East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1922-09-23

| PA'N'NV', anu IilN annual till l'iiilANil
will average about 25O students.
! The towns of Milton and Freewatel
| are in the Walla Walla Valley. The
I Walla Walla River, which takes its
! source in the Blue Mountains. comes
out of the canyon and runs in a gen
= orally northerly direction into the state
e of Washington. Along its east bank
rises the bench of land that is almost
9 entirely devoted to wheat raising as
- far rs the foothills, some fifteen miles
= distant On the other side of the
o river, where it leaves the canyon, the
: edge of the bench land runs almost
due west. This bench land is also
t devoted to wheat raising. These two
| edges of bench land leave a V-shaped
valley which runs in a northwcsternly
r direction. This is the fruit section
OF the valley, terminating in alfalfa
fields on the west and more wheat
on the north. The town of Milton is
just at the head of the canyon, aud
FrecWatcr lies a little below Milton.
At some places this valley has sub.
irrigated sections, where springs and
Droois are formed. The greater part |
Of the valley is irrigated for fruit, |
vegetables, alfalfa and other crops. |
I The wheat grown is not irrigated and !
Is mostly sown in the fall, the land be-
| ing summer fallowed every other year, 1
In addition to the excellent school H
! facilities which have always prevailed u
/ here, new union high school has lust
! been completed at a cost of about a n
quarter of a million dollars, and it of H
fers an uneXceled opportunity for the Il
education of children. The assessed H
valuation Of the district is more than II
100000, one of the biggest of any i
union district in the state The library NJ
needs of the two towns are well cared II
for in branch of the county library, II
which is established here, and efforts II
are being made to see that the scope liz
Of this work is Widcned even beyond HE
its present limits. X
There are four banks, here, whose IS
deposits range from slightly more e
than one million dollars to about two
million dollars in the season when
fruit and wheat creps are sold. They
ire well housed and in strength they
are second to none in the county.
The religious life of the community
Is reflected in the number of churches G.
ound in the two towns. A departure
from the usual plan Of organization is
ound in the federated church, which /
S combination of ten dcnominat ions. 1
There are both Protestant ana Catho-
lie churches in the community besides
he federated church.
An exceptionally large number of II
eautiful homes adOrn both towns.
hey are surrounded by well-kept
twns on streets which in a large mea-
FThnN, a TO
of the vision and industry
nd faith of the men and women who
i've in Milton -Freewater and have
many years
Both Milton and FreeWater have Il
iEOrous, energetic commercial or
anizations, which are constantly do
lg work for the good of the cOmmun-
-y as a whole. Each town has an up
o-date weekly newspaper. The usual
uota of lodges and social organiza-
Ions are found here in abundance to
rovide for the hours of pleasure and
ecreation.
Industries of the twin cities COM
rise one flour mill, $4,000 ice and
old storage plant, a 100000 fruit
acking and storage plant, beside
lree other large cooperative and
fruit houses, two large box
plants and a sash and
oor factory. II
Milton owns its own municipal light
nd power plant. valued at $125,OO0
nd beside furnishing light and power
II inhabitants within the city, sup
les many country homes.
Hcrmiston
Hermiston is located in the west
Id of Umatilla county and is on the
Mon Pacific Railroad and the Co.
mbia Highway. 1t is 35 miles west
Pendleton, 1870 miles east of Port
nd and six miles from the Columbia
ver Its population in 1920 was 655,
cording to the official census. 1t is
G trading center of the Umatila
'igation Project and is the location
the governments project head
arters. 1t Is supported by the 20,-
0 acres of irrigated land in its vi
lity. -.
As farms in this district are small,
pulation is comparatively dense.
out 1,S00 people live on the irri-
ted farms in the vicinity of HeTmis- =
! and others who live on the farms
the north end of Morrow County do
part of their trading here. Four -
ndred farms are on the rural mail
lte out of Hcrmiston. Most Of these
We telephones. This combination Of
ources makes Hcrmiston one Of the
ongest business towns of its size in
state
The towns history dates back about
teen years. when the United States
founded the Umatilla Ir-
alton Project here. Previous to
s time the land had supported
hing but saEebrush, but the appli-
ion of an abundance Of water full
ed the Biblical prophecy and Made
desert to blossom like the rose
. town sprung up as fast as the
IDS were put under water.
Icrmiston has within its city limits
the institutions that make up the
Of a prosperous country town.
ere are three churches, Baptist,
Iholic and Methodist, and five
gcs, Masons, I. .. o. f., X. Of r.,
stern star and Rcbckahs. The city
2i-hour electric lighting system,
,rayity water system publicly own
a good fire department. a good