At one time there were small settlements, camps and even towns all along the valleys of the Stillaguamish, Suiattle, and Sauk Rivers.  What follows is a collection of some of the history of these many fascinating places.  Some of these historic locales bear only their names on maps. Places such as Tulker, Rowan or C-Post.  Other places have left a legacy of historic buildings, mines or ruins, like ghosts or echoes of the past.

Early day logging and working at the mill was not just for the man of the house but involved the entire family.  Wives were running the household as well as the farm while their husbands were off working at the logging camps way up in the woods.  Children helped by performing a long list of chores to help put food on the table.  Timber related jobs such as logging, working at the mills or on the railroads were abundant and people came to the valleys to build their lives around these occupations.  Learn more about the mill-towns and settlements of the past in the Darrington region of this website.

Logging Communities

• Cicero, Washington
• Hazel, Washington
• Fortson, Washington
• Irving & L.D.R. Sawmill

Mining in the vicinity of Darrington started in 1889, when gold was discovered deep in the Cascade Mountain Range at a place that would later become known as Monte Cristo.  Prospectors flocked into the area and several mining claims were established closer to Darrington. Millions of dollars of speculators money was invested providing the impetus for drilling, blasting and tunneling deep into the mountainsides looking for that big strike.  Miles of roads and mining trams were constructed to bring out rich ore deposits from those remote jagged peaks.  Although such deposits of silver, gold, iron, copper etc. were found, the much dreamt of bonanza was never discovered.  Frustrated prospectors began to pull up claims and head on to the more alluring Klondike and investors withdrew their money.  Today, small scale mining still lingers in the valleys and mountains and modern day prospectors still hold claims. Many of the the mining audits can still be spotted from the numerous area hiking trails.

Mining Communities and more…

• Big Dreams For Bornite
• Monte Cristo
• The Town & Mines of Goat Lake
• Darrington Area Mines

As settlers came to the river valleys to build a better life, businesses and settlements sprang up along the corridors.  Some of the earliest were trapping and prospecting.  Rail lines eventually connected Darrington to Arlington and thence to Hartford (near present day Lake Stevens). This line then proceeded to Monte Cristo along the south fork of the Stillaguamish Valley helping businesses along the way to thrive.  These railroads, sometimes dangerous, sometimes innovative, made it possible to develop a thriving timber industry, get the ore to the smelters, and of course bring tourists to explore these remote areas.

Doing Business Around Darrington

• Big Four Inn
• Darrington, Washington
• Whitehorse, Washington

Other places of the past along the N.F. Stillaguamish Valley

• Boulder – precinct 1894 to 1900, once had a store.
• Fourtner – now a name of a street, named after Hickey Fourtner & at one time had a post office date unkown.
• Glendale – the original name for Trafton.  Post office was filed on Mar 1889 by Mr. Trafton  & name changed.
• Irving – precinct 1910 to 1920, named after Joseph Irving
• Jim Creek – named by D.O. Pearson for Jim Conrad, native American. Original power plant for Arlington.
• Lamson – named after Royal Lamson Sr. adjacent to logging railroad spur & L.D.R. Sawmill.
• Orient – small settlement with store and post office started by the Mr. & Mrs Morhouse, 17 miles S.E. of Darrington. Named by Mrs. Moorehouse claiming it was so far out that it was like the other side of the world.   Started 1892 washed out in 1898.

• Oso – first named Allen when post office was filed in 1889.  John B. Allen was a Delegate to WA Congress & later a US Senate.  Due to several towns named Allen name changed to Oso meaning bear in Spanish.
• Pueblo – store & post office filed June 18, 1894 & discontinued April 25, 1896.  Pueblo was located on Swede Heaven just before the river bridge crossing.
• Punkin Town – neighborhood of southern Darrington.  Had a mill & railroad spur.  Named after town in their native North Carolina.