The River Consumes the Mill
High waters on the Skykomish River threaten to swallow a Sultan mill, forcing workers to race against the current to save their machinery.
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.
The Sultan City Journal of the 11th says: 'The recent heavy rains, together with warm winds, brought up the rivers almost to the flood point. Sunday and Monday they were almost bank full. The bank of the Skykomish along and above the mill was cut away about fifty-five feet. All Sunday workmen were engaged moving the boilers and mill machinery, and with all their diligence were able barely to keep ahead of the work of the water. The lumber in the yard was also moved. Not a great deal of the mill site remains. Only about forty feet of the mill remains. Unless steps are taken to prevent it, the course of the river will soon follow the old slough along the railroad track, and run into the Sultan at John Nailor's point.'
“Workmen were engaged moving the boilers and mill machinery, and with all their diligence were able barely to keep ahead of the work of the water.”
Rivers in the Cascades have always been temperamental forces of nature. The story illustrates how the early industrial footprint in Washington was often ephemeral, built precariously on riverbanks that could, and often did, reclaim the land overnight.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.