Project Report

Introduction

The history of Yakima Valley is full of interesting stories, such as trains crashing, airplanes nose-diving, and cities rolling on logs.  The stories included in this report are some of the famous and important events that happened in Yakima.  These stories sculpted the way Yakima is today.

Early Times

Imagine you lived one hundred years ago. Yakima would look like this: a treeless plain, a desert full of bleak sagebrush, jackrabbits, and rattlesnakes. Orchards were sprouting up new growth as their owners watched the clear view of the mountains. The ditches were overflowing with wild asparagus during early spring. Corn sprouts, grape leaves, and flowery hills (which were usually bare most of the year) were some of the plant life.  In autumn, the sweet smell of fruit filled the valley.  Yakima's soil is good for growing crops.  The first settlers were told to
“just add water“ to the soil and their crops would grow. 


Train Crashes

The two train crashes in 1901 are both famous.  There was a wreck in January and one in December.  The year of 1901 was called “the year of train wrecks.”  One train wreck was famous for its high death toll and the other wreck was famous because no one received a critical injury or died.  The January wreck occurred when a train was traveling across a weak bridge, which, ironically, was just about to be fixed with the new tracks lying near the bridge.  The tender had dipped down, and the engineer went the fastest possible to prevent a crash.  Still, the supports broke and the cars barely landed on the other side.  Luckily, there were no casualties and no critical injuries.  In the December wreck, two trains going thirty mph hit each other head on.  There were two casualties and five injuries (three of them critical).  One train was supposed to watch for train 1302 at the Wenas siding, but train 1302 was delayed and was still on the train track.  The engineer on the first train noticed a train on the siding. What he did not notice was that it was not train 1302.  Later, since the whistle of each train drowned the others‘ out, the trains hit.  People say that one engineer’s last words were, “That’s number 1302, all right.”. 




Irrigation

Farms with cattle and sheep were owned by early settlers.  Progress in irrigation projects did not start until the late 1870’s when early settlers switched from ranches to farms. In the early 1890's, the Sunnyside Canal and the Congdon Ditch were built to provide water for the farmers.  In 1905 the Secretary of the Interior approved the Yakima Project, a project to give water to 175 miles of land on each side of the Yakima River in south-central Washington.  In the span of one decade (1900-1910) the population of Yakima tripled from the irrigation projects!  Today about half a million acres of irrigation help to grow apples, hops, cherries, grapes, pears, asparagus, hay, and mint.


NPR (Northern Pacific Railroad)

Northern Pacific Railroad (NPR) was supposed to build a train depot in Yakima. However, they actually built the railroad four miles north.  NPR said they could not build next to Yakima because there was a swamp in the way.  Also, they did not build there because building four miles north was cheaper.  Since NPR did that, most merchants actually rolled their buildings on logs to the location of the railroad depot in 1883.  In 1885, voters chose to move their homes to what was named North Yakima at the time, with the merchants and railroad depot.  In 1918, people complained that North Yakima sounded like a suburb and the city names changed to Yakima and Union Gap, their current names. 


Yakima’s First Car

Yakima’s first car actually came from the eastern United States when Val Gandy bought a car and brought it to Yakima in 1905.  Early in the morning, Frank S. Farquahar saw Val Gandy driving his car down the street. Frank S. said the car was making loud noises.  Then the car’s engine died at the corner of Yakima and Second.  No one knew how to fix it. After all, it was the first car in Yakima Valley.  Val looked in the engine while the people crowding around him watching the car said to push the car. So, the crowd pushed the car and it started, but died yet again at the corner of Yakima and Third.  One girl named Ms.Grace rode in the car once and said it was bright red with a shiny brass horn outside the driver’s seat.  This was an amazing experience for many citizens of Yakima because nobody had ever seen a car before.






Phil Parmalee

Phil Parmalee, like all people, had to die.  In 1912 he died from a nasty airplane crash. He had been famous, especially for being the first person to drop a bomb from an airplane. Phil’s father had sent him a letter telling him to not fly his plane at the State Fair in Yakima.  Phil ignored the letter and flew up into the air anyway. The plane suddenly dipped down out of sight.  The crowd was stunned. Later they learned that Phil had crashed his airplane and died!  If he had listened to his father, he would not have died that day.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Yakima is a very fascinating city.  Its history helps people understand why it is the way it is.   The agriculture produced here has made Yakima one of the most famous counties in the United States.  The history of Yakima has had a huge effect on modern times. Plane and train crashes are just some of the things that are interesting in this report.  I hope that the next generation will learn about events in Yakima that happen nowadays.
 

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