FIRST VETERNARIAN OF KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON - Arthur was born in Algona, Iowa and moved west by ox team at the age of four months with his parents. The family brought two wagons across the country to Washington Territory. His mother drove one of the wagons all the way. They traveled with a wagon train until they reached Ogden and then his father led them to the Kittitas Valley by following the Columbia River and then coming up the Yakima. Arthur's first playmates were little Indian children who lived on the river bank and their mother worked for Arthur's mother, one of only 14 white women in the valley at that time. He was very happy when his sister and new playmate, Mamie, came along. At the age of five years, he attended a school that was situated on the corner of the Sharp farm. The teacher had to room and board with each family, one week per each student. At the age of 10 or 13, he learned to handle stock of all kinds, and with his half brother, Merritt Monroe Damman, who had come west after the family was settled, freighted farm produce, bacon and butter in return for groceries from The Dalles, Oregon. There were no advanced schools above the eighth grade in Ellensburg. The Presbyterian Academy, though not a high school, gave him the fundamentals for higher education. In 1901, he made up his mind to go to Washington State College at Pullman. He was married, so he arranged to have their belongings shipped by the Northern Pacific Railroad by boxcar, which contained five tons of hay, cow, turkey, chickens, cook stove, bedroom furniture, etc., plus the cat and dog. All arrived in Pullman in August where the couple rented a house (or shack) on the South Palouse River and prepared for the opening of school in September 1901. "The old cow was a lifesaver. She gave about five gallons of milk a day and I peddled milk on the campus at 5 cents a quart in an open stall-that paid our grocery bill. The hens furnished us eggs with a few to sell at 15 cents a dozen. The first winter was the worst. I took the veterinary course with only three in the class for the first semester: two more boys entered the second semester."
During the summer, Arthur helped the janitor cleaning the buildings, the pay was $1 for 12 hours work but it was a "buck for the nosebag." In June, 1905, he graduated with the degree of D.V.S. and came back to Ellensburg and hung out his shingle as a veterinarian. Practice was good but the pay low. Doc Damman vividly remembered the three year (1905-1907) fight which brought about the eventual stamping-out of tuberculosis in dairy cattle herds in Kittitas County. His territory extended from Easton to Pasco - and that was in horse-and-buggy days. Still practicing at the age of 79, he was a leading local advocate of a calfhood vaccination as a means of controlling Bang's disease in cattle.
Dr. Damman was a member of an early-day city Fire Department which was organized mainly for the purpose of embarrassing Yakima. "Yakima had a department back in 1893 which was supposed to beat everyone in drill contests," he said. "We organized for a July 4 contest and succeeded in beating the Yakimans in all events. (source: newspaper article)
In 'A History of Kittitas County', it is mentioned that Dr. Damman's local practice extended from Salmon la Sac to Prosser. Transportation was train, horse and buggy, and saddle horse. Arthur built the first animal hospital and his home on the southwest corner of 7th and Main Streets in 1908. In 1912 he moved his wife and daughter Ruth to Vancouver B.C., where he was associated with the Fraser Valley Milk Producers Association. In 1931 Dr. and Mrs. Damman returned to Washington, where he was vet in Enumclaw. After his wife passed away 4 October 1941, Arthur returned to Ellensburg where he practiced and became active in community affairs. He was appointed City and County Health Inspector, and was later appointed Kittitas County Sanitarian in 1945. Through the years he was very active in Masonic lodges, the Grange, and assisted in the formation of the Ladies Lounge. Arthur died 25 November 1959; his obituary notes that he was survived by his daughter, Ruth, two nieces, Mrs. Fannie Damman Cleveland of Pullman and Mrs. Wanda Wolff Walker of Rosemont, Penn; two nephews, Harold H. Damman of Seattle and nationally-known artist John Clymer of Bridgewater, Conn.
His funeral remembrance lists services at Evenson Funeral Home on November 27, 1959 with Ellensburg Lodge No. 39, F. & A. M. officiating. Pallbearers were J. R. DeVries, Erich Brattkus, Thomas Howard, Theo Evanson, Hiram Colburn, and Arthur Gregory. Concluding services were at I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Ellensburg.
Central Washington University Archives has these audio recordings of Dr. Damman:
1951-12-26 -- Pioneer Interview: History of Kittitas Valley -- Arthur J. Damman
1952-04-00 -- Dr. Damman speaks to the Third Grade Classes at Lincoln School -- Arthur J. Damman
1952-04-00 -- Dr. Damman speaks to the Third Grade Classes at Lincoln School -- Arthur J. Damman