Skagit Valley lines – (history – more or less)

Narrow gauge fever began sweeping the Rockies in the 1870 – 1880s when the Denver & Rio Grande, Colorado & Southern, Rio Grande Southern and others started constructing their narrow gauge empires.  News of this “new” low cost method of railway construction carried west.

Meanwhile, in 1877 Amos Boman founded the city of Anacortes , Washington naming it after his wife’s maiden name, Anna Curtis.  Boman had dreams of making Anacortes the western terminus of a transcontinental railroad.  For a time his dream looked like it might come true as Anacortes and the then small community of Seattle vied for the favor of the latest transcontinental railroads.  Anacortes had a deeper harbor but Seattle had a much larger waterfront.  In 1890, the dream crashed as Seattle was chosen as the terminus for James Hill’s Great Northern Railway.

Although Boman lost his ardor for another attempt, his original zeal had piqued the interest of a number of others.  These others started to look with interest at the construction of their own railroad using the “Colorado Narrow Gauge” philosophy.

The first such venture began in nearby Mount Vernon with the incorporation of the Mt. Vernon , Burlington & Sedro-Wooley RR.  Construction started immediately to forestall competition by the Northern pacific which was beginning to make exploratory surveys.

Close on their heels was the incorporation and start of construction of the Lyman, Hamilton & Rockport RR with the stated purpose of reaching the upper Skagit River Valley .

By 1898, both lines had completed initial construction and were starting operation.

In 1893, the Anacortes, La Conner & Mt. Vernon RR was incorporated and started construction with the stated purpose to provide access to the deep-water port of Anacortes for shipment of Skagit County goods to Alaska , British Columbia and the Orient.  Also of note, the charter included the option of expanding eastward beyond the boundaries of Skagit County .

Meanwhile, other narrow gauge railroads were under construction.  Of note were the Chelan, Coeur D’Alene & Boise RR that would connect the two large inland empire lakes with the railroad town of Boise, Idaho; the Boise & Ogden RR which would connect with the D&RG narrow gauge at Ogden, Utah; and the Nampa & Silver Springs RR which would provide another access to the silver mining regions of Nevada and by extension a link to California via the Nevada County Narrow Gauge RR.

By 1899 all these disconnected narrow gauge lines were in place and the stage was now set for the future Skagit Valley Lines.

A group of financiers armed with both vision and the knack for raising capital arrived on the scene!  From Ohio came the father and son team of Timothy and Andrew Knies .  From California and Washington came the Francis brothers and from California by way of Texas came Michael Alt .

These visionaries first obtained controlling interest in all of the lines noted above except the D&RGW and the NCNG.  Once they had control they incorporated the Skagit Valley Lines as a holding company for their other railroads and started construction of the various missing links.

With great effort (and rumors of chicanery) all of the links were completed by 1904 and Amos Boman’s dream was a reality although somewhat belated.

 

Sloan Timber Company (history)

During the 1890’s two brothers by the names of Henry and David Sloan logged their way across Canada eventually arriving in Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada .   After some exceptional luck in some of Vancouver ’s gambling halls, the two boarded a steamer for Seattle and the promise of new adventures.

They arrived in Seattle in 1904 from when the edge of downtown Seattle was 4^th Avenue up on a hillside overlooking Elliot Bay .  While exploring the city they stumbled upon the opportunity to purchase some timber holdings and a small sawmill that was supplying ties for the narrow gauge railroads.  Seeing a real future they moved north to Skagit County , settling in the small lumber community of Lyman , Washington .

Both the Sloan brothers were very industrious and soon found themselves partners owning a sawmill and a logging railroad which they incorporated as Sloan Timber Company with headquarters in Lyman , Washington .  Henry supervised the sawmill operations and David the logging operations.

Sloan Timber soon outgrew the railroad tie business and began shipping both raw and finished lumber via the narrow gauge railroads.

Henry married a local girl who had moved to Lyman from Wisconsin and started a family.  Henry also applied for citizenship in the United States .  David, however missed Canada and his childhood sweetheart so after several years he sold his interests to Henry and returned home.

Under Henry’s ownership, and with the help of his son Robert, Sloan Timber soon acquired vast acres of timber and eventually built large mills in Lyman and La Conner, Washington.