The Deserted Town: Yakima Residents Fight the Railroad

Yakima, W.T., Jan 26, 1885. To the President and Board of Directors, N.P.R.R., New York: The undersigned, citizens of Yakima, Washington Territory, respectfully call your attention to the following facts. Nearly twenty years ago, some of our present citizens located at this point and commenced to build a town. The land where now stand our residences and business houses was then a dry, sage brush plain. By constructing irrigation ditches and by the bestowal of much labor and patience we have caused trees to grow along our streets and in our yards, giving the town an attractive appearance. Seeing that your road was constructed upon a feasible route and was passing through our town in its course toward Puget Sound, we have invested freely and with confidence. Many of our citizens have, in fact, invested all of their earnings for years in the purchase and improvement of real estate here, hoping that with the advent of your road would come prosperity and increased valuation of their property. Some of those resident in this area are industrious business men who have not only expended thousands of dollars, but have strained every nerve in a commendable effort to supply what they had reason to regard as an approaching demand for commodious buildings. In some cases frugal mechanics and laborers, and in some cases even widows with small families depending upon their earnings for support, have invested their all in homes which they have for years been endeavoring to make attractive in connection with fruit and shade trees. The unexpected action of your company in passing through our town and locating the depot some two and one-half miles beyond is disastrous. To all whose love of home and frugality has prompted them to build homes, it remains a bitter and cruel hardship.