100 years ago in Central Washington: Struggling farmers praised the visiting Panama Canal builder, who they hoped could revitalize their arid land

The arrival of Gen. George Goethals, the builder of the Panama Canal, was bringing hope to the beleaguered farmers of central Washington.

One of them walked up to Goethals at the entrance to an Othello hotel and said, “General Goethals, we’ve been waiting 20 years for a man like you.”

Another Othello man said that many dryland farmers had “broke under the struggle and left.” Only about half had held on.

“They are drifting out, one by one,” he said. “They just have to give up. Ten years ago, there were 17 farm families on the road from Othello to Cunningham, but there are only five families now.”

Goethals was in the region to report on the feasibility of various Columbia Basin irrigation proposals. Farmers were clinging to the hope that “the great engineer” could give the gigantic undertaking the credibility to make it become reality.

From the highway beat: The Oklahoma Automobile Association was proposing a new transcontinental highway diagonally across the country from Florida to the Northwest – and it had offered to make Spokane the northwest terminus.

The Inland Automobile Association was considering the proposal, which would require Spokane’s “physical and financial support.”

However, no explanation was forthcoming about why a “transcontinental” highway would terminate several hundred miles before it actually got to the end of the continent. The Inland Auto group was looking into the idea’s feasibility.