Sultan, Washington - History

History

Following the paths of the Great Northern Railway and the Scenic Highway up the Skykomish Valley, the next stop above Monroe is the Village of Sultan. Sultan is a town with a past, but it also has a live and energetic present. Like many other towns of the county its location was fixed by the water courses and it lies at the confluence of the Sultan with the Skykomish River. It is thus at the foot of the Sultan Basin, a stream whose golden sands have been the lure of many a prospector.

Pioneer Prospectors

As early as 1870 placer miners were at work along its banks and Alonzo Low established a small store which was later abandoned. In 1878 there were new discoveries which brought half a hundred eager fortune hunters, the patient Chinese remaining long after their less easily satisfied white brothers had departed. Traces of these early miners along the course of the Sultan may still be found. Thus the Sultan River, named after the renowned Indian "Sultan John," was known a number of years before there was any settlement at the mouth of the river. It was in 1880 that John Nailor brought his goods and his Indian wife up the Skykomish and took a claim at the mouth of the Sultan. The mines were still being worked in a desultory fashion and Nailor's soon became a favorite stopping place for the prospectors; not a hotel, but a hospitable way station where some sort of entertainment could be had for man and beast. The Snohomish Eye of August 30, 1882, tells of finding the ruins of the Low store and that L. Hanson of Snohomish and Condon of White River were prospecting there, while the Le Brant camp was eight miles up the river. The first white woman in the vicinity was Mrs. H. W. Illman. She came direct from Chicago to the wilderness, with her nearest woman neighbor the Indian wife of John Nailor. The Ilimans came in 1881, and the winter of 1883-1884 being exceptionally cold, the river froze and there were no supplies save flour and the game IlIman was able to kill. Floods followed the freeze and their little belongings were swept away, but they stuck, and in twenty years they had one of the finest ranch homes on the upper river.

Post Office Established

Fifty signers were secured to the petition asking that a post office be established at Sultan in 1885 and it was granted, John Nailor being appointed postmaster and the name "Sultan City" adopted. The office was in Nailor's residence and his wife was his assistant. The following year, as travel increased, Nailor established a ferry, and in 1887, mining operations again became active. The Sultan River Mining Company fathered the ambitious plan of changing the course of the river at Horseshoe Bend to expose the placer wealth of the old river bed. This company brought a pack train to Sultan together with a number of men. Thousands of dollars were expended by this company and the Silver Creek claims were also prospected by the Blue Bird Mining Company, working night and day. This revival of activity in 1888 encouraged Nailor to build what was known as the Pioneer Hotel and caused Archie Anderson to establish a four timés a week stage service between Snohomish and Sultan. The Snohomish Eye of July 27, 1888, told of the risks run by the early stage driver, as follows: "The Sultan stage was burned last Saturday and the driver and team had a narrow escape in a burning slashing a few miles this side of Sultan. The driver attempted to go through but met obstructions and as it was impossible to turn the vehicle around he cut the horses loose, secured the mail pouch and ran the gauntlet."

The little river steamers also made every effort to secure this up-river trade. In May, 1887, the Gleaner reached a point one and one-half miles below Sultan and in 1888 the Mame was the first steamer to reach the town. The canoe remained the only practical means of freighting, however, for James W. Mann, who came to the vicinity in 1888, found no road nearer than six miles. His experience was typical. He and his wife moved into their 16 by 16 shack before it was finished, sleeping with the sky for a roof. The woods were so dense that in winter they were obliged to light their lamps at 3 P. M., and there was no road to their ranch for twelve years. Mann helped to build the first 16 by 20 schoolhouse in his district to accommodate the ten pupils in 1892, and when the Fourth of July came his children could not go to the celebration because they had no shoes. This was another pioneer builder of Sultan Valley.

Sultans Boom Days

bought the Pioneer Hotel in 1889, built a store and had J. J. Folstad survey the first plat of the town which was filed October 19, 1899, being dedicated by W. B.

and Agnes Stevens and witnessed by John Conway and John Nailor. Even before the plat was filed McDevitt and Davis of Olympia had bought the store building, Doctor Warren had come as the first physician and Miss Matie Warren was teaching the first school in the district, which was built by public subscription. On the strength of the mineral prospects and the repeated rumor that the railroad would build up the valley, the little city grew so rapidly that before the close of 1890 there was talk of incorporating, and as many as forty horses were being used on the pack trail to the mines in the Sultan Basin. The Stone & Ewing sawmill with capacity of 12,000 feet daily was established in 1890 and it could hardly keep up with the local demand.

Railroad building was at its height in 1891. Sultan City was made a supply station and at times from 800 to 1,000 men were employed there. This brought a rush of new enterprises and in a twinkling transformed the trading post into a very live little city. Among the newcomers were T. W. Cobb & Company, general merchants; Shea Bros., clothing and dry goods; Dr. M. L. York, dentist and barber; H. M. Baker, real estate agent; B. F. McPherson, furniture dealer; two new hotels, the Skykomish by D. B. Lewis, and the Sultan by E. M. Taylor, and the Sultan City Journal, established by H. M. Shaw. Under such circumstances the new Sultan Improvement Club felt it only proper to celebrate when the new boat, the Minnie M., built especially for the Sultan-Snohomish trade, made its first run. The Minnie M. was not a big boat, seventy-five feet long with thirteen foot beam, and she was late, but the cornet band was ready and waiting for the distinguished guests whom Pilot W. C. McMillin brought to the new Port of Sultan from Snohomish in but seven hours. David Bunn and H. M. Shaw did the honors and there were feasting and dancing at the Taylor Hotel. It was a month later, June, 1891, that Rev. A. W. Bower came to the town to look after the interests of the Congregationalists. He soon became an important figure, orating at the Fourth of July celebration, the first ever held in Sultan, organizing the Good Templars Lodge and supporting the bond issue for the erection of a schoolhouse, which was carried, the new building being ready for occupancy the following January. By the close of 1891 the population was between 800 and 1,000 and the people were demanding daily mail service.

Railroad Construction Headquarters

1892 was another great year for Sultan City. The Bank of Sultan, as a branch of the First National of Seattle was established early in the year with M. B. Solner cashier, and in March J. E. Stone of the Sultan sawmill gave an interview to the effect that 1,500 men were employed by the Great Northern between Snohomish and the tunnel; that Sultan was booming and would soon have seventeen saloons, three with dance halls; that the county commissioners had agreed to help the citizens build a wagon bridge over the Sultan and that $1,000,000 was being spent for groceries alone, for use on the railroad division. Three steamers docked at Sultan in one day in March, the Monte Cristo bringing twenty-nine tons of freight, and drawing but twenty-nine inches of water. The mill was busy filling orders for cribbing placed by A. D. Smith, Great Northern contractor, and one of the popular eating houses served 250 meals in one day. 'And this was not a big day, either," boasted the Sultan Journal. Negotiations were made for an electric light plant and the Journal spoke pridefully of the new $2,500 schoolhouse, the enlargement of the Moffett & Stone mill, the big business done by McDevitt & Davis and Cobb & Payne, the new merchants, and of the fact that George Weddekind was about to open a law office. The county bridge was completed by August and the new 28 by 50 Methodist Church, with Reverend McKean as pastor, by October. There was a band of fourteen pieces, nine saloons, a third general merchandise store, by A. W. Hawks, a livery stable run by McCrea & Cobb, mail daily, three steamers and seven daily stages from Snohomish. The city thrilled to its first homicide in May, 1892, when George Briton in some unaccountable way got intoxicated at Campbell & O'Leary's Saloon and on becoming boisterous was shot by Campbell. Briton forgave Campbell just before he died, so there was no conviction. Another thrill came with the boat races and no old-timer at Sultan will forget the race which the Monte Cristo won by minutes over the Florence Henry.

The railroad was in operation by the fall of 1892. J. E. Stone was the first passenger, in September, and he also sent the first telegram, a train order, from Sultan to Snohomish. The railroad quickly killed the stage service and the daily stage stopped in January, 1893, and in November, 1893, the stage mail was discontinued. Sultan weathered the first year of the panic in good shape. One source of income was the fur trade, the best quality of black and brown bear, mountain goat, beaver, martin, mink, otter, coon, skunk, fisher, wolverine, muskrat and wildcat skins being shipped in large quantities. Beaver brought from $6 to $10. Barclay & Herbst established a brick yard, burning the first kiln in June, 1893. The Pioneer Hotel was remodelled and enlarged. By a close vote the district decided in favor of nine months school, "Parson" Bower became justice of the peace and then editor as well as preacher, but was defeated for school director by Mrs. George Mann, and H. M. Meredith was appointed commissioner of the United States Court.

The word "City" was dropped from the town's name by the postal authorities in 1894, but this did not keep down the determination of the people to make Sultan a. real city if possible. They showed their enterprise by giving sixty-five days' work to clear ground for the new James Griffith shingle mill, which, much to their disgust, finally located at Monroe, and they welcomed the shingle mill erected by Holmquist of Edmonds and the woodwork factory established by G. W. Johnson & Son. In 1895 the Sultan Millsite and Improvement Company was formed with $1,000 capital to build flumes to provide water power for mills. The officers of this public spirited enterprise were: George Man, president; John Nailor, vice president; A. W. Bower, secretary, and A. C. Williams, secretary, and through its efforts Keefe & Perkins were induced to move their mill from Machias to Sultan. The prospectors were also busy and there was a daily pack train to the Little Chief mine in the Sultan Basin.

Sultan Incorporates

There was agitation for incorporation as early as 1896, but the city was not incorporated until June 10, 1905, as a city of the fourth class with 400 inhabitants. The first officers were: Mayor, H. M. Meredith; clerk, Thomas W. Musgrove; treasurer, Eli Marsolais; councilmen, John F. Warner, G. V. Pearsall, E. A. Beebe, George W. Fowler; marshal, T. J. Atwood; street commissioner, A. L. Peterson. At the time of incorporation Sultan's industries included the

Sultan Logging & Railroad Company, U. K. Loose, manager; a camp of the Wallace Lumber Company, three miles north, the Creckwood Manufacturing Company, which made a specialty of broom handles; the shingle mills of Murett, Superior Mill and Robinson & Idema; the Commercial Trout Company, in charge of L. E. Mayhall, ex-state fish commissioner; State Fish Hatchery, in charge of Henry Baldridge, and the "45" mine, owned by the Lydia Pinkham interests and managed by Nathan Jones, and other mines were also tributary to Sultan. 'The Journal had suspended publication but on September 7, 1905, it was succeeded by the Star, edited by John A. Swett. The business directory included: Hotels, Sultan, by A. L. Peterson, Pioneer, by G. V. Pearsall, who also ran a general store and a meat market; John F. Warner, William Cook and Eli Marsolais; general merchants; T. J. Atwood, druggist and postmaster; physicians, Dr. T. W. Musgrove and Dr. F. S. Sandborg, who also had a private hospital; E. T. Bascom, lawyer; E. A. Beebe & Son, blacksmiths; Wellington & Baldwin, livery ; E. M. Taylor, butcher; Joseph LePage, shoes; J. C. Holmes, plumbing; Louis Richel, barber; H. Duree, station agent.

Modern Sultan

Lying at the confluence of the Sultan and the Skykomish, the City of Sultan is at the head of the rich Sultan Basin and is the trade center for large dairying, poultry and berry industries, as well as those of lumber and logging. It is a detour point to Mount Stickney and the famous camping grounds of the Stickney Meadows, and its streams invite the fisherman and the pleasure lover. Many tourists visit Sultan and it has for them a modern and convenient camping ground. F. E. Anderson is the present mayor of this very live community and W. F. Leavell, the city clerk. Sultan owns its waterworks system, which cost $40,000, and which is self-supporting. Fire protection is afforded by a volunteer company equipped with two hose carts and a hook and ladder truck. The city is about to install a first class sewer system the contract for its construction having been let in October, 1926, to W. J. Longston.

Sultan is justly proud of its schools. There is a union district, composed of Districts Nos. 30, 31 and 32, with a grade school at Woods Creek and at Sultan and the high school at Sultan. The Methodist Episcopal Church, established in 1892, is one of the chief places of worship under the guidance of its popular pastor, Rev. L. F. Smith. The Congregational Church, although the first organized is now temporarily without a pastor; the Catholic Church services are held somewhat irregularly, being supplied from Monroe. The Dutch Reform Church is also temporarily without a pastor.

Sultan Institutions

One of the chief institutions of Sultan is the Woman's Improvement Club, which has sponsored many of the best movements the community has known. It has recently completed a very handsome and appropriate club building, which is destined to become a community center of greatest value, and which will house the public library, while its cosy parlors and well equipped kitchen will make it attractive for social events. The Ad Club, is the men's organization which corresponds in efficiency with this women's club which is noted throughout the North- west. The Valley News is the live weekly paper which covers the news of Index, Startup and the surrounding country as well as that of Sultan. It is well edited by Arthur E. Babcock. The Odd Fellows, Masons and Modern Woodmen lodges all have lodge homes of their own. The chief industries are the Wallace Lumber & Manufacturing Company, the Miller Logging Company and the Sultan Basin Creamery, which does a large business. The Sultan Hospital, conducted by Dr. R. G. Nelson, is a leading institution of the community. All lines of retail trade are well represented and there are two good hotels. The postoffice is in the efficient charge of J. S. Atwood. The first postmaster was John Naylor, and others in charge of Uncle Sam's business were E. P. Marsolais and T. J. Atwood, Sultan presents today the picture of a very enterprising, happy, prosperous and typically American city.