OUR PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



647 



RAINFALL MAP OE WASHINGTON AND OREGON 



completion of the Chicago, Milwaukee 

 and Saint Paul Railroad into Tacoma 

 and Seattle marks another most import- 

 ant stage in transcontinental trunk-line 

 communication. 



PUGET SOUND 



The ocean commerce finds its principal 

 outlets from Puget Sound and Columbia 

 River. 



Puget Sound is one of the most re- 

 markable water bodies in the world. It 

 carries tidewater inland from the Pacific 

 Ocean for 200 miles, with channels so 

 deep from the Straits of Fuca to many 



of its head branches as to accommodate 

 the largest vessels. The shore-line is so 

 irregular that its length is about 1,500 

 miles, and there are numerous branching 

 bays which afford safe harbor and great 

 water fronts for wharfs. It is free from 

 reefs or shoals, and the straits are wide 

 open to the ocean, without bar or other 

 obstructions to delay entrance or require 

 pilotage. 



It is an interesting fact that the Straits 

 of Fuca are 800 feet deep at their mouth 

 and 200 feet at the nairows to the east. 

 These straits and Puget Sound are an 

 old valley system excavated by streams 



