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CHAPTER V
THE GROWTH OF COULEE CITY 1890-1925
Railroad Construction
The growth of settlement in the Big Bend and the mining activity in the Okanogan attracted the attention of railroad interests, some of which had land grants that had been given by the Federal Government as inducement to build. The development of better transportation was looked upon as an incentive for farmers to diversify their agricultural operations and include products other than livestock. The fertility of the soil and favorable climate had proven suitable to grain and fruit production. 1
The Northern Pacific Railroad conducted a survey of a proposed route into the Big Bend from Cheney to Coulee City in 1887. 2 Farmers were doubly elated in 1888 when two railroads started construction of lines westward from Spokane.
The Seattle, Lakeshore and Eastern had been organized in April of 1885 by a group of Seattle Businessmen whose expressed purpose was to establish Seattle as the western terminus of a transcontinental railroad, thus utilizing the port
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1 Loren Harris, "History of Grant County." (Unpublished, Ephrata, Washington, 1958), p. 1.
2 Steele, p. 93.
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facilities to develop trade with the Orient and to alleviate the general business depression that Seattle had suffered since 1884. 3 The Seattle, Lakeshore and Eastern planned to construct a line from Spokane across the Big Bend to Waterville and then on to Wenatchee and Seattle. A contract was let April 27, 1888, and construction began in the summer on the first 60 miles of track west of Spokane. 4
The second railroad which started in the Big Bend was the Washington Central, a branch line of the Northern Pacific. Line construction began at Cheney in August of 1888 and was pushed westward, with the expectation that it would cross the Grand Coulee and reach Waterville and Wenatchee. 5 By October 1889, the Washington Central had tracks laid to Wilbur, which experienced a mild business boom as a railhead supplying materials for the Okanogan mines. 6 The severe winter of 1889-90 brought a halt to railroad construction, but with the coming of spring, building was resumed. By summer both companies were grading through the Grand Coulee at Coulee City. Their surveys had taken both lines to the middle crossing of the Grand Coulee and trouble developed shortly over the right-of-way.
The citizens of McEntee's Crossing anticipated a large growth of business from the railroad construction boom and
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3 Robert C. Nesbit, He Built Seattle: A Biography of Judge Thomas Burke (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1961), pp. 91-105.
4 Steele, p. 85.
5 Sol H. Lewis, p. 195.
6 Wilbur Register (Wilbur, Washington), January 31, 1890.
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organized a town in the spring of 1890. The town was named Coulee City and was platted and dedicated April 15, 1890 by Levi Salmon. The townsite was a homestead acquired by Elizabeth Stephens at the U. S. Land Office located in North Yakima, Washington Territory, on October 12, 1889. The property was sold to William and Amelia Haynes, who resold to George K. Reed. Reed filed his plat at the courthouse in Waterville on April 17, 1890. The new townsite adjoined McEntee's homestead on the west; he added more land on May 29, 1890. 7
The Coulee City News published its first edition on June 20, 1890. James Odgers wrote in his first edition that he was confident that Coulee City:
is destined to become one of the principal towns of Central Washington. . . What a stranger can see here now is rapid substantial growth on a beautifully rolling little plain where Coulee City now stands, peculiarly fitted by nature for a townsite. Perfect drainage, so admirably irrigated by nature not to suffer the afflictions of malaria and stagnant sewerage. 8Barker and Madden erected the first building at the new townsite; shortly thereafter a second was erected by Michael Fredo. Both of these buildings were saloons. By July, 1890, Coulee City could boast the following business concerns: seven saloons, three general merchandise stores, two hotels, three livery barns, two lumber and building supply houses, one restaurant, one gents' furnishings, two blacksmith shops, one Chinese
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7 Coulee City Dispatch, April 1, 1937, p. 1.
8 Coulee City News, June 20, 1890, p. 3.
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laundry, one meat market, one bakery, a land attorney, notary public, and newspaper. 9 Thus, the settlement of McEntee lost its identity, and a new town, Coulee City, came into being in the summer of 1890. Coulee City started life as a railroad construction town with an estimated population of 300 residents plus 1,000 railroad construction workers in the vicinity.
The aspirations of growth were short-lived, however, as trouble developed when the rival railroad crews got into a conflict over the right-of-way through a rock cut west of Coulee City. The Wenatchee Daily World printed the following account of the fight for the right-of-way that developed:
The blow-up came when the rival crews converged at a point a half a mile west of Coulee City, then a wide open cattle town. Surveys for each of the roads had led through a narrow rock cut. The country surrounding it was of such a rocky nature that the cut provided the only suitable outlet. Every day as the 500 men on each grading crew pushed closer to this cut, the tenseness and bitterness grew. Officials of both roads had already taken the issue to court but it was not settled, and often it was a case of first come, first served. There were fist fights at nights in many of Coulee City's 21 saloons. Picks, shovels, and rocks were changed from construction aids to destruction weapons. 10A deadlock existed with more fighting than working and the rock cut became a riot area. A halt was called by both companies to give time to seek a more peaceable solution. In a short time the Seattle, Lakeshore and Eastern was bankrupt and sold out to the Northern Pacific in October, 1890. 11
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9 Ibid., pp. 2-4.
10 Wenatchee Daily World, December 7, 1934, p. 1.
11 Wenatchee Daily World Magazine Supplement, September, 1968, "By River, Trail and Rail," by Bruce Mitchell, p. 22.
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Northern Pacific had trains running to Coulee City by this time but never resumed construction west of town. The old abandoned railroad grades are still visible in the sagebrush.
In the meantime, in 1891, the Great Northern had reached Spokane and started building westward to the coast. The citizens of Coulee City hoped to profit from this new construction even though the survey took the Great Northern 22 miles south and eliminated the upper Big Bend altogether. With roundhouse of six stalls, blacksmith repair shop, sand house, coal bunkers, water tanks, a turntable, and a depot, the town appeared to be a railroad center of importance. 12
The population soared to 1,200 people, and many temporary buildings were erected containing all kinds of business -- good, bad, and indifferent. The Great Northern was completed to Wenatchee by October 17, 1892, and the construction boom passed rapidly. 13 Instead of becoming a major division point for railroads, Coulee City was simply the end of a spur line for the Northern Pacific. For the next decade Coulee City remained a country village with insignificant growth. The population declined to less than 200 souls and the town was the trading and shipping point for a vast, but thinly populated territory.
The End of the Open Range in the Big Bend
The open range era of stock raising existed in the Big Bend country from 1857 to 1889. During this period the region was a stockman's paradise, as there was an abundance of bunch
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12 Steele, p. 561.
13 Mitchell, p. 23.
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grass, water, and free government land on which there was neither rent nor taxes. A good sale of stock could change a Big Bend pioneer from a struggling homesteader with limited credit to a man of substance. 14
The winter of 1880-81 saw the start of a series of events that brought an end to this paradise. This winter was the worst ever experienced in the Big Bend since the settlement of Washington Territory began. It was extimated that 100,000 head of cattle and horses perished from cold and starvation in eastern Oregon and Washington. No provisions had been made to cut hay and store feed to winter stock. Big Bend stockmen rebuilt their herds in the 1880's but still did not make provisions for a bad winter. 15
The hard times that were general in the East in the 1870's and the completion of the Northern Pacific in 1883 stimulated the movement of settlers westward. The range was cut down as many of the new settlers plowed up the native grasslands and planted small plots of wheat and other grains. In 1884, the Dayton Columbia Daily Chronicle reported that 200 to 300 emigrants arrived at Dayton on one train on April 12, 1884. 16 Many springs, waterholes, and free ranges were depleted and what was left became overgrazed, causing most of the livestock to to into the winter of 1889-90 in poor shape.
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14 C. S. Kingston, "Big Bend Cattle Industry," Pamphlet -- Sources of the History of the Territory of Washington, (1954), p. 15.
15 Lewis, p. 14.
16 Dayton Columbia Daily Chronicle, April 12, 1884, p. 2.
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The snow came early in the fall of 1889 and lay on the ground for 180 days. It reached a depth of four feet in places and after a mild thaw in January, a hard crust formed which made it impossible for stock to paw out grass for feed. Wind, drifting snow, and 20-below-zero temperatures piled up the cattle in coulees where they froze to death. Even the Columbia River froze over. People were in need of fuel and provisions to keep warm. The Wilbur Register reported on January 31, 1890 that word had been received of three families living in one house because it was necessary to tear down the other two houses to provide fuel to burn to keep warm. 17 Dan Paul reported a loss of $25,000 worth of cattle by February 21, 1890. 18
The winter of 1889-90 marked the transition from stock raising to grain, fruit, and a more diversified agriculture. The resulting hard times broke many of the stockmen, but the tough ones stuck it out until better times came. They hung on to their land and hired out until they earned funds to try new agricultural endeavors.
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17 Wilbur Register, January 31, 1890, p. 1.
18 Ibid., February 21, 1890, p. 1
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