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.

The History of Hartline

The Hartline area was settled between 1885 and 1888. William Bundachue settled one half mile south of town, Henry Coplan a half mile north and one and one half miles east, and a Mr. Hall one and one half miles north.

In 1887 J.H. Hill and wife and Stephen Evans came. In 1887-88 Carey Carr and wife and Gertrude Smith arrived. By the summer of 1886 a big rush brought the D. D. Utts, also the I. I. Coleys, Joseph Myers and family, John Hartline, Patrick Grantfield and James Odgers. Odgers was the originator of the Hartline, Almira, Parnell and Coulee City townsites. He also started the Coulee City News and later worked on the Davenport Tribune, dying in Davenport in 1909.

Late in 1888, when the Central Washington and Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern railroads were running their surveys through western Lincoln and eastern Douglas counties, their sprung into existence, in Douglas county, a town known as Parnell. It was on the survey of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern railroad and was four and one half miles southeast of the present town of Hartline. Here in the spring of 1889, D.F. Reeves and E.J. Brower established a store. This was the only business house in Parnell. J.W. Hartline was interested in the building of a town at this point and proceeded with preparations for the building of a city. Enthusiastic reports were sent out with glowing reports of several businesses that were to be built. In September 1889 a postoffice was established at the new town with the only businessman, E.J. Brower as postmaster. However, at this point, disaster fell on the new community. The construction of the Seattle line was abandoned and along with it the future of Parnell.

In the spring of 1889 John W. Hartline took up the quarter secton of land upon which Hartline is now situated. He erected a small shack, and first building on the Hartline townsite. In 1890 Mr. Reeves, who heretofore had been in partnership with Brower at Parnell, erected a store building on Mr. Hartline’s land and moved his stock of goods up from his former place of business. Reeves did this as he was certain that the Central Washington line would extend west earlier that the Seattle line and the new site was on the surveyed line of the former railroad.

A postoffice was established at the time of the more and named Hartline in honor of the homesteader of the land. Mr. Reeves was named postmaster and the town began to grow. P.J. Young erected a house, Grif Humphrey established a blacksmith shop, and Young put in a small stock of lumber. Since there were several families in the vicinity a school was established.

The year before the school opened in the town of Hartline, 1888-89, the first school in the area was held in the Charles Roberts’ shack a mile north of Hartline. The rural school continued and each winter it would be held in another place.

The first school in town was held in the J.W. Hartline shack and consisted of eight students, taught by a Miss Alice Cope. In 1892 the Coley and Hartline schoolhouses were built. In 1902, because the Hartline schoolhouse was so small, it was sold to the Hartline Standard and a larger building was built. In 1904 the two schools were consolidated.

The town was platted June 5, 1890 by John W. Hartline.

The coming of the railroad did not bring the expected prosperity as it did in so many other places. George W. Roberts erected a platform along the track before the railroad was in operation bought wheat in the new town, thus becoming the pioneer grain dealer. He did not locate here permanently at this time and soon disposed of his business. In late 1891 the second store was established by D.C. Johnson. It operated for two years.

In 1891 the town of Hartline contained the following people: D.F. Reeves and wife; P.J. Young, wife and 3 children; Grif Humphrey, wife and 2 children. Within a mile or two of town lived Carey Carr, William Bundschue, James Hill, H.H. Ames, Charles Ames, D.F. Ames and William Hart.

In 1893 John and George McDonald established grain businesses in Hartline and Coulee City, building warehouses at each place. John handled the business at Hartline and George at Coulee City. In 1894 when Reeves, the postmaster and merchant, died of typhoid, the store and goods were bought out by the McDonald brothers who continued the business for eight years. The next store to be opened in Hartline was built by Patrick Kane in 1898.

Until 1902 the business community consisted of the two grain warehouses, run by Robers and McDonald, and the stores of McDonald and Kane.

In 1902 building boomed in the new town with the addition of a large brick store built by M.E. and E.T. Hay of Wilbur, the opening of the Hartline Standard Newspaper, the building of a hotel, lumber yard and drug store. Also the Hartline State Bank was established that year.

The population in June 1903 was 140 and the next year saw it rise to about 300. In 1904 it was the third largest town in Douglas County.

Longtime Mansfield Branch Agent Retires

Jack Brady Recalls When the Mansfield Line Was In Its Hey-Day

Oct. 20, 1959

Douglas-
The Great Northern station here isn’t exactly as hectic as Grand Central Station and so Station Agent Jack Brady has time to talk about the old days along the “Mansfield Branch.”

The “Mansfield Branch,” of course, is the 60-mile rail line which leaves the Great Northern mainline at the mouth of Moses Coulee, and pierces into the heart of Douglas County’s wheat country.

Brady knew it in it hey-day when it was not only busily hauling wheat out but also when the daily train had a couple of passenger coaches and a baggage car.

There was also the shortline railroad from Waterville, which had as much as $3,000 a year in business, writing 40 cent tickets. Folks used it to get to Douglas, where they’d get on the GN (The life of that Waterville line was finally snuffed out by the 1948 flood which ruined sections of its track).

Those were the days of no roads. The daily train, said Brady, “took about three hours to Wenatchee. It left Mansfield at 8 a.m. and was back at 8 p.m. But in those days it was ‘try to get back at 8 p.m.’”

It hauled everything, wheat, freight, express, baggage, mail and people.

Brady had gone to work for GN at Ayr, N.D., Feb 1, 1910. He came to North Central Washington subsequently and went to Douglas as agent in 1917. He served elsewhere from 1925-39 but otherwise has been the agent at Douglas ever since.

The 1920s brought roads. People began ignoring rail travel as a means of getting to Wenatchee. The passenger service finally ended.

Nowadays, says Brady, “We get sometimes three trains a week, sometimes tow, sometimes one, depending on the volume of wheat you have.”

Brady has been a roving agent, working not only the shipment and billings out of Douglas, but other points along the Mansfield Branch as well. But now, at age 65, he has chosen to retire. What are his plans? “Nothing. Period!” he says.

Then he adds he might to some puttering around the yard and in his home workshop. And like other ex-railroaders, he’ll probably drop around the station once in awhile, too.