The Push for Irrigation Money
Speculators and investors scramble to bring water to Yakima valley lands, betting on a future boom.
Allan C. Mason and ex-Mayor Stuart Rice of Tacoma made a personal inspection of the Selah valley ditch. Mason noted that settlers offered the company a property bonus for the extension of the ditch, and he and Mr. Rice agreed to put up $10,000 to complete the work in sixty days. Mason argued that every $100,000 spent on irrigation in Yakima county would increase the taxable land value by $500,000, and predicted that Yakima’s tax roll would soon surpass that of Walla Walla or Whitman counties.
“Every hundred thousand dollars expended in irrigation work in Yakima county will... increase the taxable value of lands irrigated one-half million dollars.”
The relentless drive for irrigation and land speculation defined the growth of Eastern Washington. The language used here mirrors modern-day real estate development pitches, emphasizing infrastructure as the key to unlocking exponential property value.
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