Washington Territory will make one of the largest States of the Union.
It is larger than England and Wales combined, as will be seen by the
following table:
Washington Territory 66,880 square miles.
New York 47,620 " "
Virginia 40,125 " "
England and Wales 58,320 " "
The shape of the Territory is regular, having the general form of a
parallelogram, with its longer axis running east and west. Its relief is
simple. Along the Pacific coast runs the Coast Range of mountains from
the mouth of the Columbia River to the Straits of Juan de Fuca. In this
range there is only one practicable opening from the interior, which is
the trough of the Chehalis River, which terminates in Gray's Harbor. The
bar here, as at the mouth of Columbia River, forms a serious obstruction
to the entrance of vessels drawing more than twenty feet of water.
Sixty miles east of the Coast Range, and parallel to it, runs the
Cascade Range, which divides the Territory by a north and south line. It
is a lofty range, presenting a serrated outline, whose lower depressions
are 3,000 to 4,000 feet above tide, while summits of 5,000 to 8,000
feet are common; and at intervals still higher peaks raise their
snow-covered heads from 8,000 to 14,500 feet.
Between the Cascade Mountains and the Coast Range lies Puget Sound, with
its outlet through the Strait of Fuca. South of this sound, and on each
side, are wide spaces of flat and rolling country, with numerous and
somewhat disconnected mountains of comparatively small size, though some
of them rise as high as 1,500 feet. These mountains show many natural
terraces, which may be the result of land-slides.
[Sidenote: Puget Sound.]
[Illustration: LAKE WASHINGTON--SHOWING MOUNT RANIER IN THE DISTANCE--ON
LINE OF SEATTLE, LAKE SHORE AND EASTERN RAILWAY.]
[Sidenote: Lake Washington.]
The Puget Sound basin is exceedingly well supplied with streams and
lakes; whilst the Sound itself, with its sheltered position, its deep
water, and indented shore-line, is one of the most interesting and
valuable inland bodies of water in the world. It has a broad outlet to
the ocean. Lake Washington is a beautiful and navigable sheet of water.
There are numerous other lakes scattered over the Territory, enlivening
its scenery and often affording convenient waterways. Quite a number of
the rivers emptying into Puget Sound are partially navigable for small
steamers. The rivers and creeks generally have bottom-lands, which are
sometimes narrow, and sometimes wide. Cowlitz River flows south into
the Columbia River. It has fine bottom-lands, and its valley may be
regarded as a prolongation and complement of the Willamette Valley,
Oregon.
[Sidenote: West Washington and East Washington.]
All the country lying west of the crest-line of the Cascade Mountains is
known as West Washington, and is quite different in topography, as in
many other respects, from the country known as East Washington, which
name applies to all of the Territory lying east of the Cascade axis.
East Washington is a rectangular plateau, set in a frame of mountains,
and drained by the Columbia River and its tributaries. The Cascade Range
being the west side of the frame, the north side is formed by irregular
spurs which run out at right angles from the Cascade Mountains along the
Canada border, and connect with the Cabinet Mountains. The east side of
the frame is in Idaho, and consists chiefly of the Coeur d'Alene
Mountains. On the south lie the Blue Mountains, which are partly in
Washington Territory, but chiefly in Oregon. The mountains on the north
have a few peaks 5,000 to 9,000 feet high, and many of the dividing
ridges are high, steep and rugged. Much of the region is described,
however, as high plateau country, dotted over with small, conical
mountains. It abounds in streams of water, generally small. A strip of
arable land runs on the east side of the Columbia River from the mouth
of the Spokane River to the mouth of the Colville River and the valleys
of Colville and the Little Spokane River are highly spoken of as
agricultural regions. The elevation of these river valleys is from 1,200
to 1,600 feet above tide-water.
[Sidenote: Coeur d'Alene Mountains.]
Passing to the east side, we find the plateau country at its north
corner extending to the Idaho line where the foot-hills of the Rocky
Mountains begin, and soon rise into the Coeur d'Alene Mountains,
which--being the local name for part of the Bitter Root Range--is a part
of the western branch of the Rocky Mountains. The Coeur d'Alene River
and Lake belong to the Columbia River basin, and are so naturally
connected in mining and trading interests with Washington Territory,
that in another connection I shall have much to say of the Coeur
d'Alene country, as also of the Colville country, and other parts of the
mountain rim. South of the Coeur d'Alene Lake the plateau country
extends far into Idaho, and gives to that State its best farming lands.
The Blue Mountains which mark the southern limit of the plateau in
Washington Territory do not extend more than half-way across the plain,
leaving a long projection of the plateau to extend southward into
Oregon.
[Sidenote: The Great Plateau.]
[Sidenote: Coulées.]
The shape of the plateau in Washington Territory is an irregular square
with a diameter each way of about 150 miles. Followed into Idaho and
Oregon, the diameters would reach 200 miles. Its surface is generally
smooth, but there are frequent patches of rock, and sometimes large
areas are roughened by rocky outcrops. The plateau is elevated and
rolling, rising from 1,000 to 3,000 feet above the surface of Columbia
River. Its elevations usually are mere swells, except along the
precipitous edges of coulées. I know of only one mountain upon it, and
that is quite a small one; but it served as a refuge for Lieutenant
Steptoe and his handful of soldiers when attacked by the Indians; and
hence is called Steptoe Butte. The surface of the plain is scarred in a
number of places with coulées, or dry river-beds, which are cut down
twenty to one hundred feet, and sometimes more, and their sides are
usually marked by bluffs, often of rock. These coulées are an advantage,
or a disadvantage, in road-making, according to whether the road goes
with, or across, the coulée. The Northern Pacific Railroad found it
convenient to use one of them for a long distance. The deepest cuts in
the plateau are made by its rivers. Of these the Columbia is chief. This
river, as already intimated, has cut a channel for itself along the
north and west edge of the plain from 1,000 to 2,000 feet below the
general level. The Snake River, which is the largest affluent of the
Columbia, has numerous branches, all cut deep into the basalt which
underlies the plain.
[Sidenote: Columbia and Snake Rivers.]
The Columbia and Snake are both steamboat rivers, but navigation is
interrupted by rocky rapids, which prevent through lines of steamers.
The Columbia is one of the largest rivers in the world, and has abundant
water for steamboats from its mouth to a point in Canada, north of
Farwell, where it is crossed by the Canadian Pacific Railway, and
steamboats run at intervals to the most northerly point; and there are
navigable stretches not yet used for boats which will have steamers in
connection with future railroads. The steamers on Snake River are very
useful, and run to Lewiston, in Idaho, and perhaps further.
This plateau, or Great Plain of the Columbia, as it is called sometimes,
is a most interesting and important region, concerning which I shall
have much to say under subsequent heads.