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The forthcoming opening of the World's Fair at Chicago, in 1893, created considerable patriotic interest in Stevens county, and it was almost universal opinion that the mineralized deposits within her boundaries should be suitably represented at the great international exposition. May 6, 1892, an appropriation of $1,200 was made for the purpose of enabling George Pfunder to transfer various specimens of ores from the different mines of the county to the Spokane Falls & Northern depots.
The initial agitation for removal of the county seat from Colville was in 1892. At the commissioners' meeting of August 20, a petition was presented for removal of the capital of Stevens county from Colville to Chewelah, the question to be submitted at the next general election. October 6 a petition signed by one hundred and twenty-four voters was filed with the board praying for removal of the county seat to Kettle Falls, the question to be passed upon at the same election. This latter petition was opposed by Commissioner A. T. Williams, who advanced the cogent reasons that election notices, including the Chewelah proposition were already posted and that in his opinion the petition did not carry the requisite number of signatures. Throughout the day the matter was debated with no little animation by the commissioners, and on the 7th, the day following, a coup was sprung by a combination of
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Colville and Springdale people, in the shape of a petition signed by fifty-one voters praying for removal of the county seat to Springdale. Concerning this critical moment in county affairs Mr. John Rickey says:
"After Chewelah and Kettle Falls entered the race for the county seat Colville, fearing that the necessary three-fifths votes might be secured in favor of Chewelah, induced the town of Springdale to enter the race and thus draw votes from the southern portion of the county which otherwise might go to Chewelah. TheConsistency demanded of Commissioner Williams that he, also, oppose the Springdale petition, although it is quite probable that he saw and sympathized with the strategic movement in behalf of Colville. He was, however, outvoted in the board, and November 8 the general election was held with the following result:
people of Springdale were loyal to Colville and promptly entered the race."
At a subsequent meeting of the Commissioners November 15, C. K. Simpson and E. W. Weston, a majority of the board, assumed the position that Kettle Falls had won the county seat at the polls. To this Commissioner Williams dissented. Simpson and Weston urged that Kettle Falls had received a three-fifths vote as between that town and Colville; Williams insisted that a three-fifths vote of the entire poll was required. Kettle Falls was declared the county seat and preparations were made to remove the records. Then John Rickey and Harry Young, in behalf of Colville, began suit against the county commissioners to set aside their decision, and they secured from the superior court a restraining order of which the following in a syllabus:
It is ordered that the above named defendants do absolutely refrain from in any manner removing or attempting to remove any of the public records, public books and appurtenances of said county from the present county seat to the city of Kettle Falls in said county, or elsewhere, and to absolutely refrain from establishing or attempting to establish the county seat of said county of Stevens at the said city of Kettle Falls, or elsewhere, and to refrain from moving or attempting to remove said county seat and all papers, books, records, offices and files from the city of Colville, in said county, to the said city of Kettle Falls, or elsewhere, or in taking any steps or making any contracts in furtherance thereof, or from doing any of the matters or things contemplated of in plaintiffs' complaint, until the further order of the court; and that they show cause before this court, at the hour of 10 o'clock a. m., on the 25th day of November, 1892, why this order should not be continued until the final hearing of this cause.This order was signed by R. B. Blake, judge. The hearing of Colville's motion to make the restraining order permanent against the commissioners was heard December 2, 1892, by Judge Blake, and was by him sustained. The city of Colville was represented by T. C. Griffitts; Kettle Falls by Post & Avery. The complaint filed with the restraining order set forth the facts of the election and the grounds upon which the order was based. One of these was that the petition upon which Kettle Falls entered the race in no particular complied with the law, and setting forth further that Chewelah was the only legal contestant for the county seat. The case was carried to the supreme court of the state. Here it remained until March 29, 1894, when the court handed down a decision, brief as could be desired, stating that the whole proceedings were a nullity from their very inception. The notices were irregular and the county commissioners had not the right to submit the Kettle Falls proposition upon the showing presented.
December 19, 1892, the census returns of Stevens county returned a population of 5,543. Under provision of the state law it was then declared by the commissioners to be a county of the twentieth class, and salaries of officials were raised accordingly.
Monday evening, May 10, 1893, Colville
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Valley was visited by the most disastrous flood ever experienced in its recorded history. Its main force was spent near the station of Sherwood, on the Spokane Falls & Northern Railroad, ten miles south of Colville. It is estimated by residents in the neighborhood of this sudden inundation that had a city the size of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, been situated in the path of this destructive element the resultant loss of life and property would have been little less than that of the unfortunate town in the Keystone State. The circumstances were remarkably similar. A short time prior to this flood in the Colville Valley an earth-avalanche from the north side of Iron Mountain had fallen into the canyon at a point four miles east of the Colville river, forming a dam across the ravine nearly one hundred feet high. Along the bottom of this ravine flowed the waters of a small creek, and thus arrested by the natural dam formed by the landslide, they soon assumed the magnitude of a mighty lake, nearly ninety feet in depth. The consequent heavy pressure against the dam caused a sudden break of the imprisoned waters, and what was once a peaceful, rippling brook, became an irresistible torrent that swept all before it, covering the surrounding country with four feet of mud, and debris, destroying the crops of many farms and sweeping away the homes, fences, and out-buildings of the inhabitants. Huge boulders were rolled along by the on-rush of waters, snapping large trees like pipe-stems in their furious race down the ravine. Thomas J. Patton, a well-known and industrious farmer who lived on the beautiful spread of prairie that widens out at the lower end of the canyon to a width of a mile and a half, escaped with his family, but was compelled to witness the complete destruction of his spring's crop.
At seven o'clock in the evening parties in the vicinity of the disaster heard a distant rumbling which was not thunder, but might be a seismic disturbance. At first the direction from which the detonations proceeded was not located, but as they became more distinct and at frequent intervals the awful truth burst upon them that an avalanche of timbers, rocks, debris and turbid water was pouring down upon the pretty pastor valley. Scarcely had the family of Mr. Patton reached safety on the side of a hill when a wall of water forty feet in height poured past them, breaking from the timber a quarter of a mile above their house, and spreading over the prairie farms to a depth of four feet. The track of the Spokane Falls & Northern Railroad was covered with mud for the distance of several hundred feet, trains being compelled to transfer passengers the following day across the break with teams. It was a disaster that would have proved far more appalling had the county at the time been more thickly settled.
At a special election held July 6, 1893, bonds to the amount of $65,000 were voted for the purpose of liquidating current expenses of the county, the necessary three-fifths of the voting population concurring in the proposition. The State of Washington became a purchaser of $20,000 of these bonds; the remainder were
sold to Roberts Brothers.
The heavy hand of financial disaster and the "hard times" of 1893 fell upon the residents of Stevens county, but this temporary depression did not more seriously affect them than it did those in other localities throughout the country. Officially the county, through the careful administration of Treasurer Frank B. Goetter, escaped a loss of $15,000, deposited in the Citizens National Bank of Spokane. Reviewing the financial condition of the county with some attention Mr. Goetter came to a conclusion, June 1, that he would no longer entrust the funds in his charge to a foreign corporation, and he transferred his account to the Bank of Colville which had guaranteed him against loss. Within a few days the suspension of the Citizens National Bank of Spokane was announced.
The following resume of damage caused by
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a wind storm of June 3, 1894, published in the Colville Index of the 7th is of interest:
Last Sunday afternoon about 3 o'clock a storm of wind, rain thunder and lightning swept from south to north over the entire surface of the county, laying waste great forests of timber, destroying fences, turning over houses and doing damage in many other ways.The year 1894 will be memorable for a flood of vast proportions swelling the Columbia river far above the danger point. Nothing like it had been known before in the history of eastern Washington since its settlement by whites. At the Cascades the stage of water is said to have been about the same as at the great flood of 1862, but this statement is not supported by evidence in the vicinities of Kettle Falls, Marcus and other places. At Boundary City the waters flowed and lashed themselves furiously around the city limits and at Northport the menacing element stood over a foot deep on the floor of the railway station. Many residents removed to the suburbs, on higher ground. The fine residence of Mr. Bishop was surrounded by water to its eaves. The house of Hugo Moser, with all its furniture was swept away down the river, together with about seventy cords of wood. The sawmill and sheds of the Northport Lumber Company were greatly damaged and much of the lumber carried away and irretrievably lost.
In Colville the storm was not so severe as in other places. Signs were blown down, trees uprooted in some portions of the city, but the only damage to buildings worth speaking of was the dislodgment of the front of William Prindle's blacksmith shop.
At Kettle Falls much damage was wrought by destruction of buildings. The large two-story building of W. R. Noteware was severed in twain, the upper story being swept away. The Curry block was smashed by a falling tree, and the hardware store building of J. P. Fogh was injured very materially. The roof was lifted from the Kettle Falls sash and door factory, and a barn of Louis Blue was completely demolished.
In the neighborhood of Daisy and Harvey the force of the storm was terrific. No loss of life is reported, but there was much property rendered worthless. Fay Ledgerwood had one horse killed; H. L. Childs sustained the loss of three cows; Dr. Weston had two cows killed and a number crippled; Mr. Tipton had three cows crippled and Fritz Bowren's barn was blown over. With relation to the storm at Daisy our correspondent tells us: "This section of the country is in a deplorable condition. The roads are almost impassable. The best of the timber is destroyed, the majority of the trees being broken off about half way up the tree, making them useless except for fuel. The mails have to be carried on horseback, and the fact is the whole Columbia river valley has the appearance of having been visited by a Kansas cyclone."
In Echo Valley the roads are in a terrible state, and the authorities are exerting every effort to get them cleared of obstructions as soon as possible. From Addy our correspondent writes that much damage was done to small buildings, fencing and roads. No one has been reported injured, but a horse was found in a mud-hole with a tree across its prostrate anatomy, but was not killed.
At Chewelah the storm struck with all the fury of a cyclone. The fine forest of timber in Jenkin's addition was literally mowed to the ground like grass. A number of houses were moved bodily several inches from their foundations, fences were strewn in all directions and many horses killed. The big tent in which the Free Methodists were holding services at the time was blown down, and the throng of people who had gathered there had narrow escapes from death by trees falling. The G. A. R. hall was laid in ruins and is a total loss. On Monday the Spokane Falls & Northern train was delayed over an hour in the timber a short distance north of town, owing to the great number of fallen trees on the track. The telegraph wires were broken in several places and communication was cut off in all directions.
News of the storm comes from many other places, but the same results in a much lighter degree are reported. It was undoubtedly the most disastrous storm that has yet visited this portion of the northwest.
Railroad bridges were washed away at the mouth of Onion creek and a large portion of the trackage temporarily ruined. At the Little Dalles Peter Ellensohn's warehouse was completely ruined. Two miles of track were washed out at Seven Devils, and at Marcus the building occupied by Feldman & Company, as well as other stores and warehouses, stood in a depth of two feet of water. Repairs on the Spokane Falls & Northern railway cost $250,000. As the banks on the reservation side of the river are low the loss to the Indians was considerable, although no pecuniary estimate of this was ever made.
In Stevens county the year 1894 witnessed a gratifying rebound from the disastrous "hard
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times." The privileges of a cash market for the various products of the county were better than ever before known. The British Columbia mining regions became an unvarying source of profit to the agricultural producers of the northern portion of the county. All varieties of products were in constant demand, and it is a gratifying fact that the demand constantly increased as the years went by. And this, too, in the face of a heavy Canadian tariff levied upon goods of all descriptions. But it is a cash market, and the close contiguity of this section of the county to the Canadian mineral fields greatly favors this section.
Agitation for a telephone service in the county dates from January, 1895. The promoter of this enterprise was W. B. Aris, of Kettle Falls. He procured the passage of a resolution by the county commissioners granting him a franchise to construct and maintain a system of telephone lines along the public highways of Stevens county, including all the principal train centers. February 4 the International Telegraph and Telephone Company was organized and articles of compact forwarded to the secretary of state, at Olympia. Incorporators and trustees were W. B. Aris, F. W. Sherman, and J. H. Young. The capital stock was fixed at $25,000, divided into shares of $10 each. Headquarter offices were located at Colville. February 1 the organization was made permanent with W. B. Aris, of Kettle Falls, president, J. Harry Young, of Colville, vice-president, S. W. Washburn and F. W. Sherman, of Kettle Falls, secretary and general manager, respectively. The same year the company was taken over by the Pacific States Telegraph and Telephone Company, which now controls the same, reaching all the principal points in the county.
During the spring of 1895 considerable complaint was heard on all sides concerning alleged injustice being done the Indians by settlers in the Calispell Valley, and other portions of the county. It was claimed by a number of newspaper correspondents that white settlers were appropriating Indian lands. On May 4, of that year a correspondent at Usk forwarded the following item to the Colville Index:
"Three Indians held up three white men while hauling fence posts to fence their ranch on the east side of the Pend d'Oreille river. The case is this: Twenty-three Indians claim fifty square miles on that side of the river. When the Indians could not stop the boys from fencing their ranch, one renegade Indian named Sam took an iron bar from beneath his blanket, then all three rushed upon the boys. One was lucky enough to have a six-shooter, so he was able to stave them off. The Indians then started home for their guns and said that they would kill every one of them. The boys soon saw them coming with their guns and they had to take to the woods for protection. It is about time something is done with these 'government pets,' either removed or placed on other ranches so that other settlers can have some peace. It was only last summer that they stole everything that they could lay their hands on while the settlers were trying to save their little all from the floods, and at that time a petition with over one hundred and fifty signers was handed to Hon. John L. Wilson to have the 'pets' removed. We suppose when the settlers are all robbed or murdered the government will then be ready to settle with the Indians."Possibly it was this article, but perhaps more ample testimony that induced Mr. Robert Fountain to publish the following explanatory statement of existing conditions at that period:
Seven years ago this valley (Calispell) was unsettled and almost unknown, the first settlers being compelled to hew a road through dense forests, find ingress through rough and rocky canyons and deep swamps. It was due to their invincible grit and enterprise that the valley has reached its present state of cultivation and prosperity. It was supposed by the first settlers that we were outside of the railroad limit, but the government survey made three years ago disclosed a contrary condition, as many who had located here found themselves on railroad land. Many hardy
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pioneers who had located homesteads and pre-emptions, thinking they had secured a home, and made valuable improvements, on ascertaining that their land was embraced in the Northern Pacific forty-mile limit, became discouraged and abandoned their homes. Others remained, hoping to purchase when the land came into market. They had become attached to the country and had great confidence in its future. Such is a fair statement of the conditions of the white settlers. Now as to the Indians.
Though they are generally known as Calispels, outside of a few descendants of old Petoll, who died four years ago, there is not one of them who could be called a Calispel. They are composed of Spokanes, Nez Perces, and Flatheads, and with two exceptions they claim land on the east side of the Pend d'Oreille river. Not one of them has ever made an attempt to secure their land by filing since it was open for entry last May, and it would be hard to determine by what right they claim it. Some are on railroad and others on government land, and when one dies a stranger soon appears and takes his place. A large number of these Indians, undoubtedly, belong on some reservation, for they make regular trips for supplies. The worst feature of it is that this land is made a rendezvous for the worst element of outside Indians who collect here in large numbers during the summer season, passing their time in gambling, horse-racing and drinking, to the demoralization of the resident Indians and to the terror of white settlers. Through the winter they exist in a state of semi-starvation, very few among them doing work of any kind.
The government has been petitioned to have them removed to some reservation and placed among the better class of their people. It was with this hope that a number of settlers who had been left without a home settled on that side of the river. So long as matters remain in the present condition troubles will occur, and when the railroad lands come into market trouble of a more serious nature will happen. It would be greatly to the benefit of the Indians if they were removed, for there is no hope of their advancement so long as they are here. They are a burden to the country and an agent who would look to their interest would take them away. The Indians themselves would profit by the change and a frightful incubus would be removed from this beautiful valley.
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