The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1889-07-16
GRAYS HARBOR,
The Best Locality for Land Invest
ments OH the Pacific Coast.
Washington Territory.

/ have been asked so often since
my arrival from Washington Terri
tory, What do you think of the
country around Gray's Harbor?" l
have concluded that any infOrma-
ton that / can give will be of inter
est to your many readers, and so
embody my views in this COM
munication that every one in the
Islands may be posted on Gray's
I Harbor.
What is known as Western Wash
/ ington, is bounded on the East by
/ the Cascade Mountains, on the
/ South by the Columbia River, on
the West by the Pacific Ocean, and
on the North by the Straits of
Fuca and British Columbia, it is
about 115 by $50 miles in extent.
Gray's Harbor is about half way
between the Columbia River and
the Straits, and is the only good
harbor on that $50 miles of coast
line. Owing to the great difficulty
of getting into this magnificent
country, up to within the past year,
very few except of the most adven-
furious pioneers had made homes
there, but the men who first settled
on Gray's Harbor have held firmly
to their faith in the ultimate devel-
opment and Importance of their
wisely chosen seat of future empire.
This is the last inviting spot in
America for a numerous population
with diversified tastes, habits and
industries, and of necessity it must
soon be filled to repletion, as soon
as railroads are built, and good
steamer communications are estab-
Iished, there will be a rush of mer-
chants, mechanics, laborers, traders,
etc. In almost every town of the
northwest part of the q. S. property
has advanced to such a price that
timid people fear to invest, but in
Chehalis County surrounding Gray's
Harbor we are still ahead of "the
BOOM" which will come surely
with the advent of railroads and
good facilities for reaching the out
side world. 1t is said that Chehalis
is the best county in Washington
Territory for agriculture, mineral,
timber, fruit and stock raising.
The county embraces about two
million acres with the Pacific Ocean
reaching through Gray's Harbor to
its very center, the whole county
is drained by nine navigable rivers
and numerous creeks into Gray's
Harbor and it can almost be said
that hardly a single section is SO
situated but that it has water COM
munication with the Harbor, suffi-
cient in size to float logs down to
the saw mills The surface of the
country back of the broad valleys is
gently rolling, while the whole is
remarkably fertile when the vast
wealth of timber is cut and taken
to the mills. The climate is very
mild and heaIthful, the winters are
never cold as the great Japan cur
rent warns the waters of the har-
Dor, and the summers are never
very warm as the trade wind COM
ing directly off the ocean is cool
and invigorating. There are no
thunder storms, no cyclones, no
severe cold weather, and seldom
any snow.
The natural products are iron,
coal, stone, timber, grass, fish, and
wild fruits, in endless variety, but
as the few people living on the
harbOr have been almost all engaged
in the timber trade few of the other
resources have been developed.
The average yield of some of the
agricultural products are: hay, 3 to
4 tons to the acre; oats, so to 100
bushels to the acre; potatoes, 400 to
600 bushels to the acre; Barley, 40
to so bushels 10 the acre; while
hops yield 1000 pounds to the acre,
and small fruits, plums, prunes,
cherries, etc. are never failing and
free from all diseases: as the aver
age price of hops for the past ten
years has been 10 cents per pound.
/ believe that hop growing around
Gray's Harbor will compare favor
ably with the products of any coun-
try.
LUMBERING.
As before remarked this Gray's
Harbor basin is cut with numerous
streams, and these streams make |
the great forests easily accessible,
so that logging may be carried on
here cheaper than anywhere else in |
the lumber regions of America. |
This cheaper logging enables mill |
owners to pay a higher price for |
stumpage than those of other places,
and also to compete successfully in