The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - On No- vember 8, 1899 a 30-foot high arch draped in patriotic colors stood in the center of Waitsburg's Main Street. A bell - brought from the Philippines -- hung from the center of the arch and was rung continuously by a boy dressed as Uncle Sam and a girl dressed as Columbia.

A crowd welcomed home the soldiers of Waitsburg's Company K as they passed ceremonially beneath the arch before taking part in a town-wide celebration that included a banquet, fire- works and a dance.

On Friday, 87-year-old William "Bill" V. Hinchliffe will celebrate the 114th anniversary of that wel- come home by speaking at a Veteran's Day Assembly at Waitsburg High School. The story strikes a personal chord with Hinchliffe whose father, William Hinchliffe (no middle initial) was the last surviving Waitsburg vet- eran of Company K.

In 1898 the 19-year-old William Hinchliffe lied about his age and volun- teered with Company K to fight in the Spanish-Amer- ican War. Waitsburg's 101 volunteers joined with 100 Company F volunteers from Dayton as well as Companies from Walla Walla, Spo- kane and surrounding areas to form the 1st Washington Infantry Volunteers.

Hinchliffe said it was hard to imagine gathering a group of 100 young men from the Waitsburg area. "But then I realized if I was 19 and lived on Jasper Mountain, on Rocky Point, I'd lie about my age to get out of here too!"

The men of Company K, many with familiar Waitsburg names like Rob- erts, Mikkelsen, Hansen, Sweazy, Tucker, Schaffer, Zuger, McKinney and Har- ris, trained at what is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord before being assigned to the Presidio in San Francisco for three months. Though by then the war was over, they were deployed to the Philippines to fight against Filipino insurrection. Company K fought in 14 ma- jor engagements in the 11 months they were stationed in the Philippines.

Hinchliffe - a sharpshoot- er - was injured in battle while shooting from the bell tower of the Catholic Church at Pasig. A bullet ricocheted off one of the 25 bells in the church and hit his hand, destroying a knuckle. Story has it that the bell causing his injury is the same bell hanging in Town Hall today. "No one can really know which bell it was," said Hinchliffe, "but it makes a good story." One of the three bells taken from the church at the time was indeed shipped by rail to Waitsburg. Another story involves the bell falling over- board in Manila Bay while being readied for shipment. One bell did fall in relatively shallow waters and was recovered with great effort and expense. Whether or not it was actually the Waitsburg bell that took the dip is any- one's guess.

Hinchliffe recalls one story of the soldiers being ordered out on an engage- ment with three days of rations - they were gone 21 days. "When you're gone all that time with no food you have to live off the land. They would take food from gardens, kitchens, chicken houses - whatever they could. They were forced to. When you do that, it doesn't make for very good public relations. Wars don't help. They just make things worse," said Hinchliffe, a World War II veteran, him- self.

Hinchliffe said his father estimated that about 20% of the men didn't make it back, "but that's just a guess." Only six or seven were killed in battle, but more died of poor health conditions and disease.

Company K was even- tually discharged in San Francisco but received no transportation pay, making it practically impossible for many of the men to get home. Levi Ankeny of Day- ton heard of their plight and chartered a ship, at his own expense, to bring the area soldiers up to Seattle where they were "turned loose." It was November and the men were dressed in warm-weather Philippine uniforms. Hinchliffe said his father visited a Salvation Army where he was issued a full length overcoat - a coat that "saved his life". From there he rode the rails, hitchhiked and walked the rest of the way home.

Top: Waitsburg celebrated the homecoming of Company K with a 30-foot high arch (in front of the J.W. Morgan Building), draped in the national colors and likenesses of George Washington, President McKinley and Admiral Dewey. A bell from the Pasig church hung from the center and was rung continuously by a boy dressed as Uncle Sam and a girl dressed as Columbia. The bell now hangs in Town Hall.

Back on Jasper Mountain, Hinchliffe married Ol- ive May and the couple took advantage of the Homestead Act. "Most of the good land was taken," said Hinchliffe, "so they got 160 acres of marginal land near Kahlo- tus/Washtucna." Hinchliffe recalls that his father never forgot that coat and each year he would set aside sev- eral sacks of grain to be sold, with the money donated to the Salvation Army. Over the years, the family built up the farm which they eventually sold before moving back to Waitsburg.

Twenty years after his discharge, Hinchliffe was "thrilled" to receive a check for transportation home, for just over $350. About five or ten years after that, he received notice that he was eligible for a pension. Unfortunately, he was required to provide a birth certificate, which he didn't have. "Back then you put your name in a Bible and that was it," said Hinchliffe. After about a year of communications, the elder Hinchliffe -forced to "'fess up" to being underage when he volunteered - did receive a $12/month pen- sion.

After moving back to Waitsburg, the younger Hinchliffe recalls his fa- ther visiting with fellow Company K veterans as he absorbed their stories. As an adult, Bill Hinchliffe joined the Navy and toured near Pasig during World War II, enabling him to visit many of the places he'd heard his father describe.

Friday's Veterans Day assembly takes place at 10:45 a.m. at the Waitsburg High School gymnasium and is open to the public. Hinchliffe will talk about Company K and share his collection of artifacts from the Spanish-American War.