Person:Charles Carpenter (11)

part of the Early Families of Douglas Co. Washington Project [1]

4 July 1896 - Charles took part in the Boston Bloomer "Girls" Baseball team at Waterville. Nell Dickson (curator of the Waterville Museum for many years) wrote an article in the Oct 14, 1971 edition of the Empire Press detailing the the celebration. There was "much rivalry between the teams, especially Leavenworth, Wenatchee and Waterville ... with quite a lot of betting on the sidelines."

Leavenworth was scheduled to play Waterville. When the large crowd gathered for the July 4th celebration and the big game "a cloud of dust a stage coach drove up, bearing a sign "Boston Bloomer Girls." and it was announced that the "girls" were driving through Waterville, saw the crowd and wanted to play ball.

"after playing a little ball and clowning a lot, the cute caps and curly hair began to fall off and the crowd recognized some of our own Waterville boys. This made lots of fun, and the crowd was ready for a real ball game." [Waterville won the big game]. The original picture is held at the Douglas County Museum.

Bloomer Baseball 4 Jul 1896