Editing Cle Elum, Washington (section)

==History==

=== Native history ===
Cle Elum was originally inhabited by the [[Kittitas (tribe)|Kittitas]] band of the [[Yakama]] tribe.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kershner |first=Jim |date=October 11, 2013 |title=Cle Elum -- Thumbnail History |url=https://www.historylink.org/file/10646 |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=www.historylink.org}}</ref> The tribe fished [[salmon]], [[steelhead]], and [[trout]] from the [[Yakima River]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kershner |first=Jim |date=October 5, 2013 |title=South Cle Elum -- Thumbnail History |url=https://www.historylink.org/file/10642 |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref> The Salmon la Sac trails in the northern area of the region were created by the Kittitas people and were used as layovers for journeys into the higher altitudes of the [[Cascade Range]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pittman |first=Justin |date=July 24, 2012 |title=Salmon la Sac area has a long and storied history |url=https://www.dailyrecordnews.com/news/salmon-la-sac-area-has-a-long-and-storied-history/article_644401dc-d5b1-11e1-b514-001a4bcf887a.html |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=Daily Record |language=en}}</ref> In 1855, after the arrival of Catholic missionaries, and the passing through of settlers and coal miners on their way to the [[Puget Sound]], a treaty resulted in the Yakamas ceding most of their land for a reservation in the lower Yakima Valley and guaranteed access to fish,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stecker |first=Tiffany |date=2016-09-28 |title=Deal could end bitter Wash. battle, but not everyone's happy |url=https://www.eenews.net/articles/deal-could-end-bitter-wash-battle-but-not-everyones-happy/ |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=E&E News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=BLUMM |first1=MICHAEL C. |last2=STEADMAN |first2=JANE G. |date=2009 |title=Indian Treaty Fishing Rights and Habitat Protection: The Martinez Decision Supplies a Resounding Judicial Reaffirmation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24889243 |journal=Natural Resources Journal |volume=49 |issue=3/4 |pages=653–706 |jstor=24889243 |issn=0028-0739}}</ref> including what would later be incorporated as Cle Elum. By 1859, the Kittitas had been forced to relocate to the [[Yakama Indian Reservation]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Early years and industries ===
In the spring of 1886, [[Northern Pacific Railway]] surveyors [[Virgil Bogue]] and Herbert Huson were making their way through the region with the intent of establishing a station. At the site of the future city, a depot was named Clealum after the [[Sahaptin language|Kittitas]] name Tle-el-Lum (tlielləm), meaning "swift water", referring to the [[Cle Elum River]]. Maps of the United States Postal Guide used two words while other early maps show it as one word: ''Clealum''.<ref name="meany">{{cite book|last=Meany |first=Edmond S. |author-link=Edmond S. Meany |date=1923 |title=Origin of Washington Geographic Names|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ct4BAAAAMAAJ |publisher=University of Washington Press|page=50 |isbn=9780598974808}}</ref> In 1908, Clealum was altered to Cle Elum.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cle Elum |work=Washington Place Names database |publisher=Tacoma Public Library |url=http://search.tpl.lib.wa.us/wanames/ |access-date=2009-03-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309023858/http://search.tpl.lib.wa.us/wanames/ |archive-date=2009-03-09}}</ref> The name was given to the river, the city, and [[Cle Elum Lake]].

Walter Reed entered into a partnership with Thomas Johnson of [[Ellensburg, Washington|Ellensburg]] and laid out {{convert|65|acre|spell=in}} as a town site which was legally dedicated on July 26, 1886. Johnson had owned a [[sawmill]] on [[Wilson Creek, Washington|Wilson Creek]], in [[Grant County, Washington|Grant County]] and he moved the mill to the new location in the vicinity of the new town. The partners Reed and Johnson established what was undoubtedly the largest mill up to that time in central or [[Eastern Washington]], cutting {{convert|40,000|ft}} of board lumber per day. At the same time, Frederick Leonhard, who, with his brother-in-law, Gerrit d'Ablaing, had been carrying on a mill on Cooke Creek and later on the Naneum, moved to the vicinity of Cle Elum. They cut a large part of the lumber for the [[Stampede Tunnel]].

===The early 20th century===
[[File:Street view showing Reed house on right, Cle Elum, ca 1890 (WASTATE 1651).jpeg|thumb|280px|Downtown Cle Elum, early 1900s.]]
Cle Elum was officially incorporated on February 12, 1902.

Tragedy struck the area when on July 16, 1908, two carloads of [[blasting powder]] being unloaded by the Northwest Improvement Company exploded, killing at least nine people including miners, NIC store employees and a family with children living in a tent near the building. The explosion, located about three-quarters of a mile from Cle Elum's downtown, scattered debris and human remains and shattered windows across town. Accounts from residents equated the explosion to an earthquake.<ref>"Powder Blows Bodies to Bits; Magazine explodes near Cle Elum Wash. ''[[The Oregonian]]'' 17 July 1908.</ref>

In December 1910, loggers working for the [[Cascade Lumber Company]] near Cle Elum went on strike after the company reduced pay and began charging $5 per week for board. ({{Inflation|US|5|1910|fmt=eq}}){{Inflation-fn|US}}<ref name="IWWYearbook1910">{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/iww/iwwyearbook1910.shtml |title=IWW Yearbook 1910 |last=Upton |first=Austin |website=IWW History Project |publisher=[[University of Washington]] |access-date=19 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="IW_1910_12_15">{{cite news |author=Robertson |date=6 December 1910 |publication-date=15 December 1910 |title=Strike On: Help Out the Loggers |volume=2 |issue=39 |page=4 |newspaper=[[Industrial Worker]] |url=https://archive.org/details/v2n39-dec-15-1910-IW }}</ref>

In 1913, steps were taken to improve automobile access across the Cascade Mountains via [[Snoqualmie Pass]]. A $1,500,000 levy ({{Inflation|US|1500000|1913|r=-5|fmt=eq}}) was approved in 1913 to improve and expand the state's highways. The largest project award from the levy ($590,743) went to construction of the Sunset Highway between Spokane and Seattle. This major cross-state highway would pass directly through Cle Elum's business district, and as it was one of the first towns reached after traveling east across the pass, would greatly benefit from its construction.<ref>"Good Roads O. K.' D. in Record Time. Washington Legislature Brings Fight to Peaceable Termination" ''The Oregonian'' 04 Mar. 1913.</ref> That same year, reflecting on the prosperity of the coal mines, the city's second bank was chartered.<ref>"Cle Elum Bank Charter Approved" ''The Oregonian'' 22 Nov. 1913.</ref> By 1914, Cle Elum's population had risen to 3,000 from about 100 at the turn of the 20th century.<ref>"From Town of 100 Cle Elum Has 3000. Progressive Little Mining and Lumber City in Washington Grows Fast" ''The Oregonian'' 6 Aug. 1914.</ref>

===Great fire of 1918===
Cle Elum's greatest disaster occurred on June 25, 1918, when a huge fire wiped out over seventy acres of the city (29 city blocks) causing over $500,000 (about ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|500000|1918|r=-3}}}} today) in damages. The cause was later determined to most likely to be a cigarette butt thrown into a pile of garbage behind a theater. Thirty businesses and 205 houses were destroyed, leaving more than 1,800 people homeless. Following the incident, aid from across the state began pouring in. The Red Cross brought tents from [[Joint Base Lewis-McChord|Camp Lewis]] to house displaced citizens while soldiers were sent from Ellensburg to guard businesses. [[Yakima, Washington|Yakima]] and [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] also sent aid to the city. No people died in the incident.<ref>"City Of Tents Is Rising American Red Cross Sends Shelters From Camp Lewis", ''The Oregonian'', June 28, 1918.</ref>

High insurance rates on Cle Elum's many wooden structures inhibited many people from purchasing them. One of the few buildings in downtown Cle Elum to survive the fire was the Cle Elum State Bank Building, built in 1906; it still stands today. The rest of downtown was quickly rebuilt with brick and many of these buildings still stand.

===Bankruptcy===

In 2011, the city government approved a development agreement with City Heights, who sought to create a [[planned community]] with 962 homes on {{convert|358|acre|ha}} in the Cle Elum area. City Height announced in 2019 that it would begin construction of the development, named "Ederra", under the existing agreement, while the City of Cle Elum proposed new conditions to address various concerns. City Heights filed a lawsuit against the city government for a breach of the original agreement.<ref name="YHR-Bankruptcy">{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Brian |last2=Rose |first2=Anna |date=January 30, 2025 |title=Cle Elum council votes to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy |url=https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/northwest/cle-elum-council-votes-to-seek-chapter-9-bankruptcy/article_0beccfbc-d487-5711-b1d6-c7cc20d5fcf3.html |work=[[Yakima Herald-Republic]] |accessdate=February 3, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Times-Bankruptcy">{{cite news |last=Brunner |first=Jim |date=January 8, 2025 |title=Cle Elum considers bankruptcy amid $22M debt in development dispute |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/cle-elum-considers-bankruptcy-amid-22m-debt-in-development-dispute/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=February 3, 2025}}</ref> An arbitrator ruled in November 2024 that the city government owed $22.2&nbsp;million to City Heights for violating the agreement along with reimbursement of legal fees and other expenses.<ref name="Times-Bankruptcy"/> A 20-year payment plan with 6% monthly interest was proposed to cover the debt, which the city government could not pay with its existing revenue sources. As a result, the city council voted to seek [[Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 9 bankruptcy]] protection on January 28, 2025.<ref name="YHR-Bankruptcy"/> Cle Elum would become the second city in Washington to file for bankruptcy after [[North Bonneville, Washington|North Bonneville]] in 1991.<ref name="Times-Bankruptcy"/>