What a wonderful legacy of letters that were left to Marion McCorkle Don of Mukilteo. Her grandfather, Charles Cornelius McCorkle, was a spirited pioneer.
“There were trains going across the country to San Francisco in the West,” Don said. “C.C. rode the train then took a boat to the Puget Sound area.”
When he arrived here, Don said, her grandfather wrote letters to a newspaper back in Nebraska. Don, who has lived in Mukilteo for more than 33 years, thought readers would enjoy his words.
So did I.
His first letter was sent to “The Superior Guide” in Superior, Neb., and printed Feb. 15, 1888.
“I have been requested by so many readers of your paper for a description of this Sound country that I shall be pleased to describe the country through the columns of the Guide,” McCorkle wrote. “Then if anyone expecting to come out here wishes for more particulars, I shall be glad to answer any such questions as may be asked by letter.”
Two young men left Superior, he wrote, on Aug. 22, 1887, namely Ed Keithly and C. C. McCorkle.
“Ed has been in Portland, Ore., since the first of October working at his trade with a hot air furnace company and what I can learn by his letters, he is pleased both with the country and his position,” McCorkle wrote. “Your humble servant has not had a streak of good luck, but has been obliged to fly from one job to the next that came along.”
He described the weather.
“When one gets wet, though he can’t get any wetter, he has to remain in this delightful condition till the balmy breath of spring fans his cheek,” McCorkle wrote. “I do not wish to be understood that we have a pouring rain from December to April, in fact it seldom ever rains hard as is the case back in the States, but comes in a constant drizzle.” (Washington was admitted as the 42nd state on Nov. 11, 1889.)
McCorkle wrote that he hardly knew how to express himself regarding the fruit from this region.
“Fruit of all kinds grow easily, rapidly, and is of the very best quality,” he wrote. “What a sight it was for me after leaving your prairies and arriving here on the coast to see fruit trees of various kinds loaded down with their burden of ripe juicy fruit ready for the teeth of a Nebraska boy.”
McCorkle said he was thrilled by the blackberries and strawberries.
“To mention all the garden vegetables would tire your readers, but (I) will say that the Sound country can’t be beaten in raising vegetables of all kinds,” he wrote. “I saw a cabbage that had five separate heads, each head measuring nine inches in diameter, that gets away with Nebraska for cabbage.”
He described Puget Sound as ringed by mountains and bordered by tall forests and tide flats.
The timber lands made excellent farming lands when cleared, he added.
“We have fir, cedar, hemlock, laurel, spruce, and white pine, for our evergreen timber. These are all very valuable for lumber, then there is the maple, alder, cherry, etc., in great quantities and used for furniture. This country is underlaid with coal and could make a second Pennsylvania,” McCorkle wrote.
He noted that the mountains were full of ore.
“Seattle is a beautiful city, contains from 15,000 to 18,000 inhabitants, is lit up with electricity, and has a harbor for all vessels that travel the ocean the world over,” he wrote.
He concluded with this note to the newspaper:
“Mr. Editor, this is my first attempt in writing for a newspaper and if your readers do not admire the news, I hope they will not order the paper discontinued but will just say ‘Rats’ loud enough to be heard here and I will promise never to write again. So with this understanding I will close hoping I may have another opportunity of writing or visiting you at some future day. I shall visit you when I have gathered the stocking full of the golden treasures that will last through life.”
The editor asked McCorkle to keep writing.
A second letter from Charles McCorkle was printed June 13, 1888.
He said he was writing again as many readers had asked about seeking new homes.
“The Puget Sound country is one vast forest,” McCorkle wrote. “It is indented by numerous bays and inlets, all of them deep and safe for navigation by the largest ships. Ships from South America, Europe, Australia, and China, can be seen here almost every day. The land is well watered by numerous rivers and creeks with here and there a nice lake which are alive with fish. The land is bottom and upland, on the bottom land the chief crops are hay and hops.”
Crops never failed. No potato bugs, cabbage worms, snakes, thunder or lightning.
He ended his letter respectfully, from C. C. McCorkle, from Seattle Washington Territory.
Charles and Celia McCorkle settled in Shoreline on 85th Street and Corliss Avenue. He cleared trees from Lake Union to Green Lake, Don said,.
His sister married John Denny, a son of the original Denny family who settled Seattle, Don said.
Charles McCorkle ended his second published letter with another note to the editor.
“Your humble servant in writing this description of this country has endeavored to say something, on at least some of the many questions having been asked by those intending to come here, and when they come I want to shake hands with them, and show them the proof for all I have written. Delightful weather and all is well.”
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451; oharran@heraldnet.com.
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