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Skagit River Journal

of History & Folklore
Free Home Page Stories & Photos
The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit
Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness

Noel V. Bourasaw, editor

810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284
Home of the Tarheel Stomp

Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it." Mark Twain
In memory of Hazel Nadine Bourasaw (99th birthday would have been June 30, 2007)

Introduction to Skagit River Journal

Finding a story is as easy as 1... 2... 3

1. Newest photo features out of nearly 600 on our site See our newest features: Concrete School burns April 27, 2008... How they marketed booze in Prohibition... Edward R. Murrow's 100th birthday party April 27... John Fravel and Blanchard... Dave Donnelly, Woolley pioneer... Oliver Hammer history... New in Woolley: Janicki buys old city hall — Leo's Pizza becomes Coconut Kenny's — The Roost bookstore opens in May... Jungquist closes in Woolley... June Burn on 1858 Fraser Gold Rush & Pioneer bios... Pioneer & descendant obits... History of Bug to Sedro-Woolley... Sedro & Woolley merge in 1898/debunking the myth & almost merged in 1891... Amariah Kalloch... Birth & Timeline of Skagit Steel & McIntyre family of Woolley... Gertrude Sawyer of Woolley's Memorial Hospital... Northern State Hospital closes, 1973-76... Sam Strom, Monte Cristo miner, 1890s... Hamilton history. . . James Bard Metcalfe, namesake of Woolley's Metcalf Street & Charles Woodworth, namesake of his street... Our Wish List... Charles J. Wicker arrives Skiyou 1884... Two-Spot Locomotive Sedro-Woolley... Recommended book reviews... KKK in Sedro-Woolley 1920s... Froggy Orchestra in Old Woolley 1890... Skagit City School preservation... How Woolley rebuilt after 1911 fire

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Attention: please consider donating to our research project Perhaps we have been too reluctant to state the obvious and stick our hand out in the past. We are always woefully under-funded, but we are facing a crucial balloon payment of a loan due, which we must make to continue these free pages at the level they have reached. If you have already donated or are a subscriber, we thank you and do not expect or ask any more. But if you enjoy these pages and want them to grow dramatically over the next year, please consider donating even a small amount to help us keep the shop open. We have a separate subscribers-paid online Journal magazine, now in its seventh year. If you want to donate or subscribe, just click the "Paypal Donate" button to pay by secure credit card, or mail checks to here. Subscriptions are $20/1 year; $35/2 years, or $100 for a "lifetime" 10-year rate. Or you can read details first about how or why to subscribe or donate, by either check or credit card, and how to share gifts with your friends and family. Thank you for your consideration and support. And see our offer of story/photo CDs from our first five years of the magazine. That way you can share what you read with those who do not have a computer. We are "open source" in the best meaning of the term and we want to share this information with all lovers of our God's country history and genealogy. Thank you.

New Issue 42, subscribers-paid Journal online: Transcriptions of four more stories from the diary of Otto Klement, 1873 settler on the Skagit, and father of Lyman, along with being the first pioneer to extensively record his experiences: Otto's early years on the Skagit; farming methods and earthquakes 1870s & '80s; winter weather and when the Skagit River froze over; and early attempts at a Cascade Pass Road, decades before Hwy 20.
We have also updated our series on Whatcom County pioneers of the 1850s, including new answers to the mystery of why Edward Eldridge changed from his original name in Scotland, and new information about his son Hugh, along with profiles of other Whatcom schoolchildren of the 1860s. Three other stories round out the issue: Otto Pressentin, his 10 years in outback BC, 1911-21, by Ray Jordan . . . profile of Walter Washington deLacy, father of the Old Military Road and the Whatcom Trail to the 1858 Fraser River gold rush, and his fascinating life before and after his Whatcom years . . . Biography of the Northwest writer, June Burn, and her book, Living High.

2. Follow these links to portal sections
of the areas and subjects that interest you:

Click on the underscored Sedro-Woolley link above for an interactive map showing the location of Skagit County at the far northwest corner of Washington and the United States.

Sedro-Woolley

Check out Sedro-Woolley First

Bug through Sedro-Woolley

Reader questions answered

Early timeline

Founders Mortimer Cook — P.A. Woolley — 4 British bachelors.

Areas surrounding Sedro-Woolley in all 4 directions

includes: Prairies, Duke's Hill, Northern State Hospital, Sterling, Skiyou, South of Skagit; Clearlake, Biglake, McMurray

Upper Skagit River: Utopia to Cascades

includes: north of Skagit from Utopia to mountains

West Skagit County: Hwy 99 to Sound

includes: Mount Vernon to Belfast, west to Fidalgo, south to LaConner/Fir Island/Conway

Logging Section

includes: mills, donkey engines, equipment and logging railroads
Maps... Mining

Whatcom, the mother county til 1883

Snohomish, County, source of many pioneers

The trains of the Northwest

includes: Fairhaven & Southern, Seattle & Northern, Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern

Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Puget Sound & Baker River, and more

Frontier Women

includes: Territorial Daughters, and biographies of and by pioneer women
Bios and obits, men and women, pioneers and descendants

Suggested reading and museums

Transcriptions old newspapers

Regional Museums

Skagit countywide features and history overviews	Skagit River & Steamboats, Past & Present	Odds & ends: short features & transcriptions
Our wish list: Docs/Photos/Memories Can you help?	Other Counties & State History: King, Island, San Juan, & all Washington	Interactive Genealogy Forum Frontier Timeline
See Dan Royal's Stump Ranch for in-depth history of Birdsview and upper Skagit River.

We research your family or business through public records and libraries; help create a family tree or create web pages for you. Please challenge us with your own request. Plus how to advertise on our site. Join our advertisers, who are carefully selected and who use our unique medium for appealing to visitors who come back for visits, and to local readers who want to read about historical businesses and who want to shop at businesses who support research into our history.

3.	Looking for something special on our site? Enter name, town or subject, then press "Find" Search this site powered by FreeFind
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Did you find what you were looking for? We have helped many people find individual names or places, so email us if you have difficulty finding them. The more details, the better.
Tip: Put quotation marks around a specific name or item of two words or more, and then experiment with different combinations of the words without quote marks. We are currently researching some of the names most recently searched for — check the list here. Maybe you have searched for one of them?

Now that you have taken a test drive, please give us your feedback on whether this new plan works and please let us know if you find dead links. And remember: 1) we always welcome corrections, additions and criticism, and 2) please send us your memories and copies of photos, old newspapers and documents. We do not need your originals

You can read the history websites about our prime sponsors:

Jones and Solveig Atterberry, NorthWest Properties Aiken & Associates: ... See our website
Please let us show you residential and commercial property in Sedro-Woolley and Skagit County 2204 Riverside Drive, Mount Vernon, Washington... 360 708-8935... 360 708-1729

Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 86 years.

Joy's Sedro-Woolley Bakery-Cafe at 823 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley.

Check out Sedro-Woolley First section for links to all stories and reasons to shop here first
or make this your destination on your visit or vacation.

Are you looking to buy or sell a historic property, business or residence?
We may be able to assist. Email us for details.

Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20
Park your RV or pitch a tent by the Skagit river, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley