The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1921-05-12
BRIDGE ACROSS !.
uvvLvDUA
SNAKE RIVER
IS DEDICATED
r;~ot Step in Program to Free In
land Empire Highway of
River Ferries
,uoIEANDS IN ATTENDANCE
s.ott Henderson Pledges Puget Sound
Support to Columbia Bridge
Project

a large delegation of Kennewick
,.onle went to Burbank last Friday
.,tsrnoon to witness the formal ded-
;..t;on Of the Snake River Highway
h,;dce the completion of which marks
A. first ferry elimination on the In
land Empire highway and the Yellow
tone Trail in the state of Washing
IN. The bridge which is 1880 feet
n length was built by the counties of
FRANKLIN and Walla Walla at cost
Of ;2So,00O.
The dedicatory services of the bridge
we're held on the south side of the
Walla Walla county approach and
seats were placed for 1000 people but
several times as many were standing
throughout the dedicatory services.
Immediately after dinner the crowd
began to gather at the bridge and the
Walla Walla high school band gave
a 3O-minute concert.
DR.. S. B. L. Penrose declared the
people had gathered to attend a we'd
ding ceremony, the uniting of Frank
Lin and Walla Walla counties, and
that no justice of the peace was to
perform the ceremony, but the chief
magistrate Of the state. He then in
troduced the governor, who said
that if it was a wedding he would
not officiate.
The governor in his address pictured
the conditions when the territory be-
came state and showed the achieve
ments since that time and declared
that had we been willing to spend
two centuries getting these things as
had the states of the east done we
would not have as high taxes as we
have but he did not believe the people
wanted any of these things cut out.
The day, he said was more than
the wedding of Walla Walla and
franklin counties; it was to celebrate
the completion of another link in the
great highway connecting the Inland
Empire and that part Of the state west
Of the Cascades.
Following the address of the gov
ernor the Whitman male quartet sang,
after which E. v. Kuykendall, director
o. public works was introduced. He
declared that the celebration was not
only significant of the wedding of
Walla Walla and Franklin county but
was typical Of the age. He took the
audience in imagination back to the
oays before the white man came. The
INST ferry, he declared was when the
ieo man tied knot in his pony's tail,
aad grasping the tail above the knot
was towed by the swimming pony
sefoss the river. Next came the flat
u0at held in place and drawn across
ue river by cable; then came the
aeam ferry and finally the bridge.
The upbuilding of the Inland En-
pure was the work of the pioneer spir-
:" out the most potent cause in the
erection Of the bridge was the auto
noolle, ne declared. The ferry was a
selcome rest to the sweating horses
olaen days, but the delay was not
oe borne in the days of the auto
moolle. He told how when a boy he
vent from Fort Simcoe, Yakima coun-
!" 70 Pomeroy and it took seven days
make the trip. Recently he made it
~ car in one day.
Following short talks by E. R. Olds,
u The Franklin county commissioners
anu Z. j. Cantonwine, of the Walla
"aiia board, Scott 2. Henderson, OF
.acoma, was introduced as the Official
,spresentative of Puget Sound. Mr.
!. ,enoerson said that when he begar
is newspaper career in this part o1
.ue country IA years ago he built
'uge across the Columbia betweel
=, e'.Hewlck and Pasco-on paper-ant
ae ne was very much interested il
I project now under way to build tn
l'age of steel and concrete. Th'
niake River bridge, he said, should b.
~ oAed upon as the beginning rathe
~, man the completion of a great work
ma ma. work is to provide the state o
asnington with one great trans
x 'e highway without ferries. Wit
vic 1irst step in this program com