Bucoda’s Seatco Prison – “Hell On Earth” (Washington’s First Territorial Prison)

In this episode of Searching for History, Erin and I drive down to Bucoda, Washington and visit the site of Washington Territory’s first prison, Seatco Prison. Bucoda was first settled in 1854 by Aaron Webster who a built sawmill on his homestead. The homestead and sawmill were sold to Oliver Shead in the 1860s. It was Oliver Shead that named the settlement, Seatco. In 1872, the Northern Pacific Railroad built a train depot at Seatco. From 1874 to 1888, Bucoda was the site of Washington’s first territorial prison, Seatco Prison. The prison had a reputation for harsh manual labor and was known as “hell on earth” by the inmates. Seatco eventually was renamed, Bucoda using the first two letters of three investors in the town: Buckley, Coulter and David. Bucoda was officially incorporated on June 7, 1910. In this video, we also visit the nearby Forest Grove Cemetery where inmates from Seatco Prison were buried. Please join us as we visit Bucoda and the Seatco Prison site.

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Music Attributions
Song 1: To the Top by Silent Partner (YouTube Audio Library License, no attribution is required)
Song 2: Snowy Peaks pt I by Chris Haugen (YouTube Audio Library License, no attribution is required)

Image Attributions
Image 1: Seatco Territorial Prison” 1880-1890, Photographer: unknown. Washington State Archives – Digital Archives, State Library Photograph Collection, 1851-1990 - Ar-07809001-Ph003446. This image is in the Public Domain. Image located: https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Re...