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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1885)
136 THE WEST SHORE. The soil of the entire region is rich in all the elements of vegetation. The soil of the hills and plains is oom puws! of bssnlt and volcanic ashes. The valley lands are .if ' Bm niwtliiniftiHe elements, more or less tinctured with alkali. Field of hiicl) soil have HnreesHfully grown wheat for year without fertilizers, th crop often yield ing fifty bushels to the acre. Fruits and vegotableB attain the highest excellence in jxriut of size and flavor. Grapes grow to fine siae, and in some localities are per fect in flavor. Peaches have done well in many places, but are not considered a safe crop. With this exception thure in everything to encourage the fruit grower. Vege table are of the finest quality. Small fruits attain aston iMhing size and perfection in flavor. The climate is such that fruits, like flowers, receive the most delicate color ing, and no insect has yet appeared to injure them. The climate of Central Washington is highly eulo gized by the people. It is their opinion that nowhere else are experienced so many bright, sunny days. An overcast sky is seen but few days in the year. The fogs of the coast seldom find their way into the interior. Two or throe months in the summer the mercury runs high in the middle of the day, but the heat is modified by moun tain breezes, and the evenings and nights are comfortable. In a well-coustructod luKine it is never so warm as to prevent aleep, The warmth of summer lingers far into autumn and that of autumn into winter. The snow creeps down the sides of the mountains by December, usually covering the valleys alxmt the holiday, but by the mid dle of February it is generally gone. The winter days are bright and the atmosphere dry. The night are freezing cold, the middle of tho day warm, and no wind is felt in winter save the warm Chinook, which fre quently bikes the snow off in a single night The spring is early and iU showers are frequent. It rains but little from the first of June until the first of September. Irrigation is necessary to insure a erop, one year with anotlier, on the bench lands. The numerous mountain streams make it practicable to irrigate with ease a greater portion of this class of land Forty acres properly tilled and watered will give a greater return for the lalor of cultivation, harvesting, eta., than one hundred east of the Ilorky Mountains. To those accustomed to this mode of laruung there is a satisfaction which oomoe only with an absolute cerUinty of a good crop. In no country can more grain or vegetables be raised per acre. The vallnv bottoms, which receive moisture from the rivers and adja cent kills, require no irrigation, and are extremely rich. The portions known as Kittitas, Wens, Moxee, Ahtanum, Selah and Natche valleys, and the Indian Reservation are the lxt lands in that region. In the centre of tl.i. grand system of valleys, at a point where all their waters north of Union (lap converge, surrounded by this vast region of agricultural and mineral wealth, and in a vll of great natural attractiveness, is situntod the citv of ionu i aaima. i lie valley is the natural centre of com merce, trade and population for all Central Washing There, doubtless, will be the future city for all those hill. Tallojra and monntains. Natnro bus opened the monn- tains that the waters of the whole country may unite their volumes there, and in opening these waterways she has provided passes through the mountains for the com merce of the country, by eny grades, to thnt point. When the Northern Pacific decided to begin actual construction upon the Cascades Division, the officials of the Land Department made a careful examination of the Yakima country.; It was plainly evident that in that region would spring up a large inland city, the centre of trade for the great agricultural, mineral and timber dis trict through which the road would run. Being also the geographical centre of the Territory, and, when the road is completed, the point most accessible from all portions of it, there seemed little doubt that a city suitably located and properly laid out would receive the general prefer ence for the State capital, when, in the wisdom of Con gress, the time should arrive for the admission of Wash- ington into the sisterhood of States. These considera tions, combined with the faot that some central point on the line must be solected for the location of repair shops and division headquarters, placed considerable responsi bility on the shoulders of those charged with this duty. Their examination resulted in tlie deoision that the site described above was the natural commercial centre of the Yakima country. In that valley they found the town of Yakima City, containing about 500 people, and transact ing the bumnoBB for a large portion of this new and sparsely settled region. In several respects the town did not meet the requirements for a great inland metropolis, and the officials were compelled to decide between adopt- ing it with its imperfections or founding a new one. The latter course was decided upon as beinif the wisest one to 'pursue, and a site in every way eligible was selected three and one-half miles north of the old town. This was surveyed and laid out in blocks, lots, streets and alleys, with plats reserved for publio uses, State capitol ana other builuings of a publio and educational charac ter. To compensate the citizens of the old town as much as possible, the company offered to donate to suoh of them as would remove their buildings to North Yakima, tne name chosen for the new town, or would erect new ones there, business and residence property equivalent in twuo nwi locauon 10 mat occupied by them in the old town. As soon as this decision was announced, there was a great nuih of enterprising business men to the new town site. The company immediately began the construction of depot, side tracks, etc., and work was commenced on two score buildings almost in a day. Several business men of the old town, clearly appreciating the situation, immediately began the removal of their buildings or the construction of new ones upon lota accepted on the com pany s proposition. Othera held back and sought to maintain the prestige of tha old town; but one by one they recognized the handwriting on the wall, and were wise enough to see a permanent advantage in what ap Pwed U be a temporary calamity. More contracts were oaiiy let to the house-movers, until now the movement northward M oontinnona procession. Large buildings