The Unruly Fourth: A Snohomish Independence Day
A look at the chaotic, whiskey-fueled celebrations of 1878, where the lack of 'dueals' (money) was the only thing standing between the town and total revelry.
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.
No pen nor pencil could portray the amount of enthusiasm displayed by our defenders on this, the 102nd anniversary of the independence of our glorious Union. At one time, the streets were so crowded as to be almost impassable by three men and a dog; the men surging to and fro between saloons, trying to get enough enthusiasm out of 25 cents worth of crooked whiskey to deliver a 10-cent hurrah! All day long they surged and cheered the remnants of the old-fashioned stars and stripes, which hung pendant from the telegraph wire. Patriotic men leaned against telegraph poles and meditated, while a patriotic boy of Swedish extraction shot off a cracker in Shin Bone Alley. Some were so overcome by these sights (and sights of 'benzine') that they reclined in the rear of the shoe shop. Enthusiasm is very trying on the nervous system, you know. Notwithstanding all the 'glorious circumstance and pomp' and setting aside all nonsense, the turnout would have been quite large had it not been for the concentrated lack of 'dueals.' There is the rub my countrymen; that 'money makes the mare go' is true in the City of Snohomish as well as the village of London. The ball in the evening was well-attended, as it deserved to be, and all enjoyed an old-fashioned 'way up' time.
“The men surged to and fro between saloons, trying to get enough enthusiasm out of 25 cents worth of crooked whiskey to deliver a 10-cent hurrah!”
This report captures the raw, frontier-town energy of early Snohomish, mirroring the recurring tension between local pride and the economic anxieties that have defined the region for over a century. Just as residents in 1878 were limited by a lack of funds, today's residents grapple with modern affordability as they seek to maintain the town's vibrant spirit.
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