The Territorial Legislator and the Editor’s Ego
A fiery public feud erupts in 1861 between a Clark County representative and the editor of the Washington Standard, highlighting the volatile politics of the territorial legislature.
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.
Olympia, W. T., Jan. 19th. Editor Washington Standard: Sir, Inasmuch as you have misrepresented the wishes and actions of the Clark County Delegation by publishing an article in the Standard of Jan. 12th under the caption 'Local', I deem it my duty to ask your indulgence to this communication. The statements there set forth are false and without the shadow of foundation. None—not one of the Clark County Delegation has evinced any disposition, either directly or indirectly, to interfere with any local affairs of Thurston County or any other county wherein we have no interest. In the Standard of Jan. 19th appears a 'Notice' to the effect that you had received a communication signed by a 'Member' from Clark County, and that there appeared no responsible signature to the communication. In regard to this, you have also misrepresented. It was signed 'River Members' and not 'Member'. The article simply asked you to do that delegation justice by correcting your statements, as they were incorrect, and were calculated to prejudice one section of the territory against the other without cause. You have therefore, sir, treated the Clark County delegation with very great injustice by not inserting (according to promise) the communication to which you last refer. If you persist in having your own way in regard to this matter, regardless of truth, justice, and courtesy to gratify not your own selfish motives, but the motives of others, you will eventually receive that which you will deserve. I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, J. T. Bowles, Clark County Delegate. P.S.—Unless you do us the justice to insert this in your paper, you will be ever gratefully remembered, as I will retain a copy. J. T. B. [Editor's note: We give place to the letter of Mr. Bowles with great pleasure; and lest more complaints should reach us, we have rendered it verbatim et literatim. Now, Jesse, we wish to whisper one word in your ear, which we hope you will take kindly. Study the geography of Washington Territory, and you will learn that Clark is not the only county bordering on the Columbia River. It is charity to say you are ignorant of this fact, for some are ready to apply the term egotist to a man who imagines himself assailed without cause.]
“If you persist in having your own way in regard to this matter, regardless of truth, justice, and courtesy... you will eventually receive that which you will deserve.”
This exchange captures the raw, personal nature of early territorial politics, where the newspaper functioned as both the record of the legislature and the primary battleground for civic insults. The tension between Olympia (the capital) and regional delegations like Clark County reflects a recurring theme in Washington’s history: the struggle for influence between the Puget Sound urban center and the rural hinterlands.
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