The Grass Belongs to Klickitat

The sheep bill passed by the Washington legislature to keep Oregon sheep out of this state seems to be growing more in favor with Klickitat stockmen. They say the grass of Klickitat belongs to the citizens of the county and not to the householders and citizens of Oregon. An individual who seems to be posted on the county's revenue says: “The great tax talked of as being received from our neighbors is all moonshine, for more than half the number of migratory sheep escape taxation, and what tax is collected usually is by the most diligent effort on the part of the sheriff, at a great expense to the county, as the sheepmen usually try to evade the officer, and sometimes by stealth and in the night drives have been known to get by certain stations of lookout. It is said Oregon sheepmen have been known to utterly ignore the rights of farmers to sufficient range for a few milch cows, and last year one sheepman terrorized the citizens about the Big Klickitat river by letting his sheep devastate their gardens and orchards. The enforcement of the sheep quarantine law will keep out of Klickitat and vicinity some 75,000 sheep.”