July 3 – July 9 2008
This Week Then

Marching Forth

Ninety-nine years ago this week, Seattle stood stage center in Washington women's dramatic push toward achieving the vote as the city played host to the 41st annual convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. A few days earlier, Washington suffrage proponents including Emma Smith Devoe and May Arkwright Hutton welcomed the arrival of the Suffrage Special, a Northern Pacific train that had traveled cross-country carrying more than 250 leading national and international suffragists. The Suffrage Special stopped in Spokane , and Tacoma , before finally reaching King Street Station in Seattle on June 29, 1909.

The next day, as prominent Seattle women welcomed national suffragists to their fair city, the Washington Equal Suffrage Association -- which had already provided a cook's tour -- began the convention in downtown Seattle. The sparks flew during these proceedings, igniting a blaze of publicity. Over the next week, the women welcomed Washington male voters, courted college-aged suffragists , and attended a July 4 meeting at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry Blackwell made the case for suffrage, Pauline Steinem (future grandmother of Equal Rights luminary Gloria Steinem) pressed mothers to set pro-suffrage examples for their daughters, Reverend Anna Howard Shaw closed formal meetings and on July 7, they all celebrated Suffrage Day at the A-Y-P, saturating the Exposition grounds with Evergreen-hued "Votes For Women" pins, banners, ribbons, sashes, and balloons.

Instead of resting on their laurels, some conventioneers joined the annual Mountaineers Expedition to Mount Rainier, where leading Washington suffragist Dr. Cora Smith Eaton reached the summit and planted a "Votes for Women" pennant along with an A-Y-P Exposition flag. The following year, Washington women reached new heights when they gained the right to vote 10 years ahead most of the rest of the nation.

What a Fourth!

July 4 is best known as Independence Day, but the day also marks a tremendous number of significant events that have occurred in Washington's past. Lake Union and Lake Washington were named on July 4, 1854, and in 1876, Henry Yesler committed fraud in the state's first lottery. In 1889, the first mining claim was made in Monte Cristo, and on the other side of the state, downtown Ellensburg suffered a terrible fire. In 1895, Chief Leschi was reburied on tribal land 37 years after he was hanged, and the nineteenth century's last 4th of July included a horrific tragedy.

On July 4, 1914, Seattle's Smith Tower was dedicated. One year later, William Boeing took to the skies in his first airplane ride while Sam Hill traveled the open road to dedicate the Pacific Highway in Blaine. In 1917, the Lake Washington Ship Canal officially opened, and in 1918, the altar stone for the Stonehenge Memorial was laid at Maryhill. And last but not least, it wouldn't be July 4 without fireworks. HistoryLink.org hopes that your holiday this year is both happy and safe.

News Then, History Now

Down in the Mouth: In the summer of 1788, English fur trader John Meares sailed along the Washington coast searching in vain for the San Roque River discovered years earlier by Bruno de Hezeta. He gave up on July 6, near the towering basalt column that served as Hezeta's landmark, and named it Cape Disappointment -- unaware that he was in the river's mouth. Today we know the river as the Columbia, and more than disappointment awaits any mariner who ignores nearby lighthouses.

Up in Smoke: On July 2, 1908, the Calkins Hotel on Mercer Island burned to the ground. The grand structure was built by C. C. Calkins, who began promoting his planned community of East Seattle in the late 1800s. His dreams never came to fruition, and it wasn't until after the Lake Washington Floating Bridge opened in 1940 that development took off in earnest. Mercer Island incorporated on July 5, 1960, and Calkins' homestead was later developed into Luther Burbank Park.

Built to Last: On July 5, 1858, workers in Bellingham began erecting Washington Territory's first brick building, helped along by a shipment of building materials from San Francisco. The T. G. Richards Building still stands and is the oldest brick structure in Washington.

Out to Launch: Two historic watercraft celebrate "berth" days this week. The fireboat Duwamish was launched on July 3, 1909, and the Kalakala began ferrying passengers on July 3, 1935. This week also marks the 1902 start of the Hall Brothers Shipyard on Bainbridge Island, now home to the Washington State Ferries maintenance facility.

Hot Gems: On July 3, 1914, faulty wiring caused a fire that destroyed the Jewel Theatre in Hillyard, a suburb of Spokane. And on July 5, 1932, a diamond was destroyed in Seattle when Dugdale Baseball Park burned to the ground.

Hot Water: On July 3, 1962, the Green River watershed became a battle zone of sorts, when the public utility departments of Seattle and Tacoma came to loggerheads in what became known as the Lester Gate War. Eventually, the town of Lester became a ghost town, save for Gertrude Murphy, who passed away in 2002.

Quote of the Week

If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.

--Abigail Adams

Image of the Week

Seattle's first cycling tournament was held on July 5, 1888, but Redmond has since become the Bicycle Capital of the Northwest. (Photo courtesy MOHAI)