BOTANY OF THE ROUTE. 
25 
The fir forms the mass of forest growth on the dry, gravelly soils, from an elevation of 
probably 3,000 feet on the Cascade range, entirely across the valley to the summits of the 
Coast range, west of which it is almost entirely replaced by another species, and it is not found 
at all on lands subject to inundation. It is only where it abounds that extensive tracts are 
found killed by conflagration. 
The tree known as “yellow fir” in the country (A. grandis) I have met with only on the 
sandy alluvial river banks between the Cascade and Coast ranges, to which limits I believe it is 
very strictly confined in this Territory. I do not know its highest limits, but suppose that the 
influence of salt water may determine its most western range along the rivers, as it is strictly 
limited by tide-water. Its foliage is denser and darker than that of the preceding, and it is a 
fine looking tree, growing much higher than any other, often exceeding 300 feet. This, with 
the shortness of its branches, which gives its top a cylindrical shape, easily distinguish it at a 
distance. Its wood is much finer grained, tougher and more elastic, than that of the red fir, 
being especially adapted for the enormous masts and spars which are now exported from the 
Territory even to Asia and Europe. Much lumber, of fine quality, is also made from it along 
the Columbia river. Its bark is thinner and finely grooved, of a pale gray hue ; the cone oval, 
about three inches long, and destitute of the peculiar bracts of the preceding species. 
The “black spruce” (A. Menziesii) is the characteristic tree of the coast slope, where we 
find it very strictly limited to the neighborhood of tide-water, though a moist climate and soil 
seem to be the most essential conditions for its growth, as it reappears upon the higher parts 
of the Cascade range, and does not extend up Puget Sound, (where the soil and climate are 
dry,) though common at the Straits of Fuca. It is remarkable for growing on brackish marshes, 
sometimes overflowed, and on inundated islands of the Columbia. 
This tree has sometimes a diameter of eight feet, but is less lofty than the red fir, which is 
distinguished west of the Coast range by overtopping this the prevailing species. Its bark is 
dark reddish and scaly, not unlike that of the wild cherry of the Atlantic States, (C. serotina.) 
Its branches commonly commence about thirty feet from the ground, and grow more densely 
than in any other species, while its leaves, growing in several rows entirely around the twigs, 
form a thick, dark green foliage, with bluish reflections when their glaucous under surface is 
turned upward by the wind. The cones grow near the ends of the branches, and are about 
two inches long, of a fine bright purple color when young. Its wood is very tough, and when 
not too knotty makes good masts and planks for vessels, but is poor fuel, excepting the young 
branches, which are very resinous. The long, tough, fibrous roots are used by the Indians to 
make very strong baskets and bags. It resembles the “Norway spruce” of our gardens, in 
general habit, more than any other. 
The tree probably most generally diffused, though nowhere forming forests alone, is the 
“ Oregon cedar,” (Thuya gigantea,) more nearly allied to the arbor-vitas than to the juniper, 
commonly called cedar eastward. This, like the other trees, grows to an immense size, being 
often from twelve to fifteen feet in diameter, but is not equal to the spruces in height. Its 
trunk is often straight and branchless for twenty feet, but the top is so knotty as to be of 
scarcely any value. In lightness, softness, and durability, its wood excells any other, but is 
deficient in strength and elasticity. It is used chiefly for shingles, rails, and fine inside 
finishing. For most purposes for which the redwood of California is used it is superior, and 
is therefore much exported from the Territory. A backwoodsman, with his axe alone, can, in 
a few days, make out of one of these cedars a comfortable cabin, splitting it into timbers and 
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