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BENTON COUNTY, WASHINGTON
in the heart of the Columbia Basin

page 11, Tri-City Herald, January 1, 1961

By BURTON 0. LUM
Tri-City Pioneer

New Year’s in the 1890’s/
No Time for Celebrating


New Year’s Day in the early Tri-City region was not celebrated to any great extent.  It was too
 close to Christmas.  The Pioneers had not the funds or the time to spend in celebrating an 
event just seven days after Christmas.  The Pioneers of Scotch descent, however, would take
 their jug and call on their friends for a friendly nip on New Year’s Day.  The majority of the
 pioneers made resolutions on the first of January to do or not to do certain things during the
 coming year.  These same resolutions were made each year by about the same makers.  Few
 of the resolutions were ever kept over a year, however, much good was obtained for the space
 of time they were observed.  The pioneers, during their Christmas shopping, were always 
sure to pick up a patent medicine almanac that contained the monthly phases of the moon 
and a daily calendar of the coming year.  This would be hung on the kitchen wall not too far
 from the warmth of the kitchen stove.  Here the Pioneer could take it from the nail, find the
 information he desired and hang it back.  These were days prior to the advertising calendars.
  The first of the advertising calendars given out by the local merchants of this region were
 pictures of the famous trotting and pacing animals, “Nancy Hanks,” “Dan Patch,” “J.I.C.”,
 and “Maude S.”  Rubber tired sulkies were just beginning to be used.  A mile trotted or 
paced in two minutes and forty seconds was fast travel in these days.  New Year’s Day 
came into its own on Jan. 1, 1899, 1900 and 1901.  One or the other of these dates marked 
not only the beginning of the New Year but also the beginning of a new century.  The 
savants of these days did not agree on the time the present century passed and the next 
century began.  The pioneers being practical people, did not worry their heads over the 
different theories.  They solved the problem by celebrating each of the three dates as they 
arrived.  They were thereby sure that they had celebrated the correct date.  About this time 
the earth’s orbit passed through a field of falling stars or meteors.  The falling stars were so
 numerous that the pioneer’s children could not wish fast enough to keep up with them. 
 The night skies of the Tri-City region are  the most clear, star lit, and beautiful, of all that 
I have beheld in the entire United States.  It must have been such a firmament that inspired 
the 19th Psalm.  The moon, however, does appear to be larger in the Deep South, especially
 when the fragrance of the honeysuckles, the beauty of the magnolias and the spell of the
 night bird’s song arouses romance in one’s soul. The pioneers believed that the phases
 of the moon had quite an effect on the planting and growing of their crops.  They had
 their theories as to what should be planted in the light of the moon and what should be
 planted in the dark of the moon.  They also believed that stock brands healed faster if
 the branding was in a certain phase of the moon.  The Pioneers were short on science. 
 Everything was too new, uncertain and untried to be classified.  There were no daily 
published weather reports.  The newspapers arrived only every week or 10 days.  The
 news was always history by the time they received it.  The Pioneers had to do their 
own guessing on the weather.  For the immediate weather, they studied the clouds 
and the sky at sunset.  Mackerel clouds would denote one thing, thunderheads 
another, clear sky something else.  The chinook wind could  arise so quickly and 
without sign or warning and warm everthing so rapidly that it was hard to prophesy 
its coming.  The Pioneers were alway happy when January was over as the worst 
weather of the year always came in January.  February brought spring.

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