A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909 Part 9

PORT ANGELES, located about 60 miles from the ocean on the Straits of Fuca, is the largest town and county seat. It has a splendid harbor, with fine anchorage, furnis.h.i.+ng a safe refuge for s.h.i.+ps when the storms rage outside.

DUNGENESS and SEQUIM, three miles from PORT WILLIAMS, are important farming centers, both noted for their dairy products, and contribute largely to make Clallam the second county in the state in the value of its dairy products.

QUILLAYUTE, FORKS, BEAVER, BLYN and GETTYSBURG are other small settlements waiting for the railroads to open up the country and render their natural resources available for the good of the world.

CLARKE COUNTY

Clarke county lies on the north sh.o.r.e of the Columbia river, opposite Portland, Oregon. It has 600 square miles of territory. It was one of the earliest settled parts of the state, and its timber as yet uncut is large. It is extremely well watered. The Columbia and Lewis rivers border it on three sides with navigable waters.

It has a mild climate, very fertile soil, and splendid markets at its doors, abundant rainfall, and agriculture is successfully carried on without irrigation.

TRANSPORTATION.

The Northern Pacific railway connects its various towns with both Portland and Seattle, and the North Bank and Oregon & Was.h.i.+ngton railroad, paralleling the Northern Pacific, will add greatly to the facility and cheapness of its transportation. From Vancouver northeasterly a road is in operation nearly across the county, headed for North Yakima and the East.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 45.--Mt. St. Helens and Reflection in Spirit Lake, Lewis County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 46.--LEWIS COUNTY SCENES. Dairy Farm and Hop Field. A Valley Ranch.]

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INDUSTRIES.

Much of the southern part of the county is devoted to fruit-raising, prunes being a very prominent factor in the county's output. General agriculture, with dairying, are very profitable, and to these are to be added fis.h.i.+ng, lumbering and mining.

PRINc.i.p.aL CITIES AND TOWNS.

VANCOUVER has a population of about 8,000, and is rapidly growing.

It is the county seat, and is connected with Portland, Oregon, by a trolley line. The Northern Pacific, Union Pacific, Oregon Railroad & Navigation and North Bank railroads all compete for its traffic. It is the central distributing point of the county, and is the United States military headquarters for Was.h.i.+ngton, Oregon and Alaska. It is well represented in business establishments, including barrel factory, fruit cannery, s.h.i.+p yard, iron foundry, shoe factory, and others.

LA CENTER, ETNA, NACOLT, AMBOY and BRUSH PRAIRIE are smaller towns, all holding out an inviting hand to the newcomer, and offering desirable opportunities for new business in both merchandising and agriculture, as well as in lumbering and its kindred industries.

Clarke county is one well worth investigating by intending settlers, both on account of its latent possibilities and because of its peculiarly desirable climatic conditions, and its abundant competing transportation facilities, both by rail and water.

COLUMBIA COUNTY

Columbia county is one of the four counties in southeastern Was.h.i.+ngton, lying on the Oregon state line and south of the Snake river. A forest reserve in the Blue mountains covers much of the southern portion of the county, which is heavily timbered. The Northern part of the county is made up of rolling prairie lands, of great fertility on account of the large proportion of clay added to the volcanic ash, which composes most of the soils of eastern Was.h.i.+ngton. Irrigation is here unnecessary, and abundant crops reward the agriculturist.

The climate is mild, healthful and vigorous, inclining to much outdoor life the year around.

PRODUCTS.

Columbia county is essentially an agricultural county, but of late years is branching out into fruit-raising and dairying with marked success. Apples and pears predominate among the fruits, though all others do well. Wheat is, however, still its great product, and both the Northern Pacific and Oregon Railroad & Navigation railroads are in operation through the northern part of the county to carry away its rich grain harvests.

The citizens of Columbia county are among the most prosperous of the state, its average of per capita wealth being exceeded by only three other counties.

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PRINc.i.p.aL TOWNS.

DAYTON, the county seat, has a population of about 3,500 people, is situated about in the center of the county, and is the chief town for the county's exports, as well as the distributor of its merchandise. It is a substantially built city, with flour and feed mills, and general mercantile establishments of importance. All the public interests, including schools and churches, are generously provided for. Its chief exports are grain, fruit, livestock and wool.

STARBUCK, in the northern part of the county, is a s.h.i.+pping point of no mean importance on the Oregon Railroad & Navigation railway.

COWLITZ COUNTY

Cowlitz county lies immediately north of Clarke county, bordering about 40 miles on the Columbia river. It has about 1,100 square miles of territory, and about 13,000 people. The southwestern portion is largely composed of level valley lands, while its northeastern part is occupied by the foothills of Mount St. Helens. The drainage is all westerly and southerly into the Columbia river. Cowlitz river is navigable as far as Castle Rock, and is an important factor in the transportation problem.

RESOURCES.

Timber is the great source of industry at present, the county having about two-thirds of its area heavily covered and unexploited. About 40 saw and s.h.i.+ngle mills are engaged in disposing of its logs.

Agriculture follows close on the heels of the lumberman everywhere in western Was.h.i.+ngton, and nowhere are better results in general farming and dairying obtained than in Cowlitz county.

Cowlitz coal fields have not yet been largely utilized, but will be extensively developed in time.

TRANSPORTATION.

Aside from the river navigation, this county is well supplied with transportation facilities by rail. The valley of the Cowlitz river affords the natural highway for roads between the Columbia river and Puget sound, and is already traversed by the Northern Pacific, while the Union Pacific systems and the North Coast road are projected over practically parallel lines through the county. From Kalama all three systems extend south to Portland and Vancouver.

PRINc.i.p.aL CITIES AND TOWNS.

KALAMA, on the bank of the Columbia river at the ferry crossing of the Northern Pacific railway, is the chief town and county seat.

There are here extensive electric power plants and a gravity water system. The chief industries grow out of the lumbering and fis.h.i.+ng interests. It has about 1,250 people, but is just now rapidly growing, owing to its superb transportation facilities by both rail and water.

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KELSO and CASTLE ROCK are both important towns on the railroads and Cowlitz river, each having about 1,500 people. At Kelso, which is near the Columbia river, considerable fish are caught and packed, yet the timber furnishes the chief industry. Fruit and dairying and general agriculture provide a large part of the support for the town merchants.

OSTRANDER, CARROLTON, CATLIN, ARIEL and LEXINGTON are smaller towns, all prospering and being built up into substantial business centers by the steadily increasing development of the latent resources of the county.

This county offers many opportunities for business to the newcomer in either merchandising, manufacturing or farming.

DOUGLAS COUNTY

Douglas county occupies the big bend of the Columbia river, having about 1,800 square miles of territory. Formerly there were 4,500 square miles. The last legislature carved the county in two, giving Grant county the southeastern part, about 2,700 square miles of territory, and leaving 1,800 to the northeastern part, with the old name. The bend of the Columbia on the northeast and Grant county on the southeast, compose its boundary. This division boundary follows the northeastern bank of the Grand coulee, and following its general direction meets the Columbia river where the Great Northern railroad touches its valley, thus putting all of that railroad in this new county, excepting only a few miles of the railroad along the banks of the river in the southeastern corner of Douglas county. Douglas county is essentially a high plateau, some of it 1,500 feet above the main bank. Waterville is the county seat, and considerable land along the valley of the Columbia is being irrigated and proving to be of great value for fruit and grain growing.

In the southeastern part of the county are some lands covered with black basaltic rocks, but the great bulk of the lands are rich in a volcanic ash soil, and produce large crops of grain without irrigation. A wrong view of the county can easily be impressed upon the traveler by rail; he will see so many of the basaltic rocks from the car windows but once up out of the canyon which the railroad follows, he will find himself in view of an expanse of wheat fields so vast and rich as to astonish him.

RESOURCES.

As already indicated, this county is essentially a grain producer.

Wheat and oats are marketed in large quant.i.ties. Fruit-growing and stock-raising are important adjuncts to the county's wealth.

It is comparatively new, and lands can be had at very reasonable prices.

TRANSPORTATION.

As now const.i.tuted, Douglas county will rely wholly upon the steamboat crafts on the river to get its grain to market. Its trade, however, [Page 56]

is too vast to be pa.s.sed by, and already two lines of railroad, the Was.h.i.+ngton & Great Northern and North Coast, are projecting into the very center of its vast wheat fields. With these roads completed as projected, Douglas county will have easy access to both water and rail transportation, and renewed importance will be given to its farming industries.

CITIES AND TOWNS.