The Drive for a Snoqualmie Wagon Road
A Yakima cattleman campaigns to bridge the Cascades, aiming to turn Seattle into the primary market for Eastern Washington farmers.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Geo. Smith, the well-known cattle man from Yakima, who has been instrumental in keeping the Snoqualmie pass open for travel during the present winter season, starts for home today. He is now working for a plan to build a good wagon road through the pass to Seattle. He has received assurances from our leading citizens that they will do their part, and on his return home he will arrange with the people of Yakima and Kittitas Valleys to meet the King County folks at the summit. The making of a wagon road over this long-traveled route is no great undertaking, and all that is necessary is for the citizens of both sections to put their shoulders to the wheel and push the work ahead. Smith Brothers & Co., of Kittitas, stand ready to head a private subscription for this purpose with $500. Let others do as well in proportion to their means, and next season the streets of Seattle will be lined with farmers' wagons who come here to trade rather than go to The Dalles. This is a matter of much importance and is deserving of serious consideration. It should be remembered that railroads follow wagon roads and are seldom, if ever, their forerunners.
“It should be remembered that railroads follow wagon roads and are seldom, if ever, their forerunners.”
The push for the Snoqualmie wagon road represents the early, arduous struggle to physically link Western and Eastern Washington. Today, the I-90 corridor remains our primary lifeline across the mountains, reflecting the same economic imperative to bind the two halves of the state together.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.