The Land Grabbing Scandal of Yakima
A political operative hired by the Northern Pacific Railroad finds himself hung in effigy for his duplicitous schemes against local farmers.
J. H. May, who was hung in effigy by the indignant people of Yakima City last week, is treated to the following exposure in the Yakima Signal. The fact that a desperate attempt is being made to misrepresent the honest sentiments of the people of this country with reference to the unsettled land grant—the fact that J. H. May, who was recently sent here on that mission, has seen fit to brand the editor an enemy to the interests of this town and country—renders it seemingly proper for the Signal to make known a few facts. When May was here last summer, he often expressed his hearty approval of demanding the restoration of this railroad land to its rightful owners—the people. Now that this mercenary comes upon the scene and seeks by unscrupulous methods to defeat their wishes, the people are beginning to see him for what he is: a traitor to the rights of man, attempting to rivet chains about the neck of honest toil.
“Let a patient and long suffering people arise in the majesty of their might, and hurl such traitors against the rights of man into the measureless sea of their indignation.”
This 1884 report captures the intense local resentment toward the Northern Pacific Railroad's land grants, a recurring theme in the Pacific Northwest’s struggle between corporate monopolies and smallholder farmers. It mirrors contemporary debates regarding the influence of major corporate stakeholders in shaping regional land-use policies.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.