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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1885)
10 THE WEST SHORE. formerly considered as fitted only for the grazing of sheep and cuttle. For more extended information of the northern portion of the county the reader is referred to the (lcHcription of the Cold Spring country at the end of turn nrticio. Ah imurroBH is made inland the minntitv f minfiill increases, and thin dry land gradually blonds with that winch lias been hold in better esteem, thore being no clearly defined line of seimration. Evident nf mum extensive and older cultivation are observed. Farms prosoiit a less new and crude appearance. The houses and improvement generally indicate an older settle- lit mom omor by a low years only, of course, as all the settlements dating back a score of years are to be found along the lottom lands of the vorious streams, since the 1 Ml .1 ...... ' inns were then considered valuoloss for agricultural pur ikmos. It is now that we enter the region wlumn nubm. ishing yields of wheat have made the name of TWilla famous in Oregon. The rolling hills, covered in the summer time from baso to crest with fields of grain or stretches of plowod ground fallowing in the hoalth-giving rays oi me sun, riso gradually to the southeastward until they become a portion of the Blue Mountains, whose timbered ridges stretch out as far as the eve cnn rnnMi ThiB region is one immense wheat field Except along tho margin of tho streams not a tree obstructs the view, and standing on the brow of one of tho rolling hills we can see for miles, and our gaze will fall upon nothing but fields of grain, stretching away in one continuous succos sion of furms until thov blend with the dUnn T,,1, ing toward tho mountains, tho fields are soon to climb tho foothills nnd sloping sides of the mountains till they loso themselves in the timber. It is in tho heart of this loruio region that a largo iorlion of tho Umatilla Reser vation lies, contrasting with it so strongly by ite unpro- uuvu rom.no. i ll0 avorago distance across the reservation, north and south, is thirty miles; east and west, fifteen. I he groatur portion of it, some eight or nine townshipB, or about 300,000 acres, is of tli a. ' vivnimuiu n until lands. It extends to tho summit of the mountains, and wuuuca a vaiuabio tract or timber. Across it runs the railroad loading eastward from ln.llnf T.. ho the pr.perous town, of rendleton, Adams, Centre- nmum ana Milton, the element of their prosperity being phunly evident in the surrounding oountry. Af Ur crossing the reservation to rendleton, which lies on its western edge, we pursue our journey along the base of the mountain, southwestward. Here we find a region which has been occupied by stockmen fr years, and w hich, until recently, has not claimed the attention of the former. Iho influx of immigrant during the past two year, has boon very groat They ore settling down upon their quarter sections, turning the bunch gross under with their plows, and converting the vast stock ranges into long successions of grain fields. Thousand of acres are thus newly brought under cultivation every year, and tho end is not yet As stockmen, there was room for only a few; as forinew, thore ia room for all who have oomo and for many more. Tho journey through this region carries us to Heppner, about which and beyond to the line of WaBco County practically the same conditions prevail. Owing to the great influx of iumiigrunta to this end of the country during the past two years, large areas of grazing land are now being rapidly transformed into grain fields. Land that a few years ago was thought valuable only for grazing is now producing from twenty to forty bushels of grain, or from two to three tons of hay, to the acre. But owing to the hilly and. broken aspect of much of the country, stock raising will continue to be a leading industry here, thus adding to tho material wealth and prosperity. The folly of grain raising, to the exclusion of all other branches of hus bandry, has been sufficiently demonstrated in other States, and, be it said to the credit of. the farmers here, they are wisely adopting tho New England method of diversified farming, which will largely increase their annual income. Until recent years the principal source of revenue to this section of the county has been the stock industry. Perhaps there is no country in the world in which stock raising could be more profitably engaged in than here, especially horses, cattle and sheep. Within the past five years sheep raising has, to a great extent, superseded the cattle business. Owing to tho decline of the cattle market a few years ago, many of the leading cattle men were induced to sell off their cattle and embark in the wool growing industry. To verify the statement as to the adaptability of this part of the county to stock raising, it is only necessary to state that there are over two hundred thousand sheep within a radius of fifteen miles of Hepp--nor, to say nothing of the vast herds of horses and cattlo that roam the hills, finding their own living feasting on the luxuriant bunch grass, many of them never having soon a hay stack. Another evidence of the nntritinna qualities possessed by the native grass, is the fact that new settlers are enabled to put in their crops without feeding grain, by simply turninc their horaes nut tn rrrnaa at night Having thus mado a broad sweep around tho county, wo will now return to the mouth of the TTmnr.illn aJ follow up that stream, to take a look at the tributaries mentioned as entering it from tho south. Tho first one is Butter Creek, eicht miles aWe. Thin sidorable stream, flowing down from tho mountains some seventy miles south, passing all the way in a deep depres sion between the hills on either hand, and having much fino meadow land along its course. It is weil named, for with proper effort tho water and rrrnaa nf tln'u Dtraam nnn vm. vu0 gwuaiu liOU be literally converted into butter. Going up the creek we find sorao quito extensive grain and hay ranches for a distance of twenty or thirty miles, when th comes narrower, the bluffs higher and more precipitous, u vUO uweuers on tno creek find room only for a little garden. We travel ud this strnnm miles before we are fairly in the mountains. Nearly all ,""'uu creo nave been or are extensive stock raisers, their cattle Errazimr fnr n,;u hills, and care little for the farming qualities of their rough ranches. They can make money far easier and
