Brief
History:
During the time of Washington
Territory, the Territorial Legislature
created Stevens County in 1863,
containing all the land from the
Columbia River to the Cascades north of the
Wenatchee River from Walla
Walla County. On
January 20, 1864, the original Spokane
County was dissolved and merged with the
unorganized Stevens County. The
western section of Stevens County was
separated on February 18, 1899,
and named Ferry County, in recognition
of the Territory's last governor and the
State's first governor, Elisha
P. Ferry.
The town of Republic
is the county's seat of government, as
well as the largest town. It was founded
at the
end of the nineteenth century by
gold prospectors and was incorporated in
1900. The original election
precinct of Republic was created on
April 6, 1898. Following the 1922 primary
elections, a group of
citizens called for an investigation
into possible election irregularities. The
group claimed that two of that
years voting precincts had been
formed unlawfully in conjunction with
misconduct in six precincts by
election officers and the canvassing
board. As a result of the actions, the
validity of two candidates were
called in question. Demands were
made that Thomas F. Barker, seeking
re-election as sheriff, and John W.
McCool, seeking the County Treasurer
seat, be barred from the ballot. Barker
was notably facing charges at
the federal level at that time from
allegations of conspiring and abetting
bootleggers.
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