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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1883)
1 270 THE WEST SHORE. November, 1883 (my, A canal ii being constructed to irrigate 20,000 ncrei of sage brush land along Ixjst river. The (jrosi value of property in Clackamas county ii $3,844,146, including 326,549 acres of land of an average value of $4.25 per acre, The assessment lint of Josephine county shows a total valuation of $563,885. The chief item is that of land, of which there are 55,889 acres. A new saw mill has liecn put up on Ilinton creek near Ileppncr, Oiegon, to supply the great demands for lumber created by the improvements in that region, Almut 140,000 bushels of wheat and 130,000 of uaUand barley were raised in Kogue river valley this teuton, Plowing and seeding are now in progress and a largely increased acreage is in (limited. The assessor's returns show that the properly of Umatilla county is valued at $4,892,271, em bracing 42,209 acres of land at $21 per acre; 12,632 head of horses at $40; 11,292 cattle at $22,501 and 240,951 sheep at $1.33. The mills owned by W. S. llyers & Co. at Pendleton, Oregon, have been extensively en larged and fitted up with the gradual reduction process machinery. Their daily capacity U 500 barrels of flour, and the total cost of placing them in their present condition was $200,000. The sinking of small artesian well is in progress on the highlands of Wasco county, be tween Five Mile and Three Mile creeks. If a good flouring mill is secured, it will be a great in ducement to settlers to lake up farms on those uplands where the soil Is fertile but water scarce. IC. Willis, who lives near Miller's station in this county, raised a crop of club wheat this year that yielded between 40 and 50 bushels to the acre. After the first crop was cut, a second crop sprung up, milured and the heads are well filled. Mi. Willis also raised 300 bushels of potatoes, known as the (larwi Chili vaiiety, m one acie of ground. He brought a bushel of these spuds I to 11. One of them weighed live pounds and an ounce, and four of them weighed IJj pound Albany I-tU. 11 ims nevn ascciiaincn 111.11 me ivlialein is navig.ible for twelve miles anil has a depth ol sixteen fret on the bar at mean low tide. The valley of the Nehalem is one of the richest in natural resources in the stale. Cireal beds of cos have been discovered and are being developed dense forests of fir, spruce, hemlock and giant cedar cover the valley and mountain sides, mag' nificent meadows for dairying and soil of unsur passed fertility for the production of grain, vege tablet and fruit, exist along the stream, and good water power for manufacturing can be found. town named Coalburn hat been located at the head of navigation, and has every proect of be. coming a place of iniortanre. The new city laid out on Gray's harbor al the terminus of the projected railroad, covers between fifty and sixty acres of ground, and fronts for half a mile on the hnroor. A new town has been laid out In Yakima county, near Ellensburg, comprising about forty acres. It is pleasantly situated on a bench on the south bank of Yakima river. The name is yet to be selected. . On the great bend of Skagit river a new town, named Avon, has been laid out, and ins already a More, postotiice and hotel. This s designed as being the future shipping point for the Olympiii marsh. The hop crop in Puyallup valley this sea son amounts to 6,000 bales, or 1 , 1 10,000 lbs. This is about one-half the yield estimated early In the spring, based upon the largely increased acreage, and is nearly 500,000 pounds short of last year's crop. Nearly the entire product has been disposed of at prices ranging from 14 to 19 cents, while last year the great bulk of the crop brought from 50 cents to Si.oo per pound. Large crops and high prices can not be expected every season, and hop growers do not feel discouraged by the results. The town of Colville laid' out last spring In Stevens county has made great progress, It lies In Colville valley, three miles from the old fort nnd twelve back from the Columbia river, occupying n plateau just where the prairie nnd forest lands meet, and having a clear mountain stream flowing through to supply water and power to turn machinery. There nre two general merchandise stores, one feed stable, one restaurant nnd boarding house, one blacksmith shop, one wood-work ing shop, a jewelry store, school house, two saloons, a large brewery, and u number of residences. The immigration Colville valley will leceive the coming season will luigely increase the sie and importance of this grow lug young town. 1 lanal'ord valley is 11 region but little known by the outside world. It lies in the edge of Lewis county, some twelve miles northeast of Tcnino, and contains about 8,x acres of good agricultural land, only one-third of which is taken up by settlers. The remain der Is In the hands of speculators, belongs to the Northern Pacific, or is still open govern ment land upon which locations can be mnde. 1 he surrounding hills are covered with fir and cedar, and w hen clenred of.iimber make good farms, often sloping gradually to the south and oflerlng splendid locations. Coal it found in great quantities in the hills adja cent to the valley, and a company has been pneorporuted to develop some of the vein Many other coal claims have been taken railroad seven or eight miles in length ii bt ing talked of, running from the mines don llanafnrd creek to Centerville on the XorU. em Pacific. A party of the Northern Pnciilc transc,m. tinental geological survey hat been In ft! Cascades for several months, in charge of R, I U. Goode, assisted by Prof. T. S. llrandcgt, f as botanist and forestry expert. These m. I tlemen have given the Yakima Signal fncts developed by their explorations. At. cording to their measurements the hciglit of the various passes through the Cascade! as follows: The summit of Natchei pans 4,900 feet above the level of the sca;Taftni pass, 3,430; Sheet6 pass, 3,606; Stampede pis, 3,695; Yakima pass, 3,625; Snoquahnle inu, 3,iio; Cowlitz pass, 5,200. The elevation d Yakima is 990 feet, and that of Ellenibtn 1,500. The elevation of Ainswnrth, it Ibt mouth of Snake river, is 350 feet. One important discovery made by Mr. Goode's party is that Mount Adams is tevrnl hundred feel higher than heretofore suppewd, while Mount Tacoma is 190 feet lower. The hlght of Mount Adams is ascertained to It 12,300 feet, and that of Tacoma 14,150 fed above the level of the sea. The forestry ti- perl finds that the trees of the Cascade mot tains are greater in vai iety than In any otto f part of the United States, if not in the wotK In the entire Rocky mountain region tlimj arc not more than ten or twelve variety while in the Cascades there are ninctm. w hich may be classed as follows: Pfouf i ilerota, or yellow pine (three leaves); fw conlorta, or black pine (I v. o leaves) ; anil's, or ridge pine ffivc leaves); fmitfe oh, or mountain pine (live leaves); rV tsiigu, or red fir; abirs gruinlis, or while w abirs nobilis (very rare): abtes amabiM (: 1 rare); abies sub-altina (vciy rare); dentalis or western larch; larix I.yelii( ered by Prof. Lyel); ficra mgdM ' spruce; tsuga fatlioritinn and tsuga stand (hemlocks) ;'. Virginia-, j perus communis (cedars) ; taxus brmicliil'' thuja gigjulca (white cedar). Mr. G has also obtained a list and sample" -grasses and other vegetation peculiar lot region. Ll M-OI.N Col' NT v. -1 n dividing theco. of Spokane and erecting Hie western port inlon new county called Lincoln, the t lure has created a olitical bodv H'1' many years will be one of the ""' tial in the territory. In population andp .1. ...... 1 i-..i i.i,u flr to rival an P" auricultiiial counlv. It contains o - JUIIIT. , L 8,000 tquare miles and a popu ' . ..... a t loo.UlC"1,! estimated ueiween 4,u' s ity of whom live In the eastern tra, was chiefly because of the vast nd MT settled region to the west, which wi! flowed with immigrants another j the new county wat created. Tn known as the Big Bend c"n,r-v; Spokane Chronicle we gather u 0 facts about this region, and eP ' 0 portion farthest to the west If