76                            APPENDIX.
able timber land is tributary to the town by water. As nearly all the productive wheat land of the Columbia basin must be supplied with lumber and fuel from other places. a great part of this lumber and fuel must be distributed by rail from Spokane Falls in return for the wheat which will come there to be ground into flour and carried below for shipment to Europe. The town has already churches, public and private schools, newspapers, flouring and other mills, and is growing rapidly. Cheney, another flourishing town, situated on the railroad, is the seat of the District Court, and also of the land office of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Stevens County, situated in the northeastern part of the Territory, adjoining Brilish Columbia, is one of the largest counties. Very little of its area has been surveyed, and it is quite sparsely settled, the population in 1880 being only 1,245. Value of taxable property, in 1881, $164,719; assessed acreage, 2,720. Its surface is that of a great rolling plateau, having many deep valleys, called coul6es, the channels of former water courses, with soil of the best sort for grain and grass. The country is well watered by countless streams, and is free from alkali. There are growths of good timber, consisting of spruce, white pine and large tamarack throughout the region, interspersed with open arable land, which produces good crops of wheat and vegetables, as well as melons and tomatoes, wherever it has been tried. The immense Colville country offers the very best inducements to settlers, and attention is directed to it. The climate is warmer than that of the Walla Walla Valley. Gold is found in the streams north of the Spokane River, and the mountainous region toward Lake Pend d'Oreille is rich in ledges of fine white and variegated marble, limestone and granite, as well as gold-bearing quartz. Horses in large droves are wintered in this county without care, subsisting on the bunch-grass. Colville is the county seat. At Kettle Falls (old Fort Colville) there is good salmon fishing, and game of all kinds is everywhere abundant.
Thurston County lies at the head of Puget Sound. Area, 750 square miles. Value of taxable property, $1,800,000; assessed acreage, 284,939. Population, 3,270. The surface of the county is densely wooded with fir, cedar, oak, ash, maple and alder. Logging is one of the chief industries. There is, however, much prairie and bottom land adapted to stock raising and agriculture. The best butter is produced by the dairies of the county, and the cereals, garden vegetables and hardy fruits yield well. There is unlimited water at Tumwater, which is utilized by a saw-mill, water-pipe factory, two flouring.mills, a tannery, two door and sash factories, and the water works, which supply the town of Olympia. This latter is a beautiful place of about 1,300 inhabitants. It is the county seat, as well as the capital of the Territory. Olympia is connected by a short railroad with Tenino, a station on the Northern Pacific Line.
Wakiakum County, the smallest county in the Territory, is situated on the Columbia River, between Pacific and Cowlitz Counties. Area, 360 square miles. Value of taxable property, $259,728; assessed acreage, 22,000. Population, 1,600. The land is rocky and mountainous, abounding in dense growths of timber, and there is little agriculture carried on, excepting along the river, where garden vegetables and hay are produced. The people mainly engage in salmon canning, and there are several large establishments for this purpose. Cathlamet is the county seat. Other towns are Waterford, Eagle Cliff and Skamokawa.
Walla Walla County is bounded south and east by the Blue Mountains, and west and north by the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Area 1,250 square miles. Value of taxable property, $4,421,000: assessed acreage, 134,861. Population, 8,716. The country is a high rolling prairie, well watered by many rivers and their lateral branches. About three-fourths of the land is arable, and experience has proved it to be extremely fertile, producing wheat, barley and oats