Driving The Golden Spike at Grand Coulee Center

From the "Spokane Chronicle."

December, 8, 1934

History in the making is pictured here. At Grand Coulee Center, on Saturday, a large crane, barely showing in the background, dropped the final rail of the Grand Coulee railroad into place and a half dozen rather gentle taps with a hammer drove the golden spike into place. Had Governor Clarence Martin, United Stated Senator C. C. Dill, Contractor David Ryan, Cheney Cowles of the Spokane Chronicle, or others who handled the maul, struck a full blow on the golden head, the “driving” ceremony would have been complete, but they all did their hit and the spike went home with a thud into the solid body of the brand new tie. Mr. Cowles is pictured as he swung his blow. Members of the royal court are about him. At the left in the picture, in the legionnaire cap is Al Meyers, who just a short time ago promoted the democratic victory banquet in Spokane.

Queen of the Columbia to Run Steam Locomotive

From the "Spokane Chronicle."

November 6, 1934

Leading Girls of the Queen of the Columbia Contest

From the "Spokane Chronicle."

November 24, 1934

Golden Spike Ceremony for US Construction Railroad

From the "Spokane Chronicle."

November 16, 1934

Seek Beauty to Preside at Coulee Spike Driving

From the "Spokane Chronicle."

November 19, 1934

Who is to be “Queen of the Columbia?”

The most beautiful of all the girls of the Columbia basin area will be chosen to preside over the driving of the golden spike in the new government railway, leading from Coulee City to the dam site.

The Chronicle, at the request of the Coulee dam post of the American legion, will undertake to find the queen of youth and beauty and to crown her on the day of the completion of the railroad.

David H. Ryan, builder of the Coulee line, announced today that he expects to finish the construction by December 1, when the ceremony of driving the golden spike will be held at the junction of the Ryan road with the Crick & Kuney line, at the head of the coulee.

Major Fred Weil, chairman of the American legion state employment committee, and an official of the Coulee dam post, today informed the Chronicle that the legion is making elaborate plans for entertainment of the visitors on Golden Spike day.

The Chronicle will send invitations to each city and town in the Columbia basin area to enter a candidate for queen. Final judging will take place in the new Roosevelt theater at Coulee Center.

Modern Track Laying in the Upper Grand Coulee

From the "Spokane Chronicle."

November 7, 1936

1905 Shipping Fruit from Coulee City

In 1905 the snow pack was heavy and provided a great amount of surface moisture in the spring of 1906. This encouraged Clifton Ham and Archie Tucker to start planting orchards northeast of Coulee City. The soil in this area had a high gravel content and was suitable for fruit production. Water for irrigation was obtained from springs, ponds, and shallow wells. The trees were planted in a definite pattern, with soft fruits, such as peaches, cherries and plums, alternating with apples and pears. By 1910 these two men had over 300 acres of orchard in production. The Ham orchard contained 200 acres of trees and the Tucker orchard, 100 acres. Both operations had packing sheds located on the home places and near the railroad depot. Peak employment reached 200 workers in the harvest season. In 1910, 90 railroad cars loads of peaches, pears and apples were shipped to points east. Shortly after this time the Ham orchard was listed as the largest D’Anjou pear producing orchard in Washington.

Appledale

The Palisades country was in the process of being developed by the Moses Coulee Land Co. and the Mansfield branch of the Great Northern Railway had been completed the year before when this group of Wenatchee business men decided to visit the Moses Coulee-Mansfield-Waterville area. Leaving the Wenatchee depot at 7 a.m. April 20, 1910, the Wenatchee Commercial Club excursion party first stopped at the Ohio colony near Rock Island. An arch festooned with flowers and apples marked the next stop—Appledale—a settlement about three miles up the Moses Coulee from the Palisades turnoff. The party had lunch at Mansfield, hosted by the Mansfield Commercial Club. The Waterville Commercial Club met the Wenatchee group at Douglas with 14 autos and a number of horse-drawn carriages. The 110 man delegation was entertained at Waterville before re-boarding the train at Douglas for the return trip. The group arrived back in Wenatchee by train that day at 11 p.m.

Great Northern Train Near Alstown

Rail service was coming to the Mansfield-Douglas area when this picture was taken of the crew working on the line in 1908. The branch is part of the Great Northern Railway (then Burlington Northern, who abandoned the track in 1985). Taking off from the main track about two miles below Rock Island, the 60-mile line runs up the Moses Coulee through Douglas and on to Mansfield. Completion of the branch was celebrated Oct. 9, 1909, when the first passenger train which included chief engineer Hogeland’s private car, Manitoba, arrived in Mansfield. The location for this picture is 4 1/2 miles southwest of Alstown where Duffy Canyon empties into Douglas Creek. Passenger service on the branch line has long been eliminated and the freight train makes one or two trips a week to handle freight. During the wheat harvest season, three trips a week are occasionally necessary to pick up the grain.