Spokane and the Spokane country : pictorial and biographical : deluxe supplement (Volume 1) online

Creek placer mine in Clearwater county, four miles from Pierce,
Idaho, and also of the Waldo dredging property which is in Jo-
sephine county, forty miles west of Grants Pass, Oregon.

Mr. Harris was married at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in June,
1882, to Miss Caroline Hanson, a native of Decorah, Iowa, and they
had one daughter, Louise, who was born at Sioux Falls, South Da-
kota, May 6, 1883. His wife and daughter accompanied him to the
Coeur d'Alene district and in all of his wanderings they were together.
In the Coeur d'Alene district, at the Argentine gulch about two and
a half miles from Wallace, Mr. Harris built a cabin and there the
little daughter received her first education. Schools at that time were
not very numerous in the district, so the father would mark the letters
on the door of the cabin with chalk in the morning, and when he re-
turned at night from his work, the little one would copy the examples
set her. Later excellent educational privileges were accorded her,
her studies being pursued in Brunot Hall, an Episcopal school of
Spokane, and later in Los Angeles, California. She was regarded
as one of the most beautiful and accomplished young ladies on the
Pacific coast and in addition to her intellectual and social graces she
displayed great musical talent. In January, 1904, she left Spokane
for a visit in Victoria and was one of the passengers on the ill-fated
steamship Clallam, which sank in the straits near Port Townsend on
the 8th of January, on which occasion Louise Harris and fifty-one
other people lost their lives. After speaking of the storm which
brought disaster to this ship and death to Miss Harris, one of the
local papers said:

"Miss Harris was one of the most popular women in Spokane.
She was beautiful, amiable and sole heiress to a fortune estimated at
about two hundred thousand dollars. She had many accomplishments
and had the faculty of making and retaining friends. Miss Harris
would have been twenty-one years old next May. She was born at
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on May 6, 1883. When she was less than
a year old her parents emigrated to Idaho. Her father carried her
in his arms on horseback into the Coeur dAlene mining district to
Murray during the stampede of 1884. In 1889 her parents removed
to Spokane and her father engaged in business here. The child, then



308 Minium 5. Harris

six years old, was educated in the public schools of this city and at
Brunot Hall, the local seminary for girls conducted by the Protestant
Episcopal church. The last seen of Louise Harris in life, she was
in the lifeboat bravely seeking to comfort and cheer the frightened
women and children who shared the boat with her. Then the lifeboat
disappeared from the sight of those on the doomed steamer Clallam.
Apparently the others in the lifeboat had been washed out by the
great waves or blown from their places by the heavy gale. When the
lifeboat was found the body of the brave and beautiful Spokane girl
was found lying lifeless under the seat. The water which had swept
into the boat more than covered her body. Whether she succumbed
to the chill and exposure or was drowned in the boat will never be
known. Survivors of the wreck remember Miss Harris well. They
were able to do this through her absolute composure and self-assur-
ance. They say she was the bravest person on the boat and that while
she undoubtedly was frightened she would not show it for a single
moment. While the small boat was being filled with women and
children, Miss Harris did everything in her power to assist and cheer
them. She would take little babies from the arms of their mothers
and hold them until the women were safely seated in the boat. At all
times she talked encouragingly to those who were among the last to
leave the Clallam for the smaller crafts. Men were found who stated
that they felt like cheering Miss Harris to the echo for her bravery
and composure. It is said that she was the calmest and most self-pos-
sessed person on the boat and that had it not been for her the chances
are there would have been a serious panic among the women. Miss
Harris was well known in Seattle and was a favorite with all who
knew her. Two funeral services were held, one from All Saints'
Cathedral, Spokane, and at the same hour the friends of the dead
girl and her mother in Los Angeles, California, where they spent sev-
eral winters, held memorial services in the First Presbyterian church
of that city. The music at the two services was identical."

Death again entered the Harris household when, on the 29th of
September, 1911, Mrs. Harris was called from this life. She died
very suddenly, after an illness of two days, at Quartz Creek, near
Pierce, Idaho, where she had accompanied her husband on a visit of
inspection to the extensive placer diggings he owned in that section.
Mrs. Harris had been a resident of Spokane since shortly after the
great fire and was thoroughly familiar with the pioneer history of
this section of the country. She had personally become a large property
owner, although, like other pioneer women, knew the hardships and



3M3tUtam 3. %arttg 309

difficulties of frontier life in the mining camps. She accompanied
her husband to the Coeur d'Alenes during the boom 011 the north side
in the middle '80s, and when the mines proved disappointing and con-
ditions were such that work for men was exceedinglj difficult to ob-
tain, she herself established a business in Murray. Again she engaged
in business after the removal of the family to Mullan. Soon after
their return to Spokane, Mr. Harris made a fortunate investment in
the stock of the LeRoi mine, and her share of the profits Mrs. Harris
invested in property that eventually made her one of the wealthiest
women in Spokane. About twelve years prior to her death they pur-
chased the Aberdeen Hotel and four years later built the Victoria
and five years ago the Westminster, which they designed themselves.
In addition they had minor realty holdings having a valuation of
between three hundred and fifty and five hundred thousand dollars.
It is said that Mrs. Harris was not only the brightest business woman
in Spokane but also one of the most beloved women of the city. She
was sympathetic, kindly and cordial and the innate refinement of her
nature was manifest in the tact with which she met even' individual,
no matter in what station in life. Her death was a great blow to
many friends as well as to her husband.

In political affairs Mr. Harris has never been deeply interested
nor has he held public office. He belongs to Corinthian Lodge, Xo.
27, A. F. & A. M., of Rossland, British Columbia, but has largely
concentrated his efforts upon his business interests and is numbered
among those whose perseverance, faith, courage and industry have at
length been crowned by substantial reward. His efforts, too, have
been of a character that have contributed to the development and
upbuilding of the northwest and in the capable management and
enterprising, honorable control of his interests he has commanded
the respect and enjoyed the confidence of all his associates.



INDEX



Abercrombie, W. R 117

Acuff, W. H 219

Anderson, J. A 215

Armstrong, J. M 271

Belt, H. N 249

Binkley, J. W 225

Blake, E. B 71

Campbell, A. B 97

Cannon, E. J 155

Clark, James 211

Coman, E. T 127

Comstock, J. M 19

Cowley, M. M 27

Cunningham, J. G 173

Danson, E. J 257

Day, W. T 233

Dennis, G. B 5

Dwight, D. H 193

Flewelling, A. L 123

Forster, G. M 107

Gandy, J. E 199

Glover, J. N 11

Graiam, James 43

Hall, Oliver 55

Hansen, C. T 237

Happy, Cyrus 65

Harris, W. J 303

Havermale, S. G 187

Hutchinson, E. A 205



Jamieson, E. H 59

Jenkins, D. P m

Jones, A. D 1 37

Laberee, O. G 85

Larsen, L. P 51

Ludden, W. H 103

Luellwitz, GuBtav 131

MacLean, Lauchlin 295

MeCollough, F. T 283

Martin, H. S 167

Monaghan, James 31

Monaghan, J. R 37

Niekerson, W. J 289

Paulson, P. A 241

Perkins, J. A 277

Preusse, Herman 261

Roberts, L. S 253

Spalding, E. P 141

Tannatt, T. R 161

Taylor, J. R 229

Wakefield, W. J. C 149

White, A. L 77

Witherop, J. W 91

Yearsley, W. S 145

Ziegler, Louis 177

Zittel, J. A 267





' Xi







♦




^











f






I







AX









P






i



i



w





s*



-*•.



: ^p Tr






%




«



*&



*



^fc^. *****



WtoW*