USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > An illustrated history of Walla Walla County, state of Washington > Part 25
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
lish traffic with the "Inland Empire" was in- augurated by 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 Pendle- ton 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 year 1854 saw the launching of the Mary above the cascades. 1855 saw the Wasco. In 1856 the Ilassalo was built. In 1857 the first steam- boat was built above The Dalles. This was the Colonel Wright, built at Celilo by R. R. Thompson and Laurence Coe.
Thus, as we see, the steamboat lines worked their way at an early day, while Indian wars were yet raging, toward Walla Walla.
In 1859 the famous old Oregon Steam Navigation Company was organized. By 1861 its steamboats were running as far as Lewis- ton. The first steam railway lines in the north- west 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 1860, '61, '62. Though something of a mo- nopoly the Oregon Steam Navigation Com- pany 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. Memory easily conjures up the polite and yet determined Ainsworth, the brusque and rotund Reed, the bluff and hearty Knaggs, the frolicsome and never dis-
concerted Ingalls, the dark and powerful Coe, the patriarchal beard of Stump, the loquacious "Commodore" Wolf, 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 Baugh- man, and especially two of the "kid captains" of that early epoch, now still comparati young men, and even then, thoughi boys, con- sidered the best pilots on the river, Will Gray and Jim Troup.
After the inauguration of the steamboat lines to Wallula and Lewiston, in 1861, traffic by prairie schooners began between Walla Walla and Wallula. In 1862 and '63 there bia and Snake rivers, while the opposition line the river. 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 Colum- bia and Snake rivers, while the opposition line was to have a monopoly of the Willamette. 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 Wal- lula, S18.00; fare from Portland to Lewiston, $28.00.
Freight from Wallula to Walla Walla was Șio, or $12, per ton, by wagon.
In 1860 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. Baker. Almost from his first landing in Walla Walla Dr. Baker, more fully than any
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
one else, formed a conception of the 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 be- came very active in Walla Walla between 1863 and 1868. On March 23, 1868, the citizens of Walla Walla gathered at the court house to discuss this question. As a result of the in- vestigations which followed 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. H. Lasater, J. D. Mix, B. Scheideman and W. H. Newell. Their plan was to get the . ing off one's nose to spite his face." At any Oregon Steam Navigation Company to take rate it was a long time before they got a two dollar schedule. one hundred thousand dollars of stock, Walla Walla county two hundred thousand dollars, and the city fifty thousand dollars. An act DR. BAKER'S RAILROAD. of Congress of March 3. 1869, granted the right of way and authorized the county com- This project being thus defeated so far as Walla Walla county was concerned, Dr. Baker with a number of men prominent in Walla Walla then determined to build and equip the road themselves. A.new company was organ- ized, with the following directors: D. S. Baker, W. Stephens, I. T. Reese, L. McMorris, H. M. Chase, HI. P. Isaacs, B. L. Sharpstein, O. Hull and J. F. Boyer. In March, 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 missioners to issue three hundred thousand dol- lars 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, 1871. But it having become evident by the expression of public opinion that the subsidy would be defeated, the order for the election was revoked. The company then made a prop- osition to the people of Walla Walla. They . proposed, in case the people of the county would authorize the issuance of three thousand dol- lars in bonds, to build a strap iron railroad
within a year; to place in the hands of the county commissioners the money received from down freighits as a sinking fund, and to allow the board to fix the rate on such freights pro- vided it was not placed at less than two dollars per ton, 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 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-five, 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 dol- lars a ton by wagon, it would seem that they performed the feat sometimes described as "bit-
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
Grande Ronde countries. In 1873 the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Company was or- ganized. 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 Walla Walla and other points in eastern Oregon and Washington. In the same year the Dayton and Columbia River Transporta- tion Company was incorporated. This com- pany proposed to build a narrow gauge road from Dayton to Wallula by way of Waitsburg and Walla Walla: thence by steamers and portage railroads to Astoria. These enter- prises 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 country until it was learned that this an- nouncement was premature, and that the ar- rangements had collapsed, like many other rail- road 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 Wal- lula 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 Wallula over four thousand tons of wheat and brought back in return over eleven hundred tons of merchandise. After much pulling and hauling over the ques- tion of subscriptions by the people of the city, it was provided that if the railroads were im- mediately 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 completion came. On Oc- tober 23. 1875. Walla 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 Wallula, 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 inad- equate, 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 cor- rectly or not we will not undertake to decide- that the people of Walla Walla had done very little to advance the interest of his road, had fixed the freight rate at $5.50 per ton. Though this was much less than had been paid to team- sters before, it seemed extortion to some of the people, and a committee of citizens was ap- pointed 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, freighit 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-
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
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 dol- lars and a half per ton. The amount of freight steadily increased all that time. In 1876 there were hauled from Walla 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 heavy 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 prob- ably three to one.
Other railway projects were in the air in that same centennial year of 1876. Among them was the Walla Walla & 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 evidentiy will not until the dalles are overcome. It was nearly twenty years before the great canal and locks were finished.
In 1877 there were 28.806 tons of freight shipped from Walla Walla by way of Wallula. The rate had then been reduced to four dollars and a hali 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 agri- cultural implements. showing something of the great development of the industry of farming.
In 1877 Dr. Baker had preliminary sur- veys 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 pio- neer 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 skill- ful and energetic management. and the Oregon Steam Navigation Company cast envious eyes upon it. They contemplated at that time mak- ing 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. Ains- worth, Reed and Tilton. As we shall see later on. the Oregon Steam Navigation Company was in turn swallowed by the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company, and that in succession became a part of the great Union Pacific sys- tem. Dr. Baker's road, though thus temporary, performed an incalculable part in the trans- portation developments of Walla Walla county.
STAGE LINES.
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While considering the pioneer steamboat and railroad lines, our survey would be incom- plete if we did not notice the great pioneer stage line», which for many years were the chief means of mail and passenger transporta- tion. J. F. Abbott. whose family are still liv- ing in Walla Walla. was the pioneer -tage inanager of this valley. In 1859 he put on the first stages between Wallula and Walla Walla. In the next year he effected a part- nership with Rickey and Thatcher on the same
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
line. Stage lines, carrying the mails, were es- tablished by Miller and Blackmore between The Dalles and Walla Walla in 1861. In the following year Rickey & Thatcher established a line from Walla Walla to Lewiston, and in the same year Blackmore & Chase operated lines between Wallula and Walla Walla. There were a number of independent stage lines rur .- ning 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 Walla and the Woodward toll road. The great transcontinental stage lines of Ben Holli- day 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, hokl-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 Washington 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 hun- dred and fifty tons weekly. and the number 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, Utah, with The Dalles. Pendleton. Walla Walla. Col- fax. Dayton, Lewiston, Pomeroy, "and all points north and west." To illustrate the ex- tent 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 sixty-five tons of grain and four hundred and twelve tons of hay. Such were what may be styled the pioneer
transportation lines,-boats, railroads and stages,-of the Walla Walla country. We now turn to those of a maturer growth, the great transcontinental lines, which now connect us with all parts of the world.
TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROADS.
The state of Washington has been singu- larly 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 Union 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 Port- land, add to our already generous railroad con- nections. This system of railroads, unequalled in the Union for a new state, is an index of what may be anticipated in industrial develop- ment here in the near future. Freight rates and passenger rates, under the influence of this wholesome competition have steadily declined, the incoming of immigration has been en- couraged. the establishment of new industries has been fostered, and all phases of the activity of the state quickened. True, many farmers in the castern 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 con- tinued 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.
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
And it may be added, the sure prospect is of continued betterment.
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 acquisi- tion. But the pioneers of the Pacific coast un- derstood better the resources and the possibil- ities of communication. Governor Isaac I. Stevens performed one of his greatest achieve- ments in the great exploration of the year 1853, which had in view the establishment of some practicable railroad line to Puget sound. It is interesting to note that Captain George D. McClellan 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 gen- eral 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 west- ward from St. Paul; a second but smaller party will go up the Missouri 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 there during the summer months. The third party, under your command, will be organized in the Puget sound region, you and your scientific corps going over the isthmus, and will operate in the Cascade range and meet the party coming from the Rocky moun- tains. * * * The amount of work in the Cascade range and eastward, say to the prob- able 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 to overcome them." It is a curious historical fact that 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 conspic- tious talents and caused such lamentable chap- ters in the history of the Northern armies. For he quailed from the winter explorations neces- sary 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 con- tinent. Though a long time elapsed, in the end it bore abundant fruit. In the 'sixties the en- tire country became interested in the project of railway connection between the Atlantic and Pacific. It was customary for political plat- forms to demand government action toward that end. This sentiment was the foundation of the subsequent immense land grant subsidies given to the transcontinental railroads.
After the war was over and the country free to turn its pent up energies to industrial pur- suits the grand popular dream of Pacific rail- ways 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 10th 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 that agitation which resulted in this first
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definite step toward building the northern road, a well known citizen of Walla Walla was one of the most influential factors. This was Philip Ritz. Messrs. Cass and Ogden, two of the most important of the early directors of the road, afterwards stated that it was a letter of Mr. Ritz that first called their attention to the enterprise.
Work was actually begun on the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1870. The division be- tween 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. reor- ganized two years later, and in 1879 construc- tion was resumed not to be suspended until the iron horse had drunk both out of Lake Supe- rior 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 con- struction of the road from Duluth to Wallula. and there it was connected by the O. R. & N. with Portland. The gorgeous pageantry of the Villard excursion, the great boom in Port- land which followed, together with the finan- cial 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 way of the Yakima valley and the Stampede pass fully accomplished. A year prior to that time, however, trains ascended and descended the Cascades by the dizzy zigzags of the Switch- back. drawn by those gladiators of steel and
steam, the mighty "decapods," which ground their way resistlessly up three-hundred-foot grades.
Since the completion of the main line of the Northern Pacific. it has sprouted with branches in all directions. The most import- ant of these to us of Walla Walla is the Wash- ington & Columbia River Railroad, familiarly known as the Hunt line. This road was or- ganized as the Oregon & Washington Terri- tory 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 posses- sion of the road and in 1888 he built from Hunt's Junction to Helix and Athena, in Uma- tilla county, and to Walla Walla. The branch up Eureka flat to Pleasant View was construct- ed also in 1888. During the next year the road was extended to Dayton and in 1890 to Pen- dleton. 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. Wright, 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 162.73 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 Ore- gon. Considering the population of the coun- try which it supplies, the amount of freight handled by this road is extraordinary. The amount of freight carried out for the year end- ing June. 1900. was, in round numbers, about
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