The Great Yakima Land Grab
Federal authorities investigate a complex web of land transfers between the Northern Pacific Railroad and its own irrigation subsidiaries.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Commissioner of the General Land Office directed the local land office to hold a hearing regarding the Northern Pacific Railroad Company’s application to swap land sections in the Yakima River valley. The investigation centers on the Northern Pacific, Yakima & Kittitas Irrigation Company, which sought land options previously meant for public settlers. The hearing aimed to uncover the true relationship between the railroad and the irrigation company. Testimony revealed that while the irrigation company was ostensibly independent, its directors and stockholders were almost identical to the railroad's own agents—notably Paul Schulze, the railroad’s general land agent. Despite the appearance of corporate self-dealing, the register concluded there was no 'bad faith' shown, as the railroad company possessed the right to elect which sections it would retain under the federal act of 1890, leaving little recourse for homesteaders.
“One couldn't lie down with dogs without being in danger of getting fleas.”
This 1892 dispute illustrates how early Yakima valley infrastructure was built on layers of corporate shell games, where railroad monopolies controlled both the land grants and the irrigation districts intended to 'reclaim' them. Today, the tension over who controls the water and the land continues to shape the region's agricultural economy.
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