THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 573 



hemlock ( Tsuga Pattoniana), the trees larger (occasionally 2 feet through, the Abies grandis being the largest). The 

 white pine (Pinus monticola) also frequently occurred. During the last day upon this ridge the trail was through 

 heavy timber, chiefly of hemlock sometimes 3 feet in diameter, with some Abies and rarely Pinitx Murrayana and 

 P. monticola, the ridge eveu at 7,000 feet being covered with the same dense growth. Descending quite abruptly from 

 the drier extremity of the spur, which was covered with Abies, Tsuga. and Pinus (Murrayana, albicaulis, and 

 monticola), we passed through a forest of heavy balsam (Abies grandis), with a few larch and some red fir, and at about 

 4,000 feet came upon cedar (Thuya gigantea) to the exclusion of everything else the trees from 2 to 4 feet in diameter. 

 On the stream banks at the base were found the Thuya, Pinus monticola, Abies subalpina and A. grandis, Picea 

 Engelmanni, and Txitga Mertensiana, all growing together, with an undergrowth of maple, mountain ash, Vac- 

 cinium, Ceanothus, Cratccgus, Pachystima, Primus, etc. With timber of this character upon the high ridges it is 

 evident that there must be much very heavy timber in the canons. 



"After crossing a low ridge covered with cedar, larch, and red fir, and following a narrow meadow frequently 

 interrupted by clumps of timber, the trail at length came out upon an open camass prairie 25 miles northeast of 

 Kamai. From this point the timber covering the plateau is an open growth of yellow pine and red fir, often quite 

 large, with young trees intermixed, and some Picea Engelmanni and the two Abies in the wetter places. 

 Considerable timber is cut upon the Lolo Fork and Clearwater and floated down to the mills at Lewistou. It is 

 uncertain how far south along the main range the above large variety of trees continues. It is probable, in my 

 opinion, that the Thuya, Abies grand in, Tsuga, Pinus monticola, and Taxus do not pass beyond the headwaters of 

 the Clearwater, or, at the farthest, that some of them may reach the North Fork of the Salmon river, while the 

 larch may possibly be found in the Salmon Itiver mountains. 



" At the northern extremity of the county, along the Mullan road, which from the Coeur d'A16ne mission 

 follows up the canon of the Coeur d'Alene river, instead of following the spurs, a distance of 37 miles, the swampy 

 bottoms were found heavily timbered with Thuya, red fir, Abies grandis, and Tsuga Mertensiana, with some larch 

 and Pinus monticola. Some of the drier bottoms had been burned over, and were mostly covered with Pinus 

 Murrayana. Some Populus baltsamifcra occurs, 3 feet through, or more (as also on the Montana side). The sides of 

 the ridge were also nearly bare. The Thuya, which exclusively occupies some of the swamps, attaining a large 

 size, ceases at the base of the dividing ridge, where also the Picea Engelmanni and Abies subatyina come in. The 

 range above Cceur d'Alene canon, and bounding the county on the north, is uot heavily timbered, much of its upper 

 slopes being bare. 



"Total timbered area estimated at 5,000 square miles. 



"KooTENAi COUNTY (5,530 square miles). The portion south of the Coeur d'Aleue and Spokane rivers 

 belongs mostly to the Cceur d'AltJne Indian reservation, and is timbered, with the exception of open meadows upon 

 the Co3ur d'Alene and Saint Joseph rivers and upon Hangman creek. The timber is principally yellow pine and 

 red fir, with some Pinus Murrayana, and fine bodies of cedar (Thuya gigantea) near the western borders of the lake. 

 North of the Creur d'Alene river the road from the mission to the fort passes through a cedar ( Thuya) swamp, with 

 many large trees, from 3 to 5 feet through, traversing canons filled with a mixed growth of Abies subalpina and 

 A. grandis, larch, hemlock, Picea Engelmanni, and red fir. This latter growth continues for some miles below the fort, 

 where the valley opens out into the broad Spokane plain, which extends northeastward toward Pend d'Oreille lake 

 without trees. The mountains south of the lake are low and not heavily timbered. The portion of the county 

 north of Clarke's Fork and of Pend d'Oreille lake has, so far as I know, never been explored, but is probably 

 mountainous and for the most part well timbered. 



"Estimated timber area of the county, 4,500 square miles." 



WASHINGTON. 



Washington territory west of the summit of the Cascade range is covered with the heaviest continuous belt 

 of forest growth in the United States. This forest extends over the slopes of the Cascade and Coast ranges, and 

 occupies the entire drift plain surrounding the waters of Puget sound. The highest mountain peaks and the sand- 

 dunes of the coast are treeless. The narrow valleys of -the Cowlitz and Chehalis rivers are dotted with small oaks 

 and other deciduous trees, and oaks and stunted yellow pines occupy with an open growth the barren Steilacoom 

 plain south of Puget sound; with these exceptions western Washington territory is covered with a magnificent 

 coniferous forest. The most valuable and generally distributed timber tree of this region is the red or yellow fir 

 (Pseudotsuga Douglasii), forming about seven-eighths of the forest growth. The valuable red cedar (Thuya gigantea) 

 and the hemlock (Tsuga Mertensiana), often covering extensive tracts, especially near the base of the Cascade 

 mountains, are common ; the noble tide-land spruce adds value and importance to the forests bordering the coast. 

 The forests which cover the upper ridges of the Cascade mountains are principally composed of firs (Abies amabilis 

 and A. nobilis), spruces (Picea Engelmanni), various small pines, hemlocks, etc. These elevated forests, often of 

 great beauty, are of little economic importance. 



East of the Cascade mountains the forests are less dense, and are confined to the mountain ranges. The great 

 plains watered by the Columbia and Snake rivers are entirely destitute of tree covering. 



