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.
[Illustration: PRIEST RAPIDS--SADDLE MOUNTAINS BEYOND
"_The river rolled in cataract through the cañon_"]
[Illustration: OUR SCENIC HIGHWAYS
"They build and toil, each road a nervous wedge
To hew a way where seats of empire wait."]
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.
[Illustration: PACIFIC HIGHWAY
NATIONAL PARK HIGHWAY WILLAPA HARBOR
STATE ROAD ALONG THE METHOW
RAINIER NATIONAL PARK ROAD
SUNSET BOULEVARD NEAR SPOKANE
ALONG THE SCENIC HIGHWAYS.]
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.
[Illustration: SHOWING THE CAPITAL MT. RAINIER IN THE DISTANCE
A TRAIL
TUMWATER FALLS
PUGET SOUND FROM PRIEST POINT PARK
AROUND OLYMPIA, OUR CAPITAL CITY.]
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.
[Illustration: LOWER SPOKANE FALLS, AND BRIDGE WITH SECOND LARGEST
CONCRETE ARCH IN THE WORLD.
Photo by Frank Palmer.]
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.
[Illustration: INLAND EMPIRE HIGHWAY, TEN MILES EAST OF WALLA WALLA.]
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.
[Illustration: ANACORTES ROAD.]
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.
[Illustration: WILD ELK IN THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS.]
[Illustration: A SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE
"The antlered monarch of the waste
Sprang from his heathery couch in haste"]
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.
[Illustration: THE ANGLER'S REWARD.
Photo by B. C. Collier]
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.
With nature's already liberal supply, and the state and counties
blending their united efforts to supplement and conserve, the true
sportsman will never regret casting his lot with the state of
Washington, where his outdoor propensities may be encouraged to the
fullest degree.
[Illustration: HAYDEN LAKE
ROSE GARDEN HAYS PARK
MANITOU PARK
WATERFALL, INDIAN CANYON
DOWN RIVER DRIVE
IN AND ABOUT THE CITY OF SPOKANE.]
[Illustration: CITIES AND SUGGESTED TRIPS
"Spreads now many a stately city;
Solitude returns no more!
Happy country! happy people!
Peace prevails from shore to shore"]
The cities of Washington are all beautiful in their natural setting, and
reflect the originality, the energy and love for artistic design of the
people who dwell within them. In western Washington they are usually
protected by verdure covered hills, and built to overlook the Sound, the
harbors, or the rivers. The smaller towns nestle close to pretty streams
which supply power and water. Snow capped mountains are always visible.
The east side cities are usually near the larger streams and adorned
with trees, both native and cultivated. Forests are lacking in the
Columbia River Plain, and the brown hills are continually in sight. In
the northern counties, however, the native trees and mountains again
become more prominent.
All cities are well provided with spacious and comfortable hotels.
Theaters, business blocks, school houses, churches, and other public
buildings are of modern structure; the streets are generally paved;
practically all have electric lights and pure running water. The homes
are planned both for beauty and comfort, and are often surrounded by
green lawns or gardens where hundreds of species of beautiful flowers
reach perfection.
The following pages are devoted to brief descriptions of the larger
centers, and the more important trips from each. They are arranged to
represent a tour about the state and in the order in which one might
visit all, or certain ones only, with the least expenditure of time. The
cities given have commercial organizations prepared to give further
information regarding their respective localities.
=SPOKANE:= Metropolis of the Inland Empire, and second largest city in
the state. Population about 136,000. Its growth was over 500 per cent
in twenty years. Situated on both sides of the Spokane River with
wonderful waterfalls in heart of city. One of the leading railroad
centers in the west, it has five transcontinental lines operating on
their own tracks and two others over joint tracks. Its hotels, theaters,
public buildings, and homes, are among the most costly in the northwest.
Its fifty-two parks, comprising 1,933 acres valued at more than
$2,000,000, give the largest per capita park area of any city in the
United States. Splendid boulevards within the city connect with broad
highways leading to distant points in the Inland Empire. There is a
boating course two miles long above the city, a municipal bathing pool a
mile from the business center, and a zoo at Manito Park. One may see
large manufacturing establishments, irrigation, wheat fields, and many
big development projects within a limited area. It is the home of the
North Pacific Fruit Distributors, which markets 60 per cent of the
apples of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
A few of the more important trips should include the following:
Mt. Spokane, 20 miles N. E., highest peak in
Eastern Washington.
Indian Canyon, 2 miles west (Indian wigwams still
there).
Medical Lake, 16 miles S. W., famous for medicinal
qualities of water; one of state's hospitals here.
Return by way of Cheney, home of one of state
normal schools.
Spokane Valley, fruit section along Apple Way to
Hayden Lake.
Reardan, by Sunset Highway, 21 miles, built at
cost of $194,000.
Jas. P. Grave's model farm; Country Club on
Waikiki Road.
Arcadia Apple Orchard at Deer Park, largest in the
world.
Colville Valley, Chewelah and Colville, a rich
agricultural valley, good roads, mountains in
sight, many lakes.
Pend Oreille Valley, Newport, Ione, and Metaline
Falls; see Box and Grandview Canyons; river falls
400 feet in 12 miles.
Steptoe Butte for expansive view of Palouse
country.
Through the Palouse to Colfax, Moscow, and State
College at Pullman, one of the most remarkable
rides--train, auto, or electric.
Kellogg, Idaho, to see largest lead and silver
mine in the world.
Northern Idaho, through to Fourth of July Canyon.
Long Lake, 30 miles northwest, $8,000,000 dam.
See also "Spokane Country" under the "Inland
Empire."
=WALLA WALLA:= (Many Waters.) The "Garden City," at one time said to
"have more bicycles, more pianos, more flowers, and more pretty girls
than any other city in the Northwest." Population 23,275. One of the
richest farm regions in the world is adjacent. Next to Vancouver, oldest
city in the state, and home of first white woman in the Northwest.
Picturesque hills, with gentle slopes, usually covered with waving
grain, surround it; while many a little stream, protected by cottonwoods
and birches, winds towards the larger rivers. The N. P. and O. W. R. &
N. railways, and Inland Empire Highway pass through. Trees line the well
paved streets and produce a particularly artistic effect. Here is
located Whitman College, on the site where Stevens made his famous
treaty with the Indians; the State Penitentiary; the Blalock Fruit
Company's 1,600-acre fruit farm; old Fort Walla Walla, and the oldest
bank in state.