Behind the Sign

Christopher Columbus has long remained at the heart of the American origin story. But if you really want to get the historical record straight as to who "discovered" our country, you have to travel back many millennia to "time immemorial" and the original inhabitants and stewards of the land we call America.

On Thursday, September 21, Skagit Valley lost a living link to its pioneer history. Bruce McCormick (aka, “Honker”) passed away, just a few months shy of his 92nd birthday. This is our Tales of the Magic Skagit tribute to a friend, and a man who embodied the history of the Skagit Valley unlike anyone I've known.

The Skagit County Historical Museum’s current exhibit, “I Do!”, finishes its run at the “top of the hill” in La Conner at the end of the month. For her second “Tales of the Magic Skagit” story, I asked our Skagit Valley Youth History Project intern, Morgan White, to write a story about it based her visit to the exhibit, as well as a previous TMS podcast interview with museum executive director Jo Wolfe and collections manager Laney Moran. The result is an overview of the exhibit's narrative that spans more than a dozen pivotal periods in U.S. and Skagit Valley history.

In a display of old yearbooks at the Anacortes History Museum, there was one in particular that caught my eye: the 1934 “Rhododendron.” What was most immediately remarkable about it was its cover material, which appropriately for the Pacific Northwest was fashioned from wood rather than paper. Opening it was like unsealing a wood grained time capsule into which I peered briefly at the life of its former owner, Jeannette Wilson.

This is the story of an important step in restoring some balance to our historical notions of who we are as Skagitonians. It started with a visit to the Sedro-Woolley Museum from a woman whose husband had discovered an artifact that, according to museum president and executive director JoEllen Kesti, “turned out to be not only rare but of cultural significance.” That discovery culminated in the August 19, 2023 unveiling of a new museum exhibit dedicated to the history of the Upper Skagit Tribe before a standing room only gathering of not only tribal members, but those of the broader Skagit Valley community as well.

In a recent Tales of the Magic Skagit episode we introduced you to Morgan White, Meyer Sign’s very first intern in our “Skagit Valley Youth History Project.” For her first assignment, I asked Morgan to interview some of the artists who were part of this year’s Northwest Art Beat Studio Tour (NW Art Beat), and she came back with stories about five very talented Skagitonians whose work ranges from jewelry to painting, clay sculpture, and print making. Followers of Meyer Sign and Tales of the Magic Skagit, I give you Morgan White!

So, just how well do you know the Magic Skagit? Play this trivia contest and see if you can beat our Tales of the Magic Skagit winner. Our thanks to Mari Densmore, archivist at the Skagit County Historical Museum in La Conner for providing the trivia questions. You'll find the answers as well in this TMS episode.

Tales of the Magic Skagit friends and followers, allow us to introduce you to Morgan White. Morgan likes English, history, art, and music. She's the first intern in our Skagit Valley Youth Project. What's that, you say? Read on, and get to know Morgan. You'll be hearing from her soon!

It would be reasonable to assume that the starting point for the Skagit County Fair is settled history. But as is often the case in the retelling of history, things can get a bit hazy. In this TMS episode, we state the case for why 2023 marks the 124th Skagit County Fair.

July 4, 2023 will mark the 247th anniversary of our nation's Declaration of Independence. Just one month earlier we observed another national holiday that commemorates the sacrifices made in defense of that independence. Sedro-Woolley is now home to a site that reminds us on a daily basis just what the depth of that sacrifice can be, and does so in a way that doesn't find it necessary to glorify the war in order to honor the warrior. This is the story of Veterans Community Plaza.

Who among us hasn't fantasized at some point about what we could do with a time machine and a few grand. I know just when and where I'd take one if I could: the San Juan Islands in 1961.

Three years after the ending of The Great War in 1918, a book was published to commemorate the fallen heroes of the global conflict from Whatcom, Skagit, and San Juan counties: "With The Colors." Here is an excerpt from its pages that lists the 59 men from Skagit County who perished as a result of that conflict. As you will discover, however, roughly a quarter of those deaths were due to an invisible, but nonetheless deadly, adversary. Tales of the Magic Skagit is proud to do honor to their memories.