Snohomish, 1898: A Ferry Claim Becomes a Booster's Dream City

SNOHOMISH PROSPERS. Rapid and Substantial Growth of an Inland City. BACKED BY MANY INDUSTRIES. Early History and Development of One of the Most Thriving Trade Centers on Puget Sound.

A great debt of gratitude is due the hardy pioneers who braved the hardships of the Northwest in the early days and suffered the many hardships of a frontier life to open up such a country to settlement. In 1853 the only settlements of any importance on Puget Sound were Port Townsend, which was then a trading station; Olympia, a struggling place; and Seattle, then a settlement with a mill. Stellacoom was the only settlement in the region of Commencement Bay, and old Fort Bellingham on Bellingham Bay.

A short time previous, reports of rich finds of gold deposits on the Fraser River in British Columbia had attracted many adventurous spirits to the Northwest, many of them from the gold fields of California. Among the men who went up the Fraser to find gold was I.C. Ferguson, who afterwards founded the city of Snohomish, now one of the most flourishing inland cities of Washington, of which Mr. Ferguson is a wealthy and respected citizen. Mr. Ferguson had settled in Stellacoom on his return from the futile attempt to find gold in paying quantities on the Fraser River. In 1856 Congress made an appropriation for the purpose of constructing a military trail from Fort Stellacoom to Fort Bellingham. The country between the two points at that time being absolutely impassable, and the only means of communication was by water. The route of this trail as laid out would cross the Snohomish River where Snohomish now stands. Mr. Ferguson proceeded to this place, and found that the soil of the Snohomish Valley was rich, and the site where the crossing was to be made an ideal spot for a city. Mr. Ferguson's intention was originally to construct and operate a ferry across the river, and as he knew the route would be the only one by land between the two points, a good deal of travel would naturally result. For some reason, after spending a good deal of money and opening up some rich country to settlement, the work was abandoned by the government. In the meantime, Mr. Ferguson had built a ferry across the river and taken up a claim through which Front Street in Snohomish now runs. It was then covered with heavy timber, and on all sides surrounded by the dark, unbroken forest. Today it is busy with the line of trade, surrounded by thousands of acres of rich farming land and vegetable farms. The hum of almost half a hundred saw and shingle mills can be heard within the county. Railroad trains loaded with freight and passengers hurry by on these roads, and where the old ferry formerly stood the river is spanned by a magnificent drawbridge, which swings back from the stream to accommodate every steamer navigating the waters of the Snohomish River.

In the spring of 1859 a party of early men—Wallace, Ferguson, Rogers, Cady and others—settled in and about the Snohomish. In 1860 the town could boast of two or three small steamers, the principal one being the old Constitution, a sidewheel steamer which old settlers remember. She carried the mail from Olympia to Victoria, and the mail used to be brought once a week or ten days. It was a common thing to make a trip of many miles in an Indian dugout.

In 1867 there was a good deal of talk about the gold regions of the Okanogan country, and Mr. Ferguson and some friends cut a trail up the Skykomish River to the summit of the mountains and took a pack train over the trail down the Wenatchee to the Columbia. Near the Columbia they struck a trail of the Hudson Bay Company, which they followed down the river. This was the first pack train that ever was taken over the mountains in this section, and demonstrated the feasibility of reaching the mineral belt from Snohomish.

Up to the year 1861 Snohomish County, as now organized, was a part of Island County. In that year the territorial legislature formed Snohomish County on its present lines. At that time, when the first election was held, Snohomish County polled twenty-one votes, and one man out of every three held a county office. From this time on the county was gradually settled up, the settlers taking up claims, principally along the rich river bottoms of the Snohomish, Skykomish, Snoqualmie and other streams. Mr. Ferguson was elected mayor of Snohomish a number of times, and also was one of the early members of the Washington legislature. Lot Wilbur, now one of the substantial business men of Snohomish, served Snohomish County as county treasurer and in other places of trust and responsibility.

Cady, the discoverer of Cady's Pass in the Cascades, was one of the early settlers at Snohomish. On a prospecting trip in the mountains he discovered Cady's Pass, and afterwards took up a claim. He believed that some time a transcontinental railroad would be built across the mountains and reach tidewater first at Port Gardner, and that a city would be built on the shores of Port Gardner. He afterwards abandoned his claim. Had he abided by his first judgment he would have been a founder of Everett.

The streets are laid out wide and adorned with shade trees. Like many other of the newer towns in Washington, all of the residences are surrounded by large spacious grounds and beautiful orchards which spread fragrant perfume over the whole city during spring and summer. Many residences have been constructed in Snohomish in the past few years that would ornament a Nabob Hill of an Eastern city. Snohomish is a city of homes, and the people take pride in ornamenting their yards and houses in a way that adds a great charm to the surroundings. The city takes the greatest pride in her schools, and they are as good as those of many times larger cities. The buildings are large and commodious and only teachers of acknowledged ability are employed. Churches are also on a par with the schools, and on Sunday mornings the chime of church bells can be heard resounding from all parts of the thriving young city. Snohomish has a fine electric light plant with both arc and incandescent lights, the arc lighting up the main streets of the city, while the incandescents are in many of the private residences. The city has a fine volunteer fire department, which has done splendid service at different times. The gentle slope of the city toward the river affords a perfect sewerage system, which accounts for Snohomish being one of the healthiest cities in the West. The lands immediately surrounding the city are in a high state of cultivation, and to those living along the many streams navigable for canoes a cheap method of bringing their produce to market is afforded.

Logging in Snohomish County. One of the great industries of Snohomish County is logging, and hundreds of men are constantly employed in the camps and mills situated along the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skykomish and smaller streams. Snohomish County contains immense bodies of the finest cedar, fir and spruce timber, and most of it is so located that it can be logged and brought to market at a small comparative cost. The dimensions of some of the trees along the banks of the Snohomish River are truly something wonderful. One stump, which is only a sample of thousands of others near Snohomish, measures over eighteen feet in diameter. Tramways are constructed from many logging camps to the mills where the immense logs are worked up into lumber and shingles. Horses and oxen are employed to haul immense loads of these monster logs, and the logging camps furnish work for a great number of men at all seasons of the year. With the present good outlook for the lumber market, the industry of logging on Puget Sound promises to resume in the old vigorous style, and many camps are now being prepared for active work, while many men are busy supplying mills with logs.

Snohomish Fisheries. The fisheries on the Snohomish River in the vicinity of Snohomish have never attracted much attention, but the industry is a very important one, and has assumed proportions in the past year which bring it forward as a business not to be overlooked among the resources of Snohomish County. No cannery has yet been established on the river, but many carloads of fresh salmon have been shipped to Eastern markets over the Great Northern road from this point, and thus thousands of dollars brought into the county. Several hundred men are employed on the river during portions of the year, and large sums paid out in wages. The steelhead salmon taken from the Snohomish River is in great demand in the Eastern market, packed in ice in a way that makes it perfectly fresh. This industry promises to grow indefinitely as the market is increasing, and the quantity of fish in the river seems absolutely inexhaustible at certain seasons of the year. The trout streams which have their source in the foothills of the Cascades are full of all kinds of trout, and some of the greatest catches on record come from the trout streams of Snohomish County.

Rich Agricultural Lands. From an agricultural standpoint Snohomish County ranks first among the counties of the state; the acreage of rich bottom and reclaimed marsh lands being very large. The finest farms in the county are situated on the Snohomish, Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers. In the past two years, since the real estate excitement incident to townsite booming on the Sound has died, hundreds of men with their families have come back to the land which had been before neglected. New farms have been taken up and old ones improved by the addition of new cleared land available for cultivation. The sound of the axe and mattock can be heard along these streams, and the plow is turning the rich agricultural land which is constantly being brought under the flow. A recent traveler over the whole Snohomish County, speaking recently, said: "At the rate that clearing is going on in Snohomish County in the past few years the area of tillable land will be more than doubled. All this land brought under cultivation will be sold, and the Snohomish farmer is trying to keep up with the rapid growth of improvement instead of letting it fall behind. I think that the Snohomish farmer will be able to fill Washington and a large share of the work of feeding the state on a more substantial basis than before."

Rapid Increase in Wealth. The coming of the railroad to Snohomish opened a new era. A railroad from Seattle was completed, and from that time the county grew. Previous to this Snohomish City had up to this time only communication with the outside world by means of boats on the Snohomish River, and much of her tributary territory east and north of the city was badly hampered in development for want of facilities for shipping goods in and out, which at that time could only be done by means of wagons and pack horses to the river and then by boat, which was both a slow and expensive way to do business. The coming of the railroad opened up new avenues of industry, and in a short time prosperous communities commenced to spring up all along the new road, and the wealth of the county increased with wonderful rapidity. The following figures, taken from a report compiled by Fred H. Lysons, secretary of the Snohomish Chamber of Commerce, show the rapid growth and development of the county in a few years: In the year 1888 the assessed valuation of Snohomish County was reported; in 1890 it sprang to $4,850,173, and in 1891 it was still rising, showing a wonderful increase of wealth and population in a short space of time. Numerous towns grew up north of Snohomish, and the business from these new trade centers fed the commerce of Snohomish until, from a river settlement with only a few houses, it has become one of the finest inland cities in the state.