Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1878.djvu/47

Rh general assembly from Lemhi County, about 160 miles in a direct line from the capital, are paid mileage for 1,124 miles each way. They are forced to go through portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Utah, while the members from North Idaho pass through Washington Territory and the State of Oregon, a distance of 610 miles, the direct line being but 130 miles. The suggestion is made that the extra cost for transportation, both for Army and other stores, would build a substantial military road from Fort Boisé to Fort Lapwai. The policy of liberal land-grants to railroads is favored by the governor, who believes that only through such grants the necessary roads can be built. A revisal and consolidation of the laws governing the Territories are recommended. There is a necessity for defining more carefully the rights and limitations of local legislation and of holding officers to a stricter accountability.

The governor of Washington Territory presents a report of Territorial prosperity quite as pleasing as that from Montana. The Territory is divided by the Cascade Range of mountains into two nearly equal divisions, known as Eastern and Western Washington, differing in soil, climate, and productions. A large portion of the western division is covered with dense forests of fir trees, averaging in height more than 200 feet. For ship-building this timber is unequaled, and for many years past heavy shipments have been made, not only to cities upon our own coast but to those of England and France. The governor says that —

The principal resources of the Territory are coal and lumber, the present annual production of the latter being about 250,000,000 feet. Of this quantity more than 200,000,000 feet are exported to San Francisco, South America, the Sandwich Islands, and other points.

There has been but a partial development of the coal-fields, although coal has been found in nearly every county of Western Washington. The value of the exportations from Western Washington is given at $5,000,000. While the western division of the Territory cannot properly be classed as agricultural, yet it has an area of at least 5,000 square miles of excellent farming land.

Puget Sound is the attractive feature of the Territory. It extends from the British line in the north and from the Straits of Juan de Fuca on the west to Olympia, in the interior, and has a coast line of 1,594 miles. It can be navigated at all seasons of the year and by all classes of vessels. Severe storms on its waters are unknown. From the Pacific Ocean to Olympia, a distance of more than 200 miles, it is free from bars, shoals, rocks, or other obstructions. The climate of Western Washington is mild, ice and snow being seldom seen. The average winter temperature is 39° that of summer 63°. The warmest days in summer are accompanied by cool and refreshing nights.

Unlike Western Washington, the eastern division has but little