The Logging Kings of the Snohomish River
A single drive of 300,000 feet of lumber marks the success of the Elwell family, who dominate the regional timber trade.
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.
A drive of two booms, containing in all about 300,000 feet of clear and pine lumber sticks, were run down the river. They came from Elwell's camp on the Snohomish, and were from 40 to 105 feet in length. Competent judges pronounce them to be the finest lot of logs ever run down the river. Port Discovery gets them. The Elwell family is the largest family business on the river, and among the successful loggers. Besides the camp of John Elwell, Sr., on the Snohomish, one of the best and most successful in our valley, John Elwell, Jr. has a large outfit, and runs a camp on the Skykomish; and Simon Elwell is a member of the logging firm of Getchell & Elwell on the Snohomish. In addition to these three camps in which this family is interested, Thomas Elwell has the contract for running logs, and does the business formerly done by Hugh Ross’s log scaler. Walter Elwell does the logging business for the camp on the Snohomish; we believe he is in partnership with his father; at least the management of the camp is left to him, which he performs in a manner that reflects great credit on him as a business man.
“Competent judges pronounce them to be the finest lot of logs ever run down the river.”
In 1877, the Snohomish River was the primary industrial artery for the region's timber wealth, dominated by family-run logging camps. Today, that same river valley faces a vastly different economic reality, as logging has faded into a recreational and environmental landscape, highlighting the cyclical shift of Washington's natural resource-based economy.
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