On June 6th 1870, when women were barred from politics, 15 local women tested their citizenship rights by voting in a general election. After endearing themselves to the election judges in Grand Mound with a picnic dinner, seven Grand Mound women cast their ballots without issue. A rider on a "fleet horse" then galloped from Grand Mound to Littlerock and announced, "They're voting!" Eight Littlerock women, poised for action, then voted at the one-room Black River School a half mile south of here. Sisters Mary Olney Brown of Olympia and Charlotte Emily Olney French of Grand Mound, with others, brainstormed the plan and inspired other women of Washington Territory.