First People of the Skykomish Valley, called the Skykomish, the extended group of families for whom the river was named. The Treaty of Point Elliot, signed in January 1855 at Mukilteo, created a single reservation at Tulalip (northwest of Everett) for the indigenous peoples living along the Snohomish, Skykomish, and Snoqualmie rivers. That was the beginning of the end for the Skykomish People for there are no people left who identify themselves as purely Skykomish. Seven village sites existed between present-day Monroe and Index at the time of white contact in the 1850s.

Mrs. Pond, Clara, Clemens and Major Pond. Crossing the Rockies. The Great Northern. August 9.
Mark Twain Archive, Elmira College courtesy of Kevin Mac Donnell, Austin, Texas.

Major Pond either was mistaken about the location, "crossing the Rockies", or he was unaware that these were the Cascades they were crossing. Twain remarked in his journal that they had stopped a short distance from Wellington and threw rocks down the precipice. Embro is the most likely spot for this.

A small huddle of frame dwellings once sat at the east portal of the Cascade Tunnel, adjacent to the railroad station. The tunnel, approximately eight miles long and one of the largest projects of its kind in the country, was completed in 1929. Only four or five Alpine railway tunnels are longer than the new Cascade. Although the tunnel is still in use, Berne is no longer a residential community but a maintenance facility center for the railroad. The road to the center and eastern tunnel is private.