Good old days

125 years ago

The Commoner

Nov. 2, 1888

Mrs. L.K. Mitchell desires to say to the people of Colfax and vicinity that she will give instructions in vocal and instrumental music with eastern methods and facilities. Special attention given to voice culture. For further particulars inquire of her at her house in south Colfax.

The vase of flowers that took the premium at the Whitman County Fair was grown from seeds obtained from Robert Scott & Son, Penrose nurseries, N.E. cor. of 19th and Catherine streets, Philadelphia, Pa.

At a meeting of the stockholders of the Colfax & Palouse Mining Company recently, the following officers were elected to serve for the ensuing six months: president, T.B. Weller; vice president, Thomas Shearer; secretary, Hans Michaelson. The company is formed for the purpose of opening and developing the silver lead discovered recently in a railroad cut near town. The stock is divided into 40,000 shares of the value of $5 each. The ore from the ledge assays slightly more than 37 ounces of silver to the ton with a trace of gold.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

Oct. 31, 1913

Arthur Howe and George Horton returned last Thursday from the Salmon river country in Idaho from a successful bear hunt. Two fine specimens were captured with Mr. Howe’s dogs, which is considered the best pack of hounds in the country.

W.B. Harris is the pioneer in the matter of discarding the sack system of handling grain. He has provided steel tanks on runners at his ranch for the storage of this year’s crop and expects to ship his grain loose from the LaDow station on the inland electric road.

The city grocery will change hands tomorrow, George E. Lee having sold the business to F.W. Whitmore of Walla Walla, a former well known resident of Colfax. Mr. Lee will remain in Colfax this winter, moving to his ranch near Starbuck in the spring.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

Oct. 28, 1938

Victor Casebolt, president of the chamber of commerce, pulled the switch at brief informal ceremonies last week to release electric current over lines constructed under a rural electrification project to nearly 409 farm families in the vicinity of Colfax. The switch is located on the hill above the junction of the new Walla Walla highway and the Spokane road. A group of local businessmen gathered to witness the event.

Electric current in Colfax was interrupted for 15-minute periods Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons this week while a general inspection of the aerial switches was being made, Victor Casebolt, Washington Water Power manager announced. One switch on the 110,000-volt high power line was inspected each day. Purpose of the examination of the switches is to avoid interruptions in service.

Compilation of a complete directory for Whitman County was begun this week by Dan O’Connor of Coeur d’Alene, who has had several years experience in assembling statistical data for such books. Information will be gathered by a house-to-house canvas of the entire county. The directory will contain the name, the exact location and occupation of every person 18 years old or over in Whitman County, filling a long-felt need. All unnamed roads will be identified and marked to give inhabitants of the various rural districts more definite addresses. Unnumbered houses will also be tagged.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Oct. 31, 1963

Five homes. the old Freshlaid Farms hatchery building and the Payless Gas station along the Spokane highway and on Cedar Street will be moved or torn down if the state highway department proceeds with plans of improvement for the highway from the Twin Bridges junction to the top of Buck Canyon grade.

Reigning over Colfax High School’s annual homecoming festivities last weekend were Queen Marilyn Munson and princesses Linda Felber and Glenyce Harlow.

Sixteen Colfax High School students were honored this fall by election to Mu Alpha Theta, national high school and junior college mathematics fraternity. W.J. Mahlik is sponsor of the Colfax High School club. Students earning membership include Bob Appel, Leslie Birr, Richard Freeman, Steven Hall, Eugene Krueger, Terry Neergaard, Warren Neil Jr., Karen Nelson, Ona Porter, Joan Ratts, Marilyn Raugust, Gary Repp, Ronald Schmick, Carol Stueckle, Bob Weitz and Kenneth Wessels.

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Nov. 3, 1988

Brenda and Gordon Steptoe, a retired couple from Ditchling, England, were unable to resist visiting a town that shared their name during a vacation trip to the United States and Canada. Dorothy Harvey and Nora Kinsinger were volunteer tour guides for the couple when they came to Steptoe.

Howard Abbott, retired Whitman County court clerk, downed a six pointer last week on the second day of elk season in the Blue Mountains. The trophy was the largest Abbott has taken in more than 30 years of hunting in the Blues. The bull was estimated to be over four years old and weighed 450 pounds. Game agents told him the elk was the largest they had checked out this year.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

Oct. 30, 2003

A realistic version of Butch the Cougar glared a greeting to hordes of WSU and Oregon State football fans who migrated through Colfax last weekend on the way to Saturday’s sold out football game at Martin stadium.

Butch glared from the top of his Cougar Cage as the fans, many of them with modern-day flags fluttering over their SUV windows, made their way to Pullman.

Scott Pittman of Colfax Body Shop had wheeled out the stuffed cougar and the authentic cage trailer after a restoration project which had been in the works for two years.

The last real Butch the Cougar departed for the greater hunting grounds more than 25 years ago.

Since then Butch the Cougar has been portrayed by a likable mascot who greet fans of all ages with his antics.