The Petty Feuds of Walla Walla's Elite
A satirical chronicle of the local political war between 'Ankeny' and 'Boxer' factions.
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.
It developed that a second defeat was suffered by the Ankeny machine when an attempt was made to capture the organization of the Walla Walla County Fair association by voting proxies. A fight was made against R. B. Caswell for secretary and R. E. Guichard for treasurer, but the machine was beaten by a vote of 186 to 80. It's a merry time they are having down in Walla Walla between the supporters of Senator Ankeny and the 'boxers' led by ex-Governor Moore. The senatorial stalwarts defeated the 'Boxers' today by a score of 27 to 0. Consternation reigns in the Ankeny camp—at the annual Sunday school picnic, a pie eating contest is to be the central feature; the boxers, by shrewd manipulation, have succeeded in naming two of three judges. A crushing blow was dealt to the boastful boxers when a bull dog owned by Pete Tompkins, a prominent Ankeny man, broke his chain and chased Tom Smith's Irish setter puppy four blocks under the sidewalk. Senator Ankeny is prostrated with grief.
“The senator's chances for 1909 are rapidly waning. Senator Ankeny is prostrated with grief.”
This piece uses satire to describe the intense, often trivial partisan fighting between political factions in early 20th-century Walla Walla. It reflects a time when town boosters and state politicians played games with city institutions, a dynamic that echoes in modern debates over how public resources are managed by competing civic groups.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.