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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1910)
11 DAYS OF THE PIQNEER; STAGE QACH NUMBERED Passenger and Freight Vehicles That 'Have Lon Held Sway in Interior Oregon Will Give Way to Locomotive and Auto THE 3IORNIXG OREGOXIAX, SATURDAY, JANUARY- 1. 1910. PROBABLY -within five yeai-s stage coachiDK and wagon freighting; days in Interior Oregon will be but a -memory. Today these methods of trans portation of paasengersatyl freight arc enjoying tha climax of their prosperity. With the rush or the land-hungry In advance of the railroads, horseflesh is being strained to its utmost. Daily six, eight and 12-horse teams, attached to -wagon trains of two and three and four vehicles and four-horse stages toil labor iously out of Shaniko, the freighting and transportation center for Central Oregon. cros3 17 miles of hub-deep mud down the steep roads of Cow Canyon into Trout Creek Valley from whence they diverge to Southern and Southeastern Oregon. The terrors of the Shaniko flat have never fully been told. Shaniko is the terminus of the Columbia & Southern Hallway, a branch 70 miles long of the O. It. X., which reaches the high table lands above the Columbia River over four and one-half per cent grades. Shani--Ko itself is a bleak setting of warehouses, tockyards, hotels and stores In the cen ter of a flat where bedrock comes almost to the surface and is covered generally by a foot to three feet of adobe soil. Nothing grows there but the sage-brush, and In the early Spring, a stand of sparse grass that offers brief feeding for the aheep and cattle of the district. Stories are told of wagon trains drawn by an aggregate of 64 horses starting out Xrom Shaniko In the Winter months and making but three miles the first day, the horses and drivers returning to Shaniko to spend the night. Weaving the loaded wagons almost buried in the mud. Short periods of cold weather in the Winter months give hard hut rocky roads across the Shaniko flat only to be re placed by the inevitable thaw and by sticky mud that balls in the horses' hoots like wet snow and makes of the wheels disc of clay from hub to rim. In the Summer, dust replaces the mud but the rocks remain and traffic across the flat Is slow and tedious. Once down Cow Creek canyon the roads improve. Adobe mud is encountered in crossing the gap of Grizzly Mountain into Prineville. but south through Madras and Bend to Silver Ijike and Christmas Lake, the soil gradually becomes sandy and the roads passable at all times of the year. The stage coach of Central Oregon to day is the replica of the coach that bore its important part in the overland traffic hefore the railroads crossed the plains to the Pacific. Judging, too, from their bat tered appearance and womout cushions, some of the vehicles are more than re plicas they are survivors of 40 years or more of usage. Short enclosed bodies, holding a maximum of three on each or the . two seats within and 'one on the seat with the driver, are the standard types. These bodies are set on the old type of thorough-brace spring, or leather loop, giving a maximum of rocking chair-motion and a minimum or up and down resiliency. Baggage is carried In the front and back "boots" and on top Ahe stage. The platform spring of the more modern stage coach, it is asserted, will not withstand the strain of the roads covered by the stage routes. In Central Oregon is now in' -operation the longest stage route in the United States. Stages leave from Shaniko for Burns, 220 miles away in Southeastern RAILROADS WILL PIERCE GREAT TIM Largest Body o Standing Pine in United States, Containing Many Billions of Feet, Is Soon RNXKTNO hiKh among the resources of Central Oregon is the pine tim ber belt, declared by competent authority to comprise the greatest body of artandlnr pine timber now existing- in Amerloa. The principal portion of the timber area of Central Oregon lies on the ast slope of the Cascade Mountains and Is approximately 60 milea'-wlde a.d 200 m!ie long:.. Beginning- at the "Warm Springs Indian reservation, which may be taken as the northern boundary of undeveloped Central Oregon, the tim ber belt extends along the tooth ills of the Cascades toward the southern boundary of the state, spreading- out Into an elongated "v with the apex to the north and the base In. Northern California. " In addition to this, there is a. avge timber area in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, taking In the eastern part of Crook, the southern part of Wheel r and Grant and the northern part of Harney counties. Since the most reoen t maps of Ore gon were published the Government has Teflistrlctcd the forest reserves of Ore gon. What was formerly the Blue Moun tain reserve haa been divided into the Malheur, fmatilla and Whitman re- serves. The Malheur, is the only por tion of the old Blue Mountain reserve that is in that part of Central Oregon soon to have the benefits of new rail road development. What was formerly the Fremont re serve has been out in two and the northern portion has been named the Deschutes reserve, while the southern portion Is now the Fremont reserve, to which has been added the Goose Lake reserve. The great Cascade reserve, occupying both sides the Cascade ranjre, is now segregated into four reserves, the Oregon National Forest to the north, then following southerly the Cascade reserve, I'mpu'ia reserve and Crater re serve. The Government estimates on the amount of standing timber in the sev eral reserves that are in or extend Into Central Oregon are as follows: Feet. i Vmnqua NatioPHl forest (.fast j'(.pi U .007.000.000 National foret ( east ?iope 3.744.000 00 Crater Nat ienal forest t. snst dlopr 'J,2C.0Oo.0t0 V m !( National forest S.32S.(HMi.t)nO 1 ((( hutes N ft t tonal tores t 4.2:t$.OOrt.4oo .Malheur National forest ,t!0.00,000 Total i7.l:.ooo.0"i Competent authorities on timber as sert that f.O per cent of the stand in the Government forests of Central Ore--son has reached the stage of maturlty when cutting Is demanded. But owing to tha restrictions on tales of Gov ernment timber in the matter of log King, the timber cutting in Central Ore gon for some years will undoubtedly be confined to the private holdings. These, too. are enormous, men -who have mad fortunes In timber In the Oregon and fof SilveP-Ike, 183 miles south. The Cornett Stagre Line, which prac tically has a monopoly of the business, operates 22 coaches and uses 225 horses on Its routes, and while Shaniko is the principal northern terminus, Prineville is the real radiating: center of the va rious lines. Prineville is the center ot seven regular' stage lines. Stages are operated from there daily to Shaniko, daily to Silver Lake and Lake View, dally to Sisters, three times' a. week to Burns, twice a week to Mitchell, John Day and Grant County points; daily to Madras and Warm Springs Agency, and during the Summer months twice a week to Albany over the Cascade Mountains. Prineville is 65 miles from Shaniko, but in point of time consumed in travel it is fully twice that distance in the Winter months. When the roads are bad 18 hours en route is a quick trip, and 22 hours is near the average, with four horses drawing the stage and three changes of teams en route. Stage fares are approximately 10 cents a mile. The freighting teams go out of Shan iko as in pioneer days with bells on the leaders. On the larger outfits the driver rides the near-wheel horse and controls the team by a "jerk line" to the near lead horse. The freighters figure on hauling- 2000 to 2100 pounds of freight for every horse. Freight hauled from Shaniko to Bend, 95 miles, costs the consignee from J1.25 to $1.50 per 100 pounds. The rate to Silver Lake Is J2.75 per 100 pounds, and to Prineville from 50 cents to Jl a hundred. The freighters seek return loads, hauling wheat, wool and juniper wood in season. v A qutek round trip between Shanilfo and Bend is nine days, while 11 days is about the average when the roads are good. Bad weather lengthens the time en route indefinitely, and then is when the freighters lose their profits, for hay at $25 a ton, and feed at $3 a 100 pounds, counts up for 10 and 12 horse teams. During one bad weather period this Fall one outfit that left Shaniko October 2G did not deliver its freight in Bend until November 19. or, in other words, was 24 days on the road. The completion of the railroads to Madras will eliminate the difficulties ie. . v . U ife."igiB;w.'i.we ' Ban. j.i ,h j.iygagH!WfliMiH I -wlf awitofpgl .:'.Ti 4 North Central States having acquired immense holdings. In the Deschutes Valley, north of the Klamath IMvide, there are n the military wagon road grants and in pri vate ownership more than 600.000 acres of timber which it is estimated ..ja oianuuig i f l iu the acre, or more than 9,000,000.000 feet. South of the, Klamath Divide the Weyerhaeuser syndicate owns ap- proximately 159,000 acres, and other y j I . ' - P?" " . - of Cow Canyon and Shaniko Flat and bring the portion of interior Oregon not then touched by railways into much closer communication -with thie outside world. With a railway terminus at Madras 40 miles of the '' stage and freight routes will at once be cut off, and as the roads advance farther south the routes .will be shortened to a still greater extent and point after point eliminated. When the rails are laid to Red-.nond, Prineville - will be within 14 miles of a rail point, near Crooked River and via a hard sandy road of easy grades, until It get's a branch railway of its own. For a few years, the prospect is not for a curtailment of staging and freighting In Interior Oregon. The elimination of the coach and wagon train will come only with the comple tion of a network of branch lines and railway extensions, for the country is as large as all outdoors, and now unheard-of places will soon be demanding transportation facilities of some -kind. As for the stage coach, its days will be shorter than those of the wagon trains, for the automobile Is rapidly cutting into its business. The estab lished stage lines realize this and the Cornett line now has three autopsobiles in use and will put on three more In the Spring. In parts of Central Ore companies a total of more than 200.000 acres. In Klamath County alone, when Government forests and the timber stand on the Klamath Indian reserva- tlon and in private holdings are includ- ed. the area of timber is estimated at approximately 3500 square miles, hav- i ii h. 101H.1 Doara measure 01 more x na it 40.000.000,000 feet. . But what the railroads and the coun try at large are most interested in the timber that will be available for A . M I is t. gon the automobiles can be operated most of the Winter. With the story of the past ing vf the stagecoach will also probably be writ ten the story of the. passing of Shan iko. Now 20.000 to 30,000 head of cat tle, approximately 75,000 mutton and 2.000,000 pounds of wool find iheir way to market via ShamUo. It is the trans shipping point for a score of small communities that -are growing daily and demanding greater and greater Quantities of supplies. Shaniko is a typical frontier railway terminus, of -a type rapidly disappearing in America. Lately it has become a center for rail way construction, for from that point supplies and men are shipped to a dozen different camps along the De schutes and on into Central Oregon. There the cheap saloon thrives. In the hotels men used to lives of ease con gregate on their way to the land of I golden opportunities, and perhaps dine with or sleep in the same room with railroad laborers. In these hotels the word "parlor" now designates a room filled with cots, where every night men seelc rest in preference to sitting In chairs .by the office stove. But most of this will come to an early end. The transshipping center within a year or IS months will be transferred to a new railway point farther in the -Jrirf ' cutting with the completion of the rail- road development. To give some idea of the extent of this timber, the f ol- lowing estimates . of timber holdings are given: Denchuteg Valley. Acres. ItHJ.OiH) Shevliu-Hlxon Syndicate . Sca.nlon-Gil'on and Brooks-Scanlon IiVtuber Companies "S.nnn "R. B. Gilchrist & Son 6J.OOO SaKinaw-Manister Lumber Company. 'JO.tMXf Willamette Cascade waKon road prant .ft.oO0 Oregon Central military wag-on roan rrant - , -X . - . 20,M)0 rr " : , . : i HI v fl I -- '"-.''' :-- ;.:' '' S; ;.1l'l! ' : ' ! ; ' '. ' ' .' .. ill 1 1 . V . ' ... ...... .v I I 111 : its' i A a I l? -'l IHfvjR.- 1 1 IB ' i ill VYYYVY x 1 'ZW-i iu.i 1 11 -A-rT&ttt&GJrisxr i 10 s pJ H -ill i interior and Shaniko will have to look to its own immediate territory for sup- port. It will retain some of the wool Y T f Ztjer i- -or ww. Ol-dti Lantl Company .', A ! worth-Wash burn Syndicate. . A. R. ItoKcrs -: - ate 13.OO0 'lirj.MM -"J,0 v s' ts- ill ! - , ' ' ' and .cattle shipments, but there will be little else to keep up t:ie town,, for it is the center of a great high 'flat to Be Accessible for the First Time 1 T y.-x-'-r. x - n. . H255K25SHSESE Eastern & 'Western Lumber-Co. Weyerhaeuser Land Company-. Mueller Lumber Company. . -. . s, ttto 2:.oo 8. J.. 3 1 Wwnai.-mi ftrfra ill iMiir iwi iu.-A..f I 1 T y , 11 4& 'where It 'is said a dynamite blast Is almost! necessary in order, to set a fence post, v - BELT Combirre-l mi!) hojdings 20010'. Total ; .. '.. -EriTiTimtd timber stand on . eo6.( above. - 9.0UD.- .South' of the Klamath Divide ara " the. 15000 acres owned by the Weyer haeuser syndicate and 20,00.0 or more -:acres- owned- by the. Desciiutes Lumber Company'. Jlie Yockey Lumber Com pan Shevlin & Carpenter, Hixon Lum'" . ber Company. S. Johnson and the OUolutnts. In the Blue Mountain foot hills, (urthor to the eastward, are also ' severaf bifl'ion feet of timber inpriv,ale ownership, -iir-r . - ' : Tal(;iir& ail these holdings into con sideration, is estimated tliat the rail- " roads now penetrating Central Oregon will make available for cutting ap proximately 20,000,000,000 fept of tim ber, within a -comparatively short time. ' This body of timber would keep em- . ployed for 135 years continuously such a'mill as the big plant of the Inman Pqulson Lumber Company or the new Monarch tnjjl of Portland, cutting 150, 000,000 feet: of timber ' annually. - When the timber in the Government forests and Indian reservations is also included, this resource, of tha unde veloped section of Oregon reaches an extent almost beyond conception. True Fish. Tales Tax Belief DearbntCM Set41em Drain Pool and Catrh Hundreds of Trout. TRUE fish stories are told along the Deschutes River, which give some Vindication of the .abundance of trout in tlie stream as well as of the' pro digality of those who are robbing the "rive1: of - Its position" as a sportsman's . pepadse ' Twenty-five miles south of Bend is ' what in 'known as the fish trap. There,. 'a small stream diverges from the main -.channel rnd lalls ' Into a large pool which has a shallow drainage back into the main river. Settlers, it is said, come for -miles In the Fall, dam the inlet tO the pool, which 'then drains off, leaving , hundreds of trout caught in "a dry basin.. This unsport-smanliki method supplies abundant trout foM salting down a Winter's supply. On the 4th of July, 1909. a great trout - barbecue was giuen at Bend. For sev eral days prior -thereto the best anglers were at vork and when the barbecue, was served therywere 3000 red sides 'and Ioilie Vardvns cooked and 2000 persons atf their fill. An authenticated tale is related of how Oregon "Trunk Line contractors, near Hill's ranch, blasted down such a quantity of rock lt6 the river that the Vraves washed .20 fish to the oppo- giie shore "where they - were seized by tlie .Harriman laborers for a big fish dinner. - ..- - - - i