The Snoqualmie Pass Struggle
A drove of 200 cattle fails to cross the Cascades due to deep snow, highlighting the desperation for better infrastructure.
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.
Last Friday 200 head of beeves came across from Kalama and were taken down to Seattle the same day. These cattle were driven into the mountains, on the Yakima side, by their owners, with the intention of going through the Snoqualmie pass, but recent snow had been so heavy that, after ten days' struggle, the effort was abandoned, and the drove headed for The Dalles, whence they were brought over the lines of the O. R. & N. Co. and N. P. R. R. It cost Mr. Geo. Smith, the owner, a good round sum by the time he got them to their destination.
“recent snow had been so heavy that, after ten days' struggle, the effort was abandoned”
The struggle to bridge the Cascade mountains has been a central theme in Washington commerce for over a century. The reliance on rail when roads fail still mirrors the logistical challenges of modern mountain transit.
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