The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-03-06

:
ard BoreThfes rivers are SAID 20 rise
within a storT 9szsarc4 Of each other
almost due south 0. Port Angeles This
would make these streams considerably
i0zger than they are represented on tha
maps IRE total drainage area az ra@
Qasllayu;e Is approximately 10 square
miles TIE area Of the valleys ard the
plain Is about 80 square miles. but much
Ct the hiliy country would be sxr~sss<,t
for grazing. ard probably half Of IRE
fetal area Is good for agricultural mr.
poses With fss exception o. number
cf fern rrafrses In the plain. whose total
AREA {. about eco acres. and = rcrnpara-
lively small area Of cleared lanG. the
whole country Is covered with very rae
spruce. Er and cedar timber The uovs1-
lzffon OF the country is about sc whites
and 20 Indians The latter. the QuSie-ats
tribe. OF the Chamskuan stock. are SAT-
tied At the mouth OF the Qniigayslss. in a
village called Lapasa, corruption Of la
Boucke. They ara engaged Ia fishing
whaling and sealing. and supply a good
many furs 20 THE Washington FIR Com
pany. which has station ard general
store az Lapusn. There fs no ether settle
naeut In the country. The white peouIe
are scattered on ranches. engaged In
stock raising and general farming. There
are half dozen postossices along the
trail from Ciailaru TO Lapush, ard general
stores ~ Boston. two and one-haif miles
Tyee. twenty-five miles, ard Beaver
twerty-six miles above Lapash
The river formerly ernpifei into the
.iower bay. II could then he entered By
vessels drawing ten feet. and was visited
by schooners I'm the fur trade The har-
Dor is fairly sheltered from the northwest
winds OF summer The water is Z u, a
fathons deep within 100 yards OF the
shore. IL Is however, only sheltered
slightly from the south by the reef of
rocks shown. which break the seas some
what, and IL open TO the southwest 50
that II is almost useless In winter
Its width Is three-cuarters of a mile,
and its depth about half mile The
southern point is a rocky and precguit-
Gus cape. From this cape the highland
recedes toward the interior, leaving al
most two miles Of comparatively lew
coast as far as the new mouth OF the
QuiIlayute. The northern limit of the
harbor is a group of four high rocky
islets, the largest OF which. James island
has an area OF eighteen acres. Three OF
these .isiets are within the low water line.
THE coast in this vicinity is rocky ard
dangerous. There Is no shelter 10 speak
of between Grays Harbor and Cape Flat
terry. The nearest lighthouses are De-
sfruction island, eighteen miles south and
Tattosh island. thirty-five miles north
tIn the spring OF 1876 hog jam at the
old mouth caused the river TO break
through the north end OF the sand spit
into the upper bay. This bay Is exposed
and so studded with concealed rocks thar
vessels are afraid TO enter. An Indian
named Capt. Socks owns a ten-ton sloop,
the Dart. which he occasionally takes In
and out through q tortuous channel but
no one else will attempt IL. The present
mouth Is 15o feet wide and ten to twelve
feet deep. IL Is sometimes wider and
shallower. The old course of the river
south of the present mouth. is marked by
a slough about half mile long This
has filled up TO some extent in Its upper
part. but there Is still channel ten feet
deep at low tide. Between the lower end
of this slough and QuiIiayute harbor
there Is a low sandy isthmus about $50
yards wide The inhabitants wish the
river to be returned to its former posi-
ton.
1.-THE vital question for the Quillayute
country is that OF communications. The
valley Is separated from the Strait OF
Fuca by range Of hills. a spur OF the
Olympic mountains. A trail, about forty
six miles long, leads from Clallam bay.
on the straits. 10 Lapush. Some of the
grades on this trail are very steep. and
transportation is entirely by pack horse.
A pack train leaves Ciailam for Beaver,
twenty miles. two or three times a week.
The minimum rate for this distance is so
per ton. Beyond Beaver supplies are us
ualiy obtained from Lapush at about the
same rates. The steamer Willapa makes
three trips a week between Seattle and
Neah bay, stopping at Clallam. The rate
from Seattle to ClaIlam Is S per ton.
About once in six weeks. the weather per-
hitting, the Wtllapa rounds Cape Flattery
and goes TO Quiilayute harbor. Freight
Is then taken ashore by the Indian
canoes. The rate from Seattle Is SO per
ton. 81 for the store. The Willapa could
enter the river IL the old mouth were
open. The schooner Teaser, OF Seattle,
forty-five tons burden. belonging TO the
Washington Fur Company, occasionally
visits the harbor with supplies for the
store. IL Is said that the steamer Farai-
lon, plying between San Francisco and
Seattle, will soon stop three times a
month at Clallarl. aud that she win carry
freight TO and from Seattle for 50 per ton.
Sailing vessels which carry timber from
the Clallam mill TO ASH Francisco some
times bring back supplies at 81. 80 per ton.
These high rates make living expen-
sive and export Improbable. and COM
. pletely prevent the development of the
country. The people look for relief to the
opening of the river mouth. Near the
mouth of the Quillayute Is an exception
ally fine site for a lumber mill IL there
were any means of export. The slough
Is natural receiving pocket. and the
various tributary streams aggregate 200
miles of good driving water through the
best of timber country. II vessels could
enter the river, IL Is beiiev I'd that a mill
would speedily be built. and that schoon-
ers running 10 San Francisco would bring