The west shore., May 01, 1884, Image 1

THE WEST SHORE.
Vol. 10.
Portland, Oregon, May, 1884.
No. 3.
ESTABLISHED 1875.
THE WEST SHORE,
An lltiutrated Journal of General Information, devoted to tlie development of
the Great Weit.
Subscription price, per annum tg ill
To foreign countries, including postage '.!.!!"!!!!!!"'! i! 25
Hiiiie oopios !!!.!"!!!","!!!! a
Subscription can be forwnnled by registered lottnr or postal onlor nt our risk.
Postmasters and News Agents will receive subscriptions at idiove rates.
General Traveling Agents Crnigie Sharp, Jr., and George Sharp.
L. SAMUEL, Publisher, 13 Front Nt cor. Washington, Portland, Or,
TABLK OF CONTENTS.
Pane i
Alaska l9 j
lluniuess Habits IM
( 'limnology of Kvents lllll
Cu'iir d'Alene Mines las :
Kditoriiil VX
Groat Northwest. No. 5 1111
I,uml of the Dead l;w
Legend of the Hose ,.. 1M
Marsliliclil and Coos County 154
Mexican Table Customs 138
Moilncs in lKTil, No. 'i 1S'2
Oakland unci licrkeley IBM
Pane
Olympinn nnd Alaskan i:ii
Our Industries unil Hcsoiircca, No, H IM
Pine Ext mot for Hiilliinn 1:17
Oue:n Clinrlotto Islands 141
Railroad Notes lilii
HimililiH Thniigh the Northwest. . . lat
Hiilmon Kittling on the Columbia.. I.'i7
Bunshine'ind Sleep , l!l
Surprising Narrative 147
Vancouver IHH
Why Americans Come West DDI
Women of Home I.U
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page I Page
Alaska's Thousand Isliinds UIH Oakland, California m
Along the Yellowstone 131 Olympian, New Hound Htcamer..., l'JIl
licrkeley, California 159
Ilig Horn Tunnel and llridge. ...... 127
Interior of (irouk Cliunili, Hilkil.... 149
Halmon Fishing on the Columbia.. Kill
Hevmonr Narrows 144
Hitka, Alaska 141)
Interior of Bteamer Olympian 1H0 Totem Sticks 144
Marslineld, Oregon lis)
The tourist season is coming on apace, and Boon our
Eastern exchanges will be filled with correspondence
from every conceivable point in the West, the tone of the
effusions depending largely upon the physical condition
of the writer. If he is Btrong and healthy, able to endure
without fatigue the long journey, or to stand the sudden
changes in climate his rapid transit from valley to moun
tain and from one region to another inflicts upon him, he
will write most glowing accounts of the pleasures of the
trip. But if his health is poor, if the journey fatigues
him, and the climatic changes affect him so unpleasantly
that he confines his observations chiefly to an occasional
flattening of his nose against the car window, as his
attention is called to some fleeting object, his letters will
declare the scenery to be tame, the country a barren
waste and the people unmannerly boors. It is useless to
advise travelers not to write hasty letters; as well advise
the rain not to fall. And yet not one but will odmit his
judgment, be it rose-tinted or sombre, to be formed upon
a slender array of facts. It is as foolish for a man to
express an opinion upon the merits of this region, after
simply passing through it by the ordinary routeB of
travel, as it would be to turn a few leaves of the Bible
and then discuss gravely the contents of the sacred
volume. This country can not be seen by skimming
throueh it on railroads or coasting along its shores m
ocean steamers. What does a man know of Oregon who
comes to Portland by steamer and then goes East over
the Northern Pacific ? To be sure, he has skirted along
the very edge of two sides of the State, but has learned
no more of it than could be learned of Illinois by a jour
ney down the Ohio and up the Mississippi Even a trip
up the Willamette Valley, made in the usual flying style,
will add but little to his stock of information. The same
is truo of one who makes tho usual tour from Portland to
Puget Sound, ami then across Eastern Washington by
rail. Accustomed to see tho track bordcrod on either
hand by cultivated farms and handsomo residences, tho
mile after mile of sandy desert through which the road
runs iu Eastern Washington impress him unfavorably.
Being a superficial man-and nmo-teuths of tho human
race are far from being profound - ho at owe concludes
that there is no agricultural land at all. For miles on
either side are vast stretches of agricultural and grazing
land -farms that under the most shirtless management
produce more wheat to the acre than any land his eyes
ever rested upon yet all this passes for nothing btcanso
he fails to Bee it We welcome visitors cordially; we
Might to give them information; we desire to have them
write and talk about us; but we earnestly bog that before
they express an opinion they will branch out from the
usual lines of travel, and even ask a few sensible quos-
tionsof sensible men, and thus give themselves an oppor-
tunity to form a just ono. We are aware that these
precautions will have but little influence upon ono whoso
opinions are dictated chiefly by his liver. Of him we
despair utterly.
Oiikoon hoods a strong infusion of new blood, or,
rather, new ideas not now in an absolute sense, but now
to Oregon. She inust learn to diversify her agricultural
industries, so that each section will not only lo self
Bustaining, but will produce for its own use nil tho varied
products of which it is capable. These reflections are
educed by the fact . that the hotel at Alkali, situated
in the midst of the great cattlo region of Eastern Oregon,
uses condensed milk nnd imported butter for its tables.
They are deepened by tho added fact that one of our
leading commission merchants recently made a fruitless
trip as far as Roguo River Valley in search of fruit.
Though he found plenty of men who expected t have
fruit to sell this fall, he was unable to convince them that
it must come to market in an attractive form. They
could not see why they should hs required to buy new
Ikixch, when they could get all the old barrels and soap
lioxes they wanted for nothing, not even when they were
informed that to do so would add more to the value of
the fruit than tho cost of the lsixes. These are two
reasons why new ideas are necessary; and thore are
many more. .
The first of Mr. Newton IL Chittenden' series of
articles on "Queen Charlotte Islands" apcar in this
numlier. Tho writer is still engaged in tho work of
exploration, tho letters to TilK Wf.sT SnoitE Wing the
first rejKirt of his operations to reach tho public. Atten
tion is also called to the nrticlo on " Alaska."
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