N.J. POTTER
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It was in 1887 I first saw the Columbia Valley on which, Pasco and Kennewick is located. At that time the country was a sandy sage brush desert, with but few settlers outside Pasco, then a small village consisting of a Railroad Depot. One hotel, one saloon, and gambling house where railroad employees resorted for amusement during idle hours and occasionally a Stock Rancher would drop in.
Them days Pasco was rated a tough town. Infested with such characters as usually follow building of railroads and who lied of the people by various ways, without work. Their principal trade was: Panhandling. Begging and petty thievery. These criminals not like those of present day but fully as annoying to the few settlers who was trying to exist by gardening and raising poultry which was public pelf for thieves of that class. In fact it was so bad nothing was safe unless under lock and key. Pasco’s Saloon was a regular hang out for them begging drinks or donation on pretext of being out of money to get other places.
Pasco had a Sheriff who spent most of his time in the saloon gambling and if a complaint was made by someone who had their henhouse or garden raided, he would say, “Keep your stuff in your site where you can watch it. Otherwise I am not responsible.”
It was so bad the Railroad passengers could not leave the cars long enough to get a lunch or drink without risking losing any a trickle left in the car. At that time, Pasco was the end of the Eastern Division of the railroad an connection of the east and west was by transfer of passengers and cars by means of a ferry boat. The time for transfer was 15 minutes, barely time to get a drink or short lunch.
I had sent to Texas for my wife and three small children. On their arrival I rented a small building in which my wife served short order lunches while I worked in the Railroad Yards as a Car Repairer. One day a man stopped in for lunch leaving his grip in his seat. On his return found it gone together with a kit of tools for watch and clock repairing. Even his ticket was gone leaving him completely without means of returning to Spokane where he was employed.
She told him her husband was working for the R.R. Co. and perhaps I had saw some one take his grip. He come over to me, told me of his loss. I told him I was employed by the Railroad Company and was no peace officer but I knew from what I saw that a regular band of tramps was living of what they could beg or stead and was hiding outside town. After work hours I would see the Sheriff and try [to] induce him [into] finding the stolen articles.
He told me of his financial difficulty until he could get money from Spokane. I went to the Hotel [and] asked for a room and bed, promising I would see the bill was paid. That being arranged and he to eat at my wife’s lunch establishment. I went to the saloon to find the Sheriff engaged in a pool game. [I] told him of the circumstances. He said he was not the custodian for others belongings. If they left them in the Railroad custody and they were stolen, it was non of his business.
I then said, “You know a band of petty thieves are carrying on in Pasco.” And I felt it his duty as Sheriff to do all he could to break up that gang, that if I was Sheriff I would have Pasco’s jail full in less that in two weeks. He laid down his cue and faced me with the remark, “If you feel so sure, I am making you my Special Deputy.” And pinned a badge on my coat and said “go to it, Texas,” a name at that time I was known.
I went to the Hotel, told my man what I had done, advising him to remain in his room until I could look for his stolen property. I pinned the badge inside my vest, took my kit of tools and started to the yard to begin my work. As I passed the Roundhouse I saw a man motioning me to stop. He walked up close and said “Don’t you want to buy a suit of clothes?” I tried to appear uninterested, pointing to my grey overalls, telling him I could not wear fine clothes and do my work. He said he was out of money; wanted to leave town and would sell the suit for five dollars that cost fifteen. By that time I felt sure I had found the man I was looking for, but kept up the pretense of not being interested, but told him such a bargain he was offering might induce me to buy, provided they fit me. He assured me they would as he was my size and they fit him. I said I wanted to see the suit before I made any deal. He stepped behind the roundhouse, come back with a bundle unwrapped it to let me examine. At a glance I recognized the suit as filing the description of the stolen suit minus the over coat. I said I did not want the suit minus an overcoat to match. He said, “I can get you the overcoat,” which also matched the description of the stolen one.
I then showed him my badge, telling him he was under arrest. Finding I had five minutes before work time, I marched him over the Saloon where I found Mr. Sheriff, turned my prisoner together with the clothes over to the Sheriff, went to my work in the railroad yard.
Next morning appeared in the Pasco Headlight, in bold type, “Potter Arrested One of the Men Who Has Been Robbing and Stealing in Pasco So Long”. Pasco had recently organized as a city under the recently enacted law elected it Board of Directors which proceeded to appoint its executives. One of the Board of Directors nominated me as Marshall, which unanimously carried. The council proceeded to enact rules under which the town of Pasco was to be governed. Among the ordinances one specified no firearms allowed to be discharged within the limits of the town. The first one to violate that ordinance was one of the Director’s boys who lived next door to where I had set down to breakfast when a loud report of a gun discharge in the adjoining yard.
I went out to investigate and met this man’s boy, but in one hand a dead chicken in the other, sufficient evidence to make an arrest. At first I hesitated, but I had taken the oat to do my duty as an officer with no provisions. So I arrested him, took him to the Justice office and made the complaint leaving it for him to act.
Next morning Pasco Headlight had in bold type “Too Officious - Pasco’s Marshall arrested one of our city Directors boys for shooting a chicken in his yard” with a lot of criticism on being “anxious to make conspicuous display of his authority as an officer”. This riled me, so I wrote an article telling of why I made the arrest, saying further I was appointed Marshall, with no authority to discriminate on violating any city laws, and so long as I remained Marshall I would execute my official acts strictly according to the city law, If the people of Pasco expected I over look a crime on account of being related to any one of the commissions had chosen the wrong man for Marshall.
Before leaving Texas, I had some experience in dealing with criminals I found helped me in my duty as Marshall in handling Pasco criminals. At any rate, I had six in jail within two weeks after taking office. The Headlight publication and result of conviction for shooting the chicken caused me to write and article in reply something like this. “In as much as my act in arresting for violating one of the town ordinances, the Headlight has criticized and the criminal has not been even tried. I wish to say when I took the oath as Marshall; there was no exception of persons immune from arrest for violating of any audience enacted by the Board of Directors. My act in arresting for violation was condemned by the Editor and approved by the town Directors. Therefore, feeling I can not serve as Marshall and discriminate in making arrest, I am submitting my resignation as Marshall to take effect at once.
This stirred up quite an argument. Some mentioned on account of the violation occurring in his own yard is such a manner not to offend any one; I indeed had been too strict in execution the duty as an officer. While others said if the law was too strict the remedy was repeal. So I resigned the office. And so far as I know the offender was never brought to trail. I give up my job in the railroad repairing in Pasco. Always feeling proud of the record I made and believe if an office can’t execute his sworn declaration of duty without discrimination he is in the wrong place according to my opinion of equal rights for all, special privileged to none.
N.J. Potter, First Marshall of Pasco
This was retyped, with slight corrections of spelling etc., from a letter that N.J. Potter wrote himself. It is not dated. This letter was found in the archives at the Franklin County Historical Society and Museum
