Washington

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

a state of the American Union. It occupies the extreme northwest, between Oregon and British Columbia . It is bounded on the east by Idaho. The Pacific ramifications of Puget Sound afford unsurpassed water frontage. Area, including fresh water, 69,180 square miles. The Cascade Mountains running north and south divide the state into eastern and western Washington. EASTERN WASHINGTON. The eastern section is the larger. It includes the vast plains of the Columbia and local mountain ranges. There are districts requiring irrigation and districts certain of a bountiful wheat crop. The annual rainfall east of the Cascades varies from six to twenty-five inches according to locality. The highest temperature on record is 108 degree, the lowest 22 degree below zero. The winters are short, the summers hot with cool, restful nights always. The atmosphere is clear and bracing. The soil is basaltic, fine as flour, free from grit. There are extensive stock ranges. Wheat is the chief crop. The harvest season is rainless. Instead of storing wheat in elevators it is piled up at the stations in sacks to await shipment. The irrigated lands produce fabulous crops of alfalfa and fruits--apples, peaches, plums, grapes, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries--and all sorts of vegetables. Hops are raised extensively on both sides of the Cascades. Statistics compiled by F. A. Huntley, commissioner of horticulture, show the following shipments of nursery stock into Washington during 1908: Apple trees, 1,049,117; pear trees, 186,915; peach trees, 301,523; cherry trees, 165,721; plum and prune trees, 63,240; miscellaneous, 37,156; total, 1,803,672. WESTERN WASHINGTON is under the influence of vapor-laden breezes from the Pacific. The annual rainfall is from twenty to ninety inches according to locality. There are but two seasons, summer and winter. The former is cool, too cool for melons or corn to ripen. The winters are mild and foggy. An abundance of moisture produces an abundant growth of grasses. Dairying is an important industry. There are well on toward half a thousand creameries in the state. Certain localities are famous for wheat, hops, fruit, and vegetables. Hogs and cattle thrive, but the great industry of the western slope is lumbering. FORESTS. There are extensive forests of fir, pine, cedar, hemlock, spruce, and larch, containing, it is estimated 200,000,000,000 feet of salable lumber. Travelers riding for hours through these silent forests learn to appreciate the nickname of "Evergreen State." The lumber camps and mills give employment to 30,000 men. The annual pay roll is not far from $20,000,000. At the present rate of destruction the forests may be expected to last from ninety to one hundred years. The fir in particular grows tall and straight. It is in demand for railroad trestles, beams, and dimension stuff generally. Large shipments are made east-ward even into the white pine region of the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi Valley. Washington fir is in high repute also among shipbuilders. MINERALS. Extensive measures of soft coal and lignite have been located. Large shipments are made to Pacific points. Iron, copper, and lead ores give promise of future development. Mines have been opened north of Spokane. It is believed that the Cascades contain numerous rich veins. FISHERIES. The salmon fisheries of the state are perhaps the most noted in the world. There are over forty canneries. Counting oysters, clams, shrimps, and fish, the annual catch is valued at from $6,000,000 to $10,000,000 a year. INDUSTRIES. The chief business centers of the west are Everett, Seattle, and Tacoma, all on Puget Sound. The last two are keen rivals. Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay are the chief anchorages on the Pacific. The chief manufacturing industries are sawmills, flour mills, shipyards, breweries, canneries, and creameries. There are also paper mills and clay works. Port Blakely claims the largest sawmill in the world. There are numerous falls affording almost unlimited waterpower for future factories. There are nearly 3,500 miles of railway. The Northern Pacific and the Great Northern are the leading systems. The exports, chiefly lumber, grain, and fish, are estimated at $75,000,000 a year. THE SCENIC FEATURES of the state are a strong attraction. One entire county, San Juan, consists of islands. There are over twenty of them situated in a group to the north of Puget Sound proper. The Cascades rise to a general height of 8,000 feet. Mount Rainier, or Tacoma in the Indian tongue, lifts his snow-capped head to an altitude of 14,526 feet. Other peaks are almost as high. Deer, elk, black bears, panthers, wildcats, and mountain goats are still hunted. Grouse, quails, ducks, teals, and snipes are numerous in localities. HISTORICAL. So far as known, Puget Sound was visited by white men for the first time in 1592 by a navigator from Mexico. Explorations were made by Captain Gray in 1792, by Vancouver in the same year, by Lewis and Clark in 1805-6, by Dr. Whitman in 1836, and by Fremont in 1843. The forty-ninth parallel was agreed upon as the northern boundary in 1846. In 1853 that part of Oregon lying north of the Columbia River and the forty-sixth parallel was set off as the Territory of Washington. The state became a member of the Union November 11, 1889. The capital is Olympia. There are thirty-six counties. State officers are elected for a period of four years. EDUCATION, ETC. The public school system is well under way . A state university has been established at Seattle, an agricultural school at Pullman, and normal schools at Cheney, Ellensburg, and Bellingham. There are numerous denominational colleges and academies. The population in 1900 was 518,103. The next census will show over 1,000,000 inhabitants. There are about 10,019 Indians living on twelve reservations. Chinese and Japanese are employed, chiefly in domestic occupations. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: Land area, square miles 66,880 Population (1907) 1,159,000 Seattle (1907) 240,000 Tacoma 90,000 Spokane 90,000 Bellingham (1906) 30,000 Everett (1906) 25,000 No. counties 38 Members of state senate 42 Representatives 95 Salary of governor $4,000 U. S. representatives 3 Presidential electors 5 Assessed valuation of property $530,000,000 Bonded indebtedness $1,240,000 State revenue $5,000,000 Acres of irrigated land (1910) 330,000 Agricultural Products-- Corn, bushels 332,000 Wheat, bushels 35,095,000 Oats, bushels 10,545,000 Potatoes, bushels 4,500,000 Barley, bushels 5,185,000 Wool, pounds 4,080,000 Domestic Animals-- Horses 311,000 Mules 4,000 Milk cows 184,000 Other cattle 389,000 Sheep 824,000 Swine 182,000 Orchards, acres 86,000 Exports $43,000,000 Imports $25,000,000 Manufacturing establishments (1905) 2,751 Capital invested $97,000,000 Operatives 45,199 Raw material $66,000,000 Output of manufactures $128,000,000 Flour output, barrels 3,024,000 Lumber products $50,000,000 Fish canning $3,187,000 Oyster beds, acres 86,000 Coal mined, tons 3,680,000 Gold output $262,000 Silver output $55,000 Clay products $922,000 Quarry products $920,000 Timber area, square miles 34,000 Timber standing, feet 200,000,000,000 Timber cut, feet (1907) 5,414,000,000 Miles of navigable rivers 600 Miles of railway 3,500 Teachers in public schools 6,209 Pupils enrolled 188,989 Percentage of male teachers 20.2 Average monthly salary of teachers $58.98 Average annual expenditure per pupil $42.09 See Seattle ; Tacoma ; Spokane