Today in History: Oregon Volunteers Battle the Walla Wallas and Other Tribes in 1855

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Oregon Volunteers Battle the Walla Wallas and Other Tribes

On Dec. 7, 1855, a four-day battle begins between Oregon volunteers and the Walla Wallas and other tribes. Tensions have been growing that year between many of the Native American tribes of the interior Pacific Northwest and the increasing numbers of newly arriving settlers. Some tribes have been coerced into signing treaties that grant most of their ancestral lands to the United States, whose citizens are beginning to crowd into the area. The Yakamas, under the leadership of Kamiakin (ca. 1800-1877) and others of his family, were in open defiance of encroaching non-Indian settlers and battled with volunteer territorial militias. With their resistance reduced, the territorial volunteers turn to other tribes that have been asserting themselves, including the Walla Wallas under their chief, Peo-Peo-Mox-Mox. Marching into their stronghold in the Walla Walla River valley, the First Oregon Mounted Volunteers defeat the Walla Wallas and their allies in a four-day running battle. Before the fight, chief Peo-Peo-Mox-Mox had been taken hostage and, during the first day of the battle, he and other hostages are killed. The Walla Wallas will never fully recover from the campaign. The next year, federal troops will take over the fighting and, following a series of battles during 1858, most Indian military resistance in the interior Pacific Northwest will be defeated.

 

Earthquake Shakes Puget Sound Area

On Dec. 7 and 12, 1880, two earthquakes strike the Puget Sound region. Frightened residents rush out of buildings. They are felt in Portland, Oregon, in Port Townsend, in Seattle, at the coal mines at Newcastle, and in the Stuck and Puyallup valleys in south King County. Shortly before the December 12 earthquake, an apparent meteorite is sighted crashing into the Chuckanut Mountains just south of Bellingham. Over the next three months a number of aftershocks follow.

December 7th Earthquake

On Dec. 7, 1880 at about 5:45 p.m., the earthquake was felt throughout the Puget Sound region. Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Tacoma, Puyallup, Olympia, and Port Townsend reported shaking. At Seattle, “People rushed into the streets from stores, restaurants and saloons” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec. 8, 1880).

People in the Chinese district were most frightened and it was one or two hours before they calmed down. A Mr. Atkinson, who was in Newcastle at the time of the quake, came to Seattle a few days after the earthquake that occurred later in the week and reported that the December 7 quake was stronger than the one on December 12. At Seattle the shock waves were felt traveling from the southeast to northwest and at Bainbridge Island they were felt traveling from north to south.

December 12th Earthquake

On Sunday Dec. 12, 1880 at about 8:40 p.m., the second Puget Sound earthquake of the week was felt strongly in Seattle. It was more severe than the December 7 quake. A witness of the 1880 earthquake, a Seattle resident, wrote in 1904 to the Seattle Post Intelligencer: “It was so sharp that it caused people who were on the streets to stagger. It was a Sabbath evening and quite a large congregation was at church on Third Avenue. The shock alarmed the worshippers and they arose en masse. One lady fainted and a panic was narrowly averted by the minister and one cool-headed man who stood near the door” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 20, 1904, p. 1)

In Seattle, “Dogs in the street howled and horses endeavored to escape from their stalls,” added the Dec. 16, 1880 Port Townsend Democratic Press.

The quake caused lamps hung from a 16-foot high ceiling at a house located at the northwest corner of Second Avenue and James Street to swing six to eight feet. At another dwelling, a chimney fell. At the south end of King County, residents along the Stuck and Puyallup valleys stated that the quake moved the earth like ocean swells.

A Meteorite?

Just before the December 12 earthquake, a Seattle resident reported witnessing what “seemed to be two very large balls of fire that appeared in the clear sky a short distance apart and hung as in balance an instant, and then darted down and toward each other until they crashed and disappeared. A moment afterwards came the shock” (The Seattle Weekly Post, Dec. 17, 1880). A Whatcom County paper reported witnessing a meteorite that descended into the Chuckanut Mountains. It is unknown whether this strange event was the cause of the quake.

The December 12 earthquake was felt from Portland to Port Townsend, where it lasted about 11 seconds. It was not felt at Victoria, British Columbia, or at Neah Bay near Cape Flattery, the northwest point of Washington. During the following three months, a Bainbridge Island resident reported three more aftershocks in December, five aftershocks in January 1881, two aftershocks in February 1881, and a single aftershock on March 14, 1881.



 

Dance Marathon/Walkathon ‘Super Show’ Closes in Wenatchee After

342 Hours

On Dec. 7, 1935, a dance marathon/walkathon “Super Show” (so called because the event was even more grueling than a regular dance marathon) closes in Wenatchee after 342 hours (just over 14 days). Dance marathons are human endurance contests in which couples dance almost non-stop for hundreds of hours (as long as a month or two), competing for prize money.

More Grueling Than Grueling

Promoter George C. Cobb had announced his plans to conduct a “Super” at the Victory Dance of the dance marathon/walkathon that had concluded the evening of Nov. 22, 1935, after 1,492 hours (more than two months). The “Super” started on November 23.

Singer Anita O’Day, who competed in dance marathons as a young teenager, remembered that the events tended to emphasize either misery (heats, grinds, contestant teams chained together) or endurance (days dancing) coupled with nightly entertainment. Misery shows were shorter and more brutal (O’Day, p.34).

Tough for Tough Horses

The first George Cobb Wenatchee marathon was an endurance show. The “Super” was a misery show. Thirteen couples were on the floor of Wenatchee’s 1,500-seat Triangle Gardens as the “Super” marathon began. Cobb’s staff and many of the professionals (called “horses” for their ability to endure) who joined his shows had found October weather in Wenatchee brutal going, “affecting some of the toughest horses in the game” (The Billboard, October 12, 1935).

Most or perhaps all of the contestants in the ‘Super’ had competed in the first long marathon, although Kid Chissell, who with his partner Billie Boyd had taken first place in the long show, opted to work the “Super” as a trainer. Trainers aided contestants during the 15-minute rest period they were allotted every hour.

Floor judges were charged with disqualifying anyone whose knees touched the floor or who collapsed during elimination events. Together with the emcee and the professional contestants, they “colluded in ‘working heat,’ “ (Calabria, p.25) meaning that they played to the crowd to arouse a strong emotional response. During a “Super,” heat was worked faster and harder than would have been the case in a longer show.

The Drama of Elimination

Although contestants in the Wenatchee ‘Super’ were still fed the marathon-customary 12 meals per day, the heightened drama of steady elimination events without the usual vaudeville-style entertainment employed during most dance marathons meant that tension ran high for contestants as well as for the audience.

The contest ended “on December 7, after 342 hours of steady grinding, featuring derbies, positive elimination, and spot periods. This is said to have been one of the really toughest contests ever staged in this part of the country. Night before closing was featured by an elimination derby between three solo boys, Bill Murray, Nick Taylor, and Walt Farris. Taylor managed to last 11 hours and one minute, with Farris making the round for another hour to make it an even 12 hour grind” (The Billboard, Dec. 28, 1935).