Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/368

 It was a calamity that proves how true the saying that a "thousand years scarce serve to form a state, an hour may lay in dust." But that glorious pioneer spirit that once developed this continent and came early to this remote spot in the Republic to shed the light of civilization, could not be halted in its course, and, Phoenix-like, is here again pushing to the front.

The vast timber, coal, and gold bearing resources tributary to Port Orford, and now made accessible by transportation facilities, with greatly increased manufacturing investments here and nearby, now more than ever justifies the local improvement of harbor shipping; while the old-time necessity for a safe port for sailing vessels to enter during a heavy southwest gale is more than ever called for by the increasing commerce on the high seas.

Port Orford, the engineers report, is the best summer roadstead between Point Reyes and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The point of land making out to the southwest is what protects the harbor from the west and northwest storms, but the gales most dreaded by mariners are from the southwest, and generally from November to April. The first official recognition for this improvement was by Act of Congress of June 10, 1872, pursuant to which the majority of the U. S. Engineers Corps by Major H. M. Roberts reported a plan and estimates for an immense project to extend 500 yards long and to cost $2,902,000. A later Act of Congress, that of September 19, 1890, provided for minimizing this and reducing the cost. This was reported by Captain Thomas W. Symonds of the Engineers Corps, and two great wharves, to cost $350,000, with extensions, were favored. By Act of Congress of June 3, 1896, over one-third of a million dollars was appropriated to begin the project, but the Secretary of