The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1906-03-16
Returns from the West.

G. T. Upper of the Citizens
National Bank retured from q
months Vacation in the west, a
few days ago. He left here Feb
4th going via the "Omaha" an q
Great Northern. The thermometer
registered 40 dergees below zero
when he left Minneapolis the morn
ing of the 5th.
The first stop was at KaDspeu'
Montana, a fine county seat of 5000
population in the Flathead Valley.
The industries here are farmlng'
fruit raising and numbering, there
being plenty Of snow for the latter
There is some mining also. The
Flathead Valley is about Is miles
wide and 80 to 40 in length. The
weather is cool in summer to quite
cold in winter.
His next stop was at Spokane,
WASH, which in mining is called
1.-The Denver of the west. " Spokane
is tho hub around which the in land
empire revolves. It has many
wealthy people whose principal
means have been accumulated
through fortunate mining ventures,
lumber, milling, farm lands and
grain. Spokane is the largest city
between the twin cities and Seattle
on the Puget Sound. 1t is an educa-
t1onal center aud a leading banking
point. Many country banks carry
accounts there. The whole country
being prosperous the Spokane banks
are growing rapidly. The deposits
in one of the leading banks have
increased at the rate of nearly u
million a year for the past three
years.
The country about the city is
rough and stony and there is no
good farming land near the city.
Spokane money is going into electric
lines of railway in all directions,
providing cheap rates of transporta'
ton that will insure much of the
products of the country coming to
Spokane as we'll as the retail trade.
The town is growing fast and now
claims $4,000 population. Whole
outlaying districts have been SO
recently built up that more than
half Of the buildings in them are
new and Imprinted. j. j. Hill Of
the Great Northern has built a
suburb called Hillyard, for R. K.
shops that is a complete town by
itself, having most kinds Of business
represented, including bank just
opening for business.
Efforts are beng made to extend
the city limits to include this suburb
and make it part of Spokane
The Spokane people have organized
and built a direct road southwest
through the wheat country to the
Columbia River which insures a
direct water outlet by that great
waterway to Portland and the sea.
Spokane has practically doubled in
population in the last five years.
From Spokane he was accom-
panied into the wheat districts in
the Big Bend country by Mr.. M. A.
Wiley of the Washington Land Co.,
of Waterville, who lives at Spokane.
He drove over 100 miles through a
: prosperous wheat raising country
the farms being fenced and having
good buildings, that few years ago
were given over to grazing and sage
brush. These lands that were
. worth from s.. 50 to $500 per acre
6 Or z years ago now command $40
to $25 per acre if improved and in
cultivation. 1t also produces fine
potatoes all sorts Of garden stuff,
apples, apricots and cherries. The
winter snow fall outside the valleys
is heavy and the total precipitation
of rainfall including the snow is
about Is inches. Wheat production
runs from 20 to 40 bushels per acre.
Usually wheat land is only cropped
every other year being summer
followed between times.