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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

100 years ago in southeastern Washington: Starbuck City Council bans ‘vulgar’ dances, including the ‘wiggle-and-twist’

The city council of Starbuck, Washington, outlawed “suggestive, vulgar or repulsive” dances, The Spokesman-Review reported on Nov. 22, 1916. (SR)

From our archive, 100 years ago

The city council of Starbuck, Washington, outlawed the shivers, the wiggle-and-twist and the knee lock.

These were all considered “suggestive, vulgar or repulsive” dances.

Other dances banned in Starbuck included the turkey trot, the Texas Tommie, the grizzly bear, the rag dance, the dip, the walk back, the walking dance, the rough dance, the Frisco rag, the twilight dance, the Chicago one-step, the bunny hug, and any other “dances of like character.

This was part of an ordinance regulating public dance halls.

From the murder beat: Edward Mayberry was on trial in federal court for murdering Alice Vivian on the Colville Reservation – a shooting witnessed by her mother, Mary Hughes.

Hughes and other witnesses said that Mayberry, who had once lived with Vivian as her common law husband, had gone looking for Vivian after she left him. He found her near her mother’s camp and grabbed her while she was fetching a pail of water from the river. He pulled her up the bank by the arm, brandishing a rifle. When her mother pursued, he shot the girl.

Mayberry “eagerly” offered a different story. He said he was merely helping Vivian up the bank.

“You know how ladies are, they’re nervous,” he said.

He claimed that Vivian was upset only by her mother’s pursuit, and that her mother had a gun in her hand. Mayberry said that he stumbled backward and his rifle went off accidentally.