[Sidenote: Vast vegetation.]
Here the two sides of the Cascade Mountains must again, as under other
heads, be considered separately. The natural vegetation of the west side
is vast rather than varied. Wherever the sun touches the ground, one may
expect to see grass; chiefly white clover and green sward, which seem to
be indigenous to the country. There are, of course, many herbs and
shrubs which need not be mentioned in a report like this. The ferns of
the Snoqualmie bottoms, for size, remind one of the tree ferns of the
carboniferous period, though, of course, not so large. Many of them
were seven feet high, which is five feet higher than I ever saw
elsewhere. The Sal-al is a low shrub, almost herbaceous, and
semi-procumbent, of brown foliage, bearing a berry and belonging to the
wintergreen family, though much larger than the wintergreen of the
Alleghenies. The Sal-al abounds on the little prairie which bears its
name. The mosses are most abundant and luxuriant in the deep, moist
shades of the evergreen forests, and I noticed that the Cayuse ponies
fed upon them as eagerly as reindeer upon the Iceland mosses.
[Sidenote: Deciduous trees.]
Deciduous trees are rare, but not wholly wanting. The cottonwood grows
to rather extra size. The alder, which is only a large bush in the
Alleghenies, here becomes a tree, perhaps thirty feet high. I saw some
small maples. It is said that there are groves of oak and maple of
sufficient size to cut for lumber.
[Illustration: A VIEW OF THE FOREST ON THE LINE OF THE SEATTLE, LAKE
SHORE AND EASTERN RAILWAY.]
[Sidenote: Larch.]
The Larch (tamarack) is interspersed among the evergreens on the Cascade
Mountains, and attains good size. The American larch is rather more
slender in habit than the European variety, but it has a heavy,
close-grained wood, and is regarded as specially suited for railroad
ties--an important point in this country. It is also reported to make
durable fence-posts and ground sills. In Europe its bark is valued for
tanning next to oak bark, and the two are used together. The Venice
turpentine comes from the resinous sap of the larch. The older trees are
better than the younger ones for durability. But with regard to this
class of trees, results depend much on incidental circumstances. Larch
is one of the woods used in Europe for making gas. These are the only
deciduous trees I know of in Washington Territory, except fruit trees.
[Sidenote: Extraordinary evergreen forests.]
Evergreens constitute the bulk of the great forests, and I shall name
these in the order of their importance: Douglas (or red) fir, white
cedar, hemlock spruce, white pine, balsam (or white) fir and yew.
[Sidenote: Douglas fir, or Oregon pine.]
[Sidenote: The best of ship timber.]
The Douglas Fir constitutes the greater part of the forests, but not so
large a proportion as seven-eighths, as stated in the Census report, but
more than one-third, which is the proportion given in Hough's Forestry
Report. The wood of this tree is yellow when young, and hence some
persons make two varieties out of the same tree. When older, it becomes
an orange color, but not red like the heart of the sweet gum and red
cedar. It is, however, usually called the red fir. The tree yields a
clear yellow resin, which is not at present collected. Its timber is of
the best quality, greatly superior to that of the fir tribe generally,
probably superior to that of any other fir-tree in the world. The firs
shade into each other by an almost insensible gradation, and are much
modified by soil and climate, and names have been multiplied
unnecessarily. The fir, like the larch, must be studied in each locality
in order to determine its value. The firs of Sweden and Norway make good
masts and spars, and soft, light boards; but the boards are apt to split
and are not strong enough for ship-work. But the timber of the Douglas
fir is heavy, strong and firm, and well suited to ship-building, as has
been abundantly demonstrated on Puget Sound. For all ordinary building
purposes this timber has a world-wide reputation. It is often called the
"Oregon Pine." Its growth as a tree is luxuriant on good soil, and often
gigantic. I saw many single specimens which I estimated at 300 feet in
height and 10 to 12 feet in diameter. When disconnected, they have the
usual conical shape of the firs, with limbs branching from the ground,
but it is rare to see such specimens in Washington Territory, as the
forests are so dense there is no room for limbs, except near the top.
The trunks stand as straight and regular as posts set with a plumb-line.
This crowding often prevents the full development of the trunk also,
except on the most moist and fertile lands. The absence of lower
branches insures a great length of lumber free from knots.
[Sidenote: White cedar.]
[Sidenote: Beautiful house lumber.]
The White Cedar is a variety of the well-known arbor vitæ of the Eastern
States, but there is a wonderful difference in the size and habits of
the tree on the two sides of the Continent. On the Atlantic side it may,
under very favorable circumstances, reach fifty feet in height, but
usually it is dwarfish and crooked. But in Washington Territory the
white cedar is the peer of the Douglas fir, and its largest specimens
perhaps exceed the latter somewhat in diameter. It is also next in
abundance and value. Its wood is soft, light and cream-colored. It
splits with remarkable ease and regularity, so that the pioneer with axe
and frow can prepare all the timbers needed for his house. For shingles
it is fully equal to its congener, the cypress; and for house-facings
and some kinds of furniture it is the favorite wood.
[Sidenote: Hemlock spruce.]
[Sidenote: Tanners wanted.]
Hemlock Spruce is not so abundant, but it constitutes a noticeable
element in the Snoqualmie Valley forests. It seems to be exactly the
same tree which so abounds in our Eastern and Northern Lake States, and
is common in the moist valleys all along the Appalachian Mountains. It
is called hemlock in the Northern States, and spruce in the Southern.
Its wood, though unsuited for many purposes, is largely used in the
North for the frames of cheap buildings and also for fencing-plank, and
its bark is in great demand for tanning, especially for making the red
sole leather. It is also used for tanning upper leather and calf-skins,
though its light leather is not so good as that made from the oak barks.
The hemlock bark has not been considered quite equal to the chestnut-oak
(or rock oak) bark for any tanning purposes, but in Virginia the price
is usually the same. It certainly makes good sole leather. The logger in
Washington Territory neglects this tree, and there are no tanneries yet
to call for it, but this will soon be changed, and the hemlock will take
its position, not only as the most beautiful of the evergreens, but as
among the most useful. This tree does not attain as great size as the
two above mentioned, but I observed many specimens ranging from four to
five feet in diameter.
[Sidenote: White pine.]
The general character of the White Pine is well known. I saw but a few
of them, and they not specially good. I doubt whether this tree forms an
important feature in these forests.
[Sidenote: Balsam fir.]
[Sidenote: Large supply of Canada Balsam.]
The Balsam (or White) Fir abounds on the higher slopes of the Cascade
Mountains, and it is so balsamic that it will receive attention from
the collectors of "Canada Balsam," which is becoming increasingly
popular for many purposes, especially in mounting specimens for the
microscope. Such forests as lie near the Snoqualmie Pass will not long
remain unnoticed. The wood is white and easily worked, but the trees do
not rank in size or value with those previously mentioned.
[Sidenote: The yew.]
The Yew is found sparingly on the mountain heights; but, though
interesting, it seems to have no economic value.
[Sidenote: The superior timber of Snoqualmie Valley.]
As to the extent of these evergreen forests, they may be said to cover
West Washington with almost unbroken continuity, though they vary in
density and the size of the trees, some tracts containing little or no
mill-timber. In my travels, which were, of course, quite limited, I saw
no forests which answered the usual unqualified descriptions, except in
the Snoqualmie Valley, and here they far exceeded my expectation, as
will be shown in the detailed description, given hereafter, of the
country lying along the line of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern
Railway. The finest forests lie between Puget Sound and the crest of the
Cascade Mountains, though even in this area there are variations. And
after all the chopping and sawing--of which more will be told
later--the forests as yet show but little diminution.
East of the Cascade Range the forests are smaller, and confined to the
mountain sides. There are some narrow belts of pine along the northern
edge of the Great Plain of the Columbia, which furnish a little lumber
for local uses; but these will soon be worked out. The mountain rim
lying along the Canada line is said to be covered with forest, some of
it heavy. The Douglas Fir, the Yellow Pine, the White Pine, and the
Larch are all to be found there. There are also skirts of the same
timber along the Spokane River. And, at wide intervals, there are strips
and bunches of scrubby yellow pine on the Great Plain, which is,
however, generally treeless.
The spurs and ridges of the Blue Mountains are thinly covered with small
pines and larches. There are some areas of mill-timber on the east and
southeast flanks of the Cascade Mountains.
[Sidenote: Range for horses and cattle.]
The flora of the great plateau presents a strange appearance to the
traveler. The vegetation is short and scanty, the chief growth being the
"sage-brush," a dwarfish, dead-looking shrub, with a hard, crooked stem,
of no value as forage, but which is sometimes used for fuel when
nothing else is to be had. There are said to be some medicinal, and also
some edible, plants; but the only thing of any value is the dry, thin,
short, bunch grass which furnishes a fattening food for horses and
cattle; though many acres are required to support an animal, and close
grazing is rapidly destroying this resource. Indeed, the tract is so
barren and desert-like in appearance that in the geographies of my
boyhood it was put down as a part of the Great American Desert. And yet,
as will be seen hereafter, this is probably the most productive upland
in America.