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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

Skagit county, Washington state,
and the beautiful Skagit River

Gravity ferry, Skagit River, circa 1900-20

Several sources and individuals have sworn that this photo was taken on either the Skagit river or the Sauk. But we knew that we had seen it someplace else. The mystery was solved on page 208 of Percival R. Jeffcott's fine history of Whatcom county, Nooksack Tales and Trails. The photo is of the Harkness Ferry on the Nooksack river in Whatcom county at a famous place west of Everson called "The Crossing." Woolley pioneer Susie Alverson would have known the ferry well because her father served as telegrapher there before the family moved to Woolley in 1895 to manage the old St. Clair Hotel. We share the photo because this was a gravity ferry — with a winch-like attachment at both ends, attached to a cable above that was chained to trees on both shores, which used the strong current of the river for power. Nowadays we would call it "environment-friendly." That is the type of ferry that crossed the Skagit in at least 12 different places from Fir on the South fork to Marblemount in the foothills of the Cascades.

Below we present a link to our introduction to the Skagit river. We also provide links to other stories on the website that profile the river in the past, present and future. And then we provide links to other stories about the river that you can access on the Internet. Because the river is the web that ties our entire project together, we encourage you to share any information or sources that we can share with other readers. We will talk about the history of the river, its different channels, the famous floods that have occurred, the fish, birds and animals that make this their home, the rich soil of its bottomlands, the hills that were formed by volcanic and glacial action, the gorges in the Cascades and anything you request to read. Your feedback is encouraged, either by email or via the Guestbook below. Click the underlined links to read the pages:

Links to stories on our site:

Our introduction to the Skagit river
Larry Kunzler and Dan Berentson launch a new website that explores Skagit river floods in depth — past, present and future. See the links to the huge collection of documents that they have posted that include hundreds of newspaper articles from throughout the 20th century.
Homesteading & land laws defined, Eastern capital, Sedro's Kelley strip.
Exploration of the whole Pacific Northwest from the Spanish and English days, 18th century to mid 19th, before extensive settlement.
We have added to our subscriber edition an in-depth history of Skagit county that was written in 1953 by Charles Dwelley, who was then publisher of the Concrete Herald. edition.
The Mother of all Floods, 1815 through the twin floods of 1896-97 and the two November 1990 floods that may have been the worst in tandem.
Facts about the Skagit, from the Skagit Watershed Education Project of North Cascades Institute in Sedro-Woolley.
Skagit valley soil rated best in the nation, 1940.
External Internet links

. Links to more information about the mighty Skagit River

Larry Kunzler has spent years researching flood control in Skagit county, both for clients and to help farmers understand the wrath of the Skagit river. He speaks from first-hand experience because he bought a farm in the Nookachamps area and learned a hard lesson. As he explains, he asked the realtor why the house was built 6 feet off the ground and the realtor replied, "That's because it used to flood around here. But now we have dams on the river and it doesn't flood anymore." Now that the Avon Bypass is becoming a topic of conversation again, Larry has transcribed the Herzog report and the original documents about the bypass that are eye-opening. You can email mailto:floodway@nwlink.com him to learn more yourself.
Kunzler helped Leonard Halvorsen and other Sterling/Nookachamps-area farmers research when they sued Skagit county to recover damages from the 1990 Thanksgiving flood, a 35 year event. See Halvorsen v. Skagit county online.
GORP — Great Outdoor Recreation Pages and the Skagit River
Information on Wild and Scenic Rivers, such as the Skagit
Fascinating facts and quotes about rivers of the nation and world
The fascinating four-part PBS series — Cadillac Desert, Water and the Transformation of Nature
The Center for Watershed production
The Need to Know Library — a compendium of hyperlinks to World Wide Web Resources. Resources included on this page may be of interest to botanists, plant ecologists, conservation biologists, resource managers, and students.
River corridor and wetland restoration
The Pacific Rivers Council
Water resources of the United States — provides data on the physical characteristics of streams in the United States, including real-time stream flow data.
The name Skagit derives from the Indian tribes of the area. We explore the meaning of the word in some depth at this Journal website, but for now, we can tell you that it has many meanings, all of which blend together. The Indian language developed a word so complex in meaning that it is more of a state of mind and product of experience with the river than one that can be defined easily in a linear sense. Settlers who developed a firm sense of place and took the time to understand the Indian ways often interpreted their version of the word as meaning "the ultimate." Over the years, the embodiment of the word was the mountain cat or wildcat, which roamed over the hills and the forests unabated for thousands of the years until civilization and settlers encroached onto its territory.
If you want to know more about the overall big picture of the land and river, we suggest that you move on to the section about the conference convened by Western Washington University professor Roland L. DeLorme in 1977 — Of Man, time and a river: the Skagit river, how should it be used?.

Story posted on Jan. 4, 2002, last updated June 28, 2009
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Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 88 years.

Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20, day, week or month, perfect for hunting or fishing
Park your RV or pitch a tent by the Skagit River, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley

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

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Skagit River Journal

Skagit county, Washington state, and the beautiful Skagit River

Skagit county, Washington state,
and the beautiful Skagit River