OLYMPIA, Wash. –  The Governor’s Mansion Foundation (GMF) is now featuring a historical plate with a painting by former First Lady Lizzie Muir Hay (First Lady 1909-1913).  The plate, which is in a protected case in the Hay Guest Bedroom in the Mansion, is on loan from the Yakima Valley Museum and can be viewed during public tours in the Mansion on most Wednesdays from October 2018 to February/March 2019.  The plate, which has an image of Chief Moses, was painted by Mrs. Hay in 1899, according to Yakima Valley Museum records.

Chief Moses (1829-1899) was a leader of the Moses-Columbia Band in Central Washington which later joined with other bands to form the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.  He is the namesake of Moses Lake and Moses Coulee.

Mrs. Hay with her husband Governor Marion Hay and their children were the first governor and family to live in the Mansion beginning in 1909 and selected the original furnishings, some of which are still in the Mansion.   Marion and Lizzie Hay operated the M. E. and E. T. Hay Department Store in Wilbur, Washington for several years where Chief Moses visited, according to his biographers.

Guided tours of the Mansion are arranged through State Capitol Tour Services at https://apps.des.wa.gov/Mansion/Mansion.aspx, 360-902-8880 or tours@des.wa.gov.

The Governor’s Mansion Foundation, an all-volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan organization, hosts weekly tours of the Mansion on most Wednesdays (except holidays and the month of August).  To learn more about becoming a “Friend of the Mansion” or for more information on the GMF visit www.wagovmansion.org.