On October 17, 1892, Great Northern Railroad work crews met in Wenatchee. To celebrate, a silver spike was driven into the tie which connected the eastward and westward tracks. Driving in the spike were Sam Miller, owner of Wenatchee’s first business - the Miller-Freer Trading post; and Phillip Miller, Wenatchee’s first apple orchardist. The railroad’s arrival connected our sheltered valley to the outside world and secured Wenatchee’s future as a town by providing a way for our agriculture industry to grow. The railroad also uprooted landowners, re-shaped our town’s landscape, and brought changes many people regretted. Both Mr. Millers, as well as other prominent local figures are featured in the play, which explores both sides of the railroad’s historic sweep across the Pacific Northwest in the 1880’s.

This play is a revised version of the original “Wenatchee – A Great Northern Town”. It was adapted by Michelle Loudon, the Museum’s Education Coordinator, to be suitable for performance by upper elementary and middle school students. The original version was the second in a series of five plays based on the history of North Central Washington. The play was written and produced for the Wenatchee Valley Museum in 1980, with funding by the Washington Commission for the Humanities. Daniel Larner, Ph.D., and Kim Pederson of Western Washington University, wrote the play in consultation with a board of regional historians. It is the sole property of the Wenatchee Valley Museum, and any use of the material must have their permission.

A note to teachers - “Wenatchee – A Great Northern Town” is a wonderful complement to the “ Miller–Freer Trading Post” play found in the Moving West segment of the Pacific Northwest Journeys of Discovery curriculum. As you work through this play with students, keep the following objectives in mind:

• Through discussions, acting a character’s part, and reading background information, students glimpse everyday life in the Wenatchee Valley in the 1880s - 1890s.
• Students become aware of the economic opportunities in the Wenatchee Valley during that era, and how those affected opinions and interests toward the coming of the Great Northern Railroad.
• Students compare/contrast life in the Wenatchee Valley today and in the 1880s/1890s, and how the railroad led to those changes.

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