Egt Oregonian Round-Up Souvenir Edition
Pendleton, Oregon, Thurtday, September 20, 1917,
Twenty-Eight Page
SOME FACTS ABOUT FOREST
ROADS IN STATE OF OREGON
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Pa ye Four
PJIili!!!!:!!!!,!!!!!!!!.,
By B. J. Kinch. Pnited Stste Senior
Highway Knmneer I
I ntrvxtucUoa.
The development and settlement of
any new country follows the line of
leant resistance. When the early set
tiers came to Oregon they located
lonjf the banks of the Willamette
river ami in what is known as French
Prairie- H-erland travel from the
east to this ferti'e valley found a
harrier in the Cascade mountain
The easiest passage wan down the Co
lumbia river, but it was a danjrerous
route to travel, one of the early pi
oneer. Joel Palmer, spent months in
niaktnjr his way from Central Orb
TV .
if
Allen Drumheller Leading in the Relay Race at
gon to the south of Mt Hood along
what is now known in part as the
Barlow Road, in order that he might
avoid the dangerous passage of the
Columbia.
The line of least resistance in Ore
gon has always been along north and
south lines. Since the days of Joel
Palmer the Cascade mountains have
stood as the same barrier, and even
today the crossing of these mountains
on any road is a feat accomplished
mly by those who are willing to take
the rik.
The development of roads across
these mountains has been slow for
many reasons, the main one of which
is the difficulty and expense of such
development. The tajcable resources
of this state are small. Instances are
so great that timber land becomes
of no value, due to the fact that the
cost of transporting the lumber
would be greater than the value of
the lumber itself With no means
of communication the area surround
ing the Cascade mountains would be
valueless, and in private ownership
could not be developed for years to
come, and then only by a destructive
development, leaving the country even
less valuable than before.
This area, however, lies within the
Natonal Forests. Twenty per cent of
the total area of the state Is national
forest land, and of this national for
est land forty-five per cent, or ap
proximately one-tenth, the area of
the state, lies within the national for
ests along the Cascade range. Realiz-
ing the need of development of this
section, the forest service has been
seeking a way to meet this need. They
betran by concentrating their efforts
; on the McKenzie river road in the
central part of the range, and doing
I what they could with the limited
i funds available from the receipts of
; the national forests, a sum of from
! 120,000 to S30.000 per annum. Not
j a'l this fund could, however, be ex
i pended on this one project so that
the amount which it has been possible
I to expend there has only been about
; $10,000 00 a year. Progress has
, been necessarily slow, and only a
small part of the work has been com
pleted. A partial solution of the
prob em now appears in the act of
congress which appropriates one mil
lion dollars a year for ten years for
national forest roads, of which sum
Oregon will receive about $127,800
per year.
cooperation.
In order that this fund may ac
complish the greatest possible devel
opment it is desirable that the state
and counties cooperate with at least
an equal amount. This simply means
putting all money available for road
building on these roads in one fund,
as a large fund can be handled
easier than the flame in several
small ones. This will allow the con
struction of real development roads
across the Cascade mountains, and
because of this feature of develop
ment the department of agriculture
is Justified in requiring cooperation
on account of the increased resources
resulting from the construction of
the roads, and consequently of the
increased amount which will be avail
able from taxation.
Kffeut of Road Improvement on
I .and Values.
Investigation by the office of pub
lic roads and rural engineering in
eight counties in various parts of the
I'nited States shows that by the con
struction of improved highways land
values in those counties increased on
an average about seventy per cent.
These counties were in more or less
settled portions of the country and
the results to be obtained by road
Hotel Pendleton
N. D. Swearingen, Mgr.
Pendleton, Oregon
construction In a new country, such
as we have in this area along the
Cascade mountains, could not fall to
be even greater than this. In fact. I
believe 1 am justified in predtcttna
that the land values along the im
proved highways in this section of
the state will be increased not l"ss
than 100 per cent by the improve
ment. Every national forest county
now expends money on roads in the
natioal forests, and by ' cooperating
with the department of agriculture
in the expenditure of funds avai'
able if the tax rate is maintained the
?anie as at present.
! '-' jl
J
the 1916 Round-Up.
I'se to Forest fwiee.
The forest service is interested in
these roads because they will make
the work of administering the work
of the national forests easier and
more economical. They will also in
crease the receipts from such sources
as special use permits for summer
home sites, and bring more people to
know what a playground we have in
the national forests.
This view of the use of roads
from a recreation standpoint must
not be lost sight of. The roads of
Southern California are a legitimate
investment, for they return their val
ue many times over in the use they
get. and also in the revenue which
they bring to the state from the tour
ist travel. It is estimated that this
tourist travel in California brings at
least one hundred million dollars an
nually to the southern part of the
state from this source. In the state
of Colorado it is estimated that the
tourists leave at least forty million
dollars annually in the state, if the
state of Oregon should expend ten
million dollars in the construction of
roads and thPreby attract to the state
one million dollars per year of tour
ist money, it would be thought a
very good investment, and yet that
is not one per cent of the amount,
spent by American tourists in Eu
rope before the war. These tourists
would be interested most in the mag
nificent scenery. They must be able
to see these mountains. however .
without too much hardship, and this
mm
means good roads through the moun
tains, and consequently trough the
national forests.
In addition to these roads across
the Cascades, there are many other
sections of the state in which there
is urgent need for the construction
of national forest roads. In Wallowa
county there are several roads by the
improvement of which the develop
ment of the country would be mate
rially hastened. One of the main
roads for a proposed highway system
is the road from the John lay Val
ley to Ontario and Vale in eastern
Oregon, thus making a connection
from the Idaho road system to the
continued to the western part toward
central part of Oregon to be later
the Deschutes and 'Willamette val
leys. In the southern part of the
state we have the national monument
known, known as the Oregon Caves,
one of the natural wonders of the
Pacific northwest There is no ready
means of transportation to this na
tional monument, and the improve
ment of a road would increase the
number who are able to visit this sec
tion by many hundred per cent. The
country a'ong the Pacific coast of
Oregon is one of the most fertile fields
for development of any section of
the state, anil a read along this coast
with numerous laterals to connect
with the Pacific Highway would be
of Immense importance, both from
an economic and a military stand
point. This road would pass through
the Siuslaw national forest at many
points and the forest service would
be interested in its development from
all the standpoints of administration,
protction. deve'opment of the resour
ces and the development of the state
at large. Another road in which the
forest service is interested is what is
known as the Tiller Trail cut-off to
Crater Iake National Park, whereby
the distance from Portland and all
points in the state as far south as
Kosehurg to Crater r,ake would be
shortened about fifty five mils.
At present the majn highway con
necting Oregon and California is
south from Ashland over the Pacific
Highway over the fiiskiyou moun
tains. This mad is closed to traffic
during a greater part of the winter
on account of the heavy snow. From
Orants Pass southwest toward Cres
ent City in Ca Ifornia lies a country
through which a road may be locat
ed in such a wy as to avoid practi
cally all the difficulty from snow,
and thus make an all the-year-rnund
highway between Oregon and Califor
nia Mileage of Roal.
In making up a comprehensive
system of roads for the national for- :
eats. It has been found that there
are about 800 miles of road which
could properly be classed as main j
trunk highway. In the development i
of the national forests there would j
also he constructed about 1200 miles j
of lateral roads, making a total of
approximately 2000 miles of roads
which may be classed as National
Forest roads, if an expenditure of
$5000 per mile were to be made on
this system, it would represent an
outlny of ten mil'lou dollars, and It
would seem that uch an expenditure
would be entirely justified, inasmuch
an every one of thse roads would
open new territory to the homeseek
er. new country to the tourist, and in
crease the value of the resources of i
the conntrv through which they pass
for more than the amount expended
in the construction of these roads.
Known for
-THE-
First National Bank
PENDLETON, OREGON
Oldest and Largest National Bank
in the tState Outside of Portland
Security
r- - '
DOt W H --JACK
UTte Jfome of t fie
Genuine Round Oak Stoves,Banes,and Healers
A "TIP"Play This to Win!
The placing of a bet is the expressed backing of one's judgment. Every pur
chase in reality is a bet. You are wagering your money that the article you secure
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A reputable merchant's advertisements are always a "tip" to the Buying Public.
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THE ROUND
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MAKE
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Its Strength
A reputable manufacturers
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of qualhy
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MAKE
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a large illustrated book, in
Yours in service,
oTeWJ'
(SUPREMACY