VOL. 3 No. 6.
PORTLAND, OREGON, JANUARY. 1878.
SNOQUAUIIE FALLS.
The Kails arc sitiia'td about forty
two miles above the junction ot' the
Snoqualinic mid Skykotnlsh, which
unite, forming the Snohomish, about
eighteen miles above the mouth of the
latter, where ii enters the Sound at
Fort Gardner Bay.
The valleys of these three rivers form
one of the most fertile regions of West
ern Washington. Besides their fertile
bottom lands and the extensive tide and
marsh lanjls, the hitter are found about
the, three mouths of the Snohomish,
timber for milling purposes is every
where abundant and accessible, From
forty to sixty millions of fir timber are
annually cut and floated down these
rivers and inarJu'ted at the vnri-
ous mills on the Sound. Cabinet
woods are also abundant. Traces
of coal deposits are found all
through these valleys. In fact,
they are on the line of a vast
carboniferous belt, stretching
across the country from Belling
ham bay to the Columbia river,
inclining the celebrated mines
back of Seattle and the Puval
htp valley. The Cascades, east
of this place, the source of all
three of these rivers and their
tributaries, are rich in undevel
oped mineral wealth iron, gold,
silver, galena, plumbago anil cin
nabar arc there in paving quan
tities awaiting the magic wand
of capital to develop into a min
ing region of untold wealth.
Only a few miles of the Sno
quahnie is in Snohomish; nearly
its whole course being in King
county. The main branch of
the Snoqualinic rises in the pass
of the same name, among crags
and peaks that are covered with
perpetual snow. Eight miles
above the Fulls it unites with
the Northeast fork of the Sno
qualinic at the head of a nearly
level piece of land containing
nearly fifteen thousand acres,
two-thirds of which is covered
with timber. Through this it
w inds its serpentine course leis
urly along till it reaches a bluff
w hich once formed the eastern
harrier of the ocean, down which
it plunges two hundred and seventy-two
feet per p e n d i c u I a r
blight, forming the grandest
sight in Western Washington.
Unlike almost every other fall
in the known world, it has no
great rapids above it. Canoes
can safely navigate the river
above to within a few rods of
the very brink. The river has
qt a channel in the solid rock
nearly one bundled feet deep, showing
that at some time in the far distant past,
the fall wis a hundred feet higher;
and as the canyon below extends dow n
the stream for three-fourths of a mile
before reaching the valley, it must nine
worn hack into the solid rock that far.
I. ike nearly every fall it is of the
horseshoe form. At a low stage of
water the stream is confined to the cen
ter of the channel, IIS seen in the en
graving. When the river is bunk rH
it falls in an unbroken volume from the
immense bight above, with a roar that
may lie heard fur miles, ending up
ward vast columns ufmbt int. spray in
which rainbow hues are pcipetnallv
dancing whenever rays i,f sunlight
break through the clouds tdtfive.
Our view is taken from the south
bank of the river, a few hundred yards
below the falls, and is a faithful repre
sentation of this sublime scene.
At the junction of the main fork with
the northeast branch, eight miles above
the falls, springing abruptly from the
head of the prairie, is Uncle Si's moun
tain, so called from a settler living at
its base. It is a vast volcanic upheaval,
scarred by glacial marks and worn by
rime into peaks and pinnacles inaccessi
ble to the hardiest c imber. Its sum
mit is easily reached from the south,
east, and from there, in clear weather,
a splendid panoramic view of Fugct
Sound Basin can be seen. The two
main branches of the river, after wash.
t u- prairie. The western face of the
mountain is very abrupt and bare, and
was sometime, without doubt, one of
the sources of ,m Immense glacier
working westward toward the Pacific.
A V.
niiinhi
known
SI.UA8L8 KBt.ic.rr Sometime
50 we reprinted Inire simile, the firs!
id the first newspaper ever
printed on the Pacific Coast, It was
rhe Oregon Spectator,"
and dated, Oregon City, Feblnary 5th,
1846, We still have a few copies on
hand w hich we will send, postage paid,
on receipt of ten cents or three copies
for twenty live cents. Kvcry family
on the Coast ihyiild possess ami pre
serve one of these Valuable documents.
- & .Sf i
BNOODALMIE KALI.S.'W T "inm sv ri
Muslim,
Fkw Statistics. From the an-
nua! icvicwof the Commirihl
AYVrrV; , which, by the way, is
one of Oregon's most valuable
pipers, we cull the following:
Total increase of population
i 1 Oregon during 1S77, jn.noo;
t ita! population at present, t.o,.
oi. Total value of exports
from the Columbia river for the
year 1 876, .fn.SjyiS;; during
1S77, $tr,,,xS(i,8o7. Aggregate
a nount of collections in the In
t mal Revenue department for
tie District of Oregon for the
y.-ar 1S77, $55,011. Total
u imber of money orders issued
at the Portland postoffice during
1177,6,059 value, $116,98167,
It i currently reported that a
r tail hanking Institution in this
c ty is engaged in some very
c ooked business. As loon as
wj gather the Indisputable facts,
W' shall give our readers the
full benefit of them,
It 1 in 'in is On p;n, To any
o le who is already a subscriber
to Tin-. Wi si SlIORI for 1H78.
WJ will end, on receipt of lifty
c nts currency or postage stamps,
si 1 months' back numbers, in
chiding our mammoth number
o'July last. Such a package of
p ipers is just the thing to send
to friends abroad, as it will give
n more collect idea of the Fa
cile Northwest than all the im
m'gration pamphlets that have
ever been published.
Tun DENTAL Cham. A
poem, with the above title, by
Dr. Chance, of this city, lias
made its appearance anil is for
sale at all bookstores. While it
lacks the linish which profess
ional w titer could give it, yet,
it possesses sufficient merit to en
title it to a careful reading by
all. Price, tifty cents per copy.