466 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



November, 



dr)' grass and ferns just east of Bridal 

 Veil, Multnomah county, and the fire 

 soon spread into the heavy timber. An 

 effort to check it was made by section 

 men. Later a larger force was em- 

 ployed and the fire was thought to be 

 under control. It did not make much 

 headway until the high wind of the 

 nth and 12th turned it into a wall of 

 flame that swept off southward to join 

 other fires, the origin of which I have 

 been unable to learn. 



Had timely measures been taken, I 

 feel satisfied that all of these fires could 

 have been extinguished before becoming 

 serious, and had there been rangers in 

 these localities it is doubtful if any fires 

 would have occurred, barring, of course, 

 such accidental ones as that set by the 

 locomotive. 



Commendable work has been done by 

 the government rangers in the forest re- 

 serves, and the absence of serious fires 

 in them should serve as an object lesson 

 to the states of Oregon and Washington. 



The checking of the fires was brought 

 about by the winds going down and 

 changing to the west, which soon 

 brought rain. Heavy rains fell through- 

 out the burned region on September 26 

 and 27, eliminating all further danger. 



OTHER FIRES IN NORTHWESTERN 

 OREGON. 



Tillamook Coiintv. For a time there 

 was great danger from the fire near Till- 

 amook. Fire started from burning of 

 slashings and burned three days be- 

 fore becoming serious. Land belonged 

 to government and lumber companies, 

 Companies owning timber here paid 

 men $4.00 per day to assist in fighting 

 the fire, a sufficient commentary on 

 the value of the timber. Damage, 

 $150,000. 



Benton Coiuitv. Fires near Corvallis. 

 Damage, $180,000. 



Lane County. Fires burned for two 

 months in the vicinity of Cedar Flat; 

 also along Mill Creek, on the McKenzie, 

 and betw^een Mapleton and Florence. 

 Origin unknown. Damage, $220,000. 



Marion County. Fire on Santiam 

 River ruined a large amount of fine 

 Douglas Spruce belonging to N. P. Ry. 



and W. V. &. C. Mil. Road Co. Origin 

 unknown. Damage, $200,000. 



Clatsop County. September 14, fire 

 on Nehalem River destroyed a large 

 amount of valuable Cedar and some 

 Douglas Spruce. Indian berry-pickers 

 blamed for leaving camp fire unextin- 

 guished. Damage, $55,000. 



Total losses in northwestern Ore- 

 gon, exclusive of Multnomah and 

 Clackamas counties. . . . l955.ooo 



Ivoss in Multnomah and Clackamas . 2,955,000 



Total for northwestern Ore- 

 gon 13,910,000 



II. THE WASHINGTON FIRES. 



In general what has been said of the 

 Oregon fires applies also to the fires in 

 Washington. The area recently burned 

 over in Washington is much more ex- 

 tensive than the burned district in Ore- 

 gon, and the timber more valuable, but 

 it is also much less convenient to ready 

 means of transportation. 



With the object of ascertaining the 

 extent of damage in different localities, 

 I hired a saddle horse in Vancouver and 

 proceeded east to the head of Da Camas 

 Creek. From there I made my way 

 northward as best I could, crossing the 

 North Fork of Lewis River, and found 

 the northern limit of the burn at the 

 headwaters of Kalama River, near Mt. 

 St. Helens. I visited the scene of great- 

 est devastation on the North Fork 

 Speleyah Creek where so many lives 

 were lost. While I w^as at La Camas 

 Creek flames were still busy on many 

 logs and fire was working into the butts 

 and roots of large trees. 



AREA OF BURNED REGION. 



It is difficult to obtain rehable infor- 

 mation concerning remote districts in 

 the mountains of Skamania and Cow- 

 litz counties, but the accompanying map 

 shows the area of the burned region in 

 Clarke county with a fair degree of 

 accuracy and approximate areas in the 

 other two counties. 



I do not vouch for the accuracy of the 

 boundary lines of the burned districts, 

 for of course I have not visited every 

 township in this extensive region. Part 



