Festivals association to fete Alma Galbreath as grand marshal

A matriarch of two pioneer families will take a spin through downtown Ritzville this Saturday as the grand marshal in the community parade.

The Ritzville Festivals Association will host the annual Ritzville Community Parade, with the younger generation parading through downtown at 10:45 a.m. and the main parade beginning at 11 a.m.

Alma (Scott) Galbreath has watched numerous fairs and parades as a lifelong resident of Ritzville. She remembers parades that followed the same route she will take on Saturday as well as one of the city’s most recognized historic event, the Ritzville Roundup.

“We used to have roundups down at the fairgrounds. We were in between Pendleton and Spokane, so we’d get the star people because of that. We used to have quite a big fair… We had exhibits like 4-H, cooking, baking and that type of thing.”

At that time, the roundup was held at what is now the airport. According to Galbreath, the current hangar was one of the exhibit buildings, and the fair extended down the runway.

Held around this time of year, the grounds featured a large arena and visitors from all around.

“It was a big event. We got the big stars – the ropers and the riders. We had a big grandstand and a wonderful rodeo grounds. The Indians used to come and camp in the lower grounds. It was really a big affair.”

The parades in downtown were quite a production and attracted large crowds. For Galbreath, the equestrian entries were her favorite.

She used that passion as a judge for equestrian entries in the parades as well as for personal satisfaction at home.

“I loved the horses,” she said, adding that riding was always important to her family. “My father saw to it that we always had a horse to ride, every one of his girls.”

While Alma didn’t participate in equestrian competitions, her sister, Anna King, did.

She was active in 4-H through high school, earning a trip to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1931.

“4-H was a wonderful education,” she said. “I earned a trip to Chicago through 4-H work. It did a lot for kids. I was chosen to go from Washington state.”

A 1931 Ritzville High School graduate, Alma was one of six children born to Daniel Andrew Scott (D.A.) and Alma King.

D.A. was the only son of Kennedy and Ann Scott and grandson of Daniel Buchannan, who arrived in Washington Territory in 1885 and homesteaded six miles west of Ritzville.

Buchannan was a pioneer in the farming industry, introducing new equipment and methods that forged the way for today’s current practices.

He brought the first well drilling machine to the area and introduced a new way to plow sod using a plow and a team of three horses.

In addition, he represented Adams County as the elected delegate to the constitutional convention of Washington on July 4, 1889, which led to Washington state being admitted to the Union on Nov. 11, 1889.

Buchannan also was a staunch supporter of education and donated his collection of books numbering 400 to 500 volumes to the City of Ritzville, which led to the formation of a public library.

D.A. traveled from Wisconsin for three summers to help his grandfather during harvest. In 1891, he settled on land bordering Buchannan’s out west.

D.A. met his future wife, Alma King, who came west to help her brother, W.H. King of King Mercantile, raise his family after the death of his wife, at the Pioneer Day Picnic in celebration of Flag Day at Paha. They were married in 1895.

D.A. and Alma Scott built a 10-room house made of white pressed brick in 1903. Six children were born to the union: Nellie Sturman, Anna King, Kennedy, Wilma Harris, Alma Celia Galbreath and Verna Gahley.

When Nellie was old enough to attend school in 1912, D.A. sold the place and purchased land outside of Ritzville where Ed Faure currently lives on Bauman Street to provide his children the opportunity to attend high school and still live at home.

Alma Celia lived there until seventh grade when the family moved to the farm on Weber Avenue occupied by Greg Galbreath.

Nellie, Anna, Alma Celia and Verna graduated from Ritzville High School. Kennedy and Wilma graduated from Olympia High School while their father served as the Director of Conservation and Development under Governor Louis F. Hart.

Alma Celia attended Washington State College (WSU) for one year. Her college career was ended by a goiter, which she battled for three years. During her tenure on campus, Alma was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Maynard Galbreath and Alma Celia Scott were married in December of 1938 while he worked for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation surveying land for the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project in White Bluffs, Wash.

D.A. Scott died two weeks after Maynard and Alma Celia Scott were married. The couple moved to the farm and rented land from her mother, Alma King Scott, in March 1940. The farm that the couple purchased from Alma King Scott, now known as Faure’s place, was about 760 acres.

At the same time, Maynard also farmed the original place of Charles Galbreath southwest of Ritzville near Paha, which totaled about 420 acres.

In the era of expanding transportation, Ritzville was one of several communities in eastern Washington slated for the location of the new freeway, Interstate 90.

Construction efforts cut a swath right through the Galbreath farm, utilizing about 80 to 90 acres. Following that first loss of land, Maynard and Alma purchased the Wellsandt place on Wellsandt Road in 1958 where Dale and Julie Galbreath now live.

During her years in Ritzville, Alma was actively involved in numerous gatherings and organizations. Topping the list are bridge clubs, which she still continues every Wednesday at Rose Garden Estates.

In the height of bridge club activity, the weekly sessions featured three tables with four players. At one time, Alma was a member of two clubs.

“We just had a wonderful time,” she said. “It was a night out. Most of us were young mothers.”

Card parties were also a regular event, most as a community card party of pinochle and bridge. Most of the time, someone would sponsor it, with treats and maybe even dinner included.

Alma was also active in PEO, where she ‘went through the chairs,’ after receiving an invitation to join around the time of high school graduation.

She was often called upon to serve as a model in spring style shows sponsored by the Jayceettes, and she was a member of a singing group led by Marge Kembel.

A highlight of her younger years were the dances held at Sprague Lake in the summers and in auditorium above the Columbia Bank building in Ritzville.

“We danced our heads off. We loved to dance,” she said. “The auditorium was a wonderful dance floor.”

“They came from all around there – Davenport, Harrington, Sprague, Ritzville and Lind – they all gathered there to dance.”

The dances at Sprague were off of the old highway near Sprague. Alma said, “We had a wonderful dance band made up of local musicians from Sprague and Ritzville. In fact, they played all over.”