CAI-PNW Annual Picnic and Historical Walk in Mukilteo
Eleven CAI-PNW Members met in Mukilteo for a historical walk around Mukilteo and 17 attended our annual picnic.
The walk/tour started out at Clarence’s house on 2nd Street with a walk to the Lighthouse Park where we learned that the British first sailing ship, ‘Discovery’ anchored near the location of the present lighthouse. The captain was George Vancouver. They named the place Rose Point for the many roses growing there. This was on May 30, 1792. The location's name was changed when U. S. Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes anchored here in the summer of 1842. The name was changed to Point Elliott, honoring U. S. Midshipman Samuel Elliott.
The lighthouse was completed in 1906 and today is maintained by the Mukilteo Historical Society and offers free tours of the lighthouse on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer months.
Next we walked up to the Pioneer Cemetery which is on a bluff overlooking the Puget Sound and Mukilteo. Buried here are early pioneer decedents of Mukilteo which included many people of Japanese descent.
There was a large Japanese community that resided in Japanese Gulch in the 1900’s. The Japanese were employed by the Mukilteo Lumber Company that was established in 1903 on the waterfront. The business flourished for two decades with many of the workers being Japanese. Most of the Japanese moved away when the, now named, Crown Lumber Company, closed in 1930. There is a monument located at Centennial Park located on 5th Street near the Japanese Gulch that is a granite monument topped by a three foot origami crane with the words ‘Peace and Happiness’ inscribed in English and Japanese. This was unveiled on Memorial Day 2000.
There was also the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty at Point Elliott on January 22, 1855 by the territorial Governor Isaac Stevens and the members of 82 Native American leaders, including Chief Seattle. A treaty was signed by which the Indians ceded their lands to the U. S. Government in exchange for relocation to reservations, retention of hunting and fishing rights, and an amount of cash.
We also learned that Mukilteo was the first county seat for Snohomish County until a later election selected the city of Snohomish as the new county seat. It was later moved to Everett. But that’s another story.
After this two hour walk we returned to Clarence’s house to meet with other CAI-PNW Members and sat down to a great outdoor picnic which include brisket, (yum) potato salad, baked beans, veggie platter, shrimp, bread, several other salads, sautéed mushrooms, baked fennel, ice cream, tiramisu, crumble squares and liquid refreshments.
Nobody went away hungry.
Submitted by Clarence Elstad