An Elk-Sized Celebration in Tacoma
Tacoma’s Lodge No. 174 hosted a lavish Washington’s Birthday banquet, featuring grand toasts to the 'United States' and urgent pleas for the protection of local wildlife.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
As a fitting close to an already perfect celebration of the birthday of George Washington, Tacoma lodge No. 174, B.P.O.E. (Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks), gave a banquet last night. Over 300 members, visiting brothers, and invited guests gathered at the banquet hall, which was decorated with national colors and a draped portrait of George Washington. Toastmaster Jay Sedgwick presided over the evening. General J. M. Ashton delivered a stirring toast on the rising commercial power of the United States. Following him, O. A. Snowden, the Indian Commissioner, turned the mood toward conservation, telling of the ruthless slaughter of elk in the Olympic Mountains. He urged the lodge to establish a fund to help police the mountains and stop the wanton murder of the animals. Other toasts celebrated 'The Lady Elk,' 'Our Neighbors,' and 'The Old Plug Hat,' concluding the evening with 'Auld Lang Syne.'
“What does it mean to respond to the toast, 'Our United States'? It means something which appeals to us, something that goes down deep into our hearts.”
This 1904 account captures a moment when the B.P.O.E. was a major civic power in Tacoma. The toast by O.A. Snowden regarding the 'ruthless slaughter' of elk in the Olympics highlights the early, urgent civic conversations about Washington's vanishing natural resources—a theme that remains central to the region’s identity and environmental politics today.
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