Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-01-01
two Of them laid of towns and offered

two Of them laid of towns and offered
lots for sale, and judging from the
county records mnch money mus. have
bean given for lots there. A few build
ing had been erected. but il colld
scarcely have been callsi town. While
the excitement continued. a petition was
sent TO the Surveyor General TO have
land in the nsichbcrhooi surveyed. and
IN response ~ tda. petition a contract
Vas given for the survey of all the
townships bordering the water. from
sae southern portion of Bei'inchan
Bay to where the 10Th parallel -sache.
the sea containing between sixty and
seventy thousand acres. Had the Geld
excitement continued. every acre Of
that would som have been occupied bv
actual settlers, but when the starap,.se
took place. number of persons vino
had located claims went with TIE
crowd Under the system then existing
IN Snort time that land was offered
for sale. and from that tine was open
for purchase at Sl.25 per acre. As but
little addition was made tn our popu.a-
ton prior to the railroad terminus ex-
element. it was all bought I'D for other
purposes than settlement. and nearly all
of IT Is still so held. desolate and unin-
habitet, which has ben n great bar to
the growth of the neishborhood. From
$50 10 1870 but little change took place
at Be.lingham Bay. but settlements
were made in other portions of the
county The first location made south
OF Bellinehsm Bay was on Fidalco ISL
and, BY Iessrs. Munks, Compton, Bea,e
ana Cacy. and followed by others on
the Same island. About the same tis,e
VIM. Jarmin settled at the Samisb.
Inc nex: settlement was on the Swinim-
ish Flats. by 5. Calhoun and NJ. Sulli-
van. These Flats now so highly
priced all laid vacant for ten years after
settlement was made in Bellincham
Bay. The first settlement was made on
the Skagit about '6f. by Messrs. Sart-
we'll d kincaid, followed by Abbott,
Wilson, Shepherd and others. Nothing
OF much Interest occurred until the ter
minus excitement in 1870. The history
OF Bellingham Bay affords striking
proof OF how affairs taking place in
one part of the world often have a ma
teriai influence upon some other remote
part waere apparently it would seem
impossible for any connection to exist.
VINO would Imagine that Prince Bis
marck and the Emperor Louis Napo-
leon prevented the settlers of Bellino-
ham Bay III Washington Territory from
getting fortune? No one. Yet sach
Is the fact. In 1870 Mr.. jay Cooke. Fl
nanclal Agent for the N. p. X. r.. COM
pieted arrangements with syndicate
OF German bankers for the loan of ii fty
million dollars. III sums to suit az re-
qalred. walsh was all the money the
Company considered they would need
10 borrow. Everything was done but
signing the papers. when war between
France and Germany was declared.
which broke up this financial manage
ment, and compelled the company to
change their plans. The y. =. Rail
road would have baen completed in
1876. and a city of $1,000 inhabitants
would have been in existencs at BalIinc
ham Bay today.
An error in Judgment on the part of a
prominent official also had a matsria!
influence upon the prospects of Bellino.
ham Bay. In 1870, after the passage of
the bill authorizing the n. p X. II. Co.
to mortgage their lands, and TO extend
the line from. Portland to a point on the
Sound, the company fled map of taejr
rou.e according to law, III order that the
lands along the rout-. within the pre-
sc-ibad limits. should bs withdrawn
from the market. The route on that
map was from Portla and TO Bellinoham
bav. The Secretary of the Interior de-
med their right to so extend it. He
claimed that the object of the law was
merely tn enable them to reach safe
and convenient harbor on the Sound.
and not to give them the privilege of
skirtlng 80 miles alon the Sound. pass
ing every haroor until they reached the
last one. The company claimed that n
direct llue from their eastern terminus
to Bsll'ngham Bay, If practicable. was
their shortest possible Route: that Bell
in2ham bay was the harbor nearest the
sea, and that the law gave them the alb
soiuta right to select the point On the
Sound. The Secretary would not admit
their right. He said he was willing TO
be reasonable, and would not restrict
them to the first harbor. He was will
ing to go halfway, and would elbow the
land grant as far as Seattle; but, as
guardian of the pnblic interests. he
could not allow it for the whole length
of the Sound. The company protesred.
bat the Secretary was inexorable, and
tbs lands were Withdrawn from Port
land to Seattle. immediately upon f. ia
being known, spectators fiocked to Se-
| attic, and hundreds of thousands of dol
lars were Invested there, every dollar of
which would have been invested at Bell
ingham Bay had the lands been with
drawn To that point, NJ the COMPANY
desired. The company immediately
took steps to secure their rights, and
after the delay incident to red tape pro-
ceedings, the Secretary became con-
WINGED TINT he was wrong, and ordered
the lands to be withdrawn to Bei!inQ-
ham Bay. But the order came too late
to do Belliugham Bay any good, and
the public knew nothing of these facts.
When the lands were Withdrawn to Sc
attic, they presumed it was at the re-
quest of the company, and that Seattle
was their Intended terminus. and when,
after the lapse of another year, the lands
were withdraw to Bellingham Bay, they
thought there was something wrong:
that the company WAS not acting in a
-.r'ightforward, honorable manner, and
f'iey would not Invest at the new terrni-
nu,. atf'r struggling against the
fro9ns ~ 7 '-.une Tor several years, the
C mp any ~'se e'rnpelled, against their
wiz, u ibcata ii.,r { minus at Tacoma,
ut.s.rr t1~ u sSSu = - i-i3nCiai embar-
rass neni; bat wieth, a. will be- their
perm sn5l.s terminus or & =. 10 future
will show. Although fo I'M ,,st nnents
We're made in Be:.in.hl Btv 1T rni-
nus prices, still. thss, being !. large
| amount of Government land in the
nei2hborhoOa. in the IN .rkeJ, 1t was all
bought up while the location of the ter
minus WAS undecided. which would now
nearly all be occupied by actual settlers
had no terminus excitement occurred.
Since 1870 Whatcom County has stead
lily progressed. The abandonment of
tue coal mines was a serious loss t. Bell
ingham Bay, but it is now beginning to
recover. A large saw mill 10 in process
of erection on the Whatcom Creek, by a
colony from Kansas. So far. they have
been struggling against heavy odds, and
wisdom has not governed the course Of
their leaders; bnt if they keep txo max
inns in view,-United We stand, but di-
vided We fall, and Do unto others as
YOU would have others do unto you.-
they cannot fail to make their enterprise
"A source Of profit to themselves and a
benefit to the community at large.
Other extensive improvements will be
MAZE at Bellineham Bay during the
coming year. Numbers of towns are
springing up in different parts of the