By StevenL, 10/20/10
That’s what my proposed plaque should proclaim on the NE corner of State Avenue and Capitol Way.
The first visit to Oly by any CEO of the USA was a remarkable event considering it was 1880, a time when the capital city of Washington Territory was simply a muddy outpost and hard to reach. The town’s population was just over 1,500.
The administration of “Ruddy” Hayes was not a successful one. He got off on a bad start by winning a minority of popular votes, but was declared the winner in the Electoral College under questionable circumstances. Democrats called him “Rutherfraud” B. Hayes.
Much like Jimmy Carter who served in office exactly 100 years later, Hayes was personally a great Christian humanitarian but an inept political and party leader. By 1880, his divided Republicans had lost the House and Senate and few in his party were sorry he had decided to serve only one term. His “Great Western Tour” during his final months in office was an opportunity to reshape his public image and escape DC during campaign season.
The presidential party arrived in the territorial capital in early October via boat and train from Portland to Tenino, where they were met by an Oly reception committee and escorted to the Pacific House (NE corner of Capitol and State). In addition to the President and First Lady, the entourage of 16 or so people included Gen. William T. Sherman and Secretary of War Ramsey.
At that time, the intersection was called 3rd and Main. By 1880, the Pacific House had grown into a respected Oly institution. It was managed by an African American woman named Rebecca Howard who came to the settlement in the 1850s. According to historian Jennifer Crooks, Gen. Irvin McDowell and Gen. Winfield Scott had also been guests there at one time. Rebecca died July 10, 1881.
Of course some of us remember that corner as the Sinclair-Rotter auto lot in the pre-Auto Mall days. In fact, the only new car I have ever purchased (a 1983 Toyota Tercel) was there. OK, OK, like you care. I’m wandering. Back to 1880.
After the president, First Lady, Gen. Sherman, and Sec. Ramsey made remarks from the Pacific House balcony, they made their way to Columbia Hall. This building, erected about 1869 and destroyed by fire in 1914, was a large cupola-topped structure that served as the city hall, fire station, and general town meeting area. The Columbia Hall sat approximately in the area presently occupied by the 4th Ave. Tavern. It was here the Hayes party attended a short public reception before retiring for the night at the Pacific House.
The next morning was a Sunday. President and Mrs. Hayes went to morning services at the Methodist Church, probably on the SW corner of 4th and Adams. I could go into how I bought a couch from Cunningham’s on that same spot, but I won’t, but by mentioning it I did anyway.
Mrs. Hayes later attended Sabbath school at the Presbyterian Church. This building was on the SE corner of Legion and Franklin. Today this corner is occupied by the WA State Dept. of Personnel. When I was a kid the building was the home of Sears before they moved and became the anchor store for the South Sound Mall, spearheading the incorporation of Lacey in 1966.
The First lady was famous for her anti-alcohol views and earned the nickname “Lemonade Lucy” by detractors. Secretary of State Evarts once remarked that at a Hayes state dinner, “The water flowed like champagne.” On that Oly Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Hayes returned to the Columbia Hall for “Blue Ribbon Exercises,” a precursor to today’s Alcoholics Anonymous. Remember, this is now the home of the 4th Ave Tav.
Meanwhile, President Hayes and Sec. Ramsey journeyed east to visit a logging camp in South Bay managed by George Foster. Gen. Sherman went west to observe a logging operation run by Seattle entrepeneur Amos Brown out in Mud Bay. Apparently by that time, the area was no longer known as Shitpoke Flats.
A meal was given at territorial Gov. Ferry’s residence, which seems to have been very near where the WWII memorial now sits on the Cap Campus. It was on a small hill that was leveled in the 1920s. The modest “mansion” was originally used by Isaac Stevens, our first territorial governor. I’m assuming the Ferrys lived there as well, but I can’t say for sure.
Gov. Ferry’s daughter, Laura, recounted the Hayes’ repast in 1934: “Mrs. Ferry entertained the ladies of the party at a formal dinner at the Executive Mansion. Fish and other sea life of Puget Sound were featured. Near the end of the dinner a maid tiptoed in and quietly reminded the hostess that the chicken had not been served. The piece de resistance had been entirely overlooked.”
“’Bring it in,’ Mrs. Ferry whispered. She blushingly explained the oversight to her guests.”
“Mrs. Hayes, in her quiet, gentle way, relieved the situation by saying with a smile, ‘Dear Mrs. Ferry, we have had chicken in many forms and in many places on our way, but this fish service has been a real treat.’”
President Hayes and group ended Sunday with, according to the Puget Sound Weekly Courier (Oct. 15, 1880), “The afternoon and evening was spent in the interchange of social greetings, in which many of our citizens participated and all were charmed by the unaffected cordiality and plain manners of our distinguished visitors.”
The steamer George E. Starr departed with the presidential company out of Budd Inlet up to Tacoma at 8 AM Monday morning.
So far as I can ascertain none of the buildings visited by the President are intact today. If you want to retrace the footsteps of Hayes, you have to employ your historical imagination.
The Republican newspapers covered the visit in glowing terms. But John Miller Murphy’s Washington Standard buried the event inside the paper and reduced news coverage to a single paragraph. Historian Gordon Newell noted, “Murphy would have devoted more space to anyone who presented him with a cheese.” ◙