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About Willamette farmer. (Salem, Or.) 1869-1887 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1881)
X0A 1 WIIXAMKTTE I'AnSIERt PORTLAND, ORISON, FKRRUARY 4, 1831. i.irr ix Miim.r. onrmii. Wo hero republish, from I nt vvujk's Issu?, an interesting lettir from Dr. Vaiiilnpool, of Oclicco, which de-seriiios thu ehnrtctei of the country Uaat of tho inoiintdns ami fur South from tlio Columbia nur, showing how stock Interests nro maintained and wl.ut hopes tho people thoie build upon tho imwpi.it of rail road coiMtructiuii, which will i-c.ao tlio ti nt no illUnt il.iy. Tim region ho doacrili s I imilar to nitich of Unt-jrn and Miihllu Oil gon and Washingt n, nnd will bo auttlcd ns la.it as it can ho brought within icich of nnr kot by railroads. It is also tniu th.it tlio va-it ago brnsh plains, or desert, of which ho peaks, possess much ricli will, nnd only need water to lie available to make them disirablu for settlement. I'lilVKVlll-K, Wasco Co., Nov. 8, ISSO. I received your letter of the 'Jlth lilt., and will now answer tho questions to tho Itvat of my nhihty. In thu first place ciunnioiicing nt tlio foot of tlio Cnsc.-i'lo. Mountains nml running in nn easterly direction, passing Cache creek, Squaw creek, tlio Great Deschutes river ('.hu w idth of wlili.li 'MO frit) tiiirn in not much farming land, hut it is highly ndaptud to stock raising, ni all tlio country is covered uith tho llnoat flf hunch gras. Anj where you isli to stop on tho river your havo a good stock ranch, for the country for a hundred miles both North, South and lUst I covered w itli tho finest not t of gross mid underbrush for cattlo mid horses. Also tho numerous elm trrs of junipers afford a shelter, that is actu ally better than a ham, for it never gits mud dy under foot. I have been hero cloven yoars, and I think the average depth of snow Is two inches. Sometimes for two mouths in Winter thoro is no snow nt nil, hut other times tho snow hk'ls nliout 8 inches deep, and then comes tho "chlnook" or warm Southwest coast windi, which takes it all off except on tho North aidu of tho lulls, In tho Winter tho stock goes hick onto what wo call desert land, whero tho grass is reserved in Summer for tlum in Winter, not by being fenced, but for tho reason that in Summer Uicto is no water, but in Winter itis planty, and for this reason there w ill Ih plenty of grass on theao places for llftv years or longer. Stock mi sers havo but cry littlu uso for other than tho natural feed tliat i fro for every man. Thcro ro numerous littlu valleys In ivory direction that am very fertile for all tho small grains and grasses. All tho liardy vegetables do well horo, and in many places all kinds am raisod. From tho Deschutes river you pass over 12 miles of country that is literally covered with grass, juniper timber and plenty of browso for stock in Winter. Then you are at tho lower end of Crooked rier valley, which is about 73 miles long and extendi almost duo cast mid west. Tins is a beautiful valley with littlu or no timber in it, with tho exception of willows along tho river. Now comes tlio stock country on tho South of this nvcr, and along its cntlro length is one lino of lulls and plateaus thickly covered with bunch gross of tho best quality. Kvcry few miles comes in a creek Irom tho highlands back on either sido. On these streams from head to mouth, with few exceptions, are good fanning lands. At this timo thcro aro hun dreds of thousands of acres of land lying idle, waiting for tho induiitrious farmer to fence anil plow and raise grain on. Hut what is the uso? Thcro is no market for grain, except in limited quantities, as we have no facilities for hinninir to tlio outside wurld. Tho conse quence is that if a man doesn't hae enough money to go into the stock business he won't corns hero at all. The ono great troublo here is to cet our sunnlica. When a man with a largo family has to go lf0 and sometimes 200 miles to mill and to do his trading, what is the use of settling In such a country. If we had a railroad somewhuru on the coast west of here, and running liast so as to connsct with some of the through lines it would open up thousands ol good jarius ani r.omcs. As soon as it Is a settled fact that the Ore mm PacIsV will bo built, lust whinner tho till ings that there Is such a country as this, and only lying across the mountains from the. Wil lamette valley, and there will be such a stream of emigration across tlio Cascades aa was never before seen. Tho famous l'alouso country will never be heard of again. Our soil is just as producti o as theirs, and the climate here is a greit deal milder, but they have transportation and wo have not. Give us a railroad and we are satiaiied) it is all that is needed to make this one of the most pros perous localities on tho coast, Wlthiu a year after tho completion of a railroad to this locality, tlio people Aver iu your section will, be surprised at the vast amount of grain re ceived from here. Your wholo valley and tho Sound country will be supplied with stock from here. As it is now we havo to drive our fat cattle from one to two huudred miles in the winter to find a market, and by the time wo get them there they are poor. Give us a railroad and we can ship our fat stock 500 miles to market and aflord to sell cheaper than thoso who livo in your valley. We do not have to feed at all. We mark and brand a calf turn him out on the range and when he is four-year old sell him for $j0 cash net profit about tl7. Does that pay? Give as facilities for getting to a better market, and it will pay better. Our whole countiy is either the best of farming or graying l.uul, r.nd if a ral'r oil is run through it eviry aero will Iih wmth from $10 to $100. Nearly nil tho I.tnd In longing to tlio CiK'iulo MutiiUiti Wagon l'n il Cnmpitiv in this Button is of tlio vciy best, mid ns it is nut now for silo it rctauls tlio settlement of tho country viry much. It would bo vny valuable in cisu a railroad should run tliiDiili hero. As yon go eist from hero nlnng tho line of tho iiulitaiy road the valleys tut n gieit deal largi r, tho soil mom productive, tho climntu mldcr. and tho timber is of a bcttcrimalitv. and thcro is mora of it, and the countiy is capnlilo of sustaining a very largo population hut without a r.ultoul ituillidwuy havo tj hu denoted exclusively to slock nusiug. CvTTI.K ANH MOltir. A gentlemen from Denver, named Cole, n brother of Mr. David Colo, a merchant in this city, was lately hero on a visit to his friends and attended the Statu Fair. Ho was a stoe'e man in Colorado, and expressed suipriso nt tho great improvement invle hero in brad' ig draft horses, and scry freely confessed t lat our Clydesdales and I'crcherons aro far in ml- vaiico of homo breeding in Colorado. o li.no among us, through all tins broad a I long Co uinliii i region, Hue stock iniitortt-1 from Ilurnpu as well as tho best hied in Amir ica. In every department of stock this cxcil linco is disci r liable, lioiou men invest tlmr uioiiuv in thoroughbreds, ti otters, roudsteis. and from tho I'uglish coach horse to tho heav iest rcrchcrous or Ulydcadalcs, we strive lor perfection. The most eminent cattle breeders of Cali fornia sent up a herd of Short-horns to our last Stato Fair, and nearly tlio whole herd was bought up at full and satisfactory piicei by Mr. M. 1'isko, a heavy 1 Us tern cattlo breeder, who continually buys tho best blood ho can tltnl tJ improve his immcusu herd, so that gradually but surely the cattlo that raugo unon tho thrico ten thousand lulls of bunch grass land Kant of tho Cascades ate becoming infused with Short Horn blood and improving in quality lor beer, lor which tuuy are now so caixerlv souuht that hundreds of thousands of cattlo wore driven Fast, over tho mountains and plains, the last season. Tlio example of .iir. ruse is nut. a snifjiu nisiaiicuj uiu omw arts of Yamhill, good friends of tho Willam ette Fahmkii for many years, havo moved thuir Short Horn herd hast of tlio mountains, and now havo a large tradinir establishment thcro. Tlkoro aro several breeders of Short Horns in tho Willamette valley, also Hoi steins, Jerseys and Aldcrneys can le found in their purity, and our Mends, Hon. M. Wilkins, president of tho State Agricultural Society, and his sons, aro making a success of tho red Povons, which they find by experi ence are well adapted to tho peculiarities of our country and climato. Wo liavo thus briefly, In the outset, tried to show tho ..dis tant reader that the stock Interests are not neglected in our far, West-coast country, and that already we feed the markets of tho world. Of tho 150,000 head of cattlo driven from here this year no doubt a proportion will in due timo feed the huncry imTJions of tho United Kingdom of Great Ilritain, Ireland and Scot laud. So we are making ourselves known to the world, and necessary in supplying the great staples of commerce. THE nlllAT AriVANTAOES WK OWIR. Some people (not many) come here and go away again, not liking our country. So in 18-19, people went to California and left In dis gust when they found that gold could not be had without digeing for It. Those who come here with reasonable anticipatioaa are invariably satisfied and soon make homes and are friends to tho country. To claim that wo have here good soil and a pleasant climate and that a man can do better here, if he is competent and industrious, than in almost any other re gion, is not too much. o confidently assert that if a man has money say from $1,000 to 810,000, he can go to any part of Oregon er Washington territory anil locate to iwst ad vantage in the oldest settled districts. Ho can watch his chances to buy land, or can lo cate on aomo sacant government, or State, or railroad land, and soon make Mnnell a pleas ant home. If he has a little means to uso he can go to Kastcrn Oregon or to hastern ash ington, where a wide region Invites 'settle ment. He will perhaps lie bewildered as to what direction to take, but he only needs to make his choice and then fiud his locatiou. In a new country like that many are always ready to sell out their claims and their im provements for a tritle. The railroad compa nies aro ready to furnish information, l'eoplo who live thero aro anxious to secure good neighbors to build up their community, and everywhere the immigrant can obtain valu able Information. Vie shall give as minute details as possible as we proceed to describe the different counties, and shall make all possible effort to give reliable information. Tho advantages of the country are numer ous. The man without means but with health, courage and strength, can find in the I'acifio North West the best possible field for the uso cf his capital, aud Oregon is filled up with prosperous farmers who came here with native tticngtli and will, and hato made theuisrlus comfortably wealthy, and that, tno. hlii-n tlio era of development had not fauly eoitiiiHiicid. In rejud to climate, alone, it olTcra great inducements. IVmt nud a. lie is unknown liim in tlits sci'so it pnxni's in many Wistcrn and Southern SUtes. A m Id form of chills nmlfutrr is kuovwi but is easily broken, and seiy si'liio'ii oocui s. i lie writer ol tins Had a sitilii chill last sitmmir, nnd heard of a few uisesoul iuall liisassniiations, Thosingular chaiactir of our Willametto alloy cm lo uu dirrtiiod when no say that it is possibio to sow win at litro csiry month in tho year. Wu hao known wheat sown in June, to allord g od fall pantuii, and inako a crop tlio next hummer. Iliowriterol tins, slien lariiuug. has sown Whitu Winter wheat from Scptcni bir to the niiddlo of March, without any fail ure. In this country no have no extremes of Suiiumr or Winter. A few days of hot suuthcr may occur in tho .Summer, but tho nlgli ts nie nlw ays so cool ns to requite a lilankit throiiah July or August. Iho P'cvnihmt Nut t!i winds kcip thu "maimers cool, nud the prcMiilin.'j South winds keep tho Winters warm, anil whin thu Winters aro mnt scicro they nro modified greatly by tho ocean current that littles the coast of As a and North Amer ica to bung us tho warmth of the Chinoso sens. Tli to nro cxicptious to all rules, so thrico In tho moru than thirty years siuco wo havo lived in Oregon wo haio seen tho rivers frozen and a tew weeks ot oltl weather. Thero is usually a cold sr.np about tho holi days tliat Is more or less suvcre. skating is a luxury tholtoysaml girls often do without, and sleighing is only known onco In four or llvu years at a time, and is short lived then. Tho three haul Winters have been phcnoml nal an 1 not so much ill caded by tlio farmers liccauoa the siu'ccedinir crow lias always liecu exceptionally good, Sovcral times wo havo l.nown wild straw iicmcs to riiHMi on tlio mil Miles in I)ccemlcr, and in 187--. (lowers wcro in bloom all Winter. Tlio world hears of of mir rainy svasou in the Willametto with a fctliug of drtad, but tho inhabitants of "Webfoot," as our Kastcrn neighbors and Cahfnrnians sarcastically ttrm us, know that the Winter rains sosuro health and exemption from colds, and that their croos, literally, never fairly fall, the only exception being when tho climatio conditions wcro unusual in in 1870, and warm rains In July caused r"st. So wo havo a considerable satisfaction In tho possession of Winter rains that produco boun teous harvests in strong contrast with the Dcrindical faminas that lilicht the hones of the producers in Kansas and California. Tho emigrant w no was driven iy lamino amigrass hoppers out of Kansas and reaches Oregon, never complains of rain, nor does the' Cali fornia n who saw ruin in his blighted crops, and packed tin what ho could carry off. leav ing tho sheriff to scttlo his accounts, while- he sought a homo in Oregon for his family, ever complain tliat ram la a dlscomlort. ino pres ent year rains fell early in October, and to wards the inlddlo of tho month thcro was about a week of rainfall, thouch not excessive. All through November the weather was clear nnd frosty, as delightful weather as could be desired for tho last of Autumn. The writer of this was last week absent on a trip up the valley, and then went twenty miles to tho foot hills csf the Cascade rango, riding for two days In tho open air. It is not usual that we have frosts in Novemlwr, but they have not been severe enouch to kill the crass, and every where we went we saw fanners plowing their Ileitis, ami some were sowing tnem to wheat, though we bslieva they would do better to wait until February to sow. l'eoplo who are used to this cllmste do not care mr ominary ram, rwirmi mat are so vero seldom occur, ami the licht rains of Win ter are frequently very warm and do not keep men from work. We hav e run a logging team all Winter with only three days lost time on account of the weather. The rains of the Western valleys have their compensation in the precious benefits they confer. They have, since the settlement of tho country, for forty years insured good crops, with the exception of last year when Spring wheat was alli-ctcd by rust. The rolling prairies ami hill lands can ls cultivated at any time, but there are rich, low lands that cannot bo sowed unless well drained, until Spring, hut the continu ance of pleasant showers through June is usu ally to be dependid on, and we see wheat of the Spring varieties sown until June, and fre quently Spring sown wheat yields a rich liar v est. Seed tune, in Western Oregon, is there fore a continuous season for over eight months, from early in Scptcmlier until late in May. It is not necessary to say here n.ore than that for ordinary vegetables and fruits no country in tho world excels the I'acifio North west. The moist climato of the Western val leys causes a richness of flavor that Is appre ciated abroad. Apples, pcan, cherries, plums and prunes, all thrive in the best possible manner. Small fruits all do well, and in tho future fruit growing will prove one of the most remunerative sources of wealth. Grapes and peaches do not like our cool nights in Summer, and the same is true of corn, though all these are grown here, bat not in their greatest perfection. sourniiNO prrras thai cony. An incident that we published in tho Fakmik a month ago illustrates ths difference lietwecn this region and tho corn-growing West It seems that a man from Missouri had reached l'-astem Oregon with his family and was returning down the Columbia river diihcartened and much discouraged hecausa tho products of tho country wcro so different from what ho was accustomed to, Onboard tho saino steamir was Mr. II. It. Thompson, ono of the chief owners in tho Oregon Steam .Navigation Company, who lielng an old resi dent of Oregon, understood tho practical workings of the country. Hearing this stran ger loudetim tho country, Mr. Thompson nskid him what was tho matter with it, nnd the nnsvvcr wast "What is a coun ry good for mm vninioi raise cornr i came irom .Missouri wluro tho corn crop was the big thing, and I don't know w hat to do in n count rv v In ru corn cannot grow and mature toadvautngu." "Hut we h.ivu something better tlau torn here," said Mr. Thompson, ami procicdid to explain to tho nuw-comcr from Missouri what tho country produced and how our modiicts wcro disiMsid of. The emigrant explained that he had spent so much getting hiru with his fam ily nnd prospecting tho country rime his ar rival that lie lmil not means to go Iwck 1 1 Mia oiiri if ho wished to, or to locate hire to ad v nut ago if he remained. Mr. Thompson then suggested to him that if ho would go out sev eral miles llasl of I'ortlaud among the market gardeners, ho could rent a piece of bind on shares and soon inako n raise by growing cg. ettblcsfor tho I'ortlaud uiaikit. Thuoiuars iiuiki, nun uuu nay .sir. inoiiipsini met near tho i Hico of tho O. 8. N. Co., a farmer who was turning over his wagon load of vegetables to thu commissary of thu coiiiivuiy. Tlio farmer rciognlicd him and called his attention to tho fact of their meeting on tho river steamer three ) cms previous!) . Said hot "I nm the man who couldn't seu any good in n country where I couldn't raisu corn," and went on to explain that ho had Mlowed his advlco had at first itnted a puce of html mi shares after thu first year Imuglit "A acres of good laud, '.20 acres of which was ileiued and in cultivation! that ho had a hoii.u nnd barn on it, owned tho team ami wagon Im saw, and had always felt obliged to him for tho excil lent advico hu had had tho good lenio to fol low. onrnox asu camiouma ensu-turu. During the early period of our history, from tho discovery of gold to within a fuw years past, tho products of Orcgui wire nil shipped to California and sent to thu win Idas thu pro ducts of thst State. Tho iiiimhjraiit v ho had heard of Oregon, its climate, rich soil, rerlaiu products and gnat natural advantages, and attempted to come hero by thu iitii.il route, had to run the cauntlct of niisrcprcsiutatinu and intimidations as ho passed through that Stato, and was met hundreds of miles bcfoio ho reached Its borders by runners who sure employed to represent tho interests of laud ' sharks who spared no pains to make the man bound for Oregon believe that tin State was a wild and uncivilized region which enjoyed no privileges, hail no oxtint of renouicin, and was not tit for settlement. Wu have met many persons in years past who havu nar rated tho effort thus madu to detain tlitni in California, and tho iiiisreprerentatiniis they had to endure. Many wire detained and in duced to settle hi some locality where land was sold at an enormous priio and crops vvero so uncertain that they soon found thtmxlws ruined beyond recovery, nnd learned tliat Or egon could have olhrid them good home and a certainty of sttcct ss beyond any Statu in thu Union. , California Is unhappily claimed in immenso grants made in days long past, iiiulir .Mexican rulo, that have fallen into tho possession of speculators who seem to Ik soiilli ss, and in iluco settlement of tin ir land by any means possible. Land inonoxily is thu e-uiso of thu ouiie. j menu who, aiur rending In Uru gon for many years, has lately spent consider able time in California rcpriieuts it as a laud of the enormously rich and thu miserably Kor. Ilia dillireuce of condition among faiiucisu all in favor of tho Oregon fanner, who has Ins laud without cost, if a pioneer, and w luuu home is surrounded with comforts and leaked upon as a permanent residenco, while thu grain ranches of California oft n immwi no attractions of home life, and ouo journeys for a day without sight of orchard or gulden, Tho failure of crops occurs in California so often as to inako wheat growing a pucarioiis business. Drouths produced either total or partial failures there lit IW.'J, IS70, 1871, 187,1 and 1877, and in 187!), many who had lentcd laud and aowed largo liclds, hen thoy saw them blighted, packed up tin ir few household goods, ami with their families, nivlo thur way Northward to Oregon to seek a laud where rainfall was certain and crops equally certain. In many respect tho two Mates differ, but in all material respect that differ ence is in favor of thu North 1'aeilio region. Thu people are aa different v. thu elhn.itu aud the surroundings. Take the older sittlvmeuts of Western Oregon aud Washington, and we find society organized as well as in tho most favored F.aitcrn Suts. School houses ore ) i
