Historical Background

In 1906 the Chicago-Milwaukee St. Paul Railroad began preparations to extend its line west to Seattle. According to a biography, Horace Chapin Henry, written by his son-in-law, Noble Hoggson, H.C. Henry (one of Seattle's notable early pioneers) accepted the leadership of this enormous project, which would last more than three years and cover 1150 miles. At the time there were other railroads that had built lines across the Cascades but none had yet attempted Snoqualmie Pass. Noble Hoggson writes that, "Engineers, although helped tremendously by [Isaac] Steven's early published account of his original survey, spent an entire year in resurveying and designing the line."

The construction, which ran from Renton, Washington to Avery, Idaho, was divided into several sections that would be worked and completed independently. The photographs in the first two albums document construction work in these different sections -- particularly work involving some of the more challenging aspects of railroad building (bridges, tunnels, grading, etc.)

Hoggson describes the process of constructing the railroad, writing that the entire project required the work of 10,000 men and that the first step of railroad building was to set up camps complete with sanitary facilities, mess halls, commissaries, offices, stables, water supplies, sleeping quarters and in a few cases, hospitals. Portable sawmills also needed to be set up to cut lumber for both the camps and the railroads themselves.

Once camps were built, the building of the railroads could begin. Loggers cleared the right of way for grading; the felled trees were later hauled out and used for lumber. "Powder monkeys" followed the loggers, blasting out stumps and making way for the "scrapers" who came next to level the roadbed to the proper grade. Several photos depict the difficulty of working in mountainous terrain. In some cases workers were ferried through the air to the worksite using just rope, some lumber and the help of a tram.

After the roadbeds were carved out, track-laying gangs followed with ties, rock ballast and rails. Once the track was spiked into place, materials and supplies could be brought in by train.