Yes, I’m a day late with this; please forgive me!
Today’s day-late trivia is this: Did you realize that early Washington settlers quickly realized that the Cascade range formed a geological barrier between the forested lands of mild climate of the western part of the state and the dry deserted area to the east. So the east side of the “Cascade Curtain” was not rejected in those earliest years; it was simply ignored. Yes, Washington, straddling the Cascade range, has stood division, in terms of climate and geography, from its inception.”
This came from the publication Columbian, Winter 1989.
IS the “Cascade Curtain” a real or imaginary barrier today? Do we hesitate or balk to drive 250 miles east or west to attend a really great seminar, program or workshop? And why is that because? We happily drive that far for a vacation, business meeting or family rendezvous, so it’s really not that far and really not a barrier for our genealogical learning. Or shouldn’t be.
It’s my experience that the “Cascade Curtain” has a greater effect on on the west side than ‘dry-siders’. I remember when a state-wide group was planning their annual get-together in Roslyn WA. We were meeting in Renton and someone said that the Spokane Chapter should take responsibility for advance set-up as they were closer! We reminded them that Renton was mile marker 10, Roslyn was mile marker 80, and Spokane was mile marker 288. How was Spokane closer? Just an example of west-side mentality!