The Mudflat Standoff: A Political Tug-of-War for Seattle’s Waterfront
In 1872, Seattle’s local press accused the Territorial Delegate of suppressing a crucial memorial to cede Duwamish mudflats to the city for his own electoral gain.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Olympia Courier reports that at the last session of the Legislature, twelve memorials were adopted addressed to Congress. It is the duty of the Secretary of the Territory to forward certified copies to the Delegate, yet Mr. Garfield claims he has not received a single one. This is a transparent evasion. The memorial praying Congress to cede the mudflats of the Duwamish Bay to the City of Seattle is one in which the people of this city feel a deep interest. Mr. Garfield was in Seattle when that memorial passed the Legislative Assembly; he was spoken to on the subject, and he has been repeatedly written to upon the matter since, and yet it has never been called up in Congress. The conclusion is unmistakable that Mr. Garfield is holding these measures in abeyance for the purpose of compelling the support of interested parties in the coming election as a condition to their passage; and common honesty constrains us to denounce it as a most dishonorable device.
“The conclusion is unmistakable that Mr. Garfield is holding these measures in abeyance for the purpose of compelling the support of interested parties in the coming election as a condition to their passage.”
The 1872 battle over the ownership and development of the Duwamish mudflats echoes today's ongoing debates regarding public land use and the influence of political power on Seattle's waterfront development. Then, as now, the struggle over who controls the tideflats defines the economic and geographic future of the city.
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