Seattle Miners Rush to Sultan River Gold Claims
When a chance discovery in the dry bed of the Sultan River sparked a desperate dash for fortune, the town of Snohomish was left nearly deserted as laborers abandoned their jobs to try their luck in the mud.
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.
The gold excitement is still on the increase. About 30 men left Seattle this morning on the steamer Fanny Lake, some fully equipped with picks, shovels, pans, bacon, flour and tobacco, while others went without baggage to locate claims. Experienced miners are among the number, ensuring the ground will be thoroughly prospected. Samples of grain gold, said to have been taken from Snohomish County, were shown in Seattle yesterday. A report from W. M. Tittlot, dated Sept. 13th, describes the scene: 'Great excitement prevails here regarding very rich diggings on the Sultan River. The merchants and blacksmiths, with a large number of the population, have gone up to the mines. The town is almost deserted. This morning, Barrett and Cotton are reported to have found paying claims, taking out $10 per day.' The discovery was accidental: a man named Lowe and his son, while hunting, camped on a sandbar in the dry bed of the river. They discovered gold and washed out $25 in a single day. The news spread to logging camps, which were subsequently deserted. As the Fanny Lake came down the river on Saturday, nearly the entire male population of the valley was heading toward the mines. While gold has been known to exist along the Sultan River for years, this sudden rush remains a volatile development.
“The merchants and blacksmiths, with a large number of the population of the town, have gone up to the mines... The town is almost deserted.”
This 1878 gold fever captures the cycle of boom-and-bust that has defined the Pacific Northwest's economy since territorial days. Just as laborers once dropped their tools for the hope of a Sultan River jackpot, contemporary Seattleites often see entire industries pivot overnight toward the latest 'gold rush'—be it tech, real estate, or green energy.
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