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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 13 |
| 1877 | 17 |
| 1878 | 28 |
| 1879 | 4 |
62 stories matching settler
- The High Cost of Being 'Across the River'
In 1878, Sumner settlers faced a familiar struggle: a transportation monopoly that forced them to pay as much to haul freight across the river as to ship it 150 miles by rail.
- The Unsinkable 'Old Settler' of the Olympia Tide-Flats
An enterprising Olympia pioneer launches a custom-built, shallow-draft vessel to dominate the local oyster trade.
- The First White Woman of the Skykomish
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.
- The Great Land Grab of 1878: A Territorial Tug-of-War
While D.C. legislators bickered over the Northern Pacific Railroad's land grants and portage routes, Washington Territory settlers fought to secure their homestead rights against corporate expansion.
- Forging a Life in the Pilchuck Valley
A look at the rapid expansion of settler life and the struggle to build roads into the rugged Washington backcountry.
- The Monopoly That Almost Killed the Nooksack
Before the valley flourished, settlers fought to break the stranglehold of absentee speculators and corporate monopolies that kept the river choked with logs and local trade shackled.
- The River Opens: First Steamboat Conquers the Skagit's North Fork
After settlers cleared the jam at La Conner, Captain Hill’s vessel became the first to navigate the treacherous waters of the North Fork, unlocking a new era for the region.
- Taming the Snohomish Valley Marshlands
A look at the settlers turning the muddy, fertile banks of the Snohomish River into a bustling agricultural hub through sweat and engineering.
- The Ghost of Tacoma's Original Downtown
Before the railroad turned Tacoma into a boomtown, the city's future was fought over by competing pioneers and land speculators.
- A Journey to the Falls: 1880s Summer Excursion
A spirited account of a travel party’s trek from Snohomish to Snoqualmie Falls by boat, including dances, camping mishaps, and encounters with local settlers.
- The Oregon Land Agent’s Smear Campaign
When a rival state agent spread wild lies about 'timber forty feet deep' and 'streets of sawdust,' early Snohomish settlers fought back to set the record straight.
- Pioneering the Skagit River Frontier
As the formidable log jam on the Skagit River begins to break, early settlers recount the hardships of establishing permanent homes in the wild, mud-soaked territory of 1878.
- The Great Delinquency: Snohomish’s 1878 Tax Auction
A sprawling list of property seizures offers a rare window into the instability of early Snohomish settlers, who faced total loss of their homesteads for debts as small as twenty-two cents.
- Life at the Edge of the Wilderness: The Nooksack Settlement of 1873
A rare window into the early days of agricultural pioneers, steam-powered dreams, and the quiet resilience of a solitary woman living on the edge of the Nooksack River.
- The Hardscrabble Frontier of the Stillaguamish
A detailed 1879 survey of the Stillaguamish River valley reveals a diverse community of pioneers, Prussian soldiers, and dreamers attempting to tame the wilderness of the upper valley.
- The First Professional Survey of the Puget Sound
In 1875, a new map sought to define the rugged, uncharted beauty of the Washington Territory for settlers and investors alike.
- The First Poet of Snohomish: A Captain’s Verse and a Hotelier’s Blunder
A retrospective on the town's earliest settlers reveals that E. I. Tucker wasn't just a steamboat engineer—he was also its first literary figure, while his father’s linguistic mishaps provide a glimpse into the colorful social life of the era.
- A Frontier Oasis at the Union Avenue Hotel
A look at the amenities of 19th-century Snohomish, where local business owners courted settlers with 'first-class' board and fine spirits.
- The Snohomish Exchange: A Hub for 19th-Century Travelers
Before modern tourism and high-end lodging, the Snohomish Exchange offered settlers and travelers 'first-class board' and the finest liquors north of San Francisco.
- Defying the 'Sassy' Indians on the Skagit
A party of explorers ventures deep into Snohomish's wild interior, clashing with local tribes and staking claims on land 'no white women live above.'
- The Great Ditch: How Snohomish Settlers Tamed the Marsh
Before the land was dry, a few determined pioneers took shovels and grit to the wetlands behind Snohomish to carve a new path for trade and transit.
- Graves in the Valley
A reflection on the scarcity of white settlements in Snohomish County, marked by the arrival of the first tombstones for a pioneer family.
- The Unwelcome Arrival at Marysville
As the Snohomish River valley faced economic stagnation, a new townsite at Marysville was pitched as a promise of fertile independence for fifty families.
- The Agricultural Transformation of the Skagit Flats
Decades of diking and draining have turned tide lands into some of the most productive agricultural soil in the world.
- The Myth of the Transient Worker
A Snohomish editor argues that young men wandering the river camps for work are missing their chance to claim homesteads before the land is claimed by others.