Good old days

125 years ago

Sept. 7, 1888

While returning home from the city one day last week with a one-horse buggy, Miss Etta Cram narrowly escaped serious injury. When on a grade a short distance up the North Palouse from town her horse became frightened at a band of Indian ponies and ran away, overturning the buggy and throwing the young lady out, happily without injury. The vehicle was smashed to smithereens. While loading the scattered remains of the buggy into a wagon, a team hitched to a buggy, in which were a man and woman, became frightened at the load and jumped over a steep bank, but without injury to anything.

Misters Gregory and Spencer have had dressed and mounted at their drug store one of the largest and finest specimens of the American gray eagle yet seen in this country. The bird was killed some three weeks since near Farmington by M.E. Carley of this city, and was dressed by J.O. Housekeeper. It measured, when killed, eight feet from tip to tip.

Warren White, a fourteen-year-old lad, while returning to his home about one mile from the city, on the Farmington branch railroad, on Sunday last, and while riding at a rapid rate, collided with a corner of a barn in the outskirts of town, and is now laid up with a broken leg. He is getting along very nicely, however, and will soon be able to navigate.

100 years ago

Sept. 8, 1913

Another indication of the prosperity of Whitman County farmers is presented in the number of roller mills turned out by the Carley Bros. factory in Colfax during the past season. While the summer months have in the past been practically free from order for the Colfax-made mills and the months of July and August are considered the poorest season of the year for the factory, no less than a dozen mills have been turned out during the past few weeks and there are many fall orders yet to be filled.

The rain which fell Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in this vicinity had no further detrimental effects than to delay the harvest operations for several days. Many crews came to Colfax to await the time when the work would be resumed and they have spent several days in Colfax. A number of farmers, however, have been “making hay while the sun did not shine” by putting their men to work hauling grain to the warehouses.

Two large knives, resembling small sabers, and a pair of brass knuckles were found at different places in the business section the first part of the week and Sheriff Cole is of the opinion that some gang of men had contemplated an attack of some kind. He believes that the men either became too drunk to follow their plans or were frightened out of the notion. The knives and “knucks” are being held.

Two of the silver cups offered by the O.-W.R&N and the Northern Pacific railroads as prizes for the best stock exhibited at the Whitman County Fair on October 6-11 have arrived in Colfax and are on display. The former company offers a handsome cup for the best herd of cattle, consisting of one bull and three cows. The Northern Pacific offers a fine cup for the best boar and sow with two or more pigs. They are on display at Glaser’s jewelry store and at Hamilton’s drug store.

75 years ago

Sept. 2, 1938

A broken window in the back of the building was the entrance used by burglars who entered Bill and Bob’s club, a beer dispensary in Palouse, Thursday night of last week, according to Deputy W.W. Nicely, who investigated at the request of the Palouse marshal on Friday. The proprietors did not miss anything but admitted the possibility that some beer might have been taken. Questioning of three men, all drunk, Nicely said, was futile.

Ai Camp, one of the largest land owners of the LaCrosse region, last week sold 1900 acres of his holdings to A.B. Filan. The land, southwest of LaCrosse, has been farmed by E.A. Burgess and Adolph Miller. It is said to produce consistently a high grade of wheat. The transaction was reported to involve more than $100,000. Mr. Camp retained other land interests near LaCrosse.

Alarm clocks and school bells will ring in the 1938-39 school year in Colfax next Tuesday when students trek back to classrooms in the high school and the Hamilton and Martha Washington grade schools. Registration to date in the high school totals 310.

50 years ago

Sept. 5, 1963

Action will get underway in the near future on the conversion of the old high school into Colfax’s city hall, the Colfax city council decided at their meeting Tuesday night. The council approved the calling of bids for the removal of the old roof and the construction of a new roof on the auditorium. Plans for rebuilding or repair of the south half of the building, whichever the council decides and Colfax citizens approve, are still in the preliminary stage.

Enrollment at Colfax High School hit 316 Tuesday, including 19 students new to the district, Principal William Heath announced. The sophomore class is the largest, with 96 students.

Four Colfax children who were all born within four days of each other and who have been celebrating their birthdays jointly for most of the past six years, found themselves all together again Tuesday morning as they entered the first grade at Colfax elementary school.

The four children are Randall Johnson, son of Mr. and Mrs. “Chic” Johnson born March 25; Teri Heilsberg, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Heilsberg, born on March 26; Gail Lockhart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Lockhart, born on March 24; and Kevin McGrady, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert McGrady, born March 27.

All four found themselves in Mrs. Bessie Mitchell’s first grade room, although no effort as made by the mothers or anyone else to get them in the same room.

Their names were drawn by lot in accordance with Colfax elementary school policy.

25 years ago

Sept. 8, 1988

Though elevator operators around the county agree farmers have had a great crop this year given the weather conditions, most report a wide range of per-acre yield in the areas they serve. Wheat yield has varied from as little as 22 bushels an acre to over 100 bushels an acre with vast differences in adjoining fields.

The fairground was bustling with activity Tuesday as exhibitors brought entries to the grounds and volunteers and department superintendents put final touches on their buildings and displays in preparation for the official Palouse Empire Fair opening today. Major plus for the 1988 fair is the acquisition of bleacher seating for about 1,600. The purchase of bleachers from the Spokane Grand Prix Association came at the eleventh hour but in time to spark enthusiasm for arena shows.

Windsocks denoting the state’s centennial and the Grange centennial were placed along Main Street in Colfax. Al Therrien mounted the sock on light poles, and John Morgan of the city crew assisted. Gary Kopf and Adrian DeVries introduced the Grange-backed project to the local centennial committee.

10 years ago

Sept. 4, 2003

Whitman County farmland will account for 29,575 of the 154,000 acres in the state which were accepted last week in the USDA Conservation Reserve Program. The total for the county was from 219 accepted offers from producers.

How do you get to be 105 years old? “Well, you have to live that long,” Martha Barkley explained. Although the 105 years has taken a toll on her communicative skills, Martha can still make a joke now and then. She was honored on her 105th at Whitman Health and Rehabilitation Center in Colfax. Martha in 2003 is one of the few people around who can claim to have lived in three centuries. She was born in Winona to Henry and Katherine Ochs. She was one of 10 children in the family and raised in Winona, according to Virgil Crampton of Colfax, a great-great nephew.