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starts to dig a canal connecting Seattle's Union and Portage
bays in 1860. HistoryLink.org Essay 3404 : Printer-Friendly
Format In 1860, in Seattle, Harvey Pike begins digging the first
ditch between Lake Washington's Union Bay and Lake Union's
Portage Bay. Harvey's uncompleted effort is the first Montlake
Cut. Eventually Montlake Cut will be excavated further and will
become part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal (opened 1917).
Pike had taken the land between Lake Washington and Lake Union
in payment for painting the Territorial University. He soon gave
up the project (he was digging by himself with a pick and
shovel) and deeded the land to the Lake Washington Canal Company
in 1871. He was one of the incorporators of this firm. This firm
did not build a canal but rather a quarter mile long tramway
(narrow gauge railway) over which coal transferred from Lake
Washington barges was carried to Lake Union barges. These rails
were torn up in 1878. Chi