The Hood River Glacier, Hood River, OR., May 26, 1899, page 2
HOOD RIVER VALLEY
Is about 65 miles east of Portland, a port for ocean
vessels. It is on the Columbia river, which is navigable, and on the line
of the O.R. & N. Railroad, that affords direct connections with three
transcontinental line. Of this valley it has been written: "It's northern
boundary is the Columbia river; its eastern a high spur or divide putting
out from Mount Hood, 2,000 feet or more in height, admirably protecting it
from the cold winds in winter and the hot, destructive winds in summer that
come from the east; its western boundary the timbered slopes of the Cascade
range, while the broad base of Mt. Hood completely blocks the valley to the
south. The arable portion of the valley is some twenty miles in length by
an average width of five miles, or 64,000 acres. Deduct 14,000 acres for
bluffs and tracks to rough for cultivation, and we have 50,000 acres suitable
for tillage. Hood river receives all the drainage of the north and east side
of the Mt. Hood and the melting snows of summer maintain a large and constant
flow of water. The river has a descent of over 60 feet to the mile, and a
canal eight miles in length would direct any portion of its waters to the
brow of the plateau just above the village and 350 feet above the railway
line.
"Commendable progress has been made in the construction
of irrigation canals. At the present time all the arable lands on the west
side of Hood river have irrigation facilities, and a good commencement has
been made on an irrigation ditch on the east side of the valley that will
cover 15,000 acres. In a brief time there will not be a ten-acre tract in
all this district but what may have its running brook, its fragrant meadow.
"The county adjacent to the upper reaches of Hood river
is covered with forest growth, and the timber adjacent to the river has been
estimated as high as a billion feet.
"Last year were shipped some 37,000 crates, or over one
million pounds of strawberries, which went to Omaha, St. Paul, Duluth, Denver,
Salt Lake and other markets. There are, also, about 120,000 standard fruit
tracts, largely apples, in orchard form.
"Such, in brief, are some of the characteristics of Hood
River Valley; but apart from these it has an aesthetic value that should
not be overlooked. Here beauty and sublimity are added to wealth of forest
and soil. The climate is most salubrious, the air a luxury to breathe. The
western breezes, fragrant with the odors of the pines and firs of a hundred
miles of forest, and nowhere does the glorious sunlight leave a warmer blush
on fruit and flower than in this mountain vale. Ascend to the level of the
plateau just above the village and objects of physical grandeur are everywhere
about. To the south, so beautiful and seemingly so near, rises the graceful,
immaculate shaft, Mt. Hood, that all Oregonian some love. To the north, Adams
rears its bulky form of more than 12,000 feet above the sea, sovereign of
all the lesser peaks from Shasta to Rainier, while at their very feet flow
in ceaseless measures the garnered waters of an empire. Modest and plain
our homes, but grand and incomparable our surroundings."
The fruit products are not limited to apples and
strawberries, but include pears, peaches, prunes, blackberries and all varieties
of small fruits, while clover and the various grasses, wheat, potatoes,
vegetables and garden products succeed admirably, especially under irrigation.
The available water power is fully 120,000 horsepower
and equals that of Spokane. A lumber mill is being erected with a capacity
of 200,000 feet per day. Hundreds of visitors spend their summer vacations,
camping, hunting, fishing or wheeling, each year. There are no cyclones to
terrify, no blizzards to chill, no thunderstorms to destroy. Water is pure
and abundant, fuel is to be had at slight cost above the cutting.
Lands can be purchased at from $25 to $200 per acre,
according to location, improvements, etc..
Hood River, Oregon, May, 1899.
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© Jeffrey L. Elmer