Washington State: The Inaugural Decade, 1889-1899

The sequel to Washington State University Press regional history series that began with "Washington Territory", "Washington State: The Inaugural Decade, 1889-1899" by respected historian Robert E. Ficken covers the first decade after the state of Washington had formally entered the Union. This was a decade that saw the development of a new railroad system, a population explosion, systematic development of the vast natural resources, the expansion of agriculture made possible by irrigation, and significant financial investment by outside capitalists. It was also a decade marred by political corruption and incompetence, labor disputes, the rise of criminal activity, municipal budget crises, and a bitter controversy over the tidelands. This was also the decade in which Washington State was severely effected by the 1893 economic collapse resulting in the second worse depression in the history of America that took four years to reverse beginning with the railroads and the Klondike gold rush. A model of regional history, "Washington State: The Inaugural Decade, 1889-1899" is an informed and informative work of super scholarship and painstaking research which is of significant value for academia and recommended to the non-specialist general reader with an interest in Washington state history.