s and condensed milk.
LA CONNER is a great oat and hay shipping point. It is at the mouth
of the Skagit river and on tide water, and has 800 people.
HAMILTON, at the head of navigation on the Skagit river, is a mining
and lumbering town of 300 people.
BAY VIEW, SAMMISH, MINKLER, PRAIRIE, FIR, and BIRDSVIEW are other
shipping points.
BAKER, on a branch of the Great Northern railway, has 400 people,
and is a center of cement factories.
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SKAMANIA COUNTY.
Skamania county, in the south central part of the state, has its
southern boundary on the Columbia river, with Lewis county to the
north. It is chiefly within the forest reserve, and includes Mount St.
Helens on the west and Mount Adams on its eastern border. Altogether
it has an area of 1,636 square miles, chiefly mountainous, and about
3,000 people.
The north fork of the Lewis river drains the most of the mountainous
region, while a lot of small streams drain the southern part, emptying
into the Columbia river.
The climate is a mean between that of eastern and western Washington,
and is very mild and salubrious. The soil of the valleys in the
region of the Columbia river is very fertile.
RESOURCES.
The chief resource of the county is in its timber and lumber, yet
its mineral and agricultural wealth is becoming better known and
appreciated yearly. The fruit raised in its valleys is of excellent
flavor, early in season, and the soil is generous in its yield.
Splendid pasturage in the foothills encourages stock-raising, and
fishing in the Columbia river is profitably followed by some of
the citizens.
TRANSPORTATION.
Boats on the Columbia river and a railroad on each side of it are
the means of transportation, and ample for the residents of the
county in its southern portion. The coming of the North Bank railroad
has given a decided stimulus to the growth of the county.
DEVELOPMENT.
Skamania county has developed slowly and the bulk of its natural
wealth is still practically untouched. Its minerals, well known
to be valuable, are attracting the attention of prospectors, while
the forests, fisheries and farming lands will furnish a competence
to hundreds of additional familles. The scenery, combined with
the fishing and hunting afforded, are additional attractions that
will prove alluring to many newcomers.
PRINCIPAL TOWNS.
STEVENSON, a small town on the Columbia river and railroad, is the
county seat and has a population of
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