A
10 TIIE MORNING OKEGOXIAX, SATTHDAY, FEBRUARY 4. 1911. , ,
INTERIOR OREGON FACES ERA OF GREAT DEVELOPMENT
.OW UNDER CONSTRUCTION WILL OPEN VAST BUT UNSETTLED AREA IN CROOK, GRANT, HARNEY, MALHEUR AND WHEELER COUNTIES
RAILROADS I
r - ' ' KAS
11 n
RAILROADS WILL OPEN
GREAT INLAND EMPIRE
Extension of Hill and Harriman Systems Makes Development of
Immense Crook County Area Possible.
visitor to Harney County is often sur
prised to see herds of high grade reg
istered Shorthorns, Durhams. Jerseys,
Herefords and Red Polls. He also finds
horses, sheep and hogs as fine as can
be raised anywhere in the United
States. The stockmen for several years
have been visiting state fairs and stock
shows and buying blue ribbon winners.
The county is out of debt, has an
assessed valuation of $7,000,000. as
shown by the tax rolls, and ita citizens
are highly prosperous and contented.
Burns, the county seat, is situated on
the north side of Harney Valley and
directly tributary to the largest body
of natural meadow lands in the state.
These thousands of acres are annually
overflowed by Sllvies River during the
Spring and early Summer. After the
water Is gone a crop of wild hay is
harvested. The Reclamation Service
has expended a great deal of money
in securing correct Information regard
ing the feasibility of the Sllvies River
irrigation project, but there is a move
ment on foot now by private capitalists
to take this project over and complete
the system. This will cost several mil
lion dollars, but when completed it will
affect 350,000 acres. With a proper and
economical distribution of the waters
under such a system, the wild meadows
that are now subject to overflow, as
well as the drier sagebrush land, will
all be made to produce bumper crops
of alfalfa and grain. Bums has a splen
did public school, with an enrollment
of 350 pupils, and a well-equipped high
school. The combined amount of money
on deposit in its two National banks
is $1,000,000.
( HOOK rOl'XTT.
Location Most central county
of Orfon.
Area &.U1.S51 acres.
Imputation 31i.
NO county In alt Orcfton ha attract
ed more wtdopread attention and
Interest than has Crook County
during the last 13 months. Central Or
uo is well styled the most-talked-of
territory In ?ho West." and of this
l:tucb-dlcud land. Crook comprises,
both a Ijrce portion In acres and the
reart in i.ri'rphkal position and eco
nomic possibility.
Crook, the fourth largest county in
Orton. tits' In practically the center
of the state. It embraces some ktt0
square mllrs. or an arra equal that of
Massachusetts, and larger than Con
neettcut. Kbod Island and Lwleware
combined. In IMi vast acreage Is land
of every character, from the wide roll
ing sagebrush plains that comprise
the eastern sections, to tlis enormous
yellow p'r.e forests that occupy the
eastern Ranks of the Cascade Moun
tains, reaching down from U foothills
far out upon the lands that once were
known as drsert before the Introduc
tion of Irrigation made of them garden
pots of fertility.
Tfce situation of this great Central
Oregon county today la this. Insofar
as development, present and future, la
concerned. Two great railroads, rep
resenting the Hill and Ilarrltnan sys
tems, practically are completed Into the
yry heart of the county. These lines
follow op the Deschutes Klver from the
Columbia en the north. The present an
veuncrd stopples; place of the ilarrl
tnan Wsohutea road Is Redmond, some
It miles south of the Columbia. The
1IU1 road, the Oregon Trunk, pierces
Crook County as far as Kend. which I
announced as Ita terminus for tb
' present.
Without doubt both roads will be ex
tended, and along surveys already
planned and made. I'erhapa both of
them will keep on southward to Cali
fornia, ttr a affording Crook County the
tremendo .a economic advantage of a
doable outlet for Its products and a
double market In which to do Its pur
chasing. A most Important feature of
tn railroad situation la the county Is
the promise of aa easl-and-west line,
to branch off from the main lines at
lxnd. extending thence across the state
and probably nndlng connection with
the Burlington at some point la Idaho.
The great economic position which such
a Una wouI4 occupy would be as fur
rlMng a direct outlet for Deschutes
Valley timber products to the waiting
markets of the Middle West and sioutb
west. first. In considering what a county
has to offer, one tnrns to Its lands.
lsnd. Indeed, may be termed Crook
County's longest suit. There are still
rema.nlnc hundreds of thousands of
virgin icrta of rich sagebrush land,
awaiting the coming of the land-bungry
settlers. A large portion of this land
Is now open to settlement under the
32-acre so-called "dry farming" home
stead law. which permits settlers to
lake up that amount of land which la
adaptable to farming only by dry farm.
Ing methods, and to acquire title there
to by Ore years" residence, with a spe
cified annual amount of Improvement.
The "homesteadlng" anon this terri
tory, which lies chiefly In the south
eastern portion of the county, la done
for the most part from Prlnevllle and
Bend. In these days of modernised
froctlertng the locations are usually
made by auto, with small trouble to
the Intending settlers.
For many year Crook County fca
eea primarily a stockman's territory.
Tea caxtia aUU hold awajr la Lbe use
remote portions, especially tn the south
east, where now. however, the fences
and fields of the homesteaders fast are
encroaching upon the open ranges. In
the east are still great sheep ranges.
The sheep are ranged In the forest re
serve of the Cascades during Summer,
and either kept on the open ranges of
the eastern foothills or "Winter fed"
along the rich bottoms of the many
rivers and creeks, famous for their al
falfa. In the western portion of the county,
adjacent to the towna of Bend and Red
mond. Is the great Irrigation segrega
tion of the Central Oregon Irrigation
Company. Some 300.000 acres of land
Is included In It holdings, watered un
der contracts with the state nnder the
provisions of the Carey act. Upon this
land, whose soil Is of a rich volcanic
asli, practically all of the products of
the temperate sone can be raised ad
vantageously. Particularly alfalfa, clo.
ver and root crops thrive. Perhaps the
greatest and most promising field of
agricultural development for the ter
ritory la that offered by dairying. How.
ever, no section of the United States
raises finer potatoes, or with larger
yields.
lu the Southern Deechutes Valley,
around the town of La Pine, the state
Is building another Irrigation system
under the Carey Act. covering about
to aquare miles, the Deschutes Land
Company, of Portland, being the con
tractor. Dry farming occupies an Important
position among the agricultural oppor
tunities of Crook County, particularly
In the northern portions, nearer the
present railroad. Is there a very con
siderable acreage planted to grains un
der dry farming methods. An Indication
or the possibilities In this direction Is
the recent record made at the Dry
Farming Congress at Spokane by a
rancher from near Culver, whose e
hlblts made a clean sweep of the field,
winning more Individual prlies than
srere captured by any other exhibitor.
perhaps chief among the resources
of Crook County, at least reckoned In
their Immediate convertibility Into
cash. Is the great body of splendid yel
low pine Umber embraced within Its
boundaries. While considerable quan
tities of timber are found on the bill
In the eaatern parts of the county, the
great stand la along the Deschutes Riv
er. From Bend. ItS miles south of the
Columbia, where river and railroad and
timber first meet, a belt averaging 60
miles In width extends all the way to
Catlfornla.
The Deschutes has been credited In
Government reports with having a mil
lion horsepower from source to mouth.
Certainly It Is the greatest of the power-producing
rivers of the Northwest.
Almost at intervals of a mile dams
could be built and power be produced,
each plant in no wise Interfering with
Ita neighbors. ' The combination of
cheap and readily obtained power with
the timber spells a great manufactur
ing future for the country a future
big In the promise of lumber mills and
wood-working enterprises alone, not to
mention the horde of other openings,
such as pulp mills, leather working es
tablishments, wool mills, etc And be
sides providing the power for the mill
ing of the timber this great Central
Oregon river offers the mill ponds
about which will spring up the mill
towns of the future.
Prlnevllle. the county seat, has been
for many year the headquarters of
stock and sheep men. and more recent
ly the center of a rich farming country.
It Is. for Its size, remarkably wealthy.
Madras la the chief of the towna in
the northern portion of the county. It
Is the center of a great wheat-growing
territory, best known of whose dis
tricts Is the Agency Plains country,
closely adjacent to the town.
A number of new towna. some of
great promise and merit, others less
commendable, are springing up along
RICH JOHN DAY VALLEY
PART OF GRANT COUNTY
Great Timber Belts of Central Oregon County Sure to Attract
Railroads With Settlement in Their Wake.
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m'UUa r!Tisi''lTa71TasViI-'gVJU 1
opment of these immense areas means
an addition of untold millions to the
wealth of Oregon.
Harney County has been and is today
principally a stock country. Here, In
the good old days, without fence or cor
ral, cowboys rounded up their cattle
and horses by the - thousands, little
dreaming that the time would ever
come when the miles of rich, level land
over which their herds roamed, would
be transformed into fields of grain and
alfalfa, with county roads laid out on
section lines and comfortable farm
houses on every quarter section. But
the old conditions must give way to
the rapid advancements that have been
made in the science of agriculture. An
acre of land must be made to yield,
through proper methods of cultivation,
a paying crop. It now has a potential
value that was never considered before.
The cowboy belongs to a past genera
tion. The long-horned eteer and the
fuz-talled cayuse have long since been
renlncerl bv hlph prnde animals. The
GRANT COUNTY.
Location Eastern Central Ore
gon.
Area 2.922,200 acres.
Population 5607.
FEW sections have been so secluded
and to little advertised, as Grant
County in Interior Oregon. This
accounts for the lack of settlement.
Grant County Is'one of the best parts
of this undeveloped country, because
here the elements are properly mixed.
The distinctive assets are fertile soil,
abundance of water, extensive forest
and Ideal sunshine, with an absence of
shifting sand, barren alkali beds,
swamps, protracted rainy seasons and
severe extremes of heat or cold.
An empire within Itself, this county
embraces an area as great as the State
of Connecticut. Situated in the Blue
Mountains, 1U altitude varies from.
2500 to 10,000 fe&. above the sea,
which gives it a great variety of re
sources. The grassy plateaus, produc
tive bench land and fertile valleys
are drained by the John Day River and
Its tributaries. The soil Is a black
loam and a volcanic ash. The leadintr
occupations are agriculture, horticul
ture, stockraising. mlninR and lum
bering. The ranges afford pasture for
117,895 sheep, 29,613 head of cattle and
10,000 horses. The wool marketed from
Grant County in 1910 was 1.500,000
pounds.
Wheat land at Ritter has produced
60 bushels an acre without irrigation.
Irrigated land near Prairie City has
yielded 100 bushels of oats to the acre.
The best bunch grass. In the state is
grown in the Lone Creek country. Mon
ument ar.d Dayville produce three crops
ConcludM on Pace in. I
Madras. Many new projects are In the
course of development along the roads,
practically all offering opportunities
worth watching. IVrhaps one of the
most interesting of the developments
along the lower Deschutes Is the Irri
gation project of the Odin Falls Irriga
tion Company, which in the Spring will
commence the reclamation of 7000
acres near Odin Falls on the Deschutes.
Redmond, surrounded by Irrigated
lands, is one of the Important towns of
the country, new and full of enthusi
asm. Laid law. Sisters. La Pine all
are possible cities of the future.
Perhaps the best-known of the Cen
tral Oregon towns, however. Is Bend.
But eight years ago thla little city,
situated 100 miles from a railroad, has
a modern electric lighting system,
public water, free library and many
other municipal assets worthy of towns
many times its size. But more Impor
tant than these, even, to those who
are "banking" on Bend's big future, is
ita strategic location. On the Hill
road. It Is at the Junction of the pro
posed east and west line. It is also on
the Deschutes, with vast water power
possibilities, developed and undevel
oped, and equipped with splendid mill
ing locations for the huge bodies of
timber which extend southward from
the town Itself.
COW PUNCHING GIVES
PLACE TO AGRICULTURE
Harney County's 2,000,000 Acres of Tillable-Soil, Soon to Be
- Accessible by Railroads, Lures Homeseekers.
HARNEY COUNTY.
Location Southeastern Oregon,
on Nevada boundary.
Area .28.800 acres.
Population 105.
u
NLESS all signs fall. Harney Coun
ty Is at thla time on the eve of
great development. The Oregon
Trunk Is heading toward Harney Val-
have 100.000 people. Land that will
produce five tons of alfalfa or 50 bush
els of grain to the acre, will not long
remain uncultivated and unimproved
after It has railroad communication
with the outside world. A climate where
watermelons, muskmelons. strawberries
and tomatoes can be grown and ma
tured under ordinary conditions will
not want for tillers of the soil.
Harney County has 6,423.800 acres of
land, of which approximately 2,000,000
acres are tillable. About one-half of
the tillable land Is susceptible of Irri
gation, while the other half, under the
dry farming methods of cultivation will
ley from the west, while at the same
time the Oregon Eastern Is building , produce abundant crops without Irriga
from the east. This means that over tion. Harney Valley Is the largest val-
1,000,000 acres of rich agricultural land
will soon be transformed Into one of
the most productive sections of the
state. It means the dividing of the
large holdings Into small tracts, and
the opportunity for thousands to se
cure homes. It also means the comple
tion of some of the largest Irrigation
projects In the Northwest. ( an(J sllvle, Vall
Harney'e poplatlon Is about 4000. contiguous the
l' y In Oregon, being considerably larger
than the famous Willamette Valley.
When there is added to the rich agri
cultural lands of Harney County the
thousands of acres of deep, dark, allu
vial soli contained In Blitzen Valley.
White Horse Valley, Trout Creek Val
ley, Wild Horse Valley, Diamond Val
ley, Happy Valley, Warm Springs Val
ley. Catlow Valley, Silver Creek Valley
Valley, and the bench lands
contiguous thereto that can be put
In Ave years it Is expected to be 50,000, under cultivation, the aggregate Is over
the line of the two rallroada eoutlx cf and In 10 year Harney County ahould. 2.000.000 acre of rich aoU. The devel-
h
iTADCV A lT
RRIGATE
t
PUBLIC LAN
OPENING
YOU ARE ENTITLED TO FILE ON
160 ACRES OF IRRIGATED LAND.
WRITE AT ONCE TO
mJTRAI ilRFGflN IRRIGATION CO Mm
WL.,.... w.. V VtfJ
A I C t-J rvruAKic di rn
PORTLAND ORE.
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