Yakima Sheepmen Stand Together Against Railroad's Strings-Attached Lease
Two dozen Yakima-area sheepmen signed a pact to reject Northern Pacific's demand that all their wool and sheep ride its rails—only to hear the company might hand their range to outsiders.
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.
On Saturday the sheepmen met in North Yakima in response to the invitation of the Northern Pacific Land Company, to consider the proposition to lease the odd sections owned by said company and used as winter pasturing and lambing grounds for the flocks of the sheepmen.
The sheepmen held that it would be objectionable to accept the clause in the agreement requiring all sheep and wool to be shipped over the Northern Pacific line. It was concluded that unless the company could guarantee that other stock would be excluded from the land they would not lease, and an agreement was drawn up which they all signed (about twenty-five being present) to stand together and refuse to accept the company's proposition. They were then informed that if they would not accept the land allotted the company would allow the land to go to outside sheepmen. The sheepmen made it plain that they would vigorously oppose such action. But we learn that there are several who have since made application to the company to have sections set aside.
K. F. Benson, of the land department, and Chief Clerk Creighton, of the freight department, represented the Northern Pacific Company at the meeting.
As we go to press we are informed that Mr. Benson has closed contracts with sheepmen in Walla Walla district for grazing land sufficient for 40,000 sheep.
“An agreement was drawn up which they all signed ... to stand together and refuse to accept the company's proposition.”
The sheepmen's fight against a railroad that owned the ground under their flocks—and demanded shipping loyalty in return—echoes modern battles over land access, monopoly power, and who gets to make a living from Yakima's agricultural economy. Then as now, the terms set by distant landowners can determine whether local producers thrive or are squeezed out.
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