History of Thurston County, Washington from 1845 to 1895

by J. C. Rathbun
Editor of The Paladium


Published at Olympia, Washington, 1895



Electronically Transcribed June, 2000
by Edward Echtle: ThurstonHistory@earthlink.net


Transcribed verbatim, including errors.
Unclear passages should be checked against an original copy.
Text in [brackets] inserted to aid searching




PREFACE.
	It is customary for books to have a Preface or an Introduction or both. 
Sometimes the author ought to write it, sometimes the publisher.  Sometimes it 
aids the reader to understand the motives and purpose of the publication; 
sometimes it is an apology for the book's existence.
	If the following pages need an Introduction it must of necessity be for 
the benefit of those readers who have not read the series of articles on the 
History of Thurston county as they have appeared in the Palladium during the 
past year.
	A few years ago the writer became cognizant of many important events that 
had transpired at Olympia and in Thurston county that deserved to be preserved 
for future use and reference.  The further his researches extended the more he 
became impressed with the importance of gathering from the pioneers that fund of 
historic information which reposed largely in their memories.  He speculated 
that it is now comparatively easy to gather much historical matter which, a few 
years hence, it would be impossible to gather at all.
	While in this frame of mind he went to work, as his idle moments occurred 
to accumulate in a connected way the many interesting events that have occurred 
in Thurston county since its first settlement.  In doing so, he doubtless 
accumulated much matter that is unimportant and, as is to be expected, has 
failed to obtain some that deserves to have a place in our local history.  Nor 
is this surprising but notwithstanding these imperfections he thinks his labors 
will make easier the work of him who next puts forth effort on the same line and 
also make a story that will be of interest to the residents of Thurston county 
and to the many who did pioneer work here but have since made their homes in 
other places.
	Doubtless an explanation, some may call it an apology, might be made for 
the mechanical appearance of the work.  The only one at hand is this: as each 
weekly article was published in the Palladium the type was taken to the job 
printing room and a book form made up and printed.  During the year several 
pressman have had a hand at the work, which accounts for many imperfections that 
the experienced pressman and bookmaker will readily detect.
	The writer is under obligations to many old settlers who have favored him 
with data but owing to their number he must forego the pleasure of mentioning 
them in this connection.

J. C. R.
Olympia, Wash., December, 1895.

History of Thurston County Washington from 1845 to 1895

by J C Rathbun




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THE OREGON QUESTION.
	To properly appreciate the motives of and external influences surrounding 
the first settlers north of the Columbia river and particularly in the region of 
Puget Sound, it is necessary to refer briefly to that event known in American 
history as the Oregon Question and to show how the Sound country came to be a 
part of the United States, instead of a part of British America. It has been 
stated in public addresses that the present state of Washington was acquired 
from France as a part of the Louisiana purchase in 1804. The weight of authority 
is against that proposition.
	Nations acquire title to territory in one of four ways: (1) By immemorial 
occupation; (2) by conquest; (3) by purchase


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or gift, and (4) by discovery followed by occupation. The discovery of the mouth 
of a river and the occupation of the territory give title, by the Law of Nations 
to the territory drained by the river and its tributaries.
	Applying the facts of history to these principles of -international law, 
as the same bears upon the Puget Sound settlement, we find:
	FIRST. In 1792 Vancouver, an English navigator entered and took possession 
of the -sound country in the name Of his sovereign.
	SECOND. In the same year Captain Robert Gray, of the ship Columbia, sent 
out by a company of Boston merchants, entered the mouth of the great river on 
the western coast of the United States and gave it the name of


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his ship. Neither discovery was followed by occupation and no attention was paid 
to them until 1804.
	THIRD. In 1804 President Jefferson sent out two surveyors, Merriwether 
Lewis and William Clark and in 1806 these men explored the country west of the 
Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia river.
	FOURTH. In 1811 John Jacob Astor, an American merchant, established a 
trading post at Astoria.
	FIFTH. In 1813, by the treachery of the manager of this post, the valuable 
property was transferred to an English company and a British war sloop, took 
possession, hoisted the British flag and changed the name to Fort George.
	SIXTH. In 1814, by the treaty which concluded the War of 1812, this 
property was ceded back to the united States. British fur and trading companies 
however, continued to operate in this region and lost no opportunity to so shape 
matters that they could regain possession of the territory.
	Thus after the United States by Captain Gray had discovered the country in 
1892; after it had been explored by the authority of the president; after a 
citizen of the United States had established a trading post there; after it had 
been acknowledged as belonging to the United States by a treaty which terminated 
a war, yet the United States acknowledged that it did not know whether it owned 
Oregon or not.
	SEVENTH. In 1818 it agreed with Great Britain upon a joint occupancy of 
the territory west of the Rocky Mountains in the following  terms: "That any 
country claimed by either party on the northwest coast of America, together with 
its harbors, bays and creeks, and the navigation of all rivers within the same 
be free and open for the term of ten years to the


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subjects, citizens and vessels of the two powers."
	This opened the country to the free movements of the British fur and 
trading companies and England gained by diplomacy what belonged to the United 
States through discovery and occupation.
	EIGHTH. At the expiration of the ten years or in 1828 the treaty was 
renewed for an indefinite period of time, terminable, however, on a years notice 
by either party to the other.  For present purposes it is not intended to go 
into the details of events that transpired during those years. There were the 
Hudson's Bay company, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company; there were 
Speculators, Indians, priests, explorers and adventurers of all sorts. Troubles 
were growing; murders were committed. Yet in spite of these, immigration was 
turning westward.
	NINTH.  In 1844 the United States gave to England notice that it desired 
to terminate the treaty of 1818 and in 1847 the forty-ninth parallel of latitude 
was made the international boundary from the summit of the Rocky mountains to 
the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island; 
thence through the middle of said channel and of Fuca's straits to the Pacific.  
The free navigation of the Columbia river was given to the Hudson's Bay company 
and other British subjects.  If the British government had any claim to the 
Puget Sound basin through the discovery of Vancouver in 1792 it was surrendered 
by this treaty of 1846.
	Though not germain to present purposes, it might be added that subsequent 
to the convention of 1846, England claimed that Rassario's strait was the 
channel intended while the United States insisted upon Canal de Haro.  Both are 
deep sea channels and between lies the island of San Juan occupied by the 
Hudson's Bay


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Company.  In 1858 the two governments agreed upon a joint occupancy of the 
disputed island. By the convention of 1871 which was called to settle the 
Alabama claims, the north-west boundary question was referred to Emperor William 
of Germany for arbitration.  The decision was in favor of the United States and 
in November 1872 the British garrison was withdrawn. The disputed island is the 
present county of San Juan of this state.

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
	Reference has been made to the Louisiana Purchase and a few facts 
concerning that event are stated.
	Four nations were concerned in the boundaries to Louisiana: France, who 
was making the purchase, England who owned the country to the north and Spain 
who owned the Floridas on the southeast and Texas and California on the 
southwest. The south-western limit, in the treaty, was defined as "along the 
main channel of the Sabine river from its mouth to the thirty-first parallel of 
latitude: thence due north to Red river: thence up that stream to the one-
hundredth meridian of longitude; thence due north to the Arkansas river, thence 
up that river to it's source; thence north along the crest of tile Rocky 
Mountains to the forty-second parallel of latitude."  The United States and 
France, the parties to the deal, were willing the southern boundary should then 
extend along that parallel to the Pacific. This was satisfactory to England but 
Spain, who owned California, objected and the matter rested until 1819. In a 
convention of that year, the United States made a concession relating to Texas, 
and Spain yielded Florida and Oregon.
	The decade of the 40's witnessed a tremendous immigration to the north-
west. The country was occupied by servants and employees of the Hudson's .Bay 
Company. The latter established


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forts and trading posts in different parts of the country, all tending to 
establish an occupation of the country that would ultimately save it to the 
British flag. They had twenty-three forts and five trading stations.  At the 
mouth of the Cowlitz they had a farm and small post and a more extensive farm 
twenty-five miles up the river.  At Vancouver they built a stockade.  This fort 
was the general depot for the southwestern branch of their system. Several of 
their institutions were established east of the mountains. On Puget Sound was 
Fort Nisqually, formerly a stockade. They also had two steamers with which they 
entered the bays and rivers along the coast from Mexico to Russian America, now 
Alaska, to subserve their interests.  They had thoroughly explored the country 
and knew its topography.  There was little liklihood of immigration setting in 
the Sound country except it entered by the way of Vancouver and the Cowlitz 
river.  By strategy and deception the occupants at Vancouver and Cowlitz sought 
to turn the tide of immigration to the Willamette valley and to deter it from 
Puget Sound.  The Hudson's Bay people relied upon the near future to fix the 
Columbia river as the boundary line between the United States and Great Britain 
and looked jealously upon an effort to found homes north of that stream.

GENERAL HISTORY.
	In the immigration of 1844 was a company from Missouri, destined for the 
Rogue river valley in Southern Oregon. They came down the Columbia river and 
camped at Washougal near Fort Vancouver.  In the party was Michael T. Simmons 
and George Bush with their families.  They had  been neighbors in Missouri.  
George. Bush was a mulatto, but a man of true merit and sterling manhood.  The 
efforts of the Hudson's Bay people at


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Vancouver to keep people from going to the Sound country had its effect upon 
Simmons and with his true Americanism and inherent combativeness he proposed to 
resent the interference of the Britishers and to fight his way to Puget Sound.
	The provisional government of Oregon had passed a law excluding from the 
territory all free negroes and mulattoes.  George Bush concluded that the Rogue 
river valley was no place for him and that, should the Sound Country ultimately 
become Britain or American, so long as the British claim prevailed, his color 
would not deter him from asserting his manhood nor deprive him of the protection 
of her institutions.
	In December 1844, Col. Simmons, who had been designated by the company as 
the one to make a reconnaissance of the Sound country, started in company with 
Messrs. Loomis, Williamson and three brothers, John, Henry and James Owens.  
They travelled up the Cowlitz to the forks when their provisions became short 
and the navigation of the stream discouraging.  The Colonel, however, who had a 
fair share of superstition in his nature, said afterwards that he really turned 
his face "homewards" because of a vision he had before leaving Missouri, 
indicating that he would find just such a place as the Forks of the Cowlitz, and 
be compelled to abandon his enterprise.  In that place he saw mapped out the 
spot which appeared to him in his dream.
	Colonel Simmons, on his return, determined to resume the exploration at a 
more fitting season.  This he did, but none of the others attempted the journey 
again.
	In April 1845, while at Washougal, Mrs. Simmons gave birth to a son, 
Christopher C., the first white American child born North and West of the


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Columbia river, and the first white male child within the confines of the 
present State of Washington.  The first white American child born in Washington 
was a daughter of Mrs. Marcus Whitman, at Wailatpu, in the present county of 
Walla Walla, several miles east of the Columbia river.
	In July, 1845, Colonel Simmons again started from the Columbia for Puget 
Sound, accompanied by George Wanch afterwards a settler near Skookumchuck, 
William Shaw (father of Colonel B. P. Shaw, of Vancouver, the famous Indian 
fighter) and seven others, none of whom, however, settled in the country, save 
Simmons and Wanch.
	Colonel Simmons and party upon reaching the Cowlitz prairie, procured the 
services of Peter Bercier, as guide and started for the Sound.  It is proper to 
add that they learned at this point that John R. Jackson had been in the 
vicinity just before, and being pleased with the country had made a location and 
was then upon his return to Oregon City for his stock and effects.  Thus, it 
will be observed, that while Colonel Simmons had essayed, in the winter of 1844-
5, the first exploration with a view to settlement, that John R. Jackson had 
made the first location.  For both of these old settlers the claim of "Pioneer" 
has been asserted.
	Colonel Simmons and party reached the shores of Puget Sound in August and 
obtaining canoes, went down the Sound examining the various points, passed 
around the north end of Whidby's Island, returning through Deception Pass came 
back on the East side of that island.  The party having returned to the Columbia 
river, Colonel Simmons and his family were joined by James McAllister and 
family, David Kindred and family, Gabriel Jones and family, George Bush and 
family and Messrs. Jesse Ferguson and Samuel B. Crockett. Peter Bercier again 
acting as guide and conducting


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through the first American colony on Puget Sound.
	These hardy frontiersmen were fifteen days cutting out the road from 
Cowlitz Landing to Tumwater, a distance of fifty-eight miles, where they arrived 
late in October, 1845. Colonel Simmons took the claim at Tumwater, calling it 
New Market, while all who accompanied him made settlement in the vicinity, 
principally on what has ever since been known as Bush Prairie.  This was the 
first settlement in Thurston county.
	Notwithstanding that the Hudson's Bay people at Fort Vancouver made 
strenuous efforts to discourage the American colonization, north of the 
Columbia, yet, in September, 1840, when the little band of pioneers under 
Simmons started for the Sound country, Dr. McLaughlin and Governor Douglas gave 
an order on Messrs. Forrest and Tolmie- the former in charge of the Cowlitz 
stations and the latter at Fort Nisqually- to furnish the party on credit with 
two hundred bushels of wheat, at eighty cents; one hundred bushels of peas, at 
one dollar; three hundred bushels of potatoes, at fifty cents; and ten or twelve 
head of beef cattle, at twelve dollars per head.
	The claim taken as Kindred's on the edge of Bush Prairie, as the timber 
skirting the city of Olympia is entered, was the first built upon in 1845.  
During the next summer Colonel Simmons himself built.
	On March 15, 1846, Mrs. James McAllister gave birth to a son (James 
Benton), the first-born of the Puget Sound Settlement.
	In the summer of 1846, Sidney  S. Ford, Senior, and family, and, Joseph 
Borst, settled at the confluence of the Skookumchuck and Chehalis rivers,  half-
way between Cowlitz Landing and New Market.
	A. M. Poe, Daniel T. Kinsey. A. B. Rabbeson, Charles Eaton, Levi L.


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Smith and Edmund Sylvester arrived early in October and all made permanent 
settlements.  Messrs. Smith and Sylvester were in partnership, and under the 
partnership clause of the land law of Oregon, each located half-sections of 
land, the former making his residence upon what is now the City of Olympia, and 
designating it Smithfield.  Mr. Sylvester took up the claim on the edge of 
Chamber's Prairie, better known as the Dunham Donation Claim.  Mr. Eaton made 
the Pioneer. settlement on Chamber's Prairie proper.
	Shortly afterwards, and during the same month, the Sound country was 
visited by Elisha and William Packwood, Jackson Peters, Dr. Thomas Canby, and 
Elisha and James McKindly, who examined the region and returned to the 
Willamette valley to winter.
	This year, 1846,  also marked the erection of a grist mill at New Market 
by Col. Simmons, in which he ground wheat, but did not attempt to bolt it.
	The return made by John R. Jackson, the first Assessor of Lewis County, 
for the year 1846, exhibits the following as it's produce: oats, nine thousand 
two hundred and fifty bushels; peas, four thousand four hundred and seventy-five 
bushels: potatoes, five thousand seven hundred and sixty bushels.  Of course the 
greater portion of these products was grown by the Puget Sound Agricultural 
company, on their claims at Cowlitz and Nisqually, but it goes to show that the 
settlers had already begun in earnest to cultivate the country and raise the 
means to live.
	In January, 1847, Messrs. Davis and family, Samuel Cool, A. J. Moore, 
Benjamin Gordon, Thomas W. Glasgow, Samuel Hancock and Leander C. Wallace 
arrived at New Market and made settlement in the neighborhood.
	In March, 1847, the brothers Packwood,

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Elisha and William, returned with their families. Elisha P. located on the claim 
now owned by David J. Chambers, where he remained until August, when he returned 
to the Willamette valley.  His brother William settled permanently in the 
country.
	At the organization of the Provisional Government of Oregon in July, the 
territory North of the Columbia river formed a single county known as Vancouver 
District.  Sir James Douglas, M. T. Simmons and James Forrest, were the first 
County Commissioners, or County judges.  Lewis county was organized by act of 
the Oregon House of Representatives, approved December 25, 1845, to go into 
effect after the June election of 1846 and embraced all of the territory lying 
North of the Columbia river and West of the Cowlitz river.  At the June 
election, Doctor W. F. Tolmie, of Nisqually, was elected the first 
Representative.  The county continued of the limits defined in the act creating 
it, until the treaty of June 15, 1846, made the forty-ninth parallel the 
Northern boundary of Oregon.
	At the time to which we have traced the settlement (spring, 1847), this 
region had already attained importance in Oregon politics.  Indeed, the vote of 
Lewis county determined the election of the Governor of Oregon at the last 
gubernatorial election held, under the Provisional Government.  The contest 
between Governor George Abernethy, nominated for re-election, and General A. L. 
Lovejoy, was extremely close.  The other counties were in; and the vote stood, 
for Abernethy, four hundred and seventy-seven; for Lovejoy, five hundred and 
eighteen; Lewis county, last to be heard from, gave sixty-one for Abernethy and 
two for Lovejoy, changing the result, and re-electing the former by a plurality 
of sixteen.  Simon Plemondon was sent to the House of Representatives


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and A. M. Poe, elected sheriff.
	In the summer, A. D. Carnefix, J. B. Logan and Frank Shaw (the Col. Shaw 
of the Indian War of 1855-6), arrived.
	On June 10, 1847, Mrs. Sidney S. Ford, gave birth to a daughter 
(afterwards Mrs. John Shelton), the first American girl born North and West of 
the Columbia.  Here, too, is another indication of progress- the first given in 
marriage in the little colony;  "Married at New Market, Puget Sound, at the 
house of Mr. Davis, on the 6th of July, by Judge Simmons, Mr. Daniel P. Kinsey 
to Miss Ruth Brock, of the former place."
	In July, Messrs. Samuel Hancock and A. B. Rabbeson were employed by Simon 
Plemondon to build a brick kiln on his farm at Cowlitz.  These were the first 
brick made and, we believe used North of the Columbia. In August, Colonel 
Simmons, Frank Shaw, E. Sylvester, Jesse Ferguson, A. B. Rabbeson, Gabriel 
Jones, A. D. Carnefix and John Kindred formed themselves into a company for the 
purpose of erecting a saw mill at New Market named the Puget Sound Milling 
company.  The date of the lease from, Colonel Simmons, proprietor of the claim, 
is August 20, 1847, the lease to continue for five years with the privilege of 
ten.  The site described was the northwest part of the Lower Falls.  On August 
24th, the trail between Smithfield (Olympia) and the Falls was blazed. out.  On 
the same date the Puget Sound Milling Company completed its organization by the 
election of Colonel Simmons, Superintendent, and upon the following day 
commenced the erection of the mill, which was completed during the winter 
months.
	In the latter part of the fall (1847) the settlement was strengthened by 
the arrival of Thomas M. Chambers, with his sons David Andrew, Thomas J. and 
McLean, and the families of the


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two first; also Messrs. Brail and Geo. Shazer.

1848-9.
	At the election of 1848 (the last held in Lewis county under the 
Provisional Government) A. B. Rabbeson was elected sheriff and Levi Lathrop 
Smith Representative to the Oregon Provisional Legislature.  The latter never 
entered upon his duties.  Late in the month of August, while going to New Market 
in a canoe, Mr. Smith was seized with an epileptic fit and in this helpless 
condition was drowned. This was the first death of an American in the 
settlement.
	Sheets of a diary left by the deceased show that the disease, to which he 
had long been subject, preyed upon his spirits, and his dreamy loneliness, so 
often referred to and graphically portrayed in his melancholy record, excites 
warmest sympathy.  He was a man of considerable culture, a genial 
conversationalist and of refined sensibility.  His recorded thoughts amid his 
desolation, and oft-repeated discouragement, exhibit him as a religious 
enthusiast, passionately grateful to Providence for the occasional revival from 
gloom and the temporary enjoyment of renewed health between the attacks of 
disease.  His journal bears testimony to the attentive kindness of his partner, 
Mr. Sylvester, Who passed as much time with him as the labors on the farm would 
admit, and when he is unable. to chronicle that "Sylvester was at home today," 
such recitals as this appear: "The first canoe today has just passed;" "nothing 
Stirring;, "not even an Indian has been seen today."
	How like a vision the scene must have appeared that beautiful October 
morning when he came down from New Market and gazed for the first time upon the 
enchanting view spread out before him!  Stretching off to the north the placid 
waters of the beautiful


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bay, its shores lined with the primeval forests; in the back ground the white 
peaks of the Olympics, to the right the grand old Rainier - while all around 
were the gigantic forests of fir and cedar!  What wonder that his soul swelled 
with the grandeur of the occasion!  And to contemplate that this scene, in all 
its magnificence, was his for the taking!  Could man more proudly plan the site 
for a future city?  But fate willed otherwise and through those inscrutable ways 
of Providence the headwaters of that little bay pass to history with a name, a 
glory and a prestige that almost hides the memory of its first beholder.
	Shortly after Mr. Smith's decease Sylvester abandoned the prairie claim 
and became the permanent occupant of Smithfield.  It is proper to add here that 
the 'partnership clause' of the land law of the Oregon provisional government 
authorized the occupancy of claims by each partner for the common benefit of the 
firm. Thus while Smith resided on the "Smithfield claim," Sylvester owned an 
equal interest in it; Smith enjoyed the same relation to the prairie farm. Mr. 
Sylvester as survivor succeeded to the right of the firm and became the sole 
possessor of the claim, now the site of the city of Olympia.  Here he built the 
first hotel.  It was of logs, 16x24 feet, containing two rooms.  Guests were 
accommodated on bunks in the attic.
	On June 14, 1848, Rev. Pascal Ricard with a small party of Oblat 
missionaries, established the mission of St. Joseph on the East side of Budd's 
Inlet, about a mile North of Sylvester's claim.  Shortly after, Samuel Hancock 
located the claim on the West side of the inlet, subsequently occupied by Konrad 
Schneider, and built a warehouse and wharf.
	At the time. summer 1848, there was but one grain cradle North of the 
Columbia


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which was the property of Jesse Ferguson.  Messrs. Ferguson and Rabbeson 
concluded to go to the Cowlitz farms and put in the season cradling wheat, but 
the French settlers scouted the idea that grain could be saved in any other way 
than with the sickle; but as laborers were few and crops heavy the experiment 
was permitted by old Simon Plemondon, so much to the satisfaction of himself and 
others, that the cradling party had all the work they could perform that 
harvest.
	On August 14, 1848, the act of Congress establishing the Territorial 
government of Oregon was approved.  The territory thus acquired included all the 
Pacific possessions of the United States North to the thirty-second parallel, 
the northern boundary being the line fixed by the treaty of June 15, 1846, 
between Great Britain and the United States.
	It was during this fall that the so called Puget Sound Agricultural 
Company conceived the idea of making claim under the treaty to the immense tract 
called the Nisqually claim.  At that time they proposed to set a title to land 
South of the Nisqually river and with that view drove a large herd of cattle 
across the stream.  On learning this the American residents called a meeting, 
over which Colonel Isaac N. Ebey, who had just arrived in the country, presided.  
Messrs. A. B. Rabbeson and Jesse Ferguson were appointed a committee to wait on 
Dr. W. F. Tolmie, agent of the company, and protest against such an act.  One 
week's time was allowed the corporation to remove their stock to the north side 
of the river, the present dividing line between the counties of Pierce and 
Thurston.  The demand of the settlers was complied with and the claim of the 
Puget Sound Company limited to the demand of all the valuable portion of present 
Pierce county.


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	As soon as the gold discoveries in California had become known in Oregon 
there was a general rush of the male population to the mines.  Many abandoned 
their farms neglecting to sow or put in crops; many of those who had taken that 
precaution failed to return until after the harvest.
	Thus, to a great extent the labors of this season were materially 
valueless.  While money and "dust" became plentiful, improvements were 
suspended; no buildings were erected; the mills stood idle; all industrial 
pursuits stagnated and the prices of labor and produce advanced to exorbitant 
rates.  While it is doubtless true that the development of the great mineral 
wealth to California attracted the world's attention to the Pacific coast, 
hastened its settlement, opened new avenues of commerce, materially added to the 
wealth of the world and almost revolutionized trade, yet it cannot be denied 
that the California gold stampede of 1848-49 was a most grievous check to the 
healthy growth of Oregon Territory.  The great exodus of this year was a notable 
event in in history and it required years of steady, sober advancement and 
industry to recuperate from its consequences.
	Notice has already been taken of the Oregon Organic Act, approved August 
14, 1848.  Contemporaneous with its passage, General Joseph Lane had been 
appointed governor and ex officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and he with 
Joseph L. Meek, the first United States Marshal, crossed the plains, reaching 
Oregon City, March 2, 1849.  General John Adair, Collector at Astoria, 
established as a port of entry by the same act, arrived by sea at his post in 
the latter part of the same month.  Hon. William P. Bryant Chief Justice; Peter 
H. Burnett (afterward the first Governor of the State of California,)


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and James Turney constituted the Supreme Court but of these the Chief Justice 
alone accepted the appointment.  William A. Hall was commissioned in place of 
Mr. Turney, September 1, 1848 but resigned November 22nd when Hon. 0. C. Pratt 
was appointed.  Governor Lane issued his proclamation May 13th, dividing the 
territory into Judicial districts and assigning the Judges.  The county of 
Vancouver with several counties south of the Columbia, constituted the first 
judicial district to which was assigned Chief justice Bryant; to the second 
lying wholly south of the Columbia, was assigned Hon. 0. C. Pratt; Lewis County 
alone constituted the Third Judicial district, and to it there was no judge to 
assign.  Although within an organized territory of the United States, yet not an 
official clothed with federal or military authority was present north of the 
Columbia river, to afford protection or confidence to its growing settlements.
	In the winter of 1849, Messrs. Ebey, Shaw, Moore, Jackson and Sylvester 
bought the brig Orbit. She arrived at Olympia January 1, 1850 where she loaded a 
cargo of piles for San Francisco, Col. Simmons afterward purchasing the interest 
of Jackson. This was the first American vessel owned by Washington Territory 
residents hailing from Olympia, Puget Sound.
	By proclamation of Governor Lane, the country north of the Columbia, 
together with Clatsop county (now in Oregon) south, constituted a Council as 
well as a Representative district.  At the election provided for by said 
proclamation, the first under the territorial organization, Samuel T. McKean of 
Clatsop, and Michael T. Simmons of Lewis were elected first Councilman and 
Representative respectively.  This Assembly convened at Oregon City, July, 1849, 
and continued in session one hundred days.


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THE INDIANS.
	The history of all settlements in the New World begins with relations with 
the Indians;  sometimes this relation has been peaceful and pleasant but oftener 
stormy and troublesome.  The settlement at the head of Puget Sound is no 
exception.  From the time that Col. Simmons and his party blazed their trail 
from the Cowlitz to New Market, the growth of the colony and the march of 
improvement have been the outcome of a conflict, either peaceful or stormy, with 
the copper colored sons of the forest.
	In contemplating, the history of the Sound country and the Indian as he 
plays a part in that history, numerous queries relating to the aboriginal force 
themselves on the historians' attention.  Their origin., their manners, their 
customs, their language, their religions, their business habits, their family 
relations - all arise in the mind and a dissertation on each topic, though 
interesting, would be rather foreign to present purpose.
	The origin of the American Indian is a subject of speculation and 
research.  That they belong to the older races of mankind is not doubted.  But 
neither their history nor the circumstances or date of their advent to the New 
World has revealed itself to delvers in prehistoric realms. Theories have been 
advanced and traced; but they still remain theories.
	The legends of the Indians themselves shed no light.  Ask them concerning 
their origin and the answer is: "Sackaly tyee mamock nasika" (man on high made 
us.)  This statement, too, embodies the most of their religious sentiments.  The 
Indian language is an interesting study but it too is outside our present 
intentions.  Their vocabulary is a limited one: the tone the accent and the 
facial expression very largely taking the place of words.


p14 c1:

	The American Indian belongs to several distinct families or nations, and 
these again are composed of tribes.  West of the Rocky Mountains were four 
nations; the Shoshones, the Selish, the Klamaths and the Californians.  The 
present state of Washington was occupied by the Selish.
	The tribes of each nation were similar in the main although differences 
existed in their language but not of such character as to prevent intercourse 
among them.
	The present language of the Puget Sound Indians is a jargon, compiled and 
introduced among the Indians by a trader at Astoria and was subsequently adopted 
by the Hudson's Bay Company at their trading stations and became the common 
trading language with the Indian Tribes.
	In the spring of 1848 Thomas W. Glascow visited Whidby Island and took the 
claim known as Ebey's Landing, opposite Port Townsend.  He erected his cabin, 
planted wheat and potatoes, then returned to New Market and induced Carnefix and 
Rabbeson to accompany him to his new home.  They determined to explore Hood's 
canal on their voyage thither, and went by canoe to the head of Skookum bay and 
from thence carried their bark over the portage to the head of the former.  Here 
they found Indians in large numbers, many of whom had never seen a white man.  
While camped at the month of the Skokomish river, it was the turn of Carnefix to 
cook and attend to camp-work.  An old Indian chief seeing this, concluded Mr. 
Carnefix must be a slave and so expressed a desire to purchase him, offering a 
large number of skins, muskets, blankets and two Indian henchmen.  His 
companions joked Carnefix so much on this would-be commercial transaction that 
he abandoned the trip and came back.  Glasgow and Rabbeson continued their 
exploration


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by themselves, and finally arrived in July at Glasgow's house on the island.  
They had not long been there when there assembled a Grand Council of the Puget 
Sound tribes of Indians, invited by Patkanim, chief of the Snoqualmie nations, 
to discuss the propriety of resisting the further progress of American 
settlements.  The proceedings commenced with a grand hunt.  A net or corral was 
built of willow brush, with wings stretching across the island from the head of 
Penn's Cove to what is now called Ebey's Landing.  A drive was made with ,dogs, 
and upwards of sixty deer secured for the feast. Next the council assembled and 
many speeches were made.  Patkanim urged that if the Americans were allowed to 
settle in the country they would soon outnumber the Indians, and that the latter 
would be transported in fire-ships to a distant country where the sun never 
shone and there left to die; that they could easily exterminate the few now in 
the country, which would discourage others from coming; by the death of these 
here the Indians would acquire a large amount of property.  The last argument he 
dwelt upon with great earnestness.  The Upper Sound Indians, who had lived among 
the whites, strenuously resisted any hostile movement.  Sno-ho-dum-tah, 
principal chief of the Indian bands above New Market, familiarly known to the 
settlers as "Old Gray-Head, was the champion of peace.  He said that before the 
advent of the Americans, it was common for the strong tribes on the Lower Sound 
to make war upon the weaker, carry off their people and enslave them; but now 
the presence of the white man afforded them security and discouraged such wars; 
that they had found the "Boston" (the Indian word for distinguishing an American 
from a British subject, called by them "King George,")


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was just and honorable in all his dealings.  This refusal on the part of the 
upper sound Indians created great excitement and nearly provoked a conflict on 
the council ground.  Rabbeson became alarmed and fled the settlement, while two 
days afterwards Glasgow was compelled to abandon everything and only by the 
assistance of a friendly Indian did he effect his escape.
	It was fortunate for the little settlement that they recognized rules 
governing intercourse or trade with the Indians.  The latter were to be 
protected in their rights.  A complaint of injustice at the hands of a white man 
was investigated, A uniform price was established for every thing in trade and 
labor, while it was the general understanding among the citizens that a white 
man was to respect his contract.
	In illustration may be mentioned the case of an immigrant of 1847.  
Accompanied by his family he arrived at the month of the Cowlitz river destitute 
of funds.  An Indian named Tenas Tyee, who was then engaged in forwarding 
immigrants up that stream, brought the immigrant family up to the Landing, 
agreeing to take a paper for the passage money and wait twelve Moons.  Tenas 
Tyee held the note till it fell due and then waited upon the white man, but he 
not having the money, the Indian agreed to take a heifer in discharge of the 
debt, which offer was declined.  Tenas Tyee came over to the Sound and 
complained to the settlers.  A meeting was called, a committee of two was 
appointed to return with him, and they compelled the debtor to liquidate the 
debt by turning over the stock which the Indian accepted in satisfaction of his 
demand.
	In the latter part of April, or during the first days of May, 1849, an 
event occurred which hastened the advent of the United States troops.  A party 
of


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Snoqualmie Indians made an attack on the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Nisqually.
	This tribe were in the habit of visiting the fort in small numbers, for 
the purposes of trade but upon this occasion they were in force, their object 
being to settle a dispute with the Indians of the Nisqually tribe.  On the 
trial, their number was variously estimated, Doctor Tolmie says over one 
hundred, while Walter Ross, clerk of the fort, gave it at one hundred and fifty.  
Patkanim, head chief of the tribe, consisting of several bands, was within the 
fort engaged with Doctor Tolmie, agent in charge. The gates had been closed and 
all the other Indians had been excluded.  Just outside the stockade were Leander 
C. Wallace, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Walker, three Americans on a visit to the fort, 
and Charles Wren, who had but shortly before come in from an Indian camp.  The 
Snoqualmies, led by Kussass, brother to Patkanim, and Quallahwowt, another sub-
chief, were armed and painted as a war party, and made other hostile 
demonstrations.  Wallace and his companions, seeing their danger, kept their 
faces toward the advancing Indians and retreated hastily to the gates.  Wren 
reached it and stood with his back against it trying to edge in.  Walter Ross, 
with two Indians guarded the gate on the inside and refuse to open it.  The 
Indian guard, about this time discharged his gun in the air for the purpose of 
emptying it before reloading which act the Snoqualmies pretended to interpret as 
a defiance.  Kussass advanced, fired and killed Wallace on the spot.  Wren and 
his companions made another effort to get inside, and as they passed through the 
gate a volley rang forth wounding Lewis and Walker as well as an Indian boy who 
stood within.  The last survived but a short time.  The bastions were then 
manned, a volley


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fired and the Indians hastily retreated.  Mr. Wallace was the first American 
killed by the natives on Puget Sound of which there is any record.  Upon the 
tidings of this outbreak reaching him, Governor Lane visited Puget Sound, 
arriving at New Market, May 17th, and being there advised of the arrival at Fort 
Vancouver of two companies First Artillery, United States Army, he immediately 
returned to that post.  In June Fort Vancouver was occupied as a permanent 
military post by a company of the First Artillery, Major J. S. Hathaway 
commanding.  In July Company M, First Artillery, Captain Bennet H. Hill, was 
dispatched to the Sound and August 27th, he established a military post at Fort 
Steilacoom.
	Shortly after, Hon. J. Quinn Thornton, sub-Indian agent for the district 
of Oregon North of the Columbia,. visited the Indian tribes on the Sound and 
after an interview with Patkanim, on his return, September 7, 1848, authorized 
Captain Hill to pay eighty blankets for the delivery of the murderers of Wallace 
within three weeks, if not by that time the reward might be doubled.  The 
superintendent (Governor Lane) took very strong exception to this course of the 
sub-agent, very properly construing that such acts of outrage should be visited 
by a punishment instead of a premium.  But before Governor Lane could 
countermand the offer or initiate the proper steps for the chastisement of the 
tribe in the event of their refusal to surrender the guilty parties, Patkanim 
had delivered up six Snoqualmie Indians, charged to be the murderers, to Captain 
Hill, who had duly paid the reward purchasing the blankets from Fort Nisqually 
at the price of four hundred and eighty dollars.
	The news of the surrender of these Indians for trial reached Oregon City 
while the Legislative Assembly (the


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first under the Territorial Government) was in session.  This body at once 
passed an act attaching Lewis county to the First Judicial district and provided 
for a special term of court at Steilacoom, to be held by Chief Justice Bryant on 
the first Monday of October.
	The court convened on the first of October-the first United States court 
held North of the Columbia river.
	Captain Hill delivered to the United States Marshal, Kussaas, Quallahwowt, 
Sterhawai, Tatam, Whyeek and Quarlthumkyne, all of the Snoqualmie tribe and 
surrendered by their chief as participants in the attack on Fort Nisqually.  All 
were indicted for the murder of Leander C. Wallace. The prosecution was 
conducted by Judge Alonzo A. Skinner and the court assigned David Stone Esq., 
then prosecuting attorney of the Third Judicial district to defend the 
prisoners.  Kusass and Quallahwowt, both chiefs and ringleaders in the foray, 
were convicted, the remaining four being acquitted.  At the execution the next 
day, October 3rd, of the two murderers, the whole tribe was present besides a 
vast gathering of other Indians.  The occasion was embraced to teach the natives 
that the law would be rigorously enforced against those who committed outrages 
upon the white settlers or their property; while, it is also interesting to 
note, that so sparse were the settlements at this time, that several of the 
jurors traveled over two hundred miles from their homes to reach the place of 
holding court.

OLYMPIA.
	In 1850, E. Sylvester laid off and dedicated the Smithfield claim as a 
town, giving it the name of Olympia, at the suggestion of Charles Hart Smith, of 
the firm of Simmons & Smith, who had established, that summer, a store in the 
town near the corner


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of First and Main Streets.  The beautiful snow capped mountains of the Olympia 
or Coast range, which constitutes the background of the scene enjoyed upon a 
clear day, looking northward from the city, suggested the name.
	The mercantile operations of the little community were of the most 
primitive character.  The first store dealt only in necessaries and such 
trinkets as found favor with the Indians.  The counter was a rough table sided, 
up with rough plank and like most household furniture was fearfully and 
wonderfully made.
	But during the two or three years that elapsed since Smith first saw 
Olympia or Smithfield considerable of a traffic had grown up.  The advent of 
George A. Barnes, however, in the fall of 1852, with a stock of general 
merchandise marked a change in the character of the transactions and was the 
beginning of commerce on Puget Sound.  Mr. Barnes' first store was on the water 
front at the west end of First street
	Stores were also managed by Parker Coulter & Co., A. J. Moses, L. Bettman, 
Goldman & Rosenblatt, and Louisson & Co.  Trade was mostly with the Indians, 
several hundred of them living on the eastern shore of the west arm of the bay.  
Their section was called Chinook street, and their central wigwam was near the 
present site of the Carlton House.
	Congress established the Puget Sound Collection District February 14, 
1851, and a Customs House was located during the year at Olympia, then the only 
town on Puget Sound.  On the third of November, 1851, the sloop Georgianna, 
Captain Rowland, sailed with twenty-two passengers for Queen Charlotte's Island 
where gold had been discovered.  Among those who chartered this sloop were Wm. 
Billings,


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S. D. Howe, Charles Weed, S. S. Ford, Samuel Williams, J. Colvig and the Sargent 
Brothers, Asher, Wilson and Nelson.  On the 19th the vessel was cast ashore on 
the east side of the island, was plundered by the Indians, and the crew and 
passengers held in captivity.  Upon receipt of the news, the Collector of 
Customs at Olympia, dispatched the Damariscove, Captain Balch, with a force of 
volunteers and United States troops from Fort Steilacoom.  The schooner sailed 
December 18th, and returned to Olympia with the rescued men the last day of 
January, 1852.
	In 1852, a superior article of coal was found, something much needed on 
the coast, and capital was at once invested in developing the mines.  Three saw 
mills were built on the Sound, and during the year quite extensive shipments of 
coal, lumber and fish were made.  Many claims were taken up on the fine 
agricultural lands, and all the elements for a vigorous growth were collected.  
The chief settlements then in Northern Oregon were, Pacific City, Vancouver, the 
Hudson Bay Company's headquarters, consisting of a hundred houses occupied by 
its employees, chiefly Kanakas, inclosed by picket fences, and defended by armed 
bastions; Forts Walla Walla, Okanagan and Colville, further up the Columbia; 
Olympia, the new town on the Sound; Fort Nisqually on the Sound, occupied by the 
Puget Sound Agricultural Company, besides shipping products to the Sandwich 
Islands and the Russian post at Sitka. These, with many settlements along the 
Sound and between it and the Columbia formed a section distinct from Oregon 
proper, with which they had no community of interest, and from whom, being in 
the minority in the legislature, they were unable to obtain many of the rights 
they deemed themselves entitled to.  Many of them were five


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hundred miles from the seat of the Territorial Government.
	During the years the Hudson's Bay people were operating in the Columbia 
valley and Puget Sound basin a rather considerable population for those times 
had gathered here, and in 1845 as has been stated Lewis county was created by 
the Oregon legislature embracing the territory north of Cowlitz county.  In 1850 
the number of inhabitants north of the Columbia river was three hundred four and 
one hundred eighty of them were citizens.
	In 1851 Pacific county was created.
	In 1852 it was proposed to create a new county out of Lewis, the same to 
include the vast basin lying west of the cascade mountains and north of the 
Cowlitz divide.  When the bill to create the county was first reported it was 
proposed to name the county Simmons, but the sad death of Samuel R. Thurston, 
which occurred the spring before and a general disposition among the people of 
Oregon to perpetuate his memory, suggested his name for the new county.
	Samuel R. Thurston was born in 1816 and graduated at Bowdoin college, 
Mass. in 1843.  He settled in Iowa in 1845 and in 1847 crossed the plains to 
Oregon.  He was a Democrat but elected to congress as an opponent of the Hudson 
Bay Company.  While returning home from the federal capital by way of Cape Horn 
he was taken sick and died at sea April 9, 1851, between Panama and Acapulco. 
His remains were buried at the latter place.
	By authority of the legislature of Oregon they were exhumed and brought to 
Salem and a marble monument erected to his memory.  On one side was the 
inscription: "THURSTON. Erected by the people of Oregon."  On another, his name, 
age an date of his death, on a third side this sentiment: "Here rests Oregon's 
delegate, a man of genius and learning, a


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lawyer and a statesman, his Christian virtues equaled by his wide philanthropy, 
his public acts are his best eulogium."
	At a time when his virtues and untimely death were uppermost in the minds 
of his people the proposition to perpetuate his name and memory by connecting it 
with the new Sound county met with a ready response and Thurston was adopted.

COUNTY ORGANIZED.
	The year 1852 marks the beginning of organized government on Puget Sound. 
The act that created the county provided for holding an election to choose 
county officers.  The election was held in June 1852 at which A. J. Simmons was 
elected sheriff, A. M. Poe, county clerk; D. A. Bigelow, treasurer; R. S. 
Bailey, assessor; Edmund Sylvester, Coroner; A. A. Denny, S. S. Ford Sr. and 
David Shelton, county commissioners.
	On July 5th the board of county commissioners convened at the office of A. 
M. Poe in the town of Olympia.  Arthur A. Denny and David Shelton were present 
and took the oath of office and appointed D. R. Bigelow clerk of the board pro 
tempore. This done the board adjourned to the next day.
	On the 6th A. J. Simmons, sheriff, was present and the bonds of A. M. Poe 
as county clerk, D. R. Bigelow. county treasurer and R. S. Bailey, assessor, 
were approved.  David Shelton was designated as presiding judge of the county 
commissioners court.
	The following precincts were established:
	Scadget Precinct: To include Whidby's Island and all islands north to the 
northern boundary of the United States.
	Port Townsend precinct: The territory north of Hood's Canal on the west 
side of the Sound.
	Dewamps precinct: The territory


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east of Puget Sound and north of the Puyallup river and all south of Hood's 
canal to the parallel of the north parallel of the Puyallup river on the west 
side of the Sound.
	Steilacoom precinct: The territory north of the Nisqually river to the 
Puyallup on the east side of Puget Sound and all thence due west to the mouth of 
the Nesqually river to the parallel of the mouth of the Puyallup.
	Olympia precinct: The territory south of Steilacoom precinct.
	The entire county was then a school district in Lewis county.  At this 
session of the board David Shelton, Whitfield Kirtley and Geo. A. Barnes, as 
,directors of school district No. 2, represented that the district had been 
organized and asked that boundaries be established which was granted.  Dewamish 
precinct was designated as district No. 5; Scadget precinct as No. 6; Port 
Townsend precinct as district No. 7. The remainder of Olympia precinct after 
taking out district No. 2 was designated as No. 1.
	Commissioners Denny and Shelton drew lots for length of terms. Mr. Ford 
being absent was given the long term of three years; Mr. Denny drew the term of 
one year and Mr. Shelton that of two years.
	Wm. Coulter was granted a grocer's license for six month's and Edmund 
Sylvester one for three months.  On July 7th the board adjourned to the first 
Monday in September.
	At the fall meeting William Packwood asked for a school district between 
Olympia and Steilacoom, which was granted.
	Mr. Packwood was also granted a license for a ferry across the Nesqually 
river, for which he paid one dollar.
	Road districts were created and residents in each district were designated 
to work the roads in that district.
	The tax levy for that year was fixed


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at: 4 mills for county revenue, 1 1/2 mills for the school fund, 1 1/2 mills 
territorial fund and $1 poll tax.  The total valuation of the county was 
$124,602.  The tax was collected by the assessor at the time of making the 
assessment.  T. F. McElroy and Geo. Barnes were appointed justices of the peace 
for Olympia precinct.
	The first school in the county was taught this summer by D. L. Phillips.
	Lewis county was a part of the Third judicial district and the First term 
of court held at Olympia was a special term called to try seizures that had been 
made by the collector of customs.  At this term of the court Elwood Evans, D. B. 
Bigelow, Quincy A. Brooks and S. B. Moses were admitted to practice law.
	The summer of 1852 was a prosperous one for the new community.  Coal was 
discovered in the Skookumchuck valley.  A steady stream of immigration was 
flowing toward the Sound country and many claims of fine agricultural lands were 
taken on the prairies and in the valleys adjacent to the head of Budd's Inlet.
	The Willamette Valley in Oregon was also attracting attention and 
considerable rivalry existed between that fertile section and the equally 
enticing region about Puget Sound.
	In the summer of 1852 a newspaper outfit was brought over from Portland by 
T. F. McElroy and J. W. Wiley and the first number of the Columbian issued on 
September 11.  It received a liberal supply of advertising from the beginning.  
Both Portland and San Francisco patronized its columns.
	The paper took a, pronounced position for the development of the Sound 
country and at once agitated the question of a division of Oregon by the 
formation of a new territory north of the Columbia river.
	At a term of the district court held at the house of J. R. Jackson in 
Lewis


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county a convention was called to meet at Monticello on the last Thursday in 
November to memorialize Congress for a new territory.
	Monticello, then an important town, it being on the direct route to the 
Sound from the Columbia, was located on the Cowlitz, not far from the present 
site of Kalama.
	Delegates to the Monticello convention were elected from each county those 
from Thurston, elected at a mass convention being M. T. Simmons, S. D. Ruddle, 
S. P. Moses, Adam Wyle, Q. A. Brooks and C. H. Hale.
	The New Territory convention met at Monticello November 25, 1852.
	A memorial to Congress was prepared; stating the condition of this region 
and asking that body to create the Territory of Columbia out of that portion of 
Oregon lying North and West of the Columbia river.  There was no conflict in the 
matter between the two sections of Oregon, the people of Oregon south of the 
river raising no objection to the proposed new territory.
	In November 1852, Hon. Columbia Lancaster of Vancouver resigned his seat 
in the legislative Council and by common consent D. R. Bigelow of Olympia and A. 
A. Denny of Seattle, both of Thurston county, were fixed upon as candidates to 
fill the vacancy.  Concerning the candidates the Columbian said, "Mr. Bigelow is 
known to the citizens of Northern Oregon as an attorney at law, honorable in the 
practice of his profession, upright in his dealings and intercourse with the 
world, of fixed principles, backed with good business qualifications and a sound 
judgment."  "Mr. Denny is a farmer; plain and unostentatious, highly esteemed as 
a citizen and a neighbor, straightforward in his business transactions and 
eminently qualified


p20 c2:

to discharge with credit to himself any civil duties he may be called upon by 
the people to perform.  They are both young men of good general intelligence and 
steadfast friends of Northern Oregon."
	Mr. Bigelow withdrew from the field and Mr. Denny was elected at a special 
election held December 7.
	In the fall of this year a tax was levied and collected for the erection 
of a school house.  The house was built of split lumber on the hill where the 
Olympian office now stands at the south east corner of block 35.  In the 
construction the upper joists were not tied to the walls of the building.  A 
heavy snow fell the following winter and one night soon after school was 
dismissed the lateral pressure was so great that the walls gave way, entailing 
the collapse of the building.  Another building was secured and Mr. A. W. Moore, 
the teacher, continued the school.
	During the year 1852 the trail up the Cowlitz was continually lined with 
immigrants.  Every house along the road was crowded nightly with those who had 
heard of the salubrious climate and fertile soils on the shores of Puget Sound.
	This summer Ira Ward, N. Barnes and S. Hays started a saw mill at the 
upper falls at New Market.  It was of a single sash saw capable of cutting 2000 
to 3000 feet per day.

1853.
	The year 1853 opened propitiously for the growing colonies north of the 
Columbia river.  On December 6, 1852 Hon. Joseph Lane, delegate in Congress from 
Oregon introduced the subject of a new territory by procuring the passage of a 
resolution instructing the Committee on Territories to consider the question and 
report a bill.  The committee reported a bill to organize the Territory of 
Columbia, which


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came up February 8, 1853.  Richard H. Stanton, of Kentucky, moved to substitute 
the name of "Washington" for "Columbia," saying that we already had a District 
of Columbia while the name of the Father of our Country had been given to no 
territory in it.  With this amendment the bill passed through the house on the 
10th., with one hundred and twenty eight votes for and twenty-nine against.  On 
March 2, 1853, it was adopted by the Senate and received the president's 
signature the following day.
	The act created a territory more than twice the size asked for in the 
memorial, being "All that portion of Oregon Territory lying and being south of 
the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, and north of the middle of the main 
channel of the Columbia river from its mouth to where the forty sixth degree of 
north latitude crosses said river near Fort Walla Walla, thence with said forty-
sixth latitude to the summit of the Rocky mountains."  This included all of 
Washington as it now stands, and at portion of Idaho and Montana.  The act was 
in the usual form creating territories, and provided for a Governor, to be ex 
officio Commander in chief of the militia and Superintendent of Indian affairs, 
a Secretary, a Supreme Court of three Judges, an attorney and a Marshal, all to 
be appointed by the President for a term  of four years.
	It also called for a delegate to Congress whose first term was to last 
during the Congress to which he was elected.  A territorial legislature was 
created with two branches- a Council with nine members and a term of three 
years, the first ones to serve one, two and three years as decided by lot among 
them; and a House of eighteen members, with a term of one year, to be increased 
from time to time to not more than thirty.  Twenty thousand


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dollars were appropriated to defray the expenses of a census, after the taking 
of which the Governor was to apportion the members of the Legislature and call 
an election to choose them and the Delegate to Congress.
	The first Legislature was to meet at any place the Governor might select 
and was then to fix the seat of government itself; five thousand dollars were 
appropriated for public buildings, and the same amount for a library.  County 
and local officers then serving were to hold their positions until successors 
were chosen under acts to be passed by the legislature of the new territory.  
Causes were to be transferred from the Oregon courts, and the territory was to 
be divided into three districts, in each of which one of the Supreme Judges was 
to hold a district court. Sections sixteen and thirty-six of the public lands or 
their equivalent were given to the territory for the benefit of the public 
schools.
	In January 1853 the territorial legislature of Oregon created four new 
counties, all out of Thurston county, to-wit:--  Pierce, King, Island and 
Jefferson, leaving Thurston county to include the present counties of Thurston, 
Chehalis and Mason.
	In March of this year J. W. Wiley transferred his interests in the 
Columbian to J. J. Beebe, the publishers then being McElroy and Beebe.
	Soon after his inauguration President Pierce appointed Major Isaac I. 
Stevens, United States Engineers, Governor; Charles H. Mason of Rhode Island, 
Secretary; J. S. Clendenin of Mississippi, Attorney; J. Patton Anderson of 
Tennessee, Marshal; Edward Lander of Indiana, Chief Justice; Victor Monroe of 
Kentucky and 0. B. McFadden, of Pennsylvania Associate Justices.  Marshal 
Anderson arrived early in the summer, and took a census provided for in the act, 
returning a total population of three


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thousand nine hundred and sixty-five, of whom sixteen hundred and eighty- two 
were voters.  Governor Stevens was in charge of the expedition sent out by the 
War department to survey a northern route for a transcontinental railroad, and 
was thus occupied all the summer and fall.  Upon crossing the boundary line of 
the now territory, September 29, 1853, he issued a proclamation from the summit 
of the Rocky mountains, declaring the act of Congress and assuming his duties as 
executive.
	During the preceding years more or less trouble had been experienced with 
the mails.  Stages ran each week to the Columbia river where connection was made 
for Portland.  There was usually considerable necessary delay, but to a large 
extent the conveniences and anxious expectations of the people depended on the 
sweet pleasures of the stage driver.  At this time (1853) the mail left Olympia 
every Tuesday and the fact that the driver occasionally indulged in a spree 
before starting gave rise to numerous complaints.  In the fall of this year, 
however a change occurred in contractors, Rabbeson & Yantis became proprietors 
of the stage line and advertised to put passengers through from Olympia to 
Cowlitz Landing in twelve hours.
	In April 1853 a bed of natural oysters was found in Budd's Inlet.
	The mammoth, trees of Olympia were becoming known to the outside world and 
at this time hewed timber was quoted at 16 to 18 cents per cubic foot; shingles 
at $4.50 to $5 -per M and cordwood at $4 per cord.  During the seven years since 
the first immigrant came to Puget Sound immigration had been by the way of 
Vancouver and the Cowlitz river but in the spring of 1853 an effort was made to 
find an immigrant route over the Cascade mountains and at a Public meeting of 
the citizens of Thurston county, Rev.


p2 c2:

Benj. Close, A. W. Moore, E. Sylvester, James Hurd and John Alexander were 
appointed a committee to locate a practical route.  In the effort they were 
joined by Walla Walla and a road through the Natchez pass was located.  This was 
designated as the People's Road as distinguished from the Columbia river route.  
The first arrival over the People's route was a Mr. Aikin and the arrival of his 
party was the occasion of a celebration by both Olympia and Steilacoom.
	The year of 1853 showed a steady improvement.  The creation of the new 
territory had directed immigration this way and the pioneers of the county were 
inspired to attack the gigantic forests and lay the foundation for permanent 
homes.
	The Columbian was published one year by Mr. McElroy, its founder, and in 
September '53 he sold it to Matt K. Smith.  Mr. Smith, however published it only 
a few months when, on December 3rd he sold it to J. W. Wiley.  Mr. Wiley changed 
the name to Washington Pioneer and continued it as a live local paper.  The 
change in the proprietors marked a change in the politics of the paper- from 
Whig to Democrat.
	The year was enlivened somewhat by the report of Indian hostilities at New 
Dungeness on the Straits of Fuca.  In March 1853 the county commissioners drew 
the first grand and petit juries for the county.  The grand jury was composed of 
the following men who served for the April term of the District court:- Andrew 
J. Chambers, Nathan Eaton, Nelson Barnes, Charles E. Weed, ---- White, C. 
Ethridge, Martin Shelton, R. B. D. Shelton, Isaac B. Power, John Chambers, 
Nathan Pattison. Henry Barnes, B. L. Hennis, James Taylor, Whitfield Kirtley, 
Wm. Billings, C. H. Hale. Robert Patterson, Moses Bettman, Thomas J.


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Chambers, Green McAfferty, John R. Kindred and A. J. Moses.
	For Petit jurors were drawn.-- John Edgar, Stephen Hodgson, Joseph 
Cushman, William Packwood, R. M. Walker, Joseph White, S. D. Ruddle, E. H. 
Wilson, Herbert Jeal, J. R. Wood, Alfred Allen, L. H, Calkins, J. R. Hurd, A. B. 
Rabbeson, David J. Chambers, James Blanchard, Jesse Ferguson, Franklin Yantis, 
Ignatius Colvin, Charles Eaton, B. F. Shaw, William P. Wells, J. M. Swan and 
George Brail.
	A census was taken this summer by U. S. Marshal J. P. Anderson, the 
population of Thurston county being 996.
	In the summer of 1853 D. C. Beatty began the manufacture of a line of 
household furniture suitable for the times.
	During the summer and fall the residents of the village awaited anxiously 
the arrival of Governor Stevens when the governmental machinery of the new 
territory was to be set in motion.  The settlement had an advance knowledge of 
the day the governor and party were expected to arrive and a committee of 
arrangements had been appointed to provide for a suitable reception.  
Preparations for a true pioneer greeting were well under way when, one afternoon 
the governor and party were seen coming along the trail that had been cut 
through the timber, a few days in advance of the time he was expected.  But in 
their pioneer simplicity they were too joyed to see him to feel any chagrin over 
their unfinished preparations.  A national salute was fired and the flag of the 
Kendall Company was thrown to the breeze.  The governor in the rough garb of a 
bold and adventurous American freeman, was received literally into the arms of a 
warm hearted, patriotic people.  The reception ceremonies were held at the 
Washington Hotel,


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corner of Main and Second streets kept by Lewis Ensign, on Saturday evening, 
November 26, 1853.  On the 28th the governor issued a proclamation dividing the 
territory into legislative and judicial districts and calling an election for 
January 30, 1854, for the election of members of the legislature which was to 
assemble February 27.
	The campaign for members of the legislature was an exciting one in 
Thurston county.  Three tickets were in the field: Democratic, Whig and Union.  
The Democratic ticket was-
	For Councilmen, D. R. Bigelow and S. D. Ruddle.
	For Representatives: L. D. Durgin, George Gallagher, David Shelton and A. 
J. Chambers.

WHIG TICKET.
	For Councilmen: B. F. Yantis and E. J. Allen.
	For Representatives: Ira Ward, C. H. Hale, J. L. Brown and Gallatin 
Hartsock.

UNION TICKET.
	For Councilmen: D. R. Bigelow and B. F. Yantis.
	For Representatives: A. W. Moore, F. W. Glascow, S. S. Ford, Sr. and James 
H. Roundtree.
	The election resulted in the choice of D. R. Bigelow and B. F. Yantis for 
the council and L. D. Durgin, David Shelton, Ira Ward and C. H. Hale for 
representatives.
	At this election Judge Columbia Lancaster was elected delegate to 
Congress.
The year 1853 drew to a close upon the sturdy pioneers in the different 
settlements of Thurston county with the star of Hope brilliant in their 
firmament.  The arrival of Gov. Stevens had agitated the subject of a Northern 
Pacific railway and the day was pictured as not far distant when the iron horse 
would dash through the Cascade mountains and make the forests


p24 c1:

ring with the rumble of his on coming train.
	In December the road was cut through from Olympia to the falls, the 
present Tumwater.  It is not quite clear when the name of the settlement at the 
falls was changed from New Market to Tumwater.  The name Tumwater is probably 
one of growth, being a modification or anglicizing of the Indian name Tum Chuck.  
"Chuck" in the Jargon signifies water and "Tum" with the peculiar Chinook accent 
is intended to represent the sound of falling water.  Hence in the Indian 
vocabulary any waterfall is called "tum chuck."  As the settlers gradually 
learned the Chinook they substituted the English "water" for the Indian "chuck" 
and coined the word "Tumwater," which has since remained the name of the 
picturesque little city at the falls.

1854.
	The legislature elected January 30, 1854 convened on the 27th of February 
in the building on Main street recently used as the Gold Bar restaurant.  It was 
destined to be a historic body.  Its assembling was an important occasion to the 
small town that was then dignified as the seat of government.  The members came 
to their legislative duties by various routes as the stern necessity of those 
days determined, either by paddling a boat up the Sound or by the lonely trail 
through the forest.  To a newspaper correspondent a few years ago, A. A. Denny, 
of Seattle who was a member, recounted the experiences of that memorable 
occasion. He said:-
	"Then Olympia had only 200 or 300 people but it was the greatest and about 
the only place north of Portland.  The entire council with two exceptions, was 
made up of men from the west side of the Cascade mountains.  The whole east side 
was represented


p24 c2:

by Messrs. Tappan and Bradford, who lived at the Cascade, or Wishram, as it was 
known to Bonneville.  Then Clarke county was spread all over the eastern 
country, and they represented Clarke.
	"Nearly the entire legislature journeyed to and from the capital in boats 
and it took two good hard days' tugging at the oars to get there from Seattle.  
The first night out, Mr. Denny said, they usually made it a point to camp on 
McNeil's island but sometimes they could not get that far.  By the next night, 
if they had toiled hard. they arrived at the seat of legislative power.
	"There were twenty seven members of that now historical body, nine in the 
council and eighteen in the house  They represented almost every walk and 
calling in life, and their dress, as may well be supposed, was typical of those 
early pioneer days.  Some wore caps made of wolf skins, while others had 
garments more or less betokening the period in which they lived."
	Without reviewing the acts of the first territorial legislature it is 
proper to state that a general code of law was enacted, besides several private 
and local laws pertaining to each county and the creation of new counties.  
Thurston county was reduced in size by taking off Chehalis county on the south 
west and Sawamish county on the northwest.  The name of the latter county was 
afterward changed to Mason in honor of Hon. C. H. Mason, the first territorial 
secretary and for a long time acting governor.
	The following territorial roads were established, as were also several 
others; From Olympia to Shoalwater Bay with Logan Hays, B. F. Yantis and John 
Vail appointed commissioners to locate the same; from Cathlamet to the house of 
S. S. Ford, Sr.. in Thurston county, with L. H. Davis. Justin Nye and James 
Birnie, Jr. commissioners;


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Olympia to the mouth of the Columbia river, with Alonzo Delabaugh, S. S. Ford 
and Nelson Barnes commissioners; Olympia to Monticello, with Gilmore Hays, J. C. 
Davis and F. Kennedy as commissioners.
	The legislature designated a corps of county officers in each county where 
vacancies existed who were to hold until their successors were elected and 
qualified. For Thurston county S. S. Ford, Sr., David J. Chambers and James 
McAllister were county commissioners; U. E. Hicks auditor; Frank Kennedy, 
sheriff; Whitfield Kirtley, assessor; Stephen D. Ruddle, probate judge; D. R. 
Bigelow, county treasurer; Elwood Evans, county school superintendent; William 
W. Plumb, Nathan Eaton and Joseph Broshears, justices of the peace.
	Olympia Lodge No. 5 of Free and Accepted Masons that had been acting under 
the grand jurisdiction of Oregon, was granted a charter.  This lodge is held by 
the fraternity as the parent of Free Masonry north of the Columbia river.
	Mr. Bigelow, who still resides at Olympia found his duties as county 
treasurer not irksome.  At one time his business called him to Chamber's 
Prairie.  Shortly before, he had received $1000 in silver.  Having no secure 
place in his office to leave it, he tied it in a bag and carried it with him.
	The new board of county commissioners organized June 5, and at this 
session directed county school superintendent, Elwood Evans to request the 
surveyor general of the territory to give an account of the surveyed lands 
reserved for school purposes that have been claimed by actual settlers, so that 
the board of commissioners might occupy other lands in lieu.  Upon Supt. Evans' 
report, C. H. Hale was


p25 c2

appointed to select an equal quantity of land to that taken.
	The license for retailing liquors was fixed by the board at $100 for six 
months, and for a bowling alley at $25 per annum.
	Stephen D. Ruddle, appointed Probate Judge by the legislature, declined 
the position and Joseph Cushman was selected.
	On July 8, Thomas J. Chambers was appointed by the county commissioners to 
examine and mark out a quarter section of land for the benefit of a county seat, 
"to be the best and most valuable unclaimed land he can find within the limits 
of the county and report at next term."  Mr. Chambers had evidently given the 
matter previous attention for on the 10th, two days after his appointment he 
reported the selection of the south east quarter of section 19, township 18, 
range 1, west and was allowed $6 for his work.
	The tax roll for 1854 showed a valuation of $418,140 and the rate of 
taxation was fixed at 3 mills.
	This year the commissioners appropriated $500 toward a bridge across the 
east fork of Budd's inlet and $1000 for a bridge across the Skookumchuck in the 
southern part of the county.  Frank Kennedy was appointed bridge commissioner to 
superintend the construction of both bridges.  The contract for the former was 
let to J. L. Perkins for $1550, one thousand dollars being made up by private 
subscription.
	In December 1854 A. B. Rabbeson was appointed a commissioner to let the 
contract for the construction of a suitable and convenient court house according 
to plans that he may deem best, provided that said contract shall not exceed 
$1200.
	During the two and a half years since the organization of the county the 
records were kept in a temporary sort of way, deeds being recorded on sheets of 
paper; likewise the record of


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the commissioners.  On December 7, 1854, the auditor was directed to procure 
suitable books, arrange papers and transcribe the records.
	The matter of improving the Cascade road was agitated during the year and 
a private subscription of $1195 was raised in Olympia to put the route in 
suitable condition for travel.  Jas. K. Hurd was disbursing agent of the 
citizen's committee that had the matter in charge.
	The election for representatives and county officers was held in September 
and the following tickets were placed in the field early in the summer:

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Representatives: Wm. Cock, B. L. Henness, Stephen Guthrie, Wm. P. 
Wells.
	County commissioners: Levi Shelton S. S. Ford Sr., John S. Low.
	Probate Judge: Joseph Cushman.
	School superintendent: D. R. Bigelow.
	Auditor: U. E. Hicks.
	Treasurer: Wm. Rutledge. Sheriff: A. B. Rabbeson.
	Assessor: Wm. Packwood.
	Coroner: A. J. Baldwin.

WHIG.
	For Representatives: Gilmore Hays, C. H. Hale, C. C. Hewitt, James Biles.
	County commissioners: E. Nelson Sargent, Moses Hurd, J. H, Conner.
	Probate Judge: A. W. Moore.
	School superintendent: Geo. F. Whitworth.
	Auditor: G. A. Lathrop.
	Treasurer: G. A. Barnes.
	Sheriff: Isaac Hays.
	Assessor: A. N. Hann.
	Coroner: Chapman Turner.

FREE SOIL.
	For Representatives: C. H. Hale, C. C. Hewitt, Samuel James, Wm. White.
	County commissioners: A. J. MeCormick,


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T. F. Berry, Pattison.
	Probate Judge: Joseph Cushman.
	Auditor: G. A. Lathrop.
	Treasurer: W. C. Dobbins.
	Sheriff: J. M. Swan.
	Assessor: B. F. Brown.
	The issues involved in the election were the same as those that were 
agitating national politics in the states.  The election resulted in the choice 
of the straight Democratic ticket.  United States marshal J. Patton Anderson was 
elected delegate to congress from the Territory.
	In December 1854 Wm. B. Goodell established a stage line between Olympia 
and Cowlitz via of Grand Mound, leaving Olympia on Tuesday and Friday of each 
week.  At Cowlitz, near the present site of Toledo, it made connections with 
boats for Monticello and Portland.  His charges were- from Olympia to Grand 
Mound, $3.50; to Cowlitz, $10.
	During the year numerous improvements were made in the village and also in 
the country, in common with other desirable locations on the Sound.  Two 
sawmills were erected at Tumwater. W. W. Miller began the operation of a steam 
saw mill a few miles down the bay on the eastside. The Masonic Hall was built 
this summer and fitted for the legislature of 1855.  Work was plenty and both 
laborers and mechanics were in demand.
	Edward Giddings had a wharf extending 300 feet from the foot of Main 
street and seriously contemplated extending it to deep water.
	The project of dyking the mud flats was conceived and discussed by local 
capitalists.
	The early advent of a railroad over the Cascades was a pleasant and oft- 
discussed topic. Taking the situation all in all, the actual bona fide 
improvements and the ephemeral speculations of would be capitalists, the year 
1854


p27 c1:

drew to a close, with the sturdy pioneers full of enthusiasm for the future, 
little dreaming of the dark cloud that was to descend on them ere the return of 
another twelve month.

1855.
	At the March term of the board of commissioners, county superintendent G. 
F. Whitworth, represented to the board that a portion of the county and 
territorial school fund had been misapplied, having been, probably 
inadvertently, paid out upon county orders on the general fund.  The treasurer 
was then directed to reimburse those funds from the money on hand, so far as it 
went and to cash no more county warrants until the amount drawn from the school 
funds was fully repaid.
	At this term A. M. Blanchett, Catholic Bishop, communicated with the board 
with reference to refunding the tax levied on the St. Joseph's Mission property, 
but no action was taken, the communication being laid on the table.
	Samuel Klacy who had been elected assessor the preceding summer resigned 
and Samuel Coulter was appointed to fill the vacancy.  Mr. Coulter reported the 
valuation of taxable property at $396,825 and the board fixed the rate at 4 
mills.  In June 1855 the county debt amounted to $4,388.29.
	At the June session of the board F. Kennedy, bridge commissioner, reported 
on the construction of the bridge to Swantown for which the county had 
appropriated $500 at a previous session.  The board refused to accept the bridge 
for three reasons: 1st, the law had not been complied with in its construction; 
2nd, the bridge was not built on bents; 3rd, the bridge was not a good and 
substantial structure.  The friends of the contractor in the town at once 
interested themselves in his behalf and the same day a petition with 73 
signatures was presented


p27 c2:

to the board, asking that the contractor be given the $500.  The bill was 
allowed and the bridge accepted.
	The duty of locating the permanent seat of government devolved on the 
legislature of 1855. The candidates were Vancouver on the Columbia and Olympia.  
When the question came to a vote it resulted in the choice of Olympia.  Hon. A. 
A. Denny of King county addressed the house of representatives as follows--
	"Mr. Speaker:- I propose to do now what I have not done before- I propose 
to say now what I have not heretofore said to anyone (if my memory serves me) 
relative to my views upon this location question.  I now for the first time 
announce my purpose to vote for the location of the territorial capital at or 
near Olympia; and for my vote upon this question shall briefly assign a few 
reasons.
	Justice to all sections of the territory require at our hands patient and 
careful investigation as to the proper place at which to locate the territorial 
capitol.  Its location should be central both as to its geographical position, 
as well as to its center compared with our population.  In my investigation of 
this question, I have arrived at the conclusion that Olympia is nearer the 
geographical center than any other point I have heard mentioned during the 
discussion on this subject- and that it is also nearer the center of our present 
population.  If, Mr. Speaker, you take Thurston county with its population and 
add it to the counties north, there will be found a clear and decided majority 
of the population of our Territory in those counties.  If you will take Thurston 
from the northern counties and unite her with the counties south, then it will 
show a still more decided majority south.  Thus it is clearly demonstrated that 
Olympia is about the center of population in this territory.  It is as easily


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accessible from all parts of the territory as any place which has been named 
during the pendency of this question, or that could have been named.  It is at 
the head of navigation at a point the farthest inland, accessible from all 
counties north by all manner of water craft from steamer down to the Indian 
canoe.  It is in a direct line from the counties south to the counties north, of 
the territory.  If you travel from the northern to the southern counties you 
must go through Thurston or travel out of your course.  If you travel from the 
southern to the northern counties you have to pass through Thurston.  Then as to 
the particular location the site is clearly eligible, the land selected is 
elevated and overlooks the placid waters of Puget sound for many miles to the 
Northward.  The scenery is grand and imposing- to the north the Coast Range is 
seen looming up in the distance, Mount Olympus standing out in bold relief 
amidst the hundreds of less elevated peaks in the vicinity.
	Indeed, Mr. Speaker, I know of no other place combining anything like the 
claims, all things considered, to the Territorial capital as does this immediate 
vicinity; hence I shall most willingly give my support to the bill under 
consideration.  In doing so, I am influenced by no motives of a pecuniary 
character- I own no town lots or landed estate in Thurston county and such is 
the poor estimate of my vote or influence that I have not had even the offer of 
an oyster supper from the good citizens of Olympia as an inducement for either."
	The legislature submitted the question of the manufacture and sale of 
ardent spirits to a vote of the people of the territory at the next election in 
July.  The campaign was a warm one throughout the territory.  At a meeting in 
this county Hon. Elwood Evans was appointed chairman of the executive


p28 c2:

committee and issued an announcement to temperance men in the territory to form 
county societies.
	The political feature of the campaign was also inaugurated early, by the 
democratic county committee calling a county convention for April 29.
	The following ticket was placed in the field:-
	Councilman. Wm. Cock.
	Representatives: C. B. Baker, Wm. Rutledge, Jr., David J. Chambers. 
Charles E. Weed, Rodolph M. Walker, John N. Low.
	Surveyor: Jared S. Hurd.
	Assessor- W. B. D. Newman.
	Commissioner. Joseph S. Broshears.
	Fence Viewer: R. M. Walker.
	Lieutenant Colonel: Joseph Miles.
	Major: J. K. Hurd.
	The Democratic candidate for Congress was J. Patton Anderson of this 
county.

WHIG TICKET.
	The Whig convention was hell on May 5 and the following nominations made:-
	Councilman: B. F. Yantis.
	Representatives: T. F. McElroy, C. H. Hale, G. Hartsock, Cyril Ward, C. G. 
Saylor, J. W. Goodell.
	Assessor:- Marion Sargent.
	Commissioner: William S. Parsons.
	Colonel. B. Harned.
	Lieutenant Colonel:- Wm. Miles.
	Major- J. J. Westbrook.
	The Whig candidate for Congress was William Strong.

FREE SOIL.
	A Free Soil county convention was held May 26 and the following ticket 
nominated.
	Councilman: B. F. Brown.
	Representatives- Samuel James, J. M. Swan, Wm. White, Mr. Lum. S. N. 
Woodruff and Wm. Patterson Sr.
	Surveyor: T. F. Berry.
	Commissioner: Mr. Stroll.
	Assessor: William Billings.


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	The candidate for Congress was Joseph Cushman.
	The democratic candidate for Congress carried the county by 9 majority. 
Wm. Cock was elected councilman.  Walker,  Baker and Chambers, Democrats- and 
Hale, Ward and McElroy- Whigs- were chosen representatives.  The democratic 
ticket was elected with the exception of Jared S. Hurd for surveyor, the free 
soil candidate, Mr. Berry being chosen.
	At this election the county cast 377 votes: Olympia precinct, 260; South 
Bay, 18; Black Lake, 15; Yelm Prairie, 18; Grand Mound, 39; Miami, 9; Coal Bank, 
18.  Prohibition received a majority of 14 votes in the county but failed to 
carry the territory.
	In August 1855 a new frame school house of two stories was erected on the 
site of the one that collapsed the year before.  The building still stands and 
from 1874 to 1892 was used as a court house.  It is now owned by Geo. Langridge 
and occupied by the Olympian.
	This summer the contract to carry the mail from Olympia to Seattle was 
awarded to Henry Winsor of Olympia at a rate not to exceed $1000 per annum.  He 
was permitted to carry it by either sail boat or horse.
	During the summer the work of developing the country went forward. 
Immigration continued and fertile lands in all parts of the Sound country were 
taken as claims. Forests were cleared in patches and permanent homes 
established.

INDIAN TROUBLES.
	In early fall reports of trouble with Indians in White River Valley, King 
county, began finding their way to Olympia and the settlers in the country 
around the capital manifested
more or less alarm.  The hostiles were of the Yakima tribe and the exciting 
cause of their depredations may


p29 c2:

be traced to the origin of all Indian troubles since the pale faces first began 
crowding the red man toward the setting sun.
	It is not our purpose to go into all the details that lead to the cruel 
attack on the Puget Sound settlements, but it is well for the reader to bear in 
mind that the Hudson's Bay people looked jealously on the American settlements 
north of the Columbia as tending to ultimately wrest this section of the country 
from the pretended claim of Great Britain and it is claimed by some that this 
company encouraged the Indians in order to discourage settlements.
	Early in 1854 a member of one of northern tribes, the Kake, had worked for 
H. L. Butler, at Butler's cove, and a dispute arose over the wages.  As a result 
of the controversy one Burke, who was working for Butler, killed the Indian.  
Following this murder it was customary for the northern Indians to make trips up 
the Sound in search of work and commit depredations on the settlements on their 
return.
	Their periodic visits increasing in number and boldness alarmed the 
settlers, and Commander Swartout of the United States navy, who was then on duty 
in Puget Sound waters, in charge of the Steamer Massachusetts, determined to 
drive them out and punish them.  On November 20, he made an attack on their camp 
at Port Gamble.  Twenty seven were killed and twenty one wounded and their huts 
and canoes destroyed.  The remainder he carried to Victoria and flattered 
himself that Puget Sound settlements were rid of them.  In this he was mistaken.  
His attack increased the hostile spirit of the savages.
	At this time the strength of the fighting warriors west of the Cascade 
mountains was estimated at 175, distributed as follows: The Nisquallies


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and Puyallups under Leschi and Quinmuth, 65; Green and White river Indians under 
Nelson and Kitsap, 35; Klickitats and their relations under Kanascut, 55; Upper 
Puyallups under O'Cuiltin, 20.
	Leschi of the Nisquallies had worked up a combination of these tribes to 
engage in a war against the white settlements in the Green and White river 
vallies.
	On October 14, 1855, acting governor Charles H. Mason issued a 
proclamation citing the fact that information had been received showing a state 
of hostility between the Yakima Indians and the United States government in the 
territory and calling for two companies of volunteers, each to consist of 1 
captain, 1 first lieutenant, 1 second lieutenant, 2 musicians, 4 sergeants, 4 
corporals, and 74 privates.  Vancouver and Olympia were designated as places of 
enrollment. The proclamation closed with: "All persons desirous of enrolling 
will, as far as practicable, provide their own arms and equipments.  The 
greatest possible expedition is requested as it is expedient for the companies 
to take the field at the earliest moment."
	The Olympia company adopted the name of the Puget Sound Mounted Volunteers 
and was officered as follows- Captain, Gilmore Hays; 1st lieutenant, Jared S. 
Hurd; 2nd lieutenant, William Martin; lst sergeant, Joseph Gibson.  2nd 
sergeant, H. D. Cock; 3rd Sergeant, Thos. Prather; 4th sergeant, Joseph White; 
1st corporal, Joseph S. Taylor; 2nd corporal, Whitfield Kirtly; 3rd corporal, D. 
T. Wheelock; 4th corporal, John Scott.
	Gov. Mason was expecting 1890 muskets, 100 accouterments, 30 cavalry 
sabers, 280,000 rifle caps, etc., by the steamer Willawantic.  The vessel was 
anxiously awaited, but when it arrived, to the great disappointment of every 
one, it brought no


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arms.  Surveyor general James A. Tilton then went to Seattle to visit the sloop 
of war Decatur and the revenue cutter Jeff Davis for the purpose of securing 
arms for the volunteers.  In this he was partially successful obtaining from the 
Decatur: 30 muskets, with bayonets, belts, etc.; 40 carbines, 50 holster 
pistols, 50 sabers with belts and 3500 ball cartridges.  From the revenue cutter 
he obtained, 6 musketoons and 6 sabers.  In all sufficient to arm 70 infantry 
and 50 light horse cavalry.
	After the organization of the volunteers Gov. Mason commissioned Chas. 
Eaton, a resident of the coast since 1843 and familiar with the Indians and 
their methods of fighting to organize a company of rangers, to consist of 30 
privates and 11 officers.  The order was instantly complied with and the company 
organized as follows: 1st lieutenant, James McAllister; 2nd lieutenant, James 
Tullis; 3rd lieutenant A. M. Poe; 1st sergeant, John Harold; 2nd sergeant Chas. 
E. Weed; 3rd sergeant William W. Miller; 4th sergeant, S. Phillips; 1st 
corporal, S. D. Rinehart; 2nd corporal, Thomas Bracken; 3rd corporal, S. 
Hodgden; 4th corporal, James Hughes.
	Both companies were presented with flags by the ladies of Olympia and left 
for the seat of war in the White river valley on October 20, 1855.  Much doubt 
existed as to the extent of the hostile feeling among the natives.  Capt. Bolen 
of the Willamantic said there more Indians at the lower Sound than he ever saw 
before.  It was known that the Yakimas were well united in a feeling of 
hostility, while the Klickitats were known to be divided.  It was considered by 
the troops and authorities very essential that the first battle be won, else the 
neutral Indians would join their hostile neighbors.
	A company was organized on Mound


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Prairie and the citizens there built a block house for protection.  A company 
was also formed at Chamber's Prairie.  The late Judge C. C. Hewitt was captain 
of a company organized at Seattle.
	On October 22, Gov. Mason issued a proclamation calling for four 
additional companies to be officered as were the two former.  Owing to the 
difficulties of communication, it was deemed prudent by the authorities to have 
a force in reserve to be called to action in case of emergency. By the 
proclamation the counties of Walla Walla, Skamania and Clarke were to furnish 
one company to enroll at Vancouver; the counties of Cowlitz, Wakiakum, Pacific 
and Chehalis one company to enroll at Cathlamet; Lewis, Thurston, Pierce and 
Sawamish, one company to enroll at Olympia and King, Island, Jefferson, Clalm 
and Whatcom one company, to enroll at Seattle.  These companies were expected to 
take the field only when necessity required it.
	Gov. Mason officially appointed James Tilton adjutant general of the 
volunteer forces of the territory during the war.  Charles Eaton of Thurston 
county was designated as captain of the Puget Sound Rangers.
	In obedience to the governors proclamation of the 22nd the counties of 
Lewis, Thurston, Pierce and Sawamish filled the roll of their company with 110 
men and on the 29th elected the following officers:- Captain Geo. B. Goudy; 1st 
lieutenant, W. B. Affleck; 2nd lieutenant, J. K. Hurd; 1st sergeant, Francis 
Lindler; 2nd, A. J. Baldwin; 3rd Sergeant, F. W. Sealy; 4th sergeant, James 
Roberts; 1st corporal, Joseph Walraven; 2nd corporal E. W. Austin; 3rd corporal, 
Hiel Barnes; 4th corporal, Joseph Deans.
	To protect the families located on claims, forts or stockades were erected 
in different parts of the territory.  In


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this county one was built on Chambers Prairie and one on Mound Prairie.
	The initial proceedings of the troops were to capture Leschi, the 
Nisqually chief who had been preparing his band for hostilities.  He was an 
Indian of more than ordinary wealth and power and was in possession of a 
considerable amount of farming land on the Nisqually bottoms between Packwood's 
ferry and the crossing of that stream at the Yelm.
	Business in the little settlement at Olympia was suspended and the claims 
in the country practically abandoned.  Men were either preparing to leave for 
the scenes of trouble or were employed in the different works of fortifying the 
town.
	On October 24th the Rangers left Olympia for the field and proceeded 
direct in quest of Leschi.  On arriving at his headquarters they found that he 
had fled to the White river valley.  The troops immediately started in pursuit.  
At Puyallup crossing the main body of the company halted and Captain Eaton, 
Lieutenant McAllister and a Mr. Cornell with a friendly Indian or two proceed to 
have a conference with the hostiles.  Lieut. McAllister acted as interpreter.  
The Indians professed friendship and promised to not engage in a war against the 
settlers.
	Upon returning to the command, the little company was fired upon from 
ambush and Lieutenant McAllister and Mr. Cornell killed.  One of the friendly 
Indians called Charley then rode to the McAllister claim told the family of Mr. 
McAllister's death and helped them to the fort on Chamber's Prairie.
	A few days later Cols. Joseph Miles and A. B. Moses were killed.
	When the news of Lieut. McAllister's death reached town it aroused the 
people to the horrors of the situation.


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	The number of fighting warriors was grossly exaggerated in the fears of 
the people,  This and the defenseless condition of the citizens aroused the 
populace to the highest excitement.  Straggling Indians were going through the 
county committing depredations upon the small herds.  Claims were abandoned and 
families took refuge in Olympia.  A town meeting was held at which Wm. Cock was 
chosen chairman and Elwood Evans secretary.  Adjutant General Tilton was 
present. The situation was thoroughly discussed and it was resolved to erect a 
stockade.  A committee consisting of Wm. Cock, Rev. J. F, Devore and R. M. 
Walker were appointed to confer with General Tilton and to proceed at once with 
the work of fortifying the town, and, if necessary to detain the brig Tarquina 
then lying in the harbor, as a refuge.
	On November 10th the bodies of Lieutenant McAllister and Cols. Miles and 
Moses were brought to Olympia for interment.  To add to the universal gloom that 
hung over the little community nature joined, and the bodies of these young men 
were borne to their graves on Chambers' Prairie under a heavy sky and during the 
falling of incessant rain.
	The committee appointed to devise means of fortifying the town erected a 
stockade along Fourth street from bay to bay with a block house at the corner of 
Main on which was placed a cannon.  In case of an attack the people were 
expected to seek safety north of the stockade or in the block house.
	But the war was short.  What fighting there was, was in the White and 
Puyallup valleys, in King and Pierce counties.  Matters were soon quieted down 
and in December the companies were discharged.
	On January 26, 1856, an attack was made on Seattle by the Indians and Gov. 
Stevens who had just returned


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from the east, issued a proclamation calling for six companies, two to enroll at 
Olympia.
	The first company to respond to the governor's call was organized on 
February 4th with the following officers. Captain, Gilmore Hays; 1st Lieutenant, 
A. B. Rabbeson; 2nd Lieutenant, Wm. Martin; orderly sergeant, Frank Ruth; 2nd 
sergeant, A. J. Moses, 3rd sergeant, D. Martin; 4th sergeant, M. Goodell; lst 
corporal, N. B. Coffey, 2nd corporal, J. L. Myers; 3rd corporal, F. Hughes; 4th 
corporal, H. Horton.
	A company of Mounted Rangers was organized February 6, and officered with 
B. L. Hennis as captain; G. C. Blankenship, 1st lieutenant, F. A. Goodwin, 2nd 
lieutenant; Joseph Cushman, lst sergeant; Wm. J. Yaeger, 2nd sergeant; Henry 
Laws, 3rd sergeant; James Phillips, 4th sergeant; Wm. E. Klady, 1st corporal; 
Thos. Hicks, 2nd corporal; S. A. Phillips 3rd corporal; H. A. Johnson, 4th 
corporal.
	On February 8 was organized the Pioneer or company of miners and sappers 
who entered the service in the capacity of axe-men, teamsters, packers, &c.  The 
functions of this organization were to cut roads, build block houses, guard 
stock and, as occasion required to take part in offensive and defensive 
demonstrations.  Its officers were: Captain, James A. White; 1st lieutenant, U. 
E. Hicks; 2nd lieutenant, T. McLain Chambers; 1st, sergeant, D. J. Hubbard; 2nd 
sergeant, C. White, 3rd sergeant, Marcus McMillan; 4th sergeant, H. G. Parsons; 
1st corporal, Isaac Lemons; 2nd corporal, Wm. Ruddell; 4th corporal Wm. Mengle.
	During the winter and spring of 1856 the citizens were in constant alarm.  
The seat of war was in the White and Puyallup valleys and news was eagerly 
sought.  James H. Goudy


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drove an express from Olympia to the camp, supplying soldiers with subsistence 
and this afforded the only means of communication.
	On March 1st Adjutant general Tilton issued a call for one hundred more 
men, to rendezvous at Olympia for service  under Major Hays and to strengthen 
the companies of Captains Henness, Rabbeson, White and Swindal.
	In April arose a demand for better protection of the town and it was 
determined to build a block house, sufficient to hold the entire population.  It 
was built of logs on the public square at the corner of Main and Sixth streets.
	More or less fighting was done as spring merged into summer.  The hope and 
enthusiasm of the settlers of the previous year was giving way to despondency.  
The town was slowly being depopulated, crops were not put in, improvements were 
suspended and the future was fraught with grave apprehensions.  The only ray of 
light that shot athwart the horizon was the growing indication that the savages 
themselves were tiring of the war.
	In June Gov. Stevens sent M. T. Simmons and Ed. C. Fitzhugh to treat with 
the Indians for peace.  Their efforts ended in failure.  But the Indians 
gradually abandoned their warlike attitude.  Encounters subsided and the 
soldiers returned to their homes.
	They were however subject to call until August, when they were formally 
mustered out of the service and on September 30 the horses, stores, &c. of the 
soldiers were sold at the post in Olympia.
	The chief Leschi and his brother Queimal were induced to give themselves 
up to the authorities under the promise of pardon.  Leschi surrendered to Col. 
Casey of the United States Army at Fort Steilacoom, but he was subsequently 
indicted for murder


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and after three trials sentenced to hang.  Queimal gave himself up to Gov. 
Stevens and while waiting in the ante room of the governor's office was murdered 
by unknown parties.
	Another Indian named Yelm Jim was indicted, tried and convicted of the 
murder of Sluggier, an Indian instrumental in the capture of Leschi.
	The case of Leschi was appealed to the Supreme court, where it was before 
the court seven days.  In a general review of the case Judge 0. B. McFadden 
affirmed the judgment of the district court and the villain was sentenced to be 
hanged on January 22, 1858 at Fort Steilacoom in Pierce county.
	As the time for carrying out the sentence of the court drew near, 
petitions for Leschi's pardon were presented to the governor.  Numerous 
remonstrances against a pardon were likewise filed.  The governor declined to 
interfere and nothing was expected but that the sentence of the court would be 
executed.  But January 22, 1858, passed by and Leschi did not hang.  Indignation 
meetings were held and a committee of citizens was appointed at Olympia to 
inquire into the failure of the officers to hang the murderer.  The report of 
this committee subjected the sheriff of Pierce county to severe censure and 
disclosed that the military authorities at the Fort had interfered to save the 
Indian's life.
	An extra session of the Supreme Court was held February 11, 1858, and 
Leschi resentenced to hang on February 19.  Judge Chynoweth delivered the 
opinion and ordered Sheriff Hays of Thurston county to carry out the order of 
the court.  Excitement was at a high pitch and trouble was feared.  In the 
absence of the sheriff, deputy Wm. L. Mitchell went with a posse of twelve men 
to Steilacoom where the sentence was carried


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out and the once powerful chief of the Nisquallies paid the penalty of his 
crimes.
	The case of Yelm Jim charged with the murder of Wm. White in March 1856 
was on the court calendar for several terms and came to a trial in April 1859 
when the accused was found guilty and was subsequently sentenced to hang on May 
4, 1860.  A strong public opinion set in favor of the murderer and numerous 
petitions for his pardon were circulated.  In March, 1860, two Indians named 
Wash and Watumpa came to Olympia and confessed to being the murderers of Wm. 
White and asked clemency for Yelm Jim.  It was argued that the war was over; 
that the Indians had abandoned the war path and that a little of "forgive and 
forget" spirit might avert further troubles.  On May 3rd, Gov. Gholson granted a 
reprieve to August 10th.  On that day the convict was granted an unqualified 
pardon.
	During the year 1856 little else than the Indian War attracted the 
attention of the residents of Thurston county and the remaining history of that 
year is soon written.  Back in the states a presidential campaign was on and 
politics was not entirely lost sight of at Olympia.
	The election of county officers was held July 14, and three full tickets 
were in the field: Democratic, Whig, and Free Soil, the following being the 
candidates for the several offices-

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Councilman: J. W. Wiley.
	For Representatives: B. L. Henness, C. B. Baker, J. Longmyer, Daniel 
Kizer, G. C. Blankenship, Wm. Rutledge, Jr.
	County Commissioners: A. J. Chambers, J. Cornell.
	Prosecuting Attorney: Victor Monroe.
	Sheriff: Samuel Coulter.
	Treasurer: G. K. Willard.


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	Auditor: Wm. Wright.
	Assessor: T. W. Glascow.
	Coroner: H. D. Morgan.

WHIG.
	For Councilman: B. F. Yantis.
	For Representatives: J. W. McAllister, Wm. McLain, A. O'Neil, Elwood 
Evans, E. W. Sargent, J. Dunlap.
	County Commissioners: C. Crosby, W. S. Parsons.
	Prosecuting Attorney: J. Anderson.
	Sheriff: Isaac Hays.
	Treasurer: E. Marsh.
	Assessor: D. T. Wheelock.

FREE SOIL.
	For Councilman- B. F. Brown.
	For Representatives: Ira Ward, J. M. Lum, W. Patterson, J. M. Swan, Wm. 
Billings, W. N. Ayers.
	County Commissioner: J. Shaw.
	Sheriff: Wm. Lyle.
	Treasurer: J. Allen.
	Auditor: D. C. Beatty.
	Assessor: G. W. French.

	The election resulted in the choice of the entire Democratic ticket except 
the candidate for sheriff.  For this office Isaac Hays, the Whig candidate was 
chosen,
	School was taught during the summer in Masonic Hall, a Miss Babb being the 
teacher,
	A private school, under the name of Puget Sound Institute, was established 
by Rev. J. F. Dillon and wife.  Mr. Dillon was pastor of the M. E. church.
	On September 6, the commissioners elected the preceding July, met and 
organized with the choice of A. J. Chambers, presiding judge.  Only routine 
business was transacted.  Edward Giddings, who had constructed the Wharf at the 
foot of Main street was allowed to make the following wharfage charges: vessels 
of 500 tons and over, $5 per day; vessels under 250 tons, $2.50 per day; teams 
crossing over the wharf, ten cents; goods landed on the wharf, fifty cents per 
ton.


p35 c1

In September 1856 T. W. Glascow of Tenalquot Plains brought the first threshing 
machine to the county.  Joseph Shaw opened a cabinet and chair shop.
	As the year drew to a close the settlers gradually recovered from the 
disorder into which they were thrown by the alarm of the war whoop.  Families 
that did not flee the country returned to their usual vocations and with renewed 
life and energy went to work to build up homes,
	In the fall J. M. Swan platted his donation claim adjoining the Sylvester 
tract on the east side of the bay.

1857.
	In January 1857 the legislature incorporated the Northern Pacific 
railroad, the incorporators being residents of Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, 
Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Maine.  The following were the Washington members 
of the corporation: I. I. Stevens, C. H. Mason, Ed. Lander, Geo. Gibbs, B. F. 
Kendall, Wm. Cock, R. M. Walker, W. W. Miller, W. H. Wallace, Lafayette Balch, 
M. T. Simmons, Elwood Evans, A. A. Denny, David Phillips, Alex. Abernethy, J. P. 
Keller, James Tilton, E. H. Fowler, S. D. Howe, Ed. C. Fitzhugh, Walter Crocket, 
Sr., L. H. Davis, C. C. Pagett, John R. Jackson, Seth Catlin, Wm. Strong, 
William Dillon, Sumner Barker, Wm. Kelly, Ira Patterson, H. D. Huntington, N. 
Ostrander and B. B. Bishop.  By the charter the line of road was to commence at 
one of the passes in the Rocky mountains between the territories of Washington 
and Nebraska and connecting with such road passing through the territories of 
Minnesota and Nebraska as the company may elect; thence extending westwardly 
through the territory of Washington by the Bitter Root valley, crossing the 
Coeur d'Aline mountains by the most practical route; thence across


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the great plain of the Columbia, with two branches, one down the Columbia to 
Vancouver the other over the Cascades to the Sound, with a connection from the 
river to the Sound."
	The legislature of this year passed "an act appointing a board of 
commissioners and giving them authority to build a bridge across the western arm 
of Budd's Inlet at Olympia."  The commissioners designated were: Wm. Cock, Edwin 
Marsh, W. W. Miller, Wm. McLain, J. K. Hurd, Jos. Cushman, S. W. Percival and 
Elwood Evans.  The commission met February 2, 1857 and organized by the election 
of Edwin Marsh president, S. W. Percival secretary and W. W. Miller, treasurer.  
Joseph Cushman, Benj. Harned and J. K. Hurd were appointed a committee to draft 
plans for the proposed bridge and to make an estimate on the cost of 
construction.  At a subsequent meeting the committee reported in favor of a 
bridge 1803 feet long; to contain two wenches for draws, 30 feet wide, two 
openings 35 feet wide for rafts and the estimated cost of the structure to be 
$3000.  Messrs. Morrow of Suwamish county, McLain, Cock, Miller and Hale of 
Thurston were authorized to open books for subscriptions of labor, material, 
cash, &C.
	Attention this year was turned to manufacturing and in various ways to 
developing the industrial resources of the county.
	Andrew J. Miller had in operation an extensive saw mill near Priest's 
point on the Eastside and this year Wills & Ethridge attached a sash and door 
factory.  A wharf 350 feet long and 34 feet wide was built for the convenience 
of vessels in loading.  Getting out ship spars was a lucrative business.
	Several store buildings were erected in the town.
	Ward and Hays who had erected a


p36 c1:

flouring mill at Tumwater during 1856 made several shipments.
	In August A. G. Da Lee of San Francisco opened a picture gallery.
	B. F. Harned built his residence near the public square.
	In November a brass band was organized.  There were nine members and 
instruction was received from Joseph Wright of Vancouver.
	A temperance organization was effected.
	So thoroughly had the Indian War depopulated the country surrounding 
Olympia that at the March term of the commissioners the election precincts of 
Coal Bank, Rabbeson's Prairie, Nesqually Prairie and Miami were abandoned and 
the territory attached to the adjoining precincts.
	The rate of taxation this year was fixed at 3 mills for county purposes, 1 
mill for court purposes, 1 mill for territorial purposes and 2 mills for school 
purposes.  In a report made by the auditor dated June 26, the amount of tax 
levied for 1856 was given at $3528.55; the amount collected, $3422.63, leaving a 
delinquency of only $105.92 being less than for any previous year. The current 
expenses for the year were $1854.94, appropriated as follows: County 
commissioners, $170.80; clerks and judges of election, $167.10: assessor, $156; 
Coroner, $37.50; Constable $88.95; Sheriff, $166.65; superintendent of schools, 
$100; probate judge $51; prosecuting attorney, $104; county treasurer, $51.83; 
auditor, $138.72; petit jurors, $36.30; office rent, $120; books and stationery, 
$45.09; support of the poor, $421.  The receipts for the year exceeded 
expenditures by $1028.48.  In closing the report Auditor Wright said: "It must 
be gratifying to all who feet an interest in the affairs of the county to learn 
from the above facts and figures that the county is steadily approaching a 
condition, financially, greatly to be desired, namely, freedom


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from debt."
	On July 13. occurred the annual election.  The opposition that existed 
against the Democrats the year before had united under the name of Republican, 
dubbed by the Democrats "Black Republican."  The following tickets were in the 
field,  the entire Democratic ticket being elected except the candidates for 
school superintendent, prosecuting attorney and coroner.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Representatives: W. W. Miller, Stephen Guthrie, B. F. Shaw, C. B. 
Baker, Thos. W. Glascow.
	For Joint Representative: Wm. Morrow.
	For Probate Judge- G. K. Willard.
	For Assessor: J. R. Smith.
	For County Commissioner: James Biles.
	For School Superintendent: Albert Eggers.
	For Prosecuting, Attorney: Q. A. Brooks, C. W. Swindal. (Ind.)

REPUBLICAN.
	For Representatives: Elwood Evans, Wm. McLain, Ira Ward, Jr., A. H. 
Stewart, S. H. French.
	For Joint Representative. D. J. Burntrager.
	For Probate Judge: D. R. Bigelow.
	For Assessor: Samuel Dunlap.
	For County Commissioner: J. M. Shotwell.
	For School Superintendent: G. F. Whitworth.
	For Prosecuting Attorney: C. C Hewitt.
	Coroner. C. H. Hale.

	Gov. Stevens was elected delegate to Congress as the Democratic candidate 
and on August 11, resigned the office of governor.  His duties again devolved 
upon Secretary Mason.  In September his successor Fayette McMullen arrived and 
was received with a salute of cannon.
	This year the mail contract from


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San Francisco to Olympia via Port Townsend was awarded to the Pacific Mail 
Steamship Company.
	October 15th the Steamer Fairy, owned by A. B. Rabbeson of Olympia and 
plying between Olympia and Steilacoom was blown up just as it was leaving the 
dock at Steilacoom.

1858.
	The year 1857 closed with the people fairly recovered from the 
devastations of the Indian War.  But a new form of excitement was in store for 
the small settlements throughout the county.  There had been since the first 
settlement an abiding sentiment in the minds of  the people that gold lined the 
hills of Western Washington.  In May 1857 a party of four men started out with a 
pack horse to explore the Black Hills in the western part of the county.  They 
were gone about ten days and reported that favorable indications existed for 
future successful mining.  A new party was fitted out secretly to renew the 
explorations.
	Laboring under the Hallucination that gold existed everywhere, Ira Ward, 
Jacob Croll et al ascended the Deschutes about sixty miles and returned with the 
report that the prospects for gold were as good as in California, but in strange 
contradiction to this report they brought back no mineral, neither were they 
successful in finding any- only "indications."
	The discovery of gold in the Frazier river valley in British Columbia, 
afforded a genuine mining excitement.  Miners and adventurers in California 
flocked thither.  Settlers in Oregon and Washington abandoned their claims to 
take part in the feverish search.  Olympia, being the only town of importance 
north of the Columbia and the first on tide water, was the headquarters for 
miners and miners supplies.
	At the election in July a very light


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vote was polled, on account of the men being at the mines.  In the fall the 
excitement subsided and the prospectors returned.
	In 1858, Wells Fargo & Co., established an express office at Olympia with 
T. M. Reed as agent.
	The annual election this year was less exciting than the few previous 
ones, but resulted in the election of the entire Democratic ticket. The 
following tickets were at the polls:

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Councilman: W. W. Miller.
	For Representatives: E. Sylvester, B. L. Henness, Wm. Rutledge, Sr.,  John 
M. Hawk, James Longmire, Oliver Shead.
	Pros. Attorney: B. P. Anderson.
	County Commissioner: Joseph Cornell.
	Treasurer. G. K. Willard.
	Auditor: Richard Lane.
	Sheriff: G. C. Blankenship.
	Assessor: Wm. Martin.
	Coroner: A. J. Baldwin.

REPUBLICAN.
	For Councilman: C. H. Hale.
	For Representatives: Wm. McLain, J. M. Lum, A. W. Moore, R. J. Smith, A. 
J. Simmons, A. W. Stewart.
	Pros. Attorney: D. R. Bigelow.
	County Commissioner: John M. Swan.
	Treasurer. Geo. A. Barnes.
	Auditor: W. N. Ayers.
	Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	Assessor: W. 0. Thompson.

	Notwithstanding the mining excitement this year the usual amount of 
attention was devoted to the subject of a Northern Pacific railroad.  A railroad 
meeting was held in Masonic Hall September 29 and Congress urged to grant lands 
to the Northern Pacific railway.  Elwood Evans was chairman of the meeting and 
R. M. Walker secretary.
	On September 4th a dead body was found floating near Priest's point on


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which was $520.  A coroner's jury found it to be that of Edward Connor, who, was 
drowned while fording a stream that enters the Sound near that point, at a time 
when it was swollen by heavy rains.
	Interest in fruitgrowing had attracted the attention of the settlers and 
two nurseries were established at Grand Mound, one by L. D. Durgin, the other by 
Gangloff & Moxlie.
	This fall witnessed a great improvement in the mail service of the Sound.  
A postal agent visited Olympia and arranged for the mail steamer Constitution 
leaving on Monday instead of Friday.  Connections were made at San Francisco by 
which the overland mail from St. Louis reached Olympia in twenty four days and 
the event was heralded as a great achievement.  In November the service from 
Olympia to Oakland on Skookum Bay was extended to Hood's canal.
	The Puget Sound Wesleyan Institute did not open in the fall of this year 
but closed in June until further notice.
	Wm. Martin who was elected assessor failed to qualify and Whitfield 
Kirtley was appointed to fill the vacancy.

1859.
	The year 1859 opened with the sun of prosperity beaming upon the beautiful 
village at the head of the Sound and the numerous settlers on the prairies 
around.  The inhabitants had recovered from their fright of three years before 
and taken hold of improvements with the vigor of '52.
	In May the commissioners called a special election to vote a tax of 4 
mills to build a new court house.  This, it was estimated would produce a 
revenue of about $5000, of which $2500 was to be used to pay existing 
indebtedness and $2500 to build a court house.
	The proposition was voted down by fully 4 to 1.


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	Politically the atmosphere surrounding the campaign was as warm as before 
the gold excitement of '58.  Two tickets were nominated, the Democratic and 
Republican as follows:-

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Councilman: James Biles.
	For Representatives: B. L. Henness. G. K. Willard, Oliver Shead. A. S. 
Yantis, Chas. E. Weed, Levi Shelton.
	County Commissioner: A. J. Chambers.
	Assessor: John Chambers.

REPUBLICAN.
	For Councilman: Stephen Guthrie.
	For Representatives: Elwood Evans, T. M. Reed, Wm. McLain, Abram Tilley, 
T. F. Berry, A. W. Sargent.

	The election resulted in the choice of the entire Democratic ticket.
	During the summer, July 28, occurred the death of Secretary C. H. Mason, 
which plunged the entire territory, particularly the capital, into great grief. 
He was a young man, only 29 years of age at the time of his death, and his 
conduct during the Indian troubles and his courteous and manly bearing had 
endeared him to the people of Olympia.
	On July 30, J. M. Swan held an auction of town lots in his addition on the 
east side of the bay.
	The year 1859 was one of general prosperity for the county.  Good crops 
prevailed in the country and permanent improvements were inaugurated in the 
village.
	A brick yard was opened on the east side on Fourth street in Swan's 
addition. A good sidewalk was laid up Main street to the capitol.
	The tide of immigration that had been suspended for four years again 
turned toward Thurston county and enthused the people with the life and vigor of 
ante bellum days.
	In October General Scott of Mexican War fame visited Olympia on his 
mission in connection with the San


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Juan question.  The Hudson's Bay Company had occupied the Island and insisted 
that it was on the British side of the line.
	The agitation of Northern Pacific railway continued spasmodically during 
the year.
	The year 1859 closed with a new character of excitement, which although 
brief was none the less intense.  The legislature assembled on the first 
Wednesday in December and on the 6th of the month, Mr. Short of Clarke county 
introduced a bill to remove the territorial capital from Olympia to Vancouver.  
There was little likelihood of the bill passing as the people supposed, and 
those not regularly members of the lobby or third house paid little attention to 
the volcano that was smouldering under them.  On the 14th the bill passed the 
house by a vote of 19 to 9.  The people were alarmed and every effort was made 
to defeat the bill in the council which was accomplished on the 30th by a vote 
of 5 to 4.  A narrow escape!  A. A. Denny, who favored Olympia when the question 
was first raised four years before, voted for Vancouver.
	In the early part of the winter of '59-'60, the town was invested with 
that class of nomads, latterly called tramps, or hobos.  Several fires occurred.  
The old blockhouse at the corner of Main and Fourth streets was burned.  On 
December 24th a meeting was held at the school house to discuss the project of 
organizing a hook and ladder company.  As an outgrowth of the agitation of the 
question, then instituted, was formed the Alert Hook & Ladder Company.  It was 
organized with the following officers: Foreman, C. E. Williams; 1st assistant 
foreman, John L. Head; 2nd assistant foreman, H. D. Morgan; president, T. M. 
Reed; Secretary, A. J. Moses; treasurer, W. G. Dunlap.  An attempt to buy a fire


p39 c2

engine failed.
	During a session of the legislature this winter the Puget Sound University 
was chartered.  The trustees organized by the election of D. R. Bigelow., 
chancellor and G. A. Barnes, vice- president.  Rev. B. C. Lippencott, was 
elected president and general agent.  This institution was located on a point of 
land opposited the house of L. Offut.
	In the spring of 1859 five sharks were caught at Teekalet on Hood's Canal.  
In the stomach of one was found a human hand in a perfect state of preservation.
	The town of Olympia was incorporated January 29, 1859.  By the act of 
incorporation the annual town election was to be held on the first Monday in 
April.  The same act designated Geo. A. Barnes, T. F. McElroy, James Tilton, 
Joseph Cushman and Elwood Evans as trustees until the election in April.  Joseph 
Cushman was elected president of the board.  At the April election U. G. 
Warbass, Geo. A. Barnes Edwin Marsh, W. G. Dunlap and Isaac Lightner were chosen 
trustees; Geo. A. Barnes was elected president of the board and Richard Lane 
clerk.  Dr. Warbass declined to serve and Elwood Evans was appointed.  The 
principal work of the board this year was constructing cisterns and laying 
sidewalks.
	The removal of the blockhouse on Sixth street was proposed but 
remonstrated against and it was fitted up for a jail.
	Contract to build cisterns at the corners of Second, Third and Fourth 
streets with Main street was awarded to Thomas Seeley for $155.

1860.
	The year of 1860 brought to the business interests of Thurston county a 
period of hard times.  An exciting presidential campaign, in the east, coupled 
with a reaction from the boom feeling of the previous year produced


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a cessation of the stimulus that had urged forward the growth of the county 
since the close of the Indian troubles.  The people began to agitate the capitol 
removal.  The year before the scheme to remove it to Vancouver failed by a very 
narrow margin, and the question was entering the legislative campaign in each 
county.
	The year witnessed enormous assessments, the basis taken being too nearly 
the boom valuations of the year before.  The rate of taxation was 3 mills for 
county purposes, 2 mills for schools, 1 mill for court purposes and 1/4 mill for 
territorial purposes.
	In May the building of Wm. Wright on the corner of Main and Fourth streets 
was rented for the offices of sheriff and clerk of the district court.
	William Wright resigned the office of county treasurer and T. F. McElroy 
was appointed to fill the vacancy.
	The county superintendent was appointed agent to locate school lands in 
lieu of those taken by settlers; also to locate a quarter section for the 
benefit of the county seat.
	This summer the town had four churches: Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian 
and Episcopal.
	At the election this summer the two tickets in the field were the 
Democratic and Republican as follows:

DEMOCRATIC.
	For representatives: D. L. Phillips, B. F. Ruth, B. L. Henness, U. G 
Warbass, M. Z. Goodell, G. T. Grow.
	For sheriff: John Aikin.
	For school superintendent: R. M. Walker.
	For auditor: Richard Lane.
	For treasurer: Wm. Wright.
	For county commissioner: S. S. Ford Sr.
	For probate judge: R M. Walker.
	For assessor: A. W. Sargent.

REPUBLICAN.
	For representatives: S. D. Ruddell, Gilmore Hays, C. H. Hale, F. W. Brown,

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T. P. Berry, Henry Kendall.
	For sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For school superintendent: Elwood Evans.
	For auditor: W. G. Dunlap.
	For treasurer: Geo. A. Barnes.
	For county commissioner. Abram Tilley.
	For probate judge: D. R. Bigelow.
	For assessor. A. B. Powers.
	The agitation of the slavery question in the states had its influence in 
this far off northwestern territory and although the Democrats had control of 
the press of Thurston county the Republicans, so to speak, got in their work, 
which, like an entering wedge in later years split their opponents in twain.
	Of the above tickets the Democratic was elected with the exception of 
Goodell and Grow for representatives and John Aikin for sheriff.  Instead of the 
former, Gilmore Hayes and C. H. Hale were elected to the legislature and William 
Billings secured his first election as sheriff.
	The legislature of 1860 took steps towards the erection of a capitol and 
appointed a commission for that purpose.  August 24th, had been set by the 
commission for the opening of bids but prior to that date one of the 
commissioners, Geo. Gallagher, was removed from the commission by the governor 
and R. M. Walker appointed.  Gallagher instituted injunction proceedings to 
restrain Walker from acting but his application was denied by Judge 0. B. 
McFadden.  No satisfactory bid was received for the construction of the capitol 
and the matter was passed by.
	The federal census taken in the summer of 1860 showed a population for 
Thurston county of 1489, being 967 males and 522 females; of the males 621 were 
over twenty-one years of age. The population included 145 of foreign birth.  The 
value of real estate in the


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county was $942,990; of personal property; $586,710.
	In the fall of this year a daily mail contract from Olympia to Monticello 
was awarded to H. Winsor.
	In November the Pioneer and Democrat that had been doing noble work for 
Thurston county and Democracy for six years was sold by Messrs. Wiley & Furste 
to James Lodge.
	About the same time John Miller Murphy, encouraged by hopeful Republicans 
came over from Portland and established the Washington Standard and at once 
began battling for Olympia, Thurston county and Washington Territory.  
Politically it was Republican and was a firm supporter of Lincoln's 
administration during the civil war.  Its day of publication was Friday and it 
is now Mr. Murphy's boast that during the ups and downs of his newspaper 
experiences at Olympia, the Standard has never missed an issue; has never 
failed, during the lapse of thirty-four years, to supply the good families of 
Thurston county with their regular Sunday reading.
	Notwithstanding the general feeling of hard times during the year 1860, 
the people went forward with improvements.  Streets were opened by the removal 
of stumps and in a limited and unsystematic way more or less grading was done.  
A foot bridge to Swantown was constructed.  The trustees elected at the spring 
election were: Geo. A. Barnes, Elwood Evans, W. G. Dunlap, Isaac Lightner and 
Edwin Marsh.  Mr. Evans was chosen president. Wm. Billings was chosen marshal 
and D. R. Bigelow, police magistrate.

1861.
	The year 1861 was one of particular interest to Thurston county, as it was 
to the United States. The war cloud hovering in the east cast its mighty shadow 
over Puget Sound.  But aside


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from this, Olympia bad two contests on hand to maintain her supremacy.
	Oregon, the mother territory, particularly Portland had not entirely 
abandoned the idea of securing the capital of Washington at Vancouver and when 
the legislature of 1860-61 convened, early in December, a bill was introduced 
with that purpose in view.  The bill passed both houses and received the 
executive approval.  How thoroughly Portland had done the work will be seen from 
the fact that the same legislature removed the penitentiary from Vancouver to 
Port Townsend and located the state university at Seattle.
	Soon after the legislature adjourned it was discovered that the bill 
changing the capital to Vancouver had inadvertently no enacting clause and, as 
enrolled, bore no date.  In December 1861 the Supreme Court met at Olympia and 
in one case a plea to the jurisdiction of the court was entered, on the ground 
that the seat of government had been removed to Vancouver.  This brought 
squarely before the court the sufficiency of the act of removal.  The plea was 
overruled, thereby establishing the position that the capital still remained at 
Olympia.
	The legislature this winter cut off the south part of Thurston county and 
attached the territory to Lewis county.
	In July the question of capital location was submitted to the voters of 
the territory.  The whole number of votes cast was 2315.  Olympia received 1239, 
Vancouver 639, Steilacoom 253. The balance were given to Port Townsend, Walla 
Walla, and Seattle.
	During the spring of 1861 the permanent location of the county seat was 
agitated and at the May term of the county commissioners the citizens of 
Tumwater addressed the following communication to the board:
	"We, the undersigned agree to pay


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the material and land set opposite our names for the benefit of Thurston county, 
W. T., provided the county buildings are located at Tumwater at the next annual 
election, to-wit:  Smith Hays, 39 M feet of lumber; Ira Ward, 30 M shingles; C. 
Crosby, 4 blocks of land 240 feet square; Nelson Barnes, 5 M feet of cedar 
lumber; Dudley Barnes, 5 M feet of cedar lumber; John Scott $25 to be paid in 
lumber: E. Eastman $50 to be paid in blacksmithing; Biles & Carter $50 to be 
paid in lumber."  C. Crosby and wife filed with the county commissioners a bond 
in the sum of $4000 conditioned for the delivery of a deed in case Tumwater was 
selected.
	At the same session of the board, Elwood Evans, president of the board of 
trustees of Olympia, addressed a communication to the county board offering to 
donate the public square to the county on condition that the county buildings 
should be located at Olympia.  This proposition had been voted upon by the town 
at the annual meeting in April and carried.
	The board ordered the propositions of Olympia and Tumwater submitted at 
the annual election in July.  The result of the election was: Olympia, .344: 
Tumwater, 104; West Olympia, 4.
	When the board met in November, the deed to the public square not having 
been made by the town of Olympia, the county commissioners did not officially 
declare the county seat established but adjourned subject to call.  A proper 
conveyance having been presented to the auditor, that officer called a special 
session of the board for December 7, at which time Olympia was declared the 
county seat and the auditor was authorized to advertise for 200,000 brick and 
propositions to lay the same for the purpose of building a jail.
	The attaching of a portion of the county to Lewis county removed one


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of the county commissioners, James Biles, whereupon the governor appointed C. B. 
Baker of Mound Prairie to fill the vacancy.  Mr. Baker had not signified his 
acceptance when the May term convened, and a full board being deemed necessary, 
Mr. Biles, although technically a resident of Lewis county, acted as chairman of 
the board.  The rate of taxation was fixed at 3 mills for county purposes 2 
mills for schools, 1 mill for court and 1 mill for territorial purposes.
	The legislature of 1861 had extended the terms of county officers to two 
years, so that only members of the legislature and county commissioners were to 
be elected this year.  Only two tickets were in the field:

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Representatives: B. F. Ruth, T. M. Reed, A. S. Yantis, Oliver Shead 
and Wm. Cock.

REPUBLICAN.
	For Representatives: Wm. McLain, C. Ward, H. Kandle and D. Kiser.
	For County Commissioners: G. W. French and G. W. Miller.

	The election resulted in the choice of Ruth, Yantis, Cock and McLain for 
representatives.  French and Miller were elected county commissioners.
	During the summer of 1861 the Overland Press was established at Olympia by 
A. M. Poe.
	The legislature of 1861 created a school district of Olympia.  It was 
proposed to have Rev. B. C. Lippencott carry on the public school in connection 
with his Puget Sound Institute but the citizens petitioned against it.  The 
matter was harmonized by him changing the character of his advertisement and he 
taught the public school at a salary of $200.
	At the spring election E. Evans, T. M. Reed, B. Harned, A. Frankee and S. 
W. Percival were elected trustees and Mr. Evans re-elected president of the 
board.  R. Lane was chosen clerk,


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Wm. Billings, marshal, and W. G. Dunlap, committing magistrate, The proposition 
to donate the public square to the county for a court house was carried by a 
vote of 99 to 1.
	The town board, ex officio the school board, elected Mrs. Lizzie B. Smith 
for teacher and Messrs. Reed, Percival and Frankee were appointed a committee to 
wait upon her and inform her of the election.
	This summer the federal troops were withdrawn from Steilacoom and the 
people were more or less alarmed over another Indian War.  The spring of 1861 
opened with considerable apprehension for the future of Olympia as a town but 
with bright prospects for the country.  Immigration was turning hitherward and 
the labors of the farmer had been blessed with a fair harvest.  The year closed 
with firmer convictions for a prosperous future.  The territory had witnessed a 
fair growth and of this Thurston county had its share.  By a report published at 
the end of 1861 there were 53 post offices in the territory and 9 of them were 
in Thurston county.

1862.
	The subject of building a court house was agitated early in the winter of 
1862. As the question of site was an important one, serious defects in the title 
to the block donated by the town were discovered.  The block was donated 
originally, in 1850, by Edmund Sylvester as a public park and was to be used 
only as such.  No power reposed in the town to use if for any other purpose, but 
in 1861 when Tumwater was bidding for the county seat the board of trustees 
offered the public square as a counter proposition and soon after the deed was 
made, its nullity was discovered.  At the February session of the commissioners 
there was considered the proposition to purchase the Wesleyan Institute property 
on the corner of


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Union and Washington streets.  But the title was found to be imperfect and there 
being no funds with which to purchase the ground, the matter was laid over until 
the May term.  Title then passed and a county warrant far $1,000 was drawn.  The 
contract for fitting up the building for court house purposes was let to 
Benjamin Harned.
	More or less trouble had grown up through selling liquor to Indians, when 
they visited the town, and on February 2nd, Superintendent of Indian affairs, B. 
F. Kendall, gave notice to the town trustees that unless the practice ceased he 
would remove every Indian from the village.  This order if carried out would 
have removed many efficient servants and been a hardship to most families.
	This year F. M. Sargent resigned the office of county treasurer and S. W, 
Percival was appointed to fill the vacancy.
	In the spring of 1862 the town of Olympia was stirred to an exciting pitch 
by a course of lectures delivered by C. H. DeWolf and wife on the subject of 
sexual equality and a sensation was created by Mrs. DeWolf riding through the 
streets astride a horse and clothed in nearly man's attire.
	In 1862 occurred the election of a full county ticket.  Party conventions 
were held early and the following tickets placed in nomination:

DEMOCRATIC.
	Joint Councilman. (Lewis and Chehalis) 0. B. McFadden.
	Representatives: James Longmire, C. P. Judson, C. Etheridge, William Cock.
	Sheriff: Chas. Granger (Ind.), J. L, Head.
	Auditor: R. Lane, W. Kappus (Id).
	Treasurer: R. Willard.
	County Surveyor: J. S. Hurd.
	County Commissioner: J. M. Hawk.

REPUBLICAN.
	Joint Councilman: (Lewis and Chehalis)


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D. R. Bigelow.
	Representatives: Wm. McLain, T. Hunt, H. Kandle.
	Sheriff: R. W. Moxlie.
	Auditor: A. W. Moore.
	Treasurer: S. W. Percival.
	County Surveyor: Edwin Marsh.
	Pros. Attorney: B. F. Dennison.
	County Commissioner: S. D. Ruddell.

	The election resulted in the choice of McFadden for councilman: McLain, 
Hunt, Kandle and Longmire for representatives; Moxlie for sheriff: Moore for 
auditor; Percival for treasurer; Marsh for surveyor; Dennison for attorney and 
Ruddell for commissioner.
	The subject of railroad connection with the Columbia river was agitated 
this year and a meeting called at Steilacoom but like so many previous railroad 
agitations it ended only in talk.
	On October 18, the communities in Thurston county were shocked to learn of 
the death of Ex-Governor I. I. Stevens, who was killed at no battle of 
Chantilly, September 1.  A public meeting was called and suitable memorial 
exercises held.
	During the year an organized effort was made to raise funds by 
contributions to aid the federal soldiers.  The total amount raised in the 
county up to October was $2,210.08.
	The year 1862 drew to a close amid the gloom of a double tragedy.  B. F. 
Kendall had become the publisher of the Overland Press.  Early in December he 
had charged, in his paper, that one Horace Howe had burned the buildings of the 
Puget Sound Agricultural Company in Lewis county.  On the 20th Howe saw Kendall 
on the street near the Pacific house, at the corner of Main and Third streets 
and, during an excited controversy, hit Kendall with a switch he had in his 
hand.  Kendall ran, Howe after him.  Kendall had run but a short distance


p44 c2

when he pulled a pistol, wheeled and fired four shots at his assailant, one of 
them entering Howe's left side.  From the first it was thought that the wound 
was fatal but Howe finally recovered.  Kendall's version of the encounter, as 
published in his own paper, exasperated Howe's friends and on January 8, 1863, 
Howe's son entered Kendall's office and asked to see him privately.  The two 
entered a side room when shortly a pistol shot was heard.  Howe came out, saying 
"I shot him in self defense."  Kendall died.  Young Howe was arrested and bound 
over to the district court.  Bail was furnished and he set at liberty.  He left 
Olympia and before the convening of the district court, a report was put in 
circulation, backed by a shadow of evidence, that he was dead and the case 
against him was dismissed.  Kendall was a man of a combative disposition and 
although of marked ability was very vindictive.  There was a suspicion among the 
residents at the time that his murder was the carrying out of a plot laid by his 
enemies among a certain faction of politicians.  The pistol young Howe used was 
recognized as belonging to a prominent official in the land office.
	The town trustees were: G. A. Barnes, Jos. Cushman, James Tilton, C. E. 
Williams and W. G. Dunlap.  Mr. Barnes was chosen president, R. Lane, clerk, H. 
M. McGill, magistrate and W. B. Gosnell, marshall.  In June Mr. Dunlap died and 
David Phillips was elected in his place.
	In October the teacher employed was paid $1000 per annum as follows: $90 
per quarter out of the school fund and a pro rate charge per scholar sufficient 
to raise $160 per quarter- a total of $250 per quarter.
	The history of Thurston county for the next few years is soon written.  
The terrible history that was being made at the federal capital and on


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battle fields held the attention of the ,straggling settlements in this far off 
region.
	The attention of the county commissioners was given to providing roads. 
Agriculture was engaged in a limited way.  The principal industry of the county 
during these years, as for the preceding ten years, was logging.  The getting 
out of ship timbers for the San Francisco Market was lucrative.
	Social equality exists nowhere but it is as nearly equal among pioneers as 
anywhere.  It is not necessary to recount how a hunter shared a carcass of 
venison with his neighbors or how all classes mingle at the church social or the 
giddy dance.
	Another social gathering at which the pioneers experienced unlimited 
enjoyment was the clam bake and although that occasion lost its old time 
frequency, it is still the common gathering of the common people, at which 
wealth and station are laid aside.
	It is not necessary to add that during these times politics were hot.  A 
community composed largely of federal office holders had no dearth of political 
excitement.
	In 1863 the tickets in the field were the Union and Democratic.  It being 
an off year only representatives, a county commissioner and a probate judge were 
elected.  The nominees were:

UNION.
	For Representatives: C. Crosby, H. M. McGill, Wm. McLain.
	For County Commissioner: Joseph Gibson.
	For Probate Judge: F. M. Sargent.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Representatives: B. F. Ruth, R. Willard, C. P. Judson.
	For Probate Judge: R. M. Walker.
	
	The entire Union ticket was elected.
	In May, A. W. Moore was appointed


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to locate schools lands in lieu of those taken by donation claimants.
	At the town election this year Joseph Cushman, C. E. Williams, B. Harned, 
Samuel Holmes and Wm. Mitchell were elected trustees.  Mr. Cushman was chosen 
president, R. Lane clerk, F. M. Sargent, magistrate, and John Shealy, town 
marshal.  In October, Mr. Shealy was requested to resign owing to an 
unsatisfactory condition of his accounts, and W. J. Yaeger appointed in his 
place.
	This year J. P. Judson was elected teacher, and was authorized to collect 
from the scholars a sum sufficient to make his salary $80 per month; also enough 
for an assistant to make her salary $120 per quarter, in addition to the $50 
allowed by law.
	The committee on schools, of the town board, examined teachers and issued 
certificates.
	The year 1864 in the Puget Sound country was one of remarkable quiet so 
far as making history was concerned.
	A tri weekly mail contract direct to Portland was awarded to H. Winsor of 
Olympia.
	A woolen factory and a road across the mountains were agitated but neither 
materialized.
	The usual interest was manifest over the county election, at which the 
following tickets were placed in nomination:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Representatives: C. Crosby, S. D. Ruddle, F. M. Rhodes.
	For Sheriff: J. H. Kellett.
	For County Commissioner: J. Dunlap.
	For Auditor: A. W. Moore.
	For Treasurer: S. W. Percival.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Representatives: J. Tilton, J. Longmire, W. Young.
	For Sheriff: B. F. Ruth.
	For County Commissioner: W. Mitchell.


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	For Auditor: R. Lane.
	For Treasurer: I. Lightner.

	The Republican ticket was elected except A. W. Moore for auditor.  The 
result on representative between Rhodes and Longmire was a tie.  At a subsequent 
special election Mr. Rhodes was elected.
	The national anniversary was duly celebrated and at the close the 
enthusiastic Republicans embraced the opportunity to organize a Lincoln & 
Johnson club which flourished during the campaign albeit the people had no vote 
for presidential electors.  The Republicans throughout the county engaged in a 
general jollification  At Tumwater the explosion of a cannon inflicted an injury 
to Dudley Barnes.
	In -November the town was thrown into an excitement over the discovery of 
gold in the Natchez Pass in the Cascades, seventy miles from Olympia.  Large 
numbers of residents went to the mines and for a few months Olympia, Steilacoom 
and Seattle were nearly depopulated of their male residents.  But the excitement 
was of short duration.
	At the town election the trustees chosen were: L. D. Durgin, Jesse 
Chapman, H. M. McGill, A. J. Burr and Edward Giddings.  Mr. Giddings was chosen 
president; R. Lane, clerk; Jesse Chapman, treasurer; J. L. Head marshal and F. 
M. Sargeant, magistrate.
	This board passed the first Sunday closing ordinance.
	There existed in those days at the corner of Main and Fourth streets a 
large spring from which the village was supplied with water.  In May 1864 the 
committee on streets was instructed to build a reservoir at the spring and place 
a pump over it for the convenience of the citizens.  Social lines were then not 
very definitely drawn and the gatherings at this town


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pump were indeed miscellaneous.  The federal official joshed with the day 
laborer and probably his beautiful daughter flirted with the dusky Siwash.  
Since then the Chambers building has been erected over the spring.
	For teachers the clerk was directed to advertise for proposals.  Three 
proposals were received but J. P. Judson was selected for the first term.  Rates 
of tuition for each term were established at $2 to $3 in the primary department 
and $4 to $5 in the Senior department.  For the second and third terms D. J. 
Hubbard was selected principal.

1865.
	The early part of 1865 was noted at Olympia for the satisfaction enjoyed 
at the prospects for a speedy termination of the civil war.  Joy at the fall of 
Richmond and grief at the murder of the president were the same here as in other 
parts of the Union.
	The subject of a wagon road over the Cascades was again brought in the 
range of current gossip and speculation.  On July 4 the ladies of Olympia gave a 
calico ball at the Olympic Hotel the proceeds to go toward opening such a road 
through Natchez Pass.  The net proceeds were $120.  People on the other side of 
the mountains were anxious to have the road put through.  Up to this time $800 
had been subscribed by Thurston county, besides $500 by Pierce county.  The road 
was completed this summer.
	The county election was warm and exciting.  Hon. A. A. Denny of Seattle 
was the Republican candidate for Congress, while James Tilton of Olympia was the 
Democratic nominee.  The number of votes polled in the county was 362: Denny 
220, Tilton 142.
	The following tickets were nominated:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Councilman: S. S. Ford, Sr.


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	For Representatives: Wm. McLain, G. W. Miller, S. D. Ruddle.
	For County Commissioners: A. Tilley, W. S. Parsons.
	For School Superintendent: D. R. Bigelow.
	For Coroner: Robert Frost.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Councilman: B. F. Yantis.
	For Representatives: D. Chambers, Wm. Waddell, Jos. Longmire.
	For County Commissioner: J. M. Hawk.
	For School Superintendent: Robert G. Head.
	For Coroner: A. J. Baldwin.
	
	The election resulted in the choice of the Republican ticket.
	In July the Republicans were on the qui vive over an expected visit from 
Hon. Schuyler Colfax, then speaker of the national house of representatives. The 
party was met at Tumwater by a delegation from Olympia and escorted to the 
capital amid the booming of cannon.  An elaborate reception was held and the 
distinguished visitor made one of his characteristic addresses.
	The close of the Civil War and the subsidence of the war feeling brought a 
renewed enthusiasm to the settlements in Thurston county.  Prices were good; the 
lumber industry revived and on all hands was the evidence of coming prosperity.
	Heretofore, and at this time the larger per cent of the inhabitants of the 
territory were of the male sex.  During the summer of 1865 A. S. Mercer of 
Seattle conceived the idea of bringing hither the widows and orphans of the east 
who were left destitute by the war.  It was urged that homes for them could be 
provided in this great northwest and that there was a demand for wives and 
domestic help.  Mr. Mercer had visited Boston and sent back word that he would 
soon leave the Hub with a large party


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of widows and young ladies.  Meetings were held in different parts of the 
territory to inaugurate a concerted move to receive and procure homes for them.  
At Olympia a committee was appointed to act with a like committee at Seattle.  
The Olympia committee consisted of Elwood Evans and wife, D. R. Bigelow and 
wife, T. F. McElroy and wife, T. M. Reed and wife, Francis Henry and wife, G. A. 
Barnes and wife, James Biles and wife and Henry Winsor and wife.  A meeting was 
held in the M. E. Church at which B. F. Brown was chairman and a committee 
appointed to canvass the county for homes for the widows and orphans.  Homes in 
the county were found for eighty.
	In due time Mr. Mercer with his ship load of Boston girls arrived having 
made the trip around Cape Horn.  Olympia being the principal place on the Sound 
the most of them, about 300 in number. were brought here.  Homes were readily 
found for them and they rapidly assimilated with the population.
	In December a panic struck the lumber camps of Puget Sound owing to a 
decision of a California court that the export of lumber and spars produced from 
United States land be taxed $2.50 per M.
	In December the Washington Standard moved to its present headquarters at 
the corner of Washington and Second streets.
	This year the commissioners levied a county tax of 4 mills; school tax of 
2 mills and a road tax of 2 1/2 mills.
	In May commissioner Joseph Gibson resigned,
	No public schools opened this year owing to a lack of funds.  The school 
house was leased to Misses Giddings and Slocum for a select school.  During the 
summer the school house was considered unsafe and it was lowered four feet and 
repaired and painted.


p48 c1

	The town trustees elected this spring were: Charles Wood, U. E. Hicks, J. 
R. Wood, B. F. Yantis and Robert Frost.  Mr. Yantis was chosen president: U. E. 
Hicks, treasurer; R. Lane clerk, and W. J. Yaeger, marshal.  This board 
purchased a fire engine and levied a school tax of 1 1/2 mills.

1866.
	The year 1866 opened with the full quota of excitement over the split 
between President Johnson and congress.  Olympia was largely a community of 
federal officers and the town probably contained as much politics to the square 
inch as any town in the United States, possibly excepting the federal capital.  
The Standard, that had been the Republican organ during the troublesome times 
since it was established championed the position taken by the president, but a 
large element in the party took the side of congress.  The result was that early 
in the spring three county tickets were in the field as follows:

REPUBLICAN.
	Representatives: A. W. Cairnes, J. M. Shotwell, Samuel James.
	Sheriff: J. H. Kellett.
	Auditor: L. D. Durgin.
	Probate Judge: J. G. Sparks.
	Treasurer: C. E. Williams.
	County Commissioner: R. Frost.

DEMOCRATIC.
	Representatives: Jas. Longmire, B. F. Ruth, F. Henry.
	Sheriff: B. L. Henness.
	Auditor: P. F. Turpin.
	Probate Judge: C. P. Judson.
	Treasurer: I. Lightner.
	County Commissioner: R. Waddell.

BOLTERS.
	Representatives: J. Wood, H. Hitchcock, G. French.
	Sheriff: J. H. Kellett.
	Auditor: E. T. Gunn.
	Probate Judge: D. R. Bigelow.
	Treasurer: J. H. Munson


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	County Commissioner: H. G. Parsons.

	The Republicans were nominated by the supporters of the president; the 
Bolters supported the opposition.  The entire Democratic ticket was elected 
except Mr. Henness for sheriff.
	In February 1866 the fire company came out with a bran new fire engine.
	The periodic agitation of a Northern Pacific railroad was began this year 
and ended like so many of its predecessors.
	The system of water works for the town was put in this summer and the town 
pump that had been so faithful in its service was abandoned.
	At the April meeting of the commissioners the trustees of the town asked 
the county for an appropriation of $800 for a bridge to Swantown.  The 
appropriation was made.  At this meeting of the board the following bounties for 
wild animals was allowed, to-wit: Wild cat, $1; cayote, $2.50: wolf, $4; cougar, 
$5; a grown bear, $2; a cub, $1.  Fifty cents extra was allowed for each scalp, 
to pay for the certificate.
	At the July  meeting the sheriff was ordered to compel delinquent Chinamen 
to work upon the roads.
	This summer Harriet F. Stevens opened a private school.  In September 
Mercie Slocum opened a term of school in the school house.
	On October 26th, S. S. Ford, the pioneer and a member of the legislative 
council was called to his long reward.  The governor called a special election 
to choose a successor.  William H. Mitchell was nominated by the Johnson party 
and Democrats and George A. Barnes by the Republicans.  Mitchell was elected by 
a majority of twenty-three; ten in Thurston county and thirteen in Lewis county.
	On December 20th, 1866, occurred the highest tide known at Olympia since 
its first settlement.  The water was six inches deep on the floor of Bettman's 
store, Main street, between


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First and Second.
	Early in the year the town treasurer reported $197 in the school fund and 
it was ordered that the teachers be paid $175 legal tender, equal to $122.50 in 
coin and charge pro rata to each pupil sufficient to make a total of $300 for 
the term.
	In March Columbia Engine Company was organized and the trustees asked to 
deliver the engine, recently purchased, to its keeping or to A. J. Baldwin, its 
foreman; the request was granted.  George Biles was awarded the contract for 
making a hose for the engine.
	At the spring election George A. Barnes, T. M. Reed, Isaac Lightner, 
Benjamin Harned and A. J. Baldwin were chosen trustees.  Mr. Barnes was elected 
president; Mr. Reed, treasurer and Richard Lane, clerk.
	The committee on schools employed L. P. Venen at a salary of $400 per 
quarter.

1867.
	The year of 1867 was pregnant with rather more items of public interest 
and local historical importance than either of the few preceding years.
	The subject of manufacturing establishments was brought forward and like 
previous agitations, the agitation agitated.  This year it was a carding factory 
at either Olympia or Tumwater.
	At the town election in March, F. Henry, G. A. Barnes, Albert Robb, J. G. 
Parker and J. M. Hawk were elected trustees.  The people also voted upon a three 
mill tax for a philosophical apparatus for the school house but it was voted 
down.
	The political campaign started in early.  The Republican party was still 
divided over the president's policy, but only one ticket was placed in the 
field; supporters of the president drifted into the Democratic ranks.  The 
following were the tickets:


p49 c2

REPUBLICAN.
	Councilman: Wm. McLane.
	Representatives: Ira Ward, J. E. Baker, H. Hitchcock.
	Sheriff: J. H. Kellett.
	County Commissioners: Jas. Dunlap, E. N. Sargent, G. W. French.
	Auditor: A. W. Moore.
	Treasurer. Wm. White.
	Probate Judge: D. R. Bigelow.
	School Sup't: D. R. Bigelow.

DEMOCRATIC.
	Councilman: James Longmire.
	Representatives: F. Henry, E. A. Young, A. O'Neal.
	Sheriff: B. F. Ruth.
	County Commissioners: A. W. Cairnes, L. D. Barnard, J. M. Shotwell.
	Auditor: P. Turpin.
	Treasurer: I. Lightner.
	Probate Judge. C. P. Judson.
	School Sup't: R. Lane.
	The election, warm and exciting, re- in the choice of McLane for the 
council; Henry, Ward and Baker for the house; Kellett for sheriff; Cairnes, 
Shotwell and Dunlap for county commissioners; Turpin, auditor; Lightner, 
treasurer; Bigelow for probate judge and school superintendent.  While Mr. 
McLane was granted the certificate of election, the democrats insisted there had 
been fraudulent work in Lewis county and Longmire brought a contest.  When the 
council met in December it declared McLane's seat vacant and a new election was 
called for January 6th, 1868.  In canvassing the vote of the special election 
the canvassers threw out the vote of Tumwater precinct owing to irregularities 
and alleged illegal votes.  This gave Longmire 189 votes in this county to 
McLane's 185.  In Lewis county Longmire received 81 votes to McLane's 86, McLane 
thus receiving a majority of one in the district.  Longmire contested the 
election and the council adopted a minority report of the committee on elections 
which


p50 c1

recommended that the matter be referred back to the people to be again voted on 
at the next general election.
	The work of improvement went on during the year.  Packwood's pass through 
the Cascades was brought to the attention of overland travelers.  A renewed 
interest was taken in immigration - a subject that had languished during the 
stormy years of the civil war.  Descriptions of the country were published and 
generally circulated and the whilom enthusiasm of other times again became 
dominant.
	A Fourth of July celebration was held this year but like too many others 
in other parts of the Union, it was marred by a reference to the political 
situation.
	On the night of October 10th, when the Eliza Anderson came up to the wharf 
about eleven o'clock, a general, though temporary panic ensued by the falling in 
of the wharf.  Several injuries resulted, but none seriously.
	In November Messrs. Gunn & Gale established the Transcript, a radical 
Republican paper.  The Standard that had fought the Republican battles during 
the preceding seven years had espoused the coarse of President Johnson and been 
drawn into the Democratic fold.
	The Daily Tribune under the management of Charles Prosch, was established 
this fall to help along the immigration movement.
	On November 15, the people were called upon to mourn the death of one 
whose hardships and privations had paved the way for the prosperity so many now 
enjoyed.  M. T. Simmons, who lived in Lewis county, on that day passed to his 
long and eternal rest.
	The position of the school house was this year changed to face the east.
The street committee of the town [called?] upon the county commissioners [to 
solicit?]aid for a new Swantown


p50 c2

bridge.  The county refused aid, but offered to loan the town $1,000 or $1,500 
at 1 per cent.  The proposition was accepted and the contract to build the 
bridge awarded to E. L. Finch.
	In August the town made a loan of $500 from Thomas Prather and in November 
borrowed $1,000 from the county to be used in paying for the bridge to the east 
side.
	The settlements in the southeast corner of the county had so increased 
that an election precinct, called Coal Bank, was created.
	At the August meeting the proceedings of the commissioners was ordered 
published in the two newspapers of the county, Standard and Tribune, provided 
each of them would accept $10 per year for the work.  Newspaper rivalry, aroused 
in part by the political feeling of the day, had become so intense that there 
was a fair prospect for county work being done for a low figure and in February 
1868 the auditor was instructed to have the printing done where it could be done 
the cheapest.

1868.
	The legislative session of 1867-68 will ever be a memorable one in the 
history of Washington and there it belongs rather than in the history of 
Thurston county.  P. B. Johnson of Walla Walla was Speaker of the House and C. 
M. Bradshaw of Port Townsend, President of the Council.  Political excitement 
was at a fever heat throughout the territory and it permeated the legislative 
chambers.  Members sat at their desks with cocked pistols in their hands, 
presiding officers were dethroned and the pandemonium of a bear garden often 
held sway.  The late Judge C. C. Hewitt had become objectionable to the great 
mass of the Democrats and the legislature transferred him to Stevens county, in 
the wilds of


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northeastern Washington.  After adjournment of the legislature he visited the 
federal capital and had the reapportionment set aside and returned to Olympia.  
Personal encounters between individuals were common and the streets and saloons 
of Olympia were made the scenes of tragedy and comedy.  Olympia was a town then 
of 500 population but there existed three newspapers, all political.  Each small 
faction of federal office holders felt the need of an organ and an organ it had.
	During the summer of 1868 the Marshville bridge was again brought to the 
front in town politics.  The town was already joshed by its neighbors down the 
sound for attempting improvements and not pushing them to completion.  The work 
went rapidly forward and was completed in May, 1869, with a draw over the 
channel.
	The presidential campaign in the east was a warm and exciting one in 
Thurston county.  Several men, prominent in politics changed their political 
affiliations as did others throughout the states.
	In January Prof. Venen was re-elected teacher with Misses Slocum and 
O'Neal as assistants.
	The town trustees were: G. A. Barnes, Wm. Mitchell, C. E. Williams, Benj. 
Harned and C. H. Hale.  Mr. Barnes was reelected president; Richard Lane, clerk, 
and Mr. Williams, treasurer.
	The delay in completing the Swantown bridge had exasperated the traveling 
public and Capt. Finch was notified in June that unless the bridge was completed 
in thirty days he would forfeit all unpaid amounts.
	For some time the establishing of a carding factory had been agitated and 
in March, 1868 machinery arrived, the enterprise being inaugurated by A. L. 
Phillips.  It, however did not materialize.  Every community has its


p51 c2

croakers, who see nothing good in what is proposed; whose tendencies are to 
discourage enterprises rather than encourage them.  Such men were in Olympia and 
Tumwater in those days and through them Mr. Phillips became discouraged and 
abandoned his carding factory project.
	The bounties offered in 1866 for scalps of wild animals had been earned in 
a number of instances by Indians and suspicions arose that many of them were 
caught in neighboring counties and in May, 1868, the board ordered that in the 
future no bounties be paid to Indians unless on the evidence of white testimony 
that the animals were caught in Thurston county.
	In May, the board took the initiative for erecting county buildings, and 
ordered that plans and proposals for a court house and jail, either singly or 
combined be received at the August term.  At the August term, however, plans 
were not examined but the auditor was directed to advertise for plans for a two 
story jail.
	In November, 1868, the old block house that had stood for twelve years at 
the corner of Main and Sixth streets was razed and the lumber used to plank Main 
street just above Thirteenth.  For some years the old building had been 
stigmatized as a nuisance but the memories surrounding its erection had 
permitted it to stand.  It was used for years as a city jail or lock up and, 
even though It was generally lightly spoken of, there was a loud murmur of 
disapproval when it was taken down.
	On January 1, 1869 D. B. Finch of Olympia, who had for years run 
steamboats on the Sound gave the Olympic building to the Good Templars on 
condition that the lodge fit up and maintain it as a public reading room.  Such 
an institution was much needed and the liberality of Mr. Finch


52 c1

in this direction was very generally commended.  The room was opened and 
dedicated to the public on the 19th of the following July.

1869.
	In January, 1869 Wm. Billings took the contract to build a timber jail, 16 
x 20 feet, to contain two cells to be located on the county property at the 
corner of Union and Washington streets.
	As illustrating the value of property at this time it might be noted that 
a five acre tract near the capitol belonging to C. J. Allen sold in February 
1869 for $5000.
	This winter a strange coincidence happened to the families of G. W. and 
John French, who lived down the bay on the west side about a mile and a half 
apart.  Both were farmers and about two o'clock in the afternoon, a son of each 
accidentally cut off the two middle fingers of one hand.  Both accidents were 
inflicted by the knives of straw cutters, one on each farm.
	In March, 1868, the fire company began the agitation of a town hall and 
engine house.  The sum of $500 was borrowed by the town with which to buy a 
site.  A lot on Fourth street between Washington and Franklin was purchased with 
the understanding that twenty feet on the west side were to be transferred to 
Charles Burmeister for $200.  In August a further loan of $1000 was made from 
Thomas Hartley for the purpose of completing the hall.  Rabbeson and Clark were 
awarded the contract for its erection for $6500.  The building, completed during 
the fall, on November 26 was dedicated by a ball and supper.  The building was a 
valuable addition to the town.  The upper story contained a. hall and the 
necessary ante rooms.  Below were rooms for the engine, hook and ladder company 
and a few offices.  Since its erection the building has been convenient in many


p52 c2

ways.  Until 1890 the hall served the purpose of an opera house, while a room on 
the first floor was and is still used as a city council chamber.
	The spring of '69 witnessed another railroad agitation.  The Columbia 
river and Puget Sound railroad company desired a puget sound terminus and on 
April 1, a meeting was held at Olympia and a committee of thirteen appointed to 
canvass for donations of land on condition that the terminus be located on 
Budd's Inlet near Olympia.  The committee appointed consisted of: 0. B. 
McFadden, C. H. Hale, Joseph Cushman, S. D. Howe, James Biles, G. W. French, H. 
Hartley, Clanrick Crosby Jr., A. J. Chambers, Wm. H. Mitchell, C. C. Hewitt, P. 
D Moore and J. H. Cleale.
	In the spring of 1869 after the inauguration of President Grant there took 
place a complete break up of official and social relations at Olympia.  The 
adherents to President Johnson were removed and more intense partisans put in 
their places.
	The congressional campaign in the territory that summer was exceedingly 
warm and exciting, as was the campaign for county officers.  Selucius A. 
Garfielde was the Republican candidate for delegate to congress, and ex-Governor 
Moore the Democratic nominee.  Garfielde was elected.  The county tickets were:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Councilman: J. Scammons.
	For Representatives: L. A. Treen. W. Peck.
	For County Commissioners: G. A. Barnes, C. Crosby Sr., S. Hodgdon.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Treasurer, B. Bettman.
	For Auditor: A. A. Phillips.
	For Probate Judge D. R. Bigelow.
	For School Superintendent: D. R. Bigelow.
	For Surveyor: F. W. Brown.
	For Coroner: C. Wood.


p53 c1

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Councilman: Jason Fry.
	For Representatives: Levi Shelton, M. Z. Goodell.
	For County Commissioners: A. J. Chambers, A. S. Yantis, H. E. Griffin.
	For Sheriff: D. T. Drewry.
	For Treasurer: J. H. Munson.
	For Auditor: P. Turpin.
	For Probate Judge: C. P. Judson.
	For School Superintendent: R. Lane.
	For Surveyor: F. Henry.
	For Coroner, Wm. Yaeger.
	The entire Republican ticket was elected.
	The assessed valuation of the county for 1869 was $911,129, an increase 
over the previous year of $123,267.
	At the February term the board of county commissioners appointed C. Crosby 
of Tumwater bridge commissioner to construct a bridge across the Inlet at 
Tumwater and appropriated $1000 therefor; additional subscriptions were made to 
the amount of $3266.
	The new board that came into office that summer appropriated $300 for a 
safe for the treasurer.
	Owing to the distance from the business center, since the purchase of the 
Wesleyan Institute property on Union street a sentiment had grown up in favor of 
other locations for the county buildings.  Accordingly in 1869 the sum of $333 
was appropriated to buy lot 3, block 36 for the purpose of a county jail, the 
auditor to advertise for plans.  Daniel House was awarded the contract to clear 
the lot for $750.  At the November term the plans for a jail were examined and 
none being satisfactory the auditor was directed to readvertise.  He was also 
directed to advertise for a loan of $8000 for the Purpose of erecting a jail.  
At the February term, 1870, plans for a jail were adopted and the contract to 
erect the same awarded to R. A. Abbott.


p53 c2

At the same time the chairman of the board was directed to borrow $7000 for not 
less than two years at not more than one and one-half per cent per month.
The growth of Olympia up to this time had been such that there now came a demand 
for the definite location of streets.  Accordingly the town council ordered a 
survey of the town site and land marks set at all street corners at such a 
distance from the true corner of the block as the corner of the sidewalk would 
be when a ten- foot sidewalk was laid.
	This summer the board passed an ordinance restraining cattle from running 
at large in the streets except milk cows.  A tax of S2.50 was levied on each 
dog.
	Besides the town hall this year there was built a new hotel by Hill Harmon 
on the corner of Main and Fourth streets.
	There was throughout the county a general building activity and the saw 
mills were kept busy supplying the local demand.  Improvements at Tumwater were 
pushed forward and the mill there could not supply the demand for lumber.
	This summer Louis Bettman and family paid a visit to their old home in 
Germany and upon their return in September were greeted with a warm welcome.
	This summer the business interests began the agitation of a long wharf to 
deep water.  Public sentiment was divided as to which street it should extend 
from.  Main street men of course desired it to extend from the foot of that 
street.  Washington street was a candidate and its property owners argued that 
Main street was already well built up as far as Fourth street and that above 
that point lots were held at too high a figure to justify their use and that 
Washington should be favored in order to encourage the growth of


p54 c1

business in that locality.  It was proposed to ask the legislature at its next 
session to charter a $10,000 company in shares of $100 each.
	The Echo, a temperance newspaper established in 1867 by Francis Cook, 
suspended publication this fall.
	In December 1869 G. A. Barnes began the erection of the first brick 
building in town, to be used as a banking house, which was completed the 
following summer.
	The town administration this year consisted of G. A. Barnes, F. Henry, S. 
W. Percival, R. Frost and J. M. Murphy as trustees; Mr. Henry, president, and 
Mr. Percival, treasurer; R. Lane, was elected clerk.
	The school opened in the fall of 1869 with two teachers, Mr. Hoover as 
principal and Mary O'Neal, assistant.
	During the summer the Swantown bridge was considered unsafe and the 
proposition to build a new one was considered.
	As the town hall approached completion another $500 was borrowed to pay 
for it.

1870.
	The year 1870 witnessed the inauguration of many movements that had a very 
perceptible influence in shaping the future history of Olympia and Thurston 
county.  The people had never abandoned the idea of being in the very near 
future, at the Puget Sound terminus of the Northern Pacific railroad although in 
several instances was exemplified the truth of the proverb: Hope long deferred 
maketh the heart sick.
	The federal census of 1870 showed Olympia with a population of 1203 and a 
population of 2246 in the county.  The village of Tumwater contained 206.  
Olympia had a school of two teachers and seventy live pupils and a private 
school with as many more; three churches with Masonic, Odd Fellows and Good 
Templars lodges;


p54 c2

five newspapers with the usual number of business houses of all kinds.  Business 
was good.  It was the supply station of the logging camps in the Sound country.  
At the time Seattle had a population of only 1142 with only 2164 in King county.  
The site of Tacoma was still the hiding place of wild beasts.
	At the February term of the county board application was made by the town 
of Olympia to the county for the cancellation of the deed to the public square 
given in 1861 for court house purposes.  It had been discovered that when Edmund 
Sylvester platted the town site and dedicated that block to the public, if at 
any time the town ceased to use it as a public park it reverted to Sylvester.  
This invalidated the deed to the county, hence the request to have it canceled.
	The county offered to cancel the deed if the town would furnish rooms in 
the city hall for the use of county and district courts and county office until 
the county should build a court house on the lots it had recently purchased of 
J. H. Kellet, the northwest quarter of block 26, at the corner of Washington and 
Sixth street.  This proposition the town declined to entertain but at a special 
session of the board on March 1, the town bought back the square for $1,333 and 
in the deal gave a note for $1000.
	In February 1870 a few mischievous boys one night piled up the seats in 
the school house to surprise the teachers the next morning.  The sheriff's 
attention was called to the matter and a casual investigation disclosed the 
principals who were taken before Justice T. M. Reed and fined $5 each.
	At the town election in April F. Henry, A. A. Phillips, B. Bettman and C. 
C. Hewitt were elected trustees.  A tie existed between D. R. Bigelow and Levi 
Shelton and at a special


p55 c1

election Mr. Shelton was chosen.
	The draw in the Marshville bridge gave considerable trouble this summer 
and was pronounced a failure.
	The fire company found some difficulty in collecting the subscriptions to 
the town hall that were made the previous year.
	The people were too much interested this summer in attending to business 
and the growth of the country to take much interest in politics.  However the 
following tickets were in the field:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Councilman: - Smith.
	For Representatives: D. R. Bigelow, B. R. Brewer, - Campbell.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Auditor: A. A. Phillips.
	For County Commissioners: Wm. McLane, Ira Ward, Jr., Wm. James.
	For Treasurer: - Abbott.
	For Assessor. W. M. White.
	For Probate: Judge R. Elder.
	For School Superintendent: D. R. Bigelow.

DEMOCRATIC
	For Councilman: 0. B. McFadden.
	For Representatives: G. W. Biles, J. E. Wyche, J. T. Hicklin.
	For Sheriff: B. F. Ruth.
	For Auditor. T. G. Lowe.
	For County Commissioners: James Biles, Benj. Harned. D. J. Chambers.
	For Treasurer: B. Bettman.
	For Assessor: C. E. Weed.
	For Probate Judge: C. P. Judson.
	For School Superintendent: J. M. Murphy.

	The Republican ticket entire was elected.
	In July Mrs. Burkett opened a hotel in the Gale building at the corner of 
Main and Fourth streets.
	In September C. Ethridge opened a sash and door factory between Second and 
Third streets near the west end of Swantown bridge.
	The year witnessed a good healthy growth for the town.  Considerable


p55 c2

building was done and advantage was taken of the prospective railroad boom.
	A fire this summer destroyed a building belonging to Geo. A. Barnes at the 
corner of Main and First streets with a loss of $4000.
	The prospective demand for town sites on the Sound, in view of the early 
approach of the Northern Pacific, had inspired some little speculation in 
outside enterprises.  In April, T. I. McKenny and Geo. A. Barnes platted the 
townsite of Puget City, in sections 9 and 10 of township 19, range 1 west, being 
in Thurston county on the west side of Puget Sound proper, and being the James 
Burrows donation claim.  The enterprise does not seem to have been a success.  
In February 1872, General McKenny quit claimed his interest in the site to Mr. 
Barnes, and in May 1873, at the request of Mr. Barnes, the plat was vacated.
	The year opened with Messrs. Rabbeson & Clark claiming a balance of $906 
on the town hall contract.  The town board thought it too high and secured the 
services of Geo. Blankenship, B. Harned, J. R. Wood and C. Ethridge, mechanics 
of the town to estimate the work of the building and the balance to be paid.  
The first three agreed upon a sum near the amount claimed by the contractors.  
Mr. Ethridge estimated the amount due to be $350.  An effort "to split the 
difference" failed.  Each member of the board then voted.  Henry favored 
granting $640; Murphy, $590; Frost, $375 and Barnes and Percival, $350.  The 
contractors signified a willingness to accept the latter figure or Mr. 
Ethridge's estimate.
	During the year Mr. Mann was selected as principal of the school and Miss 
O'Neal as assistant.
	The question of a water supply was agitated this summer and an ordinance 
passed granting to the Washington Water Pipe Manufacturing


p56 c1

and Water company the right to supply the inhabitants with water.
	In the fall a sewerage system was demanded.
	In the fall the office of town clerk was declared vacant and Wm. H. 
Cushman was elected.
	Mr. Brown and Miss Hattie Stevens were employed as teachers.
	This fall the trustees furnished the Hook and Ladder Company with $100 
worth of hooks, ladders, axes, etc.
	A contract was made with the water company to supply the city with water 
hydrants for $500.
	As the winter nights came on a night watchman was selected.
	The most violent earthquake of recent times occurred in September of this 
year.  All evidence goes to prove that the shocks came from the direction of 
Mount Olympus in the Olympic range.  On the Cowlitz prairies stock was 
stampeded, chimneys were destroyed, fences were leveled and in the houses the 
chairs rocked and clocks were thrown from the mantles.  At Yelm there were 
observed two very strong shocks, followed by several slight ones.  Clocks were 
stopped and many thrown down.  Chickens were thrown off the roosts and chimneys 
and buildings were cracked.  In many places earth fissures were formed, and on 
the Columbia river trail it was necessary to make repairs in several places to 
prevent accidents to horses.  Numerous cracks were found, some as far east as 
Okanogan and Yakima.  In many parts a dull rumbling noise was heard.  At Olympia 
houses rocked violently, throwing down chairs and destroying crockery, and a 
child was thrown from its bed.  The maple trees swayed to and fro like inverted 
pendulums, and people who stood in the streets to avoid falling chimneys, were 
thrown to the ground.
	Early in the spring the town received the unwelcome report that the


p56 c2

Northern Pacific had determined to make its western terminus on the Columbia 
river instead of at Olympia.  Surveying parties were constantly appearing and 
reappearing; would come from, no one knew where and go, no one knew whither.  In 
November speculation was indulged in by the sudden withdrawal of the surveying 
parties, a meeting of citizens was held December 17th, to discuss the railroad 
situation and to formulate a plan of action.  A committee of which Surveyor-
General E. P. Ferry was chairman, was appointed to confer with Northern Pacific 
officials as to the best terms on which railroad connection could be made with 
Olympia.  The committee saw Judge Rice and Mr. Canfield, representatives of the 
railroad company, and reported that these gentlemen were not authorized to 
select a terminus; that no place would be selected before June; that there was 
no mystery about the company's movements; that they had no interest in 
speculation and that they intended to use the government subsidy in the manner 
that would promote the largest public interest to be served by the land grant.  
Judge Rice intimated to the committee that they desired to connect the Columbia 
river with the nearest practical point but they feared, having once connected 
with the Sound, they could not claim the land grant beyond to another point on 
the Sound; but they would commence on the Columbia river and work this way.
	This report disclosed important and in one respect, satisfactory 
information.  Olympia was the Sound point nearest the Columbia river.  But the 
desire of the company to have the land grant to a point down the Sound and the 
fear of losing it if they did not go there created an uncertainty in the minds 
of Thurston county property owners.
	The business men of Olympia realized


p57 c1

that they were not in good business shape to deal with the Northern Pacific.  
The people were enthusiastic but lacked organization.  Accordingly in December, 
1870, Marshall Blinn, C. H.. Hale, A. J. Miller, James Pattison, E. Marsh, G. A. 
Barnes, W. Mitchell, C. Crosby Sr., John Miller Murphy and E. P. Ferry organized 
a company with $400,000 capital to construct a branch of the Northern Pacific 
railroad.  The name of the organization was the Olympia Branch Railroad Company 
and was to exist fifty years.  Its purpose was to treat officially with the 
Northern Pacific with the object of bringing that transcontinental road to 
Budd's Inlet.  Its first act was to petition Congress for the mud flats or 1,337 
acres of them, conditioned that the Deschutes channel should be open.  The idea 
was to obtain possession of these and offer them to the railroad company, on 
condition that the terminus was made on Budd's Inlet.  The petition did not 
receive favorable congressional consideration.
	In this decidedly uncertain condition, but with the surroundings 
constantly whispering the delusions of hope, the year drew to a close.

1871.
	But the railroad agitation continued through the next year and as the 
weeks and months rolled by interest increased and anxiety became more poignant.  
The boom was on at Kalama, where the Northern Pacific crossed the Columbia, in 
all its greatness and its low murmurs could be heard at the head waters of the 
Sound.  The greed of real estate owners knew no bounds.  At Kalama a man was 
offered $10,000 and ten town lots for his ranch.  He refused; wanted $50,000.  
The railroad left him and went off four miles.  He then sought the company 
officials and offered his land for ten town lots.


p57 c2

Marshall Blinn, of the Olympia Branch Railroad Company, informed J. W. Sprague 
and J. W. Goodwin, special agents of the Northern Pacific, of their desire to 
secure the mud flats and present them to the railroad company.  General Sprague 
replied by sending blanks, etc. for making the donations.
	Subscription books were opened and a thorough canvass made by the 
committee of citizens.  In March the Branch Railroad company addressed a 
communication to the citizens recommending that the property owners on Budd's 
Inlet donate half their lands to the Northern Pacific, on condition that it 
would build and operate a railroad before January 1, 1875, and locate the road 
before May 1, 1872.  Considerable difficulty was experienced in securing this 
remarkably large donation.  The makers of the proposition realized that it was a 
life or death struggle; that failure meant the growth of a rival at another 
point on the Sound that would deprive Olympia of her metropolitan laurels.  
Others soliloquized that the Northern Pacific was coming here anyway; that it 
could not afford to do otherwise and that liberal donations were useless.  It 
was proposed to receive small cash donations from those who owned single lots in 
town and with this fund purchase the Moxlie farm of two hundred and twenty acres 
adjoining the town on the southeast.
	During the summer the railroad contractors were at work in the Cowlitz 
valley.  They expected to have twenty five miles built from Kalama by October 2 
and forty miles more grubbed and cleared before winter and connection made with 
the Sound by the fall of 1872.
	In November 1871 the road was built to Mound Prairie, sixty-five miles 
from Kalama and fifteen from Olympia.  So far as the terminus was


p58 c1

concerned the citizens of Olympia were in uncertainty.  The railroad men said 
nothing but their acts spoke.  No notice was taken of Olympia's munificent offer 
and it began to appear that, from their present location to reach Olympia would 
be a deflection.  The more sanguine however were hopeful and thought the 
terminus would be on the west side near Brown's wharf.  The months of November 
and December passed slowly, fraught with much suspense.  The nerves of 
speculators were at a high tension.
	The suspense was relieved, however on Christmas day, when Messrs. Goodwin 
and Sprague over their signatures wrote Mr. Blinn accepting the proposition of 
the Branch Railroad Company saying the Northern Pacific Company "will comply 
with the first condition by causing a railroad to be located, before May 1 next, 
connecting the Columbia river with a point on the navigable waters of Budd's 
inlet."  They also asked a right of way from Bush Prairie.  The receipt of this 
was a welcome Christmas offering.  It at once set the people wild with joy.  
Prices of real estate advanced to fabulous figures and no sellers.  Saloons were 
well patronized.  The anxious hope of years was now about to be realized; the 
Northern Pacific railway was making Olympia its Puget Sound terminus!
	But albeit the year; 1871 was pregnant with railroad excitement, it was 
eventful in other respects.  The winter was reasonably active in the line of 
building in the town and the steady march of progress went forward in the 
country.  The railroad graders had already reached the southeastern part of the 
county and given an activity to farm lands in the valleys of the Skookumchuck 
and Nisqually and on Mound and Yelm prairies.


p58 c2

A new school house was built at Yelm.
	This summer the town built a fence around the public square and 
improvements were made on Columbia Hall.
	To add to the stimulating influences of the prevailing excitement, the 
semi-periodic report of a gold discovery in the Black Hills reached the town.
	At Tumwater business improvements likewise pushed forward.  D. Barnhart 
had a furniture factory and Leonhard & Cooper manufactured sashes and doors.
	In December occurred an exciting school election that resulted in the 
choice of Geo. A. Barnes, Benj. Harned and A. H. Steele for directors and Nat 
Crosby, clerk.
	A farmer's club was organized in July for the purpose of holding fairs and 
other meetings for the improvement of agricultural methods.  It started with the 
usual interest and shortly after through neglect was forgotten.
	During the year Wm. James, one of the county commissioners died and when 
the board met in July G. W. French was appointed to fill the vacancy.  The court 
house was leased for three years to Mrs. Churchill and Miss Case for a girls' 
seminary and was refitted to accommodate that purpose.
	The newspaper fraternity was added to this summer by the transport hither 
of a plant from Port Townsend and yclept the Courier.
	The town trustees were: F. Henry, president; S. W. Percival, John Miller 
Murphy and A. H. Steele.
	Mr. Boynton, Mary O'Neal and Mary Post were chosen teachers for the year.
	During the fall and winter the town hall was leased for a skating rink at 
100 per month.


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1872.
	When the cherished hope of a score of years is about to pass into a stern 
reality it is difficult to describe human feelings by the cold processes of 
printer's ink.  For twenty years the pioneers at Olympia had been agitating the 
subject of a Northern Pacific Railroad.  Amid discouragements and with the aid 
of dreams they had held on to the project that would some day connect the 
headwaters of Puget Sound with the busy marts of the Mississippi valley. Buoyed 
up by their dreams they and their neighbors were now to witness a fairy like 
possibility culminate in the joy of an actual existence.
	Olympia was to be the terminus; was to be the New York, the New Orleans, 
the Chicago the San Francisco of the Northwest.  Urged on by mad speculation, 
purchasers offered fabulous prices for real estate; held in check by the mad 
stupidity of greed, owners demanded still more fabulous prices.
	In this state of mind Olympians threw away their old calendars and 
joyfully hailed the oncoming of 1872.
	Street improvements had been going on slowly.  Ruts made by the wheels of 
loaded wagons were filled by an occasional load of gravel or, which happened 
oftener, by a pine knot from a load of wood.  Main street was corduroyed across 
a marshy sag from Third to near Sixth, then planked to Seventh.  In January the 
planking was extended to Ninth.  The draw in the Marshville bridge had not given 
satisfaction and this winter D. J. Corker of Tumwater put in a new one.
	A system of  fire alarms was adopted by the fire department.  A continuous 
ringing of the bell located a fire in the First ward: twelve or fifteen taps 
followed by two taps located it in


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the Second ward; the same followed by three taps in the third ward.
	As spring opened the building industry commenced; both business houses and 
residences went up with booming rapidity.  Both were demanded and rents were 
enormous.  Tumwater, too, felt the rumblings of the on coming boom and took part 
in the general rejoicings.
	At the February term of the county board plans and specifications were 
submitted by W. E. Boone for a vault for the safe keeping of records; also by A. 
B. Rabbeson for a building.  The contract for the latter was awarded to W. H. 
Clark at the May meeting for $984 and for the vault to J. T. Young for $950.
	In the fall the town graded Main street to the south line of Central 
Addition and by an agreement with the county the improvement was continued to 
the top of the hill.
	This fall the lease of Mrs. Churchill to the court house was extended to 
five years, Mrs. Churchill having bought Miss Case's interest in the Female 
Seminary.  Five hundred dollars was appropriated for repairs.
	The summer was relieved of its election excitement by a change in the date 
from July to November.
	During this summer a man named Ira Bradley Thomas was in Olympia buying 
land on the east side of the Inlet and succeeded in securing title to several 
thousand acres.  While here he suddenly took sick and died.
	The political campaign of 1872 was warm and exciting.  The disaffection in 
Republican ranks in the east which took the form of Liberal Republicanism led by 
Horace Greeley, in Thurston county joined its fortunes with the Democracy and 
yclept itself the Peoples Ticket.  At the polls the following tickets were 
presented to the voters:


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REPUBLICAN.
	For Councilman: Geo. A. Barnes.
	For Representatives: J. B. Allen, 0. B. Brewer, Jas. A. Karr.
	For County Commissioners: M. S. Drew, S. N. Cooper, A. Webster. 	For 
Auditor: Fred Bohm.
	For Sheriff: J. P. Eckler.
	For Treasurer: C. B. Mann.
	For Surveyor: F. W. Brown.
	For School Superintendent: D. R. Bigelow.
	For Probate Judge: A. R. Elder.

PEOPLES.
	For Councilman: Wm. McLain.
	For Representatives: E. Henry, B. F. Yantis, Ira Ward.
	For Auditor: A. A. Phillips.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Treasurer: W. J. Grainger.
	For Surveyor: D. S. B. Henry.
	For School Superintendent: C. A. Huntington.
	For Probate Judge: J. M. Lowe.
	For Coroner: I. V. Mossman.

	The entire People's ticket was elected.  Selucius A. Garfielde was a 
candidate for delegate to congress but was defeated by Judge 0. B. McFadden.
	At this election the people voted upon the question of a state 
constitution but it was emphatically defeated, the vote in Thurston county being 
54 for, to 141 against.
	During this summer the Burmeister building at the corner of Main and Third 
streets was erected.
	Prof. Ruttan opened a singing school in the M. E. Church.
	Ayer's hill on the east side had been giving considerable trouble to 
teamsters.  Of clayey soil, the wet weather made it nearly impassable.  This 
fall ditches were dug on the sides and cedar puncheons laid to the top of the 
hill.
	As tending to increase confidence in the future importance of the county, 
William Packwood discovered a vein


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of anthracite coal about seventy miles east of Olympia.
	This summer Messrs. Hoffman and Frost brought a building from Steilacoom 
on a flat boat and located it on Main street.
	At the municipal election W. W. Miller was chosen mayor: B. Bettman and A. 
J. Burr councilman from the First ward; M. Blinn and T. F. McElroy from the 
Second ward and J. S. Dobbins and D. S. B. Henry from the Third ward.  A. A. 
Phillips was elected clerk; R. W. Ryerson treasurer; A. R. Elder, magistrate and  
-- Westbrook marshal.  Mr. Burr subsequently resigned and S. D. Howe was 
appointed in his place.
	A movement was put on foot to fund the outstanding indebtedness and a 
special committee was appointed to memorialize congress for authority to borrow 
$25,000 to take up the outstanding notes of the town at a rate of interest not 
to exceed 10 per cent.  There is no record of this committee ever making a 
report.
	On Saturday, the 14th of December. at 9:40 p. m. a very strong earthquake 
shock was felt over the whole Puget Sound country and as far south as 
Skookumchuck, where trees swayed and created a panic among stock.  No damage was 
done, but the frame buildings swayed to and fro like small craft at sea.  At 
Olympia roofs were cracked and the maples swayed violently.  People rushed from 
hotels and houses in terror and general panic prevailed until the cessation of 
the shocks.  An amusing incident of this shock happened at a meeting of one of 
the fraternities of Olympia.  A well known citizen was being initiated.  He was 
hoodwinked and in the position required by the ritual when the shock came. The 
building swayed several times and in their fright all the members left the hall.  
Once out


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however, they regained confidence and returned.  The candidate occupied the same 
position and the initiation was completed.  After it was over he was told what 
had happened and to the amusement of the lodge he remarked that he thought 
rattling the building was a part of the performance.
	May 1 was the date set by Messrs. Goodwin and Sprague of the Northern 
Pacific at which time they would have located their line to Budd's Inlet.  There 
was a lull in the work and May 1 arrived and no line had been located.  
Confidence in the terminus being located on Budd's Inlet began to weaken; turned 
to suspicion; suspicion grew to fear and, as the days wore by, fear grew to 
alarm.
	In the frenzy of the situation, on June 26, Marshall Blinn wrote to 
Messrs. Goodwin and Sprague and inquired where the line would be located.  On 
July 3 their answer returned, written at Kalama, June 29, in which they said the 
"line of railroad runs to the east side of Budd's Inlet to the Billings or Wylie 
donation claim, said claim being in sections 25, 26, 35 and 36 of township 19 
range 2 west and a point will be selected on one of said claims for a freight 
and passenger depot, where said line will terminate.
	Signed,
JOHN GOODWIN.
JOHN W. SPRAGUE.
Agents for N. P. Ry. "

	This restored confidence and inspired renewed enthusiasm in the 
celebration of the Fourth.
	As the summer wore along and the fall came on the citizens noticed that 
the railroad people were building their road from Mound Prairie through Yelm and 
toward Tacoma.  The people at Olympia slowly began to realize that Budd's Inlet 
would not furnish the Sound terminus and thus the year 1872, that was ushered in 
with so


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much rejoicing, drew to a close.  The sunshine of hope had given place to the 
gloom of despair.
	The student of the history of Washington is interested in knowing why
the Northern Pacific railway company so recklessly broke faith with the people 
of Olympia.  Honorable practices in business and every principle of morality 
would have dictated that the promises held out be faithfully kept.  But 
honorable practices and moral principles alone do not build corporations.  These 
organizations exists for money making purposes; "they have no bodies to be 
kicked, no souls to be damned."  They are not controlled by honorable practices 
or moral principles except so far as those virtues enter into the laws.
	Among the directors of the Northern Pacific Railway company was an 
institution called the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Land Company.  There was 
the old gag of "a wheel within a wheel."  The Northern Pacific was not 
interested in town site speculation; the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Land 
Company was.  The last named company controlled the railroad company.  Acting as 
town site speculators, the directors purposed buying a large area of land at an 
eligible point on Puget Sound, then as directors of the Northern Pacific locate 
the terminus thereon.  They were familiar with the topography of the country, 
had sent a man out here to buy land on the east side.  That man had fulfilled 
his mission, had bought a large area; had secured the title in himself and --
died.  The death of Ira Bradley Thomas withdrew from market for an indefinite 
period the few thousand acres of land that vested in him.  Some months, possibly 
years, must necessarily elapse before the land could be probated.  Time was 
urgent.  The Land Company felt that, if they as


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the directors of the Northern Pacific, kept faith with Olympia, as members of 
the Land Company they would not realize their expected fortunes.  As a result 
they selected a site a few miles from Tacoma and going into the Northern Pacific 
directorate located the terminus on those waters.  Had Ira Bradley Thomas lived 
Olympia might have been the terminus of the Northern Pacific and the precipitous 
cliffs on the western shore of Commencement Bay still afford hiding places for 
bears, wild cats and cougars.

1873.
	With many of the people of Olympia the disappointment over the 
faithlessness of the Northern Pacific Company soon gave way to despair.  But not 
so with all.  In spite of discouragements, blighted ambitions and withered hopes 
they rallied and sought other means to maintain Olympia's commercial prestige in 
the northwest.
	In March 1873 a meeting of citizens was called to consider the propriety 
of urging the Northern Pacific to build a branch road to Olympia.  At the same 
time the practicability of a wharf to deep water was agitated and the latter 
question was made the issue at the town meeting in April.
	Ordinary foresight would suggest to a thinking man that the former 
proposition would miscarry.  The Railway company had gone to Commencement Bay 
for the purpose of building a rival city.  Their first move must necessarily be 
to draw thereto the trade that now came to Olympia.  It was purblindness to 
expect them to assist a town, the ruin of which was to their interest.
	The town election in April was a spirited one.  Wharf or no wharf was the 
issue and the anti-wharf men carried the election, although by a close vote.  W. 
W. Miller was re-elected mayor; S. Coulter and S. D. Howe


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councilmen from the First ward; I. C. Ellis and T. F. McElroy from the Second 
ward and J. S. Dobbins and S. D. Ruddell from the Third ward.
	The commercial outlook for the city was dark and gloomy and the mistakes 
of past years were apparent.  For twenty years Olympia had been the mistress of 
Puget Sound trade.  Around her was gathered the only considerable farming 
population in Western Washington.  During the spasms of mining excitement, here 
were the headquarters.  The logging camps on both sides of the Sound were 
supplied by her wholesale dealers.  During these years of prosperity had an 
effort been made to establish manufacturing enterprises, however small, there 
would have been the nucleus of an abiding city.
	But in 1873 it was folly to "cry over spilled milk."  Unimproved 
opportunities had gone.  The problem now was to, as far as possible, prevent the 
total ruin of the town.  With limited means men set about to do the work.  
Posterity will know very little of the unselfish and devoted efforts made by 
Olympians during 1873 to hold fast what business the town had.  A long wharf to 
deep water, by private subscription, or by a joint stock company; a railroad to 
Tenino, either a narrow or a standard gauge, whether to enter town on the east 
or west side; inducing a San Francisco steamship company to make Olympia the 
terminus of their sound route, were all canvassed as among the possible means of 
municipal salvation.  But nothing took definite shape until the following 
winter.
	In the spring of 1873 the Carlton House was opened by G. W. Carlton.  It 
at once became a leading hotel of the town and continued such until 1891.
	Business circles were somewhat stirred this spring by the absconding of


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S. B. Abbott of the mercantile firm of Abbott & Horr.  He went to San Francisco 
with several thousand dollars of the firm's money.  His disappearance aroused 
suspicions among creditors and a state of affairs was disclosed that seriously 
embarrassed Mr. Horr.
	Lack of funds prevented the district school from opening this spring.  
Miss Patterson, however opened a private school in the school house.  But in the 
fall the year's school opened with Mr. Kaye and Miss Patterson as teachers. The 
principal of the Swantown school was Mr. Boynton with Mrs. Cortz and Nellie 
Huntington assistants.
	On October 19, as a Mr. Kuhn was driving a herd of cattle over the 
Swantown bridge, the timbers collapsed, precipitating the herd into the mud 
below, the tide fortunately being out; two were smothered.
	Woman suffrage had been agitated in the territory for some time and this 
fall its votaries organized a woman Suffrage association at Olympia.  Mrs. A. H. 
H. Stuart was president; Mrs. M. A. Barnes, vice president; Mrs. P. C. Hale, 
secretary and Mrs. J. H. Munson, treasurer.  The association continued its work 
until 1883 when woman suffrage became a law of the Territory.
	During the history of the county thus far, poverty had been unknown and 
appeals for aid had scarcely reached the authorities.  But solicitation of alms 
had been made in a few instances and at the February term of the county board 
Francis Henry was appointed superintendent of the poor.
	On September 5 a special meeting of the county board was called to 
consider the calling of a special election to vote bonds for a railroad from 
Budd's Inlet to the Northern Pacific at Tenino, but the board decided that it 
had no authority to call an election


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for that purpose.
	In November the Northern Pacific was given the right of way through school 
sections for the sum of $100.
	County Treasurer W. J. Grainger died during the month of December and on 
the 28th a special session was called to fill the vacancy.  Wm. Mix was 
appointed.
	It was an off year in politics.  S. A. Garfielde, after his defeat as 
delegate to congress had, secured the appointment of Inspector of Customs.  P. 
D. Moore had occupied a desk in the customs service for some years and when Mr. 
Garfielde came in to take charge of the office, Col. Moore asked if his services 
were longer required?  "Certainly" said Mr. Garfielde, "temporarily."  "Then 
good morning, sir" said Mr. Moore "I cannot accept temporarily" and walked out.  
The new collector was nonplussed but rallied, recalled Mr. Moore and retained 
him in the service.
	The railroad agitation was kept up during the year.  An address was issued 
to the citizens in September urging the necessity of united action in building a 
railroad to Tenino.  A special election was called for October 8, to vote bonds 
to build such a road.  The election resulted in 504 votes being cast for and 143 
against, as follows:

Precincts.			Bonds, Yes.		Bonds, No.

Olympia			375			28
Tumwater			62			16
Black River			2			8
Tenino				55			35
Grand Mound			1			35
Chamber's Prairie		8			3
Yelm				1			18

Total				504			143


	In town matters an appropriation of $450 was made for a road down the 
westside and specifications adopted for a new draw in the Marshville bridge.

1874.
	The new year opened with the active


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business men of Olympia at work to establish railroad connection with the 
outside world, which work was kept up assiduously during the year. But events, 
in other lines, of local importance were transpiring.
	The number of school children in the county on January 1 was 867 and the 
amount apportioned from the territorial fund was $6.56 per child.  The text 
books in use in the schools were Town's Spellers, National Readers, Bullion's 
Grammars, Cornell's and Monteith's Geographies.
	In January occurred the Taylor Tragedy near Tenino.  Dabney G. Jones had 
been at work for Taylor and a dispute arose over the amount of wages due.  
During the dispute Jones killed Taylor and took the body some distance from the 
house and covered it between two logs and fled.  He was captured, put on trial 
and plead self defense, was convicted and sentenced to twelve years in the 
penitentiary.  While an appeal was pending he, the following year, broke jail 
and escaped.
	Early in 1874, the banking house of Barnes & Co. dissolved, W. N. Ayer 
retiring.
	As indicating the primitive means of transporting money in early days it 
may be mentioned that during the early sixties Mr. Barnes had occasion to bring 
a quantity of gold coin from Portland to Olympia by stage and was at his wits 
end to do so with safety.  He went to a printing office and procured a common 
box used by foundries for shipping type.  This he filled with his gold coins, 
nailed up the box, marked it "Printer's Type" and labeled it "John Miller 
Murphy, Standard Office, Olympia, W. T."  His subsequent attention to it was 
unconcerned; saw it thrown in the stage wagon; incidentally saw it tumbled out.  
He next claimed it at the Standard office


p64 c2

from which it found its way to his store.
	For years a block house had stood at the head of Main street near the 
corner of Thirteenth.  On January 25, a drunken Indian had been locked up and to 
aid in securing his release, he set fire to the bedding.  His alarm of fire was 
not heard and the night watchman's attention was first attracted by the burning 
building.  But he was too late to save either the building or the prisoner; both 
burned.
	The women's temperance Crusade of the east had become an issue in the town 
election.  John B. Allen was the temperance candidate for mayor and I. C. Ellis 
the license candidate.  Ellis was elected.  The council was composed of S. D. 
Howe and M. R. Tilley from the First Ward; N. Crosby Jr. and T. F. McElroy from 
the Second and D. S. B. Henry and F. A. Hoffman from the Third.  In the Third 
ward the vote for F. A. Hoffman and J. S. Dobbins was a tie; casting lots 
resulted in the choice of Mr. Hoffman.
	The erection of a city jail on the old site was ordered by the council and 
Mr. Henry was appointed to let the contract and superintend the construction. 
The contract was awarded to Geo. S. Deer.
	This summer Sheriff Billings erected a brick residence on Franklin and 
Ninth streets.
	This summer the subject of an agricultural fair was brooked and discussed.  
The town council ordered a special election on levying a tax of l 1/2 mills for 
grounds.  The election was carried by a vote of 132 to 9.
	Early in the year Capt. S. W. Percival let the contract for his residence 
on the west side at the end of the bridge.  Benj. Harned was the contractor.
	A Mr. Pressy of Tumwater was doing a fair business manufacturing 
furniture.


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	An academy was instituted this year and dedicated with a theatrical 
entertainment and ball.
	In November a San Francisco news paper brought the information which 
aroused the highest indignation at Olympia that P. D. Moore had been awarded the 
contract for carrying the mails on the Sound, to start from Tacoma, for the sum 
of $20,980 and that the same party submitted a bid to carry from Olympia for 
$26,980, but that the latter had been rejected.  Moore was authorized to begin 
service at once and the old contractor refused to receive the mail and the North 
Pacific mail steamer left without it.  The people were indignant and this thrust 
at Olympia was attributed to the Northern Pacific railway.  Meetings were held 
to denounce the arrangement and telegrams from Washington brought the 
information that the old contractor was to carry the mail from Olympia until the 
first of January, 1875.  On that day the Sound mail route was from Tacoma to 
Victoria and Olympia was a side post office.  In spite of efforts to change the 
people were unsuccessful until 1876 when the route was extended to the capital.
	The railroad agitation served to detract from the political excitement, 
but nevertheless two full tickets were in the field.  The Republicans had 
recovered from the tidal wave that had engulfed them two years before.  Below 
are the nominations:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Councilman: Marshal Blinn.
	For Representatives: E. Evans, James Wood, R. A. Brewer.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Auditor: A. A. Phillips.
	For Treasurer: J. H. Munson.
	For Probate Judge: A. R. Eder.
	For County Commissioners: F. B. Kendall, Wm. Ogle, G. H. Foster.
	For Coroner: I. V. Mossman.


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	For School Superintendent: D. R. Bigelow.
	For Surveyor: L. G. Abbott.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Councilman: W. B. Gasnell.
	For Representatives: Frank Ruth, P. B. Van Trump, Cyril Ward.
	For Sheriff: G. W. Biles.
	For Auditor: J. L. Cook.
	For Treasurer: Nat Crosby, Jr.
	For Probate Judge: J. M. Lowe.
	For County Commissioners: Wm. Mitchell, A. S. Yantis, A. J. Chambers.
	For Coroner: M. Shields.
	For School Superintendent: J. M. Murphy.
	For Surveyor: D. S. B. Henry.

	The entire Republican ticket was elected except Brewer for representative 
who was defeated by B. F. Ruth, and Kendall and Foster, county commissioners, in 
whose stead were elected Mitchell and Chambers.  For a constitutional convention 
111 votes were cast in the county to 222 against.
	The Grange movement that started in the east the previous year reached 
Thurston County early this year and a Grange was soon organized at Olympia.
	But the subject of historical importance this year was the railroad 
question.  The preceding year closed with the citizen's committee hard at work 
to preserve the business prestige of the town, but in spite of them it was fast 
waning.  Houses were tenantless and rents had dropped from twenty to fifty per 
cent.  The products of the Chehalis, Skookumchuck and other valleys were taken 
away from Olympia and other discouragements paled in the near future.  The 
Northern Pacific was discriminating against the county in the matter of rates.  
Amid the necessities of the situation a meeting of the business men was held in 
January 1874 in the office of general Hazzard Stevens.


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There were present: Marshal Blinn, T. F. McElroy, S. W. Percival, N. Ostrander, 
A. A. Phillips, S. D. Howe, F. A. Hoffman, F. Henry, Ira Ward, R. W. Ryerson, G. 
W. Biles and Hazzard Stevens.  The exigencies of the occasion were canvassed and 
thoroughly considered.  It was an important event in the history of the county.  
The outcome was the Olympia Railroad Union.  Marshall Blinn was elected 
president but declined.  The following officers were then chosen: President, 
Hazzard Stevens; Vice President, S. D. Howe; Secretary, F. A. Hoffman; 
Treasurer, R. W. Ryerson; board of appraisers, T. F. McElroy, Ira Ward, and S. 
W. Percival.  A spirited address was issued to the people and books opened for 
subscriptions to stock.  Stock was readily taken and the people heartily took 
hold of the project to build a road from Olympia to Tenino.  A survey of the 
road was made and the estimated cost was as follows:-

					Narrow			Standard
					Guage			Guage

Cost per mile,				$10,937.69		$16,235.29
To deep water, east side,			161,766.01		239,163.58
	"	"   west side,		148,033.11		228,876.14
To west end M'shvil' br'dg, 		132,991.35		207,066.40

	The whilom rivalry between the east and west sides was kept down and a 
harmonious effort made to secure the road.  The Union adopted the west shore 
line with the depot near the Marshville bridge and determined upon a narrow 
guage.  The people were enthusiastic.  It was the first ray of light to pierce 
the gloom that had hung like a pall since the Northern Pacific gave the town the 
go by.  The roads had been surveyed; the grade stakes set and everything in 
readiness to begin work.  The people had resolved on doing the work themselves.  
The ladies were to prepare the meals.  April 7 was the day set for the work to 
begin. At an early hour that day the town put on its holiday


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attire.  Flags floated, bells rang and cannon boomed.  The people gathered on 
the public square clothed in the habiliments of laborers.  Bankers, merchants, 
lawyers, doctors, officials, clerks, came with their working tools; their picks, 
axes, shovels, plows, scrapers, etc., etc.  Headed by the Olympia Light Guard 
Band the procession formed and proceeded toward Tumwater.  At the bridge they 
were joined by a crowd from the city at the falls.  Boats were in waiting to 
convey the laborers to Warren's Point where gangs of men were assigned to work 
by the engineer.  There were no drones.  Trees fell, logs were sawed and stumps 
uprooted; graders followed.  At noon the ladies spread a lunch in the large cook 
house that had been erected for the  occasion.  There were not tables enough and 
cloths were spread on the ground.  C. Eldridge donated the dessert- a keg of 
beer.  After lunch short speeches were made and subscriptions to stock taken and 
Thursday of each week set apart as field day, on which the people would lay 
aside private matters and assemble to work the grade.  Farmers were urged to 
bring butter, vegetables, etc. to assist in the work.  Three hundred men and 
seventy five ladies were at work on the first day and fully one mile was 
cleared.
	The novelty of the day's doings and the inspiration of the occasion 
tempted Capt. Percival to taste Eldridge's beer.  The captain had hitherto been 
a consistent and respected member of the Good Templars and at the next meeting 
of the lodge he was given a serious reprimand by those who failed to appreciate 
the practical phases of railroad building.
	At the May session of the county commissioners the Railroad Union was 
given the right to cross all highways.
	It had been discovered that the vote


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of the county the previous fall to issue bonds was void owing to a lack of 
authority in the county to issue bonds.  In early summer Judge McFadden, 
delegate in Congress, secured the passage of a bill granting the county this 
right.  A special session of the county board was held July 10 for the purpose 
of calling a special election to vote county bonds to aid in building the 
Olympia and Tenino railroad.  The Railroad Union entered into a contract to 
operate the road to Tenino for $75,000 in bonds, payable in twenty five years 
and redeemable after ten years; to be issued in denominations of $1000, $500 and 
$100  -$25,000 in each denomination.  The special election was called for August 
8th.  In July, Marshal Blinn, F. A. Hoffman, H. L. Chapman, 0. Shead, S. N. 
Cooper, T. I. McKenny, C. H. Hale, G. W. Biles, J. M. Murphy, T. F. McElroy, G. 
A. Barnes, S. D. Howe, S. W. Percival, Hazzard Stevens, A. A. Phillips, Ira Ward 
and R. W. Ryerson were elected trustees of the Railroad Union.
	The bond election on August 8th passed quietly and a good vote was polled.  
The bonds were ordered, 529 votes being cast for to 214 against.
	The bonds were issued and the Railroad Union gave the county a bond for 
$200,000 secured by a first mortgage on the road, conditioned that the road 
would be completed within one year from August 1, 1875.
	The Union had expected to sell its bonds in Portland but in this it was 
not successful.  Gen. Stevens then sought a market for them in San Francisco but 
with a like result.  These failures were attributed to Northern Pacific 
influences and anathemas long and deep were breathed and uttered against that 
corporation.  The Northern Pacific was also discriminating against the county in 
the matter of rates.  In May a petition


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was presented to the county commissioners asking that a committee of citizens be 
appointed to act with a similar committee appointed by the town board to report 
on a course to be pursued relative to such discrimination.  The petition was 
received favorably and J. P. Judson, Wm. McLane and J. S. Dobbins appointed as 
such committee.  This committee never reported.

1875.
	Since occupying the Puget Sound Institute property for court house 
purposes a feeling had grown up that the site was too far removed from the 
business center of the town.  Out in the woods, streets ungraded, rude side 
walks it was too far out to be easy of access.  The county offered to exchange 
the southwest quarter of block 63 at the corner of Union and Washington for the 
southeast corner of block 25 at the corner of Sixth and Franklin, then owned by 
the town and used for school purposes, if the town would pay a difference of 
$600.
	The school house in block 25 was considered insufficient to accommodate 
the growing condition of the schools and in May the town proposed to either rent 
or purchase the county property.  The county then offered to exchange sites for 
$300 or proposed to lease the court house for school purposes if the town would 
keep the building insured and pay the rent of the district court room.  The town 
accepted the former proposition.
	Early in the year the county treasurer demanded of the town board the 
immediate payment of the two $500 notes held by the county that were given by 
the town in 1870 in lieu of the public square that was donated to the county for 
court house purposes.  During the few years preceding, the town had been 
expending money in building and repairing bridges, a portion of which should be 
borne by the


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county.  At this time the county held the obligations of the town to the amount 
of $1633  -$1333 for the public square and $300 difference on sites.  In May, N. 
Crosby, T. F. McElroy, Robert Mack and S. Williams for the town proposed to give 
the county $900 in notes bearing ten per cent interest in exchange for the 
town's obligations which the county held.  It was accepted.  At the same session 
the county appropriated $500 to plank Main street.
	Efforts to float the railroad bonds had so far ended in failure, and in 
June, 1875, the old subject of a wharf to deep water was brought to the front.  
Soundings were made to ascertain the best location.  J. G. Parker addressed a 
communication to Goodall, Nelson & Perkins of San Francisco, owners of a line of 
steam ships to the Sound, asking if they would send their Sound steamers to 
Olympia if the town would provide them with a deep water wharf.  Their reply was 
in the affirmative.  The site of the wharf was then the bone of contention.  The 
Snyder place on the west side was selected as the most eligible location and Mr. 
Snyder offered to donate one hundred feet of water front.  The West Olympia 
Homestead Association was formed by B. F. Brown and an effort made to secure the 
location of the wharf on the Brown claim.  The summer wore along and nothing was 
being accomplished.  The town was becoming the laughing stock of its down Sound 
neighbors; was joshed for carrying out gigantic enterprises on paper.
	On September 23 a special election was held to vote on a levy of a special 
tax of 2 1/2 mills for a wharf.  The proposition was carried by a vote of 132 to 
5.  The location of the wharf was the question that then came to the front.  The 
west side scheme was the cheapest but the general desire was to


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have it at the foot of Main street.  But the west side was selected, it being 
located on Brown's claim.  On October 9 a special levy of 8 mills was made for 
the wharf and to make a road to it.  Mr. French at once commenced its 
construction and completed it in January, 1876.  According to their agreement 
Goodall, Nelson & Perkins ran their steamships to Olympia.  Brown's wharf was a 
great benefit to the town and continued in use until 1888 when the long wharf 
was built from the foot of Main street.
	In October of this year the Standard office put in steam power.
	During the year the county and the whole territory had been thrown into 
great grief by the death of Judge McFadden.  As one of the early pioneers and 
always at the front in matters pertaining to the interests of the county he 
became endeared to the mass of the people.
	The town officers  this year were: I. C. Ellis Mayor; Wm. Diggins and S. 
Witham councilmen from the First Ward; N. Crosby and T. F. McElroy from the 
Second ward and H. L. Chapman and R. Mack from Third ward.  In October Mayor 
Ellis resigned and T. F. McElroy was appointed mayor and J. H. Houghton elected 
to fill Mr. McElroy's place on the board.
	J. D. Bolander and Joseph Martin were awarded the contract to grade a road 
from Marshville bridge to the wharf, for $45.  The county appropriated $500 to 
improve the road to Tumwater.

1876.
	Early in 1876 the Pacific Mail Company's steamers determined to make 
Olympia their Sound terminus and ran two steamers to San Francisco, the Panama 
and Dakota.
	The Standard and Courier united to produce a daily paper called the 
Olympian.  In August the Standard


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retired and Mr. C. P. Bagley of the Courier continued the publication.
	Attention was turned toward Tumwater as a manufacturing site and it was 
then termed the future Lowell of the Pacific.
	W. 0. Bush of Bush prairie and son of the pioneer George Bush, this year 
fixed up an exhibition of agricultural products for the Centennial Exposition at 
Philadelphia.  The collection was an excellent one for a county in the far 
northwest and received the distinction it merited by being awarded first premium 
on wheat.
	The railroad situation dragged its slow length along through the year.  
The bonds had not been sold and Otis Freeman of the Pacific Mail Company sought 
to dispose of them at San Francisco but failed.
	In February, M. Blinn, J. B. Allen and S. W. Percival of the Railroad 
Union asked the county board for an extension of the time in which they had 
obligated the company to have the road completed.  The board of trustees of the 
town united to urge the extension of time.  The county board ordered the 
extension on condition that the company, before the May term, commence the road 
with a bona fide view to its early completion.  At the May term the time for the 
completion of the road was extended to August 1,1877.
	In April a Chinese school was opened in the Chinese quarters on Columbia 
street, Rev. Dong Gong being the teacher.
	On April 29 the community was called to mourn the death of Edward 
Giddings, one of the pioneers who had been instrumental in furthering the 
commercial interests of the village
	Later in the summer, July 14, occurred the sudden death of Capt. E. A. 
Starr of the steamer Annie Stewart.
	This year so pregnant with political


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interests in the nation had its election concomitants in Thurston county.  A 
full county ticket was to be elected, besides a delegate to congress and members 
of the territorial legislature.  The following nominations were made:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Joint Councilman: T. M. Reed.
	For Representatives: J. C. Horr, S. G. Ward, E. B. Chipman.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Auditor: A. A. Phillips.
	For Treasurer: J. H. Munson.
	For Commissioners: J. M. Swan, J. S. French.
	For Probate Judge: A. R. Elder.
	For School Superintendent: John R. Thompson.
	For Surveyor: F. Brown.
	For Coroner: I. V. Mossman.
	For Wreckmaster: John Chapman.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Joint Councilman: N. Ostrander.
	For Representatives: B. F. Ruth, J. P. Judson, E. B. Couch.
	For Sheriff: J. B. Rowe.
	For Auditor: P. Turpin.
	For Treasurer: B. F. Yantis.
	For Commissioners: W. H. Mitchell, A. J. Chambers, Wm. McLane.
	For Probate Judge: Edwin Marsh.
	For School Superintendent. D. N. Utter.
	For Surveyor: H. Hicklin.
	For Coroner: W. J. Yaeger.
	For Wreckmaster: Chas. Grainger.

	The entire Republican ticket was elected also A. J. Chambers, one of the 
Democratic candidates for county commissioner.
	In November was organized the Washington Literary society, which elicited 
considerable interest among the young people of the village.
	At the city election April 3, J. C. Horr was elected Mayor; S. Coulter and 
J. B.. Pray councilmen from the First ward; J. H. Houghton and J. M. Swan from 
the Second ward and J. S. Dobbins


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and D. S. B. Henry from the Third ward; A. A. Phillips, clerk; C. B. Mann, 
treasurer, and J. P. Willis, marshal.  During the year Mr. Dobbins resigned and 
James Pattison was appointed as his successor; also T. M. Reed was elected vice 
Mr. Houghton resigned.
	This year an attempt was made to settle the matters between the city and 
school district growing out of the exchange of sites with the county the 
previous year and made more pertinent by the creation of the school district as 
a distinct organization.  Accordingly, on June 10, Messrs. Henry, Swan and 
Coulter were appointed by the council a committee to make a transfer of the 
school property to the school district and on September 9 reported the matter 
back with the statement that it, the committee, had been unable to make 
arrangements with the school district.  It was voted, however that the city 
charge the district rent at the rate of $100 per annum.  The city took the 
position that the $300 paid the county on exchange of sites, should be borne by 
the school district.  The school directors did not dispute the claim but failed 
to reimburse the city, doubtless through lack of funds.
	On November 25 the council ordered a new note given Thomas Prather for a 
loan made in 1867.
	The year 1876 passed into history with the people in anxious suspense over 
railroad communication and commercial prosperity.  The county board had limited 
the time for the completion of the road to August, 1877, but the absence of a 
well directed effort to begin the work made it evident that at no time during 
the coming year would the snort of the iron horse be heard.

1877.
	Thus the year 1877 opened amidst doubt and uncertainty respecting the 
railroad to Tenino.  But there had


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been so much of this state of feeling since the project was first broached in 
1872 that the people were not alarmed.  But the project was not abandoned.
	Amid discouragements and in spite of opposition a few faithful friends of 
Olympia clung to the hope that their anticipations would ultimately be realized 
and their efforts crowned with success.
	Early in the year Amos Bowman of San Francisco proposed to assume the 
undertaking of the Olympia Railroad Union if an extension of time for its 
completion could be had.  The matter was brought to the attention of the county 
commissioners at their May term and the time for the completion of the road 
extended to August 1, 1878, on condition that the actual work of construction 
begin before October, 1877.
	Numerous causes might be assigned for the failure to build the road.  
There was the opposition of the Northern Pacific Company that used its influence 
to embarrass the local company in selling its bonds, but it gradually dawned 
upon the minds of the citizens that, though the projectors of the enterprise 
were earnest in their efforts to build the road, the movement was not in the 
hands of practical railroad men.  The members of the Union themselves began to 
suspect there might be something to this proposition and were ready to turn the 
work over to another whenever it appeared that, by so doing, work of 
construction would go forward.  To this end the proposition of Mr. Bowman was 
accepted by the Railroad Union.
	About this time Gov. E. P. Ferry had succeeded Captain Percival on the 
board of trustees and to the governor was assigned the duty of drawing up the 
contract with Mr. Bowman.
	The contract, prepared and approved by the Union, was not satisfactory to 
Mr. Bowman and the deal was declared


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off.  Thus again was the village under the cloud of withered hopes and blighted 
expectations.  But a few determined men were not content to there remain.  On 
June 2, a meeting was held in Columbia Hall to discuss the situation.  The 
matter was in the hands of the Olympia Railroad Union, but that company evinced 
a willingness to stand aside and permit another to step into his shoes, if he 
would worthily wear them.  To this end the Thurston County Railroad Construction 
Company was organized.
	The capital stock was placed at $250,000, divided into 250,000 shares.  
The stock was taken and the following gentlemen chosen directors; J. P. Judson, 
president; R. H. Milroy, Vice President; E. N. Ouimette, treasurer; L. P. Venen, 
secretary; J. T. Brown, James Pattison, Bruce Dodge, Geo. A. Foster, A. J. Burr, 
J. M. Murphy, Wm. H. Mitchell, C. C. Hewitt, Ira Ward, B. F. Yantis, L. Bettman 
and G. W. French.  The Railroad Union sent a proposition signed by M. Blinn and 
T. I. McKinley, promising to convey to the new company all lands and lots held 
by and promised to the Union on the completion of the road.  This proposition 
was rejected by the Construction company and a proposition made to complete the 
road on the transfer to the new company of all lands, lots, etc. held by the 
Union.
	This proposition was accepted by the Union; subscriptions to stock were 
taken and local railroad circles began to show more a spirit of business.  The 
question of guage was agitated but was largely determined by the item of cost.  
It was roughly estimated that a narrow guage track would cost about one half 
that of a standard guage.  The possibility of connecting a standard guage track 
with that of the Northern Pacific at Tenino also entered into the 
considerations.  The narrow guage was


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adopted.  The field day idea of 1874 was again put into practice and work began 
between Warren's Point and Tumwater.  Confidence again possessed the people and 
the delusions of Hope presented pictures of commercial importance to the city 
resulting from a narrow guage connection with Tenino.
	Building in the city was only fairly prosperous during this year, the 
people being loath to embark in business ventures.
	Messrs. Allen & Titus fitted up the blacksmith shop of J. S. Dobbins at 
the corner of Third and Washington streets as a machine shop.
	In March of this year the Champions of the Bed Cross, a fraternal 
organization was incorporated with Prof. W. H. Roberts as Commander.
	On August 8th a fire broke out in the Westbrook stables on Third street 
and ere it could be controlled had destroyed $20,000 worth of property.
	Messrs. Billings & Co. engaged in making pottery at the corner of Main and 
Ninth streets.

1878.
	The year 1878 witnessed the completion of the Olympia & Tenino railroad.  
In April E. M. Ouimette visited San Francisco and bought the iron and a 
locomotive.  In May a dispute arose over the right of way from Warren's point to 
the Marshville bridge and as a result the route was changed and built on piling 
as was first contemplated.  On May 11 a concert was given in Columbia Hall for 
the benefit of the railroad.  The receipts were $70.  During the summer the 
contract to build the cars was let to Ward and Mitchel of Tumwater.
	During July the road was completed and August 1 was designated as the day 
for giving a free excursion from the city to Tenino.  It was a gala day.  The 
fond hopes of Years were now culminated in the joys of a reality.  The


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capital of the territory, the pioneer settlement north of the Columbia had a 
narrow guage railroad connection with a bluff fourteen miles away, along side of 
which lay the track of the Northern pacific.  It was a great day.  Like nearly 
every August morning, the weather was propitious, clear and bright.  At 8 
o'clock the first passenger train pulled out with six cars and three hundred 
fifty three excursionists.  An equal number went at 2 o'clock.
	The county commissioners appointed as inspectors to examine the road, in 
compliance with the agreement at the time the bonds were issued, Messrs. A. D. 
Glover, A. J. Treadway and Wm. McMicken.  In August they reported the completion 
of the road as satisfactory.
	The following rates of fare were adopted: Olympia to Tumwater 12 1/2  
cent; to Bush Prairie, 50 cents; Spurlock Station 75 cents; Tenino, $1.00.  The 
county bonds were issued to Pacific Rolling Mills Company of San Francisco to 
whom they had been assigned.
	No sooner was the road completed than there began the agitation of its 
extension to Chehalis in order to divert from Tacoma to Olympia the trade of 
that valley.
	The completion of the railroad inspired confidence.  Houses were occupied 
and tenements generally in demand.
	A street railway to Tumwater was discussed.
	W. N. Horton increased the water service this summer by constructing a 
reservoir on the property of James Pattison on the eastside and laid a four-inch 
pipe to connect with the Tumwater main at Third street.  The remains of this 
reservoir still exist near the corner of Third and Tullis streets on Pattison's 
Addition.
	In August the old district school


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house on Franklin street was remodeled to accommodate the district court, this 
lower story being used for the clerk's office and jury rooms and the second 
story for a court room.
	Local politics for 1878 had its usual excitements, ambitious, successes 
and disappointments.  The following tickets were in the field:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Joint Councilman: Jas. Tullis.
	For Representatives: M. R. Tilley, F. M. Rhodes.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Auditor: A. A. Phillips.
	For County Commissioners: J. M. Swan, S. L. Ruddell, J. Ticknor.
	For Treasurer: J. H. Munson.
	For Probate Judge: A. R. Elder.
	For School Superintendent: J. R. Thompson.
	For Coroner: Robert Mack.
	For Wreckmaster: A. J. Littlejohn.
	For Surveyor: -----Page.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Joint Councilman: F. Henry.
	For Representatives: E. T. Young, E. B. Conch.
	For Sheriff: D. T. Drewry.
	For Auditor: F. G. Lowe.
	For County Commissioners: Robert Frost, Jas. Longmire. S. Davenport.
	For Treasurer: J. Chilberg.
	For Probate Judge: F. Henry.
	For School Superintendent: H. Hicklin.
	For Coroner: Geo. Blankenship.
	For Wreckmaster: J. L. Cook.
	For Surveyor: D. S. B. Henry.

	Seven hundred ninety four votes were cast in the county.  The Republican 
ticket was elected with the exception of S. L. Ruddell and J. Ticknor, 
commissioners, the Democratic candidates Jas. Longmire and S. Davenport being 
chosen.  Francis Henry also defeated A. R. Elder for probate judge.  A state 
constitution was voted on, receiving 459 votes to 118 against.  Local option 
received a vote of 220 to 148.


p73 c1

	During the year the claim of the county against the city of Olympia was a 
subject of controversy between the board of county commissioners and the city 
council.  The county held the $900 note of the town, given in 1875.  In February 
1878 a special meeting of the town board was called and a committee appointed to 
confer with the county commissioners in relation to the note and the town asked 
that its validity be submitted to the district judge.  Definite action was not 
taken.
	There also re-arose the point of difference between the school district 
and the city.  In the spring of 1877, a new town board being elected, a 
committee waited upon the school board to effect a settlement of their 
differences the town insisting upon the school district paying the $300 due on 
exchange of sites.  The city records do not show that this committee made a 
report.  In August 1878 John B. Allen, Geo. A. Barnes and Benj. Harned, board of 
school directors, proposed to pay the town $354.17 for claims against the 
district if the town would execute to the district a conveyance of lots seven 
and eight in block sixty three.  The proposition was accepted.
	In the spring of 1878 the following city officers were elected: Mayor, E. 
N. Ouimette; Councilmen: First Ward, E. T. Young, W. H. Clark; Second Ward, A. 
0. Damon, Alex. Farquar; Third Ward, C. H. Hale, A. Hartsock; Clerk, A. A. 
Phillips; Marshal, R. Mack.  Treasurer, W. J. C. Neate.
	At the May term of the county board the town asked for an appropriation 
for repairing the Marshville bridge.  The county ordered canceled the 
accumulated interest on the $900 note provided the town would make no charge for 
grand jury rooms for the district court.
	In August was organized the Olympia Oyster Company to deal in oysters


p73 c2

and to establish agencies at down Sound points.  A. B. Rabbeson was president; 
R. P. Shoecraft, secretary and T. C. Van Epps, treasurer.
	During the summer W. N. Horton was granted the right of way through the 
streets and, by the county, along the road from Tumwater to lay pipes for 
supplying the town with water.
	Amid the stimulus of renewed hope the year 1878 closed.

1879.
	The appearance of the railroad, the existence of the railroad bonds and 
the growth of the county had given a new life to matters in private business 
relations and in public affairs.
	In February 1879 the newly elected county commissioners held their first 
term.  Mr. Swan was elected chairman of the board.  The question of the railroad 
bonds being subject to taxation was brought before the board but determined in 
favor of the right of the county to tax them.
	At the May term was created a special fund of two per cent to pay interest 
on the railroad bonds.
	This spring the county board served notice on the town trustees that the 
$900 must be paid immediately.  With perfect complacency and decorum the mayor 
referred the communication to a committee consisting of C. H. Hale, E. T. Young 
and J. S. Dobbins, who were authorized to wait upon the commissioners and make 
arrangements for immediate settlement.  At the August term of the commissioners 
Messrs. Hale and Young visited them and urged upon their attention the 
invalidity of the note and again, on behalf of the town, urged that it be 
submitted to the district judge.
	The record does not show that the commissioners very greatly desired to 
submit the note to judicial scrutiny.
	The town offered to pay the county one half of the $900 if the county 
would apply the other half to repairing


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the Marshville bridge.  At the November session of the board the proposition was 
accepted.  In November the contract for keeping the poor of the county was 
awarded to Mary Mann of Tumwater at $5 per week per head.  At the same time J. 
C. Horr was awarded the contract for burying the county poor at $3.50 per 
corpse.
	During the latter part of the year a controversy arose between the 
Northern Pacific railroad company and the county officials upon the question of 
the taxation of railroad property.  The railroad company took the position that 
its property was exempt from taxation.  At the November session of the board the 
railroad company offered to compromise the matter by paying three per cent on 
its gross earnings, aggregating $1,460.75.  This was accepted by the 
commissioners on condition that the company pay on its rolling stock before 
December 1, and that this compromise be considered no precedent.  In February 
the board of school directors of the city district reported to the city council 
that it was unable to collect its special tax and therefore could not pay its 
indebtedness of $354.17.
	At the municipal election in April the following officers were elected: 
Mayor, E. N. Ouimette; trustees: First ward, E. T. Young, M. R. Tilley; Second 
ward, A. Farquhar, Geo. Forbes; Third ward, J. S. Dobbins, C. H. Hale; Marshall, 
Robert Mack; Clerk A. A. Phillips; Treasurer, W. C. S. Neate.
	Early in the year 1879 the business and social circles of Olympia were 
thrown into a commotion by the arrest of S. W. Hall who had been in business 
here for several years.  The arrest was for a crime committed in Illinois 
several years prior by George H. Halliday which was Hall's true name.  Hall 
affected great surprise and assured his friends that he would


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soon return and make everything clear.  He never returned.
	On May 20 Judge Edwin Marsh one of the pioneers whose claim adjoined 
Percival's on the west side, since platted as Woodruff's addition, started for 
Arcadia in a row boat.  During the day the boat was found near Dofflemeyer's 
Point containing Judge Marsh's coat and lunch basket.  The body was never found.
	Early this summer a subsidy was raised to improve the Chehalis wagon road.
	During the summer of 1879 the question of a water supply was agitated both 
for fire purposes and household use.  The system of W. N. Horton, which had been 
in operation was generally thought to be insufficient.
	During the summer the Union Academy was formed and opened on the Eastside.
	In the fall there was a general improvement in the logging business- an 
industry that had somewhat lagged for a few years.

1880.
	The year 1880 was characterized by few items of great historical interest.
	The settlement of the railroad taxes with the Northern Pacific was 
followed by another dispute of like character with the Tenino road.  The company 
returned no assessment to the assessor for the year 1879.  The assessor fixed 
the valuation at $71,000.
	The railroad officials, in February, 1880, asked a reduction but the 
commissioners refused to make it on the ground that the application came too 
late although they acknowledged that it was too high.  J. P. Judson, attorney 
for the company, found the assessment roll defective in not being authenticated 
and signed by the assessor as required by law.  Mr. Judson announced that he 
disliked to take the question into the courts, for he feared


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the entire assessment would be declared invalid.  A special session of the board 
was called and as a compromise the railroad company offered to pay three and one 
half per cent on its gross earnings in lieu of taxes.  The compromise 
proposition was rejected; the rails and property sold and bought in by the 
county through Francis Henry, appointed for the purpose.  The railroad company 
brought suit to recover possession.  At the trial, when the prosecuting 
attorney, Mr. Bloomfield, offered the assessment roll in evidence Mr. Judson 
objected on the ground that it was an invalid roll.  The objection was sustained 
and the railroad company recovered the property.
	In December a petition was presented to the commissioners that the county 
treasurer be directed to refuse to pay interest on the railroad bonds, but it 
was denied.
	Early in the year the committee of the town council appointed to confer 
with the school board over the matter of  district indebtedness reported that 
the school board would take no action toward paying the $354.  The clerk was 
directed to make out a bill against the district for house rent at the rate of 
$100 per month since the town purchased the property.
	The clerk was instructed to draw a warrant in favor of the county 
treasurer for $450 and demand the $900 note.
	At the annual election in Olympia this spring, Geo. A. Barnes was elected 
mayor; A. B. Woodard and A. H. Chambers trustees from the First ward; Geo. 
Forbes and Joseph Lammon from the Second and Robert Frost and Thomas Tallentire 
from the Third; Robert Mack, Marshal; J. V. Yantis, clerk, and W. C. S. Neate, 
treasurer.  The new council inaugurated street improvements, which were 
considered quite elaborate for


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those days, to wit: $300 were appropriated for Ayer's Hill, $100 for Main street 
and $100 for Percival's Hill.
	In May of this year Gov. Ferry was succeeded by Wm. A. Newell of New 
Jersey, a man of extensive public experience.  As early as 1846 he was a member 
of congress from his state and for several terms governor.  With Gov. Newell 
came a colony that settled in Waddell Creek and Sherman valleys in this county, 
west of Black lake.  Although the company located on some of the most fertile 
lands of the county, their inaccessibility and the cost of clearing slowly 
worked discouragement to the settlers who, one by one, abandoned their claims 
and engaged in other pursuits.
	To take the federal census this summer there were appointed as enumerators 
for the county: R. P. Shoecraft, P. P. Carroll and 0. M. Fuller.  The population 
of the county was 3,270; of Olympia 1532 and of Tumwater 171.  The population of 
Tacoma at the same time was 1098 and of Seattle 3533.
	During the summer Messrs. S. C. Woodruff and T. C. Van Epps who were in 
the mercantile business fitted out another expedition to inspect the Black Hills 
in the western part of the county but the expedition served only as a midsummer 
picnic for its participants.
	At the annual election of officers of the Thurston county Railroad 
Company, T. M. Reed was chosen president; L. Bettman, vice president; J. P. 
Judson, secretary; W. H. Mitchell, a superintendent; T. I. McKenny, Geo. A. 
Barnes and T. M. Reed, executive committee.
	The Catholic Sisters of Charity this summer commenced the preliminary work 
toward starting a school at Olympia which became Providence Academy.
	In September of this year the city


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was honored with a visit from President Hayes and Messrs. Chambers, Tallentire 
and Forbes were appointed a committee of the town board to provide a suitable 
reception.
	As the biennial election drew near the following tickets were placed in 
the field:

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Representative: Wm. McLane.
	For Sheriff: L. Kratz.
	For Auditor: R. Frost.
	For Treasurer: A. H. Chambers.
	For Probate Judge: F. Henry.
	For Commissioners: R. Waddell, T. Rutledge.
	For School Superintendent: J. L. Henderson.
	For Surveyor: D. S. B. Henry.
	For Coroner: Geo. Blankenship.
	For Wreckmaster: --- Budlong.

REPUBLICAN.
	For Representative: A. Van Eaton.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Auditor: A. A. Phillips.
	For Treasurer: J. H. Munson.
	For Probate Judge; J. G. Sparks.
	For Commissioners: S. A. McKenzie, Joseph Gibson.
	For School Superintendent: J. R. Thompson.
	For Surveyor: F. W. Brown.
	For Coroner: N. Pattison.
	For Wreckmaster, A. J. Littlejohn.

	The Republican ticket was elected with the exception of Messrs. Van Eaton 
and Sparks.
	During 1880 there was a general improvement in all kinds of business.  It 
is worth noting that at this time there were seven religious societies in 
Olympia and each owned the real estate it occupied.  The same is true of the 
fraternities.  Five of the six dry goods merchants owned their buildings.  So 
did three of five hotel keepers and the same proportion of renters might be 
found in other lines of business.  The city was on no boom but a state of 
contentment and stability pervaded


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the community.  Ranchers in the county owned their holdings.
	During the year there had been introduced in the town small change- the 
dime and half dime.  Hitherto the smallest had been the quarter or two bits.  A 
person buying fifteen cents worth of goods paid a quarter.  The loss was 
invariably borne by the purchasing class.  At first the small pieces were 
received with contempt but soon worked their way into every day transactions.

1881.
	The discovery of samples of imaginary iron ore had turned the attention of 
the citizens to the manufacturing industry and in May, 1881, the Olympia Iron 
Company was formed with the following directors: Gov. Wm. A. Newell, president; 
S. W. Percival, vice president; P. P. Carroll, secretary; A. Farquhar, 
treasurer; A. H. Chambers and J. T. Brown.
	For some years the Washington Industrial Association had been in a state 
of "innocuous desuetude" but an attempt was made this year to hold an annual 
fair on its grounds south of the city.  Excellent provision was made for a 
superior exposition but in spite of earnest work the fair was generally 
pronounced a failure.  This was owing to the distance of the grounds from the 
town- too far to walk and too short to pay four bits for a ride.  At the annual 
meeting, Geo. A. Barnes was elected president of the Association for the ensuing 
year; C. H. Hale, vice president; T. C. Van Epps, treasurer and L. P. Venen, 
secretary.
	In August 1881 at the annual meeting of the stockholders of the railroad 
company, J. W. Sprague, of Tacoma was elected president, Robert Wingate, vice 
president, and F. R. Brown secretary and treasurer.  The name of the company was 
changed to Olympia & Chehalis Valley Railroad and a


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meeting called to consider a proposition to increase the capital stock to 
$500,000.
	The death of President Garfield in September caused great grief in this 
far off corner of the Republic.  Gov. Newell issued the usual proclamation and 
Mayor Young announced a memorial service.  At a citizens meeting Gov. Newell 
presided and T. C. Van Epps acted as secretary.  Resolutions of condolence were 
adopted and telegraphed President Arthur.
	This year a Blue Ribbon League was formed.
	Early in the year E. T. Young addressed the board of trustees upon the 
subject of a canal from Black Lake.  The communication was referred to a 
committee which subsequently reported that a contract to survey the canal from 
Black Lake to the head waters of Budd's Inlet had been let to 0. B. Iverson and 
William Jameson for $150.
	At the annual municipal election E. T. Young was elected mayor; A. H. 
Chambers and A. B. Woodard trustees from the First Ward; N. Ostrander and George 
Forbes from the second Ward; Robert Frost and Thos. Tallentire from  the Third 
Ward; Robert Mack Marshal; J. V. Yantis, clerk; C. B. Mann, treasurer.
	The street committee of the town was authorized to construct a new bridge 
to the west side and the contract for the bridge was awarded to A. J. 
Littlejohn.  This summer a further improvement was made to Ayer's Hill.

1882
	During the session of the legislature of 1882 Olympia was incorporated as 
a city and at the municipal election the following officers were elected: Mayor, 
N. Ostrander; councilmen, First ward, A. H. Chambers for two years, H. Sabin for 
one year; Second ward, Richard Osseno for two years,


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R. G. O'Brien for one year; Third ward, W. J. Yaeger for two years and J. S. 
Dobbins for one year.  Clerk, J. V. Yantis; Marshal, J. R. Rose; Treasurer, C. 
B. Mann.
	On May 18 fire broke out in the Vienna restaurant on Main street on the 
south half of the block where Chilberg's building now stands.  The flames spread 
in both directions north and south.  By the efforts of the fire department such 
as it was, they were prevented from crossing both Main and Fourth streets.  But 
in spite of the heroic efforts of the people the entire block bounded by Fourth, 
Washington, Fifth and Main streets was burned to the ground except the building 
belonging to the Tilley estate and Philip Hiltz' property, both in the south 
east corner of the block.  The total losses occasioned by the fire aggregated 
$35,500, with a total insurance of $22,000.
	The fire suggested the need of a better protection against such 
occurrences and the city council submitted to the people a vote of a special tax 
of two and a half mills for fire purposes.  A proposition for a special school 
tax was also submitted to the people by the board of school directors.  The fire 
tax carried while the special school tax was voted down.
	In the hope that the annual fair of the Industrial Association would be 
more of a success in 1882 than that of the year previous, it was divided into 
two departments: a stock exhibit at the fair grounds, to be held August 28, and 
an exhibit of fruits and manufactured articles to be held in Columbia Hall in 
October.  This seemed to be an improvement on the exhibition of the previous 
year but was far from being satisfactory to the promoters of the enterprise.
	On August 29th occurred, through a misapprehension, the death of Andrew 
McClure an habitual drunkard.


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Mr. E. A. Stevens, agent for Adam's Express, was awakened at night by a strange 
noise at the back door.  He demanded: "Who's there?" and there came a maudlin 
response something like "I want silver."  Stevens then fired his pistol at the 
door.  The groan of the victim indicated that the shot had taken effect.  Upon 
opening the door Mr. Stevens was surprised to find old Andy McClure.  A coroners 
jury exonerated Mr. Stevens in his  action in the matter.  Andy was doubtless 
looking for something to eat.
	The local political campaign this summer was one of exciting interest.  
The Republican convention renominated the old ticket.  Disaffection had grown 
up; taxes were high.  The Democratic county convention was called for September 
30th at 11 o'clock a. m.  The People's convention met at 11 a. m. and placed a 
full county ticket in the field.  At 2 o'clock the Democratic convention met and 
adjourned sine die without naming a ticket.  The following were the nominations:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Joint Councilman: S. G. Ward.
	For Representative: F. R. Brown.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Auditor: A. A. Phillips.
	For Treasurer: N. Crosby.
	For Assessor: H. H. Morgan.
	For Commissioners: J. Gibson, J. M. Swan.
	For Probate Judge: T. M. Reed, Jr.
	For School Superintendent: J. R. Thompson.
	For Surveyor: F. W. Brown.
	For Coroner: N. Pattison.

PEOPLE'S.
	For Joint Councilman: C. H. Hale.
	For Representative: Peterfield Turpin.
	For Sheriff: Frank Ruth.
	For Auditor: C. M. Moore.


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	For Treasurer: J. H. Munson.
	For Assessor: R. P. Shoecraft.
	For Commissioners: J. L. Yantis, J. S. Dobbins.
	For Probate Judge: Francis Henry.
	For School Superintendent: Mrs. P. C. Hale.
	For Surveyor: F. W. Brown.
	For Coroner: N. Pattison.

	The People's ticket was elected except Frank Ruth for sheriff and R. P. 
Shoecraft for assessor.
	In October one H. F. Hutchinson claimed $1000 damages against the city for 
receiving a broken leg on account of a defective sidewalk.  As a compromise he 
offered to take $500.  The city council refused to pay.  Hutchinson brought suit 
against the city and Judson & Israel, a law firm, were employed to defend for a 
fee of $250.  The matter reached the supreme court where a judgment for $1200 
was rendered against the city.
	This fall the water company began investigating the feasibility of putting  
a pump in Moxlie Creek in the southeastern part of the city and forcing the 
water to a reservoir located on the hill from which the supply could be extended 
to all parts of the city.  The project was not carried but such a scheme was 
reserved for another company at a considerable later date.
	In December Peterfield Turpin, who had recently been elected a member of 
the legislature suffered a stroke of paralysis which incapacitated him for work.  
He never recovered front the affliction, although he lived several years.
	During the preceding years a controversy had grown up in official circles 
over the assessing of railroad lands and at the November term of the county 
commissioners Mr. Swan, chairman of the board, was directed to confer with the 
commissioners of Cowlitz, Lewis. Chehalis and Mason counties with a view to 
securing


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a unity of action in net, assessing of the lands of the Northern Pacific.
	In April a special session of the county commissioners was called to a 
matter of difference that had grown up between the city and county, to-wit: who 
lawfully should collect and expend the special road and bridge tax levied on all 
property within the corporate limits of the city of Olympia, the city or the 
county.  J. S. Dobbins was authorized to sign an agreement on the part of the 
commissioners to refer the question to the judge of the district court and to 
abide by such decision.  Mr. McKenzie, chairman of the board, objected to the 
proceedings on the ground that the question submitted was not accompanied by a 
statement of fact in the case.  The statement was accordingly signed by Mayor 
Ostrander and councilmen on the part of the city and Mr. McKenzie as chairman of 
the board.  Mr. McKenzie also filed a protest to accompany the papers to the 
district judge.
	On May 11th Judge Hoyt reported verbally that he deemed it best to not 
give a decision on the subject as there did not seem to be a harmonious feeling 
in regard to the matter between all parties concerned.  On May 23 the 
commissioners ordered that the treasurer's duplicate receipts for the taxes in 
dispute be accepted and the auditor be instructed to settle with the treasurer 
in accordance therewith.  Mr. McKenzie objected.
	At the same session of the board Chairman McKenzie resigned, assigning as 
his reason pressing personal business.  At the August term J. S. Dobbins was 
appointed chairman of the board and B. F. Ruth appointed commissioner vice Mr. 
McKenzie.
	In March of this year the school fund became exhausted and on the 
recommendation of Mrs. P. C. Hale, county superintendent, a tuition fee


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was charged to keep the school going nine months.
	This year the Sister's School or Providence Academy was established.
	The census taken this summer by the assessor showed a population of 2764 
in the county- 520 less than in 1882.  The result was not generally satisfactory 
and numerous were the complaints that the returns were imperfect.
	At the annual city election in April, N. Ostrander was re-elected mayor 
and the following councilmen, each for two years: First ward, C. Burmeister; 
Second ward, R. G. O'Brien; Third ward, C. H. Hale.  Clerk, J. V. Yantis; 
Treasurer, C. B. Mann.  On June 19, Councilman Yaeger, one of the holdovers, 
died and Thomas Tallentire was appointed in his place.
	This city council made a contract with W. N. Horton for ten fire plugs at 
$600 per year and in October purchased a Silsby fire engine and a lot on 
Columbia street for an engine house.
	This summer again was agitated the railroad through to the Chehalis 
valley.  The route calculated upon was to start down the eastside about a mile 
and a half, to run between the city and Tumwater, thence to Black Lake, Young's, 
Miami Prairie, through Camas prairie to the Black Hills, thence crossing the 
river to Greenwood, to Elma, Satsop and on to Montesano- a distance of 47 miles.  
Like all early railroads in pioneer settlements the railroad existed only in the 
minds of its projectors, although the feasibility of such a route would 
generally commend itself.
	The city schools opened this fall with Prof. L. E. Follansbee as 
principal; Ellen S. Stevenson, Gertrude McCausland and A. R. Anderson as 
assistants.
	In August the First National Bank was organized with Judge Hoyt as 
president and succeeded to the business


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of the banking house of Geo. A. Barnes.  In August were filed the articles of 
incorporation of the Olympia Light Company.  Its objects were to erect works for 
the manufacture of hydrogen gas and for the generation of electric fluid to 
supply Olympia and Tumwater with light for business and domestic purposes.  The 
capital stock was placed at $1000, divided into one thousand shares at $1 each.  
The incorporators were Geo. A. Barnes, T. I. McKenny, Geo. Gelbach, A. A. 
Phillips, Jno. P. Hoyt, A. H. Chambers, N. H. Owings and N. S. Porter.
	On August 26 the Carlton House took fire and burned to the ground.  As the 
fall wore along the business men of the town began to reflect upon the 
facilities for caring for strangers.  The biennial legislature would convene in 
December and lodging houses were few and small.  In consideration of the 
exigencies of the case Mrs. L. M. Clark, who owned the site, determined to 
rebuild.
	During the fall there occurred a decline in the price of logs owing to an 
over production; mill yards had more than they could use.
	The year 1883 was one of business activity.  The city of Olympia took on 
an air of increasing prosperity which made an increasing demand for county 
products.  In the spring August Schneider opened a brick yard on the west side 
of the bay.  Several residences were erected and there arose a general increased 
demand for tenements and lodging apartments.  In November was established a saw 
mill on the west side.
	This fall the Olympia Collegiate Institute was chartered by those 
connected with the Puget Sound conference of the M. E. Church and succeeded to 
the property of the Union Academy on the east side of the bay.
	This summer the city council undertook the mammoth task of grading


p80 c2

Fourth street through Swantown.  It was proposed to make a cut through the bluff 
just east of the bridge.  As the adjoining property owners began to contemplate 
the elevations at which they would be left, protests to the improvement were 
numerous.  The dirt used in making the excavation was used in making a fill at 
the east end of the bridge, being run down in cars.
	A suit for damages was instituted against the city by T. C. Van Epps and 
wife, but though it remained on the court docket several terms did not come to 
trial.
	The composition of the legislature, when it assembled in December, 
indicated the rapid immigration reaching all parts of the territory, several new 
comers composing the membership.  This was the memorable legislature that 
granted woman suffrage and the passage of the bill was ratified by a grand 
jubilee.

1884.
	The year 1884 opened with the municipal election in the city.  J. S. 
Dobbins was chosen mayor; A. E. Chambers, councilman from the First ward; C. B. 
Bagley from the Second and Thomas Tallentire from the Third.  J. L. Henderson, 
treasurer; J. V. Yantis clerk; M. Shields, street commissioner and N. S. Porter, 
city attorney.  The new council resurrected the ghost of the controversy with 
the school district. To settle matters the city attorney was directed to prepare 
the school district a quit claim deed to the premises but this action was 
subsequently reconsidered and a proposition of Mr. Bagley was carried that a 
good deed be given to the school district when the district quit claims the 
court house property, that on the corner of Sixth and Franklin streets, to the 
county.  Mr. Chambers asked that the district be required to repay the $300 paid 
the county but his amendment was lost by the mayor voting No.


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	This winter the route of the railroad was changed to run on the west side 
of the bay from Warren's Point instead of on piling.  This was the route 
originally contemplated but abandoned owing to difficulty in securing the right 
of way.  As rebuilt the depot was built in a small cove to the south of the 
Marshville bridge which was continued in use until the road passed into other 
hands in 1890.
	In February 1884 was organized Capitol Lodge No. 15 Knights of Pythias.
	This winter C. B. Bagley sold the Courier to W. H. Roberts and Fred 
Dunham.
	The spring of 1884 opened with indications of continued growth of the 
town.
	A sewerage system was agitated.
	The contract was let to build the Horr block on Main street for $6,792.
	Real estate was on the move and street grading was agitated and each 
councilman was looking out for his ward.  Propositions to grade Eastside and 
Union streets aroused opposition and neither was improved.
	On May 14, the city council ordered that the new fire engine should not 
leave the business portion of the city.  On the 26th the residence of Marshall 
Blinn on the corner of Union and Washington streets took. fire.  The alarm was 
sounded and though  personal efforts were made to save the building, the 
engineer would not permit the steamer to leave the stable.  The action of the 
council in forbidding the steamer to leave the business portion of the city was 
severely criticized and on June 14 permission was given the engineer to take it 
to the suburbs when necessity required.
	In July there arose a question over the right of the city to exact a 
license from saloons and the question was submitted to the supreme court.
	The county assessment this year


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was considered by many too high; a citizens committee appeared before the board 
of commissioners and urged that the assessments be reduced 40 or 50 per cent and 
that real estate be assessed at its actual value rather than the fictitious 
values placed upon it for speculative purposes.  The board replied that the 
assessment roll would be equalized in accordance with legal advice.
	As the time for the biennial election drew near two tickets were in the 
field: Republican and Democratic, as follows.  At this election women exercised 
the right of suffrage:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Joint Councilman; Clen Crosby.
	For Representative: Thos. Tallentire.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Auditor. Brad W. Davis.
	For Treasurer: C. B. Mann.
	For Assessor: Samuel James.
	For Probate Judge: W. F. Keady.
	For School Superintendent: Jennie Moore.
	For Commissioners: A. B. Woodard, Geo. B. Capen.
	For Surveyor: G. C. Cline.
	For Coroner: A. Hartsuck.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Joint Councilman: Wm. McLane
	For Representative: N. Ostrander.
	For Sheriff: Fred Guyot.
	For Auditor: C. M. Moore.
	For Treasurer: J. H. Munson.
	For Probate Judge: F. Henry.
	For School Superintendent: Mrs. P. C. Hale.
	For Commissioners: T. Prather, L. K. Longmire.
	For Surveyor: R. E. Andrews.
	For Coroner. B. Harned.
	For Wreckmaster: I. V. Mossman.

	The Democratic ticket was largely the People's ticket of the previous 
campaign and made up of members of both parties.
	The Republican ticket was elected


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with the exception of Tallentire for representative, Davis for auditor and Keady 
for probate judge.
	The proposition to tax church property, submitted to the voters received 
457 majority in the county.
	This year Chas. Burmeister erected a brick store building at the corner of 
Main and Third streets.
	Additions were made to the school house on Union street by adding a wing 
to each side.
	In June the Northern Pacific railway opened an office in Olympia, 
appointing S. G. Ward, agent.
	In November the Olympia Building and Loan Association was organized with 
2000 shares at $200 each, the incorporators being: J. T. Brown, T. M. Reed, J. 
C. Ten Eyck, T. C. Van Epps, J. F. Gowey, F. Henry, G. S. Allen and Alfred 
Thompson.
	The Potlatch Club, a social organization, was formed, the membership being 
limited to men.
	This year Gov. Newell was succeeded by Gov. Squire.
	A brewery was built on the Hale property on the eastside.
	Work was commenced this year on the works for generating hydrogen gas for 
illuminating purposes and a charter granted the Pacific Construction Company.  
The works were erected on the east side of the bay between Fifth and Sixth 
streets.
	In December occurred the death of George Agnew, an odd and historic 
character.  He came to Olympia with Gov. Isaac I. Stevens in 1853 and on account 
of his eccentricities was a favorite with the old timers.

1885
	In January of the new year P. P. Carroll established the Republican.
	This spring I. C. Ellis who had been conducting logging operations on the 
Eastside below the Gallagher claim, moved his camp up Moxlie creek and marketed 
the timber that stood to the


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southeast of the city.  In constructing his tramway to the water it was 
necessary to bridge a deep and narrow canyon through which the Northern Pacific 
railway now passes.  The bridge was supported on logs built up log cabin style.  
For succeeding years this afforded the only means of communication between the 
city and the straggling settlers off to the southeast.  It was secretly burned 
in 1890 by the railway graders in order to lay the Northern Pacific track.
	At the city election in January A. A Phillips was elected Mayor: E. T. 
Young, councilman from the first ward; J. M. Lammon from Second Ward and F. A. 
Hoffman from Third Ward; J. V. Yantis clerk; Fred Guyot Marshal and M. Shields, 
street commissioner.
	The liquor license was reduced by this council from $600 to $300 by a tie 
vote, the mayor voting for the reduced license.
	The insufficiency of the city's water supply was becoming patent and it 
was proposed to construct an immense cistern from Main to Washington streets on 
Fifth street, ten feet deep, eight feet eight inches wide and two hundred fifty 
feet long, to hold 150,000 gallons.  The estimated cost in cement was $1,800; in 
cedar $650.
	This spring the city clerk was removed and W. Irving appointed.  In August 
he was suspended for malfeasance and Robert Marr elected in his stead.
	The cut made in grading Eighth street, between Main and Washington, 
endangered the safety of Masonic Hall, which stood on the north line of the lot.  
The building was accordingly moved to the southward, to near the centre of the 
lot.
	The grading of streets, moving earth and making cuts aroused numerous 
small controversies between property owners or between property owners


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and the city.  General Anderson complained of the gas company removing the bluff 
south of his property on Fifth street near the corner of Chestnut.
	In January a special school tax of $3500 was voted by a majority of 25, 
but the opposition raised the question of legality and it was so declared by 
Judge Hoyt.
	In January the Shakespeare Dramatic society was organized and maintained 
as a literary organization during the winter with considerable interest.
	In February was organized the Olympia Bar Association.
	The manufacture of gas for illuminating purposes, begun in 1884, was 
completed this year and the product turned on for illumination with satisfactory 
results.
	In August the Puget Sound Pipe company was incorporated and succeeded to 
the manufacture of wood pipe under the Horton patent.  The works were operated 
on the east side of the bay at the foot of Third street.
	Notwithstanding hard times building was fairly prosperous during 1885 but 
mostly in the line of residences.
	The county commissioners appropriated $200 to rebuild the lower Tumwater 
bridge.
	In November Dr. Woodard resigned as a member of the county board and 
Thomas Prather was appointed in his place.
	This year W. A. Bush and George Gaston carried on extensive logging 
operations beyond Bush Prairie along the line of the Tenino road, logs being 
transported to tide water by trains.
	On the incoming of the Cleveland administration A. D. Glover was appointed 
postmaster at Olympia.
	As the usual sequence of flush times the boom of 1883-84 was followed in 
1885 with hard times and high taxes.  Fictitious values placed on property


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by speculators reach the assessor's office, thence the assessment roll.  The 
boom spirit prompts unnecessary expenditures.  The next step was a high rate of 
taxation.  This was the situation in 1885.  At the incoming of the city 
administration in January the ways and means committee issued an address 
reviewing the financial condition of the city.  The situation was no better in 
county matters.  Without the positive assurance that it would do any good a 
taxpayers protective association was organized in October, its object being to 
prevent the levying and to resist the collection of unjust and illegal taxes and 
to prosecute all recreant, district, city and county officers.  Any taxpayer 
owning $1000 worth of property was eligible to membership.  The association had 
twenty-one members who elected: G. A. Barnes, president; Mrs. A. H. H. Stuart, 
vice-president, and Francis Henry, treasurer.  The record of the association 
seems to be limited to 1885.
	The scheme to take water from Ferguson's lake for city purposes was 
speculated upon this fall.
	In November the Courier was bought by T. H. Cavanaugh and the name changed 
to the Partisan and as such was the leading Republican paper of the county.
	In December of this year Allen & Harkness made an addition to their mill 
on Third street for the manufacture of sash and doors.
	The year 1885 witnessed the death of one of the pioneers of Olympia who 
had in no small degree taken an active part in the growth of Olympia and 
Washington Territory- that of Thornton F. McElroy, who died February 5.  In 
September, 1852, he established at Olympia the Columbian, the first newspaper 
published north of the Columbia river.  He took an active part in creating 
Washington Territory and also an active part in managing its affairs.


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He died universally respected by all with whom he came in contact during this 
third of a century.
	In August of the same year E. T. Gunn, one of the publishers of the 
Courier, likewise passed away, and in December Nathaniel Crosby, a pioneer, was 
called to the great beyond.
	On December 16, occurred a tragedy at Yelm in the eastern part of the 
county that for unspeakable horror scarcely has an equal in the annals of crime.  
At 6 o'clock in the morning Mrs. Henry Manear arose leaving her five children, 
aged from one to three years, and her husband asleep.  She saturated the walls 
of their cabin, the floor and the bedding with coal oil; then set it on fire.  
The fiendish mother refused to leave the building.  Upon being aroused by the 
flames the eldest girl and father escaped from the windows.  The girl rolled on 
the ground to extinguish her burning clothing.  She attempted to return to the 
building but was more seriously injured.  The father escaped with his skin 
burned to a crisp.  He crawled to a neighboring Indian camp and then to his 
father's.  He died that night.  Four children and the mother were burned with 
the building.

1886.
	At the municipal election in January a total vote was cast of 349.  A. H. 
Chambers was chosen mayor; L. Bettman, councilman from the First ward; R. G. 
O'Brien from the Second for the full term, and 0. R. Simenson to fill a vacancy 
caused by the resignation of Joseph Lammon; Aaron Hartsock from the Third ward.
	A proposition was advanced to change the boundaries of the school district 
on the northeast but was refused by the county superintendent.  Mr. D.  R. 
Bigelow, one of the interested parties, appealed from the superintendent's 
action but the county commissioners sustained the action of the


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superintendent.
	On June 28 an election was called to determine whether intoxicating drinks 
should be sold in the county.  The vote resulted in 573 for prohibition to 649 
against.
	At the August meeting of the board of commissioners, J. W. Sprague, 
president of the Olympia and Chehalis Valley railroad company, petitioned for a 
release of the mortgage the county held on the road.  The company desired this 
in order that it might borrow $200,000 with which to improve the road and to 
extend it to deep water.  The board denied the petition.
	The growth of the county in the neighborhood of Mud Bay made it necessary 
for a voting precinct, and at this term of the board McLane precinct was 
established.
	The commissioners provided for the submission to the people at the 
November election the proposition to issue and sell $15,000 in bonds for the 
purpose of building a new courthouse and jail.  This action was taken in view of 
the report that the grand jury, made to the district court, declaring as a 
nuisance the courthouse then in use.  The building then used was the old 
schoolhouse built in 1855 by J. M. Swan
	In the local political campaign this year there was considerable of an 
independent feeling among the people.  The following tickets were nominated,

REPUBLICAN.
	Joint Councilman: J. F. Gowey.
	Joint Representative: T. M. Beed jr.
	Sheriff: Geo. D. Messegee.
	Auditor. J. P. Tweed.
	Treasurer: C. B. Mann.
	Assessor: Samuel James.
	Commissioners: Jos. Lammon, Geo. B. Capen.
	Probate Judge: ------.
	School Superintendent: EIla T. Stork.
	Surveyor: George T. Cline.
	Coroner: A. Hartsuck.


p85 c1

DEMOCRATIC.
	Joint Councilman: M. J. Goodell.
	Joint Representative: T. C. Van Epps.
	Sheriff: J. W. Chambers.
	Auditor: H. Swift.
	Treasurer: J. N. Squires.
	Assessor: A. H. Manier.
	Commissioners: A. E. Young, James Longmire.
	Probate Judge: F. Henry.
	School Superintendent: Mrs. P. C. Hale.
	Surveyor: James Frazier.
	Coroner: B. Harned.
	Wreckmaster: C. Etheridge.

	In addition to these party tickets a so-called People's or Independent 
movement put out a partial ticket containing the names of William Billings for 
sheriff; G. W. French and John Chipman for commissioners; M. A. Root for probate 
judge; Ellen Stevenson for school superintendent, and R. Rawson for coroner.
	The Republican ticket was elected except Geo. D. Messegee for sheriff. who 
was defeated by Wm. Billings, independent; Joseph Lammon for commissioner, who 
was defeated by A. E. Young, Democrat, and Ella Stork for school superintendent, 
Mrs. Hale being reelected.  M. A. Root, independent, was elected probate judge 
over Judge Henry.  A majority of 690 was cast against issuing $15,000 of court 
house and jail bonds.
	This year, through the "pull" that Seattle had on the political "powers 
that be," the federal land office was removed from Olympia, where it had been 
located for about thirty years, to Seattle.
	This summer J. H. Gale, an old newspaper man of the city, established the 
New Transcript- a temperance paper.  Owing largely to the declining health of 
the publisher the paper did not receive a liberal patronage and like many 
another paper struggled along


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until 1888 when it was sold to H. W. Bessac, who changed its name to Review and 
made it a Republican paper.
	The year was principally characterized by an agitation of the question of 
wharfage.  The city council elected in January took hold of the project and 
offered the First National Bank $150 for a wharf at the foot of Main street 
owned by that institution.  The transfer was made after some delay in perfecting 
a title to the property.
	As the summer wore away the proposition to dredge the harbor received a 
favorable consideration by citizens and in August the city surveyor was 
instructed to make a survey.  In October the city contracted with the Umatilla, 
a Portland steamer, to dredge a channel from the Main street wharf to deep 
water, a distance of one mile, one hundred feet wide and twelve feet deep at low 
tide, the city to pay $400 per day to the ship for three days.  Then set in a 
sentiment that the harbor should be farther west.  A council meeting was called 
and it was directed that the harbor be moved westward one hundred and fifty 
feet.  Work was suspended and in the agonies of the agitation a vote of the 
people was called for.  The vote resulted in 205 for the first location and 38 
for the last, and a contract was accordingly signed with the Oregon Improvement 
Company.  Day by day passed and work did not begin.  About November 1 the people 
were promised that the work would begin about the 15th.  A few days after that 
date the Umatilla arrived but would not begin operations unless the council 
waived all claims for damages that might result from the previous delay.  The 
city assented but still work did not begin.  Finally the boat got to work but so 
"killed time" that the council availed itself of a provision of the contract and 
declared the deal off paying the boat for the time actually put in.  The 
experiment


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cost the city $800 and no harbor-

1887.
	In January 1887 the city was canvassed for subscriptions for a hospital to 
be established by the Catholic Sisters of Charity.  The city donated a block of 
land on the corner of Eleventh and Columbia streets.  The superioress, Sister 
Benedict, began caring for patients on June 1, but the building erected for the 
purpose was not ready for occupancy until September.
	In January the Olympia Board of Trade was organized.  George A. Barnes was 
elected president; T. I. McKenny, first vice president; N. Ostrander, second 
vice president; Levi W. Ostrander, secretary; A. A. Phillips, treasurer.  The 
president, vice presidents, treasurer, John Byrne, N. H. Owings, R. H. Milroy, 
N. Kaufman and A. H. Chambers were selected as trustees.
	This winter the saw mills of Olympia and Tumwater agreed upon the 
following prices for the local trade; Rough lumber, $9 per M; flooring 4 inch, 
$18; flooring, 6 inch, $16; rustic, $16: cedar, $20 to $40; fir ceiling, $18; 
cedar ceiling, $25; wainscoting $25; fir boards, dressed two sides, $20.  Twelve 
per cent interest was charged on all bills running over thirty days.
	The new city administration elected this winter consisted of: A. H. 
Chambers, mayor; E. T. Young councilman from the first ward; 0. R. Simenson from 
the second ward and J. G. Lybarger from the third ward: Robert Marr, city clerk; 
Fred Guyot, Marshall; C. H. Ayer, city attorney; D. S. B. Henry, city surveyor.  
In March Mr. Young resigned and John Miller Murphy was elected his successor.  
In July Mr. Lybarger resigned and J. S. Dobbins was elected in his stead.
	The failure of the deal with the Umatilla to dredge out the harbor turned 
the attention of the city authorities


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to other projects and in February the new administration considered a 
proposition to purchase a half interest in a $50,000 Schmidt dredger.
	In the spring bids were invited for a wharf, 450 feet north of the city 
wharf at the foot of Main street.  This was completed in August at a cost of 
$2,193.41.  By this improvement communication could be had with boats at low 
tide.
	In early spring the Thurston county Agricultural Association was organized 
with Geo. D. Shannon, F. I. Blodgett, A. W. Eugle, R. G. O'Brien and A. H. 
Chambers as directors.
	More or less building was done this season and the whilom town began to 
take on a more metropolitan appearance.
	S. C. Woodruff, who had a short time since purchased the Marsh donation 
claim on the west side of the bay, erected a two story brick building on Main 
street between Third and Fourth streets.
	A. H. Chambers who owned the north east corner of Main and Fourth streets, 
improved his property this summer by the erection of a two story brick block.  
On this property, back in the fifties was the large spring previously referred 
to, which then supplied the village with water.
	In July Oliver Shead of Seatco on the Skookumchuck in the southeastern 
part of the county platted the town site of Bucoda.  Here in 1884 was located 
the works of the Seatco Manufacturing Company owned by Whittier Fuller & Co.  At 
an early day Jos. Gibson, Hannaford Brothers and others had located in the 
fertile valleys adjoining the present site.  In close proximity to the town was 
valuable coal properties which were looked upon as giving the place the nucleus 
for an inland town of considerable importance.
	As illustrating the neglect and


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backward growth that had characterized Olympia during the years past it is 
proper to mention that E. Martensen had recently arrived and bought a twenty 
acre tract on Ayer's Hill covered with a second growth of fir.  Upon cutting it 
away he found full grown fruit trees, set out fully thirty years before.
	In November occurred a holocaust and murder at Shelton that attracted 
attention at Olympia for the next four years and proved of interest to the 
taxpayers of Thurston county.  On the night of November 20, the Kneeland Hotel 
of Shelton took fire with twenty five or thirty inmates asleep.  Angus McLain 
was the proprietor and while the building was burning, looked on perfectly 
unconcerned.  One of the inmates lost his life.  McLain was arrested charged 
with arson and murder and hurriedly brought to Olympia to escape lynching.  He 
was subsequently tried, found guilty and sentenced to hang but in 1891 on appeal 
to the supreme court the judgment was reversed and the case remanded for a new 
trial.  Bond was furnished and he was liberated.  The new trial has not yet been 
had and probably never will be owing to the absence of the state's witnesses.  
At the February meeting of the county commissioners, the Olympia board of trade 
and several of the leading citizens of the city urged that the board cancel the 
mortgage on the Tenino railroad as petitioned for by Gen. Sprague at the August 
term preceding.  Gen. Sprague, Robert Wingate and F. R. Brown of the railroad 
company being present said the company was ready to give a second bond and 
mortgage and to give a personal bond that the company would expend $200,000 in 
improving and extending the road.  The bond and mortgage was then canceled and 
the new ones filed for record.


p87 c2

	Old Father time with his scythe had cut more than his usual swath during 
the Year through the pioneers.  On March 9th W. N. Horton who had done so much 
to supply Olympia with its first water system was found dead in his state room 
on the steamer Emma Hayward, then plying between Olympia and Seattle.  In August 
Capt. C. H. Hale who came to Olympia in 1852 and who, as the reader has seen, 
was foremost in matters pertaining to the development of the county, passed from 
earth.  In October Isaac Dofflemeyer, another early settler, breathed his last 
and in December Mrs. L. G. Abbott joined the silent majority.
	During the year there originated controversy over the ownership of Tacoma 
Hall.  In 1869 Captain Finch donated it to the Good Templars to be used as a 
lodge hall and a public reading room and when it ceased to be so used to revert 
to the donor.  Of late years the members had rather lost interest in the 
organization and although the reading room on the first floor was kept open the 
hall was used for miscellaneous purposes.  In April 1887 the trustees of the 
Olympia Collegiate Institute secured from Capt. Finch his reversionary interest 
in the Tacoma Hall property and notified the Good Templars that they had failed 
to comply with the conditions of the transfer to them and demanded possession.  
In 1888 suit for possession was instituted by the Collegiate Institute and 
decided in favor of the Good Templars.

1888.
	During the year 1887 matters had begun "to look our way" as the people 
expressed it.  Immigrants were coming, bringing more or less of eastern money. 
The hope of coming state hood urged them forward.  The property owners on the 
ground caught the spirit and improvements were inaugurated


p88 c1

	In February 1888 Samuel Williams began the erection of a brick building on 
the northwest corner of Main and Fourth streets.  Several residences were built 
and during the year the local mills were unable to fill the orders for building 
material.
	Olympia Lodge No. 1, I.0.0.F. this year erected a three story brick temple 
at the corner of Main and Fifth streets, leasing the ground floor for stores and 
the second floor for offices and lodging rooms.
	The wharf to deep water that had been under discussion so many years was 
completed this summer at a cost of $12,000.  Early in the spring W. C. Morrell 
sold the saw mill on the west side to H. M. Pierce of Minnesota.
	The project to re-fund the debt, incurred in aiding the Tenino road, was 
agitated early in the Year and in May it was proposed to issue new bonds at a 
lower rate of interest.  Bids were called for to be opened in November but when 
the day of sale arrived no bids had been received and the matter went over to 
the next year.
	The new city government for the year consisted of A. H. Chambers, mayor; 
J. M. Murphy councilman from First ward for full term; L. Bettman for one year; 
R. G. O'Brien, second ward; Ed Harkness, third ward.
	The growth of the city had made capitalists keen for franchises and there 
was considerable feeling around during the year for street privileges, although 
not until the next year did the various schemes of this character mature.
	For the better caring for freight a warehouse was built at the end of the 
long wharf.
	Since 1885 Allen C. Mason of Tacoma had owned a controlling interest in 
the gas works.  In August of this year A. H. Chambers, Robert Frost and Mrs. 
Hale bought the Mason


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stock, Mr. Mason still retaining an interest in the electric light plant.
	The county election for 1888 had its usual interest.  Three full tickets 
were in the field as follows:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Representative: I. C. Ellis.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings.
	For Auditor: J. P. Tweed.
	For Treasurer: C. B. Mann.
	For Probate Judge: M. A. Root.
	For School Superintendent: L. P. Venen.
	For Assessor, S. James.
	For Surveyor: B. W. Brintnall.
	For County Commissioners: Thomas Prather, R. A. Brewer.
	For Coroner: A. Hartsuck.
	For Wreckmaster. Geo. Foster.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Representative: M. Fredson.
	For Sheriff: R. B. Hoy.
	For Auditor: D. S. B. Henry.
	For Treasurer: Milton Giles.
	For Probate Judge: U. E. Hicks.
	For School Superintendent: Theo. Young.
	For Assessor. B. F. Ruth.
	For Surveyor: James Frazier.
	For County Commissioners: Louis Bettman, G. S. Prince.
	For Coroner: H. Hadlan.
	For Wreckmaster: C. Ethridge.

PROHIBITION.
	For Representative: J. L. Henderson.
	For Sheriff: C. W. Borden.
	For Auditor: R. F. Whitham.
	For Treasurer: F. M. Canady.
	For Probate Judge: Thos. Rutledge.
	For School Superintendent: R. H. Massey.
	For Assessor: G. A. Henry.
	For Surveyor: A. Erickson.
	For County Commissioners: W. B. Hannah, Alex. Henry.
	For Coroner: C. H. Koontz.

	At this election a vigorous fight was made to defeat the reelection of Wm. 
Billings for sheriff but the entire Republican


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ticket was elected with the exception of I. C. Ellis for representative.
	During the year occurred the death of Thomas Tallentire, for several years 
a member of the city council.  Also that of Hugh Cornell of Tumwater.

1889.
	The year 1889 was a year of growth to Thurston county unequaled by any one 
of the preceding forty years.
	The phenomenal growth of the entire territory during the last decade had 
had its influence in all localities.  The timber lands and fertile valleys of 
Thurston county were eagerly sought and many rural improvements were 
inaugurated.
	Olympia had all these years been the capital of the territory.  Public 
institutions were located in and appropriations made to benefit other cities. 
Olympia dare not ask for anything for there was continually held over her, by 
the politicians of other places, the threat that the capitol would be removed as 
soon as the territory was admitted as a state.  On February 22, the bill for the 
admission of Washington was signed by the president of the United States.  The 
occasion was appropriately celebrated in Olympia as elsewhere.  Real estate took 
a "boom;" prices advanced, real estate offices opened and building enterprises 
were inaugurated.  The act of admission required the meeting of delegates at the 
capital to form a state constitution.  To properly fit the capitol for this 
convention required an addition to the old structure that had done service for 
the statesmen of the territory for thirty years.  The enterprising citizens of 
the city took the matter in hand and built the addition.  The city council 
appropriated $2500.
	Early in May occurred the election of delegates to the constitutional 
convention.  Those elected from Thurston


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and Lewis counties were: T. M. Reed, J. F. Gowey and Francis Henry, all from 
this county.
	The convention met July 4th in Olympia and adjourned August 22.  The 
election on the ratification of the constitution as well as for the location of 
the capitol of the new state was held October 9.
	A state senator, two members of the house of representatives, a county 
clerk and a superior judge were also elected at this election.  These offices 
were provided for in the constitution to be submitted to the voters.  The 
following tickets were placed in nomination:

REPUBLICAN.
	For Senator: N. H. Owings.
	For Representatives: W. 0. Bush, Francis Rotch.
	For Superior Judge: Mason Irwin.
	For County Clerk: W. F. Keady.

DEMOCRATIC.
	For Senator: D. L. Ward.
	For Representatives: Daniel Gaby, G. S. Prince.
	For Superior Judge: T. N. Allen.
	For County Clerk: James Radcliffe.

	The Republican candidates were elected,
	The proposition on the location of the capital as it was submitted 
required the successful competitor to receive a majority of all votes cast.  In 
case none bad such majority the question was to be again submitted in 1890, the 
vote to be confined to the three having the highest number of votes in 1889 and 
in case no choice was had in 1890 the question was to be submitted at the next 
general election,
	At the election in 1889 there were three avowed candidates, although a few 
other towns entered the list to assist in inflating their real estate booms. The 
result of this election was the adoption of the constitution and the following 
vote on the location of the capitol: Olympia, 25,490; North Yakima,


p90 c1

14,711; Ellensburg, 12,883; Centralia, 607; Yakima, 314; Pasco, 130; Scattering, 
1,088.  No town having a majority, the matter was left for determination at a 
subsequent election.
	The improvement in the real estate market and the universal renewal of 
confidence in Olympia property made a demand for a daily newspaper.  Such 
business ventures  had been attempted before but with disastrous results to 
those who put up the money.  In the present extremity John Miller Murphy of the 
Washington Standard contracted in February with the real estate men of the city 
and other business interests to publish an evening paper for six months, the 
other parties agreeing to run advertisements for that period.  The publication 
was named the Evening Olympian and proved of great interest as an advertising 
medium.  The real estate excitement, however, was short lived.  By May it had 
entirely subsided and before fall the market was dead.  The sixth month's 
contracts expired in the midst of the capital campaign, but the Olympia board of 
trade continued the publication of the Olympian until after the election.
	In April, S. C. Woodruff platted and put upon the market, Woodruff's 
Addition, formerly the Marsh donation claim.  Numerous other additions were 
platted, most of them of a speculative character.
	Brickyards at available points were opened and many buildings erected for 
business and residence purposes.
	For some time there had been felt the need of additional hotel 
accommodations.  The traveling traffic was limited, not sufficient to justify a 
single individual in erecting a first class hostelrie.  In contemplating the 
exigencies of the occasion in the spring of '89 a few of the enterprising 
citizens of the place resorted to a joint stock company.  Plans were perfected


p90 c2

and bids called for, to be opened April 18.  Ferguson & Clark of Seattle were 
awarded the contract, they having the lowest bid but they refused to sign the 
bonds and forfeited the $1000 deposited with their bid.  The contract was then 
awarded to J. W. Roberts of Olympia.  Amid discouragements the building was 
completed in the spring of 1890 and though not a paying investment to its 
projectors it stands as a monument to their enterprise as public spirited 
citizens.
	During the year a variety of railroad schemes were advanced and agitated 
but none matured until the following year.
	The spirit of enterprise had pervaded other parts of the county.  The 
railroad junction at Tenino had given rise to a busy town and its neighbor 
Bucoda had become a manufacturing center.  In 1888 Messrs. Garland & Rotch of 
Wisconsin bought the Seatco manufacturing plant, enlarged it and made extensive 
shipments to eastern and southern markets.
	The increase in population had shown itself in the number of pupils 
knocking at the doors in September for admission to the public schools.  It 
became necessary to rent rooms in town to accommodate the demand for school 
facilities.  Under the constitution adopted, the first state legislature 
convened in November.  It was a memorable body.  The hotel accommodations were 
poor and private rooms scarce.  The inaugural ceremonies of the first state 
administration were grand and imposing.  Never before was the city so thronged 
with visitors from abroad.
	In 1888 Geo. B. Capen, president of the board of county commissioners, J. 
W. Robinson, district attorney, and John P. Tweed, auditor, were designated to 
make a sale of county bonds at a lower rate of interest.  In May 1889 they 
reported that bonds to the


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amount of $75,000 had been sold, bearing interest at 6 per cent.  In August 
$63,000 of the outstanding railroad bonds were called in.
	At the January municipal election John F. Gowey was re-elected mayor; F. 
F. Williamson councilman from the First ward; T. J. McBratney from the Second 
and C. Z. Mason from the Third.
	Among the first acts of the new council was vacating Eighth street west of 
Main for the erection of the new hotel.  This year arose a case of more than 
usual interest to the property owners on graded streets.  The city land assessed 
the cost of grading to the adjoining property but in 1887 Dr. Ostrander disputed 
the right of the city to do this and took the case into courts.  The result was 
awaited with interest.
	In May occurred the disastrous conflagration in Seattle when the 
benevolence of all parts of the state responded in affording relief and the city 
council appropriated $500 to be forwarded to the sufferers.  The secret of this 
remarkable liberality with the people's money laid in tile coming capital 
campaign.  Seattle's influence for Olympia was desired.
	In October $1000 was appropriated by the city to aid in the capital 
campaign.
	Tile years 1889 and 189O will live in Olympia's history as the era of 
franchises when monopolies were created and had conferred upon them privileges 
which, for nearly a generation make the people subservient to their sweet will.
	On March 7 was granted a franchise to the Olympia and Tumwater Railway, 
Light and Power Company, to run a railway on certain streets to continue twenty-
five years.  On March 28, George M. Savage and his associates were granted 
similar privileges on Fourth street and other


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streets on the east side for a like period.
	In April the Sunset Telephone-Telegraph Company was chartered.
	In September George M. Savage was granted a railway franchise on other 
streets.
	 In September the. Olympia Water Company was granted the use of the 
streets for laying water mains and the city contracted to pay $100 per year per 
hydrant for twenty hydrants for fire extinguishing purposes to continue twenty 
years.
	In December the Western Union Telegraph Company was granted the right to 
erect poles and stretch wires in the streets.
	Also in December E. T. Young was given the right to supply the city with 
the incandescent system of electric lighting.
	This year the magnificent stone quarries at Tenino began to attract 
attention and as the surface earth was removed the bluff was found to be of 
solid rock- an excellent building stone.
	This year was organized the North Olympia Land Company which purchased 
large tracts of land north east of the city being the land Ira Bradley Thomas 
bought in 1871 for the Northern Pacific railway and which through the sudden 
death of Mr. Thomas, had run the course of the courts.
	The Olympia & Gray Harbor Electric Company was organized this year to 
construct and maintain a telephone line front Olympia to the towns on Gray's 
harbor.
	In July the Olympia Review was bought of H. W. Bessac by J. C. Rathbun who 
had located in the city the previous May.
	In the fall was organized the State Printing Company, of which Hon. 0. C. 
White, secretary of the territory, was manager.  It purchased the Partisan 
newspaper property of T. H.


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Cavanaugh and courted the state printing from the state legislature.
	Thus closed upon Thurston county the year 1889.  The hopes and dreams of 
those pioneers who had battled with frontier hardships were now about to 
culminate in an actual reality.  Olympia was a city!  Washington a state, and 
that city the capital, for, although another election was necessary it was 
universally conceded that the battle was practically over and won.

1890.
	The year 1890 dawned on Thurston county with the people in the habiliments 
of metropolitan life.  The legislature was in session, money was
plenty, prices were high and everybody happy.
	In January J. F. Gowey was reelected mayor; John Miller Murphy councilman 
front the First ward; R. G. O'Brien from the Second ward and Ed. Harkness from 
the Third ward.
	Early in the year was handed down a decision in the Ostrander case, 
maintaining the right of the city to assess the cost of street grading to the 
abutting property.  The result was to stimulate street grading as it was not 
costing the city anything.  Whenever a few residents desired the street in front 
of their property graded, the council ordered it done, paid the bills by 
warrants drawn on the city treasury and assessed the cost pro rata against the 
abutting lots.
	In April a special municipal election was ordered to vote upon the 
proposition to incur a municipal indebtedness not to exceed five per cent of the 
city's assessed valuation.  The election was carried by a vote of 176 to 14.
	The system of franchises so elaborately inaugurated in 1889 was extended 
into 1890.  It had come to pass that when the nerve of the speculator prompted 
the request for a right of the people which on the face of the


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proposition was to be used for the benefit of the public, and he was met by the 
city fathers in a calm, frigid, unexcited, business manner that cool verdant, 
ante bellum synonym, "mossback" was hissed between the teeth of the new comers 
who were rapidly crowding the good old fatherly, pioneers to the minority.  The 
city fathers were serving without pay, did not like to bear the word mossback 
applied to them and yielded.
	Early in 1890 J. C. Percival was granted the right to construct a wharf 
along Water street.
	In the winter of 1890 the Olympia Water Company sold its plant to a 
company of Cincinnati capitalists who desired to make an extension of the system 
and in March were granted a new charter.  This company put in an excellent water 
system, superior to that of any other city on the Puget Sound.  A reservoir was 
constructed on Ayer's hill east of the city, into which water was pumped from 
the Moxlie creek springs.  Pipes were laid throughout the city, connecting with 
the reservoir and the pumping station.
	In May 1890 was granted to the Portland and Puget Sound Railroad Company 
the right to use and cross certain street.  This was the Union Pacific road.
	In June the Olympia Railway Company was granted the use of the principal 
streets of the city.
	Also in June the Olympia Light & Power Company was granted the use of the 
streets for track, poles and wires.
	Also to the Tacoma, Olympia Gray's Harbor Railroad over and through 
certain streets.  This was the Northern Pacific.  In granting this franchise 
arose a controversy in reference to the use of Seventh street.  The street was 
several feet above the railroad grade on either side and strong


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objection was made by the property owners to making a cut.  The proposition to 
make the railroad grade along that street sufficiently low to permit the 
excavation being bridged over was incorporated in the ordinance.
	In August the franchise of the Portland & Puget Sound Company was so 
amended that the company might cross Fourth street, at its intersection with 
Chestnut at a grade four feet below the grade of the street, as established by 
the city.  The original ordinance required the railroad company to cross Fourth 
street on the established grade.
	In December parts of several streets were vacated to form terminal grounds 
for the Tacoma, Olympia & Gray's Harbor railroad.
	As might be imagined this multiplicity of franchises over the same streets 
gave rise to conflicting interests as to which had the prior right, which the 
center of the street, etc.
	This gave rise to night work, Sunday work, etc., to secure some imaginary 
advantage over a competitor.
	The first man to make use of his franchise and "to make the wheels go 
round" was George M. Savage, who laid a track along Main street from Fourth to 
Thirteenth and in the winter put on two horse cars.  He did not use his Fourth 
street franchise until a rival company began to talk business when Mr. Savage, 
to secure the center of the street, kept slowly at work until he reached Puget 
street, on the side of Ayer's Hill.
	The growth of the school population and the scarcity of accommodations 
suggested immediate action toward school bindings.  In January an election was 
called to vote upon a proposition to borrow $59,000 to erect two modern school 
buildings.  One vote was cast against the proposition.  During the summer two 
elegant buildings


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were erected- one on Eastside, the other in South Olympia, at a total cost of 
the sum borrowed.
	In February were filed articles of incorporation of the Olympia, Sherman 
Valley and Gray's Harbor railroad, a logging road designed to reach the two 
hundred millions feet of timber in the Black Hills.  The articles are doubtless 
still on file.
	With the opening of spring the Olympia boom began expanding, reminding the 
older settlers of experiences in 1872 when the Northern Pacific was locating its 
Sound terminus and with the growth of the boom came the railroad magnates 
seeking subsidies.  The first was by the local road and a subsidy of $50,000 was 
guaranteed.
	On April 10 the Union Pacific representatives submitted a proposition to 
the people of Olympia, to-wit: that they would build a road from Portland to 
Seattle through Olympia if the city would give: 1st, right of way through the 
city; 2nd, fifteen acres for terminal grounds; 3rd, one thousand feet of water 
front and 4th $50,000 in cash, work to begin on or before June 1, 1890, and cars 
to be running to Tacoma by December 31, 1891.
Representatives of the Port Townsend & Southern Railroad, who had recently come 
into possession of the Tenino road, were present at the same meeting, and 
offered to build freight and passenger depots within the city limits if the city 
would give them: 1st $50,000 in money; 2nd, right of way on the west side to 
deep water; 3rd, terminal grounds to the extent of 300 by 1500 feet and would 
have the road completed to Portland by January 1, 1891.
	Both propositions were accepted and committees appointed to canvass the 
city for subscriptions and in a few weeks the $50,000 was subscribed.
	In May representatives of the Northern Pacific submitted a written


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proposition to the citizens of Olympia, guaranteeing to build and operate a line 
from its main line to Olympia by December 1st next and extend said line to 
Gray's Harbor and have it in operation by February 1, 1891, on condition that 
the citizens of Olympia would give: lst, depot grounds, 200 by 2000 feet or 300 
by 1500 feet; 2nd, right of way through the city; 3rd, $50,000 in cash or land 
at a fair appraisement.  A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions and 
it was found a difficult matter.  Every effort had been made it appeared to 
raise the $100,000 for the other two companies.  Then, again, a large number of 
the citizens remembered the treatment accorded the town in 1872 and were 
disposed to give the Northern Pacific no consideration at all.  But the pending 
capitol campaign and the influence that that company might or might not wield in 
Eastern Washington had its effect and the subsidy was raised.  As the fall wore 
away and winter approached speculation was rife as to whether the Northern 
Pacific would reach Olympia by January 1st and thereby earn the subsidy; 
December 1, seemed to have been lost sight of.  On New Year's day, 1891, the 
construction train reached the city limits on the east- out in the woods and in 
railroad circles there was great rejoicing: the subsidy had been earned! 
	As might be imagined business was good in Olympia during the summer and 
fall.  A demand existed for business houses and residences and the people 
hastened to supply the demand.  New comers were seeking residences and rents 
were high. 
	The increase of land office business in Western Washington had exceeded 
the capacity of the Seattle office and a new district had been created embracing 
the counties of Pierce, Thurston, Mason, Lewis and Chehalis and the 


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land office for the district was established at Olympia and opened in the fall. 
	In conjunction with the boom came a demand for a daily paper, to supply 
which J. W. Robinson purchased the weekly Republican Partisan, changed the name 
to Tribune and established a daily service, Major C. M. Barton of Tacoma became 
managing editor. 
	This winter too was established a paper at Bucoda- the Bucoda Enterprise- 
and in the spring the Tenino Herald put forth its first issue. 
	So far there had been but one bank at Olympia, the First National, but 
this spring business circles were enlivened by rumors of others.  Two opened for 
business; the Capital National and the State Bank.  The latter was managed by 
the gentlemen who had invested in the Olympia Water Works. 
	This summer Gen. T. I. McKenny who owned the southwest corner of Main and 
Fourth streets commenced the erection of a four story brick building, designed 
for business purposes; it was completed in 1891.  The upper stories were leased 
by the state for offices until such time as a permanent capitol was erected. 
	This summer the mammoth manufacturing works at Bucoda were totally 
destroyed by fire entailing a loss of $500,000.  An effort was made by the 
Olympia Board of Trade to have the company rebuild at Olympia but in the fall it 
was determined to rebuild on the old site. 
	During the summer Prof. L. E. Follansbee who had formerly been principal 
of the city schools and afterwards principal of the Collegiate Institute, 
established a private school in the city denominated the Calathea College.  It 
continued one year, until June, 1891. 
	City schools opened in September, 1890, under favorable auspices.  A 
dearth of rooms still existed.  The


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High School found quarters in the rear rooms on the first floor of the Columbia 
Hall building.  The old Odd Fellows building on Washington street was also 
leased for school purposes. 
	The decision in the Ostrander case had given a stimulus to street grading 
and this continued during 1890.  The grade of Fourth street was reestablished 
and worked accordingly.  Eastside, Union, Central and numerous shorter streets 
were graded.  To such an extent was the grading carried that the people 
generally began to protest.  Non residents were awarded contracts at high rates.  
The bills were paid as during the previous year, by warrants on the general city 
fund.  It was generally understood that the abutting property owners were to pay 
the cost of grading but payment was not forthcoming. 
	The legislature had passed a general incorporation act for the future 
incorporation of cities and towns.  Cities and towns already incorporated might 
reorganize under its provisions.  A desire existed in Olympia to get rid of the 
existing city government and the proposition to reincorporate under the general 
law received general favor. 
	At the election held November 6, it was determined by a vote of 352 to 19 
to incorporate as a city of the third class.  At the first election held 
December 3, J. C. Horr was chosen mayor; Joseph Chilberg, clerk; Warren Riley, 
health officer; C. M. Moore, assessor; John Miller Murphy and S. G. Ward, 
councilmen from the First ward; G. L. Sickles and G. D. Shannon from the Second 
ward and R. A. Ford and M. A. Root from the Third ward.  Upon organization the 
councilmen cast lots for the short terms.  John Miller Murphy, G. D. Shannon and 
M. A. Root drew the short terms.  Shannon and Root resigned early in the year 
and were succeeded by T. J. McBratney


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and Robert [Muir?]
	During the summer the Olympia iron Works was incorporated. 
	The general election coming on in November aroused more than usual 
interest.  In addition to a fall quota of county officers there was the location 
of the Capitol to be voted on, in which Thurston county was interested.  The 
county commissioners had submitted to the voters a proposition to issue bonds to 
the amount of $100,000 for the purpose of erecting a court house. 
	An additional feature of the election was the Australian ballot system 
enacted by the first legislature. 
The following nominations were made:- 

REPUBLICAN. 
	For representatives: T. V. Eddy, U. L Collins. 
	For Sheriff: Wm. Billings. 
	For Auditor: J. P. Tweed. 
	For County Clerk: W. H. Roberts. 
	For Treasurer: C. B. Mann. 
	For County Attorney: C. H. Ayer. 
	For School Superintendent: B. W. Brintnall. 
	For Assessor: J. A. Smith. 
	For commissioners: I. C. Ellis, S. L. Ruddell, R. A. Brewer. 
	For Coroner: Dr. Armstrong. 

DEMOCRATIC. 
	For Representatives: A. H. Chambers, B. F. Ruth. 
	For Sheriff: G. S. Prince. 
	For Auditor: Walter Crosby. 
	For County Clerk: L. M. Atkins. 
	For Treasurer: 0. R. Simenson. 
	For County Attorney: J. C. Kleber. 
	For School Superintendent: L. R. Byrne. 
	For Assessor: J. Conine. 
	For Commissioners: T. C. Vas Epps, B. B. Smith, J. K. Littlejohn. 
	For Coroner: Peter Cook. 
	For Wreckmaster: H. Hadlan. 

	The Republican nominations were not, as a whole, satisfactory to a


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faction of the party and a bolt, led by the Tribune, was made.  The result was 
that Eddy, Billings, Brintnall, Ellis and Ruddell of the Republican ticket were 
defeated.  The court house bonds carried by a vote of 1116 for to 393 against. 
	As soon after the election as possible the commissioners employed W. A. 
Ritchie, an architect of Seattle, to furnish plans and specifications for a 
court house.  The board also called for bids for bonds, to be received at the 
February term, 1891. 
	Early in October the public was surprised over the suicide of Frank Smith, 
a man well known throughout the county.  His domestic life had not been the 
happiest and meeting his wife riding home from town with her step father, Mr. J. 
P. Crins, he opened fire on her with a Winchester he was carrying.  He missed 
Mrs. Smith but shot Mr. Crins through the arm.  He then blew out his own brains. 
	During the year the town of Rochester had sprung up out in the Black River 
valley.  Gate city was also platted at the junction of the Black and Chehalis 
rivers in the south western portion of the county.  Both were in the midst of 
splendid farming communities and settlers had been in there from away back in 
the fifties.  The magnificent forests of the Black Hills were contiguous. 
	During the latter part of the year grading was done on all of the 
railroads that secured promised subsidies but the boom of early spring had 
collapsed.  The real estate market had become dull and several over enthusiastic 
ones found themselves deeply in debt. 
	But the capital campaign had been won and the prevailing sentiment was one 
of encouragement.  The vote on the capital location was: Olympia, 37,413; 
Ellensburg, 7,722; North Yakima, 6,276; scattering, 5; a total vote of 51,413. 


p96 c2

	During the year, through the enterprise of John Miller Murphy, the people 
of Olympia were provided with a theater building that filled a long felt want in 
the city and to theatrical companies. 
	In October Mayor Gowey received the federal appointment as consul to Japan 
and resigned his office of mayor.  Ex-Mayor A. H. Chambers was appointed to fill 
the vacancy. 
	In July the Review was sold to B. M. Price of Iroquois, South Dakota, who 
located in Olympia and continued the publication as a Republican paper.  During 
the political campaign he changed the name of the paper to the Capital and 
established a daily, which continued until March, 1891. 

1891. 
	Business during 1891 was dull in Thurston county.  The people were 
recovering their sober senses after the unnatural excitements of the boom of the 
previous year.  Those who found themselves deeply in debt were bending their 
efforts to save as much as possible.  A few contracts on wild cat investments 
were thrown up but the larger number made loans or secured extensions to bridge 
over the dull times.  There appeared to be no material shrinkage in values as a 
collapse of the boom.  Property that was paid for was held at a stiff price. 
	At the February term of the county commissioners bids for the court house 
bonds were opened and the bonds sold to the state land commission.  An 
investigation made by the attorney general disclosed that the affirmative vote 
on the proposition to issue the bonds was not three-fifths of the entire vote of 
the county, although it was more than a three-fifths vote cast on that subject, 
a large portion of the voters refraining from voting.  A new election was called 
for March 24, which resulted favorably and the 


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bonds were sold to the state land commission. 
	More ground than the county owned in one tract was considered necessary 
for modern court house purposes.  The county owned the quarter block at the 
northwest corner of Franklin and Sixth streets; also the quarter block at the 
south east corner of Washington and Sixth streets.  The quarter block adjoining 
the latter on the south was owned by George Langridge and an exchange was made 
for this by giving the former the old school property; a half block was thus 
obtained for county purposes. 
	On March 27th John Rigby of Seattle was awarded the contract for building 
the court house at $107,000, the building to be completed by March 1, 1892, he 
to forfeit $20 for every day the building remained unfinished after that date.  
W. A. Rogers was chosen by the commissioners as superintendent of the building 
on the part of the county.  The work had not progressed far when disputes arose 
between Mr. Rogers and Rigby's foreman as to the quality of material to go into 
the building.  There was friction between the parties throughout the summer and 
fall and finally culminated in an emphatic demand by the contractors for Mr. 
Rogers' removal.  This was acceded to by the county on condition that they 
should remove their foreman.  This matter being adjusted W. H. Owens of Olympia 
was chosen superintendent and the work progressed. 
	The new city administration failed to give better satisfaction than the 
old one.  Street grading was extended into the unsettled suburbs and none of the 
assessments of the previous years were collected.  The returns of the assessor 
showed boom valuations on property; taxes were high and there were numerous 
complaints. 
	The Union Pacific and the Port


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Townsend & Southern abandoned work entirely.  The Northern Pacific pushed its 
line to completion  Its terminal grounds were located on the mud flats just west 
of the city, a Bowers dredger being employed to make a fill above high tide and 
hereon were put the freight and passenger depots.  The first overland passenger 
train to enter the city passed through Seventh street tunnel September 10 and 
caused the memories of the older settlers to revert back to the disappointment 
of 1872.  For more than a generation the pioneers of Olympia had been drifting 
with the tide of business affairs, buoyed up by the ever receding hope that at 
no distant day they would be welcoming the arrival of an overland passenger 
train from Chicago.  The hope that had its origin in the expedition of General 
Isaac I. Stevens in 1853, had now ended in fruition.  What an eventful period of 
years!  The major part of those who welcomed the arrival of the train were new 
comers, many of them unborn when the first idea of a transcontinental road to 
Puget Sound was uppermost in the minds of those who instituted our territorial 
government. 
	But on this occasion, where were the pioneers?  Where was Edmund 
Sylvester, Michael T. Simmons, Elwood Evans. W. N. Ayers, J. W. Wiley, T. F. 
McElroy, Capt. Percival, C. H. Hale, Marshal Blinn and a hundred others whose 
deeds of heroism and noble traits of character had made the present festivities 
possible?  Some had become discouraged struggling with hope and had moved away.  
Others had worn out their lives to build up a civilization at the head of Puget 
Sound and, one by one, had dropped from among the living.  Several others were 
still here, some at the front of any movement tending to advance Thurston 
county's


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material prosperity.  Others now, as they ever had been, were "drifting with the 
tide" and at this particular moment might have been in a down town saloon 
drinking to the health of the Northern Pacific.
	Although business was dull during the year, improvements were carried on 
in both the city and country.  Street grading was carried to the same extreme as 
the previous year; as many or more complaints, jealousies and scandals.  A 
number of costly private residences were erected.  In the country as during the 
previous year, tracts of land were cleared and fruit trees planted.  The 
desirability of the Puget Sound prune was making itself felt in the eastern 
markets and hundreds of acres were planted to this fruit.  The adaptability of 
the county to small fruits was well known and property owners were turning their 
attention to this industry. 
	Early in the spring two railway franchises were granted for roads on the 
westside: one to the Westside Railway Company, the other to W. L. Russel.  Both 
looked to furnishing of street railway accommodations to the westside.  Work on 
the former was commenced and a track laid across Marshville bridge.
	A new bridge 80 feet wide was built this year by the city. 
	During the year others of the pioneers passed to their long rest.  Captain 
Percival had been in ill health for some years; likewise Robert G. Stuart and 
Judge J. G. Sparks; all succumbed to the ravages of old age, honored and 
respected. 
	The events of the year closed with a change in the city government.  At 
the annual election R. G. O'Brien was chosen mayor; Joseph Chilberg, treasurer; 
Dr. Wyman, health officer; R. F. Whitham, assessor; Chas. A. Talcott councilman 
from the First ward; C. H. Springer, from the Second ward, T. 


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H. Phipps from the Third ward and T. J. McBratney councilman at large, the last 
position having been created by the legislature. 
	During the year a branch of the Keeley Institute of Dwight, Illinois, was 
opened at Olympia for the cure of the drink and opium habits and many were its 
patients.  Some of Olympia's leading citizens availed themselves of its 
advantages.  With some the cure appears permanent; others have already fallen 
back to their former habits. 
	The Port Townsend and Southern Railway had widened the Tenino road to 
standard guage and extended its track to deep water on the west side.  The depot 
had been removed from the little cove to just north of the bridge.  At Tenino 
the junction with the Northern Pacific was made half a mile from the town.  
	In June the city was thrown into consternation and gossips were all agog 
by the return of Moses H. Scott.  In 1884 he suddenly disappeared, no one knew 
whither.  In course of time he was reported dead.  He left considerable property 
and a relative secure letters of administration.  His estate regularly passed 
through the machinery of the probate court and passed to the possession of 
innocent purchaser.  Mr. Scott now returned and claimed the property.  One suit 
for possession was instituted and decided in the superior court adversely to 
Scott, the court taking the position that Mr. Scott had voluntarily absented 
himself a length of time sufficient to raise the presumption of death; that the 
present owners of the property had made valuable improvements; that while this 
view might seem a hardship to Scott it was a greater hardship to those who had 
built homes on the property.  The case was taken to the supreme court where in 
November of the following year, the decision of


p99 c1

the superior court was affirmed.  Scott then appealed to the federal court which 
decided in his favor, 
	By the constitution this county was with the counties of Lewis, Chehalis 
and Mason in constituting a judicial district and entitled to one superior court 
judge.  At the legislative session of 1891 the bar of Olympia was successful in 
having Thurston county created a judicial district.  J. W. Robinson of Olympia 
was appointed by the governor as judge until the general election in 1892. 

1892. 
	Like that of the year previous the local history of 1892 is soon written.  
It witnessed considerable building improvement and a liberal share of street 
improvements.  Work on the court house was continued and completed about October 
1st.  The $20 per day forfeit after March 1 was not insisted upon by the 
commissioners, that body acting on the advice of the architect.  It is a grand 
and imposing structure. 
	Early in the year the proposition to erect a separate High School building 
in the city was advocated and bonds voted and sold, but before they were 
delivered the rapid growth in the increase of taxes was becoming apparent and a 
closer study of the situation revealed the lack of a need for the building.  A 
defective notice calling the bond election was discovered and the board of 
directors refused to so word the bonds that the defect would be cured and the 
purchasers declined to receive them. 
	The proposed site for the High School building was on Union street between 
Washington and Franklin.  The district had come into possession of the south 
east quarter of the block through an exchange of the corresponding quarter of 
the block due west.  In looking into the title to the property the directors 
found it to be in the


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city and application was made to the council for a transfer.  It was readily 
quitclaimed to the district and the $354.17 so long contended for by the city 
and promised by the district was never paid.  Nor is there any record that the 
district paid the city the rent so often demanded. 
	The stringency in the money market had its effect in the west.  Laboring 
men who flocked to Olympia during the boom of 1890 began moving away.  Business 
houses and residences became vacant. 
	For some time it had been the practice of the banks to refuse the city 
warrants at their face value, discounting them five or ten per cent.  In the 
spring City Treasurer Joseph Chilberg received a proposition from a Seattle bank 
to cash Olympia city warrants at par if it (the Seattle bank) could be the 
depository of the funds belonging to the Olympia city treasury.  Mr. Chilberg 
accepted the proposition.  But it happened that some of his bondsmen were 
stockholders in the local banks who threatened to with draw from his official 
bond if he removed the city money from Olympia.  He was, thus compelled to 
decline the Seattle proposition.  The Seattle bank then offered to accept 
Olympia city warrants at a discount of one per cent, which had the effect of 
bringing them up to par at home. 
	The assessments of the previous year in both the city and county were 
based on the boom values then existing.  As a result taxes were high.  The 
assessors sought to remedy matters for 1892 by making a lower assessment.  In 
the city this did not meet the approval of the council who made a raise of most 
of the assessments.  This was violently opposed by many heavy taxpayers, who 
threatened to contest its legality in the courts, but the excitement quieted and 
no litigation resulted.


p100 c1

	During the year the city council established a system of sewers the need 
of which had been persistently dwelt upon.  The sum of $16,000 had been set 
aside from a loan of $155.000 made the year previous to be used for this 
purpose.  A system prepared by one Camp, a stranger, but claiming to be a 
sanitary engineer, was adopted by the council and his plans purchased at a cost 
of $1500.  Other engineers questioned the practicability of the system.  In the 
summer of 1892 another engineer, Miller, submitted a plan of sewerage that 
seemed more adapted to the topography of Olympia and was adopted.  Work 
commenced in the latter part of the summer and continued until the $1500 was 
exhausted, about December 1. 
	Political excitement was uppermost in men's minds during the entire year.  
Early in the winter missionaries of a political organization that had sprung up 
in the east canvassed the county, organizing People's Party clubs.  It was the 
first campaign wherein the residents of the state had a voice in the election of 
presidential electors.  Office holders and office seekers were on the qui vive.  
The county campaign commenced early and the following tickets were placed in 
nomination.  The Prohibition party nominated a legislative ticket but the 
nominees declined to run.  A feature of the campaign was that the Weekly Capital 
advocated the cause of the People's Party: 

REPUBLICAN.
	For Senator: J. C. Horr. 
	For Representatives: T. F. Mentzer, A. S. McKenzie. 
	For Judge. M. J. Gordon. 
	For Sheriff: J. S. Dobbins. 
	For Auditor: C. M. Moore. 
	For County Clerk: W. H. Roberts. 
	For Treasurer: Geo. Gelbach. 
	For Attorney: M. A. Root. 
	For Assessor: Samuel James. 


p100 c2

	For School Superintendent: R. A. Ford. 
	For County Commissioners: Thos. Prather, G. W. Osborne, Jas. McD. Israel. 
	For Surveyor: L. P. Ouellette. 
	For Coroner: A. Hartsuck. 

DEMOCRATIC. 
	For Senator: A. H. Chambers. 
	For Representatives: D. E. Baily, C. C. Case. 
	For Judge: T. N. Allen. 
	For Sheriff: G. S. Prince. 
	For Auditor. Alex. Drysdale. 
	For County Clerk: R. A. Graham. 
	For Treasurer: A. D. Glover. 
	For Attorney: J. P. Moore. 
	For Assessor: J. L. Nye. 
	For School Superintendent: L. R. Byrne. 
	For County Commissioners: Milton Giles, Geo. Langridge, Geo. C. Clark. 
	For Surveyor: Theo. Young. 
	For Coroner. Dr. Oliver. 
	For Wreckmaster: C. Ethridge. 

PEOPLE'S PARTY. 
	For Senator: T. J. Miller. 
	For Representatives: J. R. Elswick, Oscar Swanson. 
	For Judge: B. Millett.
	For Sheriff: Wm. Lee. 
	For Auditor: B. M. Price. 
	For County  Clerk. J. F. Brown. 
	For Treasurer: S. E. Barr. 
	For Attorney: Daniel Gaby. 
	For Assessor: Chas. Palmer. 
	For School Superintendent: Amy Case. 
	For County Commissioners: J. M. Swan, A. Webster, S. M. Bennet. 
	For Surveyor: F. J. Ruttledge. 
	For Coroner: R. Rawson. 
	For Wreckmaster: Chas. E. Brown. 

	The entire Republican ticket was elected with the exception of J. S. 
Dobbins and R. A. Ford.  Mr. Prince was reelected sheriff and Miss Amy Case 
school superintendent. 
	No sooner was the general election over than the people in the city began


p101 c1

preparing for the municipal election which took place December 3d. 
	Dissatisfaction with the present administration had suggested the 
feasibility of a partisan contest.  The Democrats inaugurated the movement by 
calling a party convention and nominating a city ticket with C. J. Lord as 
candidate for mayor.  Republican and Non-partisan conventions were also called.  
The former nominated Mayor O'Brien for re-election, the latter placed in 
nomination for Mayor Judge J. W. Robinson.  Though short the campaign was 
exciting.  Mr. Lord was cashier of the Capital National Bank and his candidacy 
was not looked upon with favor by the masses, particularly the laboring classes 
many of whom had been compelled to discount their city warrants during a portion 
of the year.  During the fall Mayor O'Brien had in the name of the city filed 
upon a large area of tide flats, for the purpose of securing them from the state 
and managing them to aid manufacturing enterprises.  The constitutional right of 
the city to do this entered largely into the campaign. 
	The following persons were elected: Mayor, J. W. Robinson; Councilman at 
large, T. H. Phipps; Assessor, B. M. Price: Treasurer, J. S. Dobbins; Health 
Officer, Wm. A. Newell; Councilmen: 1st ward John Byrne; 3d ward, R. B. 
McCausland: 4th ward, J. Ballweg; 5th ward, Jos. Lammon; 6th ward C. P. Giles.  
After organization the council elected the following: City clerk, R. A. Ford; 
City marshal, B. F. Snyder; Street commissioner, W. F. Tucker; City engineer, D. 
S. B. Henry; Chief of fire department, S. L. McClellan; City attorney, 0. V. 
Linn; Police Justice, J. C. Rathbun. 
	This fall the new court house was completed and occupied by the different 
county officers.  Its total cost was $107,000 exclusive of furniture.


p101 c2

	The year closed with business interests somewhat despondent over the 
financial depression.  Work on the Union Pacific and Port Townsend and Southern 
railroad grades had been abandoned, although the latter road had changed its 
track from a narrow to a standard guage and located its Tenino depot half a mile 
west of the town.  Labor was unemployed and taxes were high.  Property owners 
who imagined themselves wealthy a year or two before suspected there must have 
been some mistake about it. 
	During the year the state bank closed its doors, the decline in business 
being more perceptibly felt by it than by the national banks. 

1893. 
	The year 1893 opened in Olympia with the regular biennial session of the 
state legislature.  It is only of local historical importance as, taken in 
connection with the change of state administration, it affects social relations 
in Olympia and business interests in certain lines. 
	The interests of Thurston county at this session centered in an 
appropriation for a new state capitol.  An opposition to a $2,000,000 
appropriation developed but it only served to increase the energy of Olympians.  
The final hours of the session witnessed the passage of an appropriation of 
$1,000,000 and the anxiety of Olympia was relieved only to again center in the 
veto power of the governor.  The bill however received the executive approval.  
The representatives of Thurston county in both houses worked assiduously for the 
bill. 
	During the, winter the Olympian was sold by the administrator of the Boyd 
estate to a joint stock company and Prof. J. O'B. Scobey became managing editor.  
About March lst, it bought the Tribune property and the publication of the 
latter was suspended 


p102 c1

The new publication assumed the title of the Olympian-Tribune. 
	Under the revenue law of 1891 a large number of suits had been instituted 
to collect delinquent taxes and in many cases summons had been published in the 
Tribune.  For this year the Tribune had the contract to do the county printing.  
The new revenue law- that of 1893- provided for the abandonment of these suits.  
In many of them defenses had been made and upon their dismissal the defendants 
claimed the statutory attorney's fee- $10- as a part of their costs.  The 
Superior court allowed $5 in each case, which aggregated about $3,000 against 
Thurston county for attorney's fees alone.  On an appeal to the supreme court 
the judgment was reversed.  Then arose the question of publication fees.  J. W. 
Robinson, proprietor of the Tribune at the time the tax summonses were published 
made the charge against the county at the usual rate for legal advertising.  The 
county commissioners took the position that the publication of these notices was 
provided for by the contract for county printing.  Mr. Robinson brought suit 
against the county but it never came to trial. 
	The new city administration took up in earnest the matter of securing 
railroad terminal facilities for manufacturing plants and various projects were 
proposed.  All had their objections.  As an outcome the city council proposed to 
lay a track on Water street connecting with the Northern Pacific track near its 
depot and to do this under its authority to improve streets.  It was opposed by 
some of the more prominent taxpayers and the usual restraining order was issued 
by the court.  Before the matter was finally determined a new city 
administration came in and the project was abandoned. 
	During the year bonds of the


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school district to the amount of $15,000 were sold for the purpose of erecting a 
school building on the west side of the bay. 
	During the previous year the board of school directors questioned the 
right of the county treasurer in 1892 to pay himself a commission on the $59,000 
of school bonds sold, and demanded that he return to the district treasury the 
sum of $1169 retained by him.  He insisted that he was entitled to the 
commission.  A suit to recover the amount was directed by the school board but 
the matter was compromised this fall by the treasurer paying a small portion of 
the amount claimed by the district. 
	On August 2 occurred a tragedy at Tenino that had been anticipated in the 
minds of some for several years.  George W. Manville and J. S. McCabe were 
neighbors and between whom a personal feud had existed.  On that day Mr. 
Manville was in his meadow with his gun when he noticed that McCabe and his 
hired man, Thos. Conboy, were approaching toward him, the former carrying a gun.  
He observed McCabe lowering his gun and take position to aim at him, when be 
himself fired at McCabe, killing him.  Conboy denied that McCabe lowered his 
gun.  Manville was convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to 
fourteen years in the penitentiary.  Public sentiment in the neighborhood was 
pretty well divided upon the question of his guilt.  Pending Manville's appeal 
he made a complaint to the county attorney against Conboy for perjury and at the 
request of that officer J. R. Mitchell, Esq., was appointed to investigate the 
charge.  Mr. Mitchell interviewed the neighbors and reported that probably 
sufficient evidence could not be produced to convict Conboy of the offense 
charged.  Subsequently, however, in February, 1894, Manville regularly 


p103 c1

made a complaint before a justice of the peace, charging Conboy with perjury.  
At the preliminary examination the county attorney declined to appear as 
prosecutor, claiming that he was disqualified by virtue of Conboy being one of 
the state's witnesses at the trial of Manville.  As a result of the examination 
Conboy was held for trial, but the action was dismissed in the superior court on 
motion of B. Millett, Esq., who had been appointed special prosecutor in the 
case.  More or less excitement and controversy grew out of both the Manville and 
Conboy cases and several officials were severely criticized as the costs 
aggregated several thousand dollars, those of the Conboy case alone amounting to 
$350. 
	For a year or more Hon. W. 0. Bush who took the premium on wheat at the 
Philadelphia Centennial of 1876, had been preparing an exhibit for the World's 
Fair of 1893 in Chicago.  It was a creditable collection of farm products and 
cost him about $4000 to prepare.  It was felt that the exhibit should be sent to 
Chicago.  Terms were made with Mr. Bush by the state World's Fair Commission 
paying $1500, the county $800, and the city $500, he to take the exhibit to 
Chicago and remain with it until the Fair closed. 
	During the year the county commissioners were engaged in improving roads 
and constructing bridges.  Bridges were built across the Skookumchuck, Chehalis 
and Nisqually rivers; also one across Mud Bay. 
	It was dawning on the minds of the taxpayers that the cost of maintaining 
the poor was increasing to an alarming extent and the project of buying a farm 
on which this class of unfortunates could be supported was proposed.  As might 
be supposed numerous were the eligible sites offered.  The Rutledge farm at 
Little Rock was finally purchased for $10,000 and a 


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superintendent employed to manage it.  
	This fall the city council designed an improvement on the public Square, 
transforming it from a country meadow to a city Plaza. 
	During the year two pioneers passed away, Judge Francis Henry and Nathan 
Pattison. 
	The year closed with the regular municipal election.  C. B. Mann was 
elected mayor; Wm. Gilmore, councilman at large; Mitchell Harris from the First 
ward; R. B. McCausland from the Third and Joseph Lammon from the Fifth; Robert 
Graham, clerk; B. F. Snyder, marshal; J. P. Moore, city attorney, J. S. Dobbins, 
city treasurer, and W. F. Tucker, street commissioner.  The Populist party 
nominated an opposition ticket but none of its candidates were elected. 

1894. 
	The year 1894 will be a memorable one in the history of the county not so 
much on account of what was accomplished of truly historic importance as being 
characterized by the absence of important data.  It was a year of business 
inactivity.  The inaction that followed the collapse of the Western Washington 
boom was increased by the financial panic that hung like an incubus on the 
business prosperity of the nation.  Indeed, were it not for the latter the 
former would have been temporary and insignificant.  It was a year of 
stagnations; the agricultural and manufacturing interests both languished.  
Logging operations were suspended and saw mills operated at irregular intervals.  
Public finances were embarrassed during the year.  County, city and school 
district warrants were begging for buyers.  Owing to the business depression 
property owners were unable to pay their taxes, and, though this in part was 
calculated upon by the county commissioners, the city council and the various 
boards of school directors, 


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the delinquent tax list far exceeded the calculations.  As a result warrants on 
the different treasuries were issued in excess of those paid, leaving evidences 
of indebtedness in excess of that allowed by law.  How to remedy matters, 
preserve the public credit and maintain a market price for warrants was the 
burning question of the year.  Several conferences of business men and officials 
were held and various propositions advanced, all tending to a reform of existing 
laws.  Economy was a insisted upon.  Salaries of public servants were lowered, 
and the school year shortened to six months. 
	To the great satisfaction of the citizens of the county, work on the new 
capitol was inaugurated this summer by the awarding of a contract to build the 
foundation and by the contract, stone from the quarry at Tenino was to be used.  
A new ledge of stone had been discovered on land owned by Geo. Huggins about 
midway between Olympia and Tenino and claimed by experts to be of a superior 
quality.  It was the intention of the capitol commission to have this stone used 
in the capitol foundation but the prospect of a legal controversy between the 
owners of the quarry caused the selection of the Tenino stone. 
	Hard times and a demand for retrenchment in public expenditures turned the 
popular attention to politics early in the summer.  Four tickets were placed 
before the voters: 

REPUBLICAN. 
	For Representatives: S. W. Fenton, J. O'B. Scobey. 
	For Sheriff: George Gaston.
	For Auditor: George S. Hopkins. 
	For Treasurer: George Gelbach.
	For County Attorney: M. A. Root. 
	For Clerk: C. V. Leach. 
	For School Superintendent: T. N. Henry. 
	For Surveyor: Geo. Stocking. 


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	For Surveyor: A. S. Ruth. 
	For Assessor: Samuel James. 
	For Coroner. A. Hartsock. 
	For Wreckmaster: S. P. Wiman. 
	For Commissioners: G. W. Osborne, F. A. Whalen. 

DEMOCRATIC. 
	For Representatives: W. A. Newell, A. E. Young. 
	For Sheriff: J. W. Chambers.
	For Auditor: Geo. B. Mason. 
	For Treasurer: J. D. Bolander. 
	For County Attorney: J. R. Mitchell. 
	For Clerk: R. A. Graham. 
	For School Superintendent: Mrs. P. C. Hale. 
	For Surveyor: J. A. McFadden.
	For Assessor: Dr. Manier. 
	For Coroner: Jacob Stampfler. 
	For Wreckmaster: C. Ethridge. 
	For Commissioners: Geo. Langridge, Henry Mize. 

PEOPLE'S PARTY. 
	For Representatives: M. L. Adams, T. J. Miller. 
	For Sheriff: J. C. Conine. 
	For Auditor: Bige Eddy. 
	For Treasurer: J. M. Swan.
	For County Attorney: -----
	For Clerk: E. D. Peasley. 
	For School Superintendent: Fannie M. Austin. 
	For Surveyor: Frank Rutledge.
	For Assessor: H. C. Ellis. 
	For Coroner: E. W. Shelton. 
	For Wreckmaster: Capt. Monroe.
	For Commissioners: W. L. Abbott, J. S. French. 

PROHIBITIONIST. 
	For Representatives: R. H. Massey, Millard Lemon. 
	For Sheriff: H. Dennis. 
	For Auditor: David Sypher. 
	For Treasurer: E. B. Raymond. 
	For County Attorney: J. C. Hurspool. 
	For Clerk: David Mitchell. 
	For School Superintendent. Amy Case. 


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	For Commissioners: Alex Henry, H. E. Davis. 

	In addition to these tickets Wm. Billings was an independent candidate for 
sheriff and W. A. Patterson for county attorney. 
	The entire Republican ticket was elected. 
	At the election Judge M. J. Gordon of the superior court for this county 
was elected a judge of the supreme court, which would necessitate his vacating 
his office before January 14, 1895, and local attorneys were agog as to his 
successor, who would be appointed by the governor.  Several names were urged 
upon the governor but he reserved the appointment until the following March when 
he treated the county to a surprise by the appointment of Hon. T. M. Reed, Jr. 
	On August 1, was established the Palladium by J. C. Rathbun, a weekly 
newspaper that supported the Republican ticket and inaugurated the first 
systematic effort at publishing a history of the county from its earliest 
settlement. 
	An improvement to the city of no little value was made in connection with 
the work of the government in improving the harbor.  By an arrangement with 
owners of lots on the mud flats the dredgings were deposited on lots adjoining 
the harbor, the property owners building the bulkheads.  The dredging company 
was willing to deposit the dirt under Fourth street bridge if the city would 
build the bulkheads to retain it.  To do this involved several thousand dollars 
of expense and no money was in the city treasury.  The city's credit was ex- 
exhausted and her scrip could not be sold.  But it was felt that the importance 
of the improvement and the small cost of making it demanded that it be made.  
The burning question was to find a market for the warrants sufficient to procure 
the workmen 


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food and clothes.  The difficulty was solved by the business men coming to the 
city's relief and accepting the warrants in payment of goods. 
	The advent early in the summer of a subordinate organization of the 
American Protective Association, known as the A. P. A., caused a little gossip 
among politicians.  It was generally known to be an anti-Catholic organization 
and the personnel of its membership was a matter of curiosity.  Lists of 
supposed members were prepared by opponents of the organization with no avowed 
purpose but to furnish food for gossips. 
	During the fall, terms were made with the county commissioners by which 
part of the basement of the court house was leased to the government for a post 
office, at an annual rental of $700. 
	At the October session of the commissioners the county and city taxes on 
the Hotel Olympia were remitted.  Since the building was erected in 1890, it had 
not been a paying investment and this act of the commissioners, though somewhat 
criticized by the people, was urged as a proper recognition of a public 
enterprise. 
	At the municipal election in December little interest was manifest.  C. B. 
Mann was reelected mayor; George Scofield was elected councilman at large; John 
Byrne from the Second ward; J. H. Meays from the Fourth ward and George B. Lane 
from the Sixth ward; R. A. Graham, clerk; Fred Northup, marshal; A. J. Falknor, 
attorney; J. S. Dobbins, treasurer; Dr. Newcombe, health officer. 
	This fall Talcott Brothers undertook the experiment of boring for artesian 
water and to the general surprise flowing water was reached at a depth of only 
125 feet.  Other wells were at once sunk and in no case was there a failure.


p106 c1

1895. 
	The important question of 1895 related to finances.  For a few years past 
the county, city and many school districts had been issuing warrants in excess 
of their incomes and the problem was to so change business methods that matters 
could soon be reduced to a cash basis.  In the city it was determined to so cut 
expenses that one third of the revenue be used for current expenses and two 
thirds be applied on indebtedness.  This policy was approved by the warrant 
holders, and in harmony therewith employees were discharged, salaries cut and 
luxuries dispensed with.  By this policy about $1000 per month was applied on 
indebtedness.  The county, too, attempted to get on a cash basis by creating an 
incidental fund to be supplied with cash from the general fund.  In June the 
bondsmen of the treasurer warned that officer to not transfer any more money to 
the so called incidental fund on the ground that the law did not authorize such 
a fund. Parties who had been 


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promised payments from that fund then instituted mandamus proceedings to compel 
such a transfer and to compel the auditor to draw warrants in their favor.  The 
case was decided against them in the superior court, whereupon they appealed to 
the supreme court.  For the better adjustment of school district finances the 
board of directors of the district called an election to validate the 
outstanding warrants and to provide a temporary issue for the purpose of 
carrying on a six months school for the ensuing school year.  Both propositions 
were carried by the necessary three fifths vote. 
	During the summer the county Commissioners contracted for an artesian well 
to supply the court house.  The water bill for the county amounted to $500 per 
year.  The cost of an artesian well, with a tank, pipes, etc., was estimated at 
about $400.  A small flow of water was obtained at a depth of 140 feet, 
sufficient, it is thought for court house purposes.


p107 c1

CHURCHES.
	It is with great difficulty that reliable data is secured for a history of 
the churches of the county.  If a record was kept of the pioneer proceedings in 
the erection of churches it has not been preserved.  The historian can well wish 
it were otherwise as some record should be made of the noble gratuitous efforts 
of those who toiled, mid sunshine and rain, to lay the foundations for a moral, 
Christian growth. 

METHODIST. 
	The pioneer movement on the line of church organization was made in 1852 
by the members of the Methodist Episcopal church.  In 1856 the present church 
edifice was erected on the corner of Fourth and Adams streets.  Rev. J. F. 
Devore, a pioneer of wonderful physique, with the courage of his convictions, 
sagacious and energetic, was foremost in the enterprise.  Mr. and Mrs. D. R. 
Bigelow of this city, and Mrs. Wright, of Independence, were among the first 
members and the former are still members of this society.  The old site was 
exchanged for two lots on the northeast corner of Fifth and Adams streets in 
1890.  The building was then moved to the southwest corner of these streets on 
the property of C. B. Mann until 1894 when it was again moved to the north side 
of Fifth street.
 
ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
	The Episcopal church has been represented in Olympia since 1845, the year 
when Bishop Scott was consecrated missionary bishop of Oregon and Washington, 
which at that time included Idaho and Montana.  In that year the church service 
was held once a month in a school house, by the Rev. Dr. John McCarty, United 
States 


p107 c2

chaplain from Fort Steilacoom.  In 1860 the Rev. D. E. Willis was missionary in 
Olympia, but resigned in 1861.  During 1862 a monthly service was held by the 
Rev. Daniel Kendig, chaplain from Fort Steilacoom, and afterwards lay service 
was conducted regularly in the Masonic hall by Major Goldsborough.  In April, 
1864, St. John's Church was incorporated, with Wm. Pickering, Richard Lane and 
S. W. Percival, trustees.  The Rev. P. E. Hyland was rector of the new parish; 
and its first wardens and vestry were: Samuel W. Percival, senior warden; 
William Pickering, junior warden; James R. Wood, R. Frost, Frank Henry, Richard 
Lane, Benjamin Harned and John L. Head, vestrymen.  On Sept. 3, 1865, St. Johns 
Church, corner of Main and Seventh streets, was consecrated by Bishop Scott.  In 
1871 Mr. Hyland resigned the bishopric of the parish, and for a few months the 
Rev. L. H. Wells had charge over it.  The Rev. Thomas E. Dickey was rector one 
year, 1872-73, and the Rev. Chas. L. Fischer in 1875-76.  Lay service was held 
by Gov. E. P. Ferry until 1878, when the Rev. Alfred M. Able became rector.  The 
present parsonage was built in 1879 through the efforts of the ladies' sewing 
society.  After Mr. Able who was obliged to resign and give up parish work in 
1881 on account of poor health, the rectors of the church have been the Rev. 
Earnest Edward Wood during 1882, the Rev. R. E. Nevins, D. D., 1883-86 (the Rev. 
Wm. Gill supplying for a time in 1887), and the Rev. H. H. Buck from 1888 to 
1891 when Rev. R. S. Chase became pastor. 
	The foundations of the present church building were laid in the fall


p108 c1

of 1888, and the basement occupied for services Oct. 20, 1889.  The building 
remained unfinished just a year, when work was resumed and completed in 1891. 

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
	This church was organized in 1854 by Rev. Geo. P. Whitworth, D. D., now of 
Seattle.  He preached for a period of six years.  He was succeeded by Rev. R. J. 
Evans, who continued in charge of the work until his death in 1864.  The present 
church building corner of 6th and Franklin streets, was erected during his 
pastorate.  It was dedicated in 1860.  It stands as a monument of the early days 
of Olympia.  It is a frame structure, nicely seated and furnished, with a 
seating capacity of 350.  For thirty five years its bell has called the people 
to worship.  During these years the church has enjoyed almost continuous 
prosperity.  Mr. Evans was succeeded by Rev. Mr. elder, who did good service as 
a pastor until 1870 when Rev. J. R. Thompson, D. D., began his pastorate.  Dr. 
Thompson continued for a period of thirteen years, and did much for the mission 
work in Thurston county and Vicinity.  In 1884 Rev. W. B. See, D. D., became 
pastor, and served the church as such until 1889.  In November, 1890, the 
present pastor, Rev. T. J. Lamont, took charge of the work.  This church has a 
flourishing Sunday school and Y. P. S. C. E. 
	The value of the present property, including the manse, is about $15,000. 

FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 
	The initiative steps for organizing the Unitarian church in Olympia, were 
taken in 1870 by Mr. E. L. Smith and Rev. L. T. Eliott of Portland.  They 
invited Rev. Jno. C. Kimball from one of the New England States to come to 
Olympia in the interests of liberal Christianity.  Mr. Kimball and his wife came 
in 1871 and it was not 


p108 c2

long until a church was organized, a Sunday school established and a ladies' aid 
society inaugurated.  The only records now attainable are those of the ladies' 
society and the Sunday school.  The church records proper were lost in the fire 
that destroyed the church records in 1882. 
	Mr. Kimball remained in charge of the society about a year when he took 
charge Of a Unitarian society at Hartford, Conn.  After an interim of about four 
years, Rev. David N. Utter, formerly of the Campbellite Christian church, 
accepted a call to the Unitarian church in Olympia. 
	During the administration of Mr. and Mrs. Utter, the society built a plain 
but artistic, cozy and convenient church on the lot near the Northern Pacific 
crossing on Main street.  Prior to the erection of the church, the society had 
met since its inception in Tacoma Hall over the Good Templars' reading room, 
corner of Fourth and Columbia streets.  Mr. Utter remained about five years.  
Not long after his departure the new church caught fire and burned to the 
ground.  The little band of Unitarians with no regular minister and no church 
home, dwindled away.  In 1886 Rev. Geo. H. Green of Tacoma came and held regular 
services for a few months and reorganized the forces.  In 1890 Rev. Napoleon 
Hoagland of, Kansas accepted the pastorate.  A site was purchased on the corner 
of Franklin and Ninth and in 1891 erected a church building.  The society also 
owns a few tenement houses.  Mr. Hoagland continued his work in behalf of the 
society until 1893 when he resigned the pastorate since which time the society 
has had no regular pastor.

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 
	In 1871 the American Congregational Union bought the old Catholic property 
on Main street- a building out of repair and used as a carpenter shop.


p109 c1

In 1873 the Union wrote to the Congregationalists of Olympia that unless steps 
were taken to organize into a church the property would be sold for the cause 
elswhere.  Accordingly in April of that year a council of six congregational 
ministers was held in the Presbyterian church and a church organization 
completed with fifteen members.  Services were held in Masonic hall building and 
steps taken to erect a building of their own.  This was completed and dedicated 
in September, 1874.  For . several years the membership grew but slowly.  Its 
pastors have been Rev. C. A. Huntington, G. W. Skinner, D. Thomas, Jas. 
Campbell, L. J. Garver J. R. Chaplin, C. L. Diven. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 
	For a score of years the Baptists of Olympia had been without a church 
organization.  Although the matter was frequently talked over among the members 
it was not until March, 1872, that the men and women of that faith organized and 
filed their articles of incorporation.  It then had fourteen members and 
meetings were held in the reading room of the Good Templars building.  In 1874 a 
lot was bought on the corner of Adams and Eighth streets and a building erected.  
Rev. Joseph Castro was the first pastor who was succeeded by Judge Roger S. 
Green.  J. P. Ludlow also served as a pastor of the church.  In 1890 dissensions 
arose in the society which resulted in the organization of the Temple Baptist 
church and Rev. J. C. Douglas called as pastor.  A lot was bought on Ninth 
street between Main and Washington and a building erected.  The financial 
depression that soon followed increased the burden of maintaining the 
organization and in 1893 it disorganized. 

CATHOLIC. 
	The first effort at a Catholic organization was when the Oblate 
Missionaries


p109 c2

under Father Pascal Ricard located the Mission in 1848 on the east side of the 
bay about a mile north of the Smith claim, now Olympia.  Late in the fifties 
they abandoned the Mission and located on the Tulalip Indian Reservation.  In 
186- Edmund Sylvester donated to the Catholics two blocks of ground for school 
and church purposes and the building now occupied by the Congregationalists was 
erected and used for a school and church.  In 1871 it was sold to the 
Congregational society and in 1880 the Giddings property bought for a school, 
and Providence Academy built.  A church building was erected on the block west 
of Columbia street and is still used for religious services. 
	In this connection might be mentioned St. Peters Hospital which, though 
not a church organization, is under the management of Catholics.  It had its 
origin in an abiding sentiment among some of the leading citizens of Olympia 
that an institution of the kind was needed.  Workmen in logging camps contiguous 
to the city in cases of sickness or accidents, were required to go to Tacoma or 
Seattle for proper medical treatment.  For the purpose of securing conveniences 
for their care and comfort and in harmony with a Catholic policy, the Sisters of 
Charity at Vancouver established the St. Peter's Hospital, the city donating a 
block of ground.  Sister Benedict Superioress, was here and commenced caring for 
the patients on June 1, 1887, although it was the following September when the 
present building was ready for occupancy.  In 1889 the capacity of the building 
was doubled. 

CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 
	The first attempt at organizing a society of this denomination in the 
county was in 1891, although for a short time prior thereto Rev. J. S. McCallum 
of Seattle had preached to 


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the people of that faith in the city.  In the spring of the year mentioned Mr. 
McCallum located permanently in the city and at once engaged actively in 
perfecting an organization.  A lot was leased on the northwest corner of Adams 
and Union streets and in the fall a church building and a parsonage were 
erected.  The society has grown in numerical strength and now numbers about two 
hundred members.  In the spring of 1895 a lot was bought of H. B. McElroy on the 
northwest corner of Franklin and Eighth streets and it is the purpose to build 
thereon the coming year. 

THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN. 
	The preliminary work of organizing this society was begun in 1892.  The 
next year Rev. J. W. Welsch was secured as pastor and services were held in a 
vacant store room in the Hale block.  In 1894 Mr. Welsch left the charge and was 
succeeded by Rev. Mr. Hays.  In 1894 the society bought of Geo. A. Barnes the 
corner of Fourth 


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and Jefferson streets and during the present year (1895) are building a 
commodious church building. 

AT TUMWATER. 
	The first effort at building a church at Tumwater was made in the winter 
of 1871.  It was built by popular subscription, the intention being to make it a 
Union church, and completed during the summer.  Rev. J. F. Devore, the presiding 
elder for the Methodist Episcopal church for this district, James Biles and 
Nelson Barnes were the moving spirits.  Besides the Methodist, the 
Presbyterians, Unitarians and Episcopalians held services in the building.  From 
the fact the Methodists exceeded the others in numbers, by common consent, they 
took charge of the building and when the deed to the property was made by Nelson 
Barnes it was made to them and has since been considered a Methodist church, 
although preachers of other denominations frequently use it for holding 
services. 

NOTE.- A mention of the churches at Bucoda and Tenino is made in the history of 
those towns.


p111 c1

FRATERNITIES.

MASONIC. 
	The pioneer movement toward a secret fraternal organization north of the 
Columbia river was made on December 11, 1852 when T. F. McElroy, J. W. Wiley, M. 
T. Simmons, N. Delin, Smith Hayes, F. A. Clark and C. H. Hale met to organize a 
Masonic Lodge under a dispensation granted by the Grand Master of Oregon.  
Edmund Sylvester had donated two lots on Main and Eighth streets for a Masonic 
building.  The lodge worked under a dispensation until the following July when 
it obtained a charter and became known as Olympia Lodge No. 5, of Oregon.  When 
the Grand Lodge of Washington was organized in 1858, it became No. 1 of 
Washington.  Early in 1854 steps were taken to build a Masonic Hall and on June 
24 the corner stone was laid with the usual ceremonies of the craft.  The 
building was so far completed by December that the second territorial 
legislature convened there. 
	In 1854 a lodge was organized at Steilacoom.  Col. A. B. Moses, who was 
murdered by the Indians, was a member of Steilacoom lodge and his widow asked 
his lodge to bury him according to the rites of the fraternity and upon being 
refused, communicated with the lodge at Olympia which gave the body of Col. 
Moses a Masonic burial.  The strange conduct of the Steilacoom lodge was due to 
the sympathy the Hudson's Bay people at that place had with the Indians. 
	In 1857 was organized a lodge at Grand Mound.  Though there were several 
of the craft residing in the vicinity it was with difficulty that the lodge was 
kept up.  In 1867 it received 


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permission of the Grand Lodge to hold its meetings in Tumwater but even this was 
of little benefit in arousing interest and the next year it surrendered its 
charter to the grand lodge. 
	In May 1858 steps were taken to organize a grand lodge, which was 
consummated the following December by the election of T. F. McElroy, grand 
master and T. M. Reed, grand secretary.  The first session of the grand lodge 
was held in the Masonic hall in Olympia. 
	On April 16, 1859 the Masonic lodge laid off Masonic cemetery two miles 
south of the village. 
	A memento of historic importance connected with Olympia Lodge No. 1, is 
the Tylers sword.  It was presented to the lodge by James Tilton, then surveyor 
general of the territory and a soldier of the Mexican war accompanied by the 
following: 
"On New Years eve, December 31, 1647, Col. Francis M. Wynkoop of Pennsylvania, 
now deceased, (who was a Mason) commanded an expedition of 54 men, Texas 
rangers, to operate against a band of guerrillas commanded by Pedro Jaronter who 
was in league with Ex-president Gen. Valencia, then second in command of the 
Mexican armies.  Bro. Jas. Tilton, 1st lieutenant commanding Co. A., U. S. 
Volunteers, Bro. E. A. Hanley. of Penn, deceased, then 1st lieutenant, 11th U. 
S. Infantry, two Texas officers, immediately commanded said company and Lieut. 
Perry of the navy accompanied said expedition.  At 2 o'clock new year's morning, 
January, 1848, they made an attack upon the headquarters of Gen. Valencia in an 
old castle on his ranch some 38 miles north east of the city of Mexico.  The 
surprise was complete and Gen. Valencia and his son in law, Gen. Salas, adjutant 
general of his staff, were taken from their beds and carried into the city of 
Mexico as prisoners 


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The sword is that worn by Gen. Valencia and taken upon that occasion." 
	Mrs. Tilton also presented the lodge with a lock of George Washington's 
hair.  Like all other organizations Masonry has had its ups and downs that are 
of no particular historic interest.  In 1871, for reasons unimportant outside 
the craft, another lodge was organized at Olympia and named Harmony No. 18 with 
E. L. Smith as Master.  The early records of the lodge were destroyed by fire in 
1882, but the organization still continues.  
	In 1886, the Masons of the city organized Olympia chapter No. 7 of Royal 
Arch Masons and in 1890 was constituted a Commandery of Knights Templars.  In 
1872 was Perfected the different organizations of the Scottish Rite and in 1894 
was chartered a chapter of the order of the Eastern Star, a branch of the 
Masonic order composed of the lady members of Masons' families.

 ODD FELLOWS. 
	The initial organization of Odd Fellowship in Washington Territory was 
made at Olympia, July 13, 1855, by C. C. Hewitt, acting as Deputy Grand Sire by 
the authority of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the United States, in a building 
owned by George A. Barnes on First street west of Main.  Victor Monroe was the 
first Noble Grand, D. C. Beatty secretary and W. N. Ayer, treasurer, and the 
lodge took the name of Olympia Lodge No. 1.  The following December a committee 
was appointed to consider the practicability of building a hall.  For a few 
years the lodge met in the building in the rear of Young's Hotel on Second 
street but in 1857 returned to the Barnes building.  In 1858 the lodge came 
under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Oregon.  During the subsequent 


112 c2

years the members found it difficult to maintain its organization and through 
mismanagement had become involved financially.  In 1862 it surrendered its 
charter to the Grand Lodge and its furniture was sold to pay its debts.  During 
the next five years, the Lodge was without an organization but in 1867 it was 
reinstituted and held meeting temporarily over the Standard office but soon 
occupied the Good Templars hall; and the prosperity of the lodge dates from this 
reorganization.
	In 1869 land for a cemetery was purchased of Ira Ward and W. H. Mitchell 
to the south of Masonic cemetery east of Tumwater, and the present cemetery 
platted.
	In 1870 the lodge purchased a building on Washington street, erected in 
1867 by C. C. and R. H. Hewitt.
	On September 22, 1872, Western Lodge No. 6 was instituted with C. C. 
Hewitt, Noble Grand, which continued its organization until 1888, when it united 
with Olympia Lodge No. 1.
	In 1874 Alpha Encampment was instituted and has since maintained its 
organization.
	A grand Lodge of Odd Fellows was formed in 1878 of the lodges in 
Washington.
	During the winter of 1887-8 a movement to erect an Odd Fellows Temple on 
the corner of Main and Fifth streets was started and pushed to a successful 
termination, the corner stone, being laid June 5, 1888, and the building 
completed that year.  Shortly after the erection of the temple, Ruth lodge No. 
17 of the Daughters of Rebekah was organized by the ladies of Odd Fellows 
families but it survived only a few years when it surrendered its charter.
	During all these years Odd Fellowship has been a potent factor in 
affording social occasions and in building a healthy moral and educational 
sentiment. 


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KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS. 
	On March 10, 1884, F. J. Alexander, acting as representative of the Grand 
Chancellor instituted a lodge of Knight of Pythias in Olympia, known as Capitol 
Lodge No. 15.  It started out with twenty four members and had a rapid growth.  
It held its meetings weekly in Odd Fellow's Hall until 1893 when it leased a 
hall in the Stuart building on the corner of Main and Sixth streets.
	In the winter of 1894 several of the members of the lodge withdrew, formed 
a temporary organization and petitioned the Grand Chancellor for a dispensation.  
For reasons immaterial in this connection the dispensation was refused but later 
in the summer one was granted and the lodge instituted as Lincoln Lodge No. 104; 
the grand lodge of 1894 issued it a charter.  It held its meetings weekly in 
Knights of Pythias Hall until August, 1895, when it moved into Odd Fellows hall. 

GOOD TEMPLARS. 
	Tacoma Lodge No. 4, of the Independent Order of Good Templars was 
organized August, 1866.  Old, young and middle aged composed the enthusiastic 
band that started out to fight King Alcohol.  To aid them in their work The 
Echo, a weekly paper was started and published by a committee of the lodge, in 
connection with the Sons of Temperance.  On January 1, 1869, D. Finch donated to 
the Lodge a building standing on the corner of Fourth and Columbia streets, for 
lodge purposes and also for the maintenance of a public library and reading 
room,  The lodge kept up its organization and maintained the reading room 
continuously thereafter, although interest in the organization at times was 
quite low.  To assist in paying expenses the lodge room was leased for 
miscellaneous purposes.  In 1888 the suggestion arose that this 


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possibly broke the condition of Capt. Finch's donation.  Parties interested in 
the Collegiate Institute, an educational institution under the management of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, then procured a quit claim deed to the property from 
Mr. Finch and demanded possession.  The Good Templars refused and suit for 
possession was instituted by the trustees of the Collegiate institute.  The 
Superior court decided in favor of the Good Templars and on appeal, the decision 
was affirmed by the supreme court.  The lodge has been an active factor in 
promoting a temperance sentiment in the county and enlists the efforts of 
leading citizens.
	In 1870 was formed the Grand Lodge whose jurisdiction included the lodges 
of Washington and British Columbia. 
	In 1857 was organized a lodge of the Sons of Temperance. 

ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN. 
	A branch of this fraternal insurance order was instituted at Olympia in 
February 1879.  The lodge had a successful growth and is rated as one of the 
best in the jurisdiction. 
	In 1893 was instituted a lodge of the Degree of Honor, which holds semi- 
monthly meetings.  It is a branch of the A. 0. U. W. to which the wives and 
daughters of Workmen are eligible. 

OTHER SOCIETIES. 
	In 1877 was incorporated a lodge of the Champions of the Red Cross, with 
W. H. Roberts as commander.  It was originally a temperance society, but soon 
became a fraternal insurance order.  The society erected a building on Fourth 
street near Jefferson, the work being done by the members themselves; the ladies 
also took a hand in lathing and painting.  The lodge was maintained with 
considerable interest for four or five years but finally interest lessened and 
it became disorganized.


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	Other fraternal societies have been organized and liberally contributed to 
the enjoyment of social occasions and the upbuilding of a moral and social 
growth.  George H. Thomas Post No. 5, of the Grand Army of the Republic was 
organized in 1881; a branch order, the Woman's Relief Corps, in 1891; a camp of 
the Sons of Veterans in 1891, and of the Daughters of Veterans in 1894; a lodge 
of the Benevolent Order of Elks in 1890; of the Royal Society of Good Fellows in 
1892; of the Foresters in 1890; of the Royal Arcanum in 1893; of the Woodmen of 
the World


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in 1894; of the National Union in 1894.
	A social organization called the Potlatch club was organized in 1884.  It 
had rooms in the Horr Block on Main street and continued its existence until 
1889. 
	In 1891 the Washington Club was incorporated and leased the second story 
of the old Odd Fellows building.  The financial depression that soon followed 
made the burden of keeping the rooms open rather burdensome and interest in the 
organization lessened although the incorporation still continues. 


p115 c1

NEWSPAPERS.
	It is with some difficulty that the material for a connected history of 
the newspapers of Thurston county has been secured.  None exists in the public 
records and recourse must be had to the memories of the old settlers. 
	As has been before stated, the first newspaper published north of the 
Columbia river was by T. F. McElroy and J. W. Wiley, September, 1852.  The 
motive of the publication was to advance the material growth of the Sound 
country.  This territory was then a part of Oregon and the Columbian at once 
plunged into a fight for a new territory.  Politically it advocated the 
principles of the Whig party. 
	During the first year Mr. McElroy sold his interests to Mr. Wiley who soon 
sold to Edward Furste.  Furste soon tired of newspaper fame and sold to Matt K. 
Smith.  In December, 1853, Mr. Wiley bought it again, changed its name to the 
Washington Pioneer and with its change of name came a change of political 
affiliations, from Whig to Democratic. 
	In 1855, R. L. Doyle established the Northwest Democrat but it soon 
consolidated with the Pioneer under the title, Pioneer and Democrat and for a 
number of years had the public printing. 
In November, 1860, John Miller Murphy, encouraged by leading Republicans of 
Olympia, established the Washington Standard and at once plunged into the 
political fight that was then going on in the nation.  During the dark days of 
the civil war it stood by the Union cause and gave


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to the administration a loyal support.  When the split in the Republican ranks 
came, as a result of President Johnson's reconstruction policy the Standard 
supported the Johnson wing of the party and in 1868 found itself supporting the 
Democratic ticket.  It has ever since been considered a Democratic organ.  
Though other papers have come and gone, "rose, flourished and fell," as it were, 
the Standard has never missed an issue, but with the regularity of the weeks has 
been published every Friday night.  
	In November, 1860, the Pioneer and Democrat was sold to James Lodge and as 
such it continued until after the incoming of the Republican administration when 
it suspended publication. 
	At this time, 1861, there were published at Victoria two rival papers, the 
Colonist and the Press.  With the completion of a telegraph line from Portland 
to Olympia the Colonist put on a special messenger.  The steamer Major Tompkins 
left Olympia for Victoria every Monday morning.  The messenger would receive the 
dispatches here Sunday night and leave on the boat Monday morning, editing them 
on the trip.  Upon arrival at Victoria they were in shape to enable the Colonist 
to publish several hours in advance of the Press.  
	The agent of the Press in Olympia was A. M. Poe and not to be out done by 
the Colonist he arranged with John Miller Murphy to put the dispatches in type 
and print them as a Press supplement in time to be sent to Victoria by the 
Monday morning steamer. 


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	The scheme was so brilliant in design and so successfully executed that 
Mr. Poe conceived the idea of a newspaper.  The old Pioneer & Democrat Material 
was still on the ground, and for sale.  Poe bought it, including the old Ramage 
press Mr. McElroy used in publishing the Columbian, and issued the Overland 
Press as a rival to the Standard.  Poe associated with himself J. W. Watson and 
it successively passed into the possession of Wilson & Head and B. F. Kendall.  
After the death of B. F. Kendall in 1862, L. G. Abbott and J. W. Watson, two 
employees of Mr. Kendall, bought the office.  In 1864 Watson sold his interest 
to R. H. Hewitt and then went to Seattle, taking the old Ramage press.  Abbott & 
Hewitt continued the publication under the name of the Pacific Tribune and by 
making a specialty of gathering war news worked up a good circulation.  About 
the close of the war Abbott sold his interest to Mr. Hewitt.  In 1867 Hewitt 
sold the plant to Thomas Prosch and established the Territorial Republican.  
Clarence B. Bagley and S. Coulter soon bought the Republican, changed its name 
to the Commercial Age and run it the next year as a campaign paper. 
	Mr. Prosch continued the publication of the Tribune and in 1867 issued a 
daily edition.  Becoming involved financially his office was sold at sheriff's 
sale, the subscription book coming to the possession of Mr. Murphy of the 
Standard.  With the magnanimity of newspaper men Mr. Murphy returned him his 
subscription list and loaned him his credit with a San Francisco house to assist 
in purchasing new material.  Mr. Prosch then continued the Tribune until the 
next year when he moved the office to Tacoma. 
	During the early years of the war there was no Democratic paper published


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in the territory through the lack of official patronage.  However in 1864 Urban 
E. Hicks established the Washington Democrat.  Though it was a creditable 
journal it buffeted the waves of adverse fortune only a year and suspended in 
July 1865. 
	As those who are familiar with the political history of the country during 
the troublesome years following the war can well imagine, the political 
situation was decidedly interesting.  There were parties and factions of 
parties; there were radicals and conservatives; regulars and bolters.  The 
Standard had allied itself with the administration.  Republican office holders 
felt that Congress might yet come out on top and hesitated.  In this condition 
of politics the Territorial Republican was started, as has been stated. 
	S. A. Garfield was then surveyor general and a candidate for delegate to 
Congress.  In obtaining the Republican nomination he was successful but this 
only increased the opposition to him.  The bolters encouraged E. T. Gunn and J. 
N. Gale to establish the Transcript, a radical Republican paper.  Gale 
afterwards sold to Gunn who published it until 1885, when he died; with his 
death the Transcript suspended publication. 
	With the improvement in the industrial conditions of the period and the 
indications the enterprise would be a success a committee of the Good Templars 
and Sons of Temperance organizations in December, 1867, published a temperance 
paper called the Echo.  At the end of the first year the plant was bought by L. 
G. Abbott and C. B. Bagley but Mr. Bagley soon sold his interest to J. H. 
Munson.  Abbott & Munson then published it until October 1870, when Munson 
became the sole owner and L. P. Venen became associated with him as editor.  In 
November 1873, Munson sold the 


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Echo to J. N. Gale, a former publisher of the Transcript.  The next year Gale 
sold the paper to Francis Cook who changed it to a political paper, Republican, 
and continued it until 1874, when he was forced out of business by a combination 
of the publishers of the Standard and Courier. 
	In 1871 L. P. Beach and Gov. E. P. Ferry brought to Olympia from Port 
Townsend the plant of the Puget Sound Courier.  It was proposed to run a 
metropolitan paper, to use brevier and nonpareil type and make the subscription 
price $1.  Mr. Beach, although a printer, was not a practical newspaper man, and 
F. D. Loveridge of Chicago was imported to do the editorial work.  His 
management of the paper was short and he soon returned to the east.  Mr. Beach 
run the paper a year, when it was sold to C. B. Bagley. 
	In 1874 the Standard and Courier combined to publish a daily, the 
Olympian.  Ostensibly it was for boom purposes, but actually it was to freeze 
out the Daily Echo then published by Francis A. Cook.  The agreement between Mr. 
Murphy of the Standard and Mr. Bagley of the Courier was that each should 
publish it on alternate days and it to be strictly non partisan.  On one 
occasion, during Mr. Bagley's absence, he left his father to attend to the 
Olympian and the next issue came out savoring strongly of Republican politics.  
Mr. Murphy said nothing, but "sawed wood."  The next morning the Olympian was 
intensely Democratic, which so provoked Mr. Bagley that he took his material out 
of the Standard office.  The Olympian was in a fair way to collapse but the 
thought that the Daily Echo had not yet been conquered, inspired them to again 
unite and continue the morning paper.  Later in the season, however, Mr. Murphy 
retired and the publication


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continued for a time by Mr. Bagley. 
	In 1884 Mr. Bagley sold the Courier plant to W. H. Roberts and F. A. 
Dunham, who, in addition to publishing the Weekly Courier, issued for a time the 
Daily Critic.  The next year they sold the plant to Thomas H. Cavanaugh.  Mr. 
Cavanaugh at once plunged into politics and changed the name of the paper to 
Republican Partisan and continued it as such until December, 1889, when it was 
sold to the State Printing & Publishing Company, with 0. C. White, then 
Territorial Secretary, as manager.  During his publication of the Partisan Mr. 
Cavanaugh did the Territorial printing.  During the session of the first state 
legislature Mr. White was appointed State Printer and very soon thereafter his 
company sold the Partisan property to J. W. Robinson.  Mr. Robinson, a lawyer, 
placed Major C. M. Barton and H. L. Gill, both of Tacoma, as editor and business 
manager respectively, changed the name to Tribune and established a daily, an 
afternoon paper, which was continued until the spring of 1893. 
	In January 1874 R. H. Hewitt established the Northwest Farmer, an 
agricultural paper but it was of only temporary existence. 
	In 1885 P. P. Carrol established the Republican but it, too, was short 
lived. 
	In 1886 Prof. L. E. Follansbee, principal of the public schools, commenced 
the publication of the Northwest Teacher, a monthly publication, devoted to the 
interest of education.  It continued until 1890. 
	In 1886 J. N. Gale, a former publisher of the Transcript and, later, of 
the Echo, established the New Transcript, a weekly temperance paper.  The 
failing health of the publisher prevented the paper from achieving importance in 
the newspaper, world 


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and in 1888 he sold the plant to H. W. Bessac.  Mr. Bessac changed the name to 
Review and in 1889 sold it to J. C. Rathbun who, in 1890, sold to B. M. Price.  
During the fall of that year Mr. Price changed the name to the Capital and for a 
few months issued an afternoon edition.  From the time Mr. Bessac bought it, the 
paper had been Republican in politics but in 1892 it espoused the principles of 
the Peoples Party. 
	To assist in the immigration movement, in the winter of 1889 the real 
estate men of the city contracted with the publisher of the Standard to issue an 
afternoon edition for a period of six months and as a result the Evening 
Olympian was published.  At the time of the expiration of the contract the city 
was in the midst of a campaign for the state capital.  The Olympian had been a 
potent factor in urging the advantages of Olympia during the summer and the 
Board of Trade felt that its suspension at this time would be disastrous, and by 
its assistance the paper was continued until after election. 
	In the fall of 1889 the Bucoda, Enterprise was established by R. F. 
Pattison and J. W. Julian.  Its publication was continued until the fall of 1894 
when it suspended and the plant moved to Cosmopolis. 
	In the spring of 1890 the growing town of Tenino encouraged F. A. Dunham 
to locate a paper there and as a result the Tenino Herald was born.  It however 
survived but a few months. 
	The same with the Gate City Graphic, a paper started in 1891 at Gate City 
by J. H. Dowd. 
	In April 1891 the Morning Olympian was established by a company of 
printers but was soon bought by Thomas Henderson Boyd, a well known newspaper 
man of the state.  Mr. Boyd made a staunch Republican paper of it.  In December, 
1892, he was

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killed in Seattle.  His administrator, E. T. Dunning of Tacoma, sold the plant 
to J. O'B. Scobey and Geo. W. Hopp.  These gentlemen also bought the Tribune of 
J. W. Robinson and the publication became known as the Olympian-Tribune.  After 
the first year the word Tribune was dropped and the former name of Olympian 
assumed. 
	In 1892, for a few months, was published the Church News by A. S. Gregg. 
	During the campaign of 1892 the Prohibition committee published the 
Prohibitionist, a weekly publication advocating the election of the Prohibition 
ticket. 
	With the opening of the city schools in September 1893 the students of the 
High School began the monthly publication of the High School News, under the 
management of Ernest G. Hartshorn with a corps of editors selected from the 
students.  In January 1894, Chauncey B. Rathbun became the publisher and 
continued the paper until the end of the school year in June. 
	During the summer of 1894 began the publication of the Palladium by J. C. 
Rathbun.  A leading feature of the paper was the publication of consecutive 
articles upon the history of Thurston county. 
	This summer, also, began the publication of the Journal of Education, a 
monthly magazine devoted to education.  Prof. Brintnall, president of the 
Olympic University was the editor and publisher. 
	In the fall of the same year a split in the ranks of the Party occurred 
and A. F. Booth was induced to publish the Appeal but it appeared only twice. 
	But the Populists ceased to be pleased with the Capital and in the spring 
of 1895 the State was launched upon the newspaper waves. 
	It was followed a few weeks later, by the Bucoda Index, a weekly paper at 
Bucoda by D. E. Vernon. 


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MANUFACTURES.
	The history of the manufacturing industry in Thurston county is very 
brief.  Indeed there is doubt if it can be called a history.  Preceding articles 
contain a reference to most of the manufacturing institutions that have 
originated, flourished and fell. 
	The first effort at manufacturing was made by Col. M. T. Simmons in the 
summer of 1847.  That year he erected a grist mill at the falls.  It was built 
in the crudest manner, as in the then unbroken forest, it was not possible to 
get material and tools necessary to do the work according to improved methods. 
	In 1850 Alonzo Warren built a saw mill at Warren's point which he operated 
until 1853. 
	In 1853 Captain S. W. Percival put in a small saw mill at the mouth of 
Percival's creek on the west side and continued it for some years until the 
accessible timber was manufactured.  In 1856 Capt. Percival furnished the lumber 
for the stockade on Fourth street.  Both Warren's and Percival's mills had 
single up and down saws and each would cut about 5000 feet per day. 
	In 1868 W. N. Horton secured the right to use the Wickoff augur in the 
Pacific states and territories and began operations at Tumwater to manufacture 
water pipe.  In 1870 he associated with him C. H. Hale and S. D. Howe under the 
name of Washington Water Pipe Manufacturing and Water Company.  A system of 
water works for the city was put in and maintained.  But, whether through 
mismanagement or too much name the company did not succeed and a few


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years later Capt. Finch took hold of it but owing to a lack of population in 
Western Washington and difficulties of transportation to points east, the 
enterprise was not a paying one.  In 1885 the Puget Sound Pipe Company was 
organized and capitalized at $50,000 and purchased the machinery of the old 
factory together with Mr. Horton's patent and located in East Olympia.  The 
company consisted of John Corkish, A. T. Rogers, E. S. Hamlin and C. Z. Mason, 
who have constituted the company since and are now doing a flourishing business. 
	The rawhide chairs so common in Olympia are of the make of T. P. Speek.  
In the sixties Mr. Speek located at Tumwater had a turning lathe with which he 
made the posts and rounds.  The side pieces were shaved out and the frame work 
put together by hand.  For the seat he used any and all kinds of hides, the only 
preparation the hide was subjected to being the removal of the hair.  It was 
then trimmed to a circular form, spread out on a table and by a sharp knife 
imbedded in the table the hide was cut into one long strip by revolutions, the 
knife being so set that it cut a strip about one quarter inch wide.  These 
strips of leather were made soft and pliable, then woven on the frame work of 
the chair, forming the seat. 
	Mr. Speek made two styles of chair, the common table chair and an arm 
chair.  The latter were somewhat larger but in general make were similar to the 
table chair, except that the front posts extended about six inches above the 
seat, and an arm piece 


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reaching from the top of each front post to a back post.  The chairs were easily 
made and had a great sale, selling at $1.25 each.  The wood used was the vine 
maple. 
	Mr. Speek subsequently sold the business to A. W. Pressy who continued the 
manufacture in much the same manner as Mr. Speek.  Mr. Pressy introduced an 
improvement in the armchair by turning the side pieces forming the framework of 
the seat, and substituting them for the flat, slightly beveled pieces used by 
Speek.  He also substituted a curved armpiece to the armchair for the straight 
cross bar introduced by Speek. 
	Samples of the three kinds of chairs above described may now be seen in 
all parts of Olympia. 
	In 1871, Leonard, Crosby & Cooper established a sash, door and blind 
factory at Tumwater, where also in 1862 George H. White established a book 
bindery. 
	In the same year Biles & Carter established


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a tannery at the lower falls which did a fair business for several years. 
	The first attempt at systematic logging in Thurston county was by Isaac 
Ellis in 1868 who logged off the west side.  Prior to that time the timber cut 
was in close proximity to the mill and when that was gone the mill shut down. 
	Shingle mills have been established at inland points of late years and at 
accessible points on the railroad.  Tenino, Ranier, [Rainier] Gate City, 
Rochester, South Bay, Maxfield and other points have small manufacturing plants 
while Bucoda has the extensive works of the Seatco Manufacturing Company. 
	A mention of the mills in the city of Olympia has been made.  Since they 
first began sawing lumber they have kept pace with the increase in business and 
the improvements in machinery and now constitute the main source of revenue for 
the city. 


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SETTLEMENTS.
	Most of the early settlements of the county have heretofore been 
incidentally referred to, but a more special reference will be found of 
interest. 
	Previous to 1852 the work of developing the county was principally 
confined to the efforts at Olympia and Tumwater.  The settlements on Bush 
Prairie and Chambers' Prairie prior to 1850 have been published. 
	Grand Mound Prairie is the largest tract of natural clearing in the 
county.  It lies to the southwest of Olympia about fifteen miles and is of a 
rich, 
sandy loam. 
	The pioneer settler on this prairie was Samuel James in 1852.  He was 
followed the same year by L. D. Durgin, Josephus Axtell, J. W. Goodell and E. N. 
Sargent.  In 1853 James Biles and C. B. Baker located in the new settlement.  In 
1855 a school house was built and the growth of the settlement has been similar 
to that of other agricultural communities. 
	In 1851 W. 0. Thompson located on Black Lake and for several winters 
taught school in different districts in the western part of the county.  Enoch 
Hart located on his claim near Black Lake the same year. 
	With these settlements, came post offices and there sprang up the towns of 
Rochester, Little Rock and Gate City.  The latter, however, is of recent birth.  
In 1891 when the Northern Pacific railroad company extended its line to Gray's 
Harbor its junction with the Chehalis and Black Rivers was thought to be an 
eligible site for a city and in 1890 S. C. Woodruff platted the town of Gate 
City.  It gave


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promise of being an inland town of no insignificant importance, it being located 
in the midst of fine farming lands and contiguous to the mammoth forests of the 
Black Hills, but the financial panic of 1893 impeded its growth. 
	In 1852 Wm. McLane located on land near the head of Mud Bay and has 
resided there ever since. 
	Tenalquot Prairie, south east of Olympia, early attracted the attention of 
pioneers.  Thomas W. Glascow and Thomas Linklighter [Linklater] settled there in 
1847 but not until the organization of the county, in 1852, did its settlement 
really begin.  In 1853 Hon. Frank Ruth settled on the farm he now owns. 
	In 1850 George Edwards and John Edgar settled on Yelm Prairie and were 
followed in 1851 by James Longmire and James Burns. 
	In 1853 Thomas Hines took a donation claim about six miles east of 
Olympia, near the shore of a small lake.  He commenced to drain the lake but was 
impoverished by the Indian War.  He located in town and pursued his trade of 
shoemaker until 1862 when he returned to his farm. He died in 1879. 
	The first settlement on South Bay was by Dr. Johnson in 1851 who took a 
claim at the point, since known as Johnson's Point.  In 1852 A. J. Frazier took 
a donation claim on the west side of the bay and was followed the same summer by 
Levi Knott and Dr. Willard.  In 1853 C. H. Sylvester located his present farm. 
	In 1860 settlements were made beyond Bush Prairie, at what is now 


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Plumb Station.  A. B. Rabbeson took a claim there. 
	The settlements in the county outside of Olympia and Tumwater that have 
achieved a commercial importance are Tenino and Bucoda.  In 1852 Stephen Hodgson 
took a donation claim on a prairie about fifteen miles south of Olympia and was 
followed by Samuel Davenport who took the claim adjoining.  Samuel Coulter also 
settled in the neighborhood.  In 1854 I. Colvin located to the southwest of 
them. 
	The settlement grew in much the same manner as others.  The first marriage 
was solemnized in 1853, that of Samuel Coulter and Miss Lizzie Tillie.  In 1872 
the Northern Pacific railway laid its Portland and Tacoma line across this 
portion of the county and located a station near their farms and named it 
Tenino.  "Tenino" is an Indian word signifying "Junction"  The junction referred 
to was that of the old military roads.  During the Indian War a military road 
was laid from Fort Vancouver up the Cowlitz valley and then over to Fort 
Steilacoom.  Near the farms of Hodgson and Davenport it forked and a branch came 
in to Olympia and in Chinook jargon this fork was called a "Tenino."  Later the 
citizens of Olympia projected and built the narrow gauge road and connected with 
the Northern Pacific at that place.  Its importance in a commercial way began in 
1888 when its magnificent stone quarries became known.  Outcroppings of stone 
were found in the hills south of the prairie, on land owned by C. A. Billings 
and as it became uncovered and examined it was found to be a superior building 
stone.  In 1890 Mr. Billings associated with him S. W. Fenton and George P. 
Vantine and extensive facilities for quarrying the stone were put in.  In the 
spring of 1895 Mr. Billings sold his interest to Messrs. Fenton and Vantine. 


122 c2

	With the opening of the stone quarry began the growth of a lively village.  
In 1890 the Presbyterians erected a church building.  One was built by the 
Catholics the same year.  In 1891 the old school house was deemed insufficient 
and the district issued and sold bonds for the purpose of building a new one.  
Several private enterprises were projected and buildings erected. 
	With the transfer of the narrow guage railroad from the Olympia and 
Chehalis Valley Railroad Company to Port Townsend & Southern and the change to a 
standard guage, came a relocation of the depot grounds to a point about a half 
mile west of town.  Buildings were erected at the new location but the collapse 
of the boom soon afterwards prevented the growth of any business around the 
depot. 
	In 1891 was organized a lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen; in 
1892 a lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and the same year a chapter of the 
Order of the Eastern Star.  The Tenino Herald, a weekly newspaper, was 
established there in the spring of 1890 but it collapsed with the suspension of 
prosperous times. 
	Several manufacturing plants have been established at Tenino.  T. J. 
McClellan & Son have a shingle mill in the village and Mentzer Brothers one a 
mile east of the town.  In 1894 the Tenino Creamery Company was organized for 
the purpose of developing the dairy industry. 

BUCODA.
	The first settler on a small prairie four miles from Tenino was Aaron 
Webster who came to the Sound country from Oregon in 1854.  The stream was 
called by the Indians Skookumchuck. [Skookumchuck]  Mr. Webster took a quarter 
section of land as a donation claim in 1856, and located the quarter section 
adjoining with a land warrant that he bought of James Tilton.  The latter


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piece includes the present coal mines.  Other early settlers in the neighbor 
hood were P. D. Northcraft in 1854.  A Mr. Frost settled on Frost's Prairie, 
between Bucoda and Tenino, in 1851. 
	In 1857 Mr. Webster built a saw mill on the river.  This he sold to Jacob 
D. Bolander and William McElroy in 1867.  They ran it two years and sold it to 
Oliver Shead, Wm. McElroy and Gen. T. I. McKenny. 
	The first marriage in the settlement was in April 1861, that of Aaron 
Webster to Miss Sarah M. Yantis, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Mr. 
Harper, a Baptist minister.  The first birth was a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. 
Webster, born February 2, 1862, and named Annie Cora.  In 1879 she was married 
to James Wolf and died November 1887. 
	The town was -named "Seatco" by Oliver Shead who bought the Webster claim 
in 185-.  "Seatco" is a Chinook word meaning "ghost" or "devil." 
	About 1873 Samuel Coulter, J. B. David, an Oregon capitalist, who had 
become associated with Mr. Coulter in the coal lands, and Wm. Buckley, a 
Northern Pacific man, met and determined to name the railroad station.  Shead's 
name of Seatco was not satisfactory and they coined a new word by taking the 
first two letters of each of their own names: Bu-Co-Da.  in 1887 the town was 
platted by Shead and given the name Seatco.  This name it retained until 1890 
when by act of the legislature it was changed to Bucoda 
	In 1874 Seatco became a town of state importance.  Prior to that time 
there had been no territorial penitentiary and but few counties had jails: 
Clark, Jefferson, Pierce, Thurston and Walla Walla.  When a party was convicted 
of a felony the judge directed in what jail he should be incarcerated.  In 1874 
Wm. Billings, sheriff of Thurston county, and Jerry Smith, sheriff of Pierce 
county, each had a


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proposition before the legislature to take the prisoners and use their labor.  
To avoid a contest Mr. Smith withdrew his proposition and took a half interest 
with Mr. Billings and Billings was awarded the contract.  A capitalist was then 
needed to put up the building.  The party was found in Oliver Shead who 
furnished the money for a one-third interest in the enterprise.  A mill was 
built on the Skookumchuck, near the old mill built by Webster, and lumber sawed 
for a penitentiary.
	The building was made of 3 x 12 fir plank piled up and thoroughly spiked 
together, thus making walls twelve inches thick pretty well filled with spikes.  
Partitions for the cells were built of 3 x 6's in the same way.  The entrance 
was by a stairway from the outside to the second story, then stairs to the 
ground floor where the cells were, no outside door being in the lower story.  In 
the second story were the kitchen, dining room and rooms for the guards.  This 
was continued as the territorial prison until 1888 when one was built at Walla 
Walla and the convicts removed thereto.  The old building still stands in much 
the same condition it was when vacated by the convicts.  Soon after the 
penitentiary was completed Fred. W. Brown became interested in the saw mill of 
Shead, Billings & Smith and a sash and door factory was added.  In 1885 the mill 
was sold to Whittier, Fuller & C., a firm that was doing a general lumber 
business on the Pacific coast.  In 1888 they sold to the Seatco Manufacturing 
Company, composed of Wisconsin lumberman of which E. F. Garland was president 
and Francis Rotch, secretary.  The capacity of the works was greatly increased 
and the mill made one of the largest in the Sound country.  In 1892 their mill 
took fire and burned but was soon rebuilt by 


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the company.
	Though coal was known to lie imbedded in the hills east of Seatco nothing 
was done to develop the mines until 1886.  the first work having been done by 
Thomas Ismay.  A company was then organized by Samuel Coulter, Oliver Shead, 
Fred W. Brown and J. B. David.  The mine was found to contain a good quality of 
coal.  In 1889 one J. B. Doa became interested in the company.  The mine was 
worked for a few years when dissensions arose among the owners and the works 
shut down. 
	Thos. Ismay was appointed receiver by the federal court in 1893.  Matters 
were somewhat more complicated in 1894 by the death of Mr. Doa.  Concerning the 
details of the litigation 


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the public knows little, further than that the mines are lying idle.  It is 
known to be a good property and taken in connection with the extensive 
manufacturing works form the nucleus of an inland city that is destined to be 
one of importance. 
	Bucoda has three churches: the Methodist, organized in 1889, the Episcopal 
organized in 1894 and the Christian organized the same year.  Only the first has 
a building of its own. 
	In 1891 was organized a lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and a 
lodge of the Degree of Honor and in November 1892 a lodge of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows.  An eight roomed school building was erected in 1891. 


p125 c1

CONCLUSION.
	So much for the past!  What about tile future?  Just as Michael T. 
Simmons, as he blazed his way through the primeval forests in 1845, could not 
see the Thurston county of today, so none of us today can lift the veil of years 
and peer into the future. 
	What exhultation must have welled up in the breast of this hardy pioneer 
when he reached the falls at New Market and there burst upon his astonished 
vision the panorama spread out before him!  To the right rose old Ranier, 
[Rainier] whose grandeur and magnificence then, as now, excited wonder and 
admiration.  At his feet tumbled the roaring cataract and beyond lay the Avatars 
of Budd's Inlet, unruffled except by the gentle zephyr or the Indians small 
canoe.  In the distant background ranged the proud Olympics; while all around 
him, east, west, north and south, towering skywards hundreds of feet, were 
forests of mammoth fir and stately cedar, clothed in their garbs of living 
green.  Well might all these conspire to arouse in the mind of this man feelings 
of surprise, pleasure and sublimity, not essentially different front those which 
enthused that ancient Israelite when, from Nebo's lofty summit he first beheld 
the Promised Land. 
	Though Thurston county has seen the management of its affairs pass from 
one generation to another the recent transition of Washington from Territory to 
State, throws upon those now here, the responsibility in a measure, of starting 
anew.  Doubtless the last is full of mistakes, but let them be guides for the 
future.  The prudent 


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business man does not make the same mistake a second time.  There are men and 
women who are always looking backward, scolding about the mistakes that have 
been made, and in their miserable way hinder those who are carrying forward the 
noble work of progress.  Thurston county has no use for such.  But for those who 
wish to see gathered around the headwaters of Puget Sound agricultural 
communities, manufacturing plants and educational institutions, even vying with 
ancient Rome as she sat on her seven hills, the future affords abundant promise.  
	A brief epitome of the advantages of Thurston county and Olympia will be 
proper in this place.
	In general a permanent city must be a community relying upon either 
agriculture, manufacturing, mining or commerce for its existence.

 AGRICULTURE.
	Tributary to Olympia are numerous fertile valleys and rich acres of 
rolling prairie.  The former are especially adapted to the growing of vegetables 
and the smaller fruits and the yield of either is enormous.  Truck gardening is 
profitable and the smaller fruits will yield the industrious farmer not far from 
$500 per acre annually.  The bottom lands of the valleys produce an enormous 
yield of the sugar beet.  Some of the prairie land is of a gravely nature 
adapted to most kinds of fruit but very much of it is a mixture of sand and loam 
which, when brought under subjection, produces an excellent yield of the smaller 
grains and is easily cultivated.


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The different varieties of clover and other hay grasses grow luxuriantly in the 
valleys and on the hill sides.  It is not a stock raising section as that term 
is used when speaking of the prairie states, but stock farming and dairying can 
be pursued here with profit.  Apples, pears, prunes, plums and cherries yield 
abundantly and are subject to fewer fruit pests than in most localities.  
Olympia is already of importance as a fruit shipping point and as young orchards 
come into bearing this item in commerce will become more important.  Within the 
county are hundreds of acres of hops.
	The climate is favorable to nearly all lines of agricultural pursuits.  
The extremes of heat and cold do not occur.  The ground does not parch in summer 
and very little snow falls in winter.  Wild flowers bloom, probably, ten months 
in the year and stock graze on the open range in January and in June. 
	The county contains eligible sites for cheese factories, creameries, fruit 
canning establishments, commission houses and kindred institutions. 

MANUFACTURING.
	No point has better natural advantages for manufacturing institutions than 
Olympia.  Within the city are hundreds of acres of tide lands or mud flats.  
Outside these flats are fifteen miles of deep water shore line.  Under the 
liberal policy of the federal government, in improving rivers and harbors, a 
channel is cut from deep water to the center of the city of sufficient depth and 
width to permit the entrance of ocean steamers.  This will be widened and other 
channels cut.  The flats adjacent will be dyked and filled in with the 
dredgings.  There will thus be built up numerous acres of eligible sites for 
factories of every kind.  The adjacent table lands afford beautiful sites for 
homes.  Contiguous to the city are virgin forests 


126 c2

were never yet resounded the echo of the woodman's axe.  The qualities of fir, 
cedar and spruce used for building materials are inexhaustible, while on the 
bottom lands grow softer woods, like alder, cherry, maple, etc., that can be 
utilized for furniture, pails, tubs and wooden toys.  Fuel for manufacturing and 
also for domestic purposes is easily obtainable.  Besides the waste woods in 
manufacturing, there is the bark of the fir tree which, when dry, rivals coal as 
a generator of beat.  Extensive coal fields are in the southeastern part of the 
county, to say nothing of the coal content of the hills yet unopened.  The falls 
of Tumwater are a succession of three falls aggregating a total descent of 
eighty-two feet to the waters of the Sound.  With perhaps two exceptions, this 
is the best water power in Washington and is the only one in the state on tide 
water.  Four miles from Olympia and at an elevation of 133 feet above tide water 
is Black Lake, three miles long by three-quarters of a mile wide.  At a 
comparatively small cost a canal can be cut from the lake to salt water and by 
the use of gates and flumes, create a water power of an immense capacity. 
	The opportunities for exporting the manufactured products are both rail 
and water.  The merchant marine of the world can be accommodated in Puget Sound 
and the deep water of Budd's Inlet is sufficient to accommodate all vessels that 
might desire to load at our wharves.  The trackage facilities give easy ingress 
and egress to any number of railway trains that might compete for the 
transportation of our products to eastern or southern markets. 

MINING.
	It would not be proper to emphasize Olympia as a "mining town," but the 
coal beds adjacent demand that the mining industry be mentioned in this 


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connection.  Olympia is the seaport nearest the coalfields that are now open- 
those at Bucoda- with a rail communication between them.  The same is true of 
the quarries of building stone at Tenino, both places in Thurston County.  This 
stone is an excellent article for building, and as stone supplants brick as a 
building material, it will cause a very material increase in the business of 
Olympia's banking and mercantile houses.  The contents of the hills west and 
northwest of Olympia, still covered with the primitive forest, are utterly 
unknown.  Further explorations will doubtless open other coal beds and stone 
quarries, to say nothing of the tin, iron, silver or gold mines that may yet 
reward the ambitious prospector. 

COMMERCE. 
	Take a, birds-eye view of western Washington.  Carefully note the location 
of the larger streams, the valleys and the prairie lands; the mountains of 
mineral and the forests of timber.  Note, too, that dividing this vast area is 
an inlet from the ocean, not dissimilar to those gulfs and bays and seas around 
which gathered the maritime greatness of the ancient world.  Glance backward now 
and note where sat the ancient marts of commerce.  Glance now at modern 
geography; where is London, St. Petersburg, New York, New Orleans, Chicago, 
Duluth?  Glance again, at western Washington and answer, where will sit the 
mistress of Puget Sound commerce?  Will it not be at the Head of Navigation? 
	Sitting at Olympia, the proud mistress of this western Mediterranean can 
have poured into her lap the surplus products of the mines, the mills, the 
forests and the fields of the great Olympic peninsula, extending north- westerly 
to the Straits of Fuca, and the traffic on the east between the Cascade 
mountains and the Sound, will be


p127 c2

largely under her control.  Here again with transcendent importance comes in the 
large area of tide lands.  The wharves of the Sound's future cities will be 
built of stone, at a great cost.  In the race for commercial supremacy the city 
that can furnish a maximum area of wharf at a minimum cost for masonry will have 
a decided advantage over her rivals.  A water front that can maintain two acres 
of wharf by building 100 cubic yards of stone can offer to commercial factors 
inducements vastly superior to those places where 100 cubic yards of masonry 
represent only a quarter-acre of wharf.  
	At Olympia, the distance between the channel dredged by the federal 
government and the hill on either side is fully 2000 feet.  The channel will be 
about one mile in length and we thus have an area on each side of over 200 
acres.  The railway tracks will be along the shore lines of the bay.  The 
vessels will occupy the channel.  The space between, after allowing for 
factories, will be sufficient for wharf facilities of a great metropolis and 
presents an inducement to commercial interests that can be duplicated by few, if 
any other, points on Puget Sound waters.  
	The depth of water in Budd's Inlet is favorable to safe anchorage and is 
protected from storms; while to the south of Fourth street bridge, or at any of 
many other eligible points, may be built dry docks at comparatively small cost.
	Until masonry takes the place of piling in the construction of wharves 
salt water commerce will be subject to the depredations of the toredo.  This 
worm does not work in fresh water.  On each side of Olympia, entering the waters 
of Budd's Inlet from the hills on either side, are numerous fresh water streams, 
one of which, the Des Chutes [Deschutes] river, is fed by the constant 


p128 c1

melting snows which crown Mount Rainier.  Besides these streams, gushing and 
sparkling springs bedeck the lines of hills.  As the flowing tide comes in, 
there streams and springs greatly neutralize the briny waters of the sea.  This 
impedes the work of the toredo and, as a result, piling at Olympia lasts longer 
than at other Sound points.
	The waters of Puget Sound are rich in food fishes of many varieties.  The 
different methods of preserving these fishes is already of commercial importance 
to the state.  The favored location and favored facilities of Olympia give 
emphasis to the statement that here is where canning, smoking, salting in tubs 
and dry-salting of fishes can be engaged in with profit. 
	The clam and oyster are found in the coves and bays of Thurston county, 
oftimes in great quantities.  With improved methods of treatment- the careful 
and scientific cultivation of the beds by intelligent white men supplanting the 
rude and awkward treatment given by the Indian- there is little reason why the 
oyster industry at Olympia may not be of as much commercial importance as it is 
to many Atlantic cities.  It is quite probable that, with proper management, the 
eastern oyster and the eastern clam can be transplanted to the waters at the 
head of Puget Sound and attain the growth and flavor that characterize them in 
their eastern homes.  When this is done the estuaries adjacent to Olympia will 
contain beds of these mollusks, of incalculable importance to commerce and, 
alone, will give Olympia a commercial prestige, rivaling even Baltimore and Long 
Island Sound. 

OTHER ADVANTAGES.
	An abstract of federal land laws, showing how easily, agricultural, 
timber, stone or mineral lands may be secured is hardly practical in this


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connection.  It is sufficient to state that these laws are exceedingly liberal 
to those seeking homes or those seeking investments.  A United States land 
office is in Olympia where information can be obtained and filings made at a 
minimum cost.  In Thurston county are thousands of acres of virgin soil and 
virgin forests awaiting the plouwshare and the axe.  To the man in possession of 
all his faculties here lie opportunities that need only to be improved in order 
to surround one with ease and independence. 
	The county has a system of public schools that is unsurpassed in older 
states.  The teachers are recognized as among the leading educators of the 
state.  The school buildings are commodious edifices and furnished with modern 
school house improvements.  The people are loyal to the schools and sustain the 
authorities in their efforts to maintain the schools at a high standard.
	The surrounding topography peculiarly fits Olympia for beautiful 
residences.  The hills on the east, south and west rise above the hum, the smoke 
and the turmoil of the business and industrial quarters.  An extended plateau on 
each of the three sides overlooks the city, overlooks each other and commands a 
fine view of the bay and the white capped mountains.  Graded streets sidewalks 
and street car lines bring a residence lot in any of these quarters within easy 
access to the business center of the city.  A home with surroundings like these 
cannot fail to cultivate those finer sensibilities of human nature that tend to 
make one grand and noble- proud that his lot has been cast in such a place. 
	To those citizens of the county upon whom devolves the duty of maintaining 
that prestige to which the political and geographical position of 


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Thurston county entitle her a few central ideas arc suggested around which their 
thoughts, hopes and aspirations should center. 
	1. When the eastern citizen gathers courage to break loose from life long 
association and locates in Thurston county, he can make no greater mistake than 
to ignore the dignity of labor.  Whether he locates in the country and engages 
in developing the magnificent agricultural and manufacturing possibilities of 
the county or in the city and enters upon a business or professional life he 
must not rest under the hallucination that prosperity comes to him who does not 
toil.  Instances may be cited of fortunes being made in Western Washington by a 
stroke of chance but they are not the kind of fortunes a new country relies upon 
for its prosperity. 
	2. To constitute good citizenship there must be loyalty to home 
institutions.  The man who risks his labor and his labor and his means in 
developing the resources of his locality should expect a reasonable cooperation 
of his neighbors.  He is not a good citizen who refuses that cooperation. 
	3. A government "by the people" is a failure if the citizens do not take 
an active interest in local affairs.  The west contains many adventurers who 
"toil not, neither do they spin."  The good citizen looks to it that integrity 
and ability fills the public offices.  Too often in a new country does the 
slogan, "a public office is a public trust," become in practice, "a public 
office is a private ship."
	4. Just as the rivulet from the spring on the hillside fertilizes and 
irrigates the valleys below, so from the state system of free schools flow those 
streams of independent thought and act so essential to the moral, intellectual


p129 c2

and industrial growth of every community within the state.  While private 
schools in their way are doing good, they cannot for lack of means, do the work 
expected of an educational system.  So upon our free schools must the people of 
Washington rely for prosperity along all lines of good government. 
	Thus within a limited space would be narrated the events of our first half 
century; the natural advantages of Thurston county as they exist today and as 
they have existed since the cupidity of man prompted him to open up a 
civilization in these forests; thus would be narrated the artificial advantages 
of enterprises, societies, churches and schools, and thus would be unrolled the 
scroll of years and there be taken a prospective look to what, under the 
stimulus of western thrift and energy, these natural and artificial advantages 
will lead us to.  Our visions may not be realized; their luster may be eclipsed 
by case and indolence, but such will not be through a lack of opportunities.  
Here are in close proximity more than a medial of the essential elements of 
commercial greatness.  Here is a land locked harbor affording safety from 
oceanic storms.  Here are pure water, fertile lands, rich mines and a salubrious 
climate.  Here is a people whose intelligence, industry, thrift, toleration and 
loyalty to home, country and Creator are not surpassed in any locality within 
the broad domain of civilized life.  An immigrant or investor not satisfied with 
these would be displeased if offered the earth. 
	And now, with a reliance upon the accuracy of this delineation, it is 
commended to the consideration of those who would know the past of the first 
settlement on grand old Puget Sound.


p130 c1

ERRATA AND ADDENDA.
	Proof sheets of the preceding pages were submitted to a few of the early 
settlers of the county and with their aid some new matter has been elicited, not 
so much, however, as was hoped for. 

	Page 52- Columbia engine company started out with a subscription list and 
raised among themselves about $1000 and from outsiders enough to make a list of 
about $1700.  The engine company had the plan of the present building drawn by 
Harvey Clark and Chas. Seymour and then offered to turn over the plan and list 
to the town if the town would furnish the balance of the funds and erect the 
building.  The board accepted the proposition. 

	Page 60- The Burmeister building at the corner of Third and Main streets 
was not the one now standing, The building of 1862 was frame and was burned in 
the fire of 1879.  The present building was erected in 1884. 

	Page 64- The block house stood at the corner of Main and Eighth streets, 
near the site now occupied by the Hotel Olympia, instead of at the corner of 
Main and Thirteenth. 

	Page 74.- On January 7, 1879, occurred a heavy fall of snow that broke 
down awnings and many small buildings.  Among the larger buildings that yielded 
to its tremendous pressure was the surveyor-general's office, on Main street, 
between Seventh and Eighth, and the sawmill of W. H. Mitchell on the site now 
occupied by the Olympia. Door & Lumber Company.


p130 c2

Young timber too was destroyed by its great weight. 

	Page 75- The colony known as the Newell colony did not come with Gov. 
Newell, but came the spring before, entirely independent of his coming.  For 
some unexplained reason it took the name of Newell colony.  It consisted of 
twenty-two persons: Gustav Lindquist, Jos. Raisbeck, Olav Frisch, Oliver Matson, 
James Quigley, and their families, and Henry Stenner and Fred Nitschke, single 
men.  Nor did they return east after abandoning their claims. 

	Page 78 E. A. Stevens was agent for the Wells, Fargo Express Company 
instead of the Adams'. 

	Page 84- The Republican candidate for joint representative was T. M. Reed 
Jr. 

	Page 98- During the fall of 1891 Dr. Campbell. a blind physician of the 
Thompsonian school, treated a young lady of Olympia, named Linton, who was 
troubled with epileptic fits.  He administered lobelia and capsicum, the 
medicines of his school.  She steadily declined until death ensued.  The doctor 
was charged with murder and after a protracted trial, lasting two weeks, was 
acquitted. 

	Page 106- The year that Dr. McCarty held church service in Olympia was 
1854. 

	Page 119- T. B. Speek resided on a farm on Tenalquot prairie where he made 
his chairs- not at Tumwater, 

	Page 120- Biles & Carter's tannery was established at Tumwater in 1859.


p131 c1

1895
	But little need be added to complete the record of 1895. 
	The matter uppermost in the minds of the people was the construction of a 
new capitol.  The legislature of this year appropriated $1,000,000 for a new 
building, to be paid out of a fund derived from the sale of lands granted by the 
federal government for such a public building.  Bids for the building of the 
superstructure were called for to be opened August 19, but the bids then 
received were thrown out, all being for more than the commission was authorized 
by the legislature to pay.  November 19 was set for again opening bids.  On that 
day five bids were opened and all rejected. 
	The details of the work preliminary to the construction of the capitol 
constitute a lengthy chapter properly belonging to the history of the State, but 
the laborers, business men, and farmers of the county are anxious to have work 
progress that the enormous weight of the "hard times" may be lightened.  The 
people have failed to appreciate the various trials of the capitol commission in 
awarding a contract- trials that are made greater because of the financial 
depression. 
	The case appealed to the supreme court involving the right of the county 
commissioners to create an Incidental Fund was decided adversely to the county.  
The commissioners, however, did not abandon their effort to pay cash and adopted 
the system of drawing short-time warrants on the tax levy of 1895, with the 
expectation that they will be paid in advance of all outstanding warrants which, 
it is generally understood, were issued after the county had reached its legal 
limit of indebtedness.


p131 c2

	On October 14 the citizens of the county were greatly pained to learn of 
the death of ex-Governor E. P. Ferry, which occurred at Seattle early that 
morning of pneumonia.
	In September occurred the death of Geo. D. Shannon, a pioneer of Thurston 
county, who owned an extensive ranch on the Nisqually bottoms. 
	During the year there appeared a revival in the lumber business.  The 
mills were generally starting and the demand for logs afforded a happy relief 
from the depression of a few years ago.
	At the annual city election in December Charles H. Ayer was elected mayor; 
F. G. Blake, treasurer; R. A. Graham, clerk; A. J. Falknor, attorney; Dr. 
Newell, health officer; Geo. Scofield, councilman-at-large; George Forbes, 
councilman from the First Ward; T. C. Van Epps from the Third Ward, and G. M. 
Savage from the Fifth Ward. 
	During the year an added interest was taken in horticulture, induced 
largely through the efforts of the County Horticultural Society.  An increased 
acreage was planted and strenuous efforts made to impede the ravages of fruit 
pests.  R. H. Hannah was appointed county fruit inspector, and through his 
efforts old orchards were disinfected. 

	The river Deschutes was named by M. T. Simmons, the Indian name for the 
stream being Pacalups.
	The Indian name for the prairie called Chamber's Prairie, ever since its 
settlement, was Elcumen.
	The Indian name for the little village called Smithfield, and afterwards 
Olympia, was Chithoot. 


END