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THE OREOOK DAILY JOURNAL, PORTLAND. TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 13. 1104.
VT WILL
MAN TO
ff
Hermiston, Umatilla County, Where
Sagebrush Desert Is Being Re
claimed for the Husbandman.
Important Enterprise of Maxwell
Land and Irrigation Co. 15,000
Acres Now Useless to Be
Covered by Water. ,
Hermiston. Umatilla County, Or., .Dec-
It On. discover, quickly the fascinating
that compelled the pioneer westward. If
h comes to Hermiston. Umatilla coun
ty. Oregon, and witnesses during these
days the evolution of a town from the
desolation of a .agebru ah desert. At
this time, faith founded on scientific
knowledge, la a large element in th
Situation, These people are builders,
.and in a sans creators and they know
that they are going to succeed in erect-
u. h.H . rltv t h .nt.r (if thriv
ing colony of prosperous landowners, i
The year 1101 will have (one only a
Caw days whan a bustling, eager throng
of people will be in Hermiston to buy
lands, for th Irrigation company will
have on th market lands covered with
water and ready for th soli-tiller to
begin actual cultivation and sowing, by
January 1. Indeed, already aeveral lota
of land have been sold in Hermiston,
and th purchasers are preparing to
root thereon a large hotel and store.
At this time the company carries a
stock of goods " and sells groceries,
worklngmen'a clothing, lumber, hay,
fuel, boots and shoes, tobaccos and bed
ding. Flv. families now are buying
supplies at the company store.
The government has been petitioned
for a postomce, named Hermiston. the
office to be located at th railway sta
tion west from the tracks. The com
pany has Bled a townslt plat, dedi
cating th streets and alleys. Grading
Will be done soon. Several buildings
are in course of erection. Plans are
drawn providing everything that goes
to make up a modern city. Abundance
fit capital Is behind the enterprise and
ff th 1100,000 already appropriated by
the company is not sufficient, the stock
holders, who are men of large means,
stand ready to expend as much more
as will be needed to fulfill the promise
to reclaim the lands and build a town.
Inducements are offered person who
will put In stocks of goods, hotels and
other necessary lines of business.
On most attractive feature of the
,nw town will be the abundant sup
ply of cool spring water which will be
piped a distance of nearly three miles.
The spring from which th water will
com flows four and one half cubic feet
per second, aggregating; 3.270.400 gal
lons every 14 hours. This will furnish
domestic water for a town of many
thousands, with a large surplus for Ir
rigating and sprinkling.
Any on who knows what water will
do when applied to the volcanic soils
of this region will have no doubt that
Hermiston and vicinity are soon to be
the scene of prosperous husbandmen
and thrifty townspeople.
The company has erected a large head
quarters building. It is a busy place.
15,000 ACRES ARE
TO BE IRRIGATED
Two Thousand Are to Be Offered
For Sal in Three
Week.
LANDS FROM $60 AN ACRE
UP IN FIVE-ACRE TRACTS
Favorable Terms Are Given
the Company to Purchas
ers of Property
Fifteen thousand acrea of land will
be covered by the canala of the Max
wall Land A Irrigation' company.
Two thousand acres will be on the
market on January 1, 1(0(.
Lands will be eold In tracta of five
eras or mora, to suit the purchsser.
The lands covered by the company's
canals will be laid out with public high
ways alone each section and half .ac
tion Una. giving each legal subdivision
4 acre an outlet, permanently.
Lands will be sold by the company at
(0 aa acre up, with every acre being
deeded a perpetual water light to the
pure ha ear.
At Mt aa acre, for fertil land with
water right., situated on a transconti
nental railway, ia a climate wherein It
Is sevsn month, between frost., and
where work out of doors preeaade th
year around, the purchaser haa a price
lass than ever before offered. At Vine
land, near Lewlston. Idaho, th cheapest
raw land la held at 110 an acre. Prloea
at Harm la ton are 140 and up.
Term, to nurahaeere of land, are one
fourth caeh. balance in three equal pay
omenta, at ( per cant Interest.
Th. man employed therein ir building
a city and planning great tiling, (or
this part of th atate
Ae Work I. Oou-Ohaaeee for
th. looHHttr.
During an Investigation by th cor
respondent, roverlng aeveral weeks, In
COMPANY TO ASSIST SET'
TLERS
The Maxwell Land Irriga
tion company is engaged con
stantly in preparing lands for
the sowing of crops. Already
several hundred acres have been
planted to crops by th company.
Th parsons who (lie on govern
ment lands under the canals, or
who buy lands from ths com
pany, will have the benefit of the
company employes' experience in
preparing the soil for cultivation.
Ths spirit of the corporation is
to assist the settler in every
manner possible, that his efforts
be productive of the maximum
results. Success by the canal
company means success by the
settler, th converse being
equally true.
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Umatilla county, the subject of irriga
tion was exhaustively studied on th
vary ground where the capital and brain
of man is now engaged in reclaiming
the arid land. Several minor enter
prises already have been developed and
and planting; of crops has been done
by th company. 80 far advanced are
th works that It is safe to predict an
annual production in a very few years of
not less than 17(0,000 from the lands
suoceas has bean attained, success that
has spurred on those who, with large
wealth to command, are able to operate
on a seals involving many thousands of
acres.
Several miles south from the town of
Umatilla is Hermiston. ths seat of the
Maxwell Land and Irrigation company,
that Is now preparing to water 16,000
acres owned or controlled by them.
Much to the satisfaction of th presi
dent and manager, J. F. McNaught, wa
ter from Umatilla river baa been al
ready brought on several thousand acres
to be covered by their canals.
The correspondent was shown the de
tails of th great enterprise, in the tell
lng of which the homeseeker may gain
an accurate knowledge of the system.
The entire scope of the irrigation prop
osition, from the point of view of the
homeseeker, is herewith set forth, in the
hope that it may be of value to the
person who is looking for locations. Th
data secured is from Manager Mo
Naught, Chief Engineer Harry Hawkins
and Secretary Robert Spencer.
The land to be covered by the Her
miston concern (Hermiston Is the new
name of the former station called Max
well) aggregates 11,000 acres of sage
brush lands These lsnds cover a ecope
from two miles south of th Columbia
rlvsr to It miles away and from ths
Umatilla rivar eastward to Cold Spring.
distance of several miles. The ac
quisition of 7,000 acres of fine-lying lands
from the extensive holdings or u. w.
Hunt during ths last week in Novem
ber, completed the tract to cover which
th Mazw.U company was formed. Th
expenditure of $100,000 has been au
thorised by th directors and the work
now Is in hand.
These lsnds already are filed on in
part by scores of settlers, who have
either tiled homestead applications for
ouarter sections or taken MO acres
each under the desert land act, which
normlta both man and wife to take
120 acree. The government requiree me
payment of 16 cents an acre at time of
filing, the placing of water on every
legal sub-division 40 acres by ths
time the settler proves up, four years
being allowed from time of filing, and
the final payment of II an acre at proof
time. He must also sow to crops at
least one eighth of his claim.
Sow to fceoaas lands.
A man or woman locates, under the
desert land act 10 acres. His first pay-
HERMISTON
INJRIEF
What New Town Offers
to the Home Seeker.
SITUATED ON MAIN
LINE OF A RAILWAY
The List of th Possible Products
Includes Everything that Is
Crown in the Temper
ate Zone.
Hermlston, the. new town established
by the Maxwell Land A Irrigation com
pany, is ssven miles south from Uma
tilla City. In Umatilla county, on the
Umatilla river, on the main line of the
O. R. A N. Co., Of the transcontinental
system of the Union Pacific Railway
company, th main line running through
th center of the lands owned by the
Maxwell company. The Spokane line
of the OR. NT Co. and the main line
of the W. A c" K K Co. (a Northern
Pacific road) skirts the Irrigation com
pany's lands on the north. Thus Her
mlston's Irrigated district will have two
transcontinental railways, and. so soon
as the state portage railway la built
at Celllo, the Columbia river will be
open to navigation and boats will land
within one and one half miles of the
lands covered by the irrigation com
pany's Canada, giving water competition
as a basis for carrying rates. A con
tract has been let for the portage road.
WHAT THE LANDS WILL PRODUCE.
The lands around Hermiston are so fer
tile under irrigation, and the variety
of the products Is so great, that the
list looks like the combination of those
of several localities In ss many climatic
a'nea fol for all kinds of livestock
alfalfa, clover, timothy, barley, oats,
corn, rye; all the cereals; apples, pears,
peaches, plums, apricots, all berries,
cherries, prunes; the vegetables grown
In the temperate zone; sugar beets, six
weeks earlier than In the Qrande Ronde
valley; almonds, English walnuts. Mack
walnut, hickory nuts, butternuts, pe
cans, peanuts and sweet potatoes.
merit, at 15 cents an acre, la fM; his
final paymsnt when he proves up, H20,
i j rsS Showing Irrigation System, .
making 1400 in aU on 110 acre. He
may make a contract with the company
that built the canal, calling on the com
pany to furnish water for every 40
acres. If the settler so elect, he may
retain th entire 120 acres, purchase the
water right from the compsny and have
a marvelously rich tract of land worth
111,000 to 1(0.000.
Water is diverted eastward from the
Umatilla river at a point 700 feet below
the mouth of Butter creek, 11 miles
south from the Columbia, th main
canal leading from a fine concrete dam
costing aeveral thousand dollars. The
canal Is 11 feet wide on the bottom and
27 on top, the water running three feet
deep. Already 10 mllea of canal and
main laterals have been built, and the
work Is being pushed with 4 to 10 men
and 10 teams. The main canal crosses
the O. R. A N. Co.'s right of way and
passes on towards Cold Spring. The
lands to be covered are on both sides of
the railway tracks. Flumes are used
wherever needed, end . to carry water to
some higher points, wire-bound barrel
stave piping, 11 Inches In diameter, is to
be laid. Mora than one mile of this
piping is being used. Two thousand
feet of flumes already are built and
more are to be built. A remarkable fea
ture of barrel-stave piping Is Its perma
nency, such piping having lasted 100
years In eastern states.
The lsnds in question are to be worked
aa cheaply as sny that are known. The
homeeeeker will find that. If shut out
by the high prices of lands elsewhere,
under the desert land act he can pay all
expenses of proving up and getting Into
crop 40 acres for slightly more than
11,000. Hs can have this land yielding
full crops of alfalfa or other product!
the second year from filing, and thence
forth a living assured for himself and
family from the 40 acrea In other
words, he Is getting for a trifle more
than 111 an acre a 40-acre tract from
which he can take at the very least a
net profit of 1100 a year, if he car to
hire a man to do the work; or. If he
choose, he may do the work and net
11,800, the return from seven tone of
alfalfa per acre on 40 acrea, at ( 'a ton
being 11.(10, less 1 a ton for putting ths
hay In the stack.
These figures were vouched for by
such men as H. C. Willis, editor of the
Echo News; R. N. Stanfleld. Ralph Stan
field, O. W. Hunt of that locality; D. C.
Brownell of the Brownell Canal com
pany, and every Informed man of the
region.
Alfalfa Is used as an illustration of
what these lands will do. when once
water haa been placed on them. How
ever, the other crops that may be grown
are so numerous that to tell them In de
tail would require a whole chapter.
ACAJTT X.A VSS SCABCB.
irrigation Canals Virtually the Only -
. lief for BTome-ntunter. ,--r
Candld observers. Informed on the in-
Several Buildings Already Built in Her
miston 2,000 Acres of Irrigated
Lands Ready for Sale.
Strong Financial Resources Behind
the Company President and
Manager McNaught and His
Competent Staff Busy.
dustrlal atatus. concede that the major
portion of the developing energy in
Umatilla county will be expanded upon
arid lands during th ensuing years. The
maximum of prosperity has been ap
proximated in the central region, where
wheat Is king, with its (,000,000-bushel
crop this year, worth f 1, 1(0.000. In the
"east end." so called, th land has been
taken to the very boundary of the coun
ty, leaving none of the public domain for
th settler. The southern part of th
county ha been appropriated by the
livestock-breeder, who has pushed far
back into th Blue mountains, which
skirt th county from northeast to
southeast.
During ths 10 years that have elapsed
CLIMATE AT HERMISTON
Th man employed by th
Maxwell Land A Irrigation com-
pany, since August is. according 4
to the time books of the suparin-
tendent, Harry Hawkins, have 4
lost exactly one hour of working 4
time on account of storms. Th
climate approximates ths Ideal. 4
Labor out of doors goes on th 4
year round. The temperature 4
varies sufficiently to ton th
system, but has not extremes 4
auch aa make life unpleasant or 4
work out of doors burden soma 4
The range is from SI to 100 de- 4
greet. Fahrenheit, with only a 4)
few days of either extreme her 4
Indicated. 4
since the first pioneers braved th dan
ger, of cast.rn Oregon, tha process of
lniluatilal evolution has brought practi
cally all the landed area Into sonie uve,
the continuance ot tha evolutionary pro
cess promising higher types of husband
man and increased volume of production
to the given arta. Consult the map.
dra n line from Pendleton wxt of
north to th. Washington state line, on
other west of south to the limits of
Grant county, and no territory east of
thoae lines is available to the settler
who deslras to take up public landa Of
course, scattering exceptions msy be
found an th form of Isolated quarter
sections overlooked by the eager land
hunter. But practically the large scope of
country Indicated la beyond the reach of
the home-seeker unless he have cash In
hand wherewith to buy outright ths
farm, ranch or orchard of the owner,
who mayhap came here when the rifle
was as necessary aa a safeguard against
tha hostile Indians aa food was neces
sary and expenalve to obtain to
frighten away the wolf of hunger.
The remainder of the county, lying
westward from the Imaginsry Unas
heretofore drawn, holda poaalbllittea
auch aa t. enthuae the prophet whoae
eye la trained to peer into th future
and perceive there what is to be.
Promts of the r u tare.
Who cannot grow Inspirited aa he
rides through thoss now arid lands Is
merely not endowed with th faculty of
drawing conclusions from sn argument
of Which Almighty God himself laid the
major and minor premise, and of which
man's Industry forms the chain of rea
soning. Excepting a comparatively small srea
that la tributary to Bcho, Foster's snd
Nolln. this country lying weat from th
lines that were drawn Is at this ttms a
desert. In so far as concerns husbandry.
Th few tracts that are producing are
small. .Practically all remains to be re
claimed. Yet. to reclaim it. to make the coyote
and Jackrabblt depart to give room to
the domestic animal, to plsoe luxuriant
ly green and richly valuable vegetation
where now Is only sagebrush, needs
water only water. That gray, dry soil
to ths traveler looking from the car
window, a substance of no present or
potential velue If water be placed
thereon, and seeds be planted, verily will
transform the weary desert Into a bril
liant garden of flowers snd a granary
whence a world may draw Its susten
ance. What that region will produce may he
estimated by giving to 100,000 acree an
annual production of 1(0 an acre; prob
ably T( to 1100 an acre, would be nearer
the correct amount. Tnla runa Into so
many millions of agricultural wealth
that one la ataggered at the totals.
Presume the smaller per acre produc
tion be taken. It brings 110,000.000. The
production of the county in 1(04 waa
more than 1S.000.000. Then realise what
Irrigation promises to Umatilla county.
A FEW EPIGRAMS
OF HERMISTON
Lots Already Sold in the New
Town for the Erection of
Buildings.
OFFER INDUCEMENTS
1 TO BU8INESS MEN
Settlers May Buy Lands Covered
with Water by Second
of January.
Hermiston, the new Irrigation town,
was established by the Msxwell Land
A Irrigation company. A plat has been
tiled by the company, formally dedicat
ing to the public, forever, the streets
and alleys named In the recorded plat
of the company'a engineers.
Several lots In Hermleton already
have been sold.
Preparations are being made for the
erection of atorea, a hotels and War.
houses
The company will offer Inducementa
to peraona who desire to enter all lines
of legitimate business at Hermlaton.
When water waa turned Into the
canala of the Maxwell Land A Irrigation
company at Hermlaton. It flowed four
miles from the Intake dam to the town
alt without material loaa from seepage,
and no loaa from leakage.
The seeker for a home will have a
rare opportunity, on January 1, lfot,
when the Maxwell Land A Irrigation
company offers 3.000 acres of lands at
lnnd eajhr Hermiston. I'm. till county.
Oregon.