Robert Bridges (1861-1921) was born in Scotland in 1861. He immigrated to the United States in 1881, moving first to Illinois, then to Iowa, and finally to Washington Territory in 1887. He was a coal miner and worked in the mines at Black Diamond in King County. During his time in the mines, Bridges was a union organizer and he remained stoutly pro-labor and pro-union throughout his subsequent careers. He moved to Seattle in 1889, where he became a shop-keeper, and taught himself to read and write. He also acted as the Assistant Superintendent of Sewer Construction. In 1893, he changed careers yet again, becoming a dairy farmer in the White River Valley. A member of the Democratic Party, and later a Populist, Bridges was elected State Land Commissioner in 1896 after refusing a free ticket from the railroad companies and walking to a convention in Ellensburg. With the formation of the Seattle Port Commission in 1911, Bridges became a port commissioner. In 1915, he became president of the Port Commission. He ran in the primaries for the United States Senate in 1916. Bridges resigned from the Port Commission in 1919, and ran for governor in 1920 on the newly formed Farmer-Labor ticket. Throughout his political career, Bridges, who was frequently called, "Bob Bridges," was an advocate of labor and municipal ownership of utilities and port facilities. He died on December 2, 1921 in Auburn, Washington.
From the description of Robert Bridges scrapbooks, 1891-1921. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 275170619
