The Era of Irrigation Begins
Newspapers across the Northwest celebrate the completion of the massive irrigation canal that transformed the Yakima Valley.
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.
The Yakima Herald issued a mammoth edition on March 31st, which fully demonstrated the enterprise of that journal. The issue was replete with material pertaining to the opening of the irrigation canal and other subjects that vitally concern the Yakima country. It is claimed that the result of this irrigation project will be to make 75,000 acres arable which have been heretofore given over to sage brush, and this means a resident population of 50,000 people. Yakima is to be congratulated upon the opening of a new era in its history.
“The opening of the big irrigation canal, built at immense cost, means great things for Yakima county.”
The 'Big Ditch' and its expansion forever altered the Yakima Valley's ecology and economy. The debate over water rights and population density mentioned here remains the defining issue of the region to this day.
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