Under Fire on the Way to Spokane: Seattle's Militia Rode Into a Rail War

Col. Joseph Green and his detachment of 120 men from Companies B, D and E of Seattle, and F of Whatcom, arrived in the city at 10:40 o'clock yesterday morning, over the Northern Pacific, from Spokane, where they had been as escort to Company G of Spokane, which mutinied at Tacoma. The return was triumphal to a certain extent, for the boys had made a good record and thus honored their commander. Every man was sunburnt and brown, and as he marched there was something about the way he carried himself that caused a thrill of pride to the citizens who looked on.

The trip of the militia to Spokane was full of stirring incidents, and, after the assault at Lester, whenever the train entered a town it looked like a moving arsenal, ready to pour forth lead in volleys. It was on July 9 at 6 o'clock, when the militia was breaking camp at Camp McGraw, near Olympia, that the word came that trains could not be obtained to take home the troops from the east side of the mountain. Col. Joseph Green received instructions from Brig.-Gen. Curry to take a detachment from the First regiment, consisting of two companies, which were composed of details of thirty men each from Companies B, D and E of Seattle, and F of Whatcom.

No sooner had the order been given than each man in the companies named, from officers down, set up a clamor to be one of the detachment. Everyone wanted to go, and Col. Green found himself in a dilemma as to whom he should take. After the men found out that only thirty men from each company could go, one would offer to purchase the right of another to take the trip. There was not a case of wanting to stay at home.

The train was divided into three sections, and Col. Green's was the third. Camp was left July 9 at midnight and Tacoma was reached at 7 a.m., without any other trouble than the third section being delayed a half hour at Lake View by the breaking of a coupling. The train for Spokane was then made up, and consisted of six cars, engine and tender. In one car were Brig.-Gen. Curry and staff. In other cars was Company G of Spokane, which was being escorted. In the other three cars was the detachment under Col. Green. Before the train left the disagreeable incident about Company G of Spokane occurred, and not until Brig.-Gen. Curry had persuaded them to go on the train was the order to leave given.

It was 9:30 o'clock on the evening of July 10 that the big train drew out and proceeded on its way. Lester was reached without trouble. The engine was uncoupled from the train and proceeded to coal about 1,000 feet from the remainder of the train, guarded by a squad of six men under Sergt. Turner of Company F. While it was backing down the switch under the bunkers it was discovered that the switch had been tampered with, and two trucks of the engine ran off the track. Without much delay the engine was gotten back on the track and run to the coal bunkers. While the tender was being loaded with coal, two shots were fired from ambush at the cab of the engine. The first struck the arm rest of the fireman, but was deflected and did not touch him, although an inch higher would have made it very different for him. At the second shot, a minute or so later, which went over the cab, the squad fired a volley of six pieces at the flash, 100 yards away. It being so dark that no object could be seen, no one was hit, but the trouble ended there. Two men who were found on the track near the engine after the firing were captured and turned over to the United States marshal until the train pulled out.

The train pulled out of Lester strongly guarded and amidst a silence that was assumed not to be voluntary, and reached Ellensburg Saturday morning at 6 o'clock. There was a large crowd of strikers, but owing to the fact that the train was so heavily guarded and every precaution had been taken to avoid trouble, no effort was made to commit any depredation. The train took water and pulled out. Yakima was reached in the afternoon and no further trouble was experienced until Sprague was reached, although there was a small demonstration at Pasco, where the crowd howled and swore at the engineer and fireman. Col. Green appeared and told the crowd that the demonstrations must stop and, unless they stopped quickly, the crowd would be dispersed. At Riverville a long stop was made, waiting for the conductor's orders to move. But owing to a bridge having been burned one and a half miles west of Sprague the railroad authorities decided to hold the train at Riverville until the bridge was repaired.

The militiamen were positive they could repair the bridge themselves with the material at hand, and the train was finally ordered on and reached the break at 4 p.m. It was found that the bridge had been burned by a carload of material on which had been run down from the yards at Sprague the night before. Col. Green ordered the troops out of the cars and sent scouting parties out in all directions, but no one was found. One company, under command of Capt. Booth and accompanied by Col. Green, walked into Sprague to get material to repair the bridge. There they found that Company K of Tekoa, Second regiment, had been taken unawares and stalled. United States troops came in from the east later, while Col. Green's men were bridge-building, and helped them out. As soon as the tools, etc., were obtained by Col. Green's men they were placed on a handcar under guard of the company and returned to the train. During the absence of the detachment to get material a company under command of Capt. Weissenberger had cleared all the debris from the rails that were still hot and had carried ties from one-half a mile below the bridge and had everything ready for the train. The ditch over which the bridge ran was about twenty feet across and eight feet deep. Ties were thrown into the ditch one on top of the other until a roadbed across it was obtained.

The clearing up of the wreck and getting the bridge ready to cross took only about two hours and a half, and the soldiers did all the work, only one railroad employe being present and he afraid to work. The train was then pulled across the newly made bridge, and a portion of the troops placed in the cars. The engine was heavily guarded on both sides, with a detail of thirty sharpshooters placed on and around it. In this way the train rolled slowly into the hotbed of the strikers at Sprague. The streets were crowded during the stop of the train, but no opportunity was given the mob to commit any depredation. The crowd tried to interfere with the coaling of the engine, but Col. Green sent a platoon of men after the strikers, who cleared out. After the engine was coaled and watered, the train proceeded on its way to Spokane, which was reached about 11:45 at night without further molestation.

Everything was quiet, but it was rumored on the streets the next day that the Spokane people were so disgusted with the action of the boys that they had planned to have all the baby carriages in the city at the depot to take them home if the train had got in at the time expected. Brig. Gen. Curry left the train at Spokane, and the troops stayed in Spokane that night and next day, occupying the cars in which the trip had been made. It was 5 o'clock the following morning when the train pulled out for the return trip. The train was a double-header with thirteen cars, including an express, Pullman diner and sleeper.

On the return trip Sprague was very quiet, the regulars being in possession, and no incidents occurred until Ellensburg was reached. There it was found that the long Howe truss bridge spanning the Yakima river had been burned through and that one end had dropped into the river twenty feet below. A detail of twenty men was placed at the disposal of the construction department of the railroad, and assisted in repairing the break. The burning of the bridge caused a delay of thirty-six hours, during which time the detachment was in Ellensburg.

Near Buckley a nearly fatal accident happened to one of the regulars, who had been on duty watching a bridge for thirty-six hours without relief. He was dazed and, on rising from the bridge to get out of the way, miscalculated his distance. The engine struck his carbine and knocked him off the bridge. The train was stopped and Dr. Dawson, with his hospital corps, returned to the place where the accident occurred but could not find the man, who had gotten up and gone to his camp. His hands had been badly lacerated, his face and his shoulder and leg also badly bruised.

The troops arrived in this city without further incident and marched like regulars to the Armory. Last night the Whatcom detail left for home by steamer.

Col. Joseph Green was just retiring last night when a Post-Intelligencer reporter rang the door bell of his handsome residence on Rainier avenue, near Lake Washington, and asked him for a few words about the conduct of his men. The colonel smiled and actually forgot how tired and sleepy he was. 'They are good men, every one of them,' he said, 'and behaved splendidly.' Every word and action of the colonel showed plainly that he was proud of his regiment and felt sorry that he had to leave some of them at home.