Principal towns.

Ellensburg, the county seat, is situated on a level bench in the Yakima valley and on the railroads.  It is a town of upwards of 5,500 people, and is substantially built, chiefly of brick.  There are creameries, flourmills, sawmills, and warehouses, banks, breweries newspapers, electric lights, and gravity water system, churches, schools, among which is one of the state normal schools.  It is also a division point on the Northern Pacific railway, and is the chief distributing point in the county for farm products and merchandise.

Roslyn is the chief coal-mining town, situated on the railroad well up in the foothills of the mountains.  It has about 4,500 people.  It has gravity water and electric lights, and is a substantial, thriving and growing town.  From the coal mines in the vicinity the best coals of the state are mined in large quantities and shipped all over the state.

Cle_Elum is another coal mining town, on the Northern Pacific railway, with a population of about 2,500.  Tributary to Cle-Elum is a wide mining territory, for which it is the chief distributing point.

Thorpe is a smaller village likely to develop into an important trading point.

KLICKTAT COUNTY

Klickitat county is central among the southern tier of counties of the state, bordering 80 miles on the Columbia river, with an average width of 20 miles.  It has a population of about 14,000 and an area of 1,800 square miles.

There is a great variety in its climate, the elevation varying from 100 to 3,500 feet above the sea level.

The soil is chiefly volcanic ash, disintegrated basalt and alluvium.  It is deep and much of it sub-irrigated.  The principal crops are wheat, barley, rye, oats, and corn.

The wheat lands yield from 15 to 40 bushels per acre.

Among the fruits raised are apples, peaches, pears, cherries, English walnuts, almonds, plums, prunes, grapes, apricots, and all the small fruits.

Wheat lands vary in price from $10 to $50 per acre.  It is estimated that 7,000 acres will be planted to fruit and nut trees this current year, while last year 75,385 apple trees, 14,675 peach trees, and 17,345 grape vines were planted.

Resources.

As already indicated, the strength of the county is in its soil and agriculture is its great source of wealth.  Stock-raising is a chief industry, the slopes of the mountains on its northern boundary furnishing [Page 67] abundant pasturage.  The southeastern part is fast developing into a fruit-growing region, while agriculture and grain-growing is more general in the central and southern portion.

Transportation.

The Columbia river, with a railroad on each side of it and numerous ferries, makes ample provision for transportation, while the Goldendale branch reaches well up into the center of the county.