Data Source Date Code Remarks
The Montana Pioneer December 21, 1872 B
*Daily Oregonian January 15, 1873 *Weekly Intelligencer February 10, 1873 [*Daily British Colonist Jan. 31, 1873 p. 3 col. 5 - cited in Coombs et al, 1976 -- RSL 8/10/1999]
A. Period Account: Primary source for evaluation of intensity or felt report.
B. Period Account: Insufficient data to evaluate intensity.
C. Period Account: Item appearing as dispatch, summary or brief des- cription or duplicate data with more complete data available in other sources.
D. Later descriptive account identified with period sources.
E. Later descriptive account not confirmed in period documentary sources.
*Designates duplicate data not included in compilation.
Bozeman experienced a slight shock of an earthquake on the 10th inst.
The earthquake was quite heavy, and furnished the N. N. West numerous items.
EARTHQUAKE AND LOSS OF CATTLE -
We are in receipt of a letter from I.N.
Woods, written from River Station, Pen
d'Orielle- River and dated Dec. 15,
in which the writer says.. "We had a
very severe shock of an earthquake on
the afternoon of the 14th- At the
time we first felt the earth move
James Bradley was crossing his cattle
and horses over the Pen d'Orielle River,
on the ice, when the ice suddenly
commenced jumping up and breaking to
pieces, letting the cattle and horses
into the river. Out of 71 head of
cattle Mr. Bradley succeeded in saving
21 head. The horses all came ashore:
some of them were badly cut up by-
being jammed between the ice- This is all
the damage that I have heard of being
done. The water was about four feet
higher than usual. It was a fearful
shock here." At about 11:30 a.m. of the
same day, Missoula was treated to
another shaking up, much harder than
the shock of the 10th inst. Bells
suspended from the walls were rung and
things shaken up lively.
At Seattle, the shock is said to have been more
severe than at any other point. Men, women and
children rushed out of doors, and, for a time, the
streets were black with the mass of human beings.
Children were hurried from their beds by their
terrified mothers, themselves, in many cases en
deshabille, and into the streets were crowded to
escape injury from buildings expected to fall. It
was, doubtless, in the lower part of the town, where
the foundation is a swamp covered with ten feet of saw
dust, far more dangerous than on the hill in the rear
of the town or than in Olympia. The sawdust is said
to have opened in places, leaving narrow and deep
cracks.
We await with some anxiety news from California and
elsewhere, hoping that they were so fortunate as we
in escaping disaster.
SEATTLE: Dec. 15--Last night, at about 20 minutes
to 10 o'clock, the people of this place were
suddenly startled by the heaviest earthquake felt
so far north on the coast as this, with the excep-
tion of the earthquake at San Francisco in 1865. We
doubt whether so violent and long continued a shock
has been felt for years on the entire coast. No
damage was done, but our frame buildings swayed to
and fro like a small craft at sea. There were three
series of shocks; the first was of about twenty
seconds duration, and the other two, soon after, of
but a few seconds each. They seemed to proceed from
the northeast to the southwest. We shall probably
hear of its having been experienced in other sections
of the coast with much more violence.
THE EARTHQUAKE. - On Saturday [Dec 14] night at 34
minutes past nine - as indicated by the stoppage of two regulators -
the shock of an earthquake was felt in this city continuing at intervals in all
12 minutes, during which time there were three distinct shocks, so closely
connected that it was impossible to tell the duration of each seperate [sic]
shock; they are variously estimated at from two seconds to two minutes. It was
an undulating motion, from South to North, like waves of the ocean,
unaccompanied by any violent jar, or irregular upheaval, otherwise, from its
force, it would have been very disastrous in its consequences. - Water
tanks and milk pans were tipped so as to discharge portions of their contents,
showing an angle of thirty degrees, and the pendulums of clocks, which were not
running at the time, were started at a like angle. This was the most violent
shock of an earthquake ever experienced in this region within the recollection
of the oldest inhabitant. We hear of no damage done by it, but the breaking of afew dishes and the fright it gave several persons.
THE EARTHQUAKE.--Our citizens are greatly
disappointed
earthquake shock, felt so severely here, only
extended a few miles south of Portland,
Aurora, in Marion county, being the extreme
southern point at which it was noticed.
It evidently barely skirted the northern
boundary of Oregon, and gained in intensity
and force in a north and east direction,.
being much more severe on the mainland in
British Columbia than here.
On Saturday at 10 P.M., Old Mother Earth,
appearing to have become tired of lying
still so long gave the denizens of
Skokomish the impression that she was
intending to rise up and shake herself.
She did not rise much but the shaking was
terrific. Dr. Casto relates that water
was spilled from a barrel on his porch
that was not full by six inches. Chickens
were thrown from the roost, clocks stopped,
etc., etc. The clothing hanging in my
room vibrated almost two or three inches.
Three distinct shocks were felt, the first
lasting at least a full minute. The motion
is said to have been from South-east to
North-west. The earthquake being the
latest excitement, I have nothing further
to write. So wishing your paper great
success, I subscribe myself. H.L.E.
"Mr. H. Farus, of Snoqualmie, writes in the
Seattle Dispatch from his place, near the foot
of the mountains, under date of the 17th inst.,
as follows:
'This valley has been pretty well shook up
during the past three days with earthquakes.
The first was about 10 o'clock on Saturday night,
lasting a minute and a half, and was very heavy.
We had thirteen more shocks before daylight,
but one was heavy as the first. Since then we
have had ten. A very heavy smoke has risen in
the mountains a little west of north, seen
distinctly when not too cloudy. There appears
to be two volumes of smoke."'.
Mount Baker is in the direction of the smoke
seen from Snoqualmie, and it is not improbable
that the earthquake shocks felt here were
caused by an eruption of that volcanic mountain,
as all accounts concur that it was most violent
in that direction.
The Walla Walla papers bring further news
of the earthquakes reporting it as much
more severe than was experienced in Oregon.
At Walla Walla city a low, rumbling noise
was heard, followed by the rattling of
windows and the swinging of picture frames,
the whole concluding with a ground swell
that can best be compared to the rolling
of the waves in a rough sea. The whole
lasted, probably, less than a minute.
A correspondent at Yakima writes to the
Oregonian that the earthquake at that
place was quite severe. There were three
distinct shocks. The Indians on Rock
Island say the mountain at that place
rolled down and killed three persons. On
the Snoqualmie Pass the shock was so hard
as to shake a man off his feet. At
Yakima City the people rushed out of doors
in a great state of alarm with clubs,
revolvers and shot guns, thinking the
Indians had made a general attack and
were tearing up things generally.
When the Catholics started to build their chapel, St. Michael's on Moran
(undoubtedly should be Peone) prairie, Spokane Garry wasn't there. Charley
Warner worked on the building of the chapel. He put mud on the cracks of the
buildings to keep out the cold. Spokane Garry wanted to move this Catholic
mission, but the Peones were a big family and they stated that they had all
joined the Catholic church and that it was impossible to move the church.
This was one of the reasons why we went after Mr. Spalding as we will tell
you later.
About this time there was a big earthquake. The earth shook for about
fifteen minutes. There were some large cracks in the ground about fifty
miles west of the falls, along the Spokane river, and a big land slide
along the river in that vicinity. We do not know of any Indians being hurt.
The Indians all thought that the end of the world was come. On account of
this and the Catholics, Spokane Garry called a meeting of the Spokane Indian
at a place on the river a little above Spokane to talk matters over, and at
another meeting held a little later four men were appointed to go to Kamia
to bring Mr. Spalding to us. These men were Chettle-Sote, No-wit-chi-tache-
mo-qualte, Sha-a-mene, Tsch-tako and Charley Warner here went with these
men. They brought Mr. Spalding from Kamia to Spokane. On the Spokane prairie
he baptized all the Spokane Indians. Some had already been baptized by the
Catholics, these Mr. Spalding baptized again. The Indians did this so that
if another earthquake and the end of the world came they could all go to Heaven.
The Big Wind was only in certain districts. Where the Big Wind blew the big
trees were all blown down for a long distance. Steven here was in Montana
at the time. There was no Big Wind there.
The last expedition of the Spokanes to the buffalo country was made just after
the big earthquake. There were very few buffalo ever in the Spokane country.
Stevens father when a boy, was told that seven buffalo had been killed in
the Spokane plains. The Indians chased these buffalo around on horse back
and finally killed them with their bows and arrows.
A SHAKING UP--Last Saturday evening at 9:50 O'clock
we were visited by one of those awe inspiring
phenomenal freaks which never fail quickening the
beating of one-'pulses. There were two distinct shocks,
accompanied by several minor shivers and by that
peculiar rumbling noise which nothing but an earth-
quake can produce; each shock lasting about a minute,
disturbing the breast of the earth and agitating
everything on its surface. Some of the people had
retired to rest, but were aroused by the insidious
approach of the unwelcome visitor. The commotion it
raised did not readily subside, and a dread of suc-
ceeding shocks harassed the minds of many. The
oscillations apparently proceeded from southwest to
northeast. Another slight jar was felt about 3 o'clock
the following morning.
Several shocks in this city
were suddenly overcome by a freak of "good policy," and
refused to go on "tick" ; chickens were knocked from
their perches, windows cracked, and pendant lamps
vibrated describing an arc of 90 degrees. We judge
the shocks were most severely felt by the Masonic
fraternity (who were communing at the time on 'the
third floor, above our office) by the manner in which
the members came down stairs and hurried out on the
street; and whether or not they were strictly decorous
in their deportment we have no means of knowing. if
it was a genuine ague our mother earth had, we are
inclined to the belief that she must have caught it in
Oregon, as our Territory is comparatively free from
bowel diseases. The ultimate cause of earthquakes
is not well understood, but the proximate cause of
those undulations of the earth that constitute an
earthquake are caused, as some think, by the evolution
of gases and their explosion at a certain point where
the crust of the earth is thin. There are, no doubt
subterranean caverns in the earth's crust of vast
extent. and filled with explosive gases which require
nothing but ignition to induce those undulating
motions.
_________________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNTS EVALUATED
Rock Island
Data Source Date Code Remarks
Oregonian December 30, 1872 B Account appears similar
to incident reported at
White Bluffs, Washington.
*Willamette Farmer January 4, 1873 c Same as above.
A. Period Account: Primary source for evaluation of intensity or
felt report.
B. Period Account: Insufficient data to evaluate intensity.
C. Period Account: Item appearing as dispatch, summary or brief des-
cription or duplicate data with more complete
data available in other sources.
D. Later descriptive account identified with period sources.
E. Later descriptive account not confirmed in period documentary sources.
*Designates duplicate data not included in compilation.
Rock Island, W. T.
Oregonian
Dec. 30, 1872 pg I
Portland, Oregon
A correspondent at Yakima writes us that the
earthquake at that place was quite severe. There
were three distinct shocks. The Indians on Rock
Island say the mountain at that place rolled down
and killed three persons. On the Snoqualmie Pass
the shock was so hard as to shake a man off his
feet. At Yakima City the people rushed out of
doors in a great state of alarm with clubs,
revolvers and shot guns, thinking the Indians
had made a general attack and were tearing up
things generally.
______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNTS EVALUATED
San Juan, Washington
Data Source Date Code Remarks
Douglas, G.C. December 1872 A
Additional Info on quakes in 1869 from Coombs et al, 1976 [RSL 8/10/1999]
A. Period Account: Primary source for evaluation of intensity or
felt report.
B. Period Account: Insufficient data to evaluate intensity.
C. Period Account: Item appearing as dispatch, summary or brief des-
cription or duplicate data with more complete
data available in other sources.
D. Later descriptive account identified with period sources.
E. Later descriptive account not confirmed in period documentary sources.
*Designates duplicate data not included in compilation.
San Juan, WT
Douglas, G.C.; "Record for the Month of December 1872;" Post Surgeon;
Camp San Juan; San Juan, Washington; National Archives; Washington,
D.C.
RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 1872
Number of sick 4
Temperature; Max. 50 degrees Min. 22 degrees
Amount of rainfall 96 in.
Medical stores for 1873 received
Shocks of earthquake on the 14th and 18th inst.
Civil law formally inaugurated (sic) upon islands lately in dispute
with Great Briton, by the Governor of Washington Territory, who for
that purpose paid an official visit to San Juan on the 23rd inst.
______________
Surgeon's Camp San Juan
_________________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNTS EVALUATED
Seattle, Washington
Data Source Date Code Remarks
*Sheriff James Kavanaugh C Diary entry dated
December 14, 1872
written at Seattle.
Daily Pacific Tribune December 16, 1872 A The same dispatch appears
in: Eugene City Guard
December 21, 1872;
Morning Oregonian,
December 19, 1872; The
New Northwest, December
31, 1872; Oregon State,
December 21, 1872, not
included in this com-
pilation
Victoria Daily December 16, 1872 A The same dispatch appears
Standard in: Daily British
Colonist, December 17, 1872;
Oregonian, December 17,
1872; Daily Oregonian,
December 20, 1872;
Morning Oregonian,
December 20, 1872;
Willamette Farmer,
December 21, 1872; Idaho
Signal, December 28, 1872
(extract), Idaho Signal,
December 28, 1872; The
New Northwest, December
28, 1872; Not included
in this compilation.
Weekly Intelligencer December 16, 1872 A
*Daily Pacific Tribune December 17, 1872 c Same appears in Weekly
Pacific Tribune,
December 21, 1872, not
included in this compila-
tion.
Puget Sound Dispatch December 19, 1872 A
*The Weekly Echo December 19, 1872 c
*Weekly Mercury December 20, 1872 c
*Weekly Intelligencer December 23, 1872 c Refers a later aftershock
*Idaho Tri-Weekly December 24, 1872 c
Statesman
*Puget Sound Dispatch December 26, 1872 c
Additional Aftershock Reports from Coombs et al, 1976 [RSL 8/9/1999]
A. Period Account: Primary source for evaluation of intensity or
felt report.
B. Period Account: Insufficient data to evaluate intensity.
C. Period Account: Item appearing as dispatch, summary or brief des-
cription or duplicate data with more complete
data available in other sources.
D. Later descriptive account identified with period sources.
E. Later descriptive account not confirmed in period documentary sources.
*Designates duplicate data not included in compilation.
Seattle, W. T.
Daily Pacific Tribune
Dec. 16, 1872 pg 2
Seattle, Washington
Seattle, W. T.
Victoria Daily Standard
Dec. 16, 1872 pg 3
Victoria, B.C.
WASHINGTON TERRITORY
Seattle, W. T.
Weekly Intelligencer
Dec. 16, 1872 pg 3
Seattle, Washington
A VIOLENT EARTHQUAKE.--ON Saturday night, at about
twenty minutes to ten o'clock the citizens of this
place were suddenly startled by the heaviest earth-
quake felt so far, north on the Coast as this.
With the exception of the earthquake at San Francisco
in 1865, we doubt whether so violent and long
continued a one has been felt for years on the entire
Coast. No damage was done, but our frame buildings
swayed to and fro like a small craft at sea. There
were three series of shocks. The first was of about
two minutes duration, and the other two soon after
of but a few seconds each. They seemed to proceed
from the north-east to the south-west. We shall
probably hear of its having been experienced in other
sections of the Coast with much more violence.
Seattle, W. T.
Puget Sound Dispatch
Dec. 19, 1872 p. 2, c. 1
Seattle, W. T.
[This account was not included in the Weston Geophysics Volume. The text has been provided by Greg Lange; RSL 5/10/2000]
Seattle, W. T.
Seattle, W. T.
Puget Sound Dispatch
Dec. 19, 1872 p. 2
Seattle, W. T.
Seattle, W. T.
_________________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNTS EVALUATED
Skokomish, Washington
Data Source Date Code Remarks
The Weekly Echo January 2, 1873 A
A. Period Account: Primary source for evaluation of intensity or
felt report.
B. Period Account: Insufficient data to evaluate intensity.
C. Period Account: Item appearing as dispatch, summary or brief des-
cription or duplicate data with more complete
data available in other sources.
D. Later descriptive account identified with period sources.
E. Later descriptive account not confirmed in period documentary sources.
*Designates duplicate data not included in compilation.
SKOKOMISH, W.T
The Weekly Echo
January 2, 1873
Olympia, W.T.
Earthquake
_________________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNTS EVALUATED
Snoqualmie, Washington
Data Source Date Code Remarks
Weekly Pacific Tribune December 28, 1872 A
Willamette Farmer January 4, 1873 B
Additional Reports from Coombs et al, 1976 [RSL 8/11/1999]
A. Period Account: Primary source for evaluation of intensity or
felt report.
B. Period Account: Insufficient data to evaluate intensity.
C. Period Account: Item appearing as dispatch, summary or brief des-
cription or duplicate data with more complete
data available in other sources.
D. Later descriptive account identified with period sources.
E. Later descriptive account not confirmed in period documentary sources.
*Designates duplicate data not included in compilation.
Snoqualmie, Washington
Weekly Pacific Tribune
Olympia, W.T.
Dec. 28, 1872
[Per Greg Lange 5/2000; This article is repeated in the Puget Sound Dispatch of Thursday Dec. 26, 1872, with the exception of that the correspondent's name is given as Fares.; RSL 5/10/2000]
The Earthquake in the Mountains.
SNOQUALMIE PASS, W.T.
Willamette Farmer
January 4, 1873, page 8
Salem, Oregon
THE EARTHQUAKE
_________________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNTS EVALUATED
Spokane Bridge, Washington
(Spokane County)
Data Source Date Code Remarks
Walla Walla Statesman December 21, 1872 A
*Idaho Signal December 28, 1872 C
Statement of Thomas D Does not corroborate
Garry etc. report below of injuries
The Oregonian December 30, 1872 -
Tiffin -- D Later account
A. Period Account: Primary source for evaluation of intensity or
felt report.
B. Period Account: Insufficient data to evaluate intensity.
C. Period Account: Item appearing as dispatch, summary or brief des-
cription or duplicate data with more complete
data available in other sources.
D. Later descriptive account identified with period sources.
E. Later descriptive account not confirmed in period documentary sources.
*Designates duplicate data not included in compilation.
Spokane Bridge, W. T.
Dec. 17th, 1871
Walla Walla Statesman
Dec. 21, 1872
Walla Walla, W. T.
EDITOR STATESMAN:--WE send you five dollars
and a half in greenbacks, for a year's subscrip-
tion to your paper--the nearest we could come
to the amount--as there is no means of sending
coin from here at present
How did the earthquake affect you down there?
Nobody hurt in these parts, so far as heard
from. It found us on the night of the 14th,
about 10 o clock. We had four very distinct
shocks--some say eight. The first one was
very severe, lasting about thirty seconds. We
have no very correct idea, though, of how long the
shocks lasted, as we believe they were the first
of their kind known to the oldest inhabitant.
In fact, nobody around here had any very clear
conception of what was the matter until it was
all over. Hoping there was nobody hurt in
Walla Walla, and with out best wishes, we
remain yours, COWLEY & FORD
Spokane Bridge, W. T.
INDIAN ACCOUNT OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE
SPOKANE COUNTY
Statement of Thomas Garry, Moses B. Phillips, Aleck Pierre, Charley Warren,
John Stevens, David John and William Three Mountains, made to William S. Lew
Recording Secretary of the Spokane Historical Society on October 20, 1916, Mc
Phillips acting as interpreter.
SPOKANE, W.T.
The Oregonian
December 30, 1872
Portland, Oregon
The Walla Statesman says: "The accounts
that reach us seem to indicate that the
further north, the greater the severity of
the earthquake. There is a report that up
in the Spokane country, the earth opened
and swallowed up a number of Indians and
their horses. This, doubtless, is an
exaggeration, but one thing is certain,
the whole interior basin had a rough shake."
Spokane County, Washington
Tiffin, Emma (Mrs.), Spokane County, Told by the Pioneers,
Vol. 3 1938, P 105 WPA Federal Project No. 5841.
Published and Compiled by WPA Federal Project No. 5841.
"Mrs. Emma Tiffin
"Spokane County
"On December 14, 1872, I felt quite a severe earthquake shock
while sitting alone in my cabin. Dishes rattled and weights on our
large clock batted together and gave me quite a scare."
_________________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNTS EVALUATED
Steilacoom, Washington
Data Source Date Code Remarks
Puget Sound Express December 19, 1872 A
*The Weekly Echo December 19, 1872 c
*Washington Standard December 21, 1872 c
Additional Info (and aftershock reports) from Coombs et al, 1976 [RSL 8/10/1999]
A. Period Account: Primary source for evaluation of intensity or
felt report.
B. Period Account: Insufficient data to evaluate intensity.
C. Period Account: Item appearing as dispatch, summary or brief des-
cription or duplicate data with more complete
data available in other sources.
D. Later descriptive account identified with period sources.
E. Later descriptive account not confirmed in period documentary sources.
*Designates duplicate data not included in compilation.
Steilacoom, W. T.
Puget Sound Express
December 19, 1872 p. 2