agricultural wealth of Washington, but the raising of live-stock on
ranges is less common than when large herds grazed free on government
lands. Dairying, as distinct from grazing, has much increased
in importance in recent years.
Minerals.—The mineral wealth of Washington is large, but its resources have been only slightly developed, and had hardly begun before the first decade of the 20th century: in 1902 the total value of air mineral products was $5,393,659; in 1907 it was $11,617,706 and in 1908 $11,610,224.
The coal deposits of Washington are the only important ones in the Pacific states, and in Washington only, of the Pacific states, is there any coking coal. In the Cowlitz Valley an inferior coal was found in 1848. The first important coal-mining was near Bellingham Bay, in Whatcom county, where coal was discovered in 1852 and where 5374 tons were mined in 1860. Between 1850 and 1860 coal was found on the Stilaguamish river (Snohomish county) and on the Black river (near Seattle) and in 1863 at Gilman (King county); but it was not until between 1880 and 1885, when the Green river field in King county and the Roslyn mines in Kittitas county were opened, that commercial production became important: the output was 3,024,943 tons (valued at $6,690,412) in 1908, when nearly one half (1,414,621 tons) of the total was from Kittitas county and most of the remainder from the counties of King (931,643 tons) and Pierce (551,678 tons). There are large deposits of glacial and residual clays and clay shales throughout the state.
Serpentine marble with seamed markings has been found in Adams and Stevens counties. Granite is found about Puget Sound and in the extreme eastern part of the state; it is largely used in riprap or rough foundations. Sandstone is found especially in the N.W. in Whatcom and San Juan counties; it is used for paving blocks. Limestone also is found most plentifully in the north and north-western parts of the state.
Gold, silver, copper, lead and a little iron (almost entirely brown ore) are the principal ores of commercial importance found in Washington. The total value of gold, silver, copper and lead in 1908 was $378,816 (gold $242,234, silver $47,076, copper $41,188, lead $48,318). The largest output of each of these ores in 1908 was in Stevens county; Ferry, King and Okanogan counties ranked next in the output of gold; Okanogan and Ferry counties in the output of silver; Okanogan in the output of copper; and King in the output of lead. About nine-tenths of the gold was got from dry or siliceous ores and about 8% from placer mines; about two thirds of the silver from dry or siliceous ores, about two-ninths from copper ores, and most of the other ninth from lead ores. The only lead ore is galena. The copper is mostly a copper glance passing into chalcopyrite; it is found in fissure veins with granite. A small quantity of zinc (7 tons in 1906) is occasionally produced. Tungsten is found as wolframite in Stevens county near Deer Trail and Bissell, in Okanogan county near Loomis, in Whatcom county near the international boundary, and (with some scheelite) at Silver Hill, near Spokane. Nickel has been found near Keller in Ferry county, and molybdenum near Davenport, Lincoln county. There is chromite in the black sands of the sea-coast and the banks of the larger rivers. Antimony deposits were first worked in 1906. Arsenic is found.
Manufactures.—There was remarkable growth in the manufacturing industries of Washington between 1880 and 1905, due primarily to the extraordinary development of its lumber industry. In 1870 the value of lumber products was $1,307,585, and the Territory ranked thirty-first among the states and territories in this industry, and in 1880 the value of the product was $1,734,742; by 1905 the value had increased to $49,572,512, and Washington now ranked first. The manufacture of planing mill products, including sashes, doors and blinds, was an important industry, the products being valued in 1905 at $5,173,422.
Next in commercial importance to lumber and timber products are flour and grist mill products, valued in 1905 at $14,663,612. Other important manufactures are: slaughtering and meat packing (wholesale), $6,251,705 in 1905; malt liquors, $4,471,777; and foundry and machine shop products, $3,862,279.
Transportation and Commerce.—Puget Sound has formed a natural terminus for several transcontinental railways, the cities of Seattle and Tacoma on its shores affording outlets to the commerce of the Pacific for the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern and the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound transcontinental lines, which enter these cities with their own tracks. The Union Pacific and the Canadian Pacific reach Seattle over the tracks of other roads. The Northern Pacific and the Great Northern enter the state near the middle of its eastern boundary at Spokane, which is a centre for practically all the railway lines in the eastern part of the state. The Northern Pacific, the first of the transcontinental roads to touch the Pacific north of San Francisco, reaches Seattle with a wide sweep to the south, crossing the Columbia river about where it is entered by the Yakima and ascending the valley of the latter to the Cascade Mountains. The Great Northern, running west from Spokane, crosses the state in nearly a straight line, and between this road and the Northern Pacific, and paralleling the Great Northern, runs the recently constructed Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound, the westward extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul. The Northern Pacific sends a branch line south from Tacoma parallel with the coast to Portland on the Columbia river, where it meets the Southern Pacific and the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company's line (a subsidiary of the Union Pacific), thus affording communication southwards, and up the valley of the Columbia to the east. Entering the south-east corner of the state, the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company extends a line northwards to Spokane, and a branch of the Great Northern, leaving the main line at this city, runs north-westward into British Columbia. The Spokane, Portland & Seattle railway connects the three cities named by way of the Columbia Valley; and the Spokane & Inland Empire sends a line eastward into Idaho to the Cœur d'Alene country and another through the south-eastern part of the state into Nevada. In 1880 the railway mileage was 289 m.; in 1890, 2012.05 m.; in 1900, 2888.44 m.; and on the 1st of January 1909, 4180.32 m.
Seattle and Tacoma are among the four leading ports of the United States on the Pacific. Other harbours on Puget Sound of commercial importance are Olympia, Everett and Bellingham. Port Townsend is the port of entry for Puget Sound. Gray's Harbour, on the western coast, is of importance in lumber traffic.
Population.—The population in 1860 was 11,594; in 1870, 23,955; in 1880, 75,116; in 1890, 349,390, an increase within the decade of 365.1%; in 1900, 518,103, an increase of about 45%. In 1910, according to the U.S. census returns, the total population of the state reached 1,141,990. Of the total population in 1900, 394,179 were native whites, 111,364 or 21.5% were foreign-born, 10,139 (of whom 2531 were not taxed) were Indians, 5617 were Japanese, 3629 were Chinese, and 2514 were negroes. The Indians on reservations in 1909 were chiefly those on Colville Reservation (1,297,000 acres unallotted), in the N.E. part of the state, and the Yakima Reservation (837,753 acres unallotted), in the S. part; they belonged to many small tribes chiefly of the Salishan, Athapascan, Chinookan and Shahapiian stocks. Of the foreign-born, 18,385 were English-Canadians, 16,686 Germans, 12,737 Swedes, 10,481 natives of England, 9891 Norwegians and 7262 Irish. Of the total population 241,388 were of foreign parentage (i.e. either one or both parents were foreign-born), and of those having both parents of a given nationality 34,490 were of German, 19,359 of Swedish, 17,456 of Irish, 16,959 of Norwegian and 16,835 of English parentage. The Roman Catholic Church in 1906 had more members than any other religious denomination, 74,981 out of the total of 191,976 in all denominations; there were 31,700 Methodists, 13,464 Lutherans, 11,316 Baptists, 10,628 Disciples of Christ, 10,025 Congregationalists and 6780 Protestant Episcopalians.
Government.—Washington is governed under its original constitution, which was adopted on the 1st of October 1889. An amendment may be proposed by either branch of the legislature; if approved by two-thirds of the members elected to each branch and subsequently, at the next general election, by a majority of the people who vote on the question it becomes a part of the constitution. Five amendments have been adopted: one in 1894, one in 1896, one in 1900, one in 1904, and one in 1910. Suffrage is conferred upon all adult citizens of the United States (including women, 1910) who have lived in the state one year, in the county ninety days, and in the city, town, ward or precinct thirty days immediately preceding the election, and are able to read and speak the English language; Indians who are not taxed, idiots, insane persons and convicts are debarred. General elections are held biennially, in even numbered years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and candidates, except those for the supreme court bench and a few local offices, are nominated at a direct primary election, held the second Tuesday in September.
The governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney-general, superintendent of public instruction and commissioner of public lands are elected for a term of four years; and each new administration begins on the second Monday in January. The governor's salary is $6000 a year, which is the maximum allowed by the constitution.
The legislature consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives, and the constitution provides that the number of representatives shall not be less than sixty-three nor more than ninety-nine, and the number of senators not more than one-half nor less than one-third the number of representatives. Senators are elected by single districts for a term of four years, a portion retiring every two years; representatives are elected, one, two or three from a district, for a term of two years. Regular sessions of the legislature are held biennially, in odd-numbered years, and begin on the second Monday
