Ithamar M. Howell

“ Since the introduction of electricity as a lighting and motive force, its creation by water power looms into immense importance. The exhibition of its achievements to be seen in Washington today is amazing to the men whose vision of light and power was first with the tallow dip and four-footed beasts, and later with kerosene and steam. Electricity, created by our water falls, lights our cities and farm homes, draws our street cars and some railroad cars—pushes most of the machinery used in manufactories, to the great satisfaction and profit of our citizens. ”

“ In western Washington, upon the bench lands and on the hills and foothills the forests are supported upon a gravelly soil, intermixed with a peculiar shot clay which disintegrates with successive tillage so that when the forests are removed the soil becomes ready for all the grasses and grains and fruits. In the valleys more silt and humus make up the soil, and when the cottonwoods, alders and maples are gone there is left a soil deep and strong for the truck gardener and general farmer, which will endure successive tillings for ages. ”

“ Where else upon the globe is such a diversified stretch of tranquil water, upon whose shores the ocean tides ebb and flow, upon whose surface the navies of the world could maneuver to their heart's content, while visible from shore to shore are the vast evergreen forests, interlaced with winding waters and stretching gently upwards till they reach the visible mountain peaks a hundred miles away, thousands of feet skyward? ”

“ But for the barn and stable, pig-stye, hennery, chicken-coop and fruit boxes, and a great many other things, the rancher patronizes his reserve log pile instead of the lumber yard, and saves time and labor in so doing. Another fact which compensates the rancher in western Washington in the struggle for a home which will provide a safe and generous support in his old age is that during all the labor and waiting he is enjoying a delightful climate, in which no blizzard drives him from his work. No cyclone endangers his life and fortune. No snakes lurk in the underbrush. ”

“ In the southeastern part of the county are some lands covered with black basaltic rocks, but the great bulk of the lands are rich in a volcanic ash soil, and produce large crops of grain without irrigation. A wrong view of the county can easily be impressed upon the traveler by rail; he will see so many of the basaltic rocks from the car windows but once up out of the canyon which the railroad follows, he will find himself in view of an expanse of wheat fields so vast and rich as to astonish him. ”

“ In scenery, which is no mean asset of the county, it is also unsurpassed. Vast ranges of mountains, sheets of fresh and salt water, rivers, hills and plains, forests, and grassy fields combine and interlace in a thousand directions to entrance and delight the artistic eye. ”

“ Eventually, beneath his own orchard trees laden with fruit, and in the comfort and delight of his big home fireplace, he contemplates the rewards of his struggle, as he sees his cows complacently chewing their cuds in his green pastures and listens to the neigh of his fat horses, and at his table, laden with all the bounty of his rich lands, thanks his Maker for the successful completion of a hard struggle and the enjoyment it has brought to him and his family. ”

“ The climate is a mean between that of eastern and western Washington, and is very mild and salubrious. The soil of the valleys in the region of the Columbia river is very fertile.
RESOURCES. The chief resource of the county is in its timber and lumber, yet its mineral and agricultural wealth is becoming better known and appreciated yearly. The fruit raised in its valleys is of excellent flavor, early in season, and the soil is generous in its yield. Splendid pasturage in the foothills encourages stock-raising, and fishing in the Columbia river is profitably followed by some of the citizens. ”

“ The modern stump-puller lifts out the smaller stumps with ease. The donkey engine and derrick pull together and pile the stumps and logs into great heaps, and once more the friendly fire helps out; and while the dusky woodlands are lighted up with passing glory the rancher sleeps to wake up and find his fields almost ready for his plow, nor has the task had half the hard labor nor consumed half the time that years ago would have been expended in clearing the same amount of oak and maple and hickory land in the valley Page 36 of the Mississippi. ”

“ Our lands include those suitable for the successful raising both of the more tender, as well as the hardier fruits. Every grain, other than corn, yields splendid results, while the truck gardener, small fruit grower, dairyman, stock raiser and, in fact, every man who aims to secure a living and a competence from some form of farm industry will find, if he looks for it, a spot within the confines of this state that will meet his most exacting requirements. ”

“ PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS. Bellingham, on a salt-water bay of the same name, is the county seat, and commercial metropolis not only for this county but much other territory. It has a population of about 40,000 people. Into it all the railroads center, while the harbor is one of the best in Washington. It is largely a manufacturing town, having plants for the production of sash, doors, columns, tin cans, boilers, engines, flour and feed, canned fish, condensed milk, and many others. It is a substantial, live business community of wide-awake people, and growing rapidly. ”

“ But given these, the man who is looking to Washington as a favored location for the establishment of his household gods need have no fear of the outcome.
Land may be secured suitable for any of the different purposes mentioned, and with proper care it may be made to yield beyond the most sanguine expectations. A market is ready and waiting to absorb every class of product at profitable prices. Transportation facilities are already excellent and the millions now being expended in new railway construction through the state give some idea of what the future holds forth in this particular. ”

“ If seen in the summer, there is added the view of a mass of green vegetation, rank and to a large extent covering up the mass of dead stuff left by the loggers with the huge stumps sticking up through it all, mute monuments of the lost wealth of the forest. ”

“ SOILS AND LANDS. Washington is particularly blessed in having a diversity of soils, all admirably adapted to some department of agriculture and giving the state the opportunity of great diversity in the occupations of its people. The central plateau of eastern Washington, made up of level stretches and undulating hills, is all covered with a soil composed of volcanic ash and the disintegration of basaltic rocks which, together with some humus from decayed vegetation, has made a field of surpassing fertility for the production of the cereals with scant water supply ”

“ The cedar logs, splitting with ease, can be turned into rails or boards or posts—preferably the former—and the rails put on top of each other between two posts fastened together at the top make as good a hog-tight and cattle-proof fence as can be desired, and these rails will last in the fence for a century. For the house, doubtless more satisfaction can be had by patronizing the nearest saw-mill, although many houses made out of split cedar timbers and boards are in the state, proofs at once of the usefulness of this timber and the hardihood and ingenuity of the rancher. ”

“ There are also iron mines, and quarries of marble, granite, onyx, serpentine, limestone and sandstone—beds of fire clay, kaolin, fire and potter's clays, talc and asbestos and many prospects of petroleum.
Mining is suffering for the lack of transportation for the low grade ores, but prospects are excellent for relief in this regard in the near future. The era of wildcat exploitation has been relegated to the past and legitimate mining is now getting a firmer hold in the state, and we look for results within the next five years which will astonish many who think themselves well informed. ”

“ KING COUNTY King county is distinguished by having Seattle for its county seat. The county is an empire in itself, stretching from the shores of Puget sound to the peaks of the Cascade mountains, and containing more than 2,000 square miles of territory. It also includes Vashon, one of the large islands of the sound.
RESOURCES. King county's sources of revenue are varied and extensive. Its lumber industry, growing out of the vast forests within its borders not only, but from the cutting of logs brought in from other sections of the state, is immense. ”

“ RESOURCES. The resources of the county consist in its timber, its fertile soil, and the fish in the river and ocean.
INDUSTRIES. Logging, saw-milling, and industries growing out of these; agriculture, dairying, and fishing are the chief occupation of its people. There are several logging concerns in the county and large saw-mills. Fish canneries dot its river shores; several creameries and dairies are manufacturing butter, while its farms produce hay, potatoes, fruits, cattle, hogs, poultry, eggs, and other products, chiefly for the Portland market. ”

“ To the business man a new state, developing as is the State of Washington, naturally offers numerous and attractive opportunities. New communities are springing up along the lines of the Milwaukee, the Portland & Seattle, and other railways now in process of construction, each demanding its quota of commercial enterprises, while the older cities and towns are continually absorbing new additions to their population, thus paving the way for new business facilities. ”

“ Lands capable of irrigation have rapidly risen in value during the past few years because of the immense yields of all crops under irrigation.
TRANSPORTATION. The Northern Pacific railway through its center, the Portland & Seattle around its southern and eastern border and the North Coast coming into the Yakima valley from the northeast and the southeast, together with the shipping on the Columbia river, give abundant means of marketing its products, while several local electric roads are projected to connect its towns and help to open up the newly developed portions of the county. ”

“ But with all their forbidding aspects, black with a portentous cloud of hard labor and long waiting, their known hidden wealth lures on the hardy pioneer to the task. He throws off his coat, rolls up his sleeves, gathers together his tools, and with the indomitable courage of the Anglo-Saxon Page 35 tackles the problem, works and fights and rests by turns till within a few years he finds himself triumphant. ”

“ RESOURCES. The county is one of the oldest settled portions of the state, and has a great variety of natural resources, among which are its timber areas, its agricultural fields, its coal mines, its fisheries, including clam and oyster beds, gray sandstone quarries, and a great variety of clays.
INDUSTRIES. The sawmills of the county are still a very important industry and shiploads of lumber are sent out from its wharves. All the cereals and grasses yield abundant crops; root crops are extensive; fruit of great variety and fine flavor is very prominent. ”

“ Truck Gardening. Garden stuff is supplied to all the large cities chiefly from surrounding lands in proper seasons, but much is imported from southern localities to supply the market out of season. The soils utilized for this purpose are the low alluvial valley lands and irrigated volcanic ash lands. The yield from both is astonishing to people from the eastern prairie states, and even in western Washington, with its humid atmosphere and cool nights, tomatoes, squashes and sweet corn are being generously furnished the city markets. ”

“ Fish are caught in quantities and shipped to eastern markets, but Pierce county's greatest natural wealth is in its vast forests. An idea of the value can be had when it is said that $6,000,000 worth of lumber was cut in 1908 in Tacoma alone. In addition to these great natural resources, Pierce county's commercial industries are so great as to place it in the front rank of counties of the Northwest. The great sawmills, woodworking plants and factories of various kinds in the city of Tacoma alone employ 11,800 people, and the value of their output last year amounted to over $43,000,000.00. ”

“ From the city of Spokane and radiating in every direction, electric lines are in operation and more are in course of construction, bringing the most distant points of the great "Inland Empire" into close touch with its metropolis and great distributing center. On the west side the same thing is true, only in less degree. Between these two groups of transportation facilities, and the commerce which the union of rail and tidewater has created, the citizens of Washington have found innumerable opportunities of employment. ”

“ INDUSTRIES. The people of Whatcom county are engaged in lumbering and running saw-mills, one of the largest of the state being in this county; manufacturing of various kinds from the raw products in the county, including shingle mills and shingle machinery factory, salmon canneries, planing mills, barrel factories, Portland cement factory, and many others. Of no small importance is farming, fruit-growing and dairying. Prospecting and mining engage the attention and labor of a large number of citizens. ”