forward
The Fight for a "Dry" Town
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The eyes of the Temperance Reformers on the
Pacific Coast are turned to LaCamas to watch the struggle now going
on and to admire the skill and faithfulness by which the people
of Columbia precinct are crushing the slimy serpent that is attempting
to poison our life's blood by its sting. -- The LaCamas News
Feb. 12, 1888
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Fritz Braun's Park Hotel Saloon
in Washougal.
Courtesy of the Camas-Washougal Historical Society |
Early LaCamas settlers included progressive-minded Protestants
who wanted to establish a "dry" town, and worked to enforce
the observance of Sabbath. While Washougal was home to several bars, LaCamas
residents rallied in 1888 to prevent the county commissioners from granting
an alcohol permit in their town.
Prohibitionists organized meetings and and protest rallies at the town's
first church, St. John's Presbyterian Church, and at McMaster's store
after Clark County Commissioners issued a liquor license to Vancouver
resident W.W. Proebstel in 1888. Aneas McMaster was the secretary of the
anti-alcohol committee, which successfully convinced the Clark County
Commissioners to revoke the permit.
The struggle between the "wets" and the "drys" in
the temperance debate continued for many years. In 1906 the town mayor
attempted to rid the town of saloons by holding saloon owners personally
responsible for public drunkenness. While two saloons owners were forced
to close their establishments, two more drinking establishments were opened
the next year.
Newspaper
article: "... was refused a license to open a saloon..."
Part I - The Cascade Indians & Early Town History
Part II - Mill Town
Part III - Growth and Change
Table
of Contents
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