CROOK COUNTY JOURNAL'S ANNUAL NUMBER.
the possibilities of crook's des
erts UNDER IRRIGATION.
That part of Oregon lying east of the
Cascade range, generally known as Eastern
Oregon is from 1,000 to 5,000 feet above the
sea. It is possessed of a bright, dry, semi
arid climate, unsurpassed for healthful
ness, and wholly different from the rain,
fog and mud, of Western Oregon, con
temptuously styltd by the residents of the
dry district as the "Web-foot country."
Oregon's settlement followed the water
Its upper course lies through a magnificent
belt of pine timber, especially valuable for
unishing and box lumber, being much
lighter than the fir of Western Oregon.
Near the old Farewell bend (the site of the
new town of Pilot Butte,) it emerges from
the timber on to the so-called desert
country, and thenceforth flows to the
Columbia through a canon far below the
surface of the country. The slope of the
country toward the north is comparatively
uniform, averaging 20 to 25 feet per mile
Transversely the slope from the mountains
to the river is rather sharp, but on the
the greater the melting of snow on the
perpetually covered peaks. No other
stream in the world used for irrigation
can present such remarkable features. The
volume of water at Pilot Butte ranges from
2, 500 to 3,500 cube feet per second, ample
to irrigate in this section from 300,000 to
500,000 acres, and the perpetuation of sup
ply is guaranteed for all time by the recent
establishment of the Cascade forest reserve.
The deposits of lava and deep canons
render it difficult and expensive to divert
water from the stream. Heretofore the
great cost has precluded such undertak-
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ways along its western, northern and
eastern sides, leaving the interior almost
unknown, because of its inaccessibility,
and the lack of transportation facilities.
It has beeen given over mainly to stock
raising; but y:?r by year the encircling
settlement has been dra ring in closer and
closer until now "the oud is full and ready
to burst," and this immense, rich, and
healthful district about to open up to settle
ment. The Descutes is the largest interior
river. It heads in the perpetual snow peaks
on the east slope of the Cascades, flows
northerly some 200 miles parallel with the
mountains, thereby justifying its name.
east side it is quite gentle. This stream
possesses peculiar advantages from an irri
gation standpoint, in the uniformity of flow
of a large volume of pure, soft water, the
variation between its highest and lowest
stages seldom exceeding twelve inches.
This is explained because of its velocity,
its freedom from ice, the dense forest shad
ing the snow in the timbered district from
sudden melting in the spring, the natural
drains, caused by the lava beds holding
back the spring floods, and acting as reser
voirs which automatically feed out water
when the river begins to fall in the summer,
and because the hotter the summer sun
ings, but irrigation has oeen tried in a
small way along some of the branch streams
or springs in the foothills and on occa
sional small patches in the Deschutes and
Crooked River bottoms. The rivulets de
monstrating beyond peradventure the desir
ability of operating upon a large scale. Ow
ing to the nature of the country there are
but three or four points at which it is feas
ible to divert the waters of this stream in
quantity, and already several projects are
on foot. The Deschutes Consolidated Ini
gation Co. has commenced operations in the .
vicinity of Pengra, at one of the easiest
points for diversion, and in a country well