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Old newspapers, pinned to the places they wrote about — the streets you can still walk today.
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Without fanfare, the transcontinental link is finished in the Cascades, promising a new era for Seattle.
“It was not golden, but only iron. So unpretentiously was it done that the laborers ten rods away were not aware of it until the little group on the spot set up a wild hurrah.”
Snow-shovelers strike for higher wages while workers battle five-foot drifts and constant mountain slides to complete the transcontinental link.
“The wind keeps the snow driving in the faces of the men, and their work is anything but a picnic.”
An assistant engineer reports that a gang of gamblers and outlaws has taken control of the Great Northern Railroad laborers' camp.
“On pay day the whole gang goes there, and Big Kid and a few other toughs 'roll' them all and take their pay from them.”
Labor unrest at the Cascade Tunnel project spills over into violence as workers protest low wages and forced debt to local saloons.
“Great difficulty is experienced in obtaining laborers on the Cascade branch. Men brought here from San Francisco, Chicago, and St. Paul pass by the work on arrival, engaging only as a means of getting to the Territory without expense.”
A look at the grueling engineering feat of the Great Northern Railway’s passage across the mountain divide.
“They went out, often carrying food and beds in packs on their backs, and cleared the way for the engine which brings civilization, with its comfort, ease and luxuries in its train.”
Democrats and Populists battle the county commissioners over a controversial registration district on the mountain range.
“The board created only one precinct, and without authority of law ordered a registration made of the voters in the precinct.”
When lawlessness gripped the construction camp of Skykomish, a former Yale athlete used his brute strength and leadership to face down a local gang leader.
“The constable there is a barkeeper and the justice of the peace is a saloon habitue, and they are worse than no officers at all.”
A photographer describes the thrill of documenting the newly opened Great Northern railway path, from the roaring falls of Spokane to the desolate, ghost-haunted ruins of McCartysville.
“McCartysville was the synonym of murder, rapine, and lawlessness of every description.”
A reporter’s harrowing journey to the front lines of the Great Northern railroad expansion through the Skykomish Valley.
“The train now made rapid progress until it came to Granite Point, where the gang of laborers warmed themselves by loading ties on flat cars, a task which occupied several hours.”
A railroad construction explosion kills two Italian laborers and injures a third near Martin Creek, nearly sparking an ethnic confrontation between work crews.
“For a time it looked as if Hamilton & Ostrander's gang was going to declare war on the Swedish and Norwegian force of Strohm, Hoyt & Hull.”
Two railroad laborers are brutally beaten and robbed at a camp near Martin Creek, leading to the swift arrest of their assailants.
“Peterson, with his head bandaged, yesterday swore out a warrant against Quinn for robbery.”
Great Northern railroad contractors scramble to build massive timber snowsheds through the mountains before the deep snows of winter set in.
“We expect to begin building the sheds within ten days and shall push work as fast as possible in order to finish it before the heavy snows of winter set in.”
In the rugged valley north of Snohomish, pioneer settler Mrs. Furtun stands as a solitary female figure in a male-dominated frontier, marking the slow, steady growth of a region destined to become a timber and mining hub.
Tunnel construction for the Great Northern Railroad claims a life as laborers battle mountain mud and unrelenting rain.
“The men are in possibly fifty feet in the clear, but they have to breast it up with solid timber every step of the way.”
Two prospectors uncover a human head suspended on a wooden stake in the remote wilderness of King County.
“The stick was then suspended horizontally about four feet from the ground in the notches of two vine maples. And there the head hung, staring up into the sky out of amply eyes, a horrible sight.”
A Great Northern Railway worker files suit after a negligent blast left him permanently injured.
“He has been compelled to spend three months in different hospitals and since his discharge has been unable to perform any labor and in addition has been disfigured for life.”
A judge censures a predatory agent for defrauding an elderly pioneer farmer out of his land in a mortgage scheme.
“Judge Denny took occasion to censure all parties concerned in the fraudulent transaction.”
A bold infrastructure project in the Cascade mountains promises to banish smoke and gas from rail travel.
“It will be a big improvement over the present method of handling passenger trains, as passengers will not be annoyed by smoke or gas.”
Investors swarm the Land Office to secure property at the site of the new Cascade Mountain rail tunnel.
“They appear to be thoroughly imbued with the feeling that they have struck it rich.”
A Great Northern Railway laborer is found buried under fifteen feet of snow near Madison station, eight days after disappearing during a violent winter storm.
“He kept on shoveling, and soon laid bare to the eyes of his fellow-workmen the frozen body of Fred Lindholm.”
Laborers are quitting as fast as they arrive due to low pay and brutal weather conditions at the Cascade tunnel site.
“The men say they cannot afford to work for the wages given and stand the storms.”
A grueling five-day foot journey from Wenatchee to Snohomish reveals the raw, volatile life of the 'mushroom towns' springing up along the railroad's path.
“As a gambling den and resort for thugs, [Martin Creek] has first place among the towns on the line... the rays of the sun scarcely ever penetrate to the log houses of the town, and in the gloom and solitude of the surrounding forest many a man has been relieved of his pocketbook.”
A Skykomish correspondent pitches a $40,000 public road from Seattle to Tolt and over the old Great Northern tote road, so farmers needn't pay the railroad to cross one hill.
“We need a road that can be used at least six months in the year.”
Early construction on the Cascade tunnel turns deadly as workers face unstable ground and lethal collapses.
“The rock resembles soapstone, and when water strikes it, it dissolves and breaks off in great pieces.”
As the Great Northern railroad pushes its line toward the Pacific, laborers prepare to carve a path through the Wenatchee River valley and over the rugged summit of the Cascades.
“Grading is hindered by the excessive moisture of the ground, rain having fallen every day for the last thirty days down Sound.”
A saloon-keeper's body is discovered in the wilderness, unraveling a dark story of frontier isolation, lawlessness, and the lethal 'whisky' of the Great Northern construction camps.
“The place is full of rough men and dissolute women and the men go about with six-shooters hanging by their sides and drink stuff which is a libel on whisky.”
A local woman, intoxicated and armed, wounds a bartender in a bizarre altercation.
“According to her story, she was drunk, and picked up Perry's revolver and fired at him.”
While fleeing to California to escape the mountain snows, a stranded couple makes history in the rough-and-tumble railway camp of Skykomish.
“What was intended to be a 'native son' of the Golden State thus became the first-born of the toughest town in the West.”
Great Northern Railroad crews race against time to shield the Cascade division from winter avalanches.
“By the time winter arrives he expects to have his division in first-class shape and well protected against snowslides and washouts.”
A man headed to the World's Fair in Chicago disappears while walking from Skykomish to Snohomish, leaving behind uncollected funds and a trail of questions.
“It is supposed that he either attempted to take the cut-off at Index... or that some person... waylaid him.”
A promising sixteen-foot-thick deposit of high-quality coal is discovered near the foothills of the Cascades, sparking speculation about a new rail line.
“There can be no doubt that the value of this coal will lead to its development.”
A storekeeper recounts how three masked men held up his business in a daring robbery that shocked the county.
“I thought at first that it was a joke, but when all three pulled revolvers... I came to the conclusion that they meant business.”
A friendship soured by a missing $20 and a suspicious bar tab reveals the perils of saloon-based bookkeeping.
“I did not borrow $25; I got but $5.”
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