CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IIIGARFIELD COUNTYIt has been remarked by various philosophers at various times concerning various subjects that like causes produce like effects. The same causes which led to the establishment of Columbia County from the eastern two-third of the Old County of Walla Walla operated within a short time to cause a movement for another division, and that yet again to another, insomuch that Garfield and Asotin became political entities. Some petty local jealousies and selfish scheming almost always play their part in county divisions and county-seat fights. Yet it would be very superficial to attribute to these less worthy motives the main influences. The fundamental causes after all have usually been the progressive growth of population and the differentiation of industry, whereby there arises some real need of new lines and more convenient official centers.The pressure of those conditions began to be felt in the northern and eastern parts of Old Columbia County almost as soon as it was fairly organized. It was soon discovered that the Touchet region was one natural unit and the eastern and northeastern part of the county was another; or rather two, for almost immediately the same line of reasoning led to the conclusion that the Asotin country was naturally a separate unit from that of the Pataha.Although settlement has not been in any way uniform in these four counties and there has been some shingling over from one to another, it may be said that in a general way the movement was from west to east and northeast. While the decade of the '60s was peculiarly the foundation period of Walla Walla and Columbia, that of the '70s may be regarded as peculiarly the pioneer age of Garfield, while that of Asotin may be assigned to the latter part of the '70s and beginning of the '80s.We find, however, that a few of the foundation builders were already in their permanent homes in Garfield County in the '60s, long prior to the formation of the county. We have already given a list of these first locations, and our main purpose in this chapter is to take up the story with county creation. For the sake of topical clearness, however, it is well to present a summary, even at the expense of a little repetition, of the first settlement of the different regions of what became the permanent Garfield County.As authority for such precounty history we find a very valuable special number of theEast Washingtonian. This is the "First Garfield County Pioneer Edition" of June 6, 1914. This issuance of so elaborate a number of the paper is a great demonstration of the enterprise of the publishers of that paper, as well as of the local ambition of the Pioneer Association of the County, an association which holds an annual two-day session and which has done much to fasten genuine historical and patriotic sentiments in the memory of the people of the county.COURTHOUSE, POMEROYFrom this highly commendable edition of theEast Washingtonianwe derive the following summary of first events:SUMMARY OF THE FIRST EVENTS: THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION IN THIS TERRITORYThe first white persons that ever came through Garfield County were the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. They arrived at Rigsby's Grove May 3, 1806, and camped for dinner, eating what was left of two dogs they had purchased from the Indians.The first steamboat passed up Snake River in 1860.Columbia Center was the first town laid off in Garfield County in 1876.The first known murder by the whites was that of a man killed in the old Rigsby cabin Christmas morning, 1864. The man who did the killing was named Wilkins and the man killed was the owner of the house. The old cabin still stands on the Rigsby place.The first sawmill erected in this county was put up by Henry Sharpnack, in 1874, just above Columbia Center. It was not successful.James F. Rose was the first settler next the mountains above Pataha Prairie, 1869.Joseph Clary built the first residence in Pomeroy after the original Sunderland log cabin. It was the residence of B. B. Day and still stands, the first house west of A Street on Main.The first women's votes were cast at an election to fill a vacancy of justice of the peace, January 29, 1884.The first settlers were in many instances men with Indian women. John Fogarty lived on the Rafferty place with a Nez Percé half-Indian woman. She was born at the crossing of the Touchet about where Dayton now is. Fogarty was drowned in the Clearwater. Thomas Reynolds lived a mile below Marengo, on the Tucanon, with an Indian woman who had before lived with two different white men. They had two daughters named Clydena and Agatha. After the latter the Town of Agatha, Idaho, was named. Clydena died at Marengo when about fourteen years old. Agatha married James Evans, son of Berry Evans.Coleman, for whom Coleman Gulch was named, lived on the Tucanon, a mile above Marengo, and had a California Indian wife. James Turner lived on the Alpowa with an Indian woman. Two men named Bailey, with Indian wives, in 1859, lived on the Touchet, near Dayton.The first minister to hold services in Garfield County was the Rev. Father Cataldo, who preached at Rafferty's and McBrearty's.The first school on the Pataha Creek was taught by W. W. McCauley in 1873. The schoolhouse was located at Owsley's.J. M. Pomeroy located the land where Pomeroy now stands on December 8, 1864.The first telegraph was built by the government and ran from Dayton to Lewiston, through Pomeroy, in 1879.The Catholics built the first church in Pomeroy, 1878. Father Papes was the first pastor.First grain raised on Deadman was in 1878, E. T. Wilson, grower.Newton Estes was the first settler on the Deadman, 1870.James Bowers was the first settler on the land where Pataha now is, 1861. In 1868 Vine Favor bought the land and started the Town of Pataha in 1878.The first Protestant minister to hold services in Garfield County was Rev. Calaway, then living in Walla Walla, a Cumberland Presbyterian.It appears from this record that Parson Quinn was the first settler on the Pataha, having located there in 1860. The first house on the Pataha was built by Thomas Riley, who afterwards disposed of it to James Rafferty. One of the first settlers was William McEnery, on the lower Pataha, in 1862.The next creek after the Pataha to receive settlers was the Deadman. This rather lugubrious name seems to have been derived from the fact that during the hard winter of '61-2, two men perished in the hollow which became known as "Deadman Hollow." They were supposed to have been miners from Orofino or Florence. The bodies were not discovered till spring, and were then suitably interred and the spot marked with a pile of rocks at a point near the old road from Walla Walla to Lewiston. That region is now one of the best farming sections in the Inland Empire. Newton Estes was the first to make a permanent location on the Deadman, and his date was 1871. Within a short time, S. T. Jones, A. E. Lee, W. L. Freeman, Frank Ping, John Lynn, and Archie McBrearty located upon the creek. One event of that stage worthy of special record was the Alpowa "Toll Road." It was built by B. B. Howard and M. Fettis, in 1872-3, and in 1873 became the property of N. A. Wheeler. For twenty-five years it was maintained by Mr. Wheeler and then deeded by him to the county for $1.00. Pataha prairie, south of the Deadman and Alpowa, was settled in the early '70s. Rev. William Calaway located there in 1870; Isaac Coatney in 1871; William Chester, 1871; D. Zemmel, 1871; Robert Storey, 1872.From these centers of settlement, Pataha Creek, Deadman Creek and Hollow, Pataha prairie, together with the still earlier Tucanon (spoken of in connection with Columbia County), and Alpowa (the lower part of which was early historic ground as the home of Red Wolf and Timothy, the Nez Perces, associated with the Missionary Spalding), the growth proceeded during the period prior to county division, following the familiar lines from sheep and cattle and horses to agriculture.The most constructive event was the founding of Pomeroy. This thriving city, the capital and metropolis of Garfield County, was established by J. M. Pomeroy in 1877. Mrs. Pomeroy, now Mrs. St. George, is living at the date of this publication, a woman of great vigor of mind and body, the best authority on the early days in the place of which she told the author she might be called "the Mother." Mr. Pomeroy came from Oregon to the territory in 1863, and for a few months took charge of the stage station at the present site of Dayton. There the youngest child of the family, now Mrs. Peter McClung of Pomeroy, was born. In the spring of 1864, Mr. Pomeroy moved with his family to the location of the town which became his namesake. There in the last part of the year he purchased of a transient settler, Walter Sunderland, the right to the claim on which the town now stands. For a dozen years he devoted his main attention to cattle raising and to the conducting of the stage station. The author wishes that his readers could enjoy the privilege, as he has, of hearing Mrs. St. George describe in her vivid and entertaining way the times of the stage station and the expressboxes with thousands of dollars' worth of gold dust, when "road agents" were figuring on breaking in and seizing them, when horse thieves ran off their horses, and when the Vigilantes would occasionally decorate a tree with the remains of a horse thief as a suggestion for moderation in becoming attached to other men's stock. As the next best thing we are going to let Mrs. St. George tell the story in the following sketch which appeared in the pioneer number of theEast Washingtonian."Pomeroy, Wash., April 5, 1914.—I came from Salem, Ore., where I had lived with my people for eighteen years, being four years old when my folks crossed the plains, among the early pioneers of Oregon."I was married at the age of fifteen years, and, for a while, lived in Salem with my husband and two small children."I came up the Columbia River by steamer to Wallula, took the stage for Walla Walla, with twelve other passengers, on April 6, 1864."At Wallula I found a great rush of travel, many on their way to the reported gold strike at Orofino, Idaho."I had two pairs of fine blooded pigs in a small box, two dozen fine chickens, but no baggage except a suitcase with a few things for my children. My trunks had been left at Portland and came the next day."My husband was coming overland with a band of fine Shorthorn cattle and about twenty head of horses. He had been driving stock for about four weeks, and I had remained with my mother for awhile, so we would arrive at Walla Walla about the same time. Arriving there with my little ones, a stranger in a strange land, with very little money, and board and lodgings at the City Hotel twenty-five dollars a week, and no letter from my husband awaiting me, I did not feel very much at home."But soon a man with whom Mr. Pomeroy had made arrangements for the place where we were to live until we could look about and select a piece of land for our homestead. We were to stay that summer on the ranch two miles east of Dayton, belonging to Mr. William Rexford, in a small log house with a fireplace, and there, in September, Mrs. McClung was born."We were as poor and hard up for money as any one that ever came to this country. In the month of July Mr. King, who at that time carried the mail, express and passengers from Walla Walla to Lewiston, made me a proposition to keep a stage stand and feed his hungry passengers every day, and very soon I was giving two dinners each day to the coming and going travelers."I had told Mr. King that I had nothing to work with, no stove, table or dishes; nothing to cook and I did not see how I could accommodate him. I had been helping to break some of the young heifers to milk, and made some butter to sell, having no other way to make a dollar. I sold all the butter I could spare for one dollar a pound; but soon winter would come on and then what would we do with no money, no sale for what little stock we had? Something had to be done. We had made a garden soon after we settled and by this time we had some nice vegetables, which were a great treat to the travelers coming out of the mines."Mr. King told me to make a list of what I needed for my house so I could feed his passengers, and, finally, after much urging, I did so. He took my list to Walla Walla, had the bill filled, put on a freight team the next day and broughtme a big, nice cookstove with all the things belonging to it; lots of dishes and linen, and said I could pay him when I made the money and could spare it."The very next day I gave a dinner to ten passengers, and, oh, didn't they brag on that dinner. I never will forget all the nice things they said."I kept the stage stand there until December 10th, when we bought this place, where Pomeroy now stands, or rather the improvements on it, consisting of a large house, a log barn and corral."Then the daily stage service was discontinued to once a week, with this station as a night stopping place, where all that traveled the road always got their meals. Our house became the famous stopping place between Walla Walla, Wash., and Lewiston, Idaho."When the travel was heavy we made some money, and when the travel was light I had to work out doors milking cows, making garden and all kinds of hard work. My little children almost raised themselves, taking care of the baby, and helping me in many ways. Work, always thinking of how to make nice things to eat for the traveling public, and how to keep expenses paid."Walla Walla was our trading place, for everything was high at Lewiston. But if I had anything to sell I sent it to the latter place."There was one family living on the Pataha besides us, two or three squaw men and some bachelors living where the King boys now live, and for a little while a family was located on the Alpowa Creek. There were some Indian ranches on that creek at that time. No one lived below on the Pataha, till you came to the old 'Parson' Quinn place, eleven miles down, then farther on were two or three cattle ranches—Rice and Montgomery, Platters, and later Archey McBrearty. There was no settlement on Snake River except at Almota, no one living on the Deadman, nor anywhere over there, and no settlers between the Pataha and the mountains."I helped my husband to stake the roads to the mountains. There had been a road up the Benjamin Gulch, which was so badly washed out it could not be traveled. We staked a road across 'Dutch Flat' for our own use, as wood and fencing had to come from that direction."There was scarcely enough brush along the Pataha to make a camp fire. The Indians would burn the grass every year along Pataha, thus killing the tender willows."In those early days the Indians were very plentiful. I have seen as many as 100 or more pass by our place in one day, their destination being the Camas and Kouse districts, as Camas Prairie was then called. Then, later in the season, they would go to a lake at the head of the Yakima River, high up in the mountains, where the squaws would fish, and the men hunt deer, which were plentiful."During these camping periods, horse racing was the principal amusement; the Indians had many fine, fast horses, and the several tribes wagered many dollars and trinkets on the merits of their race stock. During this racing season many unscrupulous white men, or 'renegades,' would arrive, camping close by, winning the money of the Indians and selling them liquor."The Alpowa Indians were very friendly, and the squaws would work for me; I would hire them to work in the garden. They would take potatoes for their pay and pack them on their ponies. If not watched, they would steal someof the vegetables, but most of them did an honest day's work and were satisfied with what I gave them for their labor."Sometimes I could buy huckleberries from the Indians and dried antelope hams during the first few years we lived here. There was an old Indian called 'Squally John,' who would catch salmon on the Snake River and bring them to us. They would catch hundreds of them and dry them for the winter and would also get plenty of venison in our mountains."I was afraid of the Indians for a few years, but got over that feeling. It was slow work for one or two men to make a farm. Not a furrow had ever been plowed when we came, no fencing. Barbed wire was not known then, and Mr. Pomeroy had to haul feed for his team, and seed grain from the Touchet; and that, with the timber hauling from the mountains, kept him busy, which left the cows and the chores and all kinds of outdoor work for me to do with one hired man and the help of the children."I was a very busy woman, although I did find time to teach the children to read and write, and the first lessons were learned at home. There was a school taught at Dayton the summer of 1869, and we sent Clara and Ned there. This was a four months' term. The next year we sent Clara to the sisters at Walla Walla, then, in 1872, Bishop Wells started the St. Paul School, and Clara was one of the pupils there, until she finished her schooling and was married to Eugene T. Wilson, on Christmas Day, 1877."In the meantime we had opened a school at the Owsley place, and our two children attended school there, going five miles in a buggy. There were ten pupils the first year. The country was settling up everywhere by this time; many had settled on the Pataha Prairie, and Alpowa, and over in the Deadman country and along the Pataha Creek."When the flour mill was built, a man wanted to put in a stock of goods; then others came, and a town was laid out."Then there was no more frontier."That Mrs. St. George succeeded at the stage station and in that vital and fundamental requisite of the traveler in the days of the stage, viz., good eatables, well cooked and served, was abundantly proven. A writer in the Walla WallaUnionin 1894 drew a toothsome picture of the gastronomic attractions at Pomeroy and Alpowa, as follows:"A quarter of a century or more ago there were two famous eating houses on the stage road between Walla Walla and Lewiston, houses which were the occasion of many heated arguments between those who had been over the road as to which was the better, houses at either of which the traveler, tired and sore from the lurching of the stage, was sure of a substantial meal, the memory of which, as it flitted through the brain, lingered and made the mouth water. These were the houses which the familiar, all-pervading, time-serving drummer contracted into 'Pum's' and 'Freeman's.' The former was located near what is now the center of the thriving City of Pomeroy; the latter was on the Alpowa, about half-way between 'Pum's' and Lewiston. Coming passengers dined at Pomeroy's; going took breakfast at Freeman's. Possibly stage passengers have eaten better cooked meals and sat down to more attractive tables than those found at Freeman's and Pomeroy's, but they never said so while at either place, or elsewhere. Delicious bread, fresh from the oven, that which was properly seasoned by age,sweet butter, thick cream in genuine coffee, meats done to a turn, chicken fried or stewed, vegetables in their season, fruits, pastry, each and all 'fit to set before a king,' were provided in profusion in both places. In winter huge fires in equally huge fireplaces thawed out the frozen traveler. In summer cold buttermilk cooled his heated blood and washed the alkali dust out of his throat."As an interesting record of the early days, we find an account in theColumbia Chronicleof Dayton of the first Fourth of July celebration in the present Garfield County held in 1878 at the edge of the Blue Mountains just beyond Pataha flat. The reporter for theChronicledeclares that the celebration was a great success; a near arbor for the speaker and musicians, plenty of seats, abundant eatables, and great enthusiasm in spite of the mountain chill prevailing.THE NEW COUNTY OF GARFIELDBeing obliged to content ourselves with these hurried glimpses at the precounty history we turn to the important stage of the creation of the new county. As the reader will recall, the County of Columbia was set up in 1875. We discover from files of theColumbia Chroniclethat agitation in favor of a new county began in 1880. By that year considerable settlement had been made in the Pataha, Deadman, Alpowa and Asotin regions and a common subject of discussion was the inconvenient distance from Dayton as the county seat.TheChronicleof October 9, 1880, thus views the situation:"A talk with many of the leading men from various parts of the county reveals the fact that the people are in no great hurry for a division. It is generally conceded that the county is too large when the immense canyons and peculiar lay of the country are taken into consideration, but it is also conceded that the eastern portion of the county is not at the present time prepared to support a county organization. All talk of a division is, therefore, at this time, premature. The people of the western portion of the county are in favor of forming a new county when the eastern portion demands it."One of the features of the case was the number of possible county seats which began to sprout forth as candidates for the official crown. One was laid out on Snake River at the mouth of the Alpowa, and that would be a fine site for a city, too, now the location of several hundred acres of magnificent orchard. Another was Mentor, on the Pataha, six miles above Pomeroy. It was at the foot of the "grade" on the Rafferty place and was first named Belfast. The claims of Mentor, named from the home of the President whose name was to become that of the county, are set forth thus in some correspondence from that ambitious place for theColumbia Chronicleof December 17, 1881:"The Town of Mentor desires to have a fair chance in the contest. We stand on our own merits. We have a good townsite on the Pataha Creek; good roads running to the place. The greatest wheat growing country in the territory tributary to it. The Pataha and Lewiston survey runs to this place; the road will, no doubt, be built in time to take away next year's crop. We are very sorry we did not ask for the capital of the territory instead of the county seat, but will try that next time. This place is well known, and is as near the center of the county as it is possible to locate a town. Lumber is being hauled for buildings, and the proprietor, Mr. Rafferty, is very liberal in his donations of land forcounty purposes. Mentor is the place for the people. You will hear this place called Dublin, Limerick, and Ireland."Melancholy was the fate of Mentor. A sarcastic correspondent in theChroniclewrites, under date of February 11, 1882:"The lumber pile, which constituted the Town of Mentor, has been purchased by Mr. Scott and will be brought to Pomeroy. Like Mahomet and the mountain: If the county seat would not go to Mentor, Mentor will go to the county seat."Besides Alpowa and Mentor, the prospective towns of Asotin, Assotin City, Columbia Center, Pataha City, and Pomeroy were all aspirants. The last named, laid out, as already noted, in 1877, soon forged to the front and became the center of an active propaganda for the removal of the county seat of Columbia or for the erection of a new county. The former proposition seems to have been at first the prevailing plan. It excited much opposition on the part of Dayton. An editorial extract from theChronicleof October 8, 1881, indicates the turn which sentiment at Dayton was taking:"An earnest effort is being made by the citizens of Pomeroy and vicinity to move the county seat to that town. We object. The county is large enough for two good counties, and the valley or canyon of the Tucanon throughout its greater portion affords a natural boundary. The people of this section are willing to allow the eastern portion a county organization whenever they wish it, as the division must come sooner or later. It is reported that two of our representatives in the Legislature are pledged to the removal and also to give several more townships to Walla Walla County to buy its influence. They do not propose to give the people an opportunity to vote on the question, as they fear the result, but aim to have the change made by the Legislature without consulting the wishes of the voters of the whole county. We agree with our Pomeroy correspondent that it is unjust to compel people east of the Tucanon to come here to transact business, but it would be equally unjust to compel people on this side to go to Pomeroy. The only just and equitable way out of the difficulty is to divide the county on the line indicated and allow the citizens of the new county to locate their county seat. But with the county seat of Columbia County beyond the Tucanon, nineteen-twentieths of the people of this vicinity would petition to be attached to Walla Walla County, as with the present facilities for travel it would be most convenient, to say nothing of the great advantage of joining a wealthy county with public buildings erected and paid for and a brilliant future before it. This, however, only as a last resort. We trust the Legislature will take no hasty action in this matter, but will give all parts of the county ample opportunity to be heard."As a logical outcome of the situation the Legislature passed an act, approved by Gov. W. A. Newell, on November 29, 1881, providing for the new county. As a matter of history this act is valuable for permanent record and we insert it here:"An Act to organize the County of Garfield:"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington; That all that portion of Columbia County situated within Washington Territory and included within the following limits, be, and the same shall be known as the County of Garfield, in honor of James A. Garfield, late President of the United States, viz.: Commencing at a point in the midchannel of SnakeRiver on township line between ranges 39 and 40; thence on said line south to the southwest corner of township twelve (12), range forty (40); thence east on township line six (6) miles; thence south to the southwest corner of section seven (7); township eleven (11), north of range forty-one (41) east; thence east one (1) mile; thence south three (3) miles; thence east one (1) mile; thence south one (1) mile; thence east one (1) mile; thence south three (3) miles; thence east three (3) miles; thence south on township line to the Oregon line; thence due east on said line to the division line between Territories of Washington and Idaho; thence north on said dividing line to a point where it intersects the midchannel of the Snake River; thence down the midchannel of the Snake River to the point of beginning."Section 2. That E. Oliver, Joseph Harris and N. C. Williams are hereby appointed a board of commissioners to call a special election of county officers for said Garfield County, and to appoint the necessary judges and inspectors thereof; notice of which election shall be given and the said election conducted and returns made as is now provided by law: Provided, That the returns shall be made to the commissioners aforesaid, who shall canvass the returns and declare the result, and issue certificates to the persons elected."Sections 3. That the justices of the peace and constables who are now elected as such in precincts of the County of Garfield, be, and the same are hereby declared justices of the peace and constables of said County of Garfield."Section 4. That the county seat of the said County of Garfield is hereby located at Pataha City until the next election, which is to be held on the second Monday in January, A. D. 1882, at which time the highest number of legal votes of said county, given for any one place, may permanently locate the same."Section 5. The County of Garfield is hereby united to the County of Columbia for judicial purposes."Section 6. That all laws applicable to the County of Columbia shall be applicable to the County of Garfield."Section 7. That all taxes levied and assessed by the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Columbia for the year A. D. 1881, upon persons or property within the boundaries of the said County of Garfield, shall be collected and paid into the treasury of said Columbia County for the use of said County of Columbia: Provided, however, That the said County of Columbia shall pay all the just indebtedness of said Columbia County, and that when such indebtedness shall be wholly paid and discharged all moneys remaining in the treasury of said Columbia County, and all credits due and to become due said County of Columbia on the assessment roll of said year shall be divided between said counties of Columbia and Garfield according to the assessed valuation of said property of the same year. Provided further, That nothing in this act be so construed as to deprive the County of Garfield of its proportion of the tax levied for common school purposes for the above-named year."Section 8. The County of Columbia shall pay to the County of Garfield the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) over and above the amount provided for in this act, for its interest in the public property and improvements."Section 9. The County of Garfield shall be entitled to two members of the House of Representatives and one joint member of the Council with Walla Walla and Whitman counties."Section 10. The County of Columbia shall be entitled to one member of the Council and one representative in the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington."Section 11. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with any of the provisions of this act shall be, and the same are hereby repealed."Section 12. This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval."Approved November 29, 1881."COUNTY SEAT LOCATIONVery naturally and logically the next stage of evolution of the new county was the determination of the county seat.In the enabling act Pataha City was designated as the official head until the next election to occur on January 9, 1882. Hence ensued an active, almost fierce, campaign between the four places to which the race finally narrowed—Pataha City, Assotin City, Pomeroy and Mentor. The rivalry between the near neighbors, Pomeroy and Pataha, became very bitter. Each accused the other of double dealing and of trading against each other in such a way that many believed that Assotin City, on the extreme southeastern verge of the county, would win the coveted honor. The result of the election, however, was to give Pomeroy a considerable plurality, though not a majority—Pomeroy, 411; Assotin City, 287; Pataha City, 259; Mentor, 82.The county officers chosen at this first election, eight republicans and four democrats were as follows: County commissioners, J. W. Weisenfeldt, J. J. Kanawyer, and Eliel Oliver; sheriff, W. E. Wilson; auditor, Scott Rogers; probate judge, Benjamin Butler; treasurer, J. N. Perkins; assessor, H. H. Wise; surveyor, E. D. Briggs; superintendent of schools, W. H. Marks; coroner, E. A. Davidson; sheep commissioner, S. T. Jones.The different precincts, with the vote of each for sheriff, were these: Pomeroy, 260; Pataha, 184; Tuscanon, 8; Meadow, 28; River, 90; Pleasant, 69; Columbia Center, 108; Asotin, 66; Cottonwood, 201. This gives a total of 1,014, and that number indicates the rapid growth of the region, for the entire population in 1875, only seven years earlier, was estimated at not to exceed 500.The county seat contest thus resulted in favor of Pomeroy, but there was a curious after-clap to this which made up one of the noted law cases of the Territory.A suit was brought, entitled "Rice vs. County Commissioners of Garfield County," to restrain the commissioners from meeting at the point, Pomeroy, which they had, after canvassing the votes, declared the duly appointed county seat. The case was tried as an equity case by Judge S. C. Wingard, Territorial judge at Walla Walla, and his decision was that the county was without any seat. The ground of this decision was purely technical, one of those decisions which delight lawyers and judges, in that it emphasizes the letter of the law, and usually is repugnant to common people, in that it disregards the plainly obvious intent of the sovereign people and seems to render them the victims and slaves of their own instruments. The point was this: The Enabling Act, though designating a Board of County Commissioners to provide for an election and canvassthe votes for county officers and issue certificates to them, and though the Enabling Act had also in section 4 provided for an election of county seat, yet there was no specific power granted to the commissioners or to any one to canvass the votes for the county seat. Hence, the judge ruled, there had been no legal choice, and the county was without an official seat. The findings of the court are summarized in the following paragraphs:1. That all that part of the act pleaded in complaint respecting the submission of the location of the county seat of Garfield County to the determination of the legal voters, that is to say, all that portion of section 4 of said act beginning with the words "at which time" to the determination of said section be, and the same is hereby declared by the court, unconstitutional and void.2. That the said pretended election in said complaint mentioned is by the court held a nullity and set aside.3. That said defendants are forbidden from making Pomeroy the seat of government of Garfield County.4. That said defendants and each of them are enjoined from requiring any or all of the county officers of said Garfield County to remove their respective offices to said Pomeroy or there discharge the duties of their said respective offices.5. That defendants and each of them are enjoined from incurring any indebtedness against said county or expending any of its funds in or about removing county officers to said Pomeroy, or in any manner attempting to make Pomeroy the seat of government of said Garfield County. That the following parts of the prayer of said complaint are refused by the court, to-wit: The court refuses to enjoin defendants from locating their offices at said Pomeroy, or from transacting there the county business of said Garfield County, or from their furnishing offices for all or any part of the county officers of said county.The costs of this case are taxed to Garfield County.But this evidently could not be the end of the case. The commissioners decided to meet at Pomeroy, and the county treasury was established at the store of Brady and Rush, with Mr. Rush acting as deputy treasurer. The Pataha forces started another suit to compel the board to meet at that place. This suit having been defeated, the only recourse seemed be a new act by the Legislature. This appeal resulted in separate bills by the two houses. The lower house passed a bill, without opposition, for locating the seat of government at Pomeroy, though this passed with the general understanding that there would be a vote by the people of the county. The bill by the council provided for submission to an election by the people. But the end was not yet, and the whole matter, together with several other acts of the Legislature, went to the National Congress.On May 13, 1884, the House of Representatives passed a law to sanction the selection of Pomeroy for the county seat of Garfield County. The Senate having agreed, this case was ended and Pomeroy entered upon the peaceful exercise of her official primacy. It is rather a curious fact that every one of the other contending places, except Asotin, which became the seat of still another county, has almost reverted to farming land and Pomeroy is the only place that can be called a town in the entire county.STREET SCENE IN POMEROYWHEAT WAREHOUSE, POMEROYThe first assessment of the county, in 1882, gave to real estate a valuation of $250,345; to improvements, $111,834; to personal property, $662,891; a total of $1,025,983. The taxes amounted to $26,351.74.RECORD OF ELECTIONSFollowing the initial election, voting population, and assessed valuation, already given, we may summarize the official events under the following headings:At the general election of November, 1882, the voting precincts were: Pomeroy, Pataha City, Pleasant, River, Meadow, Tucanon, Columbia Center, Asotin, Cottonwood, Lake, Grande Ronde. The results were the following, majorities being given in each case: For delegate to Congress T. H. Brents, 103; joint councilman, J. E. Edmiston, 14; joint councilman, N. T. Caton, 146; attorney, J. K. Rutherford, 24; representative, William Clark, 57; auditor, H. B. Ferguson, 142; sheriff, W. E. Wilson, 299; treasurer, J. W. Rauch, 231; commissioner, J. D. Swain, 552; commissioner, Z. A. Baldwin, 66; commissioner, James Hull, 15; probate judge, Benjamin Butler, 226; superintendent of schools, without opposition, Mrs. T. G. Morrison; assessor, H. H. Wise, 115; surveyor, E. D. Briggs, 259; coroner, Dr. G. B. Kuykendall, 129; sheep commissioner, C. H. Seeley, 2. J. D. Swain having resigned as commissioner on account of the prospective setting apart of Asotin County, James Chisholm was appointed to fill the vacancy.Of the above officers Messrs. Brents, Swain, Baldwin, Butler, Clark, Wise, Kuykendall, Briggs, Seeley, and Mrs. Morrison were republicans, while Messrs. Edmiston, Caton, Rutherford, Ferguson, Wilson, Rauch and Hull were democrats.In the next election, 1884, Asotin County having in the meantime been set apart, the republicans maintained their lead, as on all normal issues they have continued to do to the present. The total vote of 1884 was 1,314, a large increase over that of two years previous, even though Asotin had become distinct. But that was the year of the short-lived woman suffrage regime, and that explains in part the increase. The result of the election was to give Armstrong, republican, for delegate, a majority over Voorhees, though the latter was chosen for the Territory. The joint councilmen, Isaac Carson and B. B. Day, republicans, received majorities in the county and the republican candidate for representative, J. N. Perkins, received a majority. Of the local officers chosen, W. E. Wilson for sheriff, J. W. Rauch for treasurer, and D. Strain for commissioner, were democrats. All the others were republicans: Benjamin Butler, probate judge; I. C. Sanford, superintendent of schools; H. H. Wise, assessor; Hayden Gearhardt, surveyor; C. O. Kneen and J. F. Martin, commissioners; Dr. G. B. Kuykendall, coroner; and C. H. Seeley, sheep commissioner.The election of 1886 totaled 1,313 votes. The republican candidate for delegate, C. M. Bradshaw received eleven votes more than Voorhees, but the latter again had a majority in the territory. For joint councilman and joint representative, O. C. White and R. A. Case, both republicans, were chosen.For local officers, W. N. Noffsinger, attorney; Benjamin Butler, probate judge; Gilbert Dickson, treasurer; I. N. Julian, assessor; Hayden Gearhardt, surveyor; Dr. G. W. Black, coroner; J. H. Walker, sheep commissioner, and J. S. Davis and Joseph Scott, commissioners, were all republicans. The democratschosen were S. K. Hull for sheriff, R. H. Wills for auditor, T. Driscoll for superintendent of schools, and J. Parker for commissioner.The election of 1888 was notable in several respects. The republicans chose every local candidate except that for prosecuting attorney, and he was chosen by only one majority. In the general shiftings of the next few years he became a republican, but to whichever party he belonged he has been honored as one of the leading citizens of the county and state. This was judge Mack F. Gose. Another eminent democrat appeared in this election as candidate for joint councilman, M. M. Godman of Dayton. He was chosen in the district but not in Garfield County.The woman suffrage amendment had been declared unconstitutional by Judge W. G. Langford, and hence the vote for 1888 fell to 977. This was the year of the triumph of John B. Allen over Charles S. Voorhees for delegate, in the Territory as well as county.The county officers chosen were M. F. Gose, attorney, by one majority; George W. Campbell, auditor; Gilbert Dickson, sheriff; G. D. Wilson, assessor; I. C. Sanford, treasurer; Benjamin Butler, probate judge; David Miller, J. S. Davis, and J. Fitzsimmons, commissioners; H. C. Benbow, superintendent of schools; Hayden Gearhardt, surveyor, and G. W. Black, coroner.And now we reach the most important and interesting date in the history of the blushing young Territory of Washington, when she became a "sweet girl graduate" and stepped upon the platform to receive her diploma as a full grown state, 1889. Like all other counties, Garfield was agog with excitement over the great event and there was quite a boiling in the pot over the choice of delegates to the Constitutional convention. The enabling act provided that the territory be divided into twenty-five districts, each entitled to three delegates, of whom only two could be of one party. District number 8 embraced Adams, Garfield, Asotin, and Franklin counties. On May 7, 1889, the district convention of republicans met at Pomeroy to nominate candidates for the Constitutional convention. I. N. Muncy of Pasco was chosen chairman, and G. W. Bailey of Asotin secretary. The nominees were Elmon Scott of Garfield County and D. Buchanan of Adams. The democratic convention also met at Pomeroy and nominated W. B. Gray of Franklin County. A peculiar turn took place in this election, and the narration of it brings forward the name of one of the most respected citizens of the county and subsequently of the state, S. G. Cosgrove, afterwards Governor Of Washington. Owing to dissension in the republican ranks, Mr. Cosgrove became an independent candidate. W. A. George and F. W. D. Mays, both democrats, also became independent candidates. The upshot of the matter was that democrats threw their votes largely to Cosgrove, and, as a result, Scott, Gray and Cosgrove became delegates to the Constitutional convention.And now that Garfield County, with her sister counties, had the new dignity of participation in state government, the elections took an added importance. The first election under statehood occurred October 1, 1889. In preparation for that event there were county conventions of both parties at Pomeroy, that of republicans on August 29th and that of democrats September 7th. To indicate the leaders of parties at that time we preserve the names of the officers of each convention and delegate chosen for the state convention. Of republicans, Dr. T. C. Frary was chairman and W. G. Victor secretary. The delegates were JayLynch, S. G. Cosgrove, W. G. Victor, F. G. Morrison, C. G. Austin and W. S. Oliphant. Of the democratic, Eliel Oliver was chairman and James Parker secretary. Delegates were R. E. Wills, F. W. D. Mays, W. S. Parker and J. S. Thomas.The results of the election were:For congressman, J. L. Wilson received a majority of 104 over T. C. Griffiths, and former Territorial Governor Elisha P. Ferry, 99 majority over Eugene Semple. That was about the average majority of republicans over democrats on the state ticket.The republican candidate for representative to State Legislature, W. S. Oliphant, had a majority of 34 over his democratic competitor, James Parker. R. E. Wills, democrat, had a majority of 48 over the republican candidate, F. E. Williamson, for the new position of county clerk. No other county officers were chosen at that time. A vote was taken on woman suffrage in that election, and the result was adverse by 492 to 336. Prohibition carried by 442 to 415.During the elections that followed, beginning with 1890, Garfield County, like the rest of the state, had many parties, and much political activity and (the Lord be praised for this) a deal of good political education and independent action, which resulted in great shattering of boss schemes and legislative lobbies and prepared the way for the progressive politics manifested in the adoption of initiative, referendum, and recall measures, woman suffrage, prohibition, and that general advance toward a new Americanism which had made the western states a wonder to the "effete East" and a source of consternation to political Troglodytes. Republicans, democrats, populists, prohibitionists, and socialists, marshalled their cohorts, set their platforms before the people, and named their candidates. Some people deprecate political campaigns on the ground that they "disturb business." They certainly do, but that may be their greatest commendation. It all depends on what one lives for. If accumulation of wealth is the sole aim of existence, it is unfortunate for the "well-fixed" classes to have any disturbance of business. If political growth, individual development, experience in public affairs, have place in one's scheme of life, these disturbances and popular agitations far more than recompense a state for its pecuniary dislocations. At any rate, the Pacific Coast states have had the political agitations, and it is somewhat significant that they lead the Union in general education, nor is it observable that they are greatly deficient in business advancement.Garfield County, like the state, usually cast a large majority for republican candidates in national and state affairs. The result was commonly the same in local elections. In all, however, there was great play for independent action. The boss could never be sure of delivering the goods. In 1890, 1892 and 1894 the republicans carried the field in national and state elections. In the great breaking-up year of 1896, the populists swept the ground, with Bryan as candidate for President and James Hamilton Lewis and W. C. Jones for Congress. In 1898 a reversal took place and Wesley L. Jones and Francis Cushman forged ahead of Lewis and W. C. Jones. In the same election Garfield again set itself down against woman suffrage and also against the single tax.The year 1900 was another great year in politics, state and nation. In Garfield County, the year was notable in that it marked a definite movement in favor of S. G. Cosgrove for governor, and also the withdrawal of a number of democrats from their former affiliations and union with the republicans, mainly onthe ground of the "sound money" issue. Mack F. Gose was conspicuous in the new alignment.The populists had dropped out of this election, but the prohibition, socialist labor, and social democrat parties were in the field. The result was a majority for the republicans on national and state issues, with the exception that the county (as also the state) did itself the credit of choosing John R. Rogers, democrat, for governor.The republicans held the fort again in 1902. The total vote for congressmen as 936, and F. W. Cushman, W. L. Jones, and W. E. Humphrey received votes of 530, 516 and 517 respectively.In 1904 the republicans had an overwhelming majority on the presidential and congressional tickets, giving the republican electors a plurality of 510, and Humphrey, Jones and Cushman, an average of 300 majority for Congress. But George E. Turner, democrat, passed A. E. Mead, republican, in the gubernatorial race by 166.Passing on to the presidential year of 1908, we find a total vote in the county of 1,003, and a majority for the republican electors of 177. Miles Poindexter, republican for Congress in this district (the state having been districted since the previous election), carried the field, and S. G. Cosgrove had an overwhelming majority for governor. This eminent and well loved citizen of Garfield County realized in that year his worthy and long cherished ambition to be the chief executive of the state, and went from a sick bed to be duly inaugurated. But his activities were ended and within a few weeks he passed on, to the profound sorrow of the entire state and particularly his friends and neighbors in the home county where he had been known and deeply respected so many years.In 1910 W. L. La Follette of Whitman County received a majority in the county, as in the district, for congressman, and M. F. Gose was called to the supreme bench of the state, a choice almost unanimous in the county, and one recognized in the state as eminently worthy.The presidential year of 1912 gave a reversal, and the County of Garfield joined the rest of the Union in a majority for Woodrow Wilson for President, and also joined the rest of the state in selection of a democrat, Eugene Lister, for governor.1914 saw the re-election of W. L. La Follette, republican for Congress, and W. L. Jones for senator. In the same year occurred the most peculiar apparent turn in the opinion of Garfield County on the prohibition issue. For that was the great year of the struggle over the state-wide prohibition law. It might be regarded as an east-of-the-mountain proposition, for the East Side reached the crest of the Cascades with about 28,000 majority, enough to overcome the heavy adverse vote of Seattle, and have thousands to spare. But, strange to say, Garfield County, one of the very earliest to adopt local option, and one of the most pronounced in temperance sentiment, went against the amendment, and was the only East Side county to do so. The reason simply was that having tried local option with satisfactory results, the deliberate judgment was that local option was correct in theory and practice and should be sustained. It is stated now by those familiar with conditions that since the adoption and operation of the prohibition law it has the hearty support of the county, as shown by the fact that efforts to nullify it in 1916 were overwhelmingly defeated in the county, as in the state.

CHAPTER IIIGARFIELD COUNTYIt has been remarked by various philosophers at various times concerning various subjects that like causes produce like effects. The same causes which led to the establishment of Columbia County from the eastern two-third of the Old County of Walla Walla operated within a short time to cause a movement for another division, and that yet again to another, insomuch that Garfield and Asotin became political entities. Some petty local jealousies and selfish scheming almost always play their part in county divisions and county-seat fights. Yet it would be very superficial to attribute to these less worthy motives the main influences. The fundamental causes after all have usually been the progressive growth of population and the differentiation of industry, whereby there arises some real need of new lines and more convenient official centers.The pressure of those conditions began to be felt in the northern and eastern parts of Old Columbia County almost as soon as it was fairly organized. It was soon discovered that the Touchet region was one natural unit and the eastern and northeastern part of the county was another; or rather two, for almost immediately the same line of reasoning led to the conclusion that the Asotin country was naturally a separate unit from that of the Pataha.Although settlement has not been in any way uniform in these four counties and there has been some shingling over from one to another, it may be said that in a general way the movement was from west to east and northeast. While the decade of the '60s was peculiarly the foundation period of Walla Walla and Columbia, that of the '70s may be regarded as peculiarly the pioneer age of Garfield, while that of Asotin may be assigned to the latter part of the '70s and beginning of the '80s.We find, however, that a few of the foundation builders were already in their permanent homes in Garfield County in the '60s, long prior to the formation of the county. We have already given a list of these first locations, and our main purpose in this chapter is to take up the story with county creation. For the sake of topical clearness, however, it is well to present a summary, even at the expense of a little repetition, of the first settlement of the different regions of what became the permanent Garfield County.As authority for such precounty history we find a very valuable special number of theEast Washingtonian. This is the "First Garfield County Pioneer Edition" of June 6, 1914. This issuance of so elaborate a number of the paper is a great demonstration of the enterprise of the publishers of that paper, as well as of the local ambition of the Pioneer Association of the County, an association which holds an annual two-day session and which has done much to fasten genuine historical and patriotic sentiments in the memory of the people of the county.COURTHOUSE, POMEROYFrom this highly commendable edition of theEast Washingtonianwe derive the following summary of first events:SUMMARY OF THE FIRST EVENTS: THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION IN THIS TERRITORYThe first white persons that ever came through Garfield County were the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. They arrived at Rigsby's Grove May 3, 1806, and camped for dinner, eating what was left of two dogs they had purchased from the Indians.The first steamboat passed up Snake River in 1860.Columbia Center was the first town laid off in Garfield County in 1876.The first known murder by the whites was that of a man killed in the old Rigsby cabin Christmas morning, 1864. The man who did the killing was named Wilkins and the man killed was the owner of the house. The old cabin still stands on the Rigsby place.The first sawmill erected in this county was put up by Henry Sharpnack, in 1874, just above Columbia Center. It was not successful.James F. Rose was the first settler next the mountains above Pataha Prairie, 1869.Joseph Clary built the first residence in Pomeroy after the original Sunderland log cabin. It was the residence of B. B. Day and still stands, the first house west of A Street on Main.The first women's votes were cast at an election to fill a vacancy of justice of the peace, January 29, 1884.The first settlers were in many instances men with Indian women. John Fogarty lived on the Rafferty place with a Nez Percé half-Indian woman. She was born at the crossing of the Touchet about where Dayton now is. Fogarty was drowned in the Clearwater. Thomas Reynolds lived a mile below Marengo, on the Tucanon, with an Indian woman who had before lived with two different white men. They had two daughters named Clydena and Agatha. After the latter the Town of Agatha, Idaho, was named. Clydena died at Marengo when about fourteen years old. Agatha married James Evans, son of Berry Evans.Coleman, for whom Coleman Gulch was named, lived on the Tucanon, a mile above Marengo, and had a California Indian wife. James Turner lived on the Alpowa with an Indian woman. Two men named Bailey, with Indian wives, in 1859, lived on the Touchet, near Dayton.The first minister to hold services in Garfield County was the Rev. Father Cataldo, who preached at Rafferty's and McBrearty's.The first school on the Pataha Creek was taught by W. W. McCauley in 1873. The schoolhouse was located at Owsley's.J. M. Pomeroy located the land where Pomeroy now stands on December 8, 1864.The first telegraph was built by the government and ran from Dayton to Lewiston, through Pomeroy, in 1879.The Catholics built the first church in Pomeroy, 1878. Father Papes was the first pastor.First grain raised on Deadman was in 1878, E. T. Wilson, grower.Newton Estes was the first settler on the Deadman, 1870.James Bowers was the first settler on the land where Pataha now is, 1861. In 1868 Vine Favor bought the land and started the Town of Pataha in 1878.The first Protestant minister to hold services in Garfield County was Rev. Calaway, then living in Walla Walla, a Cumberland Presbyterian.It appears from this record that Parson Quinn was the first settler on the Pataha, having located there in 1860. The first house on the Pataha was built by Thomas Riley, who afterwards disposed of it to James Rafferty. One of the first settlers was William McEnery, on the lower Pataha, in 1862.The next creek after the Pataha to receive settlers was the Deadman. This rather lugubrious name seems to have been derived from the fact that during the hard winter of '61-2, two men perished in the hollow which became known as "Deadman Hollow." They were supposed to have been miners from Orofino or Florence. The bodies were not discovered till spring, and were then suitably interred and the spot marked with a pile of rocks at a point near the old road from Walla Walla to Lewiston. That region is now one of the best farming sections in the Inland Empire. Newton Estes was the first to make a permanent location on the Deadman, and his date was 1871. Within a short time, S. T. Jones, A. E. Lee, W. L. Freeman, Frank Ping, John Lynn, and Archie McBrearty located upon the creek. One event of that stage worthy of special record was the Alpowa "Toll Road." It was built by B. B. Howard and M. Fettis, in 1872-3, and in 1873 became the property of N. A. Wheeler. For twenty-five years it was maintained by Mr. Wheeler and then deeded by him to the county for $1.00. Pataha prairie, south of the Deadman and Alpowa, was settled in the early '70s. Rev. William Calaway located there in 1870; Isaac Coatney in 1871; William Chester, 1871; D. Zemmel, 1871; Robert Storey, 1872.From these centers of settlement, Pataha Creek, Deadman Creek and Hollow, Pataha prairie, together with the still earlier Tucanon (spoken of in connection with Columbia County), and Alpowa (the lower part of which was early historic ground as the home of Red Wolf and Timothy, the Nez Perces, associated with the Missionary Spalding), the growth proceeded during the period prior to county division, following the familiar lines from sheep and cattle and horses to agriculture.The most constructive event was the founding of Pomeroy. This thriving city, the capital and metropolis of Garfield County, was established by J. M. Pomeroy in 1877. Mrs. Pomeroy, now Mrs. St. George, is living at the date of this publication, a woman of great vigor of mind and body, the best authority on the early days in the place of which she told the author she might be called "the Mother." Mr. Pomeroy came from Oregon to the territory in 1863, and for a few months took charge of the stage station at the present site of Dayton. There the youngest child of the family, now Mrs. Peter McClung of Pomeroy, was born. In the spring of 1864, Mr. Pomeroy moved with his family to the location of the town which became his namesake. There in the last part of the year he purchased of a transient settler, Walter Sunderland, the right to the claim on which the town now stands. For a dozen years he devoted his main attention to cattle raising and to the conducting of the stage station. The author wishes that his readers could enjoy the privilege, as he has, of hearing Mrs. St. George describe in her vivid and entertaining way the times of the stage station and the expressboxes with thousands of dollars' worth of gold dust, when "road agents" were figuring on breaking in and seizing them, when horse thieves ran off their horses, and when the Vigilantes would occasionally decorate a tree with the remains of a horse thief as a suggestion for moderation in becoming attached to other men's stock. As the next best thing we are going to let Mrs. St. George tell the story in the following sketch which appeared in the pioneer number of theEast Washingtonian."Pomeroy, Wash., April 5, 1914.—I came from Salem, Ore., where I had lived with my people for eighteen years, being four years old when my folks crossed the plains, among the early pioneers of Oregon."I was married at the age of fifteen years, and, for a while, lived in Salem with my husband and two small children."I came up the Columbia River by steamer to Wallula, took the stage for Walla Walla, with twelve other passengers, on April 6, 1864."At Wallula I found a great rush of travel, many on their way to the reported gold strike at Orofino, Idaho."I had two pairs of fine blooded pigs in a small box, two dozen fine chickens, but no baggage except a suitcase with a few things for my children. My trunks had been left at Portland and came the next day."My husband was coming overland with a band of fine Shorthorn cattle and about twenty head of horses. He had been driving stock for about four weeks, and I had remained with my mother for awhile, so we would arrive at Walla Walla about the same time. Arriving there with my little ones, a stranger in a strange land, with very little money, and board and lodgings at the City Hotel twenty-five dollars a week, and no letter from my husband awaiting me, I did not feel very much at home."But soon a man with whom Mr. Pomeroy had made arrangements for the place where we were to live until we could look about and select a piece of land for our homestead. We were to stay that summer on the ranch two miles east of Dayton, belonging to Mr. William Rexford, in a small log house with a fireplace, and there, in September, Mrs. McClung was born."We were as poor and hard up for money as any one that ever came to this country. In the month of July Mr. King, who at that time carried the mail, express and passengers from Walla Walla to Lewiston, made me a proposition to keep a stage stand and feed his hungry passengers every day, and very soon I was giving two dinners each day to the coming and going travelers."I had told Mr. King that I had nothing to work with, no stove, table or dishes; nothing to cook and I did not see how I could accommodate him. I had been helping to break some of the young heifers to milk, and made some butter to sell, having no other way to make a dollar. I sold all the butter I could spare for one dollar a pound; but soon winter would come on and then what would we do with no money, no sale for what little stock we had? Something had to be done. We had made a garden soon after we settled and by this time we had some nice vegetables, which were a great treat to the travelers coming out of the mines."Mr. King told me to make a list of what I needed for my house so I could feed his passengers, and, finally, after much urging, I did so. He took my list to Walla Walla, had the bill filled, put on a freight team the next day and broughtme a big, nice cookstove with all the things belonging to it; lots of dishes and linen, and said I could pay him when I made the money and could spare it."The very next day I gave a dinner to ten passengers, and, oh, didn't they brag on that dinner. I never will forget all the nice things they said."I kept the stage stand there until December 10th, when we bought this place, where Pomeroy now stands, or rather the improvements on it, consisting of a large house, a log barn and corral."Then the daily stage service was discontinued to once a week, with this station as a night stopping place, where all that traveled the road always got their meals. Our house became the famous stopping place between Walla Walla, Wash., and Lewiston, Idaho."When the travel was heavy we made some money, and when the travel was light I had to work out doors milking cows, making garden and all kinds of hard work. My little children almost raised themselves, taking care of the baby, and helping me in many ways. Work, always thinking of how to make nice things to eat for the traveling public, and how to keep expenses paid."Walla Walla was our trading place, for everything was high at Lewiston. But if I had anything to sell I sent it to the latter place."There was one family living on the Pataha besides us, two or three squaw men and some bachelors living where the King boys now live, and for a little while a family was located on the Alpowa Creek. There were some Indian ranches on that creek at that time. No one lived below on the Pataha, till you came to the old 'Parson' Quinn place, eleven miles down, then farther on were two or three cattle ranches—Rice and Montgomery, Platters, and later Archey McBrearty. There was no settlement on Snake River except at Almota, no one living on the Deadman, nor anywhere over there, and no settlers between the Pataha and the mountains."I helped my husband to stake the roads to the mountains. There had been a road up the Benjamin Gulch, which was so badly washed out it could not be traveled. We staked a road across 'Dutch Flat' for our own use, as wood and fencing had to come from that direction."There was scarcely enough brush along the Pataha to make a camp fire. The Indians would burn the grass every year along Pataha, thus killing the tender willows."In those early days the Indians were very plentiful. I have seen as many as 100 or more pass by our place in one day, their destination being the Camas and Kouse districts, as Camas Prairie was then called. Then, later in the season, they would go to a lake at the head of the Yakima River, high up in the mountains, where the squaws would fish, and the men hunt deer, which were plentiful."During these camping periods, horse racing was the principal amusement; the Indians had many fine, fast horses, and the several tribes wagered many dollars and trinkets on the merits of their race stock. During this racing season many unscrupulous white men, or 'renegades,' would arrive, camping close by, winning the money of the Indians and selling them liquor."The Alpowa Indians were very friendly, and the squaws would work for me; I would hire them to work in the garden. They would take potatoes for their pay and pack them on their ponies. If not watched, they would steal someof the vegetables, but most of them did an honest day's work and were satisfied with what I gave them for their labor."Sometimes I could buy huckleberries from the Indians and dried antelope hams during the first few years we lived here. There was an old Indian called 'Squally John,' who would catch salmon on the Snake River and bring them to us. They would catch hundreds of them and dry them for the winter and would also get plenty of venison in our mountains."I was afraid of the Indians for a few years, but got over that feeling. It was slow work for one or two men to make a farm. Not a furrow had ever been plowed when we came, no fencing. Barbed wire was not known then, and Mr. Pomeroy had to haul feed for his team, and seed grain from the Touchet; and that, with the timber hauling from the mountains, kept him busy, which left the cows and the chores and all kinds of outdoor work for me to do with one hired man and the help of the children."I was a very busy woman, although I did find time to teach the children to read and write, and the first lessons were learned at home. There was a school taught at Dayton the summer of 1869, and we sent Clara and Ned there. This was a four months' term. The next year we sent Clara to the sisters at Walla Walla, then, in 1872, Bishop Wells started the St. Paul School, and Clara was one of the pupils there, until she finished her schooling and was married to Eugene T. Wilson, on Christmas Day, 1877."In the meantime we had opened a school at the Owsley place, and our two children attended school there, going five miles in a buggy. There were ten pupils the first year. The country was settling up everywhere by this time; many had settled on the Pataha Prairie, and Alpowa, and over in the Deadman country and along the Pataha Creek."When the flour mill was built, a man wanted to put in a stock of goods; then others came, and a town was laid out."Then there was no more frontier."That Mrs. St. George succeeded at the stage station and in that vital and fundamental requisite of the traveler in the days of the stage, viz., good eatables, well cooked and served, was abundantly proven. A writer in the Walla WallaUnionin 1894 drew a toothsome picture of the gastronomic attractions at Pomeroy and Alpowa, as follows:"A quarter of a century or more ago there were two famous eating houses on the stage road between Walla Walla and Lewiston, houses which were the occasion of many heated arguments between those who had been over the road as to which was the better, houses at either of which the traveler, tired and sore from the lurching of the stage, was sure of a substantial meal, the memory of which, as it flitted through the brain, lingered and made the mouth water. These were the houses which the familiar, all-pervading, time-serving drummer contracted into 'Pum's' and 'Freeman's.' The former was located near what is now the center of the thriving City of Pomeroy; the latter was on the Alpowa, about half-way between 'Pum's' and Lewiston. Coming passengers dined at Pomeroy's; going took breakfast at Freeman's. Possibly stage passengers have eaten better cooked meals and sat down to more attractive tables than those found at Freeman's and Pomeroy's, but they never said so while at either place, or elsewhere. Delicious bread, fresh from the oven, that which was properly seasoned by age,sweet butter, thick cream in genuine coffee, meats done to a turn, chicken fried or stewed, vegetables in their season, fruits, pastry, each and all 'fit to set before a king,' were provided in profusion in both places. In winter huge fires in equally huge fireplaces thawed out the frozen traveler. In summer cold buttermilk cooled his heated blood and washed the alkali dust out of his throat."As an interesting record of the early days, we find an account in theColumbia Chronicleof Dayton of the first Fourth of July celebration in the present Garfield County held in 1878 at the edge of the Blue Mountains just beyond Pataha flat. The reporter for theChronicledeclares that the celebration was a great success; a near arbor for the speaker and musicians, plenty of seats, abundant eatables, and great enthusiasm in spite of the mountain chill prevailing.THE NEW COUNTY OF GARFIELDBeing obliged to content ourselves with these hurried glimpses at the precounty history we turn to the important stage of the creation of the new county. As the reader will recall, the County of Columbia was set up in 1875. We discover from files of theColumbia Chroniclethat agitation in favor of a new county began in 1880. By that year considerable settlement had been made in the Pataha, Deadman, Alpowa and Asotin regions and a common subject of discussion was the inconvenient distance from Dayton as the county seat.TheChronicleof October 9, 1880, thus views the situation:"A talk with many of the leading men from various parts of the county reveals the fact that the people are in no great hurry for a division. It is generally conceded that the county is too large when the immense canyons and peculiar lay of the country are taken into consideration, but it is also conceded that the eastern portion of the county is not at the present time prepared to support a county organization. All talk of a division is, therefore, at this time, premature. The people of the western portion of the county are in favor of forming a new county when the eastern portion demands it."One of the features of the case was the number of possible county seats which began to sprout forth as candidates for the official crown. One was laid out on Snake River at the mouth of the Alpowa, and that would be a fine site for a city, too, now the location of several hundred acres of magnificent orchard. Another was Mentor, on the Pataha, six miles above Pomeroy. It was at the foot of the "grade" on the Rafferty place and was first named Belfast. The claims of Mentor, named from the home of the President whose name was to become that of the county, are set forth thus in some correspondence from that ambitious place for theColumbia Chronicleof December 17, 1881:"The Town of Mentor desires to have a fair chance in the contest. We stand on our own merits. We have a good townsite on the Pataha Creek; good roads running to the place. The greatest wheat growing country in the territory tributary to it. The Pataha and Lewiston survey runs to this place; the road will, no doubt, be built in time to take away next year's crop. We are very sorry we did not ask for the capital of the territory instead of the county seat, but will try that next time. This place is well known, and is as near the center of the county as it is possible to locate a town. Lumber is being hauled for buildings, and the proprietor, Mr. Rafferty, is very liberal in his donations of land forcounty purposes. Mentor is the place for the people. You will hear this place called Dublin, Limerick, and Ireland."Melancholy was the fate of Mentor. A sarcastic correspondent in theChroniclewrites, under date of February 11, 1882:"The lumber pile, which constituted the Town of Mentor, has been purchased by Mr. Scott and will be brought to Pomeroy. Like Mahomet and the mountain: If the county seat would not go to Mentor, Mentor will go to the county seat."Besides Alpowa and Mentor, the prospective towns of Asotin, Assotin City, Columbia Center, Pataha City, and Pomeroy were all aspirants. The last named, laid out, as already noted, in 1877, soon forged to the front and became the center of an active propaganda for the removal of the county seat of Columbia or for the erection of a new county. The former proposition seems to have been at first the prevailing plan. It excited much opposition on the part of Dayton. An editorial extract from theChronicleof October 8, 1881, indicates the turn which sentiment at Dayton was taking:"An earnest effort is being made by the citizens of Pomeroy and vicinity to move the county seat to that town. We object. The county is large enough for two good counties, and the valley or canyon of the Tucanon throughout its greater portion affords a natural boundary. The people of this section are willing to allow the eastern portion a county organization whenever they wish it, as the division must come sooner or later. It is reported that two of our representatives in the Legislature are pledged to the removal and also to give several more townships to Walla Walla County to buy its influence. They do not propose to give the people an opportunity to vote on the question, as they fear the result, but aim to have the change made by the Legislature without consulting the wishes of the voters of the whole county. We agree with our Pomeroy correspondent that it is unjust to compel people east of the Tucanon to come here to transact business, but it would be equally unjust to compel people on this side to go to Pomeroy. The only just and equitable way out of the difficulty is to divide the county on the line indicated and allow the citizens of the new county to locate their county seat. But with the county seat of Columbia County beyond the Tucanon, nineteen-twentieths of the people of this vicinity would petition to be attached to Walla Walla County, as with the present facilities for travel it would be most convenient, to say nothing of the great advantage of joining a wealthy county with public buildings erected and paid for and a brilliant future before it. This, however, only as a last resort. We trust the Legislature will take no hasty action in this matter, but will give all parts of the county ample opportunity to be heard."As a logical outcome of the situation the Legislature passed an act, approved by Gov. W. A. Newell, on November 29, 1881, providing for the new county. As a matter of history this act is valuable for permanent record and we insert it here:"An Act to organize the County of Garfield:"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington; That all that portion of Columbia County situated within Washington Territory and included within the following limits, be, and the same shall be known as the County of Garfield, in honor of James A. Garfield, late President of the United States, viz.: Commencing at a point in the midchannel of SnakeRiver on township line between ranges 39 and 40; thence on said line south to the southwest corner of township twelve (12), range forty (40); thence east on township line six (6) miles; thence south to the southwest corner of section seven (7); township eleven (11), north of range forty-one (41) east; thence east one (1) mile; thence south three (3) miles; thence east one (1) mile; thence south one (1) mile; thence east one (1) mile; thence south three (3) miles; thence east three (3) miles; thence south on township line to the Oregon line; thence due east on said line to the division line between Territories of Washington and Idaho; thence north on said dividing line to a point where it intersects the midchannel of the Snake River; thence down the midchannel of the Snake River to the point of beginning."Section 2. That E. Oliver, Joseph Harris and N. C. Williams are hereby appointed a board of commissioners to call a special election of county officers for said Garfield County, and to appoint the necessary judges and inspectors thereof; notice of which election shall be given and the said election conducted and returns made as is now provided by law: Provided, That the returns shall be made to the commissioners aforesaid, who shall canvass the returns and declare the result, and issue certificates to the persons elected."Sections 3. That the justices of the peace and constables who are now elected as such in precincts of the County of Garfield, be, and the same are hereby declared justices of the peace and constables of said County of Garfield."Section 4. That the county seat of the said County of Garfield is hereby located at Pataha City until the next election, which is to be held on the second Monday in January, A. D. 1882, at which time the highest number of legal votes of said county, given for any one place, may permanently locate the same."Section 5. The County of Garfield is hereby united to the County of Columbia for judicial purposes."Section 6. That all laws applicable to the County of Columbia shall be applicable to the County of Garfield."Section 7. That all taxes levied and assessed by the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Columbia for the year A. D. 1881, upon persons or property within the boundaries of the said County of Garfield, shall be collected and paid into the treasury of said Columbia County for the use of said County of Columbia: Provided, however, That the said County of Columbia shall pay all the just indebtedness of said Columbia County, and that when such indebtedness shall be wholly paid and discharged all moneys remaining in the treasury of said Columbia County, and all credits due and to become due said County of Columbia on the assessment roll of said year shall be divided between said counties of Columbia and Garfield according to the assessed valuation of said property of the same year. Provided further, That nothing in this act be so construed as to deprive the County of Garfield of its proportion of the tax levied for common school purposes for the above-named year."Section 8. The County of Columbia shall pay to the County of Garfield the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) over and above the amount provided for in this act, for its interest in the public property and improvements."Section 9. The County of Garfield shall be entitled to two members of the House of Representatives and one joint member of the Council with Walla Walla and Whitman counties."Section 10. The County of Columbia shall be entitled to one member of the Council and one representative in the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington."Section 11. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with any of the provisions of this act shall be, and the same are hereby repealed."Section 12. This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval."Approved November 29, 1881."COUNTY SEAT LOCATIONVery naturally and logically the next stage of evolution of the new county was the determination of the county seat.In the enabling act Pataha City was designated as the official head until the next election to occur on January 9, 1882. Hence ensued an active, almost fierce, campaign between the four places to which the race finally narrowed—Pataha City, Assotin City, Pomeroy and Mentor. The rivalry between the near neighbors, Pomeroy and Pataha, became very bitter. Each accused the other of double dealing and of trading against each other in such a way that many believed that Assotin City, on the extreme southeastern verge of the county, would win the coveted honor. The result of the election, however, was to give Pomeroy a considerable plurality, though not a majority—Pomeroy, 411; Assotin City, 287; Pataha City, 259; Mentor, 82.The county officers chosen at this first election, eight republicans and four democrats were as follows: County commissioners, J. W. Weisenfeldt, J. J. Kanawyer, and Eliel Oliver; sheriff, W. E. Wilson; auditor, Scott Rogers; probate judge, Benjamin Butler; treasurer, J. N. Perkins; assessor, H. H. Wise; surveyor, E. D. Briggs; superintendent of schools, W. H. Marks; coroner, E. A. Davidson; sheep commissioner, S. T. Jones.The different precincts, with the vote of each for sheriff, were these: Pomeroy, 260; Pataha, 184; Tuscanon, 8; Meadow, 28; River, 90; Pleasant, 69; Columbia Center, 108; Asotin, 66; Cottonwood, 201. This gives a total of 1,014, and that number indicates the rapid growth of the region, for the entire population in 1875, only seven years earlier, was estimated at not to exceed 500.The county seat contest thus resulted in favor of Pomeroy, but there was a curious after-clap to this which made up one of the noted law cases of the Territory.A suit was brought, entitled "Rice vs. County Commissioners of Garfield County," to restrain the commissioners from meeting at the point, Pomeroy, which they had, after canvassing the votes, declared the duly appointed county seat. The case was tried as an equity case by Judge S. C. Wingard, Territorial judge at Walla Walla, and his decision was that the county was without any seat. The ground of this decision was purely technical, one of those decisions which delight lawyers and judges, in that it emphasizes the letter of the law, and usually is repugnant to common people, in that it disregards the plainly obvious intent of the sovereign people and seems to render them the victims and slaves of their own instruments. The point was this: The Enabling Act, though designating a Board of County Commissioners to provide for an election and canvassthe votes for county officers and issue certificates to them, and though the Enabling Act had also in section 4 provided for an election of county seat, yet there was no specific power granted to the commissioners or to any one to canvass the votes for the county seat. Hence, the judge ruled, there had been no legal choice, and the county was without an official seat. The findings of the court are summarized in the following paragraphs:1. That all that part of the act pleaded in complaint respecting the submission of the location of the county seat of Garfield County to the determination of the legal voters, that is to say, all that portion of section 4 of said act beginning with the words "at which time" to the determination of said section be, and the same is hereby declared by the court, unconstitutional and void.2. That the said pretended election in said complaint mentioned is by the court held a nullity and set aside.3. That said defendants are forbidden from making Pomeroy the seat of government of Garfield County.4. That said defendants and each of them are enjoined from requiring any or all of the county officers of said Garfield County to remove their respective offices to said Pomeroy or there discharge the duties of their said respective offices.5. That defendants and each of them are enjoined from incurring any indebtedness against said county or expending any of its funds in or about removing county officers to said Pomeroy, or in any manner attempting to make Pomeroy the seat of government of said Garfield County. That the following parts of the prayer of said complaint are refused by the court, to-wit: The court refuses to enjoin defendants from locating their offices at said Pomeroy, or from transacting there the county business of said Garfield County, or from their furnishing offices for all or any part of the county officers of said county.The costs of this case are taxed to Garfield County.But this evidently could not be the end of the case. The commissioners decided to meet at Pomeroy, and the county treasury was established at the store of Brady and Rush, with Mr. Rush acting as deputy treasurer. The Pataha forces started another suit to compel the board to meet at that place. This suit having been defeated, the only recourse seemed be a new act by the Legislature. This appeal resulted in separate bills by the two houses. The lower house passed a bill, without opposition, for locating the seat of government at Pomeroy, though this passed with the general understanding that there would be a vote by the people of the county. The bill by the council provided for submission to an election by the people. But the end was not yet, and the whole matter, together with several other acts of the Legislature, went to the National Congress.On May 13, 1884, the House of Representatives passed a law to sanction the selection of Pomeroy for the county seat of Garfield County. The Senate having agreed, this case was ended and Pomeroy entered upon the peaceful exercise of her official primacy. It is rather a curious fact that every one of the other contending places, except Asotin, which became the seat of still another county, has almost reverted to farming land and Pomeroy is the only place that can be called a town in the entire county.STREET SCENE IN POMEROYWHEAT WAREHOUSE, POMEROYThe first assessment of the county, in 1882, gave to real estate a valuation of $250,345; to improvements, $111,834; to personal property, $662,891; a total of $1,025,983. The taxes amounted to $26,351.74.RECORD OF ELECTIONSFollowing the initial election, voting population, and assessed valuation, already given, we may summarize the official events under the following headings:At the general election of November, 1882, the voting precincts were: Pomeroy, Pataha City, Pleasant, River, Meadow, Tucanon, Columbia Center, Asotin, Cottonwood, Lake, Grande Ronde. The results were the following, majorities being given in each case: For delegate to Congress T. H. Brents, 103; joint councilman, J. E. Edmiston, 14; joint councilman, N. T. Caton, 146; attorney, J. K. Rutherford, 24; representative, William Clark, 57; auditor, H. B. Ferguson, 142; sheriff, W. E. Wilson, 299; treasurer, J. W. Rauch, 231; commissioner, J. D. Swain, 552; commissioner, Z. A. Baldwin, 66; commissioner, James Hull, 15; probate judge, Benjamin Butler, 226; superintendent of schools, without opposition, Mrs. T. G. Morrison; assessor, H. H. Wise, 115; surveyor, E. D. Briggs, 259; coroner, Dr. G. B. Kuykendall, 129; sheep commissioner, C. H. Seeley, 2. J. D. Swain having resigned as commissioner on account of the prospective setting apart of Asotin County, James Chisholm was appointed to fill the vacancy.Of the above officers Messrs. Brents, Swain, Baldwin, Butler, Clark, Wise, Kuykendall, Briggs, Seeley, and Mrs. Morrison were republicans, while Messrs. Edmiston, Caton, Rutherford, Ferguson, Wilson, Rauch and Hull were democrats.In the next election, 1884, Asotin County having in the meantime been set apart, the republicans maintained their lead, as on all normal issues they have continued to do to the present. The total vote of 1884 was 1,314, a large increase over that of two years previous, even though Asotin had become distinct. But that was the year of the short-lived woman suffrage regime, and that explains in part the increase. The result of the election was to give Armstrong, republican, for delegate, a majority over Voorhees, though the latter was chosen for the Territory. The joint councilmen, Isaac Carson and B. B. Day, republicans, received majorities in the county and the republican candidate for representative, J. N. Perkins, received a majority. Of the local officers chosen, W. E. Wilson for sheriff, J. W. Rauch for treasurer, and D. Strain for commissioner, were democrats. All the others were republicans: Benjamin Butler, probate judge; I. C. Sanford, superintendent of schools; H. H. Wise, assessor; Hayden Gearhardt, surveyor; C. O. Kneen and J. F. Martin, commissioners; Dr. G. B. Kuykendall, coroner; and C. H. Seeley, sheep commissioner.The election of 1886 totaled 1,313 votes. The republican candidate for delegate, C. M. Bradshaw received eleven votes more than Voorhees, but the latter again had a majority in the territory. For joint councilman and joint representative, O. C. White and R. A. Case, both republicans, were chosen.For local officers, W. N. Noffsinger, attorney; Benjamin Butler, probate judge; Gilbert Dickson, treasurer; I. N. Julian, assessor; Hayden Gearhardt, surveyor; Dr. G. W. Black, coroner; J. H. Walker, sheep commissioner, and J. S. Davis and Joseph Scott, commissioners, were all republicans. The democratschosen were S. K. Hull for sheriff, R. H. Wills for auditor, T. Driscoll for superintendent of schools, and J. Parker for commissioner.The election of 1888 was notable in several respects. The republicans chose every local candidate except that for prosecuting attorney, and he was chosen by only one majority. In the general shiftings of the next few years he became a republican, but to whichever party he belonged he has been honored as one of the leading citizens of the county and state. This was judge Mack F. Gose. Another eminent democrat appeared in this election as candidate for joint councilman, M. M. Godman of Dayton. He was chosen in the district but not in Garfield County.The woman suffrage amendment had been declared unconstitutional by Judge W. G. Langford, and hence the vote for 1888 fell to 977. This was the year of the triumph of John B. Allen over Charles S. Voorhees for delegate, in the Territory as well as county.The county officers chosen were M. F. Gose, attorney, by one majority; George W. Campbell, auditor; Gilbert Dickson, sheriff; G. D. Wilson, assessor; I. C. Sanford, treasurer; Benjamin Butler, probate judge; David Miller, J. S. Davis, and J. Fitzsimmons, commissioners; H. C. Benbow, superintendent of schools; Hayden Gearhardt, surveyor, and G. W. Black, coroner.And now we reach the most important and interesting date in the history of the blushing young Territory of Washington, when she became a "sweet girl graduate" and stepped upon the platform to receive her diploma as a full grown state, 1889. Like all other counties, Garfield was agog with excitement over the great event and there was quite a boiling in the pot over the choice of delegates to the Constitutional convention. The enabling act provided that the territory be divided into twenty-five districts, each entitled to three delegates, of whom only two could be of one party. District number 8 embraced Adams, Garfield, Asotin, and Franklin counties. On May 7, 1889, the district convention of republicans met at Pomeroy to nominate candidates for the Constitutional convention. I. N. Muncy of Pasco was chosen chairman, and G. W. Bailey of Asotin secretary. The nominees were Elmon Scott of Garfield County and D. Buchanan of Adams. The democratic convention also met at Pomeroy and nominated W. B. Gray of Franklin County. A peculiar turn took place in this election, and the narration of it brings forward the name of one of the most respected citizens of the county and subsequently of the state, S. G. Cosgrove, afterwards Governor Of Washington. Owing to dissension in the republican ranks, Mr. Cosgrove became an independent candidate. W. A. George and F. W. D. Mays, both democrats, also became independent candidates. The upshot of the matter was that democrats threw their votes largely to Cosgrove, and, as a result, Scott, Gray and Cosgrove became delegates to the Constitutional convention.And now that Garfield County, with her sister counties, had the new dignity of participation in state government, the elections took an added importance. The first election under statehood occurred October 1, 1889. In preparation for that event there were county conventions of both parties at Pomeroy, that of republicans on August 29th and that of democrats September 7th. To indicate the leaders of parties at that time we preserve the names of the officers of each convention and delegate chosen for the state convention. Of republicans, Dr. T. C. Frary was chairman and W. G. Victor secretary. The delegates were JayLynch, S. G. Cosgrove, W. G. Victor, F. G. Morrison, C. G. Austin and W. S. Oliphant. Of the democratic, Eliel Oliver was chairman and James Parker secretary. Delegates were R. E. Wills, F. W. D. Mays, W. S. Parker and J. S. Thomas.The results of the election were:For congressman, J. L. Wilson received a majority of 104 over T. C. Griffiths, and former Territorial Governor Elisha P. Ferry, 99 majority over Eugene Semple. That was about the average majority of republicans over democrats on the state ticket.The republican candidate for representative to State Legislature, W. S. Oliphant, had a majority of 34 over his democratic competitor, James Parker. R. E. Wills, democrat, had a majority of 48 over the republican candidate, F. E. Williamson, for the new position of county clerk. No other county officers were chosen at that time. A vote was taken on woman suffrage in that election, and the result was adverse by 492 to 336. Prohibition carried by 442 to 415.During the elections that followed, beginning with 1890, Garfield County, like the rest of the state, had many parties, and much political activity and (the Lord be praised for this) a deal of good political education and independent action, which resulted in great shattering of boss schemes and legislative lobbies and prepared the way for the progressive politics manifested in the adoption of initiative, referendum, and recall measures, woman suffrage, prohibition, and that general advance toward a new Americanism which had made the western states a wonder to the "effete East" and a source of consternation to political Troglodytes. Republicans, democrats, populists, prohibitionists, and socialists, marshalled their cohorts, set their platforms before the people, and named their candidates. Some people deprecate political campaigns on the ground that they "disturb business." They certainly do, but that may be their greatest commendation. It all depends on what one lives for. If accumulation of wealth is the sole aim of existence, it is unfortunate for the "well-fixed" classes to have any disturbance of business. If political growth, individual development, experience in public affairs, have place in one's scheme of life, these disturbances and popular agitations far more than recompense a state for its pecuniary dislocations. At any rate, the Pacific Coast states have had the political agitations, and it is somewhat significant that they lead the Union in general education, nor is it observable that they are greatly deficient in business advancement.Garfield County, like the state, usually cast a large majority for republican candidates in national and state affairs. The result was commonly the same in local elections. In all, however, there was great play for independent action. The boss could never be sure of delivering the goods. In 1890, 1892 and 1894 the republicans carried the field in national and state elections. In the great breaking-up year of 1896, the populists swept the ground, with Bryan as candidate for President and James Hamilton Lewis and W. C. Jones for Congress. In 1898 a reversal took place and Wesley L. Jones and Francis Cushman forged ahead of Lewis and W. C. Jones. In the same election Garfield again set itself down against woman suffrage and also against the single tax.The year 1900 was another great year in politics, state and nation. In Garfield County, the year was notable in that it marked a definite movement in favor of S. G. Cosgrove for governor, and also the withdrawal of a number of democrats from their former affiliations and union with the republicans, mainly onthe ground of the "sound money" issue. Mack F. Gose was conspicuous in the new alignment.The populists had dropped out of this election, but the prohibition, socialist labor, and social democrat parties were in the field. The result was a majority for the republicans on national and state issues, with the exception that the county (as also the state) did itself the credit of choosing John R. Rogers, democrat, for governor.The republicans held the fort again in 1902. The total vote for congressmen as 936, and F. W. Cushman, W. L. Jones, and W. E. Humphrey received votes of 530, 516 and 517 respectively.In 1904 the republicans had an overwhelming majority on the presidential and congressional tickets, giving the republican electors a plurality of 510, and Humphrey, Jones and Cushman, an average of 300 majority for Congress. But George E. Turner, democrat, passed A. E. Mead, republican, in the gubernatorial race by 166.Passing on to the presidential year of 1908, we find a total vote in the county of 1,003, and a majority for the republican electors of 177. Miles Poindexter, republican for Congress in this district (the state having been districted since the previous election), carried the field, and S. G. Cosgrove had an overwhelming majority for governor. This eminent and well loved citizen of Garfield County realized in that year his worthy and long cherished ambition to be the chief executive of the state, and went from a sick bed to be duly inaugurated. But his activities were ended and within a few weeks he passed on, to the profound sorrow of the entire state and particularly his friends and neighbors in the home county where he had been known and deeply respected so many years.In 1910 W. L. La Follette of Whitman County received a majority in the county, as in the district, for congressman, and M. F. Gose was called to the supreme bench of the state, a choice almost unanimous in the county, and one recognized in the state as eminently worthy.The presidential year of 1912 gave a reversal, and the County of Garfield joined the rest of the Union in a majority for Woodrow Wilson for President, and also joined the rest of the state in selection of a democrat, Eugene Lister, for governor.1914 saw the re-election of W. L. La Follette, republican for Congress, and W. L. Jones for senator. In the same year occurred the most peculiar apparent turn in the opinion of Garfield County on the prohibition issue. For that was the great year of the struggle over the state-wide prohibition law. It might be regarded as an east-of-the-mountain proposition, for the East Side reached the crest of the Cascades with about 28,000 majority, enough to overcome the heavy adverse vote of Seattle, and have thousands to spare. But, strange to say, Garfield County, one of the very earliest to adopt local option, and one of the most pronounced in temperance sentiment, went against the amendment, and was the only East Side county to do so. The reason simply was that having tried local option with satisfactory results, the deliberate judgment was that local option was correct in theory and practice and should be sustained. It is stated now by those familiar with conditions that since the adoption and operation of the prohibition law it has the hearty support of the county, as shown by the fact that efforts to nullify it in 1916 were overwhelmingly defeated in the county, as in the state.

GARFIELD COUNTY

It has been remarked by various philosophers at various times concerning various subjects that like causes produce like effects. The same causes which led to the establishment of Columbia County from the eastern two-third of the Old County of Walla Walla operated within a short time to cause a movement for another division, and that yet again to another, insomuch that Garfield and Asotin became political entities. Some petty local jealousies and selfish scheming almost always play their part in county divisions and county-seat fights. Yet it would be very superficial to attribute to these less worthy motives the main influences. The fundamental causes after all have usually been the progressive growth of population and the differentiation of industry, whereby there arises some real need of new lines and more convenient official centers.

The pressure of those conditions began to be felt in the northern and eastern parts of Old Columbia County almost as soon as it was fairly organized. It was soon discovered that the Touchet region was one natural unit and the eastern and northeastern part of the county was another; or rather two, for almost immediately the same line of reasoning led to the conclusion that the Asotin country was naturally a separate unit from that of the Pataha.

Although settlement has not been in any way uniform in these four counties and there has been some shingling over from one to another, it may be said that in a general way the movement was from west to east and northeast. While the decade of the '60s was peculiarly the foundation period of Walla Walla and Columbia, that of the '70s may be regarded as peculiarly the pioneer age of Garfield, while that of Asotin may be assigned to the latter part of the '70s and beginning of the '80s.

We find, however, that a few of the foundation builders were already in their permanent homes in Garfield County in the '60s, long prior to the formation of the county. We have already given a list of these first locations, and our main purpose in this chapter is to take up the story with county creation. For the sake of topical clearness, however, it is well to present a summary, even at the expense of a little repetition, of the first settlement of the different regions of what became the permanent Garfield County.

As authority for such precounty history we find a very valuable special number of theEast Washingtonian. This is the "First Garfield County Pioneer Edition" of June 6, 1914. This issuance of so elaborate a number of the paper is a great demonstration of the enterprise of the publishers of that paper, as well as of the local ambition of the Pioneer Association of the County, an association which holds an annual two-day session and which has done much to fasten genuine historical and patriotic sentiments in the memory of the people of the county.

COURTHOUSE, POMEROY

COURTHOUSE, POMEROY

COURTHOUSE, POMEROY

From this highly commendable edition of theEast Washingtonianwe derive the following summary of first events:

SUMMARY OF THE FIRST EVENTS: THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION IN THIS TERRITORY

The first white persons that ever came through Garfield County were the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. They arrived at Rigsby's Grove May 3, 1806, and camped for dinner, eating what was left of two dogs they had purchased from the Indians.

The first steamboat passed up Snake River in 1860.

Columbia Center was the first town laid off in Garfield County in 1876.

The first known murder by the whites was that of a man killed in the old Rigsby cabin Christmas morning, 1864. The man who did the killing was named Wilkins and the man killed was the owner of the house. The old cabin still stands on the Rigsby place.

The first sawmill erected in this county was put up by Henry Sharpnack, in 1874, just above Columbia Center. It was not successful.

James F. Rose was the first settler next the mountains above Pataha Prairie, 1869.

Joseph Clary built the first residence in Pomeroy after the original Sunderland log cabin. It was the residence of B. B. Day and still stands, the first house west of A Street on Main.

The first women's votes were cast at an election to fill a vacancy of justice of the peace, January 29, 1884.

The first settlers were in many instances men with Indian women. John Fogarty lived on the Rafferty place with a Nez Percé half-Indian woman. She was born at the crossing of the Touchet about where Dayton now is. Fogarty was drowned in the Clearwater. Thomas Reynolds lived a mile below Marengo, on the Tucanon, with an Indian woman who had before lived with two different white men. They had two daughters named Clydena and Agatha. After the latter the Town of Agatha, Idaho, was named. Clydena died at Marengo when about fourteen years old. Agatha married James Evans, son of Berry Evans.

Coleman, for whom Coleman Gulch was named, lived on the Tucanon, a mile above Marengo, and had a California Indian wife. James Turner lived on the Alpowa with an Indian woman. Two men named Bailey, with Indian wives, in 1859, lived on the Touchet, near Dayton.

The first minister to hold services in Garfield County was the Rev. Father Cataldo, who preached at Rafferty's and McBrearty's.

The first school on the Pataha Creek was taught by W. W. McCauley in 1873. The schoolhouse was located at Owsley's.

J. M. Pomeroy located the land where Pomeroy now stands on December 8, 1864.

The first telegraph was built by the government and ran from Dayton to Lewiston, through Pomeroy, in 1879.

The Catholics built the first church in Pomeroy, 1878. Father Papes was the first pastor.

First grain raised on Deadman was in 1878, E. T. Wilson, grower.

Newton Estes was the first settler on the Deadman, 1870.

James Bowers was the first settler on the land where Pataha now is, 1861. In 1868 Vine Favor bought the land and started the Town of Pataha in 1878.

The first Protestant minister to hold services in Garfield County was Rev. Calaway, then living in Walla Walla, a Cumberland Presbyterian.

It appears from this record that Parson Quinn was the first settler on the Pataha, having located there in 1860. The first house on the Pataha was built by Thomas Riley, who afterwards disposed of it to James Rafferty. One of the first settlers was William McEnery, on the lower Pataha, in 1862.

The next creek after the Pataha to receive settlers was the Deadman. This rather lugubrious name seems to have been derived from the fact that during the hard winter of '61-2, two men perished in the hollow which became known as "Deadman Hollow." They were supposed to have been miners from Orofino or Florence. The bodies were not discovered till spring, and were then suitably interred and the spot marked with a pile of rocks at a point near the old road from Walla Walla to Lewiston. That region is now one of the best farming sections in the Inland Empire. Newton Estes was the first to make a permanent location on the Deadman, and his date was 1871. Within a short time, S. T. Jones, A. E. Lee, W. L. Freeman, Frank Ping, John Lynn, and Archie McBrearty located upon the creek. One event of that stage worthy of special record was the Alpowa "Toll Road." It was built by B. B. Howard and M. Fettis, in 1872-3, and in 1873 became the property of N. A. Wheeler. For twenty-five years it was maintained by Mr. Wheeler and then deeded by him to the county for $1.00. Pataha prairie, south of the Deadman and Alpowa, was settled in the early '70s. Rev. William Calaway located there in 1870; Isaac Coatney in 1871; William Chester, 1871; D. Zemmel, 1871; Robert Storey, 1872.

From these centers of settlement, Pataha Creek, Deadman Creek and Hollow, Pataha prairie, together with the still earlier Tucanon (spoken of in connection with Columbia County), and Alpowa (the lower part of which was early historic ground as the home of Red Wolf and Timothy, the Nez Perces, associated with the Missionary Spalding), the growth proceeded during the period prior to county division, following the familiar lines from sheep and cattle and horses to agriculture.

The most constructive event was the founding of Pomeroy. This thriving city, the capital and metropolis of Garfield County, was established by J. M. Pomeroy in 1877. Mrs. Pomeroy, now Mrs. St. George, is living at the date of this publication, a woman of great vigor of mind and body, the best authority on the early days in the place of which she told the author she might be called "the Mother." Mr. Pomeroy came from Oregon to the territory in 1863, and for a few months took charge of the stage station at the present site of Dayton. There the youngest child of the family, now Mrs. Peter McClung of Pomeroy, was born. In the spring of 1864, Mr. Pomeroy moved with his family to the location of the town which became his namesake. There in the last part of the year he purchased of a transient settler, Walter Sunderland, the right to the claim on which the town now stands. For a dozen years he devoted his main attention to cattle raising and to the conducting of the stage station. The author wishes that his readers could enjoy the privilege, as he has, of hearing Mrs. St. George describe in her vivid and entertaining way the times of the stage station and the expressboxes with thousands of dollars' worth of gold dust, when "road agents" were figuring on breaking in and seizing them, when horse thieves ran off their horses, and when the Vigilantes would occasionally decorate a tree with the remains of a horse thief as a suggestion for moderation in becoming attached to other men's stock. As the next best thing we are going to let Mrs. St. George tell the story in the following sketch which appeared in the pioneer number of theEast Washingtonian.

"Pomeroy, Wash., April 5, 1914.—I came from Salem, Ore., where I had lived with my people for eighteen years, being four years old when my folks crossed the plains, among the early pioneers of Oregon.

"I was married at the age of fifteen years, and, for a while, lived in Salem with my husband and two small children.

"I came up the Columbia River by steamer to Wallula, took the stage for Walla Walla, with twelve other passengers, on April 6, 1864.

"At Wallula I found a great rush of travel, many on their way to the reported gold strike at Orofino, Idaho.

"I had two pairs of fine blooded pigs in a small box, two dozen fine chickens, but no baggage except a suitcase with a few things for my children. My trunks had been left at Portland and came the next day.

"My husband was coming overland with a band of fine Shorthorn cattle and about twenty head of horses. He had been driving stock for about four weeks, and I had remained with my mother for awhile, so we would arrive at Walla Walla about the same time. Arriving there with my little ones, a stranger in a strange land, with very little money, and board and lodgings at the City Hotel twenty-five dollars a week, and no letter from my husband awaiting me, I did not feel very much at home.

"But soon a man with whom Mr. Pomeroy had made arrangements for the place where we were to live until we could look about and select a piece of land for our homestead. We were to stay that summer on the ranch two miles east of Dayton, belonging to Mr. William Rexford, in a small log house with a fireplace, and there, in September, Mrs. McClung was born.

"We were as poor and hard up for money as any one that ever came to this country. In the month of July Mr. King, who at that time carried the mail, express and passengers from Walla Walla to Lewiston, made me a proposition to keep a stage stand and feed his hungry passengers every day, and very soon I was giving two dinners each day to the coming and going travelers.

"I had told Mr. King that I had nothing to work with, no stove, table or dishes; nothing to cook and I did not see how I could accommodate him. I had been helping to break some of the young heifers to milk, and made some butter to sell, having no other way to make a dollar. I sold all the butter I could spare for one dollar a pound; but soon winter would come on and then what would we do with no money, no sale for what little stock we had? Something had to be done. We had made a garden soon after we settled and by this time we had some nice vegetables, which were a great treat to the travelers coming out of the mines.

"Mr. King told me to make a list of what I needed for my house so I could feed his passengers, and, finally, after much urging, I did so. He took my list to Walla Walla, had the bill filled, put on a freight team the next day and broughtme a big, nice cookstove with all the things belonging to it; lots of dishes and linen, and said I could pay him when I made the money and could spare it.

"The very next day I gave a dinner to ten passengers, and, oh, didn't they brag on that dinner. I never will forget all the nice things they said.

"I kept the stage stand there until December 10th, when we bought this place, where Pomeroy now stands, or rather the improvements on it, consisting of a large house, a log barn and corral.

"Then the daily stage service was discontinued to once a week, with this station as a night stopping place, where all that traveled the road always got their meals. Our house became the famous stopping place between Walla Walla, Wash., and Lewiston, Idaho.

"When the travel was heavy we made some money, and when the travel was light I had to work out doors milking cows, making garden and all kinds of hard work. My little children almost raised themselves, taking care of the baby, and helping me in many ways. Work, always thinking of how to make nice things to eat for the traveling public, and how to keep expenses paid.

"Walla Walla was our trading place, for everything was high at Lewiston. But if I had anything to sell I sent it to the latter place.

"There was one family living on the Pataha besides us, two or three squaw men and some bachelors living where the King boys now live, and for a little while a family was located on the Alpowa Creek. There were some Indian ranches on that creek at that time. No one lived below on the Pataha, till you came to the old 'Parson' Quinn place, eleven miles down, then farther on were two or three cattle ranches—Rice and Montgomery, Platters, and later Archey McBrearty. There was no settlement on Snake River except at Almota, no one living on the Deadman, nor anywhere over there, and no settlers between the Pataha and the mountains.

"I helped my husband to stake the roads to the mountains. There had been a road up the Benjamin Gulch, which was so badly washed out it could not be traveled. We staked a road across 'Dutch Flat' for our own use, as wood and fencing had to come from that direction.

"There was scarcely enough brush along the Pataha to make a camp fire. The Indians would burn the grass every year along Pataha, thus killing the tender willows.

"In those early days the Indians were very plentiful. I have seen as many as 100 or more pass by our place in one day, their destination being the Camas and Kouse districts, as Camas Prairie was then called. Then, later in the season, they would go to a lake at the head of the Yakima River, high up in the mountains, where the squaws would fish, and the men hunt deer, which were plentiful.

"During these camping periods, horse racing was the principal amusement; the Indians had many fine, fast horses, and the several tribes wagered many dollars and trinkets on the merits of their race stock. During this racing season many unscrupulous white men, or 'renegades,' would arrive, camping close by, winning the money of the Indians and selling them liquor.

"The Alpowa Indians were very friendly, and the squaws would work for me; I would hire them to work in the garden. They would take potatoes for their pay and pack them on their ponies. If not watched, they would steal someof the vegetables, but most of them did an honest day's work and were satisfied with what I gave them for their labor.

"Sometimes I could buy huckleberries from the Indians and dried antelope hams during the first few years we lived here. There was an old Indian called 'Squally John,' who would catch salmon on the Snake River and bring them to us. They would catch hundreds of them and dry them for the winter and would also get plenty of venison in our mountains.

"I was afraid of the Indians for a few years, but got over that feeling. It was slow work for one or two men to make a farm. Not a furrow had ever been plowed when we came, no fencing. Barbed wire was not known then, and Mr. Pomeroy had to haul feed for his team, and seed grain from the Touchet; and that, with the timber hauling from the mountains, kept him busy, which left the cows and the chores and all kinds of outdoor work for me to do with one hired man and the help of the children.

"I was a very busy woman, although I did find time to teach the children to read and write, and the first lessons were learned at home. There was a school taught at Dayton the summer of 1869, and we sent Clara and Ned there. This was a four months' term. The next year we sent Clara to the sisters at Walla Walla, then, in 1872, Bishop Wells started the St. Paul School, and Clara was one of the pupils there, until she finished her schooling and was married to Eugene T. Wilson, on Christmas Day, 1877.

"In the meantime we had opened a school at the Owsley place, and our two children attended school there, going five miles in a buggy. There were ten pupils the first year. The country was settling up everywhere by this time; many had settled on the Pataha Prairie, and Alpowa, and over in the Deadman country and along the Pataha Creek.

"When the flour mill was built, a man wanted to put in a stock of goods; then others came, and a town was laid out.

"Then there was no more frontier."

That Mrs. St. George succeeded at the stage station and in that vital and fundamental requisite of the traveler in the days of the stage, viz., good eatables, well cooked and served, was abundantly proven. A writer in the Walla WallaUnionin 1894 drew a toothsome picture of the gastronomic attractions at Pomeroy and Alpowa, as follows:

"A quarter of a century or more ago there were two famous eating houses on the stage road between Walla Walla and Lewiston, houses which were the occasion of many heated arguments between those who had been over the road as to which was the better, houses at either of which the traveler, tired and sore from the lurching of the stage, was sure of a substantial meal, the memory of which, as it flitted through the brain, lingered and made the mouth water. These were the houses which the familiar, all-pervading, time-serving drummer contracted into 'Pum's' and 'Freeman's.' The former was located near what is now the center of the thriving City of Pomeroy; the latter was on the Alpowa, about half-way between 'Pum's' and Lewiston. Coming passengers dined at Pomeroy's; going took breakfast at Freeman's. Possibly stage passengers have eaten better cooked meals and sat down to more attractive tables than those found at Freeman's and Pomeroy's, but they never said so while at either place, or elsewhere. Delicious bread, fresh from the oven, that which was properly seasoned by age,sweet butter, thick cream in genuine coffee, meats done to a turn, chicken fried or stewed, vegetables in their season, fruits, pastry, each and all 'fit to set before a king,' were provided in profusion in both places. In winter huge fires in equally huge fireplaces thawed out the frozen traveler. In summer cold buttermilk cooled his heated blood and washed the alkali dust out of his throat."

As an interesting record of the early days, we find an account in theColumbia Chronicleof Dayton of the first Fourth of July celebration in the present Garfield County held in 1878 at the edge of the Blue Mountains just beyond Pataha flat. The reporter for theChronicledeclares that the celebration was a great success; a near arbor for the speaker and musicians, plenty of seats, abundant eatables, and great enthusiasm in spite of the mountain chill prevailing.

THE NEW COUNTY OF GARFIELD

Being obliged to content ourselves with these hurried glimpses at the precounty history we turn to the important stage of the creation of the new county. As the reader will recall, the County of Columbia was set up in 1875. We discover from files of theColumbia Chroniclethat agitation in favor of a new county began in 1880. By that year considerable settlement had been made in the Pataha, Deadman, Alpowa and Asotin regions and a common subject of discussion was the inconvenient distance from Dayton as the county seat.

TheChronicleof October 9, 1880, thus views the situation:

"A talk with many of the leading men from various parts of the county reveals the fact that the people are in no great hurry for a division. It is generally conceded that the county is too large when the immense canyons and peculiar lay of the country are taken into consideration, but it is also conceded that the eastern portion of the county is not at the present time prepared to support a county organization. All talk of a division is, therefore, at this time, premature. The people of the western portion of the county are in favor of forming a new county when the eastern portion demands it."

One of the features of the case was the number of possible county seats which began to sprout forth as candidates for the official crown. One was laid out on Snake River at the mouth of the Alpowa, and that would be a fine site for a city, too, now the location of several hundred acres of magnificent orchard. Another was Mentor, on the Pataha, six miles above Pomeroy. It was at the foot of the "grade" on the Rafferty place and was first named Belfast. The claims of Mentor, named from the home of the President whose name was to become that of the county, are set forth thus in some correspondence from that ambitious place for theColumbia Chronicleof December 17, 1881:

"The Town of Mentor desires to have a fair chance in the contest. We stand on our own merits. We have a good townsite on the Pataha Creek; good roads running to the place. The greatest wheat growing country in the territory tributary to it. The Pataha and Lewiston survey runs to this place; the road will, no doubt, be built in time to take away next year's crop. We are very sorry we did not ask for the capital of the territory instead of the county seat, but will try that next time. This place is well known, and is as near the center of the county as it is possible to locate a town. Lumber is being hauled for buildings, and the proprietor, Mr. Rafferty, is very liberal in his donations of land forcounty purposes. Mentor is the place for the people. You will hear this place called Dublin, Limerick, and Ireland."

Melancholy was the fate of Mentor. A sarcastic correspondent in theChroniclewrites, under date of February 11, 1882:

"The lumber pile, which constituted the Town of Mentor, has been purchased by Mr. Scott and will be brought to Pomeroy. Like Mahomet and the mountain: If the county seat would not go to Mentor, Mentor will go to the county seat."

Besides Alpowa and Mentor, the prospective towns of Asotin, Assotin City, Columbia Center, Pataha City, and Pomeroy were all aspirants. The last named, laid out, as already noted, in 1877, soon forged to the front and became the center of an active propaganda for the removal of the county seat of Columbia or for the erection of a new county. The former proposition seems to have been at first the prevailing plan. It excited much opposition on the part of Dayton. An editorial extract from theChronicleof October 8, 1881, indicates the turn which sentiment at Dayton was taking:

"An earnest effort is being made by the citizens of Pomeroy and vicinity to move the county seat to that town. We object. The county is large enough for two good counties, and the valley or canyon of the Tucanon throughout its greater portion affords a natural boundary. The people of this section are willing to allow the eastern portion a county organization whenever they wish it, as the division must come sooner or later. It is reported that two of our representatives in the Legislature are pledged to the removal and also to give several more townships to Walla Walla County to buy its influence. They do not propose to give the people an opportunity to vote on the question, as they fear the result, but aim to have the change made by the Legislature without consulting the wishes of the voters of the whole county. We agree with our Pomeroy correspondent that it is unjust to compel people east of the Tucanon to come here to transact business, but it would be equally unjust to compel people on this side to go to Pomeroy. The only just and equitable way out of the difficulty is to divide the county on the line indicated and allow the citizens of the new county to locate their county seat. But with the county seat of Columbia County beyond the Tucanon, nineteen-twentieths of the people of this vicinity would petition to be attached to Walla Walla County, as with the present facilities for travel it would be most convenient, to say nothing of the great advantage of joining a wealthy county with public buildings erected and paid for and a brilliant future before it. This, however, only as a last resort. We trust the Legislature will take no hasty action in this matter, but will give all parts of the county ample opportunity to be heard."

As a logical outcome of the situation the Legislature passed an act, approved by Gov. W. A. Newell, on November 29, 1881, providing for the new county. As a matter of history this act is valuable for permanent record and we insert it here:

"An Act to organize the County of Garfield:

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington; That all that portion of Columbia County situated within Washington Territory and included within the following limits, be, and the same shall be known as the County of Garfield, in honor of James A. Garfield, late President of the United States, viz.: Commencing at a point in the midchannel of SnakeRiver on township line between ranges 39 and 40; thence on said line south to the southwest corner of township twelve (12), range forty (40); thence east on township line six (6) miles; thence south to the southwest corner of section seven (7); township eleven (11), north of range forty-one (41) east; thence east one (1) mile; thence south three (3) miles; thence east one (1) mile; thence south one (1) mile; thence east one (1) mile; thence south three (3) miles; thence east three (3) miles; thence south on township line to the Oregon line; thence due east on said line to the division line between Territories of Washington and Idaho; thence north on said dividing line to a point where it intersects the midchannel of the Snake River; thence down the midchannel of the Snake River to the point of beginning.

"Section 2. That E. Oliver, Joseph Harris and N. C. Williams are hereby appointed a board of commissioners to call a special election of county officers for said Garfield County, and to appoint the necessary judges and inspectors thereof; notice of which election shall be given and the said election conducted and returns made as is now provided by law: Provided, That the returns shall be made to the commissioners aforesaid, who shall canvass the returns and declare the result, and issue certificates to the persons elected.

"Sections 3. That the justices of the peace and constables who are now elected as such in precincts of the County of Garfield, be, and the same are hereby declared justices of the peace and constables of said County of Garfield.

"Section 4. That the county seat of the said County of Garfield is hereby located at Pataha City until the next election, which is to be held on the second Monday in January, A. D. 1882, at which time the highest number of legal votes of said county, given for any one place, may permanently locate the same.

"Section 5. The County of Garfield is hereby united to the County of Columbia for judicial purposes.

"Section 6. That all laws applicable to the County of Columbia shall be applicable to the County of Garfield.

"Section 7. That all taxes levied and assessed by the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Columbia for the year A. D. 1881, upon persons or property within the boundaries of the said County of Garfield, shall be collected and paid into the treasury of said Columbia County for the use of said County of Columbia: Provided, however, That the said County of Columbia shall pay all the just indebtedness of said Columbia County, and that when such indebtedness shall be wholly paid and discharged all moneys remaining in the treasury of said Columbia County, and all credits due and to become due said County of Columbia on the assessment roll of said year shall be divided between said counties of Columbia and Garfield according to the assessed valuation of said property of the same year. Provided further, That nothing in this act be so construed as to deprive the County of Garfield of its proportion of the tax levied for common school purposes for the above-named year.

"Section 8. The County of Columbia shall pay to the County of Garfield the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) over and above the amount provided for in this act, for its interest in the public property and improvements.

"Section 9. The County of Garfield shall be entitled to two members of the House of Representatives and one joint member of the Council with Walla Walla and Whitman counties.

"Section 10. The County of Columbia shall be entitled to one member of the Council and one representative in the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington.

"Section 11. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with any of the provisions of this act shall be, and the same are hereby repealed.

"Section 12. This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval.

"Approved November 29, 1881."

COUNTY SEAT LOCATION

Very naturally and logically the next stage of evolution of the new county was the determination of the county seat.

In the enabling act Pataha City was designated as the official head until the next election to occur on January 9, 1882. Hence ensued an active, almost fierce, campaign between the four places to which the race finally narrowed—Pataha City, Assotin City, Pomeroy and Mentor. The rivalry between the near neighbors, Pomeroy and Pataha, became very bitter. Each accused the other of double dealing and of trading against each other in such a way that many believed that Assotin City, on the extreme southeastern verge of the county, would win the coveted honor. The result of the election, however, was to give Pomeroy a considerable plurality, though not a majority—Pomeroy, 411; Assotin City, 287; Pataha City, 259; Mentor, 82.

The county officers chosen at this first election, eight republicans and four democrats were as follows: County commissioners, J. W. Weisenfeldt, J. J. Kanawyer, and Eliel Oliver; sheriff, W. E. Wilson; auditor, Scott Rogers; probate judge, Benjamin Butler; treasurer, J. N. Perkins; assessor, H. H. Wise; surveyor, E. D. Briggs; superintendent of schools, W. H. Marks; coroner, E. A. Davidson; sheep commissioner, S. T. Jones.

The different precincts, with the vote of each for sheriff, were these: Pomeroy, 260; Pataha, 184; Tuscanon, 8; Meadow, 28; River, 90; Pleasant, 69; Columbia Center, 108; Asotin, 66; Cottonwood, 201. This gives a total of 1,014, and that number indicates the rapid growth of the region, for the entire population in 1875, only seven years earlier, was estimated at not to exceed 500.

The county seat contest thus resulted in favor of Pomeroy, but there was a curious after-clap to this which made up one of the noted law cases of the Territory.

A suit was brought, entitled "Rice vs. County Commissioners of Garfield County," to restrain the commissioners from meeting at the point, Pomeroy, which they had, after canvassing the votes, declared the duly appointed county seat. The case was tried as an equity case by Judge S. C. Wingard, Territorial judge at Walla Walla, and his decision was that the county was without any seat. The ground of this decision was purely technical, one of those decisions which delight lawyers and judges, in that it emphasizes the letter of the law, and usually is repugnant to common people, in that it disregards the plainly obvious intent of the sovereign people and seems to render them the victims and slaves of their own instruments. The point was this: The Enabling Act, though designating a Board of County Commissioners to provide for an election and canvassthe votes for county officers and issue certificates to them, and though the Enabling Act had also in section 4 provided for an election of county seat, yet there was no specific power granted to the commissioners or to any one to canvass the votes for the county seat. Hence, the judge ruled, there had been no legal choice, and the county was without an official seat. The findings of the court are summarized in the following paragraphs:

1. That all that part of the act pleaded in complaint respecting the submission of the location of the county seat of Garfield County to the determination of the legal voters, that is to say, all that portion of section 4 of said act beginning with the words "at which time" to the determination of said section be, and the same is hereby declared by the court, unconstitutional and void.

2. That the said pretended election in said complaint mentioned is by the court held a nullity and set aside.

3. That said defendants are forbidden from making Pomeroy the seat of government of Garfield County.

4. That said defendants and each of them are enjoined from requiring any or all of the county officers of said Garfield County to remove their respective offices to said Pomeroy or there discharge the duties of their said respective offices.

5. That defendants and each of them are enjoined from incurring any indebtedness against said county or expending any of its funds in or about removing county officers to said Pomeroy, or in any manner attempting to make Pomeroy the seat of government of said Garfield County. That the following parts of the prayer of said complaint are refused by the court, to-wit: The court refuses to enjoin defendants from locating their offices at said Pomeroy, or from transacting there the county business of said Garfield County, or from their furnishing offices for all or any part of the county officers of said county.

The costs of this case are taxed to Garfield County.

But this evidently could not be the end of the case. The commissioners decided to meet at Pomeroy, and the county treasury was established at the store of Brady and Rush, with Mr. Rush acting as deputy treasurer. The Pataha forces started another suit to compel the board to meet at that place. This suit having been defeated, the only recourse seemed be a new act by the Legislature. This appeal resulted in separate bills by the two houses. The lower house passed a bill, without opposition, for locating the seat of government at Pomeroy, though this passed with the general understanding that there would be a vote by the people of the county. The bill by the council provided for submission to an election by the people. But the end was not yet, and the whole matter, together with several other acts of the Legislature, went to the National Congress.

On May 13, 1884, the House of Representatives passed a law to sanction the selection of Pomeroy for the county seat of Garfield County. The Senate having agreed, this case was ended and Pomeroy entered upon the peaceful exercise of her official primacy. It is rather a curious fact that every one of the other contending places, except Asotin, which became the seat of still another county, has almost reverted to farming land and Pomeroy is the only place that can be called a town in the entire county.

STREET SCENE IN POMEROY

STREET SCENE IN POMEROY

STREET SCENE IN POMEROY

WHEAT WAREHOUSE, POMEROY

WHEAT WAREHOUSE, POMEROY

WHEAT WAREHOUSE, POMEROY

The first assessment of the county, in 1882, gave to real estate a valuation of $250,345; to improvements, $111,834; to personal property, $662,891; a total of $1,025,983. The taxes amounted to $26,351.74.

RECORD OF ELECTIONS

Following the initial election, voting population, and assessed valuation, already given, we may summarize the official events under the following headings:

At the general election of November, 1882, the voting precincts were: Pomeroy, Pataha City, Pleasant, River, Meadow, Tucanon, Columbia Center, Asotin, Cottonwood, Lake, Grande Ronde. The results were the following, majorities being given in each case: For delegate to Congress T. H. Brents, 103; joint councilman, J. E. Edmiston, 14; joint councilman, N. T. Caton, 146; attorney, J. K. Rutherford, 24; representative, William Clark, 57; auditor, H. B. Ferguson, 142; sheriff, W. E. Wilson, 299; treasurer, J. W. Rauch, 231; commissioner, J. D. Swain, 552; commissioner, Z. A. Baldwin, 66; commissioner, James Hull, 15; probate judge, Benjamin Butler, 226; superintendent of schools, without opposition, Mrs. T. G. Morrison; assessor, H. H. Wise, 115; surveyor, E. D. Briggs, 259; coroner, Dr. G. B. Kuykendall, 129; sheep commissioner, C. H. Seeley, 2. J. D. Swain having resigned as commissioner on account of the prospective setting apart of Asotin County, James Chisholm was appointed to fill the vacancy.

Of the above officers Messrs. Brents, Swain, Baldwin, Butler, Clark, Wise, Kuykendall, Briggs, Seeley, and Mrs. Morrison were republicans, while Messrs. Edmiston, Caton, Rutherford, Ferguson, Wilson, Rauch and Hull were democrats.

In the next election, 1884, Asotin County having in the meantime been set apart, the republicans maintained their lead, as on all normal issues they have continued to do to the present. The total vote of 1884 was 1,314, a large increase over that of two years previous, even though Asotin had become distinct. But that was the year of the short-lived woman suffrage regime, and that explains in part the increase. The result of the election was to give Armstrong, republican, for delegate, a majority over Voorhees, though the latter was chosen for the Territory. The joint councilmen, Isaac Carson and B. B. Day, republicans, received majorities in the county and the republican candidate for representative, J. N. Perkins, received a majority. Of the local officers chosen, W. E. Wilson for sheriff, J. W. Rauch for treasurer, and D. Strain for commissioner, were democrats. All the others were republicans: Benjamin Butler, probate judge; I. C. Sanford, superintendent of schools; H. H. Wise, assessor; Hayden Gearhardt, surveyor; C. O. Kneen and J. F. Martin, commissioners; Dr. G. B. Kuykendall, coroner; and C. H. Seeley, sheep commissioner.

The election of 1886 totaled 1,313 votes. The republican candidate for delegate, C. M. Bradshaw received eleven votes more than Voorhees, but the latter again had a majority in the territory. For joint councilman and joint representative, O. C. White and R. A. Case, both republicans, were chosen.

For local officers, W. N. Noffsinger, attorney; Benjamin Butler, probate judge; Gilbert Dickson, treasurer; I. N. Julian, assessor; Hayden Gearhardt, surveyor; Dr. G. W. Black, coroner; J. H. Walker, sheep commissioner, and J. S. Davis and Joseph Scott, commissioners, were all republicans. The democratschosen were S. K. Hull for sheriff, R. H. Wills for auditor, T. Driscoll for superintendent of schools, and J. Parker for commissioner.

The election of 1888 was notable in several respects. The republicans chose every local candidate except that for prosecuting attorney, and he was chosen by only one majority. In the general shiftings of the next few years he became a republican, but to whichever party he belonged he has been honored as one of the leading citizens of the county and state. This was judge Mack F. Gose. Another eminent democrat appeared in this election as candidate for joint councilman, M. M. Godman of Dayton. He was chosen in the district but not in Garfield County.

The woman suffrage amendment had been declared unconstitutional by Judge W. G. Langford, and hence the vote for 1888 fell to 977. This was the year of the triumph of John B. Allen over Charles S. Voorhees for delegate, in the Territory as well as county.

The county officers chosen were M. F. Gose, attorney, by one majority; George W. Campbell, auditor; Gilbert Dickson, sheriff; G. D. Wilson, assessor; I. C. Sanford, treasurer; Benjamin Butler, probate judge; David Miller, J. S. Davis, and J. Fitzsimmons, commissioners; H. C. Benbow, superintendent of schools; Hayden Gearhardt, surveyor, and G. W. Black, coroner.

And now we reach the most important and interesting date in the history of the blushing young Territory of Washington, when she became a "sweet girl graduate" and stepped upon the platform to receive her diploma as a full grown state, 1889. Like all other counties, Garfield was agog with excitement over the great event and there was quite a boiling in the pot over the choice of delegates to the Constitutional convention. The enabling act provided that the territory be divided into twenty-five districts, each entitled to three delegates, of whom only two could be of one party. District number 8 embraced Adams, Garfield, Asotin, and Franklin counties. On May 7, 1889, the district convention of republicans met at Pomeroy to nominate candidates for the Constitutional convention. I. N. Muncy of Pasco was chosen chairman, and G. W. Bailey of Asotin secretary. The nominees were Elmon Scott of Garfield County and D. Buchanan of Adams. The democratic convention also met at Pomeroy and nominated W. B. Gray of Franklin County. A peculiar turn took place in this election, and the narration of it brings forward the name of one of the most respected citizens of the county and subsequently of the state, S. G. Cosgrove, afterwards Governor Of Washington. Owing to dissension in the republican ranks, Mr. Cosgrove became an independent candidate. W. A. George and F. W. D. Mays, both democrats, also became independent candidates. The upshot of the matter was that democrats threw their votes largely to Cosgrove, and, as a result, Scott, Gray and Cosgrove became delegates to the Constitutional convention.

And now that Garfield County, with her sister counties, had the new dignity of participation in state government, the elections took an added importance. The first election under statehood occurred October 1, 1889. In preparation for that event there were county conventions of both parties at Pomeroy, that of republicans on August 29th and that of democrats September 7th. To indicate the leaders of parties at that time we preserve the names of the officers of each convention and delegate chosen for the state convention. Of republicans, Dr. T. C. Frary was chairman and W. G. Victor secretary. The delegates were JayLynch, S. G. Cosgrove, W. G. Victor, F. G. Morrison, C. G. Austin and W. S. Oliphant. Of the democratic, Eliel Oliver was chairman and James Parker secretary. Delegates were R. E. Wills, F. W. D. Mays, W. S. Parker and J. S. Thomas.

The results of the election were:

For congressman, J. L. Wilson received a majority of 104 over T. C. Griffiths, and former Territorial Governor Elisha P. Ferry, 99 majority over Eugene Semple. That was about the average majority of republicans over democrats on the state ticket.

The republican candidate for representative to State Legislature, W. S. Oliphant, had a majority of 34 over his democratic competitor, James Parker. R. E. Wills, democrat, had a majority of 48 over the republican candidate, F. E. Williamson, for the new position of county clerk. No other county officers were chosen at that time. A vote was taken on woman suffrage in that election, and the result was adverse by 492 to 336. Prohibition carried by 442 to 415.

During the elections that followed, beginning with 1890, Garfield County, like the rest of the state, had many parties, and much political activity and (the Lord be praised for this) a deal of good political education and independent action, which resulted in great shattering of boss schemes and legislative lobbies and prepared the way for the progressive politics manifested in the adoption of initiative, referendum, and recall measures, woman suffrage, prohibition, and that general advance toward a new Americanism which had made the western states a wonder to the "effete East" and a source of consternation to political Troglodytes. Republicans, democrats, populists, prohibitionists, and socialists, marshalled their cohorts, set their platforms before the people, and named their candidates. Some people deprecate political campaigns on the ground that they "disturb business." They certainly do, but that may be their greatest commendation. It all depends on what one lives for. If accumulation of wealth is the sole aim of existence, it is unfortunate for the "well-fixed" classes to have any disturbance of business. If political growth, individual development, experience in public affairs, have place in one's scheme of life, these disturbances and popular agitations far more than recompense a state for its pecuniary dislocations. At any rate, the Pacific Coast states have had the political agitations, and it is somewhat significant that they lead the Union in general education, nor is it observable that they are greatly deficient in business advancement.

Garfield County, like the state, usually cast a large majority for republican candidates in national and state affairs. The result was commonly the same in local elections. In all, however, there was great play for independent action. The boss could never be sure of delivering the goods. In 1890, 1892 and 1894 the republicans carried the field in national and state elections. In the great breaking-up year of 1896, the populists swept the ground, with Bryan as candidate for President and James Hamilton Lewis and W. C. Jones for Congress. In 1898 a reversal took place and Wesley L. Jones and Francis Cushman forged ahead of Lewis and W. C. Jones. In the same election Garfield again set itself down against woman suffrage and also against the single tax.

The year 1900 was another great year in politics, state and nation. In Garfield County, the year was notable in that it marked a definite movement in favor of S. G. Cosgrove for governor, and also the withdrawal of a number of democrats from their former affiliations and union with the republicans, mainly onthe ground of the "sound money" issue. Mack F. Gose was conspicuous in the new alignment.

The populists had dropped out of this election, but the prohibition, socialist labor, and social democrat parties were in the field. The result was a majority for the republicans on national and state issues, with the exception that the county (as also the state) did itself the credit of choosing John R. Rogers, democrat, for governor.

The republicans held the fort again in 1902. The total vote for congressmen as 936, and F. W. Cushman, W. L. Jones, and W. E. Humphrey received votes of 530, 516 and 517 respectively.

In 1904 the republicans had an overwhelming majority on the presidential and congressional tickets, giving the republican electors a plurality of 510, and Humphrey, Jones and Cushman, an average of 300 majority for Congress. But George E. Turner, democrat, passed A. E. Mead, republican, in the gubernatorial race by 166.

Passing on to the presidential year of 1908, we find a total vote in the county of 1,003, and a majority for the republican electors of 177. Miles Poindexter, republican for Congress in this district (the state having been districted since the previous election), carried the field, and S. G. Cosgrove had an overwhelming majority for governor. This eminent and well loved citizen of Garfield County realized in that year his worthy and long cherished ambition to be the chief executive of the state, and went from a sick bed to be duly inaugurated. But his activities were ended and within a few weeks he passed on, to the profound sorrow of the entire state and particularly his friends and neighbors in the home county where he had been known and deeply respected so many years.

In 1910 W. L. La Follette of Whitman County received a majority in the county, as in the district, for congressman, and M. F. Gose was called to the supreme bench of the state, a choice almost unanimous in the county, and one recognized in the state as eminently worthy.

The presidential year of 1912 gave a reversal, and the County of Garfield joined the rest of the Union in a majority for Woodrow Wilson for President, and also joined the rest of the state in selection of a democrat, Eugene Lister, for governor.

1914 saw the re-election of W. L. La Follette, republican for Congress, and W. L. Jones for senator. In the same year occurred the most peculiar apparent turn in the opinion of Garfield County on the prohibition issue. For that was the great year of the struggle over the state-wide prohibition law. It might be regarded as an east-of-the-mountain proposition, for the East Side reached the crest of the Cascades with about 28,000 majority, enough to overcome the heavy adverse vote of Seattle, and have thousands to spare. But, strange to say, Garfield County, one of the very earliest to adopt local option, and one of the most pronounced in temperance sentiment, went against the amendment, and was the only East Side county to do so. The reason simply was that having tried local option with satisfactory results, the deliberate judgment was that local option was correct in theory and practice and should be sustained. It is stated now by those familiar with conditions that since the adoption and operation of the prohibition law it has the hearty support of the county, as shown by the fact that efforts to nullify it in 1916 were overwhelmingly defeated in the county, as in the state.

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