BIG BEND p. 551: DOUGLAS CO. 1886 TO 1904, pt. 2

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ch. 2, pt. 1, pp. 545-551        TABLE OF CONTENTS        COULEE CITY: p. 558

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      In September, 1891, there was great activity among the government officials in their endeavors to suppress the cutting of government timber.  September 3d, of that year, the Big Bend Empire published the following account of the prosecution of Mr. Harris, the Badger Mountain saw mill man:

      The Ellensburg stage arriving Tuesday evening, August 25th, brought among its passengers a Mr. C. E. Bayard, of Seattle. Wednesday he made his appearance at C. A. Harris' saw mill, on Badger Mountain and made known the object of his visit to Waterville.  He was a special land agent from the United States government and had a direct commission from Washington to investigate and act upon complaints against Mr. Harris made to the Interior Department.  * * * * *  The mill was not ordered closed down. United States Commissioner Pendergast fixed Mr. Harris' bond at $500, which was promptly furnished with H. N. Wilcox, as security.  Mr. R. S. Steiner and Mr. Wilcox, both of whom had accompanied the agent up the mountain, unwittingly, not knowing his designs upon Mr. Harris, were subpoenaed as witnesses and ordered to appear at the same time and place as the defendant.  Mr. Bayard took his departure the following day.  He is reported as having said that in his report to the government he should apprise them that Nash & Stephens were in the same boat with Mr. Harris, and equally liable to prosecution.  News of the arrest of Mr. Harris quickly got abroad.  Much alarm was manifested at the prospect of the lumber supply being cut short.  The outcome of Mr. Harris' trial became at once the general subject of discussion, and fears were expressed that not only one but both mills would be obliged to stop their saws. That such a contingency would be in the nature of a public calamity was the universal opinion.  'It will practically amount to closing our land office, entirely stopping our immigration and paralyzing out trades, said a prominent business man.  A consultation was determined upon and the office of Matthews & Loucks selected as a place for the meeting.  Nearly every business and professional man in Waterville was on hand.  A number of speeches were made, and the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:

      "Whereas, it has come to the knowledge of the people of Douglas county, Washington, that a special agent of the Interior Department has caused the arrest of one, C. A. Harris, a sawmill man, charging him with cutting timber from government land in this county, and

      "Whereas, it has been further learned that prosecutions are about to be instituted against all mill owners operating saw mills on government land in this county,

      "Therefore, be it resolved that in view of the fact that the cutting of said timber and the manufacturing of it into lumber is absolutely necessary for the continued development of Douglas county, that all of said lumber is used for domestic purposes and is applied by settlers in making needed improvements upon their lands thus enabling them to fulfill the requirements of the law and obtain title to their homes.

      "There being no means of transportation from such places where other lumber is manufactured, except at excessive cost to the settler for hauling the same for a distance of sixty to eighty miles, and being compelled to pay almost double the price of the lumber manufactured in this county.

      "That Badger Mountain lumber is of inferior quality and would have no market value were there any transportation facilities from lumber markets.

      "That it is believed that the complaints entered against the said sawmill men were actuated by selfish motives and that if the Interior Department were informed of the true state

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of affairs and of the needs of the settlers, these, or any prosecutions would never have been instituted.

      "Therefore, be it further resolved that this meeting view with apprehension the action of the government in this matter and are unanimous in determining to use all honorable means to secure the dismissal of the prosecutions."

      The following affidavit was circulated and unanimously signed by residents of Douglas county and forwarded to Congressman Wilson with a view to having the cases against Badger Mountain mill men stopped.

State of Washington, County of Douglas, ss.:

      We, the affiants, whose names are hereunto subscribed, on our several oaths, do depose and say: That we are residents of Douglas county, Washington; that we are well acquainted with the topography of said county, which is 60 miles' wide and 100 miles long, and consists almost entirely of rolling bunch grass prairie; that there is no timber in this county except in the extreme western portion upon the summit of what is known as Badger Mountain, 4,000 feet above sea level; that this' timber is 50 miles distant from the nearest railroad point; that there is but little timber in the counties west of Douglas county and east of the Cascade mountains; and what there is, with the present and previous facilities for transportation, is absolutely inaccessible to the residents of Douglas county from the fact that to reach it it is necessary to cross the Columbia river, which is 1,800 or 2,000 feet lower than the table land which comprises Douglas county; that there is no timber near enough in any other direction to be available for building or fencing purposes; that without the use of timber from Badger Mountain it would have been impossible to have settled the lands in Douglas county west of Grand Coulee, and will be absolutely impossible to further develop it; that there has been taken up by settlers, up to the present time, 300,000 acres of land west of Grand Coulee, in Douglas county, Washington, and that the settlers of all these lands have drawn their supply of timber and lumber from Badger Mountain; that if each individual settler had taken his supply of timber necessary for his building in the shape of logs, he would not have as good and valuable improvements as he now has, and each and every settler would have used so much greater an amount of timber that the timber on Badger Mountain would by this time be exhausted, and none left for future improvements, and in all cases, except that of settlers living in the immediate vicinity of Badger Mountain, he was enabled to make his improvements at a much less cost to himself by purchasing the lumber cut on Badger Mountain, than had he expended the large amounts necessary to haul the timber in the log to his respective claim.

      We further state that the timber cut on the lands upon which the alleged trespass was done has been an indiscriminate cutting by the settlers and the saw mill men, and that much of it has been done by the settlers living near Badger Mountain for the improvement of their claims, and much of it done before the saw mills came into the country and that the tops of trees cut have been almost all used for fuel.

      We further state that none of the timber cut and manufactured into lumber on Badger Mountain has been exported from the country, but it has been used in the country adjacent thereto for domestic purposes, for the building and improvement of the country; that the lumber manufactured from the timber on Badger Mountain is of a very poor quality, and that it could only be used in the pioneer periods of the country; that as soon as transportation facilities are such that other and better lumber can be obtained, that the lumber from Badger Mountain will be driven from the market; that because the timber is so scattering and of so poor a quality few individuals can be found who are willing to sacrifice a timber right in order to obtain title to the land.

      And we further depose and say, it is our firm belief that, as the timber is indispensable to the development of Douglas county, as above represented, any action by the United States, either civil or criminal, against so-called timber trespassers on Badger Mountain would be harsh, uncalled for and oppressive, and that such persecutions would be in pursuance of a mistaken policy, and without full knowledge of existing conditions, and would result disastrously to this community.

      Meanwhile the criminal prosecution against C. A. Harris was disposed of temporarily by the finding of the grand jury which returned "Not a True Bill." The civil action instituted against alleged timber trespassers were carried over until the next sitting of the United States district court.  The following correspondence

wound up the whole affair:

September 22. 1892.
Register and Receiver U. S. Land Office,
Waterville, Washington.

Gentlemen : My understanding of what are known as the Badger Mountain cases is that they were measurably excused by the local necessities of a pioneer neighborhood and that the trespasses were not for the purpose of shipping timber to other points and did not

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amount to a profitable speculation in government property.  I have decided to dismiss the pending civil cases and unless the public good demands a criminal prosecution, no further action will be taken.  I desire your views on this subject and also wish to know whether the parties sued — Messrs. Cannon, Harris, Rogers, Howe, et al., have ceased to trespass on the lands in question.  If so, then the whole business will be dropped.  Please notify me of your opinion at once. Yours truly,

P. H. WINSTON, U. S. Attorney.

      To this Mr. Dallam replied as follows:

Hon. P. H. Winston,

      U. S. Attorney, Spokane, Washington.

      Dear sir:  We are in receipt of your letter of the 22d inst.  In reply we will say that the depredations have been discontinued on Badger Mountain for more than a year.  As a matter: of fact, as indicated in your letter, depredations were excused by local necessities.  * * * * *  A dismissal of the criminal cases would be an act of justice and appreciated by the whole community.  Please notify us when the cases are dismissed, that parties may be saved the necessity of an expensive trip to attend court.

F. M. Dallam, Receiver.  

J. C. Lawrence, Register.

      In 1892 the Great Northern Railway Company extended its line through the southern portion of Douglas county.  At this period that part of the county was considered worthless as an agricultural country and no settlement was added by reason of building of the road until several years later.

      The year 1893 was a severe one for Douglas county — as well as the rest of the country.  The conditions which wrecked financial, commercial and manufacturing industries throughout the length and breadth of the land necessarily left their mark in Douglas county by prohibiting public and private improvements and almost totally stopping immigration.  Early in the spring the prospects seemed good for the addition of a large population to the county, but the arrival of homeseekers ceased and the progress for the year, so propitious in the spring, was nullified by the "hard times."  It was, indeed, a trying time for the residents of the county.  It proved to be a set-back which was not overcome for several years. Yet conditions in Douglas county were not worse than elsewhere. In fact we have the best authority for the statement that the depression for the few years in the middle 90's was felt less in the Big Bend country than in most portions of the west.  But many settlers became discouraged.  In times of financial distress and depression the idea invariably prevails that somewhere else one can do better.  Some who had cast their lot with Douglas county disposed of their holdings or abandoned them and sought other fields.  On these accounts little progress was made for the years between 1893 and 1896.  This condition was relieved by the immense wheat crop of 1897 and the prevailing high price for that cereal.

      The June floods of 1894 will not be forgotten by pioneers.  The following accounts are from the Spokane Review and the Empire.  The Review correspondent, writing from Waterville under date of June 6, says :

      The Columbia river is higher than ever known by white men and at last reports was still rising.  Some orchards along the river are badly damaged.  A Mr. Sparks, living a couple of miles below Orondo, is a great sufferer.  He had one of the finest orchards on the river.  The water covers every acre, and Sunday, June 3, his residence was washed away.  Not a ferry is in operation on the river and crossings are made in skiffs.  A brief, but severe storm, in the nature of a tornado, struck here Sunday, the 3d. Chimneys were wrecked, outhouses blown down and fences prostrated.  In some localities hailstones as large as hickory nuts fell.  No such blow was ever before experienced.

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      The Empire of June 14th said:

      The rapid rise of the Columbia the past three weeks has rather changed the face of nature along the river bottoms and considerable damage has been done near here.  The Orondo Shipping Company's warehouse stands in about twelve feet of water anchored down with three tons of potatoes and fastened to the bank with ropes; all the grain was saved.  W. Z. Cooper's house stands in nine feet of water and is fastened with ropes.  In all probability both of these houses will stand the flood.  All the wood from the woodyard has gone out and a great many logs have followed the procession.  Captain Knapp had quite an experience with his steamer in trying to bring in a house which was sailing past.  After trying in vain to secure it he was compelled to cut loose and, drifting upon a rock, broke a fluke from the screw of the steamer.  He landed about five miles down the river.  Fortunately he has several extra screws at the ferry and the accident has been repaired.  All along the river to Orondo the orchards have suffered and a great many fine bearing trees washed away. The fine nursery of Stephen Konkel is flooded and in all probability entirely destroyed. This will be a great loss; for the condition of it was at the point of where his years of patient industry were being rewarded.

      At Orondo a warehouse and stable went out. The warehouse was loaded down with rocks and sand, but the current was too strong for even this stout resistance.  Many rods offense belonging to Messrs.  Kunkle, Thompson, Howe and Miles were carried away. A raft of logs broke loose from a steamer near Orondo, and went down the river with two men aboard. It was finally landed at Sparks' orchard.

      The gold excitement of 1894 is thus described by the Empire.

      It has been known for years that the banks of the Columbia river contained fine gold.  Almost any of the dirt will show color, but the best showing is taken from a yellow sand and clay streak that can be found on both sides of the river above general high water mark. This strata runs all the way from a few inches to two or three feet in thickness, and in places will pan out several hundred colors, but the colors are so infinitesimal as a rule that they can hardly be seen with the naked eye. The high water of this summer in many places has exposed this old pay streak, or rather washed off the top sand and dirt until it is uncovered.  It was while prospecting one of these uncovered deposits that Mr. S. A. Pearl's attention was attracted to the Banty process, then being operated in Oregon, and he at once made a trip to that state, met the inventor, induced him to come up here and finally purchased three of the machines, what they will really do is yet to be proven by a thorough test. The Pearls have not been able to secure a retort that would work and hence are not in a position to state what wages can be made working Columbia river dirt. The writer has seen the process in operation and is satisfied that it will save gold.  The inventor claims that it will save 90 per cent of the gold and we think it will.  The only question to be settled is, is there sufficient gold in the dirt to pay for working?  If the dirt runs only from 50 cents to $1 a ton the process will not pay big for the simple reason that its capacity is limited.  With such low grade dirt the problem of returns reduces itself to the quantity that can be handled.  *  *  *  *   Until Mr. Pearl can give the process a thorough and complete test the public is at sea as regards its value as a gold saving invention.

      Continuing, the Empire said on August 30th:

      Mr. Banty, of Oregon, who has a new chemical process for saving flour gold tried the experiment on the river at Troy, last Saturday (August 15), and it seems to have proven a success. The work of shoveling the pay dirt and carrying the water in buckets to the sluice Boxes occupied an hour and a half and at the

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cleanup it was found that the process had saved something over $4 worth of gold.  Parties present being satisfied with the work done bought several machines, the Pearl boys purchasing three.  The excitement for the past week over placer mining claims has been at fever heat and claims have been taken up all along the river from Wenatchee to Virginia City and, probably, some above that point.  Should the process continue to be a success, which we hope it will, the country here will soon be flooded with gold.  Mr. Banty, after making the experiment, left Tuesday for Alaska, where he had promised to go. Another trial will be made by the Pearls next Saturday, and if successful they will sell several machines.

      While for a time there was considerable excitement over the machines, it was found to be a slow process of extracting wealth from mother earth, and gradually conditions resolved themselves into the normal, and again attention was turned to the surer methods of agriculture and stock growing.

      The year 1895 witnessed the beginning of the end of hard times.  In its resume of the progress of the county during this year the Empire said, December 26th:

      With the weight of disaster in financial centers yet bearing with crushing effect upon development and progress; with all the distress of 'hard times,' so much about which has been heard throughout the breadth and scope of the nation, shutting up manufactories and reducing wheat and farm stuffs to the minimum; with disadvantages in transportation and marketing facilities such as no other country of like size, fertility and development was ever known to be so long without — with these disadvantages to meet and difficulties to overcome — the year 1895, now about to close, has brought greater prosperity to the people of the western Big Bend and leaves them in better shape, freer from debt and with more money on hand according to population than have the people of any other agricultural section in the Pacific Northwest.  Indeed, the year has been full of material benefits.  Wheat advanced in the spring and farmers unloaded their hold-over supply, at saving figures and went ahead to grow more of it. A broad acreage was sown and vast fields of peas, beans and potatoes were planted. Corn, barley, oats went in all over the country for feeding purposes, and the live stock interests experienced a boom by the branching out of agriculturalists into beef, pork and dairying.  In this way the foundation was laid on the plains for a season of abundance at harvest time, while along the valley of the Columbia orchards were budding with the promise of a sure yield of the fullest weight the frail branches might bear.
      The growing season, it is true, might have been more propititious, as the summer was phenomenally dry, and there were fields upon which no rain fell after planting, yet the crop yield generally was wonderfully abundant.  The harvest time was a splendid period, and from early fall to a week ago no weather could have been better suited.

      It was not, however, until the "bumper" crop of 1897 that conditions began to regain their former bright hue.

      The first Douglas County Industrial Exposition was held October 3d, 4th and 5th, at Waterville.  There were fully 2,500 or 3,000 people present.  They came early and remained late.  They swarmed the streets and pushed and jostled and jammed the exposition grounds.  The stock parade took place at noon and the free barbecue was an immense success. The people assembled at the grand stand and Congressman S. C. Hyde, of Spokane, delivered an address.  He was introduced by Mr. R. S. Steiner.  The exposition was in every respect a grand success financially and socially.

      A mass convention of Douglas county citizens held at Waterville, February 14, 1896, was a step taken toward securing immigration and it resulted in much good to the development

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of the county that year.  It was attended by 200 citizens and every section of the county was represented.  W. H. Anderson, of Mountain View, was chosen president and Fred McDermott, of Waterville, was made secretary.  Valuable papers were read by Messrs. P. D.Sutor, of Fairview; R. H. Thomas, of Pleasant Hill; Judson Murray; A. L. Maltbie; John R. Morgan and John Wilson.  A permanent organization was effected, and owing to plans originated at this convention a large immigration was subsequently brought to the county.

      The year 1897 was the most prosperous ever witnessed in Douglas county up to that date.  There was a large wheat crop, high prices, every body made money and all were prosperous.  From this year until 1902 the county continued to enjoy a steady growth, although not in such proportion as in the later 90's.  The financial depression had left the county in poor shape, and these were the years of reconstruction.  In the spring of 1902 many eastern settlers came to the county.  There was plenty of good government land at that period.  The Coulee City News on March 28, 1902, explained why the county was behind its neighbors in the matter of settlement as follows:

      Ever since the boom this town experienced when the Central Washington Railway built in here ten years ago Douglas county has lain dormant.  Last spring an exodus of settlers from the east gave a slight impetus to the real estate market, but the effect on the condition of affairs was only temporary.  While the surrounding counties which had ordinary transportation facilities went ahead, Douglas county remained in the same old rut, and all because the management of the Northern Pacific made the huge mistake of making an alkali flat situated in a coulee 1,000 feet below the surrounding country, its terminal point.  This town being the only egress for grain shipment from a wheat belt several thousand square miles in area, it is no wonder, although our soil is first class, settlers have given Douglas county the go-by and located in other and less fertile districts where a shipping point could be reached without ascending and descending a hill five miles long and in places nearly perpendicular.  Douglas county's present influx of population can be regarded as a natural course of events.

      But despite this gloomy outlook in 1902 every train and every stage brought men and their families to the county seeking investments and homes.  Parties who had for several years lived in the county, but who had never taken the trouble to file a homestead, now commenced to hustle and file on land before all the choice selections were taken.  The following figures illustrate the rapid settlement of the county and other territory in the Columbia Land District during the year 1902:  In the year ending July 1st, there were 2,166 filings in the Waterville land office.  During the first ten years the office was opened there were only 2,170 filings, and the one year's business came within four of being as large as the whole of the first ten years' business.  These filings represented 320,428 acres divided by counties as follows: Okanogan, 58,271; Chelan, 28,181; Filings; Douglas, 1,588; Chelan, 198; Okanogan, 380.

      The Coulee City-Adrian "cut-off" was completed in 1903.  This is a connection by rail between the Central Washington and the Great Northern railways, between Coulee City and Adrian.  As a piece of engineering there is no road in the state that can surpass it.  For many miles it is a tangent cutting through obstructions however formidable.  Every cut found a depression nearby which was filled, making a roadbed of solid rock and gravel.  In the twenty-two miles there is little curvature and but few bridges, and these are to be found at the southern end, where the ground is almost level and material to make the fill not so convenient.  Mr. Mellen's estimate of cost of construction, off-hand at the time of construction was first announced, was $250,000.  It has cost nearly twice that sum, because when they made

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1960's view in Dry Coulee with Williams Lake in the background of the
largest trestle on the Northern Pacific Central Washington branch
between Adrian and Coulee City, torn down in 1979. 



the preliminary and final surveys they carried the line straight as possible and allowed no rocky wall to turn them a hair's breadth.  When the engineer and contractor had completed their work in a scientific and conscientious manner, those who passed on the rails failed.  In a number of instances there are found rails that have seen hard service, splintered and worn, turned for the wheel flange.  The adjoining rail, most likely, is a 70-pound, serviceable one, while the next one is fit only to remain in the scrap heap from which it was taken.  Someone, through incompetency, rendered this fine piece of construction a useless commodity, as those who were called upon to pass on the road refused their consent to permit heavy wheat trains to run over the defective rails.  Under these conditions there is only one proper recourse; replace the condemned material with good.  To do this will require some time.

      January 3, 1904, there was organized at Waterville a society known as the Douglas County Old Settlers Association, composed of settlers who have lived in the county before and during 1890.  The following officers were elected : A. T. Greene, president; A. A. Pierpont, first vice president; Charles F. Will, secretary; M. B. Howe, treasurer; Ole Ruud, recording secretary; S. E. Jordan, marshal; Mrs. S. C. Robins, librarian; Trustees: A. L. Rogers, three years; H. N. Wilcox, two years; J. A. Banneck, one year.  Following is a list of the names of the charter members and the date of their arrival in the county:

      Mrs. J. H. Kincaid, 1889; Agnes Jordan, 1888: Al Enrich, 1889; Sarah Owens, 1890; Belle Patterson, 1888; Ethel Pearl, 1886; John Shearer, 1888; Christina Jansen, 1887; John McLean, 1888; Charles Kellogg, 1888; S. E. Jordan, 1888; Joseph Ogle, 1888; A. N. Gormley, 1888; Mrs. Fitzgerald, 1889; John Hall, 1888; A. T. Greene, 1885; R. J. Waters, 1884; Elmer Thompson, 1890; J. M. Johnson, 1888; Al Pierpont, 1883; Mrs. W. W. Fitch, 1888; Charles Cumbo, 1888; E. C. Ogle, 1886; J. F. Metlin, 1886; Fred Carpenter, 1888; T. N. Ogle, 1886; M. B. Howe, 1888; Orville Clark, 1884; J. D. Logan, 1888; Mrs. Etta M. Jordan, 1888; Mrs. Hattie Waters, 1884; Mrs Teddy Enrich, 1889; Lizzie C. Hall, 1887; Mrs. Alice Speed, 1888; Mrs. S. A. Pearl 1886; Gerde Jamison, 1887; F. C. Tyler, 1886 Hattie C. Kellogg, 1888; C. W. Hensel, 1887 Edward Ownens, 1883; J. N. Gormley, 1888 J. J. Fitzgerald, 1889; George Bradley, 1887 C. F. Will, 1885; G. W. Philbrick, 1887; G. M. Cumbo, 1888; J. A. Banneck, 1883; W. W, Fitch, 1887; O. Ruud, 1883; F. M. Alexander 1883; S. A. Pearl, 1886; James Pattie, 1885 H. N. Wilcox, 1883; J. S. Withrow, 1888; T, A. Power, 1883; T. J. Cusick, 1889; C. H Wilcox, 1886; J. F. Hunt, 1887.

      According to a census taken by the assessor during the summer of 1892 it was shown that the population of Douglas county was 4,284. The commissioners therefore, on December 12, 1892, raised the county's class from the 25th to the 23d. January 15, 1902, it was raised to the 2 1 St class, having, a population of over 5,000. July 6, 1903, it was raised to the i6th class, the assessor's census showing a population of 9,183. According to a census taken by Assessor Will and his deputies in the spring of 1903 the population of the county at that time was 10,168.

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ch. 2, pt. 1, pp. 545-551        TABLE OF CONTENTS        COULEE CITY: p. 558

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