The Migration of the Disillusioned
Facing declining wages and the overcrowding of Eastern cities, a group of Pittsburgh families pulls up stakes for the promise of the Washington Territory.
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 private letter to this journal from Pittsburg, Pa., informs us as follows: 'The following named persons left this city this evening for your place: J. K. Weitzel and family, J. E. Currier and family, G. Deel, H. Williams, J. Froi, Messrs. O'Neil, Gill, Hanlin, Johnson and others.' The Pittsburg Telegraph said: A colony of 20 persons will leave Pittsburg today for Seattle, Washington Territory, for the purpose of making their future home. The party is made up wholly of young or middle-aged men with their families; sober, steady and industrious people, who hope to find in a new and growing country better reward for their labor. In conversation last evening with a reporter, one of them said: 'We go to seek homes and fortunes for ourselves and families. Is it possible for us to live comfortably and lay by any provision for old age here? It is becoming more difficult every year. The struggle for existence grows harder. We believe Washington Territory is just the place for poor men to go to. The climate is delightful, there is work for everybody, and the wages paid to mechanics are high.'
“It is impossible for us to live comfortably and lay by any provision for old age, or even for sickness, and year after year the struggle for existence grows harder.”
This 1884 account of a 'colony' of workers seeking a better life in the West mirrors the perennial economic migration that has defined Seattle's history. Just as these families fled the crowded, industrializing East for the promise of the frontier, modern transplants continue to arrive seeking affordability and opportunity, often triggering the same civic tensions regarding growth and cost of living.
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