The Great Mill Auction: A Kingpin’s Empire Divided
In December 1876, the District Court in Seattle ordered the liquidation of a massive timber and land empire owned by A.M. Simpson, offering hundreds of acres and a high-capacity sawmill to the highest bidder.
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.
Sale of Valuable Mill Property BY VIRTUE of an order issued Dec. 11th, 1876, by the District Court of Third Judicial District, sitting in behalf at Seattle.
I will sell at public auction on Whidbey Island, Island County, Washington Territory, on the 6th day of March, A.D. 1877, At nine o'clock of said day, and from day to day until all of the following described property is sold, to wit:
Lots numbered 1 and 2 of the n e K of sec 3, in township 30 north, of range 2 e. containing 79 acres; also the lot numbered 1 of sec 4, and the lot numbered 2 of sec 9, in township 30, north of range 2 e. containing 76 acres, and half of 8 acres... [listing continues for numerous sections including] ...containing 1,345 25-100 acres more or less.
Also the lot 1 in sec 8, lot 1 and 2 in sec 24, all in township 32 north range 2 east... containing in all 301 acres of land more or less.
Island County Farm. Beginning at the s w corner of the land claim of Jacob Smith... containing 160 acres. This farm has a house on the premises, is fenced in, has a fine spring and nearly all in cultivation.
Mill Property. The mill is 195 x 50; has two engines, four boilers, one planer, lath machine, two edgers, one large circular and top saw, having the capacity to cut forty thousand feet of lumber per day; has plenty of fresh water for all purposes, a blacksmith and carpenter shop, store house, cook house, and other buildings sufficient for the accommodation of employees; wharf, boom privilege etc. With the mill will be sold some 380 acres of land known as a part of said mill property. This property is located on the North end of Camano Island, has a harbor unsurpassed, good anchorage, and is conveniently located to the best timber region on Puget Sound...
TERMS OF SALE. The terms of sale will be on the mill property and farm one third cash, one third in three months, and the balance in six months, at the rate of seven per cent per annum in United States gold coin, with mortgage and approved security, and will be sold free from mortgages, and liens.
S. D. HOWE, Assignee.
This auction highlights the early consolidation of wealth in Puget Sound through timber rights, a pattern that would define Seattle's economy for decades. The sale of Simpson's vast holdings—mill, land, and infrastructure—underscores how quickly fortunes were made and lost in the speculative boom of the 1870s, mirroring modern debates over land use and industrial legacy in the Pacific Northwest.
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