East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-04-08

Antelope, Ore, April s.-If one
half Of the stories as told by the prop
erty owners and real estate agents
that seem to be interested in the
Bend country, were true, there would
be no need of any person in the land
of the setting sun remaining poor,
and eking out a miserable existence in
such county as Umatilla. All any
one, in such a state, would have to
do is to go there himself and in a
short time he will have accumulated
enough to support his family and live
in luxury and ease the remainder of
his life.
But "all is not gold that glitters,"
and many who go there will become
wiser and poorer as time rolls on.
The writer has spent considerable
time in that section and made many
inquiries of some of the most promi-
nent and best-posted ranchers and
stockraisers of Crook county, who
are not interested financially (nor
don't want to be, they say), and they
all express the same idea, that they
have very little faith in it's future,
even as a hay-producing section.
That it is, undoubtedly, a scheme by
which a few men intend to make a
big thing out of in a few years, re-
gardless of principle.
In the first place the climate is too
cold to produce more than a light
crop of hay, even if the country had
4 4 ri. I, &c.
an elevation of from five to six thous-
and feet above sea level, almost to the
snow line and only about 80 miles
from the Three Sisters, that are COW
cred with snow the year around;
hence cannot have very warm nights.
We have seen oats and rye hay
frozen to the ground in June and July.
Yes, but that was an exception. Well,
we know it was an exception to that
crop, but the exception happened to
several crops since. Last year was
an exceptionally good year for crops
all over the Northwest, and as
matter of fact, according to nature,
Bend wasn't sligtIted, and where sown
and planted, raised a fair crop of hay
and a few harder vegetables that
would stand a little cold weather and
grow in short season.
Their agents there, or wherever
located tell us that when water is
once put on the ground the climate
will change, and become more even;
the temperature will be equalized and
| frosts will not occur later than the
first of May nor earlier than Septem-
| Der.
This is all true, where there are
such bodies of water as the Great
Lakes, Puget Sound or Hudson Bay.
But when it comes to sprinkling wa
ter, as it We're, through a sieve over
lava bed covered over with ashes
and cinders, that came from the bow
els of the earth and lies six thous-
and feet above the sea level, it's all
bosh, and you can't pound that into
a Crook countyite who isn't interested
financially.
The inducements held out to the
homeseekers are beyond comparison,
and. many a poor man, who came
from the East has gone in there with
his family and little money, think
ing that he could do well, and is there
today eking out miserable existence
with not enough of this worlds goods
to get away on.
Their agents, who live at Forest,
~ miles north of Prineville and 30
miles north of Bend. are always ready
to meet and show you over the coun-
try around Forest, on down the
river to Culver, in around Madras and
the Willow creek basin, where they
raise wheat, corn, fruit and vegeta-
bles of nearly all kinds, and never
fail to get a part of crop any season
| and once in while an extraordinary
large one, which was the case last
year.
Here at Forest, right in the heart
of a large alfalfa section, where thy
cut two good crops and sometimes a
lighter one later on, have fruit in
abundance, raise vegetables equal to
any in Oregon, is where you land at
night, and they will show you the next
day.
After showing you around and eX-
planning the wonderful qualities of
the soil, and many other features be-
longing to that sacred spot, you start
out on an incline ranging from 100 to
800 feet to the mile, over about as
rocky a road as you ever saw.
The circulars put out by the COM
pany say that the soil is free from
alkali, which is true, but it never
mention this section where its all
alkali and rocks. At last you reach
the sagebrush and juniper-this is
the section that is for sale.
/, Here the guide commences his
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