Editing Index, Washington (section)

===Pre-incorporation===

Prior to settlement by European Americans, the [[Skykomish people]] had many villages along the [[Skykomish River]] between [[Sultan, Washington|Sultan]] and Index. One large and important village of the {{Langx|lut|bəsx̌əx̌əx̌alč|label=none}} band was at {{Langx|lut|x̌əx̌aʔusalʔtxʷ|label=none}} (derived from {{Langx|lut|sx̌aʔus|label=none}}, meaning "[[sawbill duck]]")<ref name="Roe">{{cite book |last=Roe |first=Joann |title=Stevens Pass: The Story of Railroading and Recreation in the North Cascades |publisher=[[Mountaineers Books]] |year=1995 |isbn=0898863716 |location=Seattle |page=150 |oclc=32199366}}</ref> in modern-day Index.<ref name="Hollenbeck-Moss">{{cite book |last1=Hollenbeck |first1=Jan L. |last2=Moss |first2=Madonna |year=1987 |title=A Cultural Resource Overview: Prehistory, Ethnography and History: Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest |publisher=[[United States Forest Service]] |pages=161–164 |oclc=892024380 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005998596 |via=[[HathiTrust]] |access-date=January 5, 2019 |archive-date=March 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329085846/https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005998596 |url-status=live}}</ref> At the village were several longhouses, including a large [[potlatch]] house. {{Langx|lut|x̌əx̌aʔusalʔtxʷ|label=none}} was the base camp for people traveling into the [[Cascade Range|Cascades]] for hunting and gathering.<ref name="Hollenbeck-Moss"/> The Skykomish people were signatories of the 1855 [[Treaty of Point Elliott]] and many were moved to the [[Tulalip Indian Reservation]], where they later amalgamated with the [[Snohomish people|Snohomish]] and [[Snoqualmie people|Snoqualmie]] tribes.<ref name="Roe"/> Some members of the tribe elected to stay in the Skykomish Valley, primarily near [[Gold Bar, Washington|Gold Bar]] and [[Sultan, Washington|Sultan]].<ref name="HL-Incorporation">{{cite web |last=Lindgren |first=Louise |date=November 21, 2019 |title=Index incorporates on October 11, 1907. |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/20911 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |accessdate=February 4, 2025}}</ref>

The first non-native settlers in the area were prospectors who placed individual [[mineral rights]] for claims in the Cascades, beginning with a [[gold rush]] in 1874 along Silver Creek near what later became the community of [[Galena, Washington|Galena]].<ref name="Roe"/> Amos Gunn, a [[American Civil War|Civil War]] veteran from Illinois, arrived at the fork of the Skykomish River with his wife and six children in 1889 and bought a [[Adverse possession|squatter's claim]] to establish a [[Homestead Act|homestead]]. He constructed a home that also served as a hotel for prospectors and railroad workers on the [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]].<ref name="PI-1983">{{cite news |last=Warren |first=James |date=November 8, 1983 |title=Gunn family traveled west to found the town of Index |page=D2 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref><ref name="Roe-151">{{harvp|Roe|1995|p=151}}</ref> His wife Persis named their site "Index" for nearby Mount Index (later renamed [[Baring Mountain]]),<ref name="IllustratedHistory">{{cite book |last1=Cameron |first1=David A. |last2=LeWarne |first2=Charles P. |last3=May |first3=M. Allan |last4=O'Donnell |first4=Jack C. |last5=O'Donnell |first5=Lawrence E. |year=2005 |title=Snohomish County: An Illustrated History |page=96 |publisher=Kelcema Books LLC |location=Index, Washington |isbn=978-0-9766700-0-1 |oclc=62728798}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Meany |first=Edmond S. |author-link=Edmond S. Meany |year=1923 |title=Origin of Washington geographic names |page=119 |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027074981;view=1up;seq=135 |via=[[HathiTrust]] |access-date=August 14, 2016 |archive-date=May 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510143132/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027074981;view=1up;seq=135 |url-status=live}}</ref> itself named for its resemblance to an [[index finger]].<ref name="PI-Change">{{cite news |last=Graydon |first=Don |date=September 6, 1997 |title=Small town 'on brink of change' |page=D1 |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=James W. |year=1971 |title=Washington State Place Names |page=[https://archive.org/details/washingtonstatep00phil/page/65 65] |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=0-295-95158-3 |oclc=1052713900 |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtonstatep00phil |url-access=registration |via=[[The Internet Archive]] |access-date=November 18, 2019}}</ref> Mount Persis and Gunn's Peaks were also named for the family.<ref name="Roe-151"/><ref name="Herald-School">{{cite news |last=Slager |first=Melisa |date=December 4, 2005 |title=Tiny town's school endures |page=B1 |work=[[The Everett Herald]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-herald-tiny-towns-school-endu/164737601/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=February 4, 2025}}</ref> Mines in the area yielded gold, silver, copper, and [[galena]] among other minerals, which spurred further settlement around the North Fork Skykomish River.<ref name="PI-Change"/>

Index was assigned a [[post office]] in November 1891 and Amos Gunn was appointed its first [[postmaster]]. He initially delivered mail and parcels by horseback from Wallace (now [[Startup, Washington|Startup]]) on a {{convert|12|mi|km|adj=mid}} overland trail.<ref name="HL-Incorporation"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Burgstahler |first=Ruth |year=1980 |title=Index: A Historical Perspective |page=8 |publisher=Index Historical Society |oclc=6384024}}</ref> The Gunns' hotel was expanded two years later to accommodate an increasing number of prospectors who arrived on the Great Northern and traveled onward towards Galena and [[Mineral City, Washington|Mineral City]].<ref name="Roe-151"/> The railroad across [[Stevens Pass]] had been completed in January 1893, and was followed within a few years by a [[stagecoach]] road from Index to Galena.<ref name="HL-Incorporation"/> The town [[plat]] for Index was filed by Amos Gunn on April 25, 1893, shortly after a controlling interest in the settlement was acquired by the Everett Terminal Land and Milling Company.<ref name="PI-1983"/><ref name="Roe-154">{{harvp|Roe|1995|pp=154–155}}</ref> The plat reserved {{convert|100|ft|m}} for the main street, which had been surfaced with gravel due to frequent flooding from the Skykomish River and was sought for use for a branch railroad to Galena.<ref name="HL-Incorporation"/><ref name="PI-Change"/> A fire destroyed the Gunns' hotel, [[general store]], and several residences in the town on July 22 of that year, but had not damaged the Great Northern depot.<ref name="PI-1983"/> The town's buildings were rebuilt as mining activity had temporarily subsided due to the [[Panic of 1893]] and was eclipsed by logging and farming as the main local industry.<ref name="HistoryLink">{{cite web |last=Lindgren |first=Louise |date=September 4, 2009 |title=Index — Thumbnail History |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/9143 |work=HistoryLink |accessdate=October 29, 2014}}</ref> The Copper Bell and Sunset mines were opened in 1898 and brought the town to its peak population of 1,000 in 1900.<ref name="PI-1983"/><ref name="Roe-154"/> The Sunset Mine was the largest in the area and produced {{convert|1,500|oz|kg}} of gold, {{convert|156,000|oz|kg}} of silver, and {{convert|12.9|lbs|kg|disp=preunit|million |million }}<!--Spaces are necessary for the template's output--> of copper during its lifetime.<ref>{{harvp|Cameron|LeWarne|May|O'Donnell|2005|p=154}}</ref>