The Great Snoqualmie Log Jam
A standoff over property rights at a river mill leads to threats of a dynamite blast before a last-minute compromise prevents disaster.
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 ripple of excitement was felt in our community today, caused by the explosion of a dynamite bomb used for the removal of a draw-dam leading from a baron on the north side of the town into the river. A lot of very fine logs which had been lying in the bay had newly been sold to a logging company. The next step was to get them out into the swift current of the Snoqualmie River and thence over the falls and to the mill while the river was high. This could only be accomplished by the use of the canal, and it was the property of the Snoqualmie Mill Company. For this privilege, Manager Gault demanded of the present owners of the logs $100. They offered $30, claiming it ample compensation. Failing to come to an agreement, the loggers concluded to try blowing up the obstruction themselves, and letting the logs have the right-of-way to the river. Manager Gault got out warrants for their arrest, and for a time it looked warlike, but with the finish a compromise was affected, the tender of $50 was accepted by Mr. Gault, by which a lawsuit and the probable engendering of a good deal of bad blood was prevented.
“For a time it looked warlike, but with the finish a compromise was affected.”
Resource rights and river access have been a point of contention in the Pacific Northwest since the first mills were built. While we no longer settle canal tolls with dynamite, disputes over the control of waterways and timber transport remain a vital part of regional infrastructure debates.
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