Philip Romano

Logging Road Lore

Sedro Woolley is a town founded and foddered by the logging industry, but the foothills of the North Cascades didn’t always belong to Weyerhaeuser. The indigenous Salish people of the area fished and farmed in the Skagit Valley long before the first mill was ever erected. The tribes were eventually pushed onto reservations as the United States continued to push their borders to the west. Although this occurred many generations ago, folklore derived from the spiritual beliefs of the Salish remained, seemly imprinted on the land itself. The stories imparted attributes to the spirits, represented by local animals. Ravens were tricksters, wolves were warriors, racoons were clever rascals, and many more. I grew up listening to and learning about these legends. As I finished my last few years of adolescence in 2010, I lived through the lore.