East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-10-06
PRIZE ARTICLE ON UMAT|LLA COUNTY

rounding country. Probably no town
OF ?endleton's size Is as widely known. !
This has been brought about by many
things, chief of which, however, is
the fact that It is the home of the
famous Moorhouse Indian photo
graphs and the Pendleton Indian
blanket. These have carried the story
of Pendleton to the four quarters of
the earth.
on the great highway to the south
of Pendleton lies Pilot Rock, the CEN
ter of the sheep raising industry,
while farther south are Alba and
Ukiah, the latter being in the beau
tiful and fertile Camas Prairie, a
great dairying country In the noun
tains near Ukiah, and on Hidaway
and Desolation creeks, in Texas Bar
basin, and on the John Day are splen--
did bodies of timber. while extensive
coal deposits are also not far distant.
Here. too, are located two popular
summer resorts, Hidaway Springs and
Lehman Springs, both of which have
hot springs and hot bathing pools.
Hunting and fishing are excellent in
the immediate vicinity of both of these
! resorts, so that they make an ideal
camping ground for few weeks va
cation during the summer.
The o. r. e. n. Co. has set aside
| $1S0,00 for the construction of a rail-
road south from Pendleton. This will
develop country rich in natural re-
sources which Is as yet almost un-
touched. Land hunger is the thing that
most Anglo-Saxons are suffering from
and here this hunger may be. ap-
peased. Good land may be purchased
! for from IS to SIS an acre in Camas
/ Prairie.
East of Pendleton lies the I'matilla
Indian reservation with its fertile
wheat fields leased by the white man
and its picturesque smoke-stained
! lodges, the home of red men. Fur
ther eastward rise the mountains.
whose streams TEEN with trout and
whose timber-clad slopes are the home
of the deer and grouse.
Westward from Pendleton lies
Echo, the Meadows and the rich But
ter creek country. Along Butter creek
fruit, honey and alfalfa are the prin-
cipal crops the latter being one OF the
most profitable crops raised in east
ern Oregon. as three crops a year are
cut and the usual yield is about six
tons to the acre. Alfalfa sells for
from Sc to $40 a ton, so 1t is a money
making crop, sold either as hay or
fed to stock.
Beyond Butter creek to the west
ward of Echo lie thousands of acres
of typical desert. sand, sagebrush and
! jackrabbits, awaiting the revivifying,
life-giving touch of water to make 1t
verdant and productive. Hermiston
, and Umatilla are in the center of the
sagebrush waste that will soon bios
som as the rose, as the government
is spending million dollars in an ir-
rigation project which will reclaim a
= large area of this heretofore waste
land and make homes for hundreds OF
thrifty and Industrious settlers.
l When II is reclaimed and alfalfa
: becomes one of the chief crops, dairy
5 ing will become one of the chief in
dustries as at present we ship in most
, of the butter we use.
$ Not only from a material stand
: point. but along the lines OF progress
$ iveness and general intelligence does
e Umatilla county rank high. The
=. county is singularly free from illitera-
cv In fact this is true of the state
at large, as Oregon ranks third In all
the states, her per cent being 9s.5S.
4 The county could readily manufac-
, ture much that she now imports as
we have abundant water power and
\ the raw material. For example. straw
e for the manufacture OF paper as they
= do at Lebanon: clay for pottery and
tiling wool for clothing. lumber for
n furniture and much other raw ma
= terial that could be turned into the
U finished product here. Butter, eggs
e and bacon which we now import, I'VE
= should produce and will in time. As
Il the country settles up, more and more
e attention will be given to mixed farm
q ing.
n Recently l stopped at the home OF
II a German farmers near Freewater
u He had only five acres of land.
s "Can you make living on thi:
o small place." inquired.
It 81 not only made living last year
& but | put $1053 in the bank" he an
swered.
i How did you do II on five acres?'
q | asked incredulously
IS 81 have three-fourths of an acre o
n Iawton blackberries, an acre and {
: quarter of strawberries, nearly three
a acres of orchard, peaches and cher
l. ries. keep five Jersey cows, raisini
/ the clover for them in the orchard.
l. have, as you see. big family of Leg
\, horn chickens that eat the waste fruit
a Then my bees make me quite bi
"a of money, too. used to be carpen
i ter and got SO day, but there is moth
Al ing in working for wages, for mai
le always breads getting fired, or worl
IL being scarce so he will have to NOV
e to a new place.
N "It took all made to keep my fam
v ily. Now / save money and live 10
RS per cent better than ever did before
s. We have rich cream, plenty of milF
s. butter and eggs, occasionally frie
r chicken, honey strawberries and plen
m ty of fruit, and It all comes off thes
re five acres. I farm every foot of u
Then every year my land Is getun
TX more valuable; it's worth now twic
IL what paid for It,"
US One more instance and l must clos'
A clerk came up from the Willamett
ty valley. He was getting $50 mont
OF there and here he got SD. One da!