The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1881-09-09
WEEKLY CORVALLIS GAZETTE.
Corvallis, Sept. 9, 1881.
ALsea AND VICINITY,

ALSEA AND VICINITY,
We take the following from let
ter of A T. Hawley to the State
Rights Democrat: Before speaking
of the Alsea river and bay / note q
few memoranda Of the country be
tween the bay and Cape Pepetno
Nine miles south of the bay the Yah
hut river enters the ocean; here six
families have taken.;up pre-emptioni
and homesteads- and careful estimates
report room for 25 to 40 more set
tiers where eood homes can be made
on the bottom and bench lands con.
tiguous to that stream. A good
beach road to the Alsea or pack
trail to the Suislaw, afford outlets
for sale of produce or purchase of
supplies. Four miles back of the
beach abundance of good timber can
be procured. Three and one-half
miles south of the Alsea, between it
and the Yah-hut is Big Creek with a
fine body of land covered with Sal
mon berry brush and vine maple
with room for Is to 20 good ranches
What is to be expected of the settler
on these lands and what il will be
necessary for him to do will be spo-
ken fin these notes.
BEACH MINING.
Between Alsea and the Yah hut river
are eleven recorded beach mining
claims. There is as yet scarcity of
water tor working these claims, at
least all of them. Where water is
.obtainable the claims worked average
/ am informed on what / consider
good authority, $40 to s15 per day
to the hand. The average yield per
year for the past FIVE years is estima-
ted at about $4,000 a year. The
yield for 1881 is estimated at $10,-
600. As above intimated all the
claims will not be worked by reoson
of insufficency of water. The pay
dirt, or black sand, ranges from 24 in.
to feet deep, and the bed rock is
shallow. heard it intimated during
my stay in that section that move
ment looking to the consolidation of
the claims with ample working capi-
tai was contemplated. During my
rambles I met w: P. Ready, ex-state
printer at work on his claim. He
seems satisfied with the prospect, /
was his guest for a day or two and
during my stay he confded to me
the fact that he was we'll contented
with the change from the air OF the
composing room to the free atmos-
phere of the beach and woods. Above
the Alsea some three miles is the
mining claim of 6. w. Collins & Co.
from which $40, 900 have been taken.
From what / saw and heard on the
subject of beach mining.in that sec
tion, / am constrained to believe, that
there is money in it and that eventu-
ally it will become an important ele-
ment in the prosperity of that region.
ALSEA BAY.
Ihad heard much by common re-
port of Alsea bay, Alsea river and the
adjacent country before visiting this
section, and the many attractions
which it was represented to me as
possessing were not overstated. The
bay itself is one of those valuable
auxillaries to the growth and pros
perity of Oregon, the mpo rtance of
which is at present but imperfectly
realized. It's history in commercial
point of view may be stated in few
words. During the years 1862 and
'63 the sloop Fannie, of #. draft
entered 6 times with supplies for the
Indian agency located some' nine
miles south of the Bay. In 1866 the
Flora Mabel entered the bay on the
same business. In 1873 two schoon-
ers, the Lizzie. and Alice were built
on the bay and sailed for San Fran
cisco with lumber. The tug CoquiIle
entered in 1880. On the lst day of
Nav 1881 the steam schooner Kate
and Annie crossed the bar at half
tide reporting II #. as the lowest
water. The schooner sailed about 8
miles up the bay, discharged cargo
and sailed out on the same tide. The
bar at the entrance of Alsea bay is
unenestionably a shifting one but
there is no manner of question but
that the entrance except in stormy
weather is available for the commerce
of that particular section, at least at
present and for some time TO come.
The time is rapidly approaching when
the arrival and departure of vessels
at and from the bay will be matters