The Unintended Urban Pioneers of Sumas
Two land developers scouting for a new townsite find themselves unexpected fathers to a pair of bear cubs.
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.
Vivian Strange and T. D. Rowland have a brand new pet in the shape of a bear about ten days old. They were laying out an addition to Sumas and were running a line past a tree when they heard some squealing, and upon investigating the cause found a bear nest with two little ones in it. Old Mrs. Bear was not at home, and they took care of the family. They are bringing up the little fellows on the bottle.
“They were laying out an addition to Sumas and were running a line past a tree when they heard some squealing... they took care of the family.”
This account of developers stumbling upon wildlife while surveying land in 1891 captures the rapid, often intrusive expansion of Pacific Northwest towns. Today, as urban sprawl continues to encroach upon the habitats of bears and other wildlife, the story reminds us that 'the frontier' was not an empty space, but a landscape already occupied by its original inhabitants.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.