Find of the Month
Each month we highlight interesting, important, and odd items from our collection, along with the stories they tell.
Most recent Find of the Month
January 2026 - Trespassers in the watershed
A folder in the Water Department Central Files documents incidents of trespassing in the Cedar River Watershed between 1955 and 1964. The watershed supplies drinking water to the greater Seattle area and also is a major source for downstream rivers, supporting salmon and other species. To protect the water and the land, the City restricts public access and patrols the boundaries.
Hunting was a major driver of illegal trespassing on watershed land in this period, with the number of incidents dropping off dramatically when hunting season ended. A supervisor wrote, “Watershed sanitation is a year-round job, but the hunting season continues to be the worst period as far as trespass is concerned.”
A 1963 memo details an incident that began when a forester called a patrolman to alert him to blood on a bridge parapet and deer entrails in the creek below. The patrolman called in reinforcements and they followed bloodstains on the road to determine which way the trespasser went. A gate guard pointed out a car parked nearby which, when inspected, had animal hair on the bumper. The patrol waited until the man returned to his car, at which point the Game Protector, “using a little backwoods psychology, approached the man and said, ‘Well, I guess you know why I’m here.’ Whereupon Mr. Forrest admitted the violations.”
Others came onto the land to fish, pick mushrooms, or simply to sightsee or take a shortcut. In a 1955 incident, three vehicles were stopped in the watershed. A report notes that the driver of the lead car said his name was Bob Lind, but was discovered to actually be named Walter Roundtree when he was asked for his driver’s license. Roundtree had gotten in with an illegal key, “which he said was given to him by a fellow in Kent about three years previously.”
Juveniles were among the trespassers, some there to hunt or fish and others seemingly just looking around. One boy, Allen Rice of Seattle, said he was looking for a ghost town. They were usually given a warning on a promise not to trespass again. Richard Dierst of Renton gave his age as 18 when he was arrested for hunting in the watershed, although when he was discovered later to be a minor, his case was dismissed and “he subsequently came in [to see the Sanitary Engineer] with his Mother.”
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