North Cascades

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN THE NORTH CASCADES

CORRIDORS OF SETTLEMENT: CASCADE RIVER

The Cascade River is a significant physiographic feature of the region, providing access to Cascade Pass, a route used historically to reach Stehekin and the eastern plateau country. Homesteads along the banks of the Cascade River were established between 1880 and 1910 and were outside the present park boundary. [23] For the purposes of this study, however, it is important to consider patterns of settlement along this river because events which occurred here influenced settlement along the Skagit River, a major drainage within North Cascades National Park.

Fifty years after the first recorded exploring party investigated the Cascade River drainage, miners and prospectors entered the region. Many bypassed the Cascade River, and directed their attention up the Skagit River to Ruby Creek where gold had been found in paying quantities. This influx of people helped spread general knowledge of the North Cascades and of the untapped wealth of minerals located within the region. Although the Ruby Creek Gold Rush had subsided by 1881, miners continued to arrive in search of mineral resources elsewhere in the mountains. Other areas such as Cascade Pass and Boston Basin were being explored, and the only route to these prospects was along the Cascade River.

Early settlers along the Cascade River valley were well aware that their homesteads were located on unsurveyed government lands. Anxious to establish permanent ownership, settlers within the boundaries of Township 35 (North) petitioned to have the land surveyed above the mouth of the Cascade River in 1891. [24] Three years later, in 1894, the General Land Office (GLO) in Olympia completed a survey, carefully mapping the entire township (T35N R11E), recording both natural and cultural features. Several homesteads were shown clustered near the mouth of the Cascade and on both of its banks. Farther upriver the claims were fewer in number and more isolated. [25]

When the GLO returned to the Cascade River in 1904 to undertake a survey in the adjacent range (T35N R12E), the deputy surveyor for the work, Robert F. Whitham, reported: "I find indications of about 8 settlements having been made in the valley, some of which have extensive improvements, which are largely covered now with a small second growth and cabins deserted." [26] Whitham's survey focused on developed lands along the river. Both banks were evenly settled, and on his map the terms "house," "cabin," or an individual's name indicated the existence of a homestead; the remaining sections of the township were simply mapped "mountainous and unsurveyed." [27]