The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-10-21

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by Nature
La Conner Mail
Among the many beautiful agrieuitura
scenes i. al the Puget sound basin. there
is none that presents q prettier view than
viii the Olympia marsh In very re.
years. When the traveller. making nts
way through the timber, bursts sIdaenss
uuoa this scene. partially surrounded ny
rocky. tinhe--c,ad hills, his first impress
sion Is that il has At one time been good
sized fresh water lake. formed perhaps ny
beaver iaras across the natural enflefs.
and - be stables the topography OF the
surrounding country he becomes I'M
pressed with the belief that at
still more distant period of oEr earth 8 his
tory thts great iakehed had been the bed OF
szitra;e. bay and that the surrounding
hills had been Tapped by the uneeaslng
ocean tides for centuries, until the COM
bined action OF tides and river currents car
rying sediment from the bills
and mountains had built Q barrier
To the westward several miles
IN extent. making this an inland marsh
The marsh having been built up ont of the
sea BY ailnyiai deposits. We next md that
ii has been covered By rank growth of
vegetation aud some timber. Is was
probably at this period that the beaver
began its work by damming up
the outlets of the marsh and backing up
water. The deposit of sediment and the
rapid Gecar of vegetation then continued
until rich black ioan bad heera formed.
varying in depth from ten inches TO ten
feet
The main body OF the marsh IS nearly
round and perhaps three or four miles
across. with one arm some two miles wide
extending several miles 10 the west,
and other small branches extending in
various directions. With all its branches
the marsh Is estimated to contain nearly
1900 acres. When first discovered the
marsh was covered by wild grass and
heavy growth of brush. Itrequired consid-
cradle grit 10 undertake to clear and drain
such a marsh, but men were found
equal TO the emergency. Considerable OF
the land being owned by non-residents and
held for merely speculative purposes placed
the actual settlers at grea, disad-
vantage, and but little progress was
made until some three or four years ago,
when sort OF an association was
formed those who had some means grub
stalking" those who were without means.
Since then the combined efforts of the
settlers have resulted in a wonderful i'm
provement in the appearance of the marsh
Two main bitches have been dug,
one leading into Larry slough and
the other into Higgins slough. The former
is probably the longest artificial ditch in
the country, being six miles long, ten feet
wide and four and one-half feet deep. The
other ditch is eleven feet wide and from
four 10 seven feet deep. Projecting
iaterally from these main bitches are
smaller ones intersecting the marsh in
every direction. A large portion of the
marsh has been slashed and considerable
OF it grubbed. The work of development
is being pushed rapidly and it
is by no means improbable that much the
larger proportion of this valuable land will
be under cultivation within two years.
The soil is capable of producing any of the
grasses, cereals, fruits or veget-
ables peculiar to this climate in the
greatest abundance and of excellent quail
ity. The settlers are now becoming able to
purchase the necessary machinery and
horses TO properly cultivate their land, and
next summer a steam thresher will appear
on the scene. Thus are the rich agricul.
turai resources of Skagit county being de-
veloped