The Cattle Empire Changes Hands
A massive 100,000-acre ranch sale reshapes Central Washington ownership.
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.
Coffin Bros. of North Yakima, Wash., have bought the 100,000-acre ranch of Colonel E.F. Babcock of Walla Walla. The consideration was $300,000. The land lies along the Wenatchee River, in Chelan County, and some of it extends into Kittitas and Douglas. The greater part of the land is grazing in character, but there are several thousand acres in wheat and a large amount in hay. With the deal go 14,000 head of sheep and 700 cattle.
“The greater part of the land is grazing in character, but there are several thousand acres in wheat and a large amount in hay.”
This immense land transfer, crossing three modern counties, highlights the era of consolidation that defined the development of the Inland Empire. Today, that same sprawling landscape is heavily subdivided into smaller orchards, vineyards, and residential tracts, reflecting a century of shift from massive open-range grazing to high-value intensive agriculture.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.