fleeing from some impending, mysterious, and unaccountable danger. He denied he was superstitious, but added, ‘there are some things we all don’t know about.’ Then he told what had so badly upset him.”

“He was going by the Maplewood rink. It was a very dark night and it was late. Not a soul was astir excepting himself. The darkness and silence, he says, got a little on his nerves. He noticed that his footsteps sounded on the board sidewalk with a hollow, rumbling sound. The noise of his footfalls seemed to steal out away from him and then be thrown back at him in a thousand distributing echoes. It affected him so that he tried to walk on tip-toe to get away from the sound. No sooner had he done than the thought was suggested to him that he was stealing away from something– he knew not what. He had a sneaky feeling and on the heels of that came the sensation that he was being pursued. He searched his conscience as to why he should feel that way, but found nothing in the reflection upon which to base such an apprehension. But the sensation that he was being pursued by something uncanny remained. It made him feel cowardly and ashamed of himself. It occured to him that it was foolish for him to let himself feel that way and that by an effort of the will he would calm himself. He would act unconcerned. Instead of tip-toeing as though attempting to avoid detection, he would walk in the ordinary manner. But even walking had a suggestion of flight, so he decided to stop in his track and light a cigar.”

“All those thoughts flashed through his mind in much less time then it takes to tell it. The mind under excitement thinks with more than lightning rapidity. When he stopped to light his cigar he was standing in front of one of the windows in the skating rink. He struck his match on the sill of the window. Then it was that the great shock came. The flare of the match revealed the face of a woman. Just the bare face and nothing more. It was a pallid face, very pale with the exception of the cheeks, which were earmine colored. There was a suggestion of rouge and powder about the countenance and the eyes were the eyes of a woman in which the light had nearly burned itself out by its own intensity and was flickering low. It was the face of a woman who might have lived much in a short time. A face that knew and knew sorrowfully and its expression was reproachful.”

“All that ‘Dealy’ saw by the flare of the match. The match went out and left ‘Dealy’ in darkness and horror. He forgot to light his cigar. He was held to the spot as one fascinated. His feet weighed a ton each and seemed to be pulling him down. He stood there until the darkness seemed to bear in and down on him as though it would smother him. It became unbearable and he fumbled for another match. With a trembling hand he struck it and there again was the face before him. It was close enough for him to reach with his hand.”

“It is a peculiar fact that often in moments of most intense excitement a sense of humor developes. ‘Dealy’ says that for some unaccountable reason he resolved to ‘jolly the old girl.’ He extended his hand in a spirit of bravado with the intention of ‘chucking’ her under the chin. His hand was put forward to carry out his intention, but some invisible substance was encountered which seemed to restrain him from a violate act. Although his hand almost touched the reproachful face there was not a change of expression, not a quiver of the eye. The face seemed to know it could not be violated. Then ‘Dealy’ discovered that his hand was against the window pane and that the face was on the other side was pressed against the pane. But that did not impress him half as much as the fact that the face was really there. He lost all resolution to quiet his nerves. He no longer felt that his imagination was playing him false. He knew the face was there. What did he do?”

“He did not tell his friend what he did for just then the train for Aberdeen began moving out and he boarded it.”

“Unless superstitious persons be too deeply impressed by Mr. McCracken’s experience it is to the point to state that a reporter for the Daily Chronicle inspected the window in the skating rink in which the face was reported to have appeared. He made his investigation in broad daylight and the face was there. It is there now. But there is nothing unnatural about it. The inside of the window has been boarded up. Some thoughtless masquerader at some of the numerous masquerade balls that have been held there evidently removed her mask, a false face of a woman, and thrust it between the boards and the windowpane.”

Random News from the Newspapers on Microfilm Collection: Anna Agnes Maley, First Woman to Run for Washington Governor, 1912

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

 The microfilm reel found at random this week contained The Clayton News-Letter, a publication that served the Stevens County community of Clayton for a little over a year, 1912-1913. The town was so named in recognition of the rich clay deposits in the area, a source for their main industries of brick and sewer pipes. Clayton had a large Italian American population of craftsmen, producing the well known Northwest artist Leno Prestini (1906-1963).

By no means a propaganda sheet, The Clayton News-Letter included a regular column devoted to socialism tucked between the advertisements, local gossip, and hard news. This was prior to World War I and the subsequent Red Scare. In the issue for August 15, 1912, the column featured coverage of a lecture by one of Washington State’s most overlooked political figures, Anna Agnes Maley. It is interesting her run for Washington State Governor is not mentioned:

 SOCIALISTS’ COLUMN

 Socialist Lecture a Success

 “Miss Anna A. Maley spoke to a good-sized audience of appreciative and attentive listeners at the school house on the evening of Aug. 7.”

“Miss Maley has a very pleasing personality, earnest manner and clear delivery, and sets forth her subject in such a plain, convincing manner that none could avoid understanding her.”

“Not one of her hearers left the house without understanding what Socialism meant, if he did not know before. The general verdict was that her lecture was a good one; that she showed remarkable keenness and perception and a deep knowledge of the subject under discussion, and had a clever way of clinching an argument and proving every assertion made.”

“Among other things Miss Maley spoke of the much-abused word ‘prosperity.’ She said that the capitalists gauge prosperity by the amount of profits they rake in and the number of markets they can control; that the Socialists judge of prosperity by the amount of the products of their labor which the workers can succeed in realizing, claiming that ALL the products of their toil rightfully belong to them.”

“She spoke about the present socialization of the schools, post offices, fire departments, public roads, etc., and said that we have yet a step further to go and socialize the industries; for she argued that if the schools, which grind out food for the brain, are publicly owned, why should not flour mills and other factories, which grind out food for the body, also be so owned?”

“She argued that every one is a Socialist by nature, but only a few had found it out.”

“She said the average farmer thinks he is independent on his own farm, whereas, in reality, he is as bad off as the wage slave in a factory, and is taxed on every hand– indirectly, perhaps, without his realizing it– through the capitalist profit system; for the capitalists use him for a tool and get him both coming and going, both in buying and selling.”

 Notice to Socialists

 “Local Clayton will hold its regular monthly meeting next Saturday evening, Aug. 17, at the school house. It is to be hoped that comrades will attend in full force, as matters of importance will be discussed. We debar none from becoming members.”

Anna Agnes Maley is a best-selling biography waiting to happen. A native of Minnesota, she was active in the suffrage movement and saw the Socialist Party as the vehicle for making gender equal rights a reality. Her work took her around the United States as she lectured and wrote for socialist newspapers. In 1911 she landed in Everett, where Anna became the editor of The Commonwealth.

The September 27, 1912 issue of The Commonwealth included an 11-point program as part of the Socialist Party of Washington’s platform:

1.   Collective ownership and management of all public utilities, and all industries that have become monopolized.

2.    Abolition of private ownership of land, and natural resources when used for exploitation and speculation.

3.    Public employment of the unemployed at not less than prevailing union scale of wages and not more than eight hours per day.

4.   We demand the enactment of a maximum eight-hour law to apply to both men and women, employed in all capitalized industries.

5.   We advocate initiative, referendum and recall to apply to all public officials, the petition not to exceed 10 per cent of the voters at the previous election.

6.   Abolition of child labor under the age of 16 years.

7.   The elimination of the injunction in labor disputes.

8.   Abolition of all residential qualification or other restrictions for voters. The abolition of all filing fees at primaries and other elections and repeal of all non-partisan laws. Abolition of property     qualifications for jurors. We favor the election of a public defender as well as prosecutor together with the adoption of other means to insure the free administration of justice.

9.   We favor a constitutional amendment abolishing the senate and we also demand that all cities be prohibited from enacting ordinances infringing on the right of free speech and free press.

10. We favor the establishment of a state board of health with full power for the inspection and condemnation of all unsanitary factories, tenements, etc. and the liberal appropriation for the use of the latest scientific methods of eliminating disease.

11. We demand the free use of all public buildings and property for public meetings, including court houses, school houses, parks, etc., without discrimination, and we demand a liberal appropriation for promotion of social centers.

1912 was the first year a woman could legally run for Governor in Washington State, but putting that aside, Anna’s campaign appeared to be unusual. It seems she saw the role of candidate as an opportunity to extend her lecture circuit, a format where she felt quite comfortable.

On Election Day Anna placed 4th (behind the two big parties and the Progressives) with a whopping 12% of the vote, the highest ever garnered by any Socialist running for Washington State Governor. In her home county, Snohomish, she placed second, and in ten counties she came in third. But Socialists and women made other gains in Washington. The Socialists elected officials to school boards and city councils, as well as two mayors (Edmonds and Pasco) and a state legislator. The first two women were elected to the Legislature (one Republican, one Progressive), the first female Superintendent of Public Instruction won office, and Washington was the first state to send a woman to the Electoral College.

Although Anna’s time in Washington State was short, it was eventful. Seen as too moderate, she was basically forced out during a 1913 party purge and moved to New York where she became a teacher and author. She married late in life, but her husband died after contracting malaria during a tour of the South. Anna herself fell into poor health and died in Minnesota, November 24, 1918 at age 46.

Random News from the Newspapers on Microfilm Collection: Kleptomaniac Cows in Everett

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

Ah, the growing pains of urbanization as found in the Feb. 20, 1901 issue of the Everett Daily Herald:

SHALL COWS RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF THE CITIZENS OF EVERETT?

 A Long-Suffering Merchant Gives Expression to His Sentiments Thereon.

 “The business men of the city have under serious advisement the matter of protection against the festive and ubiquitous cow. They say she is a nuisance of the first order and they believe that she should be suppressed.”

“Yesterday afternoon a Herald man was talking with a Hewitt avenue produce dealer. There were several bales of hay on the sidewalk. A cultured, ‘gentlemanly’ looking cow approached and began gingerly partaking of the hay. The produce man did not notice her at first and she warmed up to her task with considerable alacrity. Finally the produce dealer spied the cow. Being a Christian gentleman he said ‘Doggin that cow!’ and charged her in a way which led to the belief that he had left over several more expletives of a more vigorous nature. Returning he said:”

“‘That makes twenty-seven times I’ve driven that cow away from the hay. Is there no respite, no balm of Gilead, I implore? If I should shoot that cow, would I have to pay for her?'”

“‘You might make the experiment,’ suggested the newspaperman.”

“‘I’ll tell you,’ continued the produce dealer. ‘I am getting mighty tired of this. I understand there is an ordinance against cows and other stock running at large and the city has a poundmaster, but I have never been able to see any of the beneficial results.'”

”Of course they annoy grocers and produce dealers more than other business men. They hang around and eat our high priced vegetables when we are not looking, and occasionally I’ve been told they make a meal of men’s or women’s furnishing goods left on the street for advertising purposes; but their diet is usually confined more strictly to food products for man and beast.'”

”What remedy would you suggest?’ was asked. ‘Would you suggest that the cow be cured of her kleptomaniacal traits, educated and improved in her ways so that she may be able to take her place in society, to walk along the streets of this city fast assuming metropolitan airs with the busy throng without molesting other people’s property, and knowing which way to turn when she meets a pedestrian on the sidewalk?'”

“The produce man looked pained: ‘I’m in earnest about this matter,’ he said: ‘there’s that infernal cow again! Where’s my gun? I’ll kill her! But let her go this time. Maybe she’s not prepared to die.'”

“‘No,’ he continued, ‘I would suggest nothing of the sort. The remedy should exist in enforcing our present city ordinances and if they are not sufficient, others which are should be enacted. But the idea of allowing cattle to run at large in a town fast taking on the airs of a city is ridiculous beyond words to say nothing of the annoyance.'”

“‘It should be remembered that cities do not inflict their live stock on the bosom of the general public, and that the average individual does not care to be jostled or elbowed by the mild-eyed cow however chaste of well bred she may be.'”

“‘I hope to goodness the chamber of commerce will appoint an entertainment committee for the cows and keep them out of sight during the coming visit of the state legislature to Everett.'”

In 1901 Everett was less than a decade old as an incorporated city. The population, according to the 1900 census, was 7,838. But by 1910 the city has exploded to a population of 24,814. Everett was indeed “fast taking on the airs of a city.”

We don’t know the identity of the grocer, but in the Polk Directory for 1901 no less than five produce dealers had shops on Hewitt Ave. Of course, it is highly likely this particular grocer was fictional.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

The editor of the Clarkston Republic appears to be able to barely contain his gloating while reporting on the demise on a rival newspaper. I found this on page one, top of the fold, July 10, 1913:

 CLARKSTON DAILY HERALD SUCCUMBS

 Daily Paper Short Lived — Published Only Six Weeks. Cause Unexplained

 “Last Saturday evening the Herald Publishing company suspended publication of the Clarkston (daily) Evening Herald, after a brief career lasting only six weeks. It came as a total surprise to citizens of the city as from appearances and declarations it was to be a very permanent institution.”

 “A strenuous subscription campaign had been carried on by the paper which closed Saturday night. For this they were offering prizes to the several girls who would secure the highest number of paid up subscriptions, the grand prize to be a free trip to Yellowstone Park with all expenses paid for two, while the other prize consisted of three $60 diamond rings and three watches. Subscriptions were taken at $5 per year, and for a shorter or longer time accordingly. The final result as announced was Nellie Bittle, first, Milicent Lahm, second, Allie Malone, third and Miss Jones of Asotin, fourth.”

“Mr. E.D. Griffin, proprietor of the defunct concern positively refuses to make any public statement to the people here and elsewhere who have paid for the paper for various lengths of time, only stating that it is a very unfortunate affair and that it will do no one any good. Other than this he will not say regarding the likelihood of the prize winners receiving their prizes, of what happened to the subscription money or what is to be done about the good United States money that has been paid the concern for advance subscriptions, so that the only particulars that can be given is heresay which are as follows: A Mr. W.F. Heght it seems was managing the subscription campaign for the Herald and had a good deal more to do with the handling of the money than good business management generally allows a stranger, and on Saturday night when the contest closed, instead of a settlement of the affair being effected then it was deferred until Monday morning, before which time it is said that Mr. Heght made a hurried get away, taking with him all the funds that had been collected on advance subscriptions, the amount of which seems to be in doubt. It is also said that a warrant has been issued for his arrest but of this Mr. Griffin will state nothing.”

“Another story is current that the suspension came from a lack of the Chamber of Commerce, of which J.E. Hoobler is president, to make good a promise to secure a certain number of subscriptions, but the Chamber denies ever making any definite promise along this line however.”

“As soon as Mr. P.S. Pease, district salesman for the American Type Founders company heard of the affair he hurried to the city to make an adjustment of affairs concerning the equipment which was secured from his company, and it is likely they will have charge of the disposition of most or all of it.”

“The situation is the main topic of conversation all over the community and it is considered to be of much more discredit to the city than never to have started the institution. Many were dissatisfied with the news service from the first, both local and telegraphic.”

“Many are the reasons thought to be the real cause of the suspension and many are demanding the management make some explanation, but only time will tell what developments will be made in the case. At all events it is a sad affair for it means a loss to some, and from appearances it will be the ones who put up the money for the advance subscription.”

The Clarkston Republic is part of a newspaper lineage that runs something like this: Clarkston Republican / Clarkston Republic / Clarkston Herald / Valley Herald News / Clarkston Herald. WSL has many issues in this run available on microfilm via interlibrary loan.

What really caught my eye in this article was an accompanying crude illustration of three newspaper titles in coffin shaped boxes, stood up on end like the corpses of dead outlaws on display on a dusty storefront in the Old West. The Clarkston Republic’s vanquished competitors run from the obscure to the cryptic.

The Teller was apparently the Lewiston Evening Teller. It ran from 1903 to 1911. Several libraries in Idaho and Utah hold copies.

The Evening Herald apparently lasted only six weeks in 1913. It was edited by Edwin DeWitt Griffin (1873-1949) who later moved to Long Beach, California, continuing to work in the newspaper business. So far as I can ascertain, no copies of this newspaper can be found in any library, either in hardcopy or microform. But at least we know it existed, who published it, where it came from, and how long it lasted.

The most mysterious of all is the Search Light. In searching all the usual places, I can find nothing confirming there was a such a title in the Clarkston-Lewiston area in this time period. Not in OCLC, not in Ayer’s, not in local histories. In fact, this coffin drawing is the only evidence I have proving such a newspaper existed. I don’t even know if it was published in Clarkston or Lewiston. But I’m betting someone out knows all about this title.

If you have any information on, or better yet, actual copies of these two lost newspapers, give us a call here at WSL.

There was one rival the Clarkston Republic was unable to bury: The Lewiston Morning Tribune, still around today and now known simply as the Lewiston Tribune.

Asotin County’s days of yesteryear have been captured by our Washington Rural Heritage Project.