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.