t, is interpreted to mean only
male citizens. During the time between the passage of this law
and the next election, I wrote to some of the prominent women of
the principal towns, telling them of the law, and urging them to
go out and vote at the coming election, and also to induce as
many more to go as they could. But no notice was taken of my
letters. I was looked upon as a fanatic, and the idea of a woman
voting was regarded as an absurdity. The law seemed to be in
advance of the people. It needed lectures and organized societies
among us to educate the women into a just appreciation of their
rights and duties.

In the autumn of 1868, Dr. Smith wrote several articles on the
right of women to the ballot, as did also Mr. Eldridge. The
latter asserted that it was the intention of the law to give the
women of the territory the right to vote; that being a member of
the legislature he had purposely stated in his remarks, that if
the bill passed in that form, it would give the women the right
to vote; and a member from his seat cried out, "That is what we
want!" Mr. Eldridge urged the women to go out to the polls and
vote. These articles were published in the Olympia _Transcript_,
the Republican paper, J. N. Gale, one of the editors, being an
advocate of suffrage. Still not a woman made a move. Many wished
to vote; they knew it was the only way to secure their rights,
and yet they had not the courage to go to the polls in defiance
of custom.

Seeing this to be the case, and knowing that if anything was done
some one must take the initiative, I determined to cast aside my
timidity and set the ball rolling. Accordingly, several weeks
before the election of 1869 I gave out word that I was going to
the polls to vote. I had the previous year removed with my family
from Olympia, and was living on White River in King county. The
announcement that I would attend the election caused a great
commotion in White River precinct. A fearful hue and cry was
raised. The news reached Olympia and Seaettle, and some of the
papers deprecated the idea that "a woman should unsex herself by
dabbling in the filthy pool of politics." But I was fully
committed. The law had been on our statute books for nearly three
years. If it was intended for our benefit, it was ti