e territory composing the Pacific coast States.
The first mining consisted merely in separating the metal deposited in
the bed-rock of streams by washing away the lighter material. In time
the quartz ledges which had produced the placer gold became the chief
factor in gold mining. California is still one of the leading States in
the production of gold. Quicksilver mining is an important feature of
the mining interests of the Pacific coast, and the mines of the coast
ranges produce about half the world's output.

Lumber manufacture is an important industry. Douglas spruce, commonly
known as "Oregon pine," grows profusely on the western slopes of the
high ranges, the belt extending nearly to the Mexican border. It makes a
most excellent building-lumber, especially for bridge-timber and
framework. Masts and spars of this material are used in almost every
maritime country. Sugar-pine is less common, but is abundant. It is
largely used for interior work. Several species of redwood occur in
central California, confined to a limited area. The wood is fine-grained
and makes a most beautiful interior finish.

_San Francisco_ is the metropolis of the Pacific coast of the United
States. It is the terminus of the Santa Fe and Union Pacific railways,
and the centre of a network of local roads. Steamship lines connect the
city with Panama, the Hawaiian Islands, Japan, and Australian ports;
coast steamships reach to the various ports of Alaska, Oregon, and
California. It is also the financial as well as the commercial centre of
the Pacific coast. _Los Angeles_ is the centre of the fruit-growing
region; its port is _San Pedro_. _Stockton_, _Port Costa_, and
_Sacramento_, all on navigable waters, are wheat-markets. _Portland_
(Ore.) is the metropolis of the basin of the Columbia and Willamette
Rivers. Navigation of the former is interrupted by falls or rapids at
_Dalles_ and _Cascades_, but boats ascend as far as _Wallula_. The lower
Willamette is also made navigable by means of a canal and locks at
Oregon Falls.

Puget Sound is a "drowned valley," with an abundance of deep water. The
score or more of harbors are among the best in the world. _Seattle_ and
_Tacoma_, the leading ports, are terminals of great transcontinental
railways, and also of the most important trade-route across the
continent. Lines of steamships connect Seattle with Japan and China, and
the commerce passing through this gateway is drawn from a territory
that exte