The City of Destiny and the South Sound: An Illustrated History of Tacoma and Pierce County

The City of Destiny remains unsure of what its destiny should be. The land is much changed from that which George Vancouver called "the most lovely country that can be imagined" where "the labour of its inhabitants would be amply rewarded in the bounties which nature seems ready to bestow on cultivation." Even so, an anonymous visitor to the Pacific Northwest, quoted in the January 12, 1894, issue of Harper's Weekly, had it right: "Well gentlemen, if I were a man of wealth seeking a home and investments on Puget Sound, I would live in Tacoma and invest in Seattle." (Murray Morgan)