Memoirs of a Newspaper Lady

Dail Butler was born near Medical Lake, Washington on February 26, 1900. Her mother died when she was three years old and her family moved to Renton, Washington. Her grandfather, James Wing Butler, farmed on the Whetstone and her other grandfather, Levi Watrous, had a saw mill operation on Jim Creek.

She married Cecil Laughery and moved to Dayton in 1923. His parents and all of his siblings lived in Dayton so they settled into life in Columbia County where they raised three boys and a girl.

One of Dail's passions was to write about the early history of Columbia County, some of the more colorful inhabitants and the Native Americans she met in her youth. Her grandfather Levi taught her some of the native language so she could communicate with the Cayuse and Palouse tribes.

Dail passed away in 1994 after spending most of her life in and around Columbia County.

On Jan 9, 1880 a very severe windstorm swept the hills and valleys around Columbia County. Such a terrific wind storm had never been seen by the earliest inhabitants here and it caused considerable damage to property.

Several days previous to the full blast of the storm, the wind had been blowing, but about 1 p.m. on that date it began to strengthen and gradually became a strong gale. This blast of hurricane force continued until 6 o'clock that evening. From that time the wind gradually decreased and by the following Saturday, the people of this county could count their heavy losses.

The entire front of Torrence's blacksmith shop in Dayton was demolished. The huge addition to Tolbert's livery stable was displaced at the top about 4 feet, another few feet and it would have landed in the streets. Several buildings lost their roofs and a large number of homes and businesses were minus their flues or chimneys.

Woodsheds, outhouses and fences were as toys that the strong winds played with as a child tosses a ball. Heavy damage was done to Joy's Hall. The Baptist church was shaken slightly from its foundation. In the outlying districts of Dayton, the damage was much greater than within the city and several houses were burned down. A number of fires were started which developed into masses of ruin when the residence of R.G. Newland, two miles below Dayton lost the roof of his home, and a number of barns were destroyed.

No lives were lost to the more than playful winds, the result of its strength was awe inspiring, as far as the destruction of property was concerned.