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Skagit River Journal

of History & Folklore
600 of 700 total 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, founder

Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284
Home of the Tarheel Stomp

Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug

Links to a selection of Ray Jordan stories

The late Ray Jordan was arguably the best historian of Sedro-Woolley. His book, Yarns of the Skagit Country "Ray's Writin's" (Sedro-Woolley: self-published, 1974), was the most thorough collection of stories about the merged towns and their pioneers and the surrounding area. Ray came to Sedro-Woolley as a child in 1902 with his family. His first years were spent sleeping on a bed laid over boxes of dynamite for clearing stumps on the old Mortimer Cook ranch on the Olympia Marsh. He then spent part of his school years in Belfast while his father, Lafe, logged the area surrounding the old rail bed for the Fairhaven & Southern Railroad. Over 70 years time he talked with almost every pioneer here and their descendants. In the 1960s and 1970s he wrote a history column for the Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times. Larry Spurling, whose family lived in the Sauk Prairie area and later in Sedro-Woolley, has spent the past few years transcribing many history stories about the area, including more than three dozen chapters from Ray's book. He generously supplied the transcriptions for us.
We have combined those with our own research of Ray and his stories. In addition, Ray gave the late Fred Slipper a handful of his unpublished stories, which Fred then graciously passed on to the Journal, and we are adding those to the mix. Many of the stories we link below are fully annotated so that the modern reader can identify the pioneers he named. We were surprised when we formed this Jordan portal section in July 2008 that the Journal now includes 29 stories from Ray, organized below by area and subject manner. This is by far the largest section, even larger than the von Pressentin family section. Is there a Jordan story you would like us to add? Surviving copies are quite rare and can sometimes be found at used-book stores that specialize in Northwest history, including Easton's Books in Mount Vernon and Michael's Books in Bellingham. We want to flesh out this profile of Ray. Do you have any genealogical information about him, his two wives and his family, or do you have his obituary? Please share copies if you do; we do not need your originals.

UPDATE Feb. 2017

Ray Jordan's book, Yarns of the Skagit Country "Ray's Writin's" long out of print and rare to find, can now be found and published from Skagit County Historical Society & Museum of La Conner, WA. The format will be a 6 X 9 inch. softbound, perfect binding book with larger type for an easier read. We hope you find the selection of stories by Ray below a good primer and companion to the book. You will find that much of the vernacular of his writing is no longer found in most books sharing about old logging life or a farming life. You just might need to check GOOGLE once in a while on something obscure as... The book was released and available at the 2016 Skagit County Pioneer Association Annual Pioneer Picnic and available at the bookstore of the Skagit County Historical Museum, located at the top of the hill, 501 S. 4th St., La Conner. Click the photo to take you to the Publication page and the order form so you can receive by mail.

Sedro-Woolley

The Opera House in Sedro-Woolley, from the late 1890s to the early 1970s. A Ray Jordan story.
Darius Kinsey, ace of the picture men, who lived in Sedro-Woolley from 1896-1806. A Ray Jordan story.
How the Territorial Daughters of Washington began in Sedro-Woolley in 1936. A Ray Jordan story.

Area surrounding Sedro-Woolley in all four directions

The Mortimer Cook Ranch, four miles west of Sedro-Woolley, close to where the Cook Road exit of I-5 is today. A Ray Jordan story.
Bottomless Lake, the almost mystical spot on Duke's Hill, which was once his home and the spot where old-timers learned to swim. In a three-part series about the lake and the Duke. A Ray Jordan story.
The Legend of Big Rock, and the nearby pioneer who owned Calamity Jane's rifle. A Ray Jordan story.

Upriver Skagit

Interviews and profiles with Otto von Pressentin, Birdsview pioneer, and the story of Otto's teaching days, when he saved the books and the bell at the Marblemount school, during the raging flood of 1897. Ray Jordan stories.
The Sauk Prairie Weeden Massacre of March 30, 1911. A Ray Jordan story.

Skagit countywide

Dr. Hiram E. Cleveland, a Burlington legend. A Ray Jordan story.
The disappeared town of Belfast, where Ray Jordan lived as a child. A Ray Jordan story.
The birth and death of Bow. A Ray Jordan story.
Euphroneous E. "Frone" Watkinson, pioneer of Edison and Allen, whose dry goods store is now Dana and Toni Rust's Edison Eye Gallery. A Ray Jordan story.

Northwest

Profiles of Lyman Cutler, who killed the Pig that ignited the Pig War of San Juan Island, and the gun he used.
The Big Snow of 1916, the most-sustained blizzard since 1880. A Ray Jordan story.
Alonzo Low, who opened the first trading post on Swinomish county and future Skagit county. The son of the family that joined the first settlers at Alki Point (West Seattle) in 1851. A Ray Jordan story.

Railroad

The Fairhaven & Southern Railroad delivers a Christmas present to Sedro-Woolley in 1889. A Ray Jordan story.
The Two-Spot: A history of Sedro-Woolley's iron horse, with annotated endnotes about trains and Chinook Jargon and the Journal history of Puget Sound & Baker River Railroad A Ray Jordan story.

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Getting lost trying to navigate or find stories on our site? Read how to sort through our 800-plus stories.
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See this Journal Timeline website of local, state, national, international events for years of the pioneer period.
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