6
CROOK COUNTY JOURNAL'S ANNUAL NUMBER.
mad waters into the Deschutes a few miles
below the junction of Crooked river and
Deschutes.
Passing over the Deschutes northeast
erly, raised above the river about three
hundred feet is the country called the
"Agency Plains." It is a-continuation of
the Haystack country, northward, but cut
off from it by the Willow Creek canyon, a
very deep, ugly, rocky gorge. These plains
are devoid of water, from sixty to eighty
square miles in area, very level and soil
very good, but little sage brush, but little
stone, one vast stretch of waving bunch
grass. Water is available from the Des
chutes river, but the cost would be im
mense. Once there, in proper shape, it
would be the "garden spot" of Crook
County.
As the reader has noticed, the county has
many high hills, buttes and mountains, with
productive valleys of various lengths and
widths. Upon many of the hill and moun
tain sides "away up," there are orchards
that seldom fail bearing fruit. Melons, to
matoes and kindred plants mature to per
fection, causing wonder and admiration of
those who behold them. These orchards
and gardens are in the isothermal belt, that
obtains on all mountains.
The climate of Crook County is variable;
the altitude being great, the air is nearly
always cool and dry, being devoid of hu
midity, it is not oppressive when it is "a
hundred in the shade." The nights are al
ways cool, never has exceeded five nights
in one summer that -a person sleeping
would not enjoy two pairs of good blankets.
The winters are sometimes very cold for
short periods, but seldom lasting over a
week; for the three winters last passed, the
ice houses have not been filled for the
want of ice, and at this time (December 12)
the people are fearful there will be none
this winter.
But twice in twenty-one winters has snow
fallen to the depth of one foot. Five win
ters have been what we call rainy winters;
the others have been cool, windy, chinook
winds, snow squalls, with a little rain oc
casionally. Last June, 1900, the only destructive
hail storm ever known in the county, passed
from southwest to northeast, about four
miles northwest of Prineville. It destroyed
crops, broke windows, and killed chickens
and turkeys. It was very narrow. Did
damage for about twelve miles, then wasted
its fury in the timbered mountains. The
northern part of the county is the abiding
place for cloud bursts, called water spouts.
They come in the hottest weather, accom
panied by lightning and thunder. The
water falls so fast and furious, and runs
off so quickly, that they do but little good
in the way of irrigation.
Although high winds are common here,
they seldom attain a destructive velocity.
Cyclones, tornadoes, tourbillions, and
"twisters" are absolutely unknown here.
PUBLIC LANDS OF CROOK COUNTY
AND HOW TO ACQUIRE THEM.
Outside of the Cascade Reserve, Crook
county contains over 6,000,000 acres of
land of which at least 5,000,000 acres are
vacant public land. Each sixteenth and
thirty-sixth section is state school land, the
remainder being government land. School
lands are sold by the state at $1.25 per acre,
one-third of the purchase price being re
quired to be paid down and the remainder
to run at six per cent, or the whole may be
paid down and a patent obtained at once.
Sales are restricted to 320 acres to one
purchaser, but the amount of school lands
purchased does not in any way interfere
with a person's right to enter government
land.
Government land may be acquired in
several ways, the direct method being under
the Homestead, the Timber and Stone, and
the Desert Land Acts. There is one restric
tion which applies to all these acts, viz.:
that the amount of land which any person
can obtain title to. under any or all of these
acts combined, is limited to 320 acres, filed
upon or entered since August 30, 1890. It
follows ,of course, that lands entered or
filed upon prior to that date are not in
cluded in the 320 acres that the person
may take. For instance, a person prior to
August 30, 1890, having had the benefit of
the Homestead act, is still entitled to 320
acres under the desert act or 160 acres
under the Timber and Stone act and
160 acres under desert act. No person
is allowed the benefit of the Homestead
law but once, but if for any reason he
lost or forfeited his right, or if he com
muted a homestead entry prior to June 30,
1900, he is entitled to a second homestead
entry of 160 acres, requiring five years
residence upon and cultivation of, and a
total cost of about $40 fees and commissions
to perfect title, or a residence of fourteen
months and a cash payment of $1.25 per
acre.
Desert entries may be taken in tracts
from 40 to 320 acres by any citizen of
the state, either male or female, over the
age of 21 years. Twenty-five cents per acre
must be paid clown and $1 per acre at
time of final proof, which may be made
at any time within four years after the land
has been reclaimed by conducting water
thereon, and an expenditure in money
or labor of $3 for each acre of the tract.
Residence is not required on desert lands,
but one-eighth of the land must have been
cultivated at least one year.
Under the Timber and Stone Acts a per
son may purchase 160 acres, valuable chiefly
for stone or timber, at $2.50 per acre,
to be paid down after publishing notice of
intention to purchase.
In addition to the above methods, lands
may be purchased in quantities limited
only by one's ability to pay, by the location
of School Land Indemnity, Forest Reserve
or Railroad scrip, which is worth from
$3.50 to $5 per acre, and may be located
on any unoccupied government land.
Under some one or more of the above
.methods any person of limited means
may acquire a home in Crook county which
will make him an independent livelihood.
Improved farms range in price from $5
to $25 per acre, according to location,
amount of tillable land and adaptability to
the purpose for which it is intended.
Alfalfa and natural meadow lands are
the most valuable. Irrigation projects now
under way will add tens of thousands of
acres of alfalfa and clover lands to our
tillable area, and the person who is for
tunate enough to get these at first cost
will have laid the foundation for a fortune.
The proprietor of this paper has full
and complete maps and official plats of the
entire county, is a U. S. commissioner, and
as such is empowered to take all kinds of
land filings, final proofs, etc., and can furn
ish any information desired by intending
settlers or those already having land claims
here. He has had large experience in
land matters and guarantees all informa
tion and work to be reliable and correct.
Address or call on,
A. C. PALMER,
Journal Office, Prineville, Oregon.
PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE MINING
IN CROOK COUNTY.
Crook county embiacts a territory in ex
tent larger than many of the states of the
Union, being about 108 miles across from
east to west, and about 84 miles north and
south, and is now undoubtedly the greatest
field comparatively unexplored for mines
now extant. The geological conformation
is the greatest of all, and is bewildering to
the casual observer. On the eastern slope
of the Cascade mountains we find a country
from the southern boundary of the state
as far north as the range of mountains
known as Mutton mountain, that indicates
great volcanic action and is entirely cov
ered with lava and volcanic sand and ash,
consequently is devoid of all mineral indi
cations, either coal or the more precious
metals, but rich in forest and with a soil
noted for fertility, having an abundance
of water easily obtainable for irrigation pur
poses. Miners speak of what they term mineral
telts. My opinion is that a mineral belt
is only some point where the original min
eral formation has been pushed up through
the more recent formation, or some point
of original high elevation that has had its
base covered by a more recent action.
Therefore, believing that this country at
some period was all seamed with mineral
veins, all that we have to find is the points
of upheaval or the points of original high
elevation to find mines. Yet there may be
mines found at other points where breaks
in the new crust occur, letting up mineral
ized waters sufficient to change the walls
of the fracture by deposits of silica im
pregnated with copper, gold, and silver in
quantities to pay for working. In the
northern portion of this county we find
the most western spur of the Blue mount
ains, out of which flows the creek known as
Trout creek, coming toward the west, upon
which is situated the group of mines known
as the Oregon King Company mines. These
mines project themselves to the surface
on the low hills immediately north of this
creek, and seem to be in original position
and but recently, so far as time goes, have
been uncovered from the baser or barren
rocks above. The original apex has not
suffered any great erosion, consequently
the minerals these mines carry have not
been scattered or shed down into the
stream below, offering a clew for their
detection by the wary prospector looking
for prospects. Otherwise the mines might
have been found years ago. The formation
uncovered and exposed in which these
mines are found cover a territory in ex
tent about four miles wide and twenty
miles long, reaching from Trout Creek to
Currant and Cherry creeks. In this mineral
formation have been found gold, silver,
copper, lead, and . antimony. The Silver