Last Breaths of the Spokane Klan
The special election of 1925 marked the last event that could be understood as a political success for the Spokane Klan and as months went on, the organization showed further signs of decline. Klan supported bills to mandate the reading of the Bible in public schools failed in Washington State legislature. In future elections, only the opinions of higher Klan leaders on national politics would make the Spokane papers. In terms of national affairs, 1925 is the year the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan paraded through the streets of Washington D.C. The Parade through the capitol is often used as an example of Klan power and numbers in the 1920s however it can more aptly be seen as an effort on the part of the Klan to appear strong in hopes of forestalling the decline they had already begun to experience.
Klan Konventions continued to meet 1925-29 however they drew less and less each year. Konventions were hosted often times at central locations in the State of Washington Such as Wenatchee in 1926. These events continued to be much of the same; Klansmen marched unmasked followed by various speeches. As the decade went on, these events became less and less of a spectacle—no longer drawing the massive crowds seen 1923-24. Reported numbers became a report of those expected rather than of those in attendance and by 1929, events that had once included 3000 Klansmen drew only 300.
A major upset to the Washington State Klan came late in 1926 when the organization was sued by former Grand Dragon of Washington O. H. Carpenter. Reported December 18th, the former Grand Dragon sued the Klan for the initial amount of $6200 worth of back wages that he had claimed were promised but never delivered. The Klan fought on the grounds that they had no record of promising the amount Carpenter had requested and that additionally, Carpenter had usurped the power of other members of the state leadership. The trial took place in Spokane as the attorney representing the Klan was Spokane attorney and soon to be Grand Dragon of the Washington State Klan: E. B. Quackenbush. In order to make a ruling, Judge Fred Witt required an account of the state organization’s finances. In delivering this information, Former Grand Dragon Carpenter testified to the extent the Klan was involved in Washington State politics—exposing the Good Government League of Washington as one of many Klan fronts used to promote their political agenda. Additionally, Carpenter confirmed that the 1924 school bill was purposefully anti-Catholic in the eyes of the Washington Klan—going against the previous rhetoric of the countless Klan proponents.
Carpenter’s willingness to expose Klan business over internal issues shows just to what extent the Washington Klan was mismanaged. The next couple years would see much of the same. Under the command of Grand Dragon E. B. Quackenbush, the Washington State Klan followed the trend of the national organization and steadily shrank. While State leadership hailed from Spokane, the Spokane chapter withered and by 1928, it was a shock to the people of Spokane to see a cross burning on the hillside as many had assumed the Klan was long gone form the area. The longest enduring Klan in the State was the Bellingham chapter on the West side. Their continuity prompted them to host one of the last Konventions in Washington in 1929. While Klansmen came from around the state, the event was miniscule compared to those of the Washington Klan’s height, having less than one tenth the membership of the largest held Konventions.