The Hard Luck of the Northern Mines
When the Snohomish River ran too shallow for navigation, hopeful miners found themselves stranded, forced to trade their picks for cobbler's benches.
Mr. Charles Vader returned from the northern mines last week. He left there the latter part of September, and says that all stores and steamers were being deserted. Two river steamers were aground at the head of navigation on account of the low stage of water; should there be no raise in the river soon, they will be ice-bound for the winter. Mr. Vader probably will return north in the spring, but has opened a shoe shop here, where he will remain until then.
“Two river steamers were aground at the head of navigation, on account of the low stage of water; should there be no raise in the river soon, they will be ice-bound for the winter.”
In 1877, Snohomish’s economy was tied to the volatility of river navigation and the sudden boom-bust cycles of regional mining. Just as those miners had to reinvent themselves in temporary shoe shops when the river failed, modern residents still grapple with the boom-town volatility that defines the Snohomish economy.
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