The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1946-05-09
Historical Backgrounds
By Margaret Thompson

lands of the West, were in large
measure responsible for this great
influx. And later the panic of
1907 like other depressions =
brought thousands Of jobless men
from the older regions of the
United States to seek new oppor-
tunities in the Pacific Northwest.
Competition Among Railroads
This period in our history saw
the completion Of the railroad
lines we know at present-an ex:
panSion of the Great Northern, the
Northern Pacific and the Union
Pacific lines, and the extension of
the Chicago, Milwaukee and st.
Paul to the Pacific coast. This ex-
pansion was prompted not so much
by the transportation needs Of the
region as by the rivalries and
ruthless competition Of the rail-
road companies with each other.
The ambition of each railroad ex-
ecutive was to connect his road
with the steamship lines Of the
Pacific in order Cd to get as much
as possible Of the commerce be-
tween the Orient and the eastern
part of the United States, and (N
to gain access to the best lands and
richest natural resources Of the
Northwest. Each made his plans
in secret and did hsi best to out
wit his competitors.
The Milwaukee, last of the
trans-continental lines to be built,
was, in some respects a belated
consummation of plans projected
for the first road, the Northern
Pacific. Asa Whitney, who SUBJ
mitted to congress the first con-
crete proposal for a Pacific rail-
road, specified that It should ex-
tend from Lake Michigan west
through the Rockies and thence to
the Pacific "by the most practical
route" There has always been
divergence as to which was 'sthe
most practical route"-to follow
the water grade Of the Columbia
or to cross the Cascades to Puget
Sound. When the Northern Pa
cific survey was made in the 1850s
Isaac I. Stevens favored crossing
the Cascades at Snoqualmie Pass
to Puget Sound and Captain G. b.
Mcclellan, second in command,
favored the water grade through
the Columbia Gorge. Portland cap
italists naturally felt that McClel-
Ian was right, for his route would
benefit their city. Arthur A. Den
ny and other Seattle men associat-
ed with Stevens in organizing the
first Northern Pacific corporation,
of course, preferred the route
through Snoqualmie Pass. When
the Northern Pacific finally was
built and chose Tacoma as its
main terminal, both groups were
left frustrated and resentful.
Less than a week after Arthur
Denny and his associates received
the telegram informing them that
the N. P. terminal would be To-
Gated at Tacoma, the citizens Of
Seattle came together In q mass
meeing and planned to build their
own railroad road which would
90 through SnoQualmie Pass and
with the gram empire Of
Walla Walla valley. Amid shouts
md cheers they organized the Sc
title and Wa1la Walla railroad and
transportation company, subscribe
ID stock, and turned out enmass
% work on it with pick and show
i. In three years they had IS
niles in operation from the Col
nan docks In Seattle to the Rem
on coal mines. But they were
till q long way from Snoqualmie
'ass. In the course Of time other
nen, such u Judge Cornelius
Ianford, became interested in the
Dad. Ultimately It was reorgan-
Fed as the Columbia and Puget
;ound railroad and figured In the
,lans Of Peter Kirk to organize an
ron and steel industry.
CContinued next week..