FootNote
The new kid on the block, FootNote is known for digitizing historical
documents... many of which are genealogical gems. With naturalizations,
city directories, war records, newspapers, town records, etc... this new
kid is quickly being recognized as an alternative to Ancestry.
While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Noticing some of the imports we find ten
thousand bricks from England-evidently
brought by way of ballast. Bags, also, were
brought from England to the value of
$79,086. The trade from China was very
largely in rice, a considerable portion of
which was for the Chinese consumers in our
midst; 731,926 pounds.
From the Sandwich Islands there were
imported 160,839 pounds of rice; of sugar,
3,353,552 pounds; of molasses, 1088 gallons.
This is evidently before the monopoly of
Spreckles in California.
During 1876 business rapidly revived and the
general enthusiasm prevailing throughout the
entire United States did much to inspire our
merchants with new energy and confidence.
More interest was taken in collecting
reliable statistics and in showing the world
what we were capable of. It was found that
the exports of Oregon averaged three hundred
and eighteen dollars to each man in the
State. "With a population of forty thousand
men, Oregon's export of wheat equals
one-seventh of the total export of the
United States."
Eastern Oregon and Washington had now begun
to raise wheat in large quantities. Wool
figures as a very valuable product-the
export being for that year 3,125, 000
pounds, worth $600,000. The salmon catch was
also rising and exports from this source
were assuming large proportions. In 1875,
372,000 cases were put up, and in 1876 this
was swelled to 480,000 cases. Seventy-two
vessels cleared with cargoes mostly wheat,
for European ports. The export of wheat to
Europe was 1,824,371 centals, valued at
$3,138,-294. The total export was 1,937,787
centals. The export of flour aggregated
215,714 barrels. The excess of wheat and
flour exports for 1876, over 1875, reached a
value of $794,857.
In the record of shipments to San Francisco,
it is noticeable that apples are coming up
to their former figure, being 41,523 boxes
of the fresh fruit, and 6,363 packages of
the dry; 22,671 sacks of potatoes and
176,939 bushels of oats were also shipped,
but the bulk of our shipments thither for
that year consisted of 290, 076 cases of
canned salmon, showing that almost from the
first our cannerymen looked for sale of
their goods in California. If it had been
possible to carry on the salmon business on
a purely independent basis before the world,
and make Portland, the city nearest the
greatest production of this article, the
emporium, it is believed that many disasters
and difficulties which overtook this
business might have been avoided.
The shipment of treasure, or the actual
transportation of money for this year was
$2,651,431.78.
As another sign of increase and advance
toward commercial supremacy was the change
noticeable at this dine, by which the
country merchants and the jobbers and
dealers in small towns began to look to
Portland as the base of their supplies.
During 1877 loud calls were heard from the
people of Portland for direct railroad
communication with the East, and strenuous
exertions were made for the building of a
road from Portland via The Dalles to Salt
Lake. Much of this eagerness for independent
rail lines was developed by the fact that in
California many emigrants starting overland
for Oregon were turned back by the
representations of agents of the California
Emigration Boards, and the Oregonians found
their growth in population' much retarded
thereby.
The total value of exports from the Columbia
river in 1876 was estimated at $11,825,087;
in 1877 at $16,086,897. Seventy-eight ships
and barks were engaged in carrying to
foreign ports 2,341,210 centals of wheat,
worth $4,954,475. Upon five vessels there
were shipped 59,389 barrels of flour, worth
$355,690.
We venture to insert here one more table of
exports to San Francisco, which the
indulgent reader may omit in reading unless
for purposes of reference and comparison:
Wheat, centals
504,836
Flax seed, sacks
12,792
Flour, barrels
113,732
Hides
37,090
Oats, centals
146,050
Beef (canned), cases
15,612
Barley, centals
5,608
Butter, packages
2,064
Middlings, sacks
2,834
Bacon, packages
1,030
Bran, sacks
19,418
Lard, cases
307
Shorts, sacks
2,569
Hams, packages
263
Apples, boxes
73,282
Pork, barrels
372
Dried fruit, packages
3,206
Hops, bales
2,006
Potatoes, sacks
37,081
Cheese, packages
729
Hay, bales
863
Salmon, cases
246,892
Salmon, half barrels
723
Salmon, barrels
173
Wool, bales
15,759
The following table is also attended as
giving the comparative shipments and values
of wheat, including flour reduced to wheat,
for the years 1874-75-76-77:
1874-Centals
2,312,581
worth
$4,549,992
1875-Centals
2,095,532
worth
3,610,172
1876-Centals
2,894,722
worth
4,405,029
1877-Centals
3,383,473
worth
7,310,529
In 1878 there appears to be a falling off in
export of wheat, which reached but 1,
449,608 centals, valued at $2,540,112; flour
valued at $329, 000.
During the year 1878, however, there were
exceedingly lively times between Portland
and San Francisco on account of the
competition between several steamship
companies for the trade. In opposition to
the Oregon Steamship Company, the old
Pacific Mail steamers of large size, the
Orizaba and the John L. Stephens
were run. Also the Great Republic,
the largest vessel ever afloat in our
waters, carried things with a high hand,
sometimes transporting as many as a thousand
passengers at a single trip.
In 1879 the total number of steam craft of
the Willamette District (Portland) was
sixty, with a tonnage of 27,597. Of these
the G. W. Elder and the Oregon,
belonging to the Oregon Steamship Company,
iron ships, built at Chester, were the
finest and most conspicuous.
The wheat export required the services of
seventy vessels, and nineteen vessels were
also engaged, either wholly or in part, for
flour. The wheat reached 1,932,080 centals,
worth $3,611,240; flour, 209,098 barrels,
valued at $1,143,530. The total value of
wheat and flour shipped both to domestic and
foreign ports was $5,345,400.
The following table exhibits the rise and
growth of the wool export:
1873
2,000,000 pounds
1874
2,250,000 pounds
1875
2,500,000 pounds
1876
3,150,000 pounds
1877
5,000,000 pounds
1878
6,500,000 pounds
1879
7,000,000 pounds
The following figures furnish the statistics
of the salmon canning business on the
Columbia river. There were canned the
following number of cases, in 1875, 231,500;
1876, 428,730; 1877, 392,000; 1878, 278,488;
1879, 325,000.
For 1880 the shipment of wheat was 1,762,515
bushels, valued at $1,845,537; flour,
180,663 barrels, valued at $891,872. The
value of shipments to San Francisco
aggregated $4,500,000. The wool shipment was
7,325,000 pounds; salmon, 472,000 cases.
For 1881 the value of wheat was $1,845,537,
or, 1,766,515 bushels. For 1881 the
shipments of lumber from Portland were
considerable, although until this time the
Portland mills were for the most part
occupied in cutting for local trade, and to
supply surrounding and interior points. The
three principal mills at Portland . cutting
for this year were the Portland Lumbering
and Manufacturing Co., 6,200,000 feet;
Smith's mill, 5,000,000; Wiedler's, about
50, 000, 000.
During this year greater interest than
heretofore had been taken by Portland
capitalists in exploring and opening coal
and other mines that were naturally
tributary to her; and a number of energetic
men in this city formed an organization to
encourage the growth of fruit in the
contiguous sections and open a market to the
east and up and down the coast. The salmon
catch on the Columbia reached 550,000 cases.
The years of 1880-1 were marked by the great
business activity resulting from the
construction of the Oregon Railway and
Navigation Company's lines, the section from
The Dalles to Walla Walla, to the Blue
Mountains and to Texas Ferry, then building.
The Northern Pacific railroad was running
trains from Kalama to Tacoma and
constructing the section of their road
northeast of Ainsworth fifty-seven miles.
The value of imports for this year are given
as $486,208.
The following statement will show the state
of business during 1882: "Prosperity of
business has been unparalleled. The commerce
of the city has been constantly increasing
during the past year. The tonnage of ocean
steamers arriving at this port shows an
increase of more than double the records of.
any previous year, many first-class
steamships from foreign countries having
made exception-ally prosperous voyages to
and from Portland. Our regular ships plying
hence to San Francisco have been constantly
improving in character and increasing in
number until the Portland line has become
the busiest, most reliable and most
profitable marine traffic from the city of
San Francisco. The number of passengers
carried on this line amounts to 5000 or more
every month, and freights average 40,000
tons. The 'deep sea crafts' which visit our
river prove the ignorance or malice of those
who would represent entrance and navigation
of the Columbia and the Willamette as
perilous or impossible. There are now lying
at our docks vessels which will load to
twenty-two feet drafts before slipping their
hawsers, and make the open sea without
danger or delay."
The Willamette river was much improved, and
agitation for the improvement of the
Columbia bar was begun. The following
excerpt shows the general spirit prevailing
at the time: "Every unprejudiced observer of
this vigor and of Portland's relation to the
surrounding country says `Portland ought to
do the business of Oregon, Washington and
Northern Idaho.' The completion of an
unbroken line having five hundred miles of
railroad eastward, with Portland as its
great terminal point, marks an era in our
history which will only be eclipsed by the
present year."
The year 1883 fully realized all the hopes
that were raised by the construction of the
O. R. & N. Company's lines. Portland took
long strides towards the pre-eminence
naturally assured her by right of position.
" It used to be said that three-fourths of
our interior trade passed Portland, and was
supplied by San Francisco. The past year has
changed this condition of things so
materially that possibly the conditions are
reversed."
During the year the ocean commerce of
Portland seems to have somewhat diminished,
but this is most natural, considering the
vast amount of tonnage which the railroads
have displaced by more rapid transportation.
The city has during the year maintained its
own powerful dredgers for the purpose of
increasing the depth of channel in the
Willamette, and less trouble than heretofore
has been experienced in bringing ships to
Portland. The latter months of 1883 found a
greater number of ships in her harbor than
one ever saw here at once, forty such
vessels being at dock at one time in
November."
It was in 1883 that the O. R. & N. Company's
lines were finished and the main line of the
Northern Pacific was pushed to a junction
with its eastern section.
In 1884, however, a great business collapse
resulted from the unusual expansion of the
preceding months, and the year was rather
disastrous. The Oregon and Transcontinental
stocks dropped to a minimum. Villard failed,
and many Portland stockholders were greatly
crippled. Fictitious values had to be
brought down to a substantial basis.
Cessation of railroad construction,
discontinuance of disbursements, and the
fact that the railroad now coming into
operation began to absorb the flowing money
in the country, all tended to create a
stringency. Prices of wheat fell low, and
productions therefore realized but poorly;
and during the holidays in Portland the
whole city was blockaded by an Unprecedented
storm of snow and ice, so that the somewhat
unusual preparations of Portland merchants
failed to realize their object. The time of
this storm was, however, reckoned as about
the lowest ebb of business, and with the
advance of winter and the opening of the
following season began a general rise. The
main line of the Northern Pacific Railroad
having been completed, brought in
immigration from the East. The O. R. & N.
Company pushed their line to a junction with
the Union Pacific, and formed a net-work of
lines in the valley of the Columbia. The
Oregon and California road was continued to
Ashland, and the Oregon Pacific was finished
from Corvallis to Yaquina Bay. The section
of the Northern Pacific from Portland to a
point on the Columbia river opposite Kalama
was also built.
