Everett, Washington - Ladies Of The Grand Army - Ladies Musical Club - , 1926 (part 2 of 4)

sachem, but he was soon afterward succeeded by J. J. Sullivan. John F. Jerread was the first prophet, and E. ©. Carter the first chief of records. In 1900, the tribe purchased the Wigwam property from the original owning corporation, and since that time has very much improved and remodeled the interior structure. On the main floor is one of the best dance halls in the city, a hard maple floor, 50 by 75 feet in size, and having connecting accommodation apartments. On the second floor is the lodge room, 50 by 65 feet, as well as the banquet hall and culinary apartments and equipment. Pilchuck tribe has enjoyed the blessings of good management during practically all the years of its existence; it owns valuable real and personal property near the business center of lverett, and at this time carries an active membership of 150.

Young Men'S Christian Association

Closely allied with the churches of [verett, and the product of them all, are the Young Men's and the Young Women's Christian Associations. The former organization dates back to the year 1901, at which time the society was founded and subscriptions solicited for the erection of a building. The speedy result was a frame structure costing $4,650, built on lots which were then valued at $2,000, the lots being the gift of the Everett Land Company. Mayor C. K. Green spoke at the opening of the building which stood at the corner of California and Rockefeller. This was the home of the "Y" boys, and here they carried on the four-fold program of their work until the spring of 1920 when the building was so badly damaged by fire as to render it almost useless. It was in this old building that many of the mature men of Everett received their fine moral, mental and physical training and a large number of them retain membership today and were among the most enthusiastic helpers in the building campaign which followed immediately after the fire.

This great campaign for funds was thoroughly planned and deserved the adjective "whirlwind" if any such campaign ever did. Men, women and children joined enthusiastically in the work, contributing both time and money and within ten days a fund of $155,340 was subscribed. The new Y. M. C. A. home was dedicated just one year and four days from the time the drive began, thus holding the world's record in the association's history for speedy action. It was dedicated April 10, 1921 and stands as a monument to the generosity, good citizenship and civic pride of Everett.

The building houses every department to be found in a modern Y. M. C. A. institution and for the past years Everett has ranked among the leading associations in cities of its size. A department of boys' work, with separate lobby and game room, a four-fold program under trained supervision, a summer program, including not only work in the building but in the summer camp at Lake Chaplin, a program which extends into schools and churches all operating every day in the year is exposing the boy life of Everett to a positive Christian character building impact. In the gymnasium, under skilled supervision, men and boys learn to harmonize muscles and morals, and in the swimming pools and baths cleanliness 1s stressed as being next to Godliness, and in addition, lifesaving, swimming and all aquatic sports are taught.

W. H. Howarth was the first president of the Y. M. C. A. board; D. A. Duryee the first secretary and Harry Lansdown the first treasurer. 'The trustees in 1926 are W. H. Howarth, .\. H. B. Jordan and W. R. Rucker and Frank C. Nevius is the secretary in charge. Some idea of the scope of the work may be gained from the following statistics taken from the secretary's report for 1925: Membership, 1,159; lodgings 'in building, 24,936; attendance at educational and religious gatherings, 14,642; participants in physical education department, 53,000. _ |

Boy Scouts

C. G. Sheldon organized the first troop of the Boy Scouts in Everett in February, 1914, with twelve members, the movement proving so popular that in 1926 there were tweity-six troops in the county; sixteen of which are in Everett with a membership of 475. The self-training which these boys are receiving in good citizenship and helpfulness has become recognized as one of the powerful factors making for the future welfare of the county. Camp Kilcema is the Boy Scout camping place which they enjoy to the full. R.G. Matthews and M. G. Stroup are leaders in the county organization and among the camp masters are C. G. Sheldon, Harry Spencer, Clarence Coleman, Geo. E. Lenny, A. J. Arnett, J. H. Vogneld, S. T. Burnham, George Staffy, Edgar Pederson, Chris Lehman, Zene Maulsky, Oscar Hoover, Leo Wilson, Paul Erickson, M. G. Stroup and C. F. Radke.

The Lower Valley

ALEXANDER SPITHILL - GARDNER GOODRICH - FIRST HOME IN STANWOOD - FIRST WHITE WOMAN - FIRST MAP OF VALLEY - O. B. IVERSON - SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED - BIG JAM CLEARED - D. O. PEARSON - BEGINNINGS OF STANWOOD - SETTLERS WISH TO JOIN SKAGIT COUNTY - IRVINE STORE OPENED - VALLEY IN 1877+EARLY CROP STATISTICS - FLORENCE RIVALS STANWOOD - NORWEGIAN COLONY GROWS - EARLY SILVANA SETTLERS - STILLAGUAMISH LUTHERAN CHURCH - REV. C. JOERGENSON - SILVANA BEGINNINGS.

There were two distinct and separate settlements in Snohomish County, one in the Snohomish Valley and the other in the valley of the Stillaguamish. For years they had almost nothing in common except politics and county government, and they were as far apart in the points of time and convenience of travel as Everett and San Francisco are today. On account of the establishment of the military road and the fact that it became known to settlers during the early Indian wars, the Snohomish Valley was first settled. The first census of the county does not contain the name of a single resident of the Stillaguamish Valley. The proximity of the Utsaladdy mill was the factor which led the first of the pioneers, Gardner Goodrich, to the mouth of the Stillaguamish River, and he came, at first not as a settler, but as a logger. No county has seen more different periods of pioneering. The man who first broke the quiet of the woods along the Stillaguamish was just as much a pioneer as he who built the first buildings at Mukilteo or Snohomish, and no more of a pioneer than the men who established homes along the upper river in the '70s, or who established Arlington and a half score of other towns in the '80s, or the wonder workers of Everett, and the prospectors of Monte Cristo and Silverton in the 90s. There are today regions within Snohomish County into which one must carry food and shelter and undergo almost the same pioneer conditions as any of these men experienced, if he would establish for himself a home. The history of the Stillaguamish Valley is therefore but a succession of chapters on pioneering from 1864 until well into the present century.

Alexander Spithill

There were white settlements on Whidby Island at least fifteen years before Gardner Goodrich made the Stillaguamish Valley his home, and it is hardly possible to believe that some of these settlers did not set foot on the mainland at the mouth of this beautiful river. Indeed there is evidence that Samuel Hancock explored the river and found outcroppings of coal on the south fork as early as 1854. He took no advantage of his discoveries, however, and his visit was of no benefit to the valley save that he passed his information on to others, thus perhaps directing attention to the region. One of those with whom he talked was Alexander Spithill, a young Scotchman, one of the many who had fled the tyranny and hardships of a British ship to enter into the freedom and the opportunity which America offered. They met at the old fort on Whidby Island in 1857, and as meetings of white men were occasions to be made the most of, they undoubtedly told each other of their adventures and discoveries. Spithill must have known something of the coast for he worked at the Utsaladdy mill and worked with a spar gang getting out masts and ship timbers and went duck hunting with his friend, Bill Johnson, on Whidby and Camano islands and along the flats. From Utsaladdy, Spithill drifted down the coast to the mouth of the Snohomish after the Tulalip mill was started and he is prominently identified with the history of early logging and of Marysville. Spithill and Johnson found the region a favorite Indian hunting ground and it probably had as dense an Indian population as any section of Puget Sound. There was an Indian village near the mouth of the river and others upstream, and they had potlatch places near Utsaladdy and at Port Susan, which were the scenes of feasting and dancing and gift-giving. Spithill came to the Sound country in October, 1856, but he must be reckoned as a pioneer of the Snohomish, rather than of the Stillaguamish. He came to this region on the Olympia-Victoria mail steamer, Constitution, which is said to have brought the first horse to Puget Sound; and he relates that on November 5, 1856, he met Rev. Father Chirouse, who was returning to Steilacoom after one of his many journeys among the tribes of his beloved Indians and who told of the mission (at Priest Point) which he was founding.

One thing which Spithill bequeathed to the valley is a vivid description of it as he saw it in those days. He described it as ''wide stretches of marshy land along the bay, some stretches north of the site of Stanwood, open and treeless clear to the highlands. Big patches of scrubby spruce and juniper along the river, and the slough north and east of Stanwood. Dense forest in the background toward Florence, with here and there a dry cedar top reaching high above the other wood. Further inland, the hills and the mountains. The only signs of human beings being the wreaths of smoke rising from Indian camps."

The upper valley in the neighborhood of the forks was also explored by the makers of the military road in the late '50s. They passed through what is now Arlington and a description of the road, which was little more than a trail, as given by Charles Short, who was a member of the party, has been quoted in another chapter. Harry Marshall was the first person known to have taken a claim in the Stillaguamish Valley. He did not remain, however, as he sold his claim, on the present site of Florence, to James Perkins, who came to the Stillaguamish Valley with his friend, Gardner Goodrich, in 1864. Perkins was the founder of Florence, platted the town site and was the proprietor of a hotel and saloon, living there for many years.

Gardner Goodrich

The life story of Gardner Goodrich is that of an extraordinary and remarkable man. He was born in Canaan, Me., February 28, 1833. His father, Orin Goodrich, was also a native of Canaan and died in Maine in 1902 at the age of ninetydo HISTORY OF SNOHOMISH COUNTY three years. His father, Samuel, grandfather of our subject, served in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Lydia (Thurston) Goodrich was born in Maine, the daughter of a Revolutionary army patriot, and died at seventy-three years of age, the mother of seven children. When but twelve years of age Gardner Goodrich started out for himself, running away from home and taking to work in the woods up the Kennebec River. For eight years he lived this life, but in 1853 he came to California via New York and the Isthmus of Panama, walking across the latter. In California young Goodrich commenced mining in Butte County, working for $6 and $7 a day on the Feather River. He eventually started out prospecting for himself and made plenty of money which, like that of many an old-fashioned miner, went as quickly as it came. In 1858 Mr. Goodrich joined in the rush for the Fraser River diggings, but got no further than Victoria, where he and his partner, James Perkins, found thousands anxious to get out of the country. The partners then took the old schooner Jeanette for Utsaladdy, arriving practically periniless, as were hundreds of others rushing out from the Fraser country. Into the logging camps they went, and soon Mr. Goodrich commenced logging on his own account. In 1864 the partners commenced logging operations about two miles north of where Stanwood has since grown up and at the same time took up squatter's claims, by that act becoming the two original settlers on the lower Stillaguamish River. At about the same time five families came in, John Silva, George Nevils, Willard Sly and Daniel Marvin, all but the last named having native wives. It is interesting to record that Mrs. Marvin was the first white woman in the section. Untravelable woods covered the land and not a trail led through the dark and tangled forest. The men had to go to Coupeville for their supplies, making one trip in the spring and another in the fall. At times, owing to unfavorable winds, they had to remain on the beach for a week before they could cross and at such times they had to depend on clams and fish for their subsistence. Mr. Goodrich was fortunate in having $1,500, which had been paid him for his logging work, and he was enabled to live on that while he cleared his land and prepared it for producing crops. His first crops were vegetables and corn, which he furnished at good prices to the men in the logging camps.

Mr. Goodrich was possessed of a memory which has brought down to the present time much of value to the historian and of interest to the present-day resident of Snohomish County. In 1858 the overflow from the Fraser River country dropped a number of white prospectors in the valley of the Stillaguamish River. The arrival of the whites roused the opposition of the Indians, and one party was fired on by the natives and fled for safety across to Utsaladdy. It was in 1861 that Mr. Goodrich took to himself a native wife, Molly by name, whose father was a medicine man who fell into disfavor with his tribe and was murdered by them in bed with his wife, both being killed by the same shot. Molly was raised by a chief. She had two sisters who also married white men. Because he had taken to himself an Indian wife, the natives did not molest Mr. Goodrich and allowed him to settle on his land, his present place, on which they had refused settlement to other whites. Perhaps also there was another reason, to wit: that he had settled there and proposed to stay there, by force if necessary. The spot had been a red man's burial place and the bodies of the dead remained in canoes placed in trees above high water mark. Mr. Goodrich notified the Indians to remove their dead and gave them three days in which to do the work. They told him that he did not dare touch the dead, and the staunch old pioneer replied that it was only the living that he had cause to fear. The Indians declined to remove their dead and the white man did it for them. He got spruce logs and burned the dried bodies; the others he consigned to the river. Two days were consumed in this weird work. After this had been done three canoe loads of Indians, thirty red men to a canoe, came down the river, and pay for ravaging the city of their dead was demanded. The answer of Mr. Goodrich consisted in his going to the house for his gun and knife. While he was gone his native wife told the Indians that he was a "bad Boston man" and would kill them all if they did not go away. The ninety red men were just disappearing around a bend up the river when Mr. Goodrich arrived on the bank with his arms, ready to defend his title to the land. Mrs. Molly Goodrich died in October of 1871, leaving two children - Mrs. Lydia Lock, wife of J. Lock of Bryant, who recently sold out his interests in shingle mills for $90,000; and Llewellyn Goodrich, who lives at Florence.

In 1879 Mr. Goodrich married another Indian woman, a native of the Skagit River country, named Jennie. She was a reservation Indian and her marriage to Mr. Goodrich was the signal for trouble. The Indian agent and fifteen armed red men came to the Goodrich home to return her to her people. Demand was made for her, but her husband firmly declined. Irs. Goodrich took refuge in the house and locked the door. Under orders of the agent the Indians made an attempt to break open the building, but the stern pioneer guarded the door. He had always stood for his rights and the red men finally came to understand that his orders were to be respected, so when he told them to get away they retired. This was the last trouble Mr. Goodrich ever had with the natives. His marriage to the Indian girl was soon after solemnized according to the laws and rites of the whites, silencing all quibbles on the part of the agent. To this union have been born four children, three of whom are living, all well educated - Orin, who has interests in mines at Roosevelt, Idaho, and Mary and Ira, who are living at home.

First House In Stanwood

According to Mr. Goodrich the first house erected on the site of Stanwood was built in 1877 by James Caldin and Robert Freeman, and the carpenters employed there had to come down to Mr. Goodrich's place for their board. The building was used as a saloon. A man named Fulton had taken up the land where old Centerville had stood across the river from Stanwood, in the fall of 1865. John Gould bought his right in 1866 and kept powder, shot and groceries for sale. Two years later he sold out to George Kyle, and then the name of Centerville was given the place, the mail being brought by boat from Utsalady, nine miles away. Later John Brigger bought Mr. Kyle's store and farm and in turn sold it to Charles Anderson.

Gardner Goodrich took almost no part in politics or county affairs. His name does not appear as a candidate for any office nor as a participant in political conventions. He seemed content with his farm and to attend to his own affairs, but in doing this he has a number of things to his credit; the respect and fear with which the Indians regarded him undoubtedly made life easier and property safer for the other settlers; he was one of the first to show the agricultural possibilities of the Stillaguamish flats, and his was one of the model farms of the valley at an early date; he died at a ripe old age, having lived upon his ranch for nearly a half century, and at his death he held the respect and esteem of all.

According to Alexander Spithill, among the white men in 1856 none were looking for "prospects for ranching or dairying, but good timber close to waterways was worth looking at, and that was what brought the first white settlers to the Stillaguamish." This was undoubtedly true of by far the greater portion of Snohomish County, but it was not quite the fact as to the pioneer at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River in the 60s. These men came to the open treeless flats, of which Mr. Spithill told, and they set about the work of ranching almost at once, and soon began the diking and ditching which, at the cost of much labor and money, have made the Stanwood flats as noted for their fertility as the famed valley of the Nile.

First White Woman

Among the settlers at this time, as named by Mr. Goodrich, there were Willard Sly, John Silva, a Portuguese, George Nevils, James Cuthbert, and, most important of them all, Capt. Daniel Marvin. While all these other men had taken unto themselves Indian wives or consorts, Captain Marvin was the first man on the Stillaguamish to be accompanied by his white wife, and to Mrs. Maria L. Marvin must be accorded the honor of having been the first white woman in the Stillaguamish Valley. They came from Port Madison with their son, Frank, accompanied by Willard Sly, about November 1, 1864. They came in a little scow built for the purpose, and this they made their home until their shack was built. This scow was also used to explore the river, and it was undoubtedly the first white man's path on the Stillaguamish. The hardships and deprivations must have been very real at the time, but in later years Mrs. Marvin was fond of relating the incidents of these pioneer days. For three years she lived on their claim without seeing another white woman; supplies were brought by canoe from Utsaladdy or Coupeville, while sometimes the men made the more adventurous journey by skiff to Seattle. It was not until late in the year 1867 that Mrs. Marvin had the very great pleasure of a visit from a white woman. This was Mrs. Alexander Graham, who came from Utsaladdy. The visit was brief, but in the spring of 1868 Graham and his wife settled near the Marvins, and within a few months David Thurston and his family also came, making three white women upon the Stillaguamish. Unfortunately for Mrs. Marvin, neither of these families remained permanently; the Thurstons leaving the country and the Grahams moving to Hatt's Slough.

First Trading Post

In 1865 Thomas Runnels opened a logging camp on Nevils Slough, and there was also a logging camp operated by Duvall. These brought a number of unattached men into the vicinity and served to induce Robert Fulton, who had settled about a mile up the river from the original Marshall claim, to start a trading post in 1865 on an island opposite and a mile south of the present Town of Stanwood. The following year he added a saloon and lodging house. This place he called Centerville.. Fulton sold to John Gould, who in turn was succeeded by George F. Kyle, and it was through Kyle's efforts that the first post office was established, and he was made postmaster. The James Cuthbert claim was located just above that of Goodrich; Thomas S. Adams was the next upstream neighbor of the Marvins; John and Robert Robb settled just above Florence, as did also P. A. Peterson; Martin P. Tofteson, who is said to have been the first Norwegian settler in Wash- ington territory, came to Hatt's Slough in 1867, where his wife died in 1871, this being the first death of a white woman in the Stanwood district.

First Map Of Valley

Prior to 1870 newcomers included William B. Moore and Frank H. Hancock, both of whom were accompanied by their white wives. Others were William Hunt, John McDonald, Thomas Ovenell, Peter Wilkinson, James Caldon, William Douglass, and J. H. Irvine. There was much talk of railroad building in the early 70s, and it was rumored that the coast line from Seattle to British Columbia would pass through the Stillaguamish flats. This, together with the increased logging operations, which more and more afforded a market for farm products, attracted a number of new settlers. Land claims in the early days were very indefinite and unsettled. No Government survey had been made, and claims held by the squatters were bounded largely by guess work. At first these claims were far enough apart, and land was so plentiful that there was no danger of dispute, but as settlements became more dense claims sometimes overlapped, and there was a fear that serious controversies might arise after the Government survey was made and it came time to prove up on these holdings. The land at the mouth of the Stillaguamish was exceptionally rich and fertile, and its value had been increased by ditching and diking, the planting of orchards and other improvements. With remarkable good sense and judgment the settlers decided to avoid disputes, if possible, and club together to employ S. M. Morgan, a civil engineer, to make a map of the country, giving the names of the settlers and showing their claims; this to be filed at the Government land office at Olympia. A copy of this map was in the possession of Gardner Goodrich for many years; it was made in 1873 and would seem to afford indisputable evidence as to the names and locations of the settlers at that time. On the north bank of the river this map shows the claims of J. Hicks, A. L. Densmore, T. J. Moore, A. H. Moore, W. B. Moore, William Hunt, J. Gage Green, John McDonald, Thomas Ovenell, Peter Wilkinson, Robert Freeman, Henry Oliver, J. H. Irvine, James Caldon, J. A. Palmer, N. Perfield, Charles Palmer, William Butler, John Silva, Peter Harvey, Capt. Daniel Marvin, George Nevils, John Bradey, John Gilchrist, C. Livingston, P. A. Peterson, John Rhoades, and C. J. Lowe. The claimholders on the south bank were George Kyle, William Kyle, David Kellogg, Gardner Goodrich, J. Crebs, J. Anderson, Gardner Kellogg, James Cuthbert, Willard Sly, E. Graham, J. H. Perkins, John Dimont, and H. G. Dewey. South of Hatt's Slough there were William Douglass, James Hatt, James Long, Thomas Adams (first telegraph operator three miles south of Stanwood), George Belden, John LeBallister, J. W. Fendlason, A. Grant, David Munson (at Lake Martha), Peter M. Smith, Ross P. Shoecraft, a surveyor on Lake Howard, and Martin Woolsey, who lived near by. This map was supposed to include the name of every settler north of the Tulalip reservation. James Hatt was the pioneer logger of Port Susan Bay, beginning his operations possibly as early as 1863, getting out logs for the Utsaladdy mill. He sold his outfit to William Douglass in 1866 and filed on a claim engaging in both farming and saloon keeping. During the early '70s logging operations were pushed farther up the river and the rancher followed closely in the wake of the logger.

One of the very first settlers of Norwegian blood was Severt G. Brekhus. He came with his family in 1874, leaving them at the settlement while he went up the river to locate and begin the work of clearing. In 1875 the family moved to this claim which was located about one and one-half miles east of the present. Town of Silvana, and they were the first settlers in this vicinity. Gilbert O. Brekhus, born March 5, 1878, was the first white child born on the Stillaguamish River above Stanwood. Jacob G. Brekhus, a brother of Severt, joined him in 1876. Severt Brekhus preceded by one year the coming to Snohomish County of O. B. Iverson, who must be accredited as the man chiefly responsible for the large Norwegian element, whose industry and good citizenship has done so much for Snohomish County and particularly for the Stillaguamish Valley.

©. B. Iverson was a natural leader of men. He had force and magnetism and was himself a hard worker. He was a surveyor and a civil engineer of high repute. He was a convincing talker, a fluent writer, and also a practical woodsman and farmer. He was born in Norway September 14, 1845, and came with his parents to Winneshiek County, Iowa, in 1857. He enlisted as a Union soldier in September, 1862, and served with Company D, Sixth Iowa Cavalry, until the end of the war. In 1865 this regiment was sent to protect the settlers of Dakota and Montana from the Indians and was employed on this service when mustered out. This gave young Iverson his first idea of the Dakota plains. He returned to Iowa, where he was married in 1866, and went to farming. <A hail storm spoiled his crop and he determined to locate farther west. He located near the present City of Sioux Falls, S. Dak., and soon became prominent in politics, and as an office holder serving as probate judge, clerk of courts and member of the Legislature. In 1874 he received an appointment as the commissioner of immigration, and this work led him back to his native Norway. He there induced Peter Leque and a number of other enterprising and ambitious Norwegians to return with him to Dakota. Again misfortune drove Iverson westward. The newcomers had barely settled when they became the victims of the grasshopper plague, which devastated large portions of the Central West in 1874. Mr. Iverson felt in large measure responsible for the welfare of these fellow countrymen, and hearing of the wonderful soil and climate of Puget Sound, he came to investigate. He found the country all that any man could expect, and after this scouting trip he returned to Dakota, where, fortunately, Leque and the others still had sufficient confidence in his judgment, so that they came with him and settled along the Stillaguamish. Their success attracted others of their nationality not only from Dakota but from Norway. Iverson, together with N. P. Leque, Nils Eide, and A. Danielson bought what was later known as Leque's Island, diked it, and opened farms. Iverson was a member of the Legislature in 1876 and later was prominent as a surveyor and civil engineer in Whatcom County, moving to Seattle in 1891, in which city he now resides as the very patriarch of all the Norwegians in the State of Washington.

Writing of his first visit to Puget Sound, Mr. Iverson said: "When I first saw the enchanting shores of Puget Sound, Seattle was a sawdust village with about five thousand inhabitants. The whole merchandise of the town did not equal the stock of two of its houses today. Tacoma was unborn. Steilacoom, which has not been subject to change, was a place of importance. Whatcom and Fairhaven were diagrams on the map and a memory. Olympia was the capital and not much else. Snohomish County had perhaps a little more than 500 inhabitants. Everett's inhabitants were Ned Kromer and his telegraph instruments. The only reliable transportation between Seattle and Bellingham Bay was by dugout run by squaw power. Time required for the trip, about a week. Snohomish County had less than twenty miles of wagon road and perhaps ten wagons. The only reliable transportation facilities the pioneer had were his own broad back, unless, perchance, he owned a canoe and a squaw. Few of the North's pioneers were owners of the last named class of transportation. In fact, when speaking of our early north settlers mention of that method might altogether have been left out of account, but they had the backbone. Those who believe that the pioneer is, and must be, as a result of the strenuous life he leads, a pure and simple materialist, are in error. On the contrary, he is generally an idealist of the purest type. He loves his surroundings, his work and his friends with an intensity little understood within the precincts of alleged civilization. He will risk his comfort and even his life for a friend; yes, even for a stranger; with less hesitation than a city man would lend his friend a dollar. The pioneer is hospitable, honorable, energetic, enterprising, and public spirited. He is a hero and a gentleman." Mr. Iverson continued: 'Soon after my arrival I joined a surveying party and landed at Centerville (now Stanwood). With this survey I went over the greater portion of the Stillaguamish Valley. The country looked good to me. I advised a number of my friends to come and take land - which they did. The advice was good (I could always advise others better than myself )."

Schools Established

So far had the settlement progressed by 1872 that school district No. 3 was organized at Florence, with Kate Bradley as the first teacher, and district No. 4 was established at Centerville, October 25, 1872, N. R. Hancock being the teacher of the school, which had eleven pupils. Population was also reaching out toward the Stillaguamish, following the line of the Pilchuck River. The Northern Star urged the desirability of this location and said there might soon be a new town at Glenwild, near the Bennett and Witter Saw and Grist Mill, that there were two logging camps in the vicinity, that the land was richer the farther one went up the river, and that there might soon be a school district with "'all the comforts of a prosperous settlement."' By 1876 a great deal had been done in the line of ditching and fencing and ranch improvement, and the settlers up the river had the benefit of regular weekly trips by the Fannie Lake, and the section had become of so much political importance that O. B. Iverson was elected to the Legislature and J. H. Irvine to membership on the board of county commissioners. Sixty-eight votes were polled in Centerville precinct at this election, and Henry Oliver was elected justice of the peace and John McDonald constable. Oliver at this time had about one hundred acres under cultivation, seventy of which were in grain. McDonald had eighty acres, twenty in grass, the rest in grain. Other ranches in the vicinity were those of Peter Wilkinson, of 118 acres, seventy-five of which were in grain: Thomas Ovenell, 120 acres, 105 in grain; William Hunt, forty acres in grain; W. B. Moore, 100 acres, half in grain; F. H. Hancock, sixty-five acres, with forty of grain; Peter Gunderson, J. B. Cook, and Mrs. J. Bradley, about forty acres each, all in grain; O. B. Iverson, on George Kyle's place, thirty-five acres in grain. G. M. Haller, of Coupeville, had become a prominent land owner and had joined with Hancock, Hunt, McDonald, Moore, Ovenell, Wilkinson and Iverson in a diking project, by which they expected to reclaim some 300 acres of fine land. There was also a beginning of dairying, and it was estimated that during the year 1,000 pounds of butter would be produced beyond the needs for home consumption. Oliver Thompson and Peter Wilkinson had large droves of hogs. The settlement on the marsh produced about 35,000 bushels of grain and 125 tons of hay, while the 200 acres under cultivation on Hatt's Slough and up river produced 100 tons of surplus hay, besides large quantities of vegetables. The population consisted of about twenty-five families, some half dozen bachelor ranchers, and the laborers at the four logging camps.

Big Jam Cleared

As the river was the only practical means of transportation, settlers did not care to locate far above the head of navigation. At a point about six miles above Centerville a big jam had formed in the Stillaguamish, and the settlers raised a fund amounting to $422 to pay for its removal. This work was done by Frank Ledger, Jesse Jones, and J. H. Mathews. The jam was very deep, and it was thought that it could not be removed without great expense, but by cutting through on one side the logs were released and the jam was carried away by the high water in November, 1877. No sooner had this obstruction been removed than settlement moved farther up the valley, and within a short time twenty-five new claims were located up the river.

In 1872 the post office had been moved to Robert Freeman's place just below the present town site of Stanwood, and in 1875 James Caldon bought the Freeman establishment and established what was long known as the Pioneer Saloon and Hotel, and he also conducted the post office. This establishment, together with the private residence of Henry Oliver and the bunkhouse of the logging camp, formed the only approach to a settlement and trading point on the Stillaguamish when D. O. Pearson came to the valley in 1876.

He prospected up the valley to the headwaters of the Stillaguamish, in 1877, named Jim Creek, near Arlington, in honor of James Gardner, and visited the present sites of Arlington and Granite Falls. He believed the location at Centerville the best for his purpose, which was to open a store, as he had been in the mercantile business at Coupeville. He secured a small tract of land along the river bank, brought lumber from Port Gamble, and had a store building and a wharf erected in time to receive his stock, which was freighted to him by the Fanny Lake. Mr. Pearson put in a stock of goods to the value of about $4,000, purchasing the goods at San Francisco and Portland. This was a very large stock for the time and place and at once made his store the place of greatest importance along the valley, and a good trade awaited him when he opened his store on April 4, 1877. Pearson was soon able to secure the post office, and as there were a large number of Centervilles in the United States, he was given the opportunity to select a new name. With commendable love and loyalty he selected the family name of his wife - Stanwood. This change of name became effective in 1878. Daniel Pearson was born at Lowell, Mass., in April, 1846, the son of Daniel Pearson, a native of New York. His father came to Puget Sound in 1864, and the family settled on Whidby Island, where the senior Pearson was for sixteen years the keeper of the lighthouse, which stood on the site of the later Fort Casey. D. O. Pearson remained in the East and enlisted in the Union army in the summer of 1864, joining the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, and serving with the army of the Potomac from July to October of that year. Having disposed of his father's store, which he had been running, young Pearson followed his family to the West, reaching Whidby Island in December, 1865. The next twelve years were spent in ranching, logging, and storekeeping in Coupeville. In 1868 he was married to Miss Clara Stanwood, who was born in Massachusetts in 1848. They had been sweethearts in Massachusetts, and as soon as the young man had established himself in the far West she came across the continent to become his bride. Their marriage took place on Whidby Island. Mrs. Pearson must have been a remarkable woman. She showed real bravery and devotion in leaving her eastern home to come to an unknown land to share an unknown lot in the midst of hardships to which she was unused. She did all the work that fell to the share of the pioneer wife; she was the beloved friend of all the people of the valley, and she was the mother of seven children. Her son, D. Carl Pearson, at one time county treasurer, was the first white child born at Stanwood. She faced with her husband not only the hardships of the earlier days but the perhaps harder time when the panic of 1893 took from them nearly all the accumulations of their years of toil. She died July 3, 1910. In the preparation of this history much use has been made of an old scrapbook which Mrs. Pearson kept and which was kindly loaned for the purpose by Mr. Pearson. Even a scrapbook may reflect the mind and heart of the one who kept it, and this volume shows the great interest which Mrs. Pearson had, not only in household and religious matters, but in the history of her town and county and in the welfare of her friends. Stanwood may indeed be proud to be named in honor of this good woman.

Beginnings Of Stanwood

D. O. Pearson had the distinction of running one of the few stores on Puget Sound which did not have a bar attachment, but the place soon became so popular as a trading point that the temptation to open a saloon could not be resisted, and soon after the door was open Henry Oliver built and conducted what was known as the O. K. Saloon. The next business attracted was a blacksmith's shop run by Peter McLaughlin. He died within a year, however, and his widow opened up a hotel, the second on the Stillaguamish River. D. O. Pearson, who is still a merchant of Stanwood, is fond of relating the incidents of the early days. In order to secure material for his store building he swapped potatoes for lumber at Port Gamble mill and loaded it on a little schooner in January, 1877. The little vessel got as far as Skagit Head but could not make headway against a heavy "northwester'; for three days, from Thursday until Sunday, the boat battled against the wind and waves and was finally beaten back as far as Seattle Bay. Another trial was made on Monday, and on Wednesday Captain Keith was able to land his cargo. The store building on the river front was 30 by 50 feet in size and 1% stories high, and the Pearson family lived over the store. Mr. Pearson also tells that he came to secure the post office when he did on account of the death of James Caldon, who was running the Freeman saloon. Caldon was living with an Indian woman and the law prohibited the saloon license from going to his kloochman, and it was through this affair that Pearson was able to secure the post office and move it to his store. McLaughlin and McNamara bought the Caldon saloon, which, as the Pioneer Hotel, was quite an establishment, Chinese cooks being employed. There were many Indians along the sand spits and they were both peaceful and useful, except when suffering from the effects of the white man's whiskey, of which they were very fond. QOne of their favorite resorts was under the Pearson wharf, and when they gathered there, with a sufficient supply of firewater, they made both day and night hideous. Pearson did his best to prevent them from using the wharf in this manner, and finally called upon Sheriff Whitfield, who advised pouring hot water through the cracks. This was done and proved effective for a time at least.

Mr. Pearson explains the desire of settlers along the Stillaguamish to be attached to Skagit County instead of Snohomish as largely a matter of transportation. In order to get to the county seat it was necessary to go down the river and catch a boat to Seattle, where after a stay overnight one might take the "Nellie" to Snohomish. The return trip was the same, and it often took five days for a Stillaguamish settler to transact business at the county seat and return to his home. La Conner, and later Mount Vernon, were more accessible. Stanwood made several attempts to secede from Snohomish County and at one time helped elect James Power to the Legislature with this in view. This was at the time that Skagit County was created, 1883, but the plan to include the northern township in the new county was thwarted by E. C. Ferguson, who was a power at Olympia. At the next session Stanwood expressed such dissatisfaction over the road situation that Ferguson secured an appropriation to aid the county in building a road from Snohomish to Stanwood. It was first planned that this road should be cut via the present site of Arlington, but it was started from Snohomish down the river toward Port Susan, and before it was slashed as far as Marysville the appropriation was gone. This continued dissatisfaction as to roads and transportation was undoubtedly a prime factor in securing the vote of the northern part of the county for Everett at the time of the county seat fight.

Irvine Store Opened

About two years after Pearson established the Stanwood store he was obliged to face competition for J. H. Irvine, who had been peddling meat to the logging camps, opened a store and proved himself not only a good merchant but an important factor in county affairs. His election as county commissioner had already given him much prestige. Irvine was born in Ireland in 1836, but was raised at Penobscot, Me. He went to California in 1854 and was the owner of a ranch about six miles from Stockton. He joined the stampede at the time of the Caribou Mining excitement and spent two summers in that district. He came to Puget Sound in 1864 and divided his time between ranching and mining until he moved to Centerville in 1874. He was a well-informed man, of much native ability, and he became a popular leader in that part of the county. The first death of one who might then have been called ''an old-timer' was that of Willard Sly on April 8, 1877, at his ranch on the Stillaguamish. He died from the effects of a wound by an ax, received while he was making a fence on his place.

Morse Describes Valley In 1877

In 1883 Eldridge Morse, who had previously edited the Northern Star at Snohomish, contributed an article relative to the Puget Sound region to a government publication. In this report, after describing the tide marshes of the Snohomish, Mr. Morse said: "The Stillaguamish marshes are next northward. Hatt's Slough cuts across from the Stillaguamish, six miles above its mouth, to Port Susan Bay, a distance of three miles. On the south side of this slough is a marsh of 600 acres, bounded on the west of Port Susan Bay, south and east by high land, and north by the slough, except when timber lands above tidal overflow intervene. The tract south of Hatt's Slough is sedimentary clay, mixed with vegetable matter. There is no peat in it. The grass which grows wild here is like that north of the Nisqually and on the Samish flats; a hardy grass, which grows some eighteen inches high, seeds very thickly and looks like blue grass. Each summer about one hundred cattle and as many sheep get most of their living from this tract.

"The highest storm tide during the last nineteen years was in January, 1868, when it rose from fourteen to twenty-six inches above Mr. Adam's marsh. The marsh along the shores of Port Susan Bay is from six to twelve inches lower.

"Of the marsh land in the Stillaguamish delta that is between Hatt's Slough and the Stillaguamish River, that on the north bank of the slough will average from eight to twelve inches higher than that near the mouth of the main river and toward Stanwood. The Stillaguamish delta comprises all lands between the main river and Hatt's Slough, amounting to 2,09534 acres by the United States land surveys. Of this over 1,600 acres may be classed as tide marsh, including 400 acres of brush and spruce marsh. There are three grades of land running across the delta - river bottom at the upper end, spruce marsh across the middle, and open tide marsh prairie on the front. The diking of the tide marsh prairie shuts off all salt water and leaves nothing but river overflow to contend with. This comes in from back of the tide marsh through the timber. It does not occur while crops are growing, and will not, for some time at least, be excluded; but, as will be seen, it has a strong claim for recognition in all plans for the reclamation of delta marshes. The tide marsh prairie of the delta is divided into two nearly equal parts by a slough which at times of high freshets in the Stillaguamish discharges a volume of water into Port Susan Bay nearly equal to that carried by the main channel. In 1879 and 1880 a dam was built across the slough, at a cost of $1,400, which, in connection with a dike a mile and a half long, costing $2.75 per rod, was intended to protect a large tract from salt water overflow. About three thousand dollars were invested in dike, dam and preparation for the first crop, when a freshet carried the dam out and the attempt was abandoned.

"At Stanwood the Stillaguamish River divides, one channel flowing nearly due south into Port Susan Bay, the other northwest into Skagit Bay. These channels and Davis' Slough constitute the boundaries of Leque's, sometimes called Iverson's Island, which contains about four hundred acres, all of it open tide marsh prairie. Being situated at the mouth of the river it received so much drift on the lower portion that nearly 100 acres are unfit to be diked. The drift is not only on the surface, but extends down indefinitely like a jam.

"The improved portion, 125 acres, is enclosed by a dike 600 rods long, 8 feet wide at the base, 314 feet high and 3 feet wide on top, which cost $1,340, besides about two hundred and eighty dollars for dams in eight sloughs. These sloughs were from three to eight feet deep below level of tide marsh and are from six to twenty feet wide. The total cost of dikes, dams and repairs has been about one thousand nine hundred dollars for 121 acres. When most of this dike was built, in 1878 and 1879, the average wages for diking were about one dollar and fifty cents per day and board.

"The tide lands between the Stillaguamish and the Skagit in Snohomish and Skagit counties form one continuous tract. In two townships north of the Stillaguamish there are about three thousand five hundred and twenty-five acres of tide marsh, of which 3,000 acres are free from timber and high enough to dike and 300 acres are covered with spruce or brush. The remainder is too low for profitable diking. East of the Town of Stanwood is Record's Slough, which extends to the highland, and into which many million feet of saw logs have been hauled. On each side of this slough 1s spruce tide marsh. None of the marsh between Record's Slough and the main river is diked. West of Stanwood, Stillaguamish Slough, about fifty feet wide, runs nearly due north towards the Skagit. Between it and the main river is an island containing 600 acres, of which 150 are diked and 250 more are suitable for diking. The Stillaguamish flats include all the lands from Stanwood to the Skagit River, a distance of some five miles; but the lands north of the Snohomish County line will be separately described. It is about four miles from Stanwood north to the county line. The tract includes about two thousand five hundred acres of tide marsh, most of which is under dike and nearly all free from brush or timber. The southernmost channel of Skagit River is called 'Tom Moore's Steamboat Slough.' From this a slough deepened and extended southward to the highland is called "Tom Moore's Logging Slough.' All tide lands south and west of Tom Moore's Logging Slough are usually considered a part of the Stillaguamish flats. The greater part of this land has been but recently diked and much of it is still uncultivated."

Early Crop Statistics

The report gives a large number of statistics of crop yields secured by different individuals in different years, but only the general summaries are of special interest at this date. The total number of acres of tide marsh in Snohomish County is estimated at 18,000, the number of miles of dike at 37 and the cost at $50,000. The following table of grain and hay raised on the Stillaguamish tide lands from 1878 to 1883 is of special interest:

In 1880 the yield was largely decreased by freshets, which drowned out the grain, and in studying the table it is well to remember also that twice the stock was kept on the Stillaguamish tide lands that was kept in 1878.

Florence Rivals Stanwood

There were but few changes at Stanwood for a number of years after the opening of the Irvine store; the saloons changed hands occasionally, but Pearson and Irvine continued to hold the trade of the valley almost without opposition until Florence began to loom as a rival in 1883. This community is located some three and one-half miles up the river from Stanwood on the site of the first claim on the Stillaguamish Valley, taken originally by Harry Marshall in 1864 and purchased by James H. Perkins, who came with Gardner Goodrich, in 1866. It laid between what were called Hatt's Slough and South Slough, which formed Florence Island. The first school in the vicinity was taught by Miss Kate Bradley at the home of Willard Sly, and this school by knitting the community closer together was possibly what led J. H. Perkins to plan a rival town. In the summer of 1884 Perkins succeeded in interesting F. E. Norton, who erected a two-story building and became the pioneer merchant of the place. In August, 1884, the Snohomish Eye spoke of the new town as a probable strong competitor for Stanwood and said a post office was to be established and that ''while yet in swaddling clothes its future was assured" and it would be no mean rival for its sister towns as it was located at the head of navigation of the Stillaguamish River. The second story of the Norton store was built for a hall and a Good Templars lodge and a debating society were soon organized, while the Corinth Hotel, built by Coltenbaugh and Carrins, was ready for occupancy by November, and the town site was platted by Perkins. In February, 1886, the Eye declared that Florence would soon pass Stanwood and spoke of Frank Norton as the popular postmaster and merchant and of Frank Carrins as the keeper of the hotel and restaurant; that there were also some half dozen residences and other buildings, the first homes having been built in 1884 by James Hall and Messrs. Hanson and Quaile. Other residences were those of Captain Marvin, Hans Larson and Ole Nass. In 1885 Maple Lodge No. 65, I. O. O. F., was instituted and by 1886 the town rose to the dignity of a skating rink. The Fourth of July celebration at Florence in 1886 overshadowed all the other jollifications in the northern part of the county, with an oration by T. B. Neely, the Declaration, by J. F. Rhoades, and an original poem by Mrs. S. Giddings. Seventy-five men and forty women attended the grand ball on this occasion. Again, in 1886, Florence offered the best attractions, and excursions were run from Snohomish, La Conner and Utsaladdy, with H. McBride of the La Conner Mail as orator, and log-rolling, baseball and dancing the main features. In the meantime Perkins built a second hotel and saloon so that Florence for the time did fairly outstrip Stanwood. But it in turn soon had a rival for Norman built a store on the Furness claim in 1887. At Florence the Norton store was sold to Jasper Sill, in 1888, and in 1889 it was bought by E. A. Hevly, who still owns it.

Norwegian Colony Grows

But the real history of the Stillaguamish was being written, not in the little trading posts, but in the woods. David T. Munson, a logger for many years, who bought a farm near Florence in 1888, told that when he first visited the river in 1871 there were but five settlers along the river banks and the only means of transportation was the Indian canoe. William Cuthbert, who joined his brother James at Stanwood in 1871, told of the rough trails made, for oxen only; and that at first all the meat they had was sold to them hy the Indians. Cuthbert brought the first mower into the Stillaguamish Valley and one of the first horses.

Peter Gunderson, who bought eighty acres three miles north of Stanwood; Nels P. Leque, who together with Iverson and others bought "Leque Island"; A. J. Brue, who also located near Stanwood; and Jacob Brekhus, who began his Snohomish County life by working for his brother Severt, were among the new arrivals in 1876. Ole Matterand settled on-the flats in 1877, and other settlers of that year were Olanus Olson, who after years of effort cleared forty acres, only to see thirty of them washed away by the flood of 1891; and Ingebregt Stenson, who located a mile and a half south of Silvana and who was fortunate enough to have a logging camp on his ranch which furnished a market for all he could produce.

Early Silvana Settlers

By 1878 the stream of settlement had reached the vicinity of what is now Silvana. F. W. Koch, who in 1883 raised the first hops in the valley, was a newcomer to that locality during this year, as were Lars Larson, Styrker A. Erickson and Thomas Jensen. Larson settled on the South Slough, with Stanwood his nearest trading post, eght miles by canoe. When Mrs. Larson joined him she could not get beyond Florence by canoe and she made her first journey to her new home on foot. Larson lived but a few years and his wife managed the farm. She was a famous butter maker, shipping the butter to Seattle after she had taken it acros's the slough to Silvana by boat. Erickson came near to death in the early days when his boat was swamped while he was going from Stanwood to Utsaladdy. He was in the water all night, clinging to the boat until rescued by Indians. This accident permanently injured his health and he died November 25, 1904. Jens Thomsen, a German, and August Lammert, later of Arlington, also came in 1878.

Jasper Sill came to Florence in March, 1878, and was busy as both farmer and logger until he bought the Florence store. Later he moved to Stanwood and then to Arlington, where he again entered the mercantile business as an implement dealer in 1901. Levi Levison came to Stanwood in this year, but the most important arrival at that place during 1878 was Rev. C. Joergenson.

Stillaguamish Lutheran Church

The coming of Rev. Christian Joergenson to Stanwood, November 16, 1878, was to open a new chapter in the history of the Stillaguamish Valley. Prior to his coming there had been hotels and stores and saloons; now there was to be a church. O. B. Iverson and the sturdy Norwegians whom he induced to come to the new land were, nearly all of them, devout members of the Lutheran Church and grievously did they miss its ministrations. Undoubtedly these men made their wants known to the church authorities and as a result Rev. C. Joergenson was sent to them as a mission clergyman. He undoubtedly expected his stay to be brief, but it has now lasted forty-eight years, and his many friends hope that it will endure long after the half century mark has been passed. Reverend Joergenson must have found a zealous, eager congregation awaiting him for the foundations of the new church building were laid in 1878 - before he had been in Stanwood six weeks. The building was quickly begun, but to complete it with only the scant means which the settlers could provide was another story, for all of them were poor, and it was not until 1885 that it was finished. It was the first church on the Stillaguamish and the second church in Snohomish County; more than this, it was the first church erected by Scandinavians in the far West and the first Lutheran Church building on the Pacific coast. The Lutherans of San Francisco organized a church society in 1864 and bought and remodeled an old Presbyterian Church - but the honor of having the first Lutheran Church built by a Lutheran congregation must be accorded to the hardy Norsemen of the Stillaguamish. The building was one to be proud of in those days especially. The auditorium was 24 by 36 feet in size, with a choir room 16 by 16 feet, while the steeple, which rose to a height of sixty-eight feet, rested upon a vestibule 14 by 14 feet in size. It was erected on what was known as Ketchum's corner and was the church home of the congregation until it was destroyed in the fire which swept Stanwood in 1892.

Rev. C. Joergenson

Rey. Christian Joergenson, the father of this church, was born in the parish of Land, Norway, March 1, 1847. He was educated in the parochial schools of the country and confirmed at the age of fourteen. He spent the next years in his native land, but as soon as he reached his majority he made his way to America. He spent some time in Illinois and Wisconsin and then entered the famous Norwegian Lutheran College at Decorah, Iowa, where he studied for six years. He next studied theology at the St. Louis Lutheran College and was ordained as a minister of the faith in 1878. He returned to Wisconsin and there was married to Miss Christina Fjeld, who had also been a student at Decorah, and with his bride he turned his face towards the mission fields of the West. Stanwood was his first charge, and his last. In 1880 he took a homestead, relinquished to him, near Stanwood and he became not only the spiritual leader of his flock but a model farmer. He took great interest also in the business welfare of the community, and it was largely through his influence that the Stanwood Cooperative Creamery Association was organized. He was its first president and it was the first creamery in the county to prove a substantial success. He was also instrumental in founding the People's Union store and other business enterprises. He was a member of the board of county commissioners in 1897-98, at the time of the building of the first courthouse in Everett, and over the stairway at the entrance of the courthouse of today, as it was rebuilt in 1910, half obliterated by a coating of plaster, may be found the stone with his name engraved thereon together with those of the other county officers of that day. Nine children, seven of whom are living, were born to Rev. and Mrs. Joergenson. Mrs. Joergenson, who came as a bride in 1878, died in 1922, but Mr. Joergenson still resides at the old home in the retirement becoming to his age and enjoys the fruits of a well-spent life. It is a satisfaction to him, also, that a beautiful new church has succeeded the old structure, still carrying on the work of the faith to which as a young man he dedicated his life.

Silvana Beginnings

During the early '80s there was practically no village life; for convenience the location of the store and post office was given a name, but that was about the only difference between town and country. Gradually, however, the villages began to grow and with the coming of the railroads there began an urban as well as a rural life. Something of the beginnings of Stanwood and of Florence has been told. Florence reached the height of its career in the late '80s, but Stanwood slowly acquired numbers and importance. In 1885 Iver Johnson built a store on the banks of the river a short distance east of where the Town of Silvana now stands, a post office called "Stillaguamish" having already been established. Hans Olson was the mail carrier and a large envelope was sufficient to contain the first mail. The vicinity was established as a voting precinct and a school district but it attained no further growth until the time of the building of the Seattle & Montana line in 1890-91. It then enjoyed something of a boom, but the location was moved to conform to the site of the depot, which was located on land purchased from Nils and John Saether, Nils Bruseth, Iver Johnson and Mrs. Sorenson. The first added business was the blacksmith shop built near the Johnson store in 1891 by Sam Bergseth. L. P. Evrum's general merchandise store was the first building on the new town site, in 1892, and the first residence was that of Martin Gilman. The William Ewing store followed in 1893 and the Swanson Hotel in 1894. The new county road was put through about this time, placing Silvana on the direct line of travel, and this gave the village added impetus. Botten Bros. moved their store from Florence to Silvana in 1896, and the People's Union Cooperative store opened in 1906, erecting a fine store building. The Pioneer Hotel, owned by Mrs. Annie Swanson, was twice destroyed by fire and twice rebuilt. What is still known as the Great Northern Hotel was built in 1903 by Peter Clausen.

Chapter Ii The Two Stanwoods

In 1882 O. B. Iverson, who was spoken of as the advance agent for a colony of Scandinavians, was quoted as saying that the new settlers were getting along exceedingly well and that many who came from Dakota had large farms under good cultivation and that some of the fatmers were worth as much as $10,000, all made out of the forests in six years. From his place, he declared, he could see twentyeight farm homes, together with Stanwood with its church and school, and whereas in 1876 there was one precinct with twenty-seven votes, there were two precincts in 1882 with 350 votes. By 1883 there were 3,000 acres under cultivation in the vicinity of Stanwood, but the only business houses were the Pearson and Irvine stores. Pearson had the reputation of being very lenient with the poor settlers, and while he made many friends and did more than any one other man to help the pioneers of the Stillaguamish, his kind-heartedness was often taken advantage of, and it was common talk that the settlers went to Pearson when they needed credit and to Irvine when they had any cash. The result was that Irvine was able to retire as a comparatively wealthy man in 1895, while Pearson barely weathered the panic of that period.

The Methodists, as well as the Lutherans, had church organizations, the former organizing in 18/77 at the home of F. H. Hancock, under the guidance of Rev. C. Derrick. 'The new school had been built in 1880 and Mrs. Ella Granger had taught the first term of school in it, so there was a good nucleus for the building of a town. By 1884 the town consisted of two stores, the post office being in the Pearson store, two hotels, two saloons, shoe shop, blacksmith shop, school, unfinished church, and some six residences, and there was a literary society and a lodge of the Good Templars. Irvine put up a new store building in 1884, and there was the beginning of a water system; spring water being led through iron pipes from the hills about a mile distant. T'wo years later Pearson was allowed "to lay water pipe along and across the Stillaguamish-Skagit River road, if he maintains a watering trough."

Town Site Platted In 1887

TOWN SITE PLATTED IN 1887 There was but little change in the town until 1887, when Henry Oliver sold his holdings to W. R. Stockbridge of Puyallup, who platted twenty acres in 1888, the dedication being in the names of W. R. and Augusta Stockbridge. At this time the mistake was made which has cost Stanwood dearly. The streets were laid out but thirty and forty feet wide, with but one street which for a short distance attained the width of fifty feet. This has heen a handicap to the city throughout its existence and may cause it to lose the Pacific Highway in the near future, as plans have already been drawn to skirt the town on account of the dangerously narrow streets. At the time, however, the file of this plat was a great benefit as theretofore lots were sold by metes and bounds and not by established survey. In 188/ Peter Wilkinson and John Armstrong built a new blacksmith shop, with a hall in the second story, although a pessimistic press writer doubted if there was room for two halls in Stanwood. The waterworks were extended during this year, there was a business change when Peter Harvey leased the Caldon Hotel, and a new factor was introduced when D. G. Bennie began the lumber business which is now one of Stanwood's chief industries. He lost heavily the first year he was in business but did not lose courage and finally won success. 1887 was a prosperous year for the entire valley. There were no disastrous floods and the logging camps afforded a good market. Hay was $18 per ton, potatoes $1.50 per sack, and other prices were good. There were many new settlers in an area extending twenty-five miles above Stanwood. The Bennett-Mackey Telegraph line was building across the valley about five miles from Stanwood, and the railroad was within twelve miles of that city. A new wharf was built giving a frontage of about six hundred feet, and when Henry Oliver sold two lots for $800 it was felt the "boom" days had come. The year 1888 was made notable by the coming of the first drug store, erected by Andrew B. Klaeboe: the first hardware store, by M. A. Goodykoontz; and the second hotel, the Melby. This was built by J. H. Armstrong and included a public hall.

The waterworks system, drawing its supply from Lake Young, four miles distant, was installed by H. Orchard and later sold to Peter Harvey. The machinery for the new sawmill arrived in August and by November the mill was crowded with orders. Stockbridge, the town site owner, built a large warehouse. Taken all in all, 1888 was one of Stanwood's best years.

Methodist Church Founded

The second church was erected, by the Methodist congregation, in 1889, Rev. M. C. Tyne being the "building pastor." F. E. Norton established a daily ferry service by a steam launch from Utsaladdy, via Stanwood, to Florence, and the town had its first taste of ]iterary fame when poems by Mrs. Maria W. Conners won general recognition. The Stillaguamish Times, Stanwood's first newspaper, also made its appearance during this year, but it soon removed to the new town of Haller City. A review of Stanwood for the year 1889, written by Eldridge Morse, speaks of it as the metropolis of Susan Bay, tells that Cyrus Walker and the Puget Mill Co. are planning a railroad from Utsalady, via Stanwood, up the north fork and over the Cascades with Utsaladdy as the deep water harbor, and lists the improvements at Stanwood as follows: Stockbridge, wharf and warehouse, $2,500; Irvine's new house, $2,500; Irvine's new warehouse and hall, $2,000; steam sawmill, $6,000; Munson & Johnson shingle mill, $2,000; Stanwood House and saloon, $2,800; Melby's Hotel, $1,600; O. J. Langsave, store, $1,000; Methodist Church, $1,800; W. G. Douglass, residence, $1,800; Payne & Brown, wharf, warehouse and furniture store, $2,500; A. O. Sherwin, hardware store, $1,000; town hall, $900; M. E. parsonage, $500; C. J. Nelson, residence, $800; Postal Telegraph, $150; O. Retz, residence, $150, and other minor improvements made by the Bennett barber shop, Kennedy blacksmith shop, the millinery store and the Denny shoe store.

In 1890 L. H. Smith put in the third stock of general merchandise, later selling to G. J. Ketchum, and the Puget Sound Live Stock Association was formed, holding a race meeting which was well attended. Stanwood was very indignant over the increased valuation ordered by the county commissioners and at a mass meeting $100 was raised to fight it, but without avail.

Railroad Misses Stanwood

The coming of the railroads which made so many towns was almost the undoing of Stanwood. Arlington, which sprang up where the Seattle, Lakeshore & Eastern crossed the Stillaguamish, above the forks, cut off a large amount of trade which Stanwood had called almost exclusively its own for many years, and when the 'Seattle & Montana went through it left Stanwood three-fourths of a mile to one side. Stanwood people did what they could to avert this, offering a cash bonus of $4,000 if the road would run through their city, but their offer was not accepted and hard times soon settled down upon the little city. Pearson platted a forty-acre tract between the town and the depot, but was unable to sell a single lot for some time. By 1892 conditions were so bad that Rev. J. W. White, pastor of the Methodist Church, resigned in order to clerk in a store as his salary amounted to but 26 cents a day. Nevertheless, the game little town was not ready to give up, and there was talk of a street railway to connect town and depot, and Tamlin Elwell leased the race track and a meet was put on with purses amounting to $1,500. A tragedy occurred at this meeting when J. B. Roberts, a well-known pioneer of the Snohomish Valley, fell dead on the race track.

Big Fire Of 1892

The next calamity which befell Stanwood was what has since been known as the 'Big Fire of 1892." This occurred June 2 and was discovered at 9 o'clock in the evening in the Stanwood Restaurant. A line of hose run from the steamer Merwin, which was lying at the wharf, was not long enough to be effective, and the old-time bucket brigade fought the flames all night before the fire was under control. It is told that the Good Templar lodge was in session and that the members rushed out, in full regalia, and succeeded in saving the stock of liquors from the Armstrong saloon. Five buildings on one side of the street and three buildings on the opposite side were destroyed, together with other small buildings and the Lutheran Church. Falling timbers broke the telegraph wires and the town was cut off from communication with the outside world. The Armstrong Hotel, the Smith store, the blacksmith shop and hall - three two-story buildings, the pride of the town, were wiped out. This was a heavy blow, but the burned area was soon rebuilt. As if this was not enough, however, Stanwood was four feet under water in November, the flood being caused by the breaking of the Skagit levee. It was reported in 1893 that the Seattle & Montana proposed building a spur to the city, but nothing came of this, and in the meantime the indignant merchants boycotted the road, shipping everything by steamer. The farmers clubbed together and bought the steamer City of Stanwood, but this, with its heavy cargo of hay and oats, was burned to the water's edge at Port Susan in January, 1894, causing a loss of $8,000.

Cooperative Creamery

In 1895 J. H. Irvine retired from business, selling to S. A. Thompson, and during the same year the Stanwood Cooperative Creamery was organized. This was started with a cash capital of $300 and a debt of $3,000, all the lumber and machinery being bought on credit. Rev. C. Joergenson was one of the founders and the first president of this concern, which was soon the envy of all the rest of the county. Ina very short time it was free from debt, and by July, 1896, it was using from 6,000 to 7,000 pounds of milk daily. It had a career of almost uninterrupted success for more than twenty years and was a potent factor in making the Stanwood Flats the center of a great dairy industry. The Stanwood Lumber Company, established by A. S. Howard, was running at 20,000 feet daily capacity in 1897, and in May of that year F. P. Friday and Chicago parties incorporated the Everett Canning Company to erect a cannery at Stanwood, and this plant was in operation by August, 1898. After the Stillaguamish Times moved to Haller City in 1890, the Post was established and had a brief existence, after which there was no newspaper for some time, the next venture being the Stanwood Press (established March 1, 1897), which continued for some years and which was the first to urge the incorporation of the city, in 1899. The year 1891 saw an oil flurry, a Seattle firm leasing lands but not doing a great amount of prospecting, and the leasing of the cannery by the Stockbridge interests to the Ocean Packing Company of New York. G. M. Mitchell, the first attorney Stanwood could really call her own, was admitted to the bar at Mount Vernon in 1902 and began practice in Stanwood in 1903.

Stanwood Incorporates

After much discussion the preliminary steps were taken and Stanwood was incorporated, dating from September 29, 1903. There was a close but good-natured contest for all the offices. The vote for mayor stood: D. O. Pearson 30, S. A. Thompson 28, Dr. D. McEacheran 26, R. J. McLaughlin 11. Iver Johnson, I. F. Galloupe, Dr. O. R. Allen, C. W. Chadbourne and W. C. Brokaw were members of the first council and K. Knudson, the proprietor of Stanwood's first jewelry store, was the first treasurer. Fred Pearson was elected as city clerk, but this was found to be an appointive office and Carl Ryan was named. Other first officers of Stanwood were J. M. Bennett, marshal; G. H. Mitchell, attorney ; D. McEacheran, magistrate. Mr. Brokaw failed to qualify and H. Hafstad was appointed on the council. Ira Gilloupe made the first motion before a Stanwood council. These officers held only until the regular election in December, at which Pearson was reelected mayor, his opponent being Dr. D. McEacheran, and Knudson was reelected treasurer. A. Tackstrom, O. R. Allen, J. W. Hall, N. R. Olson and George Ketchum were elected to serve as councilmen. In his address to the new council in January, 1904, Mayor Pearson said the receipts since incorporation were $421 and expenditures $423; that 2,000 feet of sidewalk had been built, the dike repaired, and books, seal and other supplies for the city purchased. He recommended the building of a jail, the purchasing of a pump to be placed on the wharf, for fire protection, and the widening of certain streets.

Business Review In 1904

In 1904, soon after incorporation, Stanwood's business concerns were as follows: Bank of Stanwood, H. C. Anderson, president ; Peter Leque, vice president ; W. C. Brokaw, cashier; S. A. Thompson & Co., general merchandise (the company consisting of Alfred and Carl Ryan) ; D. O. Pearson, general merchant ; Ole Aalbu, blacksmith; H. Gilpatrick, Frye-Bruhn and People's Union meat markets; Ernest Dimick, wall paper; K. Knudson, jewelry; Louis Peterson, photographer; Fred Till, log scaler; Charles McKean and Fred Landwehr, barbers; Geo. M. Mitchell, attorney; Dr. Frank O. Rhoads, dentist; Dr. D. McEacheran, physician; Benj. Stoulp, tailor; Stanwood Tidings, newspaper; Skagit Navigation Company (Capt. Charles Durgan and Engineer James Durgan, operating the steamer Lily) ; Clemens and Mitchell, real estate; Robert McLaughlin, shingle mill; Stanwood Lumber Company (A. H. Howard, manager) ; Klaeboe Drug Company; Hotel Stanwood, by W. C. Benton; Palace Hotel, by "Billy" Conners; Geo. J. Ketchum, groceries ; Mrs. May Watson, millinery ; Codperative Creamery; J. W. Hall, ltveryman; Ben Willard, furniture; Stanwood Hardware Company (Iver Johnson and Herman Halfstad) ; Dr. R. O. Allen, physician, who came to Stanwood in 1899 and who established a private hospital in 1904.

Early in 1904 Stanwood parties applied to the county commissioners for a franchise to operate a street railway between the town and the Great Northern station. This franchise was granted, and while the citizens desired such a line, they were greatly incensed because the franchise was granted without seeking permission from the city. There was much heated discussion carried on through the press between the mayor and the commissioners, but peace was finally declared and Mayor Pearson officiated when the last spike of the H. & H. Railway was driven October 25, 1904. A picture of the car and engine used by this line is shown on another page of this history. John W. Hall was the builder, manager and chief owner of this tram, which served its purpose well until largely deposed by the automobile and the paved road, but it is still operated as a freight line, hauling cars from the mills to the Great Northern.

Death Of Peter Leque

Perhaps no other tragedy so deeply affected Stanwood people as the death of Peter Leque, in November, 1905. Mr. Leque was in many ways the pride of Stanwood and especially of its Norwegian element. Returning to his home down the river about one-half mile, at night, it is supposed that in stepping from his boat to the scow which served as a landing he slipped and fell into the icy water. The body was found by Charles Floe after the drifting boat had given silent evidence of his fate. Peter Leque was born in Norway and came to Snohomish County in 1875, where he lived with his uncle and foster father, N. P. Leque. He attended the schools of Stanwood and later of Olympia, living at the home of O. B. Iverson. He was prominent both in business and in politics, had been county surveyor, assessor and auditor and was, although but forty-one years of age, accounted one of the wealthiest men in the Stillaguamish Valley. At the time of his death he was president of the Stanwood Hardware Company and vice president of the Stanwood bank.

New Century Growth

The electric light plant was installed in 1906 and in 1907 the city was the scene of the starting of a notable philanthropy when John Hals, entirely at his own expense, erected a home for the aged to be known as the Josephine Old Folks' Home, in memory of his wife. This building, which cost $10,000, was donated to the Pacific District Norwegian Lutheran Synod. It is still carrying on its good work under the supervision of the church, with E. O. Johnson as the efficient manager. Diking problems occupied the attention of farmers and of the newly organized Commercial Club in 1907, and as a dike district could not be agreed upon the city council raised $500 by public subscription and in this way all land north of the depot was protected from flood. The Catholic Church, erected near the Great Northern station, was begun in 1907 and finished in 1908; and in April the ~ Zion Lutheran Church was incorporated, the incorporators being Louis I. Foe, Lars Breum, T. K. Hagen, Andrew Breum, P. J. Breum, Gilbert and Chauncey Hagen and Andrew Floe. The church edifice was also located near the railway. This year also saw the organization of the first Odd Fellows lodge, Stanwood Lodge, No. 249, by Grand Secretary H. Hart of Tacoma, assisted by the Everett lodge. The Washington Canning Company was incorporated in May of this year, the officers being S. A. Thompson, president; N. P. Leque, vice president; H. O. Becker, treasurer; W. C. Brokaw, secretary. Another very important business change was the purchase of the Cedarhome Lumber Company by Henry Dickinson, C. A. Lux and C. O. Elwood of Milwaukee, and S. J. Lombard and J. F. Jacobsen of Seattle, for $120,000; the sale including 75,000,000 feet of timber, saw and shingle mill, logging railroad and equipment.

Among the notable happenings of this year, 1908, were the community celebration of the seventy-fifth birthday of the pioneer, Gardner Goodrich; the lecture delivered by the great Norwegian Arctic explorer, Capt. Raoul Amundsen, who was given a warm welcome by his fellow Norwegians, introduced by Mayor Klaeboe and entertained at the home of Perry Babington; and the dedication of the Old Folks' Home, September 27, 1,500 people attending, when it was accepted by Trinity Lutheran Church.

In 1915 the Stanwood-Oak Harbor auto ferry was opened on June 30, with a celebration in which fifty automobiles from Everett and two from Whidby Island participated, and in 1916 the building of the Pacific Highway made street cars unnecessary and largely tended to offset the advantage which East Stanwood had in the possession of the railroad station.

The Modern City

The indomitable, tenacious, upbuilding spirit of the Stanwood people persisted in spite of railroad and other reverses, and instead of decreasing in volume of business and industry and in population, the old commercial center of northwest Snohomish County has continued to prosper and to keep pace with even the most progressive of the newer towns of the county. It was the west terminus of the first mile of vitrified brick pavement in the county, connecting the mother town with her vigorous young rival, East Stanwood, and it was one of the first communities to offset the gradual decline of the primal lumber industries by intensive development of the farms and farm products. Thus the Washington Canning

Company of Stanwood, as early as 1909, had packed in the one season 8,151 cases of fruit and vegetables grown in the Stanwood district, according to a report in the Everett Herald of January 14, 1910, including apples, green beans, beets, pears, cherries, blackberries, rhubarb, plums, prunes and raspberries. It is the business heart of a great area of reclaimed marsh lands, rich and never-failing in almost unequaled yields of the usual farm crops, and is also the gateway and exclusive trading center of Camano Island, Island County, which is reached by paved highway and steel span drawbridge over the narrow channel separating the island from the mainland close to the western border of the city, this drawbridge being equipped with electric power in 1926. Camano is becoming an important berry growing district and will be an increasing element of Stanwood's prosperity, supplementing the greater production of the surrounding area of rich mainland.

Well Paved Streets

The people of Stanwood anticipated the construction of the Pacific Highway by nearly four years; it was a pretty well paved little city by the time the great state cement road was built in 1916, and at this time every business or semi-business street in Stanwood is paved with either cement or vitrified brick, and at the fall election in 1926 the voters are to determine a project to erect a new modern city hall at a cost of $11,000, to replace the twenty-five-year-old city headquarters on Oliver Street. Ever since its incorporation, September 29, 1903, when D. O. Pearson became the first mayor, there have been few contests or clashes over the management of city affairs, and the present city attorney, Geo. M. Mitchell, has been the legal advisor throughout the life of the corporation to the present time. Other city officers in 1926 are: O. E. Thompson, mayor; Clifford Myron, F. L. Conners, Geo. W. Bonser, Arthur Knudson and H. A. Hafstad, councilmen; D. C. Tolin, city clerk; A. D. Hall, treasurer; Nils Olsen, police judge; W. T. Jordan, chief of police.

Stanwood Institutions

Although Stanwood is built on the north bank of the Stillaguamish River at the point where one branch flows south into Port Susan and the other westward into the same fine inlet of Puget Sound, the town has never converted the river water to domestic use. D. O. Pearson piped the first water supply to the village, the source being a number of springs on the bluff a mile away from town. The waters from these springs were confined in a small reservoir. In 1888 H. Orchard installed a new water supply, piping the water from Lake Young, four miles distant, and a short time later sold the plant to Peter Harvey. This was later perfected and developed and became the present excellent water system, supplied from Lake Ketchum, four miles north of town and at an altitude of 135 feet, the supply being supplemented by tributary springs. The present water system is owned and operated by the Stanwood Water Company. The 30,000-gallon reservoir, 120 feet high and close to the business center and industrial district, provides ideal fire protection pressure and supplies the distributing system for domestic and industrial use. Fire protection is modern and complete in every detail, the Stanwood department being fully equipped, including a new chemical engine, auto hook and ladder truck and three hose wagons, supplied with plenty of standard fire hose to cope with any possible conflagration to the limit of the water supply. Robert Evans is chief of the department and his men are all well drilled volunteers, and its equipment cost $16,000, half of which has already been paid in cash. The town is practically out of debt and on a cash basis, no outstanding warrants, the fire protection item being the only outstanding debt at this time, or a total of $8,500. In close proximity to the tower of the water reservoir is the cement power house of the electric light and power service, built in 1909, three years after the first establishment of the electric light plant. The city has two solid banking houses, the Bank of Stanwood, founded in 1904 by W. C. Brokaw, who died in 1919, and the First National Bank, established in 1918, the combined capital and surplus of the two banks being $82,000 and combined deposits, June 30, 1926, $1,070,581.68.

The Stanwood Commercial Club closely cooperates with and supplements the work of the municipal government, while the newly organized Stanwood Kiwanis Club supplies the welding influence and spirit that is surely bringing the two Stanwood towns together in letter and spirit, this club working in harmony with both town governments and both commercial clubs. The Stanwood Commercial Club in 1926 maintained an active 100 per cent membership of fifty and at its regular banquet meetings, held the second Tuesday evening each month, the attendance is seldom under fifty men. A. D. Hall is president and Elias Myron secretarytreasurer.

School System

Stanwood was the center of the fourth school district created in Snohomish County, October 25, 1872; in May, 1885, the Lake Stevens-Hartford district became No. 4, and Stanwood No. 18, and in recent years it was the heart of consolidated school district No. 99, which it remains. Its public school properties now have a valuation of $84,000, while the bond debt is $21,000 and the assessed valuation of the district is $660,000. All warrants are cashed on presentation. The total cost of operation and maintenance in the year 1925-26 was $37,000, including the salaries of ten high school and seven grade school teachers, with an enrollment of 225 in the high school and 232 in the grade school. The high school building is a modern brick structure, having ten large rooms, with an auditorium seating 500 persons, built in 1914 at a cost of $25,000, building and equipment financed with a $30,000 bond issue, one-third of which has been paid up. The grade school building is also modern in all its departments and has eight rooms. The high school is situated upon a twenty-acre tract, providing ample campus and field room. The gymnasium and manual training building adjoins the high school proper and is 60 by 100 feet in size. Prof. A. W. Bush is the city superintendent for the biennium of 1925-1927, and O. V. Lange is principal of the consolidated high school. The school board is composed of President Martin Tyjerne, Clerk W. B. Davis and Director Edwin O' Melia.

Public Library

The Stanwood Public Library has a background of interesting history, aside from the fact that it was sponsored from its inception by the ladies of the Four- Leaf Clover Club. When the pioneer Jack Irvine died his will provided $2,500 for the library; when later his widow died her will also provided for $2,500, making a total of $5,000, of which $4,000 was to be spent for books and $1,000 for maintenance. The Stillaguamish Band had about this time acquired a site for a permanent band home, on Depot Street, the Stanwood-East Stanwood highway, close to the mother town, and had erected thereon a handsome frame building, but found the property too much of a financial responsibility. The library board, appointed hy the Stanwood council, headed by Edwin O'Melia, raised $1,200 by public subscription early in 1926 to build the cement approach to the building from the highway pavement, paint the building and equip it for use as a library, having taken the property over in 1921 from the band boys, the latter reserving use of the structure for their occasional purposes and as a home for their instruments. The library was first opened in the unpainted building in January, 1922. Today it is one of the most pleasing sights as one motors toward Stanwood on the Pacific Highway, and with 1,335 listed books of good literature on its shelves it is an institution of which both these spirited little cities may well feel proud. Mrs. Yokum, who resides near by, is the present librarian and keeps the library open from 2 to 5 on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. The library board is composed of Mrs. O. E. Thompson, chairman; Mrs. Geo. W. Bonser, Mrs. A. S. Howard, Edwin O''Melia and E. A. Rosser, treasurer.

Social Organizations

The ladies of the Four-Leaf Clover Club are always working for community betterments, their most popular achievement being the library, in which, however, they acknowledge a debt of gratitude to William White, who loaned them the money required without interest, and they have paid it all back. The club started as a needlework circle in 1913, with membership limited to ten, the limit being later raised to twenty, and the club was federated in 1917. There are but sixteen women on the roll now, but they are all effective workers. The first officers were: Mrs. L. H. Jacobson, president; Mrs. D. D. McEachran, vice president; Mrs. W. B. Davis, secretary, and Mrs. Geo. J. Ketchum, treasurer. The present officers are: Mrs. Emil Christianson, president; Mrs. Ted Swearingen, vice president ; Mrs. Chas. McKane, secretary, and Mrs. G. W. Bonser, treasurer. The Monday Club is an older and larger organization of cultured women, long a member of the Snohomish County Federation, which it entertained in annual convention at Stanwood in 1914.

Church Organizations

Fraternal organizations are headed by the two old standard orders, Masons and ()dd Fellows, the former being the historic Camano Lodge No. 19, F. & A. M., organized at Utsaladdy in 1872, and removed to Stanwood in 1891, the present Masonic Temple on Oliver Street being erected in 1893. J. P. Anderson was the first worthy master. The lodge now has fifty-eight members and the officers are: Roy Olson, W. M.; Harry Butts, S. W.; Frank Colossus, Jr. W.; James J. Hansen, sec.; C. A. Norlin, treasurer. CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS

The leading churches are: Our Savior's Lutheran, Methodist Episcopal, Catholic and Presbyterian, the first named being the historic pioneer, at this time conducted by Rev. George O. Lane. This church also continues the old parochial school and supervises the Josephine Old Folks' Home, established by John Hals and named in memory of his wife in 1907, since which time the admirable and well furnished and equipped institution has been in charge of the Pacific District of the

The present industrial establishments include those of the Lien Bros. Packing Co., fish, fruit and vegetable canning in season, Conrad Lien manager, B. S. Lien secretary; two lumber mills, one of which is the large plant of the Stanwood Lumber Company, Daniel D. McEacheran president, E. J. Bennie manager, and the well-known timber supply concern, the Stillaguamish Boom Company. The population is at this time about one thousand, and William Rouse is the postmaster.