Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1902-03-13
NEWS FROM WASHINGTON.
Letter From Warren Colony in State
Washington.

Letter From Warren Colony in State
Washington.
WILSON CREEK, March lst 'O2
Mr.. EDITOR AND FRIENDS IN MAR
SHALL COUNTY:
Some Of you may be interested to
) hear something from the Big Bend
country OF eastern Washington. l
will try to give you a brief sketch Of
the winters and the climate out here,
; and also OF the formation of the
, country and peculiarities ofsoil and
it's wonderful productiveness.
| departed from Warren on the
! 18th OF November and after most
pleasant journey to the southern
part OF Minnesota and South Dako-
ia, landed at Wilson Creek, Douglas
county, Washington, on December
1st, 1901.
The country is all a rolling, prairie,
or in some parts broken and hilly
and the only native vegetation is
; bdnch grass and sagebrush. All
along the water courses is mostly
broken and rocky land, suitable only
|. for pastures, hut as soon as you get
away from the high table lands is a
fine farming country, suitable for all
kinds OF small grains, and diversified
farming. Fruit and vegetables
: grow to perfection, and everything
is done with about one-half the labor
it takes to do the same thing in the
east. Water is plentiful and perfect
ly soft, so we don't need rain water
to wash in. But in some places it is
expensive to get water, as the foun-
dation is all rock Thesoil is a ]ignt
brown, varying in depth from moth
; ; ing to fifty feet, and very fine and
:: heavy capable Of producing a crop Of
grain without rain from time ofseed-
: ing until harvested.
will now tell you what kind Of
winter we have had, but I suppose
you will say that you have
had equally as fine a winter in Mar
shall county. The first week in De-
! cember we had some rain and cloudy
weather. The 9Th, it commenced to
freeze at nights enough to stop plow-
ing, but was always pleasant in the
; day time, with total absence Of
wind, At one time thermometer
went down to 10 below zero for few
hours in the morning. The second
week was warm and the people were
plowing. Carpenters have been able
to work on my building at all time.
The 18th Of February, the frost and
about nine inches of snow were gone
and we could start narrowing and
plowing. Some spring wheat has al
ready been seeded. Horses live all
the year on bunch grass and may be
seen in herds OF so to 100. Cattle
and sheep are raised and fattened
without any shelter at all. Stock
men are provided with plenty OF hay
and this winter have been feeding
about two or three weeks. The grass
is beginning to show some green
This has been stockman's paradise
on account of the unlimited growth
OF the nutritious bunch grass, but
must now give way to the settlers
who are pouring in from all parts Of
the Union. The only requisite to a
good crop is moisture. Thesnows in
winter and the rains in spring and
fall, only penetrate a couple OF feet
into the soil, and the old settlers say
that we have already had enough
rain to make a sure crop. Agricul-
tural lands have advanced from so
to 100 per cent in a years time. But
I still good ploW-land, wild and unim-
proved, can be brought for from 8 to
Is dollars an acre. Homestead
lands are still plentiful in Washing
ton, but all the valuable claims
around here are taken. 1t is diff
cult for a man with only three
months residence in a new country
to give true account OF, things, but
the old settlers [ have been talking
with seem to be in a good financial
condition, and have stock of all kinds
around them by the hundreds. Live
well neighbours and friends in War
rem and vicinity.
JOHN ROSENBERG.
81 Tn Crlrn ! a Gt.Srreo T,ro