The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1889-02-07
HOMES TOR ALL
What an Eastern Magazine Says Of the
Great Yakima Country.
A Country Equal 10 and Very Similar 10 70.
VSred Portions q California.
Benefits q irrigation.


lying on the eastern side Of the Cascade
mountains and on the western side OF the
great Columbia basin. was sage brush
desert, as nature made 1t. Nature made
for 1t, however, fertile soil, and sent
down from the SHOWS and springs OF the
mountains copious streams Of pure, cold
water that are fullest in the summer,
when the land grows thirsty under cloud
less skies. Man has done the rest. He
has turned the water upon the land, caus-
ing 1t to moisten his meadows, grain fields
and orchards. There is still much desert
left for the labors Of later settlers, but u
great deal OF the former waste Of sand and
sage brush is now verdant and towering
farm and garden land.
This knot OF valleys which meet at the
new town Of North Yakima seems a bit
Of Southern California here in the North.
The bare mountains, with their purple,
blue and rosy colors at sunset, the wastes
OF sage brush, and the belts Of green, well
cultivated land, with shade and fruit
trees around the iarin houses all remind
one Of California. Instead Of vineyards
there are mop neius, win their serried
columns OF green ihe'e u the same lux
uriance OF horal and vegetable growth in
the door yards, wherever the little irrigat-
ing ditcnes reiresh the dry' rich SOIL
ana the iuture Oh these valleys Is PLAINLY
TO ne much IKE that oil the California
Valleys namely 10 Ne denseiy settled
with prosperous population engaged IN
horticulture and agr'culture on small
farms len or hiteen acres carefully
t'iled Will support q family; with iorty q
man might esteem hinnseh "eii-on "hen
ne gets It all under dlteh ana In crops
and orchards
Inc Valleys "hich converge a. norm
1akima are those Oh the "enas' Natchez'
Cowyehe and Ahtanum' streams when
mead In the cascade mountains ana now
into the YAKIMA nver' ana also the
mckee basin, ON the eastern SIDE oil the
Yakima nr'eated with water from the
main river' The Tour tributary streams
nave valleys about twenty miles long and
from one to three miles broad' and the
Mckee basin Is oil circular iorm' about
ten miles across. All farming and gar
dening Is done Dy lrriSation' frobaDly
about one-iourth oil the land which may
ne sS'd 70 De already under diteh' be-
cause easily Irrigated nom the main
ditches already constructed y now cul-
tivated. New ditch enterprises Will
greatly increase the area Of fertile land
available Tor settlement. About Tour
miles south Of the town the valley is en-
closed by q range Of mountains through
which the river hoWs at Union gap. The
Yakima then enters broad plain. One
side oil this plain belongs to the Indians
oil the Yakima, klickitat and other tribes
and forms the simcoe reservation. Much
OF 1t Is naturally Irrigated by the Topnish
and Satas rivers, whose waters spread
over the low lands, making lush meadows
ior. the Indians cattle. On the northern
side Of the river the wide plain is all a
sage brush desert at present, but a COM
pany has offered to buy the railroad sec
tons and is going to cut big canal next
year to irrigate over SOO, 900 acres. When
this is done the desert will speedily gil
up with people and the farming Popula-
ton tributary to the town will more than
double. North fakima's reasonable ex-
pectations are to become handsome lit