A Report on Washington Territory

by William Henry Ruffner

c. Drift. The origin of these gravel soils is given hereafter, under the head of Geology. They constitute the hill lands, as distinguished from the bottom lands and Sound flats on the one hand, and the mountain lands on the other. They are composed of sand, clay, gravel, and some large boulders. Rarely the gravel predominates so as to render the land unfit for cultivation. Sometimes there are only clay and sand, and sometimes chiefly clay. This soil, though not equal to the alluvium, or to the basaltic land, is much better than glacial precipitate usually is. It gave all the indications of a fertile soil, resembling the best hay lands of Massachusetts, which have the same glacial origin. Its natural growth is luxuriant, and when cleared it inclines to clothe itself in white clover and the grasses. It is said to be specially adapted to fruits and vegetables.

d. Loam. I mean by this a clay soil containing fine-grained sand enough to make it friable. This is the soil made by the slates and sandstones of the coal measures, and is generally found on the highlands above the drift. It is a medium land as to quality, but valuable for the tendency to grass, which characterizes all the lands of West Washington. Much of it will make good cropping land. There is a great deal of it. It is found high on the cretaceous hills and mountains, often extending to the top.

e.A remarkable soil. Basalt. This is the magic soil of the Great Plain (or plateau) of the Columbia. And it is found also in large areas on the Cascade Mountains. It has an ashy look and texture; sometimes black, but generally of ashen hue. Rarely it is compact and clayey. There are perhaps twenty thousand square miles of this basaltic land; enough of itself to make a medium-sized State. Of course there are inequalities in the productiveness of this land. The basaltic rock in many places crops out, as mentioned under the head of Topography, and there are coulées and galled spots. I cannot say what proportion of the surface is rendered valueless by these irregularities. The outcropping basalt does not destroy the value of the land; for the soil spaces between the rocks may be greater than the rock spaces, and whilst unfit for the plough, they may be suited to trees, or cattle range. But, judging by all that I saw and heard, I should think that the smooth land considerably predominates over the rough. Certainly there is more smooth, comparatively level, fertile, productive, and easily cultivated land here in proportion to the whole area than I have ever seen elsewhere. The great plain of East Colorado is a vast and beautiful stretch of country, but it is unproductive without irrigation. Taking everything into consideration, the plateau of East Washington seems to me to be unequaled in combined extent and productiveness.

This subject of soils will be incidentally continued in connection with the next two heads.

NATURAL VEGETATION.

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.

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.

A VIEW OF THE FOREST ON THE LINE OF THE SEATTLE, LAKE SHORE AND EASTERN RAILWAY.