An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 151

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524

USA > Idaho > Kootenai County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 151
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 151
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 151
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 151

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Chinook winds, according to the writer's definition of the term, only occur under one kind of atmospheric condition, and without this connection Chinooks are impossible.

Preceding a Chinook, by from two to six days, an area ot low barometric pressure is along the Washington and Ore- gon coast, and an area of high barometric pressure overlies Montana and the British provinces to the north. This area of high pressure has low temperatures, from 10 to 20 degrees below zero. The position of these two opposite atmospheric conditions produces north to east winds over Idaho, Wash- ington, and Oregon, and the temperature decreases and snow falls to the east of the Cascades, extending over Idaho and Montana, and sometimes to the west of the Cascades. At the end of about three days the high pressure moves southeast- ward to the Northern Mississippi Valley, thence to the Great Lakes and on eastward. When the high pressure begins to move. the low pressure along the coast advances northward to about the 50th degree north latitude; thence along that parallel, or near to it, across British Columbia and Saskatch- ewan; thence towards the Great Lakes. Coincident with the northward movement of the low pressure along the coast, there appears along the Central California Coast an area of high pressure which rapidly increases in density and moves east and northeastward to Northeastern Nevada, Northern L'tah, and Southern Idaho, where it becomes central by the time the low pressure is moving eastward over British Co- lumbia. The low pressure on the north and its passage east- , ward causes the air to move from the high, central about Salt Lake, to the low. These are the conditions from which a Chi- nook results.

Many persons, residents of the country affected by Chinook winds. are of the opinion that they come from the warmth of the Japan Gulf currents, but such is not the case. Chinooks are not warm winds from the ocean. but are formed according to the writer's idea, in the manner outlined above.

Situated as Latah county is, almost at the foot of the magnificent Coeur d'Alene mountains, nature seems to have made of the whole section of the country of which it is a part a veritable earthly paradise, for here the breezes from the mountains sweep across the hills, bringing in their embrace an invigorating tonic that gives renewed energy and a wealth of health to all animal life and to plant life as well.

In soil as well as in climate Latah county has much to contribute to the natural resources of the northwest. The study of the soil of the county is of rare interest to both student and agriculturist. The Latah county hills and valleys are different from those seen anywhere else in this country. The hills are gradual in ascent, with the tops gently rounded. There is nothing abrupt or bluffy about them. Another strange fact is that the hilltops are richer than the valleys. The Palouse country appears to have been formed by the wind or, as it may be termed, the æolian process of nature. This is where the entire country, hills and valleys, is formed by the wind carrying particles and depositing

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them. Aeolian is sometimes very fine, sometimes course, but in the same section it is always of the same fineness. The particles of dust being carried forward by the wind, the heaviest naturally fall first. It is in this way that the desert sections are formed. The finer particles of dust may be carried hundreds of miles further than the coarser ones, and when they are deposited, make rich and practically inexhaustible soil. This is the nature of the soil in Latah county. It is, as all know who have closely examined it, very fine, very soft and absolutely free from grit. Another reason for believing that the soil here is of wind forma- tion is this : In a country formed by the action of water the hills will often have a hollow on top, which is sometimes filled with water. Examples of these nill- top lakes are quite common in the west. There is only one other place in the world where there is a soil similar to that of the Palouse country, and that is in northern China in the provinces of Shanshi and Shen- shi, which lie to the west of Pekin. The soil of China is remarkably fertile, and although it has been culti- rated and cropped for over four thousand years, it remains to this day unchanged. Scientists who have carefully studied the problem, basing their estimates on the extent, durability and productiveness of the soil, say that fully one hundred times as many people can be well and comfortably supported in the Palouse country as now live here. Another characteristic of the soil of Latah county is the small amount of rain- fall needed to grow and mature crops. This is due to the compositon of the soil. It is a volcanic ash having the peculiar property of tenaciously holding moisture and giving it up as needed by vegetation during the growing season. The rolling lands of the county fur- nish ideal conditons for drainage and yet the soil does not erode or wash as in those sections where it is composed of drift. After a rain in Latah county the farmer does not go out to see how long and deep are the "gullies" down the hillsides of his fields of growing grain.

Scientists have not explained to us how the ancient winds formed these hills nor shall we attempt to in- form the reader. We know the mountain ranges were thrown up by subterranean disturbances and that the level plains and many of the level valleys were smoothed out by the action of mighty glaciers from the north ; but of the action of the winds that rounded the hills of the Palouse country we can only speculate, and in the light of common knowledge that a straight wind would not likely perform such a wonderful work we may naturally suppose that the winds of the formative period had ways mysterious and peculiar to the at- mospheric conditions of the age in which they blew.

Americans laugh at the ignorance of Europeans concerning this marvelous land, but is it not just possi- ble that the "American ignorance of America" is quite as fruitful a subject for mirth ? There is truly a dense ignorance-north and south- of the north in regard to the south and of the south in regard to the north. However, the great Civil war was a wonderful school- master for both of these sections of the United States. Quite as inexcusable is the ignorance of the east in

regard to the west. Half of the world, a mighty hemis- phere, incomparable in grandeur, incomputable in wealth and illimitable in possibilties, lies west of the average eastern geography. What they are pleased to term in derision the "wild and woolly west" is in reality the section where are found the fields of grains and grasses, orchards, vineyards and gardens, prairies and pastures with countless flocks and herds, forests of timber, quarries of stone, mines of gold, silver, cop- per, iron, lead, coal and mica that contribute almost exclusively to the wealth and comfort of the east. Almost in the center of this mighty westland lies the state of Idaho. Its resources, possibilities and develop- ment are quite the same as those of her sister states, with this great exception that Idaho possesses more natural resources and them in greater abundance and riper and fuller measure. Idaho has more timber than Michigan, can raise greater crops of cereals than Iowa per acre; can produce better and cheaper pork than Kansas, has a better climate even than California.

A spirit. of unrest pervades the east. Scores and hundreds are taking to themselves that sage advice of Horace Greeley: "Go west, young man." "West- ward ho!" is the rallying cry of the investor, the busi- less man and the homeseeker. Almost countless num- bers have determined to cast their fortunes with the country of boundless resources and prospects and come west. Nature has strewn rich things and tempting opportunities all over this section, but to certain parts more lavish has she been with her benefactions. This is true to a marked degree of the famous Palouse country, of which Latah county is a prominent part. Here the soil is the richest and most productive in the United States; here crop failures are unknown ; here irrigation is unnecessary ; here climate is mild and equable. It is a country practically without any win- ter, without thunder and lightning, without tornadoes or cyclones, and where sunstrokes are unknown.

Latah county is nearly in the productive center of the Palouse country. More acres of tillable land are found within its borders than within those of any other county in the commonwealth. When a crop is matured it can be harvested without fear of constant rains rotting it in shock or stack. There is no govern- ment land in the county. All grazing and agricultural lands are in actual use and occupancy. Yields of grain and fruit are so large that the tenderfoot can hardly believe their reports, even when they are backed up by the national department of agriculture. Neither can they be blamed for their incredulity. In 1891 Idaho had the highest average wheat yield of any state in the union according to government reports. In many of the eastern agricultural states where wheat was formerly the chief crop thie soils have become ex- hausted, but the wheat lands of Latah county stand ready to rescue the country from a bread famine. Their Field has steadily increased under cultivation and the wheat has steadily improved in quality. The govern- ment crop reports show that the average yield of the Palouse country has advanced from 17.7 bushels per acre during the three years 1892-94 to more than 25 bushels since 1899. A comparison for the same period

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shows a decrease from 14.6 bushels in Michigan to nine bushels, from 15.7 to 10.3 bushels in Indiana, and other similar reductions in Illinois, Ohio and Cali- fornia. The remarkable increase in the Palouse coun- try yield is doubtless due in part to the larger rain- fall following a wider cultivation, but nevertheless the figures bear striking testimony to the strength of the soils and indicate the endurance that may be expected from them under a proper rotation of crops. To show the value of this soil as a permanent resource, the most authoritative statistics are those given in the year book of the department of agriculture for 1901. Take the three most important grains and these records show that in wheat the Palouse yield per acre was 29.1 bushels and the general average for all states was 15 bushels ; in barley the yield was the largest in the union, an average of 43.5 bushels per acre as compared with general average of 25.6 bushels for the whole country, and in oats the district also leads all districts of the union with an average of 39.58 bushels as against a general average of 26.87 bushels per acre for all the states. These figures are ten years' averages. The same methods of comparisons applied to other agricultural products, including fruits and vegetables, would give results equally satisfactory. The depart- ment reports the average yield of potatoes in this dis- trict in 1902 at 136 bushels per acre, while the average for the entire country was only 94.5 bushels. The Palouse average for the ten years from 1892 to 1901 was 124 bushels, and that for the whole of the United States was 75.9. If carried out to the production of fruits the same test would without doubt be still more favorable to the soils of this district, for they contain mineral salts essential to successful fruit culture that are found in equal abundance in no other state of the union. These official returns justify the claim that in no other part of the world does farming find a more substantial and enduring basis in the fertility of the native soils.

The character of the country in Latah county is at first a surprise. Knowing its reputation as a grain producing district one expects to find level prairie lands. Instead he sees a succession of long, softly roll- ing hills and high bench lands, separated by deep gorges in which the principal streams run. These are the agricultural lands and comprise the western and southern portions of the county. To the north and east are the forests. Here are found what timbermen claim are the finest bodies of white pine and cedar yet standing in the United States. A railroad route has been surveyed to these timber lands from Moscow, which line will be built as soon as the lumbermen begin operations. Some of the largest timber companies of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota have made large investments in these timber lands and will begin to operate in the near future. The rolling prairie lands are all under thorough cultivation. Of the soil much has already been written, but no writer, however pro- lific in style or diction ; no scientist, however learned in chemical analysis, nor farmer, however rich in ex- perience or in the knowledge of soils, is able to de- scribe this wonderful fertility as do the fields of waving

grain, the berry patches, and the orchards, or the fat hogs, cattle and horses that roam the hills all silent but none the less impressive testimonials of the land of milk and honey to which the aboriginal has attached the name of Palouse.

The water supply is natural, unlimited and easily obtained. The hill tops are as fertile as the valleys. Everywhere the soil is inexhaustible in its fertility even under methods of farming that in older states would justly be deemed unscientific and shiftless. Many farms in the sections earliest settled have been cropped continuously in wheat for 20 years or more without the use of a fertilizer, and, notwithstanding this was wasteful agriculture, these same farms are still pro- ducing from 25 to 40 bushels to the acre. This Pa- louse country is the only one known where three or four crops of wheat are sometimes harvested from one sowing. In one instance from a single sowing a farmer harvested 37 bushels to the acre the first year, 30 bushels the second year, 20 bushels the third year and nearly 12 bushels the fourth season. Four years' harvests of golden grain, amounting to 99 bushels per acre, from a single sowing !

Nor is this all. The seasons are conducive to good health as well as to abundant crops. To the north the timbered hills and the mountains form a bulwark against the cold winds. From the south and west come the balmy breezes of the ocean up the Columbia river valley. Off the mouth of the Columbia, where the Japanese current makes its westward turn in the Pacific ocean, the famous Chinook wind originates. This mild. warm wind, moisture laden, blows inland and tempers the climate for hundreds of miles. In winter this same warm wind sometimes travels far into Montana and the Dakotas, and under its warmth winter snows melt visibly. Many feet of snow are melted in a few hours. This evidences the strange power of this most unique wind, whose influence for good ex- tends over a wide territory. In the Palouse the rains fall gently, without driving winds, and the hillsides do not wash. The cool nights of the summer always insure the rest required to the day's labor and no matter how warm may be the sunniest day the nights require a blanket covering to insure comfortable sleep. The winters are short and not severe. Any time in the winter the eastern tourist may find herds of stock and cattle on nearly every farm, that are living out in the open and subsisting only on the bunch grass of the hills and the strawstacks of the wheat fields, a condi- tion found impossible in other sections of the U'nited States of similar altitude.

Farming in Latah county has been relieved of much of its unpleasantness by the use of modern and cheaper methods. A leading grain grower has pro- duced figures to show that he raises wheat, threshed and in warehouse, at an average expense of not to ex- ceed 15 cents. This is done by making use of labor- saving machinery. There are no boulders or "nigger heads" to contend with, so gang plows pulled by eight and ten horses are used. Gang harrows, pulled by as many horses and driven by a man rid-

ing: horseback are also used. When harvest

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time comes the labor of five men is done by one, for combine machines are used, drawn by sixteen and 20 horses. These machines start through the fields of waving grain and in their wake wheat sacked is left. The machine cuts the heads from the grain, threshes and conveys the cleaned berries into sacks which are sewed and dropped from time to time. Any person knowing of the usual methods of grain growing can readily estimate the saving the use of this plan makes over the old style.

In past years the principal agricultural industry has of course been the growing of cereals, but with the opening of markets for stock, garden truck and fruit there has come a change in methods. The larger farms are being divided into smaller tracts, fruit trees are being set out more extensively and thousands of acres are being put into meadow every year while a number of those who were formerly engaged only in grain growing are now engaged in fine stock rais- ing. Large herds of registered Shorthorns and Here- fords and droves of Berkshire, Poland China, Duroc, Jersey and Tamworth hogs can be found. A summing up of the products, agricultural and otherwise, of this rich country, indicates its diversity of natural re- sources. Wheat yields from1 30 to 60 bushels per acre and commands a cash market. Oats yield as high as 80 bushels per acre and weigh about 36 pounds to the bushel and the crop is in demand. Barley yields about 60 bushels per acre of fine quality, well adapted for brewing purposes as well as for feeding. Flax is an abundant producer and yields from 20 bushels per acre up and never sells for less than $1. Rye makes a good crop and is disposed of in the local market. Buckwheat farming has been tried sufficiently to establish it as a standard crop. Fifty bushels per acre is an average season. Speltz, the new rival of the feed cereals, has been grown here experimentally, and has shown the phenomenal result of 85 bushels per acre. Hay finds a ready market at prices from $10 per ton upwards. White beans are a good money crop. In vegetables there is no class which does not beat every eastern record for quantity and quality. Potatoes will produce 400 bushels to the acre, carrots 30 tons per acre, cabbages make big solid heads, and artichokes do well. Sugar beets pro- ciuce immense crops and the product shows a greater percentage of saccharine matter than is to be found in like products of any other locality. All manner of garden truck grows to perfection. From the days when William Taylor, Silas Imbler and Joseph How- ard set out the first orchards and the trees came into bearing the fruit of this favored country has enjoyed an ever increasing fame. Fruit from here won the first prize at the World's fair at Chicago. Every- where it is shipped it attracts the purchasers and the quality and flavor establish a permanent market. Fruit is shipped regularly in season to the states of the middle west and Montana and brings most remunera- tive prices. The Palouse leads California for apples, pears, prunes and cherries in quality of the product and bearing capacity of the trees. The orchards show a vigorous, healthy growth and begin bearing at four

years. If not taken care of the trees will break down under their loads. An orchard can be started any- where in the county and it will thrive. The winter apple, "the big red apple of the Palouse," is the most favored fruit owing to its excellent flavor and keeping qualities. The demand for that product has always exceeded the supply. Of small fruits the blackberry, raspberry and currant are great yielders with a fine local market at good prices. Through the tendency to diversified farming, stock is gradually being in- creased. Blooded cattle, hogs and sheep are to be found on every thrifty farmer's place. There are no animal diseases to bother and all thrive. They can be raised cheaply and bring high prices at all times. Chickens, ducks and geese find a ready liome market. Eggs never go below 10 cents and often in winter are quoted in markets as high as 60 cents, with never a supply in excess of the demand. Dairying is a grow- ing industry and a profitable one. The Moscow cream station, which started June 1, 1901, the first month paid $315 to 14 farmers for cream. In June, 1902, 89 men were selling cream there and were paid $2,515 that month. Estimates show returns from $5.60 to $7 per cow for June, 1902. The great crops of tame grasses, especially of red clover, the food of all foods for the dairy, makes this location especially desirable for creameries. The fail pasturage in the clover fields runs well into December in the ordinary years. In the few months when it is desirable to have other crops than clover and grass to feed, the demand is inet with corn, millet, rye, rape, sorghum, peas and soy beans, which produce abundantly.

Latah county was created May 14, 1888. Its west- ern boundary is the state line between Idaho and Washington. North of Latah is Kootenai county, and south of it is Nez Perces county. Shoshone county lies to the east. In 1900 the number of acres of pat- ented land was 347,316, valued at $1,725,224, and total assessed valuation of all property in the county was $4.011.387, being the second county in the state in wealth. The stock statistics for 1900 show 1,105 horses, 2,004 head of cattle and 5,027 sheep. There are 35.85 miles of railroad in the county, the lines represented being the Northern Pacific and the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company. There are three leading farming districts. These are the Paradise Valley, as the country about Moscow is called; the l'otlatch country and the Genesee valley. The Moscow country consists of the magnificent valley formed by the south Palouse river and Paradise creek. In the Potlatch country the Potlatch river, with its many branches, and Bear creek are the streams. In the Genesee country Cow creek is the chief stream. Mos- cow is the county seat. The other important towns in the county are Genesee, Juliaetta, Kendrick and Troy. There are five smaller villages. Throughout the county, as well as in the towns and villages, are excellent schools and churches. The bulk of population is in the southern and western part of the county. To the north and east are the vast timbered areas, which when cleared of their present forest will also become rich agricultural lands.

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It is difficult to procure accurate statistics on the crop products of Latah county for the reason that much of them are shipped from Washington railroad points, but a few miles away. For instance, in 1902 Latah county products shipped from Palouse City, Washington, are estimated as follows: Oats, 80,000 bushels ; wheat, 40,000 bushels ; hay, 3,000 tons ; ap- ples, six carloads : potatoes, three carloads.

The Paradise valley, or Moscow country, produces all of the crops mentioned heretofore and in abundance. Grain and hay, of course, are the chief products, but fruits are exported in quantities and the live stock in- dustry in that district is an important and increasing source of wealth. Shipments from Moscow for the year 1901 included 759 carloads of grain, chiefly wheat ; 105 carloads of hay, most of which was timothy : 56 carloads of different varieties of fruits, in which apples predominated ; and 20 cars of live stock. All of these shipments brought most remunerative prices. The 1902 shipments were proportionately greater in all lines and the future promises a steady and prosperous growth in exports.

Southeast of the Moscow country lies the famous Potlatch. Draw a circle with a radius of seven miles from Kendrick and you include the territory known as the Potlatch empire, being about evenly divided between the counties of Latah and Nez Perces. No- where are people more favored than those of the Potlatch, with its rolling fields of rich, black soil and invigorating climate. The gentle zephyrs that steal across the hills to kiss the waving fields of grain are purified and scented by occasional belts of tapering pines that stand as barricades to moderate the hot winds and allow him who toils to reap. Less than 20 years ago the hardy pioneer drove his team across these hills in search of a better land rather than take these rolling prairies, that now annually blossom with the luxuriant crops that have made this section famous. The Potlatch knows no crop failure and her people appreciate the fertility of its soil. But little more than ten years ago the whistle of the iron horse first broke the sombre stillness of these hills and prairies to furnish the transportation facilities for the ship- ment of her produce to the markets of the world. The thrift and energy of the people soon asserted it- self and the fields that once fed bands of cattle were transformed into waving fields of grain. In the spring- time the scene on the various ridges is one of unusual splendor with the fields robed in green stretching out to the distant foothills.

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 151

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1524

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524