The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1892-02-19
"REMINISCENCES OF A PIONEER.
PAPER NUMBER SEVEN,

distance of about six miles, at present.
The upper river for a distance of
about thirty miles forms first class
carrier for the products of the valley
situated in the basin at the head Of
this stream, thereby placing men of
energy within easy reach Of the San
Francisco market, without the expense
and labor of hauling out over NOUN
tains. While this section is to a great
extent still, and probably will be for
many years to come, sparsely settled,
it is very good location for any par
ties wishing to engage in stock raising
or dairying or mixed husbandry. Tn
this secJion, similar to the Yaquina
valley, and all of the valleys on the
western slope of the coast range, the
Goblin moth and other similar fruit
pests have not and will not for many
years to come, make their appearance.
The climate in these localities is much
more even, the soil more prolific, the
returns for the labor expended much
heavier than in the larger Willamette
valley, while the markets are not per-
ceptibly more distant from a financial
standpoint The Alsea valley proper
which is located near the southern
boundary of the county, midway be-
tween the Willamette river and the
Pacific ocean, was principally settled
about thirty years ago under the do
nation law, since which time the ma
iority Of the ranches have been taken
under the homestead and pre-emption
acts, principally by men of families
who went there broke, with a view of
building up home for themselves and
families. While they have not the ad
vantage of railroad, they have much
more available, tillable land easy Of
access, which counteracts the lack of
transportation facilities.
Lying directly south oe this Alsea
valley, partly in Benton and partly in
Lane counties, lies what has been
known as the Lobster and Five Rivers
countries, which for many years has
been the popular rendezvous for valley
hunters, but which during the past
five or six years has been entered upon
and settled by an actual legitimate
colony of bona fde home seekers. In
this vicinity for many years there has
been rumors of gold bearing placer
mines formerly worked by the native
Indians, and while a few erratic wan
derlng white men have attempted to
discover the location of these mineral
deposits, and have failed, 1t is still
possible, that there may be discovered
in this broken basin country, deposits
of placer worth working. AS the set
tlement has come forward, the game
has retreated into the wilds in the
neighborhood of the Table and Klicki-
tat mountains.
From the Alsea valley one crosses
the summit of the coast range, which at
this place is nearly inperceptible, into
the Willamette valley proper, finds
himself at the northern extremity of
what has been popularly known for
many years as the Long Tom. The
Long Tom river or creek, heads within
about one mile of the head springs of
the Alsea which empties into the
Pacific ocean, and Muddy creek, a
tributary of Marys river which emp
ties into the Willamette at the county
seat. TIE Long Tom then runs along
the foot hills in Lane county Il distance
of twenty-five or thirty miles, then
doubles back, running nearly parallel
with itself to Its junction with the Will
lamette river. This loop formed by
the river, has an average width of
about four or five miles. The nature
of the country is such that a great
part of the land traversed by this
stream is for great part of the year of
a swampy nature, thereby causing
great quantities of vegetation to ap-
pear at seasons of the year when the
hills and plains in other parts of the
valley are turning brown from the
summers sun. This natural effect,
makes this section of the country par
ticularly we'll adapted for stock raising
and handling. The fact of there being
no reasonable means of transportation
through this section has delayed the
settlement and improvement of what
is really one of the best sections OF the
western Willamette valley. Still those
parties who have hung on to their land,
and accumulated more, and have al
lowed their stock to grow while they
slept, h We acquired such quantities
of land, stock and money, that, though
they are not rich, enables them to live
decently, in fact luxuriously, If they are
SO disposed, with a good deal of the