The Battle Over the Stillaguamish River
Captains of steamers, long delayed by the Chinook Boom Company's gates, finally force federal intervention.
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.
C. J. Moore and Spencer W. Young, president and secretary respectively of the Chinook Boom Company, appeared before United States Commissioner Emery to answer a charge preferred by United States District Attorney Winston of obstructing the mouth of the Stillaguamish river. The Boom Company had constructed a boom across the mouth of the river and left an opening or gateway which was supposed to be opened promptly whenever a steamer approached. For some time before the prosecution was begun, captains of steamers complained that they were often delayed for more than an hour before they could get through. In consequence of this, they appealed to Capt. Jefferson, of the United States snagboat Skagit, who referred it to Capt. Symonds, of the United States engineers, who referred it to the war department. The war department in turn applied to the attorney general, and he instructed Col. Winston to institute proceedings.
“For some time before the prosecution was begun, captains of steamers complained that they were often delayed for more than an hour before they could get through.”
This dispute over public access to navigable waters is a recurring theme in Washington’s history. From 19th-century boom companies blocking river traffic to modern debates over private tideland ownership, the friction between private industry and public right-of-way remains a core civic tension in the Pacific Northwest.
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