The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1922-03-10
WASHINGTON, THE BEST STATE,
BY ElOise Trautman.

1 n
WASHINGTON, THE BEST STATE,
| By Eloise Trautman.
(ElOise Trautman is a pupil in the
seventh grade of the Oroyille public
school and the following theme is
one of three written by seventh grade
pupils that will be published in the
Gazette because of their exceptional
| merit)
Washington is a Pacific coast state.
| located in the north wesat corner of
the United States.
What is now the state of Wash
ington was discovered by Juan De
T, Fuca. a Greek who gave his name to
| the strait into which he sailed 1892
| In 1892 the first American, Captain
Grey, sailed up the river and named it
Columbia after his ship, which gave
the United States prior claim to this
territory. Captain Vancouver, an
Englishman, sailed up the river later
the same year. The first settlement
of Americans was made at the mouth
of the Columbia April II. 1911, when
Captain Thorn of the ship TOnquin
unloaded a cargo of supplies and fur
it Astor after J. J. AstOr. founder of
the fur trading company. Other fur
trading posts We're later established
farther up the river near the mouth
Of the OkanOgan and at Spokane and
Walla Walla. The Hudson Bay Co
bought out the American fur trading
company and built forts further in
land as far as Kettle Falls and named
it Fort Colville The old block house
still remains on what is now the
Marcus flat
Vancouver city in Clarke county
has credit for being the oldest city
in the state. the life of which has been
continuous since 1925. The state was
originally part of what was known
as the Oregon territory. and was
jointly occupied by the United States
and England until 1886 when a treaty
with England fixed the boundary be-
tween Canada and the United States
on the forty-ninth parallel From
the original territory was formed the
Idaho and parts of Montana and Wy
oming. The state is bounded now by
Canada on the north. Oregon on the
south, Idaho on the east and the
Pacific waters on the west.
The state was first inhabited by
Indians Fur traders were the first
white settlers. American immigrants
h. =,
territory in large numbers between
1S33-50, and began to improve the
country. These immigrants came in
by the way of Cape Horn in sailing
vessels and on overland trails. en-
during many hardships on the way
Among the first settlers came the
missionaries, Jason Lee and Marcus
Whitman. who became very active in
getting the east and the United States
government officials at Washington
to see the Importance and possible
greatness of the new territory and
in great way saved the territory
for the United States In 1853 the
territory of Washington was formed
Oregon having been first taken out
of the original territory. In 1863 the
territory of Idaho was formed out of
Washington territory. This left
Washington in the present shape and
it was received into the galaxy of
states in Nov. II 1889. The first state
governor was Elisha p Ferry.
About five-eighths of Washington
lies on the east side of the Cascade
mountains. The northern part of the
| region is known as the Okanogan
Highlands. and the southern part as
the Plains OF the Columbia
The Okanogan Highlands extend
| eastward from the Cascade mountains
| and it consists of numerous ridges.
Between these are some very fertile
valleys. The most important are
Methow, OkanOgan and Colville.
South of the Okanogan Highlands
is the Plains of the Columbia. Most
| of this region consists of broad val
| leys and plains. There are however
some mountains like the Blue mount
| aims in the southeastern part.
The Cascade range extends north
| and south dividing the state into two
| parts commonly known as eastern
Washington and western Washington.
There are many high peaks in the
| Cascade range. Some are Mt. Baker.
Mt. Rainier. Glacier Peak and Mt. St.
| Helens. Great glaciers run down the
rugged sides of Mt Rainier. The
Cowltz. Nisqually. Puyallup and
| White rivers have their sources in
| these glaciers.
Between the Olympic mountains
which are in the northwestern part
of the state. and the Cascade range
is the Puget Sound basin The eli
mate of this part of the state is unlike
the eastern part.
The winds blowing from the ocean
are laden with moisture and cause
very much rainfall especially in the
winter months. In summer the winds
are warmed when passing over the
land do not give up their moisture sc
freely. Therefor the winters are damp
and the summers are dry. The eli
mate is never very cold on the coast
because 1t is warmed by the Japan.