The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1879-12-19

what a BIumboidter Thinks and Says
of the Country.
CoLFAx, Whitman Co., w. T.,
December 9TH, 1879.

Humboldt, | promised at least hun
dred persons that / would write and
give my opinion of this Territory. Al
ter writing dozen or more letters ON
the same subject, the job became mo-
notonous, and | have concluded, with
your permission, to give them column
in the SILVER STATE. left home on
the 18th of October, and arrived at
Walla Walla on November 18th. Our
party laid over three days on the trip.
The roads were good, but the weather
was pretty cold from the time we
reached Surprise Valley until we ar
rived ut our destination We had
plenty of feed for our teams, grain and
hay being very cheap through the
Goose Lake country and Eastern Ore
gon. The bunch grass on the route
was the finest ever saw, and if the
traveller feels so disposed he can stable
his horses every night, with few excep-
tions, for fifty cents a span. We
went from Walla Walla, so miles, to
Colfax,
THE PRESENT CENTER OF EXCITEMENT
And land grabbing. The town is stu
ated ON Palouse river, at the junction
of the North and South forks, and is
about the size of the Winnemncca, and
the center of what is called Palouse
country, and on the line of the pro-
spective Columbia River Railroad This
road is to be an extension of the Walla
Walla narrow-gauge, running northeast
to the Northern Pacific Railroad, at or
near Spokane Falls. The land grabbing
for the past year has been along the
line of this proposed road, and the
choice locations are pretty well settled.
Leaving my family in Colfax l started
on tour Of inspection, the 10th Of
November. / travelled 80 miles north;
thence to the Columbia river, thence
southeast to the line of the Northern
Pacific Railroad. Our party camped
along the route in favorable localities
and examined the land to our salts
faction. Though the weather was wet
and stormy we met parties every day
ON the same layout as ourselves, with
their coat pockets full of township plats
and surveys, hunting land. The country
through which we travelled is
THE FINEST BODY OF AGRICULTURAL LAND
lever saw in any country. 1t is covered
with bunch grass nearly as thick and
tall as the prairie grass III the Western
States, and if stock men here tell the
truth, it is a paradise for horses and
cattle. The country is generally billy,
and strangers first impression is that
such hills cannot be cultivated but
have seen the plows tearing up those
hills every day, and have come to the
conclusion that where the soil is rich,
and there is market for the produce,
the land will be cultivated, no matter
how billy it may be. The billy land is
richer and produces better crops than
the valley land, which | believe is the
reverse in all other parts of the world.
There is plenty of vacant land here yet,
but it is hard for strangers to find it.
The sheepmen and Indians have de-
stroyed the section stakes in many
localities, and most of the settlers are
holding land for their friends, will tell
you positively, the land around there is
all taken up, and give you glowing
descriptions of localities twenty miles
from there
THE BEST WAY TO GET LAND
Here is to first select your locality, and
then get at the Land office plat of that
particular place, upon which all land
held and vacant is designated. The
Northern Pacific Railroad own the odd
sections for forty miles ON each side of
their line, and but little of it is taken
up. The Company have recently opened
offices in all the principal towns for the
sale of this land at s. 90 cash or 81 90
on four years time, one-fourth to be paid
down, per acre.