Walla Walla people

“ The hearts of the Nez Percés and ours are one. The Cayuses, the Walla-Wallas, and the other tribes, say, they do not understand us. We were in hopes we should have had but one heart. Why should we have more than one heart? Young Chief says, he does not know what we propose to him. Peepe-mox-mox says the same. Can we bring these saw mills and these grist mills on our backs to show these people? Can we bring these blacksmith shops, these wagons and tents on our backs to show them at this time? Can we cause fields of wheat and corn to spring up in a day that they may see them? ”

“ After all, people are very much the same from generation to generation and we can readily infer that what the people of Walla Walla were in the '60s, their children and grandchildren are largely the same in this year of grace, 1917.
In the early history of the territory before government was organized to protect life and punish criminals, the miners organized courts of their own to try those who committed any crime within the camp, but there were no courts to try the criminals whose work was outside of the miner's camp. ”

“ Though Father Time's blade has cut with remorseless sweep, and though the pioneers of the Walla Walla Valley have fallen before its swing, the attendance at the annual reunion of the pioneers yesterday was greater than has ever been known.
More than two hundred people who came to the Northwest before railroads were built attended the annual meeting of the Inland Empire Pioneer Association at Whitman College yesterday. ”

“ I had almost learned to love those mules, they had been so faithful.
We arrived in Walla Walla, Wash., footsore and weary, in just three months from the day we started.
When we arrived in this beautiful little valley without a dollar and scarcely any clothing and no provisions we had a pretty hard time. Now, when a family gets their house and everything they have, burned, the people around get together and help them, and it is right they should in this land of plenty; and when a criminal leaves the penitentiary they give him a suit of clothes and some money. ”

“ Consider the population of the lands upon the river and its affluents, nearly a million people, where during the days of old Fort Walla Walla the only white people were the officers and trappers of the Hudson's Bay Company. ”

“ The intention has been not so much to give an exhibition as to afford the community an opportunity for self-expression. The real purpose of the pageant is to remind the people of Walla Walla that since they owe their existence to the soil, spring should be for them a season of sincere and spontaneous rejoicing. ”

“ It is not observable, [185] however, that the young folks on the farms have any backwardness in utilizing the good things of life which are the logical consummation of the foresight and industry of parents and grandparents. It is probable that no people in the United States have more reliable and steady incomes and greater sources for all the needs and enjoyments of life than do the farmers of old Walla Walla County. ”

“ Mr. Flathers is independent in politics, voting for the men and measures he considers of the best interest of all the people. He keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but neither seeks nor desires office. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Waitsburg Lodge, No. 16. A. F. & A. M.; Walla Walla Chapter, No. 1, R. A. M., of Walla Walla and [201] Washington Commandery, K. T., also of Walla Walla. He has likewise crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, being a member of El Katif Temple of Spokane. ”

“ The general supposition is that the most prominent citizens of Walla Walla were either actively or by their support concerned in the organization. They had secret meetings and passed upon cases brought before them with great promptness, but with every attempt to get at the essential facts. In case they decided that the community would be better without some given individual, that individual would receive an intimation to that effect. ”

“ Taking up his abode in the northwest when Walla Walla boasted but a few log buildings and the tributary country was but a wilderness, he was one of those sturdy, upright characters who did his full share to help develop the country and make it the success it is today. At all times public spirited and keenly alive and devoted to the interests of the community he was one of the country's true builders. As one of the distinguished pioneers of the country—as a man who performed many good deeds in his day—his name will always be remembered and ever held in the highest respect. ”

“ The state builders, the offspring of the immigrant train, the homesteaders of the Walla Walla country, were, like other westerners, anxious to bequeath to their children better opportunities for education than they in their primitive surroundings could command. ”

“ This attitude is denominated wisdom or moss-backism by different parties very much according to their viewpoint, and especially whether they are "in" or "out." The great "isms" which swept the country in the '80s and '90s, populistic movements as represented by Bryan and other great leaders, in general received the cold shoulder from Walla Walla. ”

“ Others remarked that very handsome young girls were often seen among the Walla Wallas. With them doubtless, as with other Indians, the drudgery of their lives and their early child-bearing made them prematurely old and they soon lost their beauty. ”

“ At first meeting one had little conception of his tremendous energy and iron will. He was a man of electric oratory and swayed pioneer audiences in his little church or in the groves at public gatherings as few men in Walla Walla ever have. ”

“ As compared with its brother organizations in the seaboard cities or in Spokane, it was late in formation. A community like Walla Walla, a rich agricultural region, [242] does not seem to be the natural home for labor unions. The commercial and manufacturing and mining cities are the natural locations for these organizations. But in process of time the skilled laborers of Walla Walla were drawn by natural evolution into the great circle of organized labor. ”

“ He early recognized the fact that industry wins. He may never have heard of the Greek philosopher Epicharmus, who said: "Earn thy reward; the gods give naught to sloth," but he knew the principle that underlies those words and indefatigable industry has characterized him at every point in his career. Step by step he has advanced and is now not only a substantial business man of Walla Walla but one who enjoys and deserves the respect, goodwill and confidence of all with whom he is associated. ”

“ The Union has been a part of the community life of Walla Walla for nearly a half century and while in the struggles of early pioneer life it suffered many hardships in common with many of the citizens that it has served during a lifetime, it has grown in strength with the community until today it is a part of the solid worth of the Inland Empire. ”

“ But the men of this type, some with wives of the same high type (though most of them were young men without families) , were daily and nightly jostled by the miscellaneous throng of gamblers, pickpockets, highway robbers, hold-ups, and prostitutes who ordinarily fatten on the gold-dust bags and belts of the miners assembled at their yearly supply stations. Strange stories are told about the number and variety and unique names and characters of the various "joints" in the Walla Walla of the decade of the '60s. ”

“ As a member of the Walla Walla Pioneer Association I appreciate very much the fact that I again have the privilege to attend another one of this society's annual meetings and to meet with fellow members and friends of our association. To meet old pioneer friends and to talk over old times with them is something that affords me genuine pleasure. ”

“ He is always courteous, kindly and affable and those who know him personally entertain for him warm regard. A man of great natural ability, his success in business from the beginning of his residence in Walla Walla has been uniform and rapid. ”

“ She is one of the honored pioneer settlers of Walla Walla and her reminiscences of the early days when the present rapidly growing city was a little frontier settlement are much appreciated by the younger generation, who find it hard to realize that conditions have changed so radically within a half century. When she came to this region there were not more than twenty white women in the valley and she is one of the very few of the number now living. ”

“ Michael Kenny
FORT WALLA WALLA IN 1857
[91]
"Monday, 11:30 A.M.—I have no reason to die for things that I did not do. My time is short. I tell the truth. I know that I am close to the grave; but my heart is open and I tell the truth. I love every one in this world. I know that God will give me a big heart. I never confessed to the marshal that I was guilty, or to any other person; I am innocent. The priests did not tell us to do what the Indians have done. ”

“ Many kept up their knowledge of reading and writing so well indeed that they took notes and also made copies of the treaties and the speeches at this council at Walla Walla eight years after the close of the mission. In 1843, under Dr. White, these Indians organized a simple form of government, elected chiefs and adopted a few laws. ”

“ We therefore take from the columns of the Walla Walla Union the report, as follows:
"These pioneer meetings are significant events; they afford opportunity for meeting old friends. They are occasions for retrospection and reminiscence. We live over again in memory, 'the brave days of old.' We recount the courage, the lofty purpose, the sacrifices of the early settlers, not only of those still living, but of those who have crossed the Great Divide." ”

“ Young gives his aid and influence on the side of all those forces which work for the upbuilding and progress of Walla Walla along material, social, intellectual and moral lines. In an analyzation of his life record it will be seen that concentration of purpose along a single line of business has been one of the salient features in his success. He started out as a florist and has continued in that field of activity. ”

“ There was no movement, however, which looked to the benefit and further upbuilding of the community that sought his aid in vain. He stood for progress and improvement at all times and Walla Walla numbered him for many years as one of its foremost citizens, and his death was the occasion of profound and widespread regret throughout eastern Washington. Mrs. Baumeister and her family are members of the Christian Science [840] church and she is deeply interested in all those things which have cultural value or which promote benevolent interests. ”

“ The result of the last election in these counties of Old Walla Walla, as well as the state at large and indeed the West as a whole, may be considered as a demonstration of the progressive and independent spirit of this new country, which resents "bossism" and "back-room" politics and moves ever steadily toward genuine democratic government. ”

“ LEADING HOTELS OF WALLA WALLA
[17]
"'You all know well my father was killed by the enemy, when you all deserted him like cowards; and, while the Great Master of Life spares me, no hostile foot shall again be set on our lands. I know you all; and I know that those who are afraid of their bodies in battle are thieves when they are out of it: but the warrior of the strong arm and the great heart will never rob a friend.' After a short pause, he resumed: 'My friends, the white men are brave and belong to a great nation. ”

“ He arrived in Walla Walla without capital and today he is one of the substantial farmers of this section of the state, and what means more, the result achieved is due to his industry, his perseverance [338] and his determination alone. He has never been afraid of hard work and he early recognized the eternal principle that industry wins. ”

“ Frank W. Paine is a capitalist of Walla Walla whose name is inseparably interwoven with the history of city and state. Coming to the west in pioneer times, he is familiar with every phase of frontier life and with the processes of development which have brought the state from pioneer conditions to its present stage of progress and prosperity. His individual labors have contributed much to the results achieved, and no account of Walla Walla's development would be complete without extended reference to him. ”

“ By Courtesy of Major Lee Moorehouse. miles above the present location of Walla Walla. On September 5th, Colonel E. J. Steptoe, with four companies of regulars, arrived at the same place and made camp on the site of the present fort. And now came on the second great Walla Walla council. The tribes were gathered as before, and were aligned as before. ”

“ This state of affairs in the West prepared the way for a new democracy, a national democracy, a genuine democracy for all men. The transformation of Walla Walla politics was simply a sample of a movement taking place all over the country. As a result, during the decades of the sixties and seventies, many former democrats, notably some who had been brought up in Missouri and other slave states, finding the democratic party, as they thought, still a laggard on progressive issues developed by the war and reconstruction, left the party and joined the republicans. ”

“ With this much for outside appearances let us now step inside where we are met by the subject of this sketch, a business man of Walla Walla, a man approaching middle life, of good presence, well informed on the country in general, its business prospects and opportunities, his stock of merchandise, and his patrons, who, if stockmen, ranged from the Cascades to the Rocky Mountains ”