Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-02-19
Washington Territory Letter.
psssh. City. Columbia Co ].

pstaha City, Columbia Co., Jan. Is. 1850.
EDITOR HERALD.-I have seer
letters in your paper from different
parts OF the West. So have con
cluded to give You . little descrip.
ton OF q country farther west thar
any ! have ever yet seen represent.
ed 1t is Washington Territory
the southeast part. This is new
country just being settled with the
exception of a few stock men. Itis
generally a rich, rolling prairie. The
soil is very prolific, raising large
crops OF cereals and vegetables. |
took particular notice last summer 10
see how grain turned out. Wheat
went from 20 to As bushels per
acre; barley, from 80 to 20, oats 25
rs, all on sod. Corn doesn't seem to
do much for several reasons. 1t il
too dry in the summer, the nights are
too cool, and then il stools out like
wheat. From one grain there will
be from three to ten stalks, each try.
ing to mature an ear. The climate
is very salubrious; the summers are
cool and pleasant, the winters are
generally open. One thing that
makes the winters warmer than thew
would be is what the Indians call
chinook (wind from the ocean). il
comes in a day when you look not
making clean sweep of snow and
frost. Last February the ground
was frozen fifteen inches deep and
covered. with snow and ice: one
morning some one shoated"cbinook"
we looked out and could see a per.
feet cloud of heat coming. Ia two
days there was not . bit of frost in
the ground and in less than a week
plows and seeders started. So far
this winter chinook has been having
quite time with snow and frost. but
of late has won. l plowed yesterday.
Stock make their living the year
around. Timber is generally scarce
and of poor quality, Pine, Tamarack
and Fir are the principal kinds. This
country as well as Oregon and Cali
fornia ship all its wagons, headers.
threshers, plows &C., from the East
They come by the way of SanFran.
oieco. Portland. then up the Colum.
bia river, and by the time they get
the first cost. At present our mar.
ket is poor but when the N. p. r.. r.
is complete it will give us an outlet
to the ocean and to the East. There
is no lime rock in the country build.
ing rock is scarce, plenty of good
water power for mill sites, vet water
is hard to get in places. Fruit such
as apples, peaches, pears and grapes
grow well. The educational interests
are not forgotten. This country is al.
most destitute Of bees, birds flowers,
herbs, wild berries, and nuts. Wheat
is SOC. per bushel, barley, Csc, pota
toep, SOC, bacon, Sets. per pound,
butter, 4octs. per pound. This coun-
try is very different from Wisconsin,
therefore things have to be managed
very differently. Different ways of
farming, of raising and managing
stock, of building houses and fences,
and different ways and customs of
the people. } If you have a surplus of
the fair sex please send out a car
load for there are two men here to
every one woman. The rivers are
we'll supplied with fish upon which
numerous Indians almost subsist.a /
have already written more than cal.
culated to when / commenced but
the more / write the more think of.
| could fill one whole side of your
paper but for fear OF intruding I will
close. Respectfully yours,
ROBERT G. MoRRELL.