Pioneering the Snoqualmie Pass Road
Citizens of King County organize to build a wagon road across the Cascades, raising over a thousand dollars to bridge the wilderness.
At a meeting of the citizens of King County, W. T., interested in the construction of a wagon road across the Cascade Mountains through the Snoqualmie Pass, held in Seattle, King County, W. T., on Sunday, Aug. 20th, the following proceedings were had: Capt. A. C. Reid was called to the chair, and J. W. Johnson chosen Secretary. After a brief and appropriate statement of the object of the meeting by the chair, and remarks by Messrs. Kellogg, Yesler and others, on motion of Dr. D. S. Maynard, the chair appointed Messrs. H. L. Yesler, D. S. Maynard, Franklin Matthias, and A. A. Denny, a committee to collect funds and generally superintend the construction of said proposed road. A subscription was immediately circulated, when the amount of one thousand and fifty dollars was subscribed. On motion, Y. D. Huntley, Esq., was chosen Supervisor of that portion of the proposed road from Ranger Prairie across the mountains. The superintending committee announced that a party would start for the foot of the mountains to commence operations on Wednesday next.
“A subscription was immediately circulated, when the amount of one thousand and fifty dollars was subscribed.”
This 1859 meeting marks the early, grassroots effort to establish the vital artery that would eventually become I-90. It is a reminder that the infrastructure we take for granted today was once a desperate, self-funded project by settlers trying to connect the Puget Sound to the interior.
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