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• 1895 ×
• Whitman County ×

1. A Mob Hanged Two Men at the Courthouse. Then the State Argued Over the Bill.

   After Hill and Parker were lynched in Colfax, Attorney General W. C. Jones ruled that the county need not pay for a coroner's inquest—and said the real hunt for the mob belonged to a grand jury.

   Jan 20, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWhitman County Courthouse, ColfaxCity Hall

2. Cheaper to Ship Wheat to Liverpool Than to Seattle: An Inland Empire Farmer's Case Against the Railroads

   A Whitman County grower tells the Post-Intelligencer that Palouse wheat can be raised for about 30 cents a bushel — and sent 16,000 miles to England for less than the railroad charges to haul it 400 miles to the Sound.

   Jan 3, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPullman, Whitman CountyWork & Pay · Follow the Money

3. The Secret Corral in the Rocks

   A Whitman County stock association uncovers a hidden canyon hideout used by a gang of rustlers to hoard stolen hogs.

   Jun 15, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSt. John, Whitman CountyFollow the Money · True Crime

4. The Cigar-Box Bomb That Came in the Mail for Gertie Spicer

   A Washington woman suspected a prank, set the package on the sidewalk and opened it with a stick—just before it exploded and shook the buildings.

   Apr 4, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerGuy, Whitman CountyTrue Crime

5. The Night Colfax Built an Opera House

   A secret crew of Spokane masons raised the walls of a new theater in a single night—while the town's electric lights conveniently failed.

   Apr 25, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerColfax, Whitman CountyBoom & Bust · Gone Forever · Strange But True

6. The Preacher, the Deed, and the Burning House

   A small-town minister's affair with a married parishioner ends in arson, a whitewash trial, and an effigy swinging from an electric light pole in the heart of Oakesdale.

   May 31, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOakesdale, Whitman CountyScandal

7. When Eggs Became Legal Tender: How the Palouse Survived the Panic of 1893

   After the rains wrecked the 1893 wheat crop and merchants slammed shut the credit system, Palouse farmers discovered that the hen — and then the hog — could save them.

   Jan 14, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOakesdale, Whitman CountyWork & Pay · Boom & Bust

8. She Took the Bar Exam Beside Her Husband — and Became Whitman County's First Woman Lawyer

   W. H. Harvey and his wife, E. M. Harvey, of Pullman, pass their oral examinations in Colfax, making Mrs. Harvey the first woman admitted to practice law in Whitman County.

   Feb 1, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerColfax, Whitman CountyStrange But True

9. The Ground-Squirrel Plague and the Bomb That Sent Them to 'Squirrel Heaven'

   Whitman County farmers hoped a mysterious disease would wipe out the pests. Then came strychnine, arsenic and patented giant-powder bombs.

   Apr 9, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPenawawa, Whitman CountyStrange But True

10. The Year Palouse Horses Were Worth Less Than Hog Feed

    With Eastern markets closed and thousands of horses starving on overgrazed range, Whitman County farmers began eyeing their herds as pork feed.

    May 9, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerColfax, Whitman CountyBoom & Bust

11. A Fourteen-Year-Old's Elopement Ends With a Mob Chasing the Groom Down the Tracks

    A farmer's daughter slips away to marry a man eleven years older, her father gives in — then a gang of neighbors decides otherwise.

    Apr 30, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerUniontown, Whitman CountyScandal

12. A Parish Divided in Colton

    A local priest denounces a young couple for their choice of marriage officiant, sparking a revolt among his congregation.

    Jun 3, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerColton, Whitman CountyCity Hall

13. Banker Bellinger's Revolt: The Railroad Bill and a Wheat Farmer's Wrath

    A Palouse banker threatens to leave the Republican Party after the legislature fails to pass a railroad bill that would have saved him thousands in freight costs.

    Mar 30, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerColfax, Whitman CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

14. 1,950 Farmers Tested Whether Washington Could Grow Its Own Sugar

    A statewide experiment from Pullman found Washington soil and climate unusually suited to sugar beets—raising hopes that the state could someday manufacture all the sugar it consumed.

    Jan 28, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPullman, Whitman CountyBoom & Bust

15. Three Shots on a Palouse Sidewalk

    A quiet read in a chair turns into a close-range family shooting when J. H. Hughes’s son-in-law opens fire.

    Apr 26, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPalouse, Whitman CountyScandal

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