Orient, Washington — Mine Sent Ore Down a Cable in the Sky

Orient's most memorable transportation system did not touch the ground.

Beginning in the mining era, an aerial tramway carried ore from nearby workings toward the settlement, moving loaded buckets across terrain where wagon hauling was considerably less appealing.

Mining drew workers into northeastern Ferry County while roads and rail used the Kettle River corridor.

The mines eventually declined.

The school proved more durable.

Orient's schoolhouse dates to the early twentieth century and remains a central institution in a community whose population is measured in dozens rather than thousands.

That is an unusual reversal for an old mining settlement.

The ore buckets vanished from the sky.

Children kept showing up.