, 1872-07-25
Seventy-two miles from olymp,a. nv

important commercial town or TIL
Sound. 1t is situated upon an inlet SIX
and half miles long by two wide with
a general direction of east by south,
known as Dwamish, or Elliot Bay. This
inlet has depth of water through the
middle, ranging from forty to eighty
eight fathoms, with from ten to twenty
fathoms on the anchoring grounds. 1t
receives the water of the Dwarnish river.
a stream which has only a length of ten
miles, and is the outlet merely Of the
Black, Green, White and Cedar rivers;
all of them having rich agricultural val
leys. making, in conjunction with the
commerce of Seattle, King county the
richest county of Western Washington.
Three miles Immediately east of Seat
tie is Lake Washington TOR Dwamish)
cor nected with the bay by the Dwamish
river. This lake lies but eighteen and a
half feet above tide-water, making it a
matter of trifiing expense to open con-
tinuous navigation for small steamers
into it. On the borders of Lake Wash
ington, about nine miles from Seattle,is
a coal-mine of excellent quality and in
exhaustible quantity. A company is
working it, who have barges and steam
tugs on the lake, for its transportation
In cars to the tramway which conducts
to tide-water. A cara al is talked of as an
outlet to the lake. Should the United
States Government conclude to erect
naval station on Lake Washington, as it
may, the question of an outlet suitable
for large vessels will no longer be in
doubt. Probably no better locality for
naval purposes could be selected than
this; combining. as it does, fresh water
of sufficient depth. exaustless supplies
of ship-building timber within easy DIS
tance, and extensive deposits of coal
| and iron-the latter alone being distant
some thirty OF forty miles, ON the line
of the projected railroad through the
Snoqualmie Pass.
This famous pass is 1900 feet above
the sea, and only sixty-one miles, in an
easterly direction, from Seattle. 1t is
on this ground that this town has so
loudly sserted its claim to become the
terminus of the Northern Pacific Rail-
road-a grade of eighty feet to the mile
being all that is required to construct
the road through the Cascades from this
point east. A wagon-road is now open,
ria this pass, to the plains on the east
ern side of the Cascade Mountains, and
the Yakima Valley. This is the route
by which cattle and sheep are driven
from the great pastures cf Eastern
Washington to the markets of the Sound
and Vancouver Island.
Seattle is built upon the face of rather
a steep slope: is pleasant and cheerful
looking, and contains about twelve hun
dred inhabitants The Territorial Uni
versity is located here, and is a fine
structure so situated that it can be
seen for long distance up and down
the Sound. Seattle has a great extent
of wharfage, which impresses us with
the conviction of its business capacities.
And, indeed, the harbor swarms with
every description of water-craft, from
the handsome steamer Olympia and the
tall three-masted lumber ships. to the
little wheezy tug and graceful "plung-
er."
On the opposite side of the Sound are
Ports Blkely and Freeport; the one a
high round promontory, and the other a
long, low neck of land, projecting into
the Sound so as to form small bay
with the first. Across the Sound, and
nearly abreast of Seattle, is Port Madi-
son, distant twelve miles, also situated
on an inlet, so narrow as to compel oul
steamer to back out-there being nc
room for rounding out. All these ports
like Seattle, are great numbering estab'
lishments, and have each a village Of
from one to three hundred people de-
pending on the mills for employment
Probably one half the numbering busl-
ness of the Sound concentrates within
twenty-five or thirty miles of Seattle.
The hay, vegetables, fruits, and provi-
sions generally, that are consumed by
the non-agri ultural portion of these
communities, are furnished by the coun.
ty of which Seattle is the county-seat.
*Seattle contained over 500 inhabitants ac
cording to the official census of 1870, and now
contains over 2,000-perhaps $500; while all
publications on the subject persist in estiHat.
ing its population at 600 or 1000.
tNot lie IS than four-fifths of the lumber bust
ness of the sound is within twenty-five or thirty
miles of Seattle.
north PACIFIC RAILRoAD.--1t seems
to be pretty well understood at present
that the Northern Pacific Railroad will
cross the Columbia about three or four
miles above the mouth of Snake river