The herald., 1893-11-11
A GLIMPSE OF OWENS VALLEY
An Interesting Description of
1t by A.'Schelling.
A Healthy Home for Half o Million
People.
Consarvative statoments About Its
Scenery and Nssources, Both Ag-
riculsural and Mincrai-Need
OF a Ra1rosd.


lately cold his business to James Hill,
a prominent vinegar ndppickle manu-
fectuaer from Keokuk, Iowa, and spent
p tsw weeks in Owens valley, iayo
.ounty, Tor rest. He -etur1eS from
there this week and is fully satisfied That
the Ovens valley, which is OF a noun
tsinous scenery like Switzerland, not de-
veluped yet hut will in very ssort time
be IA denseIy populated as any good
country OF the United States.
Mr. Schelling expresses the impress
eion which ne received from Owens val
lev AS follows:
[ consider Owens valley aH one OF
the nices' healthiest and most fertile
ronntriee ever saw; good home for
the poora and ior the rich. The eleya-
tion ui tue valley is 1900 to 4000 feet
i above sea level. This elevation, the
good. dry air and the total absence oil
fog rnakes it one OF the healthiest coun-
tries on earth. The temperature In
summer riHes sometimes to 100 deg. and
fais in winter to 20 deg.
Occasionally one or two inches OF
snow falls in the valley. but it disap-
pears soon after the sun has risen.
The heat during the summer is always
moderated by an agreeable breeze from
tue snow-clad mounta:ns. In spring
this breeze changes into a pretty strong
wind, but not OF q velocity to do any
damage. October 26th the thermometer
1T Citrus station showed 20 degreeE, +. i
al s 80 a.m., and the weather was bright
and clear. There was only one cloudy
day during my presence in Owens val
ley. The rainfall very seldom exceeds
three inches. This dry climate makes
Owens valley exceedingly fit for drying
fruitn, especially for the culture of rails
N.G.
The present population OF Owens val
ley is about 5000. There are about 800
Indians OF the Piute tribe in the valley.
They are all good-natured and civilized.
Their children attend an English echool
and are as intelligent as the white chill
dren
Ovens valley could very easily sup
port half a million Inhabitants. as it
contains about 900 acres OF good till
able land and plenty of mineral re-
sources. The reason why it is not bet
ter settled 10 probably the want OF good
communicate ,ns with more densely
populated counties, and, therefore. the
want OF facilities for good market. AS
the valley 10 situated between two high
mountain ranges, the Sierra Nevadas on
the west and the White and Inyo noun
taine on the east, it naturally has only
two on tlets-one towards the north and
one eOuth.
Toward the north a narrow-gauge rail-
road--thc Carson and Colorado rail-
road runs train every other day from
Keeler to Reno and vice versa. in con-
81. ka Co.
road, but the charges OF this railroad
are go high that it is almost impossible
: impossible for the farmers toehip their
products to the principal market places
OF Northern California, Sacramento and
San Francisco. At tho southern outlet
OF the valley is a stage road thfough the
Mojave desert to Mojayet - distance
from the southern part OF the valley of
aboutl 100 milea. A fohr-hcfseS stage is
running between Mojaye and KHeler, a
little Village on the Owens lake. The
stage leaves Mojave for Kealer every
Tuesday and Saturday evening, and
Keeler for MojAve every Monday and
Thursday morning. 1t changes the
horses four times on each trip, which
is made in about "a hours A railroad
is projected and franchiaed from Mojave
< TO the Owens valley, and as soon as this
railroad 10 running the valley will come
to the very front and be settled rapidly.
The coil of the Owens valley is very
productive where it is irrigated, and
there is abundance Of water there to
irrisate with. The water is taken partly
FROM numerous mountain streams, partly
from the Owens river, which carries
water enough to irrigate almost a mil
lion acres Of land. An English syndicate
intends to construct big canal to con.
yer. part OF the water of the Owens river
to valley eouth of the Owens valley
called Indian Wells valley. This valley
contains about 0.000 acres of good
government land, and will, after the
completion OF said canal, will become
Gne of the incest countries in California
In the upper part of Owens valley, in
Bishep, the largest town of the valley
With population of about 1000, are 8
good number OF well-cultivated farms
aud there is such an abundance of water
that on come places it is actually
wasted.
Very nice settlements are also in Bis
Pie. in Idependendence. the county
aeat. in Georges Greek, in Lone Pine
all on the west side OF the river anG
near Citrus ami Alvord on the east side
Stock raising is the principal occupa
pht1On al Inc lbtmerb i'll owens valley
and the horDes look very fine. Th'
farmers in Bishop carry besides horse
also good stock OF milk COWS. The,
Lave recently paid special attention Il
the butter and cheese industry by start
10y creamery, and believe this indus
- can. becauee of the abundance o
,e,v good food. be made success,
properly managed. There are GOO
openings in the Owens valley for wei
trained butter and cheese manufactur
ers.
R Besides alfalfa they raise in the Owen
valley wheat, barley cats, corn an
vegetables. All these products grow t
perfection. and the deciduous fruits
apples and pears, and also the grapes
which had been raieed there are of
AZ very fine favor and taste. Peaches an
aprcots, etc., are sure crop only in tn
So southern part of the valley, but fo
grapes, wine and raisin grapes. there
hardly & better country in California.
A farmer told me he raised bunch {
grapes last summer which weighed !
pounds. The land along the Owens rive
is good for pasture. The higher locate
land is the best for alfalfa, fruit an