An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 49

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172

USA > Washington > Skagit County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 49
USA > Washington > Snohomish County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 49

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The foothills and slopes of the Cascades, lying

in close proximity, have as yet lost only a fraction of their marketable timber; the minerals hidden beneath these forests have scarcely been scratched by the pick, while the valleys are being cultivated in but a few spots. At Baker lake, about twenty- five miles up the river, the government maintains an extensive fish hatchery.

Just across the river from the town of Baker a great cement mine is now being developed by a syndicate which proposes to erect on the ground a mill capable of producing twelve hundred barrels a day. In fact, at this writing, a crew of more than a hundred men is engaged in building a great dam on Baker river and flumes for utilizing the immense water power, while side tracks have been laid and the site is ready to receive the mill. The enterprise is a substantial one and bids fair to create of itself a thrifty, populous community. A comparatively new bridge spans the Baker near its mouth, connecting the town with the proposed cement works on the old Amasa Everett ranch on the west side of the river.

Upon the sloping plateau, reaching perhaps a height of between a hundred and a hundred and fifty feet above the rivers, on the east side of the Baker river, which forms the site of Baker, Richard Challanger settled in 1888. Two years later Magnus Miller bought the claim from Challanger and made permanent residence thereon, building a dwelling large enough to accommodate occasional travelers through that isolated region. The next year the community built a school-house on John Benson's place on the Skagit a short distance above the mouth of the Baker. and in 1892 Baker postoffice was established on Miller's place.

In this stage of development the embryo town remained for nearly ten years, or until the Great Northern was extended up the valley, passing through the Miller place. About this time Wil- son M. Aldridge came to the mouth of Baker river with a stock of general merchandise and estab- lished the pioneer store near the postoffice, the vear of his arrival being 1900. A year later the Baker River Lumber Company erected a mill along the railroad at the Miller place, which added impe- tus to the town's growth, resulting in the establish- ment of another store (owned by the company), and a saloon, and increasing the population con- siderably. This mill is operating steadily, cutting from one hundred thousand to one hundred and twenty thousand shingles a day, but no lumber. Last year a school-house was built in town and Miss Carrie Leggett employed as its first teacher.

The town institutions may be said to consist of two general stores, that of W. M. AAldridge and that of the Baker River Lumber Company ; hotel, operated by Magnus Miller : postoffice, of which he is also postmaster ; a shingle mill. two saloons, a large cement works just across the river, and a school-house.

2.44

SKAGIT COUNTY

SAUK CITY

As early as 1884 a postoffice was established at Sauk City. In January. 1889, a large portion of the little village which had sprung up there was destroyed by fire. Only one building, it is said, was left standing, the store of George Perrault, but many of the destroyed residences were at once re- built. The following November forty acres were platted into town lots and a larger area was divided into five and ten-acre tracts, which were offered for sale soon after. During 1890, Thomas F. Moody of Hamilton and J. W. Sutherland of Fair- haven purchased three hundred and sixty acres of land across the Skagit from Sauk postoffice from Messrs. Sutter. McLoud & Byers: their object being to start a town. In August surveying was begun and negotiations were opened for a saw- mill, which would furnish materials for the build- ings. Moody & Sutherland merged their interests with those of a wealthy corporation in February. 1891. and it appeared that a grand onward move- ment for the place had begun.

At that time it seemed evident that with the energy and wealth of its promoters, with the agri- cultural and logging interests that would naturally center there and with its close proximity to the mineral stores of the Skagit. Cascade and Sauk rivers, it must necessarily become a town of no little importance. The site selected was decidedly advantageous, being at the head of the Skagit valley and at the foot of Sauk valley, on a piece of ground lying in moderately high terraces, the lower one of which was above high-water mark.

But with all these advantages, and with the railroad it now enjoys, the growth of the place has been slow, owing to the comparative slow- ness in the development of its tributary industries. The business houses established there at present are: The Sauk Mercantile Company, dealers in general merchandise, two hotels, two saloons, a butcher shop, a tailor shop, a shingle mill with a daily capacity of one hundred and twenty thou- sand and a postoffice. The place is supplied with a good public school. As vet no denomination of Christians has established itself in Sauk, but a Sunday-school is maintained.

ROCKPORT

The present terminus of the railroad from Ana- cortes through the Skagit valley to the foot of the Cascades is Rockport, on the Sauk river. near Sauk City. For many years a hotel has been maintained there by Al. Von Pressentin and a few goods may also have been carried by him, but the little town is comparatively young, not over five or six years old. Until very recently the people resid- ing in the vicinity had to go to Sauk for their mail. but they now have a postoffice in their midst. The

business establishments of the place at present are Al. Von Pressentin's hotel; Charles Cornforth's restaurant : Horace Claiborn's saloon ; Al. Von Pres- sentin's general store: Wm. H. Parry's livery sta- ble ; a large mill boarding house run by A. Young ; the Hawkeye Shingle Company's mill, capacity one hundred and twenty thousand ; the Rockport Shin- gle Company's plant, capacity fifty to sixty thou- sand : a public school, and a depot, with a telegraph and express office.

CEMENT CITY

This town site was platted only the last of July, 1905. The writer visited it about that time and watched the streets being staked out and men at work installing a water system. Only one building had been erected on the site, that of O. C. Miller, manager of the new cement works.

This town has been planned as a home for the large number of people who are shortly to be em- ployed at this place in mining the raw cement and refining it.

DEWEY

This thrifty little hamlet is situated at the ex- treme southern portion of Fidalgo island, near the western end of Deception pass. The original name of this postoffice was Deception, and it was created in the latter part of the eighties. There was nothing except the postoffice at the place until 1889, when every available town site on Fidalgo island was purchased and platted as fast as surveyors could do the work. F. J. Carlyle and George Loucke, in 1889, secured holdings at Deception and almost im- mediately platted them as Fidalgo City, three hun- dred and forty-one blocks being surveyed. About the same time Legh R. Freeman, publisher of the Washington Farmer, laid out another tract of land near by, calling his town Gibraltar. A newspaper report of the time states that at the opening sale of lots, November 5th, two hundred and fifty-two of the Fidalgo City lots were sold and forty-seven at Gibraltar. January 9, 1891, the name of the post- office was changed to Fidalgo and Miss Mary E. Loucke appointed postmistress. As this name was in conflict with that of the old postoffice on Fidalgo bay, the department almost immediately again changed the name-this time to Fidalgo City. This name remained until after the Spanish-American War, when the old name was abandoned and the present one, that of the gallant admiral, chosen.

In 1891 an electric motor line was built from Anacortes south to Fidalgo City and cars made two trips over it. The enterprise was premature, how- ever, and really completed simply to secure a large land bonus promised the company. This old road- bed may still be seen, but the iron has long since been removed.

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CITIES AND TOWNS

Fidalgo City, or Dewey's, pioneer merchants were W. H. Halpin and C. J. Carlisle, the former establishing the first store at the time the town was laid out. Without attempting to note minutely the changes from time to time, it is sufficient to say that the present merchant and postmaster, Albanus D. Quint, came to Dewey in 1897 and opened his store. Dewey is a pleasantly situated little place, and when Fidalgo island becomes a great man- ufacturing point, it, too, will enjoy a vigorous growth.

WHITNEY

This little hamlet lies on the Anacortes branch of the Great Northern railway, perhaps a mile south- east of Padilla bay, in the northern portion of the famous Swinomish flats. There is a station there of which Mrs. E. Mendenhall is in charge. She also keeps the postoffice, and in connection with it a small store. The only other business establish- ment of the place is a hotel and saloon, conducted by Anderson Brothers. A daily stage line is also operated between Whitney and La Conner, six miles south.

The postoffice, which is still known as Padilla, was established in 188? in the old village of Padilla, a mile north of the railroad, with A. G. Tillinghast as postmaster. With the building of the railroad in 1890 this pioneer hamlet was abandoned and what business was there removed to Whitney station. Miss Emma Jenne became postmistress about 1891 and shortly afterward Olven Fulk built the Ander- son hotel and saloon. Whitney was named in honor of Rienzie E. Whitney, who was one of Skagit's most worthy pioneers, the founder of the Padilla settlement and the man who reclaimed Whitney's island near the station.

FIDALGO

The above is the name of a station on the Ana- cortes division of the Great Northern railway at a point where it crosses Fidalgo bay, two miles south- east of Anacortes. At the time of the great Fidalgo island boom in 1890 William Munks platted the town on a portion of his old homestead and quite a business center sprang up at the place. A preten- tious hotel was erected by Mr. Munks himself and a large store was established by Henry C. Bark- housen. These were not the pioneer houses, how- ever, for Fidalgo postoffice was the second one created in Skagit county and Mr. Munks had main- tained a trading post at his place since the late sixties. With the collapse of the boom in 1892, and the arrival of hard times, Fidalgo gave up its ambi- tion to become a city and ultimately the land was remanded to farming purposes. The postoffice was discontinued a few years ago. and now all that re- mains of the town is a few deserted buildings and the railroad station.

FIR

Although merely a hamlet, a trading center in the delta of the Skagit river, Fir is a place of his- toric interest in Skagit county. At present there is a postoffice, of which Colonel Charles F. Treat is postmaster ; two general stores, one belonging to Colonel Treat, the other to Edward Osborn ; George Mann's hotel and a saloon.

Mann's Landing. as Fir was first named, had its inception in the logging industry. When that busi- ness began to assume large proportions on the Skagit during the middle seventies, extensive boom facil- ities became a necessity at the river's mouth, the maintenance of which in turn required great crews of men. So it was only natural that in 1826 C. H. Mann should have opened a store upon his claim near by. It being conveniently situated upon the shore, boats at once began making calls there, and very shortly the point became known as Mann's Landing. Its location is upon the north bank of the south fork channel, opposite Conway, and perhaps three and a half miles from the sound. Contem- poraneously with the establishment of Mann's store, came a small hotel owned by Mann and kept by Mrs. John Anderson, and the postoffice of Fir, of which Mr. Mann was postmaster. At that time Skagit City was the only town on the river, Mount Vernon being no larger than Fir for several years. As headquarters for loggers and the constantly in- creasing number of settlers who were reclaiming the fertile bottom lands at the delta, Fir throve vig- orously, and became a typical frontier community.

About 1882 Magnus Anderson replaced Mann's old hotel by a substantial, two-story building, of which Mr. and Mrs. Charles Villeneuve first took charge. Soon afterward the Morting house was erected. Just at this period in the hamlet's history Skagit county's first disastrous fire wiped out every business building at the place, the losses reaching approximately seventeen thousand dollars, with small insurance. The buildings were at once rebuilt and business reestablished. Friday, April 10, 1885, is the date of this conflagration. Eight years later Mr. Mann again suffered the destruction by fire of his store buildings, the loss this time reaching, ac- cording to the Skagit News, twenty-five thousand dollars, with eleven thousand dollars insurance. Since that disaster Fir has prospered without un- toward incident. Many fishing boats on the sound make headquarters at Fir and Conway.

CONWAY

Conway lies on the southeastern bank of the Skagit river, opposite Fir, and is the southernmost Skagit county station on the Great Northern's coast-line. Its population does not exceed fifty, there being only a postoffice, hotel, store and two saloons there. A ferry connects Conway with Fir. virtually making them one community.

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SKAGIT COUNTY

Thomas P. Jones and Charles Villeneuve settled upon and near the site of Conway in 1813, but not until 1886 did the latter establish the pioneer store on the land. In 1891 the Great Northern came through, designating this point as a station. There- upon Mr. Jones platted the town site of Conway upon a portion of his land. Mr. Villeneuve bought four lots and in 1892 erected the present store building. A heavy flood in 1894 all but destroyed the place. Two years later Mr. Villeneuve leased his store to William Bonser, who retained posses- sion two years. finally returning the business to its owner. Magnus Anderson succeeded Mr. Villen- euve a year and a half later and was in turn re- cently sneceeded by John Melkild who still conducts the general store. The wealthy Skagit delta flats surround the town, furnishing its main support.

SKAGIT CITY

The history of Skagit City is so interwoven with the general history of Skagit county that only a brief mention will be necessary here. This historic place, the oldest settlement and business point on the Skagit river. is situated on the north bank of the main river about four miles below Mount Vernon and a mile below the junction of the north and south forks. It is in the very heart of the Skagit delta, surrounded on every side by one of the richest farm- ing regions in the Northwest. Practically the whole region is in cultivation. The river here is broad and deep, furnishing facilities for extensive steamboat navigation and general boating, all of which is taken advantage of by numerous river boats. A ferry is maintained by the county at this point for the convenience of the public.

Like a typical river town, Skagit City was built along the dike, the business houses being built in a row facing the water, beginning with Barker's single trading post in 1869. Ten years later Skagit City was a thrifty village with hotels, stores, saloons. school, church and other public buildings. For a few years it continued to grow, but with the rise of Mount Vernon the older town gradually began to decline, losing its business houses to Mount Vernon one by one. At present only one remains, the gen- eral store of D. E. Gage, who succeeded more than a quarter of a century ago to the original establish- ment. Even the postoffice has been discontinued. the rural free delivery routes taking its place. The Skagit Queen, Captain H. H. MacDonald, calls at the wharf when occasion requires.

The town site was platted on the old homestead of W. H. McAlpine, one of the carliest of Skagit's pioneers. Originally the McAlpine dwelling and Barker's store stood further up the river, near the point a few hundred yards above the present build- ings. Heavy floods have partly washed away the old site.

tance and interest in connection with the early days of Skagit's settlement that it will always live in local history. Its mission as a town, however, seems to have been fulfilled.

LYM.IN

"Otto Klement has laid off the town of Lyman. The lots are fifty by one hundred ; alleys seventeen feet : streets sixty and eighty-two. The site is one above all overflow, level and dry. Our county sur- veyor, George Savage, has done the platting and excellent work is the result."

Such is the account in the Skagit News of Octo- ber 28, 1884, of the inception of Lyman as a town. The first store in the place had been erected before this by Mr. Klement. If the town site proprietor · expected a rapid growth for his new burg he was doomed to disappointment, but the town, by 1889, consisted of the first-class general merchandise store of B. D. Minkler, the Lyman hotel, run by a man named Quinn, a livery stable, a town hall and a church.

Notwithstanding its splendid location in the heart of a fine agricultural section, with a fine belt of timber on one side and great deposits of coal and iron on the other, Lyman seems to have received relatively little attention from the town site boomer during the early nineties, nor has it had a specially rapid growth at any time. Of the three roads ex- pected to pass through it in 1890, but one has mater- ialized, the Seattle & Northern, now the property of the Great Northern. This, however, is already of inestimable advantage and will be of still greater when the development of the mines begins in good earnest. The town at present consists of the follow- ing business enterprises: Lyman hotel and saloon, Duffy & Egan's saloon, Henry Hurshman's general merchandise store and hotel. the Hitchcock-Kelly Lumber Company. Vanderford & Minkler Shingle mill, a K. of P. hall, a postoffice and a railway depot.

STERLING

Jesse B. Ball founded the town of Sterling in 1818, by establishing a large logging camp and trad- ing post at that point. The site lies at a great bend in the Skagit river, two miles below Sedro-Woolley, on the north bank of the river. Then, and for many years afterward, Sterling was the chief town in the valley above Mount Vernon and was the head of regular steamboat navigation. The forests sur- rounding the town and up the valley were a paradise for loggers, and Sterling was considered headquar- ters, making it for the first few years an important place.

In 1886 the Skagit Railway and Lumber Com- pany succeeded Ball. This concern enlarged even upon his extensive operations, employing a small

Skagit City is associated with so much of impor- | army of men and carrying a stock of general

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CITIES AND TOWNS

merchandise ranging from forty thousand dollars upward. The town had this camp and store, a hotel, a livery stable, a church and a school-house in 1889, and perhaps seventy to eighty permanent residents. That year, however, marked the be- ginning of Sterling's end, as Sedro began its wonderful growth, Woolley was platted and the railroads, just constructed throughout the county, began drawing trade from the river. When what is now the Skagit valley branch of the Great Northern came up the valley, Sterling was not touched by it, a fact which further accelerated the decline of the little river town. To-day there is a station called Sterling, but the old town is merely a memory.

THORNE

The postoffice of Warner's prairie, northwest of Burlington, is Thorne, established in 1900. It is named in honor of the postmaster, Woodbury J. Thorne, who, with his wife, settled on their home- stead in 1895.

EHRLICHIS

A postoffice and station on the Bellingham branch of the Northern Pacific railway, between Montborne and McMurray. Hughes & Blake oper- ate a general store, besides which there are two or three small shingle mills in the vicinity.

For the purpose of preserving in history some data concerning pioneer Skagit towns and post- offices which never realized a permanent existence, we mention the following :

Eagle Harbor, a postoffice established on Cypress island in 1881, with E. Hammond as post- master. No business buildings were ever erected or mails ever delivered.

Bancroft, a town laid out around AAlden Acad- emy, Fidalgo island, in 1883, by Rev. E. O. Tade. It was so named in honor of Hubert Howe Ban- croft, the author of the Pacific Coast series. An unsuccessful enterprise, which never progressed be- yond the sale of a few lots.

Bessemer, north bank of the Skagit river above Birdsview. Platted by Harrison Clothier in 1890, at the time the Cokedale mines were opened. A town in name only.

Atlanta, on Samish island near Point Williams. Platted by ex-Sheriff G. W. L. Allen in 1883. He erected a two-story hotel, established a store, se- cured a postoffice and built an extensive wharf, but failed in his larger purpose. This was the extent of the town's growth.

Other postoffices in the county according to the last United States postal guide are : Belfast, Belle- ville, Biglake, Birdsview, Cypress, Fravel, Fre- donia, Lookout, Mansford, Marblemount, Milltown, Minkler, Prairie, Samish, Urban and Van Horn, all of which are thriving centers of the lumber, mining or agricultural industry.

PART III SNOHOMISH COUNTY

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATION

)

SEMONTE CRISTO WIEM

"CANYON FALLS.

MOUNTAIN AND STREAM

PART III SNOHOMISH COUNTY

CHAPTER I

SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

Away back in the early fifties, when the Indians still held by right of possession all the land on which are the cities of Seattle, Everett, La Conner, Bell- ingham and other prominent towns of the sound, the first permanent white settlement in Snohomish county was made. The site of this settlement was Tulalip bay, the settlers were Jolin Gould, who died recently on Whidby island, a Frenchman named Peter Goutre and a few others ; the purpose of these stout-hearted pioneers was to utilize the splendid water power in operating a saw-mill; the date of their settlement is believed to be 1853.

The saw-mill was built as planned. Nothing oc- curred to interfere seriously with its successful oper- ation until January 22, 1855, when the celebrated Governor I. I. Stevens held a council with the D'Wamish and allied tribes of Indians. The result of this convention was the cession to the United States of a vast domain, from which, however, was reserved to the Indians a tract of land including the very spot on which this pioneer saw-mill stood. As a result the mill was condemned by the government, which bought it at an appraised valuation. It still stands on its original site, a monument to the enter- prise of its pioneer builders, and a great curiosity. But it is more than a relic of the past ; more than a curiosity, for in the hands of Indian operators, it is still doing good work for the agency.

The wide-spread Indian outbreak which fol- lowed the negotiation of Governor Stevens' several treaties with Oregon and Washington tribes, pre- vented settlements in Snohomish county during the years 1855-6, if any such were contemplated. The war, however, brought white men to the country, thereby extending a knowledge of its resources and

perhaps influencing settlement at a later date. For a general outline of operations against the Indian confederated tribes in this celebrated race struggle, the reader is referred to a previous chapter. The seat of war on the sound was King and Pierce counties, but it was thought best to send troops to the Snohomish river to confirm the neutrality of the Snoqualmies and other tribes who made their homes in this vicinity, and to circumscribe the hostile area as completely as possible. With this end in view, Colonel I. N. Ebey, of Whidby island, raised a com- pany of volunteers at Port Townsend, and in No- vember, 1855, came with them to the Snohomish country. Patkanim, a friendly Snoqualmie chief, piloted the company. It was transported to the Snohomish river by the schooner A. Y. Trask, Cap- tain Horton, which was towed by the little iron steamer Traveler, Captain John E. Burns. The Traveler was probably the first steamer that ever en- tered the Snohomish. Ascending to the head of what has ever since been known as Ebey slough, they built there a primitive log fortfication, named by them Fort Ebey, where they remained until the next spring. The fort was never compelled to en- gage in active hostilities, offensive or defensive, but after Patkanim's battle on White river, in which he surprised and ronted the hostiles, the heads of fallen foes were brought to the Snoqualmie river, thence in canoes to Fort Ebey, where the victorious war- riors came ashore with their horrid trophies on sticks. Setting these in the ground, they proceeded to execute a war dance in the presence of the volun- teers.

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An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 49

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1906 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1172

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172