The Great Log Jam: A River of Lost Timber
In March 1877, a sudden rise in the Skykomish River swept away thousands of feet of logs belonging to local sawmills, turning a potential fortune into driftwood.
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.
LOST LOAM—We regret to announce that the boom of Fields & Austin, on the Skykomish, parted during the night of Monday last, and as the Pill Chuck boom was not hung, many of their logs went to sea. Their loss is not very heavy as they had not fairly got under way at their works.
A new one of the big trees of California is reported by Mr. L. E. Bach, who informs that but week he discovered a cedar tree alive, straight trunk probably 100 feet high to where it was broken off, that is twenty-seven feet in diameter, and over eighty feet in circumference. This tree is situated about three miles from town, near the corduroy leading to old Mr. Kellogg's place.
River Wrath—An unusual thing for this time of the year in the present freshet on the river. The river is bank full and at the present writing, March 15th, is rising rapidly. This will be a good thing for all our farmers, as the melting of the snow in the mountains so early will prevent a heavy rise in June, a season of the year when if the water is high it is not desirable to have our bottom farms flooded; as it can do no damage to farms so situated.
SWEET AWD—We mentioned elsewhere the breaking of Fields & Austin's boom. Since then a portion of the dam at Fields' Bluff has given way, carrying with it the Pill Chuck boom, and the boom of Blackman Bros. The Pill Chuck contained about 60,000 feet of logs and the former about 20,000. Many of these logs will be saved, and probably all of the small sticks and chains that the boom of lumber will not be very large. For a number the river was full of drift, slings, loose sticks and logs. The water has been higher this winter with less drift.
This 1877 account of a 'river wrath' destroying timber assets highlights how Snohomish's economy has always been at the mercy of the Skykomish River's volatility. Today, as climate change intensifies flood risks and impacts forestry operations, the tension between industrial resource extraction and natural disaster remains a defining feature of life in the Snohomish basin.
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