compare well with many of those located in the old and populous
settlements of the States. This school is unconnected with any mission.
When the missionary board concluded to abandon that field of labor, the
Institute was bought by the Methodists of Oregon; hence it continued
under its old name. The price of tuition is low, and the means of
receiving an education at this place is within the power of those who
have but a small amount to expend in its attainment.[160]
For the first five miles from the river towards the Cascade range, the
soil is gravelly; it is then a sandy loam to the foot of the mountain,
and is generally an open plain. The valley upon the east side of the
river at this place, is about twenty-five miles in width. It is proper,
however, to remark, that there are occasional groves of timber
interspersing the prairie, and in some places they reach within a short
distance of the river. In this last described tract, there are several
varieties of soil, with prairie, timber, upland, bottom, and hill side;
the whole is well watered. At the Institute there reside about fifteen
families, and near by several claims are taken, and improvements
commenced. The Methodist missionaries {98} have erected a saw and grist
mill; these mills were sold, as was all the property of the missions in
the valley, by Mr. Gerry, who was sent out to close the missionary
matters in that region; they are now owned by resident citizens, and in
successful operation. At this place a town is laid out.[161]
Six miles above the Institute commences a range of oak hills, which
continue about twelve miles in a southeastern direction along the river,
where they connect by a low pass with the Cascade Range. From this
place, at the lower bench of the Cascade, commences another range of
hills, running south-westwardly, which continue about twenty miles in
length, to the mouth of the Santaam river, which joins the Willamette
twenty miles by land above the Institute. This is a bold and rapid
stream, of about one hundred and fifty yards in width; for a
considerable portion of its length, it has a pebbly bottom, and banks
covered with fir and white cedar trees of the best quality.[162]
The Santa Anna has four principal branches, with several small
tributaries, all lined with timber, leaving a strip of beautiful prairie
land between each, of from one-half to four miles in width. The two
northern branches rise in Mount Jefferson, the first running nearly west
from its origin to where it leaves the mountain, when it inclines to the
south for a few miles, where it receives another branch; from this
junction about eight miles, it is joined by a stream that rises in the
Cascade Range, south of Mount Jefferson. Ten miles below this point, the
other principal branch, which rises still further to the south, unites
with the others, when the river inclines to the west, until it joins the
Willamette. From its origin in Mount Jefferson to its termination, is
about forty miles; from the Oak hills above named is twenty-five miles.
A considerable portion of the soil in this valley is quite gravelly, but
a great portion is rich, and the prairies are well clothed with
luxuriant grass. Among the plants, herbs, &c., common to this part of
the country, is wild flax.
A few claims have been made along the northeast side of the Oak hills,
and improvements commenced. The soil yields a good crop of the
agricultural products suited to the climate.
Above the Santa Anna, upon the eastern side of the Willamette, the
valley is about twenty miles in average width for ninety miles, to the
three forks. In this distance there are many small mountain streams,
crossing the valley to the river, all of which are lined with timber,
and several of them affording {99} valuable water privileges for such
machinery as may be erected, when yankee enterprise shall have settled
and improved this desirable portion of our great republic.
After leaving the Santaam, a prairie commences, of from four to twelve
miles in width, which continues up the valley for a day's travel, which
I suppose to be about forty miles. The mountains upon the east side of
the Willamette are covered with timber of quite large growth. In this
last prairie has been found some stone coal, near the base of the
mountain spurs; but as to quantity or quality I am uninformed. The
specimen tried by a blacksmith was by him pronounced to be good.
The Willamette valley, including the first plateaus of the Cascade and
Coast ranges of mountains, may be said to average a width of about
sixty, and a length of about two hundred miles. It is beautifully
diversified with timber and prairie. Unlike our great prairies east of
the Rocky Mountains, those upon the waters of the Pacific are quite
small; instead of dull and sluggish streams, to engender miasma to
disgust and disease man, those of this valley generally run quite
rapidly, freeing the country of such vegetable matter as may fall into
them, and are capable of being made subservient to the will and comfort
of the human family in propelling machinery. Their banks are generally
lined with fine groves of timber for purposes of utility, and adding
much to please the eye.
The Willamette itself, throughout its length, has generally a growth of
fir and white cedar, averaging from one-fourth to three miles in width,
which are valuable both for agricultural and commercial purposes. Its
banks are generally about twenty feet above the middling stages, yet
there are some low ravines, (in the country called _slues_,) which are
filled with water during freshets, and at these points the bottoms are
overflowed; but not more so than those upon the rivers east of the
Mississippi. It has been already observed that the soil in these bottoms
and in the prairies is very rich; it is a black alluvial deposit of muck
and loam; in the timbered portions it is more inclined to be sandy, and
the higher ground is of a reddish colored clay and loam.
The whole seems to be very productive, especially of wheat, for which it
can be safely said, that it is not excelled by any portion of the
continent. The yield of this article has frequently been fifty bushels
per acre, and in one case Dr. White harvested from ten acres an average
of over fifty-four {100} bushels to the acre; but the most common crop
is from thirty to forty bushels per acre, of fall sowing; and of from
twenty to twenty-five bushels, from spring sowing.
There is one peculiarity about the wheat, and whether it arises from the
climate or variety, I am unable to determine. The straw, instead of
being hollow as in the Atlantic states, is filled with a medullary
substance, (commonly called pith,) which gives it firmness and strength;
hence it is rarely that the wheat from wind or rain lodges or falls
before harvesting. The straw is about the height of that grown in the
states, always bright, the heads upon it are much longer, and filled
with large grains, more rounded in their form, than those harvested in
the eastern part of the Union. I have seen around fields, where a single
grain has grown to maturity, forty-two stalks, each of which appeared to
have borne a well filled head; for the grains were either removed by
birds, or some other cause. As it was November when I arrived in the
country, I saw wheat only in its grassy state, except what had escaped
the late harvest.
The farmers have a white bald wheat, the white bearded, and the red
bearded, either of which can be sown in fall or spring, as best suits
their convenience, or their necessities demand. That sown in September,
October or November, yields the most abundantly; but if sown any time
before the middle of May, it will ripen. The time of harvesting is
proportioned to the seed time. That which is early sown is ready for the
cradle or sickle by the last of June, or the first of July, and the
latest about the first of September. In the Oregon valley, there are but
few rains in the summer months, and as the wheat stands up very well,
farmers are generally but little hurried with their harvesting.
The emigrants usually arrive in the latter part of the summer or fall,
and necessarily first provide a shelter for their families, and then
turn their attention to putting in a field of wheat. In doing this, they
frequently turn under the sod with the plough one day, the next harrow
the ground once, then sow their seed, and after going over it again with
a harrow, await the harvest, and not unfrequently gather forty bushels
from the acre thus sown. In several instances the second crop has been
garnered from the one sowing. When the wheat has stood for cutting until
very ripe, and shattered considerably in the gathering, the seed thus
scattered over the field has been harrowed under, and yielded twenty
bushels to the acre, of {101} good merchantable grain. I was told of an
instance where a third crop was aimed at in this way; it yielded but
about twelve bushels to an acre, and was of a poor quality.
The rust and smut which so often blast the hopes of the farmer, in the
old states, are unknown in Oregon, and so far there is but very little
cheat.
Harvesting is generally done with cradles, and the grain threshed out
with horses, there being no machines for this latter purpose in the
territory.
The grain of the wheat, though much larger than in the states, has a
very thin husk or bran, and in its manufacture in that country during
the winter months requires a coarser bolting cloth than in the Atlantic
states, owing to the dampness of the atmosphere at this season.
The farmers already raise a surplus of this commodity, over and above
the consumption of the country: but owing to the scarcity of mills to
manufacture it, they cannot at all times have it in readiness to supply
vessels when they visit the settlements. At the time I left, wheat was
worth eighty cents per bushel, and flour three dollars and fifty cents
per hundred pounds. The mills above the Falls grind for a toll of
one-eighth, but at the Falls they will exchange for wheat, giving
thirty-six pounds of fine flour for an American bushel, and forty pounds
for a royal bushel. The weight of a bushel of wheat, (according to
quality,) is from sixty to seventy pounds.
Oats yield an abundant crop, but this grain is seldom sown, as the stock
is generally suffered to gather its support by grazing over the plains.
Peas do well, and are much used in feeding hogs, at the close of their
fattening, when taken off of their range of camas and other roots; and
it is remarked that this vegetable there is free from the bug or wevil
that infests it in the western states.
Barley is very prolific, and of a large and sound growth; but there is
as yet little raised, as the demand for it is quite limited.
I saw no rye in the country. Buckwheat grew very well, though not much
raised.
For potatoes Oregon is as unequalled, by the states, as it is for wheat.
I doubt whether there is any portion of the globe superior to it for the
cultivation of this almost indispensable vegetable. I heard of no sweet
potatoes, and think there are none in the territory.
Indian corn is raised to some extent upon the lower bottoms {102} in the
valleys, but it is not considered a good corn country. It had yielded
forty bushels to the acre; they mostly plant the small eight-rowed
yankee corn. The summers are too cool for corn. Tobacco has been tried;
and although it may be raised to some extent, it is lighter than in
Kentucky, and more southern latitudes. The climate and soil are
admirably adapted to the culture of flax and hemp, and to all other
vegetables, which grow with ordinary care, in any of the northern,
eastern and middle states.
During my travels through the valley, I spent some time with Mr. Joel
Walker, a gentleman who had resided several years in California, had
made several trips from Oregon to the bay of San Francisco, and had
spent some time in trapping and trading between the Willamette valley
and the 42d degree of north latitude.[163] From this gentleman, as well
as from several others, I learned that the trail near two hundred miles
south of Oregon city arrives at the California mountains, which is a
ridge running from the Cascade to the Coast range of mountains. With the
exception of a few peaks, this ridge is susceptible of easy cultivation,
being partly prairie and partly covered with timber. Mr. Walker doubts
not that a good wagon road can be made over this ridge; to cross which
requires but a few hours, and brings us into the beautiful country
bounded on the east and west by the Cascade and Coast ranges, the
California mountains on the north, and the Rogue's River mountains on
the south.
This district of country, which is only about forty miles wide from east
to west, is drained by the Umpquah river, and its tributaries, which as
in the Willamette valley, are skirted with timber; but back from the
streams is a prairie country, beautifully alternated with groves of
timber.
At the mouth of the Umpquah, which empties into the Pacific about thirty
miles from where it leaves this beautiful district of country, the
Hudson's Bay Company have a trading post.[164] If we except this, there
is no settlement nor claim made on this river or its tributaries.
Passing Rogue's River mountains, the trail enters the valley of the
river of that name. This valley is quite similar to that of the Umpquah,
but perhaps not quite so large.[165] This valley is bounded on the south
by the Klamet mountain, which is a spur of the Cascade and Coast
mountains. It is high and somewhat difficult to pass over; but it is
believed a route may be found that will admit of an easy passage over.
It is heavily timbered; and as in {103} the Coast range, the timber in
many places has died, and a thick growth of underbrush sprung up.
South of the Klamet mountains spreads out the beautiful valley watered
by the Klamet river. This valley, although not so well known as that of
the Willamette, is supposed to be more extensive, and equally
susceptible of a high state of cultivation. It is esteemed one of the
best portions of Oregon.[166] The land is mostly prairie, but is well
diversified with timber, and bountifully supplied with spring branches.
The Indians are more numerous here than in the valley further north, and
as in the Umpquah and Rogue's river valleys, more hostile. There has
been very little trading with them; but they not unfrequently attack
persons driving cattle through from California to the settlements in
Oregon; and although none of the drivers have been killed for several
years, they have lost numbers of their cattle. Before these valleys can
be safely settled, posts must be established to protect the inhabitants
from the depredations of these merciless savages.[167]
A settlement of about a dozen families has been made upon Clatsop
plains. This is a strip of open land, about a mile in width, extending
from the south end of Point Adams, or Clatsop Point, at the mouth of the
Columbia river, about twenty miles along the margin of the ocean, in the
direction of Cape Lookout.[168] It appears to have been formed by the
washing of the waters. Ridges resembling the waves of the ocean extend
from north to south throughout the entire length of the plains. These
ridges are from twelve to twenty-five feet high, and in some places not
more than fifty feet, but at other points as much as three hundred yards
asunder. That along the coast is the highest and least fertile, as it
seems to be of more recent formation. The soil is composed of vegetable
matter and sand, and produces grass more abundantly than the valleys
above; the spray and dampness of the ocean keeping the grass green all
the year. The land is not so good for fall wheat as in the upper
country, but the settlers raise twenty-five bushels of spring wheat to
the acre. I think it better for root crops than the valleys above. In
the rear of the plains, or about a mile from the shore, is a body of
land heavily timbered with hemlock and spruce, which is tall and
straight, and splits freely. Near the timber a marsh of some two hundred
yards in width extends nearly the entire length of the plains. This
marsh is covered with the low kind of cranberries.
A stream some ten or twelve yards in width[169] enters the plains {104}
at the south end, runs ten or twelve miles north, when it turns to the
west, and after passing through two of the ridges, takes a southerly
direction and enters the bay that sets up between the Plains and Cape
Lookout, not more than ten rods from its entrance into the Plains. Here
a dam is built across the stream, and the claimant is erecting a
flouring mill.
On these plains the claims are taken half a mile in width on the coast,
and extending back two miles; each claimant therefore having a fair
proportion of prairie and timber land, besides a glorious cranberry
patch.
Some fifteen miles southeast of Cape Lookout, stands a peak of the Coast
range, called Saddle Mountain; and the cape is a spur or ridge extending
from this mountain some two or three miles out into the ocean.[170]
Around the head of the bay, immediately north of Cape Lookout, is a body
of several thousand acres of timber land.
The soil is good, but most of it so heavily timbered that it would
require much labour to prepare it for farming. But as the streams from
the mountain afford an abundance of water power, it would be an easy
matter to manufacture the timber into lumber, for which there is a good
market for shipping, and thus make the clearing of the land for
cultivation a profitable business.
Along the coast from Cape Lookout to the 42d parallel there is much land
that can be cultivated; and even the mountains, when cleared of the
heavy bodies of timber with which they are clothed, will be good farming
land. There is so much pitch in the timber that it burns very freely;
sometimes a green standing tree set on fire will all be consumed; so
that it is altogether a mistaken idea that the timber lands of the
country can never be cultivated. I am fully of the opinion that
two-thirds of the country between the Willamette valley and the coast,
and extending from the Columbia river to the forty-second parallel,
which includes the Coast range of mountains, can be successfully
cultivated. This region abounds in valuable cedar, hemlock and fir
timber, is well watered, possesses a fertile soil, and being on the
coast, it will always have the advantage of a good market; for the
statements that soundings cannot be had along the coast, between Puget
Sound and the Bay of San Francisco, are altogether erroneous. No place
along the range would be more than thirty miles from market; and the
difficulty of constructing roads over and through this range would be
trifling, compared with that of constructing similar works over the
Alleghanies.
{105} The country about Cape Lookout is inhabited by a tribe of Indians
called the Kilamooks. They are a lazy and filthy set of beings, who live
chiefly on fish and berries, of which there is here a great abundance.
They have a tradition among them that a long time ago the Great Spirit
became angry with them, set the mountain on fire, destroyed their towns,
turned their _tiye_ (chief) and _tilicums_ (people) into stone, and cast
them in the ocean outside of Cape Lookout; that the Great Spirit
becoming appeased, removed the fire to Saddle Mountain, and subsequently
to the _Sawhle Illahe_ (high mountain,) or Mount Regnier, as it is
called by the whites, on the north side of the Columbia river.[171]
In the ocean about a mile west of Cape Lookout, is to be seen at high
water a solitary rock, which they call Kilamook's Head, after the chief
of the tribe. Around this rock for half a mile in every direction may be
seen at low water divers other rocks, which are called the _tilicums_,
(people) of the tribe. At low water is to be seen a cavity passing quite
through Kilamook's Head, giving the rock the appearance of a solid stone
arch.[172]
In support of this tradition, the appearance of the promontory of Cape
Lookout indicates that it may be the remains of an extinct volcano; and
on Saddle Mountain there is an ancient crater, several hundred feet
deep; while Mount Regnier is still a volcano. Those who have visited the
rocky cliffs of Cape Lookout, report that there is some singular carving
upon the ledges, resembling more the hieroglyphics of the Chinese, than
any thing they have seen elsewhere.
These Indians have another tradition, that five white men, or, as they
call them, pale faces, came ashore on this point of rock, and buried
something in the cliffs, which have since fallen down and buried the
article deep in the rocks; that these pale faces took off the Indian
women, and raised a nation of people, who still inhabit the region to
the south. And I have met with travelers who say they have seen a race
of people in that region, whose appearance would seem to indicate that
they may have some European blood in their veins. A reasonable
conjecture is, that a vessel may have been cast away upon the coast, and
that these five men escaped to Cape Lookout. Another circumstance
renders it probable that such might have been the case. Frequently,
after a long and heavy south westerly storm, large cakes of beeswax,
from two to four inches thick and from twelve to eighteen inches in
diameter, {106} are found along the beach, near the south end of Clatsop
Plains. The cakes when found are covered with a kind of sea-moss, and
small shells adhere to them, indicating that they have been a long time
under water.[173]
In or about Saddle Mountain rises a stream called Skipenoin's river,
which, though extremely crooked, runs nearly north, and empties into the
western side of Young's bay, which, it will be remembered, is a large
body of water extending south from the Columbia river between Point
Adams and Astoria. Between this river and Clatsop plains is a strip of
thick spruce and hemlock, with several low marshes. The landing for
Clatsop plains is about two miles up the river; which it is rather
difficult to follow, as there are many _slues_ putting in from either
side, of equal width with the main stream. From the bay a low marshy
bottom extends up to the landing, covered with rushes and sea-grass.
This bottom is overflowed opposite the landing at high water. Between
the landing and Clatsop plains is a lake one or two miles in length,
which has its outlet into the bay. Its banks are high, and covered with
spruce. Near this is a stream, from the mouth of which it is about two
or three miles along the bay to the creek upon which Lewis and Clark
wintered; and thence about three and a half miles to the head of the bay
where Young's river enters.[174]
Young's river is a stream about one hundred and fifty yards in width,
and is navigable for steamboats and small sloops to the forks, six or
seven miles up. About seven miles further up are the "Falls," where the
water pitches over a ledge of rocks, making a fall of about sixty feet.
Around the falls the mountains are covered with heavy timber. Near the
forks the river receives from the east a small stream, upon which a
machine for making shingles has been erected; and as the timber in the
vicinity is good for shingles, which can be readily sold for the
Sandwich Islands market, the owners expect to do a profitable business.
Young's river rises in or near Saddle mountain.[175] From the mouth of
this river it is about eight or ten miles, around the point which forms
on the east Young's Bay, to Astoria, or Fort George, as it is called by
the Hudson's Bay Company. This stands on the south side of the Columbia
river, about sixteen miles from its mouth.[176]
The Columbia river and its location have been so often described, that
it is hardly necessary for me to go into details. But as this work is
designed to be afforded so low as to place {107} it within the reach of
every one, and may fall into the hands of many whose means will not
enable them to procure expensive works on Oregon, it may not be amiss to
say something about that noble stream, which discharges its waters into
the ocean between cape Disappointment on the north, and point Adams or
Clatsop point on the south, and in latitude about 46° 15['] north.