Voters Revolt Against Boss Rule on Puyallup Reservation
A primary election descends into chaos as residents allege a one-man ballot scheme to protect a local bootlegger.
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.
There promises to be things doing on the reservation as a result of the primary held there yesterday. It is charged that the regular caucus was not held, but that the candidates for delegates to the convention were selected by one man. When the time for opening the primary arrived, Samuel Mettler, who is a candidate for county commissioner, appeared with a bunch of ballots on which were printed the names of eleven candidates for places on the delegation. As that was the exact number of delegates to which the precinct is entitled, the voters had no choice in the matter. Some of them were so disgusted at what they termed an attempt to thwart the wishes of the people living on the reservation that they refused to vote. Out of a total of nearly 250 votes, less than 50 were cast. A resident stated: 'A man named Kopp is running a saloon just outside of the city limits. So far as we know he has no license. Besides that, there are two suits on file against him at the county clerk's office. What we wanted to do was to elect a delegation favorable to a candidate for prosecuting attorney who would do something with the Kopp case and bring other violators of the law to justice.'
“Some of them were so disgusted at what they termed an attempt to thwart the wishes of the people living on the reservation that they refused to vote.”
This 1904 account highlights the long-standing friction between local law enforcement and community members regarding saloon licensing and the political power of 'bosses' in Tacoma’s unincorporated outskirts. It mirrors ongoing contemporary debates regarding jurisdictional accountability in areas just outside city limits.
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