and and near Walker's Island, Columbia River, for pilots' use; the staffs are black, graduated to half feet, the figures 6 inches high, and the division marks are zinc. The Astoria sheets were partly read and tabulated. It is expected to complete this and to study the observations in connection with a series obtained at Yaquina Bay. The amount estimated as of profitable expenditure is for the year's application of the project. APPROPRIATIONS. Act August 2, 1862, gauging waters of the Columbia River from Astoria to the bar Act July 5, 184, gauging waters of the Columbia River and principal tributaries. $500 00 1,000 00 1,500 00 Money statement. July 1, 1884, amount available... Amount appropriated by act approved July 5, 1884. July 1, 1885, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1884.. July 1, 1885, amount available..... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1887 harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. $0 19 1,000 00 1,000 19 789 95 210 24 5,000 00 SS 9. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF THE ENTRANCE TO NEHALEM BAY AND RIVER. OREGON. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Portland, Oreg., October 22, 1884. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of a preliminary examination of the entrance to Nehalem Bay and River. The entrance to Nehalem Bay, as the mouth of the river is sometimes called, is on the Oregon coast, 39 miles south of the mouth of the Columbia River and 6 miles north of the entrance to Tillamook Bay. The Nehalem Bay has an area of about 13 square miles. It is connected with the ocean by a narrow channel 23 miles in length, with a width varying from nearly one-half mile at its upper end to less than one-quarter of a mile near its sea end. The course of the channel, which is really the mouth of the river, is south. The bay lies east and west, while the channel runs south, close and parallel to the ocean, from which it is separated by a narrow peninsula of barren sand. Passing from this arm into the sea, the river parts into three small outlets. The main one continues in the general southerly course for three fourths of a mile, at first nearly parallel to the beach, and then turning gradually to the ocean. Assistant Engineer Eastwick, who made the examination, was not able to procure any facilities for getting on the bar when he was at the bay, and was obliged to content himself with a view of the bar from shore. This was done at low water from the sand-spit of the peninsula. It was also learned, on good information, that the bar is of shifting sand, without rocks. Apparently there is no rock formation on the immediate coast between points about 6 miles above and below the entrance. As far as known no vessel has ever crossed the bar. A survey of the entrance to the river was made by the Coast Survey in 1868. The map of this, not published, on a scale of 000 shows the curve of 2 fathoms depth at low water from the inside; exterior are depths of 7, 8, and 11 feet, and beyond breakers are noted from shore to shore. On the inside the channel, as shown on the map, of 2 fathoms or more in depth, leading to the river, is from 100 to 200 yards in width. About midway between the ends of the channel the 2-fathoms curves are separated for a length of one-fourth of a mile, on which are only 10 and 11 feet depths. At other places in the channel are 4 and 5 fathom soundings. At its head, where the channel joins the bay, or properly speaking a wide reach of the river, a 9 feet curve only can be traced to the limit of the survey, about three-fourths of a mile beyond the head. Mr. Eastwick reports that his soundings in the bay gave a minimum depth of 10 feet at low water, with no considerable extent of deeper water. He further notes that at extreme low water an extensive sand bar is exposed in the middle of the bay, and that tidal currents of 6 to 7 miles per hour flow through the narrow channel connecting the bay and ocean. His soundings in the channel agree with those on the Coast Survey map. The bottom is sand and mud, except on the shore opposite the lower end of the peninsula, where a small ledge of rock is shown. A second Coast Survey map, 1875, scale of 1000 I believe, also not yet published, shows 6 feet curves of depth extending from shore to shore at the sea bar, and breakers are marked over its whole extent. The least distance between the outer and inner 1-fathom curves is about 225 feet. The soundings are not given on the map; probably there is less than 6 feet in the bar channel. The map includes the wide reach of river near its mouth, one called the bay. It shows a channel near the south shore and a cut-off around a sand-bank, both of equal or lesɛ width, to the narrow arm connecting this reach with the sea. An extensive mud flat, bare at low water, is marked on the north side of the reach. An engineer survey of the mouth of the Nehalem River was contemplated in the act of March 3, 1875. A report recommending, for reasons stated, the postponement of the survey, is given in a letter of the Secretary of War, Senate Ex. Doc. No. 42, Forty-fourth Congress, first session. It appears from this report that the people of the Nehalem vicinity desired an official chart of the sea entrance, "showing course or courses of the channel, its breadth, and the depth of the water therein at high and low water, also the depth and character of the water on each side of the channel, and that such chart shall embrace the waters contiguous to the entrance outside and inside, as far as is customary for the Government to make such surveys and maps;" and that the chart was wanted so that mariners and others who may wish to visit the river can have the necessary information; in other words, a chart for sailing purposes, instead of an examination with a view to a navigation im provement. It further appears that the postponement of the examination was made in expectation that the required information would be duly sup plied in the course of the progress of the Coast Survey. Enough is known of the Nehalem bar to conclude that it is too shoal for easy crossings by the smaller class of coasters. Works of contraction would probably give a channel of required depth and stability for these vessels. But it does not appear to me that the least cost of improvement works is warranted by the traffic of the region in its present state of development. I have to report, therefore, that the entrance to Nehalem Bay and River is not now worthy of improvement. An extract of a report of an examination of the lower Nehalem region by Assistant Engineer Eastwick is appended, and also a description of a late trip down the Nehalem River by Mr. J. L. Barnard, esq., of Portland, Oregon, who is interested in a project to establish a saw-mill on Nehalem Bay, and who made the trip to examine the timber of the country. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, The CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. A. CHAS. F. POWELL, REPORT OF MR. PHILIP G. EASTWICK, ASSISTANT ENGINEER. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the examination of the lower part of the Nehalem River and the entrance thereto, made in compliance with your instructions: The entire valley of the Nehalem and of its tributaries is inclosed by mountain slopes, at the basis of which generally are to be found areas of varying width of bench or bottom land, some of which is occupied by settlers. Where the river passes through the coast-range the valley is narrowed by the hills coming close to the river, thus separating the upper and lower settled districts. This confined reach of the river is estimated to be about 20 miles in length. Through it there are no facilities for travel except that afforded by a rude trail over which horses can be taken with difficulty. The upper district is accessible from Saint Helen's, Westport, and Astoria, on the Columbia River, and from Forest Grove, on the Oregon and California Railroad, by roads and trails over the intervening mountains. The lower district is only accessible at present from the north by means of two trails from Seaside, on the south end of Clatsop Beach, and from Tillamook Bay, on the south, by the ocean beach. Wherever the trails leave the beach they enter the mountains, where they are steep and very undulating, passing over high elevations, and during the rainy season are almost impassible by horsemen. My personal examination extended only to that part of the lower district in the immediate vicinity of Nehalem Bay and the entrance to it from the ocean. In the lower district there are at present forty-one families and an aggregate population of about 150. The industries followed are farming on a limited scale, cattle raising, and butter-making. The expense of getting products to market is such as to limit the production of the country. During the season just closed there have been sent out from the district 10,000 to 12,000 pounds of butter in kegs and 300 head of cattle. The butter has been taken to Tillamook Bay by teams on the sand-beach, and thence by boat to the steamboat landing at Hobsonville. The cattle were driven out over the trail to Seaside, and thence to Astoria. This district is capable of supporting a largely increased population whenever more convenient channels to market are opened. The tidal compartment of the river traverses a flat valley of bottom land and tidemarsh varying in width from one-fourth mile to one and one-half miles. But a small part of the available agricultural land is at present cleared and under cultivation. The flanking hills are generally quite precipitous, and, with the exception of an occasional bald area, are generally heavily timbered. To the north of Nehalem Bay, as far as the foot of Necarney Mountain, which is about 3 miles distant, the country is hilly and the soil sandy; a large extent of this is prairie land, and used principally for grazing. Necarney Mountain is a very high ridge with very precipitous slopes extending inland from the ocean. The western and southern slopes are barren of trees. Around the flank of the mountain the trail to Seaside passes, reaching a maximum elevation of about 850 feet above the sea. This ridge terminates on the ocean in a high vertical bluff. On the south side of the bay the slopes of the hills terminate close to the water. The hills are steep and high and heavily covered with timber. This continues down the left bank of the channel, connecting the bay with the ocean. To the west of Nehalem Bay lies a heavily rolling, barren, sandy plateau. To the south of this plateau extends the low, sandy peninsula over 2 miles long, separating the lower arm of the bay from the Pacific Ocean. This peninsula is bare of soil or vegetation. On the uplands adjoining the upper part of the river are found large areas of land heavily timbered with fir and some hemlock, and on the lower lands and bottoms spruce, alder, and cedar of excellent quality is found. The first run of salmon enters the river in July and continues until the close of September. This fish is an excellent one for canning or salting, and averages 30 pounds in weight. The second run commences at the close of the first run and continues from six weeks to two months. They are known as the "silversides," are very plentiful, and weigh from 12 to 15 pounds. They are valuable chiefly for salting. The third run, known as the "chum salmon," is an inferior fish, not suitable for canning, but can be used for salting and for the oil they yield. They commence to run in November and continue all winter. Lignite coal of good quality has been discovered in the mountains adjacent to the Lower Nehalem district; but little is yet known of the value or extent of the coal fields. It is also reported that limestone in considerable quantity is found in this district. For some years past a number of parties have had their attention called to this river with a view to the establishment of saw-mills and fisheries, but have been deterred from investing in these enterprises for want of reliable information as to the bar at the entrance. Eight or nine miles up the coast from Garabaldi, in Tillamook County, there empties into the Pacific Ocean a beautiful river called the Nehalem, draining the country for more than 100 miles in length, running through three counties, and very circuitous in its course, as one can imagine when they learn that the source is only about 15 miles distant from its mouth. On this river are three settlements. Leaving Portland, and proceeding down the river Columbia as far as Saint Helens, we found a wagon-road 25 miles in length, which brought us to Browse's Mill, about 100 miles from the mouth of the Nehalem River. This is called the upper settlement, and has a population of one or two hundred people who have taken up farms along the river. Here we built a boat, 24 feet long and 3 feet wide, and procuring some pitch from a tree near at hand, boiled it down and made the bottom water-tight. Securing the services of two men, both of them being raftsmen, with the surveyor of Nehalem, we proceeded to make the first trip ever made by white men from the upper Nehalem to the ocean, and on our way passed beautiful timber of fir, spruce, hemlock, and cedar, and occasionally clearings where the settlers were making homes for themselves. On the second day we came to the middle settlement, where the three Fish Hawk Rivers empty into the Nehalem. Here we found some good farming lands. On the morning of the third day, as we were paddling down the river, we landed on the right bank in search of game, and scarcely had the first man landed before we heard the crack of a rifle, repeated time and again, and looking down the river we could see a band of elk, about thirty in number, trotting through the brush along the river bank. From this point we soon passed the military trail cut from Forest Grove to Asturia, which was formerly used, but now abandoned. Here the cedar timber belt commences, the best of which is found high up on the mountain sides. The banks of the river are abrupt and rocky, the mountains in many places coming down to the river banks, down which the timber can be easily rolled into the river. From the middle settlement to the commencement of the lower settlement, which is about 15 or 20 miles from the mouth of the river, the country is an unsurveyed wil derness of timber, not a person to be seen except an occasional hunter or trapper. Here we met two Indians making a fish-trap to catch salmon, who, speaking to me in Chinook, asked where we came from. When I answered from the upper Nehalem, they said, "You never came down in that boat." They wouldn't believe it, as only canoes had ever come over the falls. On the fourth day, in the afternoon, tired and hungry, we found a comfortable house close to the river, occupied by Alfred Deane and his good wife, who entertained us hospitably. Half a mile from this place a bend in the river brought us into the Nehalem River, at the junction of the North and South Forks, a beautiful stream, 600 feet wide and quite deep. We were now in the lower settlement, among the hill farms and tide lands, for this is practically a stock-raising and dairying section of country, with immense tracts of timber, at this point chiefly spruce, hemlock, and fir, with some cedar. Game is very abundant-elk, bear, panthers, &c. The river is full of immense salmon in August and September, averaging 35 pounds, and one caught while I was there weighed 85 pounds. There are no roads in this section of the country; every one is dependent upon boats or canoes. There is, however, one very steep, narrow, miserable trail over to Clatsop, traveled principally by the mail-carrier and occasionally by footmen. The houses are built of logs covered with shakes. The occupation of the people is hunting, fishing, trapping, and dairying; about one hundred inhabitants, and more settlers constantly arriving. School districts, two; no church edifice, but occasional preaching-very rarely. As soon as communication with the outside world is opened great changes will take place in these respects, and a better class of settlers avail themselves of the rich soil unoccupied and a very beautiful climate close by the sea. Four miles from this settlement the river widens into a bay, and there we find a beautiful mill-site, with timber to the water's edge, and water 30 feet deep 18 feet from the shore. The object had in view in taking this trip was to personally ascertain some knowledge of the resources of this country drained by the Nehalem River, and we paid particnlar attention to the bed of the river and its banks, for logging purposes. I found only one piece of slab-wood lodged in the bed of the river from Browse's Mill to tide-water, with one lodgment of drift-wood on top of a rock about 20 feet high in the middle of the river, left there during some freshet, showing that it is a beautiful stream to run logs down, for 100 miles or more, to tide-water, furnishing an almost inexhaustible supply of timber. There are deposits of coal 3 miles from tide-water. With an expenditure of a little energy and money this would be a splendid dairy section, being on the coast. From the tide lands immense quantities of hay and grain could be produced, but before they can be utilized the bar at the mouth of the river should be surveyed and buoyed, as there is plenty of water to admit vessels drawing 16 feet. The channel is narrow but deep; the bar, nine months in the year, comparatively smooth, not being as rough as the Tillamook Bar. J. L. BARNARD. SS 10. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF OLYMPIA HARBOR, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Portland, Oreg., October 28, 1884. SIR: I have the honor to forward the appended report of Assistant Engineer P. G. Eastwick, on a preliminary examination of Olympia Harbor, Washington Territory. I am informed about this harbor, and I concur in Mr. Eastwick's report that it is worthy of improvement. The following estimate of cost for a survey is submitted: |