and miscellaneous dressed lumber, from $20 to $31. The Columbia River mills are not at so much expense in getting logs, and consequently sell at figures somewhat lower.
The cost of manufacturing lumber depends very much upon the location of the mills. Those that are situated on a navigable river, slough, or bay, near a fine tract of fir or cedar, or both, have greatly the advantage; and there are plenty such locations along the Lower Columbia. The St. Helen mill, for instance, gets logs rafted from Scappoose Bay, Lewis River, or the Columbia, from tracts of good timber from three to twelve miles distant. There are splendid bodies of cedar upon Lewis River; also, near the Columbia, two or three miles below St. Helen; and fir all around—on all the tributaries, and on the great river itself. The Rainier and Oak Point mills are in the midst of timber; and so of those on the coast.
The price of logs in the raft is from $3.50 to $5 per M., where it is necessary to purchase them. Labor is worth from $2 to $5 per day, according to the grade; all expenses estimated in gold coin. Timbered lands, conveniently located, are held at from $8 to $15 per acre; but there is plenty of Government land within two or three miles of the Columbia. Mill-owners generally contract for logs to be delivered at their mills, instead of buying up forest lands. The logging business is a very profitable one, being attended with little expense besides the cutting of the logs. There are in all Oregon, as nearly as can be estimated, one hundred and fifty-three saw-mills; thirty-eight being run by steam. Of the mills of Washington Territory there are not so many, but much larger ones, being chiefly engaged in making lumber for export.
