Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-04-01

rCorrespondence transcript.

In compliance xith your request FOR
an occasional letter, and knoziRg as l
DO the interest that is felt By the people
Of Puget Sound IN the progress, future
movements, etc, Of the Oregon snort
Line Railroad I thogght perhaps few
lines from the front" Of that road
might no, be without interest 10 your
May readers.
1t IL well known fact that when the
Oregon Short Line Railroad vas started
FROM Granger, Wyoming, the avowed
object Jf the projectors the Union Pa
cinc Railway Company was to construct
the fosd To tide water on the Pacinc
coast. and thus secure an lndep pendent
outlet west for their great railway sys-
tenn east. Ikey meant business from
the start, and pushed their road Win
wonderful rapldity, considering the
roughness Of the route over which tney
had TO come. and With as little excite
Inent and noise as possible: -ut they
we've all the time closely watched by
other companies, and every move was
noted However, nothing Vas ssIC or
done to hinder their progress, ana ali
went merry With them till they began
20 show signs of encroachIng upon the
territory claimed by the Oregon Raj
uay and Navigation and Northern Pa
citic X abroad Companies. Whether
they were unacq1aluted with the coun-
try ahead Of them, or whether they re-
lied on their ability 10 90 fnrongn IN
spite o: opposition, Is not Known, Dut
from . subsequent developments II
would seem that the fprmer sup
position is the nearest correct; for
IN ISL . one Colonel George WalcoI
WAS engineer III charge of the survey
then being III ade along Snake river from
Glenn's Ferry TO Baker City. de had
number Of parties under his charge. IN
GLIDING one headed BY Il. j. MoscrIp,
which was at work all summer In l,o2
on the line between this place and b.
ker City, distance of only ~ miles,
but which runs part of the way through
the Burnt River pass or canyon. The
Oregon Railway and Navigation & IN
pany had located a line over the same
route ia 1881, and as soon as they be
came convinced that tine Short Line IN
tended to adopt this route they lmme-
diately sent large force 1T men TO take
possession of the canyon and commence
grading for their own road. This Was,
without doubt, a complete surprise to
the Short Line Company, who, to pre-
vent matters from getting any worse,
sent force of graders a long way IN
advance of their work to hold the Snake
River canyon Just above the mouth of
Burnt river, thus preventing the other
road from crossing the Snake and inter
ferinR with their line in Idaho. Col. Val
cot was peremptorlly disc arged fro u
the servise of the company. and 1t Was
said by knowing ones that II was be-
cause he had neglected TO make known
the importance of the Burnt River pass
and the necessity of occupying 1t In order
to secure it. L. A. Clark was then seat out
to take charge of the surveys, and, if
possible, flnd some other route. He was
of the opinion that the road could be
butt all the way down Snake river TO
Lewiston and thence to Puget Sound
Accordingly, in February, 1883. he
started down the river with three we'll
organized and equipped parties, deter
mined to 60 through at any cost. At
the same time another party WAS Or
ganiZed at Lewiston to run up the
river. Everything had to be transport
ed In boats, the canyon being impassi-
bic for even pack mule. The weather
was bitter cold, and before the worst
part Of the river WAS reached the sur
vey Was abandoned and the parties all
returned without having accOmpli~ he'd
anything worthy of note. But Mr..
Clark did not give up the idea he had in
regard to the route, and i'll April made
a new start. Well, they got through,
and that is all they did do, except to
stuff the Lewiston people with the false
statement that the route WAS entirely
practicable and that the road would no
doubt be built. but the managers Of
the road evidently had 10 filth Ill the
route, and long before the survey was
through compromise was made to
meet the Oregon Railroad and Naviga-
ton Company at Snake river. This
was perhaps done to give them a chance
to consider the situation and study up
some other means of getting out of "A
bad box. Being ontgeneraled and de-
feated IN the field. the ii INT was carried
into Wall street, som of the results of
which are well known to re iders of the
dispatches. But the writer is of the
opinion that the real object of the war
was not gained by NJ. Gould and
friends. and that the Oregon Short
Line occupies the same position today
with reference to the Oregon Railway
the latter took possession of Burnt
River Pass. At any rate the Oregon
kailUay and Navigation Company have
resumed work all along the line of the
Baker City branch, and they assert that
the road will be completed to the Short
Line junction this summer. The gene
raj impression prevails, however, that
the Union Pacific Company will not
rest content till they have an indspend-
ent line to the coast and some still ex-
press the opinion that the road will
eventually be built down Snake River.
Others say that the only chance for
them is via John Days River and the
Santiam Pass, which would take them
to the coast in the vicinity of YaQuina
Bay :; but they are apt to meet with the
same trouble on that route that they
did here, for the Oregon Pacific has
had that route spotted for some
time, and are no doubt watching it as
closely as the Oregon Railway and Nav
igation Company did the Burnt River
Pass.
Hence il seems as if the Short Line
ia really in q tight place. and that the
Union Pacific must still be dependent
on other roads for an outlet to the coast
for a time at least.
The Short Line is now completed to
this place, with the exception of the
Snake River bridge and laying the
iron on the short piece If road leading
To it on this side. What their next
move will be can only be guessed at by
outsiders. The Snake River Canyon
seems To be the only place left for them
to 90 to get to Puget Sound, and that is
next to impossible. Even if they
should decide to build the road it would
be many years before the business
would Justify the expense, and the