# Portland, Oregon: Its History and Builders/Volume 1/Chapter 17

CHAPTER XVII.
1864—1910.
STEAMBOAT AND SHIP COMMERCE.
In 1868, eight steamboats transacted all the freight and passenger business excepting that by ocean vessels, centering at Portland, and even then, in order to make expenses, had to do all the miscellaneous towage which the river then afforded. This remark, however, does not include the business of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, or the boats running up the Willamette river — but relates only to the business of the boats outside of these larger concerns. This was before the construction of either of the east or west side railroads. But by 1878 this business had so increased as to employ twelve steamboats; and sixty cars each day came in from the Willamette valley railroads loaded with grain and passengers. In 1868, the steamboat Cascades under monopoly control, registered carriage of four hundred and fifty tons carried all the freight daily to the Cascades, which was going up the Columbia. And by 1878 this traffic had so increased as to require the two much larger boats S. G. Reed and Wide West to make daily trips to the Cascades to keep the docks at Portland clear. In 1868, one steamer did all the business between Portland and Astoria under monopoly rule, making three round trips a week, and doing, including that time, all the job towing on the Columbia below Rainier. By 1878 this lower river business had increased so as to demand two large steamboats running on alternate days, and over a dozen tugs and smaller steamers.
Now today, 1910, there is on the Columbia river, running in competition with a railroad on each side of the river, four steamers, daily between Portland and the Cascades; and besides the railroad to Astoria, there are half a dozen river boats constantly and daily on the route between Portland and Astoria,. and about forty tugs and smaller steamers in the local log raft and sailing vessel business.
And besides these river steamers there are running out of the port of Portland, two regular lines of ocean steamships, each employing five steamships on the trade between Portland and San Francisco and San Pedro, in addition to ocean steamers running to Tillamook and Coos Bay, Oregon, and Eureka, California.
​In the lumber export trade, the business has increased from two small cargoes by ocean-going barks in a month in 1878, to three hundred and thirty-eight cargoes sent out by steamship and sailing vessels in 1909. And the lumber shipped away from the city by railroads in 1909 far exceeds that shipped foreign by water.
The total departures of ships, in all lines, for 1909, were 684. And for same time import tonnage entered was 961,000 tons; while export tonnage for same period was 638,000 tons.
GENERAL GROWTH OF THE CITY.
The valuation of property in 1878 reached twelve million two hundred and ninety-one thousand three hundred and fifty dollars. Wheat and flour exports were estimated at a value of about three million dollars. The population was estimated at nineteen thousand one hundred and twenty-eight, but this was undoubtedly an over estimate, as two years later it was found by the census to be but little over seventeen thousand. The statistics which we have given of population have been taken from the directories of the consecutive years, and it is probable that owing to the excess of adults, too high proportion of total population to names was assumed.
During 1879 improvements still increased, reaching a value of one million one hundred and sixty-two thousand and seven hundred dollars; consisting of two hundred and seventy-six dwellings, sixteen brick blocks, fifty-eight stores, eight hotels, six docks and warehouses, fourteen shops and stables, two schools, two planing mills, one brewery and the Mechanics' pavilion. The buildings of a value exceeding ten thousand dollars may be named as follows: The Union block, by Corbett & Failing, eighty-six thousand dollars; the Esmond Hotel, at the corner of Front and Morrison, by Coulter & Church, forty-five thousand dollars; a block of eight residences on Second and Mill streets, by S. G. Reed, forty thousand dollars; the Park school house, on Jefferson street between East and West Park, twenty-nine thousand dollars; a brick block on the corner of Front and B streets, by Klosterman Bros., at thirty-five thousand dollars; a residence, by C. H. Lewis, on the corner of Nineteenth and G streets, thirty-five thousand dollars; the residence of H. D. Green at the head of B street, twenty-eight thousand dollars; the brewery of George Herrall, on Water street, near Harrison, twenty-five thousand dollars; a wharf between Taylor and Salmon streets, by J. F. Jones, twenty-five thousand dollars; the three-story brick building on the corner of Front and Columbia streets, by Peter Manciet, eighteen thousand five hundred dollars; the new Harrison street school house, eighteen thousand dollars; a brick block by John Shade, fifteen thousand dollars; the Mechanics' pavilion, on the block between Second and Third and Clay and Market, sixteen thousand five hundred dollars; a brick block by H. McKinnell, on Second street between Salmon and Main, thirteen thousand dollars; a residence by Samuel J. Smith, on Twelfth between Yamhill and Taylor, ten thousand dollars; a residence by M. W. Fechheimer on the corner of West Park and Montgomery street, fourteen thousand dollars; a residence, by J. W. Whalley, corner of West Park and Harrison, ten thousand dollars; a brick block by Mrs. Mark A. King, on the corner of Third and Alder; a brick block by Dr. R. Glisan, on the corner of Second and Ash. thirteen thousand dollars; a brick block, by Chinese merchants on the corner of Second and Alder, twenty thousand dollars; a brick block on the corner of Front and Ash by N. Lambert, H. L. Hoyt and J. W. Cook, twenty-four thousand five hundred dollars; a brick block by Fleischner & Hirsch, on First and B streets, sixteen thousand seven hundred; the residence of J. C. Carson, on the corner of Nineteenth and J streets, ten thousand dollars; tracks for switches and round house of the Western Oregon Railroad, ten thousand dollars; Park school house, twenty-nine thousand dollars; and there was spent on the Catholic cathedral ten thousand ​dollars more in completion. Many residences and minor business houses of a value of five thousand dollars to eight thousand dollars were also erected. It was during this year that the palatial residences in the northwestern portion of the city began to be erected, converting what was once a dilapidated forest overgrown with brush and wild vines, into one of the most handsome and sightly portions of the city.
The grain fleet entering the river numbered about ninety vessels; this was exclusive of the regular coasters. The steamers registering in the Portland district were sixty, with a total capacity of twenty-seven thousand five hundred and seventy-nine tons. There were thirteen sailing vessels with a total capacity of six thousand one hundred and four tons. The export of wheat reached upward of two million centals, valued at over five million dollars. Shipments of wool reached seven million pounds. The catch of salmon was three hundred and twenty-five thousand cases. The gross valuation of property was thirteen million one hundred and forty-three thousand four hundred and twenty-five dollars. The prospects of growth and business in 1880 were bright, and stimulated not only activity in real estate movements, but in business also. The uncertain and depressing railroad management of Ben Holladay had given away to the more business-like and careful regime of the German Company, and plans for the O. R. & N. Railway and for the speedy completion of the Northern Pacific were taking definite and public form. Sales of real estate were considerable, although uncertainty as to the location of the terminal works of the transcontinental line, now expected to be made in North Portland, now in South Portland, and again in East Portland, gave a strongly speculative character to this line of trade. Improvements extended uniformly in all portions of the city from the river bank to the city limits, and even beyond them. There were erected thirteen brick blocks and stores, thirty frame blocks and stores, six docks, four manufactories, three churches, two hotels, and two hundred and two dwellings at a gross valuation of eight hundred and eighty-one thousand dollars. Those costing ten thousand dollars or upward are named as follows: Family residence of Captain George Ainsworth on the corner of Sixteenth and Yamhill, fifteen thousand dollars; a residence by the same, ten thousand dollars; improvements to the Zeta Psi block, corner front and D, ten thousand dollars; the Chinese theater, on Second street, twelve thousand dollars; the Oregon Steam Bakery, by Lieb & Holburg, on East Park and G, fifteen thousand dollars; the building by Labbe Bros., on the corner of Second and Washington streets, eleven thousand dollars; a brick block on Washington street between First and Second, by Richardson & Mann, ten thousand dollars; the three-story brick block on the corner of Second and Stark streets, thirty-six thousand dollars; the brick building on First street between Main and Yamhill, ten thousand dollars; the threestory building, on Third street, between Yamhill and Taylor, twelve thousand dollars; the Nicolai House, at the corner of Third and D streets, thirteen thousand dollars; an addition of five hundred feet to the Ainsworth dock by the O. R. & N. Co., fifty thousand dollars; an addition to the steamship dock of the same company, twenty-eight thousand dollars; an addition to the Greenwich dock by Capt. Flanders, twenty thousand dollars; the Multnomah block at the corner of Fifth and Morrison, by H. W. Corbett. twenty-eight thousand dollars; the furniture factory ot I. F. Powers, twenty-five thousand dollars; a four-story residence on Sixteenth and B streets, by the Dundee Investment Co., nineteen thousand four hundred dollars; the two-story business block on the corner of Second and E streets, by J. C. Ainsworth, thirteen thousand dollars; the Stark Street ferryboat, by Knott Bros., sixteen thousand dollars.
In 1880, the hotels had increased to twenty-nine. Those on Front street were The American Exchange, the Esmond. St. Charles, Commercial. New York and Zur Rheinpfalz. On First street there were the California House, the Eureka, the Globe, the Norton House, the Clarendon, the Occidental, the Oregon, the St. George, the St. Louis, the Thompson House, the Metropolis, ​
Portland and Phoenix. On Second street there were the De France and Rich- mond House. On Third street there were the Burton House, Holton House and the Nicolai. There were besides these thirty boarding houses, twenty-one restaurants, nine coffee houses and three oyster saloons. There were one hun- dred and three liquor saloons, and ten wholesale liquor houses. There were twenty-four butchers. The wholesale grocers were seven, and the retail gro- cers fifty-three. The physicians now numbered sixty-seven, the attorneys sixty- three and editors thirty-four. There were seven sawmills, three flour mills, three box factories, one brass foundry, two soap works, one stove manufactory, four foundries, six iron works, four ferries plying on the river, fifty-seven con- tractors and builders, three wholesale and twenty retail dealers in dry-goods, seven dealers in crockery and glassware, three wholesale and thirteen retail clothiers, three wholesale and retail dealers in boots and shoes, and thirty-four commission merchants. Commerce indicated about its previous volume. By the United States census of 1880, the population was found to be 17,578. By the directory of that year it was estimated at twenty-one thousand six hundred.
During 1881 there were spent about one million one hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars in building. The most important of these were the following: The iron and brick building of W. S. Ladd, at the corner of First and Columbia, costing forty thousand dollars ; the Portland Seamens' Bethel, on the corner of Third and D streets, under the management of Chaplain Stubbs, twelve thou- sand dollars; G. W. Jones block, on block 176 in Couch's addition; G. W. Weid- ler's residence, on the corner of L and Eighteenth street, costing sixteen thou- sand dollars ; C. P. Bacon's residence on the same block as above, ten thousand dollars ; residence of W. N. Wallace, on Tenth and Salmoij streets ; residence of Sylvester Pennoyer, on the corner of West Park and Madison streets ; the three-story brick of J. C. Ainsworth on Third and Oak streets, costing eighty- five thousand dollars ; the Cosmopolitan block of Reed & Failing on the corner of Second and Stark; and the residence of J. N. Dolph on Fifth and Jefferson, were the most prominent structures of the year. The Columbia dock was built by C. H. Lewis at the foot of N street, at the cost of twenty-five thousand dol- lars. Commercial statistics showed an increasing volume of business. Ne\\» interests in the mines of Idaho and southern Oregon began to be felt by the capitalists of Portland, and with the prospects of railroad connections to these points, they inaugurated the operations which have since attained such propor- tions. Manufacturing interests began to concentrate in and about Portland. Weilder's sawmill with a capacity of one hundred and fifty thousand feet per day, led all in the volume of business. Besides lumber, the manufacture of fur- niture, of boots and shoes, of wagons, of iron and steel implements, and preser- vation of fruit assumed appreciable proportions.
In 1882, the extent of improvements rose to an astonishing degree, a total of two million nine hundred and seventy-four thousand six hundred dollars being spent in Portland, East Portland and Albina. The more noticeable of these buildings were the four-story brick structure of Dolph & Thompson, on Front street between Pine and Ash, with dock in the rear, costing two hun- dred thousand dollars ; the First National Bank building on the corner of First and Washington, one hundred and twenty-five thousand ; the three-story brick block of Allen & Lewis, on North Front street, one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars ; the Calvary Presbyterian church on the corner of Ninth and Clay streets, thirty-six thousand dollars; the North Pacific Manufacturing Co.'s plant and improvements, fifty thousand dollars; the Couch school house on Six- teenth street between K and L, thirty-five thousand dollars ; the Failing school house on First street between Hooker and Porter, thirty-five thousand dollars ; the railroad docks, coal bunkers, etc., at Albina, one hundred and eighty thou- sand dollars; the residence of Bishop B. W. Morris, corner of Nineteenth and E streets, twelve thousand dollars ; residence of R. B. Knapp on Sixteenth and E streets, thirty-five thousand dollars; residence of Capt. G. H. Flanders on ​
1— City Hall. 2— Postoffice. 3— Public Library. 4— United States Custom House. 5— Soldiers' Monument. ​the corner of F and Eighteenth streets, forty thousand dollars. There were many others of elegant design costing twenty thousand dollars and less.
During the year 1884 there were built seventy-five large dwellings, thirty-six brick houses and blocks, and other buildings, bringing up the total to two hundred and eleven. For business houses there was spent six hundred and twenty-two thousand dollars; for residences, three hundred and forty-nine thousand five hundred dollars; for other improvements, seven hundred and eleven thousand seven hundred dollars, making a total of one million six hundred and eighty-three thousand, six hundred dollars.
East Portland's improvements footed up three hundred and forty-one thousand seven hundred dollars, and those of Sellwood and Albina, seventy-five thousand dollars. On street improvements in Portland there was spent three hundred and thirty-four thousand five hundred and fifty-five dollars and seventeen cents. Grace church was erected at a cost of forty-two thousand five hundred dollars, on the corner of Eleventh and Taylor streets. Pipe organs costing about three thousand dollars each were placed in two churches.
During the year following there was some decline in improvements, but as there was also a great decrease in the cost of materials, it was a good time to build, and those sagacious and able took advantage of the opportunity to erect some very handsome and costly structures, which have given character and tone to the appearance of the city. Among these may be mentioned the Portland Savings Bank, of brick, on the southwest corner of Second and Washington streets (Commercial block), at a cost of seventy-five thousand dollars; Jacob Kamm's brick block on Pine street between Front and First, eighty thousand dollars; the high school building on Twelfth and Morrison, sixty thousand dollars; M. F. Mulkey's brick block on the corner of Second and Morrison, forty thousand dollars; Weinhard's brick brewery, fifteen thousand dollars. R. B. Knapp's residence, completed this year, cost ninety thousand dollars; Pfunder's unique Swiss residence on Ninth and Washington, ten thousand dollars. About two hundred dwellings were erected at a cost of three hundred and ninety thousand dollars. Improvements were made in East Portland to the value of one hundred and two thousand nine hundred dollars, and in Albina of twenty thousand dollars, making a grand total of nine hundred and sixty-four thousand four hundred dollars.
By the state census of 1885, the population of Multnomah County was placed at thirty-five thousand seven hundred and thirty-two; about three-fourths of this should be attributed to Portland.
The year 1886 was marked by a great increase in buildings and improvements, some of which were of great extent, as will be seen by the following list: Morrison street bridge (commenced), two hundred thousand dollars; the new medical college, thirty-five thousand dollars; the reduction works in East Portland, fifty thousand dollars; Reed's five story brick building (The Abingdon) on Third street, between Washington and Stark, ninety-five thousand dollars; the United Carriage, Baggage and Transportation Co's. barn, twenty-five thousand dollars; the four story brick stable on Second street between Stark and Washington, twenty-seven thousand dollars; vessels built and improved, sixty-eight thousand, five hundred dollars. The stone church of the Presbyterians was projected at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. The grand total of all improvements actually made, reached one million, nine hundred and eighty nine thousand, one hundred and ninety-one dollars.
The year 1887 witnessed a steady expansion in building, and improvements. The residence of Levi White on Nineteenth street, (now North Pacific Sanatorium) forty-five thousand dollars; The Armory, on Tenth and B streets, forty thousand dollars; W. S. Ladd's brick building at the foot of Morrison street, sixty-five thousand dollars; improvements on the Oregonian building by H. L. Pittock, eighteen thousand dollars; the four story brick building of C. H. Dodd, on the comer of First and A streets, seventy-seven thousand dollars; the build​ing of the Cyclorama Co., on Pine street, between Third and Fourth, sixty thou- sand dollars; the first Morrison street bridge, two hundred thousand dollars; on the railroad bridge there was spent one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars; the cable car line up to the heights was begun. The streets were improved to the value of one hundred and ninety-seven thousand, eight hundred and thirty-five dollars. The total improvements of the year are summarized as follows: In the city, one million, fifty-four thousand, one hundred and seventy-nine dollars; on Portland Heights, sixty thousand dollars; in East Portland, one hundred and ninety-five thousand, seven hundred and fifty dollars; in Albina, six hundred and twelve thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars and fifty cents; on Mount Tabor, sixty thousand dollars; a grand total of two million, seven hundred and eighty-four thousand and twenty-four dollars.
During 1888 all former improvements were far exceeded. Many large buildings of the most permanent character and improvements which would have then been thought to be a credit to any great city, were brought to completion or undertaken. The following is a list of the principal works: The Exposition building, on Fourteenth and B, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars; on the First Presbyterian church, sixty thousand dollars, the Jewish synagogue, sixty- five thousand dollars; the railroad bridge (finished) four hundred thousand dollars; improvements by the water committee, two hundred and forty thousand dollars; buildings in Portland (not otherwise named), one million, eight hundred thousand dollars; improvements on the streets of Portland, three hundred and twelve thousand, five hundred dollars ; East Portland and Sunnyside, three hundred and nineteen thousand, three hundred and eighty-eight dollars; at Oswego, five hundred thousand dollars ; at Albina, one hundred and eighty-one thousand, six hundred and ninety-five dollars; on the street railways, fifty thousand dollars; on Portland Heights, forty thousand dollars; on Mount Tabor, thirty thousand dollars; at Sellwood, twelve thousand dollars; at Milwaukie, seven thousand, three hundred dollars. This shows a total of three million, five hundred and twenty-two thousand, six hundred and thirty-nine dollars.
It is noticeable by the foregoing that many of these imrovements were made outside of the city limits, in some cases from three to six miles distant. The propriety of including them among the improvements of Portland arises from the fact that they were undertaken and completed by Portland capital and were in fact the growth of the city itself — illustrating how Portland has completely overstepped what were once called "the natural limits of the city," between the circle of hills and the circling course of the Willamette. The improvements of 1889, reaching a value of about five million dollars are fully mentioned elsewhere, and need not be enumerated here.
These statistics as given in the foregoing pages, while probably not without error, are nevertheless the best now to be had, and give approximately a correct idea of business operations and the growth of the place. By examination it will be seen that the development of Portland, as of all new cities, has been, as it were, by wave impulses, the flood now rising and now falling again, but nevertheless at each new turn reaching a much higher point. Much of this oscillating movement has been due to the peculiar circumstances of the city and to the opening of the country by public works. In the very earliest days the first movement was due to the coming of ships loaded with goods for the use of the rural population of the Willamette valley. Portland as a shipping point and post of supply made a secure beginning. After it had become thus established it did the business for the farming community surrounding in a regular and steady fashion without much increase except as the growth of the tributary country demanded. During the early sixties, however, a new and promising field was opened for her merchants and navigation companies by the discovery of precious metals in Eastern Oregon and Idaho. With the development of the mines and to quite an extent also with the settlement of western Oregon and Washing​ton and their occupation by cattle dealers and cattle raisers, Portland gained largely in business and trade. The steady growth resulting from this development was not greatly accelerated until in 1867-68 plans for opening the country by means of railroad were brought to completion, and ground was actually broken for a line to California. With the prospect of railroad connection with the rest of the world, the speculative imagination of the people of Portland was excited, and almost extravagant dreams of great immediate growth and wealth were indulged by even the most steady and conservative. Property increased greatly in value and improvements were stimulated. The early railroad days of Oregon were, however, beset with difficulties, as will be seen in the preceding chapter, although producing much real growth, did not ultimate so hopefully as was by many anticipated. Ben Holladay's weakness and incapacity in managing his roads, and as his bonds declined and the general expectation of failure was felt, depression was experienced in all parts of the state. When a few years later occurred the great business collapse in the United States, which began with the failure of J. Cooke & Co., and the Northern Pacific Rail- road Co., Portland was left to the simple cultivation of her domestic commerce, and inflated prices and expectations had to be abandoned. With the passage, however, of the California and of the Oregon Central railroads into the hands of the German bondholders, and a better system of management thereby introduced, business revived once more and Portland found herself obliged to add to her accommodations to meet the incoming tide of immigration and the increased flood of business. Independent commerce with the east and with Europe having sprung up stimulated very largely the production of grain in the Willamette valley and also in eastern Oregon and Washington, so that there was a steady increase in the amount of treasure received into the country and in the volume of business transacted at Portland. Exports of wool, lumber and salmon also figured largely to swell the volume of trade. With the year, 1880 and those succeeding, prospects and at length the realization of a through line from Portland to the east, produced a greater volume of trade and raised higher expectations than had previously been known, Portland began to assume a metropolitan appearance. Activity in real estate and in building and an expansion of all kinds was everywhere noticeable. All went well, until the O. R. & N. road and the Northern Pacific had been so far completed as to make a through line to New York; and then Villard and the Oregon and Transcontinental railroad having gone beyond their means, suffered a reverse, and in their ruin involved also many of the citizens of Portland. For a time the people of the city seemed discouraged, nor did they quite realize the immense importance to them of railroad connection with all parts of the northwest. Gradually, however, they began to see the ease with which they might connect themselves with all parts of Oregon and Washington and command the wholesale business of this region; and how they might even more stimulate the agricultural and mining interests of this whole region. Gathering up these lines of business they began to push vigorously and in a short time were at the head of the commercial, mining, manufacturing and banking interests of the country. As a result of this active policy, business began to pour in, in through the thoroughfares, the docks, the commercial houses and the banks of our city. Real estate rose greatly in value; addition after addition being added to our city; suburban towns began to spring up; manufacturers began to press in for a location, and capitalists found themselves obliged to erect buildings as rapidly as materials and labor could be obtained. A generous public spirit began to be felt and a general desire for public buildings which would do credit to the city was expressed. By public enterprise, such buildings as that of the Northwestern Industrial Exposition and the grand Hotel Portland were constructed. Fine churches were also erected. Street car lines were multiplied. Electric railways and motor lines to the suburbs and other points near were built, with rapidity. With the passing out ​
of the year 1889, the greatest amount of capital of any season up to that date had been spent in improvements.
FOREIGN COMMERCE AND SHIPS.
With the discovery of gold in Oregon the trade and business of the country not only took on a great revival and growth in every respect, but it also changed much in character. Prior to the discovery of gold in California there had been but little money or trade in Oregon, and that was confined almost wholly to the population existing here and largely dependent on the sale of furs and the wants of the incoming immigration from the states. The gold mines of California made at once a demand for Oregon lumber, the first that was ever shipped from this country; and also a demand for Oregon flour and fruit. On this point Scott's history remarks :
"From 1849 until about 185c;, and even later, the trade in Oregon produce and lumber became exceedingly remunerative. One of the ship captains who made it a great success was Couch. He arrived on his third trip from Massachusetts at San Francisco in 1849, with the Madonna, and sold what lumber he had on board at the fabulous price of six hundred dollars per thousand feet. Five hundred dollars a thousand was for some time the regular market price. The Madonna came up to Portland and thereafter made regular trips under command of Captain Flanders now of our city. Stimulated by the great demand for lum- ber, mills began to spring up along the lower Willamette and a heavy export trade was continued. Lot Whitcomb and Captain Kellogg, at Milwaukie, operated a saw mill and regularly despatched vessels to the Golden Gate, carrying their own lumber and also that of other mills, for which they received a hundred dollars a thousand as freight. The exact amount of lumber thus exported during these years is not known, but together with shingles, puncheons, poles, timbers, hoop-poles, shooks and staves, aggregated a value of many thousand dollars.
Under the stimulus of enormous prices and unlimited demand Oregon pro- duce began to be gathered likewise and sent below. Butter at two dollars a pound, beef at one dollar, wheat, potatoes and other vegetables, at correspond- ing figures, were eagerly brought from all parts of the Willamette valley and shipped at Portland or other points on the lower Willamette and Columbia. To meet this growing commerce, sailing crafts became multiplied, and steam communication was soon demanded. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company, of New York city, under the presidency of Aspinwall, had in 1849 sent the old Pacific through the straits of Magellan for Astoria, but she stopped at San Francisco. In 185 1 she was followed by the old Columbia, a side-wheeler of about six hundred tons, which reached the mouth of the Columbia river and stopped at Astoria, After this she made regular trips between San Francisco and the Columbia river, coming finally as far up that stream as St. Helens. In the latter part of the same year the Gold Hunter came up from San Francisco, tmd being purchased by the town proprietors and other citizens, first connected our city by steam with the outer world.
There was no product of our valley which met with a greater demand than the Oregon apple. Orchards were exceedingly few, and in 1850 to 1855 the trees were so young that even the total aggregate of the entire Willamette valley was not large. People from the eastern and middle states, who had been accus- tomed to this fruit, and in crossing the plains or sailing around the horn, or via the isthmus, when they had been compelled to live upon fried bacon or salt beef, with little or no fruit or vegetables, were ravenous for the beautiful red or golden apples that grew large and fair in the Oregon rain and sunshine. They were willing, especially if their belts were full of "dust," to give almost their weight in gold for the apples. A dollar apiece, and even five dollars for a big one, was a regular price in the earliest days. The first shipment was made from the nursery of Luelling & Meek, at Milwaukie in 1853. This was a consignment ​
of two hundred pounds for the San Francisco market, from which they reaHzed five hundred dollars. In 1854 they sent forty bushels down, making twenty- five hundred dollars by the transaction. About the same time Mr. J. Strow- bridge, now one of our most substantial citizens, began making collections and consignments going about from orchard to orchard, and encouraging the farmers to plant trees as rapidly as possible. His returns were large, and the encourage- ment which he gave the farmers resulted in the extension of the early orchards. In 1855 the export reached fifteen hundred boxes which sold at fifty cents to a dollar a pound; in 1856 five thousand boxes, selling at twenty-five to fifty cents a pound; in 1857, fifteen thousand boxes at fifteen to fifty cents; in 1858, twenty-nine thousand, one hundred and ninety boxes, at seven cents to thirty- five cents; in 1859, seventy-two thousand boxes at three cents to twenty-five cents ; in i860, eighty-six thousand boxes, at three cents to nineteen cents. In the winter of 1861, owing to the severity of the season, the orchards suffered a great loss, many of them being completely ruined, so that the exports did not for many years come up to their early productiveness. Even in 1862 we find the exports only forty-two thousand and thirty-one boxes. Yet it is to be no- ticed that after the discovery of gold and silver in eastern Oregon, and Idaho, quite considerable shipments were made thither, of which no record is found ; and it was becoming customary also to turn the product into dried fruit, which subsequently exceeded in value the shipments of the green. Moreover, as prices fell, the crops were not fully gathered and thousands of bushels were suffered to rot under the trees, or were fed to the cattle and hogs.
About the year i860, and until 1865, there began a steady change in the character of exports. It was during these years that many of the people of western Oregon went mining in eastern Oregon or in Idaho, and as they re- turned, brought with them large quantities of gold dust; while bars of precious metals, which had been made in the mining camps or town of the upper Colum- bia, began to come down to Portland, and were shipped thence as treasure. These shipments soon vastly exceeded in value all other exports combined. Fre- quently a quarter of a million dollars, and occasionally twice or three times that sum, was sent away on a single steamer.
To begin now with a more exact account of our exports, those of 1863 are stated as follows: (It will not be supposed that these figures are exact, or wholly comprehensive, since many shipments were made of which no account was taken, and gold dust especially was carried ofT in the pouches of the miners, the quantity of which was altogether unknown.) Apples shipped aggregated forty-two thousand and thirty-one boxes; hides, two thousand, three hundred and twenty-four; wool, two thousand pounds, and fifty bales. There were but- ter, flour, packages of eggs, gunnies of bacon, and live stock in considerable numbers. Of treasure there were nearly three million dollars.
In 1864 the shipments of treasure rose to upwards of six million dollars, while other products swelled these export figures by about six hundred thousand dollars. Apples had come up to sixty-one thousand, six hundred and seventy- eight boxes. The shipment of flour was insignificant compared with that of later days, and that of wheat figured scarcely more, although we find that the bark Almatia took down a hundred tons on one of her trips. We also find a ship- ment of two hundred barrels of salmon. Although this fish was caught in con- siderable quantity and prepared by salting for domestic consumption, it figured comparatively nothing in those days, before the canneries. Of other exports, we find oats, potatoes, turpentine, hoop-poles, lumber, lard, oil, fish, beans, butter and bacon. The characteristics of these early shipments is that of a community of small farmers and housekeepers who, of afternoons, rainy days and long win- ter evenings, treasured up betimes the various odds and ends of their domestic and agricultural economies, rather for the sake of a little ready money when they went down to Portland, than as a regular established industry. Even the exports of wheat, flour, lumber and cattle seemed to be the picking up and ​
saving of the odds and ends after the domestic wants had been supplied. The shipment of treasure was about the only thing that constituted a great industry. To accommodate this commerce, and to meet the wants of travelers, the steam- ships, Oregon, Sierra Nevada, Brother Jonathan, Pacific, George S. Wright, and Moses Taylor were kept in operation. These were old fashioned side-wheel- ers, high and wide, and also slow. They are well known among the old Oregon- ians, and the fate of the Brother Jonathan, which was wrecked on the reef near Crescent City, in California, is still remembered with something of the horror that fell upon the isolated communities in Oregon when the news of the great disaster was first received. The George S. Wright also suffered shipwreck, being many years later lost in the northern waters. Of sailing vessels, the barks, Industry, Jennie Jones, Cambridge, Jane A. Falkenberg, Almatia, Samuel Mer- ritt, Helen W. Almy and Panama are named.
In 1865 the value of exports is given as seven million, six hundred and six thousand, five hundred and twenty-four dollars, the greater portion of which •was gold dust.
Holladay's California, Oregon and Victoria steamship line was running in that year, the Sierra Nevada, (1,395 tons) and the Oregon (1,035 tons). The California Steam Navigation Company's line — Hensley — was now operating the Pacific (1,100 tons), and here appears also the new name Orizaba (1,400 tons). These plied to San Francisco. Their rates for transporting horses were twenty- five dollars a head; cattle, twelve dollars; sheep, two dollars and fifty cents; and hogs, four dollars. The slaughtered animals were reduced somewhat ; rates for hogs, one dollar and fifty cents ; while cattle were still twelve dollars. General merchandise paid ten dollars; wheat, eight dollars, and flour six dollars per ton. To Victoria the steamer Active was run by Captain Thorn.
Sailing vessels to San Francisco were the Jane A. Falkenberg, 600 tons, Captain A. D. Wass ; the H. W. Almy, 600 tons, Captain E. Freeman ; the bark Almatia, 700 tons, Captain Stannard ; bark W. B. Scranton, 700 tons, Captain W. Cathcart; bark Samuel Merritt, 550 tons, Captain Joseph Williams, and bark Live Yankee, Captain Wiggins.
The Hawaiian packet line comprised the bark A. A. Eldridge, of 400 tons under Captain M. Abbott, and the bark Comet, of 700 tons. Of this line Mc- Craken, Merrill & Co., were agents.
In 1866 the total export amounted to $8,726,017. The details are given as follows: Pork, 72 barrels at $20; apples, 68,860 boxes at $1 ; eggs, 1,763 pack- ages at $10; bacon, 4,376 gimnies at $16; hides, 4,674 at $1.50; onions, 1,325 sacks at $4; syrup, 185 barrels at $8; wool, 1,671 bales at $40; pitch 292 barrels at $6; varnish, 124 cases at $10; dried apples, 2,602 packages at $10; flour, 29,815 barrels at $5; salmon, 2,564 packages at $8.50; staves and headings 59,203; shooks 14,972, at 40 cents.
To San Francisco the new steamer Montana first appeared ; and the schooner Alfred Crosby to Victoria; the schooner Champion and the bark Ethan Allen were found in our trade. The steamship Fideliter, a small, low screw pro- peller which always went with a buzz, and at least preserved the appearance of activity, took up the route to Victoria. This same year also the dashing and swift steamer Oriflamme, began to ply on the route to San Francisco.
For 1867 the total export is given as $6,463,793.75. This appears to be more than $2,000,000.00 less than the preceeding year, but this diminution is due to a great decrease in the export of treasure which fell from more than $8,000,000 to about $4,000,000.
THE FIGHT FOR COMMERCIAL INDEPENDENCE.
From 1845 down to 1870 the trade of Portland had been controlled substan- tially, by San Francisco interests. Portland merchants were practically under the thumb of San Francisco houses, and some of them were simply branches ​
of San Francisco houses. This dependence on the Golden Gate city for favors, or a square deal, was becoming very irksome, and agitation for re- lief was being made along Front street more and more as the seasons rolled by. The following extract from an editorial in the Daily Portland Herald of 1870, shows the feeling that existed.
"We have frequently urged upon our citizens the importance of establish- ing a foreign commerce and an independent trade for Oregon. Every intelli- gent man, on first becoming acquainted with the vast natural resources and com- mercial facilities of Oregon, is struck with astonishment at the apparent want of enterprise exhibited by the business men of this section in the matter of for- eign commerce. A few days ago vve noticed a sale of flour from the Salem mills at the highest market price; it was quoted in^ the printed reports 'California Flour.' A gentleman of this city has just shown us a letter from his agent in New York, advising him of a sale of flour from the mill situated at Jefferson, in Marion County, Oregon, at the highest market rates. That is put down in the commercial report as 'California Flour.' Neither the natural resources of Portland or Oregon is noticed in commercial intelligence. Steamers and sailing vessels loaded for Portland appear in the shipping report as 'Cleared for the Columbia.' The imports of foreign goods to San Francisco upon which duties were paid at that port, amounted to $17,987,535.00 for the year of 1867. The imports from the eastern states during the same year were not less than as much more; which would make an aggregate of imports of $35,975,070. Not less than one-third of that entire amount was re-shipped to the Columbia passing through Portland for a market — say, eleven million, one hundred and ninety- nine thousand, one hundred and seventy-two dollars. The San Fran- cisco commission upon this amount was at least ten per cent — $1,199,927. The freight from San Francisco to Portland upon these goods was not less than $400,000. Allowing the same amount for commission and return freights, and it will be found that our trade with San Francisco in commission and freights costs $3,198,344. Goods can be shipped directly from New York and Boston, or from any foreign port to Portland for one dollar a ton more than from San Francisco. During the past two years Portland has paid tribute to San Francisco to an amount more than equal to the value of all our assessable prop- erty. San Francisco has now a population of a hundred and twenty-five thou- sand. Portland, with a foreign and independent commerce, with the same spirit of enterprise, which has characterized the former city, would now num- ber not less than fifty thousand. This proposition is now mathematically de- monstrable. The mines naturally tributary to Portland are greater in extent and product than those to San Francisco; the agricultural products of Oregon are more certain, and as available as those of California. Our lumber, iron and coal — the three great staples of commerce — together with our manufacturing facilities, are infinitely superior to those of California; we are nearer to the rich commerce of the Indies, and in the direct line of the shortest practicable belt of commerce around the world, when the contemplated railroad systems are completed. With all these superior natural advantages, why do we consent to be a mere dependency? Paying tribute to the amount of one-third of our earn- ings to a city which constantly strives to humble and degrade us ?"
There were other public spirited men in Oregon besides Portlanders, who were active and efficient in striving to place the commerce of Portland and Oregon on an independent footing. Two of these men were prominent and useful citizens of Yamhill County — Robert C. Kinney of McMinnville, and Joseph Watt of Amity. Mr. Kinney was a large farmer and flour miller of Yamhill County, and shipped his flour to San Francisco. His son, Marshall J. Kinney, now a resident of this city, was then residing in San Francisco and acting as agent for the Kinney mills of McMinnville. To market the flour to the best advantage Mr. Kinney sought to charter a ship to come to Portland for a cargo of flour and found great difficulty in getting any ship captain to act ​
independent of San Francisco interests. He was compelled to meet and answer all manner of objections, and found the prevailing opinion, or expressed objec- tions to be, that it was not safe for any sailing vessel to venture into the mouth of the Columbia river, he finally succeeded in chartering a bark—The Cutwater — and the vessel came to Portland and was loaded by Robert C. Kinney, with flour from the Kinney mills of McMinnville in 1867, making the first ship load of flour to be shipped from Portland independent of San Francisco influences.
The next year, as we have already noticed, Mr. Joseph Watt of Amity char- tered a ship to load wheat for Liverpool, making the first cargo of wheat to be shipped direct from Portland to a foreign country.
The shipments of Kinney and Watt opened the way for other shipments of flour and wheat direct from Portland to foreign markets, and was the means of stimulating the production of wheat and the manufacture of flour throughout the Willamette valley. Previous to this reform in marketing Oregon wheat and flour, it had all been sent to California in the regular weekly steamships, and from San Francisco, shipped to foreign countries as California wheat. And in 1868 the total shipments of wheat from Oregon, and of flour, counted as wheat, did not exceed one million bushels. The past season of 1909 the total ship- ments counted the same way exceeded twenty-five million bushels.
THE CHINA FLOUR TRADE.
The efforts to introduce Oregon flour into the daily bill of fare of the Chi- nese would make quite a chapter in itself. For unknown centuries the four hundred millions of people in the Chinese empire have subsisted on rice, fish, and vegetables. The manufacturers of flour in California were the first to in- troduce American flour in China, and had all the business there was to them- selves down to 1888. In November, 1887, Mr. Wm. Dunbar, a flour and produce merchant on Front street, Portland, and who was part owner in, and agent for large flouring mills at Silverton, Marion and Jefl^erson, in Marion County, made a trip to China to see what could be done towards introducing Oregon flour, in that country. Not succeeding in gaining the desired end on this first visit to China, Mr. Dunbar made a second trip in 1889, taking along with him a large shipment of Oregon flour. Having now with him the flour to show for itself, and the means to show its superior quality over the California article, the Chinese merchants made their patronage depend on the price. Mr. Dunbar promptly made a price that commanded the market, and appointing Captain Musso, as agent in Hong Kong for his mills, Dunbar returned to Portland, and commenced shipping flour regularly to China; and thus earning for himself the honor of being the first man to successfully introduce Oregon flour into the trade of the Chinese empire.
Soon after this Mr. T. B. Wilcox, manager of the Portland Flouring Mills Company, went into the flour trade with China, and with ample capital and a greater supply of wheat to mills under his control in both Oregon and Wash- ington, pushed the business with his well known energy, and completely drove the Californians out of that market.
While China is an immense country with great natural resources, and with a greater population than the United States and all of Europe combined, it is still a poor market for the western nations. The Chinese can not buy much from any other people because they have not much to pay with. And their national currency of exclusively silver coin is a further handicap to their trade with the gold standard nations. For a long time silver has been going at a very low price, and is now very low, and this fact accounts for the falling off of the sales of Oregon flour to the Chinese. It was only the very rich people who could afford to have flour cakes in China, even in good times. And wheat flour to the poor was a great luxury, and was only sprinkled on the top of rice cakes as Ameri-
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VIEW OF THE PORTLAND LUMBER COMPANY ​some great national festival when all would possibly get a little flour cake; and there being so many millions of them, a feast day always makes a boom in the sales of Oregon flour. The present low price of silver, and the high price of Oregon wheat has caught the Oregon flour trade on both sides, and the result is that the demand for Oregon flour has run down so rapidly that it is now estimated by the millers that the Chinese will not buy as much Oregon flour this year, by a million barrels, as they did three years ago.
In 1870 the commerce to the United Kingdom begins to rise. In that year, in the months from July 1, 1869, to November, 1870, the exports thither amounted to a value of about $61,000.00.
The following table exhibits the exports to San Francisco:
It is well known that during each year we sent considerable quantities of wheat, flour, salmon, etc., to San Francisco for shipment to eastern or foreign ports; these were not included in the above table. The very small increase of wheat exports of 1870 above 1869 is accounted for by the fact that in 1869 we shipped but little to foreign countries direct, while in 1870 we exported to foreign countries as much as, or more than, appears in this table. The latest (1890) shipment to all destinations would show that our grain and breadstuffs export have increased greatly more in proportion than any other products. It will be seen that exports of salmon have also increased.
The exports to foreign countries—including, China, British Columbia, Sandwich islands, England, Ireland, Uruguay, and Peru, aggregated a value of three hundred and seventy-one thousand, three hundred and fifty-five dollars—mostly lumber, flour and fish.
In the year 1870 the Willamette customs district was created by act of congress, and a custom house established in this city, and Harvey W. Scott, editor of the Oregonian appointed the first collector of customs in this city.
In 1871 foreign exports rise to a value of $692,297. Clearing to foreign ports are found five foreign ships, aggregating three thousand, seven hundred tons, and six foreign barks, two thousand, six hundred tons. Of American steamer clearances to foreign ports, there were twenty-nine, and six barks and one schooner, aggregating sixteen thousand tons. Imports from foreign countries reached $517,633.
The coast-wise arrivals, from San Francisco and other American cities, aggregated eighty-six thousand, four hundred and sixteen tons.
In 1872 we find commerce rising to something like its contemplated proportions. For its purposes, eighteen American steamers and eight barks were employed, with a tonnage of eleven thousand, nine hundred and forty-six; and of foreign vessels, twelve barks and two schooners, aggregating nine thousand, one hundred and forty tons.
Imports from England, reached a value of $350,980: from British Columbia, $31,294; from Sandwich islands, $171,332; from Hong Kong, $115,338; from other points, $59,831, making a total of $728,825. The large imports from the Sandwich islands show the value of their trade to Portland, if their products of sugar might be somehow taken away, at least in part, from the San Francisco monopoly.
The exports for this year (1872) were as follows: to England, a value of $3,041,744; British Columbia, $107,508; Ireland, $187,549; Sandwich islands, $8,824; Hong Kong $33,925 making a total of $642,620.
The wheat shipped to the United Kingdom from August i to December 13, reached two hundred and nine thousand, three hundred and thirty-seven cen- tals, worth $311,166, as against ninety-nine thousand, four hundred and sixty-three centals, worth $257,276 in 1871. There were five vessels engaged in this trade, while in 1872 there were ten. The value of the grain thus exported did not keep pace with that of the year before, on account of the low price re- alized. The export to California of flour was 192,500 sacks.
As for coast-wise traffic, there were eighty-two steamers, twenty barks, three brigs, four ships, and various schooners, aggregating a hundred and nine thou- sand, nine hundred and forty-seven tons.
The purely domestic commerce in the Willamette valley was conducted with the old-time energy, employing forty steamers, with an aggregate tonnage of thirteen thousand, seven hundred and ninety-one, and twenty-one sailing ves- sels of various description aggregating two thousand and thirteen tons. The Oregon and California railway was now in active operation and the Oregon Cen- tral had tapped the agricultural portion of Washington County.
In 1873 there appears a great rise in exports. For the fiscal year ending in September, the following showing is made : To foreign ports there were em- ployed three schooners, three steamers, the California, George S. Wright, and Gussie Telfair, and thirty-five sailing vessels, for the most part ships or barks of the large capacity from England. The exports of wheat to foreign ports was 640,266 centals, valued at $1,055,264; flour, 37,284 barrels, at $158,895, making a total of $1,284,149.
Foreign entrances aggregated a tonnage of nineteen thousand, one hundred and forty-three, and of clearances, twenty-three thousand, four hundred and sixty-seven. Of American vessels in foreign trade, the entrances were ten thou- sand, three hundred and two tons, and clearances nineteen thousand, four hun- dred and forty-four. The imports reached a value of $514,343, and exports about $1,600,000. This was all trade with foreign countries.
The following table exhibits the trade with California for 1872:
Flour, quarter sacks, 405,672
Oats, centals, 1 17,012
Wheat, centals, 337.391
Salmon, barrels, 4,361
Salmon, half bbls 3,459
Salmon, packages, 1 10,563
Apples, ripe, boxes, 14,644
Apples, dried, packages, 2,533
Butter, packages, i ,640
Beef, barrels, 112
Bacon, packages, 409
Lard, packages, 6
Hams, packages, 18
These all aggregated a value of $2,500,000.
The aggregate of vessels entering on account of coast-wise traffic, was one hundred and twelve thousand, one hundred tons ; of clearances, seventy-nine thou- sand, six hundred and ninety-four. The difiference noticeable in the entries and clearances is explained for the most part by the fact that ships loading at Port- land frequently drop below at Astoria, to complete their cargo.
From the above it will be seen that the total exports both to foreign ports and domestic was about $4,100,000 in value. It will also be noticed that this in- cludes nothing of treasure which figured so largely in early shipments ; as by this period the business of the country had so far advanced as to be conducted, so far as concerned money, by means of money orders, checks and bills of ex- change, so as to obviate the necessity of the transfer of money in coin or bullion. ​
For 1872 the entrances from foreign ports, comprised of American steamers, eighteen, and American barks, eight, with a tonnage of eleven thousand, nine hundred and forty-six. Of foreign vessels, twelve barks and two schooners, nine thousand, one hundred and forty. This made the total tonnage for the year, one hundred and thirty-one thousand and thirty-five.
The following exhibits the imports :
From England, value of $350,980
From British Columbia, value of 31,294
From Sandwich islands, value of 171,332
From Hong Kong, value of n 5,338
All other, value of 59,831
Total $728,825
The following exhibits the exports :
To England, value of $304,744
To British Columbia, value of 107,508
To Ireland, value of 187,549
To Sandwich islands, value of 8,824
To Hong Kong, value of 33,995
Total $642,620
During these years one notices with interest the steady increase in ship- ment of wheat to the United Kingdom — showing that Portland, as the commer- cial city of Oregon, was rapidly building up a foreign trade. In 1871, this was but 99,462 centals, valued at $257,276; while in 1872 the shipments rose to 209,337 centals, valued at $511,166. Flour shipped to California was 192,500 quarter sacks. The total export of wheat was twenty-three thousand, eighty- two tons, and of fiour, fourteen thousand, five hundred and fifty-eight tons. Although these figures show a large increase in quantity shipped, the prices re- alized during this season were so low as to impair somewhat the advantage thus derived.
In 1873 Portland experienced a great fire by which about a million and a half dollars worth of property was destroyed. This great loss, calling for its re- pair, all the money that might be raised upon real securities, necessarily with- drew from trade and commerce, large sums which would otherwise have been ap- plied to their enlargement. Confidence was for a time somewhat shaken, and the year was less productive than was expected at the beginning; nevertheless, the volume of foreign trade continued to steadily increase as before, and the total valuation of all exports for the year is set down as $2,500,000.
Coast-wise entrances aggregated 112,100; clearances 79,694 tons. Foreign entrances 19,143 tons; clearances, 23,467 tons. The tonnage of American ves- sels in foreign trade was: entered, 10,302; cleared, I9,444- The imports reached $514,343, and the exports about $1,600,000 to foreign countries.
Following this year a new impetus to the production of grain was given in the upper Willamette valley by the opening of the Willamette river to the head of navigation by means of a canal and locks, at Oregon City. Steamers were thereby enabled to carry grain from points, even as far as Eugene City to Port- land without breaking bulk.
"From a table compiled the year of 1874 to show the exports of wheat from 1868 to the middle of 1874, we find a total value of $11,105,850."
"The bulk of the wheat was exported to the United Kingdom and also a round aggregate of flour — but the largest proportion of the latter was sent to San Francisco, to New York, to ports in the Pacific, and to China and Japan."
It is reported for this year that nearly two hundred ships were employed in the export trade; but this evidently included all coast-wise craft of every description. ​
32 i THE CITY OF PORTLAND
For the year 1875 we find dull trade — or at least not so flattering as might be expected. From Walling's directory we clip the following: "During the past year, Portland, in common with every other section of the Union, has felt the eflE^ect of the stagnation, which has had such disastrous effects upon the commercial prosperity of the entire country ; but remote as we are from the great centers of commerce, we have been comparatively free from the dis- astrous consequences which have left their impress upon the business marts of the eastern slope."
The number of American vessels entering this year aggregated 100,602 tons ; the foreign, 16,304 tons.
The value of exports is shown by the following table :
To England $ 799,818.00
To British Columbia 136,600.00
To Hong Kong, 41,448.00
To Sandwich islands 549,480.00
To Australia 9,720.00
To Uruguay 58,743.00
Total $1,623,313.00
Imports from these countries in foreign vessels were valued at $283,499; in American vessels, $163,359; total, $446,858.
The wheat sent to England during this year was 513,481 bushels; to Ireland, 548,986 bushels; flour, 48,110 barrels.
Noticing some of the imports we find ten thousand bricks from England — evidently brought by way of ballast. Bags, also, were brought from England to the value of $79,086. The trade from China was very largely in rice, a con- siderable portion of which was for the Chinese consumers in our midst; 731,926 pounds.
From the Sandwich islands there were imported 160,839 pounds of rice; of sugar, three million, three hundred and fifty-three thousand, five hundred and fifty-two; of molasses, 1,088 gallons. This is evidently before the monopoly of Spreckles in California.
During 1876 business rapidly revived and the general enthusiasm prevailing through the entire United States did much to inspire our merchants with new energy and confidence. More interest was taken in collecting reliable statistics and in showing the world what we were capable of. It was found that the exports of Oregon averaged three hundred and eighteen dollars to each man in the state. "With a population of forty thousand men, Oregon's exports of wheat equals one-seventh of the total exports of the United States." Eastern Oregon and Washington had now begun to raise wheat in large quantities. Wool figured as a very valuable product — the export being for that year 3,125,000 pounds worth $600,000. The salmon catch was also rising and exports from this source were assuming large propositions. In 1875, 372,000 cases were put up, and in 1876 this was swelled to 480,000 cases, ^^2 vessels cleared with cargoes, mostly wheat, for European ports. The export of wheat to Europe was 1,824,- 371 centals, valued at $3,138,294. The total export was 1,937,787 centals. The export of flour aggregated 215,714 barrels. The excess of wheat and flour ex- ports for 1876 over 1875, reached a value of $794,856.
In the record of shipments to San Francisco, it is noticeable that apples are coming up to their former figure, being 41,523 boxes of the fresh fruit, and 6,363 packages of the dry; 22,671 sacks of potatoes and 176,939 bushels of oats were also shipped, but the bulk of our shipments thither for that year con- sisted of 290,076 cases of canned salmon, showing that almost from the first, our cannery men looked for sale of their goods in California. If it had been possible to carry on the salmon business on a purely independent basis before the world, and make Portland, the city nearest the greatest production of this ​article,
the emporium, it is believed that many disasters and difificuUies which overtook this business might have been avoided.
The shipment of treasure, or the actual transportation of money for this year was $2,651,43178.
As another sign of increase and advance toward commercial supremacy was the change noticeable at this time, by which the country merchants and the job- bers and dealers in small towns began to look to Portland as the base of their supplies.
During 1877 loud calls were heard from the people of Portland for direct railroad communication with the east, and strenuous exertions were made for the building of a road from Portland via The Dalles to Salt Lake. Much of this eagerness for independent rail lines was developed by the fact that in California many emigrants starting overland for Oregon, were turned back by the represen- tations of agents of the California emigration boards, and the Oregonians found their growth in population much retarded thereby.
The total value of exports from the Columbia river in 1876 was estimated at $11,825,087; in 1877, at $16,086,897. Seventy-eight ships and barks were engaged in carrying to foreign ports 2,341,210 centals of wheat, worth $4,954,475. Upon five vessels there were shipped 59,389 barrels of flour, worth $355>690.
The following table shows exports to San Francisco for 1876:
Wheat, centals 504,836
Flour, barrels 1 13732
Oats, centals 146,050
Barley, centals 5,6o8
Middlings, sacks , 2,834
Bran, sacks I9,4i8
Shorts, sacks 2,569
Apples, boxes 73,282
Dried fruit, packages 3,206
Potatoes, sacks 37,o8i
Hay, bales 863
Salmon, half barrels 723
Wool, bales i5,759
Flax seed, sacks 12,792
Hides, 37,090
Beef, (canned), cases 15,612
Butter, pkgs 2,064
Bacon, pkgs 1,030
Lard, cases 307
Hams, pkgs 263
Pork, barrels 372
Hop, bales 2,006
Cheese, pkgs 729
Salmon, cases 246,892
Salmon, barrels '^JZ
During the year 1878, however, there were lively times between Portland and San Francisco on account of the competition between several steamship com- panies for the trade. In opposition to the Oregon Steamship Company, the old Pacific mail steamers of large size, the Orizaba and the John L. Stephens were run. Also the Great Republic, the largest vessel ever afloat in our waters, carried things with a high hand, sometimes transported as many as a thousand passengers at a single trip.
In 1879 the total number of steam crafts on the Willamette district, (Port- land) was 60, with a tonnage of 27,597. O^ these the G. W. Eld ​er, and the
Oregon, belonging to the Oregon Steamship Company, iron ships, built at Ches- ter, were the finest and most conspicuous.
The wheat exports required the services of 70 vessels, and 19 vessels were also engaged, either wholly or in part, for flour. The wheat reached 1,932,080 centals, worth $3,611,240; flour, 209,098 barrels, valued at $1,143,550. The total value of wheat and flour shipped both to domestic and foreign ports was $5.345400.
The following table exhibits the rise and growth of the wool exports:
1873 2,000,000 pounds
1874 2,250,000 pounds
1875 2,500,000 pounds
1876 3,150,000 pounds
1877 5,000,000 pounds
1878 6,500,000 pounds
1879 7,000,000 pounds
For 1880 the shipment of wheat was 1,762,515 bushels, valued at $1,845,537; flour, 180,663 barrels, valued at $891,872. The value of shipments to San Fran- cisco aggregated $4,500,000. The wool shipment was 7,325,000 pounds ; salmon, 472,000 cases.
For 1881, the value of wheat was $1,845,537, or 1,766,515 bushels.
The years of 1880- 1 were marked by the great business activity resulting from the construction of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company's lines, the section from The Dalles to Walla Walla to the Blue mountains and to Texas Ferry, then building. The Northern Pacific Railroad was running trains from Kalama to Tacoma and constructing the section of their road northeast of Ains- worth fifty-seven miles. The value of imports for this year are given is $486,208.
The following statements will show the state of business during 1882: "Pros- perity of business has been unparalleled. The commerce of the city has been constantly increasing during the past year. The tonnage of ocean steamers arriving at this port shows an increase of more than double the records of any previous year, many first-class steamships from foreign countries having made exceptionally prosperous voyages to and from Portland. Our regular ships ply- ing hence to San Francisco, have been constantly improving in character and increasing in number until the Portland line has become the busiest, most re- liable, and most profitable marine traffic from the city of San Francisco. The number of passengers carried on this line amounts to 5,000 or more every month, and freight averages 40,000 tons. The 'deep sea crafts' which visit our river prove the ignorance or malice of those who would represent entrance and navi- gation of the Columbia and the Willamette as perilous or impossible. There are now lying at our docks, vessels which will load to twenty-two feet drafts before slipping their hawsers, and make the open sea without danger or delay."
The Willamette river was much improved, and agitation for the improve- ment of the Columbia bar was begim. The following excerpt shows the general spirit prevailing at the time. "Every unprejudiced observer of this vigor and of Portland's relation to the surrounding country, says 'Portland ought to do the business of Oregon, Washington, and Northern Idaho.' The completion of an unbroken line having five hundred miles of railroad eastward, with Portland as its great terminal point, marks an era in our history which will only be eclipsed by the present year."
The year 1883 fully realized all the hopes that were raised by the construc- tion of the O. R. & N. Company's lines. Portland took long strides towards the pre-eminence naturally assured her by right of position. "It used to be said that three-fourths of our interior trade passed Portland, and was supplied by San Francisco. The past year has changed this condition of things so mate- rially, that possibly the conditions are reversed." ​
It was in 1883 that the O. R. & N. Company's Hnes were finished and the main hne of the Northern Pacific was pushed to a junction with its eastern section.
In 1844, however, a great business collapse resulted from the unusual ex- pansion of the preceeding months, and the year was rather disastrous. The Oregon and Transcontinental stocks dropped to a minimum. Villard failed and many Portland stockholders were greatly crippled. Fictitious values had to be brought down to a substantial basis. Cessation of railroad construc- tion, discontinuance of disbursements, and the fact that the railroad now coming into operation began to absorb the money in the country, all tended to create a stringency. Prices of wheat fell low, and productions therefore re- alized but poorly, and during the holidays in Portland the whole city was block- aded by an unprecendented storm of snow and ice, so that the somewhat un- usual preparations of Portland merchants failed to realize their object. The main line of the Northern Pacific Railroad having been completed, brought in immigration from the East. The O. R. & N. Company pushed their line to a junction with the Union Pacific, and formed a net-work of lines in the valley of the Columbia. The Oregon and California road was continued to Ashland, and the Oregon Pacific was finished from Corvallis to Yaquina bay. The sec- tion of the Northern Pacific from Portland to a point on the Columbia river opposite Kalema was also built.
The exports aggregated, domestic, $6,284,735; foreign $5,648,116, making a total of about $12,000,000.
Tfie wholesale trade diminished, owing to the cessation of railroad construc- tion, but, as an offset, country merchants found that they could do better at Portland than at the east.
In 1885 there were shipped 4,546,546 centals of wheat, valued at $4,- 643,650, and 459,159 barrels of flour, valued at $2,750,589, making a total value of $7,394,239.
The shipment of wool aggregated 11,558,427 pounds, worth $1,637,936. The value of exports reached $14,280,670, being $2,347,819 over the exports of the preceding year. The greatest crop of grain hitherto raised in the northwest was harvested this year.
For 1886 the following table of exports still further illustrates the growth :
Wheat, centals 4,919,346
Flour, barrels 605,694
Salmon, cases 548,366
Wool, pounds 19,227,105
Woolens, cases 819
Mill stuffs, sacks 227,719
Barley, centals, 40,685
Leather, packages 590
' Tallow, packages ^,7^5
Butter, packages 286
Eggs, packages 3,488
Provisions, packages 6,570
Pig irons, tons i ,567
Lumber, M 28,771
Flax seeds, sacks 68,43 1
Furs, hides, skins, etc. lbs 2,383,710
Hops, pounds : 6,520,036
Barrel stock, pkgs 1 1.594
Potatoes, sacks :. 1 1 1 ,062
Oats, sacks 209,126
Laths, M 6,658
Green fruit, bo ​xes 91,166
Dried fruit, pkgs 7,236
Ore sacks 18,592
Onions, sacks 5, 161
Teasels, cases, 29
Stoves, 1 ,61 5
Total value of exports $16,960,147
For 1887 the shipments of wheat were 173,915 tons, and flour 45,766 tons, making a total — all reduced to wheat O of 237 tons. The total exports of 1887 were $13,985,681.
The statistics of wheat for 1888 are given as follows :
To Europe — centals 3,149,764 valued at $3,716,598
To San Francisco, centals 1,099,109 valued at 1,288,819
Coast-wise — centals 160,154 valued at 196,370
Peru — centals 53,344 valued at 60,610
The shipment of flour for the same period is shown by the following table :
Europe, barrels 402,734 valued at $1,399,773
San Francisco, barrels 107,834 valued at 397,346
Coast-wise, barrels 62,967 valued at 245,775
China, barrels 71,036 valued at 259,412
The total shipment of wheat reached 4,462,371 centals of a value of $5,716,598; flour, 644,471 barrels, of a value of $2,302,606.
The total export of 1888 reached $16,385,658. The shipment of salmon was 428,437 cases; the production of wool about 18,000,000 pounds.
THE COLUMBIA RIVER FISHING INDUSTRY.
Commencing with a small pack in 1870 the salmon packing grew rapidly until in 1875 the pack reached 231,500 cases; in 1876 it ran up to 428,000 cases; in 1877 it dropped back to 392,000 cases, and in 1878 fell off still farther to 278,000 cases; and in 1879 ^^ ^^^ "p a little and the packers turned out 325,000 cases.
The industry has varied on the river from year to year according to the sup- ply of salmon. In 1886 the pack was 470,000 cases, in 1890 it was 353,000. In the past season the total catch in the Columbia and Oregon streams is about thirty million pounds of fish, which would fill about 600,000 cases, and be worth two million dollars.
The profits of fishing to the individulal owner of a gill-net are very attractive to industrious men. Now in this year of 1910, the following earnings are re- ported from Astoria, August 29th. "The 'high boat' among the gill-netters, that is, the one making the largest catch during the past fishing season, was A. Nis- sen, who is employed by the Eureka cannery. He caught 18^ tons of fish, which netted him about $2,500, and 15 tons of these were taken before July i,
J. Nissen, who also works for the Eureka cannery, caught 14 tons, that brought him in the neighborhood of $2,000 for his season's work. Another gill- netter who did remarkably well was Peter Dicklich, who fishes for Phil McDon- ough of Bear Cliff. His string amounted to $2,001.62.
The Oregonian of August 29, 1910, speaking of this industry, says : "The Columbia river salmon pack reached its maximum at a time when fishermen and packers were so actively engaged that the perpetuity of the industry received scant consideration. This king of food fishes entered the river in such countless numbers that the supply seemed inexhaustible. The necessity for any laws, rules or regulations that would tend to conserve the industry, made no impression on those most interested.
Fortunately a halt was called before the fish were exterminated, and it is
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Copyrighted photo by Kiser, Portland, Oregon
THE OLD WAY
The beginning of the lumbering industry in the great northwest, on Portland townsite, more than fifty years ago. and now developed into a business aggregating in the same terri- tory one hundred million dollars annually. ​llars annually.
at least holding our own. Artificial propagation and an effective enforcement of the law as is possible under the somewhat conflicting statutes of the two states bordering the river have permitted the output for the season just closed to reach that of last year, while the value is much greater than that of the 1909 pack. The 1910 business, as summarized in the Astoria dispatch in the Oregonian yes- terday, shows a catch of approximately 20,000,000, valued, in the raw state, at about $1,200,000, with $2,000,000 a fair estimate of the value of the finished pack. Two millions is not a relatively large sum in a state that annually turns off more than $20,000,000 of grain, $10,000,000 worth of lumber, with wool, hops and fruit in corresponding quantities. There is, however, no more nimble dollar in circulation than that which begins moving when the salmon season opens.
The gross value of approximately $2,000,000 for the finished pack in its percolations through the different branches of the industry, represents several times this sum, as it is practically all handled in a four months' season, leaving the thousands of people employed in the industry free to engage in other work for the rest of the year. Its economic value in proportion to the amount involved, is much greater than any other industry with the possible exception of lumber. Having demonstrated that the industry can be placed on a permanent basis and the size of the output maintained or even increased, the necessity for good laws and their strict enforcement is quite plain."
In addition to the salmon, other species of fish taken for 1909 are:
Halibut 732,896 lbs.
Sturgeon 126,543 lbs.
Shad 235,956 lbs.
Smelt 331751 lbs.
Catfish 20,101 lbs.
Tomcod 5,047 lbs.
Black bass 3,080 lbs.
Herring 14,649 lbs.
Flounders 27,564 lbs.
Perch 24, 106 lbs.
Carp 1,150 lbs.
Total 1,522,843 lbs.
ENTIRE PRODUCT SHELLFISH.
Oysters 293,917 lbs.
Crabs 185,402 lbs.
Clams 357.183 lbs.
Crawfish 5,8oo lbs.
FISH CANNERIES.
Number 22
Number of men employed 497
Number of fishermen employed in catching the fish, about 2,000. Besides in- dividual fishermen, there are traps, pounds, horse seines and fish wheels catching the fish.
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY.
The regular shipment of lumber from Portland in quantities making it an item of regular income to the city, commenced about the year 1881. There were at that time what would be considered now three small mills. Nearly the whole of their output was taken by building operations in the city. The Pennoyer mill cut about six million feet a year; Smith's mill about five million feet, an ​d George
Weidler's (subsequently Joe Holladay's) cut about fifty million a year. Of these mills, the only one now left is the Pennoyer mill enlarg-ed by Michigan capital into the Portland Lumber Company's cutting four hundred thousand feet a day.
There are now in active operation at this city and suburbs fourteen large mills like the one mentioned. And as the Columbia river is practically an extension of Portland harbor, all the mills on the Columbia between Portland and the sea are contributing to Portland's growth and business. And the total cut of these mills for the present year aggregate the immense output of seven hundred million feet of lumber, making Portland, Oregon, at this time the largest shipper of lumber in the world.
For the following statistics we are indebted to "The Timberman" :
During the year 1909 the sawmills of Portland manufactured 700,000,000 feet of lumber, again maintaining the position as the largest lumber cutting in the world. The increase in amount cut over 1908 aggregated 84,449,831 feet. Tacoma cut approximately 400,000,000 feet. Gray's Harbor as a section cut 602,918,157. Aberdeen cut 298,412,440 feet; Hoquiam, 225,405,817 feet. The cut of Willapa Harbor for the year was approximately 200,000,000 feet.
The total cargo shipments in 1909 aggregated 180,422,149 feet, an increase over 1908 of 29,878,449 feet. The foreign cargo shipments from Portland in 1909 amounted to 85,378,183 feet. The following table shows the vessel, destination and number of feet of lumber carried by each from Portland to foreign points dur- ing 1909:
Vessel and destination. Lumber ft.
Br. SS. Bannockburn, Shanghai, China 3,677,644
Br. SS. Knight of St. George, Hong Kong, China 317,275
Br. SS. Cape Finisterre, Melbourne, Australia 3.381,950
Br. Bark Jordanhill, London, England 1,957,781
Nor. SS. Rygji, Hong Kong, China 1,257,250
Sch. Churchill, Honolulu, Hawaii 815,000
Nor. SS. Christian Michelsen, Shanghai, China 2,927,195
Nor. SS. Christian Bors, Shanghai, China 3,557,000
Br. SS. Invertay, Wellington, New Zealand 1,106,450
Nor. SS. Henriic Ibsen, Hong Kong, China 696,602
Nor. SS. Guernesey, Shanghai, China 3,500,000
Br. SS. Hazel Dollar, Shanghai, China 3,520,539
Br. SS. Quito, Calcutta, India 2,171,000
Br. SS. Strathyre, Port Pirie, Australia 716,072
Br. SS. M. S. Dollar, Shanghai, China 3,i 18,050
Am. Sch. Lottie Bennett, Kahului, Hawaii 750,000
Br. SS. Suverie, Pukow, China 3,043,005
Am. Bktn. Hawaii, Auckland, New Zealand 1,220,314
Nor. SS. Hrntik Ibsen, Hong Kong, China 576,4^5
Ger. Ship Schwarzenbeck, Lourenco, E. A 1,715,716
Br. SS. Bessie Dollar, Shanghai, China 3,712,689
Nor. SS. Selja, Hong Kong. China 427.158
Ger. SS. Arabia, Hankow, China 3,250,000
Nor. SS. Rygji, Hong Kong, China 2,315,397
Fr. Ship Berengere, Port Natal, South Africa 1.573.558
Nor. SS. Sverre, Shanghai, China 3.182,972
Br. SS. Clan Macfarlane, Shanghai, China 3,610,168
Ger. SS. Alesia, Hong Kong, China 1,463,194
Am. Sch. R. W. Bartlett, Honolulu, H. 1 536,874
Br. Ship Aberfoyle, Mollendo, Peru 1,073,080
Nor. SS. Christian Bors, Melbourne, Australia 3,400,000
THE MODERN WAY Lumbering in Oregon forests in 1910.
s
Ger. SS. Numantia, Hong Kong, China 354 508
Br. SS. M. S. Dollar, Manila, P. 1 1,500^000
Br. SS. Agapanthus, Sydney, Australia 2,886,418
Br. Bark Carmanian, Queenstown, Ireland 1,505,006
Br. SS. Yeddo, Sydney, Australia 1,040,000
Gr. SS. Arabia, Hong Kong, China 178,920
Br. SS. Tymeric, Sydney, Australia 1,091,498
Br. SS. Boveric, Singapore 1,207,863
Nor. SS. Selja, Taku Bar, China 3,600,000
Nor. SS. Elsa, Dunedin, New Zealand 2,864,251
Ger. SS. Nicomedia, Hong Kong, China 254,289
Br. SS. Tweeddale, Sydney, AustraHa i>345,833
Ger. SS. Alesia, Hong Kong, China 359.557
Ger. SS. Numantia, Hong Kong, China 297,465
Total 85,378,183
New Zealand 5,191,015
India 4793-073
East Africa 1,715,716
Hawaii 2,101,874
Ireland 1,505,000
Peru 1,073,080
South Africa 1,573.558
Straits Settlements 1,207,863
Philippine Islands i ,500,000
England i,957.78i
Australia 13,861,771
China 48,897,452
Total 85,378,183
Coastwise shipments from Portland during 1909 aggregated 95,042,000 feet, as compared with 51,737,898 feet in 1908, an increase of 43,304,302 feet.
From the lower Columbia river there were dispatched 134,512,121 feet in 1909, as against 111,661,405 feet in 1908, an increase of 22,850,716 feet. Of the total shipment from the lower Columbia river, 124,159,329 feet went domestic and 13,352,792 feet went foreign.
The Portland and Columbia river cargo trade reached a total of 314,934,573 feet in 1909, against 262,205,105 feet in 1908, an increase of 52,729,468 feet.
The grand total of Oregon lumber cargo shipments in 1909 amounted to 473,- 858,233 feet, as against 385,071,789 feet in 1908, an increase of 88,786,444 feet,
LARGEST CARGO OF LUMBER EVER SET AFLOAT CLEARS FROM PORTLAND.
Undoubtedly the largest lumber cargo ever set afloat on the face of the earth was that carried from Portland on the British steamship Knight of the Garter, which cleared from this port June 9, 1910. The cargo consisted of 5,010,608 feet, and was supplied by the Eastern & Western Lumber Co., 3,546,215 feet; Clark & Wilson Lumber Co., 1,083,345 feet; Peninsula Lumber Co., 381,048 feet, the total being- 5,010,608 feet. The cargo is consigned to Taku Bar and Shanghai, China. The Knight of the Garter is 475 feet long, 54 feet 10 inches beam, 33 feet 10 inches dept"h of hold. She was built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1892, and has a displacement of 10,600 tons. She was drawing 25 feet when she sailed from Portland. The cargo was dispatched by the China Import & Export Lumber Co. Allowing forty thousand feet of lumber to each ​house, this ship
carried lumber enough to build one hundred and twenty-five large dwelling houses.
COLUMBIA RIVER OUTPUT.
The cut of lumber in the Columbia river district which embraces the counties of Klickitat, Skamania, Clark, Wahkialkum and the portion of the Pacific border- ing on the Columbia, in the state of Washington; and the counties of Hood river, Multnomah, Columbia and Clatsop, in Oregon, have cut approximately one bil- lion feet during 1909. Of this amount the city of Portland cut approximately 600,000,000 feet. New mills and enlarged facilities of old plants between Port- land and the mouth of the Columbia makes available an additional 250 million feet capacity over 1909.
These figures have not accounted for the lumber shipped east over the dif- ferent lines of railway, centering at Portland. At every one of the mills at Portland and her suburbs, long lines of side track are found to accommodate the mills in loading cars. Lumber in all forms is shipped to the eastern states and as far east as Boston. Sawed timbers, rough sawed plank, dressed lumber, all forms and sizes, car timbers, cross arms, telegraph poles, doors, shingles, laths, everything but hard wood, are cut and dressed at the Portland mills and shipped all over the world.
The amount of lumber shipped by rail is found by deducting the total shipped (180 million feet) from the grand total of 700 million feet cut by the Portland mills which leave 520 million feet as used in buildings in Portland and shipped by rail to California, Nevada, Utah and the eastern states. The immeflse value and importance of this business to the city of Portland may be judged from these statistics.
LOSSES BY FIRES.
State board of forestry issued this past season as a warning against fire losses the following trenchant points :
Would you set fire to any man's house in your town?
If you saw his house afire, would you pass by without doing anything?
Do you realize that timber is quite as valuable to the owner and much more so to the community and to you? He can build a new house, but not a new forest. As for your own interest, think over the following facts :
Oregon now sells $20,000,000 worth of lumber a year. Of this, $14,000,000 is received by employes who put it in local circulation ; in other words, you, whatever your business, share in it.
About a billion feet is destroyed by fire in Oregon annually which, if manu- factured, would bring in $13,000,000.
On every thousand feet of timber burned, the stumpage owner may lose $2, but the community loses $8 in wages.
THE LESSON OF IT ALL.
It is a far cry in performance, within the short period of time, since Cyrus A. Reed and General Coffin were, in 1850, struggling to erect the first little steam sawmill at the river's edge at the foot of Jefiferson street. So limited was their field of operation, and so few their prospective customers, that after rallying all the men they could get, both in Portland and Oregon City, they were unable to raise the frame of their little mill, and resort had to be made to block and tackle to elevate the timbers. The total output of Reed's mill in one year was probably as much as half a million feet, as against seven hundred million feet produced here last year.
Oregon possesses more standing timber than any other state in the Union. And there is directly tributary to the city of Portland in the valley of the Co- lumbia river, and within the haul of local railroads leading to the c ​ity, two hun-
dred thousand ties — off land that Mr, A. L. Alderman had cut wild hay from, now, this stand of timber would run our present mills for two hundred and fifty years. But they will cut more as the years pass; but the increased production of lumber will correspondingly increase the business and wealth of the city.
Will the timber ever be exhausted? No! if wise counsel and common sense principles prevail. The evergreen trees of this region grow with great rapidity. In 1877, in building the Dayton, Sheridan and Dallas Railroad, the writer of this page took cross ties enough off of one-quarter section of land near Dayton in Yamhill county to construct the entire forty miles of railroad — over one hun- dred thousand ties — off land that Mr. A. L. Alderman had cut wild hay from, thirty-two years before. By a common sense, honestly enforced system of pro- tection to the growing timber, Oregon will have its forests on the rugged moun- tain lands for all time — forests and timber do not only furnish all the lumber needed or demanded, but a cover for harmless game birds and animals that would produce large supplies of food. The whole question of success or failure — a beautiful, healthy and prosperous woodland, or a burnt over desert of rocks, barrens and worthless streams — is one of common sense and common honesty.
THE PIONEER — CYRUS A. REED.
The pioneer of all this lumber prosperity to the city deserves to be remem- bered here. Cyrus A. Reed, the builder of the first sawmill in Portland, was born at Grafton, New Hampshire. He came to San Francisco in 1849, o" the wave of gold hunters' excitement. From San Francisco he came up to Port- land in 1850. He was a sign painter by profession; but had received a good education, and was inspired by ambition to do something worthy of note in the world — and was an honest man of industrious, sober and frugal habits. In April, 1850, he opened a school here in Portland and taught for three months with an average attendance of white, red and black pupils, of sixty-two. After completing the term of school teaching, he took up the sawmill proposition. The sawmill was operated three or four years and then burned down. Then Mr. Reed removed to Salem and engaged actively in building up the fortunes of the state capital ; platting a fine residence addition, selling the lots, building a fine residence, and then the first large brick building in the city known as the "opera house," containing a large theater auditorium, and rooms and accommo- dations for a hotel. During the war of the rebellion, Mr. Reed was appointed by the governor and served as adjutant-general of the militia of the state, and upon his rolls and work was organized the present Oregon National Guard. Reed had a natural talent for landscape painting, and produced at odd hours many fine works on Oregon scenery. His most important work was a panorama of the Willamette valley, painted on canvass covering thirty feet lengthwise of the canvass, and was so perfect a representation of the valley that it was taken to the eastern cities and exhibited from town to town to advertise Oregon. Cyrus A. Reed was the first, the original, "booster" for Oregon.
OTHER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.
There are now in the city one thousand eight hundred manufacturing plants, covering nearly all lines of manufacturing industries, and employing over twenty thousand people. From the great lumber mill plants, employing two to three hundred men each, down to the latest plant— The Marvelo Factory, making a new patent level, and carried on by one single man—the inventor — there is a constant, ever noisy increasing hum of constructive industry. From the great logging engine, in the depths of "the continuous woods, where rolls the Oregon" that drags out a stick of timber eighty feet in length and four feet in diameter, down to the tiny gas attachment which automatically puts out the gas when Mr. ​
Pea Green fails to blow it out, Portland factories are supplying the wants of a pioneer and cultured people.
There are furniture factories in Portland employing hundreds of skilled me- chanics. There are iron and steel works furnishing steel frames for "sky scraper" office buildings, equal to anything in Chicago or New York. There are woolen factories in Portland turning out cloth and blankets — no shoddy ; equal to anything produced from the looms of New England or Philadelphia. There are mills in Portland that can and do produce better oatmeal and other cereal foods than is produced in Battle Creek, Michigan, or Aberdeen, Scotland. There are clothing factories in Portland that employ as many as two hundred women to run the machines and finish the work. Portland has ten-story department stores that employ fifteen hundred people to run them, and they do everything and sell everything but saw timber, make threshing machines, run foundries and boil soap.
Portland has made great progress in developing the industries in the country. But there is a vast country to be supplied. From California all the way up the coast to the regions of eternal ice ; and from the Rocky mountains to the Pacific ocean, and to the islands in the great South Sea ; and to the five hundred mil- lions of Asiatic pagans just in our front across the Pacific, Portland is the nat- ural and most economical and effective distributing center, and offers its advan- tages at first hand on the most liberal terms and promising hopes of success to the industries and energetic mechanic from any part of the world.
STATISTICS.
Without attempting to give full statistics of all manufacturing industries, a few may be given as samples.
There are in Portland nine cigar factories employing 150 men; sixteen wagon and carriage makers with 160 men; thirteen flour and cereal mills with 130 men; fifty foundries and shops working in iron with a thousand men; fourteen sash and door factories with 500 men; three soap factories to keep clean with 30 men; eighty-six plumbers' shops with 252 men; twenty-one furniture making shops and factories with 500 men ; three paper mills with 865 men, turning out $4,500,000 worth of paper annually; twelve tanneries with 105 men, turning out $536,000 worth of leather annually. Total number of manufacturing plants of all kinds 2,000, with $65,000,000 capital invested and turning out annually goods worth $85,000,000, with 28,000 men employed.
HOPS AND BEER, ,
Some good people may think that a chapter under the above heading might properly be left out of a work of this kind. But a little reflection will show any observing person that it is quite as important to see how every phase of human activities affect the development of the race. History would be of little account if it preserved no record of the frivolities, vices and profligacy of mankind.
The farmers of the state of Oregon produce and sell about one hundred thousand bales of hops a year. Each bale will weigh on an average three hun- dred pounds, and each pound of hops will make a barrel of beer. And that makes thirty million barrels of beer. The Oregonians don't make or drink all that beer. But the breweries in the city of Portland make and sell two hundred and twenty-four thousand seven hundred and twenty-one barrels of beer in a year. That is about a barrel of beer to every man, woman and child in this city. But it is not all consumed in Portland, not one-tenth of it. The breweries of Portland, especially the great establishment founded and built up by Henry. Weinhard, ships beer to all the Pacific coast states and territories, and to Siberia, China, Japan and the Philippine Islands. So that beer is one of the important industries of Portland. Whatever may be thought of the moral ​or pecuniary
effect of the business by people who take sides on the question of prohibition of the manufacture and sale of the beer, there can be no doubt that there is vast sums of money dependent on the production and sale of malt liquors made from Oregon hops. The first cost of the beer, the money paid to the Oregon brewers, must be more than two million dollars, of which sum probably twenty-five thou- sand dollars goes to Oregon farmers for the hops, taking one year with another.
But the hop growing farmers would have but a poor market for their hops if they had to depend on the consumption, or even the manufacture of beer in Oregon. Oregon hops are exported to the eastern cities, and to England and even Germany. Oregon produces more hops than any other state in the Union. And her farmers gather in on an average crop and price year, three million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, for the entire crop. Some years, that in- come has been doubled. And on average years two and a half million dollars of the price of the hops is paid out for labor in producing, picking, curing and packing the hops. The hop picking season is a great event in the Willamette val- ley. Entire families, thousands of them, going as far as fifty miles, gather into the hop fields with their tents and primitive means of cooking and sleeping; and the men, women and children all join in picking hops with all their time and energy for three or four weeks, being paid so much a pound for the hops picked, and gathering in cash enough to supply many families with the necessities of life for half a year.
The hop farming industry in Oregon started near Silverton, in Marion county, and near Eugene City in Lane county, about the same time, about the year 1865, and has grown steadily ever since. The hop merchants of Portland handle most of the business. The hop industry has produced many curious "ups" and "downs" in business. We knew one farmer who did not sell his hops on account of low prices for three years, and had on hand three crops — Ralph Geer of Waldo Hills, in Marion county. C. H. Lewis, of Allen & Lewis of Portland, had ad- vanced money to pick all these hops. In the third year hops went up to a dollar a pound. Mr. Lewis sent a special messenger with a letter to Mr. Geer, telling him to sell his hops at once. Geer thought the price would go to a dollar and a quarter a pound, and held on. The next day the price dropped and kept on dropping until they reached fifteen cents a pound. Geer had then to sell under forced sales — and was financially ruined.
Growing hops for beer cannot be said to be a very reliable business. Beer and ale is consumed regularly by only a small part of the American people. And many of these consumers find it easily dispensed with when economy of living becomes necessary. In Germany, it is different. Whether the water in that country is too bad to drink, the fact is that nearly the entire German population drink beer. The price of hops in Germany practically fixes the price of hops in Oregon. Pursuing its national policy of being an independent, self-supporting people, the Germans strive to raise all their own hops. When the crop fails in Germany, the price rises in Oregon; and two succeeding German failures sends the price to great profits to Oregon growers. These irregularities have often betrayed Oregon farmers into planting larger fields of hops and building greater hop houses. And then it has often happened that as the price ran down in Ger- many, the Oregon farmer would dig up his hop plantation and go out of busi- ness at great loss on hop houses and other such permanent investments.