Good Old Days

125 years ago

March 2, 1888

Without the slightest doubt the grain crop of this county this year will be more than one third larger than it was last.

The farmers have been busy plowing the last two weeks, and every one with whom we have conversed has expressed an intention to increase his acreage sown to grain.

Wheat, oats and barley sown in this county in the middle of May will fully mature, ripen and yield abundantly.

A great deal of low land is being broke by those who were early in their seeding last fall and while the new land will not produce as much as that which has been thoroughly subjugated to the will of the farmer by repeated plowings yet it will materially help to swell the grand total.

Thorough inspection of the fall sown grain shows that it was not injured by the freeze in the least, has a fine start and will yield a full crop.

In Lower Union Flat news, farmers will finish seeding here in about 10 days.

D.S. Fudge will buy a hay press for baling this year’s crop of hay. Mr. Fudge harvests about 250 tons each year.

100 years ago

Feb. 28, 1913

Henry Larkin arrived from Jefferson, Oregon, Sunday night with a carload of pure bred and high grade Jersey cows and heifers which are being sold to the farmers and dairymen of the Palouse country. The cows are said by experts to be an exceptionally fine lot. There is a big demand for dairy cows. Why keep a cow giving two to three percent butter fat when you can get a Jersey giving five to seven percent?

Colfax has an opportunity to hear Booker T. Washington, the greatest black man of this or any age. The noted educator is to be at Pullman and deliver an address at Washington State College.

At the Methodist church next Sunday morning the pastor will preach on “The Sacrifice of God the Father,” and in the evening, “The Value of Man.” Mrs. Wm. Cole will sing at the morning service and Mrs. J.O. Patterson will sing the “Holy City.” The song will be illustrated with the stereopticon.

75 years ago

Feb. 25, 1933

For the first time in three starts Coach Bob Osborne’s Martha Washington team was downed by the Libby junior high school team in Spokane, coached by Weldon Osborne, brother of the Colfax principal, when they met in Spokane. The score was 26-16. The local lads had won previous encounters in the past two years.

Launching the movement for a revival of the Whitman County Fair, a preliminary meeting attended by approximately 20 representative businessmen, livestock raisers, 4-H leaders and farmers, was held Friday afternoon at the commissioners’ room at the courthouse. After discussing the possibilities of a fair next fall and expressing unanimous approval of holding it in Colfax, the group named a committee which, added to the county 4-H fair board, is scheduled to meet to recommend plans.

50 years ago

Feb. 28, 1963

“Searching for adventure” were three boys traveling from Colfax to Manning on the Palouse River. Not being in condition for a 50-mile hike that is raging the country at the present time, the boys called friends to come take them back to Colfax in a car. This is another sure sign that spring is here when boys start traveling the river in rafts.

Palouse defeats St. John 57-52 for the first championship since 1931. Palouse, trailing St. John from one to four points for most of the game, came from behind and defeated the Eagles to take the Whitman County championship.

25 years ago

March 3, 1988

A police raid Friday night at the Whelan Grange hall one and a half miles north of Pullman halted a beer party which had an estimated 400 to 500 people present. Police arrested one man, said to be the organizer, and supervised departure of most party goers to prevent drunken driving.

Contractor Rich Rodeen of Colfax applies a level to one of the portholes which was installed last week in the Port of Whitman office. The portholes are made out of wood rather than marine hardware.

10 years ago

Feb. 27, 2003

First appearance of the new Colfax Best Western Motel project went into place this week as crews poured the concrete for the structure on North Main.

County commissioners received a letter last week from the Athenaeum Club of Colfax, regarding the lettering on the front of the county courthouse. The sign, which reads, “Forever More,” was installed more than 25 years ago according to the club and for all those years it has been grammatically incorrect. The letter calls on commissioners to correct the sign along with all the other remodeling projects they are working on at the courthouse.