Route across the Rocky Mountains, with a description of Oregon and California: their geographical features, their resources, soil, climate, productions, &c.

Page 29

48 COUNTRY NORTH OF THE COLUl\IBIA. detached position, and thcit· being so separated from the sea-boa )d as they are, or appeat· to be, they would doubtless be the most de.: sirable part of the Oregon Territory. The general fertility of. the soil, is favomble to the agriculturist; the richness of the· gmsses, to the stock raiser; the vast beds and piles of stone, and · the broad forests of the giant Fir, to the rnechauic; while the unfail­ing abundance of watcl· in the Ri v'ers and creeks, · pouring over· numerous falls and rapid$, present inducements highly favorable to· the manufacturer. Occupying a position between where the Win-· ter r~ins of Oregon, and the Summer droughts of California, are occastona~ly sev.ere ; they possess a climate, which, mingling these' two oppostte evils, destroys them, and thus rendcrg these secluded Valleys, in this l'cspcct, the most desirable portion of these mo t de·sirable climes. But they arc so much as natut·e made them , sd ·1 • • un so w1 a, that many. portions _of t~em have never been trodde.n by the foot. of the wh1te man; and 1t may be, when time, and the bold enterpnse of our Western adventurers, shall develop·, more fully; the character and resources of these mountain·w rapped solitudes . that there may be found a Pass, which nature has provided as ;. way for commerce throubrr.h her barriers· "nd ft·om tl ·d f 1 • , u. 1e Sl OS• 0 t re ~ountams, ~nd from the bosom of the plains, may be drawn addi­tiona. l mater1als, to add. t.o . the. neces,s aries and c omt{'o r ts o f man, an d t0o .a 1d the m.,1a rbc h of C. lVlllzatwn. It is possible that th'ts poi· t·w n o f Iegon, Wll e acqmred from the natives I·n th h · ' e same manner t at portwns of the _united States have already been acquired--b . force. And should It b~ so acquired and h · d Y. h · ' w en JU crment comes· upon t e conqueror for conquest there will be · b h . 'II r. II . . ' none upon w om It W· I 1 la mo· re hghtly: for there are no pe 0 PI I d e w 1o eserve more J~st y, pumshment for "all manner of wicJ ed " h f f h · · c ness, t an the na lVe.s o t e Rogue's River and Clam'u'th Valleys. . • Not much attention has y t b 'd · . C I b' b . e een pal to the N o'J:th side of the· 0 urn ta, Y AmeriCan settle · · to the claims of th t p Is, owmg to the uncertainty in regard· withstan'~ing this u~ce~~intow:::;l that hold it in dispute; but not~ persons from the U 't d S y, all settlement has·been formed by . . m e tates about twe t ·1 ver, on the· North side 0 '. • n Y 1111 es above Vancou~· United States Gave f the Rlver, 111 the confident belief that the . . rnment would never . l" . h . her JUSt rights'·• I n several res t · ·1 0 m·q uls· any portion of · Immediately on the Rive 't l.rpec s rt IS superwr to the South. tt·o ns for settlement. At rth, l Fa alol rds many m 0 . d b . 1 e, an ette1: s1uta- . time, become a place of e a. s of lhe Columbia, which must, in- . some Importance, tho North side only ,. • COUNTR.''f NORTH OF Tim COLUMBIA:. 49 carl be improved. As the navigation extends forty miles above the Falls, and entirely through the Cascade Mountain!i~t over which n good road cannot probably he made; a canal around the Falls will be a project which will deeply interest that whole country, a9 it will probably be the only means to facilitate' tho intetcourse, be~ tween the different pardons of country lying above and below the Cascade Mountains, and the ingt·ess and egress fron1 and to th~ United States; and a canal can only be made, with any reasonabl6 expense, on the North side. The vast nmount of water power which the Falls will afford1 can be rendet·ed available with profit, only on the North side. Cape Disappointment, which can be made almost as impregnable as the Rock of Gibt·altar, and which entirely commands t~e entrnnce of the River, froWning down on the channel which washes its base, is also on the North side. Puget's Sound, which is cut by the parallel of 49 deg., and is said to be surrounded by a very beautifu I country, of considerable extent; in point of spaciousness, safety and facility of access, is the second harbor on the \Vestern shores of America. The general character of the country is similar to that on the South, excepting that its valleys are not so large, and the . mountainous :md hilly por· tions, occupy a greater extent. Like the Valley of Willammette, the Valleys on the North side of the Columbia, are divetsified with fot·est and plain. There is little ot· no diffet·ence in the soil, and the grass is equally fine. On the stl'eams that empty into tha Qolumbia, and their t1'ibutaries, thel'e al'e many ~"'ulls and Oa~­cades; which atful'U excellent sites fot· machinery1 to an almost un­limited extent. On the Cawlitli, which is the 1argest falling into the Columbia from the North, belo·n the Cascade Mountains, the Hudson's Bay Company have a Saw Mill, and there is, at the same place, a small Frflnch settlcm'3nt, w l:lich has been connected with them; but their term of sP.rvice having expired, they were per· mitted by the Company tn remain in the country, (the contract of the Company with them is to retum them at the expiradon of their term of service, to their own countries. This is done in order to prevf!nt competition.) They are engaged in agriculture, and fur­~ ish; annually; seveml ~housarid busheis of wheat; [ to supply the Russian contract. Their wheat is boated down the Cawlitz in . ' bateaus; but the 1;apidity of the stream, renders the naviO'ation difficult arid tedtous. ~his settlement 1s fifty milP.s abo;e the mouth or the stream. The valley, het·e, is not half so Iar(J'e as that of the Willammettc; but it is, nevc 1 t'theless, entirely suffi~ient 7