Homesteading Reality Check for the Skagit Valley
A blunt warning to new arrivals: the frontier isn't a land of ready-made farms.
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.
There is room in this county for immigration, but the class most wanted is absolute settlers. Men should come prepared to stay. Do not prepare yourself to stay by arriving penniless, for in no country can you reap before you sow. Do not expect a farm ready for you; all ready-made farms were taken long ago. Remember you are coming into a country that had a railroad excitement years ago, that has had several gold excitements, and is now breaking out with the townsite fever. If you have money to pasture a few cattle, plant a small patch of ground and buy a small stock of provisions, you can live. Stock pasture the year round, berries and game are abundant, and the climate is delightful. But please notice that there are many who are coming this way, and some must be unable to find work. Whatever you do, lose no time.
“Do not prepare yourself to stay by arriving penniless, for in no country can you reap before you sow.”
This editorial captures a perennial theme in Washington: the clash between romanticized boosterism and the grueling reality of settling, a sentiment that resonates with today's debates about the cost of living and the 'California-ization' of the Pacific Northwest.
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