THE WEST 8H0RE.
Crab creek, while the ncrthern is almost
unbroken agricultural land. The trav
eler is particularly cautioned against
forming an opinion of this region from
what he sees from the car window in
pawing through. The railroad has, for
economy of construction, been built
along a scries of old channels, once wa
ter courses, but now dry, barren and
desolate, lying many feet below the gen
eral level of the country. Let him alight
from the cars at Sprague, and ascend to
the top of the hills north of town, and
he will enter a tract of fine, rolling, prai
rie land, stretching north to the Colum
bia and Spokane rivers, treeless, except
in small patches along the water cours
es, but covered with tho famous bunch
grass, where not broken for cultivation.
This region, once a great and uneicelled
rango for stock, has been rapidly settled
and fenced during the past five years,
being quickly transformed from a pas
toral to an agricultural country. The
stock interests are still large, and are
chiefly centered along Crab creek, along
which, for a hundred miJes, there are
many fine ranches and beautiful mead
ows. Much hay is put up for winter
use on theso ranches, but cattle and
horses live almost constantly on the
range, and require feeding but two or
threo weeks in January or February.
Somo seasons no feed is required what
ever, stock grazing on tho range the en
tiro winter, and being in good condition
in the spring. With tho exception of
alwut threo miles of scab land, the coun
try to the east of Sprague is all arable,
extending into tho well settled and fer
tilo Palouso region. To tho southwest,
also, stretches a largo area of fine graz
ing land, which will eventually bo con
verted into farms.
The shipment of stock from Sprague
aggregate two thousand horses, ten thou
wind cattle and twenty.fivo thousand
sheep annually; wool approximating one
million pounds; and wheat, the present
season, in the form of grain and flour,
probably a quarter of a million bushels.
The rapid increase in acreage of grain
renders the surplus for shipment compar
atively small, as so much is needed for
seed and to support the new settlers.
The following extract from an article in
the Davenport Times gives much prac
tical information about this region:
Looking upon the map of the western part
of the United States, the extensive territory of
Washington is found, situated upon the extreme
northwestern boundary. At a single glance the
idea of the extreme cold of that far northwest
ern region would be impressed upon the mind.
But such is not the case, as I will try to make
clear to the reader who cares to know of this fa
vored country favored by being entirely ex
empt from the destruction of cyclones and tor
nadoes, that sweep from the earth the beautiful
homes, and destroy so much valuable property
and many lives in the East.
I wish to speak more particularly of the coun
try known on the map as the " Great Bend " of
the Columbia, and bordering on the Sjtokane
river, which empties into the Columbia forty
five miles west of Spokane Falls, and twenty
one miles north of Davenport, and which spe
cially presents to the immigrant advantages
above many other sections.
Here we have a climate not equaled in the
temjx'rate rone, equally mild and suitable for
the cultivation of all crops that can be raised in
the temperate zone, in a latitude little below
fifty degrees north. This climate has often
been compared to England, and the 6ame caus
es produco the warmth where we should expe
rience an approach to arctic cold. The Japan
ocean current courses through the Pacific ocean
as the Gulf stream warms the northern coun
tries of the Atlantic, sending warm currents of
air to moderate the cold that would otherwise
result. Degrees of cold are not so great here as
in Illinois, Massachusetts or Kansas, with en
tiro freedom from sudden changes experienced
there, which is destructive to fruit buds and
vegetation. There are not a dozen days that
the thermometer falls below zero in w'ntcr, and
it is nearer thirty above oftcner than lower. In
usual winter weather the mercury falls to eigh
Ut-n or twenty degrees above at night. There
is a noticeable lack of wind during the month
of October, November and December, and the
winter winds are almost invariably warm la