Mukilteo, Washington - The City Of "Firsts" - Scene Of Indian Treaty - M. H (part 7 of 14)

First White Woman

The only store in the county, in 1861, was that of Frost and Fowler at Mukilteo, but, in 1864, W. B. Sinclair with his wife and child, and a Mrs. Ellis, whose husband was superintendent for the Phinney logging interests, came from Port Madison, via the steamer Mary Woodruff, and made Snohomish their home. Sinclair purchased the Cady claim and established a store, which does not seem to have prospered, for on November 18, 1865, the firm of Sinclair & Clendenning made an assignment to Dexter Horton of King County, for the benefit of creditors. This assignment included a dwelling and warehouse valued at $600, merchandise $1,500, 30,000 shingles $60, the scow Progress $200, the schooner Norwester $1,400, together with book accounts, value not given. Sinclair recovered from this financial reverse, however, and remained as a merchant and farmer. Mrs. Sinclair was the first permanent white woman settler in the Snohomish Valley, and was long recognized and loved as the pioneer among all the women of the county. Prior to her coming, a Mr. and Mrs. Thompson lived at the Ferguson place for a short period, but they left the county, leaving only their names as an impress upon Snohomish history.

Ferguson established a store soon after the Sinclair & Clendenning concern began business and the county records show that he sold this business to Clark Ferguson, July 20, 1869, the deed enumerating that the transfer included cattle, family utensils, store, saloon, billiard table and liquors; the consideration being $2,000. The post office was established by a commission to E. C. Ferguson, postmaster, and bore the date of July 15, 1863, being signed by Montgomery Blair, postmaster general under President Abraham Lincoln.

First School

There are no details available as to the building of the first schoolhouse and there is conflict as to the date of the first school, some giving it as 1867 and others as 1869. There must have been some school activity, but not much, as early as 1868, for during that year the county commissioners paid a bill rendered by Ferguson "for services as clerk of school district No. 1." Whether these "services" included the hiring of a teacher and the opening of a school, or the erection of a schoolhouse was not stated. There is agreement, however, that Miss Ruby Willard was the first teacher at Snohomish City and likewise in Snohomish County, and this school was held at the Sinclair home. On November 8, 1869, Henry McClurg, county superintendent, reported that three months' school had been held "during the past season" by a qualified teacher who received $188.59, in legal tender (greenbacks) for her services. This report lists those of school age, between 4 and 21 years, as follows: John and James McClurg, Maggie Allen, Adelaide Woods, John Johnson, Margaret and Mary Woodard, William and Elizabeth Short, Catherine Hayes, Frank Fields, Louisa Fowler, Jane Frazier, Charles, Horace, Nettie and Fannie Low, Gustavus Morehead, Wesley and Jane Giddings, Humboldt Packwood and Lula Smith. These names show that the school district covered all the settled portion of the county; the Fowler family residing at Mukilteo, while Adelaide Woods lived some distance up the river (near Monroe), and does not give any adequate idea of the number of people residing at Snohomish City. It was said that "the attendance was very small in proportion to the number of scholars in said district, say about one-fifth, all of whom were in the primary class." The little settlement, itself, must have grown slowly, but that. it was regarded as a place of much promise is evidenced by the fact that N. B. Fowler, brother of the Mukilteo merchant, saw fit to buy the Francis Dolan claim at Snohomish, between the Ferguson and Field claims, for $400. This was in November, 1864.

First Plat Of Snohomish

As soon as entry could be completed on his claim, E. C. Ferguson filed the first plat of Snohomish. This was done June 21, 1871, by E. C. Ferguson and L. G. Ferguson, his wife. The plat provided for streets, numbered First, Second and Third, also Union Street, and four avenues, A, B, C, and D. The plat of the eastern part of the city was filed a few months later, April 12, 1872, by W. B. Sinclair and M. L. Sinclair, his wife. This provided for streets parallel to the river, named Commercial, First and Second, and cross streets, May, Cedar, Maple, State, Willow and Alder. These streets were sixty feet wide, but Union Avenue, uniting the two parts of the city, was eighty feet wide. On the day following the filing of the Sinclair plat the first sale of lots was recorded, this being a transfer of the Sinclairs' interest in the building "formerly occupied by the hotel' and then by the store of W. M. Packard, to John N. Low.

Isaac Cathcart Comes

A prominent citizen gained by Snohomish in 1872 was Isaac Cathcart. He came to the county in 1869 as a laborer in the woods. Saving his earnings carefully he was able to acquire enough to build a hotel at Snohomish in 1872. This was called the Exchange Hotel and was for a number of years the center of convivial enjoyment. Cathcart went into the logging business in 1878, operated a store at Snohomish, was county treasurer, and owned and conducted large farms. By 1890 he owned 5,000 acres of land and was reputed to be worth $200,000, ranking as one of the richest men of the county. His volume of business for the year

1889 was estimated at $200,000, but all this prosperity was far in the future when he opened his tavern and saloon in 1872. Another newcomer, in 1872, was William Romines. He also went into the hotel business, buying the hotel on Maple Street of John N. Low, for $1,500, W. M. Packard occupying a part of the building as a store. Romines ran the inevitable bar, but his future was to be almost the opposite to that of Cathcart. In 1877 Romines bought the unfinished wharf above his hotel, which was known as The Riverside, and erected a warehouse for general merchandise and loggers' supplies. He sold this property within a few months, however, and removed to a ranch near the mouth of the Skykomish River. He did not prosper, and by 1892 he had become a county charge, although he was affectionately known as "Uncle Billy." His end was hastened by his being struck by a railroad tricycle, when he was walking on the track from the county farm to Snohomish. Another real estate transfer recorded in 1872 was the sale of lots and building occupied by J. H. Reynolds as a saloon and hotel, known as the City Hotel, in the west, or Ferguson, plat, for $350. Snohomish had not grown greatly; its few stores supplied the ranchers, its hotels and bars were the favorite resorts of the loggers, and the comparatively trivial business of the county was transacted there. The town picked up somewhat in 1873, as is evidenced by the fact that the commissioners ordered the supervisors of road districts in Snohomish City to "open up such streets as they may think the public good requires."

Atheneum Society

As early as 1873 the town had progressed to such a state and contained so many citizens of culture and the ambition to attain more, that a meeting was held to organize what was one of the most unique and noteworthy literary associations in the early history of Washington territory. This institution was called the Atheneum, and articles of incorporation were adopted November 24, 1873. A life membership was granted for $25, with annual memberships at $3 or two years for $5. The first officers were: E. C. Ferguson, president; John Davis, Hugh Ross and Thomas F. Marks, vice presidents; Eldridge Morse, librarian; Dr. A. C. Folsom, corresponding secretary and M. W. Packard, treasurer. It was provided that unless $300 was raised by January 1, 1874, all subscriptions should be returned, but this was not necessary. By uniting the books owned by all the members into one library it was found that the society could boast of 300 volumes, and it also had the nucleus of a museum which grew to be the finest in the territory and which was the pride of Snohomish City for a number of years.

It is quite probable that these enthusiasts were laughed at for their ambitious strivings for "culture" as exemplified in this literary society with its bi-weekly meetings and grave discussions, but can Snohomish County have a finer memory than that of these pioneers, all of them poor and struggling; cut off from the great world of books and newspapers and colleges and schools; with but weekly mail service; without churches; leading lives in which manual toil played a great part and. surrounded for the most part by all the rough, boisterous life which the logging camp invited - but still craving knowledge and intellectual activity and, with their scant resources founding an institution, creating a museum of real value and finally building for it the first edifice dedicated to such a purpose in the entire Northwest? The fact that they were unable to maintain it permanently after the death of Dr. A. C. Folsom, who was largely its inspiration and its guide and when the hard struggle for existence required all their time and energy and thought, does not detract one particle from the splendid effort which they made and one may, today, trace the good influence of this old Atheneum Society throughout the length of the Snohomish Valley.

Arrival Of Lot Wilbur

The year 1875 witnessed the coming of a citizen who was to have great influence in the development of the community, when there arrived an energetic young insurance agent by the name of Lot Wilbur. He sold a policy to the editor of this history and to a number of other citizens of Snohomish who fell as ready victims to his salesmanship, but they, in turn, "sold" to him the idea of casting his Lot with them and he opened the first drug store in Snohomish County, December 18, 1875. He was just in time for the Christmas trade and perhaps it was partly due to his coming that Snohomish enjoyed the merriest Christmas celebration it had known, when the entire population gathered at the hall which was "'tastily trimmed" for the occasion and gifts from loved ones were publicly presented - to ''the value of nearly $600." In connection with this Christmas celebration one is also given a glimpse of the social life of the time, for it is told that thirty of the young people went to Lowell to a ball, not being able to return until 4 a. m., as the river was high and the current strong. But youth had to be served half a century ago as well as today, and what matter a boat ride, in the early morning, ten miles and more against the swift waters of the swollen river, when pioneer lads and lassies went to their courting in 1875?

One evidence of the growth of community life and thought of Snohomish in these first, formative years is found in the organization of what was called the "Free Religious Association," in 1874. Eldridge Morse was president, E. C. Ferguson, Dr. A. C. Folsom and Benjamin F. Stretch were vice presidents and W. H. Ward, the village blacksmith, was secretary of the institution of "free thinkers" as they were then called, although they would be quite orthodox among the modernists of this era. Still another sign of social life and development, and perhaps .a healthier one, was the new Ladies Union Sewing Society, organized at the home of Mrs. Ferguson, with Mrs. Tamlin Elwell, president; Mrs. W. H. Ward, vice president; Mrs. James Masterson, secretary-treasurer, and Mrs. John Ross, Mrs. M. Wilbur and Mrs. J. E. Getchell as the committee on work.

Primitive Highways

A visitor to Snohomish would have found very little to compare with the modern conception of a "town." Had he wished to make the journey from the point at the mouth of the river where Marysville is now located, he would have had his choice of taking a canoe or of walking over the trail which followed the course of the valley. This trail, one of the best "highways" in Snohomish County, was a narrow path cut through the heavy forest and the thick underbrush. It was by no means straight, for it went around the big trees and skirted the swamps and low places as much as possible. It was easily followed, for on either side the forests were almost impassable. An ox could be driven over it, but it was not wide enough for a yoke of oxen and utterly impassable for a wagon, but that distressed no one, for there were no wagons. The follower of this up hill and down dale pathway would have passed on his journey first the Spithill logging camp and then in turn the camps of Duval, Berry and Foster. These camps bought their supplies at the Sinclair store and their men spent a large portion of their wages at the "Blue Eagle," and it was on this trade chiefly that Snohomish lived. A mile back of Snohomish was the camp of the Port Ludlow Mill Co., owned largely by Amos Phinney, with Isaac Ellis as superintendent of the Snohomish camp.

Pioneer Snohomish

The first, and usually the last, stopping place at Snohomish was the Blue Eagle saloon. This was a good-sized, one-story building located near the river front at what is now the foot of Cedar Street. It was of course unpainted and was built of hewn timbers, home-made lumber and hand-drawn shingles. Here could be found E. C. Ferguson in all his glory, ready to serve drink or food, in his capacity of bartender and host, to hand out mail, as postmaster, to dispense justice as a magistrate, to transact business for the county as auditor or commissioner, whichever his title happened to be at the time, or to discuss the affairs of the territory as a legislator. The living rooms were to the rear and it was there that Ferguson, and later his brother, Clark Ferguson, kept bachelor hall during the first eight years of their life in Snohomish County. About a block away, up the river, at what is now the foot of Maple Street was the Sinclair & Clendenning establishment. This was more pretentious. There was the store building, a large two-story warehouse on the river front, with something of a wharf, and at a little distance the shack which was the first white home in Snohomish, if home is held to mean the abiding place of wife and children. It was here that the first school was taught, Mrs. Sinclair persuading her friend Robie Willard to come and teach the youngsters of the county, nearly all of whom were the children of Indian mothers. Although Cady and Ferguson applied for a ferry license in 1861, there was no ferry across the river, but a hail would usually bring Sinclair or Ferguson or some chance habitant with a boat.

It was not until after his marriage that E. C. Ferguson built a separate residence for himself, on his own claim, leaving the Blue Eagle in charge of Clark Ferguson, and later establishing his store as separate from the saloon. As already noted, the Sinclair & Clendenning firm came to early financial disaster, and it was this which led to the refitting of the old warehouse into what was widely known as the River Side Hotel. This was first operated by J. N. Low. The bar, dining room and kitchen were on the first floor. A good-sized hall occupied the center of the second floor, the hall being almost completely surrounded by small compartments which were the lodging rooms. This hall was for many years the only place for public gatherings. The dances and the wedding parties were held there, and so were the funeral of Mrs. Morse and the first church services. This was also the first court room, and it is related that an irritated judge once fined a belated lodger in one of the tiny, box-like rooms for snoring in contempt of court. Another building in the very early days was the log warehouse and wharf of the Phinney logging camp. L. Hansen's tiny blacksmith shop was also among the first buildings, and there gradually grew up a cluster of little homes, although no title could be given to lots until 1871.

First Newspaper

With the beginning of 1876 there opens a new page of Snohomish history for in January, Eldridge Morse began the publication of the Northern Star, the third newspaper printed in Western Washington, north of Seattle; the others being the Northern Light, printed at Whatcom for a short time during the gold rush of 1858, and the second, the Bellingham Bay Mail, published first at Whatcom and later moved to LaConner.

The new "Star" was an eight-page, five-column newspaper, "all home print." Its first issue was on January 15, 1876, and in his salutatory Eldridge Morse, the editor, said in part:

"Nearly one year ago the matter was first seriously considered of starting a newspaper at Snohomish City, to represent the growing interests of the Snohomish. Proposals were submitted during that time to over a dozen different men for them to establish a weekly paper at this place. Each proposal was accompanied by promises of liberal support."

But as none of these prospective publishers thought the field promising enough, Morse was constrained to start the enterprise himself, which he did, saying that patronage had been pledged sufficient to guarantee the success of the project for at least its first year. The plant was bought from R. H. Hewitt, editor of the defunct "Farmer" of Olympia. Dr. A. C. Folsom was to be associate editor of the new sheet, and it was to be devoted not only to news but to pay "special attention to the progress of the higher branches of literature and the general development of science," this field being in the opinion of Mr. Morse "wholly unoccupied in this territory."

Among the newspapers which saluted this new comrade were the Intelligencer, Dispatch, Pacific Tribune of Seattle and the Washington Standard, Transcript, and Express, of Olympia. These items, in addition to expressions of good will, told of the shipment of the plant on the Zephyr, and that E. C. Ferguson and Morse were the promoters. No complete file of this first Snohomish County newspaper has been preserved, but the issue of July 8, 1876, fortunately at hand gives an excellent summary of the business activities of the little town. Among the professional cards the only ones by residents of Snohomish were those of Eldridge Morse, lawyer, and A. C. Folsom, physician. Mr. Morse was, in fact, not only the first editor, but the first lawyer in Snohomish County. There were also the cards of J. N. Low, justice of the peace at Snohomish, and of H. C. Vining, notary public at Mukilteo. William R. Andrews, McConaha & Hanford, I. M. Hall, Ballard & Inman and McNaught & Leary were the Seattle lawyers represented, and J. C. Grasse, the Seattle dentist. Among the county and local advertisers were E. D. Smith, who advertised the Lowell Hotel as being newly furnished and having "the largest bar in the county"; T. F. Marks, saloon; Lot Wilbur, drugs; M. W. Packard and D. B. Jackson, general merchandise, who advertised that they took "butter, eggs, hay, hides, shingles, shipknees and logs in exchange for merchandise"; William H. Ward, blacksmith; John H. Hilton, butcher; Shone Bros. of the River Side Hotel and bar; Jackson & Co., general merchants, of Lowell; Wale & Catching, carpenters and boat builders, located at the "old Blue Eagle building" in Snohomish; E. C. Ferguson, general merchandise; Isaac Cathcart, of the Snohomish Exchange, who advertised bed, board, billiards and bar; L. Hansen, whose blacksmith shop was "back of Marks' saloon," and E. D. Smith, of Lowell, who in a second advertisement offered to furnish ship spars of every description. There was also an announcement of D. E. Gage, general merchant, at Skagit City. Under the "Directory" heading were given the officers of the Atheneum, the Free Religious Association, the Union Presbyterian Congregation, the Snohomish County Agri- cultural Association and the Snohomish Telegraph Company, as well as the list of county officers and terms of the district and probate courts. The prominence of I. C. Ferguson at this time is illustrated by the fact that his name figures in all but one of these official lists; as county commissioner, president of the Atheneum and of the telegraph company, as secretary of the Presbyterian congregation, and as vice president of the Free Religious Association. The Star may not have twinkled very merrily or very steadily at times, but from the scrapbook taken from its columns comes almost the first authentic record of Snohomish County that is clothed with the flesh and blood of human interest, not the mere skeleton of official records. |

One is apt to think of these pioneer days as one of unrelieved toil and hardship and to pity the state of these poor people who had to do without railroads and telephones and electric lights and phonographs and automobiles and radios; whose men wore boots and whiskers and whose women wore both their hair and their skirts long. But they needed no pity. They were just as "up and coming" as any community. Seattle itself enjoyed no advantages which were denied Snohomish. Their kerosene lamps were as good as anybody's. They missed none of the modern inventions because they had never heard of them. They were a busy, happy, contented, self-satisfied people. They had lots of fun as well as plenty of work. He would indeed have been an unwelcome visitor who had come to them with condolences as to their unhappy lot or who had suggested that they were in any way behind the times. They were not behind the times; they were fully abreast of them, and that is all that any community well may ask.

Annals Of 1876

In a number of ways the year 1876 was one of the best in the history of the city of Snohomish. It was an era of good feeling. All were hopeful and the ranks of the envious and disgruntled were very small. There were none but friends and neighbors and they entered into their work and play together, and shared each other's joys and sorrows in most wholehearted fashion. A review of the events of this year in Snohomish City will give the reader of today the best possible idea of community life in this county half a century ago.

There were not many business changes during the year. L. Hansen, familiarly known as "Fritz," reopened his blacksmith shop on the river bank, thus offering competition to W. H. Ward. Hansen was the first blacksmith at Snohomish City and perhaps the first to regularly follow that trade in Snohomish County. Lot Wilbur's new drug store became the post office; its first removal from the sheltering wing of E. C. Ferguson since the office was established thirteen years previously. Edward and Kendrick Shone came to the city, bought the River Side Hotel, put it in repair and became for a time strong competitors with the Exchange, owned by Cathcart. W. M. Tirtlot came to the city as an attorney, in September, 1876. He was the first man who ever ventured into Snohomish County with the intent of making his livelihood through the legal profession. Morse was before him as a lawyer, but Morse made the law a side issue, not his chosen calling. Tirtlot was a student at Wheaton College in Illinois at the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted as a private in 1862 and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant at the battle of Stone River, in Tennessee. He fought with the army of the Cumberland and was wounded in the battle of Resaca, Ga. Following the war he was in the employ of the General Land Office at Washington, and like many another department clerk he took advantage of Howard University to acquire a legal education. He came to Washington territory in 1873, locating first at Tacoma and then establishing himself at Snohomish, where he at once became an active factor in community life, but his stay was brief.

Through the enterprise of local men, Snohomish was for the first time connected up with the world at large through the telegraph. This line connected with the Western Union lines at Port Gardner, with an office at Lowell also. The officers of this Snohomish Telegraph Company were: E. C. Ferguson, president; E. D. Kromer, Isaac Cathcart and Henry Jackson, vice presidents, and Edward Morse, secretary. The operators were E. D. Kromer at Port Gardner, Henry Jackson at Lowell and J. H. Plaskett at Snohomish. As none of these operators could read the Morse alphabet by ear, tape printing receivers were used.

The Snohomish Cemetery Association was another new institution with Hugh Ross, president; I. Cathcart, vice president, and E. C. Ferguson, secretary. This cemetery was located on the west bank of Pillchuck River and comprised about four acres. It was used as a place of burial until the establishment of a new cemetery by the G. A. R. It has not been properly cared for and the pioneers' graves have become sadly neglected.

The progress of the town is shown by the fact that, acting under a new law passed by the Legislature in 1875, Sheriff Stretch appointed Simon Elwell as "hogreef," his duties being to seize all hogs running at large.

First Church Established

One of the most important steps taken by the village, in 1876, was the establishment of a church. Rev. J. R. Thompson, of Olympia, a superintendent of the mission board of the Presbyterian Church, was the founder. He first visited Snohomish in March and the church society was organized with fifteen charter members at a meeting held at the Riverside Hotel. The first elders were Robert Barrett and Judge Royal Haskell; the officers were Hugh Ross, president; E. C. Ferguson, secretary ; Royal Haskell, treasurer, and Ross, Ferguson, Haskell, Barrett, Masterson and Wilbur were the trustees. Ground was broken for the erection of a church the following December. W. M. Tirtlot was the architect of the structure, which was made possible by a gift of $500 from the Presbyterian mission board and $1,000, cash and labor, given by Snohomish citizens. Mr. Tirtlot occupied the pulpit of this church when no ordained minister was at hand.

A letter written by Rev. J. R. Thompson at this time, giving an account of his labors in starting this first church in Snohomish County (except the mission of Reverend Father Chirouse at Tulalip), is of much interest. The report read, in part, as follows:

"North of King County, extending through more than half a degree of latitude and from the Cascade Mountains to Puget Sound, lies the beautiful valley and prairie of the Snohomish and Stillaguamish rivers, containing a great deal of good agricultural land, much of it at present covered with dense forests which must be cleared before the land can be used for crops. There are eight lumber camps on the Snohomish River, all doing a fair, thriving trade and gradually fitting little spots of ground for the stumping machine and plow. There are large tracts of bottom land covered with a growth of alder and other brush easily cleared, and some few open meadows of marsh land. Ten years ago there were not more than perhaps ten white men and no white women in the whole county; now besides the lumbermen there are quite a number of families who have gone in to clear the lands and settle on farms.

"There are probably two hundred white women and one thousand people in the county, and no Christian church among them. The Methodists sent a man to Snohomish City about two years ago, but he shook the dust - I mean scraped the mud off his feet and paddled his canoe down the river to be seen no more. The village was visited some months ago by another good Methodist brother. But the place did not suit him, or he did not suit the place. At any rate he left. A good Christian man started a Sunday school which failed - again it was resuscitated and went down. A Free Religious Society was formed about two years ago, which gave a few specimen lectures to the people. This latter item may explain the failures referred to above.

"Frustrated in this manner, for some months later there were no religious efforts made of any character, and the people began to feel that something was needed to build up the town in a spiritual direction. There are several wide-awake men, leaders in the community, who, though not professing Christians themselves, wanted a minister of brains and energy - any particular denomination not essential - to start and head a religious movement and take up his residence in Snohomish City. These things coming to my ears, and being invited by leading men to help them in the matter, I went down the Sound to the beautiful little village dignified by the name of Snohomish City - the county seat and intellectual center of the whole region thereabouts. I held public worship on Sunday and Monday evenings, and on Tuesday afternoon, and I told the people that the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions was on the lookout for just such openings as these - that it had the right kind of men on hand occasionally to take hold of the work, and if they wanted our peculiar kind of Christianity it could be furnished. The result was the organization and incorporation of a congregation of thirty-nine members, having the probate judge and the county legislator on the board of trustees - also the organization of a church of fifteen members, with the probate judge and another of the members as elders, and the organization of a Sunday School with the secretary of the trustees (E. C. Ferguson) as superintendent. I promised them preaching once a month, and Brother Dunning, of Seattle, will also give monthly supply, which will keep them pretty well ministered unto until the board sends a nian to reside in the field. Two most eligible lots have been donated for a church site, and we are in hopes of getting a good lift from the Board of Church Erection. Altogether this is a most promising field, partly because the prospects of the county are good and partly because there is no opposition in the field. I suppose, however, the devil won't let this good thing alone very long. Some sectarian bigot will be hearing of the Lord's work in Snohomish City, and will come up and try to divide the people, of course, 'for the glory of God,' and not for the gratification of denominational selfishness. I wish such men would find a better way of glorifying God.

School Roll Of Honor

Andrew Lochrie was teacher of the one-room school, which was sadly in need of repairs but which was refitted during the year with brand new patent desks. The average daily attendance was thirty-seven, with enrollment of fifty-two. The "roll of honor" printed in October contained the names of Aggie, Alvin, Howard, Calvin and Wisa Haskell, Etta, Ella, Rowena and Vesta Batt, Hattie, Howard and Harry Masterson, Sarah, Charles and Leslie Packard, James Clanton, Charles, Delia, Ruth, Alice and Bertha Elwell, Sylvia and Ethel Ferguson, Florence and Gertie Scotney, May and Clarence Sinclair, Lilly Ward, Maud Morgan, Aggie, William and Lizzie Short, Ione Davis, Eddie Pike, Fred Hyde, Sherman Bennett, Frank Fields, Hinman Witter, Everett Thornton and Howard Roussin. Mrs. L. W. J. Bell was the new teacher. She was a musician as well, and under her direction the first entertainment was given, the proceeds of which, $50, went towards the purchase of an organ, the first musical instrument in the Snohomish schools. Mrs. Bell also organized a music class and took prominent part in all social functions and musical programs, the Star saying of her, "She has no equals in this part of the country, and few superiors anywhere."

Social Activities

The Atheneum grew and prospered and Eldridge Morse was made its librarian, with Dr. A. C. Folsom, supervisor of science department and W. H. Ward supervisor of theatrical and musical programs, and this society furnished some fine home talent entertainments which all the town attended. The Atheneum began the erection of a hall for its own use in December. The Centennial Lodge of the Masonic order received its dispensation, with fifteen charter members, and the Star said that its "little hall is tastefully fitted up, with a three-ply carpet of beautiful pattern with appropriate border. This was the first lodge in Snohomish, the Good Templars second and the Odd Fellows the third. Olympia Lodge, No. 1, I. O. O. F., was incorporated by the Legislature December 19, 1855. Levi Leeland, lecturer for the Good Templars, visited Snohomish in December and organized Olive Leaf Lodge, also with fifteen charter members. George Plumb was W. C. T. and other officers were W. Short, L. E. Beach, C. Packard, C. Morgan, C. Haskell, A. Plate, J. Hood, M. W. Tirtlot, J. Trana, B. H. Morgan, C. Thornton, F. Fields, M. P. Thornton, chiefly the young men and lads of the community.

The three great public events of the year were the celebration of the Fourth, the county fair and the Christmas tree. Great preparations were made for the centennial celebration of the Nation's birthday. The history as read by Eldridge Morse has been given on preceding pages. The eloquent Thomas Burke of Seattle was orator of the day. The program was in charge of W. H. Ward and began with a salute at sunrise. There was a parade with men and women dressed in the garb of the Continentals and a ragmuffin brigade in charge of Hugh Ross. E. C. Ferguson presided at the literary program, which was held '"'on the same grounds as last year." The Declaration was read by Andrew Lochrie and an original Centennial Ode was given by L. E. Beach. Music was provided, according to the Star, by "Mrs. Bell and the famous Bell sisters, George W. Ward, of Seattle, W. H. Ward and Miss Fannie Low - it being her first time on the stage in solo." The

The county fair, the second one in the county's history, was held September 26, 27 and 28, and was a success. Mention of the premium winners is made in the chapter devoted to agriculture.

The Christmas celebration was a real community affair and was preceded by a public meeting at which committees on hall, subscriptions, reception, presents, music and miscellaneous entertainment were named. At Riverside hall two large trees were prepared, W. M. Tirtlot and Reverend McFee gave addresses and Santa Claus distributed gifts, the value of which, the Star boasts, amounted to $1,200.

There were other social gaieties, dances, socials, literary programs and especial rejoicings at the weddings, three noteworthy ones taking place during the year. In April, H. G. York, some twenty years later the treasurer of Snohomish County, was married to Miss Mary E. Turner, sister of Mrs. E. Morse, of Snohomish; in May, Hugh Ross and Miss May Wellman were united, Rev. J. R. Thompson performing the marriage ceremony, and on August 9, Isaac Cathcart and Miss Julia J. Johns were married at Seattle. As the popular landlord of the Exchange, Mr. Cathcart did not forget his friends, and he advertised that there would be a "free social" on the night of the 10th at the Exchange "for all friends and patrons." The town and the countryside accepted this invitation en masse. Crowds greeted the bridal couple when the little steamer arrived at the dock. There was a reception at the hotel parlors and a 6 o'clock dinner to especially invited friends; after which the hotel "was thrown open to the public and no pains were spared to make the event a joyous one." "After supper," reads the account, "the parlor resounded with rich strains of music, in which the Bell sisters took a prominent part." Dancing began at 9 o'clock at the Ferguson building and lasted the balance of the night, the musicians donating their services. This was the greatest wedding celebration in Snohomish's history.

But the year was not without its tragedies, and in these times of grief the heart of the community was equally as united as in hours of joy. The winter of 1875-76 was unusually cold and the rare treat of skating was afforded. Two young lads, each sixteen years old, were victims of the sport, falling through the thin ice on Blackman's Lake and drowning in spite of the gallant attempts of Clayton Packard and Charles Elwell to rescue them. The boys were Arthur F. Batt, son of the former county treasurer, John Batt, and Horace C. Low, son of J. N. Low.

Pioneer Women Die

In March occurred the death of Mrs. Eldridge Morse, the third white woman to die in Snohomish County. Her maiden name was Martha E. Turner and she was born of English parentage, at Urichsville, Ohio, December 1, 1851. She removed with her parents to Iowa in 1854, and was a school teacher at Albia, Iowa, when she was married to Eldridge Morse, April 4, 1871. It was there that their son Edward C. Morse, who is now a resident of Index, was born, April 1, 1872. During the same year the little family journeyed to the Northwest, making Snohomish their home. Too frail for pioneer life, Mrs. Morse's death came after a long illness. There was no church and the funeral services were held at the Exchange Hotel; there was no preacher, and W. H. Ward, the village blacksmith, pronounced the funeral oration ; but who may say that the grief was not as poignant

The first white woman to die in Snohomish County was Mrs. Abraham Peden (nee Edna Martin), the wife of a farmer living two miles east of Snohomish. When going on a visit to her friend, Mrs. Samuel H. Howe, who lived near the head of Ebey Slough, in July, 1870, the canoe, with a son of J. N. Low, later captain of the Nellie, struck a snag and Mrs. Peden was drowned. The second death of a white woman was that of Mrs. M. W. Packard, wife of one of the first merchants of Snohomish, two of whose sons, Clayton and Leslie, are residents of this county today. Her death occurred December 12, 1875. During the year 1876 Snohomish lost two valuable men by death - L. P. Smith, a farmer, from the State of Maine, whose ranch was adjacent to the city, and Elisha Packwood, for whom Packwood precinct was named. He was sixty-seven years of age and had been in the county a number of years, his ranch on Ebey Slough being one of the best in the valley. It was said of him that he was "genial, agreeable and well read." He left a wife and several children.

E. C. Ferguson was married in 1868 to Miss Lucretia Morgan, who lived at Mud Bay, near Olympia; their acquaintance beginning while Mr. Ferguson was serving as a member of the Legislature. It was at this time that he sold his saloon, the Blue Eagle, to his brother, and built a wharf and residence on his own claim in West Snohomish. His father-in-law, H. D. Morgan, was Indian agent, and his brother-in-law, J. D. Morgan, came to Snohomish in 1872, the latter clerking in the Ferguson store. Both were candidates for office in 1876; the father for probate judge and the son for county treasurer.

Among the other prominent men of the community were Hyrcanus Blackman and Benjamin F. Stretch, opposing candidates for sheriff in 1876. Blackman was born at Bradley, Me., in 1847, and was engaged in the lumber business with his brothers in that state before they transferred their interests to the West. He was graduated from a business college at New Haven, Conn., came to the Sound country in 1872 and was a member of the firm of Blackman Bros., the foremost loggers of the county for many years. ;

Stretch was born in the East and followed the sea for a number of years before coming to Snohomish County, in 1864, as ship's officer and whaler. He had at this time been sheriff of the county for eight years. He had a ranch five miles up the river from Snohomish, was part owner of the steamer Nellie, and also owned a scow which did much freighting and a pile driver outfit which did much of the construction work along the river. He was a big man, genial and hearty, and was known in every part of the county.

L. H. Witter was a Kentuckian who served in the Union army. After residing for a time in southern states he came to Snohomish County in 1872, and in 1876, with his partner, Bennett, he was building a small water mill on the Pillchuck River. M. T. Wight was a logger of some prominence, who came in 1874. Hugh Ross, a candidate for county superintendent, was a log runner who had been in the county since 1864 and who had held the office of coroner for four years. J. N. Low, also a candidate for office, was the first proprietor of the Riverside Hotel.

The apex of the early prosperity of Snohomish was reached in 1876. The Star boasted of the improvements, saying that "over a dozen residences and busi- ness houses were erected, together with improvements to old buildings to the extent of nearly $5,000." Piles were also driven for several new wharves to afford better accommodations for the steamers which were making twice as many trips as formerly. The settlement up the river was increasing and specially built steamers began making more frequent trips above Snohomish, the Nellie planning to make regular trips, twice a month, twenty to twenty-five miles up stream. "With the exception of potatoes," the Star said, "all the crops were good, with good transportation facilities. The logging interests also did well. There were some twenty camps on the river, employing about three hundred men. There was an average good market for logs and drive losses were low. The new sawmill within a mile of this city will supply local needs. There is sufficient work for all, none being necessarily idle. Is this not a good showing for a town site which less than five years ago was Government land to which none here could give a valid title? The prospects for 1877 could not be better. We have two fine hotels. The Riverside, the oldest on the river, 1s sumptuously furnished, Shone Bros. having installed all the modern improvements and having the largest hall north of Seattle. The Exchange, by I. Cathcart, has been enlarged, bathrooms have been introduced and such other conveniences as the times demand, and soon this hotel will entertain guests in true San Francisco style." This was also the era of the first sidewalks on Main Street, and the Star almost exploded with pride when it announced that "Judge Haskell has a new covered wagon for milk. Thus gradually, but slowly and surely, our little town is having added to it all the conveniences of city life." One need feel no pity for Snohomish in 1876.

There were not many business changes in 1877, but W. G. Stevens opened a new saloon, the Cosmopolitan, the bar top of which was one board of curly maple, noted at the time as "'the prettiest piece of wood ever manufactured in this county." Wales & Catching, carpenters and boat builders, dissolved partnership, Catching going to California and Wales, who was one of the earliest settlers, carrying on the business at the old Blue Eagle. Shone Bros. also dissolved partnership as proprietors of the Riverside Hotel and in 1878 it was bought by H. W. Light. In May, 1877, Blackman Brothers began the erection of a number of small cottages to house their workmen, and, in July, J. D. Morgan opened the first meat market in the county. Roberts was the first tinner, in 1878, and in April of that year Cotton & Hurley started the county's first brick works, ''at a clay bank near Murhard's place, but a few rods from the plank road" built by Ferguson. This mention shows that the trail of the '60s had, in a few places at least, been succeeded by the planked highway.

Nevertheless the shadow of hard times was upon the land. In May, 1877, J. Ross & Co. were reported as financially embarrassed, and by October the Star was obliged to state, mournfully, that "we have never seen so many men around town or on the river without a dollar. Law suits, suspensions, bankruptcies and financial ruin are the main topics of talk. Even 'provender' is a matter for careful consideration. Lawyers are busy wrestling with moneyless men for bankrupt clients. Squads of men may be seen speaking in low tones of their misfortunes." If the Star gave a true picture of the times, it is no wonder the growth of Snohomish and the other villages of the Sound nearly ceased. Almost the only note of im- provement in 1878 was that the telegraph line had been put in order between Snohomish and Point Eliott, the Snohomish office being moved from the Ferguson to the Packard & Jackson store with Henry F. Jackson as operator.

Early Epidemics

Contagious diseases were among the most dreaded enemies of the early settlers. Smallpox, scarlet fever and, worst of all, the black diptheria took heavy toll year after year. Anti-toxin had not been discovered, quarantine laws were difficult to enforce and these epidemics ran their course almost unchecked. In March, 1877, diptheria broke out in a mild form, at Snohomish. Mrs. Ferguson, Mrs. Swett, three of the Shone family were among the sick, but no deaths were reported. The contagion spread into the country, however, with increasing virulence and in 1878, from the home of Samuel Howe, on Ebey Slough, the entire family of five children was taken within five weeks, and in April, Ethel, daughter of E. C. Ferguson, was a victim. An epidemic of scarletina frightened the people in 1879, but it was not until some years later that the harvest of death through diptheria and smallpox was at its height. Dissipation was also the cause of much grief and disaster, although in this respect times have changed but little. Poverty, insanity, crimes of violence, murder and untimely death stalked out of the doors of the Blue Eagle and the Exchange and the Cosmopolitan as certainly and surely as they issue from the haunts of the bootlegger of today. There is a note of deep pathos in the statement of the newspaper in February, 1877, that a young man named McDonald had been sent to Steilacoom as insane through inebriacy and that he came from Michigan and was "evidently of good family - at least, one of his female relatives had supplied him with twenty-one fine linen shirts." Can one not picture the young man, leaving the sheltered home to seek a splendid fortune in the unknown West, yielding to temptation and coming to this inglorious end, while the loved ones who sent him forth with such tender care for his comfort, waited in vain for his return? The making of the West is a wonderful story, but it took strong men and good women to write its pages; the weaklings, either physical or moral, fell by the way.

First Militia Company

1877 was the year of the Indian War in Eastern Washington and Western Idaho, when Chief Joseph led his men in their last stand against the whites. Events proved that the settlements along the Sound were in no danger, but the people did not know that at the time and much alarm was felt. At Snohomish, on July 7, 1877, a call was issued for the citizens ''to meet at the lower hall of the Atheneum building for the purpose of organizing a militia company, electing officers, etc., and to take the necessary steps to secure arms for home protection." This call was signed by A. C. Folsom, Henry Jackson, H. A. Gregory, W. M. Tirtlot, I. C. Ferguson, R. Haskell, M. W. Packard, H. W. Light and William Whitfield. Governor Ferry had called for 500 volunteers to aid Gen. O. O. Howard, who was already in the field at the head of federal troops. In addition to the call to consider home protection there was, therefore, a second call issued for volunteers for active service; this was signed by L. E. Beach, J. H. Plaskett, James Hood and John D. Morgan, and represented the younger men of the community. Two documents were drawn up at this citizens' meeting, one for the signature of volunteers, which was signed by twenty-one at once, and the other to be signed by such as wished to join the proposed permanent militia company. L. I. Beach, J. H. Plaskett and J. D. Morgan were appointed as a committee to secure added names on both rolls. At a second meeting, held July 15, L. E. Beach, chairman of the recruiting committee, reported a total enrollment of sixty-five, whereupon it was voted to organize a militia company under the laws of Washington, and the following officers were elected: Captain, J. H. Plaskett; first lieutenant, L. E. Beach; second lieutenant, Kendrick Shone; first sergeant, J. D. Morgan; second, George Tompkins; third, W. F. Eddy; fourth, N. D. Curtis; corporals, James Hood, H. A. Gregory and James Hughes. Recruiting officers were named to solicit more volunteers; J. H. Plaskett for Snohomish City and vicinity, F. E. Phelps for Snoqualmie Valley and F. Matthews for Qualco and the Skykomish Valley. By-laws were drawn up and adopted and excitement ran high. It was proposed to form companies at Lowell and Mukilteo and the young men of Centerville were asked to join with Mukilteo. By this time the prowess of General Howard had brought the insurrection nearly to a close and Snohomish County through its citizens and through its county commissioners appealed in vain for arms. The company was called for drill, but without arms and with no apparent need for military service the enthusiasm soon waned. The only recognition by the governor of this patriotic effort on the part of Snohomish was the appointment of Eldridge Morse as a lieutenant colonel on his staff. A year later, when another uprising was feared, the people of Snohomish failed to enthuse, and their spokesman, the Star, said: "Last year some three hundred were ready and willing to go from the Sound, but their services were not required ; yet their presence would have done much. A company was organized here, consisting mostly of experienced officers and veteran soldiers. Arms have been repeatedly promised, but never issued. The men would have provided their own uniforms and a drilled company of seventy-five, under proper officers, was ready to go on a week's notice if given arms and transportation. The Indians here are so few and friendly, and water transportation is so good that there is little to fear in the Sound country, except in this valley from the Klickitats east of the mountains. The people of the Sound can care for themselves if given arms."

Atheneum Building

The most outstanding accomplishments of Snohomish people during the late '70s were the erection of the Atheneum building and the church, and the improvement shown by the schools.

The first articles under which the Atheneum was incorporated proved inadequate to cover the ambitious building project which was conceived in the fall of 1876, and new articles were drawn providing for larger capital and the sale of shares, rather than membership fees. By March, E. C. Ferguson, who had the building in charge, had disbursed $1,426.56, all but $78.46 had been paid, the shortage being accounted for, perhaps, by the fact that $1,100 paid in greenbacks were accounted as $1,000. The financial report showed receipts for membership, from December, 1873, to April, 1877, as follows: Cash, $725.35; books, $144.25; services, $225 - a total of $1,094.60. Surely a splendid showing by so small a hamlet for such a cause.

The last heavy timbers of the Atheneum Building were raised May 9, 1877. W. H. Wale was appointed caretaker and, on the resignation of A. Lochrie, W. B.

Stevens was elected librarian. New officers elected September 8, 1877, for the first time recognized the women members, the officers being: President, EX. C. Ferguson; vice presidents, Mrs. Bell and Mrs. Ward; secretary, -\. C. Folsom; treasurer, J. H. Plaskett. With the opening of the new building on September 14, 1877, it was determined "to revive the old literary exercises formerly held in the Blue Eagle building." The recognition of the women was eminently proper, for by the following February what was perhaps the first piano in Snohomish County was installed in the Atheneum hall. It represented the work of the women of the community for more than two years in raising funds by the various devices dear to the hearts of aid societies the country over, and without which our churches and public places would, indeed, be unadorned.

First Church Building

Hand in hand with the work on the literary hall went the work of building the first church. Rev. J. R. Thompson remained the inspiring leader of the movement and gave much time to Snohomish, although he had been promoted to the position of superintendent of all vacant and new missions in Washington territory. Meetings were held in the schoolhouse while the work on the church progressed. Some idea of what this building meant to the community and the sacrifice it implied are shown by the announcement which W. M. Tirtlot had published calling on all who had given work on the new church building to report on Monday, March 5, at 8 a. m., and on all who had given shingles to report at the Wilbur store on or before that date. At the same time Royal Haskell called for one-half of cash subscriptions to be paid by April 1. Rain delayed the work and a sudden rise in the river carried away some of the lumber intended for the building, but on June 6 it was joyfully announced that the edifice was complete, except the tower and painting, and that services would be held in it the following Sunday. Rev. T. W. McCoy was assigned to the church in July and was the first resident clergyman in Snohomish County of Protestant faith. As a reward for its enterprise the Presbytery of Puget Sound held its first meeting at Snohomish City, November 9, 1877. The chief interest was in the installment of Rev. T. W. McCoy as pastor, in the presence of a large congregation. Despite their best efforts the church was not out of debt, and in the March following a carpenter who held a lien on the building for work done, posted notices on the building that next Sunday services would be held in HIS church, but that no collection would be taken. '

School Progress

The schools flourished during 1877 under the direction of Mrs. Bell, and one of the notable events of the year was the school exhibit, given in March. The program will be of interest, as some who took part and their children and their children's children are living in the county today. The principal features were:

W. H. Ward and Miss Lilly Bell were the grown-ups who contributed to the pleasure of the evening with vocal numbers, and the proceeds amounted to $45, which, with the amount already raised, was sufficient to pay for the new organ. Mrs. Bell was very properly engaged for the ensuing term. In the "roll of honor" for September, 1877, the children of sixteen families were represented; they were: Fannie Low, Harry, Howard and Hattie Masterson, Leslie, Charles, Clayton and Sarah Packard, Jerome and Nellie Stevens, Ethel and Sylvia Ferguson, Wisa, Howard and Warren Haskell, Charles Stevenson, Lillie Ward, Charles and Willie Flwell, Edith Blackman, Katie Foss, William Tirtlot, Fred Gene, Gertie and Minnie Scotney, May Sinclair, Georgia Trana, Charles Brem and Milly Woods. Public school funds became exhausted, however, and in the spring of 1878 Mrs. Bell taught a private school in the schoolhouse until she left for a better field at New Tacoma, in March. There appears to have been no public school for some time; the Star telling, in January, 1879, that "Miss Gardener is again in town teaching a select school, in the absence of funds to keep up a public school during the winter. At present there are thirty-two pupils."

A bit of real enterprise was shown when E. C. Ferguson built what was undoubtedly the first plank road in Snohomish County, at a cost of about $2,000. This road extended from Snohomish to the Ferguson & Morgan mill. It began near the schoolhouse and crossed the logging railway of Blackman Brothers not far from the Murhard residence. The roadbed was graded and well drained and the planking was three inches thick.

H. G. Struve of Seattle, D. D. G. S. of the Odd Fellows lodge, assisted by W. H. Pumphrey, also of Seattle, had the honor of organizing the first lodge of the I. O. O. F. in Snohomish County, at Snohomish, April 23, 1878, with five charter members. A banquet at the People's Restaurant followed the business session and the new lodge planned to meet in the hall used by the Masons and the Good Templars. In January, 1879, the Masons bought a corner lot of Joseph E. Getchell on which they built the two-story structure, 30 by 60 feet, which was their lodge home as well as the county courthouse for many years. The April, 1879, term of the district court was held in the new building. Another evidence of activity in the little town, even in the midst of hard times, was the organization of 'a cornet band of ten members. W.H. Ward was the leader and the officers were: Carl A. Missimer, president; E. H. Nicholl, secretary; and J. H. Plaskett, treasurer. C. A. Missimer was a young man who had been in the county but a few years, coming first as a photographer and having the honor, after great toil and hardship, of taking the first photograph of the beautiful Snoqualmie Falls.

The first mention of baseball as a recognized sport in Snohomish County was in September, 1877, when the Snohomish nine defeated Lowell by 32 to 27. The names of these pioneers of the national sport were: Snohomish - Charles Hill, James Anderson, Hinckley, H. Jackson, Dexter Huff, M. McClare, Ben Cook, C. Packard and J. Hughes.

Lowell - Wm. Erwin, Chas. Albee, L. Jackson, Wm. Dunning, H. Henninboffer, McFadden, J. Nolan, M. Barnett, N. T. Smith. The Snohomish club was known as the Pacifics, while the Lowell team was dubbed the Union. On September 16, the Unknowns of Port Gamble defeated Snohomish, 38 to 22, the Snoho- mish lineup containing the names of four of the players listed with Lowell previously. The Star contains no mention of baseball in 1878 or 1879, and as every newspaper featured such news it is safe to say that the sport languished during those years. The name "Pacifics" stuck, however, as the title of the Snohomish club and it was one of the very best on the entire Pacific coast during the eighties.

Pioneer Weddings

During good times and bad there was "marriage and giving in marriage' among the pioneers. Among the notable weddings were those of J. A. C. Cedergreen and Amelia H. Frederickson, at Snohomish, December 25, 1876; Eldridge Morse and Miss Fannie Oliver, of Centerville, January 7, 1877; Kenric Shone and Mrs. Augusta A. Drake, at Packwood's Landing, by Justice S. T. Packwood, February 4, 1877; of Benjamin F. Stretch and Miss Melvina Hartsock, of Thurston County, at Swantown, January 31, 1877; of Clark Ferguson and Miss Martha Brem, at the New England Hotel, Seattle, Rev. J. F. Ellis officiating, on October 29, 1877; of John H. Davis and Miss Mary Harvick at Mukilteo, June 8, 1878; of S. O. Woods and Miss C. Mathewson, at Snohomish, by Rev. T. W. McCoy, July 3, 1878; of John P. Berry and Mrs. Helen A. Fish, at the residence of J. W. Borst on Snoqualmie Prairie in King County, on July 20, 1878. This last wedding is mentioned here, although it took place in King County, as it was said to be the first marriage ever celebrated there according to the customs of the white people. Many Indians wanted to witness the "Boston wedding", and the couple was married under an apple tree, the ceremony being witnessed by some twenty-five "Bostons" and many Indians. This note serves to bring sharply to mind the primitive conditions which prevailed all about Snohomish, in spite of its church and lodges and Atheneum. Following the wedding of Eldridge Morse all his friends were invited to a "sociable" which was given at the Riverside Hotel, but the great celebration was held when the popular sheriff, Ben Stretch, arrived with his bride on the steamer Nellie. There was a party at the Riverside which fairly rivalled the Cathcart wedding party. Fannie Low and Frank Matthews furnished music for the dancers, the table was gotten up "in Shone's best style" and, according to the Star, "the assemblage was one of the largest and most brilliant ever seen in Snohomish."

Death Of Mrs. John Elwell

Again the chronicle must turn from gaiety to grief, and record the death of another of the noble pioneer women, Eliza, wife of John Elwell, senior, who died on January 29, 1879. She had been an invalid for some time, but death came very suddenly, and in the absence of her husband, who was working at the log boom at Priest Point. She was born at Whiting, Maine, May 25, 1819, her maiden name being Eliza Crosby. She was married to John Elwell at Northfield, Maine, September 12, 1838. Mr. Elwell came first to the Sound country to investigate the possibilities of the lumber industry and being fully satisfied with the prospects, he returned to Maine bringing Mrs. Elwell and the family to Snohomish County in 1872. The children were Tamlin, John, Mrs. John Hilton, Mrs. Harry Getchell, Walter, George, Edgar, Charlie and Buddie. They were a family of woodsmen and loggers and Mrs. Elwell was a mother not only to them but to all the men of the logging camps, who came to her with their griefs and lonelinesses and were comforted by her "mothering". She was one of the notable women of her day in Snohomish County, and it was a serious loss to the community that her health and life were not longer spared. Concerning her funeral the Star said: "Mrs. Elwell's funeral was the most largely attended of any ever held in this place, there being over 100 people who followed the body to the cemetery, of whom about onefifth were relatives of the deceased. The parting scene at the grave was very touching; the grief manifested by her family was very earnest and heartfelt and strongly affected all who were present."

Northern Star Fades

On May 5, 1879, was printed the last issue of the Northern Star. The editor gave many reasons, personal and otherwise, for its failure.. It was a good newspaper, especially when it is considered that it was published in a village which at no time during the newspaper's existence numbered 200 inhabitants. With its last issue there comes a hiatus in the known history of Snohomish County which it is impossible to fill except through meagre records and faulty memories. Mr. Morse truly said that the Star had "left a permanent impress upon the whole Puget Sound country." The editor, Eldridge Morse, was evidently a visionary man; none but such would have dreamed of starting a newspaper at Snohomish in 1876, and none but a visionary man could have had the courage to maintain it for more than three years. His picture of business conditions of 1879 may have been tinged by his personal disappointments, but he did not greatly overdraw the picture when he said, in his "Valedictory": "For the past two and one-half years the logging business has been so paralyzed here that nearly all those connected with it have lost money, and most of them have become bankrupt and financially ruined so that it will require a term of years, sufficient for the development of the immense agricultural resources of this valley, to restore the former prosperity of this place." The revival came more quickly than Mr. Morse anticipated, but the dark days lasted well into 1883.

Snohomish Supremacy

ERA OF DEPRESSION ENDS AND WEST BOOMS - SNOHOMISH DOMINATES COUNTY - SNOHOMISH "EYE" OPENS - BUSINESS REVIVAL IN 1883 - FIRST ATTEMPT TO INCORPORATE - SNOHOMISH IN 1884 - EVENTS OF 1885 - ANTI-CHINESE MOVEMENT - GOOD TIMES APPROACH - RAILROAD REACHES SNOHOMISH - FIRST WATERWORKS - SNOHOMISH INCORPORATES - FIRST BANK ORGANIZED - PROGRESS IN EARLY NINETIES - SEATTLE FIRE - MANY IMPROVEMENTS AT SNOHOMISH - FINAL INCORPORATION - POSTAL HISTORY - CITY BANKRUPT - HAPPENINGS OF 1892 - SMALLPOX SCOURGE- - CITY ELECTION OF 1892 - INCENDIARY FIRES OF 1893 - -EVENTS OF 1894-CATHCART FAILURE - COUNTY SEAT REMOVED.

While there was no great activity manifested at Snohomish during the first two years of the decade which opened with January 1, 1880, there was a steady gain as the country developed agriculturally as well as in the logging and lumber industries. It is noted on the county records that the commissioners granted the petition of S. M. Knapp to be allowed to build a wharf across the terminus of Avenue D, but there were few other signs of progress.

By 1882, the whole country had recovered from the era of depression, capital became eager for investment and the energy and business talent of the Eastern states sought some new outlet for gain and for adventure. The most attractive field for capital was in railroad building. The Government offered bonuses of untold wealth in the shape of land grants and everywhere ambitious communities were beckoning with open hands and pocketbooks for the rails to be laid in their direction. No portion of the United States offered better opportunity for investment and settlement than did the great Northwest with its almost untouched resources, its fertile soil, its delightful climate and its enormous wealth in minerals and timber. As the great trunk lines began' to extend their fingers across the continent to this land, which was still a "terra incognita' to nine-tenths of the people of the United States, people by the thousands made their way to Oregon and Washington. Each man hoped to cast his lot in some future metropolis and railroad terminus, but it was sheer guesswork as to what city that would be. Almost every hamlet on the coast claimed that it would soon be a dangerous rival to New York City, and, to use a mid-westernism, the eager investors were kept "milling" around, carried from one place to another by glowing reports and "inside tips" as to railroad locations. Snohomish was almost the only city on the Sound which did not join in this carnival of speculation and aircastle construction, which lasted from 1882 until it met its inevitable Waterloo in the panic days of 1894-1896. Nevertheless, Snohomish benefited greatly by the tide of immigration. After visiting scores of cities-to-be, many believed it better to settle in a town that was actually growing and doing business at the time, and these men came to Snohomish, making real estate of value for almost the first time, doubling the population, which was not saying a great deal in 1882, and bringing new business enterprises. There was, however, no riot of speculation, no "boom" at any time in the history of Snohomish City. The railroad talk, then and later, did not excite Snohomish. It felt secure that when any railroad came to Puget Sound it would come to Snohomish and could see no reason to get excited about it or to offer extravagant bonuses for the inevitable. Thus Snohomish received much of the benefit of the new era without inviting the devastating reactions which came to such towns as Anacortes, Fairhaven and a score of other over-boomed towns. It was not until Everett sprang like a giant from the shores of Port Gardner that the star of Snohomish began to wane, and it was not until 1897 that the scene was fully shifted, with the loss of the county seat, and Everett became the center of the county's history. Other communities were being established and were growing in importance, but Snohomish occupied the spotlight and its chronicles represent a large portion of the county's history.

It was in 1882 that the LaConner Mail said of Snohomish: "It is one of the prettiest towns not only on the Sound, but on the coast; situated as it is on nice sloping ground on the north bank of the Snohomish River. It has probably the largest hall in the territory, besides a fine courthouse, Masonic Hall and first class hotel. It has 400 inhabitants and is well supplied with general merchandise stores, billiard and sample rooms, drug store, meat market, hardware store, two blacksmith shops, and is altogether one of the most orderly and sociable communities extant. Both religious and benevolent societies are well represented and patronized, while young people meet in social reunion every Saturday night. Snohomish and Lowell are the chief business centers of the river, the latter being six miles below the former, a short distance from the head of the delta. For some years past the Snohomish River was the chief logging center: now Skagit leads; the Snohomish output this year was 30,000,000 feet, Skagit 40,000,000. At the present high price of logs this means cash receipts to both rivers of about $500,000." One of the new enterprises was the photograph gallery opened by Mrs. S. S. Stephens in Mrs. Lawry's cottage, and that of William Whitfield, who resigned his position as purser of the Nellie to enter the express business. Snohomish felt its growing importance and complained bitterly of its inadequate mat] service. Mail was received twice a week, from Seattle, on Mondays and Fridays, but it was said that this too often meant Wednesdays and Saturdays, the first of the week mail often failing to connect with the mail boat to Falls City, which left on Tuesday mornings. For the third time the citizens vainly petitioned to have Snohomish made a postal money order office.

The real impetus of better times was manifested in the establishment of the county's second newspaper, The Snohomish Eye, the first issue of which was on January 11, 1882, with H. F. Jackson and C. H. Packard owners and C. H. Packard, editor. This was a neatly printed four-column folio. It contained the professional cards of A. C. Folsom and H. A. Eddy (a newcomer) as physicians and of William Whitfield as notary public and conveyancer, in the Masonic Building. Among the early advertisers were Blackman Bros., general merchandise; William Patterson, boot and shoemaker; Lot Wilbur, drugs; Jackson Bros., general mer- chandise; James Evans, hardware; England & Deering, meats, groceries and hardware; The Snohomish Trading Co., E. C. Ferguson, manager; John Hilton, dry goods, groceries and meats; Mrs. Hilton, millinery; the Logger's Saloon, C. Lawry & Co., which advertised champagne and billiards. Nine applications to buy timber lands were advertised in this first issue; among the birth notices were those of sons born to the homes of Edward Albee and Tamlin Elwell, and daughters to the homes of Dr. H. A. Eddy and D. L. Jackson. The marriage of C. D. Morgan and Clara Niemeyer, December 25, 1881, was mentioned. The real estate column showed many transfers from various parties to the Puget Mill Co. amounting to 4,300 acres. The average price of a claim of 160 acres was $500, as shown by the deeds recorded. The market quotations are of interest and were as follows: Fir logs, $5.00@$5.50; wool, 22(@)25 cents; flour, $5.00@$7.00 per barrel; oats, 50c; wheat, 55c; potatoes, 50c; lard, California, 15@17c per pound; butter, 30c; eggs, 25c; chix, per dozen, $3.50@$4.00; hay, $12.00; retail meats, beef 7@10c, pork 8@10c, mutton 10@12c; livestock, cattle 2@2'Mc, hogs 3@4c, sheep 214c; apples, $1.25@ $1.50 per box; furs, beaver $1.50, otter $4.50, bear $2.00@$5.00.

The new paper admitted that it was not as large as the New York Herald, but maintained that it was just as important, in its sphere, and confessed that its first object was to make money. The editor was much against the Sunday closing law, enforcement of which was being agitated, and drew a pathetic picture of an injured logger calling piteously, but vainly, for a glass of brandy on the Sabbath day.

Business Revival In 1883

There were a number of business changes about the first of 1883, J. T. Stevenson buying the Plaskett store and Lot Wilbur selling his drug store to H. A. Moore & Co. The Atheneum Building had already succumbed to the hard times and was fitted up with a resplendent bar and as a public hall by Isaac Cathcart. Mrs. M. L. Packard platted and sold a triangular addition of twelve acres and E. C. Ferguson held a public auction of lots in his new Fair Grounds addition. The prayer of petitioners was heard and Snohomish made a money order office July 1, 1883, and by the last of October Postmaster Wilbur boasted that he had sold 160 money orders, amounting to $3,798.42, and twenty-five postal notes during the month. The telegraph line was put in commission to Point Elhott by E. D. Kromer and J. H. Plaskett, after it had been idle for five years. \hen completed the new Cathcart Opera House, with its scenery painted by C. A. Missimer, was reputed to be one of the finest on the Sound. The home of Charles Jackson, the logging king, with its mansard roof, was the finest in the city. One important new institution was the firm of Comegys & Vestal, both the members of which were destined to play important parts in politics as well as business. They came from Kalama, with a brand new stock, purchased in San Francisco. C. H. Bakeman was another arrival, opening a carriage and furniture shop, and making the first buggy ever manufactured on Puget Sound. The year following he opened an undertaking establishment, the first in Snohomish County. He, too, was to figure prominently in politics and to serve the county for ten years as coroner. The Alhambra restaurant was started in August, 1883, by John Fredericks; "meals 25 cents, beds 25 cents." Allen Bros., hardware; W. A. Smith, music; Edmund Boesch, Jeweller; Patterson & Mudgett, with their ambitious boot factory which employed five men; L. Kline, clothier, next to Gem saloon; Deering & Booth, grocery; all these were listed as new businesses during 1883. The first move towards securing fire protection was also taken during this year, a force pump being installed on the river bank, with 100 feet of hose.

First Attempt To Incorporate

In October, 1883, a petition signed by 140, was presented to the Legislature asking that Snohomish be incorporated, and a law to that effect was passed October 31, 1883, to be effective January 1, 1884. The officers named in this act were T. Ferguson, mayor, and I. Cathcart, C. F. Jackson, G. G. England, W. S. Clay, J. H. Swett and T. Rainey, councilmen. A convention was called to nominate city officers, Dr. T. H. Rainey presiding. There was objection to the boundaries named, and on motion of Packard, seconded by Whitfield, the meeting adjourned without action and the election called for January 14, 1884, was not held. The officers named by the Legislature did not serve and the movement for incorporation was definitely killed in December, 1885, when at a mass meeting the motion to incorporate was beaten, 18 to 22.

The post office over which Lot Wilbur had presided for eight years changed hands when he tendered his resignation, in November, 1883. J. W. Shaver was appointed but failed to qualify, and W. W. Pettit became postmaster in February, 1884. At this time mail for Washington Territory was forwarded from the East via Utah and the northern branch of the Union Pacific to Deer Lodge, thence by stage to the east end of western division of the Northern Pacific, and on to the coast. This was a gain of several days over the old route, via San Francisco and by steamer. At Snohomish, Postmaster Pettit established a code system to advise people as to the departure of mails. If the steamer Josephine sounded her whistle once, it meant that the mail would leave that evening at 8:30 o'clock. Two blasts of the whistle meant that it would not leave until the following morning. The schedule called for out mails on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Snohomish In 1884

The Seattle Herald said of Snohomish, in January, 1884, that it was an old town, of about 700 inhabitants, with a two-story courthouse, several new buildings and a new sawmill with capacity of 20,000 feet of lumber daily, a good school building, but no school, six saloons, one church and that church had a bell. The products as listed by the Herald were "fruits, logs, hay and skating rinks'', there being two rinks, three lawyers, two doctors and the Eye." A new business house in 1884 was that of J. T. Deboldt, grocer, a former clerk for Blackman Bros. After quitting the grocery business at Snohomish, Mr. Deboldt studied law at Seattle, and he now holds an honored position on the bench in Honolulu. All business did not succeed, even with the better times, and the Stevenson store and the Romines saloon went into the hands of the sheriff, in August.

The greatest business sensation of the year was when the Snohomish Trading Co., the Ferguson store, at first reported sold to I. R. Dawson, was found to be in the hands of the sheriff.

Major events of 1885 in Snohomish were the opening of Blackman Bros.' new store, in a two-story building which also housed C. J. Cramer, the jeweller, and

Birdseye View Of Snohomish, 1886 First Street, Snohomish, 1886

E. Sutton, confectioner, with the offices of Dr. J .S. McGuire and a new lawyer, named Sam Piles, on the second floor. This was some two months prior to the fire which devastated their logging camp. In spite of the hardening times, Snohomish was growing and there was a good demand for lots when the Sinclair addition was thrown upon the market. One effect of the new democratic administration was the appointment of J. B. Noll to succeed Pettit as postmaster. Daily mail service was also established during this year. In November, the contract was let for the new I. O. O. F. Hall to J. S. White for $2,426, the building to be 32 by 64, and to be completed by March 1, 1886.

Anti-Chinese Movement

During this year there was much agitation against the Chinese, throughout the length and breadth of the Pacific coast. The newly organized Knights of Labor sponsored this movement to a large extent and it became the "burning issue." Snohomish caught the contagion, though there were but few Chinese in the village. An anonymous call for a mass meeting was issued and the gathering was held at the Masonic Hall. E. C. Ferguson presided, but before the close of the meeting he announced himself as against any action. 5S. H. Piles, Dr. A. H. Eddy, Dr. Morris and Professor Griffith spoke favoring drastic action, but, possibly on account of the stand taken by Ferguson, nothing was done. A second meeting was held, addressed by Dr. Eddy, and a committee was appointed to inform the Chinese that they must go. This committee refused to act, however, and the matter rested in abeyance for some weeks. At Seattle and other cities, however, the crusade against the Chinese rose to greater heights and early in February the Chinese were quietly told that they were not wanted in Snohomish. With oriental fatalism they bowed to the inevitable, and with but a few exceptions, they either sold or removed their goods and eighteen of them took boat down the river on the steamer Cascade. This crisis was undoubtedly brought about by the serious rioting in Seattle to quell which the troops were called out. There remained in Snohomish but three orientals, who owned a laundry the business of which they hoped to sell, and they had agreed to go the following Monday. All would have been well had not the excitement of the Seattle troubles so stirred popular feeling that some misguided men placed explosives under the laundry, completely wrecking it. No one was injured and the episode would probably have been passed over lightly had the issue not been so sharply drawn all over the West. Under the circumstances it was made much of and P. J. Cull, Jack Brooks, John Defel and George Vivian were indicted for conspiracy, but as in the other cases for participation in this Chinese expulsion, they were not convicted. The Eye published the rather implausible theory that the Chinese had blown themselves up to create sympathy. But the majority of the citizens, while opposed to coolie labor in America, did not approve the unnecessary violence used.

Good Times Approaciied

In the four years beginning with 1886, Snohomish enjoyed the nearest approach to a boom that city has ever experienced. The improvements in 1885 were estimated at $23,500, but they were small compared to the advancement made during each succeeding year up to 1890. Following the local option election, in 1886, the city was nominally dry and for a time the saloons were closed, but business remained good. The Post-Intelligencer, speaking of Snohomish in April, 1880, said: "It supplies people away up on the Snoqualmie and Skykomish rivers, up which goods are poled in canoes of from 500 to 3,000 pounds capacity. There are daily steamers, the Nellie and the Cascade, to Seattle. The population is estimated at 700." On one day, in October, when the Indians were returning from the hop fields, the trade amounted to more than $1,200. A "write-up" in February, 1887, placed the population at 800 and said the town contained from 125 to 150 families, with from 200 te 300 loggers making it their winter quarters, and estimated that it supplied the wants of at least 2,000 people. Among those mentioned as representative men were E. C. Ferguson, C. F. Yeaton, Blackman Bros., Comegys & Vestal, C. F. and H. F. Jackson, Isaac Cathcart, Ben Stretch, Ulmer Stinson, William Whitfield, J. H. Plaskett, C. A. Missimer, J. N. Low, M. W. Packard, C. H. Packard, G. G. England, James Knapp and Morgan Bros. The local and export trade of the city was estimated at $1,000,000 for the preceding year, and it was claimed to be the fourth city on the Sound. No wonder the Eye headed its local column, "Let 'er boom! The railway is a certainty. The new mill will start up on Monday."

Railroad Reaches Snohomish

In truth the railway projects, long in the air, were becoming solid realities. The Seattle and West Coast Railway was incorporated in April, 1887, its purpose being to build from Seattle to the Canadian boundary. The real work was that of the Seattle, Lakeshore and Eastern, however, which had been in the field for a year, with surveyors and graders all through the county. The work was pushed _ rapidly and the first regular train from Seattle to Snohomish was run on July 3, 1888, although it was obliged to stop on the south side of the river as the bridge was not completed until September 22, 1888. This railroad activity was enough in itself to have accounted for the prosperity of Snohomish, but added to this was the great demand for lumber, both for railroad construction and city building, and that industry thrived as it never had before. The improvements in the city of Snohomish amounted to $45,000 in 1887 and it began to take on a look of comfort, and even of luxury, with the erection of the fine residences of such men as H. C. Comegys, J. H. Getchell, Joseph Mallet and E. H. Elwell. During 1888, there was great real estate activity. Among the additions platted were those of P. J. Fields, the Pillchuck addition, the third Clay addition, the Morgan addition, by Spurrell & Snyder, eight lots of which were sold before the plat was filed and on which ten houses were soon in course of erection. Real estate transfers for the week ending May 29, 1888, amounted to $30,171 - more than ever before during a month. By the close of 1888, the population of Snohomish had doubled and real estate values had quadrupled. It was estimated that 1,200 people lived within the incorporation, 1,500 within a mile and 2,500 within the precinct.

First Waterworks

This prosperity was quickly reflected in city affairs and in the commercial life of the town. In October, 1886, Henry Ray, representing the Puget Sound Pipe Co., made the first efforts to promote a waterworks system. The Snohomish Water Co. was organized the following March. This was to draw its supply from Blackman's Lake and to cost from $12,000 to $15,000. Ray was to be superintendent.

The petition for right-of-way was at first refused, but later granted by the county commissioners and Snohomish enjoyed the use of a water system by July, 1887. The service was at first quite limited, but the mains were extended about two and one-half miles in 1888. Following the completion of the waterworks the city gave serious consideration to the organization of a fire company, a meeting being called at the office of J. H. Plaskett, in July, 1887, but it was not until August, 1888, that a hose cart with 1,000 feet of hose was ordered at a cost of $1,300.

Snohomish Incorporates

In April, 1888, W. P. Bell, as attorney for the citizens, returned from Seattle with an order from Judge Jones authorizing the incorporation of Snohomish, the trustees named being E. C. Ferguson, Isaac Cathcart, H. Blackman, 5. Vestal and M. W. Packard, who were to meet within ten days to name minor offices, pending an election. They met and appointed officers and fixed salaries as follows: Marshal, C. M. Jordan, $20 per month, with $2 for each arrest; clerk, J. Van Bowen, $1.50 per meeting; attorney, W. P. Bell, $100 per year; assessor, C. A. Missimer, $5 per day for time employed; treasurer, S. M. Knapp, 2 per cent on collections and disbursements, with bond of $5,000. The liquor license was fixed at $500, and the city received $2,500 from this source in 1888. New sidewalks were ordered, grading contracts let and soon plans were made for the erection of a wagon bridge across the Snohomish River. The contract for the First Street bridge was let to H. A. Eddy, September 8, 1888.

C. H. Stickles, at one time purser of the Nellie, was the first to propose the installation of an electric light plant, and the Snohomish Electric Light Company was organized, September 15, 1888, with E. Blackman, president; E. C. Ferguson, vice president ; C. H. Stickles, secretary, and Isaac Cathcart, treasurer. There were two very important additions to the business of the city at this time. In July, 1887, there was let the contract for the most pretentious hotel the city, or the county, had ever known. This was compieted by May, 1888. It was three stories high and 40 by 100 feet in size and bore its name, ''Penobscot Hotel," in raised gilt letters. The furnishings were said to be "finer than those of the Occidental, the Pride of Seattle,' and about one-half of the rooms were heated with stoves. There was a fine bar. H. Blackman was the owner of this hostelry, Joseph Mallet the lessee, and H. A. Eddy the architect and builder. For a number of years it was the scene of the county's most brilliant gatherings and many noted men among the builders of Everett were numbered as its guests. It opened May 23, 1888.

First Bank Organized

In August, 1887, the first bank in Snohomish County opened for business. This was the private bank of J. Furth & Co. and had temporary quarters in the Cathcart Building. J. Furth, prominent Seattle banker, was its sponsor and chief owner. Gov. E. P. Ferry and B. Gatzert were also interested in this institution. Less than a year later, in July, 1888, this was reorganized as the First National Bank of Snohomish and was located in its own buiiding - the first brick building in Snohomish City and likewise in Snohomish County. The second brick building was one erected by Lot Wilbur on the corner of First and C streets.

of the American Building and Loan Association of Minneapolis, October 13, 1888. Stock to the amount of $62,000 was taken, the officers being A. A. Blackman, president; E. C. Ferguson, vice president; W. P. Bell, secretary and attorney; W. M. Snyder, treasurer. Soon there were forty members, but owing to no fault of the local concern this institution was overwhelmed by the panic conditions prevailing a few years later, involving considerable loss to Snohomish people.

The establishment of the Sun, by George W. Head, in July, 1888, as the second newspaper for Snohomish marked the growth of the city but did not make for harmonious action by its citizens. It was established as a weekly but became a triweekly in 1889.

Progress In Early Nineties

The growth of Snohomish was uninterrupted during the years 1889-1890 and 1891, save that towards the end of this period the shadow of Everett began to worry the more farsighted among the residents of the county seat. A mere statement of some of the new enterprises and business changes during these years serves to show the progress of the city. On January 28, 1889, the mail for the first time reached the city by train. In February a steam laundry was installed to take the place of the Chinese laundry wrecked by explosion and thus, at the same time ending the varied history of the old Blue Eagle. In March plans were perfected for the erection of a brick and tile plant by D. G. Pearsall; and this same month witnessed the organization of the first Board of trade. -This was organized at a meeting presided over by H. C. Comegys, and H. Blackman, J. C. Denny and E. C. Ferguson were appointed to draft constitution and by-laws. The meeting was not entirely harmonious. Mr. Blackman brought up the question of transportation, saying the railroads were dissatisfied with the amount of business they received from Snohomish merchants and that the success of the railroads, and the improvements they might be able to make, depended upon their business showing. He also thought that an expression of goodwill would help to secure Snohomish as the junction with the proposed "branch to Spokane Falls". J. W. Heffner read a resolution embodying the idea of Blackman and pledging support to the railroad. It was opposed by Ferguson, who declared the railroad would build where it pleased and that it had too much invested at Snohomish to let improvements stop. Dr. Eddy replied saying such talk hurt the town and that investors wishing to come to Snohomish could not secure sites except at "robber" prices. He feared Snohomish would lose the junction. Comegys declared river transportation was cheaper and the merchants would patronize it. Notwithstanding the opposition the resolution passed. This clash of interests between rail and water transportation arose in every city on the Sound, but as rail transportation improved it was soon the steamboat men who complained of lack of patronage and this conflict of interests continued until commerce adjusted itself to the new conditions.

A. H. Eddy, H. Dibb and William Case were the promoters of a new sash and door factory which secured a site near the new railway station. They also secured a site for a sawmill on Lake Stevens at this time. Real estate transfers for December, 1888, and January, 1889, amounted to $91,600, for the county, but these figures included the sale of 1,500 acres, near Marysville, by Blackman Bros. to T. D. Stinson. February transfers were $26,150 in Snohomish and $22,000 for the balance of the county.

Seattle Fire

The Seattle fire, which was started by an overturned glue pot in the paint shop of John McGough, in the Denny block, and which burned an area of more than eighty acres in the heart of the city, was the great sensation of June, 1889. The Snohomish fire department was one of the many which went to the aid of the big city and Snohomish contributed over $500 of the $84,000 cash which was freely given by the generous public for relief purposes. Snohomish also contributed liberally with supplies and clothing. The aftermath of this fire was a great, temporary impetus to business throughout the Sound country, as the work of rebuilding the city was pushed with feverish activity and splendid pluck and enterprise.

Many Improvements

In June, 1889, the Snohomish Manufacturing Company enlarged its plant and increased its capital to $100,000. Prices may have been booming in real estate but they remained fairly moderate in some lines, for the new Delmonico restaurant! advertised, "Porterhouse steak, 25 cents, including coffee, bread, butter and potatoes." Zweifelhofer & Wohlgethan established a brewery on the Pillchuck, near the Fair Ground addition, in August, 1889, and in October, England and Paul platted South Snohomish, lots selling at from $100 to $175. The new Wilbur store, the first brick store in the county, was opened in November. At the close of 1889, the yearly review estimated the population at about 2,500 and stated that no less than twenty additions had been made to the townsite, which by this time included one and one-half square miles. The railroad improvements for 1888 were given as $150,000, and for 1889, as $25,000, this latter amount being chiefly for the rebuilding of the railroad bridge which was badly wrecked by flood. Snohomish was also receiving benefit as base of supplies for the more than 300 men employed in clearing the right-of-way for the Lake Shore as it pushed its line on towards the Canadian border. Improvements at Snohomish were given as amounting to $200,- 000 and the products of its manufactories at $500,000. The following were the important improvements listed: Additions to electric plant, $20,000; sash and door factory, $14,000; brick and tile works, $10,000; Blackman mill, $15,000; public school, $14,000; waterworks, $5,000; Wilbur Block, $7,000; Ferguson residence, $8,000 ; together with no less than 100 small residences and 25 store buildings.

J. A. Panting of the Huron Lumber Company of Seattle came to Snohomish in January, 1890, investing some $25,000 in city property, this including the Noll shingle mill, and 700 lots were sold in one week of March in the new Panting addition, at from $10 to $15 per lot. Real "boom" methods were used in this sale, which was announced by full-page advertisements in a number of newspapers. In May, 1890, H. C. Comegys retired from the general merchandise business, selling to the new firm of Vestal & Whitfield. It was in this month, also, that the Sunset Telephone began extending its lines into Snohomish, and Allen Bros. purchased the interest of C. A. Missimer in the waterworks. The Snohomish Land Co. was organized in November by E. C. Ferguson, H. C. Pettit and G. G. England and 40,000 pamphlets were distributed advertising lots in the townsite.