The Dolores star., 1906-02-16
A TRIP TO THE WEST.
BY c. H. BoPr,
Continued from last Issuel

fCOntinued from last 1sBue1
Along the sound the timber has bsen
cut of and there Is nothing left but old
black stumps and snags Of old tres.
These old stumps- and snAgs Of the
cedar trees are now being cut down
and worked into 'shingles' The land
ON which this timber grew is now held
at $50 to $50 per acre. Land that is
cleared Is held at from 500 to 5000 per
acre. Just think Of tackling a stGmp
fifteen feet and ten inches In diametsr,
1.-THE size OF one which / measured)
one root being larger than any pinon
tree In our country. laundering and
shingle making Is the only industry
along the sound, excepting draying
At Port Angeles are large fish canneries,
but the principal work for laboring men
Is getting out shingle bolts, cutting
wood or working in saw mills. There
being many saw mills here. Wages
are from 50 TO SO per day. Men make
the same cutting shing1e bolts, which,
are counted by the cord; 81 to 81 20 per
cord. Some of the timber, which has
not been cut over, they estimate will
cut from three to seven million feet of
lumber per quarter section7-there does
seem to be worlds of 1t. There are
great tracts of this land which have
never been explored or surveyed as 1t
is almost impossible to get through 1t
because of underbrush and falling tim
Der. There are old fallen trees, three
and four fsst p diameter, with large
trees growing over them. The new
tree will start on the old fallen tree
and send its roots down on each side
where it wou,d grow three Or four feet
in sometimes larger than
the trunk of the old tree. Grass grows
green and the flowers bloom during
the entire year.
They pay from 500 to $500 per acre
for clearing this land. What they can
raise on it that will pay 10 per cent on
capital invested is Question cannot
solve. They claim to raise l75 bushels
of oats and 100 bushels of wheat per
acre, but 1 could not vouch for this.
Potatoes are soggy and 90 to mush
when cooked. The big crop here is
wheat and is raised In what they call
the Walla Walla valley which is no
valley at all, as we understand the
word, but simply one hill after another
from Pendleton to Spokane. This is
the wheat country that ran California
a close race for the championship Of
the wheat belt. Land here is held at
from $500 to $500 per acre. Here are
large orchards and fine houses, all
KINDS Of crops are raised here excepting
corn, which cannot be raised In this
state. nj
After going oyer Utah, across Idaho
and part Of Oregon, and from one Of
Washington to the other and across
the northern part, I haye come to the
conclusion that the people Of the
Montezuma valley do not appreciate
the opportunities they have, and that
they do not even know the value of
their own land, nor the productiveness
Of the soil. They do not appreciate
the beautiful sunshine as compared to
the haunting nightmare of darkness
and rain for eight months of the year,
as it is out here.
In Washington you can cough and sneeze,
While the rain comes down with the greatest
Of ease.
The people of the Montezuma valley
have an empire before them, and no
better opportunities can be found any
where than they have at their own
door. l have not found land held SO
cheap any where / have been as they
hold it in our valley. And yet in all
my observations l have saw no land
better adapted to all kinds of farming
and fruit growing than it is. I would
advise the people Of the valley to get
the water question settled as soon as
they can and they will have opportu-
mites to make money there that they
cannot find anywhere West or North.
Clothing and groceries are much
cheaper out here than they are hack
there, And / want to say that the
county commissions out here do not
take the same interest in the welfare of
pigs as our commissioners do, but
rather look to the health and interest
of the people, and do not let the people
polute the water by putting pig pens
along bitches out of which other people
have to drink.
long for the beautiful sunshine.
"We never miss the water till the
well goes dry"