Benton County, Oregon - Alsea, Lower Alsea, and Tide Water Precincts, 1885

Alsea, Lower Alsea, and Tide Water Precincts

Alsea Precinct, No. 6, extends from the ridge that divides the waters of the Big Elk and Alsea rivers to the southern boundary of the county, and from the divide between the water-shed of the Willamette and Alsea rivers on the east to Tide Water precinct on the west, the length from north to south being about fifteen miles and from east to west in the vicinity of twelve miles. These boundaries include Alsea valley, a beautiful expanse of country some eight miles long and one wide. Not far from its upper end the two branches of the river unite, causing a widening of the vale to about four miles, forming a level prairie now thickly settled, and surrounded with lofty timber-covered hills. Here were the first settlements made more than thirty years ago when many claims were taken under the provisions of the Donation Law, which, it would appear entitled the pre-emptor to the land not covered with brush, and as no one thought of clearing the ground at that period, it was supposed that everything worth occupying had been appropriated. Of later years, however, many have gone into the woods and demonstrated the fact that such lands may be profitably improved. The soil on the low hills surrounding the valley is of excellent quality, and yields abundantly of grain and vegetables, while the best crops of flax produced in Benton county have grown in this locality. The people are intelligent which they exemplify by practicing a mixed husbandry consisting of grain and fruit growing, cattle, sheep and hog raising which they naturally find more profitable than giving their undivided attention to wheat crops. They live in peace and prosperity in consequence.

Ever since the settlement of the Alsea valley it has been noted for the quantity and quality of the butter produced, the climate, as well as the herbage being particularly favorable for the fruits of the dairy. At one time wheat was grown to a large extent which when garnered was taken by wagons over an arduous route to Corvallis. The farmer, however, wearied of this slow process and found out that grain could be more profitably used as feed for swine, which has been done, and with such good results, that Alsea precinct is one of the chief pork-producing centers of the county.

Conterminous to the valley of the Alsea is a considerable quantity of partially settled country. For eight or ten miles to the southward, until Lobster creek is reached, the land is rolling and productive ; while along the valley last-named there is a general settlement, but plenty of room for more. To the east of the valley, along the line of the south road, there is also a fine open country, the same remark applying to that on the North Fork of the Alsea river.

Communication with the valley of the Willamette is had by two thoroughfares ; one up the North Fork of the Alsea and down the South Fork of Mary's river, a dis- tance of about twenty-five miles to Corvallis, which has been the only highway out of the valley for a good many years, but not long ago, the residents have succeeded in opening a new, and what is claimed to be a better means of transit, farther south, towards Monroe, in the southern portion of the county. For years it has been a tedious operation the transporting of the produce of the valley to market, but within a comparatively brief space of time a trade has sprung up by way of the river with the lower district and bay. The products of the valley consist chiefly of hams, flour and butter which are now loaded on scows and carried down the river during the higher stages of the water, where a good market is found, the boats being then disposed of as it is impossible to take them back against the current. Besides these arteries of progress there is the trail to Tide Water.

The precinct abounds with timber. Not far from the head of the valley, David Ruble has a flouring-mill and a saw-mill as well, while, at the head of the South Fork of the Alsea river, in the eastern portion of the precinct, and near the Summit, are two more saw-mills, the lumber from which is transported over the mountains into the Willamette valley. There is one post-office in the precinct supplied with a bi-weekly mail from Dallas, in Polk county ; there being also a weekly mail route from Alsea down the river to Waldport. There are three school-houses within the confines of the precinct where instruction is given during a great part of the year, the buildings, in the absence of churches, being used for religious services as required. The population consists of about three hundred and fifty persons.

Among the early settlers of the Alsea valley, and not the least in shaping its destiny is James Edwards, for many years a most efficient Couhty Commissioner. Another pioneer of the district was Edward Winkle. Many will remember this gentleman as he appeared with moccasins on his feet, his ever-present trusty rifle on his shoulder, and butcher-knife in his belt. Whither his inclination led him there he went, through mountain passes without regard to road or trail, always depending upon his weapon for food. Of him it is related that on one occasion, in order to attack a bear bayed by his faithful dog, it became necessary to crawl under the brush for some distance and finally to pass underneath a log, which having successfully accomplished, just as he straightened from his prone position, and before getting his gun out, he found himself face to face with Bruin, who struck him on the breast, tearing off his clothing and lacerating the flesh in a frightful manner. Fortunately his dog came to the rescue, when the bear turned upon the canine, succeeded in getting him into his grasp and was about to end his career, when Winkle, feeling that it was to the sagacity of the dog that his life had been saved, considered that it was but justice that he should return the favor, closed in on the bear with his knife, fought him hand to hand, and succeeding in giving him his quietus. Man and dog were barely able to creep to their cabin, where they both lay for several days before help came to them, and that by accident.

Among those who first settled in Alsea valley we have been able to gather the names of Emmerson Rettneaur and Thomas and Asbury Ellis, who in 1852 located on the place now owned by William Taylor and J. Mason. They were followed by George and S. Rycraft, who took the Donation claim now owned by Squire Kycraft. Not long after these arrived Thomas and Allen Hugden, who settled in the upper end of the valley, and Jacob Holgate, in the vicinity of the Rycrafts. In 1853 James E.

Ed wards, Joseph Kellum and two sons located, since when the settlement has proceeded slowly but prosperously. The first farming in the precinct was done by Rycraft Brothers ; in 1871 the postoffice was established in charge of Thomas Russell, and in 1863 the first school was opened under the mastership of J. E. Clarke, in a vacant house on the Kellum place. Three years after a log school house was erected on the site now occupied by the postoffice, but after eight years usage was torn down.

Lone Star Mill. - This enterprise, owned by C. C. & W. B. Chandler, was commenced in 1884 and opened for business on the fifteenth November of that year. It is situated at the mouth of Mill creek, on Alsea river, and has a capacity of about twenty-five barrels of flour per day.

Ruble's Mills. - These mills are located at the upper end of Alsea valley and prove a boon to the country in which they are located. The saw mill was constructed in 1872 and the grist mill in 1873. When first started the latter was fitted with a single pair of burrs and had a capacity of about one hundred bushels in ten hours, while the former had but a single sash saw, capable of producing fifteen hundred feet of lumber per day. In 1884 a new saw mill was built in the forks formed by the Alsea river and Rock creek, and on the opposite side from the old site. This building is fitted with a circular saw, planer, etc., while the lumber manufactured is from the great forests of cedar, fir, alder and maple that abound in the vicinity. There are one hundred and twenty acres attached to the mills.

Inmon Mill. - This mill, owned by D. W. Inmon, is situated on the South Fork of the Alsea river, among the mountains of the Coast Range, about twelve miles west of Monroe, and a mile and a half north of the Lane county line. It was first started in the fall of 1868 by H. A. Belknap, W. Tosier and W. Waltz, and in 1869 an interest in it was sold to Mr. Inmon, who eventually bought out his partners. The establishment is fitted with circular saws, and has a capacity of twenty thousand feet per day. The timber surrounding the mill consists chiefly of fir,cedarand hemlock,of which lands there are three huudred and twenty acres adjoining and exclusively owned by the mill. Mr. Inmon has suffered much loss from forest fires. In the summer of 1882 his flumes and dams were destroyed by a great conflagration, and on December the twenty-second of the same year his lodging house was consumed and two men, Frank Leonard and George Blake, burned to death, and Joe Sheppard seriously hurt. At this mill Mr. Inmon gives employment to twenty-two men, produces a first-class lumber and has a ready market for his manufactures in the surrounding country.

Lower Alsea Precinct is situated in the southwest portion of Benton county and extends along the coast from Beaver creek, some six or eight miles north of Alsea bay to the south line of the county about ten miles south, being about sixteen miles along the beach and about six miles from east to west. It embraces Alsea bay and its surroundings.

In producing a description of Alsea bay it is thought best to quote the survey report of Assistant Engineer R. A. Habersham, made September, 18, 1878, to Colonel J. M. Wilson, United States Army.

The road connecting the two points lies along the sea beach, except for the distance of one mile and ft half, opposite Seal Rock, where the coast line is rocky, rising vertically out of the sea at low tide line. The river rises in the Coast Range, thirty miles in a direct line from the ocean. Its general course is westward. The principal tributaries are Fall creek and Pine rivers, the former entering from the north, twenty-eight miles by river, from the sea, the latter six miles lower. . Drift creek, which flows into Alsea bay at its head, is a tidal slough or lagoon, navigable for small boats for four miles. It does not contribute to the volume af the river proper, although it is included in the same general drainage basin which covers an area of three hundred square miles.

" The tide extends twelve miles from the head of the bay to the foot of a line of rapids, where my personal examination ended. Here the stream is eighty feet wide and from three to six feet deep at low tide. Above it is a mountain stream, navigated only by Indian canoes, with a swift current and rocky bed. Below it is a tidal channel with no perceptible river current, widening gradually down to the mouth of Drift creek, where it is three hundred feet across. The depth along this section at low tide varies from four to six feet, the bottom being very uneven, and in some places, rocky. The bay is three and one-half miles long and from two thousand to seven thousand feet across at high tide. At low tide a large extent of mud flats is left bare, forming islands between which the channels are so shallow as to admit only small boats and scows. For a mile inside of the bar there is good anchorage, with a depth of from twelve to twenty feet at low water, constituting a harbor of about eighty acres in area, sheltered on all sides. Immediately inside of the bar is a deep hole two thousand feet long and three hundred feet wide, at the curve, of eighteen feet depth, in which no bottom was found at thirty-six feet.

" The above data concerning the bay were obtained from the chart of the survey made in 1875 under the direction of Major N. Michler. At the head of the bay, in the principal channel, there is a bar half a mile long, on which I found only three feet at low water. This point is not included in the limits of the survey.

" Between the mouth of Drift creek and the head of tide water, twelve miles, the river is inclosed on both sides by hills ranging from three hundred to six hundred feet in height, thickly covered with salal, grass, fern and young thicket. On the left bank the slopes of the hills reach generally to the waters' edge. On the right bank a strip of level bottom, several feet above high tide level, and from two hundred to six hundred feet wide, extends throughout this section, broken at points by projecting spurs from the ridge. This strip is all taken up under the homestead and pre-emption laws, and is mostly under cultivation. It is all alluvial soil, producing excellent corn, vegetables and fruit, and wheat equal to any that I have seen in Oregon.

" For thirty miles from the coast inland, the greater portion of the large timber in the valley has been destroyed by fire. Forty miles from the bay, measured along the river, is the valley of Upper Alsea, covering three hundred square miles, in which some fifty or more families are settled. Its principal productions are wheat, flax, oats and cattle. A wagon road exists connecting it with tide water. The principal value of the Alsea district is in its forests of fir and cedar, which cover the country above the burnt section, the timber being of the best quality and of large size. Salmon visit

"The information concerning the Upper Alsea country was furnished by Mr. Thomas Russell, an old resident, and postmaster at Tide Water on the Lower Alsea.

"It was not possible to make a personal examination of Alsea bar, owing to the prevalence of a heavy fog, rough sea and bad weather generally, and for the want of a suitable boat. I, however engaged two of the residents of the vicinity to go out on the bar the first calm day and run a line of soundings across, out to deep water. From them the following information has since been received: least depth on bar in channel at low tide, eight feet; width of entrance, twelve hundred feet; distance across the bar, eighteen hundred feet.

"No survey has ever been made of this bar, nor has any project for its improvement been suggested. All that the parties interested request from the government is that the depth of water be officially declared and the entrance buoyed, owners of steamers in San Francisco having assured them that when this is done they will send light draught steamers to carry off the products of the valley.

Skirting the bay are narrow bottoms which frequently widen into tide lands of the best quality, yielding good crops where cultivated; while on Drift creek several settlers are snugly ensconsed but there is room for more. Surrounding the bay are low hills in many places extending nearly to the waters edge, which are mostly covered with fir and spruce timber of the best quality. Down the ocean beach from the Alsea is a range of low hills more or less covered with scrub pines near the ocean, but with fir a little distance inland and spruce timber. About three miles down the beach Big creek enters the ocean, there being on this stream and for a distance of three or four miles farther south, and not far from the beach, some good land, still subject to homestead. At about seven miles from the bay is the Old Agency farm, now owned by George M. Starr and his son Edwin. This consists of a prairie about one and onefourth miles on the ocean and about half a mile in width. This slopes from the base of a timber-covered hill to the beach, and is open to the ocean storms. Immediately below this the Yahuts, a stream about two hundred feet in width empties into the Pacific. For about two miles up this stream the bottoms are narrow and covered with a thick growth of spruce timber. There it widens out, and extending up the different forks which constitute the main stream, is an extensive plateau much of which is virgin prairie, the bottom lands being covered with buck brush or fern. Here there is room for about twenty families, but the greater portion of the ground is as yet unclaimed. Still below the Yahuts is a belt of prairie on which are numerous shell mounds marking the location of Indian camps, for perhaps hundreds of years past. About two miles below the Yahuts is Cape Perpetua, a bold promontory that puts out into the ocean, forming a prominent landmark at sea and defining the extreme southwest corner of Benton county.

That portion of the precinct will probably never be extensively applied to grain producing, more especially in those parts near the ocean beach, but all kinds of vegetables thrive in profusion, while strawberries and all kinds of small fruit do remarkably well. Stock-raising has also proved a successful enterprise, and bee-keeping, although not extensively tried, has proven an industry well worth the continuing. The canning of salmon has not yet been essayed but will become a paying business when commenced; but the business of the precinct, benefitted as it is by the possession of the bay will undoubtedly be lumbering. The Alsea river is especially adapted for running logs ; its banks are high, its current rapid, and of such a length that it is possible to start huge timbers from the very summits of the mountains.

The mineral resources of the Alsea country are as yet undeveloped, but promise to be important. There are indications of coal fields both in the Upper and Lower valleys, while the Black sand gold on the sea beach has been profitably worked. In 1877 considerable excitement was caused by the discovery of gold-bearing quartz, but so far the precious metal remains in its rocky fastnesses.

In the month of November, 1872, a new schooner, the Lizzie, built by Titus & Lee, at Alsea bay, a trim craft of some eighty tons burthen, was put on the San Francisco trade, but after proving herself a fine sailer was unfortunately lost at Yaquina bay, February 16, 1876. On her initial voyage outward she crossed the bar when it showed sixteen and a half feet of water, thus establishing the fact that vessels of ordinary draught, such as are usually employed in the coasting trade, can pass in and out of the bay with safety.

There is one general merchandise store in the precinct which does a profitable business, the supplies for which are imported by the steamer Kate and Ann, which makes regular trips with perfect safety. The post-office at Waldport is supplied by two weekly mails from Newport, on Yaquina bay, and Upper Alsea ; while there is one school-house where the " young idea " of the district is taught "to shoot."

In conclusion we would state that there is still a large portion of the lands in the precinct yet unclaimed ; more especially in the vicinity of the Yahuts ; towards the head- waters of Drift creek ; and inland, both north and south, from the shore of the Pacific ocean.

The first settlement of the Lower Alsea was made in the year 1860 by G. W. Collins, who came there as an employe of the Government as Indian Agent for the Alsea Reservation. There were no further settlements until 1865 when Abraham Peak, William Simmons and Alfred Strope located at the head of the bay. In 1871 the first school was opened in a frame building about four miles from the coast, but upon the division of the precinct into four districts, the number of schools was increased.

Tide Water Precinct extends from the divide between the waters of the Yaquina and Alsea rivers to the southern boundary of the county, and has on its east Upper Alsea and on its west Lower Alsea. Its length from north to south is about sixteen miles and from east to west its breath is nearly twelve miles.

The upper portion of Alsea bay extends into the precinct, gradually narrowing until it becomes a well-defined river. As the coast is left the country becomes more open and land suitable for cultivation more abundant, while, as the scene becomes less confined, the range for stock is extended, and grass becomes more plentiful. Here, the cereals are profitably cultivated ; the grasses easily started ; and as the summers are moist and the winters mild, seldom being cold enough to retard vegetation, pastures keep green throughout the year.

About twenty miles from the coast the river makes an abrupt bend southward, which it follows some four or five miles, and at its most southerly point is joined by Five-rivers, which derives its name from there being at this point the confluence of five streams.

The valley of Five- rivers is, as yet, but sparsely populated, there being but a dozen families who have located there deciding to make it their home. They have taken their claims immediately adjoining each other, in the order of settlement, thus making a neighborhood sufficiently compact to enable them to have schools, churches, and the usual auxilaries of civilized society. This proximity of ranches and unity of settlement is the result of the exceptionally good character of the lands and is a consideration of no small amount to men locating with their families, for, otherwise, remoteness of neighbors and associates would subject them to considerable inconvenience.

The bottom widens above Five-rivers to a considerable extent, the soil being a deep alluvial deposit, covered with brushwood, yet not difficult to clear. Fall river, which comes in from the north, near the eastern portion of the precinct, has on its banks a wide expanse of good lands for some distance up which is mostly under cultivation.

The ground on which this little town stands is the property of Thomas Russell, and is located on the north bank of the Alsea river, about twelve miles from the ocean and gives promise of commercial importance at no very distant day. Here there is an excellent saw-mill owned by William Peak, who so far has only supplied the local demand for lumber, for no effort as yet has been made to inaugurate any considerable trade with the outside world. The Tide Water postoffice receives a weekly mail by way of the Upper Alsea and Wald port; while in close proximity to the settlement is the only school house in the precinct.

The residents of Tide Water, with their neighbors along the Alsea river, have struggled for years on the construction of a wagon road from the Upper Alsea valley, but only a portion of it has been completed ; a good trail supplies the remaining want. The route followed is from the Upper Alsea valley, across Mason Mountain to Fall creek, a distance of five miles, whence, striking the trail the course is pursued along the bank of the river until its terminus at Tide Water is reached.

Of Pioneers, Prominent Residents And Patrons

EDWIN ALDEN ABBEY - A view of whose residence will be found in this volume, was born in Watertown, Jefferson county, New York, December 9, 1823, and in 1832, accompanied by his patents, located in Cleveland, Ohio. Here he resided until 1844, when he went South, being employed on the Mississippi river, In the month of September, 1846, he sailed from New Orleans to Mexico, being attached to the Quartermaster's department in the divisions of General Wool and Taylor. Having served until near the close of the war, he accompanied Col. Collins to Chihuahua, with dispatches to General Price to evacuate that portion of the country, which duty being performed he rejoined the army on the line of march to Santa Fe, and was destined to accompany Company I, First Dragoons, as Wagon Master, and was thus engaged with that corps until 185 1. Mr. Abbey now came overland, traveling as far as Fort Laramie with the famous Kit Carson, and arrived in Benton county in the fall of that year. He located his claim about four miles from what was then Marysville (now Corvallis), having for his nearest neighbor Elijah Liggett, and at once set to work farming. In 1856 Mr. Abbey, with Dr. T. J. Right and E. Hartless, made the pioneer journey to Yaquina Bay, the former's reason for the journey being one of simple pleasure and adventure; but with Dr. Right it was different, as he was appointed Surgeon to the agency which had then been recently established on the coast. There were no roads, and Phil Sheridan, then a Lieutenant, was having his men cut a trail over the mountains to lead from the reservation to civilization. Mr. Abbey, following the trails, made Yaquina Bay about two miles from its mouth. At that time there was not a single resident in that part of Benton county. In 1862 he took up his residence in Corvallis, and there resided for about three years and then moved to Yaquina and located a large tract of land which he still owns near Elk City, twenty-two miles from Newport. Mr. Abbey has again taken up his residence in Corvallis.

Married in Benton county, Oregon, July 4, 1852, to Miss Mirinda Penland, who crossed the plains the previous year, and has a surviving family of one son and one daughter, viz: Richard M. and Clara A.

PETER M. ABBEY - The subject of this sketch, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, August 19, 1837, and resided in the Eastern States until 1866, when he came across the continent to the Golden State whence, after a short sojourn, he came to Oregon first locating in Corvallis, when one year later he moved to Newport, Yaquina Bay and engaged in merchandising until 1870, when he built his present commodious hotel, the "Bay View House,", which, under his management, aided by his estimable wife, has given to the Bay one of the very best hotels in Oregon. Here can the weary pilgrim find rest for the body and strength for the inner man in all the good things that abound on land or in the sea,and at the same time enjoy the comforts of a happy home.

OTIS R. ADDITON - In the gentleman whose name heads this sketch we recognize the leading dry goods salesman of Benton county, and a practical and thorough business man. Mr. Additon is a native of Maine, born in Lewiston, Androscoggin county, August 14, 1843. At the age of fourteen years his parents moved to Abington, Massachusetts, where his father engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and our subject was placed at school in Boston. In February, 1863, on his return from school, he enlisted in the United States Signal Service Corps Service, in which he served until 1865, when he returned to his home. A few months later he entered the employ of Jorden, Marsh & Co., of Boston, one of the leading wholesale houses of the United States, with whom he remained for a period of eight years. He then embarked in the dry goods business himself in Abington until 1878, when he concluded to seek a milder climate and selected Oregon for his future home, arriving in Portland in March of that year. He immediately found employment with the well kno«/n house of Olds & King of the above city. One year later he come to Corvallis and entered upon the duties of his present position as salesman for Jacobs & Neugass. Mr. A. was the prime mover in the greatest improvement the city has ever known, namely, the Corvallis Water Works, of which corporation he is the present Treasurer. He was married in Abington, Massachusetts, June 5, 1867, to Miss Lucia H. Faxon. They have one son, Alton S.