XVII 



PUGET SOUND 



Washington Territory, recently admitted* 

 into the Union as a State, lies between latitude 

 46° and 49° and longitude 117° and 125°, form- 

 ing the northwest shoulder of the United 

 States. The majestic range of the Cascade 

 Mountains naturally divides the State into 

 two distinct parts, called Eastern and West- 

 ern Washington, differing greatly from each 

 other in almost every way, the western sec- 

 tion being less than half as large as the eastern, 

 and, with its copious rains and deep fertile soil, 

 being clothed with forests of evergreens, while 

 the eastern section is dry and mostly treeless, 

 though fertile in many parts, and producing 

 immense quantities of wheat and hay. Few 

 States are more fertile and productive in one 

 way or another than Washington, or more 

 strikingly varied in natural features or re- 

 sources. 



Within her borders every kind of soil and cli- 

 mate may be found — the densest woods and 

 dryest plains, the smoothest levels and roughest 



^ November 11, 1889; Muir's description probably was 

 written toward the end of the same year. [Editor.] 



204 



