The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-03-07
Correspondence baltimore County Union.
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON TERRI
TORY.

Messrs. Editors II have a friend living near
Cotton Whitman county, Washington Territory,
formerly a resident of the 9TH district, Baltimore
county. 1 have received letters from him, and
thinking some of the information be gives may
be interesting to the readers of The UNION, send
you some extracts for publication.
Cotton is near Snake River, the southern branch
of the Columbia River, and my ranch is near the
river on the north side of the stream. The land
is not level prairie, but is billy and more or less
rough The soil is very good, being over four feet
in Depth The man that farmed my ranch in 1884
raised thirty eight bushels of wheat to the acre,
and in 1883 thirty bushels, which was less than
the general average crop. Our house is frame
built of good lumber, costing six dollars per 1000
feet. It took me two days to make the trip to the
lumber mill, hauling 1000 feet at a load.
We get our frewood from the mountain, haul
ing enough in two weeks to last US a year. We
can haul cord at u load with ease. 1t is mostly
pine but very different from your Eastern pine,
making hotter fire than oak in the East and
burning longer. The principal kinds of wood are
pine, fir, cedar and tamarack. Wire is mostly
used for fencing and all kinds of fencing material
is about as cheap it is in Maryland.
There are not many Indians about here, and
what few there are give us no trouble; indeed
they are much more quiet than many of the white
people in the East, and people out here never
think of locking their doors when they go to bed.
We are not troubled with any kind of wild beasts,
none frequenting neighborhood. A few bad
gers, cayOtes and jack rabbits, the first two being
chicken thieves, are the most ferocious animals
have seen since have been out here.
I have found the people generally more neigh
bcrly and accommodating than many that it was
my lot TO meet with in the East. You ask my
advice about moving out here. I will not advise
lest you might not like it and blame me for per-
suading you to come. But as for myself l will
say, knowing what / do now about this country,
if I owned the best farm in Baltimore county
would sell it and come out here. And if you are
a poor man the advantages out here are far supe-
rior to any you have in the East. There is con-
slant demand for laboring men at from $50 to S35
a month with hoard and the same is true of me-
chanics, blacksmiths getting from So to 81 per
day and carpenters from $3.50 to $3.50 per day.
Land can be secured in three ways LIST, by the
homestead act where the settler pays for it at the
time of settlement; I'd, by pre- emption laws, where
the settler has the first right and pays for it after
living on it five years; Sd, by the timber culture
laws, where the settler is to plant ten of tim
Der in eight years, be an actual settler, and get
his title when he has complied with the contract.
The planting of the timber is received in payment
of the land but in homestead and presumption
lands the price is S1.25 $3.50 per acre, accord
ing to location. The price of land owned by rail-
road companies is from So to $40 per acre, accord
ing to location.
In reply to your question about hogs, L would
say the price of shoats is four cents pound and
dressed pork five cents. Our winters here
generally light and mild with but little snow; but
this winter we have had much more than usual
Still, up to this date Jan. 25th) it has not been
very cold. The stock is still running out, but it
is little colder for them than winters gener-
ally are.
1t takes from eight to nine days to come out
here, costing 500 for stcass tickets, $50 pounds
of baggage being allowed with each ticket. 1
prefer travelling by the Pennsylvania railroad,
taking the Pittsburg and Fort Wayne route to
Chicago, then the Northwestern railroad to st.
Paul, then the North Pacific to Colfax, the county
town af Whitman county, which is near US.
G ". &.