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 58

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 58
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 58

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A new interest in agriculture, which is, after all. in spite of all the fascinations of mining, the great essential, permanent dependence of a community, also began to manifest itself. Farmers and dairy- men became interested in the new device known as a silo, by which grain and feed may be kept green all winter. It had been introduced into Snohomish county a few years previous, being first used by Mr. Alvord and others on White river. These were followed by David Sexton near Snohomish and C. B. Miller and H. J. Andrus of Machias and others in different parts of the county. All these silos were very successful and the introduction of them attracted considerable attention. Dairving too, for which the shores of Puget sound and especially the sheltered and fertile valleys of Snohomish county present such especial attractions. received a new impetus about this time, and many of the ranchers were increasing their herds to from forty to seventy head.

The ready revolver was not entirely in innocuous disuse during the year 1896, as may be seen by the following incident : A Jewish peddler named Na- than Phillips was walking along the railroad track near Monte Cristo depot, carrying a satchel filled with several hundred dollars' worth of jewelry. when he was suddenly attacked by a miner named Dave LeRoy. They struggled for a few minutes over the possession of the satchel, when LeRoy suddenly pulled a revolver and shot the peddler. inflicting two dangerous wounds. Then. seizing the satchel, he ran down the track. The deed was witnessed by several men and a pursuit was imme- diately organized, but the man was familiar with the

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surrounding country and managed to make his escape.

The Snohomish river, too, felt the need of at- tracting a little special attention at this stage of development and "went on a rampage" as a result of the extraordinary fall rains. The floods were said to be the worst in the history of the county. The losses in the city itself were not very severe, but on the marshes and low lands along the edge of the river terrible damage was inflicted. Hun- dreds of head of live stock and poultry were lost, as well as many tons of hay, and in some cases en- tire farms were covered several feet deep with de- bris and drift, while many buildings were destroyed.

The railroads were all very heavy losers, the Great Northern especially suffering all along the line. Above Index a quarter mile of track was washed out as well as a number of bridges, and between Index and Sultan there were eight wash-outs. The Everett & Monte Cristo road also suffered heav- ily. In the mountains stretches of track were com- pletely destroyed. as well as one tunnel. Trains were held up for nearly a month. In the mining districts it was impossible to get provisions and scores of miners came down to the towns to stay until the trains could get through again. The de- struction along the Skagit river was even worse than that along the Snohomish.

CHAPTER IV

CURRENT EVENTS, 1897-1905

By the opening of 1896 a new era may be said to have commenced in the development of Snoho- mish county. The long period of hard times was fairly passed. The Cape Horn of storms had been doubled and the favoring breezes of a boundless Pacific of new achievements were beginning to waft on the enterprises of an opening era, the second era of growth to our state. one which has not yet been checked, and which all indications seem to show will not soon be checked.

There had come to Snohomish county during the decade previous a class of population of re- markably high grade and general intelligence, a class capable of great things in their various lines of endeavor. For instance, the legal ability centered there and drawn there by important cases was such as to excite comment. A great array of this legal talent was displayed in the case of Hart vs. Rucker, which was a very long and closely con- tested one. It began by the purchase by Rucker of some school land, on which Hart had a saw-mill and other improvements worth forty thousand dol- lars. It was claimed by the plaintiff that Rucker undertook to pay for these improvements, but when the value of the land declined that he changed his mind and refused to do so. Hart then sued him. The jury decided for the defendant, but the case was appealed and stretched out for a long period before it was finally settled. A number of brilliant lawyers appeared in this case. The plaintiff, Hart. was represented by Messrs. Stiles, Stevens &

Tillinghast, Seymour & Prichard of Tacoma and Coleman & Hart of Snohomish. Rucker was represented by P. C. Sullivan, B. S. Grosseup, A. F. Burleigh, D. J. Crowley, Frank Brownell, A. D. Austin and W. P. Bell. Practically all these men were leading members of their profession in the county or even in the state.

We have already narrated the stages in the county-seat imbroglio. The last act was accom- plished in the beginning of this year by removing the court records to Everett.

As usual the mining interest was a leading one and long strides were being taken in the develop- ment of that industry. A number of promising mines were being opened up in Silverton and the near vicinity. The Tribune of March 19th gives an interview with D. D. Besse, a mining man of that district, in which he describes some of those mines. The following account is condensed from that interview: The Bonanza Queen, according to surface assays, had five million dollars ; the Double Eagle, about half as much, and the Bell and Crown, Helena and others about equal to the Double Eagle. In the White Horse district on the north fork of the Stillaguamish and the Buckeye gulch were also valuable properties. Across the hill was the St. Louis copper mine, which after all expenses left a net profit of fifteen dollars per ton. The Iloodoo was a mine in which English capital was largely interested and in 1892, eighty-five thousand dollars had been invested in tunnels and

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crossents. The Forty-five was a mine whose ore assaved one hundred and seven dollars per ton. As a result of all these developments Silverton re- ceived quite a boom, and at this time twenty houses were being built besides two hotels and two stores.

In the fall the mining prospects were better than ever. The largest mine, the Monte Cristo, controlled by Colby, Hoyt, Rockefeller and other capitalists, was being very extensively developed and was becoming very productive. The Pennsyl- vania was perhaps second in size and a great deal of work was also being done on it at this time, especially in the digging of crosscuts. The "Forty- five" and the Independent were both ready to com- mence shipping ore. The railroads were progress- ing in a way very favorable to the development of the mines, although owing to the floods and the lowness of the roadbeds a great deal of damage and consequent delay occurred. The work of A. E. Haber of the Great Northern was of special benefit to the mining camps.

The development of the dairying business in the Snohomish river valley was indicated in a gratifying manner by the rapid enlargement of the Snohomish creamery and cheese factory, which institution was paying something like fifteen thou- sand dollars a month for milk and was proving of incalculable value not only to the ranchers and dairymen of the vicinity but to the entire business community.

The greatest question of this year in many re- spects was that of the forest reserve. On Febril- ary 22d President Cleveland made an order creating a number of forest reserves, one of the largest of which was in Washington. It extended from the 48th to the 49th parallel and from the 120th to the 122d degree of longitude, an arca of about seven thousand two hundred square miles, in- cluding more than half of Whatcom, Skagit and Okanogan counties and some of the northern part of Snohomish. The order forbade all trespassing on these lands.

The people of Washington were at once greatly excited about this reserve. In Snohomish, as well as in some of the other counties, it included large areas of mineral lands which might be made very productive. While the order would not affect such claims as were already made, provided all the re- quirements of law had been fulfilled, it would pre- vent the development of any further claims, and would of course hinder the progress of the counties affected and the state in general to an extent be- yond calculation. Congress passed a bill modifying it, but the bill was pocket vetoed by the president. In May the Sundry Civil bill passed the senate with an amendment revoking President Cleveland's or- der. The amendment failed in the house however, but a substitute was passed by both houses, which was signed by President Mckinley, who had now

taken office. It suspended Cleveland's order until March 1, 1898, until which time the land would be restored to public occupancy. After March 1st the order would again take effect but in a form greatly modified and improved, the principal im- provement being that such lands as were more valuable for minerals and agriculture than for for- ests should not be included in the reserve. Also Settlers and miners and prospectors should be allowed the liberty of the reserve and should be allowed to use timber and stone under certain regulations. The law, as thus modified, was no longer a menace to the development of the country and was entirely satisfactory to the people of Snohomish and the other counties affected.

The troubles of the Puget Sound National Bank, which, it will be remembered, failed the year previous, were adjusted at this time. The county had a claim against this bank of $12,487.30. In settlement of this claim the county received $5,031.30 in cash and the bank fixtures, valued at $2,450.00. making a total of $1.487.30.

The appealed trial of William Wroth also came off at about this time. Owing to a technic- ality and some crooked work he was found "not guilty," although at his previous trial he had been proven guilty and sentenced to ten years in the state penitentiary.

Snohomish was visited by a number of dis- asters in the fall, among them the usual flood. which was even more severe this time if possible than before. Warm winds melted many feet of snow in the mountains and the streams swelled to raging torrents, tearing out bridges, destroying roadbeds and doing great damage to property. The Everett and Monte Cristo road was a heavy sufferer, great stretches of its track being utterly demolished, and several bridges were torn out, including those over the Sauk and Stillaguamish rivers. The Great Northern road also suffered severely. As a result of these railroad disasters the mines were prevented from shipping out their ore and were obliged to shut down, thus entailing great loss upon them.

On November 25th a wreck occurred on the Seattle & International road near Catheart. A freight train was running in two sections, and the engine of the second getting out of water, un- coupled from the cars and started for Woodenville Junction to obtain it. The brakes on the cars were set but something went wrong with them and the train started on the down grade at a speed that was soon beyond control. The brakemen all jumped off. The train broke into three pieces, the first of which jumped the track at Blackman's switch, throwing the cars off on both sides; the second went on for some distance and finally stopped, while the third was wrecked near Cath- cart. eight or ten cars being smashed to pieces. No one was killed, but Foreman Fowler, who was

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sleeping at Blackman's, where the first part of the train left the track, was injured by being cut rather badly about the face.

The Everett and Monte Cristo railroad, which had been partially destroyed, was not entirely re- built that year. This was very unfortunate for the mines but in the meantime various make-shifts were employed to provide transportation. A wagon was run from Granite Falls to Robe, and from there to Silverton a pack-train was run by MeElroy & Lee of the latter place.

About this time the idea of establishing a power plant at the falls of the Stillaguamish was ad- vanced. An experienced engineer visited them and pronounced them capable of fifteen thousand horse power, which would be sufficient to run the railroad to Monte Cristo, the Everett and Lowell street cars, and the various factories along the road, also to provide light for nearby cities.

Another year, 1898, dawned on Snohomish and the rest of the sound country under constantly brightening auspices. In every aspect the con- ditions of industry, transportation and immigration were improving. In the important field of railroad enterprise we find that the Seattle & International road was the object of a sharp fight between the Northern Pacific and Canadian Pacific. The Cana- dian Pacific had been quietly trying for some time to gain control of the Seattle & International and as soon as the Northern Pacific discovered this it hastened to forestall its competitor. The Northern Pacific had a number of important reasons for acquiring this road and early in this year it suc- ceeded in doing so.

Bearing both upon the general fact of railroad- ing and also upon the mining enterprises of the region was the projected railroad to the famous Sultan district. This road was to be built by the Sultan Valley Railway Company, which was organ- ized in Seattle on February 3d. The capital stock of the company was one million dollars and the incorporators were Nathan B. Jones, a Snohomish mining man, Fred Hinckley, Frank S. Griffeth and W. F. Brown. The enterprise was backed by the Forty-five Consolidated Mining Company and supported by the Sultan and Stillagnamish Mining Company. It was the purpose of the new organiza- tion to build a road from Everett to the upper end of the Sultan basin, commencing first on the portion between the eastern end and Sultan City on the Great Northern. They expected to use the surveys already made by the Sultan and Stillaguamish Company a few years before. This railroad would be of immense value to the mines of the Sultan valley, which had long been retarded by the lack of proper transportation facilities. The Great Northern was twenty miles distant and a high ridge separated them from the Everett & Monte Cristo at Silverton. The Forty-five Company built a trail over this ridge, which, however, was

not very satisfactory. The mines were naturally immensely rich but such obstacles as these were a great detriment to their best development. With the proposed railroad they could ship out all their ore easily and quickly and the benefits would be almost inconceivable.

With the general revival of all things came also into the field the Canadian Pacific railroad, which secretly sent a party of engineers to find a suitable route through the western part of the county to Seattle. A little flurry was also caused by the re- port that a road was to be built from Portland to Snohomish by the Vanderbilts. This proved to be only a report, however.

Some court proceedings in connection with the Rockefeller interests in the Monte Cristo mining districts attracted attention in April. 1898. J. B. Crooker, representing the Rockefeller interests, filed suit in the superior court against the Pride of the Mountains and Mystery mining companies, pe- titioning also that William C. Butler, superintendent of the companies, be appointed receiver. This petition was granted. Bonds against the two com- panies aggregated two hundred and twenty-four thousand dollars.

The important business of shingle making, one of the largest industries in the county, received a new impetus at this time. The market had been rather light but in February and March the price of shingles rose considerably, as well as the demand. The price of bolts increased to from two dollars and fifty cents to three dollars, and the price of labor rose proportionately. All the mills were running full tilt, and a number of large new mills were being started, one of them at Snohomish and two at Monroe, where also the mill of S. A. Buck was rebuilt. A new mill was also being built at Wallace by Frank D. Black of Seattle, and there was a like activity in the Stillaguamish valley and other parts of the county. All of these mills were large and important concerns.

The outbreak of war with Spain had its place in Snohomish county annals the same as in those of every other county in the United States, and a number of the young men of the county offered their services in the armies of the country. Drills were held regularly and every preparation made for going to the front when the time should come. The officers at the time were Gus. Moran, captain ; Will Kikendall, first lieutenant ; Wallace Canfield. second lieutenant. The Snohomish volunteers combined with those from Whatcom to form a com- pany. On the 28th of June they took their depar- ture for that place on their way to Tacoma to take the physical examination and if qualified to be en- listed. A large number of friends and citizens gathered to bid them farewell, and patriotic songs were sung and patriotic speeches made. Mayor Ferguson presided.

Those who went to Whatcom were Gus. Moran,

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LINOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONE

St. Louis_ 1904

portland-

1905

WASHINGTON STATE EXPOSITION BUILDINGS

PHENOMENAL TREES

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CURRENT EVENTS, 1897-1905

Bert Moran, A. D. Colburn, Charles O'Conner, Frank Niles, Harvey Smith, Vay Stewart, Ernest Bleech, William Kikendall, L. A. Patric, Grant Wilson, Paul Langdon, H. V. Landfehr, W. H. Parcels and J. S. Ilowell. Some of these failed to pass the examination and were sent back, but most of them enlisted.

The court proceedings of the year 1898 were not especially notable, with the exception of those which arose out of the famous Connella-Nelson shooting affray, in which the latter was killed. Connella was the editor of the Everett News and Nelson was a wood and coal dealer. The quarrel between the two men had its inception at the Republican convention in Everett, when a picture of Congressman Lewis, which was hanging on the wall, was torn down. James Connella made some comments on the deed in his paper and cast some personal slurs on Ole Nelson, which the latter resented, hence the ill-feeling. The two men met on the night of October 10th on the sidewalk near Ilafferkorn's cigar store, and an altercation en- sted, in which Connella was thrown to the ground. While in a prostrate position he drew his revolver and shot Nelson, inflicting a wound which a few hours later proved fatal.

Connella was immediately arrested and held over for the superior court. The trial occurred in King county; owing to a strong feeling against the prisoner in Snohomish. The prosecution was con- ducted by Prosecuting Attorney Naylor and Hon. J. T. Ronald of Seattle, and the defense by J. A. Coleman and Messrs. Cooley & Horan of Everett and J. E. Dore of Seattle. The result of the trial was very unexpected, being a verdict of acquittal. the jury evidently holding that the deed was done in self-defense.

The first event of the year 1899 was an indigna- tion meeting of the citizens of Everett over the acquittal of James W. Connella of the murder of Ole Nelson. The whole proceeding was denounced as "corrupt and ignorant" and the verdict as "dan- gerous and pernicious in its results and effects upon society." They also called upon Judge F. T. Reid to make amends by resigning his office. Probably as a result of this Connella disappeared from Everett, after disposing of his interest in the News to James Logie.

The mines again attract a large share of our attention as a part of the general ongoing of prog- ressive Snohomish during the year 1899. The first important event was a big deal. by which the Pride of the Mountains and the Monte Cristo mines passed into the hands of John D. Rockefeller and a few of his friends. The price of the first of the two mines was $162,501.95 and that of the other $160,569.99. Rockefeller also gained control of the United Concentration Company's holdings, and the three companies were consolidated into one large corporation. Ilolders of stock in the old companies

retained their interest in the new one by paying an assessment of about one hundred and one dollars and fifty cents on each thousand shares of old stock. As a result of this enterprise mining affairs through- out the county received a great impetus. Work which had been abandoned was once more resumed. The Everett & Monte Cristo railroad, being backed by the new company, started the work of rebuild- ing, and a general resumption was the order of the day.

About this time the mines of the Index district began to attract considerable attention. They had not yet been developed to any great extent, but what had been done gave promise of great things. Ore from the property of the Index Mining Com- pany assayed ninety-eight dollars and fifty cents per ton, which was much higher than had been ex- pected. New and promising finds were constantly being made.

The lumbering interests partook of the onward march and we find that in April an association was formed at Everett of the shingle men of the county, known as the Snohomish County Shingle Manu- facturers' Association. Most of the shingle con- cerns in the county joined it, among them being the following: Lincoln Shingle Company. Mich- igan Shingle Company, M. J. Durgan, Northern Lumber Company, W. C. Sparks, Smith Manufac- turing Company, Marysville Shingle Company. C. Rabel & Sons, August Holmquist, Eggert & John- son, Canedy Brothers, John Anderson & Company, Buck Lumber &

Shingle Company, Morgan Brothers, Neally & Day, McCulloch Shingle Com- pany. Washita Lumber Company. J. P. Caithness, Rice Lumber Company, Linnett Brothers, Manley & Church, E. J. Anderson, Ira Joy, E. J. MeNeley and Atlas Lumber Company. The officers of the association were George C. Benjamin, president : F. L. Meares, secretary, and A. J. Uphus, treas- urer.

The shingle and lumbering industry was per- haps the most extensive in the county. The Pacific Lumber Trade Journal for June gave statistics concerning the mills of the state of Washington and it was shown that Snohomish county had sixty- four, which was more than one fourth of all the mills in the state and thirteen more than Whatcom. the next highest, had.

Snohomish agricultural interests received a severe blow in the excessive rains in August. A great deal of hay that was not yet under cover was destroyed and much of the standing grain. which was nearly ready to be harvested, was knocked down. Little more than half a crop was saved.

In spite of these misfortunes the enterprising people of Snohomish county launched the first autumnal fair since the early fairs in the seventies and it seems to have been a great success. It was opened on October 11th by a speech by Hon. Fran-

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cis H. Brownell, and closed on the 11th. One of the particular attractions was a series of fine horse races.

The midsummer of 1899 witnessed another shooting affray at Everett. It appears that a man named Henry Monty had deserted his family and another man named Simon J. Fox had been living with them. Monty. on returning home from Seattle, found this ont and went in search of Fox. whom he discovered at home and proceeded to knock down several times. Fox then went into the house and getting a gun, warned his assailant to leave, which Monty refused to do. Fox then fired into the ceiling but Monty still remained and Fox fired again inflicting a severe wound in the right breast. Monty died a short time afterward.

It is the human lot to meet with accidents, and we discover a peculiar instance during the spring of 1899 at Everett. The Great Northern freight was just pulling out when it was discovered that one of the rear cars was on fire. The car just behind it was filled with powder, so, as the fire was beyond control, they had to be uncoupled and left behind. Soon a tremendous explosion occurred, and one of the cars next the powder car was shattered and blown a hundred feet up the track. This car contained three tramps, one of whom was killed : while the others were badly hurt. The in- jury to the track was slight.

The closing year of the century, 1900, was characterized by a special activity in the lumber industry in Snohomish as well as in adjoining counties. There was great prosperity in the east- ern part of the state and an unprecedented building era in the farming sections, as well as in all the towns and cities. This created a great local demand for lumber, while conditions abroad incident to development in the Orient produced a larger for- eign market than ever before. All these things com- bined to produce the greatest activity of many years in all lumber enterprises and other lines of industry fell into the same general state of hopefulness. The Everett Land Company was reorganized. Timber was a very good price and large tracts of timber lands were sold. Agricultural lands also were in ever increasing demand and ranching con- tinued to become steadily more profitable. Cattle and sheep raising also received more attention than ever before, and large areas of land which had been entirely unimproved were now devoted to stock, which made them more valuable for other purposes as well.

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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 58

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