Archives Spotlight: The Stevens Pass Railway Disaster

April 12, 2019 Secretary of State's Office

Researchers at the State Archives recently came across these photos of the aftermath from the Wellington avalanche, a disaster that struck the Cascade Mountains near Stevens Pass in 1910. The top photo, taken eight months after the tragedy and viewable in full here, shows the devastation on the mountainsides and reconstruction progress on some of the town’s structures. Click to view a larger version of the picture to see a train in motion in the lower right corner. The bottom…

Remembering Polly Dyer: New exhibit profiles a Cascades champion

July 4, 2018 Secretary of State's Office

The ‘American Alps’ were in peril. One of the world’s largest mining companies had designs on excavating within the jagged wilderness known as the North Cascades. A band of conservationists, including the cheerfully tenacious Polly Dyer, had other ideas. Dyer’s living room became a sort of academy for envelope-stuffing, stamp-licking activists who advanced a budding movement of middle-class professionals with the leisure time to defend the natural world. With crucial help from U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson, they won protection…

From the Archives: Classic mountain photos!

July 10, 2017 Secretary of State's Office

Mountains are among the physical marvels that draw visitors throughout the world to our state and make Washingtonians proud to call this place home. Our mountains serve as grand and inspiring, yet dangerous, playgrounds for climbers, scramblers, backpackers, dayhikers and others wanting to get close to nature. Several of Washington’s most notable peaks are dormant volcanoes, including one (Mount St. Helens) that has been active more than once in recent decades. You can find many classic photos of Washington’s best-known…

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