Good Old Days

125 years ago

August 26, 1887

Last Saturday, the county commissioners decided on the location of the new court house and adopted the plans of the county building at Dayton, Columbia County, one of the prettiest and most substantial in the territory. Lots have a total frontage of 175 feet and extend back 154 feet. They were purchased from O.L. Wolford and Livingstone and Kuhn.

Charley Hubbard has sixty-five men employed on his thousand acre farm north of town. Two headers and a steam thresher are used in cutting and threshing the grain.

Some fine trout have been caught in the North Palouse of late, a short distance above town. There used to be an abundance of trout in this stream, and were it not for the fact that sawdust has been dumped into it at different points, against a standing law, it would afford good sport for the angler now.

Sheriff Berry went to Penawawa Wednesday and arrested an Indian for horse stealing and lodged him in jail. A young buck named Joseph borrowed a pony from the Indian’s daughter and staked the animal out; it became entangled in the rope and choked to death. To get even, the Indian took two ponies belonging to Joseph and sold them. Hence the arrest.

Last week, two physicians of this town were called to attend a boy who had a piece of wood lodged in his foot consequent on the bad marksmanship of a man who threw a club at a dog.

100 years ago

August 23, 1912

The rapidly increasing number of electric signs on the streets of Colfax bespeak the spirit of enterprise which possesses the business men of the city. No less than three applications were approved by the city council to erect signs. The Silver Kitchen is to have a “Cafe “ sign illuminated by 60 electric globes. A “Unique Lunch” sign will be held over the lunch room. J.E. Minnis will erect a sign of such proportions it may over-balance the building which it is to ornament.

A warm welcome was given to the children’s band and Jolly Entertainers Monday and Tuesday at the Ridgeway Theater, where they played to raise funds for the support of their home at Des Moines, Wash.

E.S. Knowlton is the latest purchaser of an auto at LaCrosse, having secured an Overland car.

Miss Dorothy Chamberlin will entertain a number of her girl friends Saturday afternoon for her fourteenth birthday anniversary.

75 years ago

August 20, 1937

Sam Fisher, last of the full-blooded Palouse Indians, sold Saturday 360 acres of his land about three miles above the confluences of the Palouse and Snake rivers, where he makes his home. The land was sold to McGregor Land and Livestock for a consideration of $2,000, indicated by state and federal revenue stamps attached to the deed.

Application to construct and maintain lines to 1,530 patrons in Whitman County was made to the board of commissioners Monday by Glen H. Bell, superintendent for the Inland Empire Rural Electrification Inc., of St. John. Work on the project is expected to start in the south end of Spokane County and the north end of Whitman County in about two weeks. A federal allotment to the project is $545,000, made in March.

Eluding officers in an all-day search Saturday in the canyon and breaks of the Snake River, Oscar Johnson, 19, and his brother, Alfred, 18, Spokane, were captured one fourth of a mile below Central Ferry. The duo faces prosecution for second degree burglary, accused of entering the humble home of a 78-year-old county welfare charge near Riparia and robbing him at the point of two pistols of groceries, a suitcase and a blanket.

50 years ago

August 23, 1962

Saturday and Sunday were red-letter days for everyone from one through 100 in Endicott and Garfield as those communities celebrated the opening of their first swimming pools. The Endicott pool opened with 141 swimmers, but without benefit of the heating system, which won’t be completed for several more days. The Garfield pool opened to more than 200 swimmers, with heating plant in operation, but with temperatures still chilly because it hadn’t been on long enough.

Two more deaths in a head-on collision near Steptoe last Thursday is believed to have set a new record in the toll of highway accidents in Whitman County for any one year, with 11 persons killed thus far.

With a yield of 107.79 bushels per acre a field of Gaines wheat on the Dale Curtis farm four miles southwest of Thornton set a new record. Extension agent Felix Entenman said Curtis gleaned 1,724 bushels from the 16 acre field Tuesday.

Frank M. Miller, former chief of police of Tekoa, is the new Colfax chief of police, Mayor William H. Burns announced Wednesday.

Fire destroyed the bunk house at the Walter Swannack ranch Saturday afternoon. Lamont fire district was called and arrived at the ranch minutes after the alarm, but the fire had enveloped the building.

25 years ago

August 20, 1987

A raging fire Tuesday night destroyed the former Milwaukee Railroad Depot building in Malden. Sheriff’s deputies have called for an investigation for possible arson by the state fire marshall’s office.

The first truckload of bleachers that will seat 1,600 for the Palouse Empire Fair arena shows arrived at the fairgrounds Friday. The fair is renting the bleachers from the Spokane Grand Prix Association for $3,000.

A WSU grad student has until Monday to remove 64 small, white crosses he installed along the highway from Vantage to Pullman to remind drivers of fatal accidents that occurred in those places. State officials remind the signs are prohibited by the Scenic Vista Act of 1971. The student, who lost a best friend in a recent traffic accident, placed the crosses to mark deaths on Highways 195 and 26 since 1970 and to make students more aware of the dangers of the road.

10 years ago

August 22, 2002

LaCrosse welcomed Columbia Ag Fibers Inc. into town with homemade baked goods and enthusiastic speeches at the LaCrosse Airport Monday. The 100 onlookers and dignitaries watched as honorees sank shovels into dry soil to break ground on the future site of a proposed strawboard manufacturing plant.

Hayites got together for their annual picnic on Jeannine Larkin’s lawn last Saturday. With 50 in attendance, the town’s population almost quadrupled. The crowd met at noon and chose from an array of home cooked dishes of chicken, pasta, salads and pie. Afterward, they walked down the street to the 101-year-old Hay Church to sing.

Many local residents have been taking advantage of the bountiful crop of tree-ripened peaches at Egger’s Fruit Ranch on the river at Penawawa.