The $150,000 Land Swap
A major agricultural transition as a Walla Walla wheat tycoon trades urban real estate for 600 acres at the mouth of the Yakima River.
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.
A deal involving the transfer of property valued at $150,000 was closed this week when Alfred Schaefer and associates traded the Riverview Ranch at the mouth of the Yakima river to Harry Abbott, of Walla Walla. The local company received in exchange for their holdings, which are valued at $76,000, Walla Walla real estate to the value of $59,000 and $17,000 in cash. Riverview ranch consists of 613 acres of hay and pasture land on the Columbia river at the mouth of the Yakima, seven miles above Kennewick. The ranch is well improved and stocked with 200 head of hogs, 30 dairy cows and a number of horses which were included in the transfer. It is considered one of the most ideal stock and dairy ranches in the valley and the new owner will further develop it along this line. Mr. Abbott, who is one of the large wheat ranchers of the Walla Walla country, will take possession as soon as he has harvested his wheat crop.
“It is considered one of the most ideal stock and dairy ranches in the valley.”
This transaction highlights the early 20th-century boom mentality in the Tri-Cities, where land was treated as liquid capital. Today, the mouth of the Yakima remains a vital agricultural and environmental zone, though the scale of operations has shifted from private family-run ranching to large-scale commercial and public management.
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