North Cascades

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN THE NORTH CASCADES

CHALLENGES TO SETTLEMENT IN THE MOUNTAINS: GOVERNMENTAL RESTRICTIONS

In addition to environmental constraints, settlers in the North Cascades found themselves confronting significant governmental restrictions by the end of the nineteenth century. Particularly important in the upper Skagit region was the establishment of forest reserves by the federal government. In 1897, pioneers who had already settled in the area found themselves living within the boundaries of the Washington Forest Reserve, a huge area of land encompassing nearly all of today's park. This reserve was essentially created to protect the remaining stands of marketable timber. A decade later, the Washington Forest Reserve separated into smaller units including the Washington National Forest and Chelan National Forest, and these were administered by a new federal agency, the United States Forest Service, under the Department of Agriculture (USFS).

Concurrent with the establishment of the National Forests was the passing of the Forest Homestead Act of 1906 (also known as the June Act), designed to halt indiscriminate settlement and use of forest land. Valuable timber was the primary reason individuals sought homesteads in this remote area. The USFS believed many settlers had no intention of making improvements to their homesteads (proving up), but instead planned to sell off marketable timber from their claims to lumber companies.

Matters were further complicated by settlement on unsurveyed lands, which included nearly all of this territory. Claims of this sort gave these settlers squatters' rights only. [17] In 1906 the USFS embarked on an ambitious campaign to determine which homesteads were valid. Under the law, if a homesteader occupied the claim at least five years prior to the June Act, he or she was legally entitled to stay. The law, however, included restrictions: claims had to be used primarily for agriculture, with no sizable amount of quality timber, and no larger than 160 acres. [18] Under these restrictions, few existing homesteads qualified as legal claims. Some settlers were offered special-use permits by the USFS in order to remain on a temporary basis, and some lost their land completely. [19] Still other settlers, particularly those in remote areas, were simply left alone. When they died their homesteads officially became USFS land.

A report by H.B. Ayres describing settlement in the Washington Forest Reserve was completed in 1899. Ayres observed:

Aside from the cabins of mining prospectors, occupied during a small portion of the summer and autumn, there are scattered through the lower valleys small clearings, with stumps left, and houses usually made of split cedar boards, on lands taken as squatters' claims. Whether the object in taking these claims was timber or agriculture has not been determined. In nearly all cases where clearings have been made the land cleared has been seeded to grass. Some vegetables have been grown and, in a few cases, grain; but the remoteness from market and the difficulty of transporting produce over the trails renders farming for the general market unprofitable. Very few of the houses or cabins were found actually occupied during the progress of the examination. [20]

On the Skagit River in particular, Ayres found four claims "actually agricultural" located downriver from the Skagit River Canyon (site of Diablo Dam today). Above the canyon, he found only two "improved" claims. Ten years later, a 1909 report filed by the acting supervisor for the Washington National Forest claimed that "most of the settlers now in the Forest took . . . claims more for the timber than for any agricultural possibilities." He added that other homesteaders supplemented their meager existence by catering to travelers passing through the region. It is not surprising, then, that with so few serious homesteaders in the North Cascades, of the 63 applications made under the June Act, the USFS determined only five were eligible for patent by 1909. [21]

Despite the drawbacks of living within a national forest, many settlers did manage to retain their land and make a meager living. Seasonal logging and trapping on both sides of the North Cascades helped sustain these determined few. Mining activity and providing supplies to prospectors were the other primary means of making a living. The latter often involved trading food or lodging for cash, which was always in demand. This money allowed permanent settlers to purchase necessary items such as clothing, food, and equipment. More often than not, however, conditions were such that settlers in the upper Skagit, Cascade, and Stehekin River valleys were forced to travel downriver periodically throughout the year to seek additional employment to support their mountain lifestyle. [22] Despite the difficult accessibility, the remoteness of the region, the often devastating effects of early frosts and late winters, and the discouraging governmental regulations enforced by the USFS, some early settlers in the North Cascades were able to overcome these challenges and maintain a wilderness existence well into the twentieth century.