Washington Wheat Rolls East for the First Time
A landmark Northern Pacific shipment carried Walla Walla wheat through Spokane Falls toward Minneapolis, announcing the railroad's promise to turn Inland Northwest grain into global commerce.
The first train load of Washington Territory wheat passed through the city at noon Tuesday bound east. The cars carried large placards which read, "First through shipment of Walla Walla wheat consigned to ... Minneapolis, Minn." ... It can and will make the great line of steel and tax its carrying capacity to its utmost extent to haul its products to the chief grain markets of the world. This is but the beginning of the use of this grand iron artery that gives the farmer an outlet for the fruits of his labors, and before many months the ... on the Northern Pacific will be monstrous freight trains loaded exclusively with the wheat of Washington.
“This is but the beginning of the use of this grand iron artery that gives the farmer an outlet for the fruits of his labors.”
The Northern Pacific made Spokane a shipping hub and tied Eastern Washington wheat to distant markets, a foundation of the region's economy. Today the same corridors move a very different mix of freight, but the argument over rail capacity and export markets still sounds familiar.
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