The 'Rich Deed' That Wasn't: Snohomish’s Wild Gold Rush Hoax and the Community’s Reality Check

The '9mm Star.'

About the year 1363, there appeared an idea that there was a rich deposit at the 'encoding' from their rifle's seat to a inlet-way called Whitey. It is attested that the method was used. A man-y of his men were tor-ed, and the rest was then. The lie-here of the company were all eer. Moeueqitelweeemthnedewiui in to work, etude yey wee the hope of reward. leer 3. went to worhrnnnlngehed me teen-t. nee Ire hiredoetlor m... en‘ ante. were epproprteted to keep the tour ini ewe who were ten-in. the tunnel, eqnlprd with took, powdc. end otherneeeeeerit-e. rhey eon- tiled their lehere tor lute pieheioeetheyi tithe! the «hood. m thetflnethelrei name-nu gee mu threedollenper‘ by ed he eh. Ni upldith-Moo. let M eed enemy hed pitted their re werd. In 0 ehot't epeee of time 060,0“) were reel leed ‘o the there. ehle etetrnteet hee never been pehtlehed heibre bet it to literally true. We giro it to show thet energy will herewenird.

[Editor's Note: The above is a garbled OCR of a likely fictional or highly distorted account of a local legend or past event, possibly referencing early mining claims or a specific incident involving 'Whitey' and a tunnel. It serves as an introduction to the reality of the region.]

A good idea on he developed trout the el-eee erticle of the methode loot-envy to be followed in oliginltil‘ Ind cerryieg on thoee public enterprim required in the pro of every mmneity.

It is but my few men unimployed in a wlnunity of the energy of those miner: who eo well eerned their enneeee: euch men elweye find plenty to do; vmuelly ‘il'cflmi' eo cheerbed in their ownlvueineu. thet they run derete weither time nor etteetion to new enterprleee. yet ere willing to euiet tltoec en, terprleeethet commend themeelree to thi'i? wind- ee oi preetieei ntillity, provided they meot compelled to leere their own lnuelnele. to melee or com on the enterprlee.

The me, being thet in e piece at" ueeetiueery thee hueineee eetivity. there 1 tin great ee-hen who eee whet neede to he‘ done eeggret tine end titne min. number I leee plane efurryieg out their aoggeetiom.

The theeretlcel portion of the community neet. reeolve eed re-reeoive. tlntll the work ‘eee ofthe «amenity eeeln‘g little aocotw plflled conclude the plea e feilore. Several repented i‘eiluree tense e community to loose heel-t; Sully it become elmoet imposeihie to etert eny new enterpriee, the people loee heat; beeieee lege, improvemente ceeee end net-y conclude they will try. to improrel their fortuee where there ie more public 1 fit out better eecoeregrmt it held out? to thoee in buleeee.

For eale tine put the aonitnerciel lmport- else etOly-pie bee in e great degree de- pended ee ael-pickle; eone it niiee of lei! leed, Allele eeitvd le wiehlng enc ee-te the entered-I. loch of her Joernele herein- te 0e m the lndeenoe‘ eitheie eeleeane. Neuheeleee plene here u w new of then excellent. end doehtleer there ere plenty willieg to give‘ peeeeiery eepport to the netter eleo; then whet le needed! more neolntione—more we to he eoueetedl there ere elreetly enough of them. do no community out hope to here ell of its citime like time auecee tel niecee.

He he." of title hind to to eeweed, who will note it encore-fol. Doee not the Wdeeeh thriving mmonity de um thet it eeede hot one or two men 0! neh any, who here eoflelent letereet in the he“! to adopt noet say of the plene “M up lb detelle eo thet he on no ‘Mteereryeith-e ie the conno dty nil eey—thle enterpreel ie oeeaeery to kWh-weed” neeleee: weheretrled filthy-inlet. if eoeh e pine lee.

W. eed eedh oeetloee eo tench. ween fie it a M yoe dulhtle- wieh in m The W will probebly he. yen teetheeeb ee eee trying. we here time end e‘dl end eleeye felled. ior one here file" he in their nierpriee. bet you e-ee- weeid do yher no it lee encore “dhe mm. Octet-intro“! he‘ h w. "hew leeh woeld yee dot "en-he loethee eleeneeire l-et‘ hen-Indefinite. ifhehelievee tho‘ fl” he w. new. pretty eloeely whethewlll do. It he thinhe the matter '1“ ‘o In W, he will dooMleee wieh g“ b hem dihefeer llberelmen in e Woo-unity. A weelte time would 1 “win-energetic mwlth e tel- film to led out whet coeld hem 7. h a community of the‘ hedmheoifllb- hie plene et‘ his hunted by their hoWne'M-o who i “m to the tonne of their own] ‘9, eeeee- would be git-meted.l AM ehw dam of thin hind. he could i at” with uethemetioel aoeorecy the i mo! teileree ie thoee who oflned‘ wt. It Oly-ple he one men at thle‘ p“ can. eeleieltly leterreted in Wee deretehlneelt toit withi mm m eed peeeeue-l of i m m. er'eeleet; he doubt inmate eedlyehteilthr semi" m. 1 d*“ w“ for Bell Rood-i We Qeeh he. doll-a ie each nettere. i .ee heew whet one he done 1

Mtge/head million feet of loge‘ were yet into as. mm o! Punt Sound bet yeer end one hundred end My toll!“ weer eefled ie the Mucu'hfdl'i'mm' or. Inn. eta-I.

i fly'tout oro ooid. toy haul hort- no. i lit-100 me in ”tile higher.

Giro nio outer—i oon't 000 tor. i hit owe wood npou tho the: Door noon. moot lgo oo 0000, Up to tho tor ohkyi Put your Irma orronnd the mo. 1 Hold foot. too, when i die. An you lure. mo. It will not be lo ocry, my lonz: E'er you end pope. both Hi we moon tho enact throng? Loy lltty mtlyon my boat.- Do you think ‘twoold Do I oin, To ooh tho oogeln. when! go. To lobe Iny kitty lot in Very cold-how tweet thov alngl l hur o huvenly roar- When you eotnr. pup. plmoo to bring I, littic dolly oion‘. Whoro'o Willie?! conoot oce— A lioo Wiliio- oud soy, Yeod little Hkip, lonoko oitno. when l on: for owoy. on moral! Won't yon pleou to tell j The ongelo. when they roll. To hold too tight, no they mount op, Bo lure notiet no (oil. 021 no! i‘tn oo very eoidi Bork! there'otnuic in tho olty. Bright intro—white robot: rind wit-uto— i'm comlug'LrDoar moiuo, good bye.

Iro- .Co-trII-tor. BNOHUIMII Co. Warm. Tn.

I frequently receive lettero «king infur ntotlon obout this country. Thinking it would be 1 good idu to write o deocriptian ofit. for our county paper, i will now Attempt to do on.

Thom who hove bcnrd about it, but: thought it to be a heavily timber d country. in thio respect, they have not been ruinin formed. It in o henvniy titn mud country' in this county tin-re is no pruirie moth owing. Tho oettlemento hore been in oI: along the banks of: beautiful otreom em; t] ing Into Puget sound. The loud uloug tut! streont lo splendid for fanning. All grains grow well except corn. [We think it' the Oonotlo corn. euch no is rnioed in New Eng land, was planted h:.'c it would yield obnn dontly. E t] [do not beiiovo tlmt Yogi-tub co con bent any whete. Neither tioi belie-Ye o vegetoble crop ever foils. Everything oecmo to grow that in put in the ground.

Borne (lo not own plow or dig the ground, hot, oflor tho land in clurod. just cover the occd end it will geocroily bring it good crop. [Thin io oflen done by new oettlero who orrive late in tho oeooon, onil hove not time to opude up their gardeno otter cloning the ground.

There it on obnmionce. of wild berries, which one on iron by gathering, and con ning or drying: also niokc their own wine. Severl of our neighbor: hove done on nircody; omno linking no high no nine horrelo, ond on other four or five thoJoot yeor. Antl‘whut wino lo hulthier. or tot-too better, than horne ltode biockberry or flopllcrry wine.

Allotmmo and lakes abound with trout Ind oalmon. [The latter hovo been caught weighing no high on 28 his. Ed.]

Thio io ouroly tho country for the poor mun. Noturo done on much heroeli' thut any. one who will work can ooon be independent. And itio such o beoutiful cliaote, free irom the cold row winds of the weeteru otatoe; ooarcely ever too cold in winter or too worm in outonier; 0100. oo heolthy it in o pluoure to hvo hero. I‘6 be run. there io wine hard work to he done. ‘vy thooo who do not how. copitoi to hire work done for them, or to go into other hoolnooo. But it dooo not toke Very long to got atorted {or thooo who are willing to work; for such con oiwnyo get plenty to do ot good "goo. There io plen ty of load to bo tohon up. Bottiero rnoy horoto go hock front the river o little. on ono of tho o-ollor otroonu which empty in-to it. But the lood in loot no good rod in‘ time will hejuot oo voinohle. It in border opening up such a torn, oothrro an no roodo. to tho oettioro now up they note then. for they hove tohooo than. Therefore it in not Inch border ior the new comer than for the fin! oettior. Then tho loud tnttot oli bocioor od for it iooorod.with hoary timber. The growth in Fir. Codur. Hemlock and Moplo; but thio io oil voiuable ond con be logged 01?. fl rote-d down "room to the main river, 1 put in bootno turd Booted down to the Sound i whoro'tnony ndiio oro locoted ot diluent pointo.

Tho troveliiog Io yet in ohnoot oil done by wow. But the country in oettling no fool every year. with actual oettlera, ond they ore baring roodoioid out nod worked. llotno are tooth; homo and mule teouu only with in tho lon you or two however.

There no other kindo o! buolneu that could he curried or. to better ozlvnntngo for melting money then forming; but nothing which bringo a more independent living. Thou to logging, which hoe been the min hooineoo [or ten or twelvo yroro end to stiil oorried on with [root oocceoo.

A flow yroro on. tho N. P. Builroori being toiked ohout. the attention of n groot nniny people woo attracted to thio country. ond hy enquiry, hard it woo a good plocl', nod. olthoogh a hard one to get to, there were fluent! rootly to go no there oiwoyo io to evory low piooo.

insight nontion other kinds of buoineoa, such no getting out ohip kneeo—thot payo. linkin g shipglco. oioo getting out spruce bolt. onci nipping them to Sun Francisco. mi. rying would sit) be a payinghusitwaoaehut ter olwaye hringe from thirty to flity trite per pound. I do not think there in any theeae made lit-re as yet.

Oauwxw linen. The above oootuioaleatioo ie by an a tea-med lady lri-‘nd. who with her hueband and family. eettled near thie townalittle' ore! three yenrs ago. We gladly puhlieh" it ae it gin-e a larly‘e idea of the country. Site in a native ol‘tlte great welt. accuatom let] to prairie and mountain life, to the mine. land the habite ofCalif'ornia. She ltaa had leap ericess an a typo. To those living at a {dictancm eapncially the east. where many icopics of tho that are sent. it will he mud lwith itttareat. And we honestly thinklthnt’ ‘trutht'ul articlee descriptive of the coutry. cnutrhuted by actual ecttlera. and lent col their friends outside, will do more to induce rtnigrante to nettle among ua titan all the erl- 1 itorinl blowing that we could do in {whole year.

Akw Fig-m and Pareto Cheat the Lumber-lo: and other 1 Interrelat- of flnoleo mlala llheu

The following rough ratimale waa ohtatncd from a gt-ntlt-nmn closely idcntillml with the 'umltrrtrarlr of thia rt-gion. "c hue iwun u l‘t'.~i hat in r.- for the hut twelvc yenra. Twelveymtra ago. the amount of luml't’r out and nmrkt-tt-d on thin rivor did not ex nemd 101100.000 fort, the prion tin-n rangingi from $3.00 to $3 .50 pt-r. M. leyt'nr just i post, no iv” than “1.000.000 lert have l-w-n i int and laid. 'l‘he int-mm- for the last l 2 iymurn hotelier-n gradual. with the van-prion tollßT'L when there was a sudden jump from 16 to 26 millions morrthno thi- yenrprcriouat 1 Tim nVcrage rmtt ot' Inhnr iu logging mtnpa 12 y: a a ago, was trout $30.00 to $70.00 per utontlt lnr iiiir Int-n la. Wagon the hull yt-nr tram from $45.00 to $50.00 t'or gomd men. Nonrly all loan cut this year hnre lound fl'rtiy tulle ut 85.00 per. M. lhcl it not hot-n for the hard timua the last tin-cu you". by‘ reason of which nearly every hotly it”? run imhin i band financially. we should now In: enjoying flush tituca. All it in. muny have Imun fitted out of arid, and tit-oily (‘Vt'ryuntt meaaurably rt'iit'Vmi from tho pn-aure oi their liullilit'a. )iill owners are more confident; there in rrmly mile for good lumbwrmnti the proapwt nt prom-at is that more loge than ever before will be marketed the prea ent tear.

it! yearn urn, ull supplies were import ed into the country: rrun hay and feet: was lurotight from Cuiil'ornin nnd Oregon at well an moat of the Vt'gi'hi‘ti‘l. Last year. not only did our home t'artnt-re. epply ull our huy anti vegetables. but have exported tlhir attrplna to Seattle and other parts on the Sound. We have ht-en alao partially iaupp‘y our campe with home rniavd heel. pork and mutton. Our flour and ground lord we hove moatly imported for want of a eoitahle mill to grind grain. or conno. all our groceriee come from abroad. With a good ilouring mill. properly located and ju (liciouqu managed. our up river farmers will put in wheat, while our marsh lautle on the lower river and other place. will he redeemed and made to yield not only i feed enongh for all our teame, but there will he a surrlaago tor export. When these very deairohie entrrpriaoa are maumatcd we i almll be a ao-self-auatuining. indcpt-ndcnt com ntuity. Money will pour in to us inateali :ofla-ing all paid to outsidere. Our inform ant ie of the opinion that for the next 20 were our lumbering interest will increaee ‘in the same rntio it ban for the loot It. If leo. 80 yeare from now we may expect to i market from 00 to 100 million it. of loge per. annum: and born the eppearam of our torrents we do not deem the eetinote at all extravagant.

The opening op are new lonizing comp pi- ‘aneere the way for half a‘dow-n (amen! We have valuable gram of older, maple. beariwrry and cherry. all fine woode. erh l will yet he greedily naught after for cahiaet pow Far up on the head» ol'hor ethane i are mountain eedare and augar pine. None i ran douht the perpetual richneaa of our hot tom lande. enl-jrrt aa they are to an annual overflow, at aaeon when the drone cannot he iniurrd. Their only drnwlw-k iatha- great; labor of clearing and auhjection them to rul- 1 tivation. Bt‘lilit‘l tin-ac reeourcea,crotkere to the contrary notwithstanding, We have rich mint-e oi gold. silver. iron. lo'ad and malgleetined yat to contribute thoir quota in tho wraith of our citizena. Who douhte then our eource of proepority.

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TRIPUGE‘I' Suouau DIRECTOY.-Wo have IGt'II aroppy of the Puget Sound Bnelieu Directory- and Guide to Washington Terri tory. Bearing date 1872. although it acetate to he dietribfled under the auepicee ol the Board oi litigation.

While correct in the main. end containing a time of very valuable information. yet many errora appear in regard to eoramanitiee re vved a dietance from Olympia: then it in nearly four yeare old. and can not repreaent Hare community that hoe developed itsellm ,eplclly aethie during that time. The need of a local organ toit the rent of the Terri tory know where we are in well illuetrated by the [allowing atrikinz i'lnn'ier mole almnt Snohomiah City. la-cnuae its authora Were not aware that the pioneer Cody, caused him neifto he so well identified with enorminii City, thin to this day this pllce'il often popularly culled ‘fedyviilef th. “to nemesdu- minning the eeme pluee.

On one page" gives the following antic-of “8501105116“ CITY.

Menanty "It oi enchant-i: Cnnty. blunted en I‘iver oi the mac name This river b nevi ableior light drenth eteamere to eeveml milu. Communication with battle it kept up by Iteem or twice I week. Thin town, being eurronnded by egood firming country. in improving repldiy. Louiuie the principal bunlneu eerlled on‘ tin vicinity. Like the other tuwne. it has it echonl end it: hells. Imminent. will Ind thelnnd heck of it exeeient for farming."

Over the left! it an ihe following 0! CADYVHLE.

The county eeet of Snohomirh Canary. in I proe pernnal town end imEmving mrldly. though the Llunimu done there yet very united.