The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1905-08-10
From Minnesota to Idaho

''i' III AuduO Ill July. EOT Cuc
contrast between the blooming
prairies, the fragrant forests, the
beautiful valleys of Minnesota and the
dead brown hills of Idaho in July
could not be greater. Payette Valley
and in fact all of Southern Idaho,
without irrigation is a desert, a dead
world, where no living thing finds a
habltation and nothing grows save
sage brush. But the problem of
irrigation has been solved.
Payette river fed by mountain lakes
and melting snow, is considered in
exhaustible, and water rights are
included in all deeds. But anything
more desolate than the vacant lots and
unclaimed land cannot be conceived.
The soil is an alluvial deposit and is
the color and consistency of ashes.
But wherever the water is, there the
desert blossoms as the rose. Mr..
Cortner whom many of your readers
will remember, has a fine stock and
hay ranch lying one mile west of
Payette and his land has doubled in
value during the three years he has
owned it. Bounded on the west by
the Snake river and on the north by
Payette river his pasture 'subs",-
which translated means soaks up the
water from the rivers thus keeping
his pasture green until late in the
season, but green or brown, luxuriant
or bare the pastures of Idaho turn out
the finest, latest stock, and a poor
horse or animal of any kind is I'M
known.
A Mr.. Ensign also from Sank
Centre, has turned bare tract of sage
brush into a beautiful and thrifty
home and all in four years. On a
half block he has all kinds of fruit
from gooseberries as large as English
Walnuts, to sort of tree fruit called
"Prune Semonia," a cross between
plum and peach. This sounds
like the advertising matter sent out to
the credulous East, but. "Seeing is
believing" and we trust that our
character for truth and veracity will
cause this to be accepted as the fact
that it is. The future of Payette is
established. Fruit ranches surround
it on all sides, and the ever present
and all sufficient alfalfa is found
everywhere. Beet raising is proven to
be success and million dollar beet
sugar factory is assured and due to be
in running order here in Payette on
Sept. l, 1906.
The people are contented and happy
with all the proverbial hospitality ano
friendliness of the great West.
Churches abound, and everybody
attends. In the little Presbyterian
church which we attended the first
Sabbath, a bright young man, all fire
and spirit, addressed us, holding the
audience in rapt attention and al
times melting them to tears. And
much to our surprise the organist, a
gentleman of fine appearance and
much musical ability, proved to be q
Mr.. Boehmer, banker, and an own
cousin to the Melrose BEGINNERS
Church work is not given over ex.
clusively to women. In spite OIL
Female Suffrage or because of it the
men are not above doing their share
of church work. Payette has two fine
brick school buildings and claim ar
enrolment of 800 pupils. Prof. Rowe
of Little Falls. is their principal.
AS to our trip, it was without ex
element of any kind and differed il
no way from the experience of all who
travel west over the Great Northern.
Monday afternoon we spent il
taking feeting glimpses of thu
Paradise we were leaving. Thrifty
homes; clean villages with greer
lawns and beautiful walks; we'll bull
cities with wide paved streets anC
signs on every side ending with "son.
In the morning we were in the Rec
River Valley where lands were nearly
covered with water, and teams OF si1
horses hitched to apparently small
loads. Squatters' cabins and al
occasioned coyote or antelope enlivenet
the dead, level monotony.
|
In the afternoon of Tuesday W.
were crossing Montana, where thu
sight of jack rabbit or prairie dog
| would cause the whole car OF people
to spring to the windows for a sight
of something alive. There we caught
sight of the mountains! They seem
to advance and recede, hazy and blue
in the distance, and when at last II
the early evening we actually came
to them the excitement was intense
1t is useless to attempt to find suitable
adjectives to describe the mountains
or our sensation in bSholding them
for the first time. To say the
mountains were grand, sublime and
beautiful, and that we were speechless
with awe gives no idea of either. We
reached Summit at shutdown, and q
CHI ~