Enumclaw was celebrating Independence Day for decades before it became a town. The festivities have included parades, fireworks, picnics, races and sports, music and dancing. This Thursday we will be carrying on a 128-year tradition. But before we do, here's what some of the old-timers had to say about those early celebrations.
Mrs. J. H. Merritt described the earliest Independence Day gathering:
"The first Fourth of July celebration in the Upper White River was held in Tommy Morgan's grove in 1885. It was noted for the delicious cakes and food brought and served to all at the picnic dinner. It is needless to say that Judge E.G. White read the declaration [of Independence] there and at many latter [sic] celebrations. In those days, Enumclaw did not miss celebrating to the utmost of its ability, on all holidays."(1)
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Marion Lee, one of the Montgomery children, remembered from her childhood the same event. The family had recently arrived in the sparsely-settled area.
"Our first chance of meeting a group of people of any size here was at the Fourth of July picnic that first summer (1885) held in the woods just back of where the Bowlers live, not far from the Wishbone Inn. There were about fifty or maybe sixty people there and each family took baskets of lunch. It was all laid out on one great long table. There were pies and cakes, strawberries and cream--sandwiches, and pickles, spread out on the long table and everyone invited to sit down and eat, whether they had brought a lunch or not. There was racing and other sports and dancing in the afternoon and evening. The music, furnished by an old gentleman with a violin, and at the organ, Miss Austa Lee, who shortly afterwards became Mrs. Arthur Poole, now living at Heller Lake near Seattle. The Lees owned the only organ in this district at that time and how that organ did travel, sometimes carried by hand when roads were extra rough and sometimes taken on a makeshift sled. To this special picnic, it was a sled."(2)
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Although Washington was not yet a state, the celebrations expanded. Music became an even bigger part of the celebrations with the formation of the Enumclaw Cornet Band. Judge Montgomery, who first organized the band, continued to lead it for fifty years.
"The first band in Enumclaw was organized in 1888 or 89 and the members included Arthur E. Poole, Arthur Griffin, Ruby Poole, Charles Coe, Walter and Frank Payes, Joe Fell, Rickman Welch, James and Bob Montgomery. The band was a great aid to all entertainments and filled an important place in the community. The band concerts were just what we needed to round out programs on the Fourth of July."(3)
The parade soon became a feature of the annual festivities, and people began to devise unique ways to participate. Serena Marshall, a teacher in the town school, created one of the first floats:
"A few of the older girls put on a Fourth of July celebration which we thought was quite a grand affair. The parade consisted of a wagon with long rows of seats facing either side on which sat girls of all ages and sizes, dressed in white, each wearing a blue ribbon across her breast on which was painted in white the names of the states she represented. . . The parade ended in a small fir grove at the edge of town, where we had erected a platform decorated with flags, buntings and boughs, from which we conducted community singing to the accompaniment of the school organ; gave recitations, speeches appropriate to the occasion, and of course, had the "Declaration of Independence" read."(4)
With the addition of the parade came other events to round out the day. Soon the celebration would begin in the morning and continue well into the night.
"What a year of celebrating was 1911! July the 4th was the greatest celebration in the town's history. It began with a parade in the morning. The parade wound through the streets and ended up in the grove back of the school grounds. There the land had been cleared and picnic tables placed for the comfort of the crowd. James White was the marshal of the day. After many speeches and exercises, baseball games between Enumclaw and Selleck got underway. The celebrating continued throughout the day with races in the streets of town. After dark, a "splendid pyrotechnic display" was given and a dance followed. All through the day the Enumclaw Cornet Band played patriotic tunes to stir the hearts of the celebrants."(5)
In recent years, with rockets going off in driveways all over town, we sometimes remember the good old days when people knew the real meaning of Independence Day. Josephine Kincaid, one of the Puttman clan, reminds us not to romanticize about the past.
Question: Was the Fourth of July a big event?
Mrs. Kincade: We, we thought so at the time.
Question: Did you feel that it was a patriotic thing? Was it looked upon as that, I mean? Is that why it was important?
Mrs. Kincade: I think so. We always looked forward to buying firecrackers, to shoot our firecrackers.
Question: Did the kids then know what it was for? I mean, to them, was it Independence Day?
Mrs. Kincade: I don't think it was. I think it was all about having a big good time shooting firecrackers! I don't think we really knew what the day really meant, was supposed to be, or else we used to buy .22 rifle shells and target practice.
Question: Did girls shoot guns then?
Mrs. Kincaid: I, yes, I could shoot guns, all right! I could do pretty good at it, but now I can't even load it.(6)
As in the old times, Enumclaw's Stars and Stripes Celebration Thursday will begin with food--a pancake breakfast from 8:00 to 10:00 at the Senior Center. And as the pioneers honored civil war veterans on the Fourth, Mayor Reynolds will recognize World War II airman, Ed Saylor, at 10:30. Ed will also be Grand Marshal of the parade, which begins at noon.
In the tradition of the Cornet Band, live music (classic rock, country, and dance) will be performed on two stages. We will have motorcycle and classic car shows (rather than races down Cole Street) and of course, more food. Independence Day here will conclude with "a splendid pyrotechnic display", the Stars and Stripes fireworks. Enumclaw's pioneers would be quite pleased.
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NOTES
(1) Mrs. J.H. Merritt. "Carroll Family." Pioneer History of Enumclaw. Women's Progressive Club. p. 29.
(2) Marion Montgomery Lee. "Montgomery Family." Pioneer History of Enumclaw. Women's Progressive Club. p. 88.
(3) Mrs. Stanley Smith. "The Enumclaw Band." Pioneer History of Enumclaw. Women's Progressive Club. p. 37.
(4) Minerva Price. "Pioneer Days." Pioneer History of Enumclaw. Women's Progressive Club. p. 72.
(5) "Fourth of July in Enumclaw." Enumclaw Courier. July 7, 1911.
(6) "An interview with Mrs. Josephine Puttman Kincade." Oral Histories. Washington Rural Heritage. 1970. p. 18.
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ENUMCLAW CENTENNIAL BLOG SERIES
The Histories of Enumclaw
Introduction--Enumclaw: The First 6020 Years
Early Enumclaw: 6000 Years Ago to the Mid-1800s
Early Enumclaw: The First European Americans Arrive
The Adventures of Allen Porter's Wagon
Enumclaw's Early Plateau Neighbors
Schools and Districts
Franklin
Enumclaw's Railroads
Enumclaw Becomes a Town: 1879-1913
Enumclaw, the Cooperative Capital
Historic Houses In and Around Enumclaw
Setting the Scene for the Centennial Celebration, 1/27/1913
Incorporation through World War II: Enumclaw from 1913-1945
Logging and Lumber
Enumclaw's Affair with Alcohol and Tobacco
Tom Smith, Enumclaw Town Marshall
Local Elders Know Their History
Growth and Prosperity: Enumclaw from 1945-2008
History of the Anderson Garden in Enumclaw
120 Years of Churches in Enumclaw
From Puncheon Roads to Scenic Byway
Enumclaw History from 2008 to the Present
A History of Banking in Enumclaw
Enumclaw News Over the Years
Fourth of July Celebrations
Bill Kombol Receives 2013 History Award
Enumclaw's Next Two Decades: 2013-2033
The Limits of Growth
Alternative Futures
