THE WEST SHORE.
12S
THE YAKIMA COUNTRY.
rWTll YAKIMA is the name of a flourishing
young city of folly two thousand inhabitants,
situated in the south-central portion of Washington
Territory, on the west aide of the Yakima river, near
iU confluence with the Natches, and in one of the
moat promising valleys of the west It is not yet
four yean of age, bat from the commanding position
which it occupies with reference to the surrounding
rich country its growth thus far has been rapid, and
all indications point to still greater prosperity in the
future.
The circumstances of the location and settlement
of North Yakima were such that its growth was as
sured from the beginning. The old town of Yakima
is situated near the borders of the Yakima Indian
reservation. This was a village of some five hundred
inhabitants when the Northern Pacific railroad was
located through that country, and though the line
passed near this town, there were reasons which made
it advisable to establish a commercial center farther
up the river on a moro eligible site and at a point
more awywiblo for the then slowly developing indus
tries of the section to the northward. The present
site of North Yakima was selected for the new me
tropolis, it Wing four miles nearly due north of the
old town of Yakima. In order to get the new town
established quickly and on a substantial basis, the
Northern Pacific company presented lots for business
and residence locations and paid the expense of mov
ing to the new situation to all who chose to avail
themselves of the o(Tr. The result was that most of
the people and buildings of the old town of Yakima
were moved, in several instances without interrup
tion to business, to North Yakima, which soon was
invcitod with the twwers and functions of a city. It
was established almont in a day and immediately be
gin a healthy and promising growth which has con
tinuod to tho present time, with constantly increasing
rigor. In laying out the new city tho plat was made
on a generous plan, tho east and west streets being a
hundred fed wide, and thoao extending north and
south eighty f.H and tho alleys aro twenty feet wide
Tho streets are lined with rows of shade trees and
with streams of living water which flow nine or ten
months in tho year. It is rare that such complete
preparations for a Uautiful city are made previous
to its settlement, at the time when most details of the
plan CAn bo Ut arrangM.
North Y.lim. do. h ,itlj.,w la,kn,Hi
It.hmcnU, which Ji.l bu. no.. KanMim .
SaSI rthRWffibi capital of
1.,000.00, and carrying deposits aggregating m.
000.00. The assessed valuation of property in North
Yakima last August was $625,000.00, which is about
one-third the actual value, and the total tax levy for
all purposes was three per cent of this one-third val.
nation, equal to one per cent of the actual or market
value of the property. With this extremely low rate
of taxation municipal improvements are carried on
placing the town in the front rank of western cities.
Among the most important enterprises now con.
templated is a water works system and an electric
light plant, both of which will be in process of con
struction by the time this number of The West
Shore reaches its readers. The water will be sup.
plied from a point on the Natches river less than two
miles to the westward of the city. The Natches flows
directly from the great glaciers of Mount Rainier and
is cold and pure. The works will be operated by
water power ordinarily, but will be supplied with an
outfit for steam power to use in case of too cold
weather in the winter time to use the water wheel.
There will be four miles of iron mains within the
city limits and twenty-five hydrants for fire protection.
The electric light plant will be operated by the water
works power. In addition to the large number of
poplar, cotton wood and box elder trees that now line
many miles of streets in the city, twelve hundred sil
ver maples and locusts will be set out this spring.
In order that there may be a definite conception of
the region under consideration let the reader under
stand that the Yakima country, of which the city of
North Yakima is the central and chief commercial
center, comprises that part of Washington lying be
tween the Cascade mountains on the west and the
Columbia river on the east, drained by the Yakima
river and its tributaries. It includes thirteen rich
valleys, besides a large area of table land and hilly
timber land, and also takes in a considerable portion
of the broad plain of the Columbia. The main stream
that drains this region is the Yakima river which
takes its rise in two or three small lakes near the very
crest of the Cascades and meanders down the moun
tains and through the valleys in a southeasterly
general course, joining the mighty Columbia a few
miles above its confluence with the Snake, which
comes from the opposite direction. From source to
mouth this is a rapid stream, having an average fall
of fully twenty feet to the mile. It receives a num
ber of tributaries from both sides so that when it
emerges from the foot hills and enters the great
Columbia plain it is a river of no mean volume.
Flowing through a dry region its waters are not the
periodic washings of the country but they come from
the snows and springs in the mountains and are un
usually pure.
One of the principal merits of this Yakima conn-