Schafer State Park History

Schafer State Park preserves the craftsmanship of Depression Era park facilities and provides a window into the story of the Satsop River Valley, dominated by the vast timber harvest operations that were undertaken in its rich forest land beginning in the early 20th Century.

Indigenous Lands

The park lies within the traditional territories of Coast Salish Indigenous people whose present-day descendants include members of the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Skokomish Indian Tribe, and Quinault Indian Nation. For thousands of years this area has provided habitat for a diverse community of life that forms the basis of their cultures. The Satsop River, notably in the area that makes up today’s state park, has supported highly sought runs of steelhead, coho, chum and chinook salmon since time immemorial.

Some local Indigenous people refused to accept the conditions proposed by Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens at the Chehalis River Treaty Council in February 1855. Subsequently, title to the land was relinquished to the US federal government and the Chehalis Indian Reservation was established by executive order of Secretary of the Interior J. P. Usher on July 8, 1864. Some members of the Satsop Band of today’s Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation chose to reside at the Quinault Indian Reservation, established by the Treaty of Quinault River in 1855.

After government surveys were completed in 1875, most of the land in today’s park was conveyed into private ownership in 1895 as a part of the Northern Pacific Railroad Land Grant. The US Congress had approved the grant in 1864 to eventually convey nearly 40 million acres of public domain lands to the company to help finance railroad lines into the western states. Most of the lands were sold to other private owners to increase railroad company revenue.

The Schafer Brothers

In 1871, John D. and Anna Schafer arrived in Olympia from the Midwest. Shortly after their arrival, John built a raft, filled it with provisions and floated down the Black River and Chehalis River to seek a homestead location. After a challenging journey that included the swamping of the raft and rescue by local Indigenous people, he claimed a site six miles up the Satsop River from its confluence with the Chehalis River. The family “proved up” their claim and received a Homestead Entry patent in 1880, and the property became a center for settlers, hunters and timber cruisers coming into the area. Three of the Schafers’ sons, Peter, Hubert and Albert, began logging the Satsop Valley with crews made up of friends, relatives and Indigenous neighbors in 1893. Beginning with teams of oxen and hand saws, they quickly acquired new technologies to expand their operation.

The Schafer Brothers Lumber Company was incorporated in 1914, as they acquired more land. The company purchased some of the lands granted to the Northern Pacific Railroad (including the site of today’s Schafer State Park) and developed a logging railroad to access timber for harvest. Their company expanded to become one of the largest lumber milling and shipping operations in Washington, with five sawmills served by six logging camps sending logs over 100 miles of rail with 18 locomotives and hundreds of rail cars. The company employed up to 3,000 people in its operations. During World War I, the US Army Spruce Division recruited service members to boost production of wood products for military aircraft manufacturing. 100 soldiers were assigned to Schafer Camp 5, adjacent to today’s state park, in 1917.

The land in today’s park was a favorite fishing and picnic spot for the Schafer family and it was used by the Schafer Brothers Lumber Company for their annual picnics, an event attended by up to 6,000 people. The day featured tree climbing, log rolling, bucking, and shingle packing contests as well as swimming races, a canoe race, tug of war, and a pie eating contest. The company band provided entertainment. A dance floor and picnic tables were constructed to accommodate the crowds at the annual picnic and other events on the site. In 1923, the Montesano Chamber of Commerce held work parties to construct a roof over the dance floor.

Becoming a State Park

On February 20, 1924, the Schafer brothers paid tribute to their parents by donating the land to the State Parks Committee for park purposes, creating one of Washington’s first state parks.

Great Depression Era Work

In February 1933, the State Parks Committee sought to provide emergency relief for unemployed workers. An appropriation of $40,000 from the Parks and Parkways Fund allowed the Committee to hire 300 men to work in state parks. Fred Russell was hired to oversee projects in Schafer State Park, including brick camp stoves, two small kitchens, picnic tables and general park cleanup and repairs.

As the Great Depression deepened, people throughout Washington and across the US struggled with poverty as job losses and business closures erased their economic security. Newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved fast to provide material relief for suffering families. Two days after its creation in November 1933, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) approved an expenditure of $4,952 for work at Schafer State Park, to be overseen by Fred Russell and the State Parks Committee. The CWA was replaced by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1934, and the WPA continued funding projects in the park including two restroom buildings, a caretaker residence, two kitchens, a registration booth, a drinking fountain and a water system. All buildings were designed in the National Park Service (NPS) Rustic Style using local materials, including washed river cobbles gathered from the Satsop River.

A State Park Grows Up

Much of the development of the park after the Depression Era was the work of Clarence Clyde “Doc” Palmer. Palmer was hired as the Superintendent at Schafer State Park in 1950. He was an advocate of perpetuating the NPS Rustic Style and often used the phrase “mark it with chalk, cut it with an axe, and call it rustic.” To replace the original covered dance floor removed in the 1940s, Palmer built a large community shelter with a river cobble fireplace matching earlier projects.

In 2013, park managers removed trees in an area of the park that were found to be infected by laminated root rot. The pathogen that causes the disease is transmitted by roots of infected trees in contact with healthy ones; spread can be controlled only by removal of infected trees and stumps.

Changes to the watershed of the Satsop River upstream of Schafer State Park from years of logging and changing climatic conditions in recent decades led to frequent flood events affecting the park, damaging the park campground. In 2023, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission completed upgrades to the park to close campsites in harm’s way from flooding and develop a larger campground in an area of the park on higher ground.