The recent extensions of the Union Pacific System have aided in the most
important way the development of the richest and most fertile lands of
Eastern Washington. The great plains of the Upper Columbia, stretching
from the river away to the far north, are incomparably rich, the soil of
great depth and wondrous fertility, rainless harvests, and a luxuriance
of farm and garden produce which is almost tropical in its wealth. This
favored region has been for years known as the