There are five major seaports between Canada and Mexico: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Of the other ports on the Redwood Coast only five more ports could serve the largest coastwise and small deepwater vessels. Another 20 could hold medium sized coasters.  The rest could only serve the smallest of the ships.  

The term dog-hole was given to the smallest ports on the Pacific Coast between Central California and Southern Oregon that operated between the mid-1800s until 1939. The schooners that served dog-hole ports must be be able to "turn around in a harbor barely small enough for a dog". 

Usually, lumber schooners were the only connecters between the lumber ports and the major cities. They brought all types of supplies to the ports and returned with boards, farm produce, and even livestock.