of History & Folklore
Covering from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Washington counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish, focusing on Sedro-Woolley and Skagit Valley.

An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness The home pages remain free of any charge. Subscriber archives available through Issue #60 free, with a two-part story Noel left us for Issue #61.

Publisher:

Skagit County Historical Society

The Wheels of Commerce...What would transportation in Skagit County be without our filling station? There was a time of the full service, service stations... link up in Feb.

Site founded Sept. 1, 2000. Passed 7.5 million page views, November 2014; passed 800 stories in 2013 —  Noel V. Bourasaw, 1944-2015, Founder Sedro-Woolley, Washington,— where Mortimer Cook started a town & named it Bug

The long awaited reprint of Ray Jordan's "Yarns of the Skagit Country, Ray's Writin's" has been available and for sale  as of August 4, 2016 at  the Museum bookstore. Link to Ray Jordan web page for an introduction.

R.I.P. Noel V. Bourasaw 1944-2015

Please send us calendar items for any history-related or community events in your area scheduled for the rest of 2016.

• Please let us know of any broken links you find on this website and where you found them, which is just as important to know.  Updating and fixing links will be an ongoing process but will be helpful to all  you researchers out there making use of this website. Email us here or below.

• We will always welcome your suggestions on making Skagit River Journal a better website, especially making it more navigable. The fastest way to find your subject of interest  will be to use the Search Engine at the bottom of the page.

• If a subject or a person is not found on this website, let us know. It is possible we have something on file or we can direct you to a person or an institution in the county who may have the answer for you.
  
  

• John Flood Conrad and his father Charles, Historian of Skagit County Pioneer Association

• Samuel Simpson Tingley, his pioneer Skagit family and the Mercer Girls, in two parts.

• Edridge Morse, Pioneer newspaper man in Snohomish

• Silas M. Butler, his logging and dairy family. A three part profile and obit.

• Joseph F. Dwelley, 1870 Puget sound pioneer and his daughter Kate Maloy of LaConner
  

• Eugenia Clinchard, child star of silent-movies, the earliest Western picture shows and her Sedro-Woolley family.
  

• 1915 UW Graduates who were Skagit movers and shakers: Frank Evans, Sid McIntyre, Art Ward and Herman Anderson
  

• "Whatever happened to Lyman Cutler?" Lucille McDonald's history of the Pig War principal
  

• Forest M. Elwell, sternwheeler builder
  

• Frank Bradsberry, the whimsical logger and politician of Sedro-Woolley
  

• Lavina Gates Chapman's 19th-century memoir of bloody Kansas, including the bravery there of future-Sedro pioneer Lewis Kirkby during the civil war. Special section shared from our Subscribers Magazine.

In The News Locally

• "Spirits of Christmas past come to Sedro-Woolley Museum" Skagit Valley Herald

• Pioneer Association to honor Johnson family, Don Wick, Thursday, August 4. Skagit Valley Herald

• John Fasso announces adding Don Wick, the original 'Voice of the Valley'  to his lineup of announcers for his online radio station, SkagitRadioSports.com

• Big Lake Historical Society publishes book, reaches out to younger generation. Skagit Valley Herald

• Presentation and update at Skagit 21 TV for Skagit County Historical Museum to Skagit County Commissioners, July 12, 2016, presented to the commissioners by Executive Director, Dr. Jesse Kennedy III and Director of Development, Jo Wolfe.

• R.I.P. Past Executive Director of SCHSM Eunice Darvill and former staff curator, David Van Meer. Links to their obituary.

• "LOST IN THE LINE OF DUTY" Skagit Valley Herald. "Police Marshall Carl Strom was killed 83 years ago after interrupting a bank robbery in Sedro-Woolley." See how Sedro-Woolley Police Department work to honor his memory. Plus more background on Carl Strom from this Skagit River Journal webpage.

• Century-Old Burlington time capsule opening celebrates local history. Skagit Valley Herald

Early photo of Skagit City School class

These days, Skagit City School and a road of the same name are all that remain of  "Skagit's Lost Communities", Skagit City. (link to Skagit Valley Herald article)  Find out "Where was Skagit City?"

The obituary and the life story of Norm Lisherness, Sedro-Woolley's beloved police chief, during Loggerodeo of 1967.
If you have any photos, articles or documents about Northern State's long history, please email Judy Torfin, who has begun a museum on the NSH premises to honor the history of the institution and its employees.
See this photo feature with nearly two dozen photos of Gilbert Landre's cabin/hotel, built in the 1892 era, which still stands near Cascade Pass.
Read the story behind the Plumeria Bay bedding company in Birdsview, our latest sponsor
The two most humorous stories of our 800. Otto Klement's tale of his Lyman trading post, in 1881, and the mixture of liquor and the good ole boys and the pig. And Frank Wilkeson's 1890 New York Times column about the two rapscallion hobos of old Sedro, who took the Swedes for a ride.
And see our special new portal section of links about Mortimer Cook's original towns of Bug and Sedro and the very early days of the little village that was located where Riverfront Park stands today.
    Important: This is our Free Home Page. If you are currently subscribed and looking for the full Contents Links for our Subscribers Magazine, check the current-issue link in your email or email us for it. Also note: some stories still have a stumpranchonline prefix because we originally partnered with Dan Royal's family website and we have not finished moving them.
How to Navigate the Journal. Or use one or all of these routes below:

Lost Cities of Skagit

Museums, Genealogy, Researchers, Historical Associations, Fraternities

Regional Museums

    Did you find what you were seeking? We have helped many people find individual names or places, email if you have any difficulty.

See this Journal Timeline website of local, state, national, international events for years of the pioneer period.
Did you enjoy these stories and histories? The process continues as we compile and collaborate on research about Northwest history. Can you help? Remember; we welcome correction, criticism and additions to the record.
Please report any broken links or files that do not open and we will send you the correct link. With more than 800 features, we depend on your report. Thank you.