On the first page of to-day's paper will be found a notice
of the return of Lieutenant Fremont's exploring company. By
this company we are put into possession of several
interesting letters from different members of the emigrating
company, and, among others, three from our former townsman,
M. M. McCarver, one of which, directed to our delegate,
together with a letter written by P. H. Burnett to the
_Saint Louis Reporter_, we publish below.--_Iowa Gazette_
[Burlington].
TWALATINE PLAINS, Oregon Territory, November 6, 1843.
DEAR SIR: I avail myself of an opportunity offered by one of
the vessels belonging to the Hudson Bay Company to forward
you a few lines.
The emigrants have not all arrived, though more than half
are here, and the remainder may be looked for in a few days,
all were at the Methodist Mission, about one hundred and
fifty miles distant, near The Dalles. On last week several
of the families arrived within a few days of Fort Vancouver
and the Wallammatte Falls--some by water and others over the
Cascade Mountains. The waggons will be brought from The
Dalles by water, as the season is now too far advanced to
open a road through the mountains. This expedition
establishes the practicability beyond doubt of a waggon road
across the continent by the way of the southern pass in the
Rocky Mountains. We have had no difficulty with the natives,
although we have had a tedious journey. We have had less
obstacles in reaching here than we had a right to expect, as
it was generally understood before leaving the States that
one third of the distance, to wit, from Fort Hall to this
place, was impassable with waggons. Great credit, however,
is due to the energy, perseverance, and industry of this
emigrating company, and particularly to Doctor Whitman, one
of the missionaries at the Walla Walla Mission, who
accompanied us out. His knowledge of the route was
considerable, and his exertions for the interest of the
company were untiring. Our journey may now be said to be at
an end, and we are now in the Wallammatte Valley. I have
been here near three weeks, having left my waggon in charge
of the teamster and proceeded on horseback from Fort Hall in
company with some thirty persons, principally young men.
Your first question now will be, "how are you satisfied with
the country? Is it worthy of the notice that Congress has
given it?" I would answer these in the affirmative. Perhaps
there is no country in the world of its size that offers
more inducements to enterprise and industry than Oregon. The
soil in this valley and in many other portions of the
territory is equal to that of Iowa, or any other portion of
the United States, in point of beauty and fertility, and its
productions in many articles are far superior, particularly
in regard to wheat, potatoes, beets, and turnips. The grain
of the wheat is more than one third larger than any I have
seen in the States. Potatoes are abundant and much better
than those in the States. I measured a beet which grew in
Doctor Whitman's garden which measured in circumference two
inches short of three feet, and there is now growing in the
field of Mr. James Johns, less than a mile from this place
where I write you, a turnip measuring in circumference four
and one half feet, and he thinks it will exceed five feet
before pulling time. Indeed, everything here is in a
flourishing condition--trade brisk and everybody doing well.
The emigrants generally are all, as far as I know,
satisfied. Wages for a common hand is from $1 to $1.50 per
day, and mechanics from $2 to $4. Wheat is quite abundant
and sold to ship or emigrants at $1 per bushel. Flour is
from $9 to $10 per barrel; potatoes and turnips fifty cents
per bushel; beef from six to eight cents per pound; American
cows from $60 to $70; California, from $15 to $20. The
prairie is coated with a rich green grass, perhaps the most
nutritious in the world; and I am told that the winter is
never so severe or the grass so scarce that a poor horse
will not fatten in the space of one month. Nothing is wanted
but industry to make this one of the richest little
countries in the world. I say little, because the fertile
part of it is small compared with the very extensive fertile
countries in the valley of the Mississippi; yet we have a
country sufficient in extent and resources to maintain in
lucrative occupations millions of inhabitants. Its great
hydraulic power immediately on the seashore, the advantages
for stock grazing or wool growing, its fertile soil and
indeed, its very isolated situation from competition with
the rest of the civilized world, all combine with other
circumstances to make it one of the most desirable countries
under the sun for industry and enterprise.