Black Diamond NOW

Military Exercises Circa 1885

The military has long played an important role in the history of the northwest and Puget Sound region - from staking out U.S. claims to the territory, to being engaged in tribal conflicts, to being that of strike breakers (Black Diamond Calls in the National Guard).  With the Northern Pacific railroad finally open for business crossing the cascades at Stampede Pass in 1886, the 1880's and 1890's were important times in our region's development - and for establishment of a military infrastructure.  What was it like to be in the military during this period?  The following photos add some perspective.

Photo courtesy Washington State Archives, PH 000134, circa 1885

Going to battle with swords and long rifles fitted with bayonets?  This was also during the era of cavalry's prominent role, which lasted well into the early 1900's.

Photo courtesy Washington State Archives, PH 000036, circa 1910

I guess it's not so surprising that we see photos of loggers using horses and oxen during this period, though by 1910 donkey engines and high lead logging had arrived.

 

 

Centipede Teams - Then and Now

Forming competitive Centipede Teams as a team building exercise has a long history, dating back to at least 1910 where it was used by the U.S. military.  The following photo taken near current day JBLM in the 1910 - 1916 period shows recruits in action.

Photo courtesy Washington State Archives, AR-08202005-ph000141, circa 1910-1916

In this case, a small log carried in a sensitive area serves as the common element keeping the team together.

Current day corporate consultants continue to use centipede teams, emphasizing how important it is for the team to work together to succeed.

 

In the above example, a common "board walk" is used. 

Today's Chinese military appears to have taken centipede teams to a whole new level.

How would you like to give this a try?  Have any of our readers participated in a centipede team exercise?

 

 

Lake Sawyer Water Quality - Trophic State Index

A common method of tracking water quality trends in lakes is by calculating the Trophic State Index (TSI).  TSI values predict the biological productivity of the lake based on three parameters that are easily measured: water clarity (Secchi), total phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a. The values are scaled from 0 to 100, which allow them to be used for comparisons of water quality over time and between lakes. 

The Index relates to three commonly used categories of productivity:

• oligotrophic (low productivity, below 40 on the TSI scale - low in nutrient concentrations, small amount of  algae growth, a healthy lake)
• mesotrophic (moderate productivity, between 40 and 50 on TSI scale – moderate nutrient concentrations, moderate algae growth, moderate lake water quality)
• eutrophic (high productivity, above 50 – high nutrient concentrations, high level of algae growth, a "dead" lake)

Following are the trend results for Lake Sawyer spanning the period from 1994 to 2016.

Lake Sawyer remains at the low end of the mesotrophic range, which is good and the trends show continuing improvement over the past 20 plus years.  Let's keep it that way!  The future is in our hands.

Lumbering Circa 1893

The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 provided an opportunity for the U.S. to show it's wares to the world.  46 countries and all 48 states had exhibits.  What do you expect would be the centerpiece for Washington State?  How about a sawn lumber cant measuring 111 feet long and over 4 feet in diameter end to end.

Photo courtesy Seattle Public Library, spl_shp_5128, circa 1893

Pretty good way to impress our neighbors and the world.  The Chicago Worlds Fair, also known as the Columbian Exposition, celebrated 400 years of development in the U.S. following the arrival of Christopher Columbus.  The fair was highly successful, with exhibits covering over 600 acres and nearly 27 million visitors.  By contrast, the Seattle World's Fair of 1962, also deemed highly successful, covered just 70 acres and had 6.6 million visitors.  Both events share one rarity in world's fairs - they both made a profit.

 

Steam Tractors in the Woods Circa 1891

While the late 1800's saw widespread use of steam tractors in agriculture, their use in logging operations was limited.  The size of logs to be moved and steep terrain made the use of steam tractors difficult.  Instead, we had steam engines without wheels - otherwise known as donkey engines.  But in an industry known for" trying about anything", a few steam tractors showed up in the woods as early as 1891, including the Remington tractor shown below.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, IND0223, circa 1891

At the above Snohomish county logging site, this "three wheeler" is being used for yarding logs in preparation for loading rail cars.  Where conditions warranted (flat terrain and reasonable roads), steam tractors were also used for transporting logs longer distances, much like logging trucks of the 1920's.

Postcard image courtesy University of Oregon, circa 1900

At the above site, small loads of logs were being drug to a staging area by horse teams (also known as "hay burners") and then loaded onto larger trailers for transport to a sawmill.  Three wheelers were apparently easier to maneuver.  All of this soon changed, of course, by the 1920's as gasoline powered donkey engines and trucks brought greater reliability and flexibility to logging - and easier times for hay burners too.

What's for Dinner?

How about a 75# Chinook salmon.  When I first looked at this photo, I thought it might be a big sturgeon caught in the Columbia River.  But no - it's an aptly named King.

Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 1995.0.16.0, Kolberg photographer, circa 1909

Now that's a catch and a meal that would make even the Deady boys proud.

Carbon Canyon

The Upthascap River, renamed the Carbon River in 1876 following discovery of coal along its banks, has one of the more beautiful and still wild canyons anywhere in the country.  Conditions for mining were far from ideal.  The following photo taken at the bottom of the incline into the gorge provides one of the better views I've seen.

Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, S1992.13.3, n.d.

Tough conditions with frequent wash-outs.  Once again, we find some of our better historic images preserved as postcards like the one above. 

Owls

For bird lovers, it's becoming that time of year.  Migrating flocks of ducks, swans, geese and other birds are now becoming abundant in our area.  In a brief walk through Lake Sawyer park right now you will find Wigeons, Ring-necked ducks, Bufflehead, Coots, Pied-billed Grebes, Cormorants and Wood Ducks hanging out.  Many more to come.  How about owls?

Owls, like the short-eared variety shown above, don't seasonally migrate like ducks and geese.  Instead, they move about depending on where they can find the best food source, which is why we tend to see them in greater numbers this time of year.  An abundance of mice and other vermin are now feeding on the remains of hay and other grain harvests.  Great horned owls, who are at the top of the owl food chain, make a meal of other birds, including owls, that are here in greater numbers this time of year.

Owls are not "built" like other predators in some very interesting ways, including:

• Many owls have asymmetrical ears, located at different heights on each side of their heads.  This allows them to better pinpoint the location of sounds and target prey.
• Owls do not have true eyeballs.  Their eyes are tube shaped and completely immobile, providing binocular vision fully focused on their prey.
• They can rotate their neck a full 270 degrees, compensating for their " tunnel vision".  No need to turn their body around to see behind them either.
• A group of owls is called a parliament, so named by C.S. Lewis in his Chronicles of Narnia.

Though we have an occasional Great Horned Owl around Lake Sawyer, two of the best places to see owls around Puget Sound are at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and Eide Road near Stanwood.  The above photo taken last fall at the Eide Road site shows a Northern Harrier hawk and Short-eared owl battling for territory.  This is a great time of year to see them and during daylight hours too!

 

Lake Sawyer Water Quality - Secchi Transparency

Secchi transparency is one of the simpler, yet telling, measures of Lake Sawyer water quality.  The clearer and more transparent the lake water, the less silt, algae and other particulate/pollutants we have - and generally the cleaner the lake.  To measure transparency, a black and white disk is lowered into the lake.  When we can no longer see the disk, then that sets the secchi measure.  Deeper is better.  The graphic that follows shows how it works.

Once again, we have historical data for 1971 - 1973 and 1996 - 2016.  Following is a chart I prepared showing these trends.

If anything, it would appear that we are seeing improvement (greater clarity) over the last several years.  The big fluctuations in lake water levels seemed to have had no negative impacts and perhaps it has been positive with greater flushing.  Data for 2016 follows:

Once again, deeper is better.

Logging Circa 1893

Every once in awhile I run across a photo of early logging history in the PNW and I just go Oh My Gosh!  The photo that follows, taken in 1893, is one of these.

Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 1993.23.14, circa 1893

Seeing how small these oxen appear to be next to the log that they will soon be asked to haul along a skid road puts it all in perspective.  That's a HUGE log and look at the size of the log they are currently dragging along with the dog standing on top.  Just amazing.

Lake Retreat Circa 1925

By the 1920's, autos had become the preferred method of travel in the northwest.  The number of auto licenses issued by the Dept. of Motor Vehicles grew from 1,253 in 1906 to 137,000 in 1921.  Appealing to this growing number of automobile owners, the Seattle Time regularly highlighted new destinations for drivers looking to explore the countryside, including Lake Retreat near Ravensdale.  The following photo shows Lake Retreat as it was in 1925.

Photo courtesy Museum of History & Industry and University of Washington Libraries, 1983.10.457.6, Webster & Stevens, circa 1925

Now surrounded by homes, the above photo appears to be taken near the current Lake Retreat Camp and Conference Center.

Footnote:  For perspective, Washington now has over 3 million vehicles licensed in the state.

Lake Sawyer Water Quality Trends 1971 - 2016

Yes, we have water quality measurements for Lake Sawyer dating back to 1971.  Between 1974 and 1993, however, we have a big data void.  This was the period during which an experimental wastewater treatment plant with a "constructed wetlands" was put in place.  The wetlands were designed to drain into Lake Sawyer via Rock Creek.  It was a disaster.  Water temperatures rose, lake water became cloudy and algae grew everywhere.  Fish died, suffocated by the lack of oxygen.  Fortunately, the treatment plant was eventually shutdown with city sewer then connected to King County metro sewer mains.  Remarkably, after several years, the lake recovered and has been relatively healthy and stable now for the past 20 years. 

Following is a bathymetric map of Lake Sawyer showing contour lines of equal depth much like a topographic map would show.  Water quality samples are taken where we see the red X.

 

What can we learn in reviewing this history?  I'm literally awash in data (no pun intended), so I will focus on several key measures over several posts, starting first with water temperatures.  Colder is always better - less plant growth and higher levels of dissolved oxygen needed to support resident trout, kokanee, small mouth bass, large mouth bass and other pan fish..  Coho salmon that spawn in Ravensdale Creek and Steelhead that at least at one time spawned in Rock Creek also need colder temperatures as they pass through the lake on their way upstream.  It's even more critical for juvenile salmon making their way downstream as they head for the ocean.  Following is a chart I prepared tracking water temperatures measured 3 meters below the surface from 1971 - 1973 and then 1996 through this year.  I included just summertime measurements for June and August.

To my surprise, despite higher ambient temperatures during recent summers, there is not a significant upward trend.  If anything, the trend is down slightly. 

Looking more closely at recent data, we find quite significant fluctuations throughout the year, but about the same levels as has been the case historically (graphs provided by King County)..

Weekly and bi-weekly data show somewhat higher spikes each year than do the longer term trend data.  The best news - the data doesn't show a significant long term upward trend.  Let's hope it stays that way.  Next week, I'll focus on lake water clarity as measured by the Secchi instrument.

 

 

Exploring the High Prairie of Eastern Washington

Local artist, historian and photographer Bob Dobson has a favorite expression that for me speaks volumes.  Each week via Facebook, Bob presents his wonderful art show, always ending with the same phrase - I love where my photography takes me.  He should copyright it.  My own experience couldn't be truer to his words.

Last week, seeking a little sun and relief from the rain, I headed to the high plateau of eastern Washington and Klickitat county.  What's there?  On the surface, not a lot.  But as I found, this area has it's own unique beauty and serves as an interesting case study for then and now.  The closest town to my area of exploration was Bickleton - population 88 and located 3,200 feet above sea level.  High prairie indeed and still home to wheat farming.  Settled in the early 1880's, about the same time as Black Diamond, settlers were moving west looking for better farmland.  With just 13" of rain per year but a warmer climate than much of the Midwest, settlers could and still can eke out a living.  Yields, however, are significantly lower than areas such as the Palouse. Thanks to directions from a local farmer, I found this old abandoned schoolhouse about 15 miles outside of town.

Though this area is no longer used for wheat farming, another high tech form of farming has shown up - wind farms.  And beautiful sunsets for photographers too.

Because we are up on a plateau, the setting sun can be spectacular.

Here's a view of the moon setting.

And the Milky Way too!

Long camera exposures really bring out the red (heat?) intensity of the windmills.  No red is visible to the naked eye.  Needless to say - I love where my photography takes me!  Thanks, Bob, for your inspiration.

 

 

Postcard from Lester circa 1911

In an earlier post Postcards - The Instagram of 1900, I focused on the significant role that postcards played in communication during the early 20th century.  This was particularly true for remote locations such as Lester.  With postcards, people living in Lester could share images of their community along with a few written words to family and friends.  Following is a postcard postmarked Sept. 11, 1911 showing the coal bunkers at Lester used for fueling NP locomotives.

Image courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 1998.3.5, circa 1911

Addressed to Mrs. G.C. Linrothe in Chicago, the postcard included the following written message:  "Mrs C. is very sore because you do not write. I think you had better send a postal at least as she didn't forget you".  We find some of our better historical photos in postcards.  This is certainly one of the better (higher quality) images I've seen of Lester during this period.  Some enterprising photographer no doubt rode the rails making stops along the way to take pictures of local communities and the people who lived there  Sounds like fun.  Maybe I should give it a try as part of my fund raising efforts for the Black Diamond Community Center?

NP Mt. Rainier Gateway Circa 1925

I recently ran across a brochure prepared by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1925 advertising a new "Yakima Gateway" to Mt. Rainier National Park.

Image courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 2002.37.2, circa 1925

With the NP mainline routing through Stampede Pass, how could they get to Mt. Rainier?  Any ideas?

Lake Sawyer Water Levels 1996 - 2016

Courtesy of Jack Sperry, following is a graph that tracks Lake Sawyer water levels over the past 20 years.  After last year's record low, I was anxious to see how this year measured up (no pun intended).

Last year is shown in green and this year is shown in red.  Although water levels were again low this year at -29.41, it sure was a lot better than the -39.23 of last year.  The removal of beaver dams along Ravensdale Creek by WSDOT, followed by a breach of dams along Rock Creek near Roberts Drive in 2015, led to a rapid refilling of the lake.  This year, the lake again refilled rapidly, though likely caused by different events - a record rainfall in October and a free flowing Rock Creek.  Improvements at Rock Creek are thanks to a group of volunteers who call themselves the Rock Creek Restoration Team led by Ron Taylor.  For the first time that many of us can remember, water is now flowing freely from Jones Lake all the way to Lake Sawyer. Our many thanks for their volunteer efforts.  It is difficult work.  And thanks again Jack for keeping us informed.  Historical trend data like this is invaluable.

Kelly-Springfield Motor Truck Company Circa 1925

The Kelly Motor Truck Company of Springfield OH was established in about 1910 when the Kelly-Springfield Tire Company decided to enter the truck business, probably as a strategy for selling more tires.  These tires were not of the smooth riding air filled type of tires we see today.  They were hard rubber with little if any cushion.  They were great for logging though - unless you had to drive or ride in them.

Photo courtesy The Old Motor, circa 1925

An awfully big log for such a small truck to carry.  Two truck models were offered - a five ton truck that sold for $4,900 and a six ton model selling for $5,200.  Initial truck models were air cooled and then changed to water cooled in the early 1920's.  Any guesses about horsepower?  How about 32.4 for the 5 ton model.  Definitely flat roads needed here.  Perhaps what we see above and below are an even heavier duty model.

Photo courtesy Museum of History & Industry, 1983.10.3675.16, Wilbur Sandison photographer, circa 1925

Kelly-Springfield ceased heavy-duty truck manufacturing in the late 1920's and eventually sold their tire business to Goodyear some years later.

 

Logging Roads Made of Wood Circa 1925

Logging trucks introduced in the early 1920's offered loggers significant advantages over rail.  Investment costs were much reduced and they had greater flexibility.  However, dirt roads were not possible at some sites, necessitating the construction of a road network made of wood.  Following is a photo taken in 1925 of a Kelly-Springfield log truck making it's way along a wooden road.

Photo courtesy of Museum of History and Industry and PEMCO, 1983.10.3675.10, Wilbur Sandison photographer, circa 1925

Apparently, wood was cheap and wood roads cost less to build than rail.  Notice what little was left once areas had been logged.  How would you like to be truck driver when it's cold and rainy?