The Fragile Dream of a Snoqualmie River Homesteader
Forced to sell his 160-acre homestead due to failing health, a pioneer paints a vivid picture of the untamed Snoqualmie Valley in 1878.
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 on the Snoqualmie for sale. It contains 120 acres of bottom land and 40 acres of timbered upland, sloping gently to the river. It is 1 1/2 miles from Snoqualmie City, at the river crossing, 9 miles from Lake Washington, and 20 from Seattle. Fifty acres are slashed, 20 acres in grass, 4 acres of upland grubbed for an orchard; 20 tons of hay are 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 cedar on it, and is the first key point for getting out 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 are on the place. Cause of selling, weak lungs. For further particulars, inquire of George 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.”
This 1878 listing serves as a stark reminder of the physical toll extracted from the pioneers who cleared the land that would eventually become the sprawling suburbs of the Eastside. Today, a 160-acre property in the Snoqualmie Valley is an unaffordable luxury for most, while in 1878, 'weak lungs'—likely a euphemism for tuberculosis or pneumonia—meant the end of a hard-won dream and a forced exit from the frontier.
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