Umatilla County, Oregon - Chapter 28: River, Railway and Other Transportation, 1882

Chapter 28: River, Railway and Other Transportation

The question of transportation has been an absorbing one for years, and the want of suitable facilities for conveying the produce of Eastern Oregon and Washington to the sea coast, has done more than all other causes combined, to retard the development of that country. The great Columbia river with its tributaries are Nature's outlets to the vast region lying between the Rocky and Cascade mountains ; but, the same hand placing them there, also put in their channels barriers to their uninterrupted or profitable use as transportation highways. The most important obstructions are the two rocky and turbulent series of rapids-, known as the Dalles and Cascades, where the Columbia cuts its way through the mountains. Because of these, to utilize that stream as a carrying outlet, it is necessary to combine land with water transportation, and such will continue to be the case, until canals with locks have been constructed around those barriers to uninterrupted navigation. To now form a continuous freight line upon the Columbia river from the interior to tide-water, it is necessary to use a steamer to the Cascades, a portage there, another steamer to the Dalles, a second portage at that point, and a third steamer to run on the upper river. Other obstructions consist of rocks and rapids in the channel of the upper Columbia and its various tributaries.

From the time the Pacific Fur Company established a post at Astoria in 1811, the Columbia river has been used as a highway of travel and commerce. The voyageurs of the powerful Hudson's Bay Company, in their annual journey to Montreal ascended this stream, and down it came boatloads of furs from the posts and brigades of trappers in the interior. Many accidents and frequent losses of life have occurred at these rapids, through which boats often passed down, to avoid the trouble of making a portage. When the early emigrants began to arrive, they crossed the Blue mountains and reached the Columbia in the vicinity of Wallula and the Umatilla, and the river was then used to convey at least a portion of their effects to the Willamette valley. Thousands entered Oregon by this route.

In 1852 Bradford Brothers built a wooden tramway at the Cascade portage, to facilitate the transportation of goods from boat to boat. There was then considerable trade between Portland and Vancouver, and the settlements at the Cascades and Dalles, especially after a military post was established at the latter point. The wooden road was on the north side of the river, and was only a mile and one-third in length, running from the middle to the upper Cascades. It was then the custom to take goods over the lower rapids in large batteaus, propelled by sails, and Capt. J. C. Ainsworth was the first to accomplish this feat. The Mary and one or two other boats were on the river between the Cascades and Dalles.

The discovery of the Colville mines in March, 1855, increased travel and freight on the river, the Dalles being generally used as a final starting point. Following this came the Indian war of 1855-6, which increased the amount of freight going up the river. J. S. Ruckle was United States commissary and responsible for furnishing supplies to the troops. The Bradfords would not carry them and take government vouchers for pay, and Ruckle was compelled to put on mule teams to haul his goods around the Cascades on the Oregon side. From the Dalles supplies were taken to troops in the field by wagons and pack animals ; and at the close of this war, military posts established in the upper country, continued to require a large quantity of supplies. The trade to the mines, with settlers in the new country, and with immigrants, was also great. Ruckle, remembering the trouble that the Bradford Brothers had put him to, resolved to start an opposition portage at the Cascades. He began securing the right of way for such purpose on the Oregon side, and associated himself with Harry Olmstead, as the Oregon Transportation Line. In the spring of 1858, J. W. Brazee was employed by them to locate a line for the road, and in the fall he began its construction. It was five miles in length, the rails being of wood faced with strap-iron ; and horses or mules were used as the motive power. There were now two wooden railroads at the Cascades - the new one on the Oregon side five miles long, and the Bradford short line on the Washington side.

Up to this time no steamers had been placed on the river above the Dalles ; but in 1858 R. R. Thompson and L.W.Coe built the Venture at the Dalles, intending to haul it above the rapid«, but when completed it floated over the Cascades. The damage was repaired and the vessel was put on the Frazer river trade, and made a small fortune for its owners. In 1859 they huiltthe Colonel Wright, and placed it as the pioneer boat on the upper Columbia. During the next two years trade and travel to the interior increased rapidly. Settlers began to pour into the country east of the Cascades, and several stores were opened in Walla Walla, requiring large quantities of goods.

In 1860 the Oregon Transportation Line purchased a pony-engine to run on its road, and for the first time since their heads were lifted from the sea, those lofty hills of the Columbia echoed the shriek of a locomotive. The legislative act of December 19, 1860, created the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, " for the purpose of navigation and transportation in the State of Oregon and Washington Territory." The incorporators were J. C. Ainsworth, Daniel F. Bradford, K. E. Thompson, and J. S. Buckle. Soon after this news was received of the discovery of gold on Oro Fino creek, and other tributaries of Snake river. This news carried abroad brought, in 1861, such a cloud of miners and freight, that the transportation companies were overwhelmed with traffic. The O. S. N. Co. was completely reorganized, absorbing the Oregon Transportation Line and receiving additional capital. The chief stockholders were J. C. Ainsworth, B. B. Thompson, L. W. Coe, D. F. Bradford, Ladd & Tilton, J. S. Buckle, Harry Olmstead, and S. G. Beed. They at once put boats on the river as fast as they could buy or make them, J. W. Brazee being their superintendent of construction. In 1862 the company began building iron railroads around the Cascades and Dalles, on lines surveyed by Mr. Brazee.

A line of mail and passenger stages to run between the Dalles and Walla Walla was placed on the road by Miller & Blaekmore, Walla Walla being the final starting point for the mines. Large quantities of freight were forwarded from the Dalles to this place in wagons and by water. The unloading point for boats on the river was Wallula, at the site of the ancient Fort, and all river freight for the upper country stopped there and was taken to, or through, Walla Walla by teamsters and packers. Stages were put on between those points in April, 1862, by Bickey & Thatcher, but were unable to accommodate the travel ; hundreds who could not obtain a seat, or were unwilling to pay the exorbitant fare, traveled on foot or with saddle horses as the custom had been before.

From Walla Walla to Lewiston, Florence, and all towns that sprung up in and near the new mines, passengers went on foot or horseback, cayuse ponies demanding a price in the market never reached before nor since ; while pack animals were used to convey mining outfits and supplies of all kinds. Express lines were established between the various localities by many small firms, the largest of which, Tracy & Co., was succeeded in the spring of 1862 by Wells, Fargo & Co., whose first agent in Walla Walla was Ned James. Gradually this great express company established offices in all the more important localities, and eventually obtained complete control in their line of business. Numerous unimportant localities in the mines were reached by them through other express routes, of which a score existed, that were constantly changing ownership. The first effort to navigate Snake river with steamers, was made by the O. S. N. Co. in April, 1862. They dispatched the Tenino from the mouth of De Chutes river, loaded with merchandise for Lewiston. She only reached a point about eight miles above Wallula, because of low water, but the company did not abandon the undertaking with one trial. It was of great advantage to them to carry passengers and freight through to that place, instead of disembarking at Wallula, and a second trial that month resulted in the vessel's reaching Lewiston, where it was received as the harbinger of their hopes. The freight and travel thus diverted from Walla Walla to her detriment were of corresponding benefit to the company and Lewiston.

Blackmore & Chase in April, 1862, put on the first stages between Wallula and Lewiston that ran through Walla Walla, and in May Rickey & Fletcher started an opposition line, Abbott & Miller putting on the third in September.

Railway Question From 1861 To 1863

The subject of a railroad from Walla Walla to the Columbia received much attention in 1861, because of the advantage to that place in its competition with Lewiston and other interior points. At that time there was practically no out-going freight, and the question was simply one of procuring the cheapest and quickest transportation of merchandise and passengers into the country. A stock subscription was started to organize a company for that purpose, with a capital of $300,000. The subscribers were granted a charter by the Legislature, January 28, 1862, the route to be surveyed by November 1, 1863, the road completed in 1868, and the charter to continue in force until 1880. The gentlemen's names appended were, A. J. Cain, B. F. Whitman, L. A. Mullan, W. J. Terry, C. H, Armstrong, I. T. Abbott, I. T. Beese, S. M. Baldwin, E. L. Bonner, W. A. Mix, Charles Russell, J. A. Simms, Jesse Drumhaller, James Reynolds, D. S. Baker, George E. Cole, S. D. Smith, J. J. Goodwin, Neil McGlinchy, J. G. Sparks, W. A. George, J. M. Vansyckle, W. W. DeLacy, A. Seitel, W. A. Ball, B. F. Stone, J. Schwabacher, B. P. Standefer, S. W. Tatum, W. W. Johnson, D. Craig, William May and T. Brown. It was estimated, in advance of a survey, that the road would cost from $600,000 to $750,000. During the summer, the Washington Statesman endeavored to spur the people on to action in the matter, urging them to subscribe enough to encourage capital from abroad to invest in the enterprise. They were advised to organize under the charter, and December 22, I 862, it published a letter from Capt. John Mullan, from New York, in which he stated that $250,000 could be easily procured on Wall street for the project, and, if necessary, the whole amount could be raised there. It then stated that during the year 1862, an average of 150 tons of freight per week was landed at Wallula, and from 50 to 600 passengers weekly. On the last day of the year, a meeting was held in Walla Walla, with E. B. Whitman, president, and W. W. Johnson, secretary, when committess were appointed to solicit subscriptions in New York, Washington, Portland, Vancouver, San Francisco, Dalles, Wallula and Walla Walla, and another committee to draw up articles of association and by-laws. At another meeting, March 14, 1863, the by-laws were adopted. Nothing definite was accomplished, and the time allowed for the making of a survey was permitted to lapse, and thus work a forfeiture of the charter.

Okegon Steam Navigation Company

In the summer of 1862, lively opposition was carried on by steamboat men. The O. S. N. Co. had the Colonel Wright, Tenino and Okinagan on the river above the Dalles. D. S. Baker, A. P. Ankeny, H. W. Corbett, William Gates and Captain Baughman formed a company and built the Spray to run on the upper Columbia and Snake rivers, and she made fourteen trips to Lewiston that season. The People's Transportation Company put on a full line of boats the same year, the Cay use on the upper river, the Iris below the Dalles, and the E. D. Baker between the Cascades and Portland. This company was composed of David and Asa McCully, J. W. Cochrane, E. W. Baughman, Joseph Kellogg, George Jerome, D. W. Burnside, S. T. Church and E. N. Cooke. The opposition was a strong one during that year, and part of the next. In March, 1863, the O. S. N. Co. bought the /Spray, and, also, put on a new boat called the Nez Perce Chief. They had been having trouble with the railroads they were constructing. A San Francisco engineer named Goss had undertaken to build the roads in sixty days, and after working about eight months upon them, was discharged. J. W. Brazee then completed them, and started the first freight cars on the twentieth of April, 1863. This line at the Cascades was on the Washington side, and cost when placed in running order, about $200,000. The road from Dalles to Celilo was on the Oregon side, and now forms part of the O. R. & N. Co.'s line, and cost about $300,000. These were five foot gauge, but were afterwards reduced to the standard. The compeltion of the railroads gave the O. S. N. Co. such an advantage over the People's Transportation Company that in July a compromise was effected whereby the O. S. N. Co. bought the Iris and Cayuse, and took to itself all the trade of the Columbia and Snake rivers, while the other line was left without competition on the Willamette river. From that time the O. S. N. Co., with occassional small oppositions, enjoyed a monopoly of the Columbia river transportation, and its leading stockholders have become wealthy capitalists. After this compromise, the following rate for freights and fares was established, a large increase upon charges during the competition :

At this time there were over 150 wagons engaged in hauling from Wallula to Walla Walla and Lewiston. A great many teams were also taking goods from Umatilla to Southeastern Oregon and Southern Idaho. Umatilla Landing, as it was then called, now Umatilla City, began to grow in importance in the spring of 1863. It diverted considerable trade and travel from the Wallula and Walla Walla route, and became a very important shipping and receiving point. Stages from there to Baker and Boise cities carried mail, passengers, and express independent of Walla Walla. All the mail for this region was taken to the Dalles by the O. S. N. Co., and from that point by stages. The amount of freight handled can best be expressed by saying that upon the completion of the railroad from the Dalles to Celilo, the wagons and teams that had been used by the O. S. N. Co. for portage purposes between those points were sold to the Government for $43,000.

After the compromise of the competing lines had left no opposition on the river, D. S. Baker resolved to attack the O. S. N. Co. in its stronghold. A railroad around the portages, open to all freight and passengers, would encourage independent boats, and make it possible for them to successfully compete with the great company. He associated himself with William Parsons and Harris, to build a wooden road at the

Cascades, on the old Bradford line. When this was nearly completed, the O. S. N. Co. secured a charter and grant of right of way from Congress, and Dr. Baker found it advisable to sell out to that company at a sacrifice. Several efforts were afterwards made to build independent railways at the Dalles and Cascades, but none progressed so far as to actually begin work. The line having now been built by the O. R. & N. Co., from Wallula to Portland will probably prevent farther effort in this direction.

Efforts Renewed For A W. W. Railway

A new departure was made in the postal service in 1864, by the establishment of an overland mail route between Walla Walla and Salt Lake City. The contract was let to Ben Holladay, who put on stages to connect at Salt Lake with his other overland line from California. Fare from Walla Walla to Atchison was $260, and the time consumed twenty days. The first mail left Walla Walla July 1, 1864, and the first arrived there from the East on the twentieth. Discovery of the Montana mines led to an increased trade and travel from this section in 1865 - 6, giving a new market for products of the country, which in consequence were taken to Colville, Kootenai, Blackfoot and other points. This was in competition with several other routes and supply points, all of which has been fully noted in the history of Walla Walla county for 1866.

The O. S. N. Co. were desirous of taking all freight for Blackfoot, Colville, and those interior points to White Bluffs or as high up the Columbia as possible, and discriminated against such freight when landed at Wallula in 1866. In April, 1867, they raised the rate from Dalles to Wallula from $32.50 to $35 per ton, and many teamsters began hauling to Walla Walla, but the competition between mule teams and steamboats was necessarily short lived.

At this time the country had become so thickly settled, that there was a large surplus production, over and above all the demands of the home market and for shipment to the interior. The hill lands were found to be valuable for wheat production, and thousands of acres had been settled upon. There was but little encouragement for farmers to produce much, for the rates of freight were so extremely high that grain could not be shipped with a profit. Flour and wool, the other great staple products, were also compelled to pay a revenue to the transportation company that gave but little to the producer. In 1865 wheat was worth $1.25 per bushel in Walla Walla, but two years later the increased production had brought the price down to thirty cents. Flour in 1865 was $10 per barrel, and in 1868 was shipped to New York and sold for the same price, after paying $4.70 for freight. Shipping wheat at thirty cents per bushel and flour at $5.30 per barrel was not profitable either to the farmer or miller, and the only remedy was to procure a reduction in the cost of transportation.

One of the steps to that end, so far as Walla Walla and the great farming country back of it were concerned, was the building of a railroad between Walla Walla and Wallula. The Statesman had several articles on the subject, advocating a horse railroad if nothing better could be had. The former movement in the same direction, was to enable them to bring goods to Walla Walla at such rates as would give that city the advantage in its competition with other points in supplying the mines ; now, they desired a road to aid in the development of the country by sending its produce out into the great markets of the world. What a change had been wrought in six years! March 23, 1868, the citizens of Walla Walla assembled at the court-house to consider this question. A committee of investigation was appointed, and at another meeting five days later, it was resolved to organize a company. This resulted in the incorporation in April, 1868, of the Walla Walla and Columbia River R. R. Co., by D. S. Baker, A. H. Reynolds, I. T. Reese, A. Kyger, J. H. Lasater, J. D. Mix, B. Scheideman, and W. H. Newell. It was proposed to get the O. S. N. Co. to take at least $100,000 of stock, Walla Walla county $200,000, and the city $50,000. Delegate Flanders procured the passage of an act by Congress, March 3, 1869, granting the right of way and authorizing the county commissioners to issue $300,000 in aid of the road, after the approval of the people being given at a special election .

Northern Pacific Railway

This enterprise, laden with results of vast importance to the Northwest, began to make its presence known at this time. The idea of building a road from the Atlantic to the Pacific, by which the trade of Asia could be carried across the continent, was by no means a new one. In 1835, Rev. Samuel Parker, on his way across the continent to Oregon, to labor as a missionary among the Indians of the Columbia, remarked in his journal of that expedition : " There would be no difficulty in the way of constructing a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean ; and probably the time may not be far distant, when trips will be made across the continent as they have been made to the Niagara Falls, to see nature's wonders." The project of building such a railroad was first agitated in 1845, by Asa Whitney, of New York, who had spent many years in China, had gathered all the information possible about the country lying between Puget Sound and Lake Michigan, and was enthusiastic on the subject of a railroad connecting those bodies of water, over which the trade of Asia could be carried. In 1846 and 1847 he had so far interested prominent men in Philadelphia and New York, that public meetings were held to discuss the subject. June 23, 1848, Hon. James Pollock, of Pennsylvania, reported favorably from a special committee appointed by the House at his suggestion, recommending explorations and surveys. February 7, 1849, Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, introduced a bill in the Senate for a Pacific railroad.

In an address entitled "The New Northwest," delivered by Hon. W. D. Kelley in Philadelphia, June 12, 1871, in speaking of the movement in 1846, in which he took a prominent part, that a gentleman said :

"Let no man think that the Pacific Railroad then projected was to run to San Francisco, or elsewhere than to the heart of the unorganized Territory of Oregon, which extended from the 42nrl to the 49th parallel of latitude, and embraced what is now the State of Oregon and Washington Territory, into which no settlers had gone. There was then no San Francisco. Not a cabin or hut stood within the corporate limits of that beautiful and prosperous city.1 California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico were still Mexican territory. Neither science nor observation had detected the deposits of gold and silver, or the agricultural capabilities of that vast region of country. "

The discovery of gold in California, and the vast emigration thither, tended to turn the eyes of America away from Puget Sound and fix them upon San Francisco bay. A new route and new terminus were advocated, not because they possessed greater natural advantages, but because more people were there to advocate it and be benefited thereby.

In the Act of March 3, 1853, Congress provided for the exploration of a northern, central and southern route across the continent, and in 1855 the report of these explorations was published in thirteen quarto volumes, illustrated with elaborate engravings. In this report the preference was given to the northern route, as being the shortest, possessing the least engineering objections, and passing through the most fertile and valuable country. It failed to show that a road across the Sierra Nevada was practicable. This was done in 1858 by Theodore D. Judah, who surveyed a route at his own expense, agitated the question for several years, and finally organized the Central Pacific Railroad Company. He made two trips to Washington and procured the passage in 1862, of the Pacific Railroad Bill. Aside from the commercial aspect of the question, it was considered a political and military necessity, intensified by the great rebellion then in progress, to connect California with the East by rail. Work was at once begun, and the last spike that joined the Union and Central Pacific roads, was driven at Promontory Point, Utah, on the tenth of May, 1869.

Meanwhile the advocates of a line to the Columbia river and Puget Sound were not idle. They fully appreciated the value of the vast tracts of agricultural land in Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, to be opened up and developed by such a road, the richness in minerals of the country through which it would run, the advantages Puget Sound possessed over San Francisco as a point for handling and transferring to a railroad the commerce of Asia, and finally, the local advantages of construction and shortness of line possessed by this route. The Northern Pacific- Railroad was incorporated and granted the right of way by the Act of July 2, 1864, and in aid of its construction the company was granted the odd numbered sections of public lands lying within ten miles of the road in the States, and within twenty miles in the territories. Several years were spent in ineffectual efforts to secure a sufficient amount of capital, and to induce the government to guarantee bonds of the company. Finally in 1870, a contract was made with Jay Cooke & Co. to act as financial agents of the road, to procure means for its construction. In the summer of 1869, a party of gentlemen, officials and engineers of the Northern Pacific road passed from the Sound east across the continent. They were the pioneer inspectors of the route, and we find them giving the following expression of appreciation of a Walla Walla citizen and his efforts in the interest of the Northwest. It is an extract from a private letter, dated at Camp No. 6, six miles north of Spokane river, is signed by Thomas H. Canfield, W. Milnor

" During the few weeks we accompanied each other in the important reconnaissance we are now making, we have seen more than we have ever before met with in the same space of time; and we are glad to have it in our power to say that your glaring statements of the natural advantages of this wonderful region on the Pacific Slope have not been overstated - that as far as we have advanced from Puget Sound on our way to the summit of the main divide between the Pacific and Atlantic waters they are fully sustained.

"At no distant period, when the Northern Pacific Railroad shall become a fixed fact, and when trains of cars shall be daily passing between Puget Sound and the Atlantic Cities, your name will ever be honorably associated among the pioneers who have been instrumental in securing public attention to this remarkable route, and in hastening the actual construction of a grand trunk Continental railroad over it."

The letter referred, and was written to Philip Ritz ; and in this connection it seems to us not amiss to state in regard to that gentleman, that as early as 1866, he commenced investigation by exploration of this northern route making several trips across the mountains in that direction. He finally became so thoroughly impressed with its importance and feasibility, that, in the winter of 1867 and 1868, he determined to visit Washington to urge the project, and crossed the continent in a stage coach in mid winter for that purpose. While there in March, 1868, at the instance of N. P. R. R. directors, he gave to the press an article from his pen entitled, "The Agricultural and Mineral Recources of the Northwest Territories on the line of the N. P. R. R." This letter was printed, and placed upon the desk of every member of Congress - and extensively circulated throughout the country - and referred to by quite a number of members in speeches made on the subject. General Cass and Wm. B. Ogden, two of the earliest and wealthiest directors, and to whom the enterprise is mainly indebted for its existence, while on a visit to this country several years afterwards, when on a steamer on the Columbia river, told Mr. Ritz that his letter having accidentally fallen into their hands, was the means of first attracting their attention to the scheme of building a railroad on the northern route. His letter was published May 14, 1868, in the Helena Herald, when the editor stated in regard to it and the author, that he, "More than any other man, has endeavored to further the interests of the country about which he writes. He has ever been a warm advocate of the immediate construction of the N. P. R. R., and by his many able expositions of the importance of this grand enterprise, he has been greatly instrumental in directing the attention of railroad corporations and capitalists to this route. He is thoroughly familiar with the region of the Northwest, of which he is one of the pioneers. This fact, combined with his ability as a writer, and his peculiar faculity of making intelligent observations during his travels, renders his views regarding the opening of lines of communication between the various prominent points of the territories referred to, valuable for reference or information to our people and outside capitalists, as well as entertaining to the general reader. It cannot fail to interest all our readers and we commend it to their attentive perusal."

Mr. Ritz made all of these examinations and trips over the continent at his own expense, both of time and money. He has crossed the Rocky mountains twenty-seven times, and made two trips by the way of Panama. It is hardly necessary to remark that the N. P. R. R. question was then, and still is, on of vital import in solving a

At a meeting held in Walla Walla, March 15, 1871, a proposition was made by the N. P. R. R. Co. to survey a route from Walla Walla to Wallula, provided the citizens would subscribe $2,000, the company to turn over all plats and field notes to the W. W. & C. R. R. R. Co., in case it should decide not to run its line through Walla Walla, and through the exertions of H. M. Chase the money was raised. Having decided not to build on this line, the N. P. R. R. had James Tilton, its chief engineer, report to the W. W. & C. R. R. R. Co. in May, 1871. The report showed the length to be 31i miles; maximum grade, 59 feet; estimated cost, $673,236.71, or $21,- 271.30 per mile. The chief stockholders of the W. W. & C. R. R. R. Co. at that time were Dr. D. S. Baker, H. M. Chase, L. McMorris, William Stephens, J. F. Boyer, B. L. Sharpstein and other citizens of Walla Walla. Upon the reception of Tilton's report, they requested the county commissioners to call an election under the Act of March 3, 1869, on the question of issuing Walla Walla county bonds to the amount of $200,000. The election was set for June 26, 1871, but before that time the order was revoked to save expense, it having become evident that the subsidy would be defeated. The company then made a proposition to the people. They offered for the delivery of $300,000 bonds to construct a T-iron road within a year; to place in the hands of the county commissioners all moneys received from down freights as a sinking fund, and to allow the board to fix the rate on such freights, provided that it was not placed at less than $2.00, nor so high as to exclude freight from the road; to give a first mortgage on the road, to secure the county; and to give security that the bonds would be legitimately used in constructing the road. An election was called by the board for September 18, 1871, at which time the measure was defeated. This was a surprise to the company, as the shipment of produce from the country was the chief reason for a road, and as the regulation of doivn freight was to be placed in the hands of the people's representatives, who could fix it at $2.00 if they so desired, which was less than one-quarter of the cost at that time for conveying grain from Walla Walla to the river. A favorable vote of two-thirds was required by the Act, but it fell so far short that a majority of eighteen against the measure was cast, the total vote being 935. Dr. Baker, who owned the bulk of the stock, then decided to build and control the road himself, and in March, 1872, grading was commenced at Wallula.

Numerous Railroad Projects

Again railroad projects began to multiply. In the spring of 1872, the Grand Ronde and Walla Walla Railroad Company was incorporated, to build a road and telegraph line to connect the two points named. A line was surveyed that year to the Umatilla river, thirty-six miles, where work was stopped for the winter and never resumed. In the spring of 1873, a bill was introduced in Congress, granting the right of way for a road from the N. P. line at Spokane river, via Penawawa, Dayton, Waits-

The Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Company was organized on the Sound in 1873, and in August A. A. Denny and J. J. McGilvra visited this section in the interests of the road. Mass meetings were held in Walla Walla, Waitsburg and Dayton. The Cascade mountains were to be crossed through the Snoqualmie pass; the road was to be 260 miles long, and was to cost $4,500,000. These people who a few days later declared their inability to raise $40,000 to aid in completing the road from Wallula, were enthusiastic in regard to a road that was to cost $4,500,000, and agreed to raise five-thirteenths of the money, provided Walla W alia was made the terminus and they were allowed to name five of the thirteen directors. The incorporation was amended accordingly, and S. Schwabacher, W. F. Kimball, Jesse N. Day, W. P. Bruce andW. M. Shelton were selected as the five directors to represent this region.

September 22, 1873, but a few days after this new project had been taken up, a meeting was held in Walla Walla to consider a proposition made by Dr. Baker. He had been slowly and quietly building his road, using wooden rails at first, and then strap iron on the wood, and now he proposed at once to complete it with strap iron to Walla Walla, provided the people would subscribe $40,000 to the capital stock, or take that amount of bonds. Their heads were so full of big railroads, and especially this road to the Sound, which not only took them to the Columbia river, but to deep sea direct, that they had no money to give to this little road, which was the only one showing any signs of vitality. Though they could no more handle the road they were interested in than they could move the sun, they were so engrossed in it that the $40,000 could not be raised, and Dr. Baker continued to plod along as he had done before.

Still another project tended to divert the minds of the people of Walla Walla from the little road creeping so slowly towards them. The Portland, Dalles and Salt Lake Railroad Company had been organized several years, with the purpose of cheapening transportation on the Columbia in opposition to the O. S. N. Co., and to build a railroad from Umatilla, or some point on the river to the Central Pacific road near Ogden. This project met with great favor in Eastern Oregon and Southern Idaho, as well as in Walla Walla, from which place it was the intention to build a branch to some point on its main line. In the spring of 1874, Congress was asked to guarantee the interest on this company's bonds to the amount of $10,000 per mile, the company offering to carry the mail and United States supplies free of charge. Senator Mitchell introduced the bill, but could not procure its passage.

The suspension of the house of Jay Cooke & Co., in September, 1873, and the consequent bankruptcy of the N. P. R. R. Co., sent a wave of financial panic and ruin over the country. Work on that road was suspended indefinitely. Up to that time $30,000,000 of bonds had been issued, 230 miles of track laid in Minnesota, 195 in Dakota, and 105 from Kalama to Tacoma in Western Washington. This road had made a partial survey of a route across the Cascades from the Sound. In the spring of 1874, the S. & W. W. R. R. Co. began the survey of a line from Walla Walla to the head of the Yakima to connect there with the survey previously made by the N. P. R. R. Co. A bill was introduced in Congress, providing for an election in the counties of

King, Yakima and Walla Walla, and in the cities of Seattle and Walla Walla, on the question of giving bonds to aid the S. & W. W. R. R. Co., but it failed to pass.

The Dayton & Columbia River Transportation Company filed articles of incorporation in August, 1874. The object of the company was to build a narrow gauge road from Dayton to Wallula, via Waitsburg and Walla Walla ; thence by steamers, and rail portages at the Dalles and Cascades, to continue their line to the mouth of the Columbia. Such an enterprise carried into effect, would have been of vast advantage to this whole region, but it was beyond the means of the projectors.

A strong effort was made in 1875 to pass the bill in aid of the P. D. & St. L. R. R. Co. The people of Eastern Oregon and Washington, and of Idaho were enthusiastic in favor of the road. Mass-meetings were held, and the papers were full of it. The Idaho Legislature memorialized Congress on the subject. Now that the N. P. road had practically passed from the field, it was thought that this one would be as valuable as that would have been. The bill failed to pass, but another, providing for a survey of the route, became a law. March 13, 1875, a dispatch was received to the effect that arrangements had been made with English capitalists to furnish $18,000 per mile for building the road, which was to be completed in five years. Jubilees were held throughout this whole section, and good feeling continued until it was learned that the announcement was premature, and the arrangement had collapsed.

The Walla Walla & Columbia River R. R. Co. completed its track from Wallula to the Touchet, a distance of fifteen miles, in March, 1874. The first eight miles had been built with wooden rails, upon which strap-iron was laid in the curves. In this way it was completed under charge of Maj. Sewell Truax to the Touchet, when strapiron was laid on all the rails and T-iron placed at the curves and difficult places. That year it carried from the Touchet 4,021 tons of wheat, and brought up 1,126 tons of merchandise. In January, 1875, the company proposed to at once complete the road if the people would subscribe $75,000 to the capital stock. At a meeting in Walla Walla, it was decided that so large a sum could not be raised. The company then made another, and final, proposition : They would immediately connect that city with the Columbia river by rail if the people would give them title to three acres of ground for depot and side tracks, secure the right of way for nine miles west of the depot, and subscribe $25,000. A mass-meeting was held January 26, 1875, to consider this, which accepted the proposition and appointed a committee to raise the money. Twenty thousand and sixty-five dollars were subscribed, and then the matter began to cool. Much was said in the papers and outside about the probabilities of the road terminating at the Mission, and possibly being extended up the river, to the great injury of Walla Walla. This resulted in increasing the subscription to $26,478.05, many farmers giving wheat at thirty cents per bushel. Waitsburg and Dayton held meetings to consider the question of connecting their towns by a narrow gauge railway with Walla Walla, but accomplished nothing. The road was finally completed to Walla Walla October 23, 1875, with 25 pound T-iron, and soon after this class of rail was laid its entire length, and 9,155 tons of wheat were hauled over it in 1875.

The Columbia River Improvement Company was organized in Portland in 1875, and brought suit against the O. S. N. Co. to obtain the right of way around the Cascades, in which they were successful. They offered to put boats on the river, and to give security to carry freight and passengers for five years at one-half the rate then charged by the O. S. N. Co., provided the people of Eastern Oregon and Washington would build a good wagon road around the Dalles, and advance $60,000, to be refunded in transportation. The people became quite enthusiastic on this proposition, and subscriptions were being rapidly taken, when the company sold out to the O. S. N. Co. in January, 1876 ; subscriptions stopped, and great indignation was felt.

In the session of 1875-6, an effort was made to have Congress appropriate a sufficient sum for a canal at the Cascades. In December, 1872, Senator Mitchell had first urged this matter before that body, and in 1874 had secured a preliminary survey. In January, 1876, the Columbia River Improvement Company had procured the survey of a canal on the Oregon side, 2,838 feet long, 21 feet fall, two locks, and estimated to cost less than $500,000. Congress was in the anti-subsidy humor, and refused to make an appropriation, or to grant aid to the P. D. & St. L. R, R. Co., which was urgently pressing its claims. An appropriation was made for the improvement of the upper Columbia and Snake rivers, by removing rocks from the channel. This work was under charge of Col. John M. Wilson, who pushed it vigorously, to the great benefit of navigation. March 1, 1876, a scow engaged in this work at the rapids above Umatilla, with seventeen men and 100 pounds of giant powder on board, blew up, killing thirteen of the men and badly wounding another.

Citizens Vs. Railway Kates

In the spring of 1876 quite a war between the people and the railroad was inaugurated in W'alla Walla. Freights were advanced from $5.00 to $5.50 per ton, and though this was less than one-half the amount paid before the road was built, it caused intense feeling upon all sides. It was claimed that the $25,000 bonus given to complete it had been worse than thrown away ; that the same sum would have completed a good wagon road, which would always have served as a check upon the railroad, and compelled its construction to Walla Walla without a subsidy. The wagon road to Wallula was a bad one, and the papers urgently renewed the demand they had been making for several years, for the county commissioners to put it in good condition. An appropriation of $5,000 was made for that purpose in February, and a committee of merchants waited upon Dr. Baker to ask for a reduction of down freight. He convened the board of directors, who voted not to grant the request. The business firms to the number of fifty-three, nearly every one of consequence in the city, then endorsed a resolution passed by the Grange Council, not to ship by the railroad, nor trade with any firm that did so. The Grangers also investigated the question of a canal from Whitman Mission to Wallula. Several hundred tons of wheat were forwarded in wagons by the merchants for $5.00 per ton, and merchandise brought back at the same rate. The people of Dayton and vicinity hauled their grain to the mouth the Tukannon, where the O. S. N. Co. received and took it to Portland for $3.00 per ton. It cost $4.50 to put it on the boat. Special arrangements were made to receive freight at the mouth of the Tukannon, where a little place called Grange City sprang up. The O. S. N. Co., which had been alternately flattered and abused, was now looked upon for a time as a good institution, because, in its own interest, it was endeavoring to draw freight to the river above Wallula. Still, when Capt. J. T. Stump offered to build a boat suited to the Snake river trade, and carry freight in opposition to that company, the Grangers aided him with money for that purpose. This boat, the Northwest, was run as an opposition by Captain Stump and Small Bros, until 1878, when it entered the O. S. N. Co.'s service. The attempt to compete with the railroad by teams was soon abandoned as impracticable, as it was found that even if the road was making too much profit at $5.50 per ton, it was a cheaper rate than the teamsters could afford to haul it for. The O. S. N. Co. received at Wallula in 1876, 16,766 tons, 15,266 of which came by Baker's railroad and 1,500 by other conveyances. It delivered 4,034 tons of up freight, of which the railroad forwarded all but 513. Two-thirds of the shipments were of wheat and the balance was flour, bacon, wool, etc.

Numerous Railway And Other Projects

Several new railroad projects appeared in 1876. The Walla Walla & Dayton R. R. Co. was incorporated in March, to build a road between those points, with Dayton as the principal place of business. E. Ping, S. M.Wait, Jesse N. Day, A. H. Reynolds, and H. M. Chase were the trustees. This resulted in nothing permanent. In September the Oregon Pacific R. R. Co. was incorporated in Portland, to construct a road from Portland along the Columbia to Umatilla county, and thence eastward, through Idaho, to the U. P. road near Ogden. The incorporators were wealthy capitalists of Portland. This was practically the same route as that of the P. D. & St. L. road, to which it was designed as a successor. A bill was introduced into the Oregon Legislature, to lend the company $24,000 for each twenty miles of track completed, but failed to pass, and the company disappeared. It was succeeded in September, 1877, by the Portland, Salt Lake & South Pass R. R. Co., organized to accomplish the same object, and to take advantage of the laches of the N. P. R. R. Co., whose extended land grant was about to expire.

The efforts to secure an appropriation from Congress to build a canal at the Cascades were, finally, successful. In August $90,000 were set aside for the inauguration of the work. In March, 1877, Col. John M. Wilson completed a survey and estimate and in August the board of engineers, accompanied by General Alexander, Chief Engineer, came from Washington to examine the place. The canal survey was on the Oregon side, and showed the following figures : Length, 7,200 feet ; width at bottom 50 feet, at top 58 feet ; depth at low water, 8 feet ; two locks 50 feet wide and 300 feet long; lifts, 12 and 14 feet; estimated cost, $1,723,000. Work on it was commenced, and is slowly progressing in that deliberate manner characteristic of all national enterprises, when appropriations made from time to time, become exhausted long before another can be secured.

The shipments by rail from this section largely increased in 1877 ; consisted of wheat 22,200 tons ; flour, oats, barley, flax seed, wool, bacon, lard, etc., 6,606 tons, of which two-thirds were flour. There were also 8,368 tons of up freight of which 3,500 were agricultural implements. In 1878 there were 8,500 tons exported of wheat, 6,514 of flour, etc., and imported 10,454 tons of merchandise. The average railway freight rate by way of Wallula was $4.50 per ton.

A local effort was made in Eastern Oregon to secure the railroad facilities they required, and which they had hoped to obtain from the P. D. & St. L. road and kindred projects. These had reached beyond the ability of their projectors to handle, and the people were enthusiastic in favor of some smaller enterprise that would supply the local want. The Blue Mountain and Columbia River Railroad Company was organized in the fall of 1877, to build a three-foot gauge from La Grande, through Weston and Pendleton, to Umatilla Landing, seventy miles. The people of Walla Walla looked upon this as an outlet, by means of a branch line, by which they could compel the W. W. & C. R. R. R. Co. to lower its freight tariff. A road from Dayton, via Waitsburg and Walla Walla, to Weston, and in case the other one was not built, to run to Pendleton and Umatilla, was much discussed. It was claimed that it would pay expenses as soon as the first ten miles from Umatilla were completed. Four miles of the B. M. & C. R. road were graded by the gratuitous work of the people in the fall of 1877. The "power behind the throne" in this enterprise, was the O. S. N. Co., which declared in the spring of 1877 its intention to build a narrow gauge road on this route to La Grande, and to have forty miles of it completed by fall. The Weston, Pendleton and Columbia River Railroad Company was organized in December, 1877, but was consolidated in a few weeks with the B. M. & C. R. R. Co. The latter let a contract in May, 1878, for the grading of twenty-eight miles of road bed, and the work was done. The company is still in existence, but in view of the O. R. & N. Co.'s branch from Umatilla, will probably never resume work on its line.

The O. S. N. Co. were desirous of buying Dr. Baker's road and building a general system of roads in this region, of which the road from Umatilla was one, but were not able to accomplish their original purpose. They offered to buy the W. W. & C. R. road, but Dr. Baker refused to sell to the company. Negotiations continued until January, 1879, when Dr. Baker sold six-sevenths of his stock to Capt. J. C. Ainsworth, W. S. Ladd, S. G. Reed, and C. E. Tilton. The road was then thirty-two miles long, and had 100 cars and four engines, and was valued at $10,000 per mile. The purchasers, though chief owners of the O. S. N. Co., had bought this road as individuals, and the two companies were neither combined, nor dependent upon each other. It was the plan of the new management to build a system of narrowgauge roads in Eastern Oregon and Washington, sufficient for all its needs, and to develop it thorougly by gradual extension in all directions. In the fall of 1877, Dr. Baker had a survey and estimate made of an extension of his road from Whitman Junction to Weston, and under the new management this work was commenced.

The Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Company made a last effort in the fall of 1877, to get some financial aid, in order to build its line across the Cascades, and forestall the N. P. R. R. Co., which was then on the verge of resuming active operations. During the closing hours of the Legislature in November, a bill was passed in its interest, under a suspension of the rules. The Act provided that the S. & W. W. R. R. Co. should amend its articles of incorporation so as to continue the road from Walla Walla, through Dayton, to Colfax. It also provided for a special election to be held April 9, 1878, to vote on the question of a subscription to its stock by the various counties, the amount for each being designated ; an adverse decision by both King and Walla Walla counties was to work as a negative to the whole matter. It was the gen- eral opinion that the Legislature had exceeded its authority, as the Organic Act of the Territory contained a clause forbidding the Legislative Assembly to issue or authorize the issuance of any obligations, and the matter was dropped.

The Northwestern Stage Company, was an important institution for a number of years. It began running in 1871 through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Utah, connecting the Columbia river with the Pacific Railroad in Utah, carrying passengers, the United States mail, and W., F. & Co.'s express. In 1878, it lost the Government contracts, and its own existence in consequence. At that time it was not running beyond Boise City. It had been operating 435 miles of daily stage line: From Boise City to Umatilla, 290 miles; Umatilla to Dalles, 110 miles; and a branch from Cayuse to Walla Walla, 35 miles. It used 300 horses, 22 coaches; had 34 stations, about 150 employes; and consumed annually 730,000 pounds of grain and 825,000 pounds of hay. The route of the new contractor was from Kelton, Utah, to Dalles, connecting at Pendleton for Walla Walla. Another route from Walla Walla to Colfax, via Waitsburg, Dayton, Pomeroy, and Almota, and one from Dayton to Lewiston, were let to other parties. Shorter routes branched out at various points from the large ones. Since July 1, 1882, all overland mail has come by the way of the Sacramento and Willamette valleys.

Two projects to cheapen transportation on the Columbia were set on foot in 1878. In May, 1878, U. B. Scott & Co., of Portland, who had been running opposition boats on the Willamette, offered to put a complete line on the Columbia, including railroads at the Dalles and Cascades, provided a company was organized with a cash capital of $350,000. A meeting was held in Walla Walla, but the business men failed to attend. A convention of delegates from each election precinct east of the Cascades was called to meet in W alia Walla on the eighth of June, but it did not assemble. Gov. David P. Thompson made a proposition to the people of the upper Columbia, that summer, offering to build railroads at the Dalles and Cascades, with all necessary wharf-boats, etc., costing about $300,000, provided they would subscribe half that sum. He agreed to carry all freight that offered around the Cascades for $1.00 per ton, and around the Dalles for $2.00; wheat and flour were to be taken at half that rate. This idea, the same as the one prompting the Baker combination in 1864, was that facilities for portage being thus in the hands of a common carrier compelled to take all freight and passengers that were offered, would enable independent boats to multijjly on the river to such an extent as to reduce freight rates to the least possible figures. It was affirmed that rates then charged by the O. S. N. Co. would be reduced as follows :

The idea met with great favor, but $150,000 was a greater sum than could be raised here for any such purpose. U. B. Scott & Co., having abandoned the idea of their opposition line, formed the Columbia Portage Company, in August, 1878, for the purpose of building these independent roads at the Dalles and Cascades. The completion of such an enterprise would have terminated the monopoly the O. S. N. Co. had enjoyed for nearly two score of years, and the result was that it was not completed.

The X. P. B, E. Co. Again

After the failure of this company in 1873, it passed through the machinery of courts, and in 1875 was foreclosed under a mortgage to holders of $29,119,410 of its bonds, when it passed into the hands of a committee of those bondholders. They reorganized, issued preferred stock in exchange for the bonds, and the new stockholders exceeded 8,000 in number. Several years were then consumed in paving the way for a resumption of work. The land grant was about to expire by limitation, and to procure an extension of this was the first work of the company. The time originally set for completion of the road was July 4, 1876. This was extended to July 4, 1877, by the joint resolution of July 1, 1868. May 7, 1876, a joint resolution extending the time two years was construed to fix July 4, 1879, as the limit for its completion. A Senate bill was introduced in the fall of 1877 contemplating a further extension, but providing also for a grant to the P. St. L. & S. P. R. R. Co., of the land along the Cascade branch, and privileges in common of the line down the Columbia. In committee this was remodelled and made into two bills : one of them containing the JST. P. P. P. Co.'s ten-year extension clause, and confirming all its privileges and grants ; and the other, granting the P. St. L. & S. P. R. R. Co. ten sections per mile on each side of the track, from Umatilla to Salt Lake. The first one passed the Senate, too late for consideration by the House, so hampered by restrictive clauses, that the directors of the company declared that the road could not be built under its provisions even had it become a law. A more liberal bill reported by a committee in the House, was not carried through that body. With its failure to secure government aid the P. St. L. & S. P. Co. dropped out of the railroad arena.

Charles B.Wright was chosen president of the N. P. R. R, Co. upon its reorganization in 1875. Under his administration preparations were made to resume active operations ; repairs were made along the line already built, and in 1877 sixty-four miles were constructed in Minnesota, and thirty-one in western Washington. In 1878, a thorough survey of a route across the Cascades was made, and in October, W. Milnor Robeson, Chief Engineer, reported as follows :

Estimated cost of necessary 254 miles : Construction, $5,399,111 ; bridges, rollingstock, etc., $5,937,211; bridge or ferries at Columbia river, $1,000,000. He adds:

" On the whole it is a fairly feasible route." No work has been done on that branch, but the president of the company declares the intention of building it as soon as the main line is completed.

In May, 1879, Frederick Billings became its president, and under his management active operations in constructing the main line were resumed, and during the two years he was at the head of the company, about 200 miles were completed, and 100 more graded. Mr. Billings resigned in May, 1881, and Henry Villard, of the O. B. & N. Co., representing a wealthy syndicate of capitalists, obtaining control, was chosen president, and under his management the work is being pushed to a speedy completion. It is expected that the main line from Lake Superior to Wallula, a distance of 1,684 miles, where it connects with 210 miles of the O. R. & N. Co.'s road to Portland, will be completed in 1883. Its construction from Wallula west may never be completed in accord with the charter, as its necesssity has been anticipated by the O. B. & N. Co.'s line, to which it would be a parallel with the Columbia river only between them.

Oregon Railway And Navigation Company

This corporation has proved to be one of those phenomenal enterprises that have grown to vast proportions under the influence of unlimited capital, handled by a financial genius, aided by minds capable of comprehending the wants of a country with knowledge of how to meet them. Henry Villard, whose brain gave birth and vitality to it, came to Oregon originally in the interest of German capitalists who held the bonds of the Oregon and California railroad, and he managed their interests in a manner to command confidence. With the quick eye of a thorough man of business, he took in the whole situation of the Columbia region, realizing in anticipation the value of every section and the possibilities of the future. His remarkable business ability had already won wealth for him, when he returned to this country in the summer of 1879, at which time he represented unlimited capital that stood ready to invest at his discretion. With this he purchased the steamship line between San Francisco and Portland, and prepared to place better steamers on that route. He then requested the Oregon Steam Navigation Company to place a value upon their properties and franchises, which he purchased at their own figures. A man of less comprehension would have hesitated at the figures named by the O. S. N. Co., but his backers had confidence in him and he had breadth of mind to recognize the possibilities of the country and to reach for them, which could only be done by obtaining control of the monopoly that evidently feared to grapple for a contest with this financial Ajax who demanded their price.

Thus the Oregon Bailway and Navigation Company was created, and secured control at the outset, of all our rivers, ocean line, portage roads, and the road from the Columbia river to Walla Walla. These were the nucleus of that great railroad and navigation system that now traverses the ocean, the rivers, and Puget Sound, and is constructing railroads to make that system supply every transportation need of the Pacific Northwest. Within a little more than three years this company has constructed railroad lines from Portland to Walla Walla, and beyond to Snake river at Riparia, with a branch to Waitsburg and Dayton. In the not remote future its main route up that stream will be extended to Lewiston, reaching by the way the fertile dis- tricfs of Patalia, Tukannon and Alpowa. The broad scope of the company's designs can be seen from the fact that they have had the passes of the Clearwater through the Bitter Root ranges, beyond Lewiston, surveyed and a route located to Missoula, in Montana, 261 miles, and look to the construction of a road on that line as one of the probabilities of the near future.

Owing to difficulties of the route to the Palouse country, via Riparia, or Texas ferry, an easier one has been adopted for the supply of transj^ortation for that region. The Columbia and Palouse R. R. Co. has been incorporated, to start from Palouse Junction, on the line of the N. P. R. R., 51 miles above Wallula, thence to run easterly to Endicott, with branches to Colfax, Moscow, and Farmington, thus thoroughly opening the whole Palouse region from" the Coeur d' Alene mountains to its western limit.

Since the purchase of the O. S. K Co.'s lines in 1879 the O. R. & K Co. has done much to favor the producer, and its interests would seem to warrant an assurance of a continuance of such j)olicy. Freights from Walla Walla were $13 per ton when the narrow gauge road, first constructed, was the only means of communication with the Columbia. At the present time, freights from Walla Walla and all points beyond there, including the Palouse country, by Snake river as far as Lewiston and the mouth of the Assotin, and from all parts of Umatilla county, Oregon, are reduced to $8 per ton, with promise of further reduction in the near future, all of which has contributed largely to improve prices, and give a stimulus to production.

Another important branch of the O. R. & N". Co.'s system is the Blue Mountain division, known as the Baker City branch ; which starts at Umatilla, on the Columbia, and will cross those mountains to Baker City. It is already constructed and operated for 43 miles, to Pendleton, in Umatilla county, and the work of grading through the mountains is being prosecuted with energy. This branch will do much to develop the regions of Eastern Oregon that have been destitute of transportation facilities, other than afforded by teams and pack trains. We have only referred to the plans and operations of Mr. Villard and his associates, through the O. R. & N. Co., so far as they have contributed to the growth and prosperity of Eastern Oregon and Washington Territory, as such only comes within the scope of this work.

Othee Peesent Railway Projects

The people of Eastern Washington look to Puget Sound as the point where their products will in due time be shipped to the world's markets and anticipate especial benefits when direct communication shall be had with that great harbor. The evident intention of the Northern Pacific Company is to speedily complete the gap between Portland and Kalama, and it is known that a company is organized to build along the

Residence Of N.G.Blalock, M.D. Walla Walla City, W.T. Wheat Farm, 7 Miles South

Sound shore from Tacoma to Seattle. It is hoped that events will soon justify the construction of the Cascade Mountain division direct to Puget Sound, as many people east of the mountains look to that line as essential to their prosperity. Meantime the country has the assurance that this Cascade division of the Northern Pacific will be constructed at the earliest practicable moment.

During the past season the O. R. & N. Co. has graded a road from Walla Walla to Milton, where it joins the Blue Mountain branch. This will soon be ironed and as far as the Blue Mountains Station will be converted into a standard gauge. The extension of this line to a connection with the Baker City branch, at some point on the reservation above Pendleton is one of the works of the near future.

The Oregon Short Line, an extension of the Union Pacific road, is rapidly approaching from the east. This road is reaching out toward an independeut outlet on the Pacific, either by crossing the mountains to Portland, or by way of Walla Walla and the Cascade mountains to Puget Sound. It is possible that the O. R. & N. Co. and the Oregon Short Line, will connect at Baker City.

The Prospect Hill Railroad Company was organized in May, 1882, to build a line seven and one-half miles in length, from Foster Station, on the Baker City branch, twelve miles above Umatilla City, to Prospect Hill, work to be commenced in the spring.

With completion of the Northern Pacific road in 1883 and that of the Oregon Short Line either to connect with the Blue Mountain division of the O. R. & N. Co.'s road or by a continuous line to the coast, an increased stimulus will be given to immigration.

Their completion will open raj)id, direct communication with the Atlantic Coast, will turn more travel and the attention of other capitalists towards the Northwest ; will show to them a grain field that would freight the shipping of an empire ; will photograph upon their memories, the picture of a country where Nature has prepared a field for labor to combine with capital and convert it into an agricultural paradise ; will make of the region, embraced within this system of railways, the poor man's promised land, and carry him to it ; and will convert it for a time into the most favored spot under our national flag for the success and prosperity of those who are so fortunate as to either own property or live within it.

The Oregon Improvement Company

When the era of development was fairly commenced in the Pacific Northwest, the enterprising minds that were interested in the work, comprehending the wealth of undeveloped resources, and the actual need of capital to prosecute various enterprises, that not only j>romised rewards for investment, but were actually necessary to meet the progress of this great region, inaugurated the Oregon Improvement Company, with $5,000,000 capital, and with powers and scope that included the owning and management of any kind of property that could invite investment. Since that time, only two years ago - for the incorporation was effected on the twenty-first of October, 1880 - that company has borne a prominent part in many important enterprises. In that brief space of time they purchased the property and franchises of the Seattle Coal and Transportation Company, owning mines at Newcastle, twenty miles from Seattle. They also purchased the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, which at present bears the name of Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad, running twenty miles from Seattle to Newcastle, via Renton, at each of which places they carry on mining operations. To facilitate coal mining and carrying that product to market the Improvement Company built at the East four iron steam colliers, the Walla Walla, Mississippi, Umatilla and Willamette, with aggregate carrying capacity of ten thousand tons, which already find active employment in the coal trade with Pacific ports. Feeling the need of wharf facilities at San Francisco, where their coal finds most extensive market, the company purchased the valuable property of the Union Lumber Company of that city, where they have already constructed extensive coal bunkers and spacious wharf and warehouse privileges. They also own a large wharf, and have all necessary terminal facilities at Seattle, in connection with the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad. The Improvement Company will also operate the extensive coal bunkers on the East Portland side of the Willamette, below Albina. They are also sole owners of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, engaged in the transportation for freight, passengers and mails by steamship between San Francisco and all Pacific coast ports, including Alaska. In view of the future expansion of their coal trade, the company have secured large and valuable tracts of mineral lands in Western Washington Territory. It will be seen that this enterprise had already assumed wide scope and was performing an important part in connection with the destinies of the Sound, region. They are destined also to take a strong interest in the progress and development of the upper country, east of the Cascades.

Two years ago the great value of the Palouse country was understood by a few persons and attracted the attention of the gentlemen interested in the Oregon Improvement Company. Finding the Northern Pacific Railroad willing to dispose of lands they purchased the odd sections from that company, of fourteen townships in the very heart of the Palouse region, containing 150,000 acres of soil seldom equaled for richness or fertility. This land has been carefully graded and is placed on the marke at prices ranging from $5.00 to $10.00 an acre as follows :

Plan Of Payment By Six Installments

Finding other valuable lands for sale, the Improvement Company also acquired , by purchase of private owners, 28,000 acres in Powder River valley, a beautiful and fertile region located in among the Blue mountains, and to be soon traversed by the Blue Mountain division, known as the Baker City branch, of the O. R. & N. Co.'s system. This land is sure to become valuable, owing to its location among the rich mining districts of Eastern Oregon, and the small area of good farming land in that vicinity.

The Improvement Company also own 9,000 acres of valuable timber land, situated in the Blue mountains. Enterprising citizens of Walla Walla and Dayton, realizing the great need of lumber, and timber for fuel, fencing, and building purposes, inaugurated business projects that included the ownership of timber land and lumber mills in the adjoining mountains and the construction of water flumes to connect their saw-mills with the valley, down which to float lumber, fencing, firewood, railroad ties, etc. They undertook more than they could financially handle, and became insolvent. When the Improvement Company, seeing that the progress of the country and the completion of the railroads was delayed by their failure, purchased the flume to Dayton, in Washington Territory, and then to Milton, in Oregon, each nearly thirty miles in length, and carried both enterprises to a successful issue.

In connection with the sale of its lands above enumerated, the Company has adopted a system of improving the same for the advantage of the settler. Constructing houses, fences, etc., when desired, at less price than the settler could do the work. The land is sold in tracts, not exceeding 160 acres to a single person, with a view to securing good cultivation and preventing land monopoly. When the Improvement Company commenced operations in the Walla Walla country, lumber sold at $25 per thousand feet, that now sells for $18. The policy followed is to identify the Company with the settler and aid men with moderate means to locate to advantage and succeed in life. So far its policy has been liberal and considerate to immigrants and others making homes on its lands. The gentlemen constituting the Oregon Improvement Company are :