Tom Paine has almost no influence on present-day thinking in the United States because he is unknown to the average citizen. Perhaps I might say right here that this is a national loss and a deplorable lack of understanding concerning the man who first proposed and first wrote those impressive words, ’the United States of America.’ But it is hardly strange. Paine’s teachings have been debarred from schools everywhere and his views of life misrepresented until his memory is hidden in shadows, or he is looked upon as of unsound mind.
Thomas Edison, Essay in The Diary and Sundry Observations (1948) edited by Dagobert D. Runes
- Old Robe Trail - Robe Canyon Historical Park (willhiteweb.com)
If you are at all fascinated by the history of the Monte Cristo area, you need to see the tunnels of the Monte Cristo Railroad near Granite Falls. The railroad tunnels were constructed in 1892 as part of the rail line between Everett and Monte Cristo. In Robe Canyon, they constructed three bridges and six tunnels. Shortly after, a storm washed out the grade and buried parts of it in landslides. The river would even travel through the tunnels washing everything away. After this happened a few times, they decided to embed the rail ties in concrete, including through tunnel #6.
