A Report on Washington Territory

by William Henry Ruffner

INDIANS GATHERING HOPS, WASHINGTON TERRITORY, ON LINE OF SEATTLE, LAKE SHORE AND EASTERN RAILWAY.

The changed agricultural conditions of East Washington.As heretofore remarked, the agricultural conditions change suddenly on crossing the Cascade Mountains to the eastward; and this change begins at the crest line, and is more marked on the mountain side and near its base than anywhere else. The winters are longer and more severe, and the summers drier and hotter. There is natural pasturage similar to that of the plateau country, coming up to the timber line, the lower edge of which is high on the mountain. Much of this mountain land, though covered scantily with sage brush and bunch grass, is really fertile, and, besides supporting cattle, can be made to bring fair crops of wheat and other things; but the rainfall is so insufficient that irrigation is necessary for the development of any large agricultural interest. Irrigation in the Yakima Valley.Fortunately, in the large basin of the Yakima, irrigating streams are abundant, and its enterprising people are availing themselves of this happy resource. By reference to a good map it will be seen that the Yakima River is made up of an unusual number of streams. A group of these come together near Ellensburg, and another group near the town of North Yakima; and there are said to be large bodies of land susceptible of irrigation by these streams. The Ellensburg valley is thirty miles long, and about ten miles wide; and is the best agricultural section in Kittitas County. It is claimed that forty bushels of wheat to the acre can be produced here without irrigation; and that 1,000,000 bushels of wheat were actually produced in this basin in 1887. Hay, hops, vegetables, berries and fruits also do well naturally, but with irrigation the product is uniformly large. There are four irrigating canals in the valley. The Teanaway Ditch Company has one fifty miles long which can water 75,000 acres of land. The Ellensburg Ditch Company has a ditch ten miles long, covering 10,000 acres. Mr. Bull has one six miles long, and the owners of the new roller mill have two and a half miles of ditch.

Next below Kittitas is Yakima County, which contains a number of fertile valleys, and also good uplands, and is well supplied with irrigating streams, which have already been brought into use. Two large ditches are drawn from the Natchess River. Ditches are also taken from the Ahtanum, which is the principal hop-raising section. A plateau, three by ten miles, between the Cowiche and Natchess, will all be irrigated. The Moxee Valley is largely owned by Eastern and other capitalists, who seem to be expending much money in the improvement of the country. This company has fourteen miles of ditch.

Varied crops.By the help of these ditches the people of Yakima Valley are producing corn, which under the hot sun of the locality perfects its product. Tobacco has been tried also with fair results. And the Moxee County will try the dairy business. There is a disposition also to try improved breeds of cattle. The spirit of enterprise has resulted largely from the passage of the Northern Pacific Railroad along the Yakima Valley; but at the same time the greatest obstacle in the way of irrigation lies in the ownership of alternate sections by this railroad. The Yakima Indians have good lands, and Klickatat County is well spoken of. Sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peaches, grapes, and other things requiring much heat, are said to thrive in the lower parts of the Yakima Valley.

The Great Plain.We enter now the last grand division of the country, the Great Plain, or, more strictly, plateau of the Columbia River. In spite of its unpromising aspect, this is the chief agricultural region of the Pacific States. To get the exact boundary,Boundaries. find the point (a little below Wallula Junction) where Washington and Oregon both corner on the Columbia River. From this point, follow the Columbia up to the mouth of Spokane River; follow Spokane River up to the Idaho line; follow the Idaho line south to the Oregon line; follow the Oregon line due-west to the beginning, and within these lines lies the region which is destined to be the granary of the Pacific States.

Early history.The settlement of this plain began near Walla Walla, where a Christian mission was established by Whitman, the hero and martyr, who saved this country to the United States. Hence the most thickly populated part of the plain is between the Oregon line and Snake River. This region was supplied with transportation by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. The largest agricultural production is here.

Immigration next moved north of Snake River into the valley of the Palouse River, and here we have the next largest area of production. When the Northern Pacific Railroad came in from the east, the new-comers entered the Great Bend country, which is the northern half of the plain. The chief settlement here is in Spokane and Lincoln counties, which cover nearly half of the Great Bend. Douglas County covers the remainder, and is beginning to be settled. There are ten counties on the plateau, with an aggregate area of 20,000 square miles and a population of 52,000.Area and population. Of this population, 20,000 is south of the Snake River, 14,000 north of Snake River, and 18,000 in the Great Bend, including Spokane Falls.

Amazing wheat crops: surpassing all other States.The great staple of this country is wheat, though almost every crop is grown, and most of them with remarkable results. Corn is grown only south of Snake River, where it yields thirty bushels to the acre. The average yield of wheat year by year for the entire Territory is put by Governor Squire at twenty-five bushels, and no one who knows the country can regard this otherwise than as a moderate estimate. This average places Washington Territory beyond comparison first among the States of America, and, so far as I can learn, second only to England among other nations. England, by the highest manuring, has brought her wheat product up to thirty bushels, which is double the average of former years. By the census of 1880, Washington Territory, as a whole, leads all the other States. The following tables give the average of ten of the chief wheat-producing States: