The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1913-02-14

less, hilless, almost CRASHES ex-
panse, and would give to stranger
a bad impression of the agricultural |
capacity of eastern Washington. There |
are stations at irregular intervals. but
in the main these stations are no more
than a section house and small tel
egraph office. The only town of any
size on the road is Pasco. What is
more, appearances do not indicae
that there ever will 'e any places of
the dignity of cities along the road.
But Two Points of Interest
There were only two stations along
the route that awakened any partic-
ular interest; one on account of a
progressive little city growing up in
the midst of a desert, the other on &C
count of a town having ambitions tina:
were never realized, and in the fail
ure leaving the beginnings of flour
ishing town absolutely deserted. The
first was Pasco.
Persistency Builds Town
Pasco is interesting from it's being
in existence at all. One might as we'll
expect town to grow up in the midst
+ of the desert of Saraha as upon the
land now occupied by the city as it
was 25 years ago. In those days there
was an Ainsworth where the railroad
bridge crosses the Snake river, but
Pasco was yet to be. The country be-
tween the Snake and the Columbia
rivers, that join just below Pasco, was
one repulsive stretch of sand: glaring
shifting sand, the sport of the winds
whipping up and down the valleys OF
the Columbia and the Snake. In early
days this sand was constantly on the
move, and large gangs of section men
were constantly engaged digging the
railroad out of the drifts. Upon this
unstable foundation was Pasco built,
and 1t stands today a monument to
the persistency and energy of the men
responsible for building up a young
city on the spot.
A Progressive Little City
Pasco Is hardly in the city class,
but it is good sized town, with many
modern conviencies, imposing public
and private buildings, paved streets,
| cement sidewalks, and wonderful 20
state, numerous grass plots. Natur-
ally, passing through the place on the
passenger train one is able to see but
| little of the details of the town, and
only fleeting glimpse, but even tn It
| opportunity of few moments dura-
| ton gives the traveller a chance to
realize that Pascoites have been sus-
tained by vigorous faith t. encOur-
age town building in the face of the
obstacles that had to be overcome. OF
| course, water has played an import.
ant part In making Pasco what 1t is,
and through the application of wa. or
on the surrounding lands, or sand
wastes. the result may aid in con-
tinued growth until Pasco becomes
important as to size and as CONNER
cial center. The town is really an
oasis, for the bleak desert spreads out
around the place, spotted with sage
brush and greese wood, and the line
of demarkation between the end Of the
water service and the beginning of
the world of sand is very distinct.
Advantages of OrOville
When we saw what the energy of
man had accomplished in this unin-
viting, and, indeed, repulsive spot, we
!elt that the people of Orovllle had ev-
cry reason to rejoice and be satisfied
with their surroundings. If city of
1000 or 5000 people could grow up
against such trying handicap as con-
fronted the builders of Pasco, a city of
10000 or 10000 should not be too much
to expect of Oroville. With absolutely
no tributary resources, Pasco has be-
come a flourishing Industrial center.
With many inexhaustable resources.
Oroville should push far ahead of Pas
co. After seeing what has been ac-
complished in town building, when
conditions seemed more adverse than
favorable, our faith in Oroville is
stronger than it has ever been, and if
spared few years, we expect to see
the dream evolved from that faith real
lied.
A Deserted Village
The second place mentioned as
point of interest is Cliffs, station on
the bank of the Columbia river, gain
ing it's name from precipitous cliffs in
the neighborhood. 1t is not the signs
OF progress and prosperity that at
tracts attention to Cliffs, but the very
contrary. Cliffs no longer exists as an
Inhabited place. There are indications
that at one time quite a fiourishng
little town housed an active popula-
ton. There are still number of pre-
tentious store buildings, and resi-
dences and large school house. but
the place is almost wholly deserted.
The buildings are vacant, window
lights are broken out, houses going to
decay and q dismal ciIopoo b,oo5, o,,ox