There is plenty of room in the great Northwest. For twenty-five years to come Horace Greeley’s advice “Go west,” will hold good. Charles Dickens once said that the typical American would hesitate to enter heaven unless assured that he could go farther west. “Go west.” Surely these are words to conjure1 with. “Go west,” thrills the blood of youth and stirs the blood of age.
The tide of immigration is turning this way. No matter what your trade or profession, there is room for you here.
Agriculture, the supporting pillar in the temple of wealth of any nation, stands in the front rank in Washington and Idaho, the soil being wonderfully productive. Stock raising, dairying and fruit farming are carried on with great success. But the great mining interest must not be forgotten. The annual rainfall varies from thirty-five to sixty inches. A[35] healthful climate meets one in almost every part of these great states. Malaria3 is practically unknown. As to scenery one may have here the sublime4 grandeur5 of Switzerland, the picturesqueness6 of the Rhine and the rugged7 beauty of Norway.
The lava8 beds of eastern Washington are wild and barren as to rocks, but the soil is very productive when irrigated9. The lava is burned red in many places. Castle after castle with drawbridge, turrets10 and soldiers on guard, all of solid rock, greet the eye. Column after column stand hundreds of feet high.
The Cascade11 mountains surpass the Rockies in grandeur and ruggedness12 of scenery. We crossed on the Switch Back. This is by “tacking,” as a sailor would say. We had three engines, mammoth13 Moguls, one forward, the other two in the rear. There are but two engines in the world larger than these.
To explain more fully2 we went back and forth14 three times on the side of the mountain until we reached the summit, then down on the other side in the same manner. Going up we made snowballs with one hand and gathered flowers with the other, tiger lilies, perfect ones[36] one and one-half inch from tip of petal15 to petal on tiny stalks five inches high. Blackberry vines run on the ground to the summit of the mountains. They creep along like strawberry vines. They are in bloom now and the berries will ripen16 in time.
The snowfall last winter on the summit was one hundred and nine feet. Miles of snowsheds are built over the road and men are kept constantly at work keeping the tracks clear of snow and bowlders. Five huge snow-plows are required, all working constantly to keep the sixty-six highest miles clear. The fall of snow for one day is often four feet. The Great Northern road is putting a tunnel through the mountains now, and will thus do away with the Switch Back. Eight thousand men work in the shafts17 night and day. They have been at work two years and expect to finish in 1901.
For hours we traveled above the clouds and at other times we passed through them and were deluged18 with rain. Magnificent ferns grow everywhere on the mountain sides and towns and villages are to be seen frequently.
Descending19 the mountains we came to the Flat Head valley, the scenery of which is wild and rugged enough to suit the taste of the most imaginative Indian. The Flat Head river, a wild, raging, roaring torrent20 which sweeps everything before it as it comes leaping down the mountains, flows peacefully enough in the valley. Here water nymphs bathe in purple pools, yonder fairies and fauns dance on the green.
On the trees we see such signs as “Smoke Red Cloud,” “Chew Scalping Knife,” “Drink Smoky Mountain Whisky,” “Chew Indian Hatchet,” “Chew Tomahawk,” “Drink White Bear.”
Wenatchee valley is famous for its irrigated fruit farms. A great variety of fruits is grown. Water is easily and cheaply obtained. Mission District is another fine fruit valley. The interest in agriculture is growing. Bees do well here. If you do not own all the land you want come west where it is cheap, good and plenty. The country is rapidly filling up with settlers. We passed fine wheat lands that stretch away across the country to Walla Walla. Men are now coming in to the wheat harvest just as in Illinois they come to cut broomcorn. But they are a better looking class of men. One sees no genuine tramp. There is no room for him here, there is too much work and he shuns21 such districts as one would a smallpox22 infected region.
Seattle.—The first white men to explore this coast was an expedition under command of Juan de Fuca, a Greek pilot in the service of the Viceroy of Mexico. They explored the coast as far north as Vancouver island in 1592. Two hundred years later Captain George Vancouver, of the British navy, made extensive explorations along this same coast. The first overland expedition was commanded by Lewis and Clarke. The next was also a military expedition and was commanded by John C. Fremont. The first people to settle in the country were the fur traders. The first mission was established by Dr. Marcus Whitman at Walla Walla in 1836. It was Dr. Whitman who rode to Washington, D. C., leaving here in December, and informed the government of the conspiracy23 of England to drive out all the American settlers and seize the country. The first town was Tumwater, founded in 1845 by Michael Simmons. These are some of the people who helped make Washington.
General Sherman said, that God had done more for Seattle than for any other place in the world. It is destined24 to be the Chicago of the West. The largest saw-mills in the world are located here. The population is about eighty thousand and the increase is rapid. The University of Washington, supported by the state, is grandly located in Seattle. The Federal government has a fine military station twelve miles out of the city.
At every turn Indian names meet the eye. We steamed down the bay on the Skagit Chief to the city park, where we lunched at the Duramash restaurant. In the shop windows Umatilla hats, Black Eagle caps and Ancelline ties are offered for sale.
Ancelline was an Indian princess, daughter of Seattle. Seattle was chief of the Old Man House Indians. These Indians had a big wigwam in which the entire tribe lived during the winter. They called this the Old Man House and the tribe took its name from this house. There is but one family of these Indians left.
The Indians on this side of the mountains have never received any support from the government. They are much more industrious25 than their red brothers on the other side. There are many tribes here and many of them are quite well to do in the way of lands and money. All talk English but prefer to speak Chinook.
Nokomis was an old Indian woman who did laundry work for a family in Seattle with whom I have become acquainted. Nokomis was exceedingly stubborn. She would permit no one to tell her how to wash for had she not washed in the creeks26 and rivers all her life? This old woman was somewhat deaf and when directions were being given her she could not possibly hear and continued the work her own way. But when the mistress would say, “Come Nokomis, have some coppe (Chinook for coffee) and muck amuck27 (Chinook for ‘something to eat’),” she never failed to hear, though this was often said in a low tone of voice to test Nokomis’s ears.
Wheat in this section easily goes fifty bushels per acre. The root crops, potatoes, turnips28, onions, carrots, beets29 and parsnips yield enormously, with prices fair to good. The fruits are fine and prices good. Strawberries sell here now three quarts for twenty-five cents. The fruits go to Alaska, Canada and east to Montana and Minnesota. Stock and poultry30 do well here and supply eastern markets at good prices. Another industrial resource in which many are engaged is fishing. The cod31, halibut, oyster32, crab33, shrimp34, whale and fur seal yield fine profits. Canned fish go to the Eastern States, to Europe, Asia and Australia. The timber, coal, iron, gold and silver industries are well represented.
There is one industry that is not represented here at all, and that is the window-screen industry. There is but one fly in Seattle; at any rate I have seen but one. Meat markets and fruit markets stand open. The temperature has averaged sixty-two in the shade for several days. It is quite hot in the sun, however.
If you are out of a fortune and would like to make one, come to Washington.
Mount Rainier is the highest peak of the Cascade Range and the most beautiful. Though standing35 on American soil it bears an English name, that of Rear Admiral Rainier of the English navy. The local name was for years Tacoma, but in 1890 the United States board of geographic36 survey decided37 that Rainier must stand on all government maps.
The people of Washington speak lovingly of this splendid peak which was smoking so grandly when the Pathfinder found his way into this country fifty years ago.
From its summit eight glaciers38 radiate like the spokes39 of a wheel down from which flow[42] as many rivers. Its ice caverns40 formed by sulphur vent41 holes in the crater42, its steam jets, its moss43 draped pines, its dainty vines and hemlocks44, its grassy45 vales, where wild flowers are swayed by the breath of the glaciers, its beautiful lilies, remind one of “Aladdin’s” journey through the wonderful cave in search of the magic lamp.
Here blows the heather and the shamrock.
“With a four-leafed clover, a double-leafed ash, and a greentopped seave,
You may go before the queen’s daughter without asking leave.”
There stands fair Daphne, changed to a laurel tree.
In the legends of the Silash Indians Mount Rainier has always been held as a place of superstitious46 regard. It was the refuge of the last man when the waters of Puget Sound swept inland, drowning every living thing except one man. Chased by the waves, he reached the summit, where he was standing waist deep in the water when the Tamanous, the god of the mountain, commanded the waters to recede47. Slowly they receded48, but the man had turned to stone. The Tamanous broke loose one of his ribs49 and changing it to a woman, stood it by[43] his side, then waving his magic wand over the two, bade them to awake. Joyfully50 this strange Adam and Eve passed down the mountain side, where they made their home on the forested slopes. These were the first parents of the Silash Indians.
In the very center of the Cascade range stands another mountain of equal beauty, Mount St. Helens.
Washington is the home of the genuine sea serpent. He makes his headquarters in Rock Lake, where he disports51 himself in the water, devouring52 every living thing that ventures into it or dares to come on the shore. Only a few years ago he swallowed an entire band of Indians.
Expansion seems to be the law of our national and commercial life. Beyond the placid53 Pacific are six hundred million people who want the things we produce. China and Japan furnish a market for our wheat. The cry now is for more ships to carry our produce to Asia, Australia, to islands of the Pacific and to Alaska, not to speak of the Philippines. Manila is the center of the great Asiatic ports, including those of British India and Australia. Our trade with[44] the Orient is growing and Manila will make a fine distributing depot54. These eastern countries use annually55 over eighty-six million dollars’ worth of cotton goods and nearly forty million dollars’ worth of iron and steel manufactures. This we can produce in this country as cheap if not cheaper than in any other country. Seattle is the best point from which to export, as the route is shorter than from San Francisco.
The battleship Iowa is in dry dock here. I should liked to have been a marine56 myself and have stood behind one of those big guns when Cervera left the harbor of Santiago. And now I’d like to train that same gun on the anti-expansionist and send him to the bottom of the sea, there to sleep with the Spaniards and other useless things. Officers and marines alike are proud of their ship and delighted to explain the mechanism57 of the guns.
We took a steamer over to Tacoma one morning, where we had the pleasure of seeing the North Pacific steamship58 Glenogle, which had just arrived from Japan, unload her cargo59. She brought two thousand tons of tea, over two thousand pounds of rice, two thousand and twelve bails60 of matting, two hundred and eighty-six bails of straw braid, one hundred and thirty-nine cases of porcelain61, two hundred and eighty-five packages of curios, three thousand packages of bamboo ware62, silk goods and a multitude of small articles made the load. She had forty Japanese passengers for this port, and left forty-five at Victoria.
On the street we met a party of Indians in civilian64 dress, wearing closely cropped hair and moustaches.
Returning across the bay we met a flock of crows on the flotsam and jetsam which floats down from the saw-mills. Their antics reminded me of a party of school boys playing tag. At the steamer’s approach the leader gave a warning caw and they were up and away before the steamer struck their floating playground and scattered66 it to the waves.
At sunset the reflection of the sun-lit clouds on the waves and the fire and glow of the sparkling water, now ruby67 red, changing to turquoise68 blues69 and emerald greens, make a scene delightful70 to the eye of one who loves the sea.
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1
conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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malaria
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| n.疟疾 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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picturesqueness
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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irrigated
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| [医]冲洗的 | |
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turrets
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| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
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cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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ruggedness
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| 险峻，粗野； 耐久性； 坚固性 | |
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mammoth
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| n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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petal
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| n.花瓣 | |
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ripen
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| vt.使成熟；vi.成熟 | |
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shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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deluged
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| v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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shuns
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的第三人称单数 ) | |
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smallpox
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| n.天花 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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creeks
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| n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪 | |
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amuck
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| ad.狂乱地 | |
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turnips
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| 芜青( turnip的名词复数 )； 芜菁块根； 芜菁甘蓝块根； 怀表 | |
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beets
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| 甜菜( beet的名词复数 )； 甜菜根； （因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而）脸红 | |
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poultry
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| n.家禽，禽肉 | |
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cod
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| n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗 | |
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oyster
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| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
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crab
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| n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气 | |
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shrimp
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| n.虾，小虾；矮小的人 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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geographic
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| adj.地理学的，地理的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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glaciers
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| 冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 ) | |
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spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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hemlocks
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| 由毒芹提取的毒药( hemlock的名词复数 ) | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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recede
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| vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进 | |
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receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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49
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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50
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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51
disports
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| v.嬉戏，玩乐，自娱( disport的第三人称单数 ) | |
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52
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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depot
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| n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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bails
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| （法庭命令缴付的）保释金( bail的名词复数 )； 三柱门上的横木 | |
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porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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turquoise
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| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
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blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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