valley, thus putting all of that railroad in this new county, excepting only a few miles of the railroad along the banks of the river in the southeastern corner of Douglas county.  Douglas county is essentially a high plateau, some of it 1,500 feet above the main bank.  Waterville is the county seat, and considerable land along the valley of the Columbia is being irrigated and proving to be of great value for fruit and grain growing.

In the southeastern part of the county are some lands covered with black basaltic rocks, but the great bulk of the lands are rich in a volcanic ash soil, and produce large crops of grain without irrigation.  A wrong view of the county can easily be impressed upon the traveler by rail; he will see so many of the basaltic rocks from the car windows but once up out of the canyon which the railroad follows, he will find himself in view of an expanse of wheat fields so vast and rich as to astonish him.

Resources.

As already indicated, this county is essentially a grain producer.  Wheat and oats are marketed in large quantities.  Fruit-growing and stock-raising are important adjuncts to the county’s wealth.  It is comparatively new, and lands can be had at very reasonable prices.

Transportation.

As now constituted, Douglas county will rely wholly upon the steamboat crafts on the river to get its grain to market.  Its trade, however, [Page 56] is too vast to be passed by, and already two lines of railroad, the Washington & Great Northern and North Coast, are projecting into the very center of its vast wheat fields.  With these roads completed as projected, Douglas county will have easy access to both water and rail transportation, and renewed importance will be given to its farming industries.

Cities and towns.

Waterville is its chief town and county seat.  It is among the wheat fields, in a broad plain, about seven miles east of the Columbia river, to which it is connected by good roads for stages and freight wagons.  It has one of the U. S. general land offices.  It has good schools and churches, water and electric lighting systems, both owned by the city.  It has a population of about 1,200 people, and is well supplied with business houses, flour and feed mills, a brick yard, bank, etc.

Bridgeport, a town of some 400 people, is situated in the northern part of the county on the Columbia river east of its junction with the Okanogan river, and is an important wheat-shipping point, having a regular steamboat service.  A bank, flour mill, warehouses and general stores are serving the community, but other industries await the newcomer.

Douglas, farmer, Jameson, Mansfield and Hollister are growing agricultural centers.

FERRY COUNTY

Ferry county is about in the center of the northern part of eastern Washington, stretching from the northern boundary of the state to the Columbia river, which marks its southern and southwestern boundary.  The southern half of the county is within the Colville Indian reservation, and is therefore wholly undeveloped.  The lands, however, have in fact been allotted and the remainder will be thrown open for settlement in the near future.