1911, Seattle: Novelties in Taft’s Welcome
Another of the US presidents who was exposed to Chinuk Wawa was William Taft:
Crowd at President Taft’s speech in Seattle in 1911 (image credit: Digital Public Library of America)
NOVELTIES IN TAFT’S WELCOME .-
President Taft was treated to an
unique feature in his late welcome
at Seattle. Unlike Grant, primitive
custom was a sealed book to him.
Hence the Seattle Press Club, on
Monday night of this week afforded
him an entertainment which was
largely in the classic of pioneer life,
Chinook, that was interlarded with
the English half a century ago, in
social as well as business life. Songs
were sung in that not wholly musical
dialect and several native dishes
were introduced, for which our clam-
beds and oyster deposits afforded
such ample scope for native novelty.
It proved very enjoyable, and the
President entered into the spirit of
programme and enjoyed every minute.
It is an unwritten rule of the Press
Club that anything spoken there
never gets into the papers. The re-
sult is an intimate view of men in
the public eye which outsiders are
unable to obtain.
— from the Olympia (WA) Washington Standard of October 13, 1911, page 2, column 3
(Here’s the link to the original newspaper:
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84022770/1911-10-13/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1756&index=0&date2=1963&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&lccn=sn84022770&words=NOVELTIES+TAFT+WELCOME&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=novelties+taft+welcome&phrasetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1)
