‘Squak Country’ — Its Lake And Vessels
February 3, 1971
by Harriet Fish
“Squak”, the word, is an historical name to this region. It is distinctive and no other area can use it so proudly. Just call this “Squak Country.”
This name was applied to the upper and lower valleys, the lake, the mountain, the slough-and to a steam scow which plied on Squak Lake during the1880s. This stalwart name is still attached to the upper and lower Squak Valleys, Squak Mountain, and is affectionately used as a nick-name for one of our own long time residents, a tall and colorful butcher in Issaquah.
The name Sammamish, which was the local Indian tribe, is now applied to the lake and slough for identification. How and why this change came about, we have been unable to determine.
Steam Scow SQUAK
The twin screw steam scow, The SQUAK, was built in 1884 in the shipyard at Houghton on Lake Washington by Capt. Jay C. O’Connor. Official records indicate that this vessel was 42′ 4″ long, had a 14′ 2″ beam and drew a depth of 2′ 6″. This latter figure is the characteristic which gave her such success in maneuvering the reed and grass-choked Squak Slough which connects Lake Washington with Lake Sammamish.
She had only 12 horsepower, her gross tonnage was 51.59 tons and she had a net freight tonnage of 37.17 tons. These statistics are to be found listed in the1885 publication on Registration in the Bureau of Customs Office in Seattle.
An accurate scale model of the SQUAK has been made by Gordon Ross of Redmond, using these dimensions and scaling the rest of the measurements from this solitary photograph, the only one known to exist. This vibrant little model was presented to and is on display at the Marymoor Historical Museum, operated by the North East King County Historical Association in the Marymoor County Park.
The energetic little SQUAK engaged in general towing and freighting, making somewhat regular trips from Laurel Shade Landing on the J.J. McGilvray property just south of the present Madison Park, on up to the head of that lake and then up the entire length of Squak Slough into Squak Lake and then on the full length of the lake to Brunk’s Landing.
Skippers and crew of the SQUAK at one time or another included such veteran early day personalities as Capt. Jay C. O’Connor, Capt. Wells Green, Capt. J.F. Curtis, Capt. Henry Climer with Curtis B. Atwell, John Ogle as engineers.
The SQUAK had been preceeded by other vessels which filled needs of the growing area around Squak Lake. It is known that during 1864, and perhaps even earlier, coal, having been discovered in the area about 1862, was poled down Squak Lake in Indian canoes.
Also hazel wands and reeds for baskets were early freight items to Lake Washington, for use in Seattle. Then in 1876, the MUD HEN, a side wheeler made only one trip through the Squak Slough because her wheels became entangled in the reeds and grasses and proved this type of ship to be impractical for such narrow and overgrown waterways.
There is some evidence, however, that she stayed in Squak Lake for a period of time to do duty to the passengers and freight up and down the lake.
Later that same year the JENNIE JUNE, a propeller driven boat began plying up and down the lake also. It served a variety of freight requirements and work loads there for several years. Boats of this type rarely had a schedule but would go in any direction where a paying load could be handled.
However, as communication between the two lakes, Washington, and Squak, became more lively, the steamer WINIFRED, on Lake Washington, docked at Newcastle (on the Leschi run) “making direct connections every trip with steamer VIXEN on Squak Lake.” (See Summer Time Card)
The VIXEN, owned by J. M. Coleman of Seattle, ran on Squak Lake for quite a period of time and during the railroad strike, transported passengers across the south end of the lake from Geise Landing, east of the State Park area to Brunk’s and Tibbett’s Landings on the west. Since the SQUAK and the VIXEN operated together for a short time, the connecting schedule may have been with either one.
In the late 1880s, the SQUAK passed into the hands of the Standard Mill Co. which had built a large saw mill on the Lake Washington shore at Kirkland.She did valiant service to her new owners towing logs and scows of lumber about the lake. She finally met an untimely end in a howling southerly gale which lashed the lake on Christmas Day 1890.
The only item of interest this time-card does not tell is the cost of a ride on the WINIFRED.( Bob Matson collection)
Moored in her slip at the south side of the mill wharf and unprotected from southerly winds, the heavy seas soon parted her lines throwing her over against projecting piles of lumber. She swamped and sank in her slip. Her machinery was later salvaged and put to new use, that of running a blower in the mill. Thus ended the career of this early-day boat which had so faithfully helped to build up the territory she served. (Written by Capt. J.F. Curtis, in July of 1939 when he was Master of the Seattle-Kirkland ferry LINCOLN.) Even today some skin divers think they can trace the SQUAK’s hull out line on the bottom there in Lake Washington.
During the years of the raising of hops here in lower Squak Valley, the Wold Enterpries had its own scow for carrying the ripe hops to Seattle and market. It was powered by strong arms using long poles or oars. And after this crop no longer was being raised here, the scow was beached up the creek toward the town of Gilman.
By the late 1880s and into the 1890s railroad facilities were beginning to be constructed. Joshua Green, in The Green Years tells of the 30 mile section of right of way then being constructed by Thomas Earle & Co. along the Squak River Slough. A vessel called the BEE carried supplies to the crews, unloading first in the Hollywood area, and later on up the lake as the project progressed.
We have heard many true tales of interest which have been handed down to us. For instance: at a sharp bend in the Squak Slough near Bothell, Capt. Wells Green told of how the men would strip partially and jump into the water to push and pole a boat around the turn to get it going on up the slough toward Squak Lake.
Such were the rigors of business endeavors in those days. Shallow draft boats such as the DUCK HUNTER had no problems. It was said this vessel “could operate on a heavy dew.”
And Capt. Bob Matson has told the story about a unique smokestack construction required on all Squak River steamers operating from Lake Washington into Squak Lake and back. The bridges over the river at Bothell were all low and so the stacks had to be hinged just above the deck and lowered at the time of clearing these bridges. It behooved one not to be in the line of “fire” of the smokestack at this point, for the vapors and sparks continued to emit but at a right angle and along the upper deck. Andy Wold remembers well this unusual occurance as he was many times a passenger and saw it operate.
A routine signal was established by the SQUAK skipper as the years of service progressed. After the scow had left the Monahan area, on the east side of Squak Lake, and rounded the next bend, in its trip toward the Brunk Landing, the whistle was blown the number of times for the dinner passengers aboard. Thus during the remainder of the trip to Gilman, the meal was prepared for their arrival. How peaceful and quiet it was then to have the steam whistle heard accurately at that distance. Just shows you how much noise there is now!
If you enjoy a touch of nostalgia, you should thumb through Newell’s and Williamson’s book, Pacific Steamboats, in which there are three pictures of steamers enroute to Bothell through the west end of the Squak Slough. One on page 88 is the MAY BLOSSOM wandering past a very pastoral scene of those days. And on page 137, the W. E. HARRINGTON, loaded with passengers from Seattle is shown floating on the quiet care-free waters of the slough. A 1920 photo of the steam ferry WASHINGTON is on page 190. It is on an excursion through the Squak Slough, which was by then renamed ‘Sammamish.’
Even though the name “Squak”, in itself sounds raucous and harsh, and may remind you of a babelous place, as a pond full of quacking ducks, it represents a period in history when people worked hard, were physically strong and verbally rash-the kind of people who laid the groundwork for this area in which you live today.
Long live “Squak Country.”
Material for this story has been gleaned from: Capt. Bob Matson, Seattle, former ferry boat master; Mr. Gordon Ross, Redmond, historian and model maker; Mr. Hank Johnson, Seattle, former co-owner/passenger boat, Ariel; Newell, Gordon, The Green Years, Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, Wash., 1969; “The Sea Chest”, publication of the Puget Sound Marine Historical Association, Seattle, Wash.; Fish, Edwards R., The Past At Present, Kingsport Press, 1967; and Newell and Williamson, Pacific Steamboats, Bonanza Books, N.Y. 1958.
