The River That Could Drown a Valley
A brewing legal and ecological battle in the White River valley pits farmers against a railway company, as shifting waters threaten to swallow millions in property.
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.
A disaster of immense proportions is currently threatening the White River valley. The farmers of that section are up in arms over the proposed change in the course of the White River. It is alleged that the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway Company, in order to protect their own interests, are planning to divert the White River into the Puyallup River, which would cause the river to overflow its banks and flood the agricultural lands of the valley. Legal counsel for the farmers, including Attorney H. H. A. Hastings, has been engaged to stop the move. Farmers like Mr. Alvord, who has 400 acres in cultivation, and Mr. McDougall, who recently paid $35,000 for his farm, are terrified of the potential destruction. It is estimated that if the change is effected, the value of property at risk could reach $1,000,000. As it stands, the water during freshets is already divided between the White and Puyallup rivers, but the proposed diversion would force the full volume into the White River channel, which the farmers claim cannot sustain such an increase without catastrophic flooding of the lowlands.
“The White River penetrates the heart of King County, and it is a land flowing with milk and honey, but the farmers there are in a state of great apprehension.”
This 1887 dispute over the White River is a precursor to the massive regional infrastructure changes that eventually permanently diverted the river away from the Black and Duwamish to stop precisely this kind of flooding. It mirrors the modern tension in the Pacific Northwest between large-scale development and the unpredictable, vital nature of our watersheds.
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