June 5 – June 26, 1876
The $100,000 Gamble: Yesler’s Great Lottery
1876 lottery to fund a Cascade road, with a $100,000 sawmill as the prize.
7 reports in The Daily Intelligencer, June 5 – June 26, 1876.
The story
Reports in the Daily Intelligencer in June 1876 describe a public lottery authorized by the Washington Territorial Legislature to fund a road across the Cascade Mountains — one account specifies Snoqualmie Pass, another calls it a wagon road. The grand prize, the paper said, was Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler's steam sawmill, valued at $100,000, along with downtown Seattle real estate; one report spells the name "Yelver." The reports repeat the same outline without agreeing on particulars, and none of them describe a drawing or its outcome.
Told from the 7 reports below. The reports are the record.
The archive grouped these reports automatically, by date, place and subject.
The reports 7
- The Daily IntelligencerThe Lottery That Built Seattle: How a $5 Ticket Bought a Sawmill and City Blocks
In 1876, the Washington Territory authorized a massive state lottery to fund a road through the Cascades. The prize? A steam sawmill worth $100,000 and prime real estate in downtown Seattle.
- The Daily IntelligencerThe $100,000 Gamble: Yesler’s Great Lottery
To fund a mountain road, Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler turned to a massive, state-sanctioned lottery, putting his own saw mill and downtown lots on the line.
- The Daily IntelligencerThe Great Seattle Lottery: A $100,000 Sawmill and a Road to Nowhere
In 1876, the Washington Territory legislature authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road through Snoqualmie Pass. The grand prize? Yelver’s Steam Saw Mill. It was a bold gamble on infrastructure that reveals how early Seattle funded its growth.
- The Daily IntelligencerThe Million-Dollar Ticket: How Seattle Bet Its Future on a Lottery
In 1876, the city’s most prominent businessman launched a massive lottery to fund a mountain road, offering a steam sawmill valued at $100,000 as the grand prize.
- The Daily IntelligencerThe $100,000 Mill: Seattle’s Legalized Lottery for a Fortune
In 1876, the Washington Territory authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road across the Cascades. The grand prize? A fully operational steam sawmill and prime real estate in downtown Seattle.
- The Daily IntelligencerThe Pioneer Developer’s Gamble
When Seattle was a young, growing town, Henry Yesler looked for an unconventional way to fund critical mountain infrastructure: raffling off his massive timber empire.
- The Daily IntelligencerThe Centennial Lottery Gamble
In 1876, the Washington Territorial Legislature authorized a public lottery to fund a wagon road across the Cascade Mountains, marking a desperate and creative approach to frontier infrastructure.
From the pages
The Daily Intelligencer · Jun 5, 1876
The Daily Intelligencer · Jun 6, 1876
The Daily Intelligencer · Jun 7, 1876
The Daily Intelligencer · Jun 8, 1876
The Daily Intelligencer · Jun 9, 1876
The Daily Intelligencer · Jun 10, 1876
The Daily Intelligencer · Jun 26, 1876
Library of Congress, Chronicling America. Public domain.