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About Willamette farmer. (Salem, Or.) 1869-1887 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1881)
WILLAMETTE FARMER; PORTLAND, OREOON. FEIIKUARY 4. 1881. EASTERN WASmNQTOM TERRITORT. Description of the Counties North of the Col- nmbU and Snake Rlreri Includ'ng the Klickitat, Yakima, Spokane and Palouie Valley, and the drand Couleei of the Columbia River. , Tho area of Now York and Pennsylvania, XUOXrTAT CptJSTT. Passing through, tho gorge of tho Columbia wo leave the Cascade Mountain summits to tho Vct and open upon a region that, with somo Intervening range, tuch aa tho Dine Mountain, tho Coeur d Al.ne and Hitter Root MounUInt, extendi eastward to tho Rocky Mountain, Including Northern Idaho cumuumi, unir w.vaw square inuca, and mlpartof Montana. The river .hores are they aro two gr. at State, with million of bleak and Inhospitable, and for five to fifteen people and great valuo of property, mounting mile on each tide of tho river it ecm that up to thousand! of millions; they have no' the win.la have .eitod the aand exposed on great extent of fcrtilo soil, contain wido tho bank, and lr at low water, and have mountain ranges and havo been made valua- ,prcad it over a wide breadth on each sidoi bio to mail by centuries of labor. Both of but a few miles back from these barren, these States aro not equal in extent to Oregon sandy or rocky shores, there I a rich nnd ex- which has 100,000 square miles, and Oregon tonsivo region to bo found that ) car by, year and Washington, with 170,000 square 'in.es tanTI uujriifiniHwHinin oi mem. shores of Hkamanla we find the growing conn new lorn ami rcnnsyivaiila could bo dropped ty ot Klickitat, nils county lie .n tno land down on tlio East sido of tho Cascade range '"'tricUaud we have report from each wliicii and not cover 'tho area known as Eaitom ' and a quarter of acre, in- n .,,, ., , . , ", -"y" eluded in Government suneys. We judgo Oregon and Washington. This is tlio region from report, received that tint one fourth of wo aro attempting to dtacribo and wo take, this surveyed land is clained "by occupants this method of giving tho readers somo idea of , and tho balance is ready for settlers to take tho vastucss ami importanco of a great area under government, or to file upon for pur- which possesses .nviy surface ntkuetious as chase of the Northern l'acilla Railroad. well as Invites development of riches that Klickitat valley ha an area of twenty bv timo will call into existence, not to bo found upon the amfaco, It cannot bo suppnecd that in tho brief limits of newspaper articles we can givu in detail tlio merits and peculiar fea tures of this wido scope, of territory, but wo shall review each county ami attempt to placo Wore the reader such facta as will best ex press tho advantage each offer for sottlusncnt and a fair description of it topography and characteristic. Tho farm in New York Stato cover 15,000, 000 acros of Improved land or not more than one fourth tho area of Oregon, while Ftmisyl vanla contains in farms 11,500,000 acres of improved land, or not much over one-fourth tho total area of Washington Territory. Thrie States havo been for over two centuries and a half growing In woilth and population and wo are in our very Iisfancy and the prob. lems of timo havo yet to bo solved' in our favor.' ' . It U only latclv that wo havo begun to real, ize tho valuo of tho country East of tho Cas cades. Tlio Idea of planting wheat upon the hillsides and and pl.ite.nix of that arid region was not entertained by Hie most sanguine! but cultivation has liecn gradually attempted aiid has proved euccciufulovcra wido scopo of country that was considered only a uataml pasture and it lias Wen found that thra soti, light in weight and in color, possesses great vitality and ha pioductive forces tint aro not often equalled. Tor two or throe years jwist a nrv.it immigration has bom ponring Hit i tho most available sections of tho whole interior region. In great part this has como from the older settled portions of Oregon, for many hat o sent their son to malco homes in that id w land of many hopes, and mamy who have got tired of stroiuUiig with hard fate havo taken their families tliitlitr awl claimed homesteads on tlio uideprcadliiL'and plains. Then again, others, with mean, to invest havo gone there to establish stock ranches on the wide range. The healthfulncss of this clear, dry climate, has allured many who found it neces ary to avoid the mist aud rains prevail, ing towards the Western Coast. Capitol has of com id been allured bv the rich prizes ollercd in tho transportation for so great and promising a region and we ire rail road sj stem rapidly developing by both tho Northern I'aciliu Railroad Co., and the Oregon Railway and Naviga'iou Company that will soon bring every productive .pot of suy im portanco East of tho mountain, into a speedy communication with ocean transportation. The fact is ev dent that tho influx ol immigra tion has only just commenced. Time will make this region tlio homo for millions, and the greatness of it futuri is a matter we may well .peculate upon. To-day it i. eigealy sought, liecause, aa we have before explained, so great an extent of soil remain vacant that ha. only to bo turn) r aud sowed to grain to produce good h . HKjOI ,A Illl'STY. thirty mile and is generally food soil ami covered in it natural state w illi bunch grass. It ha. long been considered a good stock range, but within a short time It has bien con sidered an Invitingfield for farmers to occupy, and the valloy and its ausrouuding hills aro seining up r.ipuuv ami win soon bo pouring out a surplus of wheat for export. Klickitat county has its natural outlet on tho Columbia river jnd is much nearer market than Palou-e ot Walla Walla valley.. Tho.oil is good and there is enough of it to accommadato a large population. How easy it ! for energetic pco plo to find homes there and claim plenty of land, can be judged from tho experience of Mr. Henry Mctarland, of licntoi county, who wens up uio river lasi spring aim located In Klickitat, forty miss abovo The Dalles, and only six miles -from the Columbia river, with a down hill grade all the way. Ho took up a homestead on a high hilly region, where bunch iirass was irrowina thriftily: ho located a timber culture claim and filed upon some railroad land, and ha a claim upon .bout COO acre of rich, fcrtAe KM, that promises to be good for wheat farming. , Hi. claim include, a grand spring on w hicli grow . a largo quan tity of balm or cotton wood, aid within a couple of mile there is gravelly prairie that grows scrub oak. which answers for fit en ood, while hi rail timber ha to lie hauled from the mountains, some 12 or 15 mile distant. It is probably as healthy on this high location, and on tlio rolling hills of all the Eastern country. hills of V. a II Don anv Portion of our eountrv. The hinh, hills have ileen soil and the Klicki- 1st volley very possibly offers no lietter loca tion man can ue nan I r tlio taking, on tho hill part of that county. Tlio county seat is Momentl le, in rtllckltat valloy, wliicii al ready ha soveral hundred inhabitant, and Is the seat of a lit ely trade. Columbus is a ixiint ,. ..:.... i... ...... .i . ,.. i.i. v VU.fllllj; III1J.UI hAllkU uu tut) wuilllliom. Klickitat City is-a thriving place,' and the interests ot me-county .already support a live ly newspaper. The Simcoc Jnd au reservation occupies considerable good land in this coun ty. The Indians have made considerable ad vance towards civilization; there is a good Industrial school there, and Jtev. J. II, Wil bur, for a long time agent there, is supposed to have demonstrated the posslliiiity of induc ing the Indian tribes to make some advance towards an enlightened condition. Klickitat baa a present population of over 3000 and is making rapid growth. Stock raising ha been a popular occupation but sneep are not so pientilul iSorih ol tlio Col Eastern wool clin comes from, the Northern counties. Winters are itencrally more severe there than South of the Columbia and sto;k raiser generally are losing heavily there for a few week. past. 1 lie exceptional season that I. carrj ing .now aud frost to Georgia and Louisiana on the East of the Rocky mountain. Im fait mniawliat r ! Iiix jm t 1'1 It I. rni t a M .1 ,i e.s- is . Vll HUV Itivernitea ft l 111 WIU VI IIIICT III 1(1041 Till, county, on tho north, the Washington o W,.tern Oregon aud Washington side, . islocatcxUlircctly In the Cascade Moun- lias been comparatively mild, because they tains and has derived it chief importince are sheltered by tin- Cascade range from tho from the existence of the Cascade railroad by ' i",luenc,6 tll4t Dow..'ruul oier the Rocky ,,.,., . . , 4iiouutalus upon our Eastern cnuuties, I jvst of mean of which the portago is made around the Cascade the present winter witiicssoj the falls. This road is six miles lone. A vicissitude, of climate that are drstrwtite of .teatner landing below reicive. the. freight inin.li prorty. We look at it in this light! and passengers from I'ort'and, convey, all to That the day of great stock ranges is about another lauding aboe where they are trans- over; where farming van lie carried on to ferred to another st anier and taken to Tho advantage it will be encouraged by tho build- Dalle i. The county cannot le said to have ing of branch railroads, and wheat growing any agriculture, A very limited area for set- will replace the roaming herds that s-metimes tlemeut is found along the shores, and the carry the brand of an owner oier a hundred heauly timbered mountain sides are cut into mile of country. Stock-raising may not di- wood for supply of steamlioats aud locomo- minish, but must be carried on morn practl- tiyes, or made into tiej for the use of the dif- cally aud within closer limit. The first placo ferent railroads that are being built in the Up- of all the Eastern country had to be the stock per Country, Tlio portage railroad around the range; now comes the husbandman to claim Cascade ha the merit of being the first rail- the beat available laad for cultivation and road ever constructed West of the Rocky combine .tock-raising in a' small way perhaps. Mountains, a it ha btn in operation since a but in a safer and more humane way, with Terr riy day, th legitimate pursuit of agriculture. YAKIMA CUU.NTV. Reaching from the C.i'cado rango to tho Columbia, whore that river runs Southward, a tho map will show, to its Junction with Snake river, bounded on tho South by Klick itat county, and North by Stevens county,' is the great county of Yakima. It is not to bo so tributary, as its Southern neighbor, to tlio trade of tho Cotitmbia riur; that Is, when the Northern-Pacific ntilrcaii completes Its lino over tho passes that cro.is tho Cascade range from Pugct Sound, that rotid wilt pas through tho mldsof much nttractlvo country that lie upon the Ynklnu titer, and will claim the traffio of tho Northern 'comities, of Washinitt-n. Stevens on thu liistand Yakima on tho West of tho Columbia. Writing from Ynkiiua city, a correspondent of tho Sail Kraiictie-o Clirouielu speaks aa fol lows of the Insula, productions, pcuplo nnd gum mines oi laKinin couutyi "On arriving at tho Upt er Cascades you again tike a stoimcr, nnd about th en o'clock in tlio afternoon you nnivuiit Tho Dalles, a very tlirivinc little nlaeo of 1.B00 inl.nliitnnts. Hero yon will remain out night and at day light tako tho Yakima ntaj;o. After crossing the Columbia to the Washington Territory side, you travel 12 nulis to reach thu summit of the Klickitat hills, l'roui hero toil can tako a birds-cyu view of tho great Klickitat Valley. In tho disttmo you behold Oolden dale, tho county seat of Klickitat county. To tho right and to tho left for 'J3 miles may bo seen hero and them n cottage, with a fow acres under cultivation. After traversing this broad plain you enter tho Sinn-no mountains, which are well covered with forests of pine, fir and tamarack, and as thelo is tin tindur brush, the liHIsarr covered with perfect sward of pine and bunch grnncs. ' On arriving at tho summit of tho Tnpubh spur of theso mountains yon fir.t ImjIiuM the Yakima river. At a single glance you 1 chold Its meandering for nearly one bundled mile. Far toward tho north it annaicntlv emerges from the liill. aide, and liko a silver thread glistening in tlio sunlight, you trace it rig-rag course for more man suiv miles to no nort liweit. until h d. den by high niotiutaitis near the Columbia, Directly in front of ou lies tlicSinieoovalluv. about tHcnty-live miles in length. Nearly every acre of this is rich farming land, lut It is as yet onry a desert wato, lieing tho Yaki. ma iniiian reservation, l-or thirty miles you can travel and not sco a homo, not evin ,an Indian camp, and on this journey you will not pass overall acre but which, if put under cul tivation, would raise forty hhdiels of wheat. Next ill onler is the Attniium valley, which is twenty-five miles in length, nud from ouo to seven miles in width, ibis t alley is thickly settled and is a veiy rich agricultural district. Yakima City is situated at .tho junction of the Attanum and Yakitui liters. This la a village of aliout .'W0 inhabitants, nud building up very rapidly. Ono day's st iging f.mu The Dalles brings you to this placi. I ho chief occupation of tho inhabitant at presmt is stock-raislnir. About fifteen thomnnd head of cattlo will be dritin from here this coming spring to Montana and eastern markets. Agriculture here Is still i'l It" ' f -ev, sim ply because wo havo no iii-i k t n- toim hoirn consumption for cereals. Hjii- ic nuocd quite extensively, alio am the ' !y iidii that tlemcnt, cultivation and development. That company will no doubt send its branches to evcrv fertile valloy within its rench and no person who now visit that comparatively savngo region can readily bclicvo what magical changes may be produced in it within two short years, In case tlio railroad gives It lifo and attractivcncM. There were about 2,000 population in this county al-out a year agoj taxable property about a million dollars; total atca nearly 10,000,000 acres, and whilo this nny Include much hill and mountains, that tort of region will not excci d tho averago in New York or Pennsylvania and Yakima coun ty alone has one fourth the ore of tho latter fttato. JlcsldH tho vallloys alluded to by the writer abovo quoted, is tho Kittitas valley, 40 miles in length nnd 10 miles wide. irreVKXH tXlt'MT. Tills county was named after it first Oov" cnior Ocn. I. I. Stevens, who was afttrwards a distinguished Union General, and fell in ono of tho battles of the civil war. It covers an Immcnso area and w ill also bo traversed, through ita whole length in a Northeasterly direction by tlio North Pacific railroad, which has its road graded beyond Spokane Falls, and tho track is laid for a considerable distance, tho work being commenced at Aiusworth,, at tho junction of thoColnniblaandSnakorirers, to Iij pushed towards the East from thtro as rapiiltjr as possible, through Montana. From a publif lied description of this comity wo take tho follow Ing. "On its border at Ft. Coltillo and the Chliiinknnc mission, lure, and hctonlsn were enacted many Important eituits of caily Ore gon history. In 1811, David Thompson, as tronomer of tho Noithtiest Company In hi otorland voyngo tofoiestall the enterprise of John Jacob Astor, established a post at the mouth of tho Spokane. In IRl'J the Pacific Fur Company (Ator') established the Spo knno hoiiso and 1'ort Okniingann. Hero too, aro soveral ci tho Inllnn kittlo flt-ldi fought sinro tlio nnmo of Vmhin3l0n has been ascri bed to tho 'I en limy. Ti u Spokane plains are extcusite, a pnitiou rich and covered with bisnch-gmsfi. TI 0 we.d si.lu I oiinded by high blutls, ninnli'g to Spokauu liver, nud to the head of Culvillu vallev. Is cumin will. water. cd region admirably adapted to stock raising, which will lio desiribiil in tho geograplno memoir of I'.-utcin Washingtrn. Iho coun try northea't of SpoUnno for aliout fotty miles isalcttl plain, itivried tih bunch grass, line for glazing, but not considered extra fot agricultural piirpotra althcugh crops have lieen grown successfully on tla plain. All West and North of Spokane after lent ing the town nlAiut six miles, tin re Is a let el prairie, tho soil being 11 rich bind; loam, pronounced by tho fletiiTil I-and Ollico chemist to be the lust in thu IJni u.1 St-itit f r whenti it is In terspersed v it Is tiddicr, and abundantly water ed by creeks ami I.ikis Tho section is set tling lip fast, ami w he 10 one home could lie M en last spring, more thai fifty ran now be couutd from any door st', tunilriul !tel of tho country olieiing nr ubstitietion to the m'ow. 'Ihnpralrl e tin 1 mi f 0 ''pnkano to the Rig lIeiidof('liiiiil,laritcr, six-, ."N. South of S oknnc 1I.0 ciinlrv is sorncwh.it rough, hut vidua) In for giniing, 'lint tow 11 of Spokane has the finot water tiowcr 011 the racllio toast. ind I suit untied by an exten- 'ft. . - '. . . . J . &l. !.. II. .! a. ..I .I.w. ... .1 - Will pay 10 export. ' Oo l.itl.' neio In, lor tlio -'"""" :;' ewumry, oil sun mo-t part, of an oxen ..uilitv, but now line uf the jutrl mil ndlronil, with an outlet and then a spot Is tr. . .ongly Imnicguatml '""i sealmaiils, nml llie sentof govorhment with alkali to lie utsl !. 'l?io ni-iago crop "' thu eonnliy ni.d loetiont Us future as a of wheat will yield 1 out thirty bushels, but l""'Ufncturing and distributing peint is as- somo fields yield as much as sixty per acre. "'d. iho Indian aro imlu.tri'us and Thousads of acres of g.Hl (..niilng laud are tot Ple. A'ido fnm tlm sctcrnl fnrta that in ut rpUlme.l !.. ...ill... h,, i. . ... liii-uave them, the comi niatlt elt- tblcklv ivin. ... rj ts tivi's uieiu iq ling . . . . . . . .. . sf boly of land beunnning witl.ni lite mile of watcel rountiy I'luiiu a nstraint .gain.t town, containing afion 4S0,W-1 i.res. that is depredations, it. n should they eter ccntem- all vacant, and other bodies of bn.dlcr dlincn. pwto micIi ns Imi. At C.tnr d'AIeue lake, ion. are Inviting si tilers. O.n mine, aro umbra; peiliai not more tlitn one sixth orTattractinc cousldo ablo attention I ' tea.on ror several years past n fen inn 1 1 li no lice 11 diligently at w 01 k opening quait, ( s, nml several tliousaml dollars t ( ro tal.111' o,it but seaaoq with araitias, but this mmm.h two quartz mills will le in niicratioii. (in. p'reer iniuc. iurnei out quilt) nnniiiomciy la t i"n iner, and tlieir ownei. aro etpe-c in! to do mucn iiHT mis )car. 1 ins countiy is coin, pratively unpnitectetl, but uuineniiis ieV' have been found of fold, silver ami lead, a lew of clnnahar'aiid antimony. 'I here I no tlcubt twenty-eight niilc"stt of hpokauo is a four c iiijuny post, bi. r cuiuuiaiid of (ien. Wluatnn. Tloi'rit-j finm Sjioliann to the Jako is tho l-st iiiiacimible. tl e country lieing 1 Ul almost as a llu 1 Tho Inko is thirty miles lung, with a (literal width of three mile.. Wualso take the following from the Tacoma I-odgcrof Sept. 3d, describing the topography, soil unit climate, TlirOIIIIAI'HICAL n STI'liM CK TIIK COUNTItr. The aterag 1' n'oiirorits surfaeu is that of that before five enrs sliallliavoiolUiliiioiind, airatlual l..orri 11 j, iiupeireptibly to tho Wellington Territory will htto jieldeil up naked eye. at w mt.-n I'euiiiieiicu it may bo millions of the hidden treasure." titwe-d, fro 11 li Odrmbia rivinnstward to i o iiv nuv viiiiiuti ma eiver nnguiro s!T- inc i''t unit I llm li i iilitiiins III Idaho, bav tion. a. to production, but tho s.,il is tuy ing the gmnnl uppiurniico .f a vast plain MCtOlll 01 llllllll i II (III up Ultll COllllCS. AtAinswnrl'i, n.nicjt.ie Ji 1111 In gin", tho 1 let a lion is -l.'O lee t a" vi- thu sea; thirty miles out tl.mbtntioii il(l tiit; nt fifty luile it is l,ir,0feetiitH- Myiiihv, l,427lietntiiintty lolles. I.hli-J nt inn. I.iiiiii .1 ninl 1 I. vi.m I-1. ..4 IAI .1 . ,-., -.- ,..-- ......, ,,.,., ,,viiv ii iiircieiLjii me miner w imoiii niucii, ll ony at nuc liiiiiuieil 1 lid I. iriy, -Vl!,uid ntadis. feed, and cattle and boisesaro numerous tlr ic I jiicu of 1 n hi. ilud en I nil ety miles from Hut here also, tho linsloiidniaii is coming ti u, Ainswintu tl t etalioii U 2,ilXjfct, showing In a measure drive out tho stock m 111; anotl.ir a lube in tl r .li.laiiur.f ,IW(. itor I0fet yearwillprobably.ee actito commenc'.mi nt to tlio mil. . 'Jin. fiml cxpei.iu of country of tho road from the Sound over the Cusui.lt s lins n lilst erb nil t d, nml is uivi red w itli and when the charming hill and vale, of hunch gis-w. r'leln .1 biM's eye view, the Yakirna are brought within a few hour, ride whole of Kustem Washington wouhl prv by railroad of the water of PugetSound time to I a lete', Iri-elens plain, prominently mar- mUtM greatest posti". incentive to nt- I Hi by a number of tortuous buss, lack rts- pminie and need no liigli statement of it. powers. This great county is in a me 10.111 u oieh forseltleiuent. It is roldtr tl au at tie Coliinibiaand South of it, but would not lu considered cold to excess by any iuhahitai t of me noimerii mates, mock Iievinently sul
