Prospecting in the region began in the
Skykomish River drainage with the Old Cady Trail used for access. In 1882 Elisha Hubbard improved the trail up the North Fork Skykomish, from
Index to
Galena, then north up the tributary Silver Creek. A boom shortly followed at
Mineral City. The mineral belt was traced in various directions, including north over the divide between the Skykomish and
Sauk River drainages. In the early summer of 1889 Joseph Pearsall saw glittering deposits and traced them north to Seventysix Gulch and the area that became Monte Cristo. A frenzy of claim staking quickly followed. In 1890 many miners hiked to Monte Cristo from the south by way of Index, Galena, and Mineral City, crossing the divide at first via Wilmans Pass and later via Poodle Dog Pass. In the fall of 1891 a narrow wagon road called the Wilmans or Pioneer Trail was completed from Sauk City on the
Skagit River to Monte Cristo, allowing access from the north. A key stop on this road was the trading post at Orient, Washington, at the North and South forks of the Sauk River. Today this area is known as Bedal. In the summer of 1891 it was discovered that Monte Cristo could be accessed via the South Fork
Stillaguamish River. A surveyor named M.Q. Barlow blazed a route from
Silverton to Monte Cristo. Mining interests Thomas Ewing and George W. Grayson, then miner
Edward Blewett, Judge
Hiram G. Bond of Denver and New York City, and Seattle publisher
Leigh S. J. Hunt, funded further work and soon a wagon road was built over
Barlow Pass to join the Sauk wagon road. Later a railroad would be built over the same route. Monte Cristo was the first live mining camp on the west slopes of the
Cascade Range. There were 13 mines and 40 claims by 1891. By 1893 there were 211 mining claims. The boom required money from the eastern United States to continue to grow.
Frederick Trump, grandfather of future U.S. President
Donald Trump, was also active in the town; he operated a boom-town hotel and alleged brothel. During the 1890s hopes ran high at Monte Cristo. It was widely believed that the area would become the greatest lead-silver district in the Western Hemisphere. That same year, a nonprofit group called Monte Cristo Preservation Association stepped in to save and restore the historical site. Very few original structures are still standing, but the four-mile-long road (as noted in driving directions) into town remains popular with hikers and mountain bikers. The road is impassable to vehicles as the shore on either side of the bridge washed out several years ago. The bridge remained standing, however hikers and mountain bikers now either have to ford the river or cross over fallen trees in order to continue onto the old town-site from the Barlow Pass entry. Extensive plans for removing pollution from
mine tailings have been written, and include removal and/or containment of pollution in remote mine sites in the nearby Glacier Basin. A new access road was created as part of the cleanup. Cleanup of arsenic and other toxins left behind began in September 2012 Mines that are not caved in are: Boston American Mine, Justice Mine, Mystery Mine, and New Discovery Tunnel. ==References==