Willamette farmer., February 04, 1881, Special Edition, Image 9

to
THI COLD IMlIrtO OOVKTRT.
A rait ud Oompltta Description or a Hewly
Developed Section of Country la
Umatilla County.
Ilatix, Umatilla Co., Or., Dee. S, '80.
Editor Willamette Farmer:
In that portion of Umatilla county where
the State boundary line running west inter
sect the Colombia rirer, i a scope of coun
try of whloh but comparatively little U known,
but which ii, nevertheless, iiiscoptlblo of the
higheat degree of agricultural dovel pment,
and which U even now emerging from tho
itate of an unproductive bunch-gnu prairie,
and rapidly attaining its natural pre-eminence
ai one of the most extensive wheat field of
Oregon' Great Inland Empire.
The county in question it on the Columbia
river aide of a prairio which runs between and
parallel with that atreatn and the 1)1 tie moun
tains; or, to bo more exact, it may bo describ
aa the northern boundaries of Umatilla coun
ty, of which that part of tho Columbia river
lving bctwo n Umatilla Landing and the
State bouudary Due ia at onco tho base nad
the water front. The general name for thu
whole of th'S tarritorv. which coninrlsns iv.
oral townships of lino prairie land, the wholo
of which is open to settlement and immediate
ly available for agricultural purposes, is the
Cold Spring Country. Itoxtomls southwnrd
from the points named on tho Columbia river,
for an avenge distance of iifcoi n miles, tliu
wholo of .which, with' the exception of that
portion immediately adjoining f Im river, eon
sitts of a magnificent rolling prairie, produc
ing a wonderfully luxuriant growtu of bunch
irrsus and totally devoid of sago brush, with a
flio black-loam soil which is peculiarly adapt
ed for the production of the cereals, vcgeU
blot and fr alts common to tho great wheat
raining belt of tho Northwest interior. Hith
erto, this floe pioce of country has Ixcu utd
Ucd ouly as a cattle and sliiep range, fur
which, indeed, it is admirably adapted, ami
it has only bcun the selllsh policy of our stock
men, who wishod to monopolize tho rango for
thoinaclves, their heirs, executors and assigns
forever, in misrepruaentiug it as a region o
nothing but sand and sai-u-hruli. In onlr in
discourage Intending settler from prospecting
it for themselves, which has prevented it from
lecoaig setUetl, appreciated and .developed
as It merits ami grrut advantages as an agri
cultural dlttrict deserves. Of late, howover,
that is to say in the last three years, as tho
Umatilla Valloy, or Oreisewood aide of the
prairie fronting the lilue mountains, became
settled and converted by thd uutinng hand
of industry into a wreat grain producing dis
trict, the hardy land-seekers were compelled
to locate holier and higher, till at last tho
Ureaaewood Flat was loft far behind, the sum
mit of the prairio was reached, settled and
cultivated, and then for a time the process of
tltrslopinent coaseiL This state of things,
however, could not-exist forover, for as time
rogre.ed a few ranchers hunting their stray
tains, penetratxl into the Columbia river
aid of the prairie, and instead of fludlng a re
gion of sage-bruh and aan I, as it had bren
grossly misrepresented to be they found them,
aelvea traversing a vast wilds'iiess of fertile
prairie where the bunch grass was rank and
knee high in its wnnd rliil luxuriance, ami
watered by an 'iufHtely greater number of
living springs, which mske it not only a much
more fertile and hotter country for cultivation
and agricultural development, but is also, by
reason of ita continuity to tho great highway
ui commerce, sne ioiuinma river, which bring
u wuen newer 10 mainci, a mucii more ties
irablt locality foe settlement fiau the Grease
wood aide of the prairie which faces the lilue
mountains. ,
Hence it will be seen that the country un
der consideration has receive! no advertising!
that it has been kept idle by mis epresenU
tion, and that its ' locality, horder.nir mi the
greatest river of the Vcillo Coast, with the
0. R. A N. Co. 'a line of lailroad traversing it
along the foil length of iU water front, and
surrounded at it is by the hitch- civilization of
Walla Walla twenty-five miles on the east,
and by that of Weston and Coii'erville twelve
miles to the westward and Pendleton twelve
miles to the southward, a-d with a soil un
equaled in the Northwut for fertility and
productiveness, make it the most desirable
locality for settlement in the great inteiior.
Strictly speak nig, tho ColdSpring country
extends from Umatilla Landing on tho west,
beyond the State boundary liue to Wallula,
in Washington Territory, on the east; hence
it may be correctly stated to embrace a tract
of land containing twenty-five milea of lonci.
tude by fifteen miles of latitude, which com
prises fully four townships of aa good gov.
ernment and railroad land as ever a crow flew
over, and which excludes the narrow strip of
ps-uruiu auu eaan wnicn iinmeiliately ad
joins the great river of the Weet, the unprsj
possessing appearance of which has deterred
o many from prospecting the interior. In
addition t the great advantages it enjoy
from ita commanding geographical position,
which give it twenty-five mile of water front
where are three steamboat landings and a line
of railroad already constructed running paral
W thereto, th Cold Spring country rejoice
WILLAMETTE FARMBRt PORTLAP,
In tho possession of three distinct natural out
lets, which, because it is a more imposing
term than gulches, are dignified by the name
of canyons, which, with their forka and trib
utariea all head near each other on the sum
mit of tho prairie, and thonce radiating toward
tho Columbia rircr and pursuing a general
northerly course, they intersect anil drain the
whole of this scope of country, thus affording
it easy natural roadways to the three steam
biiat.landings and railroad depot on its water
irons.
Tho names of these gulches are the Van
svele, Juniper and Cold Spring canyons. Of
thoio Vausyclo is the most easterly, which
heads on the summit of tho Columbia river
side of tho prairie, a short distance from the
head of the Ilig Greasewood canyon on the
Uluo mountain aide, and thonco pursues a
northerly course for a distance of eighteen
miles when it effects, a ' junction with 'the
Walla Walla river two miles aWa WalluU
In tills canyon aro two fine snrines. but the
country to the eastward, in the direction of
the' Walla Walla Valley is the least desirable
for settlement, for in addition to it being
luilly broken up, tho soil Is more or less im-
rrgnatod with alkali and down towards the
ilumbia riser it terminate in the basaltic
labia lands which border that stream. West
ward of Vausycle, towards Juniper, the soil
Is richer and the country much less broken.
Tho main Jimincr canvon is fourteen miles in
length, and possesses a large tributary known
as tho North Fork, seven milea in length,
which both head near Vausycle, and which
aftor coming to 'ether pursues a serious west
Hard course lilt it spreads out and disappears
in the sage brush at a point opposito the head
of 11 odoo, or, as it is more generally known,
me nig inland in the Uolumbla. Jn this
gulch aro aomo of the finest and largest living
springs of the purest water to he found In
Umatilla o unity; It Intersects a largo extent
ol lertlle prairio whereon are located many
Id I imo residents and late tenant fanners of
tho Willamette valley, who are highly pleased
with their now locations and wh are hero to
stiy In the course of another year or two
these men will havo the'r places In such good
fix that they wilt have no difficulty in renting
I horn to others, instead of laboring themselves
to make other men rich. Five ndlce above
the junction of the North Fork with til" main
Juniper is the larce ranch of the 1'aine llro..
the great agricultural Implement dealers ol
Walla Walla, who own tho whule'of a section
of school land and the half of an adjoining
section, in all n nrly ono thousand acres, into
which they havo recently come into posses
sion and are now making extens ve prepara
tions to put tho whole under cultivation at an
early date; in tho immediate vicinity of till
ranch ! litre is still many thouimds of acres
of virgin soil only awaiting the hand of Cau
casian industry to bo converted into smiling
fields of golden grain and made to blossom as
tho rose.
Tho Cotd Spring is much tho largest of the
scries, of canyons which 'intersect the country.
The north, pr nuici fcrk, twenty miles In
lencth. heads a little to the southward of tin
sources of Juniper and Vausycle; the mhldlt
fork soventcou miles long, heads still furthci
south, while the south fork has its origin ii.
the vicinagfl of Pcnd tton, and after niuniii,
ina semi-circular iliuction for a dist nceol
twenty-two miles It lojns tho main gulch at
wiiaiia,Kiiowna me iJatlger springs, whereit
runs to the westward on a,parallcl with the
Columbia riyor ami then loses 1 self In mo big
sand flat at tho Umatilla Wells. The head of
the North Tnik of Cold Springs has nf lsti
settled up wry fast, so much so that a school
district (Ko. 09) has been oriMnizcd and tin
school n ready running. On the south fork
of this cauyou is a law ranch embracing
twenty-fivo hundred acres, known as the
Margin Farm, owned bv I. T. Reoso ft Co.,
of Weston, nf which eight hundred acies art
under cultivation in one body. To tho north
and west of this ranch is the Morehouse, oi
the crest Umatilla w hu.it farm which was lo
cated fast y,ear by John 11, Foster and Lee
Morehouse, 'of liin tills, as-ochtod with
company of Portland capitalists. This iairn
comprises seve i sections, or nearly five thou
sand acre in one liody, with throe thousand
acres alrealy uiultr cultivation, A'nothei
school section on Jumper tan) mi is owned bv
C ptain Gorman, . f Wa la Walla.
- - -
It must not be inferred from the foregoing!
that all the laud litre is taken up, for these
great farms originally located for experimeu
ul purposes, wi.pi iso only a frao ioual and
by uo means tho best portion of this large ex
tent of farming country. Tire Umatilla farm,
for instance, adjol s and in places embraces
a part of the desert zone of sand and sage
brush whivh in that particular locality over,
leaps its usually contracted limits on tho
banks of the Columbia and extend back from
the nver for a distance of ten miles, while le
tween Juniper and the ILvlger Sorings the
black loam of the prairie invades the domain
of the sage-brusJi right to the waters edge.
In addition to the I rge farms about two hun
dred locations of qiiirter ami half section
farms have been made at different points on
the prairie, and there is room yet for fullv
three hundred more settlers to come in anil
build up homes for themselves ami families,
which in the very near future will be worth a
fortune to their possessor. Many of the
people here have given th wood erf of Falosv",
OREGON, FKBRUA11Y 4, 1881.
Spokanand Yaklmacountrica a thorough pros
pecting and have returacd ti mako final loca
tions on the Cold Spring prairio, because bore
the climate is milder, water is moro easily ob
tained, it ia one hundred milea nearer to mar
ket and is atready in possession of railroad
communication with Walla Walla and Culilo,
and which in addition to the prospect of the
speedy completion of this lino to Portland,
wilt aoou be traversed north and south by the
railroad from the Columbia river across tho
Blue mountains into the Grando Rondo Val
ley. Tho soil and more equable .climato of
this locality permits the raising of corn, sor
ghum, tobacco and the finer fruits which aro
killed by the frost which harass tho far upper
country. In this connection the writer states
the positive iact that from a half acre potato
naicn located on me nigncat point ol me uom
Spring ranch and fully sixty feet abov e water,
the avera-o weieht of the potatoes was three
to the pound for the wholo patch. On an ad
joining ranch on the summit of tho prairie,a,ta
still greater height above water, aro sovcral
shocks of corn raises) thereon, that can bo seen
for miles, which, when viewed from adistance
looks like a great camp of Indian lodges. Tho
head of tho Cold Spring prairio is fifteen iniloa
distant from Glaasford'a Saw Mill on Wild
Horse creek, and rails can be bought at any
poi t in tho Uluo mountains fur ti per hun
dred, while.the Columbia river at high water
leavoj an immense amount of diifi wood on
its banks, so that settlers can mako their own
rails and cedar posts, and secure firowoo.l by
tho oxercle of their own labor.
The gnat number of springs on tho prairio
has lieen 1-cfore alluded to. but of course thero
aro largo portions where water can only bo
obtained liv sinking. The depths of wclU
vary fn m fifteen to fortv-fivo feet, denendinir
upon mo iieptnoi tho sou, mo ruio icing tluj
deeper thu soil tho deeper the well, as run
ning water nf the purest quality In inexhaust
ible quantity is invariably found in a pomus
.. .. ... f. .. ;. .."
noucy-coiiiiii rocx a lew icct nclow tho lied
rock. Thus, two wells sunk on the summit
of the prairio attained a depth of 77 and Ki
feet respectively before water was struck, HP
feet of which was sunk through the fiuo black
loam which comprises tho soil of tho prairie.
As a matter of course a soil of that uepth ie
incipable of exhaustion, and when to this is
added the fact that tho cultivation of timber
on timber culture claim Is successfully car
ried on, growing In fact spontaneously, wit
out any attention at all, sumu idea of tho w un
derfill fecundity pi the soil may be glcauod
therefroin. It may be as well to state tliu
fact that tho I'endletcn millers anthoriro the
itatcinont that tho best wheat they has u re
ceived this year was grown on tho Odd Spring
prairie, which is doubtless attributable to tliu
hit that this prairio possesses a northern in
stead of a southern sipoot, and, therefore, the
soil Is the better enabled to lOtalu iiulsturc
than if it wero exposed to the full glnro of tho
midsummer sun. Inthis tho Cold Spring
country greatly reseniTiles the topographical
fcattires-of the Umatilla Indian reservation.
Tor this line tract of land is green in the eaily
Sprine when the aiirroundim: prairio is lutro
ami urowii. mo philosophy oi this remarka
ble featu'r lies in the fact before' narrated,
viz.! that like the Cold Spring prairie, the res
ervation is not directly exposed to the sun's
rass, and, therefore, the soil dries out loss
quickly. As a matter of fact thero ia a good
a grade of vacant land on the Cold Spring
prairie as any that is included within tho lini.
Its of tho Indian reserve . The unattainable ia
always the most desirable, and it is naturally
sery exasperating to tho civilized Caucasian of
utilitarian tendencies to see- such an immense
.-xtent f tood land devoted exclusively as a
grazing ground for the scrub ponies of a few
idle, iion'Mlf'Suppoiting Siwashes, and, more
over, there are on the reservation many hun
dreds of acres of alkali and adtlo land which
would involve tho expenditure of large sums
of money to render them productive. Die
soil of the Cold Spring country throughout its
whole length and breadth is totally free from
theso fngiedieuts, and being so much nearer
to market, it is decidedly the most desirable
locality of the two actions for all who desire
to make themselves permanent homes in the
buncli-gras country.
Here. then, is room for fully three hundred
1.111.1 so k rs to come and locato themselves
evcli :UJ acres, or a half sevtiou of good laud,
v ov - t s as rvtrw,s we Skuv'S SM'S)
where n th-y can build up homes for their
families. Situated two hundred miles cast
from Perth d. tenty-Jive milts west from
the great Inland inetroilis of Walla Walla,
and with the three town of Weston, Center
ville ami Pendleton only t thu miles distant,
and prmctsiiu' tenly-live miles water front,
with three etcamlKiat Isndings, and tho trunk
line of the 'Oregon Railroad and Navigation
Company r ilroad alrtndy completed on the
Columbia, river, aud with another road already
surveved running through its center into the
Grande Koude Valley, tho Cold Spring
country in Umatilla county offers inducement)
to the laud -hungry which can nowhere Ihi
equaled, liiucli 1ms excelled, in the wholo of
t'lu uppo- country for I s altitude is lower, its
climato Is more tunable and water is invaria
bly found a few feet below bedrock. .Over,
two hundred locations Hive ijn made on this
nrairie aimo Msrth last by men with families
from all iiart of tho Union, all of whom aro
delighted with the ndvsntigeji of their new
homes. The head I of ths-w familite reslii
the great advantage of being so near railroad
and river transportation and are cnthttalastiu
over their location so near to the city of Walla
Walla. Looking at this section of the upper
country from a geographical point of view, tin
northeastern portion of Umatilla county,
which includes tho Cold Spring prairio, may
lie justly termed as forming n jwirtof tho fam
ous Walla Walla Valloy, from which, indeed,
it is only divided by tho Stnto liouiidary lino,
lly referring to a map of tho country it will bo
seen that tho counties of Wnlla Wnlla and
Columbia in Washington Territory, and
Umatilla county in this Stato aro poinded In
natural boundaries, w hich compruio thu Uluo
mountain, and tho Snsko mid Columbia riv
ers. Tho Interests of this aeopo of country
aro Identical, for the character of tho peons",
tho soil, climate and products aro alike. Tho
country in question bears tho samu geograph
ical relation to tho Pacific Coast w hich tliu
Western Ilcservo lieara to tho Atlantic Coast,
and it Is to drain tho products of this wonder
fully fertile region that thoO. It. ft' N. Co.
aru expending so many millions of dollars In
tho construction of railroads. No portion of
tho unper country Is making moro progressiva
strides than that in the three counties named.
Its transition from tl.o Stato of a savage fron
tier to an earnest ami progressive civilization
is complete, mid tho grandwork of developing
i s' dormant resources has commenced Thu
finite mind of man is incapahlo of comprehend
imr the inijhty empire which will be establish-
oil hero when Its varied aud practically unlim
ited resources aro utilized to their fullest ex
tent. Its pro urcss has not been In this decade.
hut in the last quarter of this decade. Vast
sums of inoney froin tho world's great mone
tary centers aro living concentrated hero to
facilitate tl.o development of its rcMiurcos.aiid
therefore, nuvv comers making homes hero now
at such a favorable time, will not havo towait
foraury loiiu period to reap tho fniits of
their laW nnd cntorpriM, for tho good time
coming is already here, and an immediate re
ward avvaiia me pioneer ami mo "carpet-bagger"
alike
In Umatilla county tho increase of taxnblo
proiwrty for tho current fiscal y ear ov cr pre
ceding valuations is moro than half a million
lollars, while, conil aring tho vote cast at tho
tale Presidential election with tho vote for
jlnto and county ollUers in Juno last, tho in
.-rcasu ill, its population is phenomenal. Si
rapid lis lievn It progress in all tho material
intercuts which mako prosperity, tliatancllort
was mailu in tho lately adjourned Stato Lcgis.
latum to divldo the territory comprised in tho
boundaries of Umatilla into three counties. It
is in this rapidly growing couuiry that tho
Cold Spring prairio is located, '1 In' odd sec
tio a thereof aru included In n Government
grant to tho Northern Pacific Railroad, Tho
proliabilitie are that the grant will revert to
th-s Government eventually, but even if it
should not, tho- policy of tho Northern Pncillu
Company has been so lilieml (disposing of tho
lauds In its Pen d'Orelllo Division nt Govtrn
ment price), that it is safe to osiuiii" that this
successful policy will bo continued when theso
lands are placid on the market. 'Ihero is,
howover, iiodrawlark to their immediate cul
tivation, as an application to purchase, with
actual cultivation gives tho applicant prior
rights. It was tho Intention of tho writtr to
contrast ourbuiich-grnss prairies with the AI
bany and other Willamctlo prairies, and coin,
bat the erroneous Webfoot idea that tho agri
cultural lands of tho upper country consist of
a pnt-hola here and there, liko the Wnlla
alia Valley. Many of the older settlors
here have not yet begun to realizu tho futurn
greatness of tho upKir country. A practical
knowledge of ita resources is required to do
so, and the subject must lo studied to appro
ciato it in all its magnitude.
It might lie fair to ridiculo tho Idea of tho
Willamctto tenant farmers laboring to make
other nion rich, when only two hundred miles
distant is kkm1 land waiting to I hi taken up,
but' we refrain from ridicule, for this portion
nf the bunch-grass region needs no fictitious
aids to cieate a ''boom."
If any of the numerous readers of tho Fan
Jim should resolve o prospect this country,
they will Had that it has not been exaggerated
in the foregoing. Facilities for filing on land
aro bandy, as a branch land ofllco Itaa Iwen es
tablixheil by Messrs. Dwight ft Ilailey at Pen
dhttoti, only twelve miles distant. Parties
visi mg the country with a view to settlement
are requested to call on Mr. W. W. Ctviness,
of the Cnlil Spring Ranch, wbilo those desir
ing particular details to suit individual tastes
should address the undersigned at Helix,
Umatilla county, Oregon, who will bo happy
to reply to such correspondence. With no
object in view other than to promote tho set
tlement of this nrairie with that desirable
class of practical farmtra who read tho leading
agricultural Journal in tno racina wist, mo
writer has endeavored to show tl.o country
just as it is, confident that the intro narration
of positive facts relating to the fecundity of
its location and surroundings, will settle up
and develope the resources of tho country
mora perinai.eutly than if tho truth wero cm
lullished with tho ' high falutiu'" language, of
piofeasional word painttrs.
s. r. raKKi.it.
The l'aliui.U is the repicstqtitlve paper of
Oregon, and is turned into its XIII Volume
We will send it to eastern readers for $2 ptv
year. The r'gnlar price l ViU) per yoai