After Schuyler and Eliza Saunders staked out property in 1851, early pioneers referred to the soggy Chehalis River bottomland as "Saunders Bottom." The community of Claquato on a nearby hillside became a busy way station for travelers but only until enterprising businessmen like William West repeatedly flagged down passing trains, prompting railroad officials to establish a depot at Chehalis. Following an economic boom in the 1880s, fires in 1892...