Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/776

 county, formed out of a portion of Union, with the county seat at Joseph. Railroads were being rapidly constructed from all directions toward the main lines to carry out the crops, wool, and stock of this division of the state. The wool clip of 1887, which was shipped to Portland, was 12,534,485 pounds, the greater portion of which was from eastern Oregon. The movement at Portland of wheat and flour for 1887 equalled the bulk of the wheat production of Oregon and eastern Washington combined. Lumping the receipts of Willamette valley and eastern Oregon and Washington wheat, there were received at Portland 3,927,458 centals, against 5,531,995 received in 1886; and 302,299 barrels of flour against 354,277 for the latter year. Of this amount, 553,920 centals of wheat, and 165,786 barrels of flour, were from the Willamette valley. A fleet of 73 vessels, registering 93,320 tons, was loaded with grain at Oregon wharves.

There has been a steady decline in salmon canning on the Columbia since 1883, falling from 630,000 cases to 400,000 in 1887. This may reasonably be attributed to the over-fishing practised for several years consecutively. Nature does not provide against such greed, and it is doubtful if art can do it. The government, either state or general, should assume control of this industry by licensing a certain number of canneries, of given capacity, for a limited period, and improving the hatcheries. Otherwise there is a prospect that the salmon, like the buffalo, may become extinct.

Although Oregon built the first saw-mills on the Pacific coast, and enjoyed for a few years the monopoly of the lumber trade with California and the Ha-