The Biggest Land Deal in Adams County
An Iowa speculator secures twenty sections of railroad land near Ritzville for a massive stock farm.
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.
Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Moore, of Dunlap, Iowa, who are visiting their son, George C. Moore, of the Adams County Bank, are well pleased with the future of this county. As an evidence of this fact Benjamin Martra, agent of the land department of the Northern Pacific Railroad at Ritzville, has sold to Mr. Moore twenty sections of railroad lands, situated about twenty-five miles west of Ritzville. The purchaser expects to use seventeen sections of this land for a stock farm, devoted to cattle raising. He will sink several wells which will be operated with good pumps and wind engines. This is the largest sale of land ever made to one man in Adams County—12,800 acres.
“This is the largest sale of land ever made to one man in Adams county—12,800 acres.”
This 1898 report highlights the era of massive land consolidation in Eastern Washington, where railroad grants fueled speculative development. Today, the scale of this 12,800-acre acquisition reflects the ongoing consolidation of agricultural land in the region, continuing the long history of who owns the ground that feeds the state.
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