The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1910-01-19

the history Of that time, 1 think tn.
building OF what was then called The
Cascade Branch from Pasco to Tnso-
ma was the immediate result OF tbs
territorial agitation, for there was Q
Interested in the railroad that unless
it sliould be early carried to com .,ie-
tim that congress would pass an &C
s"rft'tms at least part of the sron,
which had bee unearned. But It Is
true. nevertheless, that Charles 3
Wrigh, who at about this time came
into control OF the railroad company,
was in favor OF the construction oil
the cascade Branch Those VINO
had there tofore dominated It, Accord
ing to current report, were said ia
favor the route down the Columbia
river to Portland.
Railroad Anxious.
it SO 70 be remembered in this con-
nection. however. that the railroad
company, just at the time of which
We speLk, had become quite as anx-
Icus to construct the road as the peo-
pie were to have 1t copstructed. The
company Lad already passed through
insolvency and 1t was to become m
solvent again before 1t was finally T.,
ts nut upon a paying basis. w,
speak of the land grant as a munifi-
cent gift, and now that we have the
railroad end 1t Is making money,
many people overlook the fact shat
it passed through a country SUBJ
ataniiaiIy without traffic; that 1t w IS
difficult to raise the money for the
of such a railroad
While the country was in process of
the company was suffer-
Ing for want of sufficient revenue.
Grant Fastened Work.
It must be admitted as a fact that
the Northern Pacific Railway COM
pany, by reason of it's land grant.
otherwise have been built. A gen.
GRAFTON would have meant a good deal
to some of us. and it would be an in
teresting sight to look upon our
present location If the land gran.
had never been made. Speaking only
for myself and without regard to the
great economic question which a dis
cussion of the subject might suggest,
| am free to say that I would no. be
willing to restore the granted la ads
to the public domain and with sut.h
restoration to accept the condition
vi ich we would now have without
the advancement which 1t conferred.
1T is true other railroads have since
come without governmental aid, but
1t Is not to be forgotten that the
No thern Pacific was the pioneer;
that it established the first line of
steamers between Puget Sound and
the Orient; that " first brought
into notice sthe resources
of this northwest country. And
this matter now as an his
torical fact and as simple act Of
justice because pioneering is apt to
be overlooked.
North Yakima Laid Out.
The railroad company possessed a
considerable body of land of its own
at the proposed new town, and other
individuals who pooled with it, con-
veyed their property to a trustee with
authority to plat and reconvey to the
respective owners. A symmetrical,
uniform plat was the result. 1t an
ticipated a growth which was slow in
coming, but the wisdom of the man.
ner of plating it is no perfectly evil
dent. M. V. B. Stacey, a resident of
Seattle, who had long been the friend
of Charles B. Wright, the then DOM
inant influence in the counsels of the
railroad company, was no doubt pri
marily responsible in the first in
stance for what occurred But offici-
ally the matter was controlled by
Colonel Charles B. Lamborn of S.
Paul, the company's land com mis-
sIoner, and Paul Schulze, the west. II
land agent, whose headquarters were
at the time in Portland, bu. which
were shortly after moved to Tacoma
These three met in consultation upon
the new townsite early in 1885.
Hold Council
Colonel Lamborn, with large ex-
terrence in land matters and particu-
larry irrigated lands, was greatly i'm
r'essed with the suggestion that tie
"ld townsite would, as the country ,le-
"oloped, require drainage. Part OF
the plat already required it.. Seepage
from above, as lands were irrigated
would naturally increase. 7 at hf
was right about this is q matter Of
common knowledge. Schulze enlcr-
tanned the same view. 1t carnot be
said that Stacey was sctuatea by the
s2noe motives. He was a spacu,ator
He was likened by some OF the early
delizens of this city to Colonel sell
lers. But he was more practical than
That character and he had expected
TO recoup large losses which he had
a'2lained on the Oregan Transcon.
'inental stock by becoming interested
the new TOWNSHIP. In preparing
mr. plat of the new town 70. filing
II became a question as to wat the
town should be named. The name
Yakima, distinctly characteristics and
descriptive of location, as OF course
tho first that was thought If. The
Oil town had been plated as Yakima
City, but its postofilce was NAMED
Yakima 1t became impracticable
rhel efore, to designate the neW town
by name which the posi- office d
The old town had already pre- cnrpted
Tho main destined for the new would
reach the old town; much of it did
in early days anyway. 1t was not
possible of course, to use the name
by which the old town was plated
and so it was suggested by Colonel
Lamborn that the prefix North
would retain the suggestion of local.
ity while not conflicting with exist
ing designations; and thus the child
was named before 1t was born. This
explanation has to be made periodi-
cally to new corners who grow i'm
patient of the prefix, for the difficulty
still exists. The plat was filed early
in 1885 and then began an important