Chapter 5

From the city of Spokane all corners of the Inland Empire are easily reached. Five transcontinental lines enter the city and two others operate trains; while a network of electric lines serves the immediate vicinity, penetrating the territory as far south as Colfax, Palouse, and Moscow; southwest to Medical Lake and Cheney; and eastward to Hayden Lake and Coeur d'Alene. Highways have been built through the most scenic sections along the river valleys and up into the mountains. Each mode of transportation unfolds a different panorama. The hills nearest Spokane are covered with a dense growth of pine. Farther away are forests of pine, fir, cedar, and tamarac, concealing many lakes teeming with trout and black bass. Within a radius of a hundred miles are fifty mountain lakes, thirty-eight of which are ideally located and supplied with all necessary equipment for camping. They include Pend Oreille, the second largest fresh water lake in the United States, fifty miles east; Hayden Lake, forty miles east in the heart of the Idaho National Forest Reserve; Chatcolet Lake, thirty-two miles distant; Liberty Lake, seventeen miles; Priest Lake, seventy-eight miles; Spirit Lake, forty-three miles; Coeur d'Alene, thirty-two miles; and Twin Lakes, thirty-three miles.

The mountains are visible either to the north or the east. They are neither as lofty nor as rugged as the Cascades and Olympics, but they are nevertheless beautiful. The highest peak in eastern Washington is Mount Spokane, 5,808 feet, twenty miles northeast of the city. From its summit one may look out into the three northwestern states of Oregon, Idaho and Washington, and into the province of British Columbia; and count seventeen different lakes and rivers.

Towards the north are the Okanogan Highlands with the valleys of the Pend Oreille and Colville, while the Bitter Root mountains are approached on the east. The roads westward and southward lead past well cultivated gardens, green meadows and groves, until finally is spread before one a sea of grain--continuous wheat fields--the Big Bend to the west and the Palouse to the south.

Towards the east the "Apple Way," one of the most remarkable roads in America on account of the high class material of which it is constructed, enters the Spokane Valley, crosses the state of Idaho and connects with roads leading to the National Parks in Montana. This valley more than thirty miles in length, with an average width of eight miles, comprises a level irrigated country cut up into intensive garden and orchard tracts. Thousands are supported in affluence by raising apples, pears, cherries, small fruits, garden truck, poultry, and live stock. The advantages of abundant water power, proximity to a great city, rapid transit facilities, and a healthful climate, are quickly transforming the region into one of attractive suburban homes.

The Spokane River drops 1,280 feet in a distance of 100 miles, and 130 feet within the city limits, falling precipitously 70 feet in the heart of the business section, over a dam 200 feet wide. On both sides is built the city sloping towards its waters and overlooking the country beyond. Extensive economic developments are taking place, there being seven distinct projects under way which involve expenditures of nearly $35,000,000. These include railroad construction, power plants, manufacturing and business blocks, and hotels for tourists. Historical events are associated with Fort George Wright, named for a famous Indian fighter; Indian Canyon, tribal home of Spokane Indians; Mount Spokane, a pow-wow place for Indian tribes; Fort Spokane, one of the first government Indian posts; Old Block House, a protection for the early fur traders; and Steptoe Butte, the scene of a famous battle.

THE WHEAT PLATEAU.

The wheat belt includes principally the area within the big bend of the Columbia river, the "Big Bend Country," which stretches eastward until it blends with the rolling Palouse, one of the richest farm regions in the northwest, and southeast across the Snake River to the Blue Mountains; although considerable wheat is raised in the country lying between the Columbia and the Cascades, as well as in the four counties to the north. The green carpet is visible, in spring, and the waving heads of yellow grain, in summer, extending away to the horizon. The combined harvester, drawn by thirty-six horses, is a familiar example of the immensity of the machinery needed when gathering the mammoth crop, which for the entire state is in the neighborhood of 50,000,000 bushels annually.

The Big Bend is broken in places by "coulees" or old river courses, sometimes 500 to 600 feet in depth, where irrigation is practiced and where strings of small alkali lakes have been scattered. Two of the most important are Moses Coulee in Douglas county, and Grand Coulee forming the boundary line between Douglas and Grant counties, said to be the old bed of the Columbia. Almost surrounded by the wheat belt lies the Quincy Valley, containing 435,000 acres of level fertile land to be some day irrigated by water conducted under the Columbia river from Wenatchee Lake in Chelan county.

The best known lakes include Soap Lake, a health resort, Moses Lake, near which irrigation from wells is successfully carried on, and Rock Lake, a rock bound sheet of water in the Palouse. The most important river is the Palouse which creates the Palouse Falls just before joining the Snake River. Near this stream are several prosperous cities, including Colfax, Palouse, and Pullman, the home of the State College and Experiment Station.

THE WALLA WALLA COUNTRY.

The Snake river, largest tributary of the Columbia, with a canyon of 1,500 feet, cuts this plateau in two, and forms a natural dividing line between Whitman and Franklin counties on the north, and Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, and Asotin on the south. Its warm canyon is famous for early fruits and berries which are shipped in carloads to eastern and western points.

Fields of wheat, barley or rye extend southward in all four counties to the Blue Mountains, interrupted occasionally by orchards which assume their greatest proportions in the beautiful Touchet and Walla Walla valleys. Over this rich country the fair city of Walla Walla reigns supreme, her authority being limited only by the Columbia and Snake rivers, or the Blue Mountains; although Waitsburg, Dayton, Pomeroy and Clarkston are important centers in their own districts.

Steeped in historical associations is this valley, from Wallula, the site of the first Hudson's Bay fort, to the city of Walla Walla. When once seen, no words are needed to tell why these lovely plains, all ready for the planting and moistened with sufficient rainfall annually, were so attractive to the early settlers, and inspired the first serious efforts at colonization.

THE COLUMBIA RIVER.

All waters of eastern Washington reach the ocean through the Columbia river, uniting the entire region in one spirit of fraternity. The grandest and most reaching scenic feature of the region, it supplies unlimited water for successful irrigation and power purposes, and in places still provides the principal mode of transportation. Between Kettle Falls and the Snake river are a number of important rapids, chief of which is Priest Rapids, just below Saddle Gap, ten miles long with a descent of seventy feet and a possible horse power of half a million.

Just above the mouth of the Snake river are the cities of Kennewick and Pasco, ready to profit by direct navigation to the sea as soon as the Celilo locks are completed. At the lowest elevation in the Inland Empire and surrounded by a large area of irrigable land, they are served by three transcontinental railroads, permitting rapid transit to any part of the northwest.

The state of Washington is rapidly developing a system of roads which, finally consummated, will rival in skillful engineering and commercial importance the French highways, and in scenic grandeur the mountain passes of Switzerland. Easy approaches are being constructed to every town and hamlet and into every farming community. So vigorously has the work been pushed that Washington now outranks every other state, except Colorado, in the facility and directness with which its mountain recesses may be reached. Upwards of 50,000 miles have been already completed, presenting altogether a labyrinth of broad thorofares, boulevards, and country highways. The most important highways built and maintained at state expense are the Pacific, the Sunset, the Inland Empire, the Olympic and the National Park.

THE PACIFIC HIGHWAY.

The Pacific Highway extends from the southern limit of the state of California to Vancouver, British Columbia, twenty-seven miles north of Washington's boundary line, a total distance of about two thousand miles. Three hundred and fifty miles is within the state of Washington, connecting Vancouver on the Columbia with Blaine at the international line. It traverses nine counties of Washington, containing forty-eight per cent of the wealth and fifty-five per cent of the population, and passes through nine county seats, including Olympia, the state capital, Vancouver, Kalama. Chehalis, Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Mount Vernon and Bellingham.

From Vancouver, Washington, this highway starts northward through the prune and plum orchards of Clarke county, where more of these trees grow than in all other parts of the state combined. Along the banks of the historic Columbia and through the fertile valley of the Cowlitz, it winds toward Kelso, famous for smelt fisheries; and Castle Rock, the gateway to Mount St. Helens. Deviating to the right at Vader, the north fork of the picturesque Chehalis is soon reached, which fertile valley is followed to the cities of Chehalis and Centralia, two rapidly growing railroad centers having a combined population of 15,500 people. Groves, orchards, gardens and prairies line the smooth gravelly road from here to Olympia, where the first view of Puget Sound is obtained. The desire to swerve off toward Grays Harbor or the Olympic Peninsula by the newly completed Olympic Highway, or to try the steamer on the peaceful Sound, is with difficulty overcome; but the Pacific Highway finally wins and draws one on toward Tacoma, thirty-two miles northeast. Rising above the famous Nisqually flats, and descending again to cross the oak moor lands marking the beginning of Tacoma's playgrounds and reminding one of southern England, the road soon enters Tacoma, third city in population in the state.

Along the Puyallup and White river valleys, the course leads, touching at Puyallup and Sumner, famous for berry culture; at Auburn and Kent, centers of a rich dairy section; and at Renton, bristling with manufacturing importance near the southern end of beautiful Lake Washington. A dozen miles more and you are on the streets of Seattle, metropolis of the northwest and third city in size west of the Rocky Mountains.

Northward the course continues. A broad paved road winds along by Lake Washington to Bothel, passing several pretty lakes, entering green woods, intersecting meadows, crossing streamlets, rising to sightly plateaus and descending again to peaceful valleys before it reaches Everett, a city of 32,000, located on an eminence overlooking the waters of the Sound.

The next town reached is Marysville, whence the highway skirts the Tulalip Indian reservation, crosses the Stillaguamish river in the Sylvan Flats and enters Stanwood where a scenic road branches off to Camano Island. At Mount Vernon and Burlington, where it intersects the Skagit county road leading from Anacortes eastward to the mountains, one may appreciate the famous Skagit Valley, the "Holland of the Northwest," where 173 bushels of oats to the acre have been yielded on land protected from the sea and river by immense dykes.

Within ten miles of Bellingham the Water Front Road is reached, said to be the most picturesque on the entire route: for the Sound is plainly seen from the shaded highway which clings to the side of Chuckanut Mountain, while the electric interurban and the Great Northern railway traverse the waterfront below. Bellingham, a city of 30,000, has innumerable attractions to hold the tourist, who still has twenty miles' journey if he would follow the Pacific Highway to the Washington limit at Blaine, the most northwesterly municipality in the United States. Near by is the Whatcom County Government Farm, the only one in the northwest; where bulb growing rivals the same industry in Holland.

SUNSET HIGHWAY.

The Sunset Highway is the only route at present permitting through automobile traffic across the Cascade mountains and connecting the western with the eastern counties. Throughout its full four hundred miles from Seattle to Spokane it introduces the tourist to scenes which for diversity and pleasant surprises, varying from rugged mountains and roaring waterfalls to peaceful irrigated valleys or broad wheat plains, can nowhere be duplicated. With the exception of a few miles the grades are never more than five per cent.

Branching off from the Pacific Highway at Renton, it rises northeastward to the headwaters of the Snoqualmie River. Just below the town of Snoqualmie appear the wonderful falls of the same name, the "Niagara of the West." This immense stream of water falling 268 feet, is now harnessed to supply power and light to the cities and towns of Puget Sound. Following the banks of this river the highway penetrates entrancing forests and exposes many a remarkable panorama. Both road and river are at times clearly visible from the Chicago-Milwaukee trains puffing towards the summit.

Descending, the road leads southeast along the headwaters of the Yakima, and skirts the eastern banks of beautiful Lake Keechelus, where the government is building a huge dam for storing water to irrigate the Kittitas and Yakima valleys. Passing the southern extremity of Lake Kachees, another deep mountain lake, it soon passes Cle Elum, a coal shipping center, enters the broad Kittitas valley and reaches the cultured city of Ellensburg, mistress of the section and home of one of the state normals.

The route is now northeastward over Table Mountain by a 5,200-foot pass, permitting an excellent view of Mounts Rainier and Hood. The banks of the Columbia are followed to Wenatchee, the metropolis of north central Washington and the famous red apple district. Crossing the Columbia it proceeds along its east bank to Orondo, whence, plunging through a winding canyon, it rises rapidly to the great wheat plateau of the Big Bend, which bursts suddenly upon the view. Leaving Waterville, the county seat of Douglas county, it turns abruptly eastward to continue in an almost unbroken line through expansive wheat fields towards Spokane, the metropolitan city of the Inland Empire, over a hundred miles away.

At Coulee City, forty miles from Waterville, it would be worth while to linger long enough to explore the Grand Coulee, said to be the old bed of the Columbia. Full of strange features, it has attracted attention from geographers of international reputation. Wilbur, Davenport, the county seat of Lincoln county, and Reardan, besides many smaller settlements, almost lost in the midst of the great wheat fields, appear before the thin woods shading the approach into Spokane are reached.

INLAND EMPIRE HIGHWAY.

At Ellensburg the Sunset Highway connects with the Inland Empire Road, a southern route to Spokane via Walla Walla. Following the Wenas Valley to North Yakima, it continues southeast through the Union Gap and along the Sunnyside Canal, the largest irrigation ditch in the state, where a splendid view of the valley, with Mount Hood in the distance appears. From Prosser, county seat of Benton county and entrance to the Horse Heaven country, the road drops toward the Columbia river and soon reaches Kennewick, the home of early strawberries, and Pasco, county seat of Franklin county.

From here the Central Washington Highway threads the extensive wheat fields toward the northeast, passing through Connell, Lind, Ritzville, and Sprague, all important wheat shipping centers; and Cheney, the site of another state normal, fifteen miles southwest from the city of Spokane.

The Inland Empire Highway leads on to the beautiful city of Walla Walla; but at Dayton, the quaint county seat of Columbia county, it divides, uniting again near Rosalia, twenty-five miles south of Spokane. The shorter route trends northeast, crosses the Snake at Pataha and passes through Colfax, county seat of Whitman county, in the rich Palouse Valley. The other branch penetrates extensive barley and wheat fields, enters Pomeroy, county seat of Garfield county, and Clarkston, on the eastern boundary line, named for the great explorer. Bending northward it transects irrigated lands and wheat fields; enters Pullman, home of the State College, Palouse, Garfield and Oakesdale; joins the other branch at the county boundary line and soon reaches the southern outskirts of Spokane.

From Spokane this road presses northward through the Colville Valley to the Columbia, and thence to the international boundary line, having previously passed at Deer Park the Arcadia orchard, largest commercial apple orchard in the world; Loon Lake, a summer resort; Chewelah, a mining town surrounded by a dairying country; and Colville, county seat of Stevens county and largest city in this section. A pleasant contrast is this northern extension, regaining the mountains and evergreen forests, the swiftly flowing rivers with glorious waterfalls, and the chains of lakes adorning irrigated vales and green meadows.

OLYMPIC, NATIONAL PARK AND OTHER HIGHWAYS.

The Olympic Highway, when the few miles from Bogachiel to Lake Quiniault, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, are completed, will form a complete loop around the Olympic Peninsula, from which it derives its name. Winding along at the foot of the mountains, it connects the leading cities of the district and exposes some of the most scenic features of the Sound country, including Hood Canal, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Grays Harbor, and occasionally the Pacific Ocean. The principal cities touched at are Shelton, Port Townsend, Port Angeles, Hoquiam, Aberdeen, Elma and Olympia.

The National Park Highway extends from Tacoma to Rainier National Park, whence it bears southward to the headwaters of the Cowlitz, crosses to the Chehalis Valley and, after connecting with Chehalis and Centralia, leads southwest, over the low coast range to Raymond and South Bend on Willapa Bay, and from there continues to the mouth of the Columbia.

Other scenic routes are planned to cross the Cascade mountains. Two are nearly completed, viz., the McClellan Pass Highway, paralleling the Sunset as far as North Yakima, and one along the north bank of the Columbia. A third will sometime cross and connect the Skagit Valley with the Methow.

This book cannot expect to win the largest measure of approval from the followers of Nimrod unless a few paragraphs are devoted to the opportunities for the chase and the plentifulness of game fish and birds. Of course, the real sportsman would rather discover the prey for himself. To tell minutely where every prize is to be found would be like disclosing the end of an interesting story before the beginning had been read. But even if it were well to do so, every page in this publication would be needed just to mention each stream and lake containing fish, every coppice concealing fowl, and every wood protecting the quarry.

That the common species of game are plentiful is superfluous to say. On holidays and at week ends, during the open season, it is a familiar sight to witness the khaki-suited brave looking sportsmen, with guns or fish baskets and rods, clambering onto the trains or hiking to the nearest point where the welcome woods and the realm of habitation meet. It is equally common to behold this same army of hunters trailing along at the close of the holiday, burdened with fish of many species, vari-colored fowl, or the hides of various game animals.

Game birds are very prolific. Among the most prominent are the Chinese pheasant, bob white and California quail, Hungarian partridge, and native prairie chickens; all are found along the streams or in the clearings and fields of nearly every part of the state. Blue grouse are quite plentiful in western Washington and in the wooded sections of eastern Washington. Ruffled grouse are plentiful in the Okanogan Highlands and in several of the western counties. All species of ducks are to be found on Puget Sound and along the rivers and lakes tributary thereto, also along many streams and lakes of the Inland Empire; while geese infest the Columbia and Snake river regions in eastern Washington.

Perhaps no state in the Union has as many varieties of real fighting trout as Washington; including especially the mountain, rainbow, cut throat, beardsley, crawford, lake, steel head, and eastern brook, in all lakes and mountain streams. Black bass and perch are very plentiful in the land-locked lakes; and certain sections produce also many varieties of white fish, sun fish, croppies and cat fish. The waters of Puget Sound, the harbors and the Columbia River contain many species of salmon.

The commonest and most hunted large game is the deer, found chiefly in the hills and mountains, although in some localities it invades the domains of domestic animals. The leading varieties noted are the mule and black tail, there being also a few white tail. In the Olympic region are large herds of elk and a few in the southwest and northeastern counties. These, however, are temporarily protected by law. Mountain goat and sheep are found in the rocky peaks of the Cascades; while the black and brown bear are found in the wooded hills and mountains; also occasionally cougars, wild cats, and wolves. These latter, however, keep themselves far removed from the main traveled roads; only by much care are they located, so that the timid need have no fear of wandering in the woods alone.

In order to insure plenty of game at the right season of the year, five trout hatcheries are supported by the state and a number by separate counties. The state hatcheries alone planted 4,399,050 trout in 1913. The common birds are propagated and set free at both public and private expense.