Part 19 (1/2)
CITIES AND TOWNS.
[Sidenote: The only compet.i.tion is between Tacoma and Seattle.]
The location of Port Townsend puts that town out of the general compet.i.tion. The same is true of Olympia. Whatcom, or some possible town near the line between Whatcom and Skagit counties, might grow into consequence if made the terminus of some transcontinental road. This point, however, is involved in the larger question of the course of the Manitoba Railroad. With the present outlook, the only two competing towns on Puget Sound are Tacoma and Seattle. The former has the advantage of being the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and of having large private capital to advance its interests. These have made the town all that it is. It is handsomely laid out, and well built. It has an elegant hotel, and a population said in Tacoma to be 12,000, and in Seattle to be 7,500. The harbor has water enough, but the landing is bad; there being no level ground available for wharves or business houses near the water. A mere roadway, cut out of the high bluff, furnishes the only line of communication. The town is one to two hundred feet above the water and above the main railroad depot, and must be reached by a long, steep road. Tacoma is twenty-six miles farther from the sea than Seattle, has a back country of inferior resources, and has no advantage in distances from the East.
[Sidenote: Advantages of Seattle.]
Seattle has already been described. It has probably double the population of Tacoma, and more than double the business. It has flat ground enough for commercial purposes. In its position, its harbor, its relations to the back country, its materials for trade, commerce, manufactures, its present and prospective railroad connections, it surpa.s.ses all present and future compet.i.tors on Puget Sound.
There will be mining and trading towns at numerous points between Seattle and Salal Prairie.
[Sidenote: Towns of East Was.h.i.+ngton.]
The towns on the east flank of the Cascade Mountains may have a future; _i.e._, Cle-ellum, Ellensburg, and North Yakima. They have a chance for the State capital, and there may be manufacturing as well as mining towns near the iron ore, and other mineral beds. Small places will also spring up at the mouth of the Wenatchie and the Okinagane, and at the termini of the steamboat landings.
The county seat of Lincoln cannot remain at Sprague. Wheatland would have a chance for that.
[Ill.u.s.tration: VIEW OF THE CITY OF SPOKANE FALLS, EASTERN TERMINUS SEATTLE, LAKE Sh.o.r.e AND EASTERN RAILWAY.]
[Sidenote: Spokane Falls and its fine prospects.]
a.s.suming that Spokane Falls is the objective point of the Seattle Railway, I will give a somewhat full account of this thriving young city. In 1882 it had 700 inhabitants; in 1887 it had over 7,000. In 1883 the Northern Pacific Railroad reached there, and since that date the town has grown continuously. It will be a large city, as will be obvious if its advantages be considered. These are chiefly: I. Its water-power; II. Its agricultural relations; III. Its mining surroundings; IV. Its railroad prospects; V. Its good ground for building.
[Sidenote: Mr. Paul F. Mohr's article.]
I. ITS WATER-POWER.--The value of this water-power arises partly from the volume of water and its great fall, and also its uniformity, and its freedom from disturbing causes. The river falls in a succession of cascades amounting to 156 feet within the limits of the city. Mr. Paul F. Mohr has published an intelligent article on the subject, from which I quote the following statements:
”To arrive at the available number of horse-power which the Spokane River could furnish at this point, a.s.suming 90,000 horse-power as the gross power of the river, and deducting 60 per cent. therefrom, would leave 36,000 horse-power as a most conservative and minimum estimate.
”The City of Minneapolis used in 1880, as nearly as I can ascertain, about 20,000 horse-power, and Minneapolis is probably the largest flour-milling point in the world.
”The industries requiring most power are, in their order, as follows: lumber, flour, iron and steel, paper, woolen goods and worsted goods, with several industries consuming a comparatively small amount of power, not necessary to mention. Of the industries above named, all but the iron and steel industries can be followed at this point, and, in fact, the flouring, paper and woolen industries belong to this section of the country.”
It is claimed that the Spokane River at the falls never rises more than six feet, and never freezes. The river here has cut so deeply into the basalt, that there must be combination among the riparian owners in order to draw the water to good mill sites, and invite manufacturers to use the power. Mr. Mohr urges this.
Two flour-mills are now there turning out about 450 barrels of flour a day; also saw-mills, and, I think, a dynamo for electric lights, etc.; but, of course, these use but a small part of the power, which, if fully utilized, in such ways as are suggested by Mr. Mohr, would of itself create a large city.
II. AGRICULTURAL RELATIONS.--Spokane Falls has a promising agricultural country on all sides. The Pend d'Oreille region has good agricultural capabilities, though the best lands there are in the Indian reservation.
The country north of Spokane Falls, in the direction of Colville, is spoken of as a fertile valley, having more rain than the plateau country, much of it limestone soil, specially productive in hay and wheat. The wheat is harder than the plateau wheat, and contains a larger proportion of gluten; hence it is desired as a mixture for the wheat that is usually brought to the Spokane Falls mills.
Turning to the great plateau, we find that the rich Palouse River country, since the construction of the Spokane Falls and Palouse Railroad finds its readiest market at Spokane Falls. And now that the Seattle, Lake Sh.o.r.e and Eastern Railroad is striking out through the Great Bend, another portion of this great producing region will be brought within easy reach.
III. MINING INTERESTS.--I need here only refer to the fact that Spokane Falls is situated centrally with regard to the mines of precious and base metals heretofore described. Evidently the business from the mines of Chewelah, Colville, Little Dalles, Kootenai, etc., must come here except so far as it may be diverted to a tide-water city which would smelt their ores and sell them goods. No doubt the Canadian Pacific will handle some of the business of the Kootenai mines. Similar remarks may be made with regard to the mines of the Coeur d'Alene country, with the qualification that a road crossing the mountain, say to Missoula, would divert some of the trade to Helena or b.u.t.te City.
The miners of Okanogan, Methow, etc., would be nearest to Spokane Falls, but would be 100 or 150 miles on the way to Puget Sound, which would divide the trade.
IV. RAILROAD PROSPECTS.--The Northern Pacific Railroad, a transcontinental line, already pa.s.ses through Spokane Falls. If the cut-off through the Coeur d'Alene country should be made, it would be equivalent to an additional road. The Spokane Falls and Palouse Railway joins the Northern Pacific at Marshall, only nine miles from the city, and its general course points directly toward it.
The road across the Great Bend has been commenced. The road to Colville, Little Dalles, etc., will inevitably be made at an early day.
This would make it really the centre of six roads, counting the Northern Pacific as two.