Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Tekoa’s charming streets were lined with cars as former Rep. Dave Reichert, a former detective turned political hopeful, arrived on his campaign trail seeking to win over local voters and solidify his bid for governor. Amid election fervor, I attended not to discuss politics, but to talk about the crime that had defined Reichert’s career — the Green River murders. Meeting Dave was like stepping into a scene from a crime thriller and finding myself face-to-face with a living legend. As a self-professed “crime junkie,” my fascination with the...
WALLA WALLA — The Great American Frontier was a time of prosperity, farming, growth, and exploration. Two missionaries gave Whitman County its name in 1871. This was long after their grizzly murders in 1847 when the two missionaries, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, were killed by the Cayuses and Umatillas people, after being accused of poisoning 200 Cayuse in their medical care during a measles outbreak, including the Whitman household. On November 29, 1847, Marcus, his wife Narcissa, and eleven other men served in a medical tent to aid locals. T...
THORNTON -Locals may recall the ghost story that shook Whitman County to its core. Not many remember his name, but some will remember the stories of a man that seemingly disappeared without a trace while hopping from property to property. People called this ghostly figure "The Phantom of Palouse." The Phantom would not be caught until the story of Whitman County's missing millionaire unfolded in December 1964. Whitman County Sheriff Mike Humphreys reported his close friend, Clarence E. Wittie,...
PULLMAN — Twenty-five years ago, on Sunday, May 3, 1998, a mass party that broke out of control due to an alcohol ban on campus led to several students being arrested and charged at Washington State University (WSU). The incident occurred in an area known as College Hill, just west of the WSU campus, where roughly 200 people rioted during the early morning hours. A WSU ban on on-campus drinking allegedly provoked the riot. In the event, between four and a dozen individuals, along with twenty-three police officers, were injured. At a...
COLFAX - On January 7, 1898, a mob of 20 to 30 men stormed the Whitman County Jail, in Colfax, with the intent of lynching two murder suspects. One suspect is lynched, but the other successfully fakes his own death and escapes with little injury. The two men in question were none other than Charles Marshall, known as "Blacky," and Robert McDonald, known as "Dakota Slim." The events leading up to the storming of the Whitman County Jail started with the murder of Orville Hayden and the robberies...
TEKOA — Tekoa was a wild-west country during the railroading days of Whitman County’s history. One of the most notorious crimes in Tekoa was the deadly poker game that occurred on August 24, 1912, at Curley’s Bar, a saloon located under the Commercial Hotel. Four men were killed, including John B. Eastep of Colfax, a deputy sheriff of Whitman County; Grant Dickinson, marshal of Tekoa; Ernest Gardner, a Tekoa saloon man who shot the top of his head off after killing the two officers; and Patri...
COLFAX — Locals of the area may be familiar with a haunting unsolved murder that rocked the county in 1980 just two blocks from the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office. Dorothy Walker was 65 years old and lived in Apt# 304 at Wheatland Arms Condominium, 203 N Mill St. On April 16, 1980, at 10:30 a.m., her sister found Dorothy’s body lying in a pool of blood on the floor in the bathroom. Her sister reported arriving at the apartment because the two were going to Walla Walla together to scout out lodging and restaurants for the “Daughters of Rebekah...