In the summer of 1889 Joseph Pearsall and Frank Peabody
had discovered the rich gold and silver deposits of Monte Cristo farther
east at the headwaters of the Sauk River, but they and their wealthy Seattle
backers were stymied. Mining ore was heavy, expensive work, and Monte Cristo
lay deep in the Cascade Mountains far to the east of Granite Falls. They
needed a railroad to connect their operations with a seaport where their
precious metals could be processed.
Word that a major business syndicate was developing
the new city of Everett reached the mine owners. With ample funding from
John D. Rockefeller and other New York City backers, Everett was planned
as the leading industrial center of the West Coast. Would the Everett men
be interested in a deal, swapping partial mine ownership in turn for building
that needed railroad to Monte Cristo? They would.
During 1892 plans were completed to construct
the Everett & Monte Cristo Railway from the new smelter in north Everett
to the Cascade mines. It ran along the Snohomish River to Lowell and then
to the town of Snohomish, rented trackage rights north to Hartford Junction
near Lake Stevens, then resumed its course easterly through Granite Falls
and into the engineering challenge of Robe Canyon.
Putting a standard guage railway through the rock
of that route meant the drilling and blasting of six large tunnels and
took a year to complete. Slides, powder, and the use of dangerous equipment
took their toll of workers. A section crew had to be located at the head
of the canyon with the specific duty of keeping the tracks open for the
trains. Rock falls and blockages were frequent, but worse were the November
floods, which constantly plagued the men.
The Robe family donated land for the right-of-way
and water tower as a small community sprang up at the head of the canyon.
Mrs. Robe operated a cookhouse and then taught school. A store, post office,
and hotels followed.
Mining came to an end in 1907, and the line was
taken over by the Northern Pacific Railroad, but timber men realized the
value of harvesting the old growth fir and cedar above the canyon and in
the upper valley. The Canyon Lumber Company came first, followed by the
Johnson-Dean Lumber Company and the Best Shingle Company. During the early
years of the century the population of the Robe community grew to 150.
In 1915 the Rucker brothers of Everett acquired
the railroad from Hartford to Monte Cristo. They built a small mill near
Robe, cut timber for their main saw mill on Lake Stevens, and erected a
large inn at the foot of spectacular Big Four Mountain east of Silverton.
Those staying at the popular inn rode self-propelled gas cars with open
passenger trailers through the tunnels and into the mountains.
With the Great Depression of the 1930s, the lumber
economy collapsed, and so did the fortunes of Robe. Worse, in 1932 a flood
again ravaged the tracks through the canyon, and the railroad was abandoned.
The new county road was built to the north, bypassing the treacherous canyon
route and leaving the old track and tunnels to return to nature. Those
residents who remained moved farther east along the new highway, and when
the Robe School closed in 1936 there was little evidence left of a once
vibrant community. Later river erosion washed away much of the original
site, and "Old Robe" became a memory to be rediscovered decades later.
