Waterville Wheat Tramway display at Rocky Reach Dam
After a disastrous winter in 1889/1890, which killed livestock throughout the Northwest, the early pioneers on the Waterville Plateau shifted their agricultural ambitions from raising cattle toward growing wheat. The soil and climate conditions are well suited for dry land wheat production. However, getting the wheat to market was a logistics nightmare. Horse and wagons were slow and pricey. The few available roads were steep and precarious.
In 1899 a possible tram route up the Columbia Breaks was surveyed. Investors were found and the Columbia River Tramway Company was organized to build a tram. Construction was completed by the W.S. Riblet Company of Spokane.
From 1902 until 1909 horse drawn wagons delivered sacks of wheat to the top of the tram where large steel buckets were loaded with 5-6 sacks each. They carried the wheat for 2 miles over two deep canyons and down 2000 feet of elevation to steamboats waiting on the Columbia River. Building materials, coal, machinery, merchandize, and other supplies were shipped up to Waterville via the tram. Each day could see 1600 sacks of wheat go down and 3 tons of coal and other goods come up the tram.
The tram ceased its operations in the fall of 1909 when the Mansfield Branch of the Great Northern Railroad was completed and began carrying shipments to and from Waterville and nearby towns.
One of the tram buckets is on display outside the Douglas County Historical Museum at Waterville next to murals depicting the tramway era. Other tram artifacts and information can be viewed by special permission at Rocky Reach Dam north of Wenatchee.
To get to the cache from Highway 2 at the top of Pine Canyon take Road Q north. It will descend into a gully and curve west onto Road 4. Follow Road 4 west to the cache sight where you will find a modern re-creation of a tram structure. If you follow the road a little further you will get a fantastic view of the Columbia Breaks and the river valley. Near there you may also see some cement platforms and other remnants of the original tramway.