Original. Department. Register. Claimants. Total. E.-Statement of plats made in the office of the surveyor general for Arizona for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876. Description. Plats of standard and township lines Plats of section lines Plats of mining and mill site claims Plats of exterior boundaries of military and Indian reservations. Total. F.-Statement of the number of miles surveyed in Arizona for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876. G.-Statement of surveys of mines and mill sites in Arizma for the fiscal year ending June 30, H.-List of lands surveyed in Arizona for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876. Township 12 north, range 26 east Gila and Salt River... Acres. Acres. ......do 11, 360.00 23, 038. 17 ......do 23, 010. 70 SIR: In compliance with your circular instructions of April 1, I have the honor to submit the following estimates for the surveying service within this district for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878, viz: For continuing the survey of meridian, standard, township, and section $25,000 00 3,000 00 4,500 00 2,500 00 35,000 00 Not yet having any advice of appropriations for the present fiscal year, (ending June 30, 1877,) I cannot estimate with anything like desirable accuracy, but in the several items I have asked exactly the same sums as heretofore for the present year. For years past legislation has been recommended by the General Land Office, and also by this office, with reference to the adjustment of titles to private land claims, and also to the subject of a different mode of disposing of the mountain timber lands which will never be occupied under the pre-emption and homestead acts of Congress. The views I have repeatedly expressed in both these important particulars have only been strengthened by observation from time to time. It is indeed a subject of regret that Congress has so far neglected to revise its legislation on the subjects of mountain timber land and private land claims. In expectation of such legislation I have heretofore estimated that certain sums would be required and ought to be appropriated. Now I deem it better to simply refer to the primary want, and in so doing ask the attention of Congress to the reports relating thereto of the General Land Office and of this office for several years past. In a Territory growing as rapidly as this is, my estimates for surveys of public lands, salaries, and incidental expenses are quite moderate, and to appropriate less amounts would work detriment to the service. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. JAMES A. WILLIAMSON, Commissioner General Land Office, Washington, D. C. JOHN WASSON, Surveyor General. N.-Annual report of the surveyor general of Washington Territory. OLYMPIA, August 19, 1876. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith, in duplicate, a report of the surveying operations in this district for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876. Accompanying and forming a part of this report are the following tabular statements, viz: A. Showing the condition of contracts not closed at the date of last annual report. B.-Statement of contracts let for the survey of the public lands in Washington Territory, the number of miles and acres in each township, the number of plats made, and the amount paid on contracts during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876. C.-Account of the appropriations for the salary of the surveyor general of Washington Territory for clerks in his office, and for incidental expenses, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876. D.-Statement showing the amount and condition of special deposits made during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876. E. Estimated amount required for the surveying service in the district of Washington Territory for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. It will be seen that the most of the appropriation for public surveys in this district for the year ending June 30, 1876, has been expended west of the Cascade Mountains, and embracing some rough and difficult work on the Columbia River near the Cascades, which contained quite a number of settlers who had petitioned the surveyor general for a survey of their section of country while this Territory was under the administration of Oregon. The same is true in regard to much of the work executed last summer in what is known as the "Chehalis country," only a portion of which was surveyed along the river, the deputy returning the unsurveyed portion as “mountainous and unfit for cultivation and settlement," while in fact subsequent settlement and cultivation show it to contain much rich and valuable land both for agricultural and lumbering purposes. That portion of the appropriation expended east of the Cascade Mountains includes a section of open country adjacent to Snake River, well settled, and especially adapted to the raising of wheat and other cereals; and two townships on the headwaters of the Yakama River, and a small section south of Crab Creek and north of the Palouse River of the same character of country. All of the surveys made last year both east and west of the Cascade Mountains, including the small islands in Puget Sound, embrace claims and settlements covering a period of from one to twenty years. Owing to the small appropriation allowed for public surveys in this Territory, I have declined to expend it for the survey of any but agricultural lands, requiring parties desiring the survey of lands exclusively for timber or coal to deposit for the same under the acts of May 30, 1862, as amended March 3, 1871. PROSPECT FOR SURVEYS THE COMING YEAR. Although at this date I am not officially informed of all the conditions of the law in regard to the appropriation for the year ending June 30, 1877, yet I am convinced that it is rendered almost inoperative in this Territory, and wholly so in the densely brushy and timbered country west of the Cascade Mountains. The rates now allowed for work per mile can only be made available and remunerative to the deputy in such countries as the Platte River Valley, or, perhaps, small portions of Eastern Washington which were surveyed long ago. The best land in this Territory is the most difficult to survey, owing to the uneven surface on the east side and the almost impenetrable thickets on the west side of the Cascades. At the maximum rates allowed under the former law, I am informed by the most reliable deputies that they were always satisfied if they cleared from $150 to $200 per month during the time they were engaged on their work in the densely timbered districts. From this it will be seen that it will be impossible to have any work done under the present rates in this portion of the Territory, unless the settlers or parties interested volunteer to make up the entire working party for the deputy surveyor, a practice I dislike and have forbidden as a rule heretofore, it being one which is liable to abuse if allowed. AGRICULTURAL LANDS. A personal observation which was made by me last fall east of the mountains enables me to speak more positively than before of the future of Eastern Washington. The old and erroneous opinions which have been spread so extensively over the country concerning this portion of the Territory will be revolutionized completely by a careful observation of the character and extent of what I consider the best wheat and stock growing country on the Pacific slope. I cannot speak too highly of the extensive and reliable wheat lands of Walla Walla, Columbia, Whitman, Yakama, and Klickitat Counties, which, with the certainty of an unparalleled yield, and a dry, clear season for harvesting the same, render the agriculturist's return for his labor both ample and remunerative. The completion of the Columbia River and Walla Walla Railroad from Wallula to Walla Walla, about 30 miles, brings the farmers of Walla Walla County nearer market, and the establishment of a shipping point by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company at the mouth of the Tucannon, on Snake River, will secure a reliable market for a large portion of Columbia and Whitman Counties. With an outlet to the ocean, either by the construction of a canal at the Dalles and Cascades of the Columbia River or a railroad to Puget Sound, I know of no country which offers brighter prospects for remunerative labor to the agriculturist than Eastern Washington. IMMIGRATION. The tide of immigration is now flowing rapidly into the eastern portion of this Territory. Many families from Kansas, Nebraska, and other Western States have abandoned their former homes, which in many instances have been rendered desolate by the grasshopper plague, and are seeking new homes in a country free from such pests of desolation. In many cases, the mother and children avail themselves of the railroad and meet the male portion of the family at Kelton; the latter reaching there by driving their teams and stock overland. During last fall and winter a large colony from Dakota commenced a settlement on the Stillaguamish River, in townships 31 and 32 north, range 5 east, Willamette meridian, which was surveyed last year, and contains a large quantity of rich bottom land covered by a dense growth of brush and small timber; but the always certain home market for all productions of the farm near the sound is a sufficient inducement for many settlers to convert such lands into farms with their own labor rather than seek the open country, which is generally more remote from market. It is a source of regret to many that the Department could not furnish me with a few copies of the territorial map, recently printed, for the use of immigrants seeking homes. If a few copies (without coloring) could be furnished, they would prove a source of incalculable benefit to the Territory. COAL. But little development has been made in this source of wealth since my last report. All the mines mentioned then continue in operation, with many important improvements both in mining and transportation. Township 18 north, range 6 east, on the headwaters of the Puyallup River, to which I alluded last year, has been surveyed on special deposits, and has since been partially prospected by experts, who report the coal to be of a superior quality; but as yet nothing has been done to bring it into market. TIMBERED LANDS. As Congress has failed to pass any law for the sale of timbered lands in this Territory, none can now be secured except under the pre-emption law, and that, too, under a very doubtful construction of the act. I can see no good reason why the Government should attempt to hold these lands from market, and allow them to gradually pass into other hands, without receiving something like their just value in return. Could these lands be sold in limited quantities to lumbermen, the object of the Government in preserving the timber from wanton or premature destruction would be more fully realized than at present, and something like a true valuation received therefor. TIME TO COMMENCE SURVEYS. I regret that no action has been taken as yet with regard to the time of commencing surveys, as recommended in my last annual report. The delay this year I know is unavoidable, and should I be able to make any of the appropriation just passed available in this district, the lateness of the season now would alone render it almost unavailable until next spring. OFFICE RECORDS. Since my last annual report many of the records of the office have been brought up to date and put in proper form, with carefully prepared indexes for all the letter books. I have not as yet been able to transcribe the field-notes of the surveys in this district to the proper record books, as recommended in my last report, my clerks being employed in making descriptive lists for the use of the local land offices, and, owing to the reduction of both the appropriation for incidental expenses and clerical force, it will be impossible to either purchase the record books or have the work done this year. I also transmit herewith the annual map. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. J. A. WILLIAMSON, W. MCMICKEN, Surveyor General Washington Territory. Commissioner General Land Office, Washington, D. C. |