Number 3 August 2017 Olympia: In the Eye of the European Beholder Maritime History of Olympia and South Puget Sound Mining Coal: An Important Thurston County Industry 100 Years Ago $5.00 THURSTON COUNTY HISTORICAL JOURNAL The Thurston County Historical Journal is dedicated to recording and celebrating the history of Thurston County. The Journal is published by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation as a joint enterprise with the following entities: City of Lacey, City of Olympia, City of Tumwater, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington/Olympia Chapter, Lacey Historical Society, Old Brewhouse Foundation, Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum, South Sound Maritime Heritage Association, Thurston County, Tumwater Historical Association, Yelm Prairie Historical Society, and individual donors. Publisher Editor Olympia Tumwater Foundation Karen L. Johnson John Freedman, Executive Director 360-890-2299 Katie Hurley, President, Board of Trustees [email protected] 110 Deschutes Parkway SW P.O. Box 4098 Editorial Committee Tumwater, Washington 98501 Drew W. Crooks 360-943-2550 Janine Gates James S. Hannum, M.D. Erin Quinn Valcho Submission Guidelines The Journal welcomes factual articles dealing with any aspect of Thurston County history. Please contact the editor before submitting an article to determine its suitability for publica- tion. Articles on previously unexplored topics, new interpretations of well-known topics, and personal recollections are preferred. Articles may range in length from 100 words to 10,000 words, and should include source notes and suggested illustrations. Submitted articles will be reviewed by the editorial committee and, if chosen for publication, will be fact-checked and may be edited for length and content. The Journal regrets that authors cannot be monetarily compensated, but they will gain the gratitude of readers and the historical community for their contributions to and appreciation of local history. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Olympia Tumwater Foundation Written permission is required to reproduce any part of this publication. Copyright © 2017 by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation. All rights reserved. ISSN 2474-8048 Number 3 Table of Contents August 2017 2 From the Editor 3 Olympia: In the Eye of the European Beholder Ray Egan 14 Maritime History of Olympia and South Puget Sound Les Eldridge and John Hough 33 Mining Coal: An Important Thurston County Industry 100 Years Ago James S. Hannum, M.D. Back Cover What Is It? On the cover: The town of Bucoda as seen in an etching from the May 1890 issue of Northwest Magazine. See article on page 33. 1 FROM THE EDITOR Karen L. Johnson Welcome to the third issue of the Jour- tions are also encouraged. Talk with nal. Due to limitations in funding, and your family and friends about interest- just as importantly, a very limited ing events from your past—they might number of articles ready for publica- make a great contribution to the Jour- tion, we will be printing only three is- nal. Our editorial committee can work sues in 2017. Our last issue for the with you to make your ideas come to year should appear this December. life on our pages. ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS FUNDING AND DISTRIBUTION We are seeking new authors and new Securing sustainable funding for the subjects. Some of the articles we are Journal is a high priority. To date, we preparing for future issues include: have asked county heritage groups and governmental entities for contri- •History of Joseph Eberhardt and butions, and have been successful in blueberry farming in Thurston County doing so. We plan on continuing on •Biography of Helen Shank, who that course, but would like to reach owned and developed the Trail’s End an agreement with some entities to Ranch and Stables provide funding on a sustainable ba- •Hydropower on the Deschutes River sis, as part of their regular budgets. •When the Liberty Bell visited We are cautiously optimistic about the Thurston County progress we are making in this area. •Recycling tin cans into beer bottle caps during World War II We also hope to offer a subscription •History of a mid-century house in service, so individuals may sign up to Olympia and its inclusion on the His- receive Journal issues by mail for a toric Register reasonable fee. •The Military Road through Thurston County Some past copies of the Journal may •The non-beer years at the old Olym- be obtained at the Lacey Museum, the pia brewery Bigelow House, and the Tenino Depot Museum. You are more than welcome to con- tribute story ideas or actual articles As always, feel free to contact me with for the Journal. In-depth articles cov- any comments at 360-890-2299, or ering very specific subjects are partic- [email protected]. ularly appreciated. Personal recollec- 2 OLYMPIA: IN THE EYE OF THE EUROPEAN BEHOLDER Ray Egan INTRODUCTION From the time he was ordained a priest in 1843, Fr. Luigi Angelo Mario Rossi wanted to become a missionary. When he learned in July 1846 that a Bishop, A.M.A. Blanchet, was in Brus- sels recruiting volunteers for his Nesqually [sic] diocese —head- quartered in a romantically remote place in the wilderness of North Amer- ica called Fort Vancouver—Rossi en- thusiastically applied, and was accept- ed the same day. Since the Bishop and virtually all of Rossi’s missionary colleagues in Washington Territory were French or French-Canadians, that is perhaps what motivated him to permanently adopt the French version of his given name, Louis. Rossi labored in Washington Territory for a little over three years, after which he ministered for almost three more in northern California. Other than the few days he spent in New York await- Father Louis Rossi. Photo from Honoria ing the departure of a ship, Rossi Tuomey, History of Sonoma County, spent his entire time in the United California, Vol. 1. Chicago: The J. S. States here on the Pacific Coast. So it Clark Publishing Company, 1926. was here—particularly in Thurston, Pierce, King and Clallam counties— that he formed his lasting impressions an inherited illness (his symptoms and deep admiration of Americans and suggest it was Familial Mediterranean America. In late 1862, afflicted by con- Fever1), Rossi returned to Europe to tinuous flare-ups of what possibly was recuperate. The following year he was 3 prevailed upon by friends to write a well as new and used copies of Wort- memoir of his missionary experiences, ley’s translated edition, can be readily which was published the following located on the internet. year in France under the title Six ans en Amérique—Californie et Oregon. The The following excerpts from Rossi’s title is slightly misleading, considering memoir illustrate his views on Wash- that he spent just a few weeks in Ore- ington Territory, its law-makers, and gon—and only because he was sent to Olympia in general. the village of Portland to spend some time with an Irish missionary to im- ARRIVAL IN THE NORTHWEST prove his English! Monday afternoon, December 8, 1856, A copy of his memoir was happened after a harrowing crossing of the dan- upon in the early 1980s by a graduate gerous Columbia River bar, the paddle student in the University of Washing- steamer Brother Jonathon tied up at ton’s Department of Romance Lan- the wharf at Fort Vancouver. Among guages and Literature. As the story the passengers who disembarked was told by his advisor, Professor W. were: a classically educated mission- Victor Wortley, the student suggested ary priest, Father Louis Rossi, who that Wortley might want to consider spoke Italian, Hebrew, Latin and translating and annotating it as the French, but not English; Rossi’s Department’s contribution to the im- French-Canadian superior, Bishop pending 1989 centennial celebration A.M.A. Blanchet; and five Sisters of of Washington’s statehood. In an aca- Charity of Providence from Montreal. demic environment where it is publish Rossi was a quick study and by the or perish, Wortley saw an opportunity. following December, his command of English was sufficiently advanced that He finished the job with plenty of time the Bishop confidently assigned him to spare, and titled it Six Years on the an immense pastoral territory, which West Coast of America, 1856-1862. It ranged from the Cowlitz River at to- was published in 1983 by Ye Galleon day’s Toledo, Washington north to the Press in Fairfield, Washington. (Ye present-day Canadian border and Galleon Press was an award-winning, from the Cascade Mountains west to now defunct publisher of many rare the ocean. His appointment specified but unprofitable editions of esoteric that “The whites will be especially the Washington State history. It is sorely object of your pastoral solicitude, the missed by countless historians and Reverend Oblate Fathers [head- Northwest history buffs.) For Franco- quartered at what is now Olympia’s phones and anyone else who might Priest Point Park] being specially wish to read Rossi’s untranslated charged to evangelize the savages.”2 memoir, a reprint of the original French edition has been offered for sale since May 2016; this version, as 4 Father Rossi journeyed to Washington Territory in the company of five nuns, who were soon to become the five foundresses of the Sisters of Providence Northwest mission in Washington Territory. This composite image shows, seated left to right: Praxedes of Providence, Joseph of the Sacred Heart, and Mary of the Precious Blood; standing left to right: Vincent de Paul, and Blandine of the Holy Angels. Im- age courtesy of Providence Archives, Seattle. LOBBYING FOR THE NUNS sion for which they had been recruit- ed. Within days, in borrowed lodging, While Rossi was concentrating his en- they began ministering to the poor, ergies on learning English and doing taking in orphans, nursing the sick, various ecclesiastical errands for the and feeding the elderly; and—with am- Bishop (invariably conducted in bitious plans for the future, which re- French), the five nuns lost no time in quired their own land and buildings— energetically embarking on the mis- they wanted the legal protection that 5 articles of incorporation could provide.