The advantages of Puget Sound for foreign commerce began to be evident, but the Cascade Range stood in the way of railroads from the eastward. Although it was a comparatively easy task to build a railroad north from Portland, yet the sound region did not begin to grow rapidly until, after careful surveys, two railroads finally found passes through the Cascade Range so as to reach tide-water. As in other places, when the necessity for overcoming them arose, the obstacles which Nature had interposed were found not to be so troublesome as was at first supposed. Now the once formidable range has been tunnelled and will no longer form a serious barrier between the interior portion of Washington and the coast.
Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett have grown up on the sound as important commercial and manufacturing cities, and will, on account of their favorable situation, receive their share of the commerce of the Pacific. The cities of the sound are particularly well situated for intercourse and commerce with Alaska and northeastern Asia.
These cities are also well situated for manufacturing, because coal and wood are plentiful and consequently cheap, but they have not in their immediate vicinity so extensive agricultural valleys as the Willamette and the Great Valley of California. The lumberman must be supplanted by the farmer and fruit-grower before the slopes about Puget Sound can be fully developed.
The natural outlet for the great wheat-fields of central Washington is by way of the Columbia River to the ocean, but the tunnelling of the Cascades partly diverts their products to the sound region.
FIG. 119.—FALLS OF SPOKANE RIVER
Location of the city of Spokane
The city of Spokane, in eastern Washington, clearly illustrates the control which physical features exert upon the settlements and industries of men. The Spokane River, soon after issuing from Cœur d'Alene Lake, flows out over the volcanic plains of Washington. In the course of a few miles it descends into a shallow cañon by a series of cascades and waterfalls. The water-power furnished by these falls has determined the position and growth of Spokane. The falls brought sawmills and manufacturing plants, and these in turn brought people and railroads. The city has become a great commercial centre for all the region round about. The extensive and rich mineral district upon the north, extending even into British Columbia, finds its most convenient source of supplies at Spokane. East of the city is the Cœur d'Alene mining region, while south and west are large areas devoted to the cultivation of fruit and grain.
FIG. 120.—VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA