Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1878.djvu/48

XLVI Its vast rolling prairies make it peculiarly fitted for grazing purposes, and for wheat-growing it has few equals on the continent. It is estimated that its area of wheat-land is sufficient to produce, with ordinary culture, more than 100,000,000 bushels annually. The present yield for the season is estimated at 1,500,000 bushels. All the fruits, except tropical, and all vegetables of superior quality, are grown in great abundance. The soil and climate are well adapted to the production of peaches and grapes. For stock-raising this section of the Territory is unsurpassed, there being an unlimited supply of bunch-grass growing spontaneously over many thousand square miles on Puget Sound. The completion of the canals around the obstructions on the Columbia River will largely reduce the rates of transportation, and give a new impetus to the agricultural interest of Eastern Washington.

In referring to these improvements the governor says:

The average temperature is as follows: Spring, 52°; summer, 73°; autumn, 53°; winter, 34°.

The report is silent upon educational matters, with the exception of a reference to the Territorial University, located at Seattle. The university was erected from the proceeds of the sales of university lands donated by the General Government, and is supported by appropriations from the Territorial treasury, and is under the management of a board of regents. It is reported as being in a prosperous condition.

The conclusion of the report refers to Indian affairs. Strong feeling exists against the reservation system, due to a great extent to the outbreak in Idaho last year, and to Indian troubles in Oregon during the present year. It is represented that a feeling of insecurity exists among the settlers throughout the Territory caused by the disaffection and discontent among the Indians. The governor favors the breaking up of all tribal relations; the extension of homestead and pre-emption rights to the Indians, and would have them made amenable to the laws of the United States and of the Territory.

The governor of Arizona presents an interesting report descriptive of the soil, climate, and resources of the Territory. Although geographically located on the direct line between the populous Atlantic States and Southern California, it is shut out from lines of travel and barred against progress by its inaccessibility. There are neither railroads to it, in it, nor any roads other than those afforded by the natural surface of the ground, and these are rendered difficult to travel by the hot, dry, and sandy or stony ground over which lie the approaches to the settled portions of the Territory. The Little Colorado and Salt River regions are reported to be the granaries of the Territory. The soil is extremely fertile, and the bordering mountains well adapted for stock-raising. The