Page:Washington, A Guide to the Evergreen State.djvu/38



ESPITE the multiplicity of means of communication today, many people still conceive of the State of Washington as virtually a frontier wilderness, accessible only to the rugged and the adventurous. This impression derives in part no doubt from the State's geographic location, in part from its historical association with an Indian war, and in part also from frontier fiction, which usually offers an exaggerated, romantic account of pioneers, cowboys, lumberjacks, and desperadoes.

One hundred years ago, this region was largely unexplored. The eastern section was a semiarid plateau of rolling hills covered with sagebrush and bunchgrass, the habitat of prairie dogs, coyotes, and rattlesnakes. Here Indians roamed, hunted, and fished. Through these sun-drenched barrens, the majestic Columbia River cut its way to the Pacific Ocean. Forests of lodgepole and ponderosa pine, fir, and tamarack ascended the northern highlands and the eastern slope of the Cascades. On the more humid western side of the range, another dense forest of spruce, Douglas fir, cedar, and hemlock swept down to the coast, unbroken except for Indian trails and occasional prairies and lowland valleys, and somber save when brightened by pink rhododendrons, the shimmering white of dogwood trees in flower, the golden catkins of maple and alder, or in some localities the flame of autumn leaves.

Within these forests, bear, deer, elk, and cougar were plentiful, and the many lakes and rivers, abounding in fish, were frequented by beaver, mink, and otter. Grouse and ptarmigan whirred across the uplands, ducks sought the sheltered waters of inland lakes, and geese honked along the rivers and lowland marshes. Coastal waters and the larger streams teemed with salmon; blackfish and porpoise sported in the Sound and Strait, and whale spouted offshore.

Something of this primitive condition remains today. The visitor to the Evergreen State can still find magnificent virgin forests, vocal with the songs of many birds. He can follow miles of woodland trails and enjoy the beauty of mountain summits, deep gorges, turbulent streams