Introducing a New Species to the Walla Walla Valley
Local farmer George F. Thomas is importing game birds from the Willamette Valley to enrich the landscape for future generations.
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. Geo. F. Thomas has imported a lot of quails from the Willamette valley and placed them on his farm on the Touchet River. There has never been any of these birds in this valley, and Mr. Thomas has imported this lot for the purpose of propagating the species here, for the benefit of sportsmen in future years. For the present, sportsmen are particularly requested to spare those quails.
“For the present, sportsmen are particularly requested to spare those quails.”
This early 19th-century act of ecological engineering was common among frontier settlers. It serves as a reminder that much of the 'wildlife' current residents see in Washington is the result of deliberate historical introductions, not just native growth.
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