A Frontier Life for Sale on the Snoqualmie
A settler lists his 160-acre homestead for sale in 1878, citing a 'weak lungs' diagnosis—a common, tragic reality for those braving the Pacific Northwest wilderness.
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.
Farm for Sale: 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 miles from Seattle. Fifty acres are slashed, 20 acres are in grass, and 4 acres of upland are grubbed for an orchard. There are 20 tons of hay on hand. The place has three-quarters of a mile of 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 cedar on it, and is the first key point for getting the timber on the adjacent 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 for the present time, and it is convenient to six logging camps now in operation. House and tools are on the place. Cause of selling: weak lungs. For further particulars, inquire of Geo. W. White, Snoqualmie River, W. T.
“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... Cause of selling: weak lungs.”
In 1878, a 'weak lungs' diagnosis (likely tuberculosis) forced a settler to abandon his life-building project in the Snoqualmie Valley. Today, that same region has been transformed from a rugged frontier of timber and homesteads into a complex exurban landscape, highlighting how the physical toll of pioneering defined the early regional economy.
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