From Astoria to the Cascades [pp. 146-154]

FROM ASTORIA4 TO THE CASCADES.
is, that the soil and population are going
to fix the centres of commerce; and
these we have on the south side of the
Columbia."
There is so much common sense in
this proposition that we refrain from
contradicting it, and inquire the name
of the little town with the beautiful location, at which the steamer is stopping.
"St. Helen." A pretty name, and a
pretty place; but why do the Oregonians
repeat their names so much: Columbia
River and Columbia City; Mount St.
Helen and town St. Helen? Why not
.let every thing have a name of its own?
This is an attractive spot. The rocky
bank forms a sharp, clear line of frontage,
of a convenient height for wharves. A
second bench, considerably more elevated, is covered with beautiful firs, in the
midst of which stands a neat, white
church. The village is grouped below,
and has an air of cheerfulness not common to embryo towns. Our steamer is
lying alongside the wharf of a lumbermill, of a capacity evidently greater than
any we have heretofore seen along the
river. The mill is a fine structure, and
the wharves are piled high with lumber,
which is being loaded upon a vessel
bound for Callao. There are several
stores near the landing, and a whole
fleet of little boats beached on a bit of
sand close by.
We take pains to inquire into the
business and history of the place. Its
history is a little peculiar. "Hope deferred which maketh the heart sick"
has been its fortune from first to last.
As long ago as when Wyeth was trying
to establish American commerce on the
Columbia, he selected this spot for his
future city, and it obtained among the first
settlers the name of "Wyeth's Rock."
Afterward it was claimed by a man
named Knighton, who, holding the same
view of it, laid it out in a town - site,
having it properly surveyed, the streets
named, etc. But Mr. Knighton enter
tained such exalted notions of the value
of his lots, and of his ability to build up
a town without assistance, that those men
who would have "stuck their stakes"
in St. Helen, in a fit of pique turned
themselves into an opposition party,
and built up the town of Portland. By
wiser management than Knighton's, they
succeeded in drawing away from him the
business he thought himself able to secure-and the result is, a city of ten
thousand inhabitants at Portland, and
only a couple of hundreds at St. Helen.
Six years ago the town - site changed
hands, and the present large lumbermill was erected by the St. Helen Milling Company, cutting from forty to seventy-five thousand feet in twenty-four
hours. Two or three merchants set up
general merchandising, and trade revived to such an extent as to rekindle
hope in the hearts of the faithful few;
and, now, St. Helen again asserts her
claim to be considered "the best point
on the Columbia River for a town."
From all which it appears that Columbia City and St. Helen are rivals. As
there is only a mile or two between
them, it would not seem that their rivalry could be very fierce. Probably there
will be, sometime, an important town
at or about one of these places.
St. Helen is the county-seat of Columbia County, and is situated at the
junction of the lower Willamette with
the Columbia River. The country back
of it, for about seven miles, is a series
of benches, the first two or three of
which are sparsely and picturesquely
wooded, while the higher ones are well
covered with timber. These benches
are good farming and fruit lands, but
not so fertile as the bottom-lands adjacent to the town-site-those of Sauvie's
Island, and those on the opposite side
of the Columbia-all of which country
may be considered tributary to St. Helen,
and, being well settled up, furnishes the
present local trade of that place.
I52
[FEB.