Evening star., 1934-09-30

-H HE city of Grand Coulee, nestled at
the head of the great geological
wonder of the same name in the
State of Washington. is the worlds
youngest town-and, for its size, one
of the busiest.
For this town, which has brought several
Thousand people together in a spot where there
was only lonely ranch land a year ago is help
ing to bring reality to one of the oldest OF the
far Western pioneers dreams.
When Eastern settlers first entered Washing
ton they saw that the great Columbia River was
fairly begging to be harnessed and put to work
The typographical set-up was almost made
to order. 1t was obvious that dam thrown
across the river at the head of the coulee would
impound immense amount of water. Much
electric power could be generated. In addition,
there would be water available to irrigate fully
] 100000 acres of now dry. arid land.
For many years the pioneers dreamed that
some day the Government would do just that.
Now the Government is doing it-and, as by
product, the thriving little city of Grand Coulee
has come into being.
1t was on July 16, 1888 that several hundred
people gathered on the west bank of the river
to Participate a double -barreled celebration.
First, they were celebrating the completion of
highway from the town of Almira to the
site of the dam. Second, they were celebrating
the beginning of actual work on construction
of the dam.
A THAT time the immediate vicinity was
" practically empty of inhabitants. There
were three homesteads about mile and
quarter up the hill. owned by Johnny Pureee
Mark Noble and Dan Lael Only one house.
that of the Purtee family, was visible from any
distance The others we're out of sight, nesting
in little ravines.
Today the city of Grand Coulee stands on
RI u hod
a population of 1000 very busy people, and
before Winter begins this number will be dou-
bled and possibly tripled. And yet it was in
September, 1933-barely a year ago-that the
town site was originally plated and the first
lot sold Since then settlers have been coming
in like gold prospectors swarming to Alaska.
In the beginning, three towns were plated.
one on each homestead. They are growing to-
gether so fast, however, that the inhabitants
consider them one city.
Because of the great size of the job which is
being done, Grand Couee is very much boom
town. And yet-much to the surprise Of most
newcomers-it is not the wild and woody West
frontier settlement that might be expected.
It is very orderly and peaceful. The usual
let-er-rip spirit of rowdy abandon that char
acterizes most towns of this kind is conspicuous
by its absence.
Beer flows freely in the town. to be sure; beer
parlors outnumber all other business establish
ments, and you can buy drink of hard liquor,
If you want it, without much trouble. Most
citizens of Grand Coulee, however, are satisfied
with beer. Perhaps they have too much work
to risk stronger waters.
Digging up banks of earth planning survey
ing in fact, doing all the necessary jobs, doesn't
permit intemperance.
The sheriffs Office has equipped Grand
Coulee with one deputy sheriff and this lone
peace officer has very little to do. Indeed it is
q common joke in the town that this deputy
and the man stationed in Grand Coulee by the
State Highway Department are the least over
worked men in town.
The night life of Grand Coulee is gay but
orderly. Occasionally one of the boys will stay
with the bottle little too long, SO that the
deputy sheriff will have to take him in tow, but
it is not a common occurrence.
The reason for all of this doubtless is the
fact that there is such tremendous amount of
work to be done. To begin with, turning empty