A Trail Constructed with Heart
Thirty years ago this week, on October 2, 1993, the Iron Goat Trail opened near Stevens Pass, a few miles east of Skykomish. This scenic hiking trail was built along the grade once used by the Great Northern Railway, which began transporting passengers between Washington and Minnesota in 1893. Because the transcontinental line had to cross so many mountains along its route, owner James J. Hill chose the sure-footed mountain goat as its corporate symbol. And with that, his "iron horses" became known as the Iron Goat.
Construction of the rail line over Stevens Pass proved to be a formidable challenge and required an intricate set of switchbacks cut into the mountainside. The Cascade Tunnel bypassed the switchbacks after it was built in 1900, but a deadly avalanche in 1910 led to the creation of the Eight-Mile-Tunnel and abandonment of the old grade. For the next 60 years, the original rail bed was overtaken by forest growth and slowly faded into the environment.
Beginning in 1989, trails advocate and Mountaineers member Ruth Ittner sought to revitalize the path as a way of merging history and nature. She rallied countless volunteers to her side and they cleared a way and constructed four miles of trail for the initial phase of the project. Since then, more miles of trail have been added, along with an interpretive site and historical markers. Each year, hikers of all ages enjoy this gentle walk through the Cascades and into the past. (Image courtesy The Mountaineers)
Off to a Capital Start
In October 1846, Edmund Sylvester and Levi Smith staked a claim on the southern end of Puget Sound, in a settlement that Smith named Smithfield. Two years later, Smith died enroute to his first session as an Oregon Territory legislator, and when Sylvester assumed ownership of Smith's property he renamed the community Olympia.
In 1853, Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens chose Olympia as the capital of the newly created Washington Territory. Besides being the region's largest settlement at the time, the fledgling community was also located on Puget Sound, allowing easy access by boat. Rail lines and roads came later.
By the time Washington approached statehood in 1889, other cities had surpassed Olympia in both population and commercial prominence. Pasco, Tacoma, and Spokane Falls considered themselves capital-worthy, but the big contenders were North Yakima and Ellensburg, both in the center of the state. North Yakima had tried to claim the capital by legislative action in 1887, and a prospective governor's mansion was already under construction in Ellensburg.
On October 1, 1889, voters chose Washington's first state officials, and although Olympia was selected as the state capital, it did not receive a majority of votes. One month later a second election was held among the top three vote-getters. Ellensburg received 7,722, North Yakima gathered 6,276, and Olympia tallied a whopping 37,413 votes, making it the clear winner and home to the state Capitol Building ever since.
