USA > Idaho > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 36
USA > Montana > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 36
USA > Washington > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 36
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Out of the large number of vessels which have come and gone in the thirty- four years since the Orbit sailed up to Olympia, few comparatively have been wrecked. I have mentioned the loss of the Robert Bruce by fire in Shoal- water Bay, and the brig Una on Cape Flattery, both in 1851. In 1852 the northern Indians reported the wreck of an unknown vessel on the coast of V. I., with all on board lost. Hancock's Thirteen Years, MS., 234-5. In the winter of 1852-3 the brig Willimantic, Capt. Vail, was driven ashore at Eld Island, at the entrance to Gray Harbor, but she did not go to pieces. After vainly attempting to launch her toward the sea, she was dragged across the island and launched on the other side. Swan's N. W. Coast, 43; Davidson's Coast Pilot, 171. In Sept. 1853 the brig Palos was wrecked on Leadbetter Point, at the mouth of Shoalwater Bay. Passengers saved, but the capt. drowned. In 1854 a Chilean bark was wrecked off Cape Classet by becoming water-logged; 14 persons drowned, 1 saved, but died of exhaustion at Steila- coom. Or. Statesman, April 11, 1854. In this year, also, the steamer South- erner was wrecked near the mouth of the Quillehuyte River. Hist. Or., ii. this series. H. Y. Sewell, of Whidbey Island, went across the mountains to the wreck to save the mail, was taken prisoner by the Indians, and held for some time, but succeeded in his undertaking. He was the first white man to cross the Olympian range to the coast so far north. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., ii., 58. The schooner Empire, Capt. Davis, loaded with oysters, struck on a spit at the north entrance of Shoalwater Bay, where she remained fast and perished. Swan says that the Empire and Palos were both lost through carelessness, and were the only vessels wrecked at this entrance up to 1856. Northwest Coast, 365. The Hawaiian bark Louika, Capt. Willfong, went ashore on San Juan Island in July 1855. She was a total loss. Ebey's Jour- nal, MS., iii., 73, 81. The Major Tompkins, wrecked off Esquimault harbor, Feb. 25, 1855, has been noticed. No lives lost. Olympia Pioneer and Dem., March 3, 1855. Also the Fairy, the first steamer in any trade on the Sound. She blew up at her wharf at Steilacoom. Id., Oct. 23, 1857. The steamer
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RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
Sea Bird was burned on Fraser River, 14 miles above Langley, Sept. 10, 1858. The Traveller, a Sound steamer, was lost in 1858, with five persons on board, by foundering. Olympia Pioneer and Dem., March 12, 1858; Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., iv. 60. In 1859 the schooner Caroline was upset on her way into the Sound, near the Lummi Islands; no lives lost. Ebey's Journal, MS., vi. 126. In Jan. of the same year the brig Cyrus, at port San Juan, was wrecked in a gale, and became a total loss. Or. Statesman, Jan. 25, 1859. The ocean steamer Northerner, Capt. Dall, running between S. F. and the Sound ports with the mails, was lost by striking a sunken rock two miles below Blunt reef, opposite Cape Mendocino, Jan. 5, 1860, and 36 lives lost. Steilacoom Herald, Jan. 20, 1860; Ebey's Journal, MS., vi. 260. The American clipper ship Northern Eagle, valued at $60,000, was burned in Esquimault harbor in Sept. 1859. She was en route to Puget Sound to load with lumber for Mel- bourne. Loss from $100,000 to $150,000. Steilacoom P. S. Herald, Oct. 8, 1859. On the 10th of May, 1860, the ocean mail-steamer Panamá, Capt. Hudson, went ashore on Point Hudson, at the entrance to Port Townsend harbor. She was worked off at high tide, and continued to visit Sound ports as late as 1876. Ebey's Journal, MS., vi. 306. Says C. M. Bradshaw, in Wash. Ter. Sketches, MS., 69-70: 'Before the erection of the light-house it was not unusual to hear guns fired in the night as signals of distress, or to awake and find some good ship beating upon the beach, at the mercy of the remorseless surf. On such occasions the settlers would rally and assist in getting the seamen on shore, and saving property from the wreck for the ben- efit of its owners, or aid in getting the ship off, if possible, without fee or reward. Many is the ship-master who has had abundant reason to thank the Dungeness farmers for assistance in dire necessity.' In May 1859 the bark Mary Slade, from Steilacoom to S. F., was wrecked near Mendocino, and be- came a total loss; no lives lost. In March 1862 the schr Tolo was capsized in a squall near San Juan, and Capt. Maloney and all her passengers and crew, except two, drowned. Ebey's Journal, MS., vii. 81. The schr Restless soon after capsized and drifted on Maylor Point, Whidbey Island, where it was broken up. The sloop Comet, running between Penn Cove and Utsalady Mills, a distance of 10 miles, disappeared with all on board, supposed to have been sunk by ice. Wash. Scraps, 19, 131. A large British ship was wrecked on Race Rocks, in the Strait of Fuca, and a heavy cargo of goods lost, in the winter of 1862. Or. Statesman, Dec. 22, 1862. The British ship Fanny and Hawaiian bark Rosalia were wrecked on Discovery Island, at the entrance to the Canal de Haro, in the spring of 1868; no lives lost. Seattle Intelligencer, March 30, 1868. The schr Growler was wrecked in the spring of 1867, and such of the crew as escaped were slain by the northern Indians. Portland Oregonian, May 18 and June 30, 1867. The schr Champion was wrecked at Shoalwater Bay in April 1870. Seattle Intelligencer, May 2, 1870. The schr Rosa Perry was cast away at the entrance to Shoalwater Bay, Oct. 2, 1872. The crew were rescued by the light-house tender Shubrick. Olympia Tran- script, Oct. 12, 1872. The Walter Raleigh was lost near Cape Flattery in the winter of 1872. S. F. Call, Dec. 14, 1872. The Nicaraguan ship Pelican was lost at the west end of Neal Bay in Jan. 1875; no lives lost. The American ship Emily Farnum, Austin master, struck on a rock off Destruction Island, Nov. 18th, and broke up. Two men were drowned. About the same time the schr Sunshine was found bottom up, off the mouth of the Columbia. She had 25 persons on board, all lost. Olympia Wash. Standard, Dec. 11, 1875. The bark David Hoadley ran ashore on Rocky Point, in the Straits, Dec. 4, ISSO, and was lost. The steam tug-boat Resolute exploded her boiler in North Bay, 15 miles from Olympia, Aug. 19, 1868; six lives lost. Olympia Pac. Tribune, Aug. 22, 1868. The most shocking calamity in the way of shipwreck which has ever happened in Washington waters occurred in the loss of the old and unseaworthy ocean mail-steamer Pacific, Nov. 4, 1875. She left Victoria in the morning, and in the evening, about 40 miles south of Cape Flattery, she col- lided with a sailing vessel and went down in less than an hour, with 275 souls on board. Two persons only were saved. The two saved, who were picked
335
WRECKS, PILOTS, AND LIGHT-HOUSES.
up from floating débris 36 and 48 hours after the wreck, were a quartermas- ter, name unknown, and a Canadian, Henry Frederick Jelly. The loss of ship and cargo was estimated at $125,000, and the treasure on board at $88,000. S. F. Call, Nov. 9 and 11, 1875. Since this disaster three large steam-colliers, belonging to the Central Pacific R. Co., have been wrecked- the Mississippi, burned at Seattle; the Tacoma, going ashore at the mouth of the Umpqua; and the Umatilla, running on the rocks at false Cape Flattery, all within the years 1883-4. The two lost at sea were doubtless lost through the wrong policy of the company in employing captains unacquainted with the coast. The escape of vessels from shipwreck for many years on the Sound, where there was no system of pilotage established, and light-houses were wanting, is worthy of remark. Pilotage has never been deemed im- portant, owing to the width of the straits and the depth of water; but light-nouses have been urgently demanded of congress by successive legisla- tures. Pilotage was not established hy act of the legislature until 1867-8. Wash. Stat., 1867-8, 33-9. The chairman of the first board was E. S. Fowler, and the secretary James G. Swan. During 1868 9 pilots were ap- pointed, 4 of whom resigned, and one was dismissed. The service was not considered remunerative, and was alleged to be unnecessary by many, who contended it was simply taxing commerce for the benefit of individuals. Olympia Transcript, March 28 and Oct. 3, 1868; Port Townsend Message, Oct. 8, 1868; Wash. Jour. Council, 1869, app. 21-7; Olympia Wash. Standard, Dec. 10, 1880. The organic act of Oregon territory appropriated fifteen thousand dollars for the construction of light-houses at Cape Disappointment and New Dungeness, and for buoys at the mouth of the Columbia. U. S. Stat. 1848-9, 323. Another act, passed a fortnight later, making appropriations for light-houses and for other purposes, appropriated money for the above- mentioned lights, and for another on Tatoosh Island, off Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the Strait of Fuca. H. Misc. Doc., vol. i. 57, 31st cong. Ist sess. Congress, in Aug. 1854, appropriated $25,000 for a light-house on Blunt or Smith Island, in the straits; the same amount for a light-house at Shoalwater Bay; and for the erection of the Tatoosh and New Dungeness lights, in addi- tion to any balance that might remain in the treasury after the completion of the Cape Disappointment light-house, belonging to that appropriation, $39,000. Eight thousand dollars was also granted for placing buoys at the entrances of Shoalwater Bay and New Dungeness harhor. Cong. Globe, 2249, 33d cong. Ist sess.
The light house at Cape Disappointment was not completed as soon as ex- pected, owing to the loss of the bark Oriole with the material on board in 1853. The contractors, Gibbons and Kelly, recovered $10,558 from the government for the loss of their material. H. Ex. Doc., 113, 2-3. Lieut G. H. Derby was appointed to superintend the construction of light-houses on the Oregon and Washington coast in 1854, Olympia Pioncer and Dem., July 22, 1854, when the work was finally begun at the mouth of the Columbia. It was com- pleted about 1856, and orders issued to begin the work on the others; but the Indian war and other causes delayed operations for some time. The first light displayed at New Dungeness was on the 12th of Dec. 1857. Ebey's Jour- mal, MS., v. 203; Light-house board rept, in H. Ex. Doc., 3, 287, 35th cong.
2d sess. It was of the third order of Fresnel. Tatoosh Island light was displayed about the same time. These two light-houses were erected under the superintendency of Isaac Smith. Those on Blunt Island and at Shoal- water Bay were completed in 1858. In 1872 a first-class steam fog-whistle was added, the fog-bell in use being insufficient. Gov.'s mess., in Wash. Jour. House, 1858-9, 18. The Tatooshes were much disturbed by the light on the island; they said it kept away the whales, which did not come in their usual numbers that season. Ind. Aff. Rept, 1858, 232, 236-8; Davidson's Coast Pilot, 179-80. A light-house was completed and light exhibited at Admiralty Head, or Kellogg Point, on Whidbey Island, in Jan. 1861, an appropriation of twenty- five thousand dollars having been made in 1856 for this purpose. Finance Rept, 1861, 205; Olympia Wash. Standard, Jan. 26, 1861; U. S. Statutes,
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RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
1855-6. The light-house board in their report for 1872 represented that the rapidly increasing commerce of Puget Sound demanded an increase of lights, and asked for an appropriation of $25,000 each for light-houses at Point No- Point, between Port Townsend and Seattle, at West Point, entrance to Dwamish Bay, and at Point Defiance, nine miles north of Steilacoom. To erect a steam fog-whistle at New Dungeness, $8,000 was asked for. Congress in the following March appropriated the required sums for the fog-whistle, and for a light-house at Point No-Point. Cong. Globe, app. 271, 42d cong. 3d sess .; Gov.'s mess., in Wash. Jour. Council, 1871, app. 110; H. Ex. Doc., 2, 549- 50, 42d cong. 3d sess. A bell struck by machinery at interval of ten seconds was added in 1880. The legislature in 1858-9 petitioned for a light-house on Hood Canal, and another on Point Roberts, the most northern point of the straits leading into the gulf of Georgia. The next legislature memorialized congress on the need of a light at Gray Harbor; and the assembly of 1860-1 asked for one at the north-west point of Vashon Island, another at the entrance to Bellingham Bay, and a third at Point Hudson. The sum of $20,000 was appropriated in June 1860 for a light-house at Gray Harbor, but nothing hav- ing been done toward erecting one in 1865, the legislative assembly of that winter memorialized congress on the subject. The number of light-houses had not, however, been added to, notwithstanding periodical memorials, and sug- gestions as to Alki Point, Foulweather Bluff, and Cypress Island, in addition to those before prayed for, when in 1876 negotiations were in progress to pur- chase land at Point No-Point for the purpose of establishing a light at that place. A light has since been established there. There were in 1884 ten lights on the whole coast of Washington, including the Strait of Fuca and Puget Sound; on Cape Disappointment or Hancock, one of the Ist order, Shoalwater Bay one of the 4th order; Cape Flattery one of the Ist order; Ediz Hook (Port Angeles) one of the 5th order; New Dungeness one of the 3d order; Smith or Blunt Island, Admiralty Head, and Point Wilson each one of the 4th order; Point No-Point one of the 5th, and at West or Sandy Point one of the 4th order. A light of the 1st class can be eeen about 20 miles, of the 5th half that distance. List of Light-houses, 1884, 66.
An act of congress approved June 20, 1874, authorized the establishment of three life-boat stations on the coast of Washington, with keepers at $200 a year. Life-Saving Service Rept, 1876, 55-7. The act, on account of many imperfections, was practically inoperative. To remedy this inefficiency, con- gress in 1878 passed another act organizing the service into a regular estab- lishment under a general superintendent, whose powers and duties were de- fined by law, prolonging the period of active service from the first of Sept. to the first of May, increasing the pay of the keepers, and extending their func- tions so as to include those of inspectors of customs, and detailing officers of the revenue marine corps for the duty of inspecting these stations. The sta- tions authorized in 1874 were at Neah Bay, on the Indian reservation; at Shoalwater Bay near the light-house landing; and at Baker's Bay, Cape Dis- appointment. These three life-saving stations were not completed until 1878, and cannot be regarded as of very great value, since they are dependent upon the services of volunteers, who might not be at hand in the moment of need.
From a memorial passed by the legislature of 1859-60, it appears that a marine hospital being necessary, I. N. Ebey, then collector of customs at Port Townsend for the district of Puget Sound, entered into a contract with Samuel McCurdy, April 2, 1885, to receive into his hospital all sick and disabled seamen, and provide for them the proper medical attendance, with board and lodging, for the sum of four dollars per day for each patient. In Nov. McCurdy joined the volunteer service as surgeon of the northern bat- talion, and remained with it until it disbanded in 1856, when he renewed his contract with Ebey's successor, M. H. Frost, at the price of three dollars per day for each patient, continuing to receive and provide for disabled seamen until July 1858, when the contract passed into other hands, McCurdy having received nothing for his services and outlay. Wash. Stat., 1859-60, 503. Mc- Curdy had several successors. P. M. O'Brien, who died a resident of San José,
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LUMBER TRADE.
Cal., was at one time medical director of the marine hospital at Port Townsend, but being in sympathy with rebellion, his resignation was desired and accepted. O'Brien was one of the organizers of the Hibernia Bank of S. F., and died wealthy. Quigley's Irish Race, 475-6. One of the most worthy and success- ful of the directers was T. T. Minor, who was fer several years in charge, and made many improvements. Minor was born in Cenn., and educated at Yale cellege, where he was studying medicine when the war of the rebellion began. Although but 17 years of age he enlisted as a private, and was assigned to the medical department in Higginsen's Ist S. C. colored regiment. In 1864 he was promoted to he surgeon. At the clese of the war he returned to his studies at New Haven. In 1868 he was appointed to visit Alaska and make a collection illustrative of the resources of that territory. On his return he settled at Port Townsend and took charge of the marine hospital, while also conducting a private hospital. Portland West Shore, Dec. 1876.
The chief article of export since 1851 has been lumber. The piles and squared timbers constituting the earliest shipments were cut by settlers and ship crews and dragged by hand to the water's edge. The skippers paid eight eents a foot for piles delivered alongside the vessel, and seld them in S. F. fer a dollar a foet. Among the first vessels after the Orbit and the George Emory to load with timber was the G. W. Kendall. She was sent to Puget Seund toward spring in 1851 to get a cargo of ice by her owner, Samuel Merritt of S. F. When he returned the captain met Merritt with the an- nouncement, 'Docter, water don't freeze in Puget Sound!' But he had brought back a profitable carge ef piles, and the decter was consoled fer his disappointment. Contemporary Biog., ii. 94. Getting out spars became a regular business befere 1856. Thomas Cranney was one of the first to make it a trade, about 1855. He says he had 9 yokes of cattle, with ropes and blocks equal to 90 more, and with all this power was from 2 to 3 days getting out one spar. But after he had completed his expensive education, he could haul 2 in a day with a single block and lead. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 47-8. On the island of Caamaño, in 1858, a company of Irish Canadians were getting out masts fer shipment to Europe. Rossi's Souvenirs, 165; Stevens' Northwest, 9-10. For this market the timber had to be hewed to an eight- sided form from end to end. For the China market they were hewed square to where they pass through the vessel's deck, and above that round to the end of the stick. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 48. Later they were made square te avoid import duties. A skidded road was prepared on which the spar was to run, a heavy bleck was made fast to it, and anether to a tree ahead, the oxen slowly pulling it by the rope between, aleng the track, the forward block being shifted farther ahead as the spar advanced, until the chute was reached, which conducted it to the vessel. S. F. Alta, Oct. 20, 1862. In loading spars seme space is necessarily left, which is filled in with pickets and lath from the mills. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 48. But previous to this, as early as 1855, the bark Anadyr, Capt. J. H. Swift, sailed from Utsa- lady with a cargo of spars, consigned to the French navy-yard at Brest. The shipment was made by Brennan and Thompson to fill a contract made by Isaac Friedlander of S. F. In 1857 the same ship toek a cargo of spars from Utsalady to the English navy-yard at Chatham. The spars sent to France were subjected to rigid tests, and found equal to the best. Since 1856 spars have been regularly sent to these markets, and to Spain, Mauritius, China, and elsewhere. The Dutch ship Williamberg, in 1856, took out over 100 spars from 80 to 120 feet long, and from 30 to 43 inches diameter at the but, the largest weighing from 18 to 20 tens apiece. S. F. Alta, Dec. 29, 1836; Sac. Union, Nov. 13, 1857. The first vessel direct from China that ever ar- rivel in Puget Seund was the Lizzie Jarvis, in Oct. 1S5S, to load with spars for that empire. In 1860 the first cargo of yellow-fir spars was shipped to the Atlantic perts of the U. S. in the Lawson, of Bath, Maine. These sticks were from 60 to 118 feet in length, and were furnished by the Port Gamble mill company. Port Townsend Northwest, Aug. 1860. In the following year
HIST. WASH .- 22
338
RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES.
the ship Indiaman loaded with spars at Utsalady for the Spanish naval sta- tion near St Urbes, and the ship True Briton for London. Id., Oct. 26, 1861; Wash. Scraps, 20; Seattle Intelligencer, Aug. 20, 1879. The annual shipment is about three cargoes. In 1869 2,000 spars were shipped, at a value of $2,067,000. Scammon, in Overland Monthly, v. 60.
Milled lumber, owing to the necessities of California, was early in demand on Puget Sound. From the date when Yesler first established a steam-mill at Seattle there has been a forward progress in the facilities and extent of this first of manufactures, until in 1879, a year of depression, the estimated product of the Sound inills was 120,500,000 feet. The pioneer lumbering es- tablishment on Puget Sound was erected in 1847, by M. T. Simmons and as- sociates, at Tumwater, as I have said. Its first shipment was in 1848, when the H. B. Co.'s str Beaver took a cargo for their northern posts. Olympia Transcript, May 23, 1868. The second saw-mill was erected by James Mc- Allister, in 1851. It was a small gate or sash mill driven by water-power, cutting from 500 to 1,000 feet per day. Wash. Ter. True Exhibit, 1880. 59; Dayton Dem. State Jour., Nov. 17, 1SS2. A. S. Abernethy erected a water- power mill at Oak Point on the Columbia in 1848-9. In 1872 it was turn- ing out 4,000,000 feet of lumber annually. Victor's Or. and Wash., 64. In the winter of 1852-3 Yesler put up a steam saw-mill at Seattle, which turned out from 10,000 to 15,000 feet per day. The sawdust was used in filling in marshy ground on the beach, where it forms a considerable part of the water-front of the city. The mill-waste and slabs were converted into a wharf. The mill was rebuilt in 1868. Teu years afterward the old machinery was in use in a grist-mill at Seattle. Yesler's Settlement of Seattle, MS., 1, 3, 7.
In 1852 a mill was erected at Shoalwater Bay by David K. Weldon and George Watkins. Swan's N. W. Coast, 64-5. In the spring of 1853 Nicholas Delin, M. T. Simmons, and Smith Hays formed a partnership to erect two mills, one at the head of Commencement Bay, and the other upon Skookum Bay, north-west of Olympia. The first was completed in May, and 2 cargoes of lumber were shipped on the George Emory to S. F .; but the mill proved to be badly situated, and was abandoned, even before the Indian war. Evans, in New Tacoma Ledger, July 9, 1880. A mill was built in the winter of 1852-3 at Whatcom, Bellingham Bay, by Roder & Peabody, but water failed in summer. Its capacity was 4,000 feet per day during high water. It was burned in 1873, and not rebuilt. Roder's Bellingham Bay, MS., 17; El- dridge's Sketch, MS., 4. At Port Ludlow, G. K. Thorndike, in 1852, began erecting a mill; in the spring following he was joined by W. T. Sayward of S. F., and a large steam-mill built. In 1858 it was leased to Arthur Phin- ney for $500 a month, who finally, in 1874, purchased the property. Say- ward's Pioneer Reminiscences, MS., 34. Phinney died in 1887, and on the settlement of the estate the mill was bought by the Pnget Mill Co. for $64,000. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xiii. 1-2; S. F. Chronicle, Nov. 9, IS78. Another large mill was begun in 1852 by the Puget Mill Co., at Port Gamble, by Jo- siah P. Keller, W. C. Talbot, and Andrew J. Pope. A village sprung up, originally called Teekalet. These proprietors purchased large tracts of tim- ber. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 43. The capacity of the Port Gamble mill in 1879 was 36,000,000 feet annually.
In 1852 Edmund Martin, J. J. Phelps, and Ware built a steam-mill at Appletree Cove on the west side of Admiralty Inlet. Martin was afterward a large liquor-dealer in S. F., and cashier of the Hibernia Bank. He dicd about 1880. Before this mill was fairly in successful operation it was sold to G. A. Meigs in 1853, who removed it to Port Madison the same year. In Dec. 1854 it was burned, but rebuilt, and in March 1861 the boilers of the new mill exploded, killing 6 men and stopping work for 2 weeks, when it resumed and ran until May IS64, when it was destroyed by fire, but was again rebuilt. In 1872 the firm was Meigs & Gawley. Owing to business complications and embarrassments from losses, it was not until 1877 that Meigs was able to clear the establishment, and to associate with himself others who formed the Meigs Lumber and Ship-building Company. Of all the
339
MILLS ON THE SOUND.
lumbering establishments none were more complete than this. Its ca- pacity in 1880 was 200,000 feet in 12 hours, and it could cut logs 132 feet long. It has an iron and brass foundery, machine, blacksmith, and carpenter shops, and ship-yard. The village was a model one, with neat dwellings for the opera- tives, a public hall, library, hotel, and store. Masonic and good templar's lodges, with dancing assemblies, lectures, and out-door sports, were features of the place. About 300 people were employed, and no liquor sold in the place. Miegs was a Vermonter. Yesler's Wash. Ter., MS., 5-6; Murphy and Harned's P. S. Directory, 1872, 147; Seattle Pac. Tribune, Aug. 17, 1877, Scammon, in Overland Monthly, v. 59; Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 44-6. Another of the early mills was that of Port Orchard. It was first put up at Alki Point, called New York, by C. C. Terry and William H. Renton in 1853-4, but removed after 2 or 3 years to Port Orchard, which had a better harbor. The mill was afterward sold to Coleman and Glynden, who rebuilt it in 1868-9, but hecame bankrupt, and the mill was burned before any capital came to relieve it. Ycsler's Wash. Ter., MS., 4-5; Seattle Intelligencer, March 11, 1869. After selling the Port Orchard mill, Renton & Howard went to Port Blakeley, 10 miles distant from and opposite to Seattle, and erected a large lumbering establish- ment, costing $80,000, and capable of turning out 50,000 feet a day. It began sawing in April 1864, entting an average of 19,000,000 feet annually down to ISSO, when its capacity was increased to 200,000 per day. Howard died before the completion of the mill, in 1863, and the firm incorporated as Renton, Holmes & Co., but in 1876 became again incorporated as the Port Blakeley Mill Company, with a capital of $600,000. Wash. Ter. True Exhibit, 1880, 60. This mill shipped, in 1883, 54,000,000 feet of Inmber, and could cut 200,- 000 feet in 12 hours. It had 80 saws of all kinds; 19 boilers and 7 engines, with a united power of 1,200 horse. It was lighted by 16 electric lights, and was every way the most complete lumbering establishment in this, if not in any, country. In 1853 the frame of the Utsalady mill was hewn out for Gren- nan & Cranney, who began sawing in Feb. 1858. The sole owner in Dec. 1869 was Thomas Cranney. In 1873, Cranney & Chisholm owned it; but in 1876 it was sold to the Puget Mill Co. for about $35,000, and was closed for two years. It ent for 11 years an average of 17,000,000 feet annually, and after- ward more than double that amount. Morse's Wash. Ter., MS., xxii. 43, 47-8. In 1858-9 S. L. Mastick & Co. of S. F. erected a mill at Port Discovery, which in the first 18 months cut 8,500,000 feet of lumber. It employed in 1871 50 men, and turned out 12,000,000 feet of lumber and 200,000 laths. This amount was increased in 1874 to 18,000,000 feet annually, but dropped to 12,000,000 from 1875 to 1879; sinee which time its capacity has been doubled. Id., MS., xxiii. 2-3; Portland Oregonian, May 29, 1875. In 1862 a firm known as the Washington Mill Company, consisting of Marshall Blinn, W. J. Adams, John R. Williamson, W. B. Sinclair, and Hill Harmon, built a mill at Seabeck on Hood Canal, with an average capacity of 11,000,000 fcet per annum, at a cost of $80,000. Blinn & Adanis were the principal owners. In 1879 Adams was sole proprietor. The establishment owned two vessels, the Cassandra Adams and the Dublin. In 1865 J. R. Williamson and others built a mill at Freeport (now Milton), opposite Seattle, which was sold to Marshall & Co., about 1874. Its capacity was about 35,000 feet per day. In 1868 Ackerson & Russ of Cal. erected a mill at Tacoma (then calle.I Commencement City). In 1877 the firm was Hanson, Ackerman & Co., and the mill was cutting over 81,000 feet per day. New Tacoma Ledger, May 7, ISSO; Olympia Transcript, Feb. 15, 1870; Portland West Shore, Oct. 1877. Of local mills and those connected with other manufacturers, run by water or by steam, there were about 50 others in western Washington, on Gray Harbor, Shoalwater Bay, the Willopah, Chehalis, Cowlitz, and Columbia rivers, and scattered through the settlements.
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