Image provided by: Crook County Historical Society/Bowman Museum; Prineville, OR
About Crook County journal. (Prineville, Or.) 189?-1921 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 1901)
f ft t Jr- " ook' Count jouriri VOL. V. PJUNEVILLE, CROOK COUNTY, OltEGON, OCTOBBB10.1901. Q v C7 CATTLE SOLD C. Sam Smith Gets a Good Figure Raising Bettor Cattle Henry Gray Rofuaoa $22.60 for Hi Vearllnifs, Demand for Oood Oftttie. Last week C. Sam Smith and Henry Orcy were in town and in discussing tlio merits of graded tock they gave there experience with cattle ImyerH this full, which should bo proof popitive to any ono thut it docs pay, and pays well to raino pood grades of stock. Mr. Smith disposed of his cuttlo at the following figures: Two year old steers $31, yearling steers, 122 yearling heifers $24. Among the iieifcrs were a number of this springs calves. Mr. Orey was offered 122.50 for his yeorlings and refused the offer. It certainly seems to one outside of the business that there is more money in rais' ing a few good cattle than in a lot of scrubs that w 11 bring only half or two-thirds the above prices Scrub cattle will certainly eat up as much grass as the graded stock and will stamp out a great deal more, tor they are greater travel eis. With the curtailing of the range the numlwr of stock must of neces sity be lessened and therefor to get as much value oit of the business as for merly. It must come to . the raising of better "grades those that can be turned into cash at an tarlier age. Warm Spring Warbllngs. Krom our regular onrraixmdent, - More rain more rest for some people, but not for us 'kids",. Mr. See and family have returned from Portland and tho land of eternal dampness. I guess the Smithsonian man learned tho pinto language in pne day, for he has gone back east ugan. Several homesteads havn been taken on the Agency plains lately and we will see that transient home steaders comply with the law as to residence. Quite a temperance discussion was indulged in here last week, which is a good thing to advocate, but to see people so extreme, while the revenue from whiskey furnishes them their bread and butter is like a man trying to raise hiniBclf by his boot straps. Almost a tragedy nappened here lait night by Harry Miller giving the night watchman, Jas. Hays, a ' scare almost equal to an anarch ists manuevers. An ex-deputy game warden was here a few nights ago and left next morning before the agent could order him off the reservation. Ex-CoRNCRACKER. Uncle Sam is kinder to the Indi an than to the white childien. At the Indian schools the girls are taught how to scrub, cook and sew and the boys are taught trades, while in the white schools the children are dismissed with only a few dabs of astronomy and geom etry in their heads. The Indian girl who can tell when an egg is cooked enough has been treated far better than the white girl who can extract the square root. During the year past a, Navaho Indian bequeathed his fortnne, valued at over $20,000, for the cs tiihlisliment of free medical dispen sary "as an aid in extinguishing cruel aboriginal superstitions" in the tribe. The manuscript for a uniform course of study for Indian schools, which Mips Peel, superintndent of Indian schools, has been at work on for the past three years, is now in the hands of the printer. Thirty-one subjects are included and special attention is given to indus trial branches. Those treated are: Agriculture, baking, blacksmithing, basketry, housekeeping, laundry ing, carpentry, cooking, dairying, engineering, gardening, etc. It is said by those who have in spected it to bo the best and strongest course ever written for Indian schools. Miss Heel has gleaned her ideas from personal observation in ihe field, and has also consulted with prominent Indian workers. The leadfr. Post Items. Prom our regular onrmpondnit, L I) Gillcnwater has started with his spcep for the Mitchell country, Mr. Gillenwatcr contemp lates moving his family there in the neaar future. Mr. and Mrs. T. R. Curl and others have returned from recent trip to the fruit orchards for their fall supplies. . John Buoy and family, of Burns, passed through, here recently froin Creswell on their way home. They sent a few days on the creek visiting with their Aunt Mrs. R. Knox. Archie Wold and son have the contract for finishing the new new school house. Dick Koopman has returned from Pendleton. Mr Koopman left here recently in search of stolen property. We are informed that he found the same near Pendleton. E. B. Knox left on Friday for the Deschutes country to assist in bringing his father's sheep out to full range. Frosty North. Pcnonal Bide of Kooncvelt. The following statistics of the new president are of interest at this time: Height five feet eight inches. Weight One hundred and eighty five pounds. Chest measurement Forty-two inches. Collar No 16 1-2. Gloves No 8. Hat-No. 714 Shoes No 9. Has not been sick in the last ten years. Hn.s no life insurance. He is 42 years of age. His lather died at 47; his grandfather at 77. He prefers simple food, but is a great eater. His appetite is vora cious and he indulges it. He does not smoke. He takes all sorts of physical exercise rides horseback, Uses dumb-bells, spars, punches the bag, wrestles and walks miles at a time Besides tho forms mentioned, his exercise ranges from hunting big game, to romping with his child ren. Has never had a physician; says he had . no use for one. He sleeps eight hours a night; go to sleep tho minute he gets into bed and does not wake up until morning. The Beautiful Yalley of . Eastern Oregon Miles of Meadow Lands Valley la Surrounded By Forest and Elm Kocku. Climate la Wild in Winter. The little valley of 'Silver Lake lies in the northwestern part of lake county and forms a marked contrast to the miles of barren country surrounding it. To the north the desert extends for a hun dred miles with only an occasional break in the form of monotonous ridges or long groups of buttcs, and one may travel for days without seeing a farm house. In nearly any other direction for many miles one meets with scarcely anything to remind him of rivilizalion and if the name is applicable anywhere, the valiey of Silver Lake could surely be called an inland empire. The valley proper is entirely en closed by juniper and pine ridges and high rim-rocks. Its extent is almost ten by twelve miles, but is not sharply defined because of tho long slopes leading to the surrounding hills. At leant one third of this section consists of natural meadow and swamp land, reclaimed by drainage. This af fords the chief resource and upholds the reputation of the valley as a hay producer. To insure a good yield of hny some; of the jneadow must be irrigated, but this is easily done by means of a system of levees and damn, placed in position while the water is plentiful in the spring. , The remainder of the valley is taken up by broad sagebrush flats and low dividing ridges. A small part of this less fertile land is fenc ed and sown to grain, principally rye, but this seems largely to have been abandoned because of the uncertainty of the crop. With' plenty of water for irriga tion this land could be successfully and profitably farmed and no doubt would produce at least two crops of alfalfa or clover annually, notwithstanding an altitude of more than 4000 feet. In the solution of this irrigation problem seems to lie tho future increase of the pop ulation and prosperity of the valley, for the water supply is limited and will permit none being taken from the meadows. Some time ago a company was organized among the . residents and land owners for the purpose of procur ing water for irrigation. It was found that water could be brought from the mountains in tho direcion of tho Klamath Indian reservation, but in so doing it would drain a part of the reservation. The indi ans would not allow this and the project was abandoned. ' There is one remaining resource, but it is costly and requires consid- jerablo labor. Leading into the valley are a number of basins which could be converted into large reser- I let. An abundance of water could be collected in the spring and if ! the scheme was successful it would form a great store of energy for the dry months. No more than ten years ago the valley was the headquarters for large cattle firms and thousands of head of stock summered only a few miles from the large meadows, where winter feed was provided. Today there is a great change. The surrounding range is almost bairen and summer range must be sought in pastures or far away in the mountains. The town of Silver Lake is locat ed in the southern part of the valley on the higher ground. It is not a very pretentious little town but never-the-less furnishes sup plies to a large section of the coun try. Hero are two general stores, carrying a large stock of goods, hotel and dwellings and the other buildings found in a village. It will be remembered that this place was the scene of the terrible holocaust of 1894, on Christmas eve. when,, forty-three persons were burned to death. A few ruins of the illfatcd buildings are yet to be seen. In the cemetery, near by, has been erected a costly and im pressive monument to the memory of hoso who were so ruthlessy taken from their Iriends and kin dred. The namesake lake of the valley 7 miles from the town, is about twentysquare miles in area. The valley is drained by three creeks that flow into the lake, forming its only inlet. There is no outlet, except during very high water, when it flows over a low divide forming the only source of supply for Ihorn lake a few miles distant. During nearly all times of the year on this large body of water may be seen ducks and other fowls but because of the absence of brush and the presence oft sand banks and gently sloping boundaries, entirely around the lake, they are comparitively safe from the hunt er. Winters here are usually mild and the snow fall not so great as in many localities of lower altitude. It is to be hoped that capital may find its way here and supply the broad plains with water, trans forming them from the barrenness, that they now represent, into a fertility of which the state would be proud. The Ashland Tidings says: To villify a man during bis life time and wear mourning ostentatiously for him after his death is both cowardly and hypocritical. Yet that is what the three malodorous Hearst organs have been doing Day after day and month after month the colums of San Francisco "Examiner" have reeked with the grossest abuse of President Mc Kinley, and its last pago ha9 been the place for most brutal cartoons reviling President McKinley under the head of " iVillie and his Papa,.' They were continued almost up to the very day of the assassination. Since then the space has been filled several times with full page black faced ,type lamenting the loss of the President in crocodile tears. The "Examiner" has well earned the name fastened on it by one of its contemporaries, the Anarch of the Dailies," Li nel Stagge, formerly a bank examiner, and well known in Po . t land, is occupying a cell in the Tombs Prison, New York, charged with forging the name of Homer Davenport, the noted cartoonist. GENERAL HEWS. Items of Interest Gath ered Here and There Seme Stolen, Others Not Oullimrs From Our Exchanges News Notes of the Week ' Timely Topics The Oregon Synod of the Presby terian church will be at Baker City Oct, 10 to 14. The fall jrun of salmon in tho John Day river is now at its best, affording considerable sport for people residing along the river. Wednesday evening, Mr. A. B. Byrd of this city, and Miss Josie Anderson of Prineville, were united in marriage at the home of tho groom's parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Byrd. Burns Times. Supt. Wiley of the Antelope Gold and Silver Mining Co, has placed a force of men at work on their property in the Axhandle country and will continue work all the winter Asnwood Prospector. T C Thornton, of Junction, has a freak chicken. The chicken's wings are said to be on wrong-side up, the "elbow" of the wings meets almost at the back of its neck, while the points extend forward past the neck, like the points of a ' stand-up collar, Experts who made an investiga tion of the large steel, truss bridge at " Springfield, in Lane County, report it to be in poor condition. One of the cemerit piers is cracked anil rust is playing havoc with the costly structure. 'The county will repair the bridge at once. Mary J. Tustin, wje 0f Fred Page-Tustinr United States com missioner, died at Wrangel, Alaska. Sep. 23,1901: She was a daughter of the late Captain A. G. Hembree, who was killed in the Yakima Indian war of 1855 6. She crossed the plains with her parents in 1834. We have no bull fights in this country as yet, but there is hope. In Scio, according to the News, tho "boys" have in confinement red foxes, which they turn loose and chase with hounds when wanting "sport." Cock fighting is a Chris tian sport in comparison with this. Leba non Criterion. Warren McDaniels, a young man who has been working in Eastern Oregon, met with herd luck while on his way across the mountain?, to attend school in the valley. He had earned two hundred dollars which he expected to spend on an education, but he lost it while on his way. He thinks the pim-e was lifted by a Strang.-. Lebanon Critirion. Pete is dead and a large circle of close friends will hear the news with sadness. Pete was Prof. F. M. Mitchell's bright bird dog, known from Hrri4urg to Pendle ton and down ti Print vill. Thi9 j morning Prof., Mitchell was walk ing along with his gun through a field when the gun wnsaccidently dis-charced the full contents go ng in o the faiihful . n'mal, who im mediately passed into the gre.it dog beyond. Mny will miss P;e. Albany Democrat.