canoes gliding into the
deeper, darker water to seek the current that hurried them on and ever
on to the ocean. The Indians skillfully guided the little craft through
the dangerous places, then settled back to rest until the next test of
skill or strength was necessary, in the meantime relating bits of
history or legends which explained names or some natural phenomenon. The
boom of the surf announced the end of the journey. As the Mountaineers
left the canoes on the beach at Taholah, it was agreed that the trip
down the Quiniault marked the red-letter day of the 1913 outing."

WILLAPA BAY.

[Illustration: TWO PATRIARCHS--ONE 65 FEET IN CIRCUMFERENCE.]

The water area of this bay is 100 square miles, composed of two
sections, one extending southward and separated from the ocean by a long
narrow peninsula, nowhere more than two miles in width, and the other
reaching eastward to South Bend and Raymond. Into it flows Willapa
river, besides other short but swift mountain streams teeming with trout
and other game fish. The bar is about a mile wide and the waters
covering it 28 1/2 feet deep at low tide, thus enabling sea-going
vessels to cross without the aid of tugs--a great advantage to ocean
liners and big lumber schooners, which may be seen almost any day either
lying at the docks or loaded to the gunwale passing out to sea.

The southern arm approaches within three miles of the Columbia River.
People in Pacific County say that Uncle Sam plans to dig a canal
through this narrow strip so that vessels may enter the river by way of
Willapa Bay and avoid the Columbia bar, kept open by jetties built at
enormous expense.

[Illustration: SURF ON WASHINGTON COAST

Photo by Asahel Curtis.]

The cities of Raymond and South Bend are other examples of what
lumbering and fishing have done for Washington municipalities. Where a
few years ago was nothing but a wilderness, known only to the Indians or
an occasional fisherman, are now busy marts with extensive waterfront
factory sites. Pretty roads start from these cities and wind along the
harbor front or penetrate the interior. Excursions by water may be made
to Bay Center and Tokeland, summer resorts and fishing stations. Crab
and clam fisheries and the oyster beds may be seen here to advantage,
Tokeland being the place where eastern oysters were first transplanted
for mercantile purposes.

South Bend and Raymond are also starting points for the North Beach
ocean resorts.