Yakima County, Washington - Chapter 4: Current History, 1904 (part 1 of 2)

Unfortunately, the first months of Yakima county's history as a political division of the state were not entirely free from disaster. The opening of the winter was somewhat unpropitious, the cattle being poor and ill prepared to withstand the rigors of a possible cold season. This was owing to the fact that the previous winter had brought but little snow, causing the grass of the ensuing summer and fall to be short and lacking in succulence. So it happened that when the weather became severe, as it did January 2d, the death rate among range stock ran up to an unusual height. In its issue of January 30th, the Yakima Herald said:

"There is no question but that the cattle have suffered greatly this winter and that the loss is heavy. It was not the cold nor the snow but the poor condition in which they had entered upon the winter. Had the grass been good during the summer the loss would have been light, but with no snow during the winter of 1888-9, the range has never been known to be so poor before. The chinook which has been blowing most of the week cleared away much of the snow but still left a coating sufficient to make feeding necessary. Joseph Baxter believes that ten per cent, have thus far been lost."

In its issue of February 27th, the same paper tells us that not only had the loss among cattle been great, but that of horses was depressingly heavy; that the range riders were still bringing in gloomy reports and that Joseph Baxter then estimated the loss of cattle in the county at fifty per cent, and of horses twenty-five per cent.

A single additional quotation from the Herald will give the reader a sufficiently clear idea of the cattle losses of the winter of 18S9-90. In its issue of March 6th, it said:

"The backbone of the winter has at last been broken. The winter has been a hard one on stock, and many of the largest cattlemen have received a blow from which it will take a number of seasons to recover. To estimate the percentage of loss is difficult. Snipes & Allen, P. J. Flint, Baxter & Sharkey and other large cattle raisers will lose more than fifty per cent, of their bands, while the loss of the Moxee Company and many of those with a few hundred head, who had plenty of feed, will be comparatively light. The loss on different ranges varied. The cattle on the Moxee range doubtless suffered the least, while the mortality on the Cowiche, Lower Yakima and Horse Heaven ranges was the greatest. In the Naches, Wenas and Ahtanum valleys the cattlemen generally had sufficient feed, but had the severe weather lasted a week or ten days longer, all the hay in the country would have been exhausted. The loss falls principally on a few, as the farmers with barnyard stock or small herds of range cattle had, for the most part, ample provision for caring for the stock, and their losses are slight. At the commencement of winter the estimate of range cattle in the county was twenty thousand. Roughly stated, half of these are now dead, and two-thirds of this loss will fall on less than a dozen men. It was the longest and most trying winter since the memorable one of 1880-81."

But the time had gone by when a blow to the cattle industry was sufficient to paralyze even temporarily the entire progressiveness of the county, and the loss of the winter of 18S9-90, though severe on those whom it directly affected, caused no halt in the march of the county's industrial development. Besides the stimulus which its admission to the Union had given to the state at large, a stimulus which could not fail to make itself felt in every part of the commonwealth, there were progressive forces specially affecting central Washington at this time. The reasonable contention of both Ellensburg and North Yakima for the honors and benefits of becoming the state capital was advertising the resources of the country contiguous to. each and directing public attention thither. The attention of capital had been at length attracted by the splendid opportunities for profitable investment the Yakima and Kittitas valleys offered, and large irrigation enterprises were being inaugurated. Furthermore, there was much activity among railway companies and many reasons were given the people to hope that their section would soon be traversed by more than one iron pathway of commerce. Were it not for the panic of 1893, which prevented the consummation of some of these schemes, the development of Yakima and Kittitas counties would have been marvelously rapid. As it was, the railways failed to materialize, though the oldest irrigation scheme has since eventuated in the mammoth Sunnyside canal, and some of the less pretentious projects have been carried to a successful consummation.

Notwithstanding their failure, a short discussion of the railway projects of the time may throw an important side-light upon this period of the country's history. One of these was a road from Portland, Oregon, across the Cascades to tap the wheat fields, mining districts and gardens of central and eastern Washington. The aggregation of New York and English capitalists which projected the road styled themselves the Portland, Lower Columbia and Eastern Washington Railroad Company. A committee of this corporation was met at Portland in December, 1889, by Hon. J. B. Reavis, George W. Jones and Edward Whitson, from North Yakima, to whom through its committee, the company stated in writing the following proposals: In consideration of Yakima's subscribing a bonus of one hundred thousand dollars, the company agreed to build a road from some point on the Columbia river in Clarke county to North Yakima and have the same equipped and in operation within two years. The bonus was not to be paid until the completion of the road but was to draw interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum. North Yakima was to be given depot facilities within the corporate limits and for a time at least was to be made the terminus of the road, although the plans contemplated its extension to a connection with the Canadian Pacific, which would give North Yakima another transcontinental road.

On December 20th, an enthusiastic meeting was held at the council chambers. It resulted in the appointment of G. W. Jones, Captain J. H. Thomas, William Ker, J. C. MacCrimmon, John Bartholet, S. J. Lowe and W. A. Cox a committee to canvass the town for the purpose of receiving the subscriptions. These gentlemen began at once their herculean labors and continued them with such success that by January 16, 1890, more than the required sum was subscribed, as appears from the following peal of triumph in the Herald of that date:

"Yakima aspired to raise one hundred thousand dollars bonus. She has not only raised that amount but three thousand dollars over. She has done that which Walla Walla and Ellensburg failed in, and which has only been equaled in this great state by rich and prosperous Spokane Falls. The latter raised one hundred thousand dollars as a bonus to secure the building of the Spokane and Northern railroad, and now plucky Yakima, which claims a population only one-eighth as great as that of the Empire City, comes proudly to the front with a like amount for the Portland, Lower Columbia and Eastern Washington Railroad Company. * * * Edward Whitson heads the list with six thousand dollars; J. H. Thomas and

The central Washington country also had another railway prospect at this time. It was furnished by the Illinois Central, one of the richest railroad corporations, which sent in May, 1889, a party of engineers from Sioux Falls to seek out a feasible route to the sound. The party arrived at North Yakima September 16th ensuing. From their leader, George M. Nix; who was the general manager of the Midland Pacific Railroad Company, it was learned that the party had traveled westerly up the Lugenbee river, thence through the Big Horn and Wind River mountains; thence across the Rocky mountains and down the Salmon and Snake rivers to Lewiston; thence down the Snake, crossing the Northern Pacific at Palouse Junction, thence westerly via Crab creek coulee to Priest Rapids of the Columbia, from which point they proceeded through the Moxee coulee to North Yakima. To a press reporter Mr. Nix made the statement that the line was not only feasible but that its grades were economic, that the road would traverse a splendid country yet untapped by railroads and that fewer difficulties would be encountered in its construction than have been surmounted by the other transcontinental lines. He also claimed the route was three hundred miles shorter from Chicago to Puget Sound than that of the Northern Pacific, and advanced the opinion that if the rest of the country presented no greater obstacles than had that already traversed, engineering parties would be in the field in the early months of 1890 permanently locating the road.

All these projects naturally had the effect of encouraging home-seekers to come to the country, even though there was no assurance that they would ever materialize;. but the local project, that of constructing the large irrigating ditch, was much more direct and immediate in its effects. The history of the Sunnyside canal scheme takes us back to about 1885, when the first survey was made. However, the enterprise was not taken up in good earnest until 1889, when a number of persons experienced in irrigation conceived the idea of buying up the lands of the Northern Pacific Company to the southward of North Yakima and constructing a canal to water them and alternate sections belonging to the government. With this end in view they began again the work of surveying for a practicable route. The result of the investigations of their corps of engineers is embodied in a report of Chief Engineer J. D. Mclntyre, the most of which is here reproduced :

I completed the surveys of the Yakima canal November 2, i88g. after having been engaged with an assistant engineer and a force of men for about three months. Four hundred and seventy-one miles of grade line in all were run and six different routes investigated.

The plan at first proposed was to build an irrigating canal from Union Gap onto what is known as the "Sunnyside" lands along the Yakima river in Yakima county, Washington, which lie on the easterly side of the Yakima river between Union Gap and the mouth of the Yakima river. Six other engineers had preceded me at various times during the past four years, and they had all reported that the Sunnyside line which begins at Union Gap was the only practicable route. I found this line to be a favorable one, but too low to cover more than forty-seven thousand acres of railroad land; the estimated cost for eighty miles of canal about four hundred and seventy thousand dollars, and it was decided that unless a higher line covering more land could be found it would be better to abandon the enterprise. I shall not attempt to describe in detail the various routes surveyed and abandoned, but will confine my description to the one adopted, which I call the "Natcheez line."

The Natcheez line begins at the Natcheez river, about two miles above where that stream mingles with the waters of the Yakima, and runs in a southerly direction around and to the west of the Ahtanum basin, crosses the Athanum creek about five miles to the west of its confluence with the Yakima river; follows along the steep hillside south of Ahtanum creek to Union Gap, a distance of about eighteen miles; thence across the Yakima river by a pipe line to the easterly side of the river, at which point the elevation obtained above the Yakima river and above the Sunnyside line is one hundred and ninety-nine feet; thence along the foot of the Rattlesnake range in a southeasterly direction to a point about north of the town of Prosser. a distance of about eighty miles, making in all a length of ninety-eight miles of canal. By the adoption of this route the great objection of all lines heretofore run by us or by the engineers of the Northern Pacific Land Department to cover the Sunnyside lands is fully overcome. It is one hundred and ninety-nine feet higher; its course heads many of the deep ravines encountered by the other lines and covers more than twice as much land as any of them. I estimated the water in Natcheez river in September last, at a time when great drouth was prevailing, and found twenty-nine thousand miner's inches of water in the stream. There is probably from five to ten times as much water as this in the stream during the irrigating season. It has its source in the perennial snows of the Cascade mountains, and in my opinion the water supply is abundant and permanent and the title undisputed.

I took no cross-section of slopes, and my estimate is based simply upon the grade line. The estimated cost is five hundred thousand dollars for the canal ninety-eight miles long. Storage reservoirs may be built at a cost" of one hundred thousand dollars, which will double the capacity of the canal. In order to successfully irrigate the whole tract of two hundred thousand acres of land a lower line of canal should be built at some future time after the settlement will justify it, to be taken from Yakima river five miles above Union Gap and extended around Moxee valley, and thence parallel "with the old Sunnyside line, a distance of about eighty miles, which, with a proper system of storage reservoirs, would cost approximately four hundred thousand dollars, making in all the total estimate of cost one million dollars. These estimates are based upon a canal twenty feet wide on the bottom, thirty feet wide on top, and capable of carrying four feet of water for one-half the length of each canal, and fourteen feet wide on the bottom and twenty-four feet wide on top, and capable of carrying three feet of water for the lower half of each canal.

By reference to the general map herewith, the locality of the lands is shown. * * * The surface or contour of the ground is rolling and broken by occasional ravines. The soil is sandy - a loam - having its origin in the sediments of a great inland lake, varying in depth from five to fifty feet and resting upon a bed of basaltic rock. No bowlders or gravel channels are found in the tract. The basaltic rock comes to the surface at rare intervals, but does not reduce materially the amount of available agricultural land. The slope is generally to the south and the surface is covered with a thick growth of sage brush, varying in height from two to five feet.

The productions of the Yakima valley are very much the same as those of Fresno county, California, omitting, of course, the oranges. The cereals all do well, but the character of the products, such as fruits, hops, tobacco and alfalfa, are such as will make the lands too high-priced to be used for the production of cereals. I have made a close examination of the products of the basin with a view to finding out what kinds of fruits, vines and plants are best adapted to the soils and climate. I find that the staples are grapes, apples, pears, peaches, plums, prunes, sorghum, melons, tobacco, hops, alfalfa or lucerne, sweet potatoes, peanuts and all the small fruits. Wheat produces with irrigation about thirty-five bushels per acre, oats fifty bushels, barley forty bushels, rye thirty-five bushels. I saw eleven different kinds of shade trees growing in one yard; the butternut, walnut, maple, mountain oak, ash, weeping willow and cypress growing side by side. Those who are said to be experts in grape culture claim that the finest varieties of wine grapes are grown here. The tobacco raised from Havana seed upon the Moxee farm near North Yakima and there made into cigars is said to possess a flavor not excelled in this country. The Yakima basin must at no distant day become famous for its productions of many of the fruits, vines and plants mentioned above.

The climate may be regarded as semi-tropical about ten and one-half months of the year and the products are semi-tropical. Here may be found a latitude of forty-nine degrees north with a mean temperature about the same as San Francisco. This unusual feature of climate may be accounted for by the warm winds of the Japan current, which follow up the Columbia river through the rift in the Cascade mountains and deflect into the Yakima basin, so that when residents both north and south, during the months of the winter solstice, are suffering from cold, those of this region are enjoying bright suns and warm winds.

The result of this surveying was that on the 4th of December, 1889, the Yakima Canal and Land Company was organized with a capital stock of one million dollars divided into two hundred thousand shares. The officers of the company for the first three months were Walter N. Granger, of St. Paul, president; James Millisch, secretary, and Albert Kleinschmidt, of Helena, treasurer. Previous to making the surveys, this company had obtained from the Northern Pacific Company an option for the purchase of all railroad lands in the Sunnyside region. The success of Mclntyre's survey and the substantial evidences presented that the enterprise was about to be consummated induced the Northern Pacific Company to make advances to the irrigation company looking toward an amalgamation of interests, with the result that the Northern Pacific took two-thirds of the stock and lent its mighty force to the undertaking. Upon the entrance of the Northern Pacific into the company, Paul Schultze, of the land department, succeeded Mr. Granger as president, the latter taking the position of vice-president and general manager, and upon his shoulders fell the greater part of the burden of making a success of this gigantic industrial scheme. The name chosen for the new corporation was the Northern Pacific, Yakima and Kittitas Irrigation Company. It purposed to construct seven reservoirs in the mountains and to build one irrigation canal in Kittitas and two in Yakima county. In order that no mistake might be made, the services of William Hamilton Hall, a famous irrigation engineer of California, were procured to verify the work of Mr. Mclntyre and to make further surveys. His report on the practicability of the enterprise was favorable, and early in the year 1891 work on the great irrigation system was in progress. The company began operations on the lower of their two projected ditches in Yakima county, one which "left the Yakima river just below a gap where the river pinches itself between two high hills. Nature seemed to have designed it as a place for an intake of a great canal. At once an agreement was made with the farmers by which their ditch, known as the Konnewock, was to be owned by the company and enlarged and extended, so as to carry one thousand cubic feet of water per second of time and serve sixty-eight thousand acres of land." Work was continued in the prosecution of this design until the main canal was constructed nearly to the forty-second mile-post, and many laterals were put in and land sales made. The first water was taken by the new settlers from the main canal in April, 1892. The next year operations had to be suspended, owing to the widespread financial depression, and a period of not a little distress among the settlers followed. But "they had before them what the farmers had accomplished under the Konnewock ditch, and they did not lose faith. They cleared their land of the sage brush ; they leveled it ; they placed water upon it; they planted fields of alfalfa, clover, timothy, corn and potatoes; they set out orchards of peaches, prunes, pears, apricots, cherries and apples," and with the advent of prosperity came also an abundant reward for their labors.

The stockmen of the Yakima valley were, in no wise dismayed by the approach of winter in the year 1890, as their cattle were in good condition and they had plenty of feed. Prices, however, were very low, owing to the fact that the hard winter of 1889-90 had discouraged many stockmen, causing them to rush to the markets with their cattle. Indeed, it seems that there was a species of reaction at this time from the great prosperity which ensued upon the building of the railroad, and a stringency of money was complained of throughout the entire Northwest. The Herald informs us that in the spring of 1890 the deposits of the First National Bank of North Yakima touched the low-water mark of about thirty thousand dollars. By May, however, they rose to an aggregate of more than eighty thousand, and it was thought that with the harvesting of bountiful crops in the fall all signs of depression would disappear. They did disappear, and there was no permanent financial stringency until the total eclipse of the sun of general prosperity in 1893.

During the fall of 1890 a very successful county fair was held at North Yakima of three days' duration. It is stated that the display of fruits and vegetables was excellent and that several hundred dollars were distributed as prizes among the exhibitors of stock, garden produce, dairy products, vegetables, fruits, cereals, poultry, mechanical devices, fine art work, fancy work, etc. The executive committee in charge of this fair was composed of Captain J. H. Thomas, Edward Whitson and Joseph M. Baxter.

An incident growing out of the inception and organization of the Washington state government was the contest among several different counties of the state over the agricultural college, each county contending for the location of the institution within its own borders. As the college had an endowment of one hundred and ninety thousand acres of land and an annual appropriation of thirty thousand dollars from the general government in addition to state aid, besides an appropriation by the preceding session of the legislature of sixty thousand dollars for building purposes, it was considered a valuable acquisition and well worth striving for. Of course, Yakima county wished it, and was ready to offer any reasonable inducements to secure it. On petition of men representing more than half the taxable property of the county, the commissioners, in special session assembled, on April 7, 1891, appropriated fifteen thousand dollars out of the general fund for the purpose of buying a site for the college should it decide to come to North Yakima.

Those appointed to decide upon the location of the coveted institution were George A. Black, S. B. Conover and Andrew H. Smith. About the last of April they rendered a decision in favor of Pullman, Conover and Black voting for that town, while Smith, of Tacoma, cast his ballot for North Yakima. It was thought that certain citizens of Pullman used improper influences to secure the college; indeed, some of them intimated as much to the writer a few years ago. The residents of North Yakima felt certain that the Palouse town had not won the prize fairly, also that there were irregularities in the appointment of the three commissioners, so they instituted a suit to test the validity of the award. Messrs. Crowley, Sullivan and Snively were retained to represent North Yakima in this litigation.

The case was tried before Hon. Fremont Campbell, judge of the superior court of Pierce county, who on May 20th granted the following temporary restraining order:

In the Superior Court of Pierce County, State of Washington. W. L. Jones, plaintiff, versus T. M. Reed, auditor of the State of Washington ; A. A. Lindsey, treasurer of the State of Washington; George A. Black, S. B. Conover and Andrew H. Smith, claiming to be commissioners, and S. B. Conover, J. H. Bellinger, Eugene Fellows, Andrew H.

Smith and George W. Hoppe, claiming to be regents of the agricultural college, school of science and experimental station of the State of Washington.

In this case a temporary restraining order is granted to restrain the defendant, T. M. Reed, auditor of the State of Washington, from issuing any order or warrant upon the treasurer of the State of Washington, for any money upon the order of George A. BUck, S. B. Conover and Andrew H. Smith, claiming to be commissioners appointed to locate the agricultural college, school of science and experimental station of the State of Washington, or upon any order or request made by S. B. Conover, Eugene Fellows, Andrew H. Smith, J. H. Bellinger and George W. Hoppe, claiming to be regents of the above named institution.

And the defendant, A. A. Lindsey, treasurer of the State of Washington, is hereby restrained and inhibited from paying any money upon orders drawn by said persons claiming to be commissioners, or said persons claiming to be regents aforesaid. And the said S. B. Conover, George A. Black and Andrew H. Smith are restrained from acting in any manner or attempting to act in any manner as commissioners, claiming to be appointed to locate an agricultural college, experimental station and school of science of the State of Washington.

And the said S. B. Conover. Eugene Fellows, J. H. Bellinger, Andrew H. Smith and George W. Hoppe, claiming to be regents of the agricultural college, experimental station and school of science of the State of Washington, are restrained and inhibited from doing any act whatever of any kind or character as such regents, or relating to the establishment, organization or conducting of said institution, to be in force until this application for a temporary injunction asked for by the complainant can be heard and determined, the hearing of which is set for the 29th of May, A. D. iSgi, at ten o'clock a. m. , before Judge Fremont Campbell at Tacoma, Washington.

The plaintiff to give an undertaking, with sufficient surety, with approval of the clerk of this court, for the sum of one thousand ($1,000) dollars.

Fremont Campbell, Judge of the Superior Court of Pierce County. June 12th Judge Campbell granted a permanent injunction against the parties named in the foregoing order. He filed a lengthy opinion holding that the agricultural college commissioners were never legally appointed, hence their proceedings were illegal and void, and any attempt on the part of the board of regents to appropriate the money of the state for the erection of buildings at Pullman, being based on the illegal and void acts of the commission, would therefore be illegal and a court of equity would have the power to restrain them from appropriating or paying out the money of the state in the carrying out of an illegal and unlawful purpose.

The case was of course appealed to the supreme court. It came on for hearing October 23d and was argued by Attorney-General Jones and Judge Turner for appellants, and D. J. Crowley and H. J. Snively for respondents. The chief questions at issue were: (1) Was the act of the commissioners in locating the college the act of an authorized body? (2) Can a taxpayer institute a suit to restrain the illegal disbursement of public money? (3) Does the allegation of the complaint stating that Acting Governor Laughtpn and Commissioners Black and Conover entered into a corrupt conspiracy to fraudulently locate the college at Pullman, the fact of locating being admitted, constitute a cause for canceling the findings of the commission? In due time the supreme court handed down a decision adverse to those at whose instance the restraining order was granted, and reversing the findings of Judge Campbell. Thus, Yakima county was defeated in the contest it waged with so much vigor and the erection of college buildings at Pullman was allowed to proceed.

It would appear from the local press that the summer of 1891 was an unusually rainy season. We are informed that on May 26th there was a cloudburst on the divide between the Moxee and the Konnewock, breaking the Konnewock ditch in several places, flooding a number of fields and threatening to carry away travelers, but doing no serious damage. Nealy a month later the Herald states that the rain of June 22d "from Union Gap bridge down was the hardest of the season, and above the place of M. B. Curtis and as far as the timber land of Peter Gervais it was a genuine waterspout. The road was gullied out in places, while tons of rock were piled up in others. The Konnewock ditch was broken in several places, and great quantities of mud and rock washed into the channel. At one place the ditch was completely filled up. A severe hailstorm accompanied the rain, and at one place there must have been a wagon load of hail stones washed into a heap in a canyon. The berries have been badly injured by the continued rain, and corn is also damaged."

Yet it is safe to assert that 1891 was nevertheless a prosperous year in the county. Stockmen were jubilant over excellent range and high prices, and that other producers were reaping abundant harvests is apparent from the shipments at North Yakima, one of the nine shipping points of the county, which shipments according to the statement of Agent Humphrey were as follows: Hops, 45 cars, containing 2,746 bales; mineral water, 245 packages, weighing 39,200 pounds; hay, 155 cars, weighing 3, 100 tons; sheep, 86 cars, containing 16, 779 head; hogs, 4 cars, containing 191 head; cattle, 128 cars, containing 2,816 head: horses, 12 cars, containing 26S head; hides, 934 packages, weighing 52,000 pounds; eggs> 80 packages, weighing 4,000 pounds; onions, 2 cars, containing 475 sacks, weighing 42,750 pounds; vegetables, 4 cars, weighing 96,000 pounds; fruit, 6,615 packages, weighing 190.300 pounds; flour, 99 cars, weighing 1,911,850 pounds; wool, 82 packages, weighing 27,000 pounds; potatoes, 92 cars, weighing 1,822,200 pounds; melons, 59 cars, weighing 1,416,000 pounds: estimated total value, $291,500.

- With the opening of the year 1892 came renewed activity in the great work of redeeming the soil by irrigation. In January, arrangements were made' for the construction of a canal from Horn Rapids of the Yakima river to the Columbia. The ditch was to extend along the south side of the Yakima, but it was also proposed to redeem several thousand acres on the north side, conveying the water across the river by means of conduits. This work was undertaken by a corporation known as the Yakima Irrigation and Improvement Company. Their operations made things lively in the vicinity of Kennewick throughout the whole of 1892 and a portion of the succeeding year. The ditch they constructed was, however, inadequate, but it has been recently enlarged and improved until it is now claimed to be the finest canal of its kind in the state.

The Cowiche and Wide Hollow irrigation district, on January 9, 1892, held an election at which was carried by a vote of fifty-two to fifteen the proposition to bond the district for a half million dollars for the construction of an irrigating canal. The plan was to take water out of the Tietan river by a canal ten and a half miles long and to distribute the same by three laterals, one to cover the Naches and Cowiche ridge, one the Cowiche valley and one to skirt the foothills. It was proposed to irrigate in all about forty-six thousand acres.

The interest of the people in irrigation was manifested March 26th on the occasion of the completion of the first twenty-five-mile section of the Northern Pacific, Yakima and Kittitas Irrigation Company's canal. "The announcement of the date of the ceremonies," says the Herald, "was very brief, but sufficient to attract a large throng of people, who, early in the morning, could be seen wending their way down the river road by every means of conveyance that could possibly be secured. Paul Schultze, president of the company, arrived in his special car on the eight o'clock train from Tacoma, accompanied by a number of distinguished guests, including T. B. Wallace, president of the Fidelity bank; Theodore Hosmer, president of the Tacoma Light and Water Company; George Brown, of the Tacoma Lumber Company; I. W. Anderson, president of the Tacoma Land Company; President Strong, of the Eastman Kodak Company, and Architect Pickles, who were desirous of witnessing the ceremonies and inspecting the great work, which is but the beginning of the most important system of irrigation canals in America. The intake of the canal, where the dams and head-gates are located, is seven miles from North Yakima and within sight of the Two Buttes, the historic Indian battle-ground. There a platform had been built, and at ten o'clock Hon. R. K. Nichols, as master of ceremonies, called the assembled people to order. * * * Hon. Edward Whitson, Hon. J. B. Reavis, Hon. Gardner C. Hubbard (of Washington, D. C.) and Paul Schultze made speeches appropriate to the occasion. Miss Dora" Allen broke a bottle of champagne over the head-gates as the waters swirled into the new canal and the band played lively airs." The whole country celebrated, and the Herald considered the occasion sufficiently important to call for an illustrated special edition.

An event of the year 1892, which evinces the faith of the leading citizens in the present prosperity and future prospects of their county, was the incorporation on April 19th of the Yakima, Natcheez and Eastern Railway Company. Its capitalization was five hundred thousand dollars, divided into five thousand shares, and the objects it purposed to accomplish were to construct, maintain and operate a system of railways, telegraph and telephone lines upon the following routes: A line commencing at North Yakima and running through the Moxee valley and the Moxee pass to a point on the Columbia river at or near Priest rapids; a line commencing at North Yakima and running thence up the Naches river to the mouth of Bumping river, thence to Bumping lake, thence to certain coal fields at or near Fish lake, known as the Yakima coal fields; a line commencing at North Yakima and running in a general southeasterly direction into and through that portion of Yakima county known as the Konnewock valley and Sunnyside; a line commencing at North Yakima and running by the most convenient route up the Ahtanum valley to the Yakima mineral springs, and thence up the north fork of the Ahtanum for a distance of twenty miles; a line commencing at North Yakima and running in a southerly direction to Satus creek, and thence by the most practicable route through Satus canyon to Goldendale ; all the roads to be narrow gauge.

The company, of which George Donald was president and Edward Whitson vice-president, asked a bonus of one hundred thousand dollars and the various rights of way. This the people of North Yakima and the county were willing to furnish, but the hard times came on before all preliminary arrangements could be made and the enterprise was of necessity abandoned.

A single other event of the very busy and prosperous year 1892 can receive notice in this review. On the morning of March 2d an earthquake shock was experienced from Santa Ana, California, to North Yakima. The disturbances were felt by numerous persons in different parts of this county, but no damage resulted. At Fort Simcoe the peculiar rockings of the earth were somewhat more violent than elsewhere in central Washington, the shocks numbering three, as they did also in Portland and The Dalles. Charles Lombard, clerk at the Yakima agency, stated that a very light shock was felt there at 2:45 a. m. and two heavy ones at 3 and 3:20 respectively. "The latter," said he, "frightened the inhabitants, made the houses rock and shook down a portion of the plastering in the new boarding-house. It also wrenched the office sufficiently to tear away the light wire fencing attached to the front. Mrs. George L. Mattoon

An important point was scored for Yakima county in the state legislature during the earliest months of the year 1893. Representative Webb, of King county, introduced a bill for the organization of a state agricultural fair for the advancement of agriculture, stock raising, horticulture, mining, mechanical and industrial pursuits, etc. The bill also provided that exhibitions should be given at or near North Yakima, beginning the last Monday in September each year and continuing five days. It authorized the seven commissioners, to whom its management was to be entrusted, to purchase not less than two hundred acres of land as near North Yakima as possible, for state fair buildings and grounds, appropriating forty thousand dollars to be expended in 1893 and ten thousand dollars in 1894. The bill, amended to provide that Yakima county should donate the groundsto the state, also amended to reduce greatly the appropriation, was passed earlyin March. In November the county deeded the state one hundred and twenty acres near North Yakima, and the work of clearing off the sage brush and preparing it for occupancy began at once. Buildings were erected during the ensuing summer, and the next fall the first fair was held.

It may be asserted without fear of doing violence to truth that the impetus given Yakima county by the developments of the preceding two or three years rendered it in large measure immune to the deadly blight of financial stress which had attacked the rest of the country, at least for a considerable time. In its issue of June 29th, the Herald, commenting on the fact that the first half of a very unprofitable year had passed, says: "This community has probably suffered less from the general business stagnation than any other on the coast, and with the vast amount of money which will soon be available for the prosecution of work on our irrigation systems, and the flattering outlook for the crops, Yakima may confidently hope for prosperity and plenty this fall. The population of this county has increased over fifty per cent, in the last eighteen months; county warrants are being discounted again, to be sure, but this is not due to any depreciation in their value; rather to the fact that the banks are not buying securities, as they realize that it will require a vast amount of money to pick and prepare the hops for market and to harvest the other crops."

The same paper also tells us that Selah valley, where a year previous there was scarcely anything but sage brush, had witnessed a remarkable settlement during the twelvemonth; over thirtysix thousand fruit trees had been set out, and the country was green with grain, alfalfa, hops ar.d trees; also that the whole country was rapidly settling and developing.

When hop-picking commenced, however, the results of the depression were made apparent in the army of tramps and vagabonds which entered the country and persuaded charitably disposed persons to supply them food until they could obtain employment, then began rioting and interfering with those who were more industrious than they. Their hostilities were directed more particularly against the Chinamen, who in several instances were driven from their work. In some cases also the employers of the Chinamen were threatened and their property made the object of outrageous vandalism. Some of the vagabonds attempted to turn a dishonest penny by selling liquor to the hundreds of Indian hop pickers congregated on Sundays in North Yakima, but Deputy United States Marshal Frank Maguire and his assistants were too vigilant. Twentytwo of the would-be law-breakers were arrested and twelve of them sent to Walla Walla for trial. Even this did not break up the nefarious traffic, and later in the fall the people became so incensed that some of them talked of organizing a popular tribunal to deal with the offending "bootleggers." It was said that from Yakima City to Zillah the brush and foothills were full of the dastardly law-breakers and their degraded and debauched patrons; also that the latter were becoming a menace to travelers and an annoyance to all lovers of peace and order. The United States officials were active and efficient. As a result of their labors, a novel procession filed down to the depot on December 4th. It consisted of fortyfour men accused of selling liquor to Indians, about sixty witnesses and fourteen United States marshals and deputies, all bound for Walla Walla, where the trials were to be had. The departure of the forty-four supposed offenders was hailed with delight by long-suffering citizens.

Of a much more serious nature was the trouble of May, 1894, when the peaceful Yakima valley was made the scene of turmoil and violence, and even bloodshed. It will be remembered that in those troublesome times a considerable army of the unemployed were induced, by the preaching of a demagogue named Coxey, to think that they could in some way better their condition by migrating to Washington, D. C, and appearing in person before the president and members of congress. Being without means to procure transportation on the railroads or to subsist themselves while en route, they had no other alternative than to beat their way after the fashion of the tramp and to eat the bread of charity, or the booty of pillaging forays. About the first followers of Coxey to arrive in North Yakima came on May 3d, but they did not come in considerable numbers until the night of the 8th, when a large delegation entered the town and encamped by the city pound. Next morning the freight from the west brought in another delegation, and still others came afoot, on a hand car, and by a raft of ties wherewith they managed to descend the Yakima river. They said their intention was to take the eleven o'clock freight for Spokane, whither their brilliant soi disant "general" had gone before them in a Pullman car. There were also a dozen United States deputy marshals in North Yakima that morning, they having been sent to town in response to a requisition by the mayor.

The eleven o'clock freight was very reluctant to furnish free transportation to the regiment of vagabonds. It made one or two feints, but after running a couple of miles or so with the tops of the cars covered by self-styled industrials, it steamed back to the yards. The deputies and Sheriff Simmons urged the men to get off, showing them dispatches from headquarters directing that the train should be side-tracked unless they should do so, but they refused.

During the afternoon it became evident that serious trouble was to be anticipated. The Coxeyites, angered on account of an encounter between a marshal and one of their number, began arming themselves with clubs. More deputies were sent for, and about five o'clock eleven arrived from the east. Two hours later more marshals were brought from Ellensburg and put off at the mill, the freight on which they arrived passing through the city at full speed. Then the train on which the Coxeyites were backed to the place where the deputy marshals had alighted and the latter climbed aboard. Again the train backed. It is said that the real reason for this movement was to get the industrials away from the influence of their local sympathizers, but the vagabonds on the car tops thought they were to be taken back to Tacoma, and, being determined not to go westward, they rushed to the brakes. Then the fight commenced. It were vain to attempt detailed narration of what happened during the next few minutes or to try to fix responsibility for the tragedy that followed. The stories of spectators could not be harmonized, but it appears that a marshal on one of the cars attempted to force a Coxeyite away from the brake; that the other Coxeyites rushed to his assistance with clubs; that a marshal who was being overcome fired his revolver, and that several shots followed. Thereupon the train backed again and the Coxeyites jumped off or were clubbed off, leaving the train in possession of the marshals.

When the train was gone and the exctement had cooled, it was found that three "industrials" had received slight flesh wounds and that one other had broken an arm in his leap from the car, and still another an ankle; also that quite a number were battered up with clubs. The casualties suffered by the marshals were a flesh wound in Chidester's leg and a severe wound in the person of Jolly, the bullet in the case of the latter entering at the back and lodging among the intestines.

On the arrival of Mr. Minsch I explained matters to him, telling him the first thing we should do was to loosen the brakes which the 'wealers had set up in order to carry out our original intentions, namely, to back up ihe train to the bridge and theie clear it. He instructed all the deputies to mount the cars and to see that the brakes were all cleared. In the meantime the citizens had congregated and were urging the men to resist the deputies in loosening the brakes. Deputy Palmer, of South Prairie, assisted by several other deputies, freed three brakes, when one was recaptured and was again set by the 'wealers. About this time fifteen of the deputies were in the midst of the 'wealers, and on releasing the fourth brake they attacked Mr. Palmer and knocked him down. At the same time they attacked Mr. Jolly by striking him a vicious blow on the shoulders. I then jumped over on the car and tried to free Mr'. Palmer by pulling the men off. I finally succeeded in doing so by striking one or two of them with a cane. 1 was then set upon by three of them, was thrown down and struck twice on the head while they endeavored to choke me. Mr. Palmer in the meantime had gone forward to the next car. At this time I saw several hand-to-hand fights with 'wealers who were using their clubs and slung-shots. Some of the citizens were stoning the deputies on the lower end of the train. In falling I caught one of my antagonists under me. He was a big Swede. The man on top of me caught my cane, at the same time secured my left hand, which enabled the man under me to work loose. As he arose to his knees, he dropped his club and pulled his pistol, seeing which I succeeded in raising upon my right knee with these men still on me. I then drew my pistol with my left hand, knocked up my opponent's gun, but before I could recover myself he had" fired. The ball passed to my left and struck Jolly who was behind me. 1 then tried to shoot the Swede, but as I pulled the trigger the men who were still on top of me pulled my arm, knocking my hand down, sending the bullet through my left thigh. The Swede then jumped off the top of the car and the two men who had me down jumped off on the other side. The Swede's shot was not the first fired. He was between me and the citizens who were on the ground, and before he fired I saw the flash of a gun from a party either in a buggy or standing very close to it. There were in the neighborhood of fifteen shots fired, and upon investigation afterward it was found that not more than five shots were fired by the marshals, and I have reason to believe that they followed instructions given them before the engagement, which were that "no marshal was to use his pistol under any circumstances except when attacked, and then only when he saw his life was in danger." The whole affair did not last more than five minutes. Immediately on the firing of the first gun the commonwealers commenced dropping off the train in a haphazard manner. At this juncture the train began backing up. followed by the citizens and 'wealers, who were stoning the train and firing an occasional shot. But no shots were fired by the marshals from this time on. Mr. Jolly then exclaimed : "I'm shot," and I felt for the first time the blood trickling down my own leg.

On the night of May ioth about one hundred and twenty-five "industrials" took possession of two freight cars at Ellensburg and started down the railway toward North Yakima. They were met by a large force of armed deputies, who brought them to a halt by placing a rail across the track. The "industrials" started to run. They were fired upon by the marshals (who in doing so disobeyed orders), and were soon brought to a stand. The marshals claimed that the Cox- eyites also fired, a contention which was substantiated by the finding of two revolvers on the arrested men, one of which had evidently been used recently. Two of the men on the cars were wounded and had to be taken to the hospital, while the remainder, one hundred and twenty in number, were locked in the county jail.

These very regrettable encounters between the marshals and the misguided unfortunates and vagabonds who were following Coxey on his meaningless crusade caused great excitement and some bitterness of feeling in Yakima county. As a result of the first conflict forty-nine of the commonwealers were arrested and locked in the city jail, and warrants were issued for a large number of citizens who were charged with inciting the men to resist the law officers. All the accused were taken to Seattle for trial. After a tedious delay they were at length given a hearing, as a result of which the citizens, except two, were discharged. Twenty-nine of the Coxeyites were sentenced to serve sixty days each on the island.

The immediate effects of this trouble had only begun to wear off when misfortune of a radically different nature came to the people of the county. During the latter days of May the waters in the channels of river and stream rose to an unwonted height, causing much apprehension of impending damage on the part of everybody and occasioning considerable loss to those on the lowlands. Old settlers, and even the oldest Indians, claimed that the water had never been so high within the memory of living men. About fifty feet of piling at the north end of the Union Gap bridge was swept away; the Nelson bridge was damaged, and some smaller bridges and culverts were carried away.

"In the Selah valley and farther north," says the Herald, "there was much land submerged, and those living on the lowlands along the Yakima were forced to abandon their homes. Along the Naches the damage to farms and gardens was severe, although the extent cannot now be told. William Lee, Jr., with one of the prettiest market gardens in Yakima, had his hopes for the season blotted out. Some fifteen or eighteen acres of garden at Fruitvale are under water, and there is no telling what damage was done to the young orchard until the waters recede. This is the same story that can be told of all the gardens from the county bridge for some miles up the Naches. It was a hard blow to a number who have been struggling to keep their heads above water, and now to have them ruthlessly pulled under again calls forth the sympathy of the community.

"Freight train No. 54, which passed this point at six o'clock Sunday morning, May 27th, going east, met with an accident near Toppenish station which resulted in the death of Fireman Edward Morrell and injury to Engineer Charles Wirth.

About three miles west of Toppenish is a trestle crossing a slough, and while it appeared perfectly safe to the eye, the piling, which had been undermined by the backwater from the Yakima river, gave way as soon as it felt the weight of the train. Engineer Wirth was standing at the door of the cab, and when he realized that the structure was giving way, he shouted to the fireman and jumped into the slough. How Wirth escaped is a mystery, as he must have struck one of the timbers, his back being seriously injured, and after the first excitement he could not move without great pain. The engine and a couple of cars dropped a distance of fifteen feet, pinning poor Morrell against the boiler head. His death must have been almost instantaneous, but it was several hours before the body was recovered. A wrecking train was brought down from Ellensburg and is now engaged in clearing the wreck. Wirth is recovering."

During the early hours of the 31st of May it seemed that the worst from the freshets was over, but before night word reached North Yakima that the Moxee bridge was in danger. Men and teams were hastily gathered and put to work to save the structure if possible. Night and day they toiled until June 5th, seemingly fighting a losing battle, but at last the river gave up the struggle and the bridge was safe.

A memorable incident of this troublous time was the terrible storm of June 2d. It was contemporaneous with an exceedingly destructive cyclone, which swept over several counties of eastern Oregon, causing the loss of a number of lives. Upon the storm in Yakima county, the Herald commented as follows:

Yakima doesn't mind a little wind ; she isn't averse to an occasional shower, and thunder and lightning are novelties which are so rarely experienced as to have an attraction; but the good Lord "deliver us from the combination of them all that swept down on us Saturday evening last, June 2d. No great amount of damage was done, but how we escaped so luckily is somewhat puzzling. The day had been warm and pleasant, and the first intimation of the coming storm was' an immense whirlwind at the lower end of the Moxee. It gathered up leaves, paper and weeds in its capacious maw. Next a big, black cloud seemed to force itself through Union Gap, and before we were well aware what was coming, it broke upon us in all its virulent fury. It didn't come, as is usual with such storms, in little cupfuls and puffs of wind, but it shot out with a broadside that s waved and strained everything that offered an impediment to its freedom of course. Great brick buildings staggered and shook, while some of the wooden houses took on a swaying motion and groaned as if in physical pain, Many of the balm trees, weakened by the boring of grubs, snapped in two like seasoned oat straws, while giant poplars of sturdy trunk were torn up by their roots and hurled across the streets. A couple of barns of indifferent construction were flattened to the ground, and two or three hop houses were moved from their foundations. Other damages were of a minor nature, and, best of all, no one was hurt. A little girl was blown head foremost into an irrigation ditch, but was pulled out by the feet.

After the first fury had been spent, the rain descended in sheets, the thunder sounded like heavy cannonading, and the lightning played all sorts of devilish pranks, mak- ing an electrical display as fascinating as it was fearful. Along the Northern Pacific in the vicinity of the Cascade tunnel the engineers were blinded by the almost continuous flash of empyrean flame, and every train was stopped for half an hour, not an engineer daring to move his engine, being unable to see and fearing to go sightlessly ahead. It was a grand and awful storm, but enough is as satisfying as a feast.

Any damage sustained by the crops was more than offset by the benefits of the soaking rain. Some of the fruit, mostly that which was blighted, was blown down, but the thinning process was a good thing, as there is all the fruit left that the trees can well bear up under, and the quality will be better in consequence. In the hop yards the damage was slight. Several barns in the country were blown down and the dwelling of Ross Mars, in Selah valley, was shifted from its foundation a few feet.

The storm Saturday was followed by one Sunday evening which, if not so severe or of so long duration, was certainly a hummer for a time, and it is reported to have done some damage in the orchards along the Naches. Its most disagreeable feature was the accompanying hail which pelted down in a lively manner, cutting the hop leaves and knocking off the fruit. Again, the scare was greater than the harm done. Moxee valley suffered some.

In Yakima considerable work will be required to put the bridges in condition for use. The one across the Naches is the only one that will need extensive repairs, and its safetyw as due to the splendid cribbing work performed by the railroad company. The smaller bridges will generally require new approaches. Under the farther span of the Union Gap bridge but two piles remain. The Moxee bridge is practically out of danger, but it vibrates lengthwise very perceptibly. The channel of the river has changed materially, and at the bridge it has shifted about two hundred feet to the east. The river is now falling rapidly. The storm was general throughout the Northwest, and millions of dollars' worth of damage has been done along the Columbia river.

One other unfortunate occurrence of the year 1894 must be chronicled in these pages. About one o'clock in the morning of June 1 8th a dastardly tragedy was enacted in North Yakima, the victim being Nathan S. Bagwell, a sporting man and gambler, said to have been one of the best of his class. The report of the gun and a groan from the victim brought W. S. Davidson to the scene. Davidson was soon joined by D. E. Smith, Matthew Bartholet and others, who found on investigation that Bagwell had not been robbed and that his revolver had no empty shells in it. The officers present concluded that the man had been murdered, and in this opinion the coroner's jury concurred.

Late in August, Bagwell's concubine, Mrs. Philomene Brassard, also Omar Harvey, Frank La Vergne and son Louis, J. H. King, a colored man, and L. D. Joslyn were arrested and charged with complicity in the murder either as principals or accessories. Louis La Vergne and J. H. King were discharged without trial, but the others were held without bonds to appear at the next term of the superior court.

The case came on in October, La Vergne being first placed in jeopardy. The testimony of one witness at least was quite sensational. Omar Harvey, an inoffensive-looking boy of nineteen, swore that he had himself fired the fatal shot! but had been coerced to do so bv La Vergne, who

Witness continued: Prior to June 17th he had worked with La Vergne on the Moxee bridge. He had talked with La Vergne regarding the killing of Bagwell. The first conversation was about the middle of May. when he was living on the north side of Third street and the east side of the railroad track. La Vergne then said that he had a plan to make some money; that he had been watching a man for some time who carried considerable money and jewelry. Afterward at the bridge they had a further talk, and witness then learned that the man was "Tex" Bagwell. La Vergne said that Mrs. Bagwell's former husband had offered him $2,000 if he would put Tex out of the way, and that if witness would do the work he should have half that amount. La Vergne further said that he had done the same kind of work before and could get away with it all right. Afterward La Vergne and witness, with La Vergne's brother-in-law, went hunting, when the same line of conversation was continued. Witness saw La Vergne Sunday afternoon, when the latter said: "Be ready tonight." Witness told him that if he wanted any work of that kind done he had better do it himself. Afterward they talked about a hay contract. He stayed down town a while and then went home. La Vergne came after him about nine o'clock and they went down town. Spent considerable time around and took several drinks at Dooley's and Shardlow & McDaniel's. Saw Bagwell at the corner saloon ; he was playing billiards ; fifteen or twenty minutes afterwards witness started for home, but was stopped near Luther's store by La Vergne, who had a bottle. They took a dnnk and then went east in the alley by the side of the Hotel Atherton and Mason's Opera House, coming out on Second street, then going south to Coffin Brothers' store and then to the alley in the rear and entered Lee's gate. They then went to the place of concealment in the shadow next to Lee's store, and La Vergne left and brought back a gun and handed it to witness. La Vergne then left, going north. "When he placed me there in the corner of the lot he told me not to leave. Feared that if Ididn't do as he told me and made a failure of the shooting, I would lose my own life." Witness waited about twenty minutes or half an hour, when Bagwell came along and he fired. Witness then ran away and hid the gun under the sidewalk near Coffin's store. Then went home. Admitted that he was intoxicated to some extent on the night of the murder. Never asked La Vergne for any money as promised and was fully aware that he had committed a crime for which he would probably hang.

Of course, the defendant flatly denied the truth of these statements, but the evidence was too strong, and La Vergne was found guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to twenty years, the judge in passing sentence virtually censuring the jury for not finding a verdict of murder in the first degree.

Omar Harvey remained in jail for several weeks, then pleaded guilty of manslaughter. An arrest of judgment in his case being entered, he was granted his liberty and forthwith left the town. The other accused persons were never brought to trial.

But 1894 was not a j'ear of unmixed disaster in Yakima county, notwithstanding hard times and floods and tragedies. A very successful state fair was held, the first of a series; the Wide Hollow ditch was completed by the Yakima Valley Canal Company, abundant crops were raised, and altogether the people were better off than those in most other parts of the Northwest. It must be admitted, however, that the exceedingly dull times obtaining everywhere put a tight brake upon the wheels of progress in the Yakima valley.

A striking illustration of the general financial depression in the state in 1895 was furnished by the action of the fair commissioners in deciding to hold no state fair that year. The appropriation was meager, only twenty-five hundred dollars, and the dates were in coincidence with those of the Oregon state and Spokane expositions. The commissioners believed that these facts, coupled with the prevailing depression, would render it impossible to hold a creditable exposition.

The sequel to this decision of the commissioners illustrates the courage of the Yakima people and their determination to conquer the tendency to stagnation then obtaining. They took up at once the matter of holding an agricultural exposition of a more local character and soon had their preparations under way. "The times are very hard," they said, "and money is scarce, but little money is required, and there is all the more reason in the depressed condition of business why we should make a mighty effort to show the people of the state that Yakima is not dead yet." Their labors were abundantly rewarded. The fair was held October 7th to 12th, inclusive, and besides its advertising effect and the pleasure and profit it furnished the people, it paid all expenses and left a balance of eight hundred and fifty dollars in the treasury. One of its principal attractions was the Indian celebration of October 9th, at which were present Okanogans, Colvilles, Umatillas, Nez Perces, Cayuses, Yakimas, Puyallups, Klickitats, British Columbia Indians, etc., in large numbers. Chiefs Moses, Peo and White Swan were in attendance. Credit for the success of this exhibition is due to all the people, but more especially to the following officers: O. A. Fechter, president; G. G. Brownell, secretary; H. K. Sinclair, treasurer; Edward Whitson, A. B. Wyckoff, J. G. Lawrence, E. F. Benson, W. H. Redman, Frank Horsley, F. E. Thompson, A. L. Aiken, M. Stanton, Nelson Rich and Robert McCook.

In the closing month of the year 1895, the North Yakima Commercial Club decided to act in the matter of endeavoring to secure the opening by congress of the Yakima Indian reservation. By a committee of its members the following memorial was prepared and forwarded to Washington, D. C. :

Your petitioner, the Yakima Commercial Club, embracing among its members over one hundred of the leading citizens and largest property holders of this county, respectfully requests that the Yakima Indian reservation maybe thrown open to settlement at the earliest practicable moment, for the following reasons: in the center of Yakima county. The lands along the river are level plains and rise gently to the mountains twentyfive miles distant. About 200,000 acres of these lower lands, having the finest of crop soils, are now desert and covered with sage brush, but can readily be put under irrigation ditches at moderate cost, when 10,000 families could make prosperous homes upon them. There are about 1,900 Indians on the reservation who have all accepted their all&tment of lands in severalty from the government. They have made considerable progress in civilization, farm about 15,000 acres of sub-irrigated lands, are virtually selfsupporting, and are good neighbors to the whites. If their surplus lands were purchased, 10,000 industrious white families would speedily redeem the irrigable sage brush lands now of no use whatever to the Indians, and turn them into fruitful orchards and gardens. There is, perhaps, no other body of land in the United States of the same dimensions which will give permanent prosperity to an equal number of intelligent agriculturalists, and without working' any injury to the Indians. On the contrary, they will be enabled with the proceeds of the sale of their surplus lands to build comfortable houses and develop their own farms, while the bunch-grass hilltops and forest-covered mountain sides will remain the grazing ranges for their flocks and herds.

Whatever action may be taken regarding the entire reservation, your petitioner feels assured that the wisdom of congress will prompt instant legislation to purchase the desert sage brush lands of the Indians, and offer them for sale in small tracts. In this manner the government would be reimbursed for the purchase money, the land would be reclaimed and thousands of industrious inhabitants be added to the population of this bountiful valley.

Commissioners were sent in 1S97 to negotiate with the Indians for the purpose of purchasing their tribal lands. Several conferences were held, the most important of which was that of July 20th and 2 1 st, but though the government offered unusually liberal terms, the Indians could not be induced to sell. The commissioners stated that two hundred thousand acres would be required for the allotments made and to be made, and that for the rest of the reservation, they were authorized to offer one million four hundred thousand dollars, deferred payments to bear four per cent, interest.

The year 1896 was not superior in general conditions to its predecessor, and though a state fair was held, it was not as successful as had been the citizens' fair of the year previous. The Yakima country, though it probably never experienced as much distress during the hard times as did many other parts of the Northwest, was somewhat slow in rallying, owing to local causes, and 1897 could not be classed as a prosperous year. Many of the citizens sought to better their fortunes in the Klondyke, among them R. B. Milroy, H. A. Griffin, Owen T. Stratton, Lester Coffin, Fred Jungst, Peter Norby, George Guilland, W. Cameron, Dan Simmons, Samuel Failing,

Bartholet, Anthony Krober and Dick McDaniels. These men started in July and August. Other parties followed, among them one on the 25th of October, which required for the transportation of its stock and baggage a special train of twelve cars. The members of this expedition purposed to pick up two hundred head of cattle at Victoria and to drive these and the horses, most of them under pack,, as far inland as they could, then to slaughter all the animals and transport the best to the interior by dog-trains, using the horse flesh as food for the dogs. The Yakima men who joined in this venture were: Charles Lillie, George Weikel, C. J. Anderson, E. L. Bogart, J. H. Bogart, Herman Frank, R. Granville, A. E. Newlist, E. S. Hackley, T. P. Stubblefield, George Stubblefield,- F. Willing, H. H. Fry, E. C. Elgin, Warren Walters, John Powers, Bogus Henderson and James Hanson.

By the spring of 1898, all signs of commercial stagnation and business depression had completely disappeared. When the march of progress was once more*resumed, it was resumed in good earnest, and the country experienced a rapid development and increase in population. The return of prosperity, the bright prospects for good crops and the fact that the war with Spain was progressing as well as heart could wish, caused a cheerful spirit among the people, a spirit which manifested itself in rousing celebrations on the nation's birthday.

When the war with Spain was declared there was one military organization here, Troop A, First Washington Cavalry, which certainly deserved the favorable consideration of the governor for a place in the Washington regiment of volunteers. Some two years before Company E and Troop C had been abandoned by legislative enactment, and Troop A had then come into being as an independent organization. Since that time it had maintained itself without the slightest assistance from the state, and now it wished to participate in the war as an infantry company. Governor Rogers wisely decided to give it a chance. Soon it was recruited to full numbers, and at Tacoma it was mustered into the regiment as Company E, officered as follows: Captain, M. S. Scudder; first lieutenant, F. T. Briggs; second lieutenant, W. L. Lemon. The names on its muster roll, a few facts concerning some of its members, and an outline of its adventures as a part of the forces of the United States, are here given for reference:

Company E was mustered into service May 9, 1898, at Tacoma as part of the First Battalion. With the First Washington Infantry it went to San Francisco and was there quartered in the famous Presidio garrison until the regiment departed for the Orient. During the early days at Manila it was quarterd in the "tobacco factory," and on the morning of February 5th formed a part of the now famous "Fortson's Batallion," which covered itself with glory by a desperate charge on Bloody Knoll, held by a force numbering twice that of the attacking party. Immediately after this battle the company quarters were transferred to Santa Ana, while the company itself went into the trenches in front of San Pedro. It participated in the operations of the provisional brigade, March 13th to 19th, and from that time was stationed at Pasig, participating in the skirmishes about that point, including Tay-Tay and Morong, up to Calamba. This company was one of the heaviest losers in the regiment, having five men killed in action. Of the original officers, the two lieutenants became regimental officers. Pateros, San Pedro Macati, Guadaloupe, Pasig, Tay-Tay, Santa Cruz, Santa Ana and Calamba are all names of importance in the company's history.

In response to the request of Colonel Wholley to make special mention of men who had signalized themselves by bravery in the field. Captain Scudder presented the following names from Company E: First Lieutenant E. J. Young, First Sergeant Henry H. Leach, Second Lieutenant John F. Anderson, William Stephens, Sergeant John H. Wright, Corporal William Washburn, Corporal D. D. Stair, James J. Mitchell, George Palmer and Edward C. Spaulding.

The arrival of the Washington volunteers upon American soil was made the occasion of noisy demonstrations in North Yakima. By a preconcerted plan the welcoming committee had arranged that cannonading should be begun as soon as the news should be received. The news came at 11:40 a. m., October 1st, in the form of a dispatch stating that the Pennsylvania, with the First Washington aboard, had been sighted entering the Golden Gate; and forthwith guns were fired, whistles sounded, bells rang, and the entire town was thrown into a commotion. The enthusiasm was only surpassed by that of November 7th, when the boys of Company E reached North Yakima. The Herald's account of this event is as follows:

About nine o'clock Tuesday night, the home-coming of Company E was heralded by the firing of cannon and other martial noises. The famous "Terrors of Pasig" were accompanied by thirty-five of the Walla Walla company and fifty-six of the Waitsburg boys. An informal reception was held at the depot. It was a glorious sight to see the avenue ablaze with lights and gaily caparisoned with bunting. The mothers and sisters of the boys vied with each other and the sweethearts in welcoming them with the affection that passes all description. The visiting troops were banqueted in fitting style at Switzer's Opera House, but Company E fled to domestic quiet and avoided any public display. No parade was attempted, that part of the programme being dtferred until the next day.

The joy of the greeting of friends of the returned volunteers was next in heartiness to the welcome by the immediate relatives of the soldiers Lieutenant Briggs was literally crushed by the reception extended him by his old Northern Pacific associates. Lieutenant Lemon was likewise greeted. As for Captain Scudder, it is almost needless to say that he was the hero of the hour. Company E brought with it a mascot in the person of Pedro, a Filipino, the protege of Lieutenant Lemon. No untoward incident marred the general rejoicing, and taps were not sounded until at least three o'clock in the morning.

- At ten o'clock Wednesday morning, under the direction of Marshal Fred Parker, a procession was formed on Yakima avenue, and Company E, marching in the lead, proceeded to the Yakima Hotel. Following them came the G. A. R., the Uniformed Rank, K. of P., and Company F, W. N. G., successor to Company E.

speeches were made by Post Commander Druse, of the G. A. R. ; H. J. Snively, E. B. Preble, L. S. Howlett and H. M. Bartlett. The benediction was pronounced by Rev. A. H. Lyons. Captain Scudder also spoke. In the afternoon a banquet was served to the soldiers at Switzer's Opera House by the ladies of the Red Cross Society and others. Everywhere business houses and private residences were aflame with bunting and flags, and the day, in accordance with the proclamation of Mayor Fechter, was a general holiday.

A subject of considerable general comment during the year 1899, and one which excited not a little the passions of those immediately interested, was the action of the Interior Department regarding the pasturing of sheep on the Ranier forest reserve. In March, Dr. Cloes, the superintendent, received instructions regarding the boundaries of the sheep lands, and was informed that a limited number might enter the rest of the reserve provided no reservoir supply or public resort should be encroached upon, and that the grazing season should be from June 20th to September 20th.

A few months later, upon recommendation of Professor Lawson Schribner, chief of graminologyof the Interior Department, Secretary Hitchcock canceled the sixty-eight permits that had been granted sheepmen within the reserve. This action took away the customary summer range from two hundred and sixty thousand sheep and dealt a severe blow to the wool-growing industry of Yakima county. Indignation meetings were held by the local sheepmen, who framed forceful protests "against the order, and promptly subscribed a fund to send representatives to look after their interests in congress.

During the earliest days of 1900 the sheepmen of Yakima valley, in compliance with a request from Congressman Jones that they should furnish him with such information as would enable him to best look out for their interests, sent an open letter to congress containing some valuable data. After reciting a circular of the Interior Department, bearing date June 30, 1897, which set forth that the pasturing of sheep on the reserve would not be interfered with if it could be shown that no injury would result therefrom to young trees or to the water supply, the sheepmen's letter argued in substance "that in the counties of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas the lower range where sheep are pastured in the winter months are semi-arid and therefore not suited to summer pasturage. It is then necessary to drive the sheep to the mountains on the east side of the Cascades, on the higher altitudes where it is impossible for sheep to eat trees or destroy the water supply. Here the sheep have been pastured for twenty years, and their feet are golden in the way of improving and enriching the soil. There is no grazing or grass for obvious reasons where the trees and undergrowth are thick. It has been the constant effort of sheepmen to prevent forest fires, and on the range reserve there were practically no fires last season. The charge that sheepmen are nomadic, with no fixed place of abode, is combated, and it is pointed out that sheepmen pay a larger proportion of taxes than the representatives of any other branch of industry. In Yakima county there were assessed for 1899 168,745 head of sheep, valued at $299,921, or a fourth of the personal property valuation of the county. Besides owning large quantities of land, the sheepmen have leased from the Northern Pacific Company 318,550 acres. If the reservation ruling is enforced all this land will be practically valueless. '-

The letter recommended that the existing system of leasing should be continued until the geological surveys could be extended on to the Ranier and Washington reserves, that the treeless areas and agricultural lands might be excluded from them; also that sheep should be grazed under the following conditions:

"Limit the sheep to the number constantly grazing there, with five-year permits, each owner to have a specified tract. Require as a condition of each permit that the owner use every effort to prevent fires and to report their causes. Secure the co-operation of the Wool Growers' Association, through a committee of three stockmen, who shall assist the government officers and the department in controlling and looking after the reservation."

The interior department issued an order allowing grazing on the eastern slope of the reserve, and the secretary authorized the granting of permits for two hundred and fifty thousand sheep to enter not earlier than July 1st and continue not later than September 25th. Cattle and horses in the same numbers that had usually grazed on the reserve were permitted to continue doing so on certain conditions.

April 25th the cattle and wool growers' associations held meetings in North Yakima to arrange for a division of the grazing lands. The following sheepmen, namely, John Cleman, S. J. Cameron, Dan Goodman, Alexander McAllister and W. H. Vessey, were appointed to confer with a committee of cattlemen consisting of Daniel Sinclair, P. A. Bounds, Elmer Marks, Milton Burge and A. J. Splawn. These men agreed with each other in the division of all the ranges except those in the Ahtanum and Klickitat districts, claims to which had to be submitted to Superintendent Sheller for adjustmeat.

The United States census returns for 1900 show that Yakima county has made a greater percentage of gain in population than any other in the state. In 1870 our county, which then embraced Kittitas, was credited with a population of 432 ; in 18S0, 2,81 1 ; in 1890, 4,429, and in 1900, 13,462. It will be seen that the gain in the decade was over 200 per cent, and in the previous twenty years nearly 380 per cent. In 1850 the population of Washington was 1,201 ; in i860,

A single serious crime darkened the record of the year 1900 in Yakima county. It occurred at Prosser on the afternoon of September 30th. According to the best information obtainable, the story of the tragedy is about as follows: Three men who had been picking hops boarded an empty car at Mabton, intending to beat their way east. At Prosser in came two other men who forthwith covered the three with firearms and robbed them of all their belongings, consisting of about forty-five dollars in money and a silver watch. The robbers jumped off the car at a siding beyond Prosser, and at Kiona the hop pickers also left the train. They notified the station agent at once. The latter was about to telegraph to Prosser for the arrest of the men, when W. W. Scott, formerly a telegraph operator, invited the hop pickers to go back with him on a west-bound freight to identify the robbers. Upon arriving at Prosser, they discovered five men boarding a freight car. Scott ordered these to alight; then demanded that one of the hop pickers should identify the robbers if in the crowd. The hop pickers pointed out a large and a small man as the persons wanted. When Scott took his eyes off the large man and turned his attention to the small one, the former miscreant fired twice at him. One of the bullets penetrated the body of the unfortunate Scott just above the heart, the other passed through his head, killing him instantly. The murderer fired again, seriously wounding one of the hop pickers in the side ; then murderer and witnesses all fled precipitately from the spot. An arrest of the supposed guilty man was made at La Grande, Oregon, early the following November, but the accused. when brought to North Yakima, could not be satisfactorily identified, and no one was punished for the dastardly homicide.

The first matter to agitate the people of Yakima county in 1901 was a scheme for the segregation of some of their territory into a separate political organization. The proposal was not altogether a new one, but its friends had not theretofore been numerous enough to cause their opponents much apprehension. In January of that year, however, the question became one of no little concern. There seemed to be small reason to doubt that Representative Rich would introduce in the state legislature a bill creating the county of Riverside, with the dividing boundary running north and south through a point three miles west of Mabton. The opposition got to work in good earnest, circulating petitions, circular letters, etc. In its issue of February 14th, the Herald said: "It is quite probable that those agitating for a division of the count}' - namely, those interested in making Prosser a county seat - will meet with but poor success, for remonstrances are pouring in from all quar- ters and thus far Representative Rich has been persuaded not to introduce his bill. It is claimed that taxes will be increased considerably just at the time when new settlers are wanted. The new county would be obliged to assume its share of the old county indebtedness, which share will amount to $66,000; then there will be required new buildings, abstracts of books, printing and other expenses amounting to $100,000, making a total debt of $166,000 to start with. This is too much for the southern and eastern portion to swallow. Besides, Klickitat is fighting the scheme, as the plans embrace the cutting off of several precincts of the Horse Heaven country to add to Riverside county. The scheme is doomed to defeat."

Nevertheless, a bill was introduced by Representative Rich and became known as House Bill No. 120. It provided that the boundaries of the new county should be as follows: Beginning at the point of intersection of the middle of the main channel of the Columbia river with the township line which divides ranges twenty-one and twenty-two east of Willamette meridian; thence running north along said township line to the point where it intersects the township line dividing ranges twenty and twenty-one east of Willamette meridian; thence north along said last named township line to boundary line between the said counties of Yakima and Klickitat; thence west along said boundary line to where said boundary line intersects the south boundary line of the Simcoe Indian reservation ; thence along the said boundary line of the Simcoe Indian reservation in a general northeasterly direction to where the boundary line intersects the township line dividing ranges twenty-one and twenty-two east of the Willamette meridian; thence north along said last named township line to where it intersects the township line which divides townships eleven and twelve north: thence east along said last named township line to where it intersects the township line dividing ranges twenty-three and twenty-four east of the Willamette meridian ; thence north along said last named township line to where it intersects the middle of the main channel of the Columbia river; thence down the middle of the main channel of the Columbia river to the point of beginning." The bill was never voted upon.

As the year 1901 advanced, it brought many blessings. It witnessed the completion of the Selah-Moxee canal, the construction of which had begun in December of the preceding year. The formal dedication of this important aqueduct took place June 8th, though the water had been flowing through it for nearly a month. Those who witnessed the ceremonies were delegations of business men from Tacoma, Seattle and Spokane, besides many noted in local circles. By these gentlemen the canal and lands watered by it were inspected that afternoon, and in the evening a banquet was tendered them at the Hotel Yakima at which, it is said, J. W. Clise, W. T. Clark and G. S. Rankin were the guests of honor. The original officers of the Selah- Moxee Canal Company were: President, George S. Rankin; vice-president, Edward Whitson ; treasurer, J. D. Cornett; secretary, W. T. Clark.

The year under review also witnessed a very successful state fair, one that is said to have beaten the record of all preceding exhibitions of the kind. It brought also bountiful harvests and good prices. The fruit grower, the hay raiser, the cattle man, the sheep man, the hop grower and every person whose business was the tilling of the soil was made happy by an abundant reward for his labors. The Herald tells us that, at a low and safe estimate, the productions of the county could not have been less than $3,000,000, and that of this sum over $2,000,000 represent the value of hay, potatoes, hops, fruit and grain. It distributes the production among the different crops as follows: 170,000 tons of hay at $4.50, $765,000; 2,000 cars of potatoes, $620,000; 1,400 bales of hops, $280,000; fruit, $260,000; wheat, $70,000; barley, $20,000; oats, $ro,ooo; total, $2,025,000. The remainder of the $3,000,000 represents its estimate on the production of cattle, sheep and horses.

But the year brought also some disasters, two of which, both railway accidents, are thought worthy of being briefly set forth here. One took place Sunday morning, the 13th of January, on Selah creek, seven miles north of North Yakima. When the Northern Pacific passenger train left the last named point, it was an hour late, and of course it traveled at a high rate of speed to make up what it could. When it approached the culvert at Squaw or Selah creek, the engineer, Charles Wirth, of Ellensburg, noticed that something was wrong ahead. The culvert had been undermined and a wreck was inevitable. The engine passed over in safety, but the tender sank, and Mr. Wirth threw the throttle wide open to prevent the cars from piling one on top of another. His presence of mind doubtless saved many lives. The cars were held up and kept in motion until all were over, though without some of their trucks, except the rear sleeper, which remained safe on the track. A steel rail passed through the body of one coach and penetrated the roof. There were many narrow escapes, but no lives were lost and only three persons were wounded, the unfortunate ones being Hugh P. Ball, knee bruised; P. McEwell, mail clerk, elbow dislocated; G. W. Turner, Seattle, colored porter, knee cap broken. That the damage to passengers was not greater seems miraculous.

The second train wreck, a much more serious one, occurred at 11 130 p. m., December 8th. The scene was the gap about two miles north of North Yakima, and the cause a head-end collision of two freights, each running at a high rate of speed. The accident was the result of a misunderstanding on the part of the engineer and conductor of the east-bound train, second No. 54, which left Roza with orders to pass No. 1,302 at Wenas. The latter train was sent out of North Yakima in charge of Conductor Anderson and Engineer Dan Smith, with orders to side-track at Wenas until second No. 54 had gone by. Before this, extra No. 164 had been sent out of North Yakima and had taken the siding at Wenas. Of the existence of this special, Conductor Chase and Engineer Cooper, so the former claimed, had no knowledge whatsoever.

The second section of No. 54 consisted of two engines, and one loaded and fifty empty cars. Upon its arrival at Wenas, it slowed down to ascertain whether or not the train on the siding was No. 1,302. Both the engineer and conductor took the extra to be that train, so they resumed their journey at the usual high speed. Their mistake was discovered when at the first sharp curve north of the Naches bridge, they crashed into No. 1,302 with terrific force. The effect is more easily imagined than described. The head engine of the east-bound exploded; the engine behind plowed through its tender, converting it into a mass of splinters and twisted iron, and finally coming to rest with its nose on top of its fellow ahead ; cars were piled on each other in the utmost confusion, the whole occupying a space only about three hundred feet long. The engine of the west-bound was partly telescoped and had its cab smashed into splinters.

The dead were T. R. Cooper, engineer of second No. 54; Fred L. Cantonwine, fireman; the wounded, Joseph J. Case, conductor, left wrist scalded, head cut and bruised; B. B. Stodd, brakeman, right leg broken in two places, also badly crushed and burned; John J. Peters, brakeman, right arm crushed so as to necessitate amputation ; Matthew Darcy, brakeman, burned and scalded about head and hands; Alfred Schanno, fireman, cut about head and bruised; Budd Anderson, cut about head and bruised. Conductor Chase, of the east-bound, was seen by a newspaper reporter and made the following statement: "When we came to Wenas, Engineer Cooper looked out and said, 'That's 1,302; we're all right,' and then pulled open the throttle and let her go. Train No. 164 signaled us the way was clear and we did not stop. I suppose they meant the way for them was clear. Anyhow, we came on at a thirty-mile gait, and when the collision came, I felt myself going through the cab. That is all I remember until I found myself in bed here. Who's to blame, I do not know. We had not been notified that extra 164 was on the siding. If we had, no doubt the collision would have been averted." Conductor Chase died as a result of the accident while en route to Missoula, Montana. At the investigation, responsibility

The question of grazing sheep and cattle on the Ranier Forest Reserve, a question which had recurred for several years with each returning season, was up again in 1902. Locally considered, this agitation might almost be styled a three-cornered fight, the cattle interests, the sheep interests and the agricultural interests being by the nature of the case more or less at variance. In the meeting of the North Yakima Commercial Club on the evening of March 4th, the agricultural interests asserted themselves. A. J. Splawn, chairman of the executive committee of the Yakima Husbandry Association, who is both a cattleman and a farmer, read a lengthy paper, in which he argued that the grazing of hundreds of thousands of sheep on the headwaters of the streams was materially affecting the water supply, and that this condition of affairs ought not to continue, as the agricultural were ten-fold greater than the stock interests. He offered a resolution asking the department to make a special investigation of the matter and to act in accordance with the report of a competent expert in such matters. But the body of the meeting was prepared for more radical action, and by a vote of eighteen to thirteen it adopted the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the secretary of this club be instructed to address the secretary of the interior, setting forth in his letter that it is the sense of the Commercial Club of North Yakima that the watershed of the Ranier Forest Reserve is being materially and permanently injured by the grazing of sheep and other live stock in said reserve: that such injury has had and is having the effect of diminishing the flow of water in the streams which are being used for the purpose of irrigating the arid lands tributary to such streams to the permanent injury of the agricultural interests of this section, and to petition the secretary to prohibit the further grazing of sheep and other live stock in the reserve, and be it resolved that this resolution shall not apply or refer to stock grazing in said reserve for or during the year 1902, which is not protested against."

Probably before knowledge of the action of the Commercial Club reached the department of agriculture, which by act of congress had succeeded the interior department in control of some matters connected with forest reservations, that department sent out notice that the number of sheep to graze on the reserve should not exceed one hundred and seventy-two thousand. Superintendent D. B. Sheller met the sheepmen of Yakima, Kittitas and Klickitat counties on the 15th and 16th days of May and adjusted with them the apportionment of the grazing privileges.