The Canal Came With a Catch: Seattle Had to Secure the Land

Construction of the canal which will transform Lake Washington into the greatest fresh-water harbor in the world has been set for many years in the hearts of the people of Seattle. It no longer depends on the uncertainties of legislation, but rests with the people of Seattle themselves. They have the endorsement of distinguished army and navy officers and engineers, statesmen of both parties, and the people of the state. Senators John B. Allen and Watson C. Squire and Representative John L. Wilson have worked in Congress, and in the session just closed Mr. Wilson finally won the fight. Congress is now committed to the project and has pledged large support for the future.

The appointment of committees from the Chamber of Commerce and the city council to act with the county commissioners in securing a right-of-way is the first step. Congress had appropriated $25,000 for the work, but the money can only be expended when the right-of-way and a release from all liability by adjacent property owners have been secured to the government free of cost. United States engineers are in readiness to start as soon as the committees have met the conditions. The work should not be such an arduous task as some intimate. Since completion of the canal is of paramount importance to every resident of King County, no obstacles should be placed in the way of the committees by excessive valuations along the route. Property owners should be governed by patriotic motives and treat with the committees so that conditions can be speedily met.

Capt. Thomas W. Symons of the United States engineer corps, under whose charge the first work will be commenced, was in the city during the week and called on Senator Watson C. Squire at the Rainier Hotel. The canal project was discussed fully, and the engineer was not only alive to its importance but desirous of commencing work as soon as possible. He is waiting until the local committees have performed their duty. The canal is no longer a local project; the government has decided that it is of national importance.

The Lake Washington canal proposition has been earnestly urged upon the federal authorities ever since 1868, and every government engineer directed to investigate the subject has seen the advisability of a waterway between the lakes and the Sound. Gen. George B. McClellan, who made a personal survey of the Sound country in 1856, recommended that the War Department take the improvement in hand as one intended to create “the best naval resort in the world.” Gen. Barton S. Alexander surveyed the possible routes twenty-four years ago and recommended the Salmon Bay route, the one now adopted. His report was confirmed years after his death by Congress, and an appropriation was made for construction on his route.

A board of engineers reported on July 27 that the navy needed such a sheltered fresh-water harbor with good anchorage for laying up steel vessels. The teredo worm was destructive to timber in salt water, and iron and steel bottoms deteriorated far less in fresh water. The cost of the work appeared small compared with the advantages to the navy and commerce. The board concluded that access to Lake Washington would be of national importance.

The estimated cost of the proposed canal by the Salmon Bay route was $2,900,000. The plan provided for a canal 700 feet long, 80 feet wide on the bottom, 180 feet wide at water level, and 18 feet deep, connecting Lake Union with Salmon Bay; a channel through the shallow portions of Lake Union; and a canal 2,600 feet long connecting Lake Union and Union Bay. Lake Washington has an area of 53.90 square miles, or about 25,000 acres, of which about 22,000 acres are covered with more than twenty-five feet of water. Salmon Bay, maintained at the level of Lake Union, would contain thirty-five acres of water more than twenty-five feet deep, with an additional area available by dredging.

Farmers in the White, Green, Duwamish, Black, Cedar and Sammamish valleys also looked to the canal for relief from annual floods. The drainage system of the Lake Washington and White River watersheds was so complicated that when the rivers rose, backwater spread across the rich bottom lands. The farmers believed that widening and deepening the canal at the portage would carry off the water of the lake watershed, take Cedar River permanently into Lake Washington, and leave the Duwamish free to carry the waters of White and Green rivers. This would drain the Sammamish valley, reclaim a large tract along both lakes, and prevent the overflow of bottom lands that had cost the county thousands of dollars.