114 THE WEST SHORE. along the Siuslaw it is Almost wholly unoccupied. Many uliort utrwimd pour info tn wwin from the mountain i', but there i no harbor for vessels, and the coast is rocky and perilous. Tlie Siuslaw country is worthy of special mention. The river flows into the ocean, and for many mill forms the lioundary line between Lane and Douglas counties. It is navigable for twenty-five miles, at only one point being loss than twenty feet deep, and at that place having a depth of fourteen feet at low tide. The country along the Siuslaw is tnountaiuous and densely covered with forest and undergrowth. Immediately along the river and its tributaries tliere are numerous small valleys or bottoms of the most fertile soil, suitable for the production of fruit, vegetables and grain. The hills are of sufficient fertility to subserve grazing purposes, aud many good locations for dairies are to be found. The great drawback is the want of good roads and other moans of communication with tho Willamette Valley and the ocean. The lumber interest alone are of sufficient im portance to warrant the ooning of this region, which xMHeHe the easiest natural route from the valley to the l'acifio. Florence is the name of a small town near the tin hi th of the stream, where salmon are packed, and from w hich various products of that region are shipped. IKl!OUH COUNTY. Iu the main tho count region of Douglas is similar to that of Lano mountainous and densely timWod, with a const rocky and dangerous. A number of quite extensive lakes lie Itetwocn the summit of tho mountains and the ocenn shorn. Tho Umpoun River discharges into the ooesu near tho boundary line lictwocn Douglas and Coos. Thirty miles alsivo its mouth, aud at the head of naviga tion, lies the town of HootUburg, once tho most important commercial jxiint in Houthern Oregon. It now has a flouring mill, store, hotel and a population of seventy-five The river flows through the mountains between steep and rugged hills of terraced sandstone, from GOO to 1,000 foot high. Five miles lielow Scottshurg the stream widens and the bases of tho hills recede from the water, leaving striw of fertile laud. All of the arable land on the Lower I'mpqua in contained iu three little meadows, aggregating aliout 2,000 acre. Smith River enters the Umjiqua about eight miles above iU mouth, having cut through the Coast Range from its source in Uio Cnlaixtoiaa. Several thou sand acres tif rich bottom land lio in long, narrow strips along iU banks, also occasional marshes and mud flats. The upper irtion of tho stream runs through a more open country, where stock can find an extensive range on the hills. The Umlicr is dense ou the lower portion, and much logging is done for the mills at flardiner, fir, cedar and maple being the leading varieties. A steamer ascends Uio river a distance of twenty-five mile. Umjmua Bay, as the estuary at Uio mouth of the Uiuxjua is called, is eight miles long and somewhat let than a mile in width. Ou irtion of both sides marshes, iutcrsocted by tidal sloughs, extend to the bills. These lands will be extremely valuable when reclaimed by dyk ing. Tho bay Las a sheltered anchorage of 1,500 acres, being perfectly land-locked. The entrance is abrupt, with a sand bar, having thirteen feet of water above it at the lowest point during low tide. Sailing vessels with a competent pilot can enter the bay in favorable weather. Gardiner, the seaport town of the Umpqua region, lies on the north bauk of the river, or bay, nine miles above the entrance. Lumbering is quite extensively carried on in that region, and much lumber is shipped to San Fran cisco from the mills at Gardiner. Deep water vessels can reach the wharf, and all supplies for, or shipments from, the country lying further up the stream are handled at Gardiner. There is also a salmon cannery located at that point, which packs some 50,000 cases annually. coos COUNTY. The county of Coos lies on the coast, being hemmed in between Douglas and Curry counties and the Facifio Ocean. It is chiefly mountainous, with but little level laud, except along the Coos and Coquille rivers and their tributaries, and in little valleys here and there among the hills. There is yet open to settlement much Government land that will make excellent farms, while free grazing on the unclaimed hills is a privilege of no small value. The population is about 6,000, engaged chiefly in lumbering, coal mining and farming, the first two industries furnish ing a market for the products of the last The coal and lumber interests are among the most extensive on the coast, being in the hands of San Francisco capitalists, to which city the product is shipped. Coos Bay harbor furnishes good facilities for shipment of the county's product and the receipt of supplies, and it is for this reason, and because of there being no free communica tion inland, that Coos County is tributary to California instead of Oregon. This evil is about to be partially remedied, as a company has been organized to build a railroad from the bay to Rosoburg, which will pass through many miles of valuable coal and timber lands. This will give Coos County access to the interior and Southern Oregon an outlet to the coast Salmon canning is becoming one of the county's industries and will prob ably increase in importance. The lumber, ooal and farm products are not the only resources of the county by any means. Gold mines have in the past been worked with profit, and in some localities are profitable to-day. The hills and mountains contain valuable iron ore. Lead of an excellent quality has been discovered on the Coquille River. The ore is very rich and easy of access, being on the Hue of the promised railroad. The iron and lead are entirely undevelojied, farthos than to know positively that they exist in abundance. A competent judge says: "I have been nearly thirty-one years in Oregon and Washington Territory, and have done considerable lum bering for tlie Columbia River mills and those on Shoal water Bay, in Washington Territory, and have a very fair acquainUuce with the timber regions of the Columbia, from the mouth of the Washougal to the sea, and have seen a good deal of the timber land of Puget Sound and Shoalwater Bay, and in all places have never aeen the Coos County forests excelled for density or quality of