The Tragedy of a Snoqualmie Valley Homestead
After his health fails, a local settler offers his hard-won riverfront farm for sale, hoping to escape the damp climate of the Snoqualmie.
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.
The undersigned offers his place in the Snoqualmie for sale. It contains 120 acres of bottom land and 40 acres of timbered upland, sloping gently to the river. It is 12 miles from Snoqualmie City, at the river crossing, 9 miles from Lake Washington, and 20 from Seattle. Fifty acres slashed, 50 in grass, 4 acres of upland grubbed for an orchard—20 tons of hay on hand. The place has three-quarters of a mile frontage on the river, is safe from overflow, and has a clear stream of water running through, which can be brought into the house, barn, or milk house. It is valuable for lumbering, having a good deal of timber on it, and is the first key point for getting the timber on the adjacent six or eight sections and has a good bay for booming. The location is central, and affords a good steamboat landing. A hotel and store would do well there at the present time, and it is convenient to six logging camps now in operation. House and tools on the place. Cause of selling: weak lungs. For further particulars, inquire of George White, Snoqualmie River, W. T.
“Cause of selling: weak lungs.”
George White's advertisement captures the mid-19th century reality of settlers seeking a fresh start in the Pacific Northwest, only to find the damp climate hazardous to their health. His hope to sell a 'key point' for timber logistics mirrors the eternal cycle of land development and resource extraction that still defines the Snoqualmie Valley's relationship with Seattle's economy.
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