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Skagit River Journal

of History & Folklore
Subscribers Edition 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. An evolving history dedicated to the principle of 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

Handmade cedar canoe, Skagit River, 1880s

This was the main mode of travel on the Skagit river for the first few decades. Men would split a cedar log lengthwise, burn out the center and then scrape away the residue until they had a sturdy craft, just as the Indians had done it for eons. As you can see, several people could board. Such canoes were often lashed together to carry goods and ore weighing a ton or more. This photo was taken by the early Anacortes photographers Booen and Ewing. It is apparently a group of Indians from the Sauk River region being transported to the new reservation at Swinomish, near LaConner.

The Skagit River is 120 miles long, 25 miles of which are in Canada.
The Skagit Watershed drains over 1,700,000 acres of land.
It is the largest watershed in the Puget Sound Basin, providing over 30 percent of all water that flows into the Sound. That's 10 billion gallons of water every day.
The Skagit Watershed is home to eight species of seagoing fish, comprising about 30 percent of all anadromous fish entering Puget Sound.
The land within the Skagit watershed is 82 percent forest, 13 percent rangeland, 2 percent farmland, 2 percent lakes or streams and 1 percent developed areas.
The watershed is home to more than 250 wildlife species, including 174 birds, 73 mammals, 25 fish, 17 amphibians and 10 reptiles.
The Skagit River supports one of the largest wintering populations of bald eagles in the continental United States.
The Skagit watershed boasts 394 glaciers, 387 lakes, 35 major tributaries, 5 dams and 32 towns.
Humans have existed within the Skagit Basin for more than 11,000 years.
In addition to private lands, the Skagit Watershed is managed by 24 federal, state, local and Canadian governmental agencies.

This information comes from the Skagit Watershed Education Project by permission of the North Cascades Institute. Contact the institute about their many classes: North Cascades Institute, 810 State Route 20, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284-1239. phone: 360-856-5700 ext. 213. www.ncascades.org

Story posted on Jan. 26, 2001, one of the earliest stories on our original site
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Read the history websites of our sponsors and supporters, who help fund research of local history:
Heirloom Gardens Natural Foods at 805B Metcalf street, the original home of Oliver Hammer.
Oliver Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 82 years.
Bus Jungquist Furniture at 829 Metcalf street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 36 years.
Schooner Tavern/Cocktails at 621 Metcalf street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, across from Hammer Square.

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 driver from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley.

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