Good Old Days: Sept. 28, 2017

125 Years ago

September 30, 1892

Colfax Commoner

Jas. McMahon, a laborer from Palouse, was brought down Wednesday afternoon by Constable Callison and Jack Taylor, who filed a complaint charging him with insanity. After an examination by the physicians McMahon was ordered detained in the county jail for a day or two, upon the advice of the doctors, in order to determine whether his flightiness was due to craziness or delirium tremens.

McMahon was first taken into custody at George Stevens’ place, five miles from Palouse, where he was harvesting. He was making the Cedar creek country howl in the dead hours of the night by his wild cavortings when he was seized and tied by three men and taken to Palouse at 3 o’clock this morning.

In court the wild-eyed man told in a nonchalant way that he drank five bottles of whiskey yesterday and twirled a string of beads with a Catholic cross as he told the story of his life since Sunday. He said he got the beads in a house last night and would return them when he went back. As near as can be learned he drank nothing but beer when drunk on Sunday.

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The Roslyn Bank robbers are still at large , a posse of 125 men are after them. The sheriff’s posse of 13 men in pursuit of the Roslyn bank robbers came upon three of them in a dense forest in the Leadway basin, 20 miles east of Roslyn, Saturday night. A battle ensued and one of the desperadoes was wounded. All three escaped in the darkness. The meeting was a surprise both to pursued and pursuers. The uncertain light made firing dangerous and it was not till the three riders turned to flee that the posse opened fire. One of the desperadoes was seen to reel in the saddle and is thought to be wounded.

Girls playing with dolls circa 1917 at Alexander Campbell (A. C.) McGregor’s home. Left to right, Mary and Helen were sisters and daughters of A. C. McGregor; Mary Skene was their friend. Photo courtesy Whitman County Heritage project, courtesy Alex McGregor.

100 Years ago

September 28, 1917

Colfax Commoner

Coroner L.L. Bruning was notified by telephone early Thursday morning that the body of a man had been found in one of the eddies of the Snake river by George Parks of Uniontown and a party with him who were spending the day fishing for salmon on the Snake river. The body was dressed in heavy clothing and some of those who aided in removing the body from the river were under the impression that the man must have been a laboring man. Whether the man had met foul play or had fallen into the river from some bridge and drowned could not be determined owing to the condition of the body.

Mr. Bruning says that the condition of the body leads him to believe that it must have been in the water for two months. Nothing was found in the pockets of clothing but a handkerchief with the letter F and E. The body was brought to Colfax in an air tight casket and it has not been opened since it has been placed in the undertaking establishment. The body was found at the mouth of the Steptoe Canyon about twelve miles below Lewiston. Every town along the Snake river has been notified that the body has been found and an earnest effort will be made to identify the body.

75 Years ago

September 25, 1942

Colfax Gazette-Commoner

First copies of a new “Citizen’s Handbook for War” have been received by the County Defense Council for distribution to local defense council members. The book tells what everybody, everywhere, can do to help win the war; how each one can become a small fighting unit on the biggest front of all-the home front.

Fire destroyed two buildings containing hay on the Henry Schneidmiller farm 3 miles south of St. John Monday afternoon. The blaze burned over some stubble ground also, before it was put out by members of the St. John Volunteer Fire department and neighbors.

Funeral services for Frank Otto Jacobs,63, were held Tuesday afternoon at the Methodist church at Rosalia. A prominent farmer of the Rosalia district for 41 years, he was the first to haul wheat to Malden after the town was established in 1908. Mr. Jacobs was found dead in a field of burning pea straw Saturday afternoon. His body was charred but the cause of death was given as a heart attack.

50 Years ago

September 28, 1967

Colfax Gazette

Patronage at the Colfax elementary and high school cafeterias is down about 25 percent from last year, apparently due to a 10-cent per meal raise.

Rotarians build a scoreboard and restroom facility at the Daniel Henry little league field in the north flat. The rotary club has budgeted $1,000 for the project.

With increased acreage but lower yields, Whitman County produced over 21 million bushels of wheat this season. Wheat was harvested from 460,000 acres of more than one million cropland acres. Average yield was 46 bushels per acre.

25 Years ago

October 1, 1992

Whitman County Gazette

A boating accident Saturday on the Snake River apparently took the life of a Garfield man who had been fishing on the river. Two other occupants of the capsized boat were able to swim to safety on a river which was hit by strong winds. Missing and presumed drowned Steven R. Nelson, 25, Garfield. Sheriff Steve Tomson called off a search for Nelson after crews worked the river area late Saturday and most of the day Sunday.

10 Years ago

September 27, 2007

Whitman County Gazette

Wheat prices have escalated daily, prompting the question, “How high will it go?” The answer that Mike Krueger of Portland, the “white wheat guru,” emailed to Almota Elevator Co. Tuesday was, “It’s a given the market is going to look absolutely great and bullet proof before it all turns to guano.”

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Another chapter is about to begin for The Willows in Oakesdale as this old buggy shop, mechanical garage, and gas station will be turned into a recycling facility with the aid of sub-grant money from Whitman County Recycling.