Thurston County, Washington - The whole text, 1914 (part 2 of 9)

Thus, briefly sketched, is the history of Thurston County. First, as a part of the Territory of Oregon, and later an integral part of the fast-growing Territory of Washington. It was the intention of the compiler of this volume to trace merely the pioneer history of the County. The line of demarkation between early history and the later was arbitrarily fixed by the Society of Thurston Countj^ Pioneers, which made eligible those who had taken up residence in the County before 1872. Though the people who came to Washington Territory in the early 70 's seem as "Che Chacos" to the pioneers of '49 or '50, yet the line as fixed by the Society seems a conservative placing of time to mark the difference between old and new. The laying of the foundation, by a few sturdy pioneers, of a great commonw^ealth to be, who, after a life full of privation and hardship, were laid to rest in the soil of the new country, giving way to a young and sturdy race of new comers, no longer "pioneers" but "early settlers," until the year 1872 arrived, which closed the door, and all later arrivals must fall under the head of "Che Chacos."

From 1873 to 1889, that period during w^hich Washington remained a Territory, Olympia and Thurston County made slow progress. The location of a railroad terminus at Tacoma detracted greatly from the head of the Sound. Seattle made a

However, since admission of the Territory as a State in 1889, Olympia and Thurston County has experienced a steady improvement. The ability to command some attention in Congress, has resulted in appropriations for the improvement of the harbor, which has alwaj's been a deterring influence. Notwithstanding frequent attempts to move the Capitol, it seems at last a fixture, the State's investments here precluding the possibility of a change. But what is of greater importance, the difficulties of transportation in and out of Olympia have to a great extent been, or are being, overcome. The Northern Pacific, after years of neglect, saw a territory in the Southwest that could no longer be ignored and the Tacoma and Grays Harbor branch of that road resulted. At this writing the Oregon & AYashington Railway is making preparations to connect the Capital City with their line, with further possibilities of transcontinental connection in the near future.

Substantial fireproof buildings are taking the place of the old frames, paved streets are being actively extended and a spirit of enterprise has been the result of the advent of the new blood that is to take up the fight where the pioneer, after a hard fought battle, for which his successors delight to honor his memorv, laid down his burden and entered into his rest.

Isaac Ingalls Stevens

Isaac I. Stevens, the first Governor, as well as the m:)s: prominent man identified w^ith the early history of Washington, was born in a farm house belonging to his father, Isaac Stevens, at ^Marble Ridge, Massachusetts. He first saw the light of day March 25, 1818, and sprang from an honorable line of ancestry, one of whom, John Stevens, was among the original founders of Andover, Essex County, jMassachusetts.

Even from tender infancy the little Isaac gave promise of more than ordinary mentality. Before his fifth year t'le lad was sent to school and soon astonished his teacher with his remarkable power of memory and his application and devotion to study. After his tenth year he attended Franklin Academy' in North Andover, where he studied t'.ie usual English branches. But about this time Isaac decided to leave school for a time to enter the woolen mills owned by his uncle near Andover. At the end of a year spent in the weaving room he became so proficient in his work that he was able to manage four looms at a time, thus excelling the most experienced workmen in that department of the factory.

Having reached the age of fifteen years the young Stevens entered Phillips Academy in Andover. Here, while leading his classes in his studies, he paid for his board and lodging by making the garden and doing the chores about the place of a citizen of that town.

One of his school mates in describing Stevens' first appearance at the academy said: "The door opened and there ({uietly entered an insignificant appearing boy carrying in his arms a load of books nearly as large as himself. But the impression of insigiiificance vanished as soon as one regarded his

After a little over a year at this academy, through his excellent record for ability and scholarship, as well as the recommendations and efforts of his uncle, William Stevens, Isaac was appointed a cadet at West Point.

Here he distinguished himself by rising to the head of his class in mathematics and during the entire four years' course so well did the young man bear himself that when the academic board came to review the standings of the memDers of the class to award to each his proper grade it was found that Cadet Stevens stood at the head in every one of his studies. Upon graduation Stevens was promoted to be Second Lieutenant of Engineers and was ordered to proceed to Newport, R. I., to take part in the building of Fort Adams. At Newport the social life was much enjoyed by the young man, and it was while at a social gathering at this town that Lieutenant Stevens met the young lady who was afterwards to become his wife, Margaret Lyman Hazard. On July 1, 1840, Stevens received promotion to be First Lieutenant of the corps of engineers. His marriage to Miss Hazard occurred in September of the year following. Soon after his marriage Lieutenant Stevens was sent to Bedford to take charge of the repairs to the old fort there. And on June 9. 1842, a son was born to the young couple. This child was named Hazard, after the maternal grandfather.

For the ensuing few years Lieutenant Stevens was in charge of engineering works at Portsmouth and later at Bucksport, Maine, and it was while engaged in this work that he received his orders for service in the Mexican war. Stevens' first work upon arriving at the seat of war was to seek out covered ways to allow the troops to pass to and from the batteries at Vera Cruz without loss from the enemies' fire.

After taking this city by the IT. S. soldiers, Stevens accompanied the troops into the interior of ]\Ie.xico and was made Adjutant of the Corps of Engineers. At the battle of Chapultepec a severe gunshot wound in the foot required his retiring from active service for the rest of the campaign. He was finally relieved and returned to the States.

When the brevets were announced from the war department Lieutenant Stevens was brevetted Captain, August 2. 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco and Major for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Chapultepec.

]\Iajor Stevens from now on for the following few years was engaged as assistant to Professor A. D. Boche, chief of the United States Coast survey. But in the Spring of 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed Major Stevens Governor of the newly organized Territory of Washington.

Save for a handful of settlers on the lower Columbia and on the shores of Puget Sound, and a few mining and trading posts in the interior, the whole vast region of Stevens' place of administration Avas unsettled and for the most part unexplored by civilized man. It contained man}' thousand Indians who regarded the settlement of the territory by the white man with jealous eyes; the Indian title to the lands had not been extinguished and there were many troublous questions to be settled with the Hudson Bay Company, which still held its posts in the territory and claimed extensive rights as guaranteed by treaty.

To govern a territory under these conditions would have appalled most men, but Major Stevens not only applied for the appointment as Governor, but also asked that he be placed in charge of the exploration of the most feasible route for the railroad from the JMississippi River to the Pacific Coast. Congress had recently appropriated $150,000 for the explorative survey of the proposed railroad.

AVhen the appointment as Governor to Washington Territory was confirmed, IMajor Stevens was 36 years of age and in the full prime and vigor of his manhood. Besides the stupendous task involved in the administration as chief executive in a new and unknown territory, with surroundings and experiences totally different from any he had met in previous experiences, Governor Stevens was also, by virtue of his appointment, made Superintendent of Indian affairs in the West. Surely the reader must be impressed with the courage and mental strength exhibited by Isaac I. Stevens in undertaking these duties and responsibilities, in addition to the formidible undertaking of exploring a railroad route to the Pacific Coast, through a totally unknown wilderness. How ably he responded to the demands laid upon him is a matter of history.

Assembling an outfit at St. Paul, Minnesota, in which task Governor Stevens was called upon to overcome what to many would have been unsurmountable difficulties, the exploring party started for the far off Pacific Coast. A history of this famous exploring trip, compiled by the Governor's son. Hazard Stevens, from the diary kept by his illustrious father, reads like a romance of adventure, so many exciting experiences were encountered and so many hardships and dangers successfully overcome.

Arriving at the Columbia River, Governor Stevens followed the only route at that time to reach Olympia, the capital of the new Territory. Up the Cowlitz river by canoe, where the Indian crew had to progress foot by foot against the current of the flooded river, sometimes pulling the frail craft along by the overhanging bushes, then over a muddy trail by horse back, Stevens reached Olympia November 25, 1853, just five months and nineteen days since starting from St. Paul.

He found waiting for him his new Territorial Secretary, Charles Mason ; EdM'ard Lander, Chief Justice ; J. V. Clendennin, District Attorney; J. Patton Anderson, Marshal, and Simpson P. Moses, Collector of Customs.

These officials had reached Olympia, coming via the Isthmus to San Francisco, then by boat to Portland, and then up the Cowlitz River and over the trail.

"It was indeed a wild country, untouched by civilization. A scanty white population numbering 3,965, were widely scattered over Western Washington and the Strait of Fuca. Among the settlers were Columbus Lancaster, on Lewis River; Seth Catlin, Dr. Nathanial Ostrander and the Huntingtons, on the Cowlitz; Alexander S. Abernethy, at Oak Point, and Judge William Strong at Cathalamet."

The Governor's first act was to issue his proclamation for the election of a delegate to Congress and members of the first Territorial Legislature and summoning that body to meet in Olympia on the 28th of February, 1854.

Elliott Bay and the Straits, to learn of tlie general character of the harbors, etc. As this cruise was taken in an open sailboat, it could hardly be regarded as a holiday excursion in that stormy season, and among the swift tides and fierce gales of the lower Sound.

One of the objects accomplished on this cruise was the decision that the little settlement of Seattle was the logical terminus for the proposed transcontinental railroad.

At the assembling of the Legislature, when Governor Stevens delivered his first message, after reviewing the natural resources of this territory, he recommended the adoption of a code of laws, the organization of the country east of the Cascades into counties, a school system with military training in the higher schools and the organization of the militia.

The Legislature adopted all these resolutions with the exception of the one regarding the militia, which omission proved to be unfortunate, as it left the people defenseless when the Indian war broke out less than two years later. After the close of the Legislature Governor Stevens returned to Washington, D. C. to make his report to the Department of the exploring and engineering expedition, and also to urge upon Congress the claims of the new territory.

Completing his Avork in the National Capitol. Governor and Mrs. Stevens, with their four children, the two youngest being only two and four years old, respectively, sailed from New York, September 20. 1854, en route for their far western homo.

The rough experiences of this refined and cultured family in coming up the Cowlitz and over the trail and their bitter disappointment when beholding the capital city is graphically described in a letter written by I\Irs. Stevens and reproduced in the historical sketch of Thurston County in the opening chapters of this volume.

The Governor's family were installed in quarters consisting of tAvo long, one-story buildings, one room wide, unplastered, but lined inside with cotton cloth. In the rear was a large yard extending to the beach. An Indian camp began at the corner of the j^ard.

The Governor"'s days were now filled with strenuous labor, making treaties with the Indians, holding council with the Chiefs and endeavoring to cultivate their good will.

A history of the various treaties entered into between Governor Stevens and the Indian tribes, the councils held and the long, dangerous and fatiguing expeditions taken by the Governor, would more than fill the pages of this volume, consequently only a brief mention is all that space will allow, and that of the most important ones.

Governor Stevens was in the Blackfoot coiuitry holding t'ouneil with the assembled bands and had just taken up his homeward march Avhen a messenger, dispatched by Acting Governor ]\Iason, reached him with the startling intelligence that all the great tribes of the upper Columbia country, including the Cayuses, Walla Wallas, Yakimas, Palouses, Umatillas. and all the Oregon Indian bands down to Tlie Dalles, had broken out in open warfare.

Stevens at once, and with incredible difficulty, hastened back to Washington, and after doing what he could to establish peace with the warring savages, undertook to reach Puget Sound by forced marches. This trip was. taken in the dead of vrinter over and through deep snows in the mountains, fording icy rivers and with scant provision and no comforts.

When Olympia was finally reached he found the entire country was overwhelmed. The settlers had fled for refuge to the small villages, with no resources of food or money. Starvation stared the pioneers in the face if prevented from planting and raising crops. There was also a deficiency of arms and ammunition. It was small wonder that the settlers were discouraged, and nothing kept many of them from leaving the country but their inability to get away.

The Governor, by proclamation, raised 1,000 volunteers, called upon the people to build block houses and proceed with tilling the soil. He reijuired all Indians on the eastern side of the Sound to move into reservations, sent agents to Portland, San Francisco and Victoria with urgent appeals for arms, ammunition and supplies. He issued territorial certificates of indebtedness to pay the volunteers, he freely resorted to impressment of teams, supplies, etc., wherever necessary, and vviiile he appealed to the patriotism and good feeling of tho voluuteers he enforced strk-t discipline jmd punished misconduct. Tlie people responded to the Governor's appeal with truer American spirit and patriotism.

The Governor's policy during the war which followed was an aggressive one. His volunteers pursued the bands of Indians, routing them and keeping them from uniting with other bands.

The history of the Indian war of 1855-56 is not within the scope of this work, but vivid pen pictures of individual experiences are given from time to time in the reminiscences of the pioneers interviewed by the compiler. At the close of the war Governor Stevens disbanded the volunteers and disposed of the animals, equipment and supplies on hand at public auction. Owing to the large number captured there were more animals sold at the several auctions than the entire number purchased for the volunteer service. The sales of property netted more than $150,000. As the expenses of the volunteers had been paid in scrip the sales were made for scrip and many of the settler volunteers were glad to purchase stock, wagons and supplies in that way, although scrip money depreciated but little below^ par value.

Owing to the discouraging condition of the territory after the Indian war and owing to the stand taken by the agents of the Hudson Bay Company, Governor Stevens w^as compelled at this time to issue a proclamation of martial law. This called for considerable censure from the enemies of the young Governor, but at a mass meeting held at the block house in the capital city, the course of the executive w^as fully endorsed with but 12 dissenting votes. Judge B. F. Yantis presided at this mass meeting and J. W. Goodell acted as secretary.

During the time of the Indian trouble the Stevens family remained in Olympia, the children attending the public school, presided over by Rev. George F. Whitworth and his wife.

Upon the return of peace the Governor began the construction of a home on the block of land he had purchased soon after his arrival in Olympia, which building is standing to this day. still in the possession of the son. Hazard Stevens.

Upon completion of the house. Governor and j\Irs. Stevens gave a house warming, to which were invited the members of the Legislature, and all the townspeople. A description of this first Governor's reception to be held in Washington, is given in the reminiscences contributed by ]\Irs. J. G. Parker. The Governor, soon after his arrival in the West, adopted the garb of the country, slouch hat, woolen shirt and heavy ridint* boots - a garb suital)le for one constantly undertaking long and arduous journeys horseback and by canoe.

Li 1857 Stevens was elected Delegate to Congress, and in the Fall of that year resigned as Governor of Washington, re- 1 inning with his family to the X;itional Ca])ital hy way of I'anama.

Congress adjourning, the Stevens family again returned to their Olympia home, where they lived in peace and happiness until Stevens was again elected for a second term as Congressman.

.At this second term the Governor devoted his best energies to securing payment of the Indian war debt. He was successful in securing good appropriations for military roads between Fort Benton and Walla Walla and between Steilacoom and Vancouver, secured $4500 for a boundary survey between Oregon and Washington, $95,000 for the Indian service, and also secured a new land office and district for the southern part of the territory.

The war shadow was now hovering over the land and Stevens, upon his return to Washington, was instrumental in raising a company in Olympia. known as the Puget Sound Rifles, of which company he was elected Captain.

Stevens now engaged in waging the third campaign for election as Delegate to Congress, in which he was opposed l)y Selucius Garfielde. but before the election was held, news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached the Pacific Coast.

Here properly ends the life story of Isaac Ingalls Stevens as connected with the early history of Washington. A record of his military careei" and the soldier's death at the l)attlc of Chantilly belong by rights to the historian of the Civil War.

General Stevens fell in battle at the moment of victory, lie had grasped the colors from a dying standard bearer, and was charging to the front, cheering to encourage his men, when the fatal shot found its mark. As he lay in death his hand gras])ed the flag staff, with the colors, for which the nobh^ life had been freely given, resting upon his head and shoulders.

Thurston Countv

A brief resume of the results aeliieved by Governor Stevens' seven years management of the affairs of the new territory show that he had made exploration of the northern route for a transcontinental railroad, had made treaties with 30,000 Indians, had extinguished Indian titles to many thousands of acres of Washington land, established peace among hereditary enemies over a larger area than New England and the Middle States, and by waging an aggressive warfare against the savage foe had saved the settlements from extinction. In Mddition to this Stevens took such a firm stand against British aggression at the time the controversy over possession of the San Juan Islands arose that this valuable group was saved to the United States. At the end of the war he disbanded the volunteers and adjusted financial claims to the satisfaction of the majority. Over three quarters of a million dollars were disbursed for the government, all accounts for which were found to be correct.

In his career in Congress he secured the ratification of his Indian treaties, payment of the Indian war debt, the opening of the interior to settlement and the punlshmexit of Indian murderers:.

Elisha P. Ferry

Elisha P. Ferry, the first Governor of the State of Washington, and Territorial Governor for two consecutive terms l)eginning witli April, 1872, is remembered among the pioneers as the greatest of all Governors, I. I. Stevens alone excepted. During his many years' residence in Olympia Governor Ferry was acknowledged to have been a man of good business ability, prudent, tactful, painstaking, in thinking as well as in action, possessed of rare good judgment and great firmness of character, as well as a good lawyer. He possessed all the acquirements as well as the natural qualities that go toward making a good executive.

A native of IMichigan. E. P. Ferry studied law there and later in Fort Wayne, Indiana, being admitted to the bar in 1845 at the age of 20. His first start in life after his graduation was made in Waukegan, Illinois, where he practised law until 1869. He was first Mayor of this town, twice Presidential Elector, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1861 and afterwards a Bank Commissioner.

When the Civil war began. Ferry served for a time as Assistant Adjutant General and helped materially in organizing and equipping many of the early Illinois regiments and getting them ready for the field. While engaged in this service he became acquainted with U. S. Grant, which acquaintance soon ripened into friendship, and after Grant became President he appointed Ferry Surveyor General of the rapidly developing Territory of Washington. This appointment was made in 1869, and Ferry brought his family to Olympia, which city they regarded as their home until the removal of Governor Ferry to Seattle a few years before his death.

In 1872 President Grant appointed ]Mr. Ferry Territorial Governor, and at the expiration of that four-year term reappointed him to the same position. At the expiration of eight years as territorial executive Governor Ferry began the practise of law in Seattle, continuing' until the admission of Washington into statehood, when he was elected Governor by an overwhelming vote of the people.

Pioneer Reminiscences Samuel L. Crawford

My father, Ronald C. Crawford, and my mother, Elizabeth Jane ]Moore. came to Oregon in 1847, my father from New York, and my mother from Illinois. Father's elder brother. Medorum, was of the immigration of 1842, and my maternal grandfather, Robert ]\Ioore, was of the Peoria expedition of 1840, and both were members of the Champogue meeting, wiiere the provisional government of Oregon was formed, my grandfather being Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, and drafted the organic law which, when adopted by the convention, became the law of the provisional government of the territory of Oregon, or more particularly what was called the Or-egon country.

Mother w^as a little girl of 10 years of age when she reached her home in the West and the lad who afterwards became my father, ten years older. In the course of time the young couple became acquainted and were married, seven children having been born to them. Only five of these children are still living. I. Samuel L., being the second child.

My early youth was spent in Walla Walla, Oregon City and Salem, in all of which towns I attended school. When while quite a young lad, and still living with my parents, I attended school in Olympia. My teacher here was the late Professor L. P. Venen, w4io, at that time, was conducting a private school in Olympia. Then I went to the public schools of the town, and enjoyed the companionship of lads and lassies who, many of them, have become among the prominent men and women of the now prosperous State of Washington. Among those whom I am able to recall at this writing are: Levi Shelton, noAV a prominent citizen of Tacoma; Cynthia Shelton, who afterAvards became the wife of P. B. Van Trump, who with Hazard Stevens, made the first complete ascent of Mt. Rainier in 1870; Clarence AV. Coulter, now prominently connected with Seattle business affairs; Bradford W. Davis, now with the railroad mail service; Anna Pullen. afterwards ]\lrs. Matthew A. Kelly. Mr. Kelly was formerly a prominent druggist of Seattle. George E. Blankenship, who took up the printing business, and has stayed on the old stamping ground ; Fannie Yantis, who afterwards married Capt. J. J. Gilbert, prominent in the Coast and Geodetic Survey : Anna Stevens, who afterwards became the wife of the Hon. John F. Gowey, who was connected with the United States land office in Olympia and later was made minister to China, where he was residing at the time of his death, in the early part of the present century; S. C. Woodruff, Superintendent of the Hospital for Defective Youth at Medical Lake; Georgia Pereival. now the widow of the late T. X. Ford, at one time Treasurer of the Territory of Washington ; her brother, Samuel ]\I. Pereival, being until recently connected with the state road bureau and whose wife, Druzie Pereival. is well known in all the Sound cities as a musical composer of more than ordinary talent ; Francis A. Treen, who afterwards developed a beautiful tenor voice, wnth which he gave much pleasure to his friends and acquaintances for many years ; Emma Clark, who afterwards married her teacher, the late L. P. Venen; Josie Clark, afterwards Mrs. Dellie Woodard ; Nellie Parker, now Mrs. Herbert McMicken, and many others whose names are now but a dim and cherished memory.

After graduating from marbles in the field of amusements, at which game I was proficient and kept my pockets well filled with the winnings from the other boys when we played "for keeps," base ball demanded my attention for several j'ears. In our team were Clarence Bagley, L. A. Treen, Cal. Jim and Frank McFadden and many other Olympians.

In September, 1871, I entered the office of the Washington Standard, published by John Miller Murphy, as "devil," to learn the printer's trade. There I worked until 1875. when I left the office to accept the position of assistant Clerk in the Lower House of the Legislative Assembly, of which my father was a member from Lewis County.

At the expiration of the term of the Legislature I worked for Clarence Bagley. who was at that time public printer. Wheri the public work was finished I went to work for Francis Cook, at that time publisher of the Morning Echo. Cook had i chicken ranch on a place called Hardscrabble, in IMason County. The skunks were numerous and detracted from the financial returns of tlie chicken ranch, and as he found it difficult to be at both places at once he arranged with me to run the paper so he could devote his energies to the chickens. The paper could only afford one salary and that, of course, to go to me, and I was left to rustle my own assistance as best I could.

Now, I developed a regular Tom Sawyer genius for working my boon companions, and with such jolly spirits as Harry K. Struve, Ren Patterson, Yakima Jimmie and Peter Stanup, T managed to get along very well. The work was rather strenuous, as I commenced rustling news early in the morning, wrote up the paper in the late forenoons and early afternoons. then helped the boys set the type, and in the evening worked off the forms, and finally distributed the paper throughout the city myself, getting to my bed (which was located in the banking house of George Barnes & Co.) about two o'clock in the morning, after eating up everything in the way of fruit and cake that Mr. Barnes had remaining from his lunch at noonday.

During the summer of this year I arrived at my majority. Mr. Cook, who had visited the paper from his chicken ranch. had inserted an item to the effect that on June 22 the Echo man would be 21. Imagine my surprise on reaching the office that morning to find a table loaded down with all sorts of presents. My old friend and Sunday school teacher, the Rev. John R. Thompson, had sent me a handsome copy of Bunyan'^ Pilgrim's Progress, George A. Barnes a copy of Hill's Business Forms, and a number of other books from Francis H. Cook and other friends. Mr. and ^Irs. L. A. Treen, then living in Olympia, sent me a can of milk, ]\Irs. T. M. Reed, wife of the lamented Hon. Thomas Reed, the well remembered and loved pioneer, sent me a large fruit cake, all decorated with frosted flowers, together with this little note:

"To the Echo man of twenty-one This little token's offered. May the joys of life, like Summer sun, E'er shine on Sammy Crawford." I still cherish this kindlv token from Mrs. Reed, and I am

While these joyous days, fraught with hard work but plenty of fun, were passing in Olympia, things were also doing in Seattle. While a Clerk in the 1875 Legislature the whole assembly of Legislators made a trip to Steilacoom and to Seattle, the latter place to investigate the needs of the TJniversity. The "fast and commodious" steamer, the Zephyr, had been chartered for that junket, and was to leave Olympia at 7 :30 in the morning, stopping first at Steilacoom. When I got up that morning I found the steamer had left - so was L While wondering what I was to. do, I met Bob Abrams and several other members of the Legislature, who were in my predicament also. We rushed to interview Ed. Harmon, a well remembered Jehu of Olympia, and after telling him of our troubles, arranged Avith him to beat the steamer to Steilacoom, He agreed to forfeit a considerable consideration if he failed. But he didn't fail. We came on from Steilacoom to Seattle with the rest of the bunch - my first visit to the Queen City.

The citizens gave a dance that evening in honor of the visiting Legislature in Yesler's Hall. Bailey Gatzert was mayor. All the old settlers, including Mr. and Mrs. Yesler, turned out. Seattle then had a population of L500, but they vrere all alive and kicking. There was not hotel accommodations enough to care for the visitors, and the members and their vx'ives were entertained at the homes of the private citizens. Father and mother were entertained by Mr. and ]Mrs. L. N. Robbins, whose beautiful home then stood on the block directly south of the late old Hotel Rainier.

I had been invited to spend the night with my boyhood friend, George E. Blankenship, then employed on The Dispatch, by Brown & Bell, who roomed at the house of M. A. Kelly on Third and Seneca Streets. On reaching his room some time after midnight, we found the bed occupied by Ed. Pullen, a brother of JMrs. Kelly, who had "dropped in unexpectedly." We returned down town and after visiting the various hotels and not finding acconnnodations, decided to spend the remainder of the night on the hay stored in the open warehouse at the end of Yesler's wharf. We found this hay literally covered with sleeping men, and after amusing ourselves .'i Avhile tying some of them hand and foot with heaving lines, we again started up town. George to seek his rest on a pile of paper in the office and I to fare much better. During the day my friend, the late Howard W. Lewis, had told me his room was the third door on the left hand side from the head of the stairs in the Wyckoff House, and I could sleep with him. About two o'clock in the morning those kind words recurred to me very prominently and going to the Wyekoff House, which stood on the present site of the Alaska building, 1 climbed the stairs, opened the third door on the left, and found my friend sleeping in a spacious bed, and there ended my first night in Seattle.

During this brief visit I was so impressed Math the business enterprise of Seattle, although it was then a smaller town than Olympia. that I told my mother I would venture my fortunes here at the first opportunity. This chance came the following year. The Daily Intelligencer was launched on the first daj' of June, 1876, by the late David Higgins. I had gained some reputation as a pressman in Olympia, and as Mr. Higgins had introduced a power press in his establishment, he wrote and offered me charge of his press room, together with what composition I could do when not occupied about the press. As the salary offered was satisfactory, I accepted the offer, and on the 24th of June I left Olympia and took up my work on the Intelligencer the following morning. After I had boarded the steamer Alida at Olympia, Mr. Cook sent two of the ]\Iilroy boys to the wharf to induce me to defer my trip. I hid away to avoid temptation till after the steamer had left the wharf, and there was never thereafter an issue of the ]\Iorning Echo ])u1)lished. Mr. Cook moved his plant to New Tacoma and pul)Iisiied the Tacoma Herald for some time, after which he again moved his plant to Spokane Falls, where he founded the Spokane Chronicle.

The oft'ice of the Intelligencer at this time was in a two story and basement wooden building belonging to II. L. Yesler. on First Avenue, at the foot of Cherry street. The First Presbyterian church, corner of Third and Madison Streets, had recently been completed and was staggering under a load of debt and was heavily mortgaged. My old friend, Rev. John

R. Thompson, of Olyinpia. out of the bigness of his heart and his love for the Christian organization with which he was allied, had taken it vipon himself to relieve the church of this burden, and he travelled from Portland to Seattle, solicitingfunds from his personal friends, whom he numbered by the liundreds. Arriving at Seattle he told me of his mission, and asked me what I was willing to do. I told him I had just finished my tirst week's work in this town and when I got my pay I would settle my board bill and give what was left to help him in his cause.

Rev. Thompson, years afterwards, accompanied the First Washington Volunteers to the Philippines as Chaplain of the regiment. He was dearly beloved by all the brave soldier boys, but was stricken with the fever prevalent in that country, and did not live to return to his adopted State of Washington, which he so dearly loved.

When I came to Seattle I brought a baseball and bat with me and at odd times would go out on what was then known as Occidental Square and pass the ball around. I soon found a number of congenial spirits, but no organization of a nine was effected for several weeks. One day a challenge appeared in a paper from an organization in Newcastle, offering to play any nine in King County, Seattle preferred, on any day in the future, on any grounds selected by the challenged team. I tailed this to the attention of my friends of Occidental Square, who arranged for some practice games on the old University grounds, and we found we could play some ball. They authorized me to accept the challenge, on behalf of the Alki Base Ball Club of Seattle. The game was played two weeks from the following Saturday. I do not remember the score, but I do remember that no one of the challenging team ever got beyond second base. The Alkis at once sprung into prominence, and for years met all comers from Olympia to Victoria. In those days amateur ball was played exclusively, and each community had its team made up of its young citizenship, and took great pride in their performances and success. It was through baseball that I went from the mechanical to the news department of the Intelligencer. The Alkis had been to Victoria on the Queen's birthday of, I think, 1878, and won a great victory over the fanu^us Amity team of that Citj'. On our re- turn I asked the managing editor if tliey had arranged for a report of the game. He said, in apparent great distress, that the matter had been overlooked and asked me who he could get to write the story. I told him I didn't know. "Can you do it?" he asked. ''I can try," I answered. So well pleased, apparently, was he with my brief account of the game, that he sent for me the next morning and requested me to take charge of the local page of the paper. I remained in that department during the remainder of my career "on the paper, and its successor, the Post-Intelligencer, extending over a period of about 13 years.

A couple of years after my connection with the Intelligencer Thaddeus Hanford, a j^oung college man, and brother of Judge C. H. Hanford, bought a half interest in the paper and assumed its editorial control, and later acquired the Higgins interest. Soon afterwards I induced Mr. Thomas W. Prosch, an experienced newspaper man of Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle, to buy a half interest in the paper. He and Hanford were so unlike in their tastes and ideas and manner of operating a daily publication, that they decided to agree to disagree almost immediately and Hanford agreed to sell his interest in the paper for $5000. Prosch came to me to buy it. "But," said I, "I have only $960; where am I to get the balance of the purchase price?" He answered, "I think if you rustle around a little, you can borrow it. I will let you have, on your note, $540, to be paid out of the earnings of the paper. This leaves you only $3500 to borrow." I went to Judge Orange Jacobs, who had just returned from a term as Delegate to Congress, and told him of my wants, and to my joyous surprise, he lent me the money, taking as security my stock in the paper secured by an insurance policy on the plant. I paid him the then going rate of interest, IVo per cent, a month, and paid 10 per cent premium on the fire insurance policy to secure him. By hard work and careful mani'gement I succeeded in discharging all my debts, principal «nd interest, besides a lot of indebtedness against the paper, some $3000, for white paper and telegraphic services, of which neither Mr. Prosch nor I knew anything at the time of our purchase, within two years.

a daily, owned by John Leary and George AV. Harris, but which was proving a losing venture. This was the beginning of the long and glorious career in the newspaper field of the Post-Intelligencer. About this time trouble arose with the Printers' Union, and I Avas unwilling to accede to terms demanded by this body of workmen, so sold my interest in the P.-I. to Mr. Prosch and became an employe on the paper.

On the 30th day of October, 1888, I finally severed my connection with the Post-Intelligencer, to enter the real estate business in partnership with Mr. Charles F. Conover, who had been associated with me on the paper for a couple of years previously. Owing to our wide acquaintance, growing out of our long connection with the paper, our new venture prospered almost from the start. We opened an office in the ncAv Yesler block, on Yesler Avenue. That evening we gave a banquet to our late associates on the paper, the members of the editorial, neAvs and business staff, and it Avas some banquet, too. It Avas given at the Occidental, Avhich Avas on the site of the present Hotel Seattle.

We busied ourselves during the next 25 days in listing properties and publishing advertisements and announcements. By that time our capital was pretty Avell exhausted, and we had not taken in a cent. On the 27th a stranger came to the office to have some notary work done, and Ave charged him a dollar. AVe put that dollar in an envelope, marked it our first dollar, locked it in the safe and have the identical coin to this day. The next day Ave sold 11 lots and eight houses to the late Ursula Wyckoff for $20,000. Her son, J. V. AVyckoff. still OAvns four of the lots, valued at over $120,000. From that time on business Avas quite active and at the expiration of our first year our commissions amounted to upAvards of $50,000. In the summer of 1889, we placed the Renton addition on the market for Capt. AV. H. Renton, of Port Blakely, and sold fifteen lots the first day at prices ranging from $700 to $1,000 each.

The next day the great Seattle fire took place, and burned our office, together Avith the greater part of the business portion of Seattle. I Avas in Port Blakely Avhen I Avas told that Seattle Avas burning, and induced the captain of the steamer Success to leaA^e a half hour earlier than schedule time for home. Fr^-e's Opera House was l)urning when I got Seattle en the wire at Blakely. When I reached our office I was mad to find all of our furniture piled out on the sidewalk in front of the Yesler building. I demanded to know why it was not hauled to safety, and was told of the impossibility of getting teams. I rushed across the street where was the owner of teams and who had for years expressed the warmest friendship for me. But he said he could do nothing for us. I was \ery angry and went on down to Yesler 's wharf, where I found a man unloading brick. I hired him for $5 to go with me to move my furniture. While standing in the wagon with him, directing where to drive, and when we left the wharf excited men began rushing up to my driver and began shouting, "$50 a load, $75 a load, $100 a load," etc. The man asked me what they meant and I told him to drive on, they were all crazy. We rushed the furniture onto the wagon and J directed the man where to drive. Then I rushed to the Post- Intelligencer office, where I met the business manager and asked him if the bound files of the paper had been saved. He said they had not and would not be, as no effort would be made to save them. I notified him that I would undertake the task and would brook no interference. The fire was then burning the building between Cherry Street and Yesler Avenue. Unaided, I carried those files, four volumes at a time, up to Third and James and placed them in the custody of Mrs. Bailey Gatzert. The next day I met Mr. Hunt and asked him if he had saved his files. He replied that they had been burned with the office, and that no money could reimburse him for their loss. I then told him I had saved them for him and gave him an order on Mrs. Gatzert for their return. I judge the files which I saved of daily, weekly and tri-weekly from the beginning of the paper up to that time weighed in the neighborhood of a ton and a half and they were almost worth their weight in gold. The paper afterwards published the fact that the files had been saved and gave me due credit for their preservation. The next morning the paper was published in a much condensed form and contained but two advertisements - one announcing the change of location of the Puget Sound National Bank and the other notifying the public that Crawford & Conover had temporarily moved their real estate of- fice to 615 Union Street. A couple of days later my mother sent me word that if were going to continue to advertise our office at her home she wanted me to send some one there to show property, as customers were constantly calling and she knew nothing about the real estate business.

The firm of Crawford & Conover recently celebrated their 25th anniversary in business by moving into spacious quarters in our own building near the corner of Third and Pine. In a book descriptive of the thriving City of Seattle and the rapidlj^ developing State of Washington, which we published for public distribution at an expense of $15,000, entitled, "Washington, the Evergreen State, and Seattle, Its Metropolis," we gave this commonwealth the soubriquet of "Evergreen State," which has since been adopted as Washington's universal and most appropiate name."

Mr. Crawford has always been a public spirited man and has performed many acts of kindness and benevolence, which fias made his name entitled to honorable mention among the list of philanthropists of the State of Washington. His enterprise of collecting funds for the erection of the monument over the last resting place of the late Princess Angeline was a praiseworthy undertaking and one which gave Mr. Crawford much satisfaction. Angeline and Crawford had for years been close tillicums, the white man frequently calling on the princess to be sure she was not suffering for the necessities of life. During her latter years, after she was unable to help herself, many a timely gift of money or provisions were sent by the kindly man. When the weight of years was heavy upon Angeline and it was evident she would soon join her father, Chief Seattle, in the Happy Hunting Ground, Mr. Crawford asked her where she wished to take her long sleep, in the w^hite man's graveyard or beside her father's remains. "Oh, let me be buried with my white tillicums, who have been so good to me!" and her wish was respected.

Mr. Crawford started a movement among the children of Seattle to raise a fund for the erection of a monument by 10 cent contributions. The children responded gladly, although the promoter of the scheme had to supply part of the expense from his own pocket. Granite from the mountain of that name in the Cascades, was employed in the handsome itnd appropriate monument which marks the resting place oi" the Princess Angeline, and J\Ir. Crawford tells that even to this day her grave is covered with bouquets of daisies and other common flowers, sometimes tied with white twine string, placed there by childish hands whose owners feel a personal interest in the spot because they had helped to build the monument.

For several years after Mr. Crawford had retired from active newspaper work the itch remained with him and a column of '"Reminiscences" contributed to the Sunday edition of the Post-Intelligencer, was one of the features of that l)aper. When Mr. Crawford had been writing these reminiscences for several years. Mrs. Crawfod collected all her husband's writings in a large scrapbook and presented it to him as a valentine present. The columns of this scrapbook are replete with interesting and amusing incidents of pioneer history, not only of Seattle, where Mr. Craw^ford has spent the greater number of years of his majority, but also of Olympia. The compiler of this book spent a most delightful evening skimming over Mr. Crawford's scrap book and listening to the author of the sketches elaborate on the printed stories and relate the circumstances w^hieh gave rise to a particular event. Such a bewildering richness of material was offered the compiler that it was difficult to select a limited number of the most typical sketches. But among those which interested the writer most were the following:

During the Republican campaign of 1869 Selucius Garfielde was a candidate for Representative to Congress. In order to secure his election Mr. Garfielde, as is the custom to this day, made many pre-election promises. Candidates for office seem to have been as plentiful in those good old days as they are at this later day. Came the election and the men who had been promised a friendly word in high places worked tooth and nail for ]\Ir. Garfielde 's election, with the result that he was winner by a good majority. Rejoicing, the candidates who had pinned their faith to the Congressional Delegate, hurried to bring him enough endorsements and testimonials of their peculiar fitness for political jobs to which they aspired, to stuff a good-sized trunk to bursting. Garfielde suavely accepted all the papers and Avith smiles and promises to see the powers on behalf of his Washington Territory friends as soon as he arrived in the National eapitol. It took a long time in those days to make the trip to Washington, D. C, bnt the Olympia politicians awaited word from their political sponsor with what patience they might. Days rolled into weeks and then months rolled over the men who were impatient to begin on their official duties - also their official salaries. Letters were sent Congressman Garfielde, but no answer was received. Finally, quite desperate, a telegram was sent Garfielde deniaiidiiig to know why the appointments were not forthcominaf "Trunk and all endorsements lost!" was the ans^ver wired back. Mr. Garfielde had found, as do Western Congressmen ever, that when they arrive in Washington, D. C, keeping preelection promises are not always possible. The town wit, but whether that was Francis Henry or Fred Eltze is a disputed question, drew a caricature of a mammoth trunk flying through the air and in this trunk, with grotesque expressions on their faces, which, although caricatured most fantistically, were yet plainly recognizable, w^ere pictured the disappointed politicians. Although that caricature was made almost 45 years ago many of the old timers, on being shown the j^hotograph which John Yantis made of the drawing, recognize their friends and smile over the remembrance of Mr. Garfielde 's lost trunk. There were L. P. Beach, Randall Hewitt, Cherokee Smith, Judge Dennison, Rev. Whitworth, Judge Struve, of Vancouver; Elwood Evans, W. W. Miller, A. R, Elder and Hon. P. D. Moore - the latter perfectly recognizable to the friends of the present day. Struve 's feet were sticking out the side of the trunk, a reference to his large extremities. In fact, the most characteristic feature of each of the men pictured in the trunk was prominently brought out and enlarged on.

During a later and still more famous campaign between Selueius Garfielde and Hon. Obadiah B. McFadden for election as Delegate to Congress in the year of 1872, Mr. Francis Henry contributed several columns of his brilliant writings each week to the Washington Standard, under the head of "Chronicles." In these contributions the most prominent men were dubbed titles which, owing either to their fitness, or the pleasing alliteration of the words, clung to their recipients, in many instances, to the day of their death. As for example: Judge

McFadden, "Obadiah, The Faithful"; Garfielde, ''Sehieiiis thi- Babbler"; B. F. Dennison. " Benjamin the Stiff'' ; T. M. Reed. '' Thomas the Good": E. P. Ferry, "Elisha the Prophet"; S. Coulter. "Samuel the Smiler"; C, B. Bagiey, "Clarence the Amorous"; Rev. John R. Thompson. "John the Joeky'''; ^Marshal Blinn, "Marshal the Headstrong."

When Mr. Crawford was still serving his apprenticeship of printer on the Washington Standard, the proprietor. Mr. John i\Iiller ]Murphy. was a candidate for the office of Terri-^ torial Auditor. Mr. Miller was opposed by the Hon. Jos. Kuhn of Port To\\aisend, The latter man being a member of the Legislature of 1873, there was occasion to put his name in type many times in each issue of the Standard during the time the Legislature was in session. Murphy, holding his grudge against his opponent, told young Crawford never to allow Kuhn's name to appear in the paper correctly spelled. The ingenuity with which the printer carried out the commands of his superior are worthy of preservation: "Cun, '* "Coon," "Cune," "Kun," "Knne," "Koon," "Kunne," "Keun," "Khunne," and "Keunn" were among the variations Crawford managed to ring on the name "Kuhn."

While working on the daily Echo in Olympia I had as an apprentice an Indian boy named Peter C. Stanup, son of Jonas Stanup sub-chief of the Piiyallup Indians.

Unusually bright and well educated, young Stanup had been converted to the Christian faith and had studied theology and preached to the Indians for six or seven years. After graduating from the newspaper business Stanup studied law and became very able in that profession. About this time the Government granted the Puyallup Indians their land in severalty and Peter's holdings were estimated to be worth from $50,000 to $60,000.

Peter, while working for the development of the reservation, against the wishes of the more ignorant Indians of his tribe, was thrown off a foot log into the Puyallup river ami droAvned.

During the time the late lamented John H. McGraw w;i>< M candidate on the Republican ticket for Governor of the State he was bitterly opposed by the Tacoma papers and it looked as if he would not l)e able to Crirry a single precinct in Pierce

Thurston Countty

Cunnty. In talking over the matter, lie asked me if I thought there was any chance for him to carry even one precinct in that County. I told McGraw and Mr. L. S, Hunt that if we could enlist Stanup 's services we might earrj the reservation precinct,

Stanup was sent for but when he arrived he told us that a strong feeling had been worked up against McGraw in all of Pierce County owing to a plank in the Republican platforn* favoring" construction of the Lake Washington canal. However, if I was willing to give the Indians a feast the night before election and a talk after the feast and have U. S. officers' at the polling booths so that the boys would not be interfered', with by thugs from the town we might carry the precinct for McGraw. We promised Stanup all this and fulfilled our promises. When the votes were counted after the election Peter wired, "We carried the precinel. for McGraw by a majority of one.''''

Peter was invited to Seattle and was an honored gruest at Mr. Hunt''s office while the State returns were being" received- These returns showed McGraw had won by ahandsome m'a:,farity all over the State,

David Crane Beatty and his wife, Mai\y Thompson Beatty, have made Olympia their home for almost 65 years. Sometimes venturing their fortunes in other places, sometimes farming in the County near, once leaving Washington entirely, but always coming back to the scene of their youthful prime and vigor, and now as the shadows gather and the sun of their lives sinks low in the West, their only hope or thought is to take their final rest near the place that has spelled home to this devoted couple for well over the half century mark.

Mr. Beatty first saw the light of day in Champaign County, Ohio, the year of his birth being 1828. When nine years of age his parents took their eleven children and went to Illinois. where they settled for a good many years. Here the young David grew to manhood and learned the trade of cabinet making. He was of rather delicate health, however, and realized that a complete change of climate was advisable, so decided to take the famous advise and "Go West." The start was made from New York on December 16, 1852.

The young man took passage on the old steamer Brother Jonathan to Paiuima. One of the excitments of the trip was the almost daily occurrence of fire on the ])oat. Only the oldest and most unseaworthy of water craft was then used to bring those foolhardy enough to seek what Avas considered an imaginary fortune in the almost unknown West.

From San Francisco Mr. Beatty came on to Portland. Oregon, his steamer this time being the Fremont, well remembered by pioneer emigrants. Portland was then a village, in the woods on the Willamette River, of probably two business blocks and a few scattered houses. The Winter months were spent there, but when Spring came and tales began to reach the Oregon town of opportunities for business openings in the Sound country, which was just beginning to attract the emigrants' atte)ition, Beatty, whose healtli was still poor, de-

Sixteen stalwart young men were in the party with which the young man cast his fortune. All that Mr. Beatty can remember the names of at this late day are Tom Prather, four Hays brothers and Edmund Carr.

The trip was made up the Cowlitz River in Indian canoes to the lower landing. Here the boys took the Indian trail up the river through brush so dense that many times the only possible way to get along was by crawling on their knees. When Jackson's place was reached the men were served a, breakfast that, even after the lapse of these many years, remains fresh in ]\Ir. Beatty 's memory.

About noon the party came out on Scatter Creek. They were almost famished by this time, and were delighted to find a shack standing there in the wilderness. The owner was not around, but the door was unlocked, so they went in and searched for something to satisfy their hunger. Edmund Carr was the first to reach the rude cupboard and opened the door. Mother Hubbard's cupboard must have been a clos3 connection to this one. for the only eatable the hungry young men could find was one cold potato on a tin plate. As this potato was only about the size of a walnut Carr appropriated it for himself. There was nothing else in all the cabin to eat, so the men had to push on to the next stopping place. Carr then called his friend Beatty aside and, dividing the diminutive potato exactly in half, gave one portion to him, eating the other himself. This was among the many acts of generosity and brotherly love that were related to the compiler of these reminiscences that made the work one of the most delightful and inspiring experiences of her life.

As evening approached, the party of adventurers reached Bush's, where a good supper was served them and permission given the boys to roll up in their blankets on the floor of the shack, which permission was gladly accepted. In the morning the march was completed by the arrival at Tumwater. There was only the stringers of a bridge then across the Des Chutes River at this place, the crossing having been made heretofore by Indian canoes. Horses and cattle were generally taken to Tenalquot Prairie, where there was a safe ford. This bridge, under construction, was being built by Ira Ward, the pioneer iiiillman of Puget Sound. The young men, single file, walked the s(iuare timbers across the river, so reaching Tumwater. ^Ir. Beatty's eyes grew dim as he mused. "I can see them yet, sixteen as fine young men as were ever to be seen, filing across that river which flowed swiftly beneath the single stick of timber. Of that goodly party only Tom Prather and myself are left. All the rest are long since gone." The experience of crossing the river was a new one to the prairie raised lad.

From Tumwater the trail to Olympia was taken and this place reached about noon. The very afternoon the boj's reached here news was brought to the settlement that Washington had, by Act of Congress, been set aside from Oregon. Everyone was glad and believed that a great era of prosperity was about to set in for the new territory.

"When I reached Olympia there were no buildings south of Fourth Street, everywhere else stood the tall timber coming right down to the beach, the only exception being Isaac Wood's residence, a shack constructed of clapboards down on the beach at where the end of Fifth Street now is. Mrs. Simpson Moses and Mrs. George Barnes are the names of the only white women I can remember, although there were two others when we got here.

"Edmund Sylvester and his brother had a Hall for Travelers, as they called their place, on the corner w^here the Old New England hotel now stands. Their 'Hall' was of split and hewn lumber, lined with cloth, and while very comfortable for those days hardly came up to its pretentious name.

"My first job was taken to split rails for IMr. Ruddle, out on Chambers Prairie. My friend Carr went with me and we found we had to first cut down the cedar trees, saw them into lengths, and then split the logs into rails. Well, I was not strong yet and too much of a tenderfoot to last long at this kind of work, so when noon came we quit and came back to Olympia.

"Our next venture was to go to Alki Point, as it is now known, but which was then held as a townsite by Charles Terry and called New York. W. W. ]\Iiller was at that time internal revenue officer for the government and offered Carr and myself passage to New York for rowing the boat to tliat place. I was fresh from the prairie country, the water was new to me and I had never rowed a boat in mj^ life, but we accepted the offer and made out tolerably well.

"When Ave reached New York we found that Charlie Terry, of the firm of Lowe & Terry, loggers, was an old friend of my family, having come from the same place in Illinois. There were only three or four cabins there, but Terry had great faith in the prospect of a great city growing up there some day, so had platted the town site and laid off city lots.

"I was given work driving an ox team - familiar work it was, too - on Bainbridge Island. Carr w^as set to felling trees. At this time our only food for over six weeks was salmon and potatoes, but I never thrived better, and gained a pound a day, till I was quite a comfortable weight and ray bad health greatly improved. For this six weeks we were out of flour and it was not till the next sailing vessel came into port that we were enabled to have a variation from our diet of salmon and potatoes.

"When Lowe sold out I returned to Olympia with him, and about the first thing I did upon my return was to build a little house for John Swan, on the corner where the Knox hotel now stands. Upon completion of this building I rented it of Swan, procured a foot lathe, cut alder trees from the swamp and began making furniture. In the early days carpenters or cabinet makers were of necessity mechanics in the true meaning of the word - not wood butchers. Though the trade was not governed by unions, the very condition compelled a man to be proficient. It was not possible then to go to the mill and get his doors and windows, his matched lumber and shingles or mouldings - all these were the work of the carpenter, whose kit of tools must include moulding planes and ether accessories now made unnecessary by modern improvements.

"Later I bought the corner where for so many years John Miller Murphy has had his printing office, and which I sold to him in after years. Here I built for myself a shop, and continued making furniture. I was getting a fine start, and all my prospects were of the brightest when the Indian war broke out. This put a stop to business of all kinds. Emigration slacked, and the countrv was set back ten years. Closing

"Well, my experiences during this war would fill a small v^olume by themselves. ]Many exciting and dangerous times were before me then. I was among the soldiers engaged in the Indian fight in the Puyallup Valley. Once I was with a party of volunteers who rescued an English family of settlers from massacre in this valley. Their house was surrounded, and although the inmates had made a gallant defense, the Indians were just breaking down the door when our men came galloping up, scattering the enemy and saving the lives of the white people.

"After the White River battle and the subsequent subduing of the Indians on this side of the mountains, our company was ordered East of the mountains, where the Indians cf the Cayuse, Walla Walla and Umatilla tribes were on the warpath. We crossed the mountains through the Natchez Pass, which was wild and rough, and proved a trying experience.

"Our camp was made for several weeks on I\Iill Creek, near Walla Walla, at the place where the Whitman massacre occurred. We had to wait here till our government supplies arrived from Portland.

"Here occurred an incident the reasons of which kepi my comrades guessing for the remainder of the campaign. Among the supplies sent the volunteers was a barrel of whisky. This was divided among the several companies, my company's share being a three gallon camp kettle full. The kettle, with its precious contents, was set in the commanding officer's tent to wait till the boys got in from a scouting expedition, before dividing the whisky. As it was difficult to get the men together that night our captain decided that a morning drink would best be appreciated by the boys. Now, it was my duty to care for this captain's tent, as I was 2nd sergeant of our company, and was generally the first one up in the morning, to make the fire and bring fresh water for making the coffee for our mess. I grabbed this kettle, threw the contents on the ground and filled the utensil with water. Later, when the boys were lined up with their tin cups in tlieir hands and glad anticipation in their minds, llic captain went into the tent to bi'ing out the kettle. Where was it? Why, there on the fire filled with boiling coffee. I was (inestioned and acknowledged that it was through my act that the whisky Avas scattered on the ground. How was I to know that the kettle held anything but dirty water? The captain could say but little, for he had not told me to be careful of the contents of the kettle, and it was ray custom to take that kettle every morning to the creek for. fresh Avater. My comrades growled a good bit, but they never could tell for certain whether I really diil know what was in that kettle or not. After these years I can say that the very liame of whisky has always been distasteful to me. We were on the eve of an attack from the Indians, we supposed, and T was determined that there would be at least one sober company in the engagement. The boys didn't dare to manhandle nic. but I know they would have liked to do so,

"Word was received that the Indian tribes were collecting in the Grande Rouude Valley to gather camas for the Winter, and we were sent in to rout them. We were 100 fighting men with a guard of 75 men with the pack animals. It was night when we reached the upper end of the valley and we weiit into camp there. A^'ery foolishly we built camp fires, so letting the Indians know where we were. We expected to find the Indians at the lower passage on the Grande Rounde River, and in the morning formed in line and started for there. Before the passage was reached there came riding one of the willow trees that fringed the river banks an Indian brave in war paint. In his hand was a long pole on which was a white man's scalp. Riding wnldly around in front of the volunteers, but always out of rifle range, the Indian gave his war whoop and waved the ghastly trophy as a tantalizing menace before our boys. jMy comrade all through the war was G. C. Blankenship, and a finer man I never met. This .sight was too much for his temper, so he dashed up to our comriianding officer and plead: 'Col. let me get that fellow'?' 'Go then,' said the colonel, 'Get him if you can while he is in the open, but do not follow him into the brush.' Blankenship rode out after the Indian, but when the rascal saw he was pursued he took refuge in the bushes and the man had to return to his company.

"Dust arising from tlie plain near the upper crossing of the Grande Rounde was seen, and Col. Shaw called a halt and said: 'Boys, thei'e is where we want to charge, for there is where the Indian train, with their supplies, are trying to get out of the valley.' We dashed up and Col. Shaw dismounted fmd went into the bushes where he could see up and down the river. A man named Buchanan, and myself, also dismounted and went up to the river, leading our horses. I saw blood on Buchanan's horse's flank and said, 'We'd better get back a little. Buck,' which we did. When Col. Shaw .ioined us, one of the boys said, 'What's that on your coat collar, Colonel?' He looked, and there -was a bullet hole clear through the cloth and another one through the skirt of h^'s r-oat. The Indians were poor shooters and couldn't hit anything a few yards away.

"We crossed the river and the Indians fired on us as we were fording, but no one was killed, although we got three or four of their men. As expected, we found the pack train with the women and papooses. The ponies were loaded with camas and the next day we had a burning and destroyed at least 200 bushels of roots.

"This was the Indians' last struggle against the whites. By destroying their winter's supplies they were rendered helpless. They couldn't fight on empty stomachs and so we con- <juered them.

"That the Indian war was hastened and fostered by the Hudson Bay people there is little doubt. At that time England claimed all this country from the Canadian possessions to ihe Columbia river, and the ever increasing number of Americans coming to settle the Northwest threatened to ])ut under the plow land that the Hudson Bay sheep men were accustomed to look upon as their legitimate pasturage, so they aided the Indians with arms and sn])plies in a struggle to maintain control of the country.

"Governor Stevens sent his clerk out once to visit the Indian camps to see if he could find evidence of aid to the Indians from this source. I was sent along, with others, as a guai-d. We found empty sacks and cans with the Hudson Bay lettering on them, jn'oving conclusively where mncli of the su])- I'ort the Indiaiis received came from.

"I must tell one other incident of the war. While we were camped on Tenalqiiot prairie, at the fort there, and the volunteer troops were assembling-, myself and seven other men were sent to Olympia for supplies. We were on horseback and had just come out on Long prairie when we spied a party of 75 Indians coming- towards us. That they were armed, we could see, for the sun glittered on their guns. We held a hurried lonsuitation and decided that as we were mounted and the Indians were on foot Ave would go a bit closer to see what was doing, although we intended keeping well out of rifle shot. It i)roved to be the Squaxon Indian tribe, under leadership of Indian Agent Gosnald, coming to join forces with the volunteers to fight the hostiles. When they saw us eight men ride up single file to meet their army of 75, they broke into a perfect bedlam, they were so excited. 'Wliat's the usC; Indian fight white man,' their chief said, 'one white man not afraid ten Indians.' And that was always the way it was. We never thought it was possible that the Indians could lick us. When Ave went doAA-n into the Grande Rounde after thera Ave Avere only TOO fighting men, not counting the 75 men in charg-e of the pack train, and there Avere l.OOG Indian Avarriors against us. But AA-e Avere ncA^er afraid, and so aa'ou the struggle.

"When Ave Avere on the campaign one of the pleasant recollections of this grim time Avas the cooking my comrade, G. C. Blankenship. did for the mess. The men Avere supposed to take turns in this task but after they had all been tried out, Mr. Blankenship proved so superior in the culinary art that he was made chief cook for the rest of the campaign. He would bpen a sack of flour, mix up a batch of bread Avith his sour doug-h 'starting' and AA'hen that bread was baked in the camp oven Avith plenty of bacon grease it Avas a delight to the hungry men. One day, to vary the menu our cook rolled some sugar in the dough, cut it into little pieces and fried these in bacon grease. The result Avas the best doughnuts man ever tasted - or so Ave thought at the time. When I got home T tried them to show my Avomen folks hoAv, but they didn't taste so good. With this bread, doughnuts and bacon, beans and cotfee, Ave fared Avell on the trip.

the Lidians, I could speak their language and had many friends among them. I have worked as cabinet maker and carpenter for years in Olympia, and once went to Salem, Oregon, where 1 was engaged in a sash and door factory for three years, but always came back to this town."

"With my uncle, Rev. Geo. F. Whitworth, and my aunt, Eliza Whitworth, and her mother, Mrs. Sarah Thompson, my sister Sarah and the four young Whitworth ehiktren, I crossed the plains from Connelton, Indiana. Grandmother was 78 years old, and I was a young girl of sixteen.

"The way I happened to make this trip was, when the Presbyterian Board of Missionaries sent Uncle Whitworth out to preach the Gospel in the wilderness, he begged father to let my sister Sarah and myself come along as company for Aunt Eliza and to help take care of our grandmother. Of course, I was to go back in a year or tAvo, but it has been over sixty years since I made that journey and 1 have never been back yet.

"We had no special hardships on the trip, other than was to be expected from camping out for so long a time and the fatigue of constant but slow travelling, for we had ox teams. There were 40 wagons in our train, and so, owing to our considerable numbers, we were not molested by the lull ians, although once we Avere followed 150 miles by a band of warriors, who told us they intended killing every one of our party in revenge for the death of one of their number, which had occurred shortly before. An emigrant in a train fihead of ours had shot and killed the Indian, The brave who came into our camp to tell us of their intentions amused himself by marking off with stakes in the ground the length of the graves he informed us we would soon occupy when they had finished us. But they never seemed to find the weak spot in our defense and finally gave over following us. When we reached the Snake river we waited for other teams along the road to join us for further protection. Two wagons came along the trail with their beds completely riddled from the Indians' bullets. They had been attacked by a roving band,

"Uncle Whitworth would have no Sunday traveling, and the train was always halted on this day, and we laid by for rest, and generally held some kind of worship. But w^hen we reached the Blue oMountains the supplies were running so low that the other people in the train determined to travel all day Sunday. We started up the Blue JMountains on this particular Sabbath day, which was the first we had failed to properly observe. When we were rounding a canyon I was driving the oxen on one side anci my sister on the other to keep them in the narrow road. The front yoke deliberately walked off over the edge of the precipice. The rigging gave way and left a single yoke of young oxen to hold the wagon from slipping back down the hillside. These animals strained till their horns w^ere buried in the dust of the road, and they were brought to their knees before the wagon could be stopped. That was our first Sunday trial. As evening came en Uncle Whitworth had to take our big wagon and strike out to the river, twelve miles away, leaving Aunt Eliza, one of the children and me to guard the other wagon. We were frightened, for the coyotes were howling round and it was a fearsome spot. William Mitchell, who was wnth our train, heard of our being left behind alone and rode back to stay with us till Uncle Whitworth could return. We were so glad to see him and appreciated his thoughtfulness.

"When we reach Portland, Uncle Whitworth came on up to Fort Steilacoom to take up his missionary labors. He found an Episcopal minister already stationed at the fort, and doing such a noble work that there seemed to be no field of labor there for any other minister. But in Olympia there was a good opening, and it seemed to him that he could do a great deal of good in this new place, so decided to locate here. There was scarcely anybody living here then, the settlement being mostly at Tumwater, but at what is now known as Priest's Point some Catholic fathers had established a mission.

"Uncle took up a donation claim on land adjoining the mission property, Iniilt a temporary home for his family and ])egan his missionary labors. He organized the First Presbyterian church in Olympia, also at Chehalis, and the one on

Chambers prairie. Riding for miles to carry the gospel wherever a few were congregated, sometimes being obliged to teach school to support his family, so meager was the pittance allowed him by the Presbytery, and so poor were his congregations. He was a good man and has gone to a well earned reward.

"Aunt Eliza, with the rest of the family, had staj^ed in Portland the first winter in the West, while Uncle Whitworth was locating on the Sound. Aunt and my sister, Sarah, taught school that winter to pay our expenses.

"In Ma}' of the following summer Uncle came to bring us to our new home. The trip in the Indian canoes up the Cowlitz river was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. J was totally unused to water, and although the canoes were large, they looked dangerous to me. Indeed, one of the canoes was upset and we lost all our bread and dishes, although the latter were recovered after several weeks and sent on to us. We found refuge the night we reached the landing in the home of ^Ir. Lemon, whose son is now ]Millard Lemon, the Olympia capitalist.

"We were met at the landing by Judge B. F. Yantis with an ox team to bring us to our new home. As we had to camp out along the way from the Cowlitz to Olympia, the loss of our dishes was very inconvenient. Judge Yantis searched among the ranch houses to find cups for us to drink out of, but all the dishes he could procure were three small sugar bowls of thick earthenware. These the elders used for drinking cups, but we younger ones had to use egg shells from which to drink our coffee. But we enjoyed the experience and thought coffee never tasted so good.

"We had one scare as a Avelcome to the new country. At the Cowlitz landing were a number of Indian tents and in them were some very sick squaws and pappooses. Harry Whit- Avorth, then about nine years old, went in among them, carrying them water and tending them until way in the night. Later it developed that the disease with which the Indians were ill was smallpox, and that in the most virulent form. So severe did the disease rage that that particular band of Indians was slmost lost. We watched Harry with great uneasiness till the

"When we reached Tuinwater Judge Yantis, who was alwavs full of his fun and iokes, took Sarah and me to visit an Indian camp, to see what he told us would be our eatables from now on. They had just finished drying and hanging up a string of geoducks. The long necks and scaly looking bodies of this, tp us. new species of salt water products, did not look very inviting.

"From Tumwater we took canoes for Priests Point, where I^ncle's claim was. If I was frightened before, imagine my sensations when I was placed in a tiny craft that, when T was in with my Indian paddler, was only about one inch above the water of Puget Sound. When we reached the point belovv' the mission all our household goods we had with us had to be carried by hand up the hill to our home. Grandmother, who had shared in all our adventures, could not climb up there, however, so sister Sarah and myself put her in the little old rocking chair we had brought clear from our old home in Indiana for her to sit in and carried her up the hill and the ciuarter of a mile to where our house stood. This house was but a shack 16x16 built of poles and covered, sides and all. with cedar bark. There was a fireplace in one end three or four feet across and one of the most joyous objects we had beheld for a long time.

"The good fathers at the mission were our only neighbors, and the wopds came close to our shack. In our immediate neighborhood was an Indian burial place, the bodies lianging in the branches of the tall trees, laid in canoes. It was to us a fearsome sight, but Ave became accustomed to it, and did not mind it after a while. Indeed, we much preferred these dead Indians to some of those still alive, for it was at this time that the Indian trouble was on.

"That summer Uncle raised quite an amount of potatoes and, as we had no cellar, was at loss where tp stpre them, until &pmeone pointed out that in the field where he was clearing there were a number of big trees, the roots of which had been burned into, leaving hollows and thus forming excellent places for storing the potatoes.

berries we found growing here in profusion. As sugar was scarce and very expensive we used wild honey as the preservative. Honey bee trees were frequently located, and it was one of the sports of the time to cut one down and secure the sweets stored in the hollow trunk. We had rough and tumble times, but good times withal. Life was full of snap and enjoyment in simple pleasures. We had our mail about every six weeks, and for the first few years all our supplies came from the Sandwich Islands. It was a great day when we began to get things in from San Francisco ; we began to feel quite civilized. I remember the first apples ever grown in Thurston County. They were grown on a tree planted by ]\Ir. Axtel, on Grand Mound prairie. Mrs. Axtel told the boys that if they did not touch the fruit when it was ripe she would make them a pie. They obeyed and when that pie was made, so precious were the apples they went in, peel and all. No wasting good fruit by taking off even the thinnest peeling.

"We lived in the shack Uncle' Whitworth had provided for us for quite a while, but finally we were ready for a new house, so comes from Olympia David Beatty and A. J. Linville, carpenters, to build our new house. And that is the time and the place I met ^Ir. Beatty. These men cut down trees from the land around the site of the new house, split them into boards and planed out the weather boarding, all by hand. They made a very creditable and comfortable residence, which we appreciated after our crowded quarters. We sent for our household furnishings, books, etc., which came around the Horn, and from San Francisco were sent on l)y sailing vessels to this port.

"As the Indians were getting ti"ou])lesome Uncle Whit- Avorth asked the mission fathers if they considered our situation dangerous. They replied, 'Not yet, we will give you warning, if it becomes so, in time for you to go to the stockade in Olympia.' In about two weeks this warning was given and we fled to town. Again we carried grandmother in her little chair to the water and set her into a canoe. We found j-cfuge in two rooms over ]\Ir. Beatty 's shop. These rooms had been fitted up as a photograph gallery by Samuel Holmes father of Fred Holmes and ]\Irs. Robert Frost, and was the

"Mr. Beatty and I were married in 185G after the Indian war was over. We at one time took up a homestead of 160 acres on Ayers' Hill, Joining Swan's donation claim. ^Ir, Beatty built a cabin on one side of a stream that flowed there then, and his partner, Mr. Linville, lived on the other side of the stream, but it was so lonesome and the trees were so formidable that the places were abandoned. The timber alone, in after j'ears on those claims, would have been worth a fortune.

"Uncle Whitworth, Aunt Eliza, the grandmother, Sister Sarah, all are gone. I can think of no one of my associates of those early days who is still living. Our daughter Adelaide. i>: the only child we have ever had."

Pioneer Reminiscences 95 Mrs, John G. Parker

Have yon ever opened a long-forgotten desk and taken out n packet of letters tied with faded blue ribbon, and caught the sweet, evanescent perfume of rose leaves and violets which have been put away ])y hands which have long since finished their earthly tasks? Such were the sensations of the compiler of these reminiscences when journeying back to the days of long tgo with ]Mrs. John G. Parker. Sweet and full of girlish romance were the memories evoked of conquests, triumphs and innocent coquetry of this belle of Olympia of the early '50 's, although the dear old lady could also tell of hardships and privations that would undoubtedly crush a girl of modern days.

In Mrs. Parker's words will her story be told, for they were more eloquent and expressive than any at my command, but the reader will miss the inspiration of watching the delicate color come and go in the faded but still lovely face, of listening to the gentle voice thrill and tremble over the exciting or sorrowful portions of the narrative, of being taken back to the actual scenes and experiences of those days that are no more.

"When I was a young girl of a little less than sixteen years of age, living in Saline County, Missouri, my father, Gilmore Hays, decided to leave the old homestead and take his family out to Oregon, as all this section of the country was then called. Father had been out West before and knew that the land was full oi richness and opportunities for amassing wealth such as would never be found in the more settled country. There were six boys in our family and father 1 bought they would stand a better chance to get on in the world when the time came for them to branch out for themselves in the new country. Father's enthusiasm spread to a lot of our kinsfolks and tlun' decided to join our train and cross the plains with us.

"I can't tell now just how many -wagons there wei-e in line when we pulled out for our start for the long journey over the Oregon Trail. But the ones whom I am able to recall were the family of Dr. N. Ostrander, Uncle Frank Yantis with his family, George Scott and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Hillory Butler, my father's brother Isaac Hays, Rev. Lapsley Yantis and many others.

'"The tirst stages of the trip were full of pleasure and delight, especially to us younger members of the train. Although the greater part of the w^agons were drawn by yokes of oxen and perforce the travel w^as slow, ^ve younger ones had each »'Ur oAvn pony and would ride far in advance of the train, pick cut a good camping place where there was wood, water and grass for the animals. Here we would dismount and the young men proceed to collect piles of wood for the camp fires in the evening while we girls would skylark around, pick flowers and rest beneath the trees by the side of the beautiful streams which we frecj[uently were fortunate enough to find for our tamping place. When the wagons would pull in tow^ards evening it was a hurry-up to get supper, turn out the stock and then all hands gather around the enormous eampfires where merry jest, songs and cheerful companionship banished every thought of homesickness or foreboding. We had several violins, a banjo and many fine voices in the party, so music was enjoyed almost every evening.

"I must fell you about my pony. She was the fastest animal in the train, a perfect beauty and a great pet, and an animal of more than ordinary intelligence. So speedy wa*? she that the hunters always borrowed her w^hen they wanted to run down a buffalo to replenish our supply of fresh meat. One day I was in a pet towards the other girls in the train, Sarah Yantis and her sister. Mrs. PuIIen, (these girls were afterwards ^Irs. G. C. Blankenship and Mrs. Dick Wood), So I told them to ride on and I would waif for the wagons, letting my pony eat by the road side. As soon as they had disappeared along the trail I dismounted and sat down in the grass. That pony would scarcely eat a mouthful so intently rid she watch, looking all around for possible danger. When the wagons came on up and father saw me there alone he scolded me good and hard and said the horse show^ed a good deal more sense than I did. But some way I Avas never in the least afraid of the Indians and thought the tales I heard of their cruelty and treachery were mostly imaginary. I was to learn better a few years afterwards during the Indian war in Washington.

"Well, all went merry as a marriage bell until we reached Fort Laramie. Here was the parting of the ways. Uncle Lapsley Yantis was a Presbyterian minister and as good a man as ever trod the earth, and he was strong for whatever he considered to be the right, and to travel on the Sabbath day was not right according to his views. Father was also a good man but he was more practical and had different ideas from Uncle Lapsley. He reasoned that even if the train did lay over and not travel on Sundays that the emigrants would probably not observe the day any better than those who pushed on toward their journey's end. The women w^ould bake, wash, etc., and the young folks get into various kinds of mischief, but m.ost weighty argument of all, the cattle would become so scattered in a whole day's and two nights' layoff that, in his judgment, it was better to keep going. The leaders couldn't agree, so the train was divided, some going on with father and the remainder staying Avith the Sabbath keepers. Was it a judgment from God that as soon as the decision was made and we began to fail in Sabbath observance dire calamity befell us? It certainly looked so. Soon after the separation we overtook an emigrant wagon in which was a sick boy. Mother offered her services to the parents of the lad and did what she <:ould do for them in the way of nursing and simple remedies to relieve the lad's fever. Little did she suspect the nature of the disease she came in contact with. About ten days after encountering the sick boy she was taken down with a raging fever which soon developed into a severe case of black measles. Soon nearly all the young people of the train w^ere inflicted with the dread disease. Of my six brothers one after another died till three graves were made along the roadside. But before Brother Henry died mother, too, was taken. Henry seemed to be getting over the measles and we hoped for a time he might be spared us. One night, after convalescence had set in, we were sitting around the campfire, no longer gleeful and singing, but oppressed with our dreadful sorrow.

Henry was well enough then to eat some ham which I had cooked for supper. After eating he complained of a terrible thirst and kept drinking water. Soon cramps set in and he was dead before morning. I thought father would go crazy at this terrible last blow.

"We reached Salmon Falls in Idaho before mother died, and although I did not know of it till a year afterwards when I again met my cousin, Sarah Yantis. in Olympia, I must tell of her resting place. We had to roll the body in a blanket - there was, of course, no way to make even the rudest coifin, and after the mortal remains of our dear mother had been covered the best we could, father took off a piece of the end board of the wagon and wrote her name, Naomi Hayes, on it. Then we had to go on and leave her there.