Edson T. Cady, along with Emory C. Ferguson, co-founded Cadyville in 1860 to take advantage of a military road Congress planned that never materialized. Cadyville later became known as Snohomish, Washington.

E.T. Cady sailed from New York on the Nautilus on February 22, 1849, headed for California. According to the 1862 Census of Snohomish County, taken by Sheriff Salem A. Woods, Cady was 34 years old and a native of Utica, New York.

Cady Creek and Cady Pass, located in the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness, were named after the 1860 E.F. Cady exploring party. The party was attempting to locate a railroad route over the North Cascades.