"Yours very truly,
"E. H. Morrison."
In July, 1885, C. T. Stiles, Cyrus Davis, Charles Ward, G. A. Sable, N. C. Williams, L. P. Mulkey, F. W. D. Mays, G. A. McCanse, R. M. Smith and A. C. Short, from Pataha City and Pomeroy, were in Walla Walla. This was Saturday. Their object was to hold a conference with railroad officials, and, if possible, induce them to extend the Riparia branch to tap the rich agricultural country of the Pataha. There were over two million bushels of grain to ship from Garfield County; it was impossible for boats on the Snake River to handle such a bulk.
August 10th, H. S. Rowe, general superintendent, and Robert McCleland, chief engineer, of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company, accompanied by Dr. Joseph Jorgensen and Frank Paine, of Walla Walla, visited Pomeroy in the interest of a railroad up the Pataha. A mass meeting was held. Mr. Rowe made the definite promise that if the right-of-way was procured, together with necessary depot grounds, the locomotive would enter Pomeroy by January 1, 1886. Here was a proposition far more reasonable than the previous one demanding that the farmers grade and tie the road; it demonstrated that the company was a trifle better "prepared" to extend its lines than it had at first made the farmer believe. Without the shadow of a doubt there had been considerable jockeying on the part of the railway magnates in the preliminary arrangements of the Pataha Creek extension.
By August 15th, the right-of-way from Starbuck to Pomeroy, with one or two minor exceptions, had been granted to Messrs. Scott, Austin, Wilson and Lynch. In reality, they had, two years subsequently, secured this right-of-way for what was then called the Starbuck & Pomeroy Road—one of the projects that had failed to materialize. These gentlemen offered to relinquish their claims provided the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company would construct the line within a specified time; this Mr. Rowe promised should be done. A committee of three, viz.: F. W. D. Mays, W. C. Potter, Dixon Davis, were named to co-operate with the above named four gentlemen, the railway men, forming a committee of the whole, to secure the right-of-way through Pomeroy and negotiate with the owners of the prospective depot grounds as to assessments and valuations of property required to locate the road. Subscriptions were solicited from property holders to defray expenses for securing right-of-way privileges. August 15th the Columbia Chronicle published the following:
"Superintendent Rowe, Hon. Joseph Jorgensen and Frank Paine of Walla Walla returned from Pomeroy Wednesday evening, having been to the Pataha country in the interests of the proposed branch railroad up that stream from Starbuck. While there a meeting of citizens was held and the depot grounds selected upon the company's land, one-half mile from Pomeroy. The people had offered $9 per ton for hauling grain to Portland, provided the road was built last season, but it was not thought likely that the company would demand more than the regular rate in such an event. It is thought that the graders on the Moscow branch will be transferred to the Pataha in October, and work on the road begun. The people of Garfield County need a road badly and we hope their efforts to obtain one will be rewarded."
The following telegram was received at Pomeroy Friday morning, October 16, 1885:
"I am instructed to commence work on the Pataha branch as soon as possible, and will commence immediately.
"H. S. Rowe."
"Portland, October 15, 1885."