Message From The Board September-2006

President Kal Klass klasstwin@aol.com
Vice Pres. Doug Hammond
Treasurer Bill Rawlins rawlinswm@verizon.net
Secretary Ruth Danielson
Advisor John "Cork" Jorgensen
Webmaster Isabelle Sarikhan
Co-Chairpersons of the Interpretive Site Committee:
David Cameron and Louise Lindgren camlind@richpoor.net

Fall greetings everyone ! Our last work party schedule will, as usual, meet at 9 am at Twin Bridges. At our last work party we almost finished the second Twin Bridge and it was, in fact, completed soon after by a smaller, very dedicated work crew headed by Bill Rawlins. Thank you again Bill ! What a project! Next year we will work on repairing the first Twin Bridge, badly undermined by previous flooding.


Also, a big thank-you goes out to Ed Taft for doing all the heavy work on fabricating our new Twin Bridge. Ed donated much of his labor and use of equipment, saving the MCPA a significant part of the cost.


Remember everyone--For Sale: New MCPA tee-shirts ! We have new MCPA tee shirts for sale everyone. They are gray short and long sleeve with a green MCPA logo on the front. $15.00 for short sleeve and $20.00 for long sleeve. Send in the order form from your next newsletter to order your shirt. Always include your email in case your order has to be changed. We may run out of certain sizes and I want to be prompt with the mailings if this happens. We will always have C.D.s for sale too--don't forget !


Our last work party of the year will include: restoring water bars on Dumas St., removing insulation in the MCPA cabin, folding more brochures, maybe chopping firewood for the Monte Cristo camp site, and a final barbeque. Please bring extra food and water, work gloves, rain gear of course, chain saws, splitting mauls, shovels and good appetites.


That is all everyone. Hope to see many of you at our next work party. And don't forget about our annual winter social--the date will be February 24 so mark your calendars now and we will send out announcements with directions at the beginning of the new year. What a lovely summer and fall it has been !

Sincerely, Kal Klass, MCPA President.


Historical Note

The closing months of 1896 were some of the most memorable to date for Monte Cristo, not only for the passions aroused by the November elections, but also for the devastation caused by the first of two major flooding seasons. William McKinley did go on to win the presidency, but the Republican was bitterly opposed by a coalition of farmers, labor, and reformers who rallied around the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan. In Washington State the new People's Party fused with the Democrats and free silver Republicans (those favoring inflating the currency with more silver coin to fight the ongoing depression) to oppose the "hard" gold standard money men and big business interests. This uneasy coalition swept the county and led to a big fight which almost wrecked a store in downtown Granite Falls.
Monte voters went for Bryan 64-29, Silverton 64-18, and Granite Falls 106-45. He also carried Everett, dependent upon the New York syndicate for its birth and survival, by 48 and the county by almost 700. Among the disappointed Republican losers was Monte Cristo justice of the peace and newspaper publisher J.H.S. Bartholomew.
Mining activity continued unabated, however, with the O&B shipping a 350 lb. block of ore to the East as a demonstration of the county's resources. The "45" also sent 22 tons of ore down its new tramway over Marble Pass to the railroad west of Silverton.
Weather stopped these accomplishments dead in their tracks. On November 4 the first snow fell at Monte Cristo, quickly increasing to 8" in town and 6' in the mountains and at Goat Lake. Severe cold alternated with rain to bring snow levels up to 10' in some areas until Friday, November 13. On that day a dreaded Chinook blew in. Two days of heavy, warm rain melted the snowpack and brought the rivers raging down their canyons onto the valleys below. With rivers 18' above normal, old timers called it the worst flood ever, while shocked residents and railway officials tried to deal with the damage.
All mining activity ended, as crews were formed to make repairs to tracks, bridges, and trestles. Along the E&MC all the towns above Hartford Junction were cut off, while the Great Northern suspended eastbound mail service for a week.
After two days of clearing, again the rains hit, creating a smaller but additionally damaging event. Monte Cristo largely was evacuated, with 150 miners ordered out on Sunday the 22nd. Food was left for caretakers, women, and children as the workers walked down to Snohomish and Everett until the trains could run again. In the lower town the two-story saloon of Cleveland and Kline was destroyed when surging waters tore out the upstream trestle across the river and its timbers knocked away the building's corner posts. Their heavy iron safe was found, but its money drawer ended up half a mile downstream next to a case of whiskey. In mid-December, with supplies running low, most of the leading citizens gave up and also hiked out, including Dr. Miles. It would take another month for repairs to be made. By that time a new baby had been born on a railroad handcar before the mother could be taken all the way down (both did fine), and in Everett the weekly Herald newspaper, prime promoter of the Rockefeller syndicate and source of much of our Monte Cristo news, had gone bankrupt. It was a heck of an ending for what had been the most prosperous year yet.
David Cameron, Ph.D.


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