BING CROSBY’S WASHINGTON STATE

[Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] bye [Music] [Applause] so [Music] goodbye we'll see you again goodbye mr crosby it's been very nice having you aboard did you enjoy the flight oh it was two hours of pure joy and really it's so good to be back in my home state thanks for the lift have a pleasant visit in washington mr crosby oh thanks i always do even though i was born and grew up here returning to the state of washington is always a new adventure for me because it's a state just busting out all over the excitement of people going places and doing things this is kind of a special journey because i'm here to be your guide i want to share with you the sights and sounds of this beautiful northwest corner of our nation [Music] [Applause] [Music] i guess i've seen well i've seen many of the high up wonders of the world but none strikes me as more beautiful than seattle's space needle soaring 600 feet over the city you know to me it's like a compass pointing the way to wide open spaces where there's still room to roam and explore matter of fact you know you can accomplish quite a bit of exploration right here in the space needle restaurant while you're enjoying your ham and eggs hawaiian you are slowly revolving you make a full circle every hour here or outside on the observation deck puget sound the silvery roadway to the sea stretches out before you look to the east and you'll see the high cascade then turn to the west where the olympics stabbed sharp spires at the sky this is puget sound country an island-studded inland sea land of lakes ah yes mountain mount saint helens mount baker about adam and when a native speaks of the mountain he's talking about mount rainier [Music] the mountain carries on a constant flirtation with tacoma in seattle just as she did a hundred years ago as she did at the turn of the century when alaska gold found its way into the cash registers along seattle's waterfront [Music] yes and you still sense the spirit of romance the ships of many flags exchange cargos at the city's doorstep [Music] you can dine in any number of inviting waterfront restaurants you can browse through import shops visit the aquarium [Music] shop in the pike street public market you can see the fishing pleated anchor in the lake surrounded by a city [Music] watch the fishing boats leave the locks at ballard for the gulf of alaska and the bering sea you know if you want to take a little voyage of your own board the ferry for a short journey across puget sound or if you want you can go abroad you go to victoria british columbia and return the same day aboard the cruise ship princess marguerite but the city seattle may hold you close to her when you first arrive she's certainly come a long way from the sprawling brawling youngster of gold rush day now she's a modern metropolis and she's still growing but she's ordering her growth to retain her youth and her vitality washington does spark with fatality bigger love of life her people reveal it in their work and in their play [Music] the puget sound fisherman fits his skill against the sea just as he's done for generations while others research the possibility of actually farming the ocean for food for the increasing world population [Music] the logger though his equipment is more works in the tradition of paul bunyan and his great acts today logging is selective so that the northwest mills can continue to provide forest products for homes throughout america for the future generations and when the moon is full over puget sound it's a significant sight to the people of boeing who've done so much to explore this outpost into space tens of thousands of the areas people design and build the boeing jets and they're proud of the planes they put in the sky for all the major airlines all over the world [Music] yeah it's a place where everybody in his own way enjoys his slice of the sky while they even enjoy their rainfall they know that something better than pennies from heaven fall from the sky [Music] all year round vivid flowers paint color against the cool green of shrubs and trees [Music] the people of washington are proud of their region they welcome others to share the northwest with them for for a day or come for a week or for a lifetime [Music] while you can't live in washington or even visit there without developing a close involvement with nature nature that has a sparkle a freshness a rhythm that is uniquely the pacific northwest [Music] follow the eastwood winds across the high cascade mountains over snow quality paths you could go through stevens pass or take cayuse or white pads here you get a real opportunity to look at mount rainier close up you can see the small streams begin [Music] streams that sing to the angler sing with the music all their own streams that swell to make the columbia mighty among rivers [Music] where the columbia flows the length of eastern washington you'll find yourself in big big country land of far horizons where flowers splash color on the sagebrush prairies and you can hear the meadowlarks sing on a desert morning here giant dams like grand coulee hold back water from the columbia water that turns the desert green yes it's a fertile growing garden the touches of the old west still lingering where horses and cattle run free on the open range and when spring comes you can walk through blossoming apple orchards of okanagan yakima chelan cashmere wenatchee and come again when the nipple falls in the air and the fruit is ripe on the trees bursting with [Music] sweetness [Music] east of the cascades seems like something always happens golf tournaments parades [Music] horseshoes [Music] you know sportsman's paradise that's enough use but not too often uh exactly a true phrase however if there is such a place i'm convinced it's here in eastern washington where feel free to hunt signs welcome to [Music] hunter great flights of ducks and geese wings southward in the fall and winter pausing of course on their journey to stay a while in the columbia basin lakes and reservoirs team with bass and trout and panfish i tell you whenever i can i find time to return to washington to share the thrills of fishing it's an exciting experience for which my enthusiasm never wants since the days when i fished here as a little boy the big game hunter stalks the hills and finds his greatest compensation in nearness to an unspoiled country for a man still has the chance to feel a part of his pioneer heritage [Music] uh what memories i have for this country and i'm accumulating more each year i want to tell you that reigning over this inland empire of eastern washington is a city that has a special meaning to marry spokane spokane washington that's where i was raised more years ago than i care to recall i spent the first 20 21 years of my life there [Music] went to school there he used to run logs down in the middle spokane rivers runs right through the business district and the spokane falls the mighty cascade is just a few hundred yards farther on i like spokane i like the climate there it has four distinct seasons nice long spring warm in the summer warm and pleasant it's a district that abounds in lakes i love the lakes around spokane they're all rimmed with forests and they're easy to get to [Music] they have a wonderful long indian summer before winter comes brisk cool clear days wonderfully cool in the evening sunny days [Music] there's a genuine winter lots of snow brisk afternoons cool evenings cold frosty mornings [Music] good skating keen interesting skiing up there [Music] it's a wonderful community it has a regular western tradition [Music] a great place to live a great place to to move to and grow up in [Music] it's a progressive town i couldn't recommend it more harley than any place i can think of [Music] spokane is a city built on the wealth the great silver strikes the coeur d'alene the mining districts of washington's inland empire still very active today of course there's another kind of treasure near spokane i speak of the undulating fields of the winter wheat this is the famous palouse country winter wheat capital of the united states in a vast desert area close by the tri-cities of kennewick pasco and richland atomic energy is tamed for peaceful application electric power flows from giant generators here at hanford and the hanford science center has become one of washington's most interesting attractions [Music] after the mighty colombia turns westward toward the sea it becomes a broad inland waterway a natural boundary between washington and neighboring oregon state its long journey from the canadian rockies nearing completion the columbia passes vancouver kalama longview kelso until the great river finally loses itself in the sea the sea the rugged pacific reveals a different temper with each change of the season you could sail out of el waco or westport or seek you share the silver harvest of silver and king salmon you can dig your dinner from the sand on one of the world's longest beaches search for treasure tossed up by the surf [Music] travel north along the olympic peninsula lift your eyes to the sheer beauty of the olympics wander if you care down through the deep shade of the rainforest or cruise where the san juan islands sparkle in the sun [Music] here you can drop anchor in any one of a hundred sheltered bays you can enjoy rustic resorts or if you want you can live in luxury while cruising the san juans in a small boat is a great way to discover these islands you can perhaps uh do it a little bit more conveniently you could come by car you could come on the ferry from anacorte but however you travel the san juans will always linger in your memories as islands of enchantment in washington you can live close to nature in regions remote and primitive [Music] or you can live in public campgrounds with all the modern conveniences facilities are available throughout the state for the growing throngs of travel trailers and if you prefer well you'll find modern luxurious hotels and resorts wherever the road to washington adventure of leads if you want to leave the beaten track the call of the mountain may send a challenge to you as it does this group of some 300 intrepid folks from yakima these people climb mount adams every year it's quite a climb too the long season of snow skiers climb mountains the easy way at resorts like crystal mission ridge alpental and many others minutes away from bustling metropolitan areas skiers have their choice of slopes [Music] this impression of course this is the signature of the beginner i think it's very appropriately called a sit smart but the neophyte need not despair not at all every skier occasionally leaves his mark there you know when gravity overcomes skill [Music] nightfall lends a special excitement in a certain aura of romance on lighted slopes but i suppose all roads in washington eventually lead back to seattle [Music] ask any seattle i to show you his city its churches with their heritage of many cultures [Music] its libraries its art museums it's parks whether or not you give him an opening a seattle citizen is bound to tell you about boats because this is veritably the small boat capital of the united states you can join the annual boat parade that opens the yachting season where everybody is afloat in lake boats and little boats and from watching them it's really impossible to tell who's having the most fun the man skippering the luxurious yacht or the guy paddling his own canoe or kayak is it and people aren't the only ones who enjoy the water yeah boating's fun great fun but be they yachtsmen small boat owners or ecstatic observers all agree that the highlight of the boating year the real pinnacle of seattle's annual seafair week the week of parades and festivals [Music] oh of course all these festivities are climaxed by the biggest event of the year an exciting hydroplane race where the powerful hydros roar across the waters of lake washington [Music] hydro races come just once a year but water fever but it never stops you can water ski you can fish in your own backyard or you can cruise puget sound or perhaps the sheltered waters of lake washington [Music] now then if golfing is your sport of course i've been known to dig up a few pastures now and then throw a few divots about i want to tell you seattle has many challenging courses beautiful rolling greens that attract duffer and pro alike the mild weather that prevails up in seattle well it permits golf devotees to pursue the little white ball all year long yes it's true satellites participate in sports of all kinds but they love watching too they're the seattle totems they pack them in on the ice these fellas the angels who when winning they leave angelic fans smiling the high hoop crowd cheers on the supersonics the fans turn out in mass when the university of washington huskies play a home game they have a racetrack there i've been out there many times it's very pretty it's called long issues [Music] when the sun disappears beyond the westward olympics another kind of life begins with the fall of night life with the temple all its own [Music] [Applause] [Music] i sometimes think there must be a people magnet something located somewhere in the seattle center that's the bright fresh playland preserved intact from the world's fair of 1962. thousands thrown to the fun forest midway dizzying rides tests of skill delight the young and the young at heart [Music] here we have the food circus [Music] calorie counters steady now beware because here you can sample some of the world's most tempting foods and in the international bazaar you can shop all over the world and do it all under one roof [Music] so space aids wonders draw explorers to the pacific science center the pools and the fountains outside the science center create a mood of genuine contemplation [Music] every corner of the center reveals a new delight even got a fountain that dances to music dances to the play of colored lights [Music] evening transforms the center into a sparkling galaxy of night lights where there's something to please and excite every interest every taste [Music] [Applause] [Music] ah yes washington state that's the sum of all you have seen and heard but more much more it is the deep sparkling water of hoods canal it's the wild cowboys suicide race up in oman it's the solemn cadence of the indian dance let's not forget the log rolling contest at sheldon they have the ski jump tournaments amid the old world charm of leavenworth's alpine village atmosphere [Music] washington state is cities on the sound on the aberdeen oakwill bellingham everett bremerton the great navy yard at bremerton here's tacoma my birthplace it's a beautiful town beautiful with its flowers wonderful weather wonderful beaches and lakes olympia this is the capital of the state of washington as a particularly war crosby's my great grandfather nathaniel crosby built his home here and sailed for years between the olympia and the orient his home still stands there as sort of a museum furnished just as when it was occupied by captain nathaniel crosby state you know is history the founding of fort vancouver lewis and clark's exploration of the northwest and washington are it's a medley it's a medley of strangely beautiful names johanna pakash snohomish skycomish toppenish tonasket pondere [Music] these and many other places and events they're all part of washington state more than one return to washington is necessary to know to really appreciate them all [Music] my earliest memories are of washington it's sights it sounds i like to think of the northwest as a land that puts a song in your heart this is the land i supposed to put a song in my heart this is the land that sang to me as a boy and it still calling me wherever i am to return you