The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1909-06-11
SALE OF SCHOOL LANDS
Sixteen Hundred Acres on
Whitestone Flat on
the Market.
BIDDERS KEEP WITHIN REASON
The Large Tract Sold May be Pot
Pot Under a System
of Irrigation.

Last Saturday there were sold under
the hammer, at the front door of the
court house at Conconully, some 1900
acres of school and. Scattered through
out the state are tracts of land selected
a number of years ago by duly appoint
ed cruiser from the public domain to
cover the generous donation made by
the general government at the time
Washington was admitted to statehood
for the aid of educational, eleemosy-
nary and other institutions. When
these selections were made, some 20
years ago, the largest areas of unoccu-
pied lands were situated in the Water
vile land districts, and hence the larg-
est contiguous tracts were taken by the
cruisers in Douglas and Okanogan
counties. Besides these blankets do
nations there are the regular two sec
tions in every township, l6 and 36, that
are set aside to aid the public schools
of the states in which the lands are
are situated hence the heritage of real
ty from the national government en-
braced in the aggregated a vast domain.
At the framing of the state constitu-
ton a wise provision was adopted pro-
hibiting the sale of public lands at less
than so per acre, which insured an
immense revenue to institutions to be
benefited even if only the minimum
price was realized from the sales. For
a number of years not a great deal of
school land was disposed of, and when
it was the bidding rarely went above
the constitutional limitation, but re-
Gently the demand for the lands has
grown, and the prices realized. especi
ally where the land laid in bodies sue
ceptible to irrigation, something re-
markable
The first large sale of school land in
this county that attracted general at
tention was that embracing what is
known as Brewster flats. A large aera
of land, valueless without water, is so
situated at that point that it can be
put under water, and as the word had
gone out that an irrigation project was
in contemplation to reclaim this land,
when the day of sale came around there
was host of eager bidders present
from all over the country. In their
anxiety to secure tracts on the flats
competing bidders seemed to lose their
heads, and push up the prices to as
founding figures, far above anything
that could be realized at private sale.
Considering the nature of the ground,
the great expense necessary to put
water on it, and those who bought GER
tainly paid all that it was worth at the
date of sale. In time that land will
undoubtedly be worth more than the
cost. but it will be long time, for
water must be conveyed great dis
tance, the ground prepared, planted to
trees and then carefully cared for for
several years before an income can be
looked for.
The sale Saturday covered the sec
cond largest tract disposed of at one
time in this couYty. Again there was
a large number of buyers present, but
the bidding was more rational and the
prices paid were nothing to compare
with those paid for the Brewster flats
land. This last sale covered what is
known locally as Whitestone fiat, and
most of the land is on bench near
and above both Spectacle and White
stone lakes. Since the sale was adj
vertised parties have made careful in
vestigations as to the feasibility of get
ting water on the lands Projects in
cluding the storage of the surplus wa
ter of Sinlahekin creek, Toats coula
creek and pumping stations on the
lakes have been considered and figured
upon. Any one of them is practicable,
but the pumping system would probab-
~ be the least expensive. None of the
ground sold has ever been under culti-
vation. 1t is in its virgin condition.
Much of it lays favorable for irriga-
tion, and it has been satisfactorily dem
onstrated by the bearing orchard on
the David Smith place that with water
the land will raise as choice fruit as
can be produced in the state. If the
purchasers of Whitestone fiat can come
to some understanding by which an ir-
rigation system can be installed, there