Leaves of Knowledge. Elma MacGibbon
dilapidated looking old tent; he saw me stopping with my kodak and came to the door and looked in disgust at me, saying, "fire away." I smiled, thanked him, and fired, which I had certainly intended to do. I also made a pleasant trip to Aberdeen, Washington, on Grays Harbor.
Portland is a prominent railway center and terminus of several steamer lines; steamships making regular trips to the Orient and San Francisco, California, the largest city on the Pacific coast.
After spending an enjoyable time in Portland, I left for Butte, Montana, over the Northern Pacific Railway, as the courtesies and attention of the employes on that road make travelling a pleasure.
EASTERN AND SOUTHERN MONTANA
CHAPTER IV.
Eastern and Southern Montana.
After remaining in Butte a short time, I went on to Billings, Montana. Arriving there I found the thermometer 28 below zero, which seemed a little chilly to me, as I had been on the Pacific coast for the last two winters. Billings is the largest and most prosperous city in Eastern Montana. The main industries are cattle and sheep raising. I will take this place up again.
At Red Lodge are situated the great Rocky Fork coal mines, owned and operated by the Northern Pacific Railway Company.
The town of Big Timber, which has not a tree within its limits (as one would imagine there would be by its name) is the center and distributing point of an extensive stock country.
Livingston, the division headquarters of the Northern Pacific Railway, is where the branch extends to the Yellowstone National Park, a distance by rail of fifty-four miles to Gardner, the entrance to the park.
At Bozeman, my next stop, is located the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Here are the rich farms of the Gallatin valley, which are noted for their production of barley, rye and wheat. The barley makes a superior quality of malt which is used in making beer. Here are also large flour mills, and at Belgrade and still further west are the mills of Manhattan where straw is manufactured into paper. At the head of the valley is Logan, the division of the roads going either to Butte or Helena. A few miles west, on the Helena line, is the junction of the Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson rivers, commonly called the Three Forks of Lewis and Clark, the head of the Missouri river. At Whitehall a branch line extends to Twin Bridges, where the State Home for Orphans is located; and the famous Alder Gulch and Virginia City, where in the early sixties there resided over thirty thousand persons and over ninety-five millions of dollars were taken from its placer mines. At the present time Virginia City has numerous rich gold producing quartz mines, and the patriotic citizens are beginning to realize prosperity as in the days of yore. Also on the same line is Sheridan, where there are a number of valuable gold mines; the town is advancing rapidly.
At Whitehall I again take the train branching off at Sappington on the Pony and Norris branches. Pony was formerly one of the early placer mining camps and is now a thriving town, having a number of producing gold quartz mines, with large concentrators and mills. At Norris, Red Bluff and Sterling are mines and mills in active operation.
Going back to Butte, I take the Oregon Short Line to Dillon, where the State Normal School is located, and which is the largest and most prosperous city in southern Montana. Here is the center and distributing point for the Big Hole cattle country and the many surrounding mining camps. Red Rock is an important cattle shipping station and stage depot. From here the Concord stages daily arrive and depart for Salmon City, Gibbonsville and other towns of Central Idaho. Lima is a division on the Oregon Short Line Railway. From Monida stages make regular trips to the Yellowstone National Park.
As the summers are so pleasant on the Pacific coast, I then made a trip to that fashionable resort, Newport, Oregon.
THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY
CHAPTER V.
The Willamette Valley.
At Yaquina Bay, where Newport is situated, the government has expended considerable money for the improvement of the harbor, and though the place is a fine summer resort, there is no extensive shipping done. It is a most beautiful place to while away the hot summer days, with fishing, boating and bathing in the surf. Here is the terminus of the Corvallis & Eastern Railway, at the town of Yaquina, the principal offices being at Albany, where the road connects with and crosses the Southern Pacific Railway. It is picturesque to travel through the Willamette valley at this season of the year and to see the trees with their branches hanging to the ground, laden with delicious fruit, and at the hotels to see them picking fresh fruit for the tables. We Butte smoke-eaters do not get our fruit that way. Albany is supplied with a woolen mill and flour mills, an iron foundry, and is an important railway center, besides considerable shipping being done on the river. It is no dream that the citizens of Albany are the most sociable, happy, and contented people that I have had the pleasure of meeting on the continent, and the town is a paradise for any one wishing to make a life-long home.
I found very much the same conditions at Corvallis, where the State Agricultural College is located, and at Lebanon, with its large paper mills. Brownsville, near here, has woolen mills, the product from which is sold over the entire west. Harrisburg is at the head of river navigation. From here I pass Junction City, going through continuous prune farms, arriving at the university city, Eugene, an important lumbering and mining center in addition to its fruit industry. South of here is Cottage Grove, the supply point and from where is extended a branch line to the Bohemian gold mining district.
The other towns of southern Oregon are Roseburg, justly named from its abundance of flowers, and Grants Pass, in the center of a rich mining section, Medford and Jacksonville, where are many very extensive and rich fruit farms; and Ashland, the largest city in the southern part of the state, where the State Normal school is situated.
Klamath Falls and Lakeview are the inland towns of Southern Oregon. Marshfield and Coquille are shipping towns on Coos Bay, as is also the town of Tillamook on Tillamook Bay, which has large cheese factories.
On the west side of the Willamette river are McMinnville, Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Dayton and Newberg, while on the east side are Woodburn, Mt. Angel and Silverton, constituting the great hop growing localities, with Salem, the center and distributing point. Through this stretch of country are seen everywhere the buildings for the drying of hops, and during the autumn months there is a scene of continual activity for the growers, pickers, pressers and buyers, getting the hops ready for shipment to eastern markets, principally to be used by the large breweries. The soil and climate are especially adapted to the production of hops, and from the proceeds the owners receive an exceptionally good profit, about two million dollars' worth being the annual production.
Forest Grove, a college town, and Hillsboro are next visited, and then I am back to Portland, the hub of the State of Oregon.
From here I again start over the Northern Pacific Railway, making a number of stops. Tacoma, Washington, the Puget Sound terminal, I will fully describe later. At Ellensburg, one of the State Normal schools is located and this city is also a division point of the Northern Pacific Railway. From here I viewed Mt. Adams to the south, towering 12,250 feet above the sea level.
North Yakima is located in a very rich section, which produces all kinds of fruit, as well as an abundance of hops. This land is made productive by irrigation.
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