The First Harvest: How Stillaguamish Farmers Are Feeding a Territory
While Seattle struggles to find its economic footing in 1876, the nearby Stillaguamish Valley is proving that agriculture—not just timber or trade—can be the backbone of Washington's prosperity.
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.
STILLAGUAMISH NOTES.
From the Snohomish Star we collect the following items from the Stillaguamish valley:
Henry Oliver has about 100 acres under cultivation, 30 acres grass, and the balance in grain. He will sell 40 tuns of carrots, and about 140 head of hogs.
Peter Wilkinson has about 118 acres under cultivation, about 73 acres in barley and oats. He will market 60 or 70 fat hogs.
Thos. Overell has 120 acres in cultivation, 15 acres grass, balance grain.
J. McDonald has about 80 acres under cultivation, 20 acres grass, balance grain.
Wm. Hunt has 40 acres under cultivation, nearly all grain.
W. B. Moore has about 100 acres in cultivation, 60 acres grass, and the balance grain.
F. Hancock has 60 acres in cultivation, 20 acres grass, and the balance grain.
Mrs. J. Bradley, Mr. J. V. Cook, and Peter Gunberson have each about forty acres in cultivation; nearly all grain.
About one thousand pounds of butter will be produced above home consumption this year on the flats.
O. B. Iverson has some eighty-five acres of grain. There is between one hundred and fifty and two hundred acres in cultivation on Hall's Slough and up the river.
A large amount of land is being dyked this year by Messrs Haller, Hancock, Hunt, McDonald, Moore, Overell, Wilkinson, and Iverson, which will increase the area of land for cultivation next year by some 300 acres.
There are some twenty-five families and some half dozen bachelors keeping house and four logging camps forming the Stillaguamish settlement.
In 1876, Seattle was still a small port town overshadowed by its neighbors, while the agricultural potential of the Puget Sound region was just beginning to be quantified. This report on the Stillaguamish Valley highlights an early recognition that sustainable farming and land reclamation (dyking) were essential for the territory's long-term stability, a theme that resonates today as we look to regional agriculture and land use planning to support local economies.
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