Editing Darrington, Washington (section)

===Prehistory and early exploration===

The upper Stillaguamish and Sauk valleys on the [[Sauk River (Washington)|Sauk]], [[Suiattle River|Suiattle]], and [[White Chuck River|White Chuck]] rivers were historically inhabited by various [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[Coast Salish]] groups, including the [[Stillaguamish people|Stillaguamish]], the [[Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe of Washington|Sauk-Suiattle]], and the [[Upper Skagit Indian Tribe|Upper Skagit]].<ref name="HistoryLink">{{cite web |last=Oakley |first=Janet |date=January 17, 2009 |title=Darrington — Thumbnail History |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/8798 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |access-date=February 28, 2019}}</ref> The Sauk-Suiattle maintained a village site and burial ground near modern-day Darrington, while the Skagit used the plain between the Stillaguamish and Sauk rivers as a [[portage]] for overland transport of canoes. The portage, [[Anglicisation (linguistics)|Anglicized]] as Kudsl Kudsl or Kuds-al-kaid, was also used as a transiting point for travelers from [[Eastern Washington]] on their way to and from the [[Puget Sound]] coast.<ref name="Prehistory">{{cite book |last1=Hollenbeck |first1=Jan L. |last2=Moss |first2=Madonna |year=1987 |title=A Cultural Resource Overview: Prehistory, Ethnography and History: Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest |publisher=[[United States Forest Service]] |pages=135–139, 156–157 |oclc=892024380 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005998596 |via=[[HathiTrust]] |access-date=February 28, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Poehlman18">{{cite book |last=Poehlman |first=Elizabeth S. |year=1979 |title=Darrington: Mining Town/Timber Town |pages=18–19 |publisher=Gold Hill Press |location=Shoreline, Washington |lccn=78-75242 |oclc=34948805 }}</ref>

The area was known as Burn or Sauk Portage to early surveyors and visitors from towns along the Puget Sound coastline. A group of railroad surveyors for the [[Northern Pacific Railway]] arrived in modern-day Darrington in 1870 while plotting the potential route for a railroad crossing the [[Cascade Range|Cascades]] to [[Lake Chelan]], but ultimately chose [[Stampede Pass]] to the south.{{sfnp|Poehlman|1979|pages=35–37}} The North Stillaguamish Valley was nicknamed "Starve Out" by early settlers, who arrived alone and underprepared for the area's conditions, leading to several difficult winters.<ref name="History1906">{{cite book|editor1-last=Hastie |editor1-first=Thomas P. |editor2-last=Batey |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Sisson |editor3-first=E.A. |editor4-last=Graham |editor4-first=Albert L. |year=1906 |title=An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties |pages=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto00inte/page/408 408], 461 |chapter=Chapter VI: Cities and Towns |publisher=Interstate Publishing Company |location=Chicago |lccn=06030900 |oclc=11299996 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto00inte |via=[[The Internet Archive]] |access-date=March 1, 2019}}</ref> Soldiers sent to the area by the valley settlers threatened to evict the Sauk-Suiattles; this did not occur as the settlers' claim that the Sauk-Suiattle were hostile and had attacked them was determined to be unfounded. The tribe later hired surveyors to record their claims to the eastern side of the Sauk River, lands that currently comprise their [[Indian reservation]].{{sfnp|Poehlman|1979|pages=21–23}}

The discovery of gold and other valuable minerals in the [[Monte Cristo, Washington|Monte Cristo]] area in 1889 lured prospectors into the North Cascades and stimulated the development of the surrounding valleys. A {{convert|45|mi|km|adj=mid}} [[wagon road]] along the Sauk River connecting Monte Cristo to Sauk Prairie and the settlement of [[Sauk City, Washington|Sauk City]] on the [[Skagit River]] was built in 1891, later forming part of the modern [[Mountain Loop Highway]].{{sfnp|Poehlman|1979|pages=38–40}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Beckey |first=Fred W. |author-link=Fred Beckey |orig-year=1973 |year=2003 |title=Cascade Alpine Guide Vol. 2: Stevens Pass to Rainy Pass |page=29 |series=[[Cascade Alpine Guide]] |edition=3rd |publisher=[[The Mountaineers (club)|The Mountaineers Books]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ukAUElJXPIC |isbn=0-89886-838-6 |oclc=52517872 |via=Google Books |access-date=March 9, 2019}}</ref> It was only used for three years before being replaced by the [[Everett and Monte Cristo Railway]] to the south; until that time, the Sauk Prairie at the modern site of Darrington was an overnight camping spot for prospectors.{{sfnp|Poehlman|1979|pages=38–40}} Nearby areas were explored by prospectors who made over a hundred claims to tracts of land in the highlands around the valley, including Gold Hill.{{sfnp|Poehlman|1979|pages=40–41}}<ref name="Poehlman-RR">{{cite news |last=Poehlman |first=Elizabeth S. |date=August 2, 1972 |title=Railways prominent in Darrington past |page=21 |work=The Arlington Times |url=http://arl.stparchive.com/Archive/ARL/ARL08021972P021.php |via=Small Town Papers |access-date=February 27, 2019 |archive-date=October 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019072422/http://arl.stparchive.com/Archive/ARL/ARL08021972P021.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>