Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1882-06-03
MORE .sAEOUT THE sAMIsH.
EDITOR ENTERPRISE:

EDITOR ENTERPRISE:
The three who made the trip up the
Samisb, lately described in your columns,
although visionaries, demonstrated some
very important facts. which, conoidsv of
interest to the people of the lower Sound.
Among others, that valley exists above
Capt. Warmers, heretofore Glmost I'M
known, at least 30 miles in length, if we
include the Whatcom Lake branch. The
valley is wide enough to admit of two
farms abreast, which would make 120
farms of 100 acres each. This no doubt
would be doubled by the bench claims
and smaller claims in the valley, making
240 claims in all. Allowing a family fE
each claim and five lin each family, we
have population OF 1890. But what
makes this valley of the most.importatce
at the present time is its lumber supply,
which can hardly be oyerestimated,, espes
cially now that the Late explorations ap>
pear to warrant the ballet that the lum-
ber. capacity of Alaska have been greatly
exaggerated, and that it cannot be de-
pended upon for any great amount tor
commercial purposes. If this be SO, it
increases the Importance Of Puget Sound
many fold, and particularly the Samish
country, as this section is probably the
best timbered Of any. Muck good timber
is passed through in reaching the south
branch, but nothing like that growing on
the benches of the mountains bordering
both sides of the valley. Thought had
seen good timber before, but had never
imagined anything equalling this. Ce-
.dars 10G feet or more, without q kpo& or
limb; frs fro m 150 to 200 feet, as clear as
quill, and standing so thickly that tbs
light of the sun seldom reaches the ground
in places, covering all the benches, bench
after bench, mile after mile, even to the
very summit of the mountain, and contin-
uing on around the head Of the valley.
That this timbar can be brought safely
and cheaply down to the valley there ~ no
doubt. and that way will be provided
to bring 1t down to tide water is equally
certain. This vast amount of timber, tor
gether with the other resources of the
country, insures this.
The expedition having been undertaken
mainly to prospect tor groupings of coal.
we were somewhat disappointed in our
search, and also surprised, to find the for
nation 80 different from what it is at the
Skagit coal mines (the writer had some
experience in the early discovery Of the
Skagit coaD, and not at all like the for.
nation described in geology as coal beaFs
ing. The first bench seems to be resting
ON soft neutrality-suspicious. some call
it. All the benches above this are COM
posed of soft slate, highly impreguated
with plnmbago; so much so in places as
to make it glisten like coal, and be easily
mistaken for it at distance. This for
nation, revealed in all the canyons of the
creeks, continues on up at least half way
to the summit.
We brought specimens with rs, which
parties having experience in prospecting
for coal in the Puget Sound basin, and
they tell us that plumbago is a good sign,
and that such formation as often overs
lays coal as sandstone. 1t is possible the
plumbago itself would pay, as it can be
shoveled out like morter in places. Altos
gether We consider this q remarkable
country, and added to the, already ex=
plored Skagit country, including the com.
bined deltaa of the Samish and Skagit,
makes quite . little empire of itself,
richer perhaps id all the combined res
sources of material wealth than any
other like area OF territory in the known
world. And right here the question pre-
sents itself, when all this wealth is dev-
eloped, where will meet the ships Of the
qcee u? It seems tq US that our cham,
pion rownsite locators and capitalists
should bestir themselves, for if we mis.
take not, the signs of the times seem to
indicate that such place will be needed
as soon as it can be made ready.
Yours, ETC.,
PRosPECTOR.