Mukilteo, Washington - The City Of "Firsts" - Scene Of Indian Treaty - M. H (part 10 of 14)

1882, for $900, reserving two acres for a life lease. Smith was the big man of Lowell, millman, logger, merchant, hotelkeeper, farmer and real estate dealer all in one, and at this time he owned pretty nearly everything in his vicinity that was worth having. Under his tutelage Lowell became quite a trading point, being distanced first by Snohomish and then by Marysville. The town of Lowell was platted and the dedication filed May 8, 1873, being signed by Edmund D. and Margaret B. Smith and Martin and Olive Getchell, and while this town has always maintained its identity, it shared in the glory of Everett and may fairly be considered as the forerunner of the greater city. Smith does not appear to have appreciated the possibilities of the Everett harbor, although he coéperated fully with the Everett city builders when they came to his door.

The City Of Destiny

Others foresaw the possibilities, however, for there appeared in the Snohomish Eye, October 22, 1887, an anonymous contribution which coytained a prophecy and a warning, to the effect that 'a town backed by live men, near the mouth of the river - perhaps at Marysville - could get the county seat and kill Snohomish, and would be able to get the river trade and the rail trade as well." The writer warned the townsite owners of Snohomish that they better wake up, if not - 'The City of Destiny."

As is often the case it remained for strangers and outsiders to see the advantages which the old-timers had overlooked, but it is somewhat remarkable that the possibilities of Everett were discovered independently, and almost simultaneously, by two different parties; the Rucker brothers, and Henry Hewitt, Jr.

The Great Gamble

To understand how this came about, something of the general times must be considered. From 1888 until 1892, there was an era of very general prosperity throughout the United States following what had been four or five quiet, though not panicky years. In the Far West, particularly, the rail projects outlined in 1883 were about to be carried out. J. J. Hill was planning his transcontinental line, and eastern capital was, for practically the first time, recognizing the unlimited and unexploited resources of the great Northwest. Money, millions of it, was to be invested some place along Puget Sound. No one knew just where. It was a great gamble; one of the biggest prizes ever posted in the lottery of life, and there were 10,000 eager men and a dozen cocksure cities struggling for it. Seattle had an advantage, in age and size, but it was not so far in the lead as to preclude the hopes of other cities and it had a dangerous rival in Tacoma. Thus every bay and inlet from one end of the Sound to the other hoped and expected to become a metropolis with a faith that amounted to zealotry. La Conner solemnly warned Mr. Hill that he should secure right of way across the flats, at once "ere it is too late', if he wished to secure the "New York-La Conner-Yokahama trade." Men were prospecting for townsites along the shores of Puget Sound just as they prospected for gold among the granite peaks of the Cascades. It was not luck, nor happy chance, but brains and enterprise and daring which led to the founding of the City of Everett.

Rucker Brothers Arrive

Priest Point and the mouth of the Snohomish River had been important factors in the lumber trade of Puget Sound for at least a quarter of a century, and it is probable that every man who figured at all prominently in that industry was acquainted with them and visited them many times, as the Snohomish River was one of the chief sources of the log supply. It was in the course of business as lumbermen, but with eyes open to opportunity, that the Rucker brothers, Wyatt J. and Bethel J., first came to Port Gardner. They were attracted by the harbor and quietly made a study of its advantages. Convinced that these were exceptional, they returned to their home in Tacoma and took into their confidence their friend and associate, William G. Swalwell and planned with him to return to Port Gardner, secure as much land as possible, and plat a townsite. They had no particular industries in mind and no capital save their own, but they recognized the value of the harbor and knew by that time, that the coast railroad south from Vancouver must pass very near, if not directly across, the peninsula.

It was in accordance with this plan that the Rucker brothers came to Everett, accompanied by their mother, Mrs. J. M. Rucker, who appears to have been a woman of exceptional ability and who was not only a mother but a friend, companion and adviser of her boys. They bought the Edmund Smith farm on the Bayside, the deed being filed January 31, 1890, with the consideration $3,300. They also acquired as much other land as they could. A short time prior to this, Frank P. Friday had purchased the half interest held by Mrs. E. D. Kromer in her husband's homestead, and after some litigation between the heirs the property was sold to Friday, on November 4, 1889, for $13,000.

Swalwell Homesteads

Swalwell soon followed the Ruckers, took a homestead, and purchased the claim between it and the river. In his reminiscences, Mr. Swalwell relates that the woods were so thick on his homestead that the trees touched his little shack on every side. His wife came with him and it 1s said that for the first three months of her stay she saw no other woman. Swalwell busied himself at this time in cutting ties, getting 10,000 off of forty acres. By the end of January, 1890, the Everett peninsula was, therefore, pretty well in the hands of five men: E. D. Smith, the pioneer of Lowell, Frank P. Friday, Wyatt J. Rucker, Bethel J. Rucker and William G. Swalwell. W. J. Rucker's homestead of forty acres was on the Bayside (at the foot of what is now Hewitt Avenue). Friday had the 160 acres just east, and Swalwell was on Riverside.

Ruckers Plat Port Gardner

The Ruckers did not come simply to buy and hold land on the chance that someone else would want to built a city; they went right ahead with their own plans, had the land surveyed, and platted fifty acres. This covered much of what is now the best business district of the city, on the Bayside. That they were in earnest and themselves visioned a city of importance is proven by their reserving grounds for a courthouse in this original town, which they named Port Gardner, and by their offering to donate five lots to Engelbert Bast, the Snohomish brick manufacturer, if he would erect a two-story brick building.

Henry Hewitt, Jr., Appears

It was just at this time, when the plat of Port Gardner was at the courthouse at Snohomish for filing, that Henry Hewitt, Jr., stepped into the picture. And the picture which he was able to paint must have looked like a scene from the Arabian Nights to the Port Gardner promoters, experienced business men as they were. Where they had hoped for thousands, Hewitt talked millions; and he must have talked convincingly and have been able to show proof of his ability t6 carry his plans through, for the Ruckers withdrew their plat, which was never filed, and entered enthusiastically into the new plans.

Henry Hewitt, Jr., did not come empty handed, for he was a rich man before he ever saw the Pacific coast, and he also came to the Ruckers with assurances that he had with him some of the richest and most powerful business men of America.

He who will always be known as "The Father of Everett'? was a shrewd, welltrained business man, of large affairs. He was born in England, in 1840, and came to. America with his parents, residing first in Wisconsin. His father was a contractor, lumberman, banker and real estate speculator. The son received his education in the public schools, at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, and at a Chicago business college; but chiefly was he educated in the school of business experience. From the time he was sixteen he was engaged in active business and by the time he had reached twenty he was in business for himself as a lumberman and contractor. While he was engaged with this first contract the Civil War broke out and young Hewitt hired a substitute. He next had fifteen years' training as cashier of a bank in Wisconsin, and it was this business connection which, perhaps, gave him acquaintance with the Wisconsin capitalists who were numbered among the first backers of Everett. He had a passion for land and was the owner of some 50,000 acres before his adventurous business instincts impelled him to seek added fortune in the West. According to a biographical sketch which he authenticated, he set out for the West in 1888 with $380,000 in cash, in addition to these large land holdings. After building a smelter at Nogales, Arizona, which proved unprofitable, his attention was called to the lumber regions of the Northwest, and after thorough investigation, he settled at Tacoma and associated himself with Wisconsin and Michigan capitalists for the purpose of buying timber lands from the Northern Pacific. It was during his investigations along Puget Sound that he was impressed by the fine harbor at Port Gardner. It is greatly to the credit of his business acumen that he did not stop with merely being "impressed," but that he had soundings made, hired Indians to take him over the ground and himself studied the location thoroughly, although he did not own one foot of Snohomish County real estate.

Fateful Alaska Voyage

He determined to begin logging operations on the Snohomish and it was while he was arranging for a boom site that he heard the news which was thrilling all the Sound country; that certain Eastern capitalists were abroad in the land seeking a location for great industrial plants. Every city on the coast, all the way from San Francisco to Anacortes, was on tiptoe to secure this plum. Hewitt had the great advantage of personal acquaintance with these men, and he was known by them as a man of wealth and enterprise and good judgment. To quote from the biography before mentioned: "Now about this time Charles L. Colby, principal owner of the Wisconsin Central Railroad and interested with John D. Rockefeller in building the Chicago Terminal road, together with Angus McDougall, the celebrated inventor and promoter of the whaleback type of vessel, were on the Sound looking for a site for their proposed whaleback building establishment. They had about completed arrangements with the citizens of Anacortes for the location of the plant there, but Hewitt took advantage of an invitation to accompany them on a trip to Alaska, to argue the advantages of his newly discovered townsite. On this Alaska trip, besides the men mentioned there were Henry C. Davis, private secretary to President Oakes of the Northern Pacific, and John Plummer."

John D, Rockefeller Interested

Just what arguments Mr. Hewitt presented has never been told, but it may well be imagined that during the long days of this Alaskan voyage, when Hewitt had the field to himself, the Port Gardner location was minutely discussed and detailed plans were made. This must have been the case, for when Hewitt next returned to the mouth of the Snohomish River he very evidently had his plans well in hand, as he moved swiftly and with absolute assurance. It must have been the part of Colby to interest Eastern capitalists, including John D. Rockefeller and Eastern manufacturers, and he must have done this effectively, for when Hewitt opened negotiations with the Ruckers and other large landowners at Port Gardner, he was able to make them very definite and breath-taking proposals.

Hewitt And Ruckers Unite

On his return from this memorable Alaska voyage, Hewitt posted to Port Gardner and there he found that the Ruckers had a score of men at work clearing streets on their proposed townsite and that the plat had already been forwarded to Snohomish for filing. One of Hewitt's first purchases was the John Davis claim at the mouth of the river, for which he paid $20,000, early in September, 1890. He entered into negotiations with E. D. Smith, Rucker Bros., Swalwell and Friday; promising a paper mill to Smith, and the barge works and other large enterprises to the Rucker interests, at the same time buying all the land that he could. - While he undoubtedly dealt frankly with these extensive landowners, a camouflage was put up as to lumber operations and the bare possibility of a branch railroad to connect the Bay with the Seattle, Lakeshore & Eastern near Snohomish City. In all his public utterances and interviews Hewitt took pains to belittle the plans for Everett and for many months Anacortes, Seattle and San Francisco were struggling for the prize which Hewitt had already secured. It was not until November, 1890, that Hewitt had thoroughly convinced and enthused the Port Gardner men and that their agreements were ratified by written instruments.

Ruckers Prove Farsighted

Right here, W. J. and B. J. Rucker must be given credit for a farsighted policy which proved the making of Everett. Hewitt had made many promises and they were more than ready to do their share, but they wanted those promises in black and white and they held back sufficient inducement to guarantee that these pledges be kept. One of the most remarkable documents ever filed in Snohomish County, and by far the most important one insofar as the interests of Everett are concerned, was the agreement filed on November 29, 1890. But a few days before, November 19, at Tacoma, the Everett Land Company had been incorporated by Henry Hewitt, Jr., Walter Oakes and George S. Brown. Oakes was president of the Northern Pacific and Brown a New York attorney representing the Colby-Rackefeller interests. The officers were Henry Hewitt, Jr., president; C. W. Wetmore, vice president and secretary; Gardner Colby, treasurer; George S. Brown, assistant secretary. On November 26, the two Ruckers transferred 434.15 acres to Hewitt for $27,000. This was a half interest in the 800 and more acres which had been acquired by the Ruckers, Swalwell and Friday.

Great Industries Pledged

On November 29 was drawn the remarkable document by which the Ruckers agreed to donate to Hewitt one-half of their remaining half interest - if - within four years the following things should be accomplished:

Second - That Hewitt should construct, or cause to be constructed, a railroad from some point in section 19, township 30-4, to connect with the Lakeshore line.

Fourth - That a dry dock, costing not less than $35,000 should be built within four years. It was set forth that time was an essence of the contract.

This instrument was modified no less than seven times; the Ruckers seeming at all times willing to grant extensions and to make concessions, but sticking to the main points through thick and thin. This document was filed December 24, 1890, and was a Christmas present for which Everett will never cease to be grateful.

This agreement was first modified in May, 1891, Hewitt assuming more of the cost of grading and platting, and securing an extension as to the time of completing the railroad and the elimination of the clause relative to the dry dock. The second modification was made in February, 1892, extending the time for the erection of the sawmill and changing the proposed location of it. The third modification, made June 10, 1892, agreed that it made no difference who built the railroad - just so that it was built - and contains stipulations as to the tunnel under the city, providing that it might be built further east than the west side of Norton Avenue, and east of Colby Avenue, and that traffic might pass and brick buildings be erected, on blocks 670 and 671; not more than two stories in height and without basement. In consideration, all claim to the surface assigned the Everett Land Company prior to May 12, 1891, was released. This agreement was accepted by the Seattle, Snohomish & Spokane Railroad. The remaining alterations had to do with postponing the erection of the sawmill, and came to be almost annual events as the hard times came on. The last modification made August 1, 1895, fixed the date for completion as May 1, 1896, and reduced the cost to $65,000; it also acknowledged that the agreement as to the barge works had been carried out.

Paper Mill To Loweli

The arrangement with E. D. Smith provided for the location of the paper mill, for the sale and donation of land, and Smith agreed to build a two-story house to cost $1,500 and an hotel to cost $5,000. This was modified to permit the building of four tenement houses instead of the hotel, and at the same time the Everett Land Company was released from all obligations under the first agreement. The first offices of the Everett Land Company were at the Fiber Hotel at Lowell.

This was the situation at the opening of 1891. The Everett Land Company had been formed to take care of the Western end of the enterprise. The Ruckers, Smith, Swalwell and Friday had been interested and were a working part of the organization in so far as coOperation was concerned; and in the East the companies were being formed and capital and material being mustered for the launching of the great industrial enterprises. But in Washington the plans were kept under cover as far as possible and Everett presented the strange and unique situation of a townsite company with absolutely nothing to sell. It was this which finally whetted the desire of would-be real estate speculators almost to frenzy. There were several reasons for this secrecy. There were more lands to be obtained, all plans had to be submitted to Eastern capitalists for their approval, and it was particularly desirable to secure the tidelands as cheaply as possible.

Plans Camouflaged

Thus, when William Ross and E. M. Patterson of Duluth pitched their tent at the Point in readiness for the coming of Captain McDougall, Thomas Wilson and H. C. Davis, who came to fix the location for the barge works, it was given out that they were merely considering the advisability of locating. The Seattle Telegram said: "There has been a general impression that the plant would be located at Tacoma, but it is almost certain that land on the waterfront at Port Gardner has been bought. McDougall and Wilson are the chief owners. They will employ from 1,000 to 2,000 men. The Snohomish taps coal, iron and lumber by water and it is probable the steel barges will be built at Port Gardner." But the Snohomish Eye knew better. It said there was no certainty and the probabilities were against Port Gardner. It quoted McDougall as saying that in order to locate there, they would have to dredge a ship canal two miles long through the flats; and then it was apt to fill, and that Port Orchard and Gibraltar were of easier access. According to the Eye, McDougall denied that real estate had been purchased, saying that some land had been bonded by "'the land sharks who always dog the footsteps of capitalists." Whereupon the Eye opined that it was a wildcat boom and warned its readers, saying that Port Gardner had few advantages and the great disadvantage of shallow water, and would never rival Tacoma, Seattle or Anacortes, especially if it depended upon being the site for the barge works. Again, in February it warned that San Francisco was bidding for the barge works and that it would be unwise to invest at Port Gardner. It also reported that "rumor said" Henry Hewitt, Jr., had failed to interest Eastern capital, that Anacortes had offered a bonus of $300,000 and forty acres of land to the barge company, and that "Port Gardner is not in it." Late in February, it was stated that McDougall had been called back East to close the contract with Anacortes, which had made an offer of $500,000. In March, it had to be admitted that there was something to this Port Gardner talk, and the newspaper said that John D. Rockefeller, the richest man in America, owned Snohomish County real estate, although his name did not appear of record. Hewitt returned from an Eastern trip the last of March. He appeared enthused, but said the barge site had not been settled. Asked if he had anything to say in reference to the town of Everett in which he was reported to be interested, he said there was nothing new. 'There was some talk," he said, 'of building a railroad line in there, but a lot of real estate speculators had got hold of the land and placed it at such fancy figures that it was very doubtful - ' The early April report was that the barge company was about to close with Anacortes for a million dollar bonus; that Rockefeller and Colgate Hoyt were interested, and that Port Gardner's chances had been spoilt by Seattle and Tacoma speculators.

Great News Announced

Next there came in rapid succession the incorporation of the big concerns which were to make Everett. The Everett Timber and Investment Company incorporated for $350,000, with Henry Hewitt, Jr., Walter Oakes and G. S. Brown as incorporators and C. L. Colby, Colgate Hoyt, C. W. Wetmore and W. H. Hewitt as trustees. The S. S. & S. Railroad filed supplementary articles to enable it to begin its line at Port Gardner; Ferguson, Folstad, Headlee, Vestal, Cyphers, Snyder and Cathcart owning the $100,000 stock. The Puget Sound Wire Nail & Steel Company was incorporated in April by Hewitt, Oakes, Brown, A. R. Whitney, Colby, Wetmore and W. H. Hewitt, and capitalized at $200,000. Early in May, 1891, the incorporation papers of the Puget Sound Pulp & Paper Company were filed, with $400,000 capital stock. The officers were Henry Hewitt, Jr., president; Lewis D. Armstrong, who died soon after, vice president; C. W. Wetmore, secretary ; Gardner Colby of New York, treasurer; Linwood B. Stewart, assistant treasurer and general manager and Wilfred S. Barnes, superintendent of manufacture. It was announced that the capacity would be fifteen tons of finished paper daily. The Snohomish & Port Gardner Electric Railway Company was next on the docket, incorporating for $1,000,000, and asking a franchise. E. C. Fergtison, A. Hagerty, Ulmer Stinson, J. J. Folstad, H. Blackman, F. M. Headlee and E. D. Smith were the local talent back of this. On top of all this came the news dispatch from Omaha that a number of America's biggest capitalists were on their way to Puget Sound to establish large manufacturing plants.

Rush To Everett Begins

With these announcements the fame of Everett was heralded far and wide. It was no more possible to keep the throngs of investors away from the Magic City than it would have been to stop the gold stampede to California in 1849. But still there was no town lot for sale - not a single one. John H. Hilton deeded 140 acres of waterfront to Henry Hewitt, Jr., in June, 1891, "for $10 and other benefits," the deed stipulating that a mill was to be built having 100,000 feet daily capacity, and thus another step was taken towards carrying out the agreement with the Ruckers. In June, also, the important subject of the tideflats was taken up. Under the law there were three classes of tideflats, those adjacent to a city or town coming in the higher and more expensive classes. In June, the Everett

Land Company secured the appointment of FE. C. Ferguson, Wilham Whitfield and S. D. Baker, of Arlington, as tideflat appraisers. Nevins, a nephew of Senator James G. Blaine of Maine, was employed by Hewitt to make a survey. This the commissioners refused to accept as it included but a small portion of the tidefats lying off Everett proper, and did not include much avilable tideflat land extending from Mukilteo to Priest Point and beyond. Baker and Whitfield, aided by Byron Majors, made the survey which was accepted by the state commission. This was immediately attacked on the ground that the appraisements were too low, but it was sustained by the courts. This question of tideflats delayed the filing of the main town plat and also entered into the question of the incorporation of Everett, later on. The Granite Falls Electric Power Company to operate between Snohomish and Port Gardner was another incorporation formed

Everett Excitement Grows

From this time on, during the remainder of 1891 and all of 1892, events followed quickly and amidst scenes of great excitement. It is almost impossible to believe that any place could have sprung so rapidly from the raw woods to a fullfledged city. All the pioneering and growth that the balance of the county had spread out over a period of thirty years, came to Everett in the space of six months. The coast line railroad was pushing its way through to Seattle; the Great Northern main line was fairly striding across the Cascades; the most renowned millionaires were coming on tours of inspection; there was some grand new project born every day. Hundreds of workmen were employed in clearing streets, driving piles, erecting buildings for great industrial plants; swift boats were running twice and thrice daily from Seattle; the river between Port Gardner and Snohomish was a shuttle ferry, bringing eager speculators to join the rush, and marvel at the wonders being worked; the hotel lobbies at Snohomish were converted into real estate exchanges where lands and lots were bonded and rebonded, sold and resold before a plat of any kind had been filed; tents and buildings of the crudest kind were made to house workmen and real estate men alike. Saloons and dance halls sprang up; men splashed through the mud by day and often found no shelter at night save by returning to an already overcrowded Snohomish; the first undertaker, J. T. Rogers, accommodated some of the weary by allowing them to sleep in the coffins which he had for sale; there were three new hotels at Lowell - without a bed; post office, schools, newspapers, church organizations were established all in this first six months of Everett's history. The fame of it held all Puget Sound fairly spellbound, and from every state in the Union, men hurried to be among the first, and thus on the "ground floor,"" at this wonderful, this truly "Magic City." Just to list a few of the happenings reads like an account of the building of the Tower of Babel.

When Dr. W. C. Cox arrived at Everett, July 6, 1891, he found hundreds of people waiting for the town to be platted so he located at Lowell until such time as he could secure land in the new city. The work of clearing the townsite proceeded and it was stated that 'both' avenues, meaning Hewitt and Broadway, were to be cleared, and Broadway extended through to Lowell. It was not until August, however, that it was announced that Charles Sanders of New York, general manager of the Everett Land Company and Mr. Hewitt were in conference as to the manner of platting, which would be done soon, and lots put upon the market. By the middle of this month the plats which had been forwarded for approval were returned from New York, and a large corps of surveyors were set to work to stake lots in the new city, which was to be four miles wide and six miles long. It was at this time that the Swalwell Land, Loan & Trust Company was formed, with $200,000 capital; W. G. and W. A. Swalwell being the trustees.

During these months all who could, were buying acreage wherever they could vet it within a radius of five miles from Everett, and getting ready to place it on the market. The first of these numerous "additions" to a plat which had not been filed, was that which Nicholas Rudebeck opened for sale September 3. This was called "East Everett" and included forty acres in section 23, across the river, approximately a mile and a half east of the present city limits. This commanded but few sales, but the addition for which the hungry crowd of would-be merchants, hotel keepers and real estate men were waiting, was the First Swalwell Addition, filed September 9, following transfers made by W. G. Swalwell to the company of which he was the head, amounting to $97,000. This plat covered the Riverside which soon became the business district. It was surveyed by W. F. Brown and extended along Hewitt Avenue from Railway Avenue to Walnut Street. Hewitt and Chestnut were the favored locations in this plat, and these lots sold like the proverbial "hot cakes." Ruckers First Addition was placed on the market at almost the same time.

Wild Real Estate Speculation

The success of these sales brought other additions as fast as they could be surveyed and thrown upon an eager market. The Mitchell Land & Improvement Company, composed of R. M. Mitchell and Melvin Swartout, offered a plat from the river bank along Everett Avenue, on Sptember 23; George James sold choice lots on the banks of Deadwater Slough, on October 17; Judson La Moure platted six blocks adjoining Mitchell's Addition, November 6; Swalwell's Second Addition was ready December 1. This included twelve blocks between Everett and Hewitt, the north and south streets being Cedar, Pine, Maple and Walnut. A second addition by George James was offered, December 7, being a "Riverside" addition in section 33, and on the same day J. P. Hovey filed a plat covering the island opposite Lowell. The "East Everett" plat of J. W. Kennedy was filed December 10. This was across the river. These were not all the tracts placed on sale, but they serve to show the fevered state of the market and the tremendous demand both for building purposes and for speculation. Some were purely "wildcat" ventures and were sold through glowing advertisements to people who never saw them and who, later, would have been glad if they had never heard of them. But the legitimate sales were many, and choice lots were resold many times at constantly advancing figures. In the meantime the Everett Land Company had been acquiring large tracts of land wherever 'possible. On September 5, the J. H. Davis tract in section 8, was purchased for $20,000, and on September 26, 360 acres were obtained from R. C. Hill for $21,600. The land company did not plan to have the city on the Riverside, and it looked askance at the rapid growth of that part of the city, and while the main plat of the city was not ready, having been held up for several reasons, it was felt that some sales should be made at once, particularly as for six months there had been continual outgo, and no income.

Everett Land Company Begins Sales

On December 12 it was announced that the Everett Land Company itself would place an addition on sale, to include 160 acres at Swalwell's Landing, and on December 15 the contract to grade Pacific Avenue was let and it was announced that there was to be a dock at its terminus and an electric street railway. Corner lots were held at $1,500 and inside lots at $1,000. The plat of the first addition to Everett proper was filed on December 21, 1891, by George S. Brown, and dedicated by the Everett Land Company, by Henry Hewitt, Jr., president. The east boundary of this plat was Walnut Street, near the river, the west boundary, Rockefeller Avenue, north, Wall Street, and south, Thirty-fourth Street, and it was thirteen blocks long and four blocks wide. These lots, and a few in the main section (still unrecorded) were sold with building contract; one-fourth cash, balance at one, two and three years, at eight per cent interest. It was this sale which led the Snohomish Eye to admit that there might be something to the Everett boom, after all. The editorial note read as follows:

"There is an old saying that talk is cheap but it takes money to buy real estate. For a number of months we have had a surfeit of talk about the new town of Everett, and not much land has been sold. Just at present the money is being put up. Furthermore the men behind the enterprise are here. They are men of national repute; they have the coin and they mean business. Everett is to be the principal port on the Sound, not only for the barge company, but also for other great occidental ship companies, which will make Everett the single port in Washington. We may some day see steamers of 2,000 tons discharge their cargoes on wharves yet to be built a mile above the Pilchuck."

Rivals Ridicule New City

In June two enterprising saloonkeepers of Snohomish sponsored a grand excursion down the river on the May Queen with bands and all the accessories. The boat stopped at Lowell and then proceeded to Port Gardner, where it was joined by a delegation and band from Marysville. "A good time was had by all," but it is noteworthy that the Snohomish newspaper account had not one word to say as to Port Gardner or its activities. This was kindlier, however, than the general attitude taken by newspapers along.the Sound at this stage of Everett's development. The Anacortes newspaper told of "The Port Gardner fake," and the Seattle Telegraph described the Everett boom as "an inflated windbag." The Fairhaven press was just as kindly. But these criticisms did not bother Everett, and the real estate excitement increased from month to month, fortunes being made, some cash and some paper, and new concerns were launched in rapid succession. The intense activity is shown by some of the real estate transactions. In September, J. W. Kennedy transferred 257 acres to the East Everett Land Company for $60,000; the Snohomish Land Company sold forty lots at Lowell in one day; Tam Flwell's first addition of four blocks was quickly sold at the cheap prices of $125 for corners and $100 for inside lots; in Miller's first addition 184 lots were sold, almost at once, and forty-three lots were sold in his second addition within a week. Judge Church, Judson La Moure and D. C. Loveland bought forty acres, just south of the new hotel, for $36,000 and were offered $60,000 for it the next day, which offer was refused. Among the real estate companies formed were the Everett Investment Company by F. N. Lang, E. A. Strong and M. J. Brown, capital $50,000; the Everett Realty Company by V. J. Rothchild, G. J. Brown, G. D. Hutchings, G. S. Stanford, H. M. Geer and F. H. Brownell; the Port Gardner Land & Improvement Company by L. K. Church, F, P. Loney and Walter Fowler, capital $250,000. There was humor among the realtors and the first haby born was hailed as "Clarke's First Addition to Everett." When the first Swalwell addition was placed on the market the only residents on the tract were the Swalwell and Spithill families. W. N. Webster was the first purchaser, paying $1,000 for two lots on Hewitt Avenue near the river.

Solid Progress Made

The many real estate transactions were, however, the least important of Everett's activities during these first months. The real work was in the establishment of industries, clearing and grading of streets, erection of buildings and the beginnings of civic life. The Everett Land Company, while it made no real estate offerings until the end of the year, was the busiest institution in the new city; the pivot around which all the other operations swung. One of its functions was that of host and it entertained some of the most prominent business men of America. As early as May the new townsite was visited by a party consisting of Robert P. Porter, United States Superintendent of Census, John F. Plummer, E. W. Saunders, R. J. Wemyss, Augustus T. Paine, all of New York. In July the private car, Wildwood, brought a most distinguished party under the guidance of Hewitt. Among these guests were I. Kincaid of New York, Phil Armour of Chicago, H. Armour of New York, and W. A. Armour of Kansas City, C. J. Smith of Portland, I. H. Mulford of New York, A. S. Dunham, president of the Lakeshore, and J. F. Plummer of New York, who was proudly acclaimed as a new citizen of Everett. From Snohomish, the launch, Herbie, took the party to Port Gardner on a tour of inspection. The Armours were the hosts for this excursion and one result was the speeding up of the work on the S. 8S. & S. Railroad. The promoters did not neglect the common people, and on July 4 was staged Everett's first celebration. This was in the nature of a clam bake. The steamer Eastern Oregon brought 500 excursionists from Seattle, while the May Queen and the Mabel brought the people from up the river, and there were fireworks and dancing at Lowell after the new townsite had been viewed.

A guest whose coming was to prove a large factor in Everett history was F. Weyerhaeuser. Henry Davis chaperoned this party which came in Weyerhaeuser's private car. It was at this time that Mr. Weyerhaeuser predicted, "Everett will be a great city." The county which had hardly known a railroad but a few years previously, came to regard the private cars of millionaire magnates as almost commonplaces. In October, it was reported that a special car had left New York for Everett, bringing Hoyt, Colby, Villard, Captain McDougall and Schuyler Duryee, who was to be the new manager of the Everett Land Company. This was the first mention of Schuyler Duryee, who was to play an important part in the making of Everett. C. L. Colby and Colgate Hoyt, with their families, arrived at Snohomish in November, and the May Queen took them to Port Gardner, where Hoyt, the owner, awaited the coming of the whaleback, Wetmore.

Barge Works Locates

The steel barge concern was the great prize for which the entire Pacific Coast had been struggling and which Everett had secured. The chief asset of this company was the new whaleback type of vessel invented by Capt. Alex McDougall. It was a most sensational innovation and had stirred the entire maritime world. The first vessel of this type, the Colby, was the first screw steamer to run the St. Lawrence rapids. It was held to be storm-proof and to have large carrying capacity. The Colby was built at West Superior, Wisconsin, as was also the Wetmore, and that city was to be the Eastern shipyard while an even larger plant was to be erected on the Pacific Coast, at Everett. The Wetmore made its first deep-sea voyage to England, carrying 95,000 bushels of wheat to Liverpool, and while there it was viewed by ship owners from all parts of the world. It was quite the most spectacular enterprise ever brought to the Pacific Coast. It was announced that the Wetmore was to journey around the Horn to Everett, bringing with it the machinery for the barge works, paper mill and nail works. McDougall visited Port Gardner, in 1890, and approved the site for the plant and in September, 1891, Stephen Knowlton, a brother-in-law of Colby, and William M. Ross, a brother-in-law of McDougall, came from Wisconsin to superintend the erection of the plant on the west bank of the river, in order that all might be in readiness when the Wetmore came with the machinery. Relative to the location, George F, Plummer said in an interview that it would be just inside the mouth of the river. "The wharf," he added, "will be in the river, where a suitable channel will be dredged. It is expected that in the mouth of the Snohomish River will be the best harbor on the Pacific Coast."

The sensational voyage of this new ship was followed by a waiting world as closely as could be done in the days before the wireless telegraph. When the Wetmore returned from its English journey, when it lifted cargo at Philadelphia, when it set sail, were all events of international news. Great things were prophesied for it. The Superior, Wisconsin, Leader boasted of the accomplishment of its little town and said: "A picture which hardly falls below the quality of sublimity is that of a few landlubbers who own the American Steel Barge Works, building in a little town of 25,000 inhabitants and 1,500 miles from tide water, a strange craft of solid steel to ride under instead of over the waves around the Western Hemisphere, through cyclones and tornadoes, sure, sound and safe." days late at Valparaiso, and then there came a time of anxious waiting with no news. On December 11 came the bad news that the Wetmore had arrived at

Astoria, Ore., under sail, with the propeller gone. This was the first mishap that befell this ill-fated vessel. The explanation given was as follows: "As the supply of coal taken on board at Philadelphia diminished and thus lightened the stern, in which the bunkers are located, that part of the ship was lifted from the water, exposing the propeller, which became loosened from the loss of the key. The ship is provided with storm sails, which were at once raised and by this means she approached the coast of Oregon near the mouth of the Columbia. Outside the bar she was taken in tow by a tug and brought to the wharf at Astoria. She will ship a new propeller and proceed to Port Townsend and thence to Everett. She is practically uninjured and her cargo is safe."

Pen Picture Of Captain M Dougall

George E. MacDonald, who was then editing the Snohomish Eye, was one of the cleverest and wittiest newspapermen who ever played a part in the journalism of the Pacific Coast. His picture of Everett and of Captain McDougall anxiously awaiting the coming of the Wetmore, is one which should be preserved. It read as follows:

"The Talented Liar resides at East Everett, and his name is Legion. Without the quiver of an eyelash he informed us Wednesday morning that the whaleback, Wetmore, reached Port Gardner the previous night at twelve of the clock. Another person of dormant integrity, but active imagination, went so far as to give the name of the pilot taken on board in the straits. With great speed, therefore, the reporter splashed across the isthmus reaching the Port ahead of the procession formed by other lunatics on the same errand.

"On the long wharf that jets out into the bay was a shortish man with the rolling gait of a seafarer. It was none other than Capt. McDougall, owner of all the whalebacks, and, as it were, the author of their being. The captain is not in any sense a dude. He wears a tarpaulin hat, sea boots and a rubber overcoat that reaches to his heels. He is an obliging old salt, with a weather-beaten face, and he had, on this occasion, no hesitancy about telling all he did not know about the hour when the Wetmore would arrive. He was as anxious to learn something on that subject as the reporter himself. As a matter of fact, divulged by Capt. McDougall, the boat had not at this time been heard of since somebody sighted her off the coast of California last Friday. She might have passed Cape Flattery, but the wires between that place and Port Townsend were out of repair and there was no way of getting information to Everett. Capt. McDougall would not be disappointed if the arrival was deferred until late at night or the next day. He explained that the boat was probably making very moderate speed on account of the worn condition in which her machinery must be after a voyage, equal, almost, to a journey around the globe. The Wetmore was not actually overdue, and while Capt. McDougall did not really expect her that morning, he turned an attentive ear when a whistle sounded from the south and lifted an eye frequently towards Skagit Head.

'The visitor drew from the seafarer the information that Everett showed every indication of growth. For a while the Captain and the reporter stood watch together on the wharf, varying the monotony by going once in a while to the telegraph station. The prospect was not cheering. Overhead the gulls flapped and whistled. The carpenters on the nail works plied their hammers, and the pile driver went up squeaking and came down with a heavy plunk. The men on the wharf were rigging a crane to unload the Wetmore with, and had plenty of time to test its lifting power by raising seven or eight tons of timbers and lowering them again.

Description Of Early Everett

"The real estate man is not so common a denizen of Everett proper as he is of Snohomish and ast Everett. The townsite is not in his hands, and the lots and acres he has for sale are most attractive on blue paper. The reporter met a visiting real estate dealer and looked over his map. Some of the additions that have been platted are miles away from the mouth of the river or off in the direction of Mukilteo. The plat covers a country cut in sections by ravines three or four hundred feet deep - like the gully back of the Eye office. Town lots are held at a price that makes them almost as inaccessible as the wilderness.

"Up the slope forty rods from the wharf workmen are laying the foundations and timbers of a hotel that promises to be the largest structure in the county with the exception of the court house. One hundred thousand dollars, they say, will be spent in its construction. There is no saloon at Everett, and the eating houses are the kind found at water tanks along the railroad where the traveler may snatch upon the right hand and be hungry, and upon the left hand and not be satisfied.

"About the first thing to attract the traveler's attention as he journeys down the Snohomish is the town of Lowell, which after all is hardly more than a landing place. The people who live there imagine themselves residents of Port Gardner, although they are several miles away from it. You do not see much at Lowell except the mammoth paper mill, the saw mill, a limited number of business blocks and residences, old and new; also Editors Conalle and Clark, wheeling the forms of the Port Gardner News up a high hill in a handcart and pausing occasionally to rest. The bridge where the '3 S' road crosses is beginning to resemble the Avenue D structure at Snohomish. Years ago E. D. Smith thought he would like to own the townsite of Lowell and so filed on it. He now possesses more property than any one man can possibly know what to do with..

"The boat slid down the river, knocking against the bank occasionally to throw packages ashore, and finally swung up against the wharf at Everett backwards and sideways, like a nervous horse getting into the shafts of a wagon. Passengers could not wait for the gangplank to be hauled out, but went over the rail and risked drowning to get ashore. Rain doesn't count at Everett, and the residents were working as hard as Seventh Day Adventists on Sunday. There is every indication that a town will some time occupy the place now called Everett. People are actually building houses there with cupolas and bulging windows on them, and act as if they intended to stay.

"It you miss a familiar face from Snohomish, go to Everett and you will find it again. The reporter saw few strangers; the business men, the real estate dealers and keepers of public places were all in Snohomish two months ago. There is one new institution, however - the Everett Herald office, whence Bailey and Bynum propose to issue a weekly journal. They are in a building that looks much more like a cottage than anything else, but they have a printing outfit that most country printers would be glad to steal. Mr. Bailey, who does the editorial work, wears a summer blazer, a happy smile, and rubber boots. He is a true literary man. An unabridged dictionary can be passed between his knees when he stands erect.

"Tt would convey a false impression to the outside world if somebody should bring a kodak into Everett and photograph the thing just as she looks. There are ten stumps to one house, and mud everywhere. The avenue in the distance looks as much out of place as a plug hat on a Silver Creek miner.

"These remarks apply to the part of Everett next to Swalwell's Landing, on the inside of the peninsula. Over the other side, next to the Sound, there is nothing but prospect. The approaching visitor sees off to his right the wide waters of the Sound and the delta of the Snohomish River. Straight ahead is more water. To the left is the townsite of Everett proper, distinguished only by its slope to the water and its gorgeous possibilities.

"Passengers afoot go continually back and forth between Swalwell and Everett, carrying news but a few minutes old from shore to shore. A stranger is much puzzled to understand why they go one way as why they go the other. It would look much more reasonable if the whole restless crowd would settle down in Snohomish and apply their energy to some growing industry."

Surely the name of "The Magic City" was well applied to this wonder town which had built itself up from nothing in six months' time. The account of these first months of Everett's history cannot be closed without quoting from the very graphic description given by the Snohomish Eye in November, 1891, as follows:

'Lowell has improved much during the past year. Several new business houses and quite a number of fine residences have been erected. The paper mill is expected to be the largest in the United States. When completed it will cover several acres. The warehouse is nearly finished. Considerable progress has been made on the brick work in parts of the building. The fine appearing three-story Paper Mill hotel is a credit to the town. Smith's mill is kept busy sawing lumber for the new buildings at Loweil and at Everett proper.

"The road from Lowell to Everett is, without exception, the worst in the county. Teams find it difficult to make their way over it, while in many places the wagon wheel sinks to the hub, although six-horse teams are hauling large quantities of lumber over it.

"The first thing that the pilgrim recognized as a part of Everett, after getting within the limits of the Land Company's clearing was the Sherman & Morris brickyard. Here he found a number of men at work, who evidently forgot it was Sunday. At Swalwell's Landing may be obtained a good view of the business buildings which the boomers were informing us of several weeks ago. The rents are very high in this part of Everett. One building, 12 by 16, used for a dry goods and clothing store, rents for eight dollars per month. Adjoining it is a building, 10 by 12, with a tent roof, used as a boot and shoe store, that rents for six dollars per month. All buildings of this sort are distinguished by numbers which are written over the doors. They are further distinguished by their great signs. One is inscribed 'Dry Goods and Clothing,' the next 'Boots and Shoes,' and the next 'Restaurant, Meals 25 Cents,' while the most conspicuous of all was 'Real Estate.' There are several very neat cottages and more pretentious buildings around the eastern end of Hewitt Avenue on the Mitchell Land Company's addition.

"No land has yet been sold by the Everett Land Co., but a number of people have been allowed to erect shacks for business.-purposes, which must be removed on ten days notice. When promenading up Hewitt Avenue on Sunday afternoon at this time of the year, the first thing to be noticed from either side of the divide, is the mud. The beautiful site for a city next occupies attention. The slope is so even that but.little grading is required.

"The new two-story school house is fast nearing completion. The avenue, which is about a mile and a half long and 100 feet wide, is all cleared and nearly all eraded, except about one hundred yards near the S. S. S. roadbed. P. k. Lewis' small store and several other small buildings are beautifully situated near the Bay in full view of Hat Island, with Camano and Whidby islands and a part of Mukilteo in the distance.

"The nail factory's wharf and warehouse, midway between the west end of Hewitt Avenue and the old Western Union telegraph office, is completed, but the work has not yet been commenced on the nail works, which will also be located near the Bay. Considerable work is being done on several of the streets which cross Hewitt Avenue. That portion of the townsite on the sea side of the divid¢ is well cleared. On the river side everything that can be used is being saved. This leaves great piles of railroad ties, pulp wood, cord wood and shingle bolts, while only the refuse is used to burn stumps with. All hands were working on Sunday, while Swalwell's real estate office, in which M. E. Church services were held, accommodated those who were religiously inclined.

"There are at present about forty families in Everett proper, and several hundred laborers who are engaged in clearing and grading, and who live in shacks and tents in different parts of the town site. On the part of the Everett Land Co. no attempt has thus far been made to boom the city."

Wetmore Towed To Astoria

The next news from the Wetmore was that she had been libelled for $250,000 by the Zambesi, the British tramp steamer that had rescued her, and that she would give bond and start for the Sound as soon as repairs could be made. The Wetmore arrived at Everett December 21, three weeks overdue, and according to the perhaps prejudiced account in the Snohomish newspaper, after a perilous and unsatisfactory voyage. In fact, this unsuccessful passage, after such great publicity had been given it, was the first set-back that Everett encountered.

According to the log of one of the sailors the troubles of the Wetmore began soon after she had left Coronel, Chile, November 5. On December 1, she lost her rudder. The ship drifted all night in the heavy sea and the pipes for the Tacoma water works shifted and threatened to break through the sides. Two sailors lost their lives at this time. On December 8, the steamer Zambesi was sighted. The sea was high and it was not until the next day that the steamer was able to tow the Wetmore into port at Astoria. The Wetmore was 265 feet long, 40 feet broad and 25 feet deep. Her net register was 3,075 tons and she could carry 3,000 tons of freight. She drew seventeen and one-half feet of water when fully loaded and her speed was ten knots. Hastings was captain on this eventful voyage. While her coming was delayed and the unfortunate voyage put a damper on the high hopes of the backers of the new type of ship, her cargo was more than welcome, for it meant that work could now go ahead at the paper mill and nail factory, as well as at the barge works. The Pacific Steel Barge Co. was incorporated October 3, 1891, by I. S. S. Isted, George S. Brown and F. H. Brownell. The trustees were Colgate Hoyt, C. W. Wetmore, A. McDougall, F. H. Brownell, I. S. S. Isted, Geo. H. Ballou and G. H. Brown, and the capital was $600,000.

Paper Mill Booms Lowell

No account of the early history of Iverett can be given without treating of Lowell as an integral part of it. It was platted and was an old, established town, it had wharf facilities for up-river traffic and was the chief landing place before the Swalwell Landing was built. It was the first terminus of the S. S. & S. railroad and it had a sawmill in operation. It was, then, the real base of operations from which the embryo city of Everett was developed. More than this, it was the seat of the Puget Sound Pulp and Paper Mill. This industry made the least noise and did the most effective work of any of the new industries. It was formed in the east 'by men thoroughly acquainted with every phase of the paper manufacturing business, it was backed by ample capital and managed by men who knew just what they wanted and how a mill should be constructed. It closed, for a short season during the hardest of the hard times, but with that exception it has been a constant and dependable factor in the industrial life of Snohomish County and its affairs have been directed with intelligence and honesty which have made it a success for thirty-five years. Lowell was unable to accommodate the rush that came to it with the summer of 1891. In August, it was told that the barber shop was being run in a tent, and a 25-foot lot for a restaurant sold for $1,000. It was not a bad bargain at that, for there were then 300 laborers employed by the railroad, on the paper mill construction and at the sawmill, in addition to the men working at three logging camps. Ingerson & McDonald built a three-story hotel, the "Three S" railway constructed a two-story office building, and a three-story lodging house was put up to house the sixty employes of the paper mill, under Superintendent Ladd. E. D. Smith cleared twenty acres for an addition to the city, and the Herbie made three, the May Queen four, trips daily between Lowell and Snohomish. By September, 400 men were at work on the grade and bridge of the 'Three S," that it might be in operation by the middle of October to carry freight to the new mills.

The first building of the paper company, except the mill proper, was the storehouse, a frame building of two stories, veneered with brick, and 52 by 163 feet in size. The mill machinery room was of like dimensions and was built on piles driven down to hard pan and cut off below water level. The beating room was a copy of the New York & Pennsylvania Co.'s plant. The machinery cost $250,000, and the product was from the first, confined to book and writing paper. The frame work of the mill was up when the Wetmore arrived with the machinery, in December, 1891. As early as July, W. F. Brown advertised for fir, spruce and cottonwood timber for a pulp supply for this mill. |

E. D. Smith had the biggest payroll in the county at this time, employing 110 men with a monthly wage of $6,000. <A pleasing and characteristic story is told of I. D. Smith and of Lowell, during these busy days. It is related that Smith supplied the lumber and the carpenters on the paper mill gave a Sunday of labor to build a house for a widow who was living in a tent.

Everett S Magic Growth

In 1889 a magnificent four-pronged buck was shot on the site of Everett. In 1890 P. K. Lewis opened the first store in a tent, on Broadway, when the streets were merely trails and the song of the mosquito was the dominant note. In 1891, a barn was rented for a variety theatre, at $300 per month, and Hewitt Avenue was described as being as busy as Broadway, New York. In July, 1891, P. S. Smout opened the first hardware store and by the middle of that month it was acknowledged that Everett was the coming metropolis. A newspaper account, dated July 18, 1891, describes the activities and tells that the work of pile driving for the docks was about to begin under the direction of J. J. Maney, as soon as a lodging house and dining hall to accommodate the workmen could be erected; that the dock would extend 540 feet into the bay, that the nail works would soon be constructed ; that E. Bast was about ready to burn the first kiln of brick, with Gilbert Nelson as brickmaker ; that a Tacoma concern was unloading machinery for a still larger brick plant, and that it was an assured fact that a smelter was to be erected. The paper also notes that there are two stores on the west shore, one of which is conducted by Lewis & Bone, that Webster & Nichols are conducting a hotel in a tent, serving dinner to as high as forty people, that a three-seated spring wagon is run regularly between Swalweil's Landing and the Bay, ''making the trip across the peninsula far more comfortable than formerly ;" and that many construction trains are busy ballasting the Great Northern tracks.

There was no church in Everett, but Rev. R. J. Mooney held the opening services in the new Congregational church at Lowell, in July, and Rev. Geo. E. Young came as the pastor in charge. Clearing was going on in the new townsite and it was declared that river pilots had to close their windows when going by Port Gardner on account of the smoke from the clearing fires.

First School Board

The first school board in Everett was organized at the old Bast homestead, in August, 1891, the directors being E. Bast, William Ross and Frank Friday. At its first meeting arrangements were made for the erection of a temporary frame building on Broadway and the contract was let to Allison & Meece. Miss Yule was the first teacher. This Broadway school was the cradle of the churches of Everett, as well as its temple of learning, and a number of the first meetings of different congregations were held within its walls.

Everett attained the dignity of a post office, in July, 1891, with Mrs. B. L. Mitchell installed as postmistress. The office was located in the newly opened store of Miley & Henderson on the shore of the Bay, near the Rucker place. It was a plain, unpainted shack, but it served the purpose. Mail was brought from Mukilteo three times a week, when the office was first opened. The only residents on the Bayside when Mrs. Mitchell reached Everett were Mrs. Emma Holland, Daniel Sinclair, John King, who carried the mail, Richard Cleary, and the storekeepers, Miley and Henderson.

Palatial Hotel Erected

But things moved swiftly and one of the first things the capitalists desired was an hotel where they could enjoy a visit to the new city and live in comfort. Orders came from New York, in September, for the erection of an hotel to cost $30,000, to be completed within ninety days. Charles Hove of Tacoma was the architect of this famous three-story structure which was the pride of Everett in its day. It contained eighty rooms, was 118 by 122 feet in size, and was located '"'four blocks south of Hewitt Avenue and six blocks west of the Great Northern station." The basement was of stone and brick, there were wide verandas, and an enthusiastic scribe declared that the style of the building was "colonial, slightly mixed with Queen Anne." There were two square towers, one on each side of the main entrance, and octagonal towers at the four corners, making it a very ornate affair.

Hewitt Avenue Opened

At the same time that the hotel was ordered a still more important mandate was issued by the New York powers and that was that Hewitt Avenue should be opened and planked, 100 feet wide, from the river to the Sound. The opening of this great avenue did as much to inspire confidence as any one other thing connected with the building of the city. It showed that a big city was planned, not a village, and it proved that the Everett Land Co. was really building for the future. The contract for sidewalks and planking one-half mile from Swalwell's Landing was let November 28. While no lots were sold in Everett proper the Land Company had building sites at its own disposal, and as some buildings were necessary to house and feed the many workmen, locations were leased, subject to ten days' notice to vacate. As a result, the buildings erected on the Bayside, in 1891, were only of the cheapest and flimsiest construction, except those built by the company, or under its direction. The Port Gardner News, which was first printed at Snohomish, and which was still impudent enough to call Snohomish "the loveliest of Everett's suburbs," declared that Tuesday, September 15, 1891, would always be an important date in the history of Everett, for on that day the pile driver was taken from the S. S. S. bridge to resume work on the foundation for the Wire Nail & Steel Works.

Coffins For Cots

In September, W. N. Webster, who had been running the tent hotel on the Bayside, decided to try an easier life and opened a saloon on the Riverside; in October, T. J. Rogers, who had opened a news, tobacco and confectionery store on the Riverside, decided to add undertaking to his already varied lines, and it was he who accommodated the bedless wayfarers by allowing them to sleep in the nice, new coffins. He tells that one night a man came in who had visited Webster's place first. He saw the open coffins, each occupied by a motionless human form, and rushed from the store shrieking, convinced that wholesale murder had taken place and that he had seen the victims awaiting burial. In October the News stated that B. H. Mitchell had a fair-sized building for grocery and post office.

Before the end of the year the Bank of Everett had been founded, and among the December news notes were, that C. E. Flanery had contracted for a large hotel to be built on Pacific Avenue, that J. A. and N. B. McGhie had opened a meat market and that Dr. G. L. Hord had begun the practice of medicine. It was also stated that Everett was "soon to have all the latest improvements in the way of light, water, transportation and communication, there having just been incorporated light, power, water, railway, telegraph and telephone companies. Work has already commenced on the waterworks, which will be situated on the river at Lowell, to supply 4,000,000 gallons per day. There 1s a probability that the plan will be carried out to supply electric light from the nail works, a nine mile plant being put in. Another source of light and power will be the big plant being erected at Granite Falls by a Snohomish company."

Boom Days And Panic

EVERETT BUSIEST AMERICAN CITY IN 1892 - FIRST PLAT OF EVERETT PROPER - CITY BUILDING RUSHED - J. J. HILL BANQUETTED - PROVISIONAL CITY GOVERNMENT - EVENTS OF 1892 - FIRST FATAL FIRE - BUILDING BOOM CONTINUES - STREET RAILWAY FRANCHISES - BARGE WORKS RUSHED - THE WETMORE WRECKED AT COOS BAY - NEW WHALEBACK BEGUN - NAIL PLANT IN OPERATION - PAPER MILL STARTS IN JULY - SUMNER IRON WORKS - SMELTER NEARS COMPLETION - LAND LITIGATION - FIRST FIRE COMPANIES - NEWSPAPER TELLS OF CITY IN 1892 - EARLY ADVERTISERS - PANIC DAYS APPROACH - HILL BUYS SCHOOL LANDS - EVERETT INCORPORATES - TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS - HARBOR IMPROVEMENT BEGINS - FIRST ORE SMELTED - INDUSTRIES HARD HIT - CITY PROGRESS IN 1893 - LAND COMPANY'S DIFFICULTIES - EVENTS OF 1894 - -HEWITT OUT OF LAND COMPANY - HEWITT'S EXPLANATION- - -PANIC AFFECTS INDUSTRIES - "CITY OF EVERETT" LAUNCHED - PANIC WORSE IN 1895 - EVERETT PAY ROLL IN 1895 - CITY GROWS DESPITE HARD TIMES - HOWARTH AND JORDAN COME - EVERETT LAND COMPANY FAILS - HILL BUYS ROCKEFELLER INTERESTS - EVERETT IMPROVEMENT COMPANY ORGANIZED.

The busiest year of Everett's history, 1892, opened most auspiciously. The city was the cynosure of all; it was known and talked of from coast to coast, and it had attracted not only millions of dollars but hundreds of brainy, wide-awake business men. The whaleback, Wetmore, was a curiosity which attracted excursionists from Tacoma and Seattle and every other city on the Sound, and when the people came to see this strange ship they were impressed with the rush and enterprise of the new city. The Wetmore proved as much of an attraction here as its big brother, the Columbus, did at the World's Fair, a year later. The array of incorporations and the powerful names back of them, was imposing: there were the Everett Land Co., capital $500,000; Puget Sound Pulp & Paper Co., $400,000; Puget Sound Wire Nail & Steel Co., $200,000; American Steel Barge Co., Everett Timber & Investment Co., and many other lesser concerns with capital aggregating several millions. Among the incorporators were Walter Oakes, president of the Northern Pacific, Henry Hewitt, Jr., rated as a millionaire, and George S. Brown, said to represent untold millions. Among the trustees of these incorporations were Colgate Hoyt, C. W. Wetmore, Charles L. Colby, A. R. Whiting, W. H. Hewitt and L. D. Armstrong, and back of them loomed the figure of John D. Rockefeller. All who came recognized Everett's natural advantages. Never has the goddess Fortune smiled more brightly upon any city. No wonder that Everett celebrated its first New Year's day with a grand ball in one of the new store buildings on Hewitt Street.

First Plat Of Everett Proper

FIRST PLAT OF EVERETT PROPER The long awaited plat of Everett proper was filed on February 6, 1892, by W. J. Rucker, for the Everett Land Co. George E. Montandon who was the chief engineer and Alex G. Paschke the draftsman, signed this plat. Beginning at the west; the north and south streets designated were Norton, Grand, Rucker, Hoyt, Colby, Wetmore, Rockefeller, Oakes, Lombard, Broadway and McDougall. From the south boundary, east and west streets included were 32nd, Pacific, Wall, Hewitt, California, Everett, 26th, 25th, 24th, 23rd and 22nd. The city was named for Everett, son of C. L. Colby, while the principal streets were named in honor of the promoters of the enterprise, and this has given Everett a distinctive nomenclature for its thoroughfares such as is found in few other cities. The generous width of the streets, none less than 80 feet, and the chief streets, 100 feet, is another thing for which Everett citizens may always be grateful. Forty acres in the center of the tract were not platted, and blocks were reserved for subsidies and railroad rights of way. While it had been long delayed, too long for the good of the promoters as events proved, it was a fine piece of work in city building and made it possible for Everett to grow as one city and not a patchwork of villages badly joined together. This plat was long in the making and the various "additions" although filed first, were made to conform to it. The filing of this plat was the signal for frantic buying and rapid building, as prior to this time no one had been able to get title and no permanent buildings could well be erected. One of the first results was the formation of a carpenters' union, the first labor organization in Everett. Lots were advertised to be sold at private sale, prices ranging from $2,000 to $2,500, with $1,000 rebate for the erection of a building costing not less than $4,000. At the close of the first day of this sale, February 22, 1892, between fifty and sixty lots had been sold, involving building contracts aggregating $250,000. The site for the new post office on Hewitt, midway between river and Sound, was secured at this time and it was moved to its new quarters, July 1. The postal receipts for the first ten months show the rapid growth of the town. They were, for August, 1891, $5.28; September, $11.97; October, $24.80; November, $38.61; December, $92.28; January, 1892, $159.00; February, $258.00; March, $353.09; April, $393.33; May, $402.16. By the end of the year, Everett had become an office of the second class, with the salary fixed at $2,000.

City Building Rushed

The calendar of the city's activities shows that E. D. Smith began the building of ten tenements in Lowell, in February, and that during this month street work was rushed in Everett; work began on the first (Presbyterian) church building, a structure 30 by 60 feet in size; a sash and door factory came from Blaine; the Seattle & Montana established a ten cent fare between Everett and Seattle; the Sunset telphone started an extension from Snohomish to Everett, the work being done at mght to prevent wire cutting by some unknown party; Friday's first addition was filed; Hewitt arranged for the establishment of a factory to make concrete and steel water pipe, with $100,000 capital; a contract was signed for five acres, near the barge works, for the erection of a safe factory, capitalized at $300,- 000; the citizens began demanding incorporation, which was opposed by the Land Company, on the ground that it would embarrass it in carrying out its plans, especially as to securing tideflats for industrial sites.

J. J. Hill Banqueted

The great event of this month of February, 1892, was the visit made the city by J. J. Hill. He inspected the paper mill and the barge plant and was banquetted at the Bay View hotel, making three speeches during the evening, one of them an hour in length, and although the people waited breathlessly, he did not commit himself as to making Everett the terminus of the Great Northern. Henry Hewitt, Jr., presided over this banquet and it is related that such was his anxiety to hear from the rail magnate that he called on him to make a speech as soon as the first course was served, but Hill was hungry and declined to talk until he had been fed.

Provisional City Government

By March, conditions had become such that some provision for law and order and for the transaction of civic business was necessary. Deputy sheriffs acted as police officers and one of them reported that two men, sleeping in a tent, awoke in the morning to find that the roof had been stolen from over their heads. Saloons, gambling houses and dance halls were running without restraint, and the establishment and regulation of public utilities were necessary. Under these circumstances, and in order to cooperate with the founders of the town as far as possible, Everett undertook, and successfully maintained, one of the most unique governments ever attempted in an American municipality. This was the famous Committee of Twenty-one, elected March 21, 1892. It had no authority in law, but it functioned by and with the authority of the people, and with as much effect as any regularly ordained city council. Details of this remarkable city government are given in another chapter. The vote at this informal election shows the relative population of the different precincts ; it was as follows: Riverside 730, Bayside 77, Lowell 287, Barge Works 44. Other March events were the offering, and sale, by the Snohomish Land Co., of lots three and one-half miles from Everett, at $50 per lot; the beginning of the first brick building on Bayside, by Mathew P. Zindorff, located on Rucker between California and Hewitt; the establishment of the Hewitt-Lombard Bank, which secured the building erected for an architect's office, on Hewitt Avenue, as its temporary quarters; the removal of the offices of the Land & River Improvement Co. from Seattle to Everett ; the unanimous voting of $39,000 bonds for the site and erection of an eleven-room school house, by Riverside precinct; the formation of the Everett Waterworks Co. and the letting of contracts for three and one-half miles of mains, from the river, along Pacific Avenue to Colby and also to Swalwell's addition, and the sinking of a well to secure a temporary supply; the location of the power house for the electric railway, between Everett and Snohomish, on the east side of the river at the foot of Pacific Avenue; the decision to operate the electric light plant in connection with the nail factory. By the end of March the population was estimated at 3,000. There were beginnings of social as well as business life; in April the St. Nicholas Club was organized to build a $10,000 club house on the corner of Everett and Colby, each of the twenty-five members to contribute $100 at the first meeting. The officers were F. H. Mulford, president; G. J. Sherry, secretary ; Col. J. B. Hawley, treasurer; G. S. Brown, S. B. Grosscup, A. H. Gamel, committee on permanent organization; W. J. Rucker, S. Duryee, F. P. Friday, W. G. Swalwell, A. R. Whitney, Jr., committee on club house.

Everett enjoyed the excitement of its first fire, in April, 1892, a saloon and an empty store building going up in smoke. Miss Mamie King, who had taught at

Oso was employed to conduct a four months' term of school, and the chief business events of the month were the purchase of the steamship Idaho as a freighter out of Everett ; the proposal to bridge the Snohomish River at the foot of Everett Avenue, and the reported retirement of Henry Hewitt, Jr., from the presidency of the Everett Land Co., to be succeeded by J. Weymss of West Superior, Wis. This proved but a rumor, but it was the first public intimation that all was not harmonious within the ranks of the promoters.

It was an uneventful day in May when some new enterprise was not rumored, at least. Among the new factories announced were the Palmer ship building plant, which was to move to Everett from England; the C. L. Kemmerer woolen mill which was to come from Philadelphia; the school desk factory of G. W. Peek, the Tacoma inventor who asked $10,000 as a bonus; the Everett Mosaic Tile Co.; and the Rockefeller-Colby dry dock, to be part of a $40,000,000 investment. There were many actual accomplishments, however. For the first time in Everett's history a frame building was torn down to make room for a brick structure; this was when Parkhurst bought the lot on Hewitt Avenue occupied by the Rogers news and undertaking establishment, for $2,500, and built a two-story brick. A daily boat to Whidbey Island opened up new trade, and the biggest real estate deal of the month was that of 120 feet square, on the corner of Hewitt and Broadway, for $13,000, cash.

The Committee of Twenty-one staged a clean-up campaign, in May, and the jealous Marysville Globe reported that since the gamblers were ordered out there was nobody left. The first observance of Memorial Day in Everett was the occasion for a parade in which there were fifty members of the G. A. R., sixty Odd Fellows, one hundred school children and five volunteer firemen. The exercises were held at Gamel's hall, with the address of welcome by A. H. Gamel and the oration by H. Y. Thompson, of Fairhaven. U.S. Grant Post of the G. A. R. was organized immediately following this patriotic observance. The officers were Post Commander, F. C. Tubbs; Senior Vice Commander, M. N. Neeld; Quartermaster, James Casey; Chaplain, John Farley; Officer of the Day, Joseph Bucher; Officer of the Guard, Thomas Winscott; Adjutant, T. F. Mahan. For some reason this organization was not permanent and was succeeded by John Buford Post, in July, 1893.

June happenings included the purchase of twenty-three acres of tidelands, in front of school section No. 36, for $6 per acre, by W. J. Rucker, in behalf of the Terminal Railway Co.; the sale of forty lots within a week, by the Land Company, which also let contracts for eight cottages at Lowell; the first trial run of the electric street railway on the Hewitt and the Lowell lines, made June 15; and the first burglary. The victim of the first big theft was a commercial traveler who was chloroformed and robbed in his room at the hotel. The Everett Land Co. had expended $400,000 at Everett since November 1, 1891 and received $50,000 monthly from the New York office for improvements. The planking of Hewitt Avenue, one and one-half miles, was completed in June, and contracts amounting to $25,000 were let for improvements on Broadway and on Grand.

First Fatal Fire

Kern & Twiner established Everett's first cigar factory, in July, and a machine shop plant from Hutchinson, Minn., located on the east side of the river. Machin- ery was also received for a small sawmill; the News saying it was to be used to get out the timbers for "the largest sawmill in the world," soon to be erected by the Everett Land Co. The city experienced its first fatal fire during this month, when William Burton, better known as "Billy the Fiddler," lost his life and T. J. Ducker died as a result of burns, when the Red Front-dance hall and the Merrill hotel were destroyed. Among the new enterprises launched was the Everett & Lake Stevens Water & Electric Co., in which J. J. Folstad, Geo. S. Brown, Henry Hewitt, Jr., and A. A. Allen were interested. It was capitalized at $250,000, and it was intended to supply Everett with water and power by tapping Lake Stevens.

Building Boom Continues

The year was one long record of achievement in business and industry. It is impossible to enumerate the many building projects and business enterprises carried through, but among the noteworthy accomplishments were the brick block erected by D. W. Craddock, on Hewitt, near Norton; the Dorchester block built by T. Edward Tuttle, on Hewitt; the Wigwam, a clothing store conducted by Clark & Co. which ran a free bus from the Landing; the McCabe block, Swalwell block and some fifty residences built by the Swalwell Land Co.; the organization of the First National Bank; the planking of Broadway; the completion of the Rucker dock and warehouse; the entrance of J. F. Angevine into the lumber business of Everett; the establishment of the Lehman Bros.' feed mill; the donation of five acres of land to Bardeen, Perrin & Co., of Seattle as a site for a tannery, on the west bank of the river between Everett and Lowell, and the Ford-Townsend hardware store was opened in the new Wisconsin block.

On the social side Everett was busy also. The Odd Fellows planned the erection of a $15,000 brick block on the corner of Everett and Colby; the new Athletic Club gave its opening program, which included a fight to the finish; the Knights of Pythias and the Masons both prepared to institute lodges. The schools, under Prof. Shepherd, opened in the fall with an attendance of 330.

Street Railway Franchises

Col. J. B. Hawley was at the head of the company which proposed the building of extensive street railway lines and which received a franchise covering a line from Mukilteo to Snohomish, via Lowell and Everett, and the entire length of Hewitt Avenue. Franchises were granted at the same time to the Mitchell and the Swalwell land companies for electric light plants in their additions. Colonel Hawley reported in November that he had succeeded in floating bonds for his lines, among eastern capitalists. William F. Brown was also granted a franchise for street car lines covering a large part of the city.

Barge Works Rushed

All these commercial and civic activities were based upon the success or failure of the large industries which were going through their first, hard years. III luck pursued the Barge Works, through the unfortunate Wetmore, and the manner in which this concern "carried on" in spite of disaster is a chapter of real industrial heroism. The report from the plant, issued in March, by Superintendent Ander- son and Financial Agent Ross, stated that the works were nearing completion and that the first steel barge would be put on the stocks as soon as possible. Work was being rushed by 156 men; the carpenter shop, 50 by 200 feet, was done, the furnace shop, 100 by 200, was ready for the roof, work had begun on the punch shop, also 100 by 200 feet, and the other buildings were to include the boiler house'and a threestory office building. Much of the work was out of sight, as 2,000 piles were driven. The planking covered an area of 300 by 1,000 feet. The population about the works was growing, the majority of the laborers being men with families, and school facilities were needed. The plant was bothered by the presence of a floating saloon, and Anderson posted notices that any man patronizing it would be discharged.

Wetmore Wrecked At Coos Bay

After being unloaded and repaired the Wetmore was put in the carrying trade out of San Francisco, and almost the first report from her, in April, was that she was laid up for repairs at San Diego, several of her plates having sprung during a storm. By the end of the month she was back at the Bayside to be repaired and altered. The repairs and changes cost more than $10,000 and it was not until July 2 that she was ready to sail for Tacoma to load coal for San Francisco. A few days later the U. S. court rendered a decision in the salvage suit for $250,000 brought by the Zambesi for towing the Wetmore into Astoria harbor. The judgment was for $30,000. In September the Wetmore ran aground on the north spit of Coos Bay, and while the crew of twenty-two was rescued, the unfortunate whaleback was broken and wrecked beyond recall. The license of Captain O'Brien, the ship's master, was revoked on account of carelessness and negligence, but this did not repay the heavy financial loss, nor the bad reputation which this series of accidents gave to the whaleback type of vessels.

New Whaleback Begun

Despite these discouragements, a large force of men left the mother plant at West Superior, Wis., on July 1, to begin work on the new whaleback which was to be built at Everett. Work began on their arrival but was suspended in August, owing to the strike at the Carnegie mills in Pennsylvania where the plates were being made. After the wreck of the Wetmore, it was agreed that it should be replaced by a 4,700-ton steamer, to be christened the Everett, and the keel of this vessel was laid in December. The net result of the operations for the year had been great loss and outlay on the part of the company, leaving it ill-prepared for the financial storms that were to come to all.

Nail Plant In Operation

The most spectacular success of the year was made by the new nail plant. Contractor J. J. Maney turned the completed plant over to the Puget Sound Wire Nail Co., the first of March, and his work was pronounced good. The plant cost $250,- 000 and was said to be the most complete in the world. Operations were to begin as soon as a cargo of material was received from Antwerp. In the meantime the keg factory started up, making 1,000 kegs a day. The dock was extended sixty feet, to enable the ship, Obis, to land as soon as she arrived, as she drew twenty-six feet, and the dock stood at twenty-three feet at low water.

On Thursday, April 21, 1892, at 1:38 o'clock, p. m., the first engine at the nail plant was put in operation. The occasion was a festive one. According to the newspaper account, '"Thirty assembled in the main factory to see the starting of the two large engines. Superintendent Campbell had all in readiness for the ceremony after an elaborate dinner had been enjoyed. Little Agnes Duryee, in the arms of her papa, reached out her tiny hands, seized the wheel and opened the throttle at 1:30; at 1:38, Master Alec Campbell, little son of the superintendent, was lifted up by James Casey, so that he could reach the throttle, and he immediately gave it a few turns and the big engine began to work. It worked fine. All is ready for the arrival of the wire."

The good ship Obis arrived, the wire was unloaded and work began at the nail factory May 11, 1892. The first two cars were shipped to Schwabacher Bros., of Seattle, but the first keg was shipped to the New York office, and the first nail, of solid silver, made from a silver dollar, was the souvenir retained by Manager Whitney. Hundreds visited the plant receiving fresh minted nails as souvenirs. By September, the plant was turning out a carload of nails a day, and the product was in great demand, up and down the coast. The first large shipment was 500 kegs, to Portland, by the steamer Michigan. On November 11, the plant manufactured a nail thirteen and one-half inches long and one-half inch thick, Whitney claiming that it was the largest nail ever made and the product of the largest nail machine in the world, weighing twelve and one-half tons.

Paper Mill Starts In July

The Puget Sound Pulp & Paper Co. also began work most auspiciously. The machinery landed by the Wetmore, in December, 1891, included a plant for one soda pulp mill with a daily capacity of fifteen tons, and a two-machine paper mill of like capacity. This machinery was installed and the most thorough preparations made in every department before a wheel was turned in the big plant. An artesian well was bored to furnish water supply until the mains could be laid from Wood Creek, which was to furnish the permanent supply. Steam was raised in boilers and the machinery tested on April 29, and one of the preliminaries was the organization of a mill fire department with Wilfred Barnes as chief and L. B. Stewart, assistant. The men were divided into six companies, one for each hydrant and drill with hose took place twice a month. In May the mill was invited to bid on furnishing the state offices of Washington with supplies, the contract to begin July 1, and the mill replied that it would be ready to fulfill contracts by that date. Eight carloads of chemicals were ordered by wire, and skilled workmen were brought from the eastern mills to work the supply of 4,000 cords of pulp wood which lined the shore of the Snohomish. There was no ceremony when this mill began operation, but by July 1 it was turning out paper, with a force of 108 men employed, mostly expert paper makers from the east. This force was soon increased. The first product of the plant was express paper, the first sheet of book paper being made in September. Three of the largest rolls of paper that had ever been made up to that time, were made as the plant's exhibit at the World's Fair. They weighed 3,600 pounds each, and contained a sheet of paper thirty-five miles long. The mill was closed for a short time during October, pending the arrival of its new manager, but by December it was employing 133 men with a pay roll of $6,000 per month, running ten hours a day, and turning out paper of the very best quality.

Sumner Iron Works

It has been mentioned that in May of this year, 1892, a machine shop was moved from Hutchinson, Minn., and located on the east bank of the river. The small item from which the mention was taken was the only ripple caused by the coming of what proved to be one of the largest and most successful manufacturing plants, not only in Everett, but in the entire northwest. The men who established it, Frank and Tom Sumner, had but little money and started in a small way. They courted no publicity, asked no bonus and tendered no banquets, but they worked mighty hard. Year by year, through good times and bad, their plant kept on working, gaining business and reputation all the time, and branching out into the manufacture of new machinery as new industries demanded, until it became known that no matter what the need in the machinery line the Sumner Iron Works could supply it. The Sumner boys were farm lads in Minnesota. They were too poor to buy a threshing machine, and so by running a pop corn stand on the Fourth of July and by other expedients they got enough cash to buy the materials and made a threshing machine for themselves. It differed from many home made machines, in that it worked. This gained them a reputation in the neighborhood and they eventually quit the farming business to run a small machine shop. They heard about this great, new town of Everett, and Tom came out to look it over. He liked it and went back and told brother Frank about it, and they sold all that they had and dumped the proceeds on the east bank of the Snohomish River, and took off their coats and went to work. That is the whole story of the Sumner Iron Works ina nutshell. In 1913 they were burned out and were forced to operate at Tacoma for a short time, but they returned to Everett, their first love, as soon as possible, and lived happily ever after.

Smelter Nears Completion

This was one of the years of the great mine excitement in the Monte Cristo region and Everett benefited by being the terminus of the Everett & Monte Cristo Railroad and by the erection of a smelter by the Puget Sound Reduction Co. This concern at first had its headquarters at Seattle but they were moved to Everett in November, 1892, and, by December, nearly all the buildings were completed, a side track of the Monte Cristo road was laid to the smelter from the point of the peninsula and all was to be in readiness to begin operations March 1, 1893. There were two disturbing notes toward the close of the year. The stevedores struck for a raise in wages, from twenty-five, to forty cents an hour. A union was formed and men unloading rails for the Monte Cristo road were induced to quit. The nail works erected a high fence to protect its dock; a number of deputy sheriffs were appointed to keep the peace, and the strike was broken. The other rift in the lute, was the repeated rumor of differences existing in the management of the parent institution, the Everett Land Co. Colby, Hoyt, Wetmore and others came to Everett to counsel together.