The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1923-10-19
EARLY DAYS OF oRovILLE
RELATED BY INDEPENDENT

W nile we Are All ALIVE thc Ohd
hogan Independent has been publish
ing from week to week biographical
sketches of prominent residents of
OkanOgan county.
For this weeks story the Independ-
ent took as its subject J. f. Samson,
pioneer resident and present post
master of OrOville, and some of the
early history of this place is related
in very fascinating manner. The
story follows
When J. f. Samson went to Orc In
1896 to take charge of the mercantile
business of Ellis 4 FOrde there was
an active trading post but very little
20 represent the town proper In addi-
ton to the store there was a hotel,
saloon, and blacksmith shop. There
were few families living in the town,
among them S. r. Stanton, o. ID.
lWelling, Guy Gilmour, A. w. Johnston
and G. NJ. Bottomley. DR.. G. =. House
was bachelor resident. f. l.. STAINS
bury lived just outside of town.
There had been a settlement at Orc
| for some years prior to the time Mr..
the earliest of the present residents.
Ellis 4 FOrde bought the store of ID.
A. Beal, who later for many years
operated a flour mill at Wenatchee.
Three years previously Beal had
bought the mercantile stock of George
Hardenburg, who became prominent
in the development of Chelan. Among
those originally interested in the
tOwnsite were Mcbride 4 Flumenfe1t,
Bob Allison, George Hardenburg and
S. Il. Stanton. ]. NJ. Hagerty started
a newspaper, The Madre d'Oro, in
August 1892 1t was red hot
booster enterprise, but survived only
"a few months.
During his long residence ut Orc
vile (the Vile being added when the
railroad came and plated "A new town
site north of Oro) Mr.. Samson has
been one of the most active citizens
OF the town. He served as mayor for
several years and councilman for
many more, having a hand in virtually
all of the civic development of the
city. He served term as postmaster
prior to the late democratic admins
tration and was appointed to that po-
sitiOn last fall.
Mr.. Samson retained his interest in
the mercantile business until 1913 and
has also been engaged extensively In
farming and In the drug business. He
was prominent member of early day
stock associations.
Owing to the fact that peace Off
GERS were few in number and far
apart, the permanent residents of
early settlements frequently applied
justice in their own way. Legal tech
lnicalities were not as closely followed
as now. When the sheriff phoned Mr..
| thief was headed toward Orc, the man
was seen approaching the ferry as Mr..
Samson hung up the receiver. Taking
a gun, Mr.. Samson left the store and
crossed the river with a ferryman. In
midstream he Informed the horsethief
that he was under arrest and heNl
He cd no warrant or authority other
than the telephone request but no
question was raised.
School teaching was the avocation
which originally brought Mr.. Samson
to OkanOgan county in the fall Of
1890. That year he came from Ne
braska to teach at Chelan, which was
then in OkanOgan county. In Septem-
Der 1892, d. W. Yeargin and others
induced Mr.. Samson to take charge
of the COncOnully school, assuring
him that he would also be elected
county superintendent Of schools. He
was selected at the November election
o. that year.
His first impression of Ruby and
Conconully is a vivid one. In the fall
of 1890 he went to COncOnully to take
a teachers examination. A woman
acquaintance at Chelan asked him to
call on Billy Dorwin at Ruby and in
quire about the possibility of her Sc
curing the appointment as a teacher.
Scenes in the mining camps were new
to Mr.. Samson and when he visited a
dance hall in search of Mr.. Dorwin
the wild life made ii startling impress
sion.
In 1894 Mr.. Samson did not seek re,
election and the office was assumed
by Joseph e. Leader Mr.. Samson
taught at Loomis two years and then
went to Orc. In 1889 he was again a
candidate for county superintendent
and was elected over Mrs. f. G. Web.
meyer by vote Of 572 to 1926. Two
years later the entire democratic