212
THE WEST SHORE.
September, 1883.
government engineer!. A railroad ii being con
structed from the bay to the valley, connecting
with the Oregon A California road at Cnrvallis.
lly this road the upper end of Willamette valley
will have an outlet to the coast direct, where iti
product! can 1 loaded upon vessels for shipment,
and where lupplies can be received. The timber
interests alxiul Yaquina bay and the mouth of the
Alsea river are very great and vast foresti cover
the mountains for miles, Corvallii it the chief
town and county teat, and is a thriving business
place. There are splendid opportunities In Ken
ton county to acquire good timber land, foothill
land for farming, improved farms at reasonable
rates, to go into business, to embark in fruit cul
ture or dairying, to Institute needed manufactur
ing enterprises or engage in converting the end
less forests into lumlier.
The desirable land open to settlement lies In
the foothills, which in their natural state are cov
ered wllli oak trees and shrubs, licnealh which
there is fine pasturage where sheep, cattle and
hogs can be maintained at little expense. The
soil produces splendid grain, wheal often averag
ing forty bushels and oats seventy bushels per
acre. Improved land is worth fiom $5 to $2$
per acre, according to situation. Between the
summit of the mountains and the coast ii much
land especially adapted to stock-raising, where
cattle seldom require feeding in winter. The
valleys there are generally beaver-dam land and
are extremely fertile. Timothy, oats and all
kinds of vegetables grow splendidly, and as a
dniiy region it oilers great advantages. Hut com
paratively little of these hills is under actual cul
tivation and there li room for clasi of people
who will clear and cultivate the land,
Clackamas County.
Lying between Multnomah and Marion, and
extending Iron) the Willamette river to the sum
mit of the Cascade mountains, is the county of
Clackamas, containing an area of about 1,450
square miles, With the western end lying in the
Willamette valley, it reaches back Into the
mountains to such an extent that the greater por
tion of its area Is hilly and mountainous. In the
fix thills and the many small valleys, some of
which lie far up towards the summit ridges, are
many acres ol land open to settlement, while
thousands of acics near the Willamette, and in
the higher land back from the river, have !een
cultivated for many years. Grain, hay and vege
tables are the chief crops, and fruit liees are very
pioduclire. The fact that green grass can be
had by rallle the year round renders this region,
and artirulaily the little well-watered valley,
especially adapted for dairying. There are yet
thousand of acres of good government or rail
road lands open for settlement, or purchase at
reasonable figures. Hundreds of sections of such
lands are in close proximity to schools, churches,
post offices and stores, and are within one day's
drive of either Oregon City or Portland. By
living on such places the settler would have an
almost unlimited stock range and hii fencing
might altogether be confined to the land he
wished to cultivate. The toil in the foothills b
of the richest kind, well watered and no lack of
timber, and no healthier climate exists in the
United Stales. The western end of the county is
traversed by two lines of the Oregon Railway &
Navigation Co'a, system, affording splendid ship.
ping facilities. The county seat and largest town
is Oregon City, the oldest town in the Willamette
valley. It is situated at the famous Willamette
falls whose beauty hai won admiration from all
travelers since the pioneers first beheld them more
than half a century ago. The amount of power
running to waste there is sufficient to build up a
large manufacturing city. In the almost unlimi
ted quantity of its water power, its splendid ship
ping lacilities by rail and river, its fine location
in the edge of the great valley, Oregon City offers
greater advantages to manufacturing enterprises
than any other place in Oregon. Mr. Villard has
given the citizens assurance that he Jully realizes
the value of the great falls and will inaugurate at
no distant day large manufacturing enterprises to
utilize them. When this is done Oregon City
will grow rapidly. This should be taken into
consideration by those looking for homes or for
safe investments for their capital.
Clatsop County.
This county occupies the extreme northwest
corner of Oregon, its northern border being the
waters of the mighty Columbia and its western
the rolling breakers of the Pacific ; east of it lies
Columbia county and south Tillamook. The
county at present, so far as population and prop
erty are concerned, consists chiefly ol the city of
Astoria, a thriving business place of 8,000 people,
lying on the south bank of the Columbia about
ten miles above the bar at the river's mouth.
Here was made the first settlement in the whole
region tributary to the Columbia river. In 181 1
the Pacific Fur Co. established a trading post and
general headquarters for the immense business
they expected to transact on the Pacific coast, and
the place was named Astoria in honor of John
Jacob Astor, the founder and financial backer of
the enterprise. A few years later it became the
property of the Hudson's Bay Co. In 1848 a town
began to spring up here and a custom house was
established. In 1866 the canning of salmon be
gan on the river, and from that time Astoria grew
rapidly. Twenty-four of the thirty-eight can
neries now on the river are located here and the
others are tributary to this city. There were
packed, during the season just expired, (30,000
cases, or l.OSo.ooo fish of an average weight of
twenty pounds each. In catching the salmon
1,700 boats were employed with two men in each
and $1,500,000 were paid out to fibhermen alone.
There are between $2,000,000, and $3,000,000
invested in the business, and the value of the sea
son's pack at the low rale of $5 per case is $3,
150,000. It can easily be understood how thriv
ing must lie a community supported by such an
indusly yet this is but one of her advantages.
Situated as she is at the mouth of the Columbia,
with a good harbor and a custom house, she is the
natural gateway of Oregon for all ocean com
merce. With a railroad connecting her with the
Willamette valley, a road that is now being sur
veyed and will no doubt toon be constructed, she
will become an important (hipping point for
wheat and other valley products, and will no doubt
become the stopping place of many vessel that
now tail past her docks and go 100 miles inland
to receive their cargoei at Portland. Her Yr.
cilitiea for ship-building on a large scale are very
superior, and as a manufacturing point, especially
of flour for foreign shipment and lumber for mar
kets at home and abroad, she possesses great advantage.
Outside of the city Clatsop county has an area
of 1,400 square miles. The surface of the coun
try is chiefly mountainous, but many streams flow
through, along which are areas of fine agricultur
al land. Even back from the streams, almost
everywhere, the soil is excellent and well adapted
to cultivation when the ground has been cleared
of its dense growth of timber. Clatsop plains, a
strip of land lying along the sea shore which has
been settled for thirty-five years, is the largest
body of agricultural land in the county. The soil
is light and sandy and produces vegetables, grain
and small fruits in abundance. But little wheat is
raised, oats and barley being the principal cereals.
Hay is the chief crop, and dairying the leading
feature of the farming business. The soil is well
adapted to hop culture, though that industry is
not yet carried on here. The same is generally
true of the ranches on the Nehalem, Lewis and
Clarke, Young's, Walluski and other rivers in the
county. The Nehalem valley is especially a fine
grain region. On these streams and in the
mountains are large areas of vacant land, covered
with timber, still open to settlement. It requires
persistent effort and hard work to clear them and
reduce the land to cultivation, but hen this is
accomplished the settler has a fine and productive
home. Work can alwavs be fiund by an indus
trious man to aid in the support of himself and
family while he is clearing his land and securing
a title to his homestead. For vegetables, hay
and small fruits there is a sure market at high
prices. From end to end the county is covered
with a dense growth of magnificent timber, and
hundreds of men make money by logging into the
streams from the claims of settlers and selling the
logs to mill men at Astoria. Much charcoal and
cord wood are also taken from the claims. In
the Nehalem valley is the largest body of the most
desirable timber, and here ore offered great In
ducements for settlers to locate and enjoy the ben
efits of the railroad soon to be built through that
section of the county. Coal of a superior quality
has been discovered in the southern portion of the
county, and it is probable that this whole region
is underlaid with seams of that valuable material.
In case no desirable coal is discovered near the
line of the road, a branch will undoubtedly be
constructed to tap the beds in this locality. Iron
ore has been found in several places to the east,
and it probably exists in Clatsop county as well.
Columbia County.
Columbia county has an area of 680 square
miles and a population of 2,500. It has a water
front ol ten miles on Willamette slough and fifty
on the Columbia. Its chief resources arc coal,
iron and timber, though there is much good agri
cultural land untitled. The bottom lands along
the river are subject to overflow in June, and when
the water recedes a luxurious growth of grass
springs up, making splendid pasturage and hay
The dairy business is quite extensively carried on
in these favored localitie. Comparatively Utile
farming it done along the river, the lumbering
businesa absorbing the attention of the pcP,e
Every stream of any lice has been cleared of ob
structions, 10 that logs can be run down them in
high water season. Logs are also hauled to the
bottom lands and when they are floated by the
freshets are made up into rafU and towed to the
milli on the river, to Portland and even to Aston
On Scappooae creek l the Richland mill, "ho