The Townsite Battle of the Okanogan
Brewster residents are lobbying against a new government-backed townsite, citing the history of failed settlements in the valley.
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.
The people of Brewster are evidently considerably worked up over the proposition of establishing a government townsite at the junction of the Okanogan and Columbia rivers, as the Riverside Argus states that it has information to the effect that D. L. Gillespie, of the Brewster Herald, has been sent to Washington to file a remonstrance against the proposed movement. The prospects of a large area of land in the south part of the county, covering the territory between Brewster and the Okanogan river, being put under irrigation, was no doubt the motive that caused the movement for a government townsite at that particular point, and if successful would probably tend to curtail the upbuilding of Brewster. Should Mr. Gillespie's mission prove unavailing, and a town be actually started at the point selected, it would not be the first time that that locality looked inviting to the town builder. Far back in the early years of the last century portions of the Astor exploring expedition, that founded Astoria, started a settlement at the mouth of the Okanogan, and within the memory of present residents of the county parties with a keen eye for the nimble dollar laid out the town of Swansea and sold lots all over the country. The first two efforts at town building in that vicinity were failures, but the movement now on foot, if carried out, may result in the building up of a flourishing town in that part of the county.
“Within the memory of present residents of the county parties with a keen eye for the nimble dollar laid out the town of Swansea and sold lots all over the country.”
Townsite speculation and regional rivalries were the engine of early Washington development. Today, the fight over growth often centers on zoning and density, but the underlying anxiety—that one community's success might cannibalize another's—remains a staple of local civic discourse.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.