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(S and N Railroad)

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 (bullet) 810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284
Home of the Tarheel Stomp (bullet) Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug
(Click to send email)

Volume 8, Issue 42, January-February 2008
Sample Subscribers Issue

See table of contents below and click on underlined sample stories
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      If you have reached this page and you are not yet a paid subscriber, please consider donating to the cause. We are always woefully under-funded, but we are facing a crucial balloon payment of a loan , which we must make to continue these free pages at the level they have reached. We have a separate subscribers-paid online Journal magazine, now in its seventh year. If you want to donate or subscribe, see the suggested amounts to the right and then just click the "Paypal Donate" button to pay by secure credit card, or mail checks to here. 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. Or see our offer of story/photo CDs below.

Menu of Historical Delicacies, Issue 42,
January-February 2008
Under construction
Otto Klement, 1873 Skagit Settler, Father of Lyman
(Klement)
Klement Biography updated with genealogy
 Hogtied! Good Ole Boys boil a pig, Lyman 1881
 New: Otto's early years on the Skagit
New: Farming methods and earthquakes 1870s & '80s
 New: winter weather and frozen Skagit River
 New: early attempts at Cascade Pass Road
Edward Eldridge, Whatcom Pioneer 1853 & his mysterious name change
(Eldridge)
Updated biography with new genealogy from descendants and more answers about the secret that almost did him in
Updated profile of his son, Hugh Eldridge, & capsule biographies of other early Whatcom children
Other new Issue 42 features
  • Walter Washington deLacy, father of the Old Military Road and the Whatcom Trail to Fraser River, and his fascinating life before and after his Whatcom years.
  • Otto Pressentin, his 10 years in outback BC, 1911-21, by Ray Jordan
  • Biography of the Northwest writer, June Burn and her book, Living High.

Issue 41 Menu of Historical Delicacies
(Eagle Shingle Co.)

(Isabel and Christy.)
The Slipper family of Hamilton
R.I.P. Fred Slipper, 1917-2007, son of an early Hamilton businessman and he managed the Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times for many years.
The Slipper Brothers and their Sprinkle-sister wives, who influenced the town of Hamilton from 1890 on, and the Slipper Hamilton home, which now serves as a museum.
Read John Slipper's hilarious 1942 letter to the Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times, with many anecdotes about Hamilton and the Skagit River in the same issue.
The story behind the Hammer Heritage Square family:
Isabel Hammer, Kansas and Skagit pioneer — the Blue Lady.
The Hammer Mansion, home to Emerson and Isabel Hammer
Allen and Roray, town finally explained:
Part One — we explain the mystery of the Allen and Roray dueling names for the town and the mill the two men opened there.
Part Two — Allen's favorite son, Joy Busha, and a 1959 history of the town from the 1880s on.
Ray Jordan: two vanished townships north of Woolley:
Town of Hoogdal and the Swedish families who settled there.
Capt. John Warner and his beautiful Warner's Prairie.
Two pioneer biographies:
Horace Condy, Woolley jeweler, optician, music dealer from 1900, father of the Condy clock.
George and Dwight Brosseau family, Sterling and Sedro pioneers, and Edna Brosseau who sewed Sedro's first 4th of July flag in 1890.
(email)
Mark your calendar for history show, Jan. 19, Burlington:
Attention: Thanks to all the history lovers who attended our Burlington Library show on October 18. So many people wrote in about conflicts about this date that we have scheduled a follow-up show on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 19, from 2:45-5 p.m. in the same room. We also hope to present three or four future shows in various locations over the next year. Read more details here and please email us if you are interested in attending or have suggestions for the show.

Menu of Historical Delicacies, Issue 40,
August-September 2007
(Bill Jarman)

(Samish Island Cover)
William R. "Blanket Bill" Jarman, the first full study in 50 years about the first Whatcom/Skagit settler and all the myths

A profile of William R. Jarman and the legends of Blanket Bill, researched, discussed and debated, Part One
A profile of William R. Jarman and the legends of Blanket Bill, researched, discussed debated, Part Two.
Ray Jordan's story of Blanket Bill and Jarman Prairie, from his point of view as a young Belfast neighbor.
Percival R. Jeffcott's book of Blanket Bill Jarman and the mysteries and legends, some debunked, and a profile of Jeffcott..
Bessemer, Birdsview and the Elliott Hotel, owned by Bill's daughter, Alice, and her husband, James Elliott.
Kitsap County, Slaughter County and a Jarman myth debunked
Port Townsend, the birth of the town and Bill's first Washington home
The history of the S'Klallam and Chemakum tribes of the Olympic Peninsula. William R. Jarman lived with them and met his wife, Alice, and Chief Sehome there.
Read the full review of this fine book, Samish Island, a History, by Sue and Fred Miller, which all Skagit history-lovers will want to read, along with those who want to learn about the geology of the Puget Sound area and the "pre-history" of the Indians of the archipelago before the white settlers arrived.
We were shocked and saddened just as we went to press, when we learned of the death of Robert Jeffcott, grandson of Percival R. Jeffcott. Our hearts go out to his family, who grieve his passing. A memorial is planned for the afternoon of October 13 at his Lummi Island property.
See Issues 37-39 contents below . . . Where to buy the Miller book
Menu of Historical Delicacies, Issue 39
Spring 2007
(Van Fleet Family)


(Van Fleet Family)
The Van Fleet family, first pioneer family to settle in the Skiyou area east of Sedro-Woolley, 1880

Eliza Van Fleet summarized her family bona fides for her application to the DAR in 1928
Ethel Van Fleet Harris's 1968 memories of her family's early days in Skiyou from 1880 on.
The Van Fleet family floats down the Skagit for the their first Christmas here in 1880
Van Fleet family letter back to Pennsylvania, 1890s, from their Skiyou homestead
Eliza Van Fleet's family history from the 1906 Illustrated History. Extensive annotation.
More Van Fleet stories will follow. Can you help with copies or scans of articles, obituaries or photos?
Other Issue 39 features
Skagit City, the 1870s city at the forks of the Skagit River that marked the early days of lower-river settlement
 (Skagit City)
The bell tolls for old Skagit City School, 1998. Update 2007: that was premature, join us for picnic on July 15
 (Skagit City School)
Genealogy special: history of old Ireland, by Alice Stopford Green
 (Ancient Ireland)
Remembering Herb Larson, guiding light of the Concrete Heritage Museum, and keeper of the flame
 (Herb Larsen)

Menu of Historical Delicacies, Issue 38, March-April 2007
Daniel Jefferson Harris, the very colorful founder of Fairhaven. We researched the legends about him, confirm some, debunk others, and we found the Dr. Shorb who relieved Dan of his fortune in Los Angeles just before Dan's death.
(Dan Harris) Jim Rich as Dan Harris
(bullet)Introduction to Dan and his timeline
(bullet)Dr. Andrew S. Shorb, Part 1: (bullet)18th-century immigration
    (bullet)Hohenzollerns (bullet)Pennsylvania Dutch
(bullet)Dr. Shorb, Part 2: (bullet)Homeopathy (bullet)Los Angeles History (bullet)Criminal record
    (bullet)J. DeBarth Shorb & San Gabriel Winery (bullet)Don Benito Wilson
    (bullet)George S. Patton.
Frank Teck's series about Harris in Fairhaven Herald, 1903:
April 4, 1903:
Dan's beginnings in Whatcom (bullet) Fairhaven founded 1883
April 11, 1903:
(bullet)Epochs in Dan history
(bullet)His Fairhaven Hotel
(bullet)Townsite sale to Bennett
April 25, 1903:
(bullet)Dan died 1890
(bullet)Estate sues Dr. Shorb
(bullet)1890s Depression in Fairhaven
Schedule for Dirty Dan Days in Fairhaven April 28-29, 2007
(James Wardner)
An updated Fairhaven Biography series: (bullet)Introduction to James Wardner . . . (bullet)Wardner's Consolidated Black Cat Co. Ltd . . . (bullet)1982 Idaho Miner magazine profile of Wardner . . . (bullet)Frank Wilkeson's 1887 New York Times column about the town of Wardner, Idaho.
The Two-Spot Lokey at the entrance to Woolley. Puget Sound & Baker River Railroad's logging legacy welcomes visitors
 (Two-spot locomotive)
Bobby Burns, "Mayor of Fairhaven" and general cut-up, the "Bunnies Man," obituary from 1980.
 (Bobby Burns)
Charles Woodworth, long-lost but now-found namesake for Sedro-Woolley's street. And a Tacoma promoter.
 (Dream Theater)
Charles J. Wicker arrives in Sedro in 1884, on the way to becoming county's most powerful real estate agent.
 (Wicker)
Go West Young Man:
who wrote it? Horace Greeley or John B. Soule?
You can find all stories in Issues 1-30 in these archives
Visit our completely redesigned home page for links to Portal Pages that will help you find any feature, person or place you want to read about.
Thinking about gifts for reunions, birthdays or other occasions? Due to continued popular demand, in the interest of furthering our "open source" policy, we are assembling a collection of CDs that will include MS Word files of our pioneer profiles and town profiles from years 1-5, so that you can print them individually at your convenience. They will be organized by region: Sedro-Woolley & surrounding area; Upper Skagit River from Utopia to Cascades plus logging, hunting and fishing; Western Skagit County and other counties. See our site with details of what is offered and the prices and ordering information..
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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
(bullet) Oliver Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 86 years.
(bullet) Joy's Sedro-Woolley Bakery-Cafe at 823 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley.
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Park your RV or pitch a tent by the Skagit River, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley
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