Our modern day Sammamish began creating roots for our community approximately 163 years ago with the 1855 Point Elliott Treaty In the Washington Territory. East Coast residents made their treks toward the unexplored and uncharted West Coast, lured by the Gold Rush in California (1948-1855) and the Federal Homestead Act of 1862 (signed into law by Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862). The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a "homestead." In all, more than 270 million acres of public land, or nearly 10% of the total area of the U.S., was given away free to 1.6 million homesteaders; most of the homesteads were west of the Mississippi. Families made the covered wagon arduous journey via the Oregon Trail. Those settling in California and Oregon extended their migration to enter our present Washington State. Claimants (adult heads of families) were required to "improve" the plot by building a dwelling and cultivating the land, most often comprised of 160 acres of surveyed public land. After five years on the land, the original filer was entitled to the property, free and clear, except for a small registration fee. Title could also be acquired after only a six-month residency and minor improvements, provided the claimant paid the government $1.25 per acre. After the Civil War, soldiers could deduct the time they had served from the residency requirements. Of some 500 million acres dispersed by the General Land Office between 1862 and 1904, only 80 million acres went to homesteaders because few laborers and farmers could afford to build a farm or acquire necessary tools, seed and livestock.

Native American tribal communities populating the Washington Territory included Chinook, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Sammamish, Skokomish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Stillaguamish, Suquamish, Tulalip, Walla Walla, and Yakima. Seasonal tribal residents worked in the hops fields, logging, and coal mines. During the hop field harvesting, they were here. Most tribal residents then walked back to their other communities as far away as Yakima. Yes, they walked back!
Rumored consideration on naming the city at the time of incorporation on August 31, 1999, had included Sahalee, Inglewood, Pine Lake, Timberline, Monohon, and Heaven (a proposition quickly withdrawn).

Lake Sammamish was originally named Squak Lake. Sammamish itself has been formerly named Adelaide, Gilman, Inglewood, Issaquah, Monohon, and Pine Lake.

In the series of the first four (4) wraps, the second traffic signal utility box wrap is located at the corner of 228th NE and Inglewood Hill Road (NE 8th Street).
Images include:

• West exposure: Inglewood Grammar School, circa 1890's identifying teacher Anna Clark. Text: "Probably built in early 1890's. Documents indicate it was operating as a school from 1895 until 1920. It was located on the SE corner of this intersection where the 76 Service Station now resides. It was a traditional one-room school, with cloakroom and porch in the new building (around 1900). One teacher taught first through eighth grades, and the students were seated according to their grade.
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• South exposure: Inglewood Grammar School from top to bottom: 1890's, 1902, 1960's, 1970's. Text: "After 1920: Became a community center. 1930: Floyd and Ruby Eddy lived in the house for 4-5 years. Late 1930's: Converted to a chicken coop. 1970's: Some Sammamish residents recall the schoolhouse.
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• East exposure: Top: Story of Teacher Anna Clark's Christmas Cactus with qr bar code linking back to story of the Clark homestead built across the street close to the existing McDonald's. "Sources: Lucille McDonald, Kathryn Martin, Lily Mae Anderson interview of Teacher Anna Clark Fortescue, Marymoor Museum, Redmond, WA, March 15, 1978. 2018: Research and Design by Claradell Shedd, Sammamish Arts Commissioner. Images from Faye Sween, the Issaquah History Museum, the Sammamish Heritage Society, Claradell Shedd"
  Bottom: Ledger page from King County School District 150 Archived expenditures for year ending June 30, 1910 (teacher Anna Clark's salary shown as $60./month).
  QR code linking to children in a one-room schoolhouse singing "School Days."
  
  
• North exposure: Kroll 1912 Township Map: Sections 33, 34. Indicates location of Inglewood Grammar School and residence of Clark Family (Teacher Anna Clark) plus "You are here."
  
  
• Top: Kroll 1912 Township Map: Sections 33, 34. Tops are covered because satellite maps can enlarge geographic areas to read details of signage. After an installation is completed, I will be incorporating drone photos of the tops of the units which should be a higher quality than one can achieve with an enlarged satellite image.

Text from Story of Teacher Anna Clark's Christmas Cactus:
"In 1906, Anna Clark's parents purchased 80 acres several blocks west of the present 228th and Inglewood Hill Road intersection. For about $600, her father built a two-story seven-room house with its customary outhouse. The Clarks used a well for drinking, cooking, and bathing. In 1908, Anna Clark graduated from Seattle High School (renamed Broadway High School). Anna's first teaching assignment was at the Inglewood Grammar School, a short walking distance from her parents' house. Anna Clark's students were aware that her sentimental favorite plant was her Christmas cactus being nurtured there at the school. A young student named Freddie Dodd had performed admirably, and Miss Clark wanted to acknowledge his commendable performance. What could she give him which would be significantly representative of her appreciation? Miss Clark approached her favorite plant, removed a tendril, and presented it to Freddie. Inglewood farmers were chicken and egg producers, and Freddie Dodd's family home and chicken coops were located where we now view the Metropolitan Market. Over the years, the cactus flourished under the care of Freddie and his mother, Bertha Dodd. During the 1970's, neighbors from across the street, Donovan and Helen Albrecht, befriended the Dodd family. Helen Albrecht's green thumb beckoned for a sliver of "Miss Clark's" Christmas cactus. Advance to present day 2018: Pictured above is the late Helen Albrecht's sliver of Miss Clark's treasured plant. Recently Donovan Albrecht asked a Sammamish resident, "Would you like a start from the cactus?" Excitedly "Absolutely!" was the response. Starts from this cactus are being cultivated on a kitchen window sill. Anna Clark Fortescue's granddaughter has been located in Tennessee. She will be gifted with a start from her late grandmother's original cactus. The Clark farmhouse, pictured above, has been moved at last twice, once in the late 1970's and in the 1990's, about a block further west and has been continuously occupied. The present homeowners of the Clark farmhouse will also become the recipients of a start from Anna Clark's Christmas cactus 110+ years later! What could be more appropriate than to return Anna Clark's original Christmas cactus to her house in Inglewood/Sammamish?"