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Skagit River Journal600 of 700 total Free Home Page Stories & Photos (Also see our Subscribers Magazine Sample) The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness |
Home of the Tarheel Stomp Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug |
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Mortimer Cook's general store and post office in old Sedro, ca. 1888, Mortimer 5th from left. And his clerk, and future druggist, Albert E. Holland, 3rd from the right, in front of the doors. The photographer stood on Cook's wharf for sternwheelers. His home is upslope to the left, where the Rotary rock-and-wood theater stands today at Riverfront Park. His daughter Nina is riding her horse. |
Update 2010: Although Cook changed the town name from Bug to Sedro informally in May 1885, just in time for his family's arrival, the town was not incorporated and the official name of Sedro was actually granted by the U.S. Post Office on Dec. 7, 1885. See our recently extended transcription of the diary written by Cook's daughter, Nina, starting in 1886. |
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Mr. Cook, being a man of ingenious and original turn of mind, determined to give the future town a name which would be at once unique and without duplicate. Mr. Cook spent several days, so tradition tells us, earnestly scrutinizing the names of the various post offices of the United States, together with the "Blue Book," but among them all he is reported to have found no name in the universe which had not been chosen, and some times, for the hundredth time, with the exception of one, which, on account of its originality, its concise and euphonious spelling he adopted directly. That was Bug.
The post office superintendent wrote Mr. Cook congratulating him, and approving his choice; and things might have gone serenely on for an indefinite period had not an unforeseen contingency arisen which might have resulted disastrously, but was happily averted. Letters began to arrive addressed thus: Mrs. Jno. Jones Bug, Washington. When in one or two cases the name of the town occupied the place of an affix to the name of the individual, the delicate spirit of Western propriety could stand the unintended slur no longer. One Sunday afternoon an indignation meeting was held, during which a formal interview with the postmaster took place. Said a man to Mr. Cook: "Do you spell the name of this town with two 'g's'?"
"No." replied Mr. Cook, "I spell it B-U-G and one "g" is enough. This was the climax. The people assembled, then and there resolved that the name of the town should be changed, and accordingly the town was called Sedro, paraphrased from the Spanish cedro or cedar.
These are photos of the interior of the Cook home. The top photo is of the fireplace. The photos show a much better furnished home than any that were located in the upper Skagit River region in 1885. Ten years later, on Oct. 30, 1895, Nina Cook married Standish Budlong of Rockford, Illinois, in front of that fireplace. These photos are exclusive copies from the originals, which were discovered in the scrapbook of Barbara Taggart, Cook's granddaughter. She was Nina's daughter and her descendants, the Chanson family of Rockford, provided the facsimiles, which are among the items the Journal is donating to the Sedro-Woolley Museum in 2011. The bottom photo is of the parlor.
Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties, 1906 The pioneer town builder did not arrive until 1884. This was Mortimer Cook, a somewhat eccentric man, but possessed of no little ability to win success in the commercial and industrial world. In 1885 he opened a general store in the first building erected in what later became known as Sedro, of which structure David Batey has the distinction of having been the builder. It faced on what was afterward known as Water street. At the same time Cook purchased forty acres of land upon which the town was later platted. buying it from W. Scott Jameson, the Port Gamble mill owner, who had "scripped" it some time before. Mr. Cook's great ambition was to bestow upon the new town a name such as no other town in America should have, and if such could be found he cared little whether or not it was euphonious or elegant.
He eventually concluded to name the place "Bug," and even went so far as to direct that goods shipped from Seattle be consigned to that address. Mr. Batey painted the name on a sign which was then hung on the end of the building at the boat landing. One settler wished the town named "Charlotte," it is said, and went so far as to have a sign with that name painted in Seattle. About this time someone suggested that the syllable "hum" would probably be affixed by outsiders in jest; furthermore, Mrs. Cook and other ladies interested strenuously objected to the undignified name, and the founder of the town was prevailed upon to accept the name Sedro, a corruption of the Spanish word for cedar. Mrs. Batey is said to have discovered the name in an old Spanish dictionary she had and to have suggested it. Certain it is that the name is not only euphonious but very apt, as innumerable cedars of magnificent form grew originally on and around the site. Its peculiar spelling was adopted to satisfy Mr. Cook's insistent desire for uniqueness.
Years ago, the late Howard Miller showed me this copy above of what was one of the earliest photos of the future-Sedro area. A handwritten caption on the photo reads: "First house built in Sedro, Skaget Co., Wash." By good fortune, the University of Washington Special Collections has the original (number WAR0593). They note that the photo was taken by Arthur Churchill Warner, who had a lengthy career in Seattle, beginning in 1888. You can read more about him in the caption for this same photo at the basic Journal website about the history of Sedro-Woolley
Unfortunately we have not been discovered where the cabin was or who it belonged to. According to the UW, the photo could have been taken in either 1884 or 1894, but we lean towards a date more towards the middle, after 1888. The cabin could have been built before 1884 and likely belonged to any of the four British bachelors who homesteaded the future acreage or Sedro — Batey, Dunlop, Hart and Woods. Or it could have been David Batey's first cabin that he built near the Skagit River before he built his 2-story house a mile north on the bench. Or it could have been the cabin built by Lafayette Stevens at future Sterling, circa mid-1870s, or it could have been the one that Jesse Beriah Ball built near his mill at Sterling. Just like with the derivation of the name, Sterling, we may never know.
Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties, 1906 By Eliza Van Fleet, written Dec. 10, 1900 Mortimer Cook came to us in 1884 and employed Mr. Batey to build a residence and store and made arrangements to apply for a post office and christen the place Bug.
I did not like the name, so persuaded several of our neighbor women to go with me and talk to Mr. Cook about it. We found him seated on a pile of lumber, whittling. We told him we had lived here several years in peace and quiet and had come to protest against his calling the new post office Bug. After scratching his head a while he remarked,
"Don't suppose you ladies will sign my petition for the post office then?" I replied, "Never. How would letters look addressed to Bug?" He said that he had just received a letter from his wife in Santa Barbara, that she didn't like the name and was afraid it would soon be changed to Humbug; further, that she didn't think she would come home until the place had a better name.
"Well," he said, "seeing Bug didn't suit the ladies the name shall be changed." The next time I saw him he asked how the name of Sedro would do, said it was the Spanish word for cedar. We all thought it a very good name so our post office was named Sedro. I sometimes wonder if our town would now be called Bug-Woolley had the name not been changed.
A cedar cut on Mortimer Cook's place at Bug measured 285 feet in length, 6 feet in diameter; 25,000 shingles were made from half of it. — Skagit News, April 28, 1885We communicated with the U.S. Postal Service and they sent us pages from the Alphabetical List of Post Offices, dated Jan. 1, 1886. Some historians asserted an apocryphal claim that Cook wanted to name the town for himself, as P.A. would do so a mile to the northwest, five years later. The folklore was that there were other towns named Cook, so he was forced by the U.S. Post Office to choose another name. But there was no town named Cook in Washington territory at that time. So Cook apparently did not attempt to attach his name to the village, as the town of Cook's Ferry was named for him in British Columbia in 1861. There were five towns named Cedar in the U.S.; there were dozens that had cedar in their name. So it is not surprising that Cook would once again be original in his creation of a name. Mortimer was one of the most creative retailers in history. We have shared some of his advertisements that will illustrate this fact. He certainly knew Spanish from his time in Santa Barbara, California, where he had been mayor for two terms.
A big cedar on W.A. Dunlap's place above Sterling is by actual measurement 48 feet in circumference five feet above ground. Its height is estimated at 250 feet. Some idea of the size of this can be got by taking a good-sized settler's cabin, which would be 12x16 feet. — Skagit News, Oct. 14, 1884
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Would you like information about how to join them in advertising? Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 90 years continually in business. Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20, day, week or month, perfect for hunting or fishing Park your RV or pitch a tent by the Skagit River, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley — doubling in size for RVs and camping in 2011. Joy's Sedro-Woolley Bakery-Cafe at 823 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley. Check out Sedro-Woolley First section for links to all stories and reasons to shop here first or make this your destination on your visit or vacation. Are you looking to buy or sell a historic property, business or residence? We may be able to assist. Email us for details. |
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