Pioneering the Skagit River Frontier
As the formidable log jam on the Skagit River begins to break, early settlers recount the hardships of establishing permanent homes in the wild, mud-soaked territory of 1878.
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.
Of the families now resident on the Skagit who, when they came, came to stay, the families of David Kimball, N.B. Bozarth, Geo. Gage, Jasper Gates and W. Brice, who were brought over to the river on the Linnie, Capt. Brownell, from Coupeville, in February 1870, are said to be the first white families on the river as permanent settlers. Settlements are rapidly extending up the Skagit; only a short time since no families lived above the jam. When it was understood that the jam would be removed, families began settling above it; now there is a strong settlement on the Nookachamps, six miles above the jam. Mrs. Minkler enjoys the honor of having for the past six months resided within six miles of Baker River, the highest up of any family on the river. The loggers at the Skagit jam still persevere; week by week, large quantities of material go to sea, and though they frequently block the lower river and create the impression that the whole jam had given away, they may be kept for months to come before it is wholly removed.
“When it was understood that the jam would be removed, families began settling above the jam.”
The struggle to tame the Skagit River and its infamous log jams represents the early, brutal phase of land development in Washington. Today, that same river basin faces modern environmental and housing pressures, reflecting how the region's relationship with its waterways remains a constant, shaping force in local growth.
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