The $100,000 Mill: Seattle’s Legalized Lottery for a Fortune
In 1876, the Washington Territory authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road across the Cascades. The grand prize? A fully operational steam sawmill and prime real estate in downtown Seattle.
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 Grand Distribution!
A Chance to Win $100,000 for the small outlay of 50c.
Washington Territory Lottery. Legalized by an Act of the Legislature. In aid of a great road from the city of Seattle through the Cascade mountains via Snoqualmie Pass to Walla Walla; approved by His Excellency Governor Ferry, Nov. 12th, 1875.
$300,000 Worth of real estate in the city of Seattle, and in cash, to be distributed. Drawing July 4th, 1876.
60,000 Tickets and 5,575 Prizes. Tickets 50 cents each, or $1 for $5.
Yesterday's Steam Saw Mill and Mill property in the City of Seattle, valued at $100,000. (The rents from the mill and mill property equal $700 coin per month.)
Some of the most eligible and best business lots in the city of Seattle will be distributed, including Hovey Barker's corner, on Mill and Commercial streets, and the Pacific Brewery property. The prizes to be drawn and distributed will be as follows:
First Prize — The Steam Saw Mill and Mill Property valued at $100,000 Second Prize — Hovey & Barker's Corner $14,000 Third Prize — Pacific Brewery Property $5,000 Together with 1,011 lots in various parts of the city of Seattle and additions thereto, valued from $50 to $1,500 each. Also, 61 Prizes in farming lands in King County and $80,000 in gold coin, Divided into 4,000 Prizes of $20 each, and 500 Prizes of $10 each.
The County Commissioners of King County, Washington Territory, by virtue of the said enactment, appointed M. S. Booth, Esq., Auditor of King County, Capt. Geo. D. Hill, (U.S.A.) Treasurer of King County, and John Collins, Esq., President of the Talbot Coal Company, Trustees, to whom the whole of the said property has been deeded in trust for the ticket holder drawing the prizes.
No scheme of this kind ever offered to the public, presented such great inducements to try for a fortune. The general public can invest with the greatest confidence, the distribution being authorized by law and guarded in every particular. Nothing of the kind can be fairer for all concerned.
Manner Of Distribution. The drawing will take place at the Pavilion, in the City of Seattle, Washington Territory, and will be made by blind-folded children from two glass wheels. The contents of the wheel can be seen by all present. One wheel will contain 5,575 gifts on printed slips in tubes or envelopes; the other wheel will contain tags with numbers corresponding to those on the 60,000 tickets, and the contents of both wheels to be thoroughly mixed by revolving. The child at the first wheel will draw a number therefrom, then the child at the second wheel will draw a gift therefrom, and the gift thus drawn will belong to the number drawn immediately before it. Thus the process will continue until 5,575 gifts and numbers are drawn. An official registry of the prizes drawn will be kept, and ticket holders drawing prizes will be notified immediately.
Agents should get up clubs at once and remit. Money must accompany the order for tickets. Money can be sent by mail in registered letters or by Post-Office order, or certified draft on any Bank, or by Express. Write legibly your address. Address H. L. YERLER, Seattle, Washington Territory.
Today, we view public lotteries as a form of taxation or entertainment, but in 1876, they were a primary mechanism for civic infrastructure funding before modern bond markets were established. This lottery wasn't just about cash; it was a direct transfer of Seattle’s industrial heart—the Yeeler Steam Saw Mill—to private hands via chance, reflecting an era where public works and private speculation were tightly intertwined.
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