Islanders' Frustration
Seventy-five years ago this week, on May 15, 1948, one of the strangest events in Puget Sound maritime history took place on Vashon Island when local men – armed with pitchforks, ax handles, billiard cues, and other instruments – prevented the ferry Illahee from landing at the dock. During the standoff, the vigilantes' wives plied the men with coffee and doughnuts, while two deputy sheriffs kept an eye on the fracas to make sure that no one did anything rash.
The genesis for this moment of civil disobedience can be traced back to Leap Day that year, when Captain Alexander Peabody halted his vessels after state officials refused to grant his request for a 30 percent fare increase aboard his privately owned Black Ball ferry line. Residents of Vashon Island were prepared for this disruption in their travels, having dealt with a similar crisis in 1947 by running their own ferries.
Once Peabody got his boats running again, the islanders learned that he planned on reclaiming the Vashon run for his Black Ball ferry line, and the Vashon ferry district felt that it didn’t need the competition. Commissioner George McCormick, who also owned the island’s hardware store, opened the doors to his business and urged island residents to borrow what they could to help repel Peabody's ferry. The "naval war" at the dock lasted all of 20 minutes, but during the next few days, "25 good husky young lads" stood watch in case the Illahee returned.
Meanwhile, commuters from all over Puget Sound – fed up with rate hikes and shutdowns – had been begging Governor Mon Wallgren to do something to fix the ferry problem. Wallgren moved to develop a state ferry system under the Washington State Toll Bridge Authority, but Captain Peabody's hopes were raised when Wallgren lost that year's gubernatorial election to Arthur Langlie, a Republican who believed in free enterprise. Peabody's relief was short-lived, as Langlie also supported a publicly-owned ferry system. It wasn't until 1951 that Washington finally took over the Black Ball line, at which point the Vashon islanders gladly dissolved their ferry district and sold all its assets to the state.
Farmland Irrigation
Grant County is home to Dry Falls – one of the more dramatic remnants of the ice-age floods that carved out a significant portion of Eastern Washington – and much of the surrounding land is dry indeed. Early attempts at irrigation met with failure until 1918, when William M. Clapp, an Ephrata attorney, proposed the constructiom of a dam on the Columbia River for the benefit of all nearby communities. Thus began the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project, a Herculean effort that took three decades to complete.
After years of studies and surveys, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the construction of Grand Coulee Dam – located at Grant County's northern tip – soon after taking office in 1933. The dam's generators began producing electricity in 1941, which helped supply increased demands during World War II, most notably for a secret military project in South Central Washington.
After the war was over, Columbia Basin Irrigation Project officials shifted their emphasis from using the dam for generating power to its primary purpose, and 75 years ago this week, on May 15, 1948, a Pasco farm received the first water pumped from the irrigation project. Four years later, jubilant farmers in Grant, Adams, and Franklin counties celebrated the first Columbia Basin Water Festival to commemorate this historic event.
