North Cascades

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN THE NORTH CASCADES

CORRIDORS OF SETTLEMENT: SKAGIT RIVER

The Skagit River is the largest watercourse in the North Cascades, an impressive channel through this mountainous country. In earlier days it flowed freely, quietly winding its way south from Canadian headwaters through densely-forested lowlands until it reached Ruby Creek and changed to a southwesterly course. From there its waters were compressed and violently forced through narrow, rock-walled canyons and gorges. Farther downriver, near Newhalem, the channel widened and the raging waters flowed calmly again, unimpeded, to Puget Sound.

This wild country is now submerged beneath the waters of Ross, Diablo, and Gorge Lakes. But even before the upper Skagit River's course was altered, and despite the nature of the surrounding landscape, people sought homesites along its banks. From the 1880s until the early years of the twentieth century, both miners and settlers claimed the loamy river bottomlands that offered both fertile, tillable soil, and access to the mountain interiors. The opportunity to supply travelers with goods sparked some settlement. Temporary or seasonal employment with government agencies offered Skagit River settlers the chance to supplement their simple existence. For some, the remote and rugged character of the region may itself have been a factor that encouraged settlement. All of these incentives worked to bring homesteaders to Marblemount and the upper Skagit River; as many as ten of these early settlers eventually established permanent homesites within the boundaries of today's national park.

As on the Cascade River, explorers and surveyors were the first whites to observe the lands drained by the upper Skagit River. No Euro-Americans inhabited the upper Skagit region until the 1880s, when prospectors began penetrating the mountains regularly in search of minerals. With miners came their outfitters -- those who provided meals and lodging, transportation up and down the Skagit River, and backcountry guide and horsepacking services to and from the mining claims.

Homesteaders in the true sense of the word also came into the area, arriving by canoe or following the rough trail built by the miners along the Skagit's north bank. They located their isolated homesteads on the best available land along the river. Few crossed the Skagit to settle because it meant abandoning an important link to civilization (the trail), as well as repeated and often dangerous river crossings for mail and supplies, and further seclusion from travelers and neighbors.