A Near-Fatal Timber Run on the Snohomish River
A monster raft of lumber hits a snag, threatening the lives of a crew of settler-families near Snohomish City.
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.
I was almost called upon to chronicle an accident which would have brought mourning and sorrow into many a household in this community. Watson Allen came to town this Tuesday morning with a monster raft of lumber, on his way to Snohomish City, having a large force of white men on the raft, nearly all of whom are resident settlers and men with families. A mile above my place the raft struck a big snag in the middle of the river with such force that some of the men at the rudders were thrown violently into the river; some of the fastenings broke and a general consternation followed. Messrs. Allen and Thomas narrowly escaped being crushed to death. Fortunately, every soul was saved. They were all good swimmers, and succeeded in reaching the bank and clinging to the willow bushes. The river is here very crooked and deep, and has a strong current. The breakages were repaired at my place. Mr. Allen lost his coat, which contained a number of valuable papers. The raft is moored at Dolan’s camp, waiting for the river to get higher.
“A mile above my place the raft struck a big snag in the middle of the river with such force that some of the men at the rudders were thrown violently into the river.”
This 1878 account of a lumber raft accident highlights the immense danger inherent in the early timber economy that built the Pacific Northwest. Today, the Snohomish River remains a vital corridor for commerce and recreation, but the 'monsters' of the industry have shifted from precarious hand-steered log rafts to complex global logistics and environmental management challenges.
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