Q.-Estimate for the surveying service in the district of California for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1874. For surveying extensions of meridians, standard parallels, township exteriors and subdivision lines... $100,000 For rent of office, stationery, fuel, wages of messenger, draughting instru- 7.000 3.0 For compensation of clerks and draughtsmen in the office of the surveyor general 26,060 136,000 J. R. HARDENBERGH, O.-Report of the surveyor general of Oregon. UNITED STATES SURVEYOR GENERAL'S OFFICE, SIR: I herewith transmit the following tabular statements showing the business of this office for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872: A. Shows contracts acted upon during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872. B. Original plats of public surveys and copies transmitted during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872. C. Townships surveyed since June 30, 1871, with area of public lands. D. Estimate of surveying and office expenses for fiscal year ending June 30, 1874. E. Salaries paid surveyor general and clerks for fiscal year ending June 30, 1872. F. Statement of incidental expenses for fiscal year ending June 30, 1872. The diagram map of this district will be completed and forwarded in time to reach your office by the 1st day of November next. You will find indicated upon this diagram the surveys under contract, also the proposed surveys, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1874. In all this work I have carefully studied the wants of settlers upon the public domain, and also the claims of the various enterprises of a public character to aid which Government has given liberal grants of land. The proposed surveys embrace nearly all the settlements on unsurveyed lands. Yet in a very short time the rapidly advancing settlements will extend beyond these limits. I cannot urge in too strong terms the necessity of having the public surveys extended in advance of settlements. This is especially desirable along the line of the several military roads and railroads. The want of these surveys greatly retards settlements along these several lines, for the reason that a majority of settlers are men of limited means who desire the benefit of the homestead law. They cannot well afford to spend several years improving a farm to find, when the public surveys are extended, that all their labor has been expended improving lands the property of some corporation. Again, good faith on the part of the Government toward these several corporations having these enterprises in charge requires the early completion of the public surveys within their respective limits, so that the lands may be made available to the conpanies for the purposes intended. While I regard the policy of the Government, et giving a portion of the public domain in aid of important internal improvements under proper restrictions, a good one, calculated to aid in the development of a new and sparsely settled country, I also deem it the duty of the Government to extend the surveys in advance of settlement for the protection of all parties. I would especially urge the appropriation named in table of estimates at increased rates for surveys west of the Cascade Mountains. None but those who have made the experiment can muderstand how difficult is the work of extending these surveys; the interminable undergrowth and the immense fallen trees make it exceedingly difficult to progress. Nevertheless these lands are valuable for the timber, and much of it for agriculture, and faster than the extension of the public surveys settlers are endeavoring to make for themselves homes. SWAMP LANDS. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1873, it will be incumbent on this office to give some attention to the selections of swamp and overflowed lands in this State, the State authorities having, pursuant to an act of the legislature, approved October 26, 1870, taken steps to secure the benefit of an act of Congress entitled "An act to extend the provisions of an act to enable the State of Arkansas and other States to reclaim the swamp and overflowed lands within their limits to Minnesota and Oregon, and for other purposes," approved September 12, 1860. Extensive locations and selections have been made by the State authorities. No action has been had in this office as yet. The first list of selections, amounting in the aggregate to an area of one hundred and twenty-six thonsand six hundred and thirty-six and nineteen one-hundredths acres, was filed in this office September 2, 1872. RAILROADS. The Oregon and California Railroad, to extend from Portland south to the State line, to connect with the California and Oregon from Sacramento City, California, is now completed, and in successful operation from Portland to Oakland, a distance of one hundred and eighty-one miles, and it is expected to have it completed to Roseburg, a distance of eighteen miles more, by the middle of November next. To the early completion of this enterprise the people of Southern Oregon are looking with considerable interest, for the reason that it will give quick and certain communication with commercial centers. As that people are now situated, their only means of transportation is by wagons over difficult mountains, a distance of nearly one hundred miles, the road being almost impassable, except during the dry season. The Oregon Central Railroad is nearly completed to Saint Joseph, on the Yamhill, and will be in running order by the 1st of October next, by way of Hillsborough and Cornelins, in Washington County, a distance of forty-three miles. It is in contemplation to extend this road up the west side of the Willamette River, to connect with the Oregon and California road at Junction City, in Lane County; also to build a branch road from near Hillsborough to Astoria. After the completion of these already under way and making connection with the Northern Pacific Railroad, Oregon will be very well provided for in the way of railroad connections, with one exception, a line connectng the Columbia River with the Union Pacific, at or near the junction of the Union Pacific Railroad with the Central Pacific. This is in contemplation by the company recently organized under the name of the Portland, Dalles and Salt Lake Railroad Company. This enterprise, if carried out to completion, would meet a want long felt and very much needed by the settlers in the northern and eastern portions of our State and Idaho. MINING INTERESTS. The mining interests of Oregon are still of considerable importance. On the waters of John Day, Powder, and Burnt Rivers rich placer gold mines are being worked with profitable results. Quartz lodes are also attracting some attention; recently a lode of copper ore has been discovered in Union County, which prospects very rich. For a number of years it has been known that gold existed in considerable quantities among the black sands along the ocean beach south of Coos Bay, and miners have wen working them more or less; but recently further discoveries have been made near Port Orford. From present indications these mines are destined to become quite valuable, the principal drawback being the want of water for hydraulic purposes. COAL. Since my last annual report coal has been discovered in the Calapooia Mountains, within about eight miles of the Oregon and California Railroad: also on the head waters of the Nehalim River, about eighteen miles northwest of Hillsborough, in Washington County, near the line of the proposed Astoria branch of the Oregon Central Railroad. It will require further exploration to determine whether coal exists in alicient quantities to warrant the necessary outlay to work the mines successfully. སྐ MANUFACTURES. The manufacturing interests of the State are being developed as rapidly as the wants of the country warrant. The lumber trade is quite important, being confined principally to the Columbia River and the harbors along the coast, Coos and Yaquina Bays ing the more important points. The principal kinds of lumber are fir and cedar. Sancient hard wood, such as ash, maple, and alder, is made to meet the local demand for building purposes. An extensive establishment for manufacturing all kinds of farming implements will soon be completed at Salem, good water power having been obtained. The iron foundery at Oswego, seven miles above Portland, on the Willamette, has been recently purchased by an eastern company, and is being enlarged and otherwise improved, with a view of manufacturing on an extensive scale, from the rich beds of ore near by, iron of every variety suited to this market. OFFICE WORK. You will observe from the tabular statements herewith returned that the office work for the past year has greatly exceeded any former year for the last ten years, while the appropriation for the last fiscal year only provided for a chief clerk, one draughtsman, and one transcribing clerk for ten months in the year. I found the force thus provided quite inadequate to the increased work. The amount of field work, including the sur vey of Indian reservations in Oregon, amounted to eighty-seven thousand dollars. This, in connection with the mineral surveys, increased the office work more than three times over former years. To meet this increased work I found it necessary to employ additional help, which I did at my own expense, for the space of five months, at the usual rates, amounting to five hundred dollars. I could not well afford to meet this expense, yet I preferred to do it rather than to permit the work to fall so far behind. With this additional help, however, the work is still considerably behind in the office. In this connection I desire to suggest the necessity of having the original field notes of the survey of the donation claims in Oregon copied into substantial record books in a neat and systematic manner, properly indexed, for the use of this office, and to better preserve the originals; also the original field notes of the public surveys. I deem this important, in view of the fact that these originals are often written upon poor paper, in a very indifferent hand, and with poor ink, sometimes upon loose leaves, or at least but poorly bound. It is often necessary to refer to these, and each time they are handled they are more or less damaged, and again it is impossible to arrange and keep the notes as now written in such a way as to be referred to readily. By pursuing the plan suggested above, as fast as the originals are carefully copied and compared they can be filed away in a manner best calculated to preserve them. For the purpose of carrrying out the above suggestion, I would recommend, in addition to the amount named in my tabular statement marked "D," for clerk hire, the sum of thirty-six hundred dollars, making three additional transcribing clerks. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIS DRUMMOND, Commissioner General Land Office, Washington, D. C. W. H. ODELL, Surveyor General. A. Surveying contracts acted upon during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872. John H. McClung Jesse Applegate, Exteriors of township 17 south, range 1 cast; Exterior and subdivision of township 38 south, and 35 east; exteriors of township 2 north, 41 east. Contracts. A.-Surveying contracts acted upon during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872-Continued. 250 27 0 50 175 10 20 3,234 14 149 May 18, 1871 James H. Evans 150 May 20, 1871 J. M. Dick A. R. Flint and L. Standard parallel between townships 17 and William E. Smith June 6, 1871 George Williams and George S. Pershin. Exteriors and subdivisions of township 1 sonth, ranges 28, 29, and 30 cast; exteriors of subdivisions of township 2 south, ranges 28 and east; exteriors of township 23 south, 20 range 30 cast. 456 314 Contract closed; ac- Coutract closed; ac count transmitted and paid. Contract closed; ac- 360 72 4 35 300 22 26 3,867 43 Contract closed; account transmitted and paid. |