Bandon recorder., December 19, 1907, Image 2

known than the Coos River vicinity,
for to the general outside world, the
general term of “Coo Bay denotes
any part of the county, or ev< n all
of Southwestern Oregon, but in
reality only a small body of water
approximately five miles squaie and
a misnomer which the residents of
the Coquille valley stoutly resent.
The Coquille River flows directly
into the waters of the Pacific, about
18 miles south ot the entrance to
costly homes in South-West ern
Orey, >n.
Tending rather to agricultural
pursuits, the pay rolls of both
Myrtle Point, and Coquille, are
small compared to North Bend and
Bandon, nevertheless a very im­
portant factor among the resources
of the respective towns.
A more picturesque scene th.»n
the Coquille Valley, can seldom be
found, and when viewed on a quiet
autumn dav from the decks of the
quilleand Bandon, through which the
course of the river flows. The hills run
from the waters’ edge up to a height
to entitle them to the name of small
mountains. At the river’s edge you
land again, and over the tops of the
maple, alder, myrtle and other vari-
gated and beautiful foliage, you look
into the dark gloom of the fir, cedar,
spruce and hemlock. In the willows
where you land is a coal bunker,
supplied from a tunnel, up a 2 per
cent grade perhaps a hundred yards
away. The weather is always quiet,
still and cool, and now as you ¡»ass
from the gap, to the West, the hills
become lower, the land more level,
and a brisk ocean breeze from the
north-west catches you. If you have
Salmon Cannery
Coos Bay, and the tide backs up the
river’s waters for a distance of over
40 miles, at which place converges
the North, the Middle and the South
forks of the Coquille River, besides
creeks and small streams too numer­
ous to mention. Because so many
streams converge at this place, a
natural large basin in the mountains
is found, and a most luxurious and
happy agricultural commun ty is to
be found,at the center of which is the
confluence of the numerous stieams,
the head of navigation, the lerminus
of the Coos Bay Railroad, and the
site of a quiet and prosperous little
l
river boat on her daily run to Ban-
don, is an impression to be re­
membered.
The river is smooth as glass, and
the current glides slowly up or
down, just as the tide is flood or
ebb, and numerous turns in the
river hides its course, except for a
few boat’s lengths each way.
Now
the
ever
gieen
wax-leaved
myrtle trees, and the autumn tinted
l*ve£l on the Coast before you will
feel invigorated with renewed ener­
gy. If from the inland, you will no
doubt put on an overcoat, Soon
you have rounded the bend where
you can see Bandon, 2 miles away,
the ocean, and the giant rocks and
crags in the surf, which at first you
may mistake for buildings.
portance of Bandon at thatOpoint, is Coos the line will undoubtedly follow
another story, and contained in an the coast and be extended to Hum­
article found else» here in this issue boldt Bay, California, where a line
north from San Francisco will con­
The Railroad.
nect, forming practically a water
level coast line route from San
1 he Coos Bay, Roseburg ¿t East­
Francisco to Portland, avoiding the
ern Railroad operates between
heavy grades of the Siskiyou Moun­
Marshfield an I Myrtle Point, a dis­
tance of 32 miles. This line was tains, and affording a rail outlet
originally destined to form a con­ for the timber of the < tregon and
nection with the Southern Pacific at California coast.
Roseburg, but destiny and fate were
against it. The road i> doing a good
business in carrying lumber, logs
and coal to Coos Bay. The Myrtle
Point Mill Company, Myrtle Point,
Coquille Mill & Mercantile Com­
pany, Coquille and A. Johnson’s
mill, at Coquille, ship their lumber
over this line to Marshfield, where B
is unloaded in vessels for California
ports. The Simpsen Lumber Com­
pany, of North Bend, and Dean
Lumber Company, of Marshfield,
utilize this line for bringing the logs
cut on the Coquille River to Coos
Bay. The logs are loaded on the
July.
It is true, however, that the rho­
dodendron blooms in every month
of the year.
In coiurast to this rarity, April
and May produces billions of this
beautiful bloom. There is no other
wild flower that compares to the
beauty and profusion of the rhodo­
dendron.
The building of
This flow er grows on a tree some-
the Drain - Coos Bay link will
open up
one of
the
best
sections in (>regon.
The line will
traverse the valley of the I'mpqua,
leaving Gardiner, under the present
survey, about one and a half miles to
the north, and striking Coos Bay
at a point nearly opposite North
Bend, where a draw bridge will be
erected, and follows the south bank
of Coos Bay to Marshfield, thence
south via the Coquille River to
California. The building of the
Drain Coos Bay line will give a
wonderful impetus to the lumber
development of Douglas and Coos
To the south of Bandon is a large
level tract of land, perhaps 10 miles
maple obscures much of the broad wide, and extending sixteen miles
expanse of the valley, at other times down the coast to the Curry County
you see the foot hills miles away.
line, richer in timber. and especially
Numerous farm houses, orchards Port Orford cedar, perhaps than
Bandon Shingle Mill.
city of probably 1800 people, known
as Myrtle Point.
These numerous streams reach
far into the mountainous interior to
where is found some excellent for­
ests of almost unlimited extent,much
of which is the far-iamed Port Or­
ford (or white) cedar, very little of
which is found north of the Coquille
River.
Millions of feet of this
timber is floated to the tide watir
below, when the mountain streams
are high and swollen with mid­
winter rains and snow.
The valley of the Coquille is wide
and low, and wonderfully rich, much
of which is inundated in the winter,
because of highwater and ■ the tide.
Thousands of acres will be diked in
the near future, and be subjected to
the highest cultivation where now
are found only hundreds.
The ad­
jacent uplands are heavily covered
with timber, and underlaid with
coal.
In the widest part of the valley,
and the richest agricultural part
thereof, is situated the county seat,
Coquille City, a town of approx­
imately 2,000 people, and the site
of some of the most beautiful and
and fields, and hundreds of fattened
cattle are seen, and at frequent
bends in the river, almo .t obscured
among the willows, is a landing
piled high with”milk-cans, fruit and
vegetables, which the farmer has
prepared for market, and numerous
thrifty farmers become your fellow
passengers, or swiftly glide past you
in their own launch, as you stop at
successive landings to take on
freight.
Now you have come to a gap in
the mountains, midwav between Co-
any other section of Coos County.
The land is always moist from moun­
tain fed streams and springs, and
wonderfully rich and productive, for
all kinds of fruit and vegetation:
how ever, some ¡of the more tender
fruits, such as peaches, will not cars at Cedar Creek boom, owned
ripen because of the cool summer by Dr. McCormac, and dumped into
days and chilly nights.
his boom on the Coos Bay side.
The direct outlet to the sea for The charge for catching and boom­
the entire Coquille Valley and the ing the logs on the Coquille River,
southern section of the county, is at loading on the cars and rafting at
the mouth of the Coquille River, Co"S Bay is 55 cents per 1000 feet.
but her shipping trade and the im- The rail rate is $3 per car, with an
axerage load of 4000 feet From
Panter Bro«’
Oregon's Tall Pine«.
Counties, and it will only be a few
years after the construction of the
road until it is lined w ith saw mills.
Our Rhododendrons.
The Rhododendron blooms
two full months. April and May.
Many of the flowers in shaded places
New Store.
will still be found up to the first of
times thirty and forty feet high.
There are literally thousands of
flowers on a single trunk. The bloom
is so delicate that it cannot well bear
long transportation. But it is often
gathered and kept in water and will
remain fresh in the house fora week.
This flower grows all over Coos
County, but it flourishes best in the
lowlands along the streams.
It is
worth a trip across the continent to
see a forest of rhododendrons in full
bloom.
This should have been
Oregon's, not Washington’s, state
flower.
t<