The tour descends imperceptibly in broad, sweeping curves through an uneven grazing region. Scab and lava rock ledges, brownish-black in color and very jagged, are frequently seen near clumps of bull pine. Gradually, the terrain alters; evergreens become scarcer; suddenly the timber line ends, and soon the rolling hills are gray with sagebrush. Herds of beef cattle graze on both sides of the road. During the spring months, the landscape...

Mile: 3

Founded by the Northern Pacific Railway Company while building its Pend Oreille Division and was platted on June 7, 1882 under the name of Stevens. The earlier name has appeared on some maps as Stephens. The name was changed by the Northern Pacific Railway for a damage claimant in Montana. If this is correct, Tyler has the distinction of being the only known place in the state that was named...

Also called Colville Lake, is a favorite recreation spot for the residents of Sprague and Ritzville. About six miles in length, partially obscured by growths of willow and cotton-wood, it offers good fishing for bass, perch, and crappie and, when winters are sufficiently cold, provides excellent skating. It is an enlargement of Cow Creek. The Native American name was Silkatkwu. In a 1954, the present name was approved.

  The highway runs through level land where well-tilled grain fields stretch for miles. There are few signs of wild life: occasionally a hawk soars overhead, or an owl stares, silently motionless, from the top of a fence post, or a covey of Hungarian partridge whirs swiftly to safety.

The tour runs through high plateau lands, where arable soil has been planted to wheat. The rougher areas of scabrock and sagebrush are used for grazing. Occasionally, a waterhole or slough is bordered by willows and aspen; serviceberry bushes, for a brief time in spring, form swaying towers of white, and sunflowers and lupines brighten the dun-colored sagelands. In the fall, blackbirds chatter in the yellow stubble fields, and swallows...

Mile: 87

It was founded in 1888 by an Icelandic family named Nielson, who established a store and developed an excellent well from a natural spring. In 1890, the name chosen by the Northern Pacific Railway is said to be the Icelandic word for spring or small watercourse. Three local explanations for the town's name state that it was for a woman cook who accompanied railroad construction crews; for Jenny Lind, the...

Mile: 82

In 1883, when established by the Northern Pacific Railway it was named Palouse Junction. In 1888, the name was changed to honor a former station agent J. H. Connell or W.C. Connell, an early settler. The place was once described as “…a waterless, sandy region, fir only for the abode of rattlesnakes and coyotes.” The first post office was opened in January, 1887 and was closed in 1891. Today Connell...

Mile: 56

Tour descends through a desolate region of gray sand, gray-green sagebrush, dried water courses, slabs of rock jutting from old fissures, and sandy mounds which seem to have been piled by a steam shovel. Cuts on the road reveal the columnar structure of the igneous rock underlying the region. Tumbleweeds drift and roll across the harrowed earth. Isolated houses and withered farms, now deserted, give evidence of the hopeless struggle...

A small settlement and wheat-shipping point hugging the railroad tracks. The following story is told in connection with the town’s name: during grading of the Northern Pacific line in 1889, a freshet resulting from heavy rains washed out the grade, undoing weeks of labor. A disgusted Cockney worker commented that there would be “ ’el to pay!” The construction crew nicknamed the camp “Hell to Pay.” Railroad headquarters accepted the...