Dixie, Washington - An Illustrated History of Walla Walla County, State of Washington

An Illustrated History of Walla Walla County, State of Washington

The first settler in Dixie was Herman C. Act(ir, who located a homestead at this .point. The name was derived from the following circumstance: Three brothers of the name of Kershaw had become noted as musicians in the emigrant train with which they crossed the plains. A great favorite among the people of the train was the song of "Dixie." Almost every night the Kershaw hoys rendered this song, to the delight of the immigrants. As a consequence the boys became known as the Dixie boys. Having subsequently settled in the vicinity of where Dixie now is, the crossing of the creek first became known as Dixie crossing, then a school-house was built and styled as Di.xie school-house, then a cemetery was laid out which was designated as the Dixie cemetery, then a postoffice was established which was called the Dixie postoffice, and finally Dr. Baker's railroad established Dixie station, and thus such has become its accepted name.

Dixie became a genuine American frontier \illage, true to the ideal of an early establishment of scIkxjI, churches, postoffice and other elements of an .American community. Among the pioneer preachers were Messrs. Granville Gholson, W. H. Robbins, Bailey, Hamilton and Hastings. There are at the present time three churches. Christian, Methodist and Baptist. The pioneer school-teacher w^as John Ross. Mr. Storey, now one of the substantial farmers of Dixie, was one of the standbys in the Di.xie school-room. At the time of this publication the corps of teachers consists (if J. E. Myers, Elmer Chase and Mrs. F. B. Paris. That Dixie also has an excellent spirit of fraternalism is shown by the fact that they have a number of lodges. The Odd Fellows' lodge is the strongest, having fifty-seven members. There are two well-equipped stores in Dixie, one conducted Ijy C. L. Cochran and J. F. Jackson, and the other by M. E. Demaris & Company. The population of the place is about 250.

Leaving Dixie, we find immediately below it in the valley one of the largest fruit ranches in the county. It contains about sixty acres of trees, the great majority of which are prunes and apples. Mr. Clancy, one of the pioneer orchardists of the county, is the owner of this fine orchard. Unlike the large orchards in the near vicinity of Walla Walla, the Clancy orchard uses no water for irrigation. It is planted on a north hill slope of the richest, deepest soil, and thus far its development seems to justify the opinion held by many that the finest fruits of the valle}' will be found in the foot-hills, where there is a sufficient amount of rainfall to dispense with irrigation.

well, the (iillian. the .Mdricli. the Yeeiul. and the Xelson places. As stated in another chapter, the place of Milton Aldrich has the distinction of i)roducing the largest known crop of any place in Washington. One of the finest farms in the vicinity of Dixie is that of Hollon Parker, south of the town.

Between the line of railroad which we are following westward and the flanks of the Blue mountains, lies a magnificent body of farming land, in a belt of about seven miles wide by ten long, lying along Mill creek and Russell creek. This is the oldest, wealthiest and most highly cultivated of the fanning lands of the county or indeed of the state. In this belt may be fnund the places of the following well known farmers : Messrs. Thomas, P. Lyons, Kennedy. Kigler, Gilkerson, Patterson, Fields. Harbert. Rifile, Tash, Evans, Farrel, Yenney, Barnett, Maxson, McGuire, Russell, Maier, Copeland, Shelton. Reser, Toner, Ferguson, Delaney, and a number of others. It is safe to say that few bodies of grain land have yielded as much money to their owners as this extraordinary body of about se\-entv or eighty miles sf|uare.

Leaving this fair spot, in which days might be pleasantly and profitably spent, we proceed to Walla Walla city: but leaving this for the present, we retain our seats in the cars and pass on bound for the great wheat country of Eureka flat. This is a very large body of farming land coming into ])rofitable cultivation between Walla Walla and Eureka flat. Though at first sight imt so attractive in appearance as the region east and south of Walla Walla, it has surpassed all expectation within the past few years by the wheat yield of its fat acres.

We reach Eureka Junction, thirty miles from \\'alla Walla, and here we pause for more careful observation of this most extensive grain region of the county. Eureka flat consists of a body of nearly level farming land, from two to five miles in width and about twenty-five miles in length. There are no towns in this region, thiiugh there are a nuniljer of stations, which are the home nf considerable communities, and from which immense quantities of grain are shipped. The most important stations are Eureka Junction, Clyde, and Pleasant \'iew. Even a cursory glance at Eureka flat will show the traveller that its history has been that of a canyon filled up with soil blown or washed from the surrounding volcanic hills. At some points soil has been found to extend unchanged to a depth of two hundred feet. It is of the most fertile description, but on account of the dryness of the climate and the frequent winds, together with the excessive dust, it bears a poor comparison as a home land to the verdant and well watered tract in the southern part of the county. Nevertheless the most extensive wheat ranches in the state are found in Eureka flat. Here is found the ten-tin )usandacre ranch of W. H. Bal:cock, the "wheat king" of Walla Walla county. Here also may be seen a number of other ranches whose separate areas run into the thousands of acres, among which may l)e mentioned, the Puffer, the Blanchard, the Struthers, the .\tkins, the Upton, the Fall, the Painter, and many other ranches. Lack of water has been a serious impediment in times past in carrying on farming operations in this region. Water was for- nierly hauled in wagon tanks from the Touchet creek, an expensive and troublesome process. But latterly it has been discovered that abundance of water of the best quality can be found by boring to a depth of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet. During the past year the area of grain raising has been extended from the le\-el lands of the flat to the adjoining hills. If the present amount of moistiire shall become a permanent climatic rule, thousands upon thousands of acres in the northern part of the county now used only for pasturage will become transformed into wheat helds.

A student of the farming business, or any one interested in the development of industry, would find an object lesson in the great Babcock ranch. From fifty to a hundred men are employed, and from one hundred to three hundred horses. The yield of the ranch has been as high as a hundred and fifty thousand bushels in a year. j\Ir. Babcock has sufficiently got the start of the world to be free from the necessity of selling at once upon harvesting, and it is in fact stated that he now has on hand the greater portion of two years' crops.

But we shall find it necessary, without further prolonging our stav upon Eurtka Hat, to turn our faces toward the Columl)ia river. After leaving Eureka Junction, we find that we are entering upon a heavy down grade, which rapidly takes us out of the fertile domain of the wheat belt into the barren and sandy tract bordering the river. Hunt's Junction is the only station. The road connects at this point with a short branch leading to Pasco, where it joins the Northern Pacific. A nule below Hunt's Junction we reach the oldest and, aside from Waiilatpu, the most historic locality in the county.