Page:The Columbia River - Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery Its Commerce.djvu/331

CHAPTER XII

The Present Age of Expansion and World Commerce

Population and Productions of the Region on the River and its Tributaries—Extent of its Navigability—Improvements Needed—Kinds of Traffic—Local Traffic—Transcontinental Traffic—World Traffic—Advantages of the River Route for these Kinds of Traffic—The Bar—The Competition of Puget Sound—The Combination of River Route and Sound Route.

WE have traced the successive eras which have brought the land of the Oregon from a wilderness to a group of powerful young American States, abounding in resources and filled to the brim with hope and enthusiasm. We have followed the River through its eras of canoe, bateau, flatboat, sail-ship, and steamboat, and we have seen railroads built along its banks. It remains only to cast a brief final glance at the River in its present age, and to forecast something of what seems its sure future.

It may be said that the population of those parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, which are embraced in the watershed of the Columbia, is probably nearly a million and a quarter. The population of the area in British Columbia is scanty, but rapidly increasing.

The productive capacity is very great. A rough

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