Walla Walla County, Washington - Chapter 15: The Tr.\nsportation Lines of W.\ll.\ Walla County, 1901

Chapter 15: The Tr.\nsportation Lines of W.\ll.\ Walla County

As sufficiently developed already in prior pages, Walla Walla county was long isolated from other portions of Oregon territory. Yet even in the days of the fur-traders there were regular lines of transportation by which goods from vessels at Vancouver were distributed to all the posts of the Hudson's Bay Company tiiroughout the Columbia valley, and by which the furs gathered along the thousand brawling streams of the interior, were transported to ship-board, and thence to the markets of the Old World. The transportation lines of the fur-traders consisted of bateaus, with frequent portages on cayuse back or Indian back. That was the true age of romance in the history of traffic. Xo braver and more enduring knights of the wilderness ever existed than those French Canadian voyageurs. Bold, resolute, indefatigable, always ready for privation with laugh, and jest, and song,, those Canadian boatmen were the very beau ideal of explorers. From the blue waters of the Athabasca they would enter the lake on the crest of the Rocky mountains from which the Columbia issues, and descend the might\^ stream, through its succession of cataracts, lakes, and broad expanses, until they whiffed the salt spray of the Pacific.

When American immigration began to enter Oregon, the bateaus were still a frequent means of transportation from The Dalles to the Willamette valley. Far-seeing men, like Whitman and others, even in the earliest period of settlement, plainly grasped the conception of the great steamboat lines along the rivers, and the railroad lines across the prairies and' through the mountain passes, which would some time bring that majestic wilderness into communication with the rest of the world.

Steamijoat Lines

The first steamship that ever ploughed the waters of Washington state was the Beaver, a Hudson's Bay steamboat, which entered the Columbia river in 1836 and afterwards went to Puget soimd. She is still afloat somewhere on the waters of the gulf of Georgia. The first American steamship on the Columbia was the Carolina, in 1850. The first river steamer was a little double ender called the Columbia, also in 1850. On Christmas day, 1850, was launched the first river steamboat of any size. This, was the Lot \Vhitcomb. It is interestir.g for Walla Walla people to remember that tlie purser of this boat was Dr. O. W. Nixon, who has been such a steadfast friend of Whitman College. In 1851 a mo\ement to estab- liyli traffic with tlie "Inland Empire" was inaugurated l)y the building of the James T. Flint at the Cascades. The builders of this boat were Dan Bradford and B. B. Bishop, the latter of whom lived many years at Pendleton and was well known at Walla Walla. In 1853 Allen McKinley brought the steamer Eagle to the cascades, where he had her taken to pieces to be carried by portage to the upper cascades, there to be put together again and relaunched. She was the first steamer to cut the sublime waters of the mid-Columbia. The 3'ear 1S54 saw the launching of the Mary above the cascades. 1855 saw the \\'asco. In 1856 the Hassalo was built. In 1857 the first steamboat was built al)()ve The Dalles. This was the Colonel Wright, built at Celilo by R. R. Thompson and Laurence Coe.

In 1859 the famous old Oregon Steam Ka\igation Company was organized. By 1861 its steaml)oats were running as far as Lewiston. The first steam railway lines in the northv/est were the portage lines of this company. The first of six miles was on the north side of the river at the cascades, and the second of fifteen miles was on the south side between The Dalles and Celilo. These enterprising steamboat men got into business just in time to reap the rich harvest of the mining trade of i860, '61, '62. Though something of a monopoly the Oregon Steam Navigation Company was a great affair, and old settlers enjoy pleasant recollections when they call to memory the owners, captains, pursers, and even some of the deck hands. ]\Iemory easily conjures up the polite and yet determined Ainsworth, the brusque and rotund Ivucd, the bluff and hearty Knaggs, the frolicsome and never disconcerted Ingalls, the dark and powerful Coe, the patriarchal beard of Stump, the loquacious "Commodore" W'olf, who used to point out the "diabolical strata" of the Columbia banks to astonished tourists, the massive figure of Strang, the genial Dan O'Neil, the suave and graceful Snow, the handsome Sampson, Mc- Nulty, with his rich Scotch brogue, "Little Billy," the bold and much experienced Baughman, and especially two of the "kid captains" of that early epoch, now still comparati\ young men, and e\cn then, though boys, considered the best pilots on the river, \\'ill Gray and Jim Troup.

After the inauguration of the steamlx'jat lines to Wallula and Lewiston, in 1861, traffic prairie schooners began between Walla ^^'aIla and Wallula. In 1862 and '63 there bia and Snake rivers, while the opposition line the ri\-er. But the completion of the portage railroads gave the Oregon Steam Navigation Company such an advantage that they were enabled to make a compromise by which they were given the exclusive right to the Columbia and Snake rivers, while the opposition line was to have a monopoly of the \\'illamette. After this compromise had been effected the following schedule of charges was established :

Freight from Portland to Wallula, per ton, $50.00 : freight from Portland to Lewiston, per ton, $90.00 ; fare from Portland to Wallula. S18.00; fare from Portland ^o Lewiston, $28.00.

In i860 there came to Walla Walla a man who was destined to become the greatest figure in both pioneer railroading and other business in. the history of Walla Walla. This was Dr. D. S. liaker. Almost from his first landing in Walla Walla Dr. iJakcr, more fuUv than any one else, formed a conception of tlie vast latent resources of the Walla Walla valley, and began to form plans of connection between it and the steamboat line, but after opposition had been destroyed on the river Dr. Baker determined to establish a portage road at the Cascades, with the expectation that this would encourage independent steamboats. But the O. S. N. Co., having secured a charter and right of way from Congress, Dr. Baker, for the only time in his life, found himself checkmated and had to sell out at a sacrifice.

Agitation for the building of a railroad became very active in Walla Walla between 1863 and 1868. On March 23. 1868, the citizens of Walla \\'alla gathered at the court house to discuss this question. As a result of the investigations which fcillowed the Walla Walla and Columbia River Railroad Company was incorporated. Its incorporators were D. S. Baker, A. H. Reynolds, I. T. Reese, A. Kyger, J. II. Lasater, J. D. Mix, B. Scheideman and W. H. Newell. Their plan was to get the . Oregon Steam Navigation Company to take one hundred thousand dollars of stock, Walla Walla county two hundred thousand dollars, and the city fifty thousand dollars. An act of Congress of March 3, 1869, granted the right of way and authorized the county commissioners to issue three hundred thousand dollars in aid of the road, provided the people approved it at a special election. After some delay the time of this election was set for June 26, 1 87 1. But it having become evident by the expression of public opinion that the subsidy woulfl be defeated, the order for the election was revoked. The com])any then made a proposition to the people of Walla Walla. They proposed, in case the people of the county would authorize the issuance of three thousand dollars in ])onds, to build a strap iron railroad within a year; to place in the hands of the C(Anity commissioners the money received from down freights as a sinking fund, and to allow the board to fix the rate on such freights provided it was not placed at less than two dollars per ton, nor so high as to exclude freight Irom the road; to give a first mortgage on the r(jad, to secure the county ; and to give security that the bonds would be used in constructing the road. An election was authorized by the board on September 18, 1871. As a result of the election, out of a total vote of nine hundred and thirty-fi\'e, a majority of eighteen was cast against the measure and it was therefore lost. The people of Walla Walla of that time seemed to have been mightily afraid of some monopoly control. Inasmuch as under the terms of the proposition they could have fixed down freights at two dollars a ton when they were at that time as a matter of fact paying over eight dollars a ton by wagon, it would seem that they performed the feat sometimes described as "biting off one's nose to spite his face."' At any rate it was a long time before they got a two dollar schedule.

This project being thus defeated so far as Walla Walla county was concerned, Dr. Baker with a number of men prominent in \\'alla Walla then determined to build ami equip the road themselves. A 'new company was organized, with the following directors: D. S. Baker, W. Stephens, I. T. Reese, L. McMorris, ?I. M. Chase, H. P. Isaacs, B. L. Sharpstein, O. Hull and J. F. Boyer. In :\Iarch, 1872, he began grading at Wallula. Meantime many railroad projects were in the air. Among these were the Northern Pacific, with a branch southward through the Walla Walla and

Grande Ronde countries. In 1S73 tlie Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Company was organized. In 1874 the Portland. Dalles and Salt Lake Railroad Company, which had been organized some years before, was revived amid great enthusiasm on the part of the people of ^^'alla \\'alla and other points in eastern Oregon and Washington. In the same year the Dayton and Columbia River Transportation Company was incorporated. This com- ]ianv proposed to build a narrow gauge road from Dayton to Wallula liy way of Waitsburg and Walla Walla: thence by steamers and portage railroads to Astoria. These enterprises were stronger on paper than on the ground. On March 13. 1875, the report was circulated throughout the "Inland Empire'' that arrangements had been made with English capitalists to advance money for building the Portland, Dalles and Salt Lake Railroad and that it was to be completed in five years. There was a general period of jubilees throughout the countrv until it was learned that this announcement was premature, and that the arrangements had collapsed, like many other railroad gas-bags.

In the meantime Dr. Baker was working away quietly and effectively upon the Walla Walla and Columbia River Railroad. Fifteen miles of track had been completed from Wallula to the Touchet by March, 1874. Wooden rails were at first used, upon which strap iron was afterwards laid. Major Sewell Truax was the engineer in charge. In 1874 this little road carried from the Touchet to W'allula over four thousand tons of wheat and brought back in return n\-cr eleven hundred tons of merchandise. After much jjulling and hauling over the question of subscriptions by the people of the city, it was provided that if the railroads were immediately completed to Walla Walla the people should give the company three acres of land for depot and side tracks, secure the right of way for nine miles west of the city, and a cash subsidy of twenty-five thousand dollars. At last the great day of c9mpletion came. On October 23, 1875, ^Valla Walla was connected by rail with the Columbia river.

The building of Dr. Baker's railroad had involved a vast deal of work and enterprise. As an illustration of the peculiar expense of this road might be mentioned the difficulty of securing ties for its construction. These were first gotten out on the Grande Ronde river, floated down the Grande Ronde, Snake and Columbia rivers to \\'allula. at an average cost of about a dollar apiece, from three to four times the ordinary expense of ties. But the supply from the Grande Ronde proved inadequate, and the projectors were compelled to have recourse to the Yakima river. In the year 1875 this railroad hauled 9,155 tons of wheat to Wallula.

In 1876 contention broke out between Dr. Baker's railroad and the people of Walla Walla. Dr. Baker, apparently feeling - whether correctlv or not we will not undertake to decide - that the people of \\'alla \\'alla had done very little to advance the interest of his road, had fixed the freig'ht rate at $5.50 per ton. Though this was much less than had been paid to teamsters before, it seemed extortion to some of the i^eople, and a committee of citizens was appointed to request a reduction. The request was not granted. There was discussion by the Grange Council as to the possibility of making a canal from Whitman [Mission to Wallula. A number of merchants tried the wagon route again, freight being reduced to five dollars per ton, at one time even to four dollars and fifty cents. At the same time there began to be heavy shipments of grain by team from Day- ton and vicinity to '"Grange City" at the mouth of the Tukannon, whence it was transported to Portland by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company's boats for eight dollars per ton. An opposition boat, the Northwest, was run for two years from Lewiston to Celilo by Captain Stump and Small Brothers, the chief owners being Paine Brothers & [Moore.

It proved to be impossible for the teams to compete with the railroad, even at five dollars and a half per ton. The amount of freight steadily increased all that time. In 1876 there Avere hauled from ^\'alla Walla to Wallula 16,766 tons, of which teams hauled 1,500 tons, the railroad the residue. The return freight amounted to 4,034 tons, showing a very heav}' balance of trade in favor of Walla Walla. It is, in fact, a remarkable feature of our county to-day that the exports exceed imports by probably three to one.

Other railway projects were in the air in that same centennial year of 1876. Among them was the Walla \\"alla & Dayton Railroad, but it never got beyond the map stage.

In 1877 the first steps were taken in the great government enterprise of the Cascade locks, an undertaking which should have vast influence on the industrial development of the Inland Empire, though it evidently will not until the dalles are overcome. It was nearly twent}- years before the great canal and locks were finished.

In 1877 there were 28.806 tons of freight shipped from A\'alla Walla by way of Wallula. The rate had then been reduced to four dollars and a half per ton. It is noticeable that in the same year 8.368 tons of freight were shipped in. and of this nearly half consisted of agricultural implements, showing something of the great development of the industry of farming.

In 1877 Dr. Baker had preliminary sur- \ey5 and estimates on a branch from Whitman Mission to Weston, and this was ultimately completed as far as Blue Mountain station. But, as is nearly always the case with the pioneer railway enterprises which pay, the Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad was destined to be absorbed by a larger. It had become a well paying property under Dr. Baker's skillful and energetic management, and the Oregon Steam Navigation Company cast envious eyes upon it. They contemplated at that time making a regular system of narrow-gauge roads through the Inland Empire, connecting with the boats on the Columbia and Snake rivers. After long continued negotiations Dr. Baker sold the larger part of his stock in 1879 to the chief stockholders of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, Messrs. Ladd, Ainsworth. Reed and Tilton. As we shall see later on, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company was in turn swallowed b}- the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company, and that in succession became a part of the great L'nion Pacific system. Dr. Baker's road, though thus temporary-, performed an incalculable part in the transportation developments of \\'alla ^\'alla county.

Stage Lines

While considering the pioneer steamboat and railroad lines, our suney would be incomplete if we did not notice the great pioneer stage lines, which for many }ears were the chief means of mail and passenger transportation. J. F. Abbott, whose family are still living in Walla Walla, was the pioneer stage manager of this valley. In 1859 he put on the first stages between \\'allula and Walla Walla. In the next year he effected a partnership with Rickey and Thatcher on the same line. Stage lines, carrying the mails, were established by Miller and Blackmore between The Dalles and \Valla Walla in 1861. Li the following year Rickey & Thatcher established a line from Walla \\'alla to Lewiston, and in the same year Blackmore & Chase operated lines between Wallula and Walla Walla. There were a number of independent stage lines running between all the points named during the years that followed. George F. Thomas, whose family are now well known in Walla Walla, ran a line from Wallula to Boise by way of Walla \\'alla and the Woodward toll road. The great transcontinental stage lines of Ben Holliday were operating on the plains in 1864, and partly through them Walla Walla began to come into communication with the world. That was the age of stages, hold-ups, Indians, and prairie-schooners, an age of romance and adventure which can never be repeated. The amount of business done by team in those times was something astonishing. A A\''ashington Statesman of the year 1862 estimated the amount of freight landed at Wallula from the steamers, to be thence distributed by wheel throughout the upper country at one hundred and fifty tons weekly, and the nunil>er of passengers from fifty to six hundred weekly.

In 1871 an extensive stage line began to operate throughout this region. This was the Northwestern Stage Company. It connected the Central Pacific Railroad at Kelton, L^tah, with The Dalles. Pendleton. Walla Walla. Colfax. Dayton. Lewiston. Pomeroy, "and all points north and west." To illustrate the extent of its operations it may be said that it used three hundred horses, twenty-two stages, one hundred and fifty employes, and annually fed out three hundred and si.xty-five tons of grain and four hundred and twelve tons of hay.

transportation lines. - boats, railroads and stages. - of the Walla Walla countrv. \\'e now turn to those of a maturer growth, the great transcontinental lines, which now connect us with all parts of the world.

The state of Washington has been singularly fortunate in the number and character of its transportation lines. Unlike California, it has never become the prey of one rapacious, never satiated transportation devourer. like the Southern Pacific Railroad. Three competing lines, lines, too, which may be said to be guided in general by broad policies and an intelligent public spirit, the Northern Pacific, the L'nion Pacific and the Great Northern, connect this state with all parts of the world. Besides these the Canadian Pacific on the north and the Southern Pacific on the south as near as Portland, add to our already generous railroad connections. This system of railroads, unequalled in the Union for a new state, is an index of what may be anticipated in industrial developn-.ent here in the near future. Freight rates ar.d passenger rates, .under the influence of this wholesome competition have steadily declined, the incoming of immigration has been encouraged, the establishment of new industries has been fostered, and all phases of the activity of the state quickened. True, many farmers in the eastern part of the state feel that freight rates are too high, and every legislature writhes and struggles with one or more railroad rate bills. Some inland cities have had long continued fights with the railroads on "long haul" conditions, etc. Yet when we come to balance up the general situation for the state we find our lot an enviable one as compared with most other western states, and especially California.

It is a noteworthy fact that the project of Pacific railroads was scouted at as visionary and preposterous by the most eminent men of the United States, such as Webster, Benton and others, though, as well known, Benton speedily discovered his mistake and became one of the foremost friends of the Pacific coast acquisition. But the pioneers of the Pacific coast understood better the resources and the possibilities of communication. Governor Isaac I. Stevens performed one of his greatest achievements in the great exploration of the year 1853, whicli had in view the establishment of some practicable railroad line to Puget sound. It is interesting to note that Captain George B. ^IcClellan was placed in charge of the western party in this Northern Pacific railroad survey. In the letter of April 5, 1853, from Stevens to McClellan we find the following general outline of the proposed work : "The route is from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Puget sound by the great bend of the Missouri river, through a pass in the mountains near the forty-ninth parallel. A strong party will operate westward from St. Paul ; a second but smaller party will go up thc^Iissouri to the Yellowstone, and there make arrangements, reconnoitre the country, etc., and on the junction of the main party they will push through the Blackfoot country, and reaching the Rocky mountains will keep at work tliere during the summer months. The third party, under your command, will be oiganizcd in the Puget sound region, you and your scientific corps going over the isthmus, and will ojierate in the Cascade range and meet the party coming from the Rocky mountains. * * * The amount of work in the Cascade range and eastward, say to the probable junction of the parties at the great bend of the north fork of the Columbia river, will be immense. Recollect, the main object is a railroad survey from the head waters of the Mississippi river to Puget sound. **=!=* We must not be frightened by long tunnels or enormous snows, but set ourselves to work toovercome them." It is a curious historical fact tl'.at McClellan, although an engineer of the highest skill and ability, showed the same lack of daring and originality which during the Civil war ten years later obscured his conspicuous talents and caused such lamentable chapters in the history of the Northern armies. For he quailed from the winter explorations necessary to determine the depth of snow in the Cascade mountains.

Such was the first elaborate attempt at the establishing of a railroad route across the continent. Though a long time elapsed, in the end it bore abundant fruit. In the 'sixties the entire country became interested in the project of railway connection between the Atlantic and Pacific. It was customary for political platforms to demand government action toward that end. This sentiment was the foundation of the subsequent immense land grant subsidies gi\-en tn the transcontinental railroads.

After the war was over and the country free to turn its pent up energies to industrial pursuits the grand popular dream of Pacific railways began rapidly to be realized. California naturally had the first through line, and the golden spike that joined the Central and Union Pacific Railroads was driven on the lOth of May, 1869. Meanwhile the Northern Pacific had been incorporated and granted the right of way by congress on the 2d of July, 1864. In 1870 a contract was made with Jay Cooke & Company to act as financial agent for the road and procure means for its construction. In all tiiat agitation which resulted in this first definite step toward Iniilding the nortliern road, a well known citizen of Walla \\'alla was one of the most influential factors. This was Philip Ritz. Jilessrs. Cass and Ogden, two of the most important of the early directors of the road, afterwards stated that it was a letter of I\lr. Ritz that first called their attention to the enterprise.

Work was actually hegun on the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1870. The division between Portland and Puget sound was the first to receive attention in this state. It was nearly wrecked by the financial panic of 1873, which carried down Jay Cooke & Company and many other great houses. It was, however, reorganized two years later, and in 1879 construction was resumed not to be suspended until the iron horse had drunk both out of Lake Superior and the Columbia river. In 1881 Henry Villard, president of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company, by means of his famous "blind pool," obtained a majority of the stock of the Northern Pacific Railroad and became its president. In 1883 he pushed the construction of the road from Duluth to Wallula, and there it was connected by the O. R. & N. Portland. The gorgeous pageantry of the Villard excursion, the great boom in Portland which followed, together with the financial downfall of Villard, the re-establishment of the Wright interest in the Northern Pacific, and the general collapse at Portland, are still no doubt vivid in the minds of all persons who were living in the country at that time. Not until the summer of 1888 was the gigantic task of crossing the Cascade mountains by w'ay of the Yakima valley and the Stampede pass fully accomplished. A year prior to that time, however, trains ascended and descended the Cascades bv the dizzy zigzags of the Switchback, drawn by those gladiators of steel and

Since the completion of the main line of the Northern Pacific, it has sprouted w-ith brandies in all directions. The most important of these to us of Walla Walla is the Washingtun & Columbia River Railroad, familiarly known as the Hunt line. This road was organized as the Oregon & Washington Territory Railroad by Pendleton parties in 1887. G. W. Hunt contracted to build the road in that year. The original projectors having failed in their means, Mr. Hunt took possession of the road and in 1888 he built from Hunt's Junction to Heli.x and Athena, in Umatilla county, and to Walla Walla. The branch up Eureka flat to Pleasant View was constructed also in 1888. During the next 3'ear the road was extended to Dayton and in 1890 to Pendleton. Then Mr. Hunt, having shown such conspicuous energy and ability, and having thus far apparently been favored by fortune, found himself embarrassed by the tightening grasp of the hard times, and sold the road to C. B. W"right, of the Northern Pacific, in February, 1891. In December of that year the road was placed in the hands of a receiver. In 1892 it was reorganized under the name which it now bears.

The present mileage of the Washington & Columbia River Railroad is 162./^ miles. Of this the main line from Pendleton to Dayton covers 128.41 miles, the Athena branch 14.59 and the Eureka Flat branch 19.73; 117.78 miles are in Washington and 44.95 in Oregon. Considering the population of the country which it supplies, the amount of freight handled by this road is extraordinary. The amount of freight carried out for the year ending June. 1900. was. in round numbers, about one hundred and thirty thousand tons of grain and about twenty thousand tons of other freight. Of this amount 62,776 tons were shipped from Waha Walla -county. The amount of freight brought in was, in round numbers, forty thousand tons, of which about half consisted of lumber, wood and posts, and the other half miscellaneous merchandise. A little over half of this amount was discharged in Walla Walla county. By its connection with the Northern Pacific at Hunt's Junction, this line is the natural route from Walla Walla to Puget sound.

The other transcontinental railroad upon which Walla Walla county is specially dependent is the Union Pacific system, through the Oregon Railway & Navigation line. This line was the successor upon the river of the old Oregon Steam Navigation line, having purchased that property in 1879. Henry Villard was its animating genius. He came to this country first in the interest of the German bondholders of the Oregon & California Railroad. With the quick grasp of a statesman Mr. Villard perceived here the opportunity of a lifetime. He saw that a railroad up the Columbia river with branches north, east and southeast, might be thrust like a wedge between the Northern Pacific and the Union Pacific and control both. He made three great steps in quick succession. The first was the incorporation of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company. The second was the formation of the "blind pool," and the Oregon & Transcontinental Company. The third was the acquisition of a controlling interest in the Northern Pacific Railroad.

The years of building the railroad from' Portland to Wallula, '8o-'83, were never surpassed in activity and in results in the history of railroad building in this country. To the untiring and sometimes destructive energy of Contractor Hallett, the speedy execution of the difficult and expensive line along the Columbia river was due. In 1883, as already noted, the gap betwixt the Oregon line and the Northern Pacific was joined at Wallula, and the Pacific Northwest had its first through line to the east. Although Villard's financial downfall ensued almost at the moment of his triumph, and the Oregon & Transcontinental Company failed, and as a natural consequence the O. R. & N. lost permanent control of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Villard's scheme is fulfilling its destiny in part, by the fact that the O. R. & N. has become an essential portion of the Union Pacific system.

As now constituted, the O. R. & N. system is a vast and comprehensive combination of steamboat and railroad lines. It runs a magnificent group of ocean steamships from Portland both north and south, and it has a fleet of superb river steamers on the Columbia, Snake and Willamette rivers. It also has a line of steamers on Puget sound.

The genesis of the railway division of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company has already been described. With Portland as a starting point, it radiates in all directions throughout the Inland Empire. The main line extends from Portland to Huntington, a distance of four hundred and four miles. At that point it connects with the Oregon Short Line, which extends five hundred and forty miles further to Granger, W^-oming, on the main line of the Union Pacific. The chief branch of the road diverging from the main road at Umatilla extends to Spokane. From this, as from the main line, branch out numerous important short lines. Those in Walla Walla county are the lines from Pendleton to Walla Walla, from Walla Walla to Riparia, from Walla Walla to Wallula, and from \\'allula by river to Rijiaria. There are also the narrow gauge lines from Walla Walla to Dudley and Dixie. The aggregate mileage, not counting the side tracks, is one hundred and sixty-four miles.

The amount of freight shipped out of \\'alla Walla county by the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company during the past year was about thirty thousand tons, and the amount of freight shipped in was about thirty-five thousand tons. The "in-freight" included an immense quantity of wood and lumber, and hence exceeds "out-freight."

This survey of the railroad connections of \\'alla Walla county would be incomplete without reference to the Great Northern line. Although this line does not touch Walla Walla countv.vet liv means of its traflic arrangements with the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company it gi\-es us practically the benefit of another transcontinental line. And it must be stated that the Great Northern line, by the phenomenal energy, foresight and broad policy of its management, has brought benefits to all the regions it has touched, and its presence in this county is a proper subject of gratification.

Though Walla Walla has at times been embarrassed by not being on either one of the main lines, and though the connections have not at all times in the past been the most convenient, there has been a steady improvement during the past two years and we may look forward with confidence to a future of cheaper, more convenient and entirely satisfactory transportation ser\ice.