ways followed by the Hunt system, or, officially speaking, by the lines of the Oregon and Washington Territory Railroad Company. This system was intended to furnish transportation to the farming communities in the Walla Walla and Umatilla Valleys, and as such has been an important factor in the development of these fruitful regions. Together with the Snake River and the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, which has roads extending through the Palouse country, or Whitman County, this portion of East Washington is already quite well furnished with transportation,—that is, if the railroads had cars and locomotives enough on the ground at the proper time, which this year they did not have.
The distance from the Columbia River to Walla Walla City is thirty miles. The Walla Walla River flows, with short curves, directly west from Round Mountain, in the Blue Range, where it has its rise. Its main branch, the Touchet (pronounced Tooshay), rises on the opposite side of Round Mountain, and describes a semicircle, with the main river for its base, all the other branches describing lesser curves inside of this one, an arrangement by which this valley is well watered. These streams also flow near the surface level, making them easily available for irrigation.
The railroad follows the course of the river, and for about twenty miles the country is rolling, but at Dry Creek Crossing the aspect of the landscape suddenly changes, and a level basin, or plateau, bounded by the foot-hills of the Blue Mountains on the east, and stretching away into undulating prairie on every other side, strikes the eye as something new and charming after the mountains, canons, and bunch-grass hills passed during the day's ride.
This beautiful valley contains about eight thousand square miles of land unsurpassed for fruitfulness. Its elevation above sea-level is nine hundred and twenty-six feet, or six hundred and one feet above the Columbia at Wallula. Its climate is the warmest of any part of Washington, having a mean temperature of 54°. In July the mean is 73.8°, and in January it is 32.4°. The greatest amount of moisture falls in December and January, but its only dry month is July. Spring opens early,
