May 30, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
who, during the boom, built and improved on borrowed 
money— borrowed at from 1 to 2% per month, to pay me- 
chanics and builders $5 or $6 a day; but the mortgagees 
did not get off unscathed. The bank in which they de- 
posited failed, and then came even harder hard times. 
Among the crowd were, as is usual in such adventures, 
many bad characters, genuine beach combers, thieves 
and rogues; but fortunately there was also a much larger 
proportion of respectable people, among them and prom- 
inently so the body of soldiers retired on pensions. 
The town survived, but it had a lively season that year. 
The Government reserve encircled the town with a chok- 
ing grasp and penetrated its very best locations. The 
people could not "spread themselves," th y were far from 
homes, no money to get back or buy necessaries, no ground 
to till. They came for homes, and they wanted them, 
thev couldn't get them, and they grew desperate. 
Meetings were held, and differing in all else, in one 
thing they were nearly unanimous: the reserve must be 
tumped, and jumped it was in a quiet, orderly manner. 
Rules and regulations had been established, and among 
them was this: "Each bona fide settler shall be entitled to 
preempt two lots, each of 140 X 100ft. and no more, a 
house must be erected and 'improvements begun at once.' " 
At the early dawn of jump day the wilderness was in- 
vaded by men, women and children armed with axes, 
saws, hatchets and knives, the great trees were attacked 
and fell. The underbrush was cut and burned, the forest 
for a very large space disappeared, hundreds of little log 
cabins, "proving-up" cabins, sprung into existence; gar- 
dens, stump-trimmed and burct-log ornamented, were 
hands, lately recruited, the opportunities and advan- 
tages presented by Port Angeles and its environments 
were too valuable to lose, and I resolved to stay at least a 
month to utilize them to the Utmost. 
Shortly after arrival those among its hospitable inhab- 
itants who became acquainted with my idiosyncracies in- 
cluded among the many hospitalities of receptions, balls, 
dinners, etc. , invitations for a trip to the foothills of the 
Olympian, not far away, where hidden among the 
mountains were lakes and streams where I was assured 
there existed, anxious to be caught, more and larger trout 
than any other place in the world could furnish, or if I 
preferred hunting, deer, bears and grouse were within easy 
distance; if I chose to go further, a day's journey, I could 
take my pick from an elk band. 
The first-named invitations chimed in with my wishes, 
and although I had my doubts as to facts sustaining the 
stories, I decided to take advantage of the first opportu- 
nity and go a-fishinsc, which I did, and for once in my 
life the results of a fishing trip exceeded my anticipations, 
so much so that, as I said on the start, the climax of my 
career as a trout fisherman was reached, that is to say I 
caught more big trout than I had done in my combined 
catches of many years, and I caught several of the biggest 
trout I ever saw, and I feel quite confident that I caught 
new and hitherto undescribed varieties, one in particular, 
the blue-back. But there is one drawback to my perfect 
success, not one of these trout was caught with a fly, and 
there are enthusiastic anglers to whom catching a trout 
by trolling would be in their letters about it beneath their 
dignity. To a certain extent I am with them. Could I 
LAKE CRESCENT PYRAMID MOUNTAIN IN FOREGROUND, STORM KING IN BACKGROUND. 
fenced in, and a town had bpen born to which the good 
and the bad had contributed; but when the excitement 
was over, when the people had Bettled down in their long- 
hoped and hard-worked-for homes, then came a trouble 
which as brooded on grew. Tbey did not own their 
homes, they were simply trespassers and squatters, at the 
mercy of the Government they had defied. 
Led by prominent and public-spirited citizens, among 
whom was Mr. M. J. Carrington, a gentleman who will 
appear later in this paper in another role; the Hon. John 
L Wilson, at the time member of Congress for the dis- 
trict, and others, they appealed to Congress for relief, 
begging of it that the land should be sold to them. 
Mr. Wilson, himself a soldier who had fought in the same 
cause, took great interest in the matter, upon which the 
fate of many old, wounded, sick and worn-out soldiers 
depended, and through the efforts of these co-workers 
Congress at last authorized a sale, and in January, 1894, 
over 3,000 acres were sold, the Government reserving still 
a portion, including the spit and lighthouse point. 
At this sale preference was given to those who had al- 
ready taken possession of lots and improved them, and 
this preference agreed with the sentiments of the com- 
munity. No speculator bid against the widow or cripple, 
and the whole affair was most amicably adjusted — that 
is, up to a certain point. There was one difficulty not 
easily tided over. 
The terms of the sale were cash. Cash was scarce; the 
national bank had or rather had had nearly all of the 
hard-earned savings of the settlers on deposit; it sus- 
1>ended payment. In some way, many ways, however, a 
arge portion of the money was raised; some benevolent 
capitalists furnished money at moderate rates; others not 
so benevolent did the same at high rates, 1 to 2 per cent, 
a month with bonus. These latter now own a goodly pro- 
portion of the claims and the abandoned cabins, which 
having got cheap, they can help further development, if 
they will, by low rents and prices. 
The plucky Angels were rewarded for their work, the 
town has for several years grown healthily and steadily, 
and such industries as shingle making, sawmills, salmon 
canning, etc., etc., are being pushed, and others are in 
contemplation. 
For many of the facts and figures foregoing I am in- 
debted to Capt. Thomas H. Bradley, CT. S. Army, retired, 
who has made his home in Port AngeleB, his business and 
pleasure to advance intelligently its interests. 
Most of the dwellings of Port Angeles, those of the 
better class, are situated on the bluff and along its face; 
back of these, covering many acres, are the proving-up 
cabins, a view of which is here given. 
Most of the business houses are along the beach, which 
at narrow places and across low-tide flats is supplemented 
by platforms on piles, and there are many square miles of 
this plank foundation. 
Communication between the beach and bluff is made by 
one long easy grade plank wagon road, running along 
the face of the bluff at the east, and a steep narrow 
wagon road at the west, and a number of almost perpen- 
dicular trails and stairways for pedestrians up the face of 
the bluff; these I found tolerably shortcuts coming down, 
mighty long ones when going up. 
My first visit to Port Angeles was made on Oct. 2, 1895. 
Owing to her long service in places in the tropics, notably 
Honolulu j where opportunities for drill exercise and train- 
ing of a ship's company are very limited, and to the 
presence among the men of a large number of green 
have caught these trout on flies I should have done so, 
but I couldn't and I didn't. It was too late in the season 
for such flies as we had with ub, possibly for any. Efforts 
were made, but the fish with very few exceptions, and 
they small ones, failed to respond, so our catch was by 
trolling. 
It was three weeks before I could spare myself the time 
for an outing, but at last, on the morning of Oct. 21, Mr. 
Charles Mallette, the Mayor, drove to the wharf, and 
meeting my boat took me into his wagon with my two 
companions, Lieut. Gorgas and Dr. Smith, both good 
companions and adepts with a gun, neither an expert on 
angrlingr. 
Mr. Mallette's team was his own and a good one, accus- 
tomed to mountain roads, but it was hitched to a two- 
seated vehicle procured from a Port Angeles livery stable 
company, and the wagon, proved to be a terror, a 
"holy terror" before we got through with it, and to it we 
owe nearly all of the profanity indulged in on our trip. 
For an excursion, uninsured, over mountain roads — where 
steepest of steep grades wind downward along the edges 
of canons on one side, the face of the mountain on the 
other, through spaces narrowed by projecting cedar and 
fir roots, stumps and stones, at the lower end unsubstan- 
tial bridges over creeks and sloughs, reached at times by 
a sharp turn — a wagon needs be near to perfection and 
the driver as skillful. Mallette fortunately is a skillful 
driver, but that wagon! The pole was so short that the 
single trues rubbed on the wheels, a side bar had been 
broken and badly repaired, and worst of all there was no 
brake. 
The want of this was the worst of the defects and was a 
source of actual danger, for had either of the horses, while 
holding bacx with the neck, concluded to do so no longer, 
there were many times when a dash down the hill wouid 
have ended oUr trip, by a smash of the entire outfit. 
To lessen the risk, three of the four of us got out at the 
head of each heavy down grade, lashed the front and hind 
whnels on one side together and footed it, trusting that 
Mallette, with his skill in driving, would be found whole 
at the bottom. 
It was early morning and a beautiful day that we 
started. Our objective point was either Lake Sutherland,- 
about sixteen miles to the southwest, or if we eot along 
fast enough to give chance for the evening's fishing, Lake 
Crescent, about three miles further along on the same 
road. 
The idea of stream fishing with flies had been discussed 
and abandoned, the Elwa and other streams we would 
meet and cross were full of spawning salmon, and there 
was no chance for any trout except by use of salmon 
roe, and of U8ing that my Alaska experience had surfeited 
me. 
Our course after leaving the beach was to the south- 
ward for a mile or more up a winding steep road, so nar- 
row that it was necessary to station a man at the top to 
warn approaching vehicles to. wait till we got by, then for 
a couple of miles further on a bench or tableland, through 
the big clearing, profusely dotted with the "proving-up" 
log cabins of the original settlers, many abandoned and 
unoccupied. Each had its front and back yard, many a 
vegetable or flower garden, all had stumps, and between 
each and its nearest neighbor was a barren stretch. Then 
we bore off more to the westward. The forest through 
which our road led is composed largely of deciduous trees, 
although there are a few oak and other hard woods. The 
various growths of valuable timber are in belts, and I 
should judge that the white cedar and red fir belts are of 
the most valuable, or I should say the belt, for they grow 
at the same altitudes and side by side. These trees differ 
in many important particulars. The cedar has a soft, 
easily -worked, straight-grained quality which eminently 
adapts it for the principal use to which it is put — shingles, 
which are in every respect superior to those of any other 
than perhaps the cypress, and they are in endurance fully 
the equal of the cypress. The wood of the red fir, which 
is, I believe, the Douglas fir and commonly called Oregon 
pine, is tough and harder, and adapted for spars and tim- 
bers; the cedar being good for the joiner work and finish 
of the structure built of the fir. Unfortunately there is a 
great deal of waste in cutting the cedar for shingles. The 
butt, for some reason, is unsuitable, and the stumps, con- 
taining material for many bunches, are cut high up, 
always with the saw. 
There were clearings which to a tree lover gave sadness. 
Acres of great cedar stumps, sawed to a height of 6 or 7ft. , 
marked the ravages of the shingle makers, who have, 
however, had bad fortune in their enterprises; for shingle 
mills and sawmills have burned and impoverished then- 
owners. One in particular, which had been a large one, 
judging by the magnitude of its ruins, was close by the 
road, and surrounding it a deserted village of neat cot- 
tages, many with bits of flower gardens, and broken toys 
in the yards, indicating the presence there in days gone 
by of women and children, families of the employees the 
fire had impoverished also. 
There were other clearings in all stages, from wilder- 
nesses of burned logs, charred stumps and ashes (slashed 
and burned) to others with well Btarted farms, where the 
fertile soil was already producing good returns for the 
labor. 
We had with us a shotgun, and quite a number of times 
on our route the Doctor would bring down for our supper 
a blue or willow grouse. 
The county road was for much of the distance in fair 
condition, and we were able to go on a trot, but there 
were a few very steep hills to go up one side and down 
the other which tried our wind and our wagon, and my 
companions dreaded those hills more than I, for as the 
oldest member of the party I was invited always and 
always accepted the drive going up, while the others 
tramped and panted, for it was a warm day; going down 
I walked and Mallette drove. 
None of these tramps were very long ones until we 
came by gradual rise to the brow, which overlooked the 
valley stream and bridge of the River Elwa, 1,000ft, 
below, and from this brow the view was simply magnifi- 
cent. The valley is about a mile across at the level of the 
bridge. In rainy seasons it is well occupied by the river, 
which is there wide, deep and rapid; now it was but a 
sprinkling of gravel or sandbars and islets, through and 
around which wound a number of narrow, shallow 
creeks, and across the expanse curved the bridge of the 
El graceful and picturesque structure. 
We rested an hour on this brow, lunching and enjoying 
the scenery and our pipes and feeding the horses. Then 
with lashed wheels the wagon began its zigzag descent, 
PORT,, ? ANGELES SHOWING PROVING-UP.. CABINS IN FOREGROUND. 
