The Brick and the Ballot: Wenatchee’s Fight for County Status

WENATCHEE, Wash., March 17.—Residents of this place, with very few exceptions, feel elated over the fact that the bill establishing a new county for this locality, with Wenatchee as the temporary county seat, safely passed the legislature. It is confidently anticipated that the contents of the bill, such as the required petition of a majority of the people residing in the proposed new county and the requirements of population, can be easily met.

Already a noticeable stir in business has arisen in Wenatchee, which is caused by the anticipation of the organization of the new county. The Wenatchee Development Company has donated to the new county the use of its large brick building for a courthouse until the permanent county seat is settled. Then, if Wenatchee gets the county seat, the building will be given outright to the county. The original cost of the building was $17,500.

The new county will have 71 miles of Northern Railway track, aside from several miles of side track. The principal towns that will be rivals for the permanent seat will be Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Chelan, and Mission. Cascade tunnel, on the Great Northern, Kennewick and Pomeroy post-offices are also in the new county.

The boundaries of the proposed new county are as follows: Beginning at the point of intersection at the middle of the main channel of the Columbia river with the fifth standard parallel north, thence running west along said fifth standard parallel, intersecting the summit of the main divide between the waters flowing northerly and easterly into the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers, and the waters flowing southerly and westerly into the Yakima river, thence in a general northwesterly direction along the summit of said main divide, following the course of the center of the summit of watershed, dividing the said respective waters, to the center of the Cascade mountains at the eastern boundary line of King county; thence north along the eastern boundary of King and Snohomish and Skagit counties until it upon the said east boundary of Skagit county, where said boundary is intersected by the watershed between the waters flowing southerly and westerly into Lake Chelan; thence in a general southeasterly direction along the summit of the main divide between the waters flowing northerly and easterly into the Methow river, and the waters flowing westerly and southerly into Lake Chelan and its tributaries, following the course of the center of the summit of watershed dividing said respective waters, to the point where the seventh parallel north intersects said center of the summit of said watershed; thence east along said seventh parallel north to the point of intersection of middle of main channel of the Columbia river with said tenth standard parallel; thence down the