The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1890-02-28
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Investors.

Benton county has an area of about twelve
hundred square miles, and extends through
from the Willamette river to the Pacific ocean.
The coast mountains traverse the county north
and south through the middle, thus giving it
widely diversified characteristics. On the
western slope there are number of small
valleys that are considerably improved. Chief
among these is the Alsea valley. in tile south
western part of the county, which is iiort
fifteen miles long and four miles wide, and IS
we'll adapted to general farming. fruit growing,
dairying and stock raising There are located
in this valley two grst mills two salmon cam
neries and several small lumber and shingle
mills. Coasting vessels ascend the river a
number of miles and ply lucrative trade.
The Yaquina valley, further north, Is similar
country, and it has the advantage of being on
the raiiroad which runs down the valley to
the bay. Yaquina is a town of about four
hundred inhabitants, situated on the bay of
tho same name at the mouth of the liver, and
its shipping facilities as the terminus OF the
Oregon Pacific railway on tide water make it
an important place. 1t has the hest harbor
on the coast between San Francisco and the
Columbia river, and the nearest ha, bor to the
Willamette river. The government is i'm
proving this harhor to meet the growing de-
mands of commerce. The railway company
has line of steamers plying between Yaquina
and San Francisco, and coasting vessels 40
more or less business there. The only bank III
the county outside of Corvallis IS located there.
A few miles down the bench is the Seal Rock
summer resort, which is wei patronized every
season and is rapidly gaining in popularity.
Newport is incorporated town about the
same size as Yaquina. It is a few miles nearer
the ocean and is quite widely known as a sum-
mer resort The Siletz Indian reservation
takes in small portion of the northeastern
part of the county. The western slope OF
Benton county is not so well settled as that
portion in the Willamette valley, but it con-
tains many choice tracts of farming land and
vast forests of valuable timber.
In the Willamette valley portion of the
county there several sub valleys. separated
by low hills that are not too rough for cult.
walton. In the Lorthern part OF the county
are Blodgets aud Kings valleys, drained hy
the Luckia,nute river. The Kings valley
settlement is the larger of the two, and iu-
cludes considerable of weli-developed
country. The -Marys river valley is the
largest in the county and comprises the
country about Corvallis and extending west.
ward into the mountains fifteen or twenty
miles distant. Then the Long Tom country
occupies an important portion of the south
eastern corner OF the county. All these small
valleys merely portions of the rich William.
cite valley, the divisions between them being
somewhat imperfectly defined watersheds
trendiug from the mountains to the river.
On the Willamette slope the forests decrease
as the river is approached. The mountains
are. for the most part, heavily timhered with
white fir, cellar and yew, and down the slopes
are maple, ash, oak, alder and balm. Nearly
all localities of medium altitude bear light
growth Of oak and maple. All tie creek
bottoms have ash, alder and balm. This entire
list of wood is suitable for manufacturing
purposes, such as lumber, furniture, wooden
ware, etc.
Benton county has by no means reached
state of full development. Its agricultural
resources, which are chief, are susceptible o.
great growth, and it needs many more peopl.
than it row has to till the soil. The land il
very productive. No section of The west ex
cells this county in the abundance and variety
of its farm products. The climate is mild ant
healthful, with the same pleasant features that
characterize the climate of the Willamette
valley in general. The summers dry AID
moist aud extremes of temperature un
II, 8 n,
the mountains is little more moist than in the
valley, and Vegetation is green there the entire
year. Sometimes there is snow in the valley
for a very brief time in winter. During nearly
half century that Benton county has beer
cultivated there has not been single failure o
crops and the ordinary yields proverbially
large. All the common grains, vegetables ano
fruits are raised, and even the more sensitive
grapes and peaches are successfully grown
The fruit interests could easily he quadl upltC
by the establishment of curing facilities
There are large quantities of cultivable lane
still unoccupied on 10th sides of the mountains
but the western slope has fewer settlers thai
the eastern, because it is a newer section ano
has not the modern conveniences of the valley
For grazing purposes, the foothills of tn.
mount tains contain the choicest lands; but fo
cultivation the more level surface down in tn,
valley is preferred, and such farms may be oil,
tanned in good l,,catiOns near market for from
$3.50 to $1,000 per acre. Improved farms, o
course, cost more than the wild lands. Man,
of the land holders now own hundreds o
acres more than they can use, and they ar
now manifesting desire to cut up these larg
tracts and dispose of the surplus land to immi
pr, ,nts seeking homes in the west. This sec
tion has superior attractions for home seekers
and it is that class of people more than. any
other that is becoming interested III Benton