By the 1890s the Cl Elum Mining District had become famous. Prospectors and miners had staked gold, silver, lead, iron, nickel, and cinnabar claims, and the Northern Pacific Railroad was producing enormous amounts of coal in the Roslyn area. Transporting the various ores to the railroad at Cl Elum constituted a real need and seeming chance for a profit. That attracted French investors. They founded the Kittitas Railway and Power Company in 1911, and immediately began construction of a depot at Salmon la Sac. The threat of war in Europe however, unsettled French control at such a far off location. The company failed.