Women -- Suffrage -- History; Women -- Suffrage -- United States -- History; Women's rights -- History; Women's rights -- United States -- History
Mrs. Abigail Scott Duniway of Portland, Ore., the renowned suffrage
pioneer of the northwest, was enthusiastically received and in the
course of her interesting reminiscences said: "I remember when 'Old
Oregon' comprised most of the Pacific Northwest. At that time I was
living in a log cabin engaged in the very domestic occupation of
raising a large family of small children.... On my first visit to
Spokane I came by stage from Walla Walla. It went bumping and
careening over the rocks and the one hotel of the village had not
accommodations for the three or four passengers. They made up
improvised beds for us on slats and all the food we had for several
days was bread and sugar, but I enjoyed it for after such a journey
anything tasted good. There was only one little hall in the town and I
was importuned by Captain Wilkinson of Portland to speak. So I hired
the hall for Sunday and he advised me to offer it to a clergyman there
for the afternoon service. I did so and asked him to announce after
his sermon that my meeting would be held in the evening. He accepted
the use of the hall but failed to give the notice. When I asked him
about it he said: 'Do you think I would notice a woman's meeting?' But
we had a good one and almost everybody in Spokane subscribed for my
paper, the _New Northwest_. The next time I came here was to celebrate
the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad. I had the honor of
writing a poem for the occasion and reading it in that little hall and
Henry Villard wrote me a letter about it."
A large evening meeting was held in the First Methodist Church with
Mrs. LaReine Baker presiding. Henry B. Blackwell and Prof. Frances
Squire Potter were among the national speakers. A tired lot of
travellers but happy over their cordial welcome took the night train.
Next day they stopped for a brief time at North Yakima and Ellensburg
and spoke from the rear platform to the crowds awaiting them. Women,
girls and children dressed in white greeted them with banners, songs
and quantities of the lovely roses for which that section is noted and
with fancy baskets of the wonderful cherries and apples. During
several hours spent in Tacoma they had the famous ride around the city
in special trolley cars, supper at sunset on the veranda of a hotel
overlooking the beautiful Puget Sound and a walk through the
magnificent park.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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