The Fight for the Skagit River
A landmark federal court order mandates the removal of logging obstructions from the Skagit River to restore navigation.
The suit begun August 10, 1893, in the United States court for an order directing the Skagit Boom Company to remove the obstructions at the mouth of the Skagit River, was brought to an issue yesterday by Judge Hanford. The court ordered the company, its agents, servants, and successors to remove the piles, logs, and debris caused by the maintenance of their booms from the river and the steamboat slough, or else show cause to the court in Seattle on June 15, 1894, why the order should not be complied with.
“Ordered and commanded to remove from the said Skagit river, and said steamboat slough, the said piles and boom... together with any and all obstructions.”
Conflicts over who owns and controls the waterways of the Pacific Northwest—the logging industry or the public and commerce—have shaped the landscape for over a century. This case represents a pivotal moment in the regulatory battle between industrial resource extraction and public navigation rights.
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