Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-01-31
v. B. HIBBS ON
COAST RANGE
in OREGON
WRITES INTERESTINGLY OF TRIP
rs MILES SOUTHWEST OF
PORTLAND
DEsoLATE GRANDEUR OF WIDE
STRETCH OF TIMBER BURN
ED DISTRICTS
BEAUTIFUL VALLEYS AND NOUN.
TAIN SIDES OF GREEN THE
YEAR ROUND
RUSHING TORRENTS OF WATER
| AND MOSS COVERS
| EVERYTHING

SAND VS00 SSvGn0
EVERYTHING
Editor Tribune: will drop you a
line for the waste basket. 1 have Just
returned from trip into the coast
range about seventy-five miles south
west of Portland. The route lays
over the Southern Pacific and branch
line to Sheridan in the valley of the
Yambril river; then by private con-
veyance to Williamina at the foot of
the range and up the Willamina river,
eight miles further, as far as there is
wagon road in that direction. i
found hospitable stopping place with
Mr.. Robert L. Booth, county commits
,sioner, and rancher. when it rained,
which was half the time, we sat be-
fore an oak wood fire and ate apples
and watched the fire burn; and in the
dry intervals took long tramps up the
canyons and up the steep mountain
sides. The Willamina river is g
swift-running stream, with solid rock
bottom 40 feet wide and 2 feet deep,
full of rapids and waterfalls. 1t and
its tributaries, Coast creek and East
creek, are great summer resorts for
trout fishing. Every available acre
of valley and mountain side is clear
ed off and thickly settled; the peo-
pie look on timber as nuisance, and
cut it down" SLASH" is their word
and when it gets dry they burn their
slashings and let the fire go and burn
and kill millions of feet of the big
timber.
In the great fire of 1S4S, set by the
Indians, five hundred thousand acres
of big timber was burned, from the
foot hills to the sea, and UP and down
the range as far as l could see
through the field glass, from the top
of a high peak. was dead timber, some
down, some standing with broken
off tops, of all heights up to 100 feet;
the ground was baked until all vege-
tation was killed, and all tree seeds,
so that over the whole mountains
there is no green thing, nothing but
bare ground, Iog-strewn and standing
dead trees by tens of thousands; but
it is not all so bad as that, for some
places there is grass which stays
green all winter and is fine range
for cattle winter and summer, unless
snow falls. The fire was irregular in
its course and left some patches OF
big trees, giants five six and seven
big trees, giants five, six and seven
these scattered their seeds and a
new growth started up, all sizes up tc
twenty inches; this young growth they
slash and burn to make room for grass
to grow to pasture cows and goats.
| went to a place where they were cut
! ting logs and dragging them down the
steep mountain sides with horses ant
rolling them into the shallow creek
| One place they used donkey engine
| with thousand foot cable; they built
dams above and when full open the
gates and float the logs down the
| Willamina to the mill. They get 5.
per thousand for the logs in the creek
| The mill company takes them from
i there. On Mill creek is body o
timber not burned. Here is a big mil
and they float their lumber to Sheri
dan through fiume, where it is drie
and planed and loaded on cars TO
shipment The flume is nine mile
long and built on trestles part of tn
way; one place it is seventy fee
/ above the ground. Willamina, in at
dition to it's saw mill and planin
mill, has an ak handle factory, wher
/ they turn all kinds of handles on al
tomato machines, out of the tough
| est oak in the world. And they hav
| an electric light plant run by water
<
and are building brick making plan
to make pressed and fire brick. The
| have mountain Of clay of the fines
quality.
4 The soil is reddish brown; the va
4 leys are free; and the mountains mos
ly free from stone and the soil is yer
| rich and produces fruit and vegetable
and all kinds of grain and hay i
a abundance.
II In these mountain valleys the farm
ers have free mail delivery and telt
phones in every house.
i A portion of the Willamette vale
and all of the Yamhill valley wer