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Thurston County Sesquicentennial
Petitions, meetings led to county's birth Until the 1840s, few Americans lived north of Columbia River SHANNA STEVENSON, FOR THE OLYMPIAN Originally published Saturday, January 12, 2002
By 1851, there were nearly 1,000 people of European descent living north of the Columbia River, many of whom were American citizens. Many had come from the Midwest and brought the principles of representative government and self-determination with them. They knew how to petition to redress wrongs and were bound to bring government closer to them so they could influence decisions and participate more fully in governance.
The movement to create Thurston County in 1852 was part of this effort, as well as the larger goal of a separate territory from Oregon for Americans north of the Columbia.
The Oregon Country -- much of what is now Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia -- was a sort of no-man's land in the years before 1818, where Americans and British explorers as early as 1792 had vied for control of the area. Fur trading companies from both countries set up posts in the area. There had been diplomatic exchanges over the area after the War of 1812, but no decisions were reached on a political division.
In 1818, a joint occupancy agreement between the United States and Great Britain was signed. This arrangement was continued by another agreement in 1827. By the 1830s, the Hudson's Bay Company had established outposts near and in what was to become Thurston County and Washington state, and Americans streamed into the Willamette Valley of what is now Oregon in the 1840s. These Americans held a series of meetings to create a loose governmental structure to fill their needs.
By 1843, this loose structure had become a provisional government in the Oregon Country, but little concern was given to the area north of Columbia where few Americans lived. The whole area, which reached northward into what is now Canada at the 54th parallel, was on paper at least divided into two governmental districts: Tualatin (or Tuality) and Clackamas. The boundary between the two bisected what is now Thurston County.
With the arrival of the Michael T. Simmons and George Washington Bush party of settlers in 1845, the first group to permanently settle north of the Columbia on Puget Sound (and in Thurston County) and additional settlers in the following years, more attention was paid to the governmental structure of the area.
A political division of the provisional government of Oregon called the "District of Vancouver" was established in 1845 north of the Columbia. Meanwhile, the British Hudson's Bay Company had made an agreement that it would support the provisional government under certain conditions to protect its property and land interests. However, the chief factor at Fort Vancouver, John McLoughlin, insisted that the district carry the name of Vancouver.
In December 1845, Lewis County was established, encompassing what is now Thurston County and all of the land north of the Columbia and west of the Cowlitz River. Vancouver was retained as the name of the eastern area until 1849, when it was changed to Clark County.
In 1846, the boundary between the United States and British interests was finally set at the 49th parallel, today's boundary with Canada. Despite James Polk's 1844 presidential slogan of "54-40 or Fight," cooler diplomatic heads prevailed in the end, and the boundary was settled without much controversy.
Despite the boundary settlement, which provided for the eventual removal of British interests in the area, W.F. Tolmie, British factor at Fort Nisqually, was elected in 1846 to be legislative representative from Lewis County. That same year, the laws were changed to allow for election of judges, and an election was held in 1847.
In 1848, Levi Smith, an American living in Olympia, was elected Oregon territorial Legislature representative for Lewis County but did not serve because he drowned in Budd Inlet. That same year, Oregon officially became a U.S. territory that included current-day Thurston County.
Americans in this area already were forming political groups, and the Hudson's Bay Company was a popular target. That same year, a meeting was held in Tumwater to protest the actions of the trading company. They said wild Spanish cattle belonging to the company had crossed the Nisqually River from their farms on the east side of the river and were menacing the American stock and grazing on settlers' lands.
The group recounted other grievances against Tolmie and the Hudson's Bay Company, including trying to prevent settlers from locating on area lands, putting obstacles in their way and refusing "to furnish Americans with sheep at any price until quite recently," and then only "inferior" sheep. Those settlers relied upon the trading company for provisions.
In 1851, Pacific County was created out of Lewis County.
That same year, Columbia Lancaster and D. F. Brownfield were elected representatives from Lewis County to the Oregon territorial Legislature. The removal of the Oregon territorial government from Oregon City, near Portland, to Salem, even more distant from the residents on Puget Sound, spurred the residents to action. This extended journey to access government services at a time when travel was at best arduous and, at worst, dangerous was considered intolerable.
Separation from Oregon
As was the custom for Americans living near Puget Sound, a large gathering was held in Olympia to celebrate the Fourth of July in 1851. At the gathering, J.B. Chapman gave a speech advocating a separate territory from Oregon. At a meeting after the celebration, a group proposed a convention in August at Cowlitz Landing (near present-day Toledo) to advocate for a new territory.
Twenty-six delegates met Aug. 29 for a two-day meeting.
It was at this convention where the creation and boundaries of what was to become Thurston County were first discussed. The preliminary boundaries of eleven other counties were also discussed.
D.S. Maynard suggested the new county on Puget Sound be called "Simmons County" in honor of Michael T. Simmons. Besides the resolutions on new counties, the convention wrote to Congress asking for a separate territory for Washington.
Meanwhile, on Dec. 1, 1851, Olympia residents signed a petition to the Oregon territorial Legislature asking for the creation of a new county out of Lewis County; they also asked that the county seat be at Olympia.
Fifty-four men from Lewis County signed the petition.
The Oregon legislature acted quickly on the petition, with the House passing the act to create a separate county with the name of Simmons County on Dec. 17, 1851. The area encompassed almost all of Western Washington. In response, local men sent a letter asking to modify the boundaries so that the line would not bisect the Cowlitz settlement.
The Oregon Territorial Council considered the final bill to create a new county on Jan. 12, 1852. It was then that Asa Lawrence Lovejoy made a motion to change the name of the county to Thurston. The bill passed that day, and Thurston County was established. The first precincts for the new county were set at Olympia and Steilacoom.
On July 4, 1852, residents gathered in Olympia and heard yet another plea for a separate territory, this time from attorney Daniel R. Bigelow, who had arrived in the fall of 1851. The first newspaper north of the Columbia River, The Columbian, was published in Olympia on Sept. 11, 1852, and carried the full text of his speech.
Agitation for a separate territory continued and increased with the newspaper as a forum for the rhetoric. Residents wanted the new territory to be called Columbia.
On July 22, 1852, another petition was sent to the Oregon territorial Legislature, this time signed by residents in Thurston County, asking the body to establish a permanent county seat at Olympia. The legislature responded Dec. 22, 1852, and established the seat at Olympia. This was challenged only once, in 1861 by Tumwater and West Olympia, but Olympia prevailed.
More meetings were organized to petition for a separate territory. On Oct. 26, 1852, a meeting was held to organize a convention at Monticello, near what is now Longview. The meeting was going to be held in Olympia but was changed to interest those nearer the Columbia River. Forty-four delegates were elected. The convention members wrote another petition to Congress via Joseph Lane, the Oregon Territory's delegate to Congress.
Meanwhile, Lane had started the process in Congress to create a new territory by introducing a bill. The bill to create a new territory passed on March 2, 1853, with the name changed to Washington from the earlier Columbia. Olympia was named the temporary territorial capital in 1853 and was made permanent capital in 1855.
Meanwhile, Pierce, King, and Jefferson counties were carved out of Thurston County in December 1852. Island County was created in January 1853.
By that autumn, the first census showed 996 residents in Thurston County, which still included much of what is now Grays Harbor County and all of Mason County.
Chehalis (later Grays Harbor) County was created out of Thurston and parts of Lewis counties in 1854. Sawamish (later Mason) County was created out of Thurston in 1854. The boundaries of the county were adjusted between Thurston County and its neighbors until 1877, when the current boundaries were finalized.
Pioneer names
The 54 Lewis County men who signed the Dec. 1, 1851, petition for the creation of what became Thurston County:
Grun McAfferty, Ignatius Colvin, Orrington Cushman, George P. Daniels, George W. Lamb, John M. Swan, Wesley Gosnell, Sam B. Crockett, David Kindred, Gabe Jones, Walter Crockett, Asher Sarjent, E.N. Sarjent, A.U. Sarjent, John Remley, M.T. Simmons, I.N. Ebey, Edmund Sylvester, Simpson P. Moses, W.W. Miller, A.B. Moses, H.A. Goldsborough, Elwood Evans, Thomas Dubosq Jr., A.M. Poe, Jon Butter, Jesse Ferguson, Joseph Hurd, Isaac M. Brown, Benjamin McDonald, Charles Weed, George A. Rager, James Morton, John Crockette, Benjamin Gordon, D.W. Powell, Adam Wylie, James Hughes, D.R. Bigelow, H.H. Pinto, Abraham Enyart, John Alexander, Samuel J. Ryder, L.D. Howe, S.W. Williams, D. Kindred, M. Jones, Maj. Shove, John Wood, W.W. Wood, A.B. Rabbeson, N. Eaton, A.J. Simmons, R.H. Landsdale
The Olympian Copyright 2002 |
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