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Show 72 . ' IMMIGRANTS' .AND SETTLERS' GUIDE TIMBER, ETC. The bottom lands of the Columbia are narrow but very productive. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. The lands of the Willamette Valley are also very productive. Wheat, oats, barley, vegetables, &c., yield largely. It is believed to be the. finest wheat-growing region in the United States. Land is worth from five to fifteen dollars per acre, depending on the character of the soil and the amount of improvement. Fruits of every variety are produced in large quanti_. ties and in great perfection. Owing to the cool temperature, corn and grapes do not do so well, though they are cultivated to a limited extent. Wages range from $25 to $40 per month in this part of the country. South of the Willamette, towards California are the Umpqua and Rogue River valleys. They . ~re more ~ limited t~a~ the Willan:tette, ?ut have the same general characteriStics. The chmate IS more mild and tobacco is said to grow to perfection. The wild grass is very ~ne, and the number of cattle, horses, and sheep raised IS very large. . In th~ southern portion of the State the mining 1nte1:est Is very large and remunerative. During a period of nine years, from. 1853 to 1862, the amount of gold from Oregon deposited at the U. S. Mint is officially stated at $963,458. CLIM..ATE. The climate of these valleys is mild-in summer they are dry an~ cool. Th~ winters, which begin in N ovemb~ r, are ra1ny and mild. The mountains are covered With s~ow, b~t the valleys are green with growing veget~t1on during the whole winter~ Seeding is usually done In February and March. TO THE NEW STATES AND TERRITORIES. 73 Farther in the interior, the climate is hotter in summer and colder in winter. GRAZING, STOCK-R.AISING, ETC. The country east of the Cascade Mountains, which are a continuation of the Sierras of California, is a fine open grazing country, but has limited quantities of good soil, and a poor supply of timber and water. Stock-rajsing will be the principal business of the inhabitants. PUBLIC LANDS, ETC. ''In this State, the surveys have progressed to the extent of the means provided, the field operations having been confined, east of the Cascade Mountains, to the valleys of the Des Chutes and Umatilla Rivers, in the vicinity of Col urn bia River. The Surveyor-General reports the existence of rich and extensive gold mines in the northeastern part of Oregon, and that the country surrounding the mines is adapted to agricultural purposes ; that the extension of the lines of the public surveys is urgently required in the valleys of Walla-Walla, Umatilla, Grand Ronde, Powder, Burnt, and John Day's rivers. He therefore submits an estimate of $28,056 for the next fiscal year, which is reduced to $10,000, regarded by this office as adequate to publie exigencies. " The surveying service in Oregon is reported as embracing four hundred and forty-eight whole and fractional townships, equa.I to 6, 219,681.62 acres, of which the surveys of donation claims, at the expense of donees, amount to 1,357,078.30 acres, and public lands to 4,835,700.78 acres, the latter including donation claims taken by legal subdivisions."-[ Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, for 1862. INDIAN TRIBES. ''During the past year uninterrupted peace has been. maintained with all the Indians with whom treaties have been negotiated, and a very large proportion of those who have hithe~to escaped from the reservations and been the cause of much compla1nt on the part of the whites bav~ been returned. Between the Cascade Mountains and the coast there is but one band, numbering about sixty, who are. not located upon reservations. East of those mountai_ns all the India?s, except portions of the Klamatbs and Modocs, are In a state of act1ve hostility. Their numbers are estimated a~ about 5, 000. 1'he co~ntry they occupy abounds in gold-fields, to wht~h large numbers o! mlners have resorted. It is also traversed by emigrant routes le~~mg from the east to Oregon. To the emigrants and mil~rs the hostility of the 4 |