Abstract :
THE Priest Rapids of the Columbia River are located a little south of almost the exact center of the State of Washington. The four principal cities of the far northwest — Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane — having an aggregate population of about 800,000, are each “as the crow flies” about 150 miles distant from Priest Rapids. The main lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul R. R. crosses the Columbia at Beverly, 14 miles above the foot of the Rapids. The Great Northern R. R. crosses the river at Trinidad, 40 miles north, and the Northern Pacific, the Union Pacific System and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle R. R. cross the river at Pasco, 60 miles south. A branch of the Milwaukee is now in operation along the River from Beverly, past Priest Rapids to Hanford, a distance of 40 miles. An extension of this line is projected north to Trinidad and south to Pasco which will give Priest Rapids the service of four of the great transcontinental railroads: The Great Northern, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, the Northern Pacific and the Union Pacific System.
