A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909. Ithamar Howell
or to divert the waters and produce artificial falls.
No heritage of the state is of greater value and none more appreciated than this water power. Since the introduction of electricity as a lighting and motive force, its creation by water power looms into immense importance. The exhibition of its achievements to be seen in Washington today is amazing to the men whose vision of light and power was first with the tallow dip and four-footed beasts, and later with kerosene and steam. Electricity, created by our water falls, lights our cities and farm homes, draws our street cars and some railroad cars—pushes most of the machinery used in manufactories, to the great satisfaction and profit of our citizens.
GAME.
The State of Washington was once a paradise for the sportsman in its every corner. Its desert lands were full of jack rabbits and sage hens; over its mountains and foothills roamed herds of elk, mountain goats, deer, and many bear, cougar and wild cats. In its timbered valleys were pheasants and grouse in plenty. Upon its waters and sloughs the wild ducks and geese were in vast flocks, while its waters teemed with salmon in many varieties, and several families of the cod tribe, sole, flounders, perch, mountain trout and other fish.
While these conditions cannot now be said to exist in full, yet at certain seasons, and in some places, the same game, animals, birds and fishes are in abundance, and the sportsman, while he may not have his "fill," may satisfy a reasonable amount of his craving for the excitement of the frontier. The state has deemed it wise to restrict the time and place within which its game can be taken and the amount a single individual shall kill. These regulations suffice partly to preserve the game from extinction and help replenish the state's treasury, and are considered wise and reasonable.
SCENERY.
If Washington is mighty in forest possession, provided with fuel for centuries in its coal beds, rich in precious metals, with great open waterways full of fish roads from the ocean and millions of fishes in its inland waters, with game upon its thousand hills and its vast plains loaded with waving grains and red with luscious fruits, still its crowning glory is its matchless scenery.
Towering above the clouds, with its head crowned with eternal snows, its sides forever glistening with icy glaciers till their feet touch the green tops of its foothills, near the center of the state, stands in imposing grandeur the highest mountain of the states—grand, old Mount Rainier.
Through its center north and south the Cascade mountains in a zigzag course lift their clustered peaks and mountain passes from four to eight thousand feet above the sea, while Mount Olympus and his colleagues higher still poke their inspiring front heavenward. Between these two white and green clad mountain ranges, protected from the blizzards of the southwestern plains and from the hurricanes from the ocean, lie in safety the placid waters of Washington's great inland sea, matchless Puget Sound.
Where else upon the globe is such a diversified stretch of tranquil water, upon whose shores the ocean tides ebb and flow, upon whose surface the navies of the world could maneuver to their heart's content, while visible from shore to shore are the vast evergreen forests, interlaced with winding waters and stretching gently upwards till they reach the visible mountain peaks a hundred miles away, thousands of feet skyward?
Scarcely less enchanting is the view eastward from the Rainier's lofty height—a vast stretch of hill and plain almost surrounded by green mountain sides, through whose gray and green fields flow the great winding courses of the mighty Columbia and the lazy Snake rivers, while a multitude of smaller streams gleam through the forest sides of the mountains over innumerable waterfalls. Here within the foothills you gaze upon the largest lake within the state, a beauty spot to enchant alike the artist and the sportsman. Deep within its rocky sides and full of speckled beauties lying like a mirror in the stretch of green hills about it, lies Lake Chelan, and on its unruffled bosom a fleet of boats ply for fifty miles beyond its outlet till reach the mining foothills of the mountains. A hundred miles eastward, still among the scattered pines of northeastern Washington, the Spokane river tumbles in masses of foam and spray over a succession of rocky falls on its way to the Columbia, while still further on the Pend d'Oreille and upper reaches of the Columbia river flow close up among the mountains and foothills and present a series of beautiful combinations of rock, trees, hills and valleys, of forests and waterfalls of magnificent beauty. Washington in its scenery is magnificent in proportions, wonderful in its variety, grand and imposing in form and feature—picturesque—enticing—"a thing of beauty and a joy forever."
PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIES OF WASHINGTON.
LUMBERING.
The description of the resources of a state naturally suggests what its industries are. The forests of western Washington inevitably lead to the lumber industry and the fertile soil of eastern Washington point as unerringly to agriculture. These are the two great industries of the state. The lumberman and the farmer are in the majority. Already there are sawmills enough in operation to cut up all the standing timber in the state within fifty years. They employ probably 100,000 men. This includes those engaged in logging and the subsidiary industries.
Of the trees the fir is pre-eminently useful, and more than half of the forests of the state are fir trees. It is of greater strength than any of the others and hence is used for all structural work where strength is of special importance. It is rather coarse grained, but when quarter sawed produces a great variety of grains very beautiful and capable of high finish and is extensively used for inside finishings for houses as well as for frame work. Its strength makes it ideal for the construction of ships. The yellow pine is strong, medium grained and well fitted for general building purposes, and is very extensively used in eastern Washington.
Cedar is very light and close grained and is chiefly used for shingles, and for this purpose has no superior. The cheaper grades are also used for boxes and sheathing for houses and many other purposes.
The spruce furnishes an odorless wood especially useful for butter tubs; for shelving and similar uses it is superior to either the fir or cedar. It is a white, close grained lumber, and appreciating in value.
The hemlock, whose bark produces tannin for the tanneries, is also a close grained light wood coming more and more into general use, for many purposes, especially where it will not be exposed to the weather.
Logs frequently seven feet in diameter require big saws, and big carriers 50 to 100 feet long, and hence Washington has probably the largest sawmills in the world.
Our lumber is used at home and shipped all over the world to make bridges, ships, houses, floors, sash, doors, boxes, barrels, tubs, etc. Factories for the manufacture of wood products are scattered all over the state. Most of the sawmills and some factories are driven by steam made by burning sawdust, slabs, and other refuse of the mills. Coal