Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1864-03-12
[Communicated,1
SURVEYOR GENERALS OFFICE.


EDITOR STANDARD: ! have just been
furnished pamphlet recently published in
Washington City, entitled Letter of Hon.
George +. Cole on the Disaster by Flood at
Port Angeles, Dec. 10th 1868, with his
Views on Tie location Of the Port Of Entry for
Puget Sound, and Reply Ivy Citizen of
Washington Territory" The author of the
pamphlet is understood to be Victor Smith.
On page 4. the following reference is made
TO my official action: Exhibit G, report
(ofliciaD of AnsonG. Henry. Surveyor Gcner-
Of of Washington Territory, Sept. 1868, en-
closing report and fcld-notcs of the survey
OF Port Angeles iown-sic reservation, by his
Deputy Surveyor George w. Sloan. Esq, in
which is the following paragraph under the
head Of general d. scription.' The quail
ty of land in this reservation is much above
the common average. There is good pro-
portion of rich DO tom land, chiefly situated
on the several streams which pass through
it aud empty into the harbor. Whites creek
runs through the y. l.. portion Of the resrr-
walton, and affords excellent water-powcr.
The up lands arc generally level, good second
rate land and we'll adapted for cultivation.
Near he Northern boundary of the rcserva-
tinn there is body Of prairie land, affordins
excellent pa turagc.
The above description is attributed to me
as official and used to disprovc the following
statement of Mr.. Cole in his letter to the Daily
Ch,oa;cie January ilth, 1861.
"Por Ang LIS is situated at the foot of
M"u,t Olympus which rises p'ecip.tously
fom the water Of the bay. The town was
built upon the narrow beach in front Of the
high bluff which is the foo, proper Of the
mountain. Upon the bluff the fine table
land exists only in the imagination Of
spiritualizcA or disordcrcd brains, as every
one acquainted with thu locality can testify
to the rugged nature of the ground, the mas.
scs of fa!l.n timber, and the dense growth
of those mammoth fir trees so peculiar to that
country, making the table land which is
rugged and broken, almost impenrtrablr."
The only allusion in my report of Scptem-
her, 1868, was to the topography Of the
Port Angeles reservation, as follows:
Il had an understanding with Mr.. Sloan
when gave him the per diem contract, that
he should survey all that was fit for settle
memt for the government price OF ss8 90 per
mile, for it would have BEEN impossible 20
have contracted for it alone, Tor as the ground is
very rough and covered.with dead fallen tim
bcr-whrrc it is not dense fir thicket-just
like the pine and hemlock thicke's of the
Eastern States"
The description quoted ms part of my re-
port. or letter Of September 9th. 1868, was
not mine. but Mr.. Sloan's, the deputy, and
only applicable to the Hat or portion under the
bluff, and described by Deputy House, who
81, f.,1l
The quality Of the land in this reservation
is the common average. There is HAT ex-
tending along the 'front.' from the eastern boun-
diary to the spit, from one to seven chains
wide, few feet above high water. Back of
this, there is bluff almost perpendicular,
from fifty to eighty feet in height, extending
tho entire length Of the claim"
1t is proper to remark. the southern boun-
dary is one mile from the beach, and is d's-
cribed by Mr.. House as level, with limited
quantity of timber and heavy underground Of
he,nlock. fir and cedar.
Never having visited Port Angeles. my
opinion Of The locality has been formed upon
the reports Of Deputies and reconnaissance
made by my Chief Clerk last summer
Having been referred to by way OF discrcd-
ting the statements OF Mr.. Cole. l have
felt it my duty to make the foregoing state
ment and to say that l concur in the opin-
ions expressed by him in the letter to the
Washington Chro";c/e. particularly in rrla-
ton to the town site Of Port Angeles being
speculative scheme of Victor Smith and
others, to the detrimcnt of the interests Of
the Territory and Of the Government.
Respectfully, your obrdt. scrvt.
A. q. HENRY, Sur. Gen. w. I.
~ A late tclcgraphic dispatch announces
the confirmation by the Senate Of II. W.