The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-07-31
GRAY'S HARB0R COUNTRY.
WONDERS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON.
Magnificent and Promising Section-Soil
Observation-Disclosures Lumber Talk
The TOwns-New Industries Wanted
Railway Enterprises, Etc.

| y,
to offer the best opportunities for indus
/ try, business or investments in the west
| ern world. AS l have an extensive per-
/ sonal acquaintance in several states, many
| Of whom have learned of my whereabouts
/ through the press, l am receiving so many
letters regarding this country, its climate,
resources, and future possibilities, that 1
feel constrained to ask some of your ''val-
liable space" through which l may talk
to your readers about this part of "URcLe
Sans" domain.
have travelled in every state and terri
tory in the Union, and L consider Western
Washington, in many respects, the most
| wonderful country in America. For the
present, and in obedience to many re-
quests, l will confne my observation to
Gray's harbor, and the Gray's harbor ba-
sin, the most promising and least known
country west of the Cascades, save an I'M
| explored belt west of the Olympic range
An examination of the map of Washing
| ton territory shows the entrance to Gray's
harbor to be about forty miles north of
the mouth of the Columbia. A casual ex-
animation will show, further, that this
| body of water is really an arm OF the sea,
extending directly inland for some fifteen
miles, with a large river. the Chehalis,
| reaching on east, affording ocean-ship nav
! igation to Montesano, within about forty
miles, on direct line, from an easily ac-
cessible point on the great U. P. railroad,
the said point being but little further from
/ L 4 l.
| than from Tacoma on Puget sound.
A little closer observation will show that
| freight at Montesano is about three hun
| dred and fifty miles nearer the southern
| coast markets than freight on the lower
sound, with the saving in time of from
! two to three days, and in towage from
$500 to $500 per vessel.
The water at the mouth of the harbor
| has twenty-five feet in depth at low tide
Vessels of a thousand tons may now come
| to Montesano on the tide; the bars are
short and may be easily removed; the har
| Dor is safe from winds and waves, thus
making it the shortest, cheapest, safest
and easiest channeled to the coast cities
north of San Francisco.
But five or six years ago this Gray's
harbor country was unknown save to the
few that had settled along the fertile bot
Wishkah and the Chehalis rivers, and
who themselves were lost to civilization,
except as they appeared twice a year, at
| Olympia, whittier they went by skiff up
the Chehalis for the seasons supplies.
Some five years ago a few enterprising
| gentlemen, with experience in the lumber
business, came to test the practicability of
| the seeming advantages. They found here
| the best and most accessible timber belt
in America, fertile soil, a safe harbor, a
near cut to the sea, and water free from
| the dread toredo or other destructive ele-
ments. The present vast industries, beau
tiful towns and thrifty population of sew
eral thousand, attest the wisdom of the
| experiment.
The climate, soil and productions of this
part OF the country differ quite materially
from those of the sound. Owing to the
! proximity of the evenly tempered Pacific
on the immediate west, and the highlands
on the east, which are the southern extern
sion of the Olympic range, the atmosphere
is more damp and less variable than on
| the sound.
Practically, there is no winter here, as
understood by the people in the East. So
| little is the ground frozen that potatoes
and other root crops lie in the ground
without spelling, and often grow through
out the winter. There is little snow,
| which rarely lays on the surface more than
a day or two; ice half an inch thick is
uncommon; there are no high winds, no
lightning flashes, and but occasional rum
bles of thunder. The absence of hot, sui
try weather is as marked as that of severe
cold Nearly the same clothing for the
bed and the person is needed the year
| round.
OF course the climate has some draw
backs, as there is over much rain in the
winter and considerable fog and gloomy
weather in spring, but the summer is de-
lightful, save occasionally not enough rain.
| There are numerous springs and streams
of pure water which is as soft as falls from
the clouds, and the air is so little tainted
that flesh, fruits and vegetables retain
their freshness here longer than in almost
any other country. OF course where peo-
pie live people die, but l believe the COM
mon ills to which flesh is heir, have a
smaller hold here. Throat and lung
trouble are but little known and the damp
air from the salt water checks the grip Of
that national malady, the disgusting ca
tarrh.
The Gray's harbor basin comprises
about two thousand square miles of terri
tory and its products are timber, fruits,
hops, hay and vegetables. with abundance
of coal and iron undeveloped and but little
prospected. This is not what the people
of the Mississippi valley would regard as a
great agricultural country. Corn will not
grow here, rye and barley does but indif-
ferently and wheat, | am satisfied can
never be proftably raised anywhere in the
Grav's harbor basin. The arabic lands
consist in tide lands, some natural prai-
ries, broad, fertile bottom lands and deep,
rich clayey soils reaching far up the sides
of hills and mountains. The tide lands
are those occasionally submerged by salt
water, and usually need to be cleared of a
small but often dense growth of timber,
and improved by dyking. These lands
are mostly taken up, though little has
been done to improve them. The prairies
are also mostly taken up when surveyed
and being put under cultivation. The
bottom lands are heavily covered with
cottonwood, vine, maple, alder, small ce-
dar and spruce. These are, by far, the
best lands for agriculture and, though it
REQUIRES considerable labor and persever-
ance to clear them, ten or twenty acres
make good farm, as the soil is exceed
ingly productive. On the tide and bottom
lands hay is by far the most profitable
crop, as it yields an average of from three
to four tons per acre, and brings an aver
age of SIS per ton.
The drier portions of the bottom land,
reaching up the foot hills, are well adapted