Land-Use History
My first visit to Mill Creek was about seven years ago, I found the city beginning to 'boom' as the city was beginning to feel more 'lived in', but still remain natural in some ways. Such as the Mill Creek Nature Preserve, the location was quiet and peaceful, and contained many different species of plants and organisms, yet there is a city growing around the Mill Creek Nature Preserve. There are many different parks and reserves throughout Mill Creek, even a nature preserve (ahem, Mill Creek Nature Preserve) that has Penny Creek flowing through. This brought a question to my mind, as I don't really know the history of Mill Creek.
Upon my research, there was very little information of Mill Creek's past. Mill Creek is still a new, upcoming, and developing area. During the mid 1970s, it was developed as a "country suburb" by Olympus Development for the subdivisions, and wasn't officially incorporated in Washington as a city until August 30, 1983. Presently, the city is still growing as more and more families move in and jobs are being available. However, before it was created into such a booming and growing town, the land was once filled with trees. There weren't any photos of Mill Creek while it was being developed as a "country suburb", but here are photos of my site currently.
A photo of an outline of Mill Creek, WA currently today
Before the white settlers took over, Mill Creek was inhabited by the Snohomish, a Lushootseed Native American tribe, who were residents around the Puget Sound area, just north of Seattle. The language of which they communicated were the Lushootseed language. The meaning of the Snohomish meant "lowland" people. There were different groups in the Snohomish tribe. There were fishermen, hunters, and gatherers. These activities influenced the land by maintaining the vegetation and controlling the population of the animals. The fishermen used the bark to create nets and catch fish, or would spear the trout flowing through the river. The hunters would hunt the deer, rabbits, and other small animals to eat, and the gatherers collected berries and plants for food.
There is a creek that flows through the Mill Creek Nature Preserve called Penny Creek, and has trout that swim up the ladders and return each spring to spawn. There are also many organisms that were found, such as beavers, deers, rabbits, mice, birds, frogs, and coyotes. There were also many plants that were used for ethnobotany. There were Bigleaf Maple, Red Alders, Horsetails, Salmon berries, sedges, Oregon Ash, and many others. The Bigleaf Maple's bark was used for making ropes, carving for dishes and paddles, the seeds can be eaten, the sap is boiled down to make maple syrup. The Oregon Ash's wood could be used for making digging materials, sedges can be used to weave baskets. The Salmon berry berries were eaten dried or fresh. The Red Alder's sap is used for sealing wounds and cuts, the inner bark is powdered and used as a thickening agent for cooking, the outer bark can be used for aspirin, or create a paste for skin issues.
Works Cited
There is a creek that flows through the Mill Creek Nature Preserve called Penny Creek, and has trout that swim up the ladders and return each spring to spawn. There are also many organisms that were found, such as beavers, deers, rabbits, mice, birds, frogs, and coyotes. There were also many plants that were used for ethnobotany. There were Bigleaf Maple, Red Alders, Horsetails, Salmon berries, sedges, Oregon Ash, and many others. The Bigleaf Maple's bark was used for making ropes, carving for dishes and paddles, the seeds can be eaten, the sap is boiled down to make maple syrup. The Oregon Ash's wood could be used for making digging materials, sedges can be used to weave baskets. The Salmon berry berries were eaten dried or fresh. The Red Alder's sap is used for sealing wounds and cuts, the inner bark is powdered and used as a thickening agent for cooking, the outer bark can be used for aspirin, or create a paste for skin issues.
Photos of my location at different points of the site.
Works Cited
“Bigleaf Maple.” BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database, naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=bigleaf%2Bmaple.
Google Search, Google, www.google.com/maps/place/Mill+Creek,+WA/@47.859787,-122.2144046,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x549005dc7463c041:0x7801219e5956768f!8m2!3d47.8600971!4d-122.2042966.
“History of Snohomish.” History of Snohomish | Snohomish, WA - Official Website, 4 Oct. 2013, ci.snohomish.wa.us/315/History-of-Snohomish.
“Mill Creek, Washington.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Dec. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Creek,_Washington.
“Oregon Ash.” BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database, naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=oregon%2Bash.
“Red Alder.” BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database, naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=red%2Balder.
“Salmonberry.” BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database, naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=salmonberry.
“Snohomish People.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 June 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snohomish_people.
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