The Battle for Lake Union: A War of Words Over Seattle’s First Public Road
In May 1877, a bitter public feud erupted between the newly appointed Supervisor of Road District No. 1 and a group of influential local voters over the legal authority to build a road along the west shore of Lake Union.
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.
An Order to Open a Road.
To the Supervisor of Road District No. 1, King County:
You are hereby commanded to open and keep in repair the public road as now located from Mercer's Addition to Seattle, along the west shore of Lake Union to the intersection of the old Military road; as there is fences, logs, and many other obstructions across said road even for hogs. The Auditor of King County has in his possession an order from the County Commissioners ordering you to open the above road. See section 28th, Revised Law, and section 21st, of the same law.
You will read and proceed at once to do your duty at once, or we will put section 35 in force to its fullest extent.
Made this 11th day of May, 1877, by many legal voters John Ross. Road District No. 1, King County, W.T. May 12th, 1877.
In reply to an order handed me by John Ross, "To open and keep in good repair the public road as is now located along the west shore of Lake Union," I called on the Auditor and ascertained there was no such order in his possession, directing me to open said road. I was then notified not to expend any money or labor upon said road, as the Commissioners did not consider it a County road according to law.
Mr. Ross, when I need my one to dictate and point out law so me, I will call on some one who is competent to act with decent courtesy. As you are destitute of that faculty, I will not call on you soon. If you had read sections 27 and 35, and done your duty as Supervisor, Road District No. 1 would have been sooner financially. Now, Mr. Ross go to your scaring me by your lordly "bulldozing" orders, to do any more or less than my duty as Supervisor—that is played out and if you will cease to take unwarranted authority upon yourself in regard to the interests of this district.
M. PERRY, SUPERVISOR ROAD DISTRICT NO. 1, In Seattle, King Co., W.T.
This 1877 dispute over a road along Lake Union highlights how early Seattle’s infrastructure was shaped by local power struggles and legal technicalities rather than top-down planning. The fight between Supervisor M. Perry and the voters led by John Ross reveals the fragile nature of civic authority in a growing town, where boundaries and responsibilities were often contested in print as much as on the ground.
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