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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021 Issue 5 - A Cedar River Courtroom Drama.pdfLife on the Rivers, now on exhibit at RHM. President's Message, by Jessica Kelly, President. Museum Report by Elizabeth P. Stewart, Director. One way or another, the Cedar River has been the source of many lawsuits since white settlers arrived in King County. The Duwamish people’s lives and livelihoods did not depend on land and water ownership, but whites did and they quickly began reshaping the landscape to meet their needs. The case we explore here serves as one good example of how the courts tried to tame this capricious river and (mostly) men’s desire to control it. It also raises a very modern question: in environmentally sensitive areas, how are future goods weighed against current needs? And how are local interests measured against those of distant corporations? Also In This Issue... RENTON HISTORICALSOCIETY & MUSEUM Winter December 2021 Volume 52 Number 5 Continued on page 5 2 43 QUARTERLY A CEDAR RIVER COURTROOM DRAMA by Elizabeth P. Stewart 11 A s early as 1892 the City of Seattle recognized that an abundant source of fresh drinking water would be necessary to grow the port town into a San Francisco rival. City organizers decided that the Cedar River was that source, but the headwaters and the banks of the Cedar were already well settled by homesteaders. By 1898 Seattle surveyors had determined that 305 property-owners between Renton’s eastern boundary and Swan Lake (now Lake Youngs) had to be removed from the right-of-way for the pipeline from the Cedar, as well as for a dam and waterworks. In April 1898 Brain Injury Art Show now on exhibit at RHM. 2 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM COUNCILMEMBER DON PERSSON (1942-2021) The museum was sad to see the passing of long- time Renton community member Don Persson in October. It is impossible to note all his contributions, but Don served Renton as a police officer, Deputy Police Chief, Councilmember, and volunteer chef. It was in this last role that Don became a wonderful friend to the museum. Don and his friend Larry Sleeth catered numerous annual meetings and fundraising dinners, always donating their time and expertise. MARGARET FEASTER (1934-2021) We’re sad to say good-bye to one of our longest- serving and most active volunteers. Margaret Feaster volunteered at the Museum for almost 30 years, in every capacity, from leading third grade tours to preparing food for events to staffing the Museum table at Renton River Days. Most recently, Margaret served as a docent and as an important member of our Volunteer Committee, helping organize field trips (pre- pandemic) and contributing ideas about exhibits and programs. She felt so strongly about women’s leadership that she paid for every Girl Scout troop that wanted to come tour the Museum. She left a legacy to be proud of. Not long before his death Don made sure to donate some RPD artifacts to the museum, ensuring that his early history with Renton would be recorded. We will miss Don and his commitment to Renton. W here was the Black River?! Life on the Rivers uses historic photos and maps to bring Renton’s former landscape to life. The exhibit explores the day-to-day lives of Rentonites for whom the Black and Cedar Rivers were a central fact of their lives. Whether using the rivers for transportation or leisure, as a food source or a destructive force, Rentonites’ lives revolved around these two rivers. Using their own words, this exhibit draws out the social and environmental consequences of living your life on the rivers. Life on the Rivers From NOVEMBER 17 to FEBRUARY 11 WINTER QUARTERLY, 2021 | 3 MUSEUM REPORT QUARTERLY Winter 2021 Elizabeth P. Stewart Director S ince the Black River dried up and the Cedar River was safely corralled between its banks, it is easy to forget that we live in a city founded in this location because of these two rivers. The Duwamish people had relied on the Cedar and Black for centuries for transportation and food. White settlers saw this potential and more: the rivers were a source for power, drinking water, and farm irrigation, too. As settlers reshaped the landscape, they learned about the rivers’ unpredictability and force. They did their best to tame the rivers, but they did not always agree. Those disagreements tended to find their way into the court system, as depicted in this month’s feature article. Settlers in Renton and Seattle and the surrounding watershed disagreed over drinking water, dams, rivers as boundaries, and how the rivers created more land or took land away. Courts had to balance the rights of large and small cities—like Seattle vs. Renton—as well as large and small landowners—like Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co vs. Ignazio and Jennie Sartori. What governments and court systems have been less skilled at is planning for the future and weighing the future health of watersheds against current needs. As a country, we are now removing dams faster than ever—over 1100 in the last 20 years, according to the organization American Rivers, including the Elwha Dam—as we have discovered that dams are bad for fish and water quality. Our newest exhibit, Life on the Rivers, explores what it was like to like to live in Renton when the rivers represented a central fact of life. Using the words of early Renton residents, the exhibit tries to recreate how residents felt about learning to fish and paddle from Duwamish people, swimming on a hot summer afternoon, pulling dinner out of the river, or rushing to higher ground during the annual spring and fall floods. The Black and Cedar Rivers were an integral part of these Rentonites’ lives. One of the important things history can do for us is to expand our minds to imagine a completely different way of life and to stimulate empathy for others experiencing the effects of forces larger than themselves: weather, erosion, and climate change, and the government decisions that can mitigate these forces or make them worse. At least a knowledge of history—and science, of course—is another strong piece of our decision-making toolkits. by Elizabeth P. Stewart, Museum Director Burrows family canoeing on the Black River, ca. 1910. (RHM# 41.0830) RENTON HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Sarah Samson Graphic Design & Layout Karl Hurst City of Renton Print & Mail Services RENTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES Jessica Kelly, President Colleen Lenahansen, Vice Pres. Staci VanderPol, Secretary Daryl Delaurenti, Treasurer Lynne King, 2022 Rhea Kimble, 2022 Mike Lennox, 2022 Laura Clawson, 2023 Amy Elizabeth Gorton, 2023 Maryann DiPasquale, 2024 Elizabeth Stewart, Board Liaison MUSEUM STAFF Elizabeth P. Stewart Museum Director Sarah Samson Curator of Collections & Exhibitions Stephanie Snyder Museum Office Aide RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM 235 MILL AVENUE S RENTON, WA 98057 P (425) 255-2330 HOURS: Wednesday - Friday 10:00am - 4:00pm ADMISSION: $5 (Adult) $2 (Child) View of downtown Renton from Renton Hill during the flood of 1911. (RHM# 1967.005.0640) 4 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM H appy Holidays! From all of us at the Renton Historical Society Board of Trustees, we wish you a safe, healthy, and loving holiday season. A time to reflect on a year that has given us plenty of challenges, yet we are grateful for so many… Thanks to four new board members in the last two years, our group became large enough to tackle bigger problems–very timely in the midst of the pandemic. The Board is truly a wonderful group, with varied perspectives to help us make strong decisions. Thanks to an amazing museum staff, led by Museum Director Elizabeth Stewart, we’ve continued to host changing exhibits and continue to serve the community through historical research; and we got to invite Karisa Keasey, artist of the When You Can’t Go Home exhibit, to be the speaker at our Annual Meeting– a huge hit! Thanks to you–a wonderful group of supporters– who continue to come to the museum (now that we are able to be open), who continue to share your treasure, and who continue to amaze us in your strength to overcome adversity. We are an active board with fun challenges ahead of us. We meet once a month (virtually at the moment) to review and update policies, share ideas on how to improve our work and support of the museum, and to develop ways to better communicate with our community. Each Board member is on at least one of our active committees that are working to solve our collections storage limitation, to find and implement a new online donation platform, and more! We want to expand our outreach into the community–can you help us do that? If any of this sparks your interest, or maybe someone you know, please contact us! We are looking for a few more members, specifically to bring diverse perspectives to the table. Visit one of our meetings and see what you can contribute! We are crossing our fingers and looking forward to a more in-person year in 2022. Come down to the museum or join us at our next Board Meeting! We were pleased with the turnout from our first virtual annual meeting! SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: RHS acknowledges we RHS acknowledges we are on the unceded are on the unceded traditional land of traditional land of the Duwamish people. the Duwamish people. A people forced to A people forced to relocate, but who have relocate, but who have persevered.persevered. The Museum views the history of Renton to include since time immemorial to today and is committed to exploring that through its partnerships, exhibits and programs. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Jessica Kelly, Board President WINTER QUARTERLY, 2021 | 5 City of Seattle filed a petition to condemn these landowners’ rights and take their property, for fees to be negotiated in court. Counsel for the City William Ewart Humphrey estimated that it would take 60 days to notify property-owners and three weeks for a jury to determine which properties would be condemned and how much they were worth. It took almost exactly four months, a lively pace for a contentious process. The Seattle P-I, which always opposed the pipeline project, announced that “the summer of 1898 in the superior court will be memorable chiefly for the large number of condemnation suits brought to appropriate private property for public use.” Some took the condemnation fees offered to them, anywhere between $4.75 and $235. But large landholders, like the Northern Pacific Railway Co., were not giving up their acres without a fight, and they had lawyers on retainer to wage the battle. Columbia & Puget Sound Railway Co. sued and was awarded $125, and Renton Cooperative Coal was awarded $175. Despite these challenges, Seattle Mayor Thomas J. Humes later bragged about the speed of the condemnations and told his supporters, “when the land was secured it cost the city half what the original estimate was.” Continued from page 1 Cover photo: Beginning in 1898 the City of Seattle sent out crews of surveyors to the Cedar River watershed to document the best path for an expanded Seattle water system. (Courtesy of the Seattle Municpal Archives, #47594) A CEDAR RIVER COURTROOM DRAMA Above: 1926 Metsker map. Ignazio Sartori's land covers most of the right side of the map, just to the north of the Cedar River. (The museum's location is about where the "C" is in the "H. H. Tobin D. C." label.) Ignazio Sartori, ca. 1890s. (RHM# 41.0283) 6 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM But Mayor Hume’s celebration was short-lived. Seattle repeatedly had to go back to take more land. Seattle returned in 1901 to condemn another 3,215 acres owned by 114 individuals or corporations. This was a massive undertaking involving Swan Lake, Cedar Lake and its watershed, and all the land on either side of the river below the lakes. The process started over again, with field trips for jurors and negotiations complicated by precious timber rights and the city’s desire for hydroelectric power. Again in 1908 bacteriological test results taken by Chief Medical Officer F. S. Bourns necessitated the taking of more land in Taylor and Barneston, burgeoning mining towns contaminating the pure river waters. More land was condemned in 1909 and 1911. The King County Superior Court in Seattle adjudicated condemnation cases around the Cedar River from the 1890s through the 1910s. With each decision Seattle officials congratulated themselves on providing pure water for the people of Seattle and spending as little as possible for land, setting up an imbalance between the powerful city and property-owners in the countryside. But the Cedar River lawsuit that landed in Judge Robert Brooke Albertson’s courtroom in 1912 was slightly more evenly matched, when land-owner Ignazio Sartori sued the Denny- Renton Clay & Coal Co. for dumping so much gravel and other brick waste that it changed the course of the Cedar between their two properties and thus the amount and usefulness of Satori’s acreage. Seattle’s construction at the headwaters of the Cedar had created many headaches for Renton residents in the early 1900s. The crib dam constructed in Landsburg in 1902 nearly failed in 1908, creating a sudden flow into Renton, and in 1911 the dam did fail, resulting in a devastating flood that forced Renton residents to higher ground for days. In 1912 the City of Renton took advantage of new state legislation to create Commercial Waterway District No. 2, taxing themselves to dredge and straighten the Cedar River into a more logical and controllable path into Lake Washington. It was in the context of Rentonites’ desire to pacify the river for themselves that Ignazio Sartori brought suit against one of Renton’s biggest employers. Both the plaintiff and the defendant were essentially out-of-towners. Ignazio Sartori and his wife Jennie had owned land on the north side of the Cedar River since May 1889, but their full-time residence was in Sonoma County, California where Sartori was one of the county’s wealthiest ranchers. (Ignazio’s brother, Rafael, spent more time in Seattle and Renton, managing the family properties and a Renton dairy farm.) The Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (DRCC), based in Seattle, owned six factories in 1912, including a brick factory, coal mine, and clay deposits in Renton on the south side of the Cedar. The Seattle Star observed that the company “operates the largest single unit paving brick plant in the world, with an output of 180,000 bricks a day” at Renton. It must have been this prodigious production that caused DRCC to begin to cut corners in ways that profoundly affected the course of the Cedar, ways that the Sartoris Denny Renton Coal & Clay Company, 1907. The dark bend of trees in the center of the photo is where the Cedar River ran past DRCC. Ignazio Sartori's land is across the river to the North. The off-leash dog park now occupies much of the land where DRCC used to be. (RHM# 1967.999.0141) WINTER QUARTERLY, 2021 | 7 considered an appropriation of their land as serious as anything a government might have done. In Ignacio [sic] and Jennie Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912), they asserted that the company “has impeded the flow of the waters of said river and has deflected the force of said stream and has caused the waters thereof to encroach upon and flow over” the Sartoris’ land. By dumping “large deposits of clay, earth, stone and other substances” on the south bank beginning in 1909, over time the factory had changed the course of the river, to cut away eleven acres of the Sartoris’ fertile soil leaving land that was “wholly unfit for cultivation.” The Sartoris asked the court for a judgment of $16,500 in damages against Denny-Renton. They also requested an injunction against continued dumping, which Judge Albertson granted. The trial turned on how the river served as a boundary between their two properties. Because of changes in the river—whether man-made or natural—“the true boundary line ha[d] become obscure and uncertain and the plaintiffs and the defendant cannot now agree to establish the same.” Sartori believed that DRCC had a vested interest in stopping the river from returning to its former course; by narrowing the riverbed with fill, the river flow was pushed toward Sartori’s land “cut[ting] a new channel for itself through plaintiff’s lands and into Lake Washington.” Denny-Renton’s corporation lawyers made a wide- ranging response: they denied dumping at any time; they insisted that the Sartoris did not own as much land as they claimed; but most importantly they claimed that the “thread” of The Cedar River Watershed near Barneston with the Cedar River in the foreground, 1909. This photo was taken by a survey crew researching the condemnation of land in the watershed. (Courtesy of the Seattle Municpal Archives #47513) the stream—the line of deepest water—was never a boundary between their two properties. “The present boundary line between the lands claimed by plaintiffs and the lands owned by this defendant is well known and established,” DRCC argued, “but plaintiffs are unwilling to adopt or admit the same.” DRCC attorneys cited an 1865 U.S. government survey which “meandered” the Cedar River, providing “a full and complete record” of the river, with its “courses and distances,” and that should serve as the boundary line. Denny-Renton claimed “open, exclusive, notorious, uninterrupted, adverse, continuous, and actual occupancy” of their land on the river’s south bank, with all the property rights that went along with that, including dumping. Judge Albertson had become an expert on the Cedar River, having presided over condemnation proceedings in 1911. And he had precedent to draw on, resulting from court cases in which Rentonites sued Waterway Commission No. 2 for taking their land in straightening the Cedar. The heirs of Erasmus Smithers, for example, sued for $600 for the loss of their land due to shifts caused by the Waterway Commission’s actions. In that case, Judge John F. Main ruled against the Smitherses’ claim, deciding that the thread of the river determined land rights. In this case, Judge Albertson ultimately split the difference in the plaintiff’s and defendant’s claims and rendered a decision consistent with Judge Main’s earlier that year: Albertson ruled “that a line midway between the meander lines of said Cedar River…now constitutes the true boundary line between the lands claimed and owned by plaintiffs and the 8 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM After fifty-odd years of contention, the Renton High School (RHS) has a new mascot: the RedHawks. In the 1920s the school’s mascot became known as the “Indians.” The name was becuase of Henry Moses, a member of the Duwamish Tribe. He lived just west of the high school and was a student there 1916-1920. Henry played basketball, baseball, and ran track. Opposing teams derisively called the Renton High athletes “Indians” due to Henry’s presence and his teammates supposedly then took on the name in his honor. Though Renton High’s team name “Indians” began as a nod to a particular Duwamish individual, as time passed the imagery used was not of Duwamish or even Northwest Coast design. Stereotypical representations of Native Americans, most often based on the impressive headdresses of the Lakota, were used instead. The heyday of the use of this imagery lasted several decades, 1950s-1980s, after American movies and television popularized the Western. The American Indian Movement began in the late 1960s. Activists focused on advocating for Native issues and combating racism. One of their goals was to reclaim Native American names and imagery for their own use, and they called for a ban on Native American team names and mascots. RHS’s Student Council, cognizant of this, took up the issue in COLLECTIONS REPORT by Sarah Samson, Curator of Collections & Exhibitions Sarah Samson Curator Mural we exhibited in 2017 showing all the Renton High School yearbook covers that used Native American imagery, almost none of which was Duwamish or even Pacific Northwest Coast. Plaque donated to the museum. No other racial group has been used as mascots as ubiquitously as Native Americans. Its use is so common that we have become desensitized to the harmful nature of stereotyping and cultural appropriation that goes along with it. the early 1970s with the hope of changing the mascot. Henry had died in 1969, but hearing the school’s plans his wife Christina wrote a letter requesting they keep the name. “My late husband was proud of Renton High School,” she wrote, “and he told me Indian stands for determination, bravery and strength…so I am writing to ask you to keep the name of the Renton Indians.” The Student Council backed down and the name stayed. The use of stereotypical imagery continued. As the nationwide debate about Native American mascots again gained steam in the 2000s, RHS backed away from using the name “Indians” on uniforms, instead using just “Renton.” In 2017 we interviewed five RHS students and teachers with Native heritage. All of them found the mascot hurtful and all of them wanted it changed. “The name and mascot is a form of racism and discrimination. Yet proponents will say they are ‘Honoring’ native people by keeping the name. As a former Native student and now a staff member at RHS, I have never once felt honored by the Renton Indians mascot,” responded one staff member. This legislative session saw the passage of HB 1356, a bill that bans the use of Native Americans as mascots for non-Native schools. With the retirement of the “Indians” mascot, RHS donated a number of old uniforms and a plaque to the museum. We will keep them safe and when we exhibit them, it will always include the stereotypical and painful history of using Native Americans as mascots. WINTER QUARTERLY, 2021 | 9 MEMORIAL DONATIONS August 14, 2021 - November 15, 2021 Bennett Louis“Louie”Barei Al & Shirley Armstrong Diana Bartley Carrie & Greg Bergquist Mary Lou Burdulis Shirley Custer & Derek Smith Wilma Dallosto Barbara Dengel Roger & Irene Schmick Gloria Sting Harley Brumbaugh Mary Lou Burdulis Loraine Rosa Custer Nick Vacca Charles“Charlie”Moore Al & Shirley Armstrong Margaret Sebelist Tom & Linda Morris Mary Bressan Sutter Carrie & Greg Bergquist Nancy Eastman Tuninga Linda Mathewson Aitken GENERAL DONATIONS OF $1000 OR MORE Neil & Margaret Storey GENERAL DONATIONS OF $100 OR MORE Cedar River Cellars Maryann DiPasquale Dan & Liz Hemenway Lynne King Colleen L. Lenahansen JoAnne Matsumura George & Julie Verheul GENERAL DONATIONS Lynn Bohart Laura Clawson Donna Chevallier Constellation & Co. GENERAL DONATIONS NEW MEMBERS Marilyn G. H. Thompson Jaris English Paris Nguyen MARY SUTTER (1921-2021) We are sad to note the passing on longtime museum greeter Mary Sutter. She always volunteered with her sister- in-law Dorleen Bressan; they retired nine years ago from volunteering. Mary Bressan was born in Renton to Italian immigrants, the youngest of seven children. She graduated from Renton High School in 1939. Mary married her husband, Louis Sutter, in 1940 and they had three children. Mary’s son, Frank Sutter, was also a volunteer at the museum, frequently leading school groups on entertaining tours. A longtime Renton Hill resident, Mary will certainly be missed by both the museum and the Renton community. MEMORIAL DONATIONS OF $100 OR MORE Bennett Louis“Louie”Barei Pamela Barei Alaina D’Unger Linda M. Aitken Dorothy M. Finley Barbara & Denis Pistoresi Laura Salle ROD STEWART (1942-2021) A former neighbor and supporter of the museum, Rod Stewart, has passed away. Rod was the owner of Antique Country Station on S 3rd St. from 1997-2015. He was always keeping his eye out for great Renton artifacts and photographs which he donated to the museum. Douglas Cartwright Carrie & Greg Bergquist Don Persson Sylvia A. Berg Dorothy Finley Rod Stewart Kathleen & Larry Krause Sue & Mile Moeller Kate Dugdale Amy Elizabeth Gorton Ila Hemm Reba Lawrence Anne Rush Elizabeth P. Stewart Bernard Unti IN-KIND DONATIONS McCorkle & Associates 'TIS THE SEASON TO RENEW MEMBERSHIPS! By now you should have received your renewal letter and a card to give gift membership(s), but if not, watch your mailbox. Your ongoing membership and donations helps support our exhibits, programs, collections care, publications, and so much more. Membership gets you free admission, members’ only events, and invitations to programs, as well as a discount on books and gift items—wouldn’t that be a great gift for someone you know? Renew at the Sustaining level and you’ll get that fifth newsletter, with behind-the-scenes features. Thanks for being a part of our team! 10 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM Continued from page 8 ENDNOTES 1 “Cedar River Water System,” Seattle Times, 19 Apr 1898, p.8. 2 “Condemnation Proceedings Over,” Seattle Times, 14 Jul 1898, p.7; “Come to a Close,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10 Aug 1898, p.5. 3 “Condemnation Suits in Superior Court,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 12 Aug 1898, p.5. The P-I constantly decried the cost of the project and criticized City Engineer R. H. Thomson. 4 “For Cedar River Water,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 6 Jul 1898, p.5. 5 “Court Notes,” Seattle Times, 9 Jul 1898, p.8; “Come to a Close,” Seattle Times, 10 Aug 1898, p.5. 6 “Mayor Humes Talks Frankly to Voters,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 27 Feb 1900, p.6. 7 “To Protect Cedar River,” Seattle Star, 22 Feb 1901, p.4; “Back from Country,” Seattle Times, 25 May 1901, p.4. 8 “Towns Menace Purity of Cedar River Water,” Seattle Star, 12 Oct 1908, p.1; “Ordinance Signed by Mayor,” Seattle Star, 23 Jan 1909, p.7. 9 “Ordinance Signed by Mayor; Approves Measure to Provide Pure Water,” Seattle Star, 23 Jan 1909, p.7; “Go to Cedar River to Inspect Watershed,” 2 Jul 1911, p.20; “Verdicts Total $544,450,” Seattle Times, 24 Aug 1911, p.3. The Denny Co. lost their clay factory at Swan Lake in the 1909 condemnation. 10 Lucile McDonald, “Cedar River: It May Be Short, But It is Vital,” Seattle Times Magazine, 10 Nov 1963 p.12-13; David B. Willams? 11 We have written extensively about the Sartori family in “Namesakes: The Sartori Family,” Renton Historical Society & Museum Quarterly (Dec 2016). 12 “Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co.,” Seattle Star, 10 Jan 1912, p.9. 13 Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912), p.3. 14 Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912), p.2-3. 15 “Order to show cause,” Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912). Although most of the witness testimony is no longer in the trial record, the witness list in the case is a who’s who of Renton leaders, including civil engineer Udo Hesse, rancher R. J. Elliott, farmer Ole Nelson, and rancher George Conklin for Ignazio Sartori. For Denny-Renton, witnesses included Renton coal mine engineer F. H. Whitworth, former coal mine superintendent F. A. Hill, Mayor Joseph Wood, realtor John C. Marlowe, and Denny-Renton assistant superintendent Ben Cake. Witness Time Sheets, Ignacio Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912). F. H. Whitworth, cousin of City Engineer Thomson, was the first to recommend to Seattle City Council in 1881 that the Cedar River was the best source of potable water. Lucile McDonald, “Cedar River,” Seattle Times Magazine, 10 Nov 1963, p.12. 16 “Affidavit of Ignacio Sartori,” Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912), p.3. 17 “Affidavit of Ignacio Sartori,” Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912), p.5. 18 “Answer,” Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912), p.3. 19 “Answer,” Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912), p.4-5. 20 “Answer,” Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. (1912), p.6. 21 “Go to Cedar River to Inspect Watershed,” Seattle Times, 2 Jul 1911, p.20; “Verdicts Total $544,450,” Seattle Times, 24 Aug 1911, p.3. Earlier in his career, as City Attorney for Seattle, R. B. Albertson negotiated the agreement that laid the foundation for the city’s water system and cleared up the complicated right-of-way on the Seattle waterfront for the Northern Pacific Railroad Co. “Judge Albertson Passes Away at Home,” Seattle Times, 4 Oct 1917, p.9. 22 “Patent Rights Follow Bed of Cedar River,” Seattle Times, 3 Jun 1912, p.11. 23 “Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law Requested by Defendant,” Jan 1913, p.8. 24 Renton Herald, 10 Jan 1913, p.1. 25 Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co., 77 Wash. (1913), p.168. 26 Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co., 77 Wash. (1913), p.169. 27 Sartori v. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co., 77 Wash. (1913), p.167. 28 Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. v. Sartori, 87 Wash. (1915), p.548. 29 Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co. v. Sartori, 87 Wash. (1915), p.547. 30 “Limitations Statute Applies to Judgments,” Seattle Times, 12 Oct 1915, p.4. 31 Renton Bulletin, 28 Dec 1917, p.3. Rafael Sartori died in 1921, and it is not clear who inherited his land, although the family continued to hang onto land in Renton into the 1940s. “Renton Sales in Sharp Gain,” Seattle Times, 19 Oct 1941, p.21. 32 Ghione v. Commercial Waterway District No. 2, 26 Wash. 2d (1946), citing several other cases, including Harper v. Holston, 128 Wash 403 (1924) and New Orleans v. United States, 10 Peters (35 U.S.). lands claimed and owned by defendant.” In other words, the judge found that the thread, or deepest channel, of the river would stand as the boundary. He also awarded the Sartoris damages of $1200, considerably less than the $16,500 they had asked for, but still a win. But the case was not over; both parties filed their intent to appeal. Sartori and DRCC remained locked in litigation until late 1915 as the clay and coal company fought the verdict on various technical grounds. This litigation reveals the difficulty of deciding these complex river and land rights issues. Judge J. Morris wrote in his 1915 opinion: “The Cedar River is a rapidly flowing mountain stream, having an average fall, where it passes through these lands, of twenty-seven feet to a mile, and has a bad habit of changing its location and flow and establishing a new channel every few years.” He listed the various kinds of evidence considered. Judges and litigants relied on an 1865 survey; a 1906 survey; and the testimony of civil engineer Udo Hesse. The Superior Court trial judge “attempted to satisfy himself as to the location of this boundary line by making…a personal examination of the location in question,” walking the various river courses with a sounding rod. “One might as well look for the proverbial needle in the haystack as to now attempt to fix this original boundary with any degree of certainty,” Judge Morris wrote. He upheld the original decision in Sartori's favor. Ignazio Sartori died in February 1915, and his brother Rafael and stepson Horace took over as now defendants in the Supreme Court case brought by the company. DRCC asked for review of the verdict on the basis of “newly discovered evidence”: a 1902 survey done by civil engineer Ira Mehegan, which reportedly contradicted the survey made by Udo Hesse, U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor, on which the lower court relied. The state Supreme Court case turned on whether this new evidence could now be considered; the court decided it was too late and the judgment against DRCC stood. By October 1915 the fight was over; the thread of the Cedar River stood as the accepted boundary between properties and Denny-Renton was more circumspect about dumping. Rafael Sartori continued to lose land to the natural tendencies of the Cedar River until the family sold out in the 1940s. POSTSCRIPT The decision stood for more than 30 years until Ghione v. State of Washington (1946), when Noel M. Ghione hoped to get reimbursed for gravel taken by the state from his land to build I-5 in 1940 – 1941. Using the 1865 survey and the 1907 Duwamish-Puyallup Surveys done by the U.S. War Department, the court determined that Ghione’s land comprised part of the empty bed of the former Black River. In finding for the State, Judge J. Steinert cited an unusual piece of the WA state constitution that reserved the rights to all “beds and shores” of navigable rivers to the State. He also inadvertently settled the Sartoris' claim in favor of the clay and coal company, writing, “every proprietor whose land is thus bounded [by a changing river course], is subject to loss, by the same means which may add to his territory; and as he is without remedy for his loss… he cannot be held accountable for his gains.” In short, the river giveth and the river taketh away. WINTER QUARTERLY, 2021 | 11 MEMBERSHIP FORM Please select a membership level: Individual $30 Student/Senior $20 Family $40 Benefactor $75 Patron $150 Business/Corporate $175 Life membership $750 Basic memberships Sustaining memberships Name: Address: Phone: Payment information Visa or MC #: Exp. date: Signature: Please make checks payable to Renton Historical Society. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation! Your donations help us provide new exhibits and exciting programs. Donation: $ ME M B E R S H I P L E V E L S Ba s i c m e m b e r s h i p s Ty p e An n u a l C o s t Be n e f i t s In d i v i d u a l $3 0 • F r e e a d m i s s i o n t o t h e M u s e u m • F r e e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r s • F r e e a d m i s s i o n t o t h e C u l t u r a l E v e n t s & S p e a k e r P r o g r a m s • I n v i t a t i o n s t o e x h i b i t o p e n i n g s a n d t h e a n n u a l m e e t i n g • 1 5 % d i s c o u n t a t t h e M u s e u m s h o p St u d e n t / S e n i o r $2 0 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p St u d e n t s : a n y o n e w i t h a s t u d e n t I D S e n i o r s : a g e 6 2 + Fa m i l y $4 0 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p p l u s : • F r e e a d m i s s i o n f o r t w o a d u l t s & c h i l d r e n Su s t a i n i n g m e m b e r s h i p s Be n e f a c t o r $7 5 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p p l u s : • 2 f r e e v i s i t o r p a s s e s • R H M p i n • R e c o g n i t i o n i n t h e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r Pa t r o n $1 5 0 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p p l u s : • 5 f r e e v i s i t o r p a s s e s • R H M p i n • 1 f r e e d i g i t a l i m a g e * ( a n n u a l l y ) • I n v i t a t i o n t o a “ B e h i n d t h e S c e n e s ” e v e n t • R e c o g n i t i o n i n t h e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r • T h a n k y o u c a r d Bu s i n e s s / C o r p o r a t e $1 7 5 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p , t h e b e n e f i t s o f a Pa t r o n m e m b e r s h i p , p l u s : • O n e t i m e 2 0 % d i s c o u n t o n r o o m r e n t a l Li f e $7 5 0 Al l t h e b e n e f i t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s h i p p l u s : • 5 f r e e v i s i t o r p a s s e s • R H M p i n • 5 f r e e d i g i t a l i m a g e s * ( l i f e t i m e ) • I n v i t a t i o n t o a “ B e h i n d t h e S c e n e s ” e v e n t • O n e t i m e 2 0 % d i s c o u n t o n r o o m r e n t a l • R e c o g n i t i o n i n t h e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r • T h a n k y o u c a r d *C o v e r s t h e $ 1 5 u s e f e e p e r i m a g e . I t d o e s n o t c o v e r t h e r i g h t s f e e w h i c h i s c h a r g e d s e p a r a t e l y . Renton History Museum 235 Mill Avenue South Renton, WA 98057 Phone: 425.255.2330 Fax: 425.255.1570 rentonhistory.org CVV code: Total: $ The Renton History Museum is currently hosting the Annual Art Show of the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington, full of moving stories like this one. In 2014 Seattleite Erline Alston suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. A year later she reluctantly accepted a friend’s invitation to an arts and crafts party, because, she said, “I don’t like to create art!” Accepting the invitation dramatically changed her life. Alston became a prolific visual artist, exhibiting over 30 impressionistic landscape paintings in solo and group exhibits. Alston credits art with not only aiding in her stroke recovery, but also with providing an emotional outlet to grieve the loss of her beloved sister. We are excited to host the Brain Injury Art Show to bring the art of people like Alston to the Renton community. From NOVEMBER 17 to FEBRUARY 11 RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM 235 Mill Ave. S Renton, WA 98057 Renton Library in the snow, ca. 1970s. Happy holidays! (RHM# 1991.007.3246) IN HINDSIGHT...