The western part of the United States consists of a succession of high mountain-ranges extending nearly north and south. The two highest ranges, each about two miles high, enclose a basin-shaped plateau about one mile high. This basin is commonly called the "plateau region." The rim ranges are broken in a few places by passes that the transcontinental railways thread. West of the Sierra Nevada ranges are the fertile Pacific coast lowlands.

The Plateau Region.—This region is generally arid, but on the higher plateaus there is sufficient rainfall to produce a considerable forestry and grazing. The general conditions of rainfall and topography forbid any great development of agriculture. Farming is confined to the river-flood-plains, the parks, and the old lake beds and margins.

A considerable area, estimated at more than two million acres, may be made productive by irrigation, and the United States Government is undertaking the construction of an elaborate and extensive system of reservoirs for the impounding of stream and storm waters now running to waste. The irrigated lands of this region, when their products are accessible to markets, are very valuable. The river-bottom lands of New Mexico, and the old margins of Great Salt Lake in Utah are examples. They produce abundantly, and a single acre often yields as much as four or five acres in regions of plentiful rainfall.

Not much of the crop of this region, the fruit and wool excepted, leaves the vicinity in which it is grown, on account of the expense of transportation. In the matter of the transportation of their commodities, the dwellers of the western highland are doubly handicapped. The building of railways is enormously expensive, and in a region of sparse population there is comparatively little local freight to be hauled. The difficulties of developing such a region from a commercial stand-point, therefore, are very great.

Mining is the chief industry of this section, and silver, gold, and copper are its most important products. Since the discovery of precious metals in the United States, this region has produced gold and silver bullion to the value of about four billion dollars. This sum is about one-half the value of the railways of the country,[55] and from 1865 to 1880 a large part of the capital invested in railway building represents the gold and silver of these mines. In the last twenty years of the past century they produced an average of about one hundred and twenty-five million dollars per year, and this average is constantly increasing.

Coal-measures extend along the eastern escarpment of the Rocky Mountains, and these are destined at no remote day to create a centre of steel and other manufactures. Several of the railways operate coal-mines in Colorado and Wyoming for the fuel required. A limited supply of steel is also made, the industry being protected by the great distance from the Eastern smelteries.

Denver is the chief active centre of finance of the mining industry in the western highlands, although many of the great enterprises derive the capital necessary to develop them from New York and San Francisco. Leadville, Cripple Creek, Butte, Helena, and Deadwood are regions of gold and silver production. Virginia City is the operating centre of the famous Comstock mines. At Anaconda is the chief copper-mine of this region. Salt Lake City and Ogden are the centre of the Mormon agricultural enterprises. Santa FÉ, Las Vegas, and Albuquerque are centres of agricultural interests and stock-growing.

Spokane and Walla Walla are commercial centres of the plains of the Columbia River. The former is the focal point of a network of local roads that collect the wheat and other farm products of this region; the latter is the collecting point for much of the freight sent by steamboats down the Columbia River from Wallula. Railway transportation has largely superseded river-navigation for all except local freights, however. Boise City is the financial centre of considerable mining interests.

The Pacific Coast Lowlands.—Climatically this region differs from the rest of the United States in having a rainy and a dry season—that is, the rainfall is wholly seasonal. In the northern part the rainfall is sixty inches or more, and rain may be expected daily from the middle of October to May. In central California the precipitation is about half as much, the rainy season beginning later and ending earlier. In southern California there are occasional showers during the winter months, aggregating ten or twenty inches.

The level valley-lands have no superior for wheat-farming, and in but one or two places is the rainfall insufficient to insure a good crop. In the San Joaquin and southern valleys of California the harvest begins in May, in the Sacramento Valley in June, and in the Willamette and Sound Valleys of Oregon and Washington in July. The wheat goes mainly to Great Britain by way of Cape Horn. It cannot be safely shipped in bulk, and the manufacture of jute grain-sacks has become an important industry in consequence. The yearly wheat product of this region is not far from eighty million bushels.

Fruit is a valuable product of the foot-hills of the Sierras, and in southern California oranges, lemons, and grapes are now the staple crop. In some cases the average yield per acre has reached a value of five hundred dollars. Some of the largest vineyards in the world are in this region. The Zinfandel claret wine and the raisins find a market as far east as London, and considerable quantities are sold in China and Japan. The navel orange, although not native to California, reaches its finest development in that State. A large part of the fruit-crop of California is handled at Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, and New York. It is transported in special cars attached to fast trains.

Wool is an important crop. In the northern part the sheep thrive best in the foot-hills. The valley of Umpqua River, Ore., produces nearly seventeen million pounds of wool yearly, the staple being an ordinary variety. California produces nearly as much of the finest merino staple. A considerable part is manufactured in the mills of the Pacific coast. The Mission Mills blankets made in San Francisco are without an equal elsewhere.

The discovery of gold by John Marshall in 1848 resulted in a tremendous inflow of people to the gold-fields of California. It also was a factor in the acquisition of the territory composing the Pacific coast States. The first mining consisted merely in separating the metal deposited in the bed-rock of streams by washing away the lighter material. In time the quartz ledges which had produced the placer gold became the chief factor in gold mining. California is still one of the leading States in the production of gold. Quicksilver mining is an important feature of the mining interests of the Pacific coast, and the mines of the coast ranges produce about half the world's output.

Lumber manufacture is an important industry. Douglas spruce, commonly known as "Oregon pine," grows profusely on the western slopes of the high ranges, the belt extending nearly to the Mexican border. It makes a most excellent building-lumber, especially for bridge-timber and framework. Masts and spars of this material are used in almost every maritime country. Sugar-pine is less common, but is abundant. It is largely used for interior work. Several species of redwood occur in central California, confined to a limited area. The wood is fine-grained and makes a most beautiful interior finish.

San Francisco is the metropolis of the Pacific coast of the United States. It is the terminus of the Santa FÉ and Union Pacific railways, and the centre of a network of local roads. Steamship lines connect the city with Panama, the Hawaiian Islands, Japan, and Australian ports; coast steamships reach to the various ports of Alaska, Oregon, and California. It is also the financial as well as the commercial centre of the Pacific coast. Los Angeles is the centre of the fruit-growing region; its port is San Pedro. Stockton, Port Costa, and Sacramento, all on navigable waters, are wheat-markets. Portland (Ore.) is the metropolis of the basin of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. Navigation of the former is interrupted by falls or rapids at Dalles and Cascades, but boats ascend as far as Wallula. The lower Willamette is also made navigable by means of a canal and locks at Oregon Falls.

Puget Sound is a "drowned valley," with an abundance of deep water. The score or more of harbors are among the best in the world. Seattle and Tacoma, the leading ports, are terminals of great transcontinental railways, and also of the most important trade-route across the continent. Lines of steamships connect Seattle with Japan and China, and the commerce passing through this gateway is drawn from a territory that extends more than half-way around the world. These ports are destined to become the chief American ports in the Asian trade.

Alaska.—The most productive industry of the insular part of the territory is the fisheries. For many years the Pribilof Islands produced practically all the seal-pelts used in the manufacture of seal-fur garments. So many seals were killed, however, that the species seemed likely to become extinct, and seal-catching has been forbidden for a term of years.

The discovery of gold along the Klondike River and in the beach-sands of Cape Nome was followed by the development of surface mines that produced a large amount of gold. For the better transportation of products, a railway has been completed from Skagway across White Pass to White Horse, the head of navigation of the Yukon. About twenty steamboats are engaged in the commerce of the river. Skagway and Dyea are collecting points for the commerce of the Klondike mines. Juneau has probably the largest quartz-mill in the world.

Porto Rico.—Porto Rico, formerly a Spanish colony, is now a possession of the United States. The island is about the size of Connecticut and has a population somewhat greater. The industries are almost wholly agricultural, and nearly the whole surface is under cultivation. Sugar, coffee, and tobacco are grown for export, and these constitute the chief source of income. The coffee-crop, about sixty million pounds yearly, is the most valuable product and commands a high price on account of its superior quality. It is sold very largely to European coffee-merchants, and is marketed as a "Mocha." Exports of fruit to the United States are increasing. In 1900 the exports to United States markets, mainly sugar and cattle products, were about six million dollars. The imports from the United States were chiefly of cotton-prints and rice, to the amount of nearly nine million dollars. The total export and import trade that year was about twenty million dollars.

The facilities for the transportation of products are not good. The railway lines have a total mileage of about one hundred and fifty miles. An excellent wagon-road, built by the Spanish Government from San Juan to Ponce, has been supplemented by several hundred miles of roads built under the direction of the military authorities. San Juan and Ponce are the leading seaports and centres of trade.

Hawaiian Islands.—These islands were discovered by a Spanish sailor, Gaetano, in 1549, and again visited by Captain Cook in 1778. Up to 1893 they formed a native kingdom. In 1893 foreign influence was sufficient to overthrow the native government, and in 1898 they were formally annexed to the United States and about the same time organized as a territory. From an early date the geographic position of the islands has made them a convenient mid-ocean post-station, and they have therefore become a most important commercial centre.

Of the various islands composing the group, Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kaui, Molokai, Lanai, and Niihau are inhabited. About one-fifth of the population consists of native Hawaiians; a little more than one-fifth is white; the remainder is composed of Japanese, Chinese, and Porto Ricans. The native population is decreasing. About ninety-five per cent. of the property is owned by the white people—Americans, English, and Germans.

The volcanic soils are the very best sugar-lands, and a large amount of capital is invested in this industry. The sugar-plantations employ more than forty thousand laborers, all Japanese, Chinese, and Porto Ricans. The value of the sugar export is nearly twenty-five million dollars yearly; that of fruit, rice, and hides is about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Coffee is rapidly becoming a leading product. The bulk of the imports comes from the United States, and consists of clothing, cotton textiles, lumber, and machinery.

Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, is the capital and commercial centre, and foreign steamships and sailing-craft are scarcely ever absent from its harbor. Regular steamship service connects this port with San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, B.C., and the principal ports of China and Japan. It is connected with the other islands by a system of wireless telegraphy. The city has the best of schools, business organizations, hotels, and streets.

Pearl Harbor contains a large area of water, most of which is deep enough for the largest vessels afloat. It is intended to deepen the entrance and establish a United States naval station at this place. The village of Hilo is the chief port of the island of Hawaii.

The Philippine Islands are an archipelago of about two thousand islands, the two largest of which, Luzon and Mindanao, are each nearly the size of New York State. Luzon is by far the most important.

After their cession to the United States (December 10, 1898), they were held under military control, but this has given place to local self-government as rapidly as the circumstances permitted. A general school system has been established and is extended wherever practicable. In a considerable number of the islands civil organization is still impossible.

The following are the principal islands and their mineral resources:

The native population is mainly of the Malay race, but there are also many Negritos. Of the native element the Tagals are the most advanced, and are the dominant people. The foreign population includes nearly one hundred thousand Chinese, who are the chief commercial factors of the islands, and the leading industries are controlled by them. There is a considerable population of Chinese and Tagal mixed blood, commonly known as "Chinese mestizos"; they inherit, in the main, the Chinese characteristics. The European and American population consists mainly of officials, troops, and merchant-agents for Philippine products.

The principal products for export are "Manila" hemp, sugar, and tobacco. The hemp is used in the manufacture of cordage and paper. On account of the great strength of the fibre it has no equal among cordage fibres. The imports from the United States consist mainly of machinery and cotton textiles. The total trade of the islands amounted in 1901 to about fifty million dollars, most of which was shared by Great Britain and the United States.

Coal is mined in the island of Cebu and is abundant in most of the islands. Iron ore, copper, and sulphur occur, but they have not been made commercially available to any extent. Gold is mined in the island of Luzon. A stable government only is needed to make these great resources productive. An abundance of timber is found in most of the islands. Cedar, ebony, and sapan-wood are available for ornamental purposes; there is also a great variety of economic woods.

Manila is the commercial centre. Manila Bay is one of the finest harbors in the Pacific Ocean, but much work is necessary to give the water-front a navigable depth for large steamships. With an improved harbor the city is bound to be a great emporium of Oriental trade. Steamship lines connect the city with Hongkong, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Liverpool. There is also a military transport service to Seattle. A railway to Dagupan extends through the most important agricultural region. The wagon-roads throughout the island are very poor.

Lipa, Batanzas, Bauan, and CavitÉ are cities of about forty thousand population, all more or less connected with the industries of Manila. Iloilo is the second port of importance of the islands, and is the centre of a considerable export trade in tobacco, hemp, sugar, and sapan-wood. Cebu is also a port having a considerable trade.

Tutuila, one of the Samoan Islands, was acquired by treaty for use as a coal-depot and naval station. Pago Pago is a port of call for steamships between San Francisco and Australia. Guam, one of the Ladrone Islands, is a naval station. These possessions are strategic and are designed to secure the interests of the United States in the Pacific. An ocean telegraphic cable connects the Pacific Ocean possessions with the United States and Asia.

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