A Frontier Expedition to the Snoqualmie
A military detachment treks into the rugged wilderness near Snoqualmie to rescue travelers stranded by heavy snow.
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.
On the 19th of January, a party of six set out by boat for the head of Snoqualmie River, where they had information that about forty persons were on their way. There was a report that there was a lack of food and the usual lack of shelter. But Lieut. J. H. Jameson of the military, with a detachment, reached the site and found the party. The weather was extremely cold, with heavy snow obstructing the pass, but the detachment succeeded in their errand of relief.
“The weather was extremely cold, with heavy snow obstructing the pass, but the detachment succeeded in their errand of relief.”
Long before the Snoqualmie Pass became a major transcontinental artery and a ski destination, it was a perilous, isolated frontier where survival often hinged on the endurance of local detachments. Today's commuters navigating the pass in modern vehicles owe a debt to the early pioneers who established the routes through this unforgiving mountain terrain.
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