In 1887, following a territorial legislative session in Olympia, Thomas H. Cavanaugh and Secretary Charles W. Clarke issued their summary report, the Report of the Board of Commissioners Appointed to Select a Location for A Hospital for the Insane in Eastern Washington to the Legislative Assembly.
 The report details the search and evaluation for a site to construct an insane asylum in eastern Washington State by the Board of Commissioners and how Medical Lake was the preferred location.
  The report is addressed to the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Washington.

There were many good reasons for the Board to choose Medical Lake as the site of their new hospital.
 The land itself had much to offer, with a permanent spring, an abundance of building materials such as timber and granite, and numerous terraces for building sites.
 The spring would be used as clean drinking water while the nearby lake would be used for lavatory and medical uses.
 In addition to this, the citizens of Medical Lake proposed to donate a quarter section of the land should the hospital be built at the Medical Lake site, quoted at the time $100 an acre.

Other sites were visited by the Board in the towns of Yakima, Walla Walla, Waitsburg, Dayton, Pomeroy, and Colfax, none of which were considered as desirable as the site at Medical Lake.
 The Yakima site was quoted at $50 an acre while the Walla Walla, Waitsburg, Dayton, Pomeroy, and Colfax sites were between $10–25 an acre.
 Medical Lake was more expensive and in 1887 relatively inaccessible to major railways.
 However, this was not reason enough for commissioners T.J. Smith, G.J. Hill, and Charles W. Clarke to think of any other location as the best suited to construct the hospital.
In 1887, following a territorial legislative session in Olympia, Thomas H. Cavanaugh and Secretary Charles W. Clarke issued their summary report, the Report of the Board of Commissioners Appointed to Select a Location for A Hospital for the Insane in Eastern Washington to the Legislative Assembly.  The report details the search and evaluation for a site to construct an insane asylum in eastern Washington State by the Board of Commissioners and how Medical Lake was the preferred location.   The report is addressed to the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Washington.
There were many good reasons for the Board to choose Medical Lake as the site of their new hospital.  The land itself had much to offer, with a permanent spring, an abundance of building materials such as timber and granite, and numerous terraces for building sites.  The spring would be used as clean drinking water while the nearby lake would be used for lavatory and medical uses.  In addition to this, the citizens of Medical Lake proposed to donate a quarter section of the land should the hospital be built at the Medical Lake site, quoted at the time $100 an acre.
Other sites were visited by the Board in the towns of Yakima, Walla Walla, Waitsburg, Dayton, Pomeroy, and Colfax, none of which were considered as desirable as the site at Medical Lake.  The Yakima site was quoted at $50 an acre while the Walla Walla, Waitsburg, Dayton, Pomeroy, and Colfax sites were between $10–25 an acre.  Medical Lake was more expensive and in 1887 relatively inaccessible to major railways.  However, this was not reason enough for commissioners T.J. Smith, G.J. Hill, and Charles W. Clarke to think of any other location as the best suited to construct the hospital.
Eastern State Hospital (Washington)