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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1881)
a8o THE WEST SHORE. November, 1881 ROOM FOR SETTLERS. Arthur White who has lecn engaged all summer in surveying Uncle Sam's lands in the vicinity of Moses ami Grand Coulees, returned yesterday. He says that northwest of Moses Coulee there re three or four townships of good agricultural land, though water is scarce. Several living spring, however, were found there by his party. The country Is composed of light, rolling hill, cov ered with a luxuriant growth of bunch grass, with occasional patches of rye grass and white sage. West of the Coulees, distant lour or five miles, there is an abundance of timltcr suitable for log houses, fire wood ami rails; while further off, on tho Columbia, there is timber suitable for lumlxr. The banks of the Columbia are generally high, rocky a,nd precipitous, with only a few places suitable for roads to the river North-west of the north end of the Grand Coulee there is an extensive region suitable for grazing purposes, but it is too rocky and spotted for farm ing purposes. The rocks are granitic and basaltic in their formation. There it a good country for wheat raining around Wild Goose Dill's location which U between Camp Spokane on the rant and the Grand Coulee on the west There Is plenty of scrub pine in that region, with occasional bodies of fir, and patches of cottonwool. The pine and cottonwood make good fuel and the fir can be converted into lumber and rails. There are quite a number of settlers on Wilson Creek and in the vicinity of Wil l Goose Dill's. Th region is about I 10 miles north of Wall Wall, and has an altitude of over 1,000 feet above the sea. Fronts are frequent, particularly in the valleys on the bottom lands. Mr. White W of the opinion that it is a pretty good country to settle in, though its remoteness from railroads and markets, make it at present a stock raiding and not an agricultural country. JfWt ll'aU futon. a raisers, BUSINESS I THE TACinC NORTH WEST. The demand for beef among the ! - I . Una tnarlf ocjjing gnu rauroau cm THE TIMBER OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 11 In response to numerous inquiries from abroad in regard to the times, w wilt say, that business of all kinds in a sections of this country was never better than at the present. We have a good season, anJ a good market fur our sur Sua products. profitable season for our stock The hop growers wun a piu- pect of a good crop and fair prices, have met with a reward for their labor, which has not always been their lot. The lumbering business has not for long time been as active as it is at .... 1 1 present. Nearly all the saw mius are running on full time, and have more orders than thev can fill. Lumber is being shipped to all quarters of the globe. San Francisco, Chili and Aus tralia, however, being among our best markets. The increased demand for umber has increased the demand and price for logs beyond what it has been for years. Good wages are paid and rho wish it can find employment. The fisheries this year have been very remunerative. I here has been a ready market for nil the fish and help sullicicnt to run some of the canneries has not liven obtainable. Railroad building in its Vinous branches, is giving employment to a great number of men, who receive high wages and arc earning enormous sums of money. Not only does this state of things exist in our immediate vicinity, but from other sections of the Pacific coast comes the cry of plenty of work and no one to do it. t .! f t 1 14 in iintisn loiumuia laborers arc scarce and not enough can be found to supply the demand. On the C. P. R. R. the contractors find it difficult to procure enough men to fulfill their con tracts. It is not too much to sav that if 10,000 men, farmers, mechanics and laborers of all kind were distribute over Oregon, W. T. and H. C.;that they could find remunerative employ ment. 1 his state of things is not of a temporary character either. This country has yet scarcely begun the work of development. Railroads now in the course of construction and projected lines that are sure to be built will for a long time to come give em ployment to an army of men. Farms, timber land and homes in towns are eagerly sought for. Home a sieaus in the immediate vicinity of the towns could be procured quite readily a nine more than a year ago, but now nearly every quarter section is taken for miles around, but still there is la enough left for all who desire it That section of British Columbia west of the Cascades and including Vancouver and Queen Charlotis LI ands is, according to Professor Macoun, covered with, probably, one of the finest forests in the world. Chief amongst the trees is the Douglas fir, and which is used throughout the country for building purposes, and for export in the form of deals and spars'. White cedar is another giant, and in the valley of the Fraser and up the const attains to an immense size. The ndians use this wood altogether in the construction of their houses, and in building those large canoes which are the wonder of the eastern people. ' The other trees are a species of yew, another of alder, two species of fir, two species of pine, two species of maple; hemlock spruce is a common tree on the mainland, while a species of oak is abundant on the island, but has not yt been detected on the continent An evergreen tree is quite common along the coast of the island, and ' both summer and winter, its foliage con trasts finely with that of the somber hued Douglas fir. In the second, or arid district, a pine takes the place of the Douglas fir on the coast, and is a very valuable tree, growing to a large size; with clean trunk, and resembling the red pine of Ontario very much. The top of the ower mountains and the aides of the higher ones support a heavy growth of Douglas fir, but it is fur from being the beautiful tree of the coast. The Island of Vancouver is about 300 miles in length, with an average breadth of about 60, and probably con tains about 20,000 square miles. - The soil is good, but the surface is so much broken by rock that it is altogether impossible to tell the amount of good arable land on the island. There is nd doubt the day will come when Van couver will support a large population partly agricultural, and partly en gaged in mining, lumbering and fish ing. Burrard Inlet is situated on the Gulf of Georgia, a few miles west from New Westminster. . It it nine mile long deep and safe. It is the port nd from which the lumber trade is chiefly carried on. It is very easy of access to wi mnv size or ciass. ana conven ient depth of water for anchorage may I be lound in almost every part of it.