Ranchers Compete for Railroad: West Side Landowners Offer Free Right-of-Way
At a packed meeting at the Locke schoolhouse, 25 property owners strategized to bring the Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad to their side of the river, offering free timberland right-of-way and cheap meadow prices.
There were 25 ranch owners present at the meeting at the Locke schoolhouse on Wednesday night, to consider means for securing the location of the Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad on the side of the river. In addition to the property owners, Chas. F. Craig, of the First National Bank; Hugh Kennedy, of Daikena; and J. C. H. Reynolds, the right-of-way man for the road, were present.
The meeting was an enthusiastic one, and the property owners on the west side of the river are going to have the road on that side of the river or know the reason why. They have agreed to give the company a free right-of-way through all timber land, provided the company will cut the timber and leave it alongside the new road. The highest price asked by any of the owners for right-of-way through any of the fine meadow land in the valley was $50 an acre—a very reasonable price.
Most of those present thought that there would be no question regarding their side of the river being the best for the company to build on, as a greater tonnage could be secured from the west side than from the opposite side of the river.
“They have agreed to give the company a free right-of-way through all timber land, provided the company will cut the timber and leave it alongside the new road.”
The competition to attract railroads—and the economic development they promised—shaped many Western towns. Today, communities still vie for infrastructure projects, often offering incentives and free land, hoping to secure their economic future. The story captures the booster spirit and the hard bargaining that built the region.
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