The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1876-07-01
Was'lougal.

from Washougal was cut off rather
unceremoniously for want of space
in these columns. Since that time,
the wandering trio of country Off
cials have .done" W ashougal, eX-
plored the mysteries of Bear Prairie
and returned again to the metropolis
of the county. and now it only re-
mains for us to tell briefly what we
saw up in that goodly land, of inter-
est to mankind. The proposed new
road, of which view and survey had
been ordered by the Commissioners.
taken in all its windings is about ten
miles long and runs north from the
Columbia river to the upper edge OF
Bear Prairie. The party OF viewers.
chainmen, surveyors, etc, who as
sembled at the point designated, con-
sisted of the following named indi-
viduals: Messrs. McAndrewS, Stiles.
Brown, Hart, Sites, Hill and the
writer; others were added to the
party as the work progressed, which
it did, mcrrily over the grassy hills
and anon through the thick and fra
grant copses, that in some places
arose TO the dignity Of thickets,
wherein lie concealed and knotty
logs, burnt and black, and stubborn
sticks and stubs and stumps to bruisc
the shins and scratch the hands and
tear the clothes and add to the woes
generally Of him who seeks to in
wade this varied realm of mother ma
turc. Settlers appeared occasionally
to designate where they preferred
the highway to run through their
lands. Some who did not 50 appear
made objections to the course select
cd, but it is surely true that the view
crs tried hard to please everybody.
This we know by personal l.nowl-
edge.
The country known as the WASH
ougal takes its name from the WASH
ougal River, and i, about twenty
miles from Vancouver, in an cas-, tly
direction. The country is lno-tly Of
hilly and broken character, ana
some of it has at one time been coy
cred with heavy timber. Fires have
run through and cleared away
much of this timber, and the
dccaying logs and broken snags are
all that is left Of these lords of the
forest. Some portions OF the coun-
try never had much heavy timber.
Generally the soil is good-bcttcr
than the average throughout the
county. and in patches it is exceed
ingly rich. The finest body of land
is Bear Prairie. 1t lies north of the
Washougal River, about two miles,
and is elevated several hundred feet
above the level of the Columbia.
Its area is equal to two or three sec
tons. The soil in some places is
similar to that of the Willamette
Valley, and has a similar vegetation,
but the most of it is OF a loamy char
actcr, and little sandy, but is rich
and black, and will produce in per-
lection anything that grows in this
latitude. y portion OF the prairie is
selected school land, and some i, on
railroad section. The most OF it
has been already appropriated. One
of the early settlers, Mr.. Frank Law
ton, has 100 acres OF the best. lie
has some fine crops OF wheat and
timothy. Mr.. Stoopcs, a home
stcadcr, has a fine crop of oats. Lo-
rcnzo Hill, Henry Lawton, Samuel
Wilson, and others, have good crops
of grain and vegetables, and have
made substantial improvements i'll
the matter Of houses, fences, barns,
etc. IIcwcd logs and rails are the
materials used, and the style, of
course, is primitive, but the houses
scs are comfortable. The locality is
hcalty, the water is the finest i'll the