Prosperity returned to Everett around 1900, and the Rucker brothers were among the city's leading citizens, with extensive investments in local real estate, banks, and other ventures. Among these ventures was the Rucker Brothers Timber Company, which operated a sawmill in nearby Lake Stevens and several timber camps to the east. These were serviced by the former Everett and Monte Cristo Railway, a line which had been built to access a large mining operation at Monte Cristo, high in the Cascade Mountains to the east.