The Chicken Hustle
A clever local character recalls how he once outwitted a prominent grain merchant by turning a chicken trade into a public spectacle.
Pole, a local resident, stopped by Mr. Fincher's warehouse where the proprietor was weighing hay. Pole, known for his dry wit, struck up a conversation with Fincher and Lawyer Trabue. The group reminisced about a past incident where Pole needed to buy a large quantity of chickens for a cousin’s restaurant. Pole had approached Fincher, who was then selling produce, and engaged him in a complex pricing scheme. Fincher tried to charge more for small, scrawny chickens, but Pole saw through the ruse. By demanding that Fincher hand-pick each bird, Pole forced the merchant to laboriously hand over the smallest, cheapest chickens, eventually securing the entire coop at a deep discount. The warehouse workers and lawyer roared with laughter, as Fincher flushed, having been soundly beaten at his own game by the town's resident eccentric.
“I sorter skajerd the chickens around an' seed thar was two or three tiny ones hidin' under the big ones, an' I seed what he was up to, but I was ready for 'im.”
This story captures the quintessential power dynamics of a small, growing town in 1903, where local merchants and 'characters' were public figures constantly under social scrutiny. While the setting is rural, the spirit of the 'hustle'—using public opinion and clever negotiation to embarrass an establishment figure—remains a recognizable trope in Walla Walla’s civic culture.
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