A Contractor Corrals the Cusick Valley: Jones Onesrud Buys Out a Rival's Land
Paying $85 an acre, Contractor Jones acquires J. W. Cusick's holdings south of the Calispel River, consolidating some of the valley's best land and planning to dike it.
Contractor Jones, of the firm of Jones Onesrud, has purchased from J. W. Cusick all of his real estate holdings in the vicinity of Cusick, south of the Calispel river, paying $85 per acre for it. With the purchase of the Jones, Cusick and Indian Susapp places, Jones Onesrud have corralled some of the best lands in the valley. They expect to dike all of their property.
“With the purchase of the Jones, Cusick and Indian Susapp places, Jones Onesrud have corralled some of the best lands in the valley.”
Land consolidation and drainage projects were how boomers turned bottomland into saleable farms—and how a single firm could come to dominate a valley's fate. The Cusick purchase is a reminder that rural land markets are never just about soil; they are about who can buy the water, the dikes and the leverage.
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