Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/728

 The place is beautifully situated, and would be rapidly settled did not the proprietors refuse to sell lots, preferring to keep their employés away from the temptations of miscellaneous associations. Still farther up the bay and river, beyond Marshfield, are the settlements of Coos City, Utter City, Coaledo, Sumner, and Fairview. Coquille City is prettily situated near the mouth of Coquille River, and has about two hundred inhabitants. It is hoped by improving the channel of the river, which is navigable for 40 miles, to make it a rival of Coos Bay as a port for small sea-going vessels, the government having appropriated $130,000 for jetties at this place, which have been constructed for half a mile on the south side of the entrance. Myrtle Point, at the head of tide-water, is situated on a high bluff on the right bank of the Coquille, in the midst of a fine lumber and coal region. It was settled in 1858 by one Myers, who sold out to C. Lehnhere, and in 1877 Binger Herman, elected in 1884 to congress, bought the land on which the town stands, and has built up a thriving settlement. Other settlements in the Coquille district are Dora, Enchanted Prairie, Freedom, Gravel Ford, Norway, Randolph, Boland, and Cunningham. Gale's Coos Co. Dir., 1875, 35–61; Official P. O. List, Jan. 1885, 499; Roseburg Plaindealer, Aug. 15, 1874.

Crook county, named after General George Crook, for services performed in Indian campaigns in eastern Oregon, was cut off from the south end of Wasco county, by legislative act, October 9, 1882. The north line is drawn west from the lend of the John Day River, and east up the centre of the Wasco channel of said river to the west boundary of Grant county, thence on the line between Grant and Wasco counties to the south-east corner of Wasco, thence west to the summits of the Cascade Mountains, and thence along them to the intersection of the north line. It lies in the hilly region where the Blue Mountains intersect the foot-hills of the Cascade Range, and for years has been the grazing-ground of immense herds of cattle. There are also many valleys fit for agriculture. Prineville is the county seat. It is situated on Ochoco River, near its junction with Crooked River, a fork of Des Chutes, and has a population of several hundred. It was incorporated in 1880. Ochoco, Willoughby, Bridge Creek, and Scissorsville are the subordinate towns.

Curry county, named after Governor George L. Curry, organized December 18, 1855, is comparatively an unsettled country, having only a little more than 1,200 inhabitants. Its area is greater than that of Coos, the two counties comprising 3,331 square miles, not much of which belonging to Curry has been surveyed. The value of farm property is estimated at between five and six hundred thousand dollars. The assessed valuation for 1879 was about $220,000. The territorial act establishing the county provided for the selection of a county seat by votes at the next general election, which was prevented by the Rogue River Indian war. At the election of 1858 Ellensburg, a mining town, was chosen, and the choice confirmed by state legislative enactment in October 1860. Port Orford is the principal port in Curry county. Chetcoe is the only other town on the coast. There is no reason for the unsettled condition of Curry except its inaccessibility, which will be overcome in time, when its valuable forests and minerals will be made a source of wealth by a numerous population. Salmon-fishing is the principal industry aside from lumbering and farming.

Douglas county, named after Stephen A. Douglas, was created January 7, 1852, out of that part of Umpqua county which lay west of the Coast Range. In 1864 this remainder of Umpqua was joined to Douglas, and Umpqua ceased to be. Its boundaries have been several times altered, the last time in 1882, when a small strip of country was taken off its western border to give to Coos. Its area previous to thus partition was 5,796 square miles. The valuation of its farms, buildings, and live-stock is nearly five million dollars. A large portion of its wealth comes from sheep-raising and wool-growing. In 1880 Douglas county shipped a million pounds of wool, worth three to four cents more per pound than Willamette Valley wool, and sold 27,000 head of sheep