Sand Hill Causes Company Trouble

From the Spokane "Chronicle."

April 19, 1913

Labor Scarce In Big Bend

From the "San Juan Islander."

October 4, 1912

New Town Is Platted

From the "San Juan Islander."

View Bluestem Branch

From the "Spokesman Review."

December 4, 1911

Ask Money From Contractor

From the "Spokesman Review."

December 11, 1912

Turk Mining District Active

From the "Spokesman Review."

April 12, 1915

Fruit Growers Of Peach Unite

From the "Spokesman Review."

February 3, 1917

A Huge Sand Hill

From the Spokane "Chronicle."

April 20, 1973

From the "Spokane 60 Years Ago" column. From the Chronicle dated April 20, 1913.

I have yet to locate the corresponding article from 1913.

Hill At Republic

From the "Spokesman Review."

August 15, 1899

Peach Branch Newspaper Clippings

Guest post by Ted Curphey.

Doing more research into Great Northern Railway's Bluestem-Columbia River branchline that was graded but not finished with track. Here is a full set of articles from the Spokesman Review and Spokane Daily Chronicle newspapers detailing the acquisition of land and initial construction in late 1911 through the troubles with landslides and washouts 1912-1914 to when GN gave up on the branch in 1915. GN briefly looked at the branch again in 1922, but that was when the idea of the Grand Coulee Dam came to life, forever sealing the fate of the proposed branchline.

Sept 29th, 1911

Oct 13th, 1911

Nov 10th, 1911

Dec 4th, 1911

Dec 8th, 1911

Jan 13th, 1912

Jan 28th, 1912

Mar 8th, 1912

June 9th, 1912

June 29th, 1912

July 5th, 1912

Oct 4th, 1912

Oct 27th, 1912

Dec 1st, 1912

Dec 12th, 1912

Dec 28th, 1912

Jan 15th, 1913

Mar 10th, 1913

Dec 25th, 1913

Mar 18th, 1914

March 21st, 1914

Nov 30th, 1914

Dec 14th, 1914

Dec 16th, 1914

March 24th, 1915

April 12th, 1915

Aug 11th, 1916

Feb 3rd, 1922

More on the Branch To Peach

Guest post by Ted Curphey.

Starting in 1911, Great Northern Railway let a contract for grading of a new branchline running north from Bluestem through Davenport and down Hawk Creek Canyon to the Columbia River at Peach then turning north toward the mouth of the Spokane River at Fort Spokane. Just below Hawk Creek Falls a short distance from Peach a tunnel was to be bored through a sharp bend in Hawk Creek Canyon. By early 1912 the tunnel was well along when this tragedy took the life Peter Olsen, originally of Sweden.

The incident convinced the project engineers that the soil above the tunnel was too unstable and the would be tunnel was turned into a deep cut that still exists. But it would be all for naught. Starting around 1907, the US Department of the Interior started earmarking various valleys for future dam and reservoir projects. Wanting to head off costly relocations of facilities such as railroads, they informed the railroad seeking to build in those valleys of their intention to flood those same valleys. I'm still trying to determine when the Great Northern was informed of the department's intention to flood the Columbia River Valley, but it was about the time the grading was finishing up on the new branch line. GN decided to not lay track on the grade. Of course the construction of the dam wouldn't take place until the Public Works Administration of the Great Depression. But this project actually went through unlike so many of those planned projects of the USDI. Other planned projects that never came about were at the mouth of the Deschutes River in Oregon and one just east of Connell to be filled by a diverted Palouse River with the reservoir extending all the way to Kahlotus.

From the "Spokesman Review."

January 29, 1912.

Map showing the tunnel location in relation to Hawk Creek Falls.

If it had completed as proposed, the branch would have crossed Hawk Creek on a tall bridge above the boat. The tunnel would have been just to the right of the bridge in this view.

The retaining wall holding up the roadbed for the GN branch above Hawk Creek Falls can be seen in this view.

Really, if it wasn't for all the trouble they had at that one spot, GN probably would have laid track on the branch.

Jayne Singleton added:


Here is an historic image of Peach WA where you can see the mouth of Hawk Creek in the distance and possibly where the RR tunnel would have come out. The water level is now where the two "sandy face" areas are. I was there this past week right below them. I Always think about Peach and the orchards that existed. We also have an image of the farm that was located where Hawk Creek campground is now, before the creation of Lake Roosevelt.

GN Held Up Along ROW

From the "Spokesman Review."

November 10, 1911

Build A Branch To Republic

From the "Spokesman Review."

August 29, 1899

Spokane & British Columbia ROW Map