Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 2.djvu/413

Rh met, at or near its upper mouth, with the Columbia was a proper site for a city. It would, by being within the Wallamet, possess a safe harbor. Being south of the Columbia, it would be on the American side in case the country north of the great river should go to Great Britain in any future treaty; and being at the mouth of the Wallamet would receive for distribution to the outside world the products of the valley above. Commerce with the valley would be impeded at the falls, to which shipping could not approach within several miles, and a town would be built up there which might become the capital of the future state. The land between would naturally fall into the hands of the commercial part of the population, and Kelley provided for that by tracts of from forty to sixty acres reserved for manufactures and large business plants.

Towns, which in modern times occupy carefully selected situations, were usually in the past located by accident or incident. Thus Portland became the commercial city of Oregon because one of the owners of the land on which it stands happened to observe after purchasing it signs that sailing vessels had made an anchorage there. Acting on the thought suggested, a townsite was laid out, which was unexpectedly fostered by the coming of vessels from California during the gold mining period for provisions and lumber.

But Kelley, although he was hoping for some such developments sometime, was proceeding on a perfectly original and independent plan to work towards it. The site selected for a seaport was on Gray's Bay, opposite and above Fort George, where five square miles would be laid out in a marine metropolis. Streets were to run from the river bisecting the others at right angles. At the distance of every two squares an area of ten acres was reserved for parade or pleasure grounds. The width