New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-08-18
THE NEW STATES.
XXXII.
EASTERN WASH1NGToN'
,poK,xr FALLS AND TIE GREAT PLAINS of
d 0'''' THE COLUMBIA
,n,sr AND FORESIGHT REWARDED By
~ cpoWTU AND PROSPERITY


"a nv biologists that all of our
~ ,vest Of the Rockies Is comparative" "I",
county ;e. OCEAN. some few ages ago washed
The i'om side of this mighty upltt The
the We california aud the Cascades OF WASH
oief'"S Va oregon attained their present eleVa-
mg''N - series of subterranean struggles, and
uon ~" - the vast areas now constituting our
WIZ" c,o.ss were brought forth from watery
i"DoHs II has not been many years since the
,.olcanocs of the Cascade Range ceased TO
-, sirns Of internal agitation. There are
sorIo poU living in Portland who claim to have
~ croole issuing from the crater OF Mount Hood
.ir,s mr. another within the last ten years.
Rnt these lofty peaks are practically eXunct
qbcv are responsible actively or passyely, for
almost all the physical conditions of the new
State OF Washington. In shape Washington Is a
peralleogram, It's longer axis running east ana
west from the coast TO the Idaho boundary The
Cascades cut il In twain Maine does not more
widely differ from California than do the sections
Tins created They are different in soil, III
climate in vegetation and in the resources offered
to human endeavor. The mountains cOndense the
atmospheric moisture on their windwi,rd or west
ern, side producing for more than half the year
q constant succession OF rainfalls and mighty
forest that covers the country from the mountains
10 the sea- while the leeward land, deprived or
moisture is for many miles, or until relieved OF
its mountain blanket, torlCIn and dfeary DESERT
West of the mountains the soil Is ~ deep vegetable
mould produced by the decay Of fallen 1lmbers'
with top-dressing Of alluvial deposit on the tide
lands Of the coast East of the mountains the
soil is basaltc, while the desert area Is one vast
lava bed. West of the mountains tie climate Is
mild, and the SEASONS are described with relation
to the rainfall. East Of the mountains the climate
"
for though higher in latitude, its natural severity
is tempered by the warm Pacific winds.
These differences between East Washington ana
West Washington need 10 be emphasized for they
affect the people in all their affairs The IN
iercsts of one section are rarely the interests of
the other All through this immense country i
have been deeply impressed with the wonderful
elasticity of our political system. From the S1th
meridian 10 each of the boundary oceans is about
the same distance. \ line drawn from that
meridian. near the Dakotas, to the Pacific would
lass through four States Drawn to the At
hntc il would pass through nine In the matters
Of climate and topography there are ms many rca-
sons for dividing the Western States into small com
monweathS rs for 50 dividing the Eastern ones
Ii is remarkable how haImOniously commute s
thus remotely placed from each other live under
the same local government and esp cally re-
aud iercciy struggling in furtbcrance of the
common ambition TO be the business centre of
the State Two great Western Cities, Denver and
St Paul, stand out as brilliant examples of what
Industry and slgacity can do, and every lt'lc
hamlet burns with the spirit of emulation They
all have somebody in them who knew Denver and
St Paul when their only tenants were lack-
rabbits and rattlcrs. Somebody is always talk
ing about the time when he was offered third
OF Denver or a half Of st. Paul for the price of
buffalo robe. Somebody, Us lie lounges il the
hotel of an evening, is sure TO be reminiscent Of
the days when be ranged his cattle in what is
now KanSas City or sold the whole of Omaha
for couple Of cayuscs These tales OF wondrous
chances TO grow rich, had the tellers Ct them but
possessed the divine faculty of foreknowledge, are
told by the million, and it must
be owned they are more or less disturbing.
When you look around and see from every pin
point Of the compass hundred large and thriv-
Ing cities that have grown up from sagebrush
prairie or pine thckct within the last ten
years IT makes you wonder not little whether
the spot You happen TO be standing may not
be an embryo metropolis, where the land you can
buy to-day for 81 o an acre mi ght be sold tO-mOr
row for 81 900 a front foot
Fortunes have been made in Spokane Falls,
ore yet being made upon Just that Scae Of values.
Spolyanc's hstory-Oh by the way, call ii Spoken,
II you please. as though IL rhymed with ban or
ten, not with gain or lane, and put the accent
on The last syllable SpoEancs history, /
saying, is almost incredible When Mr. 1IgyeS
was. inauguratcl it WAS blank wilderness. Not
a single civilized being lived within hundred
miles Of it, One day in 1873 white man came
along in Z" bull team" saw the wild rapids and
the mighty falls Of the Spokane River, reflected
on the history of St. Paul and Minneapolis with
their little Falls of St Anthony, looked at the
tide Of immigration just turning toward the fur
ther Northwest. and concluded he would sit right
down where he was and wait for a city TO grow
around him This far-sightcd pioneer is still liv-
ing within earShot of those rumbling falls and
they make a cheerful music 10 him The city is
there with him, %, 600 people. and he can draw
check to-day good for 81 900, O0C. For several
years his eyes fell on nothing but gravel beds and
foanly waters. Now as he looks around he sees
mills aud factories, railroad lines TO the north,
south. east and west, churches, theatres. school
houses costly dwellings and stores paved streets,
and all that makes living easy and comfortable.
The greater part OF this has come within his
vision since 1888, when the Northern Pacific blew
It's first whistle in Spokane. But even
then there quite village. After
this earliest pioneer had spent lonely
year or two his homestead two other
came along They were friends who. upon IN
outing had CHANGED to meet. They were capt.
waited by the waterfall and by what the pioneer
told them Of the fine farming lands in the ada
cent country, and they offered each to take a
third Of his holding. Then they began 70 adver-
tise and 70 place adventurous farmers on home
stead claims They were wise in their day and
generation, and they worked harder 10
fill the country 9th grain producers
than to sell rea estate around the
falls They soon had their reward 1t came
with the railroad. Into Spokane. as into every
other town along this route great or small. the
Northern Pacific has introduced a stream of settle
ment 1t WAS well taken care o. The ner-