The Desert That Wasn't: A Lesson in Eastern Bias
When visiting journalists labeled the Columbia Basin a 'desolation,' a local farmer proved them wrong with a bounty of fruit and grain.
Gen. H. V. Boynton, writing to the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette from Ainsworth, September 10, described the region between Sprague and the Columbia River as a 'treeless tract' of desolation and sage brush. He claimed the party of visiting eastern journalists felt they had reached the 'American desert.' However, their views were challenged when they were invited to view an exhibit of local produce from a tract cultivated by Mr. J. E. Ganteubein. Despite no irrigation, Ganteubein displayed excellent watermelons, beets, tomatoes, potatoes, squashes, corn, and even grapevines and fruit trees. This remarkable display served as a practical demonstration that the land could yield significant crops, defying the prevailing eastern opinion of the region as barren wasteland.
“The announcement that there were any other productions than sage hens, sage brush, and good mud for cement, seemed a good joke.”
This story mirrors the historic 'booster' vs. 'pessimist' tension that defined the settlement of the Inland Northwest. Today, as irrigation technology struggles with water scarcity in the same region, Ganteubein’s early experiment with dry-farming highlights a recurring debate about the sustainability of agriculture in the semi-arid West.
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