Misc. Records
Where to Emigrate and Why - Frederick B. Goddard, Peoples Publ. Co., 1869
OREGON.
RESTING upon the northern boundaries of California and Nevada, and lying along the Pacific Ocean for 275 miles, is the promising and prosperous State of Oregon. Its wonderful beauties, and its great natural advantages and resources, long since attracted the attention and inspired the pen of Washington Irving, and the development and progress of later years bear pleasing testimony to the prophetic importance which that gifted writer attached to this then comparatively unknown region.
To the emigrant whose inclinations tend to agricultural pursuits, and who seeks to found a home where he may soon become independent, in a State which possesses a fertile soil and a healthful climate, Oregon emphatically commends herself as in all respects answering his requirements. Until late years, owing to its remoteness from the great channels of intercourse, the popular impression of Oregon has been that it was a vast and sparsely settled region, almost "out of the world." But the people of Oregon are as fully alive to all advanced ideas and to the spirit of the age, as the people of any other State. They are beating full time to the quickstep of Progress; thirty steamers navigate her rivers, and there are two railroads in process of construction at present, one on the eastern and one on the western side of the Willamette, starting from Portland and going south to meet a road from Marysville, California. Another road is projected from the Dalles down the north side of the Columbia, to cross at St. Helen —the probable crossing of the Puget Sound road. Also a road from Eugene City to the Humboldt River, to connect with the Union Pacific, going through a pass in the Cascade Range at the head-waters of the Willamette. Churches and school‑houses are established, and society is rapidly becoming more cultivated and refined.
J. Ross BROWNE thus speaks of Oregon in his Report :‑
Oregon is peculiarly an agricultural and fruit-growing State, though by no means deficient in valuable mineral resources. Possessing a climate of unrivaled salubrity, abounding in vast tracts of rich arable lands, heavily timbered throughout its mountain ranges, watered by innumerable springs and streams, and subject to none of the drawbacks arising from the chilling winds and seasons of aridity which prevail further south, it is justly considered the most favored region on the Pacific slope as a home for an agricultural, fruit-growing, and manufacturing population. As yet it is but thinly settled, a fact owing in part to the injudicious system pursued under the donation act of 1852, by which large tracts of land (320 acres to single settlers, 640 to married couples) were held by persons who were unable to cultivate them; and in part to the insufficiency of communication with the markets of the world. These drawbacks, however, will soon be remedied by the establishment of railroads, the increase of steam navigation, and the consequent accession of population. The wonderful richness of the valleys, the extraordinary inducements to settlement by families, the beauty of the scenery, and healthfulness of the climate, must soon attract large immigration. The writer has traversed this State from the Columbia River to the southern boundary, and can safely assert that there is no equal extent of country on the Pacific slope abounding in such a variety of attractions to those who seek pleasant homes. The Willamette, the Umpqua, Rogue River, and many others, are regions unrivaled for farming and stock raising.
In the last Report of the General Land Office, Commissioner WILSON gives the following interesting and comprehensive description of Oregon, its agricultural resources, climate, fisheries, unsold lands, &c., &c. :—
Oregon has California on the south, and Washington Territory on the north, extending from the Pacific Ocean to Snake River, the latter constituting a part of its eastern boundary. It is 350 miles long from east to west, and 275 wide from north to south, containing 95,274 square miles, or 60,975,360 acres, being about half as large as the State of California.
The Coast Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, traversing California, continue northward through Oregon; the latter, after leaving California, are named the Cascades. Near the southern boundary the chain throws off a branch called the Blue Mountains, which extend northeastwardly through the State, passing into Washington and Idaho.
The course of the Cascades through the State is generally parallel with the shore of the Pacific, and distant therefrom an average of 110 miles. In California the direction of the Coast Mountains and coast valleys is that of general parallelism with the sea-shore; the mountains sometimes approaching close to the shore and then receding miles from it, leaving belts of arable land between them and the ocean. In Oregon the Coast Range consists of a series of high lands running at right angles with the shore, with valleys and rivers between the numerous spurs having the same general direction as the highlands.
In reference to climate and agricultural capacities, Oregon may be divided into two distinct parts, the eastern and western, lying respectively on the east and west sides of the Cascades.
WESTERN OREGON.
Western Oregon, the portion of the State first settled, and containing the great preponderance of its present population, is 275 miles in length, with an average width of 110, being nearly one-third of the whole State, and contains about 31,000 square miles, or nearly 20,000,000 acres, all of which is valuable for agriculture, for grazing, or for timber-growing, excepting the crests of some of the highest mountains. It is more than four times as large as Massachusetts, nearly three times as large as Maryland, and is greater in extent than the united areas of Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
PRODUCTIONS.
The valleys of the Willamette, the Umpqua, and Rogue rivers, are embraced within this portion of the State. The soil of these valleys is very rich and deep, resting upon a foundation of clay, retentive of the elements of fertility. Larger portions of the valleys are open prairies, just rolling enough for the purposes of agriculture. All the productions common to temperate regions, whether of the field, orchard, or garden, can be cultivated here with the highest degree of success. The chief products of the field are wheat, oats, barley, rye, hay, maize, buckwheat, flax, hemp, sorghum, peas, beans, millet, broom-corn, pumpkins, and potatoes; of the garden, turnips, squashes, cabbages, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, gourds, beets, carrots, and parsnips; and of the orchard, apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, quinces, peaches, and grapes. Many of these productions are of mammoth growth, and superior quality and flavor.
The yield of wheat is frequently forty and fifty bushels per acre, and when the land is properly cultivated, the crop never fails, and in no State or Territory can an equally remunerative crop, year after year, be cultivated with less labor or trouble. As to fruits, no country could produce finer apples, pears, plums, or cherries. The trees come into bearing several years earlier than usual in the Atlantic States, and a failure in the crop is rarely known.
The Willamette Valley is more exposed to the sea-breezes than the more sheltered ones of the Umpqua and Rogue rivers, and the nights are too cool for corn and the peach to succeed well. Rogue River valley, being more sheltered than the valleys to the north of it, appears admirably adapted to the grape, and its culture is becoming a more prominent interest every year, while the peach, Indian corn, and sorghum, it is reported, succeed better here than in any other portions of western Oregon.
Skirting the prairie land of these valleys, and intervening between them and the mountain ranges on either side, there is a succession of hills and ridges, frequently of rounded cone-shaped form, rising sometimes to the height of a thousand feet, and half a mile removed from each other at their bases, covered to their summits with thick grasses, and numerous springs gushing from their sloping sides, with scattered trees of oak, maple, and alder, not so thick as to retard the growth of the native grasses, nor too sparse to shade the grazing flocks and herds. This is called the hill country, and is a region of mixed prairie and woodland, hill and valley, a large portion of it being excellent farming land, and in horticulture and gardening is equal to the plains; but its chief characteristic is grazing, and no country, by its configuration, the quality of its soil, and the temperature of its climate, could be better adapted to sheep, and wool-growing is already a leading interest, and is constantly increasing, from the success that has attended this branch of industry.
CLIMATE, ETC.
The climate of this part of the State is mild and equable. The winters are usually short, with but little fall of snow. The pastures are generally green throughout the year, and a winter so cold as to require dry food for stock is of rare occurrence. The nights are always cool, even in midsummer. From November to April the rainy season prevails. A clear season usually occurs in February or March, continuing several weeks or a month, and followed again by a month more of rainy weather. Between April and November rain falls sufficient to prevent drought, but seldom to injure the harvest or produce freshets. The summer is dry, yet seldom to the destruction of crops. The Oregon farmers realize the necessity of irrigating fields by artificial means, much less than those of southern California.
Back of the hill country, on each side of the Willamette valley, are the Coast Mountains on the west, and the Cascade Mountains on the east. Between the head of the Willamette and the Umpqua valleys a mountain spur called the Calapooia Mountains runs across from the Coast to the Cascade Range. A similar spur, called the Umpqua Mountain, separates the Umpqua and the Rogue River valleys, and another, having the same transverse direction, called the Siskiyou Mountain, on the boundary between Oregon and California, separates the valleys of Rogue and Klamath rivers.
TIMBER.
All these mountains, together with the Cascade and Coast ranges, are covered with immense quantities of the sugar pine, the white and yellow pine, the nut pine, the red fir or Douglass spruce, black fir, yellow fir, western balsam fir, the noble fir, the Oregon cedar, and the fragrant white cedar; all trees of extraordinary size and symmetrical form, standing in dense forests, and some of them rising to the height of two hundred and fifty, and even three hundred feet, with trunks from four to fifteen and sometimes twenty feet in diameter. Less striking and important are the western yew, the western juniper, the Oregon oak, the Oregon alder, the Oregon ash, the hemlock, myrtle, and other trees.
The Coast Mountains, from San Francisco to the mouth of the Columbia River, are heavily timbered with the red-wood, pines, firs, and cedars. Immediately north of San Francisco, the forest is composed almost exclusively of red-wood. Going northward the trees become numerous, and with the red-wood are found the sugar, and the yellow pine, forming about the Oregon boundary one of the most magnificent forests in the world; the red-wood and sugar pine attaining nearly equal dimensions, trees of both species being not uncommon twelve to fifteen feet in diameter and three hundred feet high.
After crossing the Oregon boundary the red-wood becomes scarcer, and ceases entirely in the vicinity of the Umpqua River. It is succeeded by the arbor-vita or Oregon cedar, and the red and black firs, and these form the almost impenetrable coating of vegetation which covers the Coast Mountains, from Port Orford to the Columbia; the red-fir here attaining its greatest dimensions, fully equaling those of the red-wood and sugar pine.
The forests of Oregon, like those of California, contain many of the most valuable timber trees in the world, many of which would furnish straight timber a yard. square and a hundred feet long, valuable for furniture, for domestic architecture, for ships' spars, for the powerful frame work of heavy machinery, for bridge building, for railroad purposes, and the general purposes of the farmer, the millwright and the shipwright.
The soil upon which these forests grow is generally good, the undergrowth over the greater extent of it being hazel, often three inches in diameter and twenty feet high, elder, alder, dogwood, myrtle, maple, ash, and willow, together with such other shrubs and grasses as indicate rich, moist, and first-rate soil. Upon the Coos and Coquille rivers, in the Coast Range, the land has been cleared and its fertility found extraordinary, producing all kinds of grains and vegetables in abundance.
Throughout these extensive mountain forests, there are immense tracts lying sufficiently even for cultivation; but lands producing timber of such valuable qualities and in such extraordinary quantities should be preserved as timber lands through all time. As the larger trees are felled, the forest should be allowed to reproduce itself again from the younger and smaller trees, and the shoots and sprouts that will rapidly spring up. Nor can the land be devoted to any more profitable purpose than the production of these monarchs of the forest, many of which are of rapid growth, and attain a great height and size even in the lifetime of a human being. A million feet of lumber at the moderate price of ten dollars per thousand feet, are worth ten thousand dollars, which would be equivalent to one hundred dollars per acre for one hundred years, and from all the information received touching the character of these amazing forests, it is believed to be no exaggeration to suppose them capable of producing one million feet of lumber to the acre. Although much of it may be comparatively worthless at present, for want of means of transportation to market, yet the time is approaching when that inconvenience must in a great measure cease to exist. The demand for lumber is annually increasing in all parts of our own and other countries, and upon the extensive plains west of the Mississippi but little timber exists, and the first settlers must of course have supplies. A railroad from the head of navigation on the Columbia or Snake River, to intersect the Union Pacific at Salt Lake City or other points east of that, would open up a market for the lumber of Oregon and Washington Territory that would annually increase for many years to come, and over which it would be sent, not only to supply demands east of the Rocky Mountains, but in Nevada, and down the Colorado to southern Utah and Arizona.
EASTERN OREGON.
Eastern Oregon, extending from the Cascade to Snake River, is an elevated, rough, broken country of hills and mountains, benches, table-lands, deep gorges, almost impenetrable cañons, with numerous fertile and arable valleys. The greater portion is incapable of tillage, but furnishes an extensive scope for grazing. The climate is drier than on the west of the Cascade Range; is subject to greater extremes of heat and cold and to sudden changes of temperature, but generally milder than the same latitude east of the Rocky Mountains.
The tillable lands in this portion of the State are along the Columbia River and in the valleys of the Umatilla and Walla Walla rivers, in the valleys of Klamath Lake, Lost River, Goose Lake, Harney and other lakes, and Alvord and Jordan Creek valleys, in the southern part of the State, and in the valleys of Grande Ronde, Snake, Powder, Burnt, Malheur, and Owyhee rivers, in the eastern part.
Numerous thriving settlements, with extensive improvements in agriculture and manufactures, exist in the valleys of the Columbia, the Umatilla, and Walla Walla rivers, and grazing is extensively carried on. The soil of the valleys is highly fertile, and its agricultural capacity, so far as tested, is found excellent, producing small grains, fruits, and vegetables in great abundance and of very excellent quality. The locality enjoys advantages in reference to market and business, on account of its contiguity to the navigable waters of the Columbia, and the mining districts lying to the east and south.
The country bordering on the Des Chutes and John Day rivers and the declivities of the Blue Mountains, is fit only for grazing land, and for this purpose much of if is excellent. Much good land exists in the southern part of the State for agriculture and for grazing, but being comparatively unsettled, little of it has been subjected to the test of experience.
In the eastern part of the State, in the valleys of Snake River and its tributaries, many settlements exist; the soil is generally rich, and agriculture flourishes. Indian corn, melons, and many varieties of garden vegetables, are said to succeed better in some of these valleys than on the Willamette, on account of the higher temperature of the summer. Timber is less abundant in eastern Oregon than west of the Cascades, and the oak is wanting in the eastern, which is found upon the lower hills and in the valleys of western Oregon in small groups or in solitary trees, and with its low and spreading form, imparting such a picturesque beauty to the landscape; but on the sides and summits of the Blue Mountains, and the various spars and ridges which traverse this part of the State in different directions, are found the fir, cedar, hemlock, pine, and other varieties of forest trees, which will furnish an abundant supply. The Blue Mountains are noted for the best quality of timber and natural grasses, which cover their sides from base to summit.
The SALMON FISHERIES of Oregon form an important item, and may be indefinitely increased to meet almost any imaginable demand. These fish make a fall and spring run from the ocean, penetrating most of the Oregon rivers to the smaller branches from which they flow, and stem the powerful current of the Columbia for more than a thousand miles. Vast quantities are annually caught, and the business of putting them up for commerce is prosecuted with great success.
COLUMBIA RIVER.—The Columbia is the chief river of Oregon, the largest on the Pacific coast, and one of the largest in the United States. For thirty or forty miles from its mouth, it expands into a bay from three to seven miles wide. It is navigable to the Cascade Mountains, one hundred and forty miles from its mouth, when navigation is interrupted by rapids for a distance of five miles, over which a railroad portage is constructed. On the east side of the Cascades it is again navigable for forty-five miles to the Dalles, and again becoming unnavigable on account of rapids, another railroad fifteen miles long has been built from the Dalles to Cebillo. From the latter point the river is navigable, and daily or tri-weekly steamers are running to Umatilla, eighty-five miles; Wallula, one hundred and ten miles; and to White Bluffs, one hundred and sixty miles farther up the stream.
The Oregon Steam Navigation Company had, in 1866, eighteen or twenty first-class steamboats on the river, and warehouses at all the principal towns, and had transported to the Upper Columbia, in the four years ending in 1865, 60,320 tons of freight, and carried up and down the river nearly 100,000 passengers.
By constructing a portage from White Bluffs, one hundred and fifty miles north, and cutting off an impassable angle in the river, the stream is again struck at a navigable point close to the forty-ninth parallel, from which steamers can run from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles farther north to near the fifty-third parallel, in the Cariboo country, the famous gold region of British Columbia. The Oregon Steam. Navigation Company expected to have steamers running upon these upper waters in 1867. The Snake or Lewis River, one of the principal affluents of the Columbia, is navigable from the mouth of Powder River, one hundred and ten miles from Wallula, a distance of one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles, into southern Idaho, and within two hundred miles of Salt Lake City; and the placing of several steamboats upon this part of Snake River during the present season was another object of that enterprising corporation. Whether these enterprises have been realized, and the navigation of the Columbia and its tributary thus extended, this office is not informed. If they have been, steam navigation from Salt Lake City to the mouth of the Columbia is practically secured, with the aid of about three hundred miles of wagon road.
Oregon enterprise already contemplates the construction of a railroad from Wallula to Salt Lake City, through the gold regions of Idaho, a distance of five hundred and fifty miles, crossing the Blue Mountains by a very favorable pass. From Wallula, the Pacific Ocean is reached by the navigation of the Columbia at the distance of three hundred and twenty miles farther, or eight hundred and seventy miles from Salt Lake City to the mouth of the Columbia, making the shortest route from Salt Lake to the Pacific, and avoiding the great labor of surmounting the Sierra Nevadas.
In all parts of this State, vast tracts of agricultural, grazing, and timber lands, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are open to settlement under the homestead and pre-emption laws, and in western Oregon large quantities may be obtained by private entry.
Farming and grazing are very profitable in the neighborhood of mining settlements, and not only competence but wealth is within the reach of the industrious and enterprising, who, selecting a farm and a home in a favorable locality, either in eastern or western Oregon, devote themselves faithfully to improving and developing its resources.
The population of the State, which at the present time is estimated at over 100,000, is steadily increasing, and when the means of communication, now in contemplation, are open, the increase will be still further stimulated.
The undisposed-of public lands in the State amount to about fifty-two million seven hundred thousand acres.
We take the following extracts from a premium essay written for the Oregon State Agricultural Society, by Mr. W. LAIR HILL:‑
CLIMATE.—Eastern Oregon possesses a climate much resembling that of the Upper Mississippi Valley, but not so cold. It is dry and open; usually somewhat bleak, owing to the large proportion of prairie land, but seldom bitter cold, the mercury rarely falling below zero in the extreme of winter. Last winter, however, it was exceedingly cold in this region; but that was a winter unexampled in severity everywhere in the Pacific States.
Spring in eastern Oregon is fine, early, and open. Summer is hot and generally dry, with cool nights. Variations of temperature, corresponding with differences of altitude, are observed, sometimes amounting to several degrees at places only a few leagues apart. Autumn frosts begin some time in October, but it does not become wintry till very late. Little rain or snow falls except in the mountains. Eastern Oregon is exposed to an almost continuous breeze which sometimes swells into quite a gale, but storms never occur. The wind in summer is from the southwest.
Western Oregon has a moist, mild, and peculiarly uniform climate. Except in rare cases the winter is not cold nor the summer hot more than two or three days in succession, and extreme heat or cold never occurs.
It is rarely necessary to feed stock for more than a fortnight, and frequently not at all during the whole year.
SOIL AND EXTENT OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS.—The two natural divisions of Oregon differ in respect to the quality of their soil as well as in climate. The plateau of eastern Oregon have a moderately rich soil whose chief component is silicia, and containing but a small amount of vegetable matter. Little effort has been made to test its capabilities for agricultural purposes until very recently. The experiment, so far as tried, has proved exceedingly gratifying, and many persons maintain that these uplands are destined to be the first grain lands in the State. But the natural adaptation of these immense tracts is to grazing, cattle herding, and bucolic pursuits. Rolling prairies and level plains of almost illimitable extent stretch out from the foot of the Cascade Mountains almost to the eastern border of the State, and are covered with luxuriant bunch-grass (festuca), affording an inexhaustible pasture for any amount of stock. This grows in large tufts not joined together by their fibrous roots, as is the case with most other grasses. It grows to different heights, from six to eighteen inches, according to the quality of the soil. In nutritive properties it is not excelled by any grass known. Attaining its full growth about the time the dry season commences, it cures into a fine, flavorous hay, which, owing to the absence of dew in this region in the summer, remains excellent until the autumn rains come, when the whole country is again covered with green grass.
Mountain streams, having their sources in the mountain chains, intersect these table-lands, flowing through valleys and rondes of various dimensions and amazing fertility. The valleys of the Des Chutes and its tributaries are all that have been extensively tested with cereals, and they have yielded very large crops. Vegetables of nearly all varieties yield almost fabulous crops. Indian corn does as well in eastern Oregon as in any State in the Union, and will soon become a staple production. Fruit promises finely. This is thought to be as good a fruit country as that west of the Cascade Mountains, so justly denominated the "fruit garden of America."
Its hot summers admirably adapt eastern Oregon to the culture of sorghum or Chinese sugar-cane; and sufficient trial has been made to warrant the assertion that this plant can be produced here as successfully as in any of the Northwestern States. Judge Laughlin, of Wasco County, who has paid some attention to the cultivation of this plant, in a published letter of his, dated. January 12, 1861, says: " I have cultivated some (sorghum) the past two years, and find it grows remarkably well. * * It will produce double as much food as any thing (else) I can raise on the same amount of land. * * Mr. Phelps, of this county, has made some very nice sirup, and intends cultivating a crop for that purpose next season."
The cost of making this sirup will not exceed fifty cents per gallon. Its market value can not be less than one dollar per gallon throughout the country, and two or three times as great in the mines. Planted in April, the sugar-cane matures well, and yields a large per cent. of saccharine juice. A farmer, who would give his entire attention to cultivating sorghum and manufacturing sirup in eastern Oregon, could not fail of amassing a large amount of money in a very short space of time. The extent of these valley lands is not definitely known, as no official survey has ever been made of the region in which they lie excepting comparatively small bodies in the vicinity of the Des Chutes. This stream, the largest affluent of the Columbia in Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains, flows through a valley large enough to maintain a population of many thousand persons. It has already some considerable settlements, mostly composed of stock raisers.
John Day River waters a valley much larger than that of the Des Chutes, and of equal fertility. It is unsettled, and offers great inducements to farmers desiring homes near the mines, where a market will always be ready, and produce will command high prices. It is about thirty miles east of the Des Chutes, and has the same general trend, both running north into the Columbia.
Powder River runs through the largest valley in eastern Oregon, and probably equal to any other in the excellent quality of its soil. Emigrants from the East are fast settling up this valley, and the prospect is that it will soon contain a large population. No settlements were made on Powder River previous to the discovery of the gold mines on its headwaters, but it is stated that a large number of the emigrants of this season have already selected their future homes there, and expect soon to be surrounded by an industrious and thriving community, and enjoying all the amenities of civilization.
Burnt River has its course through a broken region, very fertile, but better adapted to grazing than to agriculture. This stream is southeast from Powder River, and, having the same general direction, flows northeast into Snake River.
East of Burnt River the country is exceedingly uninviting. What valleys there are, are small and frequently unproductive. The land, impregnated with alkalies, has scarcely any vegetation growing upon it except artemisia, or sage. Grass is scarce and of poor quality, even along the streams. Of his entering the Burnt River country from this inhospitable waste, in his official explorations, General Fremont says he now came into "a mountainous region where the soil is good, and in which the face of the country is covered with nutritive grasses and dense forests; land embracing many varieties of trees peculiar to the country, and on which the timber exhibits a luxuriance of growth unknown to the eastern part of the continent and to Europe. This mountainous region,"' he continues, "connects itself in the southward and westward with the elevated country belonging to the Cascade or California Range, and forms the eastern limit of the fertile and timbered lands along the desert and mountainous region included within the great (Utah) basin."
The Grande Ronde, lying a few leagues north of the Powder River valley, is a beautiful circular valley, some twenty or thirty miles in diameter, watered by a stream bearing the same name. Surrounded by high hills or spurs of the Blue Mountains, its amphitheatrical form, relieving its smooth, grassy surface, intersected by a bold stream. fringed on either margin with small trees, renders it sufficiently charming, to say nothing of the fertility of its soil, which is unsurpassed. Settlements are being made in this valley, also, by the emigrants who have come over the plains, but it will not all be occupied this season.
The Klamath basin, it is said, contains a large tract of good agricultural lands, but this may be questionable, as no experiments have yet been made to test its qualities for farming purposes. It is a fine grazing district; even in the midst of December it has been found covered with fresh and luxuriant grass. The Klamath is a magnificent lake, possessing one feature in particular, which lakes do not ordinarily have, viz.: it has no water in it. It is, a fact, though not generally known, that this lake is nothing more than a broad savannah, sometimes covered in places with a thin sheet of water for a brief period, but never entirely inundated, and capable of being easily drained and reduced to cultivation.
Goose Lake, Lake Albert, and some others of considerable size, lie in the northern part of the Utah basin, and are said to be surrounded by large tracts of as fine agricultural land as can be found in the State. That there is some good country around these lakes, is certainly true; but enough is not known of this region to warrant a positive statement that they are very extensive.
Rogue River valley, occupying the extreme southern portion of western Oregon, and extending into California, is a broken country; or series of valleys, separated by rolling highlands, covered in some places with dense forests of fir and cedar, and in others thinly timbered with oak, and finely set with grass. It is a very good country for farming, and a superior one for stock raising. Rogue River is not navigable on account of its numerous cascades. Like all the western portion of the State, this valley is well watered by numerous mountain streams, which are sufficiently large to afford motive-power for running any amount of machinery. It is thinly populated, and would furnish homes for an indefinite number of immigrants. Jacksonville, its principal town, is a place of some importance as a mining town.
The Umpqua Valley is a beautiful country, drained by the Umpqua River, a stream of some magnitude, and navigable 25 miles from its mouth for ocean vessels. This fertile valley contains 1,000,000 of acres. It is principally rolling or hilly land, the face of the country in many places forcibly reminding one of the rugged districts of Vermont, or the charming stories he read when but a child of the mountain home of the Swiss.
Numerous tributaries of the Umpqua, some of them quite large, flow through the valley, affording excellent water privileges. Perhaps no country is more conveniently provided with good soil, good timber, and good water, than the Umpqua Valley. Its population is about 4,500, leaving ample room for 20,000 more, allowing 160 acres to each family of four persons. Roseburg and Winchester, the most important places in this valley, are pleasant villages.
But the most important agricultural district in western Oregon, and probably in the whole State, is the Willamette Valley. It is separated from the Umpqua by the Calapooya Mountains, a densely timbered belt, having an altitude of about 5,000 feet, and extending from the Cascade to the Coast Range. This valley is drained by the Willamette River, flowing north into the Columbia, and which is navigable to the distance of 130 miles from its mouth, direct measure, with only a single obstruction: the falls at Oregon City.
No person can survey the Willamette Valley, with its alternations of rich meadow-like prairies, undulations, and beautiful streams, without feeling that he beholds the most delightful spot in America. The agricultural country lying along the banks of the Willamette, includes an area nearly equal to that of the entire State of Connecticut, with a combination of advantages inferior to no other section of the United States. Mr. William H. Knight describes this valley as "possessing a soil of unsurpassed fertility, a mild and genial climate, an abundant growth of timber, large natural pastures, where stock may range unsheltered the year round, an excellent commercial position, superior facilities for transportation, and a rapidly increasing population." This is stating the case in rather too strong a light, and requires some qualification in two of its particulars. The population of the Willamette valley has not increased very rapidly for some years past, owing to causes which will become manifest when the subject of commerce is discussed. And the other modification proposed is, that we sometimes have a "cold snap" of two or three weeks' duration in the winter, and the last winter still longer, so that stock may not "range unsheltered the year round" every year, and should not be forced to do so any year, as the continuous rains of the winter months are very injurious to all kinds of domestic animals. Aside from this slight inaccuracy, Mr. Knight's description, is certainly a very correct one, and the impulse given to the State by the recent discovery of extensive gold fields on the eastern border of the State, can not fail to make it become speedily true in respect to the increase of population.
This valley is mostly smooth prairie land, large bodies of it undulating, but not hilly, interspersed at intervals, never greater than a few miles, often much less, with streams of various sizes flowing in across the valley from the mountains on either side. Ranges of low hills, covered with oak timber, are common throughout the valley.
Some of the largest affluents of the Willamette, as the Santiam, Yamhill, and Tualatin, are navigable to considerable distances into the interior; while there is scarcely one which does not afford an ample volume of water to drive any desired amount of machinery for milling and manufacturing purposes.
The Willamette, in common with all this region of the Pacific coast, belongs to the tertiary period. Shells and ligneous petrifactions are numerous, and mammal fossils have been found in various places, indicating a very recent formation.
The soil of western Oregon may be divided into four general classes, viz.:—
1st. A brown clay loam, of good quality, thinly timbered with oak, producing good grass, and affording fine stock range. It is found chiefly along the spurs of mountains or extended ranges of hills, never in the level prairie.
2d. A dark or black porous soil formed by the admixture of vegetable mold with the clay loam just described. This soil occurs only in the valleys close by or between the mountains, and is unrivaled in productive power. Both of these classes are thirsty, and suffer whenever the summer drought is of very long duration.
3d. A grayish calcareous sandy loam of exceedingly fine quality, covered with a thick turf of grass, and admirably adapted to the cultivation of cereals, especially wheat, oats, and barley. This class embraces five-sixths of the entire valley, including most of the prairie, and much of the oak-timbered land. It is little affected by drought, and though not naturally porous, is pulverized with great facility, and is exceedingly mellow.
4th. A strictly alluvial soil, lying along the immediate banks of the river, and composed of sand, vegetable matter, and various decomposed earths, washed by the current from above. Most of this class of soil is overflowed in extraordinary freshets, which, however, never occur in the growing season of the year, and it is unexcelled in fertility.
Many small and very rich valleys lie along the sea-coast, and will doubtless yet become valuable. Among them are the Tillamook, situated on a bay of the same name, the Celets, the Yaquina on Yaquina Bay and river, the Coquille on Coquille River. The Coquille and Tillamook already contain settlements of some magnitude.
HARBORS.—There are already opened four ports of entry in this State. The most important harbor is that of the Columbia River, but it is not the only one likely ever to assume much importance. Umpqua River, Port Orford, and the Coquille want nothing but the settlement of the rich districts surrounding them to bring them into consideration as commercial points, while vessels have entered several others and found good harbors. Yaquina Bay, first brought to notice only a year ago, is said to be an excellent harbor, extending thirty miles into the coast, and easy of access from the extending heart of the Willamette valley.
HEALTH.—It would seem invidious to discriminate in favor of any portion of the State of Oregon in respect to its salubrity. Every thing that nature could do to render a country perfectly healthful has been done for this State. The mountain air, not less than the mountain water, has a vivifying influence; and the gentle breezes of summer, coming fresh from the sea, are a pleasant and effectual preventive against all the violent diseases ordinarily to be feared in dry and sultry regions.
The climate of Oregon is thought to be unfavorable to the health of persons who are predisposed to pulmonary affections. This is probably true. Notwithstanding this general opinion, however, it is found that fewer persons die here of consumption, in proportion to the population, than in any one of the New England States. And it is certainly beyond question, that in every other respect, there is no other State in the Union worthy to be compared with this for salubrity of climate.
Persons are frequently met with here who had been unable to perform any labor for years before leaving the East, on account of ill health, but have become rugged and strong in this country, and are now regularly engaged in their callings without any physical inconvenience whatever.
MISCELLANEOUS.—Some peculiarities and special adaptations of this State deserve to be more particularly noticed, though space will not allow this to be done at length.
SHEEP.—A very intelligent writer of New England calls Oregon a "mammoth sheep pasture." From what has been exhibited of its soil, climate, and mines, it will be perceived that, with equal propriety and no greater allowance of hyperbole, it might be denominated, also, a mammoth grain field and vegetable garden, and a mammoth gold placer. In a country eminently fitted by nature for so many branches of business as Oregon, discrimination in favor of any one particularly, will seem unwarranted, not to say unjust. But certainly if Oregon has a specialty, it is her pre-eminence as a wool-growing country. Until very recently, little attention has been paid to the matter of sheep-raising, but it is now becoming one of the staple interests of the State. Sheep thrive better here than in any other State. Disease among them is exceedingly rare. They increase here faster than in the East, and the wool is of excellent quality. Only one manufactory of woolen goods is yet in active operation. This is located at Salem. Another is in course of construction in Linn County. The wool clip of the State, in 1861, amounted to 444,000 pounds. That in 1862 (estimated by Mr. L. E. Pratt of the Willamette Woolen Manufacturing Company), is 344,000 pounds. The difference of amount is owing chiefly to the losses of last winter. The average price of wool, in 1861, was 18 cents a pound; in 1862 it was 20 cents. In respect to the quality of Oregon wool, Mr. Pratt says: "There is no inferior wool grown in the State." When the Eastern papers quote the price of " Oregon wool," they mislead dealers to the prejudice of this State, as there are no burs in the country; they probably refer to wool grown in California, and are imposed upon by dealers of that State.
The Willamette Woolen Manufacturing Company turn out, annually, 4,000 pairs of blankets, 10,000 yards flannels, 60,000 yards cloths and tweeds, and 4,000 pounds stocking yarn. The cloths are worth, on an average, $1.12+ per yard ; the blankets, $8.
The expenses of the factory are $56,000.
LUMBER.—Every thing has been done which nature could do to make Oregon to the Pacific what Maine is to the Atlantic coast. The best of timber, with unexampled water privileges convenient of access for sea-going vessels, leaves nothing to be desired in this respect but enterprising men who will engage in the business of supplying foreign markets.
FISHERIES.—All along the sea-coast oyster and salmon fisheries might be made highly profitable. The salmon on this coast are not only more abundant, but acknowledged to be of much better quality than those of the Atlantic. Clam and cod fisheries might also be established along the coast.
BEES.—The introduction of bees into Oregon is of very recent date. They prosper well, and produce a large amount of honey. Three years since a hive was worth $150; now it is worth $25.
FRUIT—Reference has already been made to this, but something a little more specific is required. For apples and pears Oregon is unrivaled. Cherries thrive passably well. Peaches do not generally succeed well, except some very hardy varieties. Plums are in great abundance, and finely flavored. Quinces and apricots flourish. Grapes are good, especially early varieties. Shrub fruits generally produce exceedingly well. All in all, Oregon is the fruit-garden of America, if not of the world
PULSE of all kinds, like cereals, yield largely.
COMMERCE.—From the geographical position and internal resources already shown, it does not require that much should be said of its commerce. Certain circumstances, however, have prevented the development of the strength of the State in this respect, the principal of which is the law under which the land of Oregon is held. At an early period of the settlement of the country, a law was passed by Congress donating 640 acres of land to each man having a wife—or rather 320 acres each to the man and wife —and 320 acres each to single men settling in the Territory. The result of this large donation has been to render the population of the State so sparse that all interests of the body social, all the nerves of civilization and progress have been completely paralyzed. This effect has been visible more in connection with the commercial than with any other branch of the social economy of the State, unless it be the educational. It is hoped, however, that these detrimental consequences of the nation's liberality will not longer continue to operate as they have done hitherto; since the largeness of the gift has reduced a great majority of the donees to such a condition as compels them to divide their large tracts of land. When this is done, and not before, Oregon will begin to exhibit that degree of prosperity for which God has given her such ample capabilities.
SCHOOLS.—Oregon, though a new country, is not without its school system, and the people of the State manifest an interest in the subject of education which can not fail of raising the intelligence and refinement of the country to a high standard as soon as the population is sufficient. Common schools are kept in almost every neighborhood, and grade schools and academies are located in several places. Limits of space forbid more specific statements.
CHURCHES.—Also the religious statistics of the State will evidence that the immigrant to Oregon need not fear that he is coming to a barbarous or half-civilized land.
THE QUESTION.―It may now be asked, where and on what terms can land be obtained in Oregon. In the western portion of the State, that is in the Rogue River, Umpqua, and Willamette valleys, the best land is occupied. Farms can be had, however, in these valleys, for from $5 to $10 per acre, according to location. There is ample room, and settlement is invited. As good agricultural land as there is in the world can be bought for $8 per acre in any of these districts.
The land in eastern Oregon is, for the most part, vacant. Homes may be obtained by simply occupying them under the provisions of the homestead law, which took effect on the first day of January, 1863, or by the provisions of the pre-emption law. These lands are not yet surveyed, but no difficulty need be apprehended on this account. The immigrant has nothing to do but to comply with the conditions under which he takes, and his title will be secure to a home for his family which even the rapacity of pitiless creditors can not wrest from him, and which in return for moderate industry will enable him always to have enough and to spare of the good things of this world.
The following additional extracts are from a government Report :—
MINERALS.
By far the most important mineral resource yet discovered in Oregon is the vast deposit of iron known to exist between the Willamette River above Portland and the Columbia, at St. Helen. Of the entire extent of this valuable deposit there is as yet but little knowledge, but it has been traced a distance of at least 25 miles, and is, beyond doubt, inexhaustible.
The mineral resources of Oregon, though not so thoroughly prospected as those of adjacent States and Territories, are both extensive and valuable, and will no doubt at some future time form a prominent source of wealth. Placer mining has been carried on extensively and profitably in the southern counties since 1852, and the mines of John Day and Powder River have yielded several millions of dollars since their discovery in 1860. The annual product of these mines, until the last two years, has been from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. In common with the surface deposits of elsewhere, there is a gradual diminution as the placers become exhausted. New discoveries, however, are being continually made.
COUNTIES.
Oregon is divided into 22 counties; the general characteristics, boundary lines, population, &c., &c., of each county, are thus given in McCormick's Directory:―
BAKER COUNTY is situated east of the Cascade Mountains, embracing within its boundaries large tracts of excellent agricultural land, together with numerous valuable mining claims which are annually being developed. County seat, Auburn.
BENTON COUNTY contains an area of about 1,556 square miles, and is bounded on the north by Polk County, on the south by Lane, on the east by the Willamette River, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Number of legal voters, 950. County seat, Corvallis.
COLUMBIA COUNTY is bounded on the north and east by the Columbia River, on the south by Washington and Multnomah counties, and on the west by Clatsop County. According to the late census, it contains a population of 449, viz.: males, 297; females, 152. Number of voters, 173. Acres of land under cultivation, 745. The total value of assessable property in the county is $159,970. County seat, St. Helens.
CLACKAMAS COUNTY is bounded on the north by Multnomah, on the east by the Cascade Mountains, on the south by Marion, and on the west by Washington and Multnomah. Population, 4,144. County seat, Oregon City.
The establishment of a woolen-factory and a paper-mill at Oregon City has proved beneficial to its progress. Number of legal voters in the county, 1,242. Number of males, 2,448; females, 1,696. Acres of land under cultivation, 6,092. Value of assessable property, $1,605,594.
CLATSOP COUNTY contains a population of 689, viz.: males, 388; females, 301. Voters, 179. Acres of land under cultivation, 760. Value of assessable property, $280,000. County seat, Astoria.
CURRY COUNTY is situated in the extreme southwestern portion of the State, and contains a population of 389, viz.: males, 224; females, 165. Number of voters, 105. Number of acres of land under cultivation, 400. Value of assessable property, $100,600. Large quantities of good land, suitable for cultivation, remain unoccupied in this county. A new mining district has recently been opened near the mouth of Rogue River, where hundreds of men can find employment during eight months of the year. County seat, Ellensburg.
COOS COUNTY is situate in the southern portion of the State, on the coast, between Douglas and Curry counties. The population, according to the late census, is 1,024, viz.: males, 637; females, 387. Number of voters, 313. Acres of land under cultivation, 950. Value of assessable property, in the county, $200,000. County seat, Empire City.
DOUGLAS COUNTY contains a population of about 4,000, viz.: males, 2,250; females, 1,750. Number of voters, 1,139. Number of acres of land under cultivation, 21,404. Value of assessable property, $1,331,208. County seat, Roseburg.
GRANT COUNTY contains a population of 2,250, viz.: males, 2,000; females, 250. Number of voters, 1,300. Acres of land. under cultivation, 5,000. Value of assessable property, $295,000 County seat, Canyon City.
JACKSON COUNTY is situate in the southern portion of the State, and contains within its boundaries rich gold mines, which give employment to a large number of its citizens. The population of the county is 2,955, viz.: males, 1,755; females, 1,200. Number of voters, 1,253. Acres of land under cultivation, 13,901. Value of assessable property, $1,298,465. County seat, Jacksonville.
JOSEPHINE COUNTY is situate in the southern portion of Oregon, between Jackson and Curry counties, and contains a population of about 2,000. The assessable property in the county is estimated at $300,000. County seat, Kerbyville.
LANE COUNTY is situate in the central portion of the State, extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Cascade Range. The population of this county is 5,527, viz.: males, 3,077 ; females, 2,450. Number of legal voters, 1,318. Acres of land under cultivation, 30,683. Value of assessable property, $3,000,000. County seat, Eugene City.
LINN COUNTY is situate north of Lane, and contains a population of 1,709, being an increase of 937 since 1866. In 1850 the population of this county was only 994. Linn County contains an area of 877 square miles, or 561,200 acres. Number of males in the county, 4,235; females, 3,474. Voters, 2,250. Acres of land under cultivation, 49,405. Value of assessable property, $2,500,000. During 1865 a splendid brick court-house was erected at Albany, the county seat, at a cost of $31,000. The post-offices in this county are Albany, Peoria, Lebanon, Scio, Brownsville, Pine, and Harrisburg.
MARION COUNTY contains a population of about 9,000. County seat, Salem.
MULTNOMAH COUNTY is situate on the banks of the Willamette River; in the northern portion of the State, and is the wealthiest county in Oregon. It contains a population of 7,000, viz.: males, 4,020; females, 2,980. Number of voters, 1,723. Males under 21, 1,540. Acres of land under cultivation, 4,051. The total value of assessable property is $4,517,291. Since 1865 the population has increased 1,086. Portland, the county seat, is the principal city in the State. During the past year a new courthouse has been erected at a cost of $100,000. Numerous brick buildings and dwelling-houses have also been constructed, and the city wears an aspect of general prosperity.
POLK COUNTY contains a population of 4,993, viz.: males, 2,788 females, 2,205. Number of voters, 1,125. Acres of land under cultivation, 90,127. Value of assessable property in the county, $1,033,179. County seat; Dallas.
TILLAMOOK COUNTY contains a population of about 300.
UNION COUNTY is situate east of the Cascade Range of mountains, and contains a population of about 2,000. Number of voters, 705. County seat, Le Grande.
UMATILLA COUNTY contains a population of 1,805, viz.: males, 1,049; females, 756. Number of voters, 797. Acres of land under cultivation, 5,770. Value of assessable property, $887,148.
WASCO COUNTY contains a population of 1,898, viz.: males, 1,092; females, 806. Number of voters, 604. Value of assessable property, $1,771,420. County seat, Danes.
WASHINGTON COUNTY contains a population of 3,491, viz.: males, 1,903 ; females, 1,578. Number of voters, 824, being an increase of 120 since 1865. Acres of land under cultivation, 14,224. County seat, Hillsborough.
YAMHILL COUNTY contains a population of 4,018, viz.: males, 2,200; females, 1,818. Number of voters, 1,082. Acres of land under cultivation, 26,343. Value of assessable property, $1,000,000. County seat, Lafayette.
The subjoined is from the June Report. (1868) of the Department of Agriculture:―
Lane County returns $2 per acre as the average value of unimproved lands in that county; a portion prairie, but mostly adjacent to hills or mountains; quality various—some quite good, but the declivities and barren hills detract from the immediate value of many tracts. In Columbia, $3.50 is the average per acre; mostly timber and brush land; such timber as yellow and white fir, hemlock, spruce, cedar, soft maple, ash, and alder. In the eastern part of the county it is black mold underlaid with clay; advancing west it changes to a light sandy loam; will produce good grain, grass, and vegetables. The average in Multnomah is $1.50 per acre, including Government lands; chiefly dry, timbered lands of fine quality, cedar, ash, oak, maple, and hemlock; capable of raising all kinds of grain and fruits suited to the latitude. Much of the surface of Douglas County is mountainous, and most of that which will serve for pasture is in private hands; but as there are still Government lands vacant, unimproved lands can not rate much above the minimum for public lands. Probably two-thirds of the lands of the State are for sale at Government prices; settlements now being principally confined to a strip bordering upon the Pacific, and embracing about one-third of the area of the State.
Columbia and Multnomah report iron ore in great abundance, and the former also coal and salt, with but little development beyond sufficient to demonstrate the presence of the minerals in large quantities, of superior quality, and easily worked. Both gold and silver are found in Douglas County, but not in large quantities, and few of the mines are worked at present. The mountains are heavily timbered with fir, cedar, and. pine; the hills with oak and other deciduous trees.
Vegetables, fruit, and hay are the principal crops in Columbia, and are cultivated with success in large quantities and with profit. Vegetables and fruit are also largely and profitably grown, together with general crops, in Multnomah; whilst in Lane, wheat is the staple, but oats and potatoes are successfully grown. Wheat yields from twenty to thirty bushels to the acre, and often weighs sixty-two to sixty-four pounds per bushel. Oats are superior; twenty-five to forty bushels per acre, weighing thirty-six to forty pounds to the bushel. Peas grow well, but are troubled with the bug or fly. Corn yields a fair crop, not very large but of good quality. Barley does very well. Our Douglas reporter says :—
"Wool is the crop and sheep the specialty in this valley. Fine wool sheep have been mostly sought; but owing, as farmers suppose, to the long-continued rains of winter, sheep of the merino grades are not so healthy as the straight-wooled varieties, which now seem to be favorites."
White winter wheat and common red-chaff spring wheat are grown in Columbia; but the white is preferred, as making the best flour. It is almost impossible to sow spring wheat, on account of the rain, so as to ripen in season to harvest before the fall rains set in. White wheat is also preferred in Multnomah for the same reasons. The Rio Grande, Club, and Mediterranean are grown in Lane, but the winter varieties are mostly raised. The winter wheat is sown in August and September, and the spring seed in March and April, as most practicable. Harvest commences the middle of July with the fall-sown crop, and extends into September for the spring grain. The seed is chiefly sowed broadcast; much being sowed after the plow and harrowed in.
Apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, quinces, berries in variety, grow abundantly, and our correspondents claim superiority for their State in the culture of fruits adapted to that latitude. Our Lane reporter writes as follows:―
"For most kinds of fruit this country is very good indeed. Apples and pears do the best; peaches tolerably; cherries, though uncertain, are a good crop. The small fruits do exceedingly well —gooseberries, currants, Lawton blackberries, and black and red Antwerp raspberries yield profusely. Strawberries are a very singular crop; when they fruit, they yield remarkably and of fine quality, but some seasons they blossom and do not bear, and yet not killed by the frost. Apples yield from one hundred to three hundred bushels per acre, the trees being yet small, though the crop is sure every year."
In Douglas, all kinds of fruit suited to the temperate zone succeed well; apples, pears, and plums better than in the Mississippi Valley; peaches and cherries not so well; the yield is abundant, and the fruit fine, but as yet there is no market, and the surplus is fed to the hogs.
CORRESPONDENCE.
JACKSONVILLE, OREGON, August 3, 1868.
MR. F. B. GODDARD:―
DEAR SIR : * * * I have resided in this valley since 1853, so that the following statements may be relied upon as correct.
The general character of this part of southern Oregon is mountainous; Rogue River valley is nearly surrounded by mountains; the outlets southwardly is over the Siskiyou Mountain into northern California, and northwardly, partly along Rogue River, through the famous fourteen mile cañon, on to the Willamette valley.
The lands in Rogue River valley are mostly taken up, and are in a high state of cultivation with good improvements; the soil is exceedingly fertile. Outside of the valley proper there is still a large amount of unclaimed land subject to entry, specially adapted to grazing. The prices of improved lands vary according to the quality of the soil, improvements, and location, and range from five to twenty dollars per acre.
Farm hands command from thirty to forty dollars per month and board. During the present harvest, there has been a scarcity of hands. Day laborers receive two dollars and fifty cents per day, and mechanics from three to four dollars per day, coin.
Our climate is mild; winters never severe; snow seldom falls in the valley ten inches deep, and remains on the ground but a short time. The summers are pleasant, saving a few hot days in midsummer, when the thermometer ranges as high as ninety degrees, Fahr. The nights, however, are always cool. Rain seldom falls in the months of July, August, and September; the "rainy season" usually commences in November.
The health of this region is proverbial, and is unsurpassed by any portion of the Pacific coast.
The immediate vicinity of this town, the county seat of Jackson County, is a mining region, and in former years an immense amount of gold has been obtained by placer mining; the mines are still remunerative. Coal is found in the valley, but has not been sufficiently developed to determine its extent or quality.
Quartz mining has been conducted to a limited extent; good paying lodes are known to exist, and only need capital to invest in this kind of enterprise, to make it profitable. Of timber we have abundance of pitch and sugar pine, fir, white and black-oak, ash, maple, alder, laurel, &c. The pine and fir make excellent lumber, worth from twenty to twenty-five dollars per M.
Wheat and oats are the principal crops of grain raised; Indian corn or maize is cultivated to a limited extent, the cool nights are not favorable to its cultivation. No part of our country can produce better fruit than we have here, as apples, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, grapes, berries, and melons; garden vegetables of all kinds are excellent.
The price of wheat previous to the present harvest was one dollar per bushel, and oats seventy-five cents. The incoming crop is abundant, and will not command exceeding one-half the above prices.
We are so distant from the ocean, without the facilities of river navigation or railroad, that we have no reliable market for our surplus produce; the surrounding mineral regions furnish our principal markets.
Our nearest point to the ocean, from whence we receive our merchandise, is distant one hundred and twenty miles by land carriage, over high mountains; the cost of transportation being from sixty to seventy dollars per ton.
Our valley is well supplied with schools, and Sabbath services are held in Jacksonville and in different sections of the valley, by ministers of the Methodist (Northern and Southern) and Presbyterian churches; and by Roman Catholic in Jacksonville.
The inhabitants of this region are from every section of the Union, and also from different countries of the Old World.
WILLIAM HOFFMAN,
Notary Public.
The postmaster at the DALLES writes:―
There is plenty of vacant land hereabouts. Improved lands command, say $10 per acre. Laborers get $40 per month, coin. The climate is much milder than same latitude east. There is some gold, plenty of timber, &c. Price of wheat and barley, $1 per bushel, oats 75 cents. Ample market at home. School and religious advantages of Dalles City are good. County thinly settled. Nationality of the people is mostly American and German.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.