Colfax Chamber Bids the Motorist to Linger
Colfax, Washington
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Description
A couple in a rounded postwar family car crosses a steel truss bridge on the cover of this Chamber of Commerce tourist brochure, passing a "Colfax Washington" sign as basalt canyon walls rise behind them — the inside unfolds into a full pictorial map of the Palouse Empire with a pitch to stay at least one more night.
Colfax was founded in 1870 at the confluence of the north and south forks of the Palouse River, named for Schuyler Colfax — then Vice President under Ulysses S. Grant. By 1883 the Union Pacific's Columbia and Palouse Railroad had arrived, and the town settled into its long role as the Whitman County seat and commercial center for one of the most productive wheat-growing stretches in the United States. This brochure is addressed to motorists who have already found their way to Colfax and need a reason not to leave.
The interior unfolds into a pictorial illustrated map of the "Palouse Empire" — a booster name for the rolling farmland of the Columbia Plateau straddling the Washington-Idaho border. Colfax anchors the map's center where the river forks converge; surrounding the town are thumbnail drawings of grain combines, cattle, and farmsteads, with the Palouse River winding south toward the Snake. A text box names the region "Nation's Largest Producing Area of Split Peas and Lentils" alongside top-ranked wheat and prize livestock. The Idaho cities of Lewiston and Moscow appear at the map's right edge, with a small Washington state silhouette showing how far east Colfax sits.
The back panel's "Nearby Points of Interest" list is also a dating tool. It includes Little Goose Dam (completed March 1970) and Lower Granite Dam (completed February 1975) — the two youngest of the four lower Snake River navigation locks — and Boyer Park & Marina, a recreation area the Army Corps of Engineers created in the 1970s when dam construction turned the lower river into a chain of reservoirs. The brochure cannot predate 1975. Also listed: Steptoe Butte State Park, a quartzite monadnock (an isolated rocky peak rising above the surrounding plain) 18 miles away, and Palouse Falls at 65 miles, where the river drops 198 feet over a basalt cliff — taller than Niagara's American Falls at 167 feet, though the brochure only describes the comparison as "comparable."
Researched with claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 on May 25, 2026. AI-assisted — verify before citing.
Details
- Year◇ AI
- 1975
- Origin
- Colfax, Washington
- Publisher◇ AI
- Colfax Chamber of Commerce
- Coverage◇ AI
- Colfax and the Palouse Empire, southeastern Washington and adjacent Idaho border region
- Paper◇ AI
- uncoated bond
- Print medium◇ AI
- offset lithograph
- Color◇ AI
- two-color
FeaturesAI
- tri-fold brochure
- pictorial illustrated map on interior spread
- Washington state locator inset
- illustrated cover vignette with car and canyon
Condition notesAI
- horizontal fold creases from tri-fold format
- minor yellowing at edges
- light edge wear
Highlights
- The white title card set at a jaunty angle against the green banner — 'Stay Another Day in' in loose script above 'COLFAX, WASHINGTON' in bold block capitals — is a design convention common in mid-century American tourist printing, signaling leisure over formality.p.1
- The car in the cover illustration has a rounded profile and wide front grille typical of early-to-mid 1950s American automobiles; as a hand-drawn illustration it likely reflects the artist's style rather than the actual publication date, which internal evidence places after 1975.p.1
- Colfax is labeled at the map's center precisely where the two river forks visibly converge, placing the town accurately in its founding geography.p.2
- The 'Welcome to the PALOUSE EMPIRE' text box at the lower left claims the region as 'Nation's Largest Producing Area of Split Peas and Lentils' alongside top-ranked wheat counties and prize swine and sheep.p.2
- The 'Nearby Points of Interest' column lists both Little Goose Dam (1970) and Lower Granite Dam (1975) on the Snake River — the final two of four federal navigation dams on the lower Snake — establishing that this brochure was printed no earlier than 1975.p.3
- The left column's 'Pioneer City of the Palouse' history traces settlement to 1870, recounts the railroad's arrival in 1883, and notes the town was named for Vice President Schuyler Colfax — a detail largely forgotten since Grant's administration.p.3
Further reading
Colfax — Thumbnail History (HistoryLink.org)
historylink.orgOverview of Colfax's founding in 1870, naming for Vice President Schuyler Colfax, arrival of the Union Pacific railroad, and role as Whitman County seat.
Lower Granite Dam completion, February 1975 (HistoryLink.org)
historylink.orgDocuments the February 15, 1975 completion of Lower Granite Dam, the last of the four lower Snake River navigation locks, with dedication ceremonies in June 1975.
Little Goose Dam completion, March 1970 (HistoryLink.org)
historylink.orgDetails the March 1970 completion of Little Goose Dam and opening of the lower Snake River to navigation.
Steptoe Butte — Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.orgCovers the geology, naming after Colonel Edward Steptoe, the 1888–1911 hotel on the summit, and the park's establishment via a 1946 land donation by Virgil McCroskey.
Palouse Falls — Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.orgConfirms the 198-foot drop of Palouse Falls over a basalt cliff — taller than Niagara's American Falls — and the falls' 2014 designation as Washington's official state waterfall.