Page NEWS — PRESS Homesteading On Th Si'illagu As Augusta Talbert To Robert E. Hyde “It was early in the year 1890 when my father, Fred Brush located on our home— stead on the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River. a b o u t two miles from where the town now stands,” said Mrs. Augusta Brush Talbert who, at 84, is the oldest living pi- oneer of the Granite Falls area. “We arrived in Seattle on June fifth, the day before the great fire," she continued. “1 was only five years old at the time, but I vividly remember many interesting incidents. Besides my parents, th er e was my oldest sister, Elsie and brother August. Frank1 my younger brother was a toddler of a year and a half at the time. Recently from Germany, none of us spoke a word of Englsh. “Father had arranged for our belongings, excepting our December 22, i966_ clothes which we carried to a hotel, to be transferred from the railway terminal to a warehouse. We were awak- ened by loud shouts in the night and told to get out of the building. Seattle we 5 burning. Hastin cramming our clothes into our bags, we rushed out onto the s t r e e t ahead of the flames to join a frightened crowd of people who were fleeing for t h ei r lives. “If our furniture and things had not been moved, they would have been safe. But we were mighty grateful to be alive and that we had been fortunate enough to h a v e saved our clothing. Very soon Father met a fellow German by the name of Henry Klaus. This was fortunate for us, as Klaus spoke both German and English. “After finding a place for our two families to live, the men went looking for jobs. They found work across the Sound at Port Blaker mill, where they were steadily em- ployed until the end of the year, when the mill shut down for repairs. . “Klaus, who, with his fam- GRANITE FALLS, as it appeared before the granite rock was removed in recent years, spoiling the falls, ily, had arrived in Seattle sometime before we came, was also looking for free land. He had already learned ' that all the desirable claims along the seaboard had been preempted. So, find a worthwhile quarter sec- tion, one would have to travel I inland. “One cold rainy day in Jan- uary, 1890, Father Brush Klaus, and a man by the fname of Christ Brown, took a the train to Snohomish. From there they miles of rough, twisted prim- itive trail up through the dense, dripping, forest of the Pilchuck Valley. “After traveling some fif- teen miles. or more, they >crossed over the low divide that separates the watershed of the Pilchuck from that of the South Fork of the Stilla- guamish River. Following up the right bank of this turbu- . lent stream to where it cas» caded over a jagged mass of granite in a spectacular wa- terfall, they came upon a tiny community consisting of three log cabins which were inhabited by two families and a bachelor. “One of these. settlers, whose name was Davis, glad- ly greeted the newcomers. He gave them much helpful advice and directed them to an abandoned cabin, located on Coon Creek. about a mile in order to v traveled many AUGUSTA BRUSH TALBERT, at 84, i pioneer of Granite Falls. , Author: , Accession/Object ID: 2005.249.1, Object Name: Newspaper, Title: , Description: Homesteading on the Stillaguamish. December 22, 1966, OCR Text: Page NEWS — PRESS Homesteading On Th Si'illagu As Augusta Talbert To Robert E. Hyde “It was early in the year 1890 when my father, Fred Brush located on our home— stead on the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River. a b o u t two miles from where the town now stands,” said Mrs. Augusta Brush Talbert who, at 84, is the oldest living pi- oneer of the Granite Falls area. “We arrived in Seattle on June fifth, the day before the great fire," she continued. “1 was only five years old at the time, but I vividly remember many interesting incidents. Besides my parents, th er e was my oldest sister, Elsie and brother August. Frank1 my younger brother was a toddler of a year and a half at the time. Recently from Germany, none of us spoke a word of Englsh. “Father had arranged for our belongings, excepting our December 22, i966_ clothes which we carried to a hotel, to be transferred from the railway terminal to a warehouse. We were awak- ened by loud shouts in the night and told to get out of the building. Seattle we 5 burning. Hastin cramming our clothes into our bags, we rushed out onto the s t r e e t ahead of the flames to join a frightened crowd of people who were fleeing for t h ei r lives. “If our furniture and things had not been moved, they would have been safe. But we were mighty grateful to be alive and that we had been fortunate enough to h a v e saved our clothing. Very soon Father met a fellow German by the name of Henry Klaus. This was fortunate for us, as Klaus spoke both German and English. “After finding a place for our two families to live, the men went looking for jobs. They found work across the Sound at Port Blaker mill, where they were steadily em- ployed until the end of the year, when the mill shut down for repairs. . “Klaus, who, with his fam- GRANITE FALLS, as it appeared before the granite rock was removed in recent years, spoiling the falls, ily, had arrived in Seattle sometime before we came, was also looking for free land. He had already learned ' that all the desirable claims along the seaboard had been preempted. So, find a worthwhile quarter sec- tion, one would have to travel I inland. “One cold rainy day in Jan- uary, 1890, Father Brush Klaus, and a man by the fname of Christ Brown, took a the train to Snohomish. From there they miles of rough, twisted prim- itive trail up through the dense, dripping, forest of the Pilchuck Valley. “After traveling some fif- teen miles. or more, they >crossed over the low divide that separates the watershed of the Pilchuck from that of the South Fork of the Stilla- guamish River. Following up the right bank of this turbu- . lent stream to where it cas» caded over a jagged mass of granite in a spectacular wa- terfall, they came upon a tiny community consisting of three log cabins which were inhabited by two families and a bachelor. “One of these. settlers, whose name was Davis, glad- ly greeted the newcomers. He gave them much helpful advice and directed them to an abandoned cabin, located on Coon Creek. about a mile in order to v traveled many AUGUSTA BRUSH TALBERT, at 84, i pioneer of Granite Falls. , Granite Falls Historical Society,Documents (articles, clippings, letters, papers),General Articles & Documents,General Articles,General Articles 05,Newspaper (2005.249.1),Newspaper (2005.249.1) 1, Newspaper (2005.249.1) 1