Part 14

Along the rivers some farmers have irrigated small parcels of land by pumping water, but the bulk of the irrigable lands are awaiting the action of the U. S. Reclamation Service, which it is thought will ultimately be engaged in an extensive irrigation problem to reclaim thousands of acres now arid and barren. The warm climate of these low Bandy lands has already been proven to be immensely advantageous to the gardener and fruit-grower, and the lands wonderfully productive when the magic influence of plenty of water renders the sources of plant life soluble.

The wheat crops now being produced come from the bench lands without irrigation.

TRANSPORTATION.

The Northern Pacific railway passes diagonally through the county and crosses the Columbia river near Pasco. The Oregon Railroad & [Page 58] Navigation railway taps the wheat belt in the northern part of the county and the North Coast is projected through it, while the Portland & Seattle follows the north bank of the Snake river along its southwestern boundary, thus giving the county four systems of railroad, besides the Columbia river steamboats.

PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS.

PASCO is the county seat, in the extreme southern portion of the county, near the Columbia river, and is more noted as a railroad center than as a shipping point, on account of the fact that the surrounding lands are as yet unirrigated. It has a population of about 1,800, and is just now enjoying new vigor and much building in anticipation of its future usefulness as a commercial center for distribution of both merchandise and agricultural products.

CONNELL, in the northern part of the county, is a shipping point of importance, and has two railroad lines and a third one coming. In addition to the cereals, many sheep and horses are being raised and shipped out of the county from this vicinity.

GARFIELD COUNTY

Garfield county is the second from the southeast corner of the state, and extends from the Snake river on the north to the state boundary on the south. It has 627 square miles of territory and a population of about 7,000.

The southern portion is included in the Wenaha forest reserve, and is quite heavily timbered. The northern portion is an extremely prolific farming region, made up of undulating lands with deep rich soil, composed of clays and volcanic ash. No irrigation is necessary, and very heavy crops of grain are annually matured.

RESOURCES.

As already intimated, the chief source of income for the county comes from the tillage of the soil. Of the crops raised, barley is in the lead, having furnished 1,800,000 bushels in 1907, which places this county second of all counties in the state in the production of this cereal. Wheat and oats are also largely produced. Stock-raising in the southern ranges of the county is very profitable, and much fruit is of late years being produced. Indeed, Garfield county is well up to the front in the per capita wealth of its citizens.

PRINCIPAL TOWNS.

POMEROY is the county seat and chief distributing center of the county. It is situated in the north central part of the county, on the Pataha river and the Oregon Railroad & Navigation railway. It has a population of nearly 2,000.

It is lighted with electricity, has a gravity water system, and all the machinery for doing all the business naturally coming to a town [Page 59] of its size. It has a fine high school and graded schools, churches, newspapers, banks, warehouses, big stocks of goods, fire department, cet.

GRANT COUNTY

Grant county occupies about 2,700 square miles of what was formerly Douglas county, comprising the lands southeast of the Grand and Moses coulees, bordering on the southwest on the Columbia river, with Adams and Lincoln counties on its eastern border.

Ephrata is the county seat, on the Great Northern railway. The northern part of the county is traversed by the Great Northern railroad, and has developed into a vast region of grain production without irrigation, although originally supposed to be valueless for cereal-raising.

The southern part is new and comparatively undeveloped, but is crossed by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, just now giving this new county great impetus. The southern portion of the county has long been a grazing ground for herds of cattle and horses, but it is thought now it will be turned into a prosperous region of small farms.

While the county is cut by several coulees, it is chiefly composed of large areas of bench lands, comparatively level, barring a range of hills in its southwestern corner called Saddle mountains. There is considerable water in the county, Moses lake being quite a large body of water with bordering swampy lands, about in the center, and Wilson creek, in the northern and Crab creek, in the southern part, furnishing considerable stock water.

LANDS.

The lands tributary to the Great Northern railway already produce great quantities of grain and livestock, and these will continue to be its staple crops until irrigation may come in and stimulate fruit production, for which it is thought much of the lands will be suitable.

TRANSPORTATION.

Both the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railway systems are in the grain fields of the northern part of the county. The Milwaukee road crosses the southern part, the N. & S. is projected along its western border, paralleling the Columbia river, which is navigable, thus affording all the county, excepting the central portion, good facilities for marketing its products. As the county develops, beyond question branch lines will penetrate this portion, and Grant county will become as well supplied as any other portion of the state with facilities for commerce.

CITIES AND TOWNS.

EPHRATA, the county seat, is a small village on the Great Northern railway about midway of the county and the center of a large wheat-growing section. Its transformation into an important town is rapidly [Page 60] going on, the new county government calling for a variety of new occupations to center here.

WILSON CREEK, near the eastern border of the county, is a larger town whose chief industry is marketing grain. It is an important distributing point, with prospects of larger growth.

QUINCY is a station on the Great Northern and is also an important wheat-shipping point.