The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1909-09-23


iko is ell right, but the square Is a
misiit; it needs some tucks taken In
it, but the town Will grow up to 1t
sometime. The Hotel ShanikO-and
a dandy little hotel 1t is, too stand
at the northwest corner OF the plaza
There is q saloon at the southeast cor
ner OF southeast quarter. 1t is visi.
BILE from the hotel, and the trail Is
"well defined" A big, fine country
store is on the northwest corner
while the southwest corner is open
for an engagement, that is, it was
when was last there some seven years
ago.
Passing out of that corner TO the
south you could say then, like Monte
Cristo, "the world is mine". You can
still say II you hurry, but Jim Hill
and Hartman both have designs on
| 1t.
you went south dozen miles
YOU would come to Trout Creek, IL
you went farther south you would
find Hay Creek and the Baldwin
Sheep and Land Company, with
sheep on thousand hills, and then
some. Some of the hills belong to
1t. Still farther south Willow Creek
and PrineviIIe and Crooked River,
and then there is the "desert" where
the cattle feed sll winter and get fat.
But this is o digresson, we are talk
ing about Biggs. | only mentioned
Shaniko to show what a wide awake
little railroad could do il 1t started at
Biggs and kept going.
Ihe Columbia Southern's head
quarters were at Biggs and In the
sand, and It's hind quarters we're at
Shaniko and on bed rock, but 1t ran
through fine wheat country and
paid good dividends. That same
wheat country was once considered
only grazing land, and there are
thousands of acres just like it down
between Shaniko and Reno, New
Hartman and Hill have both found
this out; Lytle showed them. That
they realize its immense possibilities
is shown by the fact that they both
want to build rairload up the Des
-
1t Ia not because they dislike Biggs,
or Shaniko that they did not want to
extend the line from Shanlko, bat he
cause they did not want to pull the
vast products that will soon come
from that great empire over the heavy
grades at that point, and which could
be avoided by the route up the De-
ohutes. They wanted water r-level
grade, and Hill at least has 1t.
Biggs isn't kicking about it. The
new road will not interfere with Its
business of taking care of the pro-
ducts OF Sherman County. Biggs
asks nothing of nobody and gets 1t
1t has the sand to look after itself
1t has no push club. no cham ber OF
commerce, no place to put one II II
had it, that is, no permanent place
where 1t would not be likely to bt
sanded under. Biggs is gritty, anc
like the country newspaper mar
when he died, "there to stay"
} 1t 10 only three miles over tt
Grants, and that 10 30 much more
: worse than Biggs, that Biegs feels ga
every time Grants Is mentioned
The wind blows harder at Grants. /
has to. The sand Is 80 much coarss
and harder to move. In fact, 1t Il
gravel, some OF 1t large as hens eggs
, but the wind toys with 1t just th'
, same.
} Grants was named after Bill Grant
, of the firm OF Murphy, Grant IL Co, o
San Francisco. Bill was Gritle big
ger than the town. He had to be t.
l hold it down and keep 1t from blow
ing away. Only big man could sta.
I there. Il. q. Mccoy also started il
8 business there. Dutch was bigge
0 than Grant, bigger than Biggs him
8 self. lie has grown since financially
Q and 10 now the head of the Wasu
8 Milling Company, OF The Dalles, wit
y warehouses all along the road iror
}. Bjegs to to Grass Valley, and bi
n roller mill that Is run by electricity
" generated at White River, 30 mile
IT south of The Dalles.
Il only mention this to show whH
I. can be done with anything that wi
d start from Biggs. II Is bound to kee
1t on going; nothing can stop it. LytI
8 started there and so did his railroad
ID 80 did Bill Grant sand "Dutoh
i Mccoy, and see the result. The Co