The Gateway to the Skagit Gold Fields
Developers race to establish a supply town at the head of navigation as miners push into the remote wilderness of the Skagit River.
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.
Sauk City is the head of navigation on the Skagit River and the point from which the trail begins which is now being built to a central point in the gold fields. From Sauk City to the Portage the distance by river is 13 miles, and to Ruby Creek 36 miles. But the route over which the trail is being built from Sauk City to the Portage is shortened by about five miles by following a nearly direct course instead of the bends of the river. This trail is being constructed by the enterprising Messrs. Beede, Metcalf, Burson & Co., the gentlemen who located the townsite of Sauk City. They have built several houses and have under way a hotel of considerable dimensions and are putting up a large store and warehouse and will open up a large stock of goods the first of next week. Other buildings are being erected by parties who intend engaging in different branches of business. Several families are already located there, and the place presents a lively appearance. Great credit is due the projectors for their early efforts in behalf of the comfort of the miners en route for the upper Skagit.
“Several families are already located there, and the place presents a lively appearance.”
Sauk City was a brief, feverish boomtown established to service the short-lived Skagit gold rush. Today, the location remains a quiet, rural area near Concrete, Washington, illustrating the way speculative development often outpaces the long-term viability of remote industrial boom cycles.
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