Knute Hill

Knute Hill (July 31, 1876 – December 3, 1963) was a U.S. Representative from the state of Washington. He was known by the nickname "the Little Giant".[1]

Knute Hill
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 4th district
In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1943
Preceded by	John William Summers
Succeeded by	Hal Holmes
Member of the Washington House of Representatives
In office 1927-1933
Personal details
Born	July 31, 1876 Creston, Illinois, U.S.
Died	December 3, 1963 (aged 87) Desert Hot Springs, California, U.S.
Resting place	Terrace Heights Memorial Park, Yakima, Washington, U.S.
Political party	Democratic Farmer–Labor Party
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin–Madison

Background

Born on a farm near Creston, Illinois to Norwegian immigrant parents,[2] Hill moved to De Forest, Wisconsin in 1877 and later to Red Wing, Minnesota in 1889. He attended both Red Wing Seminary and the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis. He graduated from the law department of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1906. He was admitted to the bar the same year and practiced law in Milwaukee and Eau Claire, Wisconsin from 1908 to 1910. He moved to Prosser, Washington in 1911. He taught in the public and high schools of Benton County, Washington from 1911 to 1922. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits and was a founding member of the Washington State Grange.[3]

Political career

Running as a Farmer-Labor Party candidate, in 1924 Hill unsuccessfully contested the 4th congressional district seat in Washington. He received over 13 percent of the votes cast.[1]

Hill served as member of the Washington State House of Representatives from 1927 until 1933.[4] Hill was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third and to the four succeeding Congresses. He represented the State of Washington's 4th congressional district from March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1943.[4][1] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1942 to the Seventy-eighth Congress.[5]

Hill was Superintendent of the Uintah-Ouray Indian agency at Fort Duchesne, Utah from 1943 until his resignation on March 31, 1944. Hill was a radio commentator in Spokane, Washington from 1944 to 1946. He was an unsuccessful Independent Progressive candidate for election in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress. Hill served as a consulting appraiser and information clerk in the Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia Basin Project, Ephrata, Washington, from March 1949 until his retirement in 1951.

Later years

Knute Hill died of a heart attack in his cabin in Desert Hot Springs, California.[4] He was interred in the Terrace Heights Memorial Park, in Yakima, Washington.[6] Records and papers associated with his political career are maintained at the Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.[7]

References

1. Richardson, Darcy: Others: Fighting Bob La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third‑party Politics in the 1920s, pp. 272-273 (2008)
2. "United States Census, 1880", FamilySearch, retrieved March 13, 2018
3. "Washington State Grange". Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
4. "Ex-Washington Congressman Found Dead". The Los Angeles Times. December 7, 1963. p. 43. Retrieved February 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Biography of Knute Hill (Bioguide of the United States Congress)
6. Mt Adams Sun
7. Guide to Research Collections (Washington State University)

External links

• United States Congress. "Knute Hill (id: H000600)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Knute Hill at Find a Grave
• Washington State University Libraries
• Knute Hill register of papers in the Washington State University Library