Sweeney's Spur

When my kids were little, we had some great trips on the Northern Pacific Railroad to a place, high in the Cascade Mountains, called Sweeney's Spur. Sweeney was an ironworker from the Bremerton shipyards. In the early 1900 's he had homesteaded a large tract of land on the Green River in the Cascade Mountains. Thru the years he had developed the place building cabins and a cable car across the river.

We'd get on the train just outside Renton, and ride up to the top of the Cascades, past the little town of Lester, where we then instructed the conductor to leave us off at Sweeney's Spur.

Here, in a forest of virgin firs, with a beautiful stream in front of us, the train left us and we were alone. Sweeney's cable car crossed the Green River at this point, we loaded the kids onto the car and pulled ourselves across to the other side. 

Then we walked in the woods, through the towering firs, to Sweeney's homestead, which contained his cabin and two little rental cabins for fishermen. It was an inspiring location, the majesty of the giant fir trees, the crystal clear river running alongside the camp, and the rustic cabins, created a memory that was unforgettable to all of us.

The following days we went fishing keeping enough fish for food and some to show our friends at home.

At the end of these glorious weekend forays into Shangri-La put on our packs, back through the woods and across on the cable car to flag down the train. 

This process was a magical act to the boys that they could stop this huge juggernaut with a wave of the hand was beyond belief but they made it happen.

After getting on the train, the boys would have to display their catch to the conductor and other passengers, some of whom had been fishing further up the river.

This section of the Green River was in the Tacoma watershed, and a big legal battle had been going on through the years in an effort to overcome the priority holdings of Sweeney, with his many years of homestead rights. 

As a result of the court decisions, all roads leading anywhere onto the Tacoma watershed were closed off, but Sweeney retained his priority rights so that one could get to Sweeney's spur only by train.

We enjoyed this trip many years. Eventually Sweeney died, and continued efforts by the Tacoma water company and the Weyerhaeuser timber company finally resulted in a road being opened in through Enumclaw for Marie Sweeney's use. It could be used by others only if they were guests of Marie Sweeney and could provide a letter of authorization from her. About this same time the railroad cancelled the local train that had provided the transportation for the fishermen, so that was the end of an era, a wonderful era.

The Weyerhaeuser company purchased the Sweeney's property with the clause that Marie Sweeney could live there the remainder of her life, after which it would be turned over to the company. Marie lasted until the beginning of the eighties, and that was the end of the Sweeney story. 

What a wonderful memory!