going up, is Cathlamet—a small trading post and salmon fishery, about twenty miles above Astoria, on the north side of the river. Ten miles farther up, on the south side, is Westport, situated upon one of the numerous sloughs which the river forms on the Oregon side. This site was taken up as early as 1851, by Captain John West, who, with his family, has continued to reside here, giving his name to the place. Almost by his individual enterprise he has built up a flourishing settlement, and now owns wharves, warehouses, a store of general merchandise, a lumber-mill, and a salmon fishery, besides a fine farm and dairy.
This slough, or bayou, of the Columbia is a pretty bit of quiet water, with a level, wooded island on one side, and the main-land backed by wooded hills on the other. It is no place for a large town, but an excellent one for what it is—a flourishing trading post. The valley of the Nehalem, a considerable stream that runs nearly parallel with the Columbia, emptying into the ocean near Tillamook Head, is rapidly being settled up, and adds to the importance of Westport, which is the only trading post within twelve miles of the new settlement.
The steamer being detained for half an hour at this place, gives us an opportunity to step ashore and take a look at the salmon fishery. We find it a busy place, the fishing season, which begins in May and ends in August, being at its height. The manner of taking salmon in the Columbia is usually by drift nets, from twenty to a hundred fathoms long. The boats used by the fishermen are similar to the Whitehall boat. According to laws of their own, the men engaged in taking the fish, where the drift is large, allow each boat a stated time to go back and forth along the drift
