TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State
TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State
TOLD by the PIONEERS - Washington Secretary of State
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Told <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pioneers<br />
MISCELLANEOUS CATASTROPHIES<br />
re<br />
:Many parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state have suffered misfortunes that were<br />
stricted to towns or small parts <strong>of</strong> counties<br />
The following interviews give some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most important <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
FOUR CATASTROPHIES OF SKAGIT COUNTY<br />
In 1868 <strong>the</strong> smoke from <strong>the</strong> forest fires throughout <strong>the</strong> county became<br />
so dense that navigators could not see a boat's length ahead and<br />
hirds were suffocated bv <strong>the</strong> thick black smoke clouds <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> upper<br />
•<br />
air, fell onto <strong>the</strong> decks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> boats and into <strong>the</strong> water, dead.<br />
The year <strong>of</strong> 1880 was marked <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> heaviest snow fall ever known<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Puget Sound area, during <strong>the</strong> month <strong>of</strong> January, when five feet<br />
<strong>of</strong> snow fell at Seattle, two and one-half feet at :Mount Vernon, and<br />
eight feet at Goodall's Landing on <strong>the</strong> Upper Skagit.<br />
On Januar~- 12, 1895, occurred <strong>the</strong> highest tide known for years.<br />
The farmers onl.,- raised half a crop and prices were <strong>the</strong> lowest in his.<br />
tory, oats selling as low as $8.00 per ton.<br />
In December <strong>of</strong> 1909 <strong>the</strong> most disastrous flood in <strong>the</strong> historY <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
•<br />
county occurred. After flooding <strong>the</strong> valley, a severe cold spell came,<br />
freezing' ice several inches thick.<br />
MRS. JAMES COlVAN<br />
Winds in Clallam and Clark Counties<br />
Clallam County •<br />
A thrilling' time for <strong>the</strong> keeper and all hands on Tatoosh Island was<br />
in 1921, when a 70-mile g'ale wrecked chimneys and ro<strong>of</strong>s, and blew<br />
!\lr. Co'wan "end over end" for 300 feet. Only <strong>by</strong> clinging to <strong>the</strong><br />
grass and crawling on his hands and knees was he able to avoid being'<br />
blown from <strong>the</strong> island into <strong>the</strong> sea. The same gale leveled thousands<br />
<strong>of</strong> acres <strong>of</strong> timber in <strong>the</strong> 'west end <strong>of</strong> Clallam and Jefferson counties.<br />
On this occasion a bull from <strong>the</strong> Tatoosh herd was blown <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong><br />
island and was written down on <strong>the</strong> lighthouse log as "lost at sea."<br />
But <strong>the</strong> animal later swam ashore, climbed <strong>the</strong> bank, and was rewarded<br />
'with extra rations <strong>of</strong> hay as recompense for privations endured<br />
during its exposure to <strong>the</strong> surf. "Mrs. Shafter," <strong>the</strong> family cow,<br />
browsed for thirteen years on Tatoosh island without falling <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong><br />
"rock"; and although accustomed to salt-sprayed forage, is adjusting<br />
herself to <strong>the</strong> new order <strong>of</strong> things in a lush Carlsborg pasture.<br />
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