Forging a Path Through Snoqualmie Pass
Driven by the hardships of shipping livestock down the Columbia River, local ranchers have hacked a new cattle trail over the Cascades.
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.
Mr. S. U. Geddis provides details regarding the trail over the Snoqualmie Pass. 'There are many reasons why it is more desirable to bring cattle over the Pass than down the Columbia, aside from the difference in the expense. In the first place, the cattle have to be driven to The Dalles, a long distance and a hard drive. There they are huddled together on steamers and transferred to cars, and before they reach their destination they have fallen off a large per cent, besides being badly jammed and bruised. For this reason, the people of Yakima who are interested in stock-raising, contributed to a fund which was applied to the purpose of breaking a trail through the Snoqualmie Pass. George Smith took the supervision of the whole affair. A cabin was erected every sixteen miles. Before long, they had succeeded in making a good, passable trail. George Smith left his home in the Kittitas Valley on Thursday, January 18th, with one hundred and thirty-eight head of fine beef cattle, came through the pass and arrived at the Snoqualmie Valley on the 20th without the loss of a single head of stock. A portion of the band was left there and the remainder driven into Seattle, where they arrived Saturday evening.'
“George Smith left his home in the Kittitas Valley... with one hundred and thirty-eight head of fine beef cattle, came through the pass and arrived at the Snoqualmie Valley on the 20th without the loss of a single head of stock.”
This reflects the early, desperate need for interior Washington to bypass the river-monopoly of the Columbia and connect directly with the Puget Sound market. It documents the transition from a river-based economy to the land-based freight routes that eventually defined the state.
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