The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1892-01-29
"REMINISCENCES OF A PIONEER.
PAPER NUMBER FIVE.


country, meaning from tile head of
tide to within three or four miles of
she coast, is the fruit ratsers' paradise,
sor such fruits as are adapt,d to our
climate, especially apples, pears, fine
varieties of plums, etc, and especially
strawberries fresh from the vine, in this
locality in the month of December,
grown in the open air. Here the
heavy fogs which lie ON the coast at
times do not prevail, and the river has
cut its way through the mountains and
eeepened the. canyon so that no harsh
winds, drifting sand, or salt air can
affect vegetation. The early settlers
who went In some twenty years since,
were generally poor men, with families,
who had not the money to improve
their places nor could they spend
great quantity Of their time in innprov-
ing their claims, as it was absolutely
necessary that they should go to the
Willamette valley|or seek the lumber
ing camps nearer the coast to obtain
employment so as to be able to feed
and clothe their families. being at
home only in the severe winter months,
when outdoor labor i'll other localities
was not to be had. Several of the
earlier settlers became disgusted with
this style of life, sold their claims,
among which were some of the best III
the valley, for nearly nothing, and
moved out to escape the isolation
forced On them if they remained.
Others, some from desire and some
from necessity, remained and held
their places. Such as were able to
hold OH until the advent Of the rail
road have reaped rich harvest, as
their lands to-day in their partly
cleared and half-tilled state, are worth
from two to ten times as much cash
money acre for acre us good, available,
cultivated farming lands i'll many sec
tions of the Willamette valley proper.
And this is not speculative value.
for the reason that the country is not
farming country but is available
principally fer gardening, fruit raising,
and pastoral pursuits. The man who
has in the section to which we allude,
twenty acres Of plowed land with 40
ACRES remaining of sparsely seeded hills
has, with the Use of a little judgment,
assure shot on IL good living for his
family, if he will stay at home most of
the time and attend strictly To his
business. There is no difficulty as to
market, for the bulk of these ranches
are within fifteen miles of the railroad
station, with an express train rnnning
TO the two great markets of the Pacific
coast twice day. Of course, like
other railroad sections, there are a
great many tracts of land divided into
town lots, but the lay of the country
Is such that the bulk of this property
rs available for immediate use and the
prices ranging on such properties are
within moderate reason. For example,
Il man can purchase nice home for
his family, i. e., two lots, 100 #. square of
ground, ON which at an expense of
about $3.50, if he does not want style,
he can erect a cottage where his family
san stay during all the heated term,
giving an absolute change Of air,
water, and surroundings highly bene-
fetal to their health, both cf mind and
body. The river in this particular
section is well developed, with good
steamboat channel free from any OBJ
structions whatever, and it is perfectly
safe at low water tor vessels drawing
soy four feet, and by taking advantage
of the tides vessels drawing two
fathoms can ascend without difficulty
Being, as l before remarked, land
locked, there is no swell, chop sea or
other difficulty in the way of ordinary
navigation, and as the wind generally
comes with the tide, the advantage for
pleasure boating is simply immense.
At the town of Toledo, twenty years
ago, there were two families living.
Immediately across the bay, one half
mile distant lived two families. To-day
there are three general merchandise
ssores,. one drug store, several real
estate offices, etc., one printing office,
one tin shop, two saw mills complete,
very fine hoteL a branch govern
ment ship yard. probably three hundred
families, living i'll the immediate vicin-
ity, all prosperous, no idle men and
great many industries too numerous
for ME to mention, and general
united opinion among the residents
that their strength lies in united effort
in any project which they attempt to
further. The majority of the people liv
ing there have bettered their condl-
.ion greatly since arriving at that place.
Ehe Siletz Indian reservation, six
miles from this town, is quite curios-
ity to many tourists and is beautiful
place, which | will try to describe at
some future date.
Coal has been discovered in many
places in this vicinity, and at present
4 strong company is opening good
lead with prospects of great auccess.
From Toledo to Yaquina the general
country fattens out, that is, the hills
are not so abrupt as further up the
river, and when person arrives at
point within three or four miles of the
coast, the average elevation is about
25O feet aboye sea level, principally
composed of a species of table or
bench lands Here lies one secret of
the strength Of the country looking to
the future. There is no rock, sterile
ground or waste land to speak of, as
81, <.,>- IS .l,oco +,I1o 1o,Je or,