Walla Walla County, Washington - Chapter 8: Political History of Walla Walla County, 1s63-1866, 1901

Chapter 8: Political History of Walla Walla County, 1s63-1866

The legislature of 1858, by the erection of Spokane county, made the Snake river constitute the north and east boundary line of \\'alla Walla county, which still included all the territory between the Cascade range and the Columbia ri\-er. with the exception of Klickitat county. In January, 1863, the legislature of the territory created the county of Stevens; the same being taken from Walla Walla county and located west of the Columbia, along the borders of the British possessions and north of the Wenatchee river. The new county was attached to Spokane for judicial purposes.

The little city of Walla Walla had thus far been on the direct route to the mines and had grown and prospered through the influence of the pack trains which were fitted out within her gates and through the flocking of the miners to the place to spend their gold in various ways. But in the latter part of 1862 gold had been discovered in the famous Boise basin, in what is now the state of Idaho. This discovery deflected the line of goldseekers from Walla Walla, which was now to one side of the most diredt line for the transportation to the new region of the passengers and freight coming up the Columbia river. The tide of emigration to the new mines set in in the spring of 1863, and this led to the establishment of a new town at the confluence of the Columbia and Umatilla rivers, the name -of the latter being given to the new village.

From that point a line of stages was put in operation over the emigrant road to the Boise basin, and though W^alla Walla suffered somewhat from the deflection of travel and traffic, yet the energy and progressiveness of her merchants and citizens proved adequate t(i maintain to a large extent her trade jirestige, which attracted many o\'er from the slightly more direct route to the mines. Two stage lines gave a daily service between Walla Walla and Wallula, and these were taxed to accommodate passengers, who paid five dollars fare, while the transportation of freight between the two points was effected by the payment of twenty dollars per ton. After July I a tri-weekly mail was received from and dispatched to The Dalles, this service proving (if great value. Some idea of the amount of freight passing through the country may be gleaned from the fact that, upon the completion of their thirteen-mile Dalles and Celilo railway, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company sold to the government for the sum of forty-three thousand dollars the teams they had been utilizing for the transportation of

Political Matters Ix 1863

At the time of the county election in 1863 a delegate to congress was to be chosen, and owing to the diverging opinions in regard to the Civil war, then in [jrogress, party alle- giance came to llie fruiit in tlie territory to a much greater extent than at any previous time. This led to a spirited campaign, the prime object of each party being, of course, to secure the election of their congressional candidate. George E. Cole, of Walla Walla, was the candidate of the Democratic party, and the Republican party spared no effort to reduce to the greatest extent possible his home majority. The Radical vote of the county in the year 1863 constituted only a little over one-third of its voting population, but a ticket was placed in the field for the sole purpose of maintaining a party organization, for the influence it might have in a territorial election. The result of the election in the county, on July 13, 1863, was as follows, the total vote cast having been a trifle less than six hundred : George E. Cole, the Democratic candidate for delegate to Congress, received 398 votes, while the Republican candidate. J. O. Raynor, received 146. Mr. Cole was ultimately elected by the vote of the territorj-. The only Republican elected on the county ticket was S.

B. Fargo, prosecuting attorney, and that the greater portion of the voters must have refrained from balloting on this candidate is evident when we revert to the fact that only forty-se\en votfes were cast, of which Mt. Fargo secured all but two. The other officers elected w^ere as follows : Joint councilman, Daniel Stewart; representatives, S. W. Babcock, F. P. Dugan and L. S. Rogers; sheriff, W. S. Gilliam; auditor, L. J. Rector; assessor, jury resulted in various charges of official malfeasance, negligence and even peculation. The situation may be briefly summed up by the comparison of the figures representing the available assets and the total indebtedness of the county on October 10. 1863. the report of the jury having Ijeen rendered on the 22(\ of that m(_inth. The total in the treasury at the date p.oted aggregated only $2,199.14, while the total amount due on county orders presented was $21,286.00, and on those not presented an additional $2,294.42, making a total of $27,,- 5S0.42. The jury caustically remarked in its report that "The county ofiicers' books, pre- \ious to the present incumbents, have been so imperfectly kept that it is impossible to derive a correct conclusion from them."

The early spring of 1864, ushered in after an exceptionally mild winter, seemed to give a spontaneous revival to the trade and mining activities east of the Cascades. Walla Walla showed herself capable of holding her own, and though not a city that vaunted herself, no one could deny that her precedence was still assured. The first line of stages between Walla Walla and the Boise basin was put in operation in the spring of this year by George F. Thomas & Company, though within the preceding year three different companies had been operating express business over the route in question. Walla \\'alla became, or continued, a central point for outfitting between the Columbia and the mining districts, notwithstanding the opposition offered by L'matilla, as already mentioned. Near the headwaters of the Colimibia river, in the British possessions, the Kootenai nn'ncs had been discovered, and this soon diverted much of the emigration from Boise to the new mines. All this tended to heget a greater confidence in the fntnre of the Walla \\'alla valley, which was growing to be regarded as a most fa\-orable place for permanent settlement.

The progress of the war of the Rebellion brought about an enrollment for a draft in the county, in 1864, and this indicated that there were 1,133 '"^''' '" ^'''^ county eligible for and subject to military duty, but the Democrats Hiade the claim at the time that fully three hundred of this number had been improperly enumerated, being simply transient residents, er: route to the mines. This enumeration, however, taken in connection with the ballot list of the last election, offers the only available data relative to the population of the county in 1S64.

The Statesman was authority for the information that the debt of the county at the close of the year 1864 aggregated seventeen thousand dollars, of wliich three thousand should be charged to defaulting officials, and four thousand five hundred dollars to loss by depreciation in the value of the county script, which was issued to pay for the county jail. The assessment rolls of the }'ear gi\-e the property valuation of the county at $1,545,056, - an increase of more than four hundred thousand dollars over that of the preceding year.

What was, perhaps, the most important e\-ent of the year, as bearing upon the dexelnpment and substantial growth of this section of the country, was the fortunate discovery to which another writer refers as follows: "'It was also fiiund in 1864 that tlie uplands of the Walla Walla country would produce grain, one of the farmers having gathered thirty-three bushels to the acre from a field of fifty acres, sower! the previous fall, on the hills that heretofore had been considered useless for agricultural ijurposes. This was a more important discoverv than that of the mountain gold-fields, for it was a bread mine, opened for millions that are yet to come. The drouth of 1S64 did not prevent a bounteous wheat harvest, and a larger surplus of grain than ever before in the valley, much of wdiich was sold at from one and a half to two cents per pound."

Election Of 1 864 Loyalty To The Union

The Democrats of Walla Walla county held a convention in the city of Walla Walla on the 1 8th of May, at which time resolutions were aaopted which indicated that at least the majority of those assembled were loyal to the Union cause. That there was a percentage of voters in the county in sympathy with the cause of the Confederacy was but natural, but these were not so rabid as to withdraw their allegiance from their party by reason of the resolutions wdiich signified the animus of the convention mentioned. Under title of the "Regular Democratic Ticket" the Democrats of the county placed a county and legislati\e ticket in the field, the opposition being represented by a ticket whose caption was "Unconditional Union Ticket."

The total number of votes cast was six hundred and twenty-eight. - a gain of only twentysix over the number polled in 1863. It was claimed that fully one hundred legal voters failed to avail themselves of the franchise. James McAuliff, who was later, and for many years, mayor of the cit}' of Walla Walla, of wdiich he is still an honored resident, was candidate for the office of treasurer on both tickets, and the result of the election was as follows:

The early spring of 1865 was marked by a renewed rusli of emigrants to the mining districts in the north. As early as February it was reported that there were more than a thoitsand miners congregated in Portland, where they awaited the opening of navigation on the Columbia that they might make their way onv.-ard to the mines of tlie "upper country." Thev were followed by . many other eager searchers for the hidden aurific deposits. Agriculture was gradually advancing in e.xtent and importance in the \\'alla Walla country, and prices still continued high. In June eggs were selling in Walla Walla for forty cents per dozen and in September wheat commanded one dollar and a quarter per bushel. The city of ^\'alla W'alla was visited by a disastrous fire on the 3d of August, and many valuable documents were destroyed, including the county assessment rolls, town plats and city records. In this year the town of Waitsburg, on the Tmichet river, had its inception, the nucleus ci: the now prosperous municipality being a school-house and a flouring mill.

iutd hitherto been e\idenced. The Democratic party girded its loins and claimed to have gained in numerical strength through the later immigration; while the Republican party perfected a thorough organization. The delegates of the latter to the territorial convention were instructed to support Elwood Evans for congressional delegate, but the successful candidate for nomination was Arthur A. Dennv, who had been for four years register of the land office at Olympia.

While the Democratic convention of \\'alla Walla county conceded that political expediency authorized the selection of a congressional delegate resident west of the Cascades, they instructed their delegates to present the name of James H. Lasater for the office in case ot disagreement as to choice of a candidate from the coast country. James Tilton was, however, the nominee of the territorial convention. The result of the election in Walla ^\'alla county was as follows, the election taking place on the 5th of June :

The political situation in 1865 was such as county was 749, a gain of 122 over the numto arouse a more determined party interest than ber of ballots cast at the election of the preced- h.g year. The several precincts in the county two candidates, as is shown by tlie returns enwere respectively represented in this total as tered above. The Republican candidate for follows: Walla \\'alia, 539: ^^'allula, 54; L^pper ccngressional delegate was elected by a ma- I'ouchet, 96; Lower Touchet, 39: Pataha, jority of over one thousand. Anderson Co.k 16; Snake River. 5. The average Democratic was elected joint councilman to fill a vacancy vote of Walla Walla city was 291 and the caused by the removal of Daniel Stewart from Republican 238. It is to I)e noted that in all the territory, but the latter returned and claimed the other precincts majorities were given to the the seat when he was advised that a Republican Republican candidates, liut the Democratic had been elected. Singularly enough, he did ticket was \-icti.irious, witii the exception of not occupv the seat.