highest anywhere constructed; its schools rank first in the Union; its men contribute to the world's greatness; its women vote and rear capable families; the people make their own laws. Loyalty, originality, enterprise, independence and liberality, all attributes of the western spirit, are evident throughout the state.

Its population has grown in twenty odd years from 343,000 to over 1,400,000. In the meantime, wildernesses have been converted into gardens, villages have developed into towns, while towns have grown into cities, taking their places among the leading marts of the world. From a frontier state it has come to be one of the greatest and most important in the Union, adding to the galaxy of stars one of the brightest that has yet appeared on the horizon.

LAKE CHELAN, ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL LAKE RESORTS IN THE WEST
"Pride of the waters of the world"

Copyright by Kiser Photo Co., Portland, Ore.

Perhaps the most prominent feature which attracts the eye of a visitor upon his arrival in the Pacific Northwest consists of the mountain ranges with their towering snowcapped peaks, forming, as it were, ladders reaching from the green vales of earth to the blue vaults of heaven. Silhouetted against the sky in the hazy distance, they are noted by the westward bound traveler as soon as he reaches the highest point in the divide of the Rockies, while to the mariner groping his way eastward upon the Pacific Ocean they offer the first evidence of the nearness of the welcome land.

MOUNT BAKER FORTY MILES EAST OF BELLINGHAM.

These mountains mean much to the state of Washington, both for their scenic grandeur and for the favorable influence they exert on the climate and on the lives of the people who build their homes in the valleys below. Their supremacy is reflected by the thermometer, the barometer, and the aerometer; for they help regulate the temperature, the rainfall, and the wind's velocity. They form great repositories for the waters that feed the streams and keep full the cities' aqueducts. Within their immeasurable depths lie buried huge deposits of precious and useful metals, besides vast fields of bituminous coal. Their lower zones provide fertile and safe localities for the growth of Washington's big timber, while the alpine meadows above secure for the timid deer and ptarmigan asylums of temporary freedom from too frequent disturbance by prowling huntsmen. Still higher are the rugged bare prominences, reserved for the wild goat or mountain sheep, and the snow fields traversed by the more venturesome seeking to gain the summits. Everywhere the true sportsman finds ample opportunity for proving his prowess, while trailing the beast to its lair, and the sight-seeking mountaineer is fully rewarded for all the struggle required to reach some dizzy height.

Within the immense bosoms of these mountains nestle innumerable lakes, beauteous beyond compare, near whose shady shores is many a sequestered spot, most tempting to the camper who loves the mountain region; and many a brook goes trickling over its stony course to join the rivers below, pausing here and there in some shady dell to create a deep pool for luring the fisherman, or hurling itself over some lofty precipice as a waterfall of wonderful magnitude and magnificence.

The mountains are a link connecting us with the past. They remind us perhaps of the period when volcanoes belched forth their fiery refuse, or of the era when the sea covered most of what is now land. Indestructible they stand and their rocky heights are in places insurmountable. The works of man trespass everywhere else, but these huge pillars of the ages rise in their majestic splendor and with sublime dignity seem to say: "Thus far and no further! We will preserve and guard your water and fuel supply. We will protect you from the furies of the elements and produce materials for building your palaces. We will create charming nooks where you may camp under the clear sky, and shady forests where you may pursue the chase. We will fill the brooks with swift darting fish; carpet the meadows with myriads of flowers, ferns, and shrubs; and paint you pictures undreamt of by men who have scorned our acquaintance. You are permitted to build roads whereby your Pullmans and your automobiles may cross to the other side, but not one of our number shall be moved nor its form be changed in the least, except by that same invisible power at whose mighty will we were brought into existence."

LOOKING ACROSS THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
Copyright by Kiser Photo Co., Portland, Ore.

Each mountain range possesses its own distinct characteristics. Of least importance, but none the less beautiful, are the Blue Mountains in the southeastern corner of the state, providing pleasant summer retreats for the people in that vicinity. The Olympic range practically envelopes the Olympic Peninsula and all but encroaches upon the agricultural lands lying between the foothills and the salt waters on three sides. In this range are the most rugged mountains in Washington, presenting some of the wildest and most inspiring scenery anywhere to be found.

Most prominent and of greatest importance in the geography of the state are the Cascades, having an average altitude of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet and named for the many hurrying streams that have cut their deep courses upon the shady slopes. They extend from the British Columbia line slightly southwest until divided by the Columbia river, whence they continue through Oregon and become the Sierra Nevadas of California. By them the state of Washington is separated into two quite distinct parts, known as Eastern and Western Washington, the former comprising a portion of the great Inland Empire. Forming a sort of spur on their east side, north of the Columbia, and extending to the mountains of Idaho are the beautiful rolling hills known as the Okanogan Highlands from 5,000 to 6,000 feet in altitude without sharp abrupt prominences and bearing on their higher surfaces forests of pine.

Throughout the Cascade range several prominent peaks tower above the others like giants among dwarfs. The loftiest by far is Mount Rainier (or Mount Tacoma), second highest mountain in the United States proper, 14,408 feet in altitude and the chief mountain resort out of Seattle and Tacoma; Mount Adams, 12,307 feet, on the boundary line of Skamania and Yakima counties; Mount St. Helens, 9,697 feet high, at the western edge of Skamania county, reached from Castle Rock or Vancouver; Mount Baker, 10,730 feet, forty miles from Bellingham and one of its main attractions; Mount Stuart, 9,470 feet, in Chelan county; and Glacier Peak, 10,436 feet, in Snohomish county. In this latitude 7,500 feet is the