UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
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 D. C. Ireland 6c Co , no Front St, Portland, Or. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
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 For the Use and Information of Immigrants. 
 
 Issued hy the Oregon Immigration Board. 
 
 
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INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is a matter of the most vital interest to the thousands of people who 
 are coming to this country, to be put into possession of accurate and 
 trustworthy information regarding it. That is the purpose of these 
 printed pages. This publication is issued under the authority of the 
 Immigration Board of Oregon. 
 
 At the rooms of the Board in Portland the Immigrant will meet with 
 a cordial welcome from the Secretary, who will give information about 
 farms and lands for sale by private parties, or open to settlement, and in 
 relation to the country generally, free of charge. 
 
 At these headquarters the Immigrant will find a free reading room, 
 where newspapers, maps, scrap-books, and records of farms and other 
 lands, are always open to inspection of new-comers. 
 
 Adjoining this office is a room for the temporary deposit of small bag- 
 gage and parcels belonging to Immigrants. 
 
 When you arrive in Portland make these rooms your headquarters. 
 
 OH AS. H. DODD, Chairman. 
 
 0. B. CARLISLE, Secretary. 
 
 0 \ 3 > 
 

 
 Falls of the Willamette , at Oregon City. 
 
Oregon As It Is. 
 
 As an agricultural region of country, offering rare inducements, and 
 as a field for industrial and financial operations of all kinds, Oregon 
 has, of late, come so largely into the perception or view of those who, 
 out of the overcrowded elsewhere, are seeking new homes, that an in- 
 tense and an almost universal desire to obtain accurate and trustworthy 
 information in relation to the State has been awakened. This is shown 
 in the thousands of letters of inquiry directed to persons, officials, and 
 corporations, in all parts of the State. The object of this publication is 
 to supply just this information — information that shall be full, right to 
 the point, practical — that may be depended upon — taken upon the read- 
 ing. There is nothing expedient or honest in over-wrought or highly- 
 colored and rhethorically-embellished statements regarding this State as 
 an immigration field. Oregon has nothing to lose, but all to gain, by a close 
 and .thorough investigation of all her offerings. Within the immense 
 area of about 96,000 square miles, all desirability is held; nearly every 
 interest is embraced; the agricultural factor is almost limitless, and for 
 the investment of capital, and pluck, and energy, the field in Oregon is 
 golden with opportunity. No country in the world offers greater in- 
 ducements to farmers than Oregon. She has an immense area of most 
 fertile lands, easily reached by rail or water, and a system of transporta- 
 tion throughout the interior, affording ample facilities for sending pro- 
 ductions to market. Improved farms, as will be seen elsewhere in this 
 pamphlet, can be purchased at prices which, to the Eastern farmer, must 
 seem very reasonable. On these farms the immigrant will find himself 
 in a well-peopled neighborhood, and within easy reach of all the com- 
 forts, conveniences, if not elegancies, of the most refined civilization. 
 
 THE STATE AS A WHOLE. 
 
 Having a Pacific Ocean coast line of about 300 miles as its western 
 boundary, a width of 350 miles from east to west, 275 miles in extent 
 from north to south, Oregon embraces an area of 60,000,000 acres of 
 land. It is a vast domain crowded with bountiful resources that an em- 
 pire might well covet. It is a land of wonderful resources, for her val- 
 leys, both in extent and productiveness, are unmatched anywhere on 
 the globe; her hill and mountain sides bear millions of acres of splendid 
 timber; many of her hills are ribbed with the precious metals and valu- 
 able ores; the climate never made an honest enemy; her stock interests 
 are almost beyond competition; her cereals are famous the world over; 
 her fruit unparalleled for size or flavor; her markets and transportation 
 among the best; her commerce compares more than favorably with that 
 
4 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 of most of the older States; her industrial and ‘manufacturing features 
 already great and rapidly augmenting; her shipping is among the first 
 in the countiy, she has an educational and school interest of which any 
 of oui States might well boast-; her cities and towns, great and small, 
 are glowing, thrifty, busy communities; she has a dominant church in- 
 terest and a social status that is in all its phases the equal of that of any 
 of the refined and cultured communities in our common country. 
 Briefly outlined, that is Oregon as a whole. Putting these features to- 
 gether they constitute a rosary of inviting and potent inducements to the 
 intending immigrant, whether he comes from the overcrowded and un- 
 piofitable districts of our Southern, Eastern or Western States. 
 
 KAILROAm 
 
 To reach this land of promise, immediate and impending is, at this 
 time, an easy matter. Few portions of the common country are more 
 accessible, either by rail or water. Two transcontinental lines — the 
 Union Pacific and Oregon Short Line, and the Northern Pacific,— bring 
 the traveler to our commercial metropolis, and, during 1885, perhaps, a 
 third line from California will be completed. A regular line of steam- 
 ships run semi-weekly between San Francisco and Portland. Once in 
 Portland, the immigrant will find rail and river communication with all 
 parts of the State and the Pacific Northwest. A dozen lines of travel 
 radiate from Portland to all portions of the State, and the traveler will 
 find journeying rapid and comparatively inexpensive. The Oregon 
 Short Line is the connecting link between the Oregon Railway and Nav- 
 igation Company’s lines and those of the Union Pacific system. The 
 Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, the Oregon Short Line and 
 the Union Pacific form the new through broad-gauge line, with through 
 cars, and affords the immigrant a splendid opportunity of seeing the 
 Southern Idaho country and that portion of Oregon lying east of the 
 Cascades. Emigrant sleepers, with free berths, are hauled the entire 
 length of the Oregon Short Line and Northern Pacific, on first-class 
 passenger trains. 
 
 Appended are the routes of travel which now radiate from Portland, 
 with the mileage in operation : 
 
 upper Columbia route. Miles. 
 
 From Portland to The Dalles, by the Oregon Railway and Naviga- 
 tion Company’s steamboats 110 
 
 From Portland to Bolles’ Junction, by the Oregon Railway and 1 
 
 Navigation Company’s Railway 270 
 
 From Bolles’ Junction to Dayton, by the Oregon Railway and Nav- 
 igation Company’s Railway - 13 
 
 from Bolles’ Junction to Riparia, on the Snake River, by the Ore- 
 gon Railway and Navigation Company’s Railway 31 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 5 
 
 From Walla Walla to Pendleton, via Oregon Railway and Naviga- 
 tion Company’s Railway 40 
 
 From Riparia to Lewiston, on Snake River, by tlie Oregon Railway 
 
 and Navigation Company’s steamboats 78 
 
 From Umatilla to Pendleton, by the Oregon Railway and Naviga- 
 tion Company’s Railway 148 
 
 From Umatilla to Huntington, by the Oregon Short Line 217 
 
 From Wallula Junction to St. Paul and Duluth, Minn., by the 
 
 Northern Pacific Railroad. 1959 
 
 From Palouse Junction, on the main line of the Northern Pacific 
 
 Railroad, to Colfax 88 
 
 From Portland to Umatilla and Baker City and Huntington, via 
 O. R. & N. Railway and Oregon Short Line 404 
 
 WILLAMETTE VALLEY ROUTES. 
 
 From Portland to Ashland, by the Oregon & California Railroad. . 341 
 
 From Albany to Lebanon, by the Oregon & California Railroad 15 
 
 From Portland to Corvallis, by the Oregon & California Railroad. . 97 
 
 From Portland to Coburg, by the u arrow-gauge division of the Or- 
 egon Railway & Navigation Company 120 
 
 From Portland to Airlie, by the narrow-guage division of the Or- 
 egon Railway and Navigation Company 37 
 
 From. Airlie to Sheridan, branch of last named road. 7 
 
 From Portland to Dayton, Or., by Oregon Railway and Navigation 
 
 Company’s steamboats 45 
 
 From Portland to Corvallis, by Oregon Railway and Navigation 
 Company’s steamboats 115 
 
 LOWER COLUMBIA ROUTE. 
 
 From Portland to Astoria, by Oregon Railway and Navigation Com- 
 pany’s steamboats 98 
 
 PUGET SOUND ROUTE. 
 
 From Portland to Kalama, by Oregon Railway and Navigation 
 
 Company’s steamboats 38 
 
 From Portland to Tacoma, by Northern Pacific Railroad (Pacific 
 Division) 147 
 
 WATERWAYS. 
 
 The Columbia ranks with the great rivers of the world. It forms the 
 northern boundary of the State, and, for a distance of more than 200 
 miles, is a means of travel and transportation, and almost uninterrupt- 
 edly so. Upon its bosom ships and steamers navigate at all seasons, 
 transporting the products of the State to foreign climes or domestic 
 ports. It is an avenue of wealth and wonder; Oregon’s highway to the 
 sea, and the artery of her commercial relations with the vast domain to 
 the north. The Willamette, the largest affluent of the Columbia, flows 
 through the heart of the valley of the same name, and is navigable for 
 steamers through the grain-producing regions of that locality. The largest 
 steamships and other ocean-going vessels ascend it to Portland. Snake 
 River, another navigable stream, and one of the largest tributaries of 
 the Columbia, forms the eastern boundary of Oregon, and separates it 
 from the Territory of Idaho. Steamers ascend it to Lewiston, a distance 
 
6 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 of 150 miles from its confluence with the Columbia. The Cowlitz is a 
 tributary of the Columbia. This river flows in the midst of a splendid 
 country, and is navigable for thirty-five miles. Along the coast, and 
 emptying their waters into the ocean, are the Rogue, Coquille, Umpqua, 
 Siuslaw and other smaller streams. In the eastern part of the State we 
 have the Umatilla, the Des Chutes, John Day and many other smaller 
 streams. 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 Among the advantages of a civilized condition of society there can be 
 no more powerful factor for progress and for individual comfort and 
 happiness than a genial climate. That is claimed for this State. The 
 State, as a whole, has nothing to lose and much to gain by a careful and 
 intelligent examination of the meteorological conditions and a compari- 
 son with the most favored habitable sections of the common country. 
 The climate of Oregon is signally healthful and invigorating. The strong 
 point is its evenness. The mean average heat of July is 67 degrees. The 
 mean average cold of January is 46 degrees; showing a mean deviation 
 of only 21 degrees during the year. This compares favorably with the 
 best climates in the United States. The violent atmospheric changes, or 
 wide variations of temperature, so common in the Middle, Southern and 
 Western States, are wholly unknown here. The summer is never made 
 suddenly and abnormally cold — a reversal of the season — nor suddenly 
 and abnormally hot. The extreme cold in the valleys, during ordinary 
 years, is, for the most part, a white frost, with a formation of ice an inch 
 thick in exposed places. No matter how warm the days may be the 
 nights are always cool enough to enable one to sleep soundly and 
 refreshingly under a fair quantity of bed clothing. There is never the 
 heat that enervates nor the cold that produces a torpor or inability to 
 work. The air offers the tonic coolness needed by a man engaged in 
 outdoor industry, while it has the mildness that is sootliiug and restful 
 for his periods of relaxation. There is in the air that steady tone which 
 is in itself an inspiration, and inviting to labor on the part of man and 
 beast. Medium-weight woolen underwear is universally worn during 
 the entire year. Sunstrokes are unknown. Meat may be cured and fruit 
 dried in the sun, and the good house-wife has no worry about moisture 
 on her windows or plastered walls. 
 
 Nature has struck a happy medium between the climate of California, 
 with its alternations of wet and dry seasons, and that of the Eastern 
 States, with their shifting and uncertain changes. We do not have, here 
 in Oregon, the torrid heat of California, nor do our winters remind us 
 much of eastern freezings and thawings. The trade winds of the Pacific 
 moderate the heat and cold, and with the great Japanese Ocean current, 
 serve as a regulator of temperature. The thermometer rarely rises above 
 eighty degrees in summer, in the hottest days, and scarcely ever sinks 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 7 
 
 below twenty in winter. So the most active outdoor labor may be per- 
 formed throughout the year. Strictly speaking, the distinction of the 
 seasons does not exist in Western Oregon as in the Eastern States, nor is 
 the application of the terms dry and wet season entirely suitable. The 
 rains, beginning last of September, fall with increasing frequency in the 
 succeeding months, from November 20th, and reaching their maximum in 
 anv one of the winter months. Diminishing then in intensity, they 
 continue through June, falling then semi-occasionally and exerting no ill- 
 effect, excepting in case that the grain crop may suffer if far enough 
 advanced. The rain-fall during a summer month may amount to two 
 inches, or it may be nothing. Only twice in forty years have the grain 
 crops been injured by untimely rains, for the season of harvesting is 
 pre-eminently the dry time. The summer of 1883 was exceptionally 
 dry; less than one-fifth of an inch of rain fell in June, July and August, 
 and it was not until the last of September that the rain fell in sufficient 
 quantities to extinguish the forest fires and clear the atmosphere of 
 smoke which had for months obscured the country. Notwithstanding 
 the lack of rain and the uncommonly warm season, no loss occurred to 
 the farmers, but a very profitable crop was harvested. Drouth is never 
 known in the Willamette Yalley. There is, however, a peculiarity worthy 
 of note. The occurrence of “cold snaps” of considerable severity, at 
 intervals of ten or twenty years, constitutes an evil, which, although of 
 no consequence in comparison with the extremes of other climates, is 
 yet sufficiently remarkable to be noticed. These storms have only oc- 
 curred, with severity, twice, or, at most, three times, since the advent of 
 white men. They are characterized by the depression of the thermome- 
 ter nearly, or quite to zero, and more particularly by strong and long- 
 continued north or east winds, and a light fall of snow. 
 
 According to the mortality statistics of the census of 1880, Oregon 
 stands at the head of the list of States for healthfulness, the percentage 
 of deaths to population being .69, Missouri standing 1.63. It is the 
 easiest thing in the world to write up this feature, and to make exagger- 
 ated and unsustainable assertions, but the Immigration Bureau aims at 
 perfect reliability, and therefore presents only substantiated facts. These 
 undoubtedly establish the assertion that Oregon as a whole, or in part, 
 is the healthiest portion of the continent. 
 
 In evidence of the above statement, we present the following record 
 (official) of the average number of deaths per annum in every 1000 sol- 
 diers, by disease : Florida, 26 ; Texas, 50 ; New Mexico, 20 ; Department 
 of the Columbia, 9. Taking the years 1868 and 1869, we have the follow- 
 ing : Florida, 16 ; Texas, 11 ; New Mexico, 8; Department. of the Co- 
 lumbia, 1. 
 
 The years 1870 and 1874 show the same average ratio of those making 
 residence in the Northwest. From 1874 to 1880 the death rate \gas, in 
 this department, less than four in every 1000, while in the East it was 
 
8 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 about eight. In the deaths from malaria, this department shows an 
 average of ten per 1000, and in Arizona 160 per 1000. In diseases of the 
 respiratory organs, the average here is one in 1000, while in Florida it is 
 three in 1000. In the three months which we call Winter we have the 
 climate of many lands. 
 
 Another strong argument in favor of our climate is in its relation to 
 agricultural production. The superior quality of our wheat, famous the 
 world over, clearly establishes and enforces the fact that we have the 
 sunshine, long days, cool nights, less intense heat in maturing months, 
 necessary for the perfect growth of the highest grade of wheat. Not 
 only this cereal, but the best climate for oats, rye, barley, corn, hops, 
 grasses, flax, vegetables, fruit of all kinds, and berries of every kind 
 imaginable, as belonging to the temperate regions. 
 
 MOUNTAINS. 
 
 The two principal ranges of mountains in the State are the Coast and 
 Cascade. They extend north and south in the western part of the 
 State. The Willamette Valley lies in between these ranges, widest near 
 Portland and narrowest 150 miles to the south, where the ranges are 
 united by the Calapooia watershed. In the midst of the Cascade range 
 we have Mount Hood, with its elevation of over 11,000 feet, and Mount 
 Jefferson, 9020 feet high, as the principal peaks. Within view of the 
 greater portion of the western and northern portion of the State, are 
 Mount Adams and St. Helens. These ranges are unlike any seen east of 
 the Rockies, and at all times possess a peculiar charm, and under their 
 protecting influence the valleys enjoy that justly celebrated equability of 
 temperature, and a much greater degree of warmth in winter and cool- 
 ness in summer than is exprienced in a similar latitude on the Atlantic 
 coast. During the greater part of the year these hills are charming in 
 their robes of brightest green. They are interesting at all seasons. 
 
 VAULEYS. 
 
 The principal valley in the State is the Willamette. It is 150 miles 
 in length and has an average width of about fifty miles. The head of 
 the valley lies about midway between the forty -third and the forty- 
 fourth parallels, north latitude, and extends along the one hundred and 
 twenty-third meridian to the Columbia River, which, near the forty-sixth 
 parallel, forms the northern boundary. The valley is hemmed in on the 
 east by the Cascade Mountains, on the west by the Coast Range, and on 
 the south by the Calapooia Mountains. Following the contour of the 
 coast, sometimes close upon it, and again from thirty to forty miles 
 away, the Coast Range divides the Willamette from the many narrow 
 valleys along the sea shore. The Cascade Range separates it from 
 Eastern Oregon. In the neighborhood of forty -four degrees north lati- 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 9 
 
 tude the Coast and Cascade Mountain chains are united by the Cala- 
 pooia spur. The valley is the widest along a line drawn east and west 
 and a little south of Portland, and narrowest at a point about twenty 
 miles south of Eugene City. Throughout its length numerous lateral 
 valleys debouch upon it. The valley contains an area of about 4,500,000 
 acres, one-fifth of which is held by actual settlement, or used as grazing 
 lands. With the exception of Maine, the area of the Willamette Valley 
 is greater than any one of the New England States, and nearly a dozen 
 times as large as the smallest of these States. The Willamette, a navi- 
 gable river, rises in the Calapooia Mountains and flows the entire length 
 of the valley. Its general course is north, and in its flow gathers up the 
 water of forty -two streams, several of which are navigable for steam 
 boats of ordinary size. The smaller streams are well below the general 
 level of the country, making the drainage perfect. The Willamette is 
 not the only stream in the valley with an immense volume of water, 
 but broken by verdure-clad islands ; flowing through this “ garden of the 
 Northwest,” now in deep forests, again in the midst of rich meadow 
 lands, it is indeed one of the really picturesque streams of the continent. 
 But it is not a picturesque idleness, for these streams are watering this 
 magnificent valley, forming a highway to a good market, furnishing un- 
 limited power for mills and machinery, and clear, cool drinking water 
 for the thirsty people of our cities and towns. The scenic aspects of the 
 valley are a constant surprise and delight to the tourist or resident, em- 
 bracing views of cloud-capped and snow-shrouded mountain peaks, and 
 the pastoral of hill and dale and wide-reaching farm fields. 
 
 The central portion of the valley lies at an elevation of from seventy 
 to four hundred feet above tide water, as the figures following will show: 
 The hights are referred to the level of the “basin” below the Willamette 
 Falls. Baker’s Prairie, near Oregon City, is 135 feet above said level; 
 Mollala Prairie, 137; Barlow’s 4934; the surface of Pudding River — 
 formerly known as Putin, of which “ Pudding ” is a clumsy imitation — 
 37; French Prairie, 138; Lake La Bische, 97; Salem (corner Commercia] 
 and State streets), 113; Jefferson, 173; Albany, 161; Corvallis, 150; Eu- 
 gene City, 373. To these elevations must be added a constant quantity 
 representing the hight of the “ basin ” above sea-level, which, for ordin- 
 ary purposes, may be assumed as twenty feet. 
 
 The vacant lands of the Willamette Valley; or those open to settle- 
 ment, are of four kinds, viz: United States Government, State, railroad 
 and wagon road grants, and school and university lands. As elsewhere, 
 the government lands are held at the price of $1 25 per acre; or, in case 
 of lands within the limits of railroad grants, at double this rate. The 
 railroad lands are subject to a price which varies according to location, 
 being from $1 25 to . 7 per acre. They are, moreover, to be had on 
 favorable terms as to time and modes of payment. Generally speaking, 
 ten years credit is given; or less, according to the requirements of the 
 
10 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 purchaser. The Oregon and California railroad has yet a large portion 
 of its grant in its possession, and the character of its land compares 
 favorably with that of the adjoining government or private holdings. It 
 is chiefly rolling land, covered more or less thickly with brush, often 
 bearing an immense amount of the finest timber, but sometimes is open 
 prairie, suitable for cultivation and grazing. In respect to the cost of 
 clearing, it is the same as the adjacent tracts. It is well for intending 
 purchasers to bear in mind that the lands spoken of as vacant are so 
 because they require to be cleared before they are of any use. As to the 
 cost of clearing up this brush land, the estimates vary greatly. As for 
 their productiveness, they are not generally a whit behind the best valley 
 lands, and they have, as before pointed out, very great advantages over 
 any valley land. As to the total quantity of unoccupied or untilled lands 
 suitable for settlement along the edges of the valley, there can not be 
 much less than two million acres, making proper deductions for tracts 
 which are worthless because too rocky or too steep. 
 
 Rich in its agricultural resources, in its cultivated and uncultivated 
 lands, in its water powers and minerals; rich in its colleges and schools 
 of learning, and with a climate unsurpassed for its salubrity, the Willa- 
 mette Valley presents to the immigrant from the East advantages that 
 cannot be matched anywhere in this country. 
 
 Harney Valley is the largest body of agricultural land in Grant 
 County. It is 240 miles southeast of The Dalles. There are numerous 
 streams in this valley, and most of the land is very productive. The 
 climate is similar to that of Eastern Oregon generally. The chief inter- 
 est is stock raising. There are upwards of 200,000 head of cattle on the 
 ranges there at all seasons of the year. The timber on the margin of 
 the valley is among the best. 
 
 Another of the fertile and pleasantly located valleys in Oregon is 
 Grand Ronde, in Union County, Oregon. It contains upwards of 280,000 
 acres of the best of farming lands; the soil adapted to wheat, rye, oats, 
 barley, and all kinds of vegetables. As a stock raising region it is un- 
 surpassed. It is in the midst of a mountainous region, and is traversed 
 by numerous streams of water. Adjoining Grand Ronde on the east, 
 and really a part of it, is Wallowa Valley, a very rich and extensive 
 country, with the same general characteristics as to soil, timber, stock, 
 grain, and the like. 
 
 South of this great valley is the Powder River country ; a valley fertile, 
 and especially adapted to stock raising. The railway to Baker City is 
 bringing this land into prominence and making it very valuable. 
 
 Rogue River Valley lies midway between the Willamette and the Sac- 
 ramento valley. It is especially noted for its fruit, ranking, in this re- 
 spect, above most of the favored places in the country. The climate is 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 It 
 
 splendid the whole year through, and the soil is prolific. The crops of 
 grain are marvelous in the eyes of the eastern fanner. The soil of the 
 foothills is a quick, rich, brown loam, and in the valley proper, a deep, 
 rich, black, vegetable loam. The valley has the best of markets and 
 transportation facilities. 
 
 GOVERNMENT LAND. 
 
 There has always been more or less misapprehension among immi- 
 grants regarding Government lands in this State, the general idea being 
 that there are millions of acres of such lands lying in the valleys, and 
 all of it ready for the plow. This is an error. While it is true that 
 there are millions of acres of Government land, open for settlement, it 
 is as true that the great bulk of such land lies in the Cascade and Coast 
 ranges of mountains, and is heavily timbered. Along the foothills there 
 is some sections of Government laud which is denominated “brush land,” 
 and here and there in each quarter section a dozen or twenty acres of open 
 land. This is true of the locality between Forest Grove and Astoria, on the 
 Central grant (now forfeited); it is true of some portions of Columbia Coun- 
 ty, Clackamas County, Washington County and Linn County, in Western 
 Oregon. In the Southern portion of the State, in the Rogue River and 
 Umpqua Valleys, in the Counties of Jackson and Josephine, are large 
 able stretches of Government land. A part of this land lies along the 
 small streams and in the little valleys putting into the Willamette. These 
 tracts are not extensive, and a comparatively small proportion of the 
 whole is available for agriculture. It is possible for the immigrant to 
 find now and then an excellent location on Government land in the 
 localities named here, dnder this heading, but it is a mistake to say that 
 ten thousand immigrants can be so fortunate. If he must have Govern- 
 ment land, the new-comer will have to take his share of heavy timbered 
 land and such land as is removed somewhat from the lines of transporta- 
 tion. These claims will be very valuable by and by, and for the present 
 will, if properly looked after, provide a good home for the immigrant 
 and his family. But that “ properly looked after” means much patience, 
 some hardship and considerable hard work. It is best that the new-comer 
 should realize this truth from the start. Lands without timber will be 
 found in Eastern Oregon, 
 
 HOW TO OBTAIN GOVERNMENT LAND. 
 
 PEE-EMPTION. 
 
 Heads of families, widows or single persons (male or female) over the 
 age of twenty-one years, citizens of the United States, or who have de- 
 clared their intention to become such, under the naturalization laws, 
 may enter upon any “offered” or “unoffered” lands, or any unsurveyed 
 lands to which the Indian title has been extinguished, and purchase not 
 
12 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 exceeding 160 acres under pre-emption laws. A fee of $3 is required 
 within thirty days after making settlement, and within one year, actual 
 residence and cultivation of the tract must be shown, whereupon the 
 pre-emptor is entitled to purchase the same at $1.25 per acre, if outside 
 of railroad land limits, and at $2.50 per acre if within railroad land 
 limits. A pre-emptor may submit proofs of residence at any time after 
 six months, an obtain title to his land. At any time before expiration 
 of time allowed for proof and payment the settler may convert his pre- 
 emption claim into a homestead. No person who abandons his residence 
 upon land of his own to reside upon public lands in the same State or 
 Territory, or who owns 320 acres of land in the same State or Territory, 
 is entitled to the benefits of the pre-emption laws. The latter provision 
 does not apply to a house and lot in town. 
 
 HOMESTEAD. 
 
 Any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age 
 of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who has 
 filed his declaration of intention to become such, is entitled to enter 
 one-quarter section, or less quantity, of unappropriated public land, un- 
 der the homestead. laws. The applicant must make affidavit that he is 
 entitled to the privileges of the Homestead Act, and that the entry is 
 made for his exclusive use and benefit, and for actual settlement and 
 cultivation, and must pay the legal fee and that part of the commissions 
 required as follows : Fee for 160 acres, $10 ; commission, $6 ; fee for 80 
 acres, $5 ; commission, $4. Within six months the homesteader must 
 take up his residence upon the land, and reside thereupon, and cultivate 
 the same for five years continuously. At the expiration of this period, 
 or within two years thereafter, proof of residence and cultivation must 
 be established by four witnesses. The proof of settlement and certificate 
 of the Register of the Land Office is forwarded to the General Land 
 Office at Washington, from which a patent is issued. Final proof cannot 
 be made until the expiration of five years from date of entry, and must 
 be made within seven years. The Government recognizes no sale of a 
 homestead claim. A settler may prove his residence at any time after 
 six months, and purchase the land under the pre-emption laws if desired. 
 The law allows but one homestead privilege to any one person. 
 
 soldiers’ homestead. 
 
 Every person who served not less than ninety days in the army of the 
 United States during “ the recent rebellion,” who was honorably dis- 
 charged and has remained loyal to the Government, may enter a home- 
 stead, and the time of his service shall be deducted from the period of 
 five years, provided that the party shall reside upon and cultivate his 
 homestead at least one year after he commences improvements. The 
 widow of a soldier, or if she be dead or is married again, the minor heirs 
 (if any) may, through their guardian, make a homestead entry, and if 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 13 
 
 the soldier died in service, the whole term of his enlistment will be cred- 
 ited upon the terms of required residence. Soldiers and sailors as above 
 may file a homestead declaratory statement for 160 acres of land through 
 an agent, after which they have six months to file their homestead. This 
 latter entry may be made in person. 
 
 TIMBER CULTURE. 
 
 Under the timber culture laws not more than 160 acres on anyone sec- 
 tion entirely devoid of timber can be entered, and no person can make 
 more than oDe entry thereunder. The qualifications of applicants are 
 the same as under the xR’e-emption and homestead laws. Land Office 
 charges are $14 for 160 acres, or more than 80 acres; for 80 acres or less, 
 $9 when entry is made and $4 at final proof. Land to be entered must 
 be entirely void of timber. Party making entry of 160 acres is required 
 to break or plow five acres during the first year and five acres during 
 the second year. Tiie five acres broken or plowed during the first year 
 must be cultivated during the second year, and be planted to timber 
 during the third year. The five acres broken or plowed the second year 
 must be cultivated the third year, and planted to timber the fourth 
 year. For entries of less than 160 acres, a proportionate number of 
 acres must be planted to trees. These trees must be cultivated and pro- 
 tected, and at the end of eight years, or within two years after that pe- 
 rio.\ proof by two credible witnesses must be adduced, showing that 
 there were at the end of eight years at least 675 living, thrifty trees on 
 each of the ten acres required to be planted; also that no less than 2700 
 trees be planted to each of the ten acres. Fruit trees are not considered 
 timber within the meaning of this act. 
 
 LAND OFFICES. 
 
 Government Land Offices are located at Oregon City, Clackamas County, 
 Oregon; Eoseburg, Douglas County, Oregon; Lakeview, Lake County, 
 Oregon; The Dalles, Wasco County, Oregon; La Grande, Union County, 
 Oregon; Olympia, Thurston County, Washington Territory; Vancouver, 
 Clarke County, Washington Territory; Yakima City, Yakima County, 
 Washington Territory; Spokane Falls, Spokane County, Washington Ter- 
 ritory; WallaWalla, Walla Walla County,' Washington Territory; LewistoD, 
 Nez Perce County, Idaho. The State Land Office for Oregon is at the 
 seat of government, Salem, Marion County, Oregon. 
 
 The timber lands lie mainly upon the interior slopes of the mountain 
 ranges. The extent of this timber belt is very great; upon the western 
 slope of the Cascades it is perhaps twenty miles wide, and runs the full 
 length of the range. The locality of the forest extends from the snow 
 line downwards nearly to the plains, but may be said to terminate in the 
 brushy lands. There are some detached bodies of evergreen trees, par- 
 ticularly firs, growing down in the valley, which are large enough for use 
 
14 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 as saw-logs. The trees attain their greatest development at a consider- 
 able altitude. 
 
 Of the timbered lands, the best trees are found at medium elevations, 
 and are accessible by ordinary logging roads. They have a value de- 
 pending upon their nearness to market, or to streams of sufficient size to 
 float the logs. The land is worth, for the trees alone, from five to fifty 
 dollars per acre, depending upon the size and the number of the trees. 
 “Stumpage,” or the price of standing timber, is usually one dollar or 
 one dollar and a half per thousand feet, board measure. The principal 
 trees found on low lands are the fir, pine, yew, ash, oak, maple, balm, and 
 alder; on the hills there are scatterieg oaks and firs, while in the moun- 
 tain regions grow the firs, pine, spruce, hemlock, cedar, larch, and 
 madron e, with more or less undergrowth, depending on the altitude. 
 
 FOOTHILLS. 
 
 While it is true that a very great proportion of the land in the valleys 
 is owned and cultivated by the pioneers, or their descendants, this does 
 not by any means comprise all the farming soil of this State. Besides, it 
 is being shown every day that many of the owners of large farms are 
 willing to divide with the bona fide farming immigrant, and at such rates 
 as make it possible for him to invest in this sort of agricultural land. 
 The foothill region of the State is one especially attractive to immigrants 
 and persons with small means. In that part of the State there is both 
 Government, State and railway land for settlement, and where the land 
 belongs to private parties it can be purchased at a fair and moderate 
 price. The markets of this section are convenient and transportation 
 good. In fact, there is about this foothill region everything which can 
 tend to make life comfortable and farming profitable. The picture is not 
 overdrawn at all. The foothill farmer of the State is among the most 
 prosperous in the State, if not on the American continent. He has ex- 
 ceptional advantages over his brethren in the valleys in his facilities for 
 stock-raising. He has untold acres in the upper hills, upon which he 
 can herd his stock in the Summer months, and he can, without difficulty, 
 cut hay enough to feed his cattle and sheep in the short Winter season. 
 It is gratifying to state that the valleys of the foothill counties of Ore- 
 gon are coming to be appreciated. It is indisputable that the counties 
 verging on the Cascade and Coast Ranges are among the most produc- 
 tive regions of the State. The inconveniences of early days are all 
 passed away, together with the often rapid getting of money, and with 
 it the alternate forced idleness. One might suppose from these facts 
 that all the desirable land is already located. Not so. There are still 
 remaining large quantities of land yet unentered, which, if put into its 
 appropriate crops, is more desirable than any level land, mixed among 
 tracts less valuable. These lands are specially suited to the man who, 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 15 
 
 with patience and the help of his family, will soon make them into the 
 most valuable lands in Oregon. All the advances made by the railways 
 have brought these lands into ready connection with good markets, and 
 will make every part of the State more favorably circumstanced than 
 even the best localities formerly were. Men who view farming land as 
 only worthy of consideration where large blocks lie together, or who 
 value it only according to the ease with which large quantities can easily 
 be cultivated, are grossly at fault. It is of no importance to the poor 
 man that the plow can go over 500 acres in a single field. He only wants 
 a hundred acres, or less even, and wants that in plots. In the mountain 
 and foothill regions of Oregon there are a great many of these plots for 
 homesteads for the farmer who cannot manage more than half of the 
 homestead or pre-emption allowance, and who is satisfied that hillsides, 
 if suitable, though often steep, may yield him more income in crops 
 which a family can materially help in winning, than alluvial bottom 
 lands in their crops which have to be won by his sole labor. On these 
 foothill lands he can raise grain, and the best fruit, grapes and the veg- 
 etables, and can always have flocks and herds of cattle. With the aid 
 of sidehill plows these slopes can be utilized for raising grain of all 
 kinds, while for orchards and vineyards no better location can be found 
 anywhere. The foothill lands are destined to play an important part in 
 the future prosperity of Oregon. There is still a good deal of Govern- 
 ment land in these foothill regions, some for settlement through the rail- 
 way land departments, and some school land. In all parts and sections 
 of these localities lands can be secured at very moderate rates. 
 
 MINERAL WEALTH. 
 
 The mineral deposits of Oregon are mostly confined to the southern 
 counties of Douglas, Jackson and Josephine, and to the eastern counties 
 of Baker, Grant and Union. The mineral wealth is both large and 
 diversified. Not alone in precious metals, but in coal, iron and other 
 useful minerals the State is exceedingly rich. From the report of H. C. 
 Burchard, Director of the Mint, we take the following table of the pro- 
 duction of gold and silver in this State last year: 
 
 Counties. 
 
 Baker 
 
 Benton 
 
 Coos 
 
 Curry 
 
 Grant 
 
 Jackson. . . . 
 Josephine. . 
 Union 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Silver. 
 
 Total. 
 
 $190,000 
 
 $5,000 
 
 $195,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 
 5,000 
 
 20,000 
 
 200 
 
 20,200 
 
 240,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 265,000 
 
 135,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 137,000 
 
 175,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 177,000 
 
 60,000 
 
 800 
 
 60,800 
 
 $830,000 
 
 $35,000 
 
 $865,000 
 
 Total, 
 
16 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 He says it has been difficult to obtain reliable information as to the 
 amount of gold and silver annually produced from mines in Oregon, for 
 much of it is done by Chinese, who are reticent as to their operations. 
 It is probable that the total in Oregon will be fully SI, 500, 000. 
 
 In that portion of Baker county through which flow Burnt and Powder 
 rivers and their tributaries, mining has thus far been confined to the 
 precious metals, although minerals containing other metals abound. 
 Placer gold mining, one of the principal industries of the county for more 
 than twenty years, still gives employment to a larere per cent, of the 
 population, but is being gradually relinquished to the Chinese, who seem 
 peculiarly fitted for that work and ready to pay a round price for ground 
 already worked over by white men so long as the yield of gold will pay 
 them fair wages. They are able to make abandoned mines pay, not 
 because they are better miners than white men, but for the reason that 
 they live more cheaply, and are satisfied with smaller returns for their 
 labor. Baker City is about the center of the mining section, nealy all 
 the mines of the county being within a radius of forty miles of that place. 
 
 Gold was first discovered in Jackson and Josephine Counties in 1851. 
 Perhaps the entire quantity obtained during the last thirty years has 
 not been less than $40,000,000, more than half of which is to be 
 credited to the first decade in which gold mining was prosecuted. 
 Hitherto, as a rule, operations, in all their phases, have been conducted 
 in a very superficial manner. True, some wonderfully rich deposits have 
 been found, and worked with great profit. But only arastras and other 
 primitive methods for crushing the quartz have been used. Claims were 
 generally abandoned after the surface gravel was exhausted. The ex- 
 pense and labor of sinking shafts, driving tunnels, and employing the 
 other scientific and profitable methods now in vogue, have not been 
 applied. There seems at present, however, to be a disposition to prose- 
 cute gold mining with ordinary skill and vigor. Companies have been 
 formed with the capital necessary to develop the real value of the depos- 
 its. Several claims have been opened at various points, on which large 
 amounts have been expended for the requisite machinery to carry on 
 hydraulic mining on a large scale. 
 
 Coal will take a foremost rank among the mineral resources which are 
 hereafter to be a prime factor in the growth and development of the 
 country. The abundant supply of this raw material will keep in motion 
 many prosperous industries. Immense beds of semi-bituminous and 
 lignite coal are known to underlie many parts of the region. Coal is 
 found at Yaquina, at Port Orford, St. Helens, and in Clackamas, Clatsop 
 and Tillamook Counties. 
 
 Iron ores, bog, hematite and magnetic, exist in great masses, and may 
 be easily obtained. It abounds on the Columbia River, extending from 
 a point opposite Kalama, southward almost to the falls of the Willamette 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 17 
 
 Biver. It is also found in large deposits in the Counties of Columbia, 
 Tillamook, Marion, Clackamas, Jackson and Coos. Smelting furnaces 
 exist at Oswego, on the Willamette Biver, eight miles south of Portland. 
 
 Deposits of rich copper exist at various points, notably on the line of 
 the Oregon and California Bailroad in Southern Oregon. Lead, tin, zinc, 
 cinnabar, plumbago, gypsum, kaolin, pottery clay, mica, marble, granite, 
 limestone and sandstone are also found. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 The people of Oregon are manifestly and justly proud of their educa- 
 tional institutions. No State in the Union makes a more generous pro- 
 vision for its public schools, or has a more complete or effective system, 
 and among the attractions of this State are the inducements it holds out 
 to the intending immigrant of the Old World or our own States, none 
 more worthy of attention than these facilities for popular education. 
 As Oregonians we feel a degree of interest in this subject that justifies 
 the pride we take in pointing to these schools as among the chief attrac- 
 tions, and in claiming for them a high degree of efficiency, an efficiency 
 that will compare more than favorably with that of any other State in 
 the Union. The educational system embraces the three departments: 
 The common schools, the normal schools, and the State University. The 
 Willamette University is located at Salem, the capital of the State, and 
 is in a flourishing condition, with a full corps of professors and teachers. 
 The Pacific University is located at Forest Grove, and is supported by 
 endowments. State University is located at Eugene City, and the Cor- 
 vallis College at Corvallis, to which is attached the State Agricultural 
 College. The income for these institutions Is derived mainly from a direct 
 tax, imposed by law, though much of the support comes from the sale of 
 lands, granted to the State by the general Government. The State 
 Normal Schools are supported by appropriations from a general fund, 
 and are free to all who desire to become teachers in the public schools of 
 the State. The especial pride of the people is the public school system. 
 In each county there is a Superintendent elected by the people, and in 
 each district there are three Directors who manage all public school 
 affairs; one elected each year to serve three years. In all cases the bal- 
 ance of power is held by the profession most interested, and presumably 
 the most competent in the matter. The most remote and thinly popu- 
 lated districts have all the advantages of the public school system. 
 Under this management the progress of these schools has been rapid, 
 steady, and wholly gratifying. New districts are organized each year, 
 and nothing is left to hap-hazard or incompetent management. The 
 salaries paid teachers are such as to induce competition for places from 
 the best people in the profession. The head of a family who brings his 
 children, and comes to cast his lot among us, need have no fear of failing 
 
18 
 
 OKEGON AS IT IS. 
 
 in his duty to them in respect to education. They will find schools, and 
 the best. As to the schools and educational facilities in Portland, they 
 are among the best in the land. 
 
 CHURCH INTERESTS. 
 
 The church interest is a dominant one in the State. There is scarcely 
 a community or locality, no matter^, how isolated, but has its house of 
 worship and a large and growing membership. In the cities and towns 
 of the State the church edifices are commodious and handsome struct- 
 ures, and the pulpits are occupied by some of the most able ministers in 
 the country. 
 
 PRICE OF LAI\I>. 
 
 A good deal of observation and inquiry inclines us to the belief that 
 the average price of improved land in Oregon is about $20 to $22 50 per 
 acre. Unimproved land in the valleys is estimated at from $10 to $15 
 per acre, though large tracts are for sale at a much lower figure — as low 
 as $4 per acre. Improved land in the foothills is worth from $8 to $15 
 per acre, and this is among the best in the State for the man of small 
 means. There are a great many considerations going to affect the price 
 of land, such as remoteness or proximity to large towns, and the market 
 and transportation facilities, the kind of soil, whether there are improve- 
 ments — such as fences, barns and houses. Thus, one might go south 
 from Portland, say sixty-five miles, and find splendid parcels of land at 
 from $30 to $40 per acre, and within ten miles of these bodies of land, 
 and still in proximity to transportation, market and the like, find excel- 
 lent land offered at from $10 to $20 per acre, or even less. All of this land 
 is well watered, and most of it partially timbered. Indeed, go where he will 
 in the Willamette Yalley or in southern or in eastern Oregon, the immi- 
 grant cannot go amiss of all the conditions for successful farming. The 
 railroad and government, as well as school lands, are sold at far less rates 
 than any we have given. School land is sold at $2 per acre; government 
 at $2 50 and $1 25; and railroad lands from $3 to $8, as an average. 
 The immigrant will find plenty of such lands in all portions of the State, 
 convenient to markets and easy of access to transportation lines. Thous- 
 ands of acres in the State are available to the small or large farmer with- 
 asufficient variety of location. In another part of this book we give a list 
 of farms for sale. 
 
 FARHOCi. 
 
 As regards the position which agriculture has already attained in this 
 State, it may be said that while it is not so exalted as might with the 
 almost matchless opportunities have been achieved, yet it presents no 
 reason for repining. Progress has been slow; but the community has 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 19 
 
 attained the position of a self-supporting people, relying on themselves 
 only for the great bulk cf the necessities of life and some of its luxuries. 
 The exportations are the leading necessities of life, and hence indispensa- 
 ble to the recipients. 
 
 Small and mixed farming -interchangeable terms — are the tendency 
 of the day, and in their progress point to the decline of wheat-raising, 
 because by their pursuit the land becomes gradually too valuable to 
 devote to a crop which is liable to return its raiser only $10 or $12 per 
 acre. More lucrative pursuits will take its place, and these will be 
 equally well adapted to the climate and soil, but will require much labor 
 for their proper production. 
 
 The question is often asked, “ How do you farm? ” It is simply im- 
 possible to give any general rule. The farmer in Marion county carries 
 on his occupation in accordance with the character of his soil and 
 climatic surroundings. The farmer in Douglas, or Lane, or Benton 
 counties adopts the mode best suited to his soil and climate. The first 
 thing is to find the real character of soil or climate; the second, to farm 
 in accordance with that character. 
 
 Farmers who have followed mixed husbandry In the older Eastern 
 States, are needed here to introduce diversified agriculture, and demon- 
 strate that “ some things can be done as well as others.” Wheat is the 
 great staple, but we need the experience of men who can establish a ju- 
 dicious diversity in production. The class of farmers we have here al- 
 ready carry on mixed farming to some extent, but they depend chiefly 
 on wheat for the income of the farm, growing oats, barley, hay, fruit and 
 vegetables for their own use, but not demonstrating, as a rule, that the 
 farm can have something as a source of income every month in the year. 
 
 The hay crop of the State is not excessive, as the demand for prepared 
 stock feed is necessarily small. The natural grasses of the State are 
 very abundant and nutritious, and it has not been found necessary to re- 
 place them by cultivated varieties, as has been done in the Eastern States, 
 except in Western Oregon. In the open spots in the mountains grasses, 
 green for the greater portion of the year, grow thickly, and are 
 generally covered and shaded by fern. These grasses form the 
 principal sustenance of the cattle and sheep which may chance 
 to be in the neighborhood. The wild peavine grows there also, 
 and is one of the most valuable forage plants. In these isolated 
 places, oases, as it were, many thousand sheep and cattle pas- 
 ture, high up in the mountains, and far above the settled locali- 
 ties. They are removed thence on the failure of feed or the approach of 
 cold weather. Bunch grass is a main dependence of the nomadic cattle 
 men, and is, indeed, of inestimable value. The cultivated grasses are 
 numerous. Timothy, otherwise called herd’s-grass, is the principal va- 
 riety, and is the staple for hay production. It grows extremely well. 
 
20 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 Red and white clover are esteemed of great worth, and their culture is 
 practiced to considerable extent. Three, and even five tons of cured 
 clover hay, the product of a single acre, in one year, are not uncommon 
 yields. 
 
 FRUIT. 
 
 Oregon excels as a fruit country. No finer fruit, of the kinds raised 
 here, is produced in any quarter of the globe. Fruit trees will grow 
 from six to eight feet the first year ; bear fruit the second, third and 
 fourth years, according to variety. They thrive in the valleys, as well as 
 on the foot-hills, and up to a considerable height in the mountains, but 
 especially in dry, sheltered soil. Yearling prune, peach and plum trees, 
 eight feet high, and yearling cherry trees seven feet high, have been ex- 
 hibited. Apple trees commence bearing very young, sometimes produc- 
 ing fine fruit the second year after grafting ; and, if properly cultivated, 
 are always in bearing when four or five years old. The fruit is large, 
 highly colored and of the most delicious flavor. It is free from the ap- 
 ple worm and the bitter rot, and keeps remarkably well, many varieties 
 lasting through the whole year. Pears also grow in great perfection. 
 The trees begin to bear when remarkably young, and are exceedingly 
 healthy and vigorous, and being entirely free from diseases, will live to 
 a great age. The trees are very productive and the fruit highly flavored. 
 Pears have been grown weighing over three pounds. Oregon is the very 
 Eden for cherries, plums and pruns. The trees are perfectly healthy, 
 grow vigorously and bear much earlier than in the States east of the 
 Rocky Mountains ; and for size, beauty and excellence of flavor, the fruit 
 is unsurpassed in any part of the globe. The plum and prune are en- 
 tirely free from the attack of the curculio. Plums and prunes, especially 
 the latter, are found to be so profitable for drying, that orchards are be- 
 ing planted for that purpose. Not less than two hundred thousand trees 
 have been planted within twenty or thirty miles of Portland, in the last 
 three or four years. Trees of all varieties of apple, pear, plum, prune, 
 cherry, etc., known in the best catalogues, can be obtained in the nurser- 
 ies near Portland, at reasonable prices. Strawberries, currants, rasp- 
 berries and gooseberries, of a fine quality, are raised in abundance. Sev- 
 eral of the hardier varieties of grapes are successfully cultivated. The 
 summer nights are too cool for the successful cultivation of peaches. 
 
 OTHER FEATURES. 
 
 Perhaps wheat will always be the chief staple production of Oregon, 
 but not the only one. Meadow and pasture can be adapted to the farm 
 in such a manner as to yield a fair revenue, and answer another purpose 
 that our people too often lose sight of — to sustain and even improve the 
 fertility of the soil. There is no need that the soil should become worn 
 out when stock raising of all kinds, and sheep husbandry, can be made 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 21 
 
 reliable sources of profit. The farmer who keeps a few choice mares and 
 cows, and breeds judiciously, can make them pay well. Here, though 
 land is valuable, sheep can be used to some extent as scavengers, also to 
 sustain the fertility, and their wool and increase will make rapid and 
 satisfactory returns. 
 
 Poultry can be made to pay well, for we have a good market for eggs 
 and fowls. This is already done, but could be better done than it is, 
 and made a regular business. 
 
 Dairying pays well when well carried on, and can be made a paying 
 branch of every farm if carefully and scientifically conducted. 
 
 Another branch of farm income, that is seldom encouraged as it de- 
 serves, is growing and curing pork. Eastern readers will be incredulous 
 when they are told that most of the towns in Oregon are to-day supplied, 
 more or less, with bacon, hams and lard brought from St. Louis, Chi- 
 cago, Kansas City or Omaha. Such is the case, however. All the fall 
 and winter meat packers have paid eight cents per pound for good hogs. 
 There is not a single thing in the conditions of our climate, or our pro- 
 ductions, except that we have no corn as a general staple, to enforce 
 this import of pork. We have the proper feed out of which to make 
 good pork; and we do make some, but not enough. The man who 
 wishes to engage in stock raising on the wide ranges can invest money 
 in that, as much or little as he chooses; can buy out some man in busi- 
 ness, or go into it on his own account. He can locate, if he chooses, a 
 land claim where he can do farming and keep stock also. It will be 
 seen from this that the man who wishes to engage in the stock business 
 can find in this portion of the world any opportunity he can reasonably 
 expect. 
 
 The hop grower can do as well here, and probably better, than in any 
 old-settled hop growing district. If there is a good market for hops he 
 can certainly grow the hops if he understands how. 
 
 The market gardener can locate near some growing town — Portland, 
 for instance — and can soon work up a good business. 
 
 GAME. 
 
 It would be difficult to find a finer field for the sportsman than Ore- 
 gon. In all the valleys of the State, deer, pheasant, grouse, quail, snipe 
 — the last four of unusual size— abound. Iu the fall, wild geese and 
 ducks swarm along all of the water courses. Wild swan are very numer- 
 ous on the lakes and rivers of southeastern Oregon. In the sage dis- 
 tricts of the latter region, the sage-hen makes its home. The Cascade 
 and Coast ranges and the minor chains are frequented by elk, deer and 
 antelope in great numbers, as also by yellow and silver foxes, mink and 
 marten. Black, cinnamon and grizzly bear, wildcat, wolf and the cougar, 
 roam in these mountains. Of the larger game, however, only deer visit 
 the uninhabited portions of the State. 
 
22 
 
 OKEGON AS IT IS. 
 
 i OMPAR ATIVE TA X ATIOA. 
 
 In speaking of this matter of taxation, we make a comparison witli 
 California. To show it best we give the following table: 
 
 Taxation. State. County. Toum, City, Etc. Total. 
 
 Oregon $ 177,653 $ 362,753 $ 40,550 $ 580,956 
 
 California 2.540,383 5,068,041 208,691 7,817,115 
 
 Average each person, Oregon, $6.40; California, $11. 
 
 It the matter of public indebtedness the average per capita in Oregon 
 is $2.40, while in California it is $32. 
 
 who ssioi «ii> com:. 
 
 General advice can be given only to the classes of immigrants. The 
 application of this advice to special cases must be the business of each 
 individual himself. The same qualities are necessary to success here as 
 elsewhere. Any other notion will lead to disappointment. No one 
 should think of emigrating without sufficient means for self-support for 
 a few months at least, after reaching the objective point, for suitable 
 employment immediately after arrival can not always be relied on, and 
 there is nothing more discouraging to the new-comer than to become a 
 subject of public or private charity. This caution applies particularly 
 to heads of families, who would be cruelly derelect in their duty to ex- 
 pose those depending on them to the risk of destitution on arrival. 
 Families who contemplate settling on lands will require, after providing 
 for all traveling expenses, from $300 to $500, with which to meet the 
 cost of putting up a house, for live-stock, seed, farming implements, 
 provisions, etc. 
 
 Good health is the first requisite of a person who proposes to emi- 
 grate to a new country, with a view to improving his condition in life. 
 Although the climate of Oregon is so favorable as to insure exemption 
 from many diseases which prevail in other States, and to promise relief 
 in other ailments, the chances are that immigration will prove a mistake 
 in the case of confirmed invalids who are compelled to work for a 
 living. 
 
 Generally speaking, persons accustomed to ordinary and mechanical 
 labor, and who unite frugal habits with persevering industry, will run 
 the least risk in emigrating ; but individuals unwilling to work, or ac- 
 customed to live by their wits, are not wanted. Idlers will only go from 
 bad to worse, and adventurers will not prosper. It requires health, la- 
 bor, courage and persistence to succeed here, as elsewhere, and emi- 
 grants must expect to endure the privations of life in a new r country, 
 holding before them the certainty of future comfort and prosperity. 
 Capitalists could not make a mistake by investing their money here in 
 the purchase of timber, mineral or agricultural lands, and by establish- 
 ing manufactories for the production of all goods made of wool, iron or 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 23 
 
 wood. Such opportunities for making great wealth do not exist else- 
 where. In this region money don’t grow on trees, and most honest peo- 
 ple get it only by the sweat of the brow, still there is enough filthy lucre 
 in these parts to supply a moderate amount of it to every industrious, 
 energetic person who is rightly anxious to work without being too par- 
 ticular as to the kind of work. 
 
 We can not, at present, encourage the immigration of more than a very 
 few professional men — such as lawyers, doctors, surveyors and civil 
 engineers — unless they have money beyond the expected earnings of 
 their profession, and are prepared to take their chances after arrival. 
 Clerks, shopmen, or those having no particular trade or calling, and men 
 not accustomed to work with their hands, if without means of their own, 
 would probably meet with disappointment and, perhaps, hardship. 
 Tutors, governesses, housekeepers, needlewomen, and women generally 
 above the grade of domestic servants should not come alone to this State 
 at present, and they should not come at all, unless to join friends or 
 relatives able to maintain them for some time after arrival. 
 
 A good woman servant might soon make money, there being a good 
 demand for such labor. For men there is an open field with no favor. 
 For women an open field full of favors. 
 
 The urgent requirements of the State at the present time are men and 
 money — the laborer, the mechanic, the real farmer, dairyman, fruit- 
 grower or stockraiser, and the large and small capitalist. Every man 
 who is able and willing to work with his hands can find some employ- 
 ment at fair wages, especially those who are fitted for farm work. Rail- 
 roads, public works, mines, mills, logging camps, fisheries and farms all 
 require labor. 
 
 Any smart, active, capable man, with only a little money, but accus- 
 tomed to work with his hands, is sure to succeed in making a comfortable 
 home in Oregon. Wages are good; land, food and house materials are 
 still relatively cheap. If such a settler has a strong heart himself, and 
 is blessed with a common-sense wife used to country work, he may con- 
 fidently look forward to becoming even rich. He need not long remain 
 in the condition of a laborer. This certainty'of rising in the social scale 
 must stimulate the immigrant. 
 
 To farmers’ sons, or persons with moderate means, qualified for the 
 life of a settler in this country, who can not see openings in older coun- 
 tries — who can not go up, because the passages are blocked; who can not 
 go down, because their habits and pride forbid- -the varied resources of 
 the country would seem to promise success, if they avoid whiskey and 
 are industrious and patient. 
 
 Farmers themselves, with limited capital, who are uneasy about their 
 own future, and that of their children, and are prepared to emigrate, 
 should consider the advantages which Oregon affords, irrespective of 
 
24 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 the climate, which must be attractive to alb They should have at least 
 sufficient capital to be independent for twelve months. It is often best 
 for the father to go out and pave the way for the little folks. 
 
 The monied man, who looks to the actual growth of industries in the 
 State and the new permanent markets aud industries which the trans- 
 continental railroads create, and who considers the varied natural 
 resources of the country, can not fail to find investments that will 
 promise good returns on capital. 
 
 01 > 1 > 
 
 IMMIGRANT RATES. 
 
 The following are third class rates from prominent eastern cities to 
 Portland, Oregon, via the Northern Pacific : 
 
 From New York $70 50 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa 64 00 
 
 Baltimore, Md 68 50 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio .... 60 00 
 
 Columbus, Ohio.... 61 50 
 
 Chicago, 111 53 50 
 
 Nashville, Tenn 57 00 
 
 St. Paul or Minneap- 
 olis 45 00 
 
 From New Orleans ,.. $64 00 
 
 Buffalo 64 50 
 
 Philadelphia 69 00 
 
 Washington, D. C. . . 68 50 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio 61 50 
 
 Detroit, Mich 59 50 
 
 St. Louis, Mo 53 50 
 
 Indianapolis 60 00 
 
 Kansas City 45 00 
 
 The following are emigrant rates to Portland, via the Union Pacific 
 Bail way and Orego > Short Line : 
 
 From Chicago and St. Louis $52 50 
 
 New York 69 50 
 
 Denver, Col 45 00 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa 63 00 
 
 Wheeling, W. Ya 63 00 
 
 Omaha, Council Bluffs, St. Joseph and Ft. Leavenworth . . 45 00 
 
 From Portland the new-comer can go to any part of Western or 
 Southern Oregon, by the Oregon and California Railway. The road 
 through the valley takes the immigrant from Portland to Ashland, a 
 distance of 341 miles, and gives him a splendid panoramic view of this 
 portion of the State. He passes through the midst of one of the finest 
 farming regions in the world. 
 
 The same company operate a line of railway between Portland and 
 Corvallis, on the west side of the Willamette River. 
 
 The Immigration Board, through an arrangement with the Oregon 
 and California Railway, issues special immigrant tickets to all points on 
 the east and west side roads. 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 25 
 
 The reduction obtained by the immigrant is nearly 50 per cent. The 
 following are the reduced rates to the points named : 
 
 EAST SI1)E. 
 
 Oregon City. . 
 
 Single 
 
 Trip. 
 
 $ 15 
 
 Round 
 
 Trip. 
 
 $ 90 
 
 Drain 
 
 Single 
 
 Trip. 
 
 $ 4 85 
 
 Round 
 
 Trip. 
 
 $ 9 70 
 
 Salem 
 
 1 60 
 
 3 20 
 
 Oakland 
 
 5 45 
 
 10 90 
 
 Albany 
 
 2 40 
 
 4 80 
 
 Roseburg 
 
 5 95 
 
 11 90 
 
 Lebanon 
 
 2 70 
 
 5 40 
 
 Grant’s Pass. . . 
 
 8 90 
 
 17 80 
 
 Harrisburg 
 
 3 15 
 
 6 30 
 
 Medford 
 
 9 85 
 
 19 70 
 
 Eugene City . . . 
 
 3 70 
 
 7 40 
 
 Ashland 
 
 10 25 
 
 20 50 
 
 Hillsboro 
 
 65 
 
 WEST 
 
 1 30 
 
 SIDE. 
 
 McMinnville . . 
 
 1 50 
 
 3 00 
 
 Forest Grove . . 
 
 75 
 
 1 50 
 
 Independence. . 
 
 2 30 
 
 4 60 
 
 Yamhill 
 
 1 20 
 
 2 40 
 
 Corvallis 
 
 2 90 
 
 5 80 
 
 Trains leave Portland morning and evening. 
 
 WESTERN OREGON STAOE U.\ES. 
 
 Stages run daily from Salem to Dallas, Independence and Monmouth, 
 in Polk County; also to Silverton, in Marion County. 
 
 A tri-weekly stage goes from Turner, in Marion County, to Aumsville, 
 Stayton, Sublimity and Mehama. 
 
 A daily stage runs from Marion, in Marion County, to Scio, iu Linn 
 County. 
 
 A daily stage line connects Corvallis with Albany; also stages run reg- 
 ularly from Corvallis to Philomath. 
 
 A stage line is' in operation from Roseburg to Coos Bay and Scottsburg. 
 
 A regular stage line goes from Ashland, in Jackson County, across the 
 Cascade Mountains to Linkville, in Klamath County, and Lakeview, in 
 Lake County. 
 
 Daily stages connect with the terminal points of the railroads con 
 structing, south from Oregon and north from California, so that through 
 travel is now made in two days or less. 
 
 Daily stages leave Portland for Vancouver at 9:80 a. m. and 8:30 p. m. ; 
 Vancouver for Portland at at 7:30 a, m. and 12:30 p. m. 
 
 Daily stages leave East Portland at 8 a. m. for Mt. Tabor, Powell’s 
 Valley, Rockford, Pleasant Home, Sandy, Eagle Creek, George and Zion. 
 
 Stages leave Oregon City Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 a. m* 
 for Molalla, Mulino, and Wilhoit Springs. 
 
26 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 <* I JEST IOWS ANSWERED. 
 
 Writing to the Board of Immigration, inquirers desire to have infor- 
 mation in detailed form. Below are given usual questions and replies : 
 
 Hotel rates in the towns of the interior average $1 per day for tran- 
 sient customers. This includes all accommodations and attention. 
 Board and lodging by the week, about $5 at the hotels; about $4.50 at 
 private houses. 
 
 House rents in these interior towns are quite uniform. , Good five-room 
 houses, with some yard attached, can be had for from $6 to $8 per month. 
 
 Farm hands command about $25 per month, by the year’s hire; harvest 
 hands, $1.75 to $2.50 yjer day; house servants, about $20 per month. For 
 mechanics, the average is probably $3 per day. 
 
 Milch cows are worth about $30 each. Horses average $200 a span. 
 
 Emigrants are recommended not to linger about the towns and cities 
 at which they may arrive, but to proceed, with as little delay as possible, 
 either to their friends, if they have any in the State, or to the localities 
 where they are likely to meet with employment. 
 
 The immigration agent at Portland will furnish information as to 
 lands open for settlement in the respective counites, farms for sale, de- 
 mand for labor, rates of wages, routes of travel, distances, expense of 
 conveyance. 
 
 A large, free way of life prevails in all the countries of the “Pacific 
 Slope,” or Northwest America, owing to their climate, circumstances and 
 history. ^ Men produce much; they consume much, and they spend much. 
 This free way is attractive, but the young immigrant, -in particular, will 
 do well to bear in mind that thrift , here as elsewhere, is at the root of 
 success. 
 
 What is your climate ? — The best. Is your State well watered with 
 running streams? — Yes. Is there plenty of timber? — Plenty of it in the 
 mountains and foothills. On what terms can farms be rented, cash? — 
 About $1.75 per acre for cultivated soil. What grain rent?-— One-third 
 of crop. Have you free schools? — Yes. Amount per capita of public 
 money?— $2.25 and $3. What do teachers get? — Males, $35 to $80; 
 females, $30 to $60. What minerals have you? — Gold, silver, copper, 
 lead, iron, tin, zinc, cinnabar. What is your staple product? — Wheat. 
 Hired help? — Male, $18 to $30 per month; female, $2.50 to $3.50 per 
 week. Interest on money? — Ten per cent. What is value of cultivated 
 land?— Farms, not above $20 per acre; uncultivated, $4 to $8. Average 
 yield of wheat? — About 18; oats, 27. Average price of wheat? — 75 cents; 
 oats, 30 cents. What is the cost of plowing? — $2 an acre; rolling, 30 
 cents; harrowing, 30 cents; seeding, 1% bushels to acre; cost of trans- 
 portation to market, $2 per ton for wheat, oats, barley, etc.; tax on culti- 
 vated land, from 15 to 30 mills. Do you summer fallow? — Yes. Average 
 depth of plowing? — Six inches. Do you subsoil? — Not generally. Un- 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 27 
 
 avoidable losses on account of weather? — Very slight. Amount of hay 
 per acre? — Clover, five tons; timothy, three tons; cost of cutting, 50 cents 
 per acre. Cost of dairy stock? — Common, $25 to $40. Cost of shearing 
 sheep? — Seven cents per head. Does sheep industry pay? — Yes. What 
 herds most profitable for wool? — Merino and Leicester. For mutton? — 
 Southdowns. Average weight of fleece?— Three pounds. Price of wool? 
 Average, 15 cents. Method of wintering? — Mostly grass. 
 
 i 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 The present population of Oregon is doubtless in the neighborhood of 
 250,000. The vote of the State in November was 52,656. The usual 
 estimate of five persons to a voter may be considered as about correct, 
 and therefore the population of the State on January 1, 1885, may be 
 considered as 263,280. This will allow for two months’ growth since the 
 election. By counties the population is as follows: 
 
 County. Vote 1884. Population. 
 
 Baker 1,792 8,960 
 
 Benton 2,067 10,335 
 
 Clackamas 2,495 12,475 
 
 Clatsop 1,550 7,750 
 
 Columbia 762 3,810 
 
 Coos 1,445 7,225 
 
 Crook 641 3,205 
 
 Curry 335 1,675 
 
 Douglas 2,375 11,875 
 
 Grant 1,334 * 6,670 
 
 Jackson 2,275 11,375 
 
 Josephine 549 2,745 
 
 Klamath 332 1,660 
 
 Lake 387 1,635 
 
 Lane 2,556 12,780 
 
 Linn 3,167 15,835 
 
 Marion 3,910 19,550 
 
 Multnomah 9,020 49,100 
 
 Polk 1,568 7,840 ' 
 
 Tillamook 377 1,885 
 
 Umatilla 3,923 19,615 
 
 Union 2,536 12,680 
 
 Wasco 3,042 15,210 
 
 Washington 1,847 9,235 
 
 Yamhill ' 2,266 11,330 
 
 Total 52,656 267,280 
 
 Portland is the chief city in the State, and has a population of about 
 40,000 people. It is the commercial metropolis of the Pacific Northwest. 
 The following table shows the number of business houses and corpora- 
 tions of the several classes in Portland. It includes such branch houses 
 as have actual establishments, and are engaged in active business here, 
 
28 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 excluding those which are merely represented by agents having an office. 
 Incorporated banks are not included, but private banking houses are. 
 Such corporations only are mentioned as make Portland their bona fide 
 headquarters and the central point for the expenditure of their capitai. 
 
 Capital. No. 
 
 $40,000 to $75,000 45 
 
 75,000 “ 125,000 29 
 
 125.000 “ 200,000 15 
 
 200.000 “ 300,000 6 
 
 300,009 “ 500.000 7 
 
 500.000 “ 750,000 1 
 
 750.000 “ 1,000,000 4 
 
 1,000,000 and upward 14 
 
 COMMERCIAL. 
 
 The capital above represented aggregates considerably upwards of 
 $30,000,000, exclusive of the assets of the largest of our corporations. 
 
 During the year 1884, the v. iue of domestic imports by rail and water, 
 amounted to $18,686,129. Tin foreign imports $1,013,866. Value of do- 
 mestic exports for the same time, were $6,284,735. Value of foreign 
 exports, $5,648,116 ; receipts of wheat at Portland, 3,027,061 centals, and 
 of flour, 403,463 barrels. Wheat and flour exported of the value of $5,- 
 599,819. Exports of wool, 8,942,517 pounds, valued at $1,403,758. Ex- 
 ports of hops, 3,578,074 pounds, valued at $524,117. A grain fleet of 
 eighty-six vessels, registering 92,272 tons, carrying 143,532 short tons 
 wheat and flour, and 245,323 cases salmon. The wholesale trade of the 
 city for 1884, foots up to $40,650,000. The largest valley receipts of 
 wheat are from Linn, Marion, Yamhill and Lane counties. Washington, 
 Benton, Clackamas and Polk also furnish wheat. Douglas has sent in 
 some little. Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook send none to this market. 
 Receipts from the eastern section are from both Oregon and Washing- 
 ton, the later furnishing the larger portion of receipts. Wasco is not 
 much of a grain producing county, Umatilla raises a considerable 
 quantity, and is a good producing county. In Washington, Klickitat 
 County consumes the bulk of production at home. Walla Walla, Co- 
 lumbia and Whitman furnish the larger part of Washington's wheat. 
 Flour is ground mostly at Salem, Albany, Turner’s and Oregon City, in 
 the valley, but almost every town has one or more mills that seek a mar- 
 ket for part of their product here. The Oregon City mills have been 
 idle since last summer. The Portland mill, at Albina, started up early 
 in December. Flour classed as standard brand is ground by one mill at 
 Albany ; two mills at Salem, one at Turner’s, one at Albina and those at 
 Oregon City. The mill at Milwaukie is in operation this season. In the 
 eastern section the largest grinding is done by mills at Walla Walla, 
 Prescott, Echo, Spokane Falls and Dayton. Up to October oats were 
 received only from the valley and from Clarke County, W. T., with oc- 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 29 
 
 casionally some from Puget Sound section. Union County, Oregon, is 
 now sending large shipments and, with Baker, promise to send freely in 
 the future, although home values have been but half a cent this season. 
 Barley comes from all sections, no one county furnishing much, but 
 Wasco and Umatilla are increasing their outturn. Millstuff is furnished 
 by all mills that send flour. 
 
 A few potatoes come from Wasco county. Hay is almost entirely a 
 valley product. Wool comes from all parts, the eastern section last cal- 
 endar year furnishing 8,758,000 pounds against 1,520,000 pounds from 
 the Willamette Valley. Wasco, Umatilla, Union, Baker and Grant are 
 the largest producers, but Washington Territory counties have always 
 sent some. In the valley this product is general, the finest grades com- 
 ing from the Umpqua Valley, in Lane and Douglas counties. Jackson 
 sent more the past year, and the receipts also include a little from the 
 extreme north of California. All the southern counties contain sheep. 
 There is a woolen mill at Ashland, one at Oregon City and 
 one at Brownsville. Hides come from all parts of Oregon and 
 Washington. The eastern section sent very little fruit the past 
 year, needing all for home use and eastern shipment. Flaxseed 
 is mostly from parts along the Snake River in Eastern Oregon 
 and Idaho. Less is being raised compared with three to eight 
 years ago, as it must be marketed in San Francisco at small margin of 
 profit. Hops are raised in Lane county mostly, although counties this 
 side furnish more or less. Valley receipts include arrivals from Puget 
 Sound, which constitute by far the most important portion. From the 
 eastern sections receipts are almost entirely from Yakima county. Lime 
 receipts are from Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands furnishing nearly 
 all received. In addition to the articles named we receive all sorts of 
 farm products. Very little corn has ever been raised, except in Southern 
 Oregon; but recent experiments in the eastern section show that it can 
 be grown there. We receive all sorts of fruits that can be raised in this 
 climate, grapes mostly coming from Southern Oregon. The orchards of 
 Oregon have been largely permitted to care for themselves in late years, 
 but there is a new movement to improve them. The crop of apples, 
 pears, plums and prunes has been heavy, selling at prices that are fair. 
 
 In the character of its public buildings, business blocks, residences, 
 churches, newspapers, school buildings, streets, railways, railway offices 
 docks, manufacturing establishments, and the like, Portland compares 
 favorably with any city in the common country. The growth of the city 
 has been steady, and each year confidence in the future is indicated by 
 the investment of a large amount of capital in business buildings and 
 costly residences. 
 
 There is tributary to Portland an area of country as great, and pros- 
 pectively as valuable, as that of the great State of Pennsylvania. It will 
 
30 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 always command the trade of this vast domain. The Willamette valley 
 alone is capable, when fully settled, of supporting a large city. It repre- 
 sents a body of the finest agricultural land in the country — supplied with 
 abundant water power-equal in length to a line drawn from Washington 
 to Philadelphia, by an average width equal to the distance between 
 Washington and Baltimore. If one will reflect for a moment upon the 
 wealth of such a body of land in our Eastern States, a picture will be 
 presented of what the future lias in store for us. 
 
 In addition, we command the trade of the fertile valleys of the Umpqua 
 and Hogue rivers in Western Oregon, the seaboard counties, and the 
 country lying along the lower Columbia and its tributaries. The Eastern 
 Oregon stock regions are also beginning to furnish a trade that must 
 grow steadily in extent and value, while the remarkable success that has 
 attended the cultivation of lands throughout the “Inland Empire,” 
 which were formerly thought to be desert and unproductive, argues well 
 for the future of a great wheat, Hour and stock-raising country. 
 
 Portland, then, bids fair to remain in perpetuity the supply point for 
 nearly the entire State of Oregon, for a large part of Washington and for 
 portions of Idaho and Northern California. By reason of accumulated 
 capital and well-planned lines of transportation, we are also in a posi- 
 tion to bid for our share of the trade of Montana, Idaho, Northern 
 Washington, British Columbia an*d Alaska. Our commerce with China, 
 Japan and the Sandwich Islands will sooner or later assume large pro- 
 portions and build up our shipping interests. The mineral deposits of 
 the mountain regions which separate the various bodies of agricultural 
 land, within the territory above described, are destined to become a 
 source of wealth. 
 
 Among the larger towns and cities in the valley, we have Salem, the 
 Capital of the State, about fifty miles from Portland, having a popula- 
 tion of about 7,500 people ; Albany, seventy-nine miles from Portland, 
 is a beautiful city of 3,000 inhabitants ; Eugene City with about 2,400 
 people, is one of the thrifty, enterprising cities of the valley. In south- 
 ern Oregon, we have Roseburg, seat of Douglas County, 1,300 people ; 
 Jacksonville, seat of Jackson County, 1,200 people ; Ashland in the same 
 county, with about 1,400 people ; Grant’s Pass, Medford, Oakland and 
 other places. On the West side of the river we have Hillsboro with 
 about 1,300 people ; Dallas, Polk County, with a population of 1,000 per- 
 sons ; McMinnville with about 1,200 people ; Corvallis, a bright, thrify 
 city of about 2,000 inhabitants, and a number of other, and smaller towns. 
 In the Eastern section of the State we have The Dalles, with a popula- 
 tion of about 3,500 ; Baker City, 1,800 ; Pendleton, 2,500 ; Union, 1,000. 
 At the mouth of the Columbia we have Astoria, aptly called the Ven- 
 ice of America ; a city of some 8,000 people, enterprising, energetic, and 
 the seaport town of the State. 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 31 
 
 THE TOURIST ■> OKI>GO\. 
 
 It is sometimes asked, what have you to offer the tourist and pleasure 
 seeking traveler in Oregon? Much. Indeed, Oregon has more than 
 r r ! are of pleasant and picturesque summer resorts; places where the 
 • n or the traveler in pursuit of pleasure and recreation will sojourn 
 ne season and part with reluctantly. Along a Pacific Ocean 
 ..st line of nearly 800 miles, and within easy and inexpensive traveling 
 distance, of the central portions of the State, we have a score or two of 
 k.cse summer resorts, where there is an inspiration in the air, and where 
 comforts and conveniences of all kinds may be found, at ordinary rates 
 of living. What with variety of pastoral scenery; extent of our forests; 
 noblene ss of rivers, grandeur of snow-shrouded mountain peaks and 
 verdure-clothed hills; richness of color; a flora that is rich beyond com- 
 parison; a fauna that is strange and interesting, and a climate which for 
 serenity and evenness has no equal in America, and all within reach of 
 the tourist, there is enough to captivate his fancy, and to lure the inva- 
 lid, artist or scientist from chamber, studio or laboratory. It is no wild 
 exaggeration or fancy to say, that so far as the scenery of this domain is 
 concerned, it is one of the grandest portions of the globe. Nature has 
 showered her blessings of this kind with a lavish hand. 
 
 Oregon Trees. 
 
 Doubtless intending settlers will be interested in knowing something 
 of the trees growing in this State. Among the most valuable we have 
 the spruce, rising to a height of 200 feet, and often 200 inches in diam- 
 eter. Then the sugar pine, also very large. The silver pine, common 
 pine, black pine, larch, thick-barked cedar, redwood, hemlock, white fir, 
 common cedar, vine maple, wild cherry, choke cherry, seamberry or 
 squawberry, crab-apple, large-leaved maple, chittimwood or bearberry, 
 live oak, myrtle, white oak, black oak, birch, alder, willow, balm, yew, 
 juniper, elder, black haw, service berry, laurel, madrone, Oregon ash and 
 manzanita. 
 
 SIJMMARIZmi,}. 
 
 The intending immigrant, whether he comes from the overcrowded 
 districts of our States, or from the old country, has only to study through 
 these pages to ascertain just what this state has to offer him. What he 
 reads is accurate and wholly trustworthy in every particular; and is 
 easily substantiated by facts here on the ground. If he comes here to 
 farm in a general way, to raise stock, to mine, to establish new industries, 
 he will find just the surroundings and inducements he has in view. 
 Our lands with their productiveness will reward him as a farmer. Ev- 
 erything in the way of soil and climate, market and transportation will 
 meet his views. Here is a broad open field of occupation for those who 
 toil for a competency. If he is a tradesman and has a little capital, here 
 
32 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 is a wide field for him to choose from. If he seeks Government, or rail- 
 way, or State lands, now is the time to come and make his selection. 
 Each season the limits of such lands are narrowing, and localities near 
 towns and railways settling up. With a State offering the potent in- 
 ducements of an equable climate, an unmatched soil, splendid timber 
 land, the best of water in natural streams and in wells, the highest 
 grade of educational institutions, a dominant church interest, conven- 
 ient markets, the permanent population of this part of Oregon, com- 
 posed as it is of the best material, will most cordially welcome that in 
 immigration which will add to the moral, social and financial status, to 
 the force that, is to develop the limitless resources of this vast domain. 
 Immigration that will be materially felt in this direction will be most 
 welcome. There is neither welcome nor room in Oregon for wit-living 
 representatives or the man whose lack of perseverence and energy ren- 
 ders him dissatisfied with even the best natural locations, and whose 
 motto is “Further on,” That sort of a “poor man” is of no practical 
 value. He need not apply. It might be well to add here that just now 
 the inducements for professional men, mechanics or laboring men, un- 
 less they come supplied with money to create for themselves opportuni- 
 ties for employment, are not such as will warrant their coming. During 
 the last two years there has been a steady increase in the number of 
 these classes, and they have fully occupied the field, for the present at 
 least. For* the capitalist or the farmer there is room and a cordial wel- 
 come. 
 
 OREGON BY COUNTIES. 
 
 Western Oregon 
 
 Comprises that part of the State bounded on the North by the Colum- 
 bia River, on the South by the Calapooia spur which unites the Coast 
 and Cascade ranges, East, by the Cascade range, and West by the Paci- 
 fic ocean. This area contains about 5,000,000 acres. Not only do the 
 physical features and characteristics of Western Oregon make it to the 
 eye of the tourist an attractive country, but no section of America affords 
 a better proportion of timber, water, meadow, up-land and plain lands 
 for the use of mixed husbandry. Certainly no where else on the conti- 
 nent has nature more lavishly combined the elements of beauty and 
 utility, and left so little for man to complete in order to realize his ideal 
 of an earthly abiding place. In all portions of Western Oregon the set- 
 tler find’s a gently rolling surface, with a soil of exhaustless fertility, and 
 quite all of the conditions he would ha\e chosen in creating a home. 
 That any one should search further can only be ascribed to that sense- 
 less and unappeasable rage of going somewhere else. 
 
 At Portland, which is at once the gateway or vestibule into this grand 
 section of country, the immigrant enters upon a stretch of territory em- 
 bracing, perhaps, the largest body of continuous rich land on the conti- 
 
OREGON AH IT IS. 
 
 33 
 
 nent. As we have said, he will find it rich in- all that pertains to agri- 
 cultural resources, in its cultivated and uncultivated lands, and no mat- 
 ter at what day or week or season of the year he comes upon it. there will 
 be no uncomforable suspicion that it is a little too near the north or the 
 south pole, and he will never, under any circumstances, have to become 
 an apologist for the weather, nor burdened with any responsibility for its 
 unseasonable peculiarities. 
 
 9 
 
 MULTNOMAH 
 
 County, of which Portland is the seat, has no very extensive area of 
 farming land, though all, at all susceptible of cultivation, is exceedingly 
 rich soil ; the best grades of bottom land, suitable for gardening and 
 dairy purposes. Most of the land in Multnomah County is heavily tim- 
 bered, Along the Columbia River there are some very fine farms and 
 farming lands, and perhaps no land in the State is more profitably 
 worked. Much of this land is in the market, and the immigrant with 
 means may very happily locate himself. In the hill lands south and west 
 of the city there are some excellent lands for small farming, chicken 
 ranches and the like. The city furnishes a continuously good market 
 for everything produced. 
 
 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 
 
 Adjoins Multnomah on the West, and at one time both were known as 
 Washington, Multnomah having been created out of Washington. It is, 
 like the rest of the valley counties, an agricultural section, and has some 
 of the finest farms in the State, which are stocked with thoroughbred 
 horses and cattle. Washington County is not as extensive as some of 
 the other valley counties, but fully as productive. Like most of the valley 
 counties it has been of late years almost wholly devoted to wheat growing. 
 These matters have changed somewhat recently, and a more diversified 
 system of farming has supplanted the old way of doing things. In the 
 course of a few years Washington County will furnish Portland markets 
 with a large share of fruit, and dairy products. The principal town in 
 the county is Hillsboro, the county seat, while Cornelius and Forest 
 Grove, all within a distance of six miles, are busy places, Cornelius is 
 one of the best wheat-shipping points on the Oregon Central railroad, 
 while Forest Grove receives much of its support from the excellent 
 school at that place, under charge of the Congregational denomination. 
 It is one of the oldest institutions of learning in our State, and has many 
 of its graduates scattered over the northwest. There are other towns of 
 minor importance in the county. Tualatin, Beaverton, Middleton, Gas- 
 ton, Greenville, and Glencoe — all good business points. The towns are 
 all supported from the agricultural resources of the county, as there are 
 no manufacturing enterprises of note in operation. In Washington 
 County there are many cultivated farms offered for sale, in whole or in 
 part, and some considerable land open for settlement. 
 
34 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 CLACKAMAS COUNTY. 
 
 This county joins Multnomah on the south, and has an area of about 
 1500 square miles. It is one of the oldest settled counties in the State. 
 About three-quarters of the 1,054,000 acres in Clackamas county may be 
 classed as agricultural land of the best grade. There is about 325,00* 
 acres of this county that has passed into private hands. There is about 
 
 50.000 acres of this amount that is owned by the Oregon and California 
 Railroad Company. There is probably about 22,000 acres of school 
 lands in this county now owned by the State of Oregon. This would 
 make the amount of land that has already passed from the control oi 
 the General Government into the hands of the State and private indi- 
 viduals 340,000 acres. 
 
 This last amount deducted from the number of acres of land in Clack 
 amas county would leave in jbhe hands of the General Government aboiv 
 
 700.000 acres, of which amount there is at least 350,000 acres that ii 
 well adapted to settlement, and, when once put in cultivation, will b< 
 fully equal to many of the oldei settled places of the county. The las 
 named amount of land is subject to homestead and pre-emption settle 
 ment. The aggregate valuation of all property in this county, for the yea 
 1884, real and personal, is about S3, 000, 000. The State tax for said yea 
 was five and a half mills on the dollar; county tax, ten mills on the do! 
 lar ; public school tax, three mills on the dollar. On almost every quar 
 ter section of land living water of pure, limpid quality is found, 
 
 Some portions there are heavily timbered, yet there are large tract 
 where the timber is not thick or dense. The land may properl; 
 be called hilly, some portions quite broken. The timber most commo: 
 is fir, of the several varieties (red, white and yellow). Along the stream 
 cedar, ash and maple abound. In the mountain spruce, hemlock an 
 larch are found. As will be seen from the above list, the prevailing foi 
 est trees are resinous and evergreen, some of which grow to the lieigli 
 of 300 or 400 feet, and from 8 to 12 feet in diameter. 
 
 Oregon City, the county seat, situated at the falls of the Willamett 
 River, is healthful and has a water-power unsurpassed in the know 
 world. A view of these falls may be seen on page 2 of this book. 
 
 Iron ore is found on both banks of the Willamette River between Or< 
 gon City and Portland, also in various other parts of the county in pra< 
 ticallv unlimited quantity. 
 
 Limestone and coal are also found along the foothills uf the Cascad 
 Mountains. The limestone is of a fair quality. 
 
 While the Willamette and Clackamas swarm with salmon, the brool 
 and creeks are full of the smaller fish, of which the most desirabl 
 as well as the most abundant, is the far-famed speckled trout. 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 35 
 
 MARION COUNTY 
 
 Is on the east side of the Willamette River, and south of Clackamas. It 
 is the first in the list of agricultural counties. It is bounded on the 
 north by the Willamette River and Butte Creek, which separates it 
 from Clackamas County; on the east by Clackamas County and the Cas- 
 cade Mountains, which separate it from Wasco County; on the north by 
 the Santiam River and the North Fork of the Santiam, separating it from 
 Linn County; and on the west by the Willamette River. Rich in its 
 agricultural resources, in its cultivated and uncultivated lands, in its 
 water powers and minerals; rich in its colleges and schools of learning, 
 and a climate unsurpassed for its salubrity, it presents to the immigrant 
 from the overcrowded States, who comes to the Coast with some means, 
 superior advantages. The productiveness of the soil is marvelous to 
 those who are accustomed to the small crops of the East. With good 
 cultivation, forty bushels of wheat to the acre can be readily secured. A 
 large percentage of that grown is white wheat, and the berry is large 
 and plump, often weighing sixty-four pounds to the measured bushel. 
 Fruits of all kinds that grow in the temperate zones are at home here. 
 
 There are two main divisions, the mountain and the valley. The latter 
 extends from the Willamette River to the foot of the Cascade Mountains, 
 a distance of about fifteen miles. 
 
 The mountainous portion contains some fourteen townships.of mostly 
 unsurveyed land, lying in a strip twelve miles north and south by forty 
 miles east and west, and comprises all classes of land, from rich narrow 
 valleys in the passes, up through all the grades of rolling, hilly and 
 broken, to that of rock-bound canyons and inaccessable craggy peaks. 
 It is generally heavily timbered, and in the near future will be valuable 
 for its lumber supplies. Beyond the bottom the land rises in some 
 places gradually, in others abruptly some fifty feet, and extends for a 
 distance of fifteen miles to the south in a level plain. There is generally 
 a skirting of timber land on the edge of the plain, from one to two 
 miles in width; then it opens out into a low level prairie. The entire 
 county is splendidly watered. 
 
 As a stock county, Marion is good. Horses, cattle, sheep and swine 
 are almost free from disease, and the mildness of the climate and pro- 
 ductiveness of the soil renders their raising a matter of comparatively 
 little expense. 
 
 Land in Marion County can be purchased at prices varying from $4.50 
 to $30 per acre. The cheap lands, however, are in the foothill portions 
 of the county, and requires considerable labor to bring into profitable 
 cultivation. The valley lands can be purchased for $10 per acre up- 
 wards. An immigrant with means can find land to suit him in the county 
 at not unreasonable figures. 
 
 The tax levy for the current year is fourteen mills, being lower than 
 any other county in the State. 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 36 
 
 The Willamette River, with two lines of railroad running the entire 
 length of the county from north to south, gives the producer and mer- 
 chant ample facilities to reach Portland markets. 
 
 Salem, the Capital of the State, is in this county, and is the most 
 handsomely laid out town in the State. The private and public build- 
 ings reflect great credit upon its citizens, and give evidence of the confi- 
 dence which the people have in the future of the place. 
 
 The trade of the county is divided with the various towns, the princi- 
 pal one being Gervias, which has grown up since 1870. Silverton, on 
 the Narrow Gauge Railroad, has long been one of the principal business 
 points in the county outside of Salem, and since the construction of the 
 railroad it has improved very rapidly. We have also Jefferson, Marion 
 Turner, Brooks, Woodburn, Aurora and Hubbard, on the Oregon and 
 California Railroad. Aurora was originally settled by a German colony, 
 and has become one of the most active and business-like points in the 
 county. We. also have, on the Willamette River, St. Louis, St. Paul, 
 Champoeg, Fairfield, Butteville and Wilsonville, while Stayton is on the 
 Narrow Gauge Railroad. 
 
 The water-power of Salem is the best in the State. Salem homes are, 
 as a general thing, well spread out, the lots being usually 62^x125 feet 
 large, giving them attractive lawns and fertile garden spots. To those 
 who desire a most healthful and pleasant climate, with fine lands at 
 prices as above, Marion county offers them superior inducements ; or if 
 they seek a locality for fruit growing, for stock raising, for a dairy busi- 
 ness for lumbering or flouring mills, or for any other branch of industry 
 or manufacturing, this county offers extraordinary advantages. 
 
 YAMHILL COUNTY. 
 
 The land of this county, and the inducements to immigrants, are 
 among the best in the State. It lies south of Washington, and between 
 the Coast Range and the Willamette River. It is an agricultural county. 
 It is one of the most thickly settled counties in the State, and to-day has 
 within its boundaries more of the early pioneers than any other. It is 
 connected with Portland by river and railroad facilities, and has better 
 transportation facilities to market, as a whole, than any conn y in e 
 State The Yamhill River and Willamette are both at its command, 
 while it has the Oregon Central and narrow gauge running through dif- 
 ferent parts of the rich agricultural section. ,, .... , 
 
 The surface of Yamhill is, in the main, gently rolling, the hil , 
 their very summits, producing magnificent crops of wheat, ' which^ fo 
 excellence of quality, is not surpassed anywhere in the world. Yamhil 
 has more pasture land than Washington, and much more stock ; but 
 latter is not of such high grade. Wheat and stock raising are the chie. 
 industries. As a people, the residents of Yamhill are unusually pros 
 perous. In no other county is the average of wealth so gi eat. Ihe 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 37 
 
 are in Yamliill at least fifty farmhouses with all the modern conveniences, 
 and, in fact, all the luxuries of city homes. Houses costing $5000 and 
 upwards are common throughout the county, and well built and filled 
 barns attest the general thrift. Schools are maintained in every district. 
 There is some land open for settlement in this county, and the new- 
 comer will have no difficulty in getting improved land at what he is 
 likely to consider extremely reasonable rates. 
 
 Lafayette is the county seat, which is located on the banks of the 
 Yamhill, about fifteen miles from the Willamette, and the narrow gauge 
 railroad runs through the town, and is but two miles from the Oregon 
 Central Railroad. 
 
 McMinnville is the principal town in the county, located on the Yam- 
 hill River, and also on the Oregon Central Railroad. It is a beautiful 
 little town, surrounded, like Lafayette, with the finest of agricultural 
 lands. The McMinnville College, an old and very excellent establish- 
 ment, is located here and has a large number of students, whose pres- 
 ence gives the town a very pleasant social activity. 
 
 Dayton is a river point, and the terminus on the Yamhill River of the 
 narrow gauge railroad, which runs through the southern part of Yam- - 
 hill county and the northern part of Polk. It differs not from any other 
 points in its vicinity, being the seat of a steady local trade. 1 • 
 
 Amity and the various other points are thrifty local centers-. - 1 ' ; 
 
 • > ' ' , h r < til ’< rrij i > * <-» * ! t i i 1 -'!i' • 
 
 TjINN county. 
 
 This county joins Marion on the sohtli. Although not one of the 
 largest in the State, is, in fact, the seventh in size. It is BOO square miles 
 larger than the State of Delaware. It is twice as large as Rhode Island, 
 and more than half as large as Massachusetts. Agriculturally Speak- 
 ing, it is one of the finest counties iii the State. It is bounded oh the 
 north by the Santiam River, which separates it from Marion county ; on 
 
 
 r )•; . ? 
 
 I Hr/ 
 ml* 
 
 the east by the Central ridge of the Cascade Mountains, which abound , 
 in inexhaustible forests of the finest fir, pine, spruce, hemlock and cedar, 
 and contains untold wealth in the form of mines of lead, cinnabar, silver 
 and gold.' ; on the south by Lane county, and on the west by the Willam- 
 ette River, wliicfi is navigable from Portland to Albany, the county seat 
 » j/u if fcttfw I U- Hi?ii . J ba ■ ■ a 
 
 of the county, the whole year round. 
 
 The eastern portion of the county includes the western slope of the 
 Cascade Mountains, which gently descend into > a very fertile range of 
 foothills, well adapted to agriculture, fruit growing and stock raising. 
 
 The farms among these foothills generally yield from twenty-five to 
 forty and fifty bushels to the acre of the finest wheat in the world. The 
 occupation of the people in this region is chiefly farming, stock raising, 
 
 , , , • mi i n . . C rt , . ” ■ 
 
 and lumbering. The many streams flowing m from the mountains, and 
 
 the rich forests of timber standing on their banks, make it almost possi- . 
 
 1 1 i . , • • , ■ . iMi od of 
 
 ble to erect and successfully operate a sawmill on nearly every section 
 
 of land. 
 
38 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 Most of the prairie land in Linn county, and, in fact, all the land in 
 the neighborhood of the railroad, is in the hands of individuals who ask 
 high prices— from $15 to $80 per acre; but there are fine locations in the 
 foothills which may be takeu up at the cheap State and Government rate 
 under the land laws or bought from the railroad company. The lands 
 in question are of four classes -government, railroad, state and unb 
 versity — and they may be obtained cheaply and on easy terms. It is 
 finely watered by many streams all through it. 
 
 The county being in close proximity to two mountain ranges, its 
 climate is mild and delightful both in winter or summer. On any of 
 the land in this county are produced in great abundance apples, plums, 
 prunes, strawberries, cherries, blackberries, pears, and in places peaches 
 and grapes are produced in immense quantities. 
 
 The strip of foothills varies from ten to fifteen miles in width and in 
 extent the entire distance across the country from north to south. Run- 
 ning along parallel, and in close proximity to this range of hills, is a 
 line of railroad called the Oregonian Railway (limited). It is a narrow- 
 gauge, and affords ample means for travel and trans ortation. This 
 strip of country is very healthy, and such things as chills and fevers are 
 rarely if ever known there. 
 
 The remaining portion of the county, lying west of the foothill coun- 
 try and bounded on the west by the Willamette river, is mostly prairie 
 land. The population of the county is about 16,000. Any man of small 
 or large means can locate in Linn county to good advantage, and be 
 surrounded by a good class of people, have the best of schools, all social 
 and church privileges. Albany, a city of 3,000 people, is a busy city. 
 Brownsville, Lebanon, Halsey and Harrisburg are thriving towns, each 
 with its share of local business. The Brownsville Woolen Mill is one of 
 the best manufacturing establishments in the state. 
 
 LANE COUNTY 
 
 Lies south of and adjoins Linn County. From the ocean to the Cascade 
 range across this county it is 120 miles. The county embraces 120 town- 
 ships, two-thirds of which land is susceptible of the highest cultivation. 
 It is a rich county, and one of the best in the State. Its industries are 
 confined to farming and stock-raising. The agricultural lands are un- 
 surpassed in their fertility, while the rolling hills are luxuriant pastures 
 for the many cattle and sheep. A considerable portion of the county is 
 rough and mountainous, but even its highest points are available for 
 pasturage, which is green and good the whole year through. Hops and 
 wheat are the chief products of the county. Wool, too, is grown, but 
 not in such quantity as would naturally be expected in a country so well 
 adapted for sheep. The opportunities for enterprise in this line are 
 fine. Good sheep ranches may be bought cheap, and the outside ranges 
 to be had for nothing, is as wide as could be desired. 
 
 f 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 39 
 
 An important and rich section of ‘ Lane county lies along the coast. 
 The Siuslaw River, a fine stream, puts into the ocean at the western ex- 
 treme of the county, and along its valleys there are large tracts of ex- 
 cellent. land. About fifty families have settled there within the past five 
 years, and the section is certain, in a short time, to become well popula- 
 ted. The Siuslaw river is easily entered by schooners. 
 
 Lane County offers a field for more varied industry than any other of 
 the western Oregon counties. The grain farmer, the stock-raiser, the 
 wool-grower, the hop-grower, the lumberman, the dairyman and a score 
 of others find the conditions of their various occupations at hand ; while 
 the comparative cheapness of land, its fine character and a climate some- 
 what more genial than that of the northern counties, are potent induce- 
 mental. The county is gradually receiving an excellent class of new- 
 comers, and as a consequence, business of every kind is prosperous. 
 
 Eugene City the county seat, is located about the center of the county, 
 and was founded by that old and much respected pioneer, Eugene F. 
 Skinner, who first settled on the place in 1845, and died there in 1865. 
 The town is surrounded by hills on each side, the grandest and most beau- 
 tiful being Spencer Butte, which stands about six miles southwest of the 
 town. It is a healthy place, most beautifully located, and has prospered 
 in the past and kept pace with the advancement of the State. It has the 
 constant attractions of cheerful and beautiful scenery, and of location 
 near the river ; and during the summer months it enjoys the wholesome 
 “ ventilation” of the ocean breeze. Its streets are regularly laid out, and 
 are better shaded than those of any other city in the State, The State 
 University is the chief distinction of Eugene and a great feature in its 
 social life. From it the place tales a high moral and intellectual tone^ 
 and this is an advantage it will always enjoy.” The population of Eu- 
 gene City is about 1,600, and its business is that of a thrifty country 
 center. 
 
 BENTON COUNTY. 
 
 This county is sixty miles wide and forty long, extending east and west 
 from the Willamette River to the Pacific Ocean. It contains 1110 square 
 miles of area, and has a population of about 9000. Its eastern third is 
 level alternate prairie and light black land, and the remainder is tim- 
 bered hill land, admirably adapted for pasture. The level land of Ben- 
 ton is almost exactly like the level lands of the other westside counties. 
 It is well watered and timbered, rich in soil — in short, a farmer’s para- 
 dise. It is thickly settled, and has been for many years, and its princi- 
 pal product is wheat. Stock, vegetables, fruit, etc., are grown here as in 
 Yamhill and Polk, but not as an independent and special crop. The 
 western or coast section of Benton is a fine stock country, but it is 
 scarcely occupied at all. The hills, originally covered with dense forests, 
 have been burned over, and are now comparatively open. The debris of 
 
40 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 the burned trees rests and has enriched the soil to a highly productive 
 state, and peculiarly adapted it for the various “ tame ” grasses. The 
 hills are seamed with creek and river bottoms, which yield hay, or, in 
 fact, anything planted, in great abundance. The climate is a softened, 
 open climate, and the extremes of heat and cold are not known. Snows 
 are rare, and never lie on the ground more than two days together. Ben- 
 ton has a fair share of coast country, and a natural harbor at Yaquina 
 Bay. Its western part, particularly the Yaquina country, is rapidly fill- 
 ing up with immigrants. 
 
 The price of land varies from SI. 25 per acre (Government price) to 
 $30, according to locality; but good farms, well improved, can be bought 
 at $10, $12, $15 and $20 per acre. The number of farms in the county 
 is about 1000: the value of the improved land over $180,000; the value 
 of the farms and improvements, including buildings and fences, $3,300,- 
 900; the value of all farm productions for the year last past, about 
 $850,000. 
 
 The leading industries of the county are farming and stock raising. 
 The yield of wheat generally is about twenty-five bushels to the acre, 
 that of oats about forty. The surplus of wheat shipped from the county 
 last year was about 300,000 bushels. Corvallis is the county seat, a 
 bright, thrifty city of about 2000 people. It is pleasantly situated on 
 the west bank of the Willamette River, on a beautiful plateau, one and 
 a half miles wide, entirely above high water. For beautiful location, 
 healthfulness, even temperature of climate and pure water, it is not 
 equaled in the State. It is the head of navigation on the Willamette 
 River, except at a very high stage of water. It is the present terminus 
 of the Oregon and California Railroad, western division, being ninety- 
 seven miles from Portland. It is also the present terminal point of the 
 road running from Yaquina Bay to the east. Educational facilities are 
 very good. The State Agricultural College^ with a full complement of 
 efficient teachers, is situated at this place, and in addition there are two 
 district schools that are well sustained. The town is well supplied with 
 chu r s, and the morals of the community are good. 
 
 Philomath is a thriving place seven miles west of Corvallis, on the 
 line of the Oregon Pacific Railroad, situated in a beautiful and healthy 
 location, and surrounded by intelligent, wealthy farmers, who feel proud 
 of Philomath College, an institution of learning in their midst, under 
 the contrc^l of the United Brethren Church. 
 
 Newport is also a thriving place, situated near the seacoast, in the most 
 westerly portion of Benton County, on the Yaquina Bay, 
 
 POLK county 
 
 Lies south of Yamhill county, and, like it, is located between the Willa- 
 mette River and the Coast Range. It has an area of about thirty town- 
 ships, equally divided between level and rolling land. It is admirably 
 & 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 41 
 
 watered and timbered. The Luckiamute River, a tributary of the Willa- 
 mette, is navigable for small steamers, and there are many other streams 
 besides, which would supply an almost unlimited water power to saw and 
 flouring mills. The West Side Division of the Oregon and California Rail- 
 road traverses the county. Not far from half the county is timber land, 
 ash, maple, fir, spruce and hemlock being the chief varieties, although 
 there is a great deal of white oak as well. 
 
 Its eastern half is occupied by fine farms, is among the best developed 
 sections in the State. Polk is a farming county, and its industries are 
 all incidental to the business of farming. There is some stock raising, 
 but it is carried on as part of a general business. Almost every farmer 
 has a few head of cattle and horses and sheep. Much attention is paid 
 to blood, one of the finest bands of sheep in the State being on the hill 
 range south and west of Dallas. The eastern or hilly section of Polk is 
 covered with fine hard wood and fir trees, which, with the growing de- 
 mand for lumber, must soon become valuable. The hilly land also 
 affords fine range, and is specially adapted for sheep and pasturage. 
 There is not a distinctive fruit farm in Polk County, or, in fact, but one 
 in all the west side counties. Each farmer has from one to five acres of 
 orchard, which receives but little care. Apples, pears, and small fruits 
 grow well, however, and now that railroads have made it possible to 
 market fruit in the fresh state, more attention Avill be paid to fruit 
 culture. 
 
 The products of the county are wheat, potatoes, oa^s, hops, cattle, 
 hogs, wool and flour. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, and all sorts of 
 berries yield bounteously. There is still much good land to be had at 
 prices for unimproved varying from $4.50 to $10 per acre. Dallas, the 
 county seat, is about fifteen miles west of the Willamette River at Salem, 
 and is a sprightly inland town of 1000 or more inhabitants. Its busi- 
 ness is that of a large farming center, the various branches of merchan- 
 dise being represented by general and graded stores. It has several 
 very substantial brick buildings and a number of really very handsome 
 residences. Good churches and schools maintain a high educational 
 and moral standard. Independence is on the Willamette River, and is 
 a rival of Dallas for the honors and advantages of the county seat. Its 
 location on the line of the Oregon and California Railroad and on the 
 river gives it special advantage as a shipping point, and attracts to it a 
 great share of the grain of the country. Independence handles at least 
 one-third of the wheat grown in Polk County, and is the center of a 
 large trade. It has improved more in the last five years than any other 
 town in Western Oregon, this improvement being due to advantage of 
 location and to the enterprise of its business men, who leave no effort 
 untried which promises welfare to their town. Monmouth is considera- 
 bly smaller than either Dallas or Independence, and is a quiet “ school 
 
42 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 town.’* It enjoys, however, a steady business from farmers near at hand. 
 Christian College is located here, and attracts attendance from all parts 
 of the State. 
 
 CLATSOP COUNTY 
 
 Is the northwestern county of the State. The best farms in Clatsop 
 county are located on Clatsop Plains, though the nature of the soil is not 
 favorable to the production of the cereals, other thau wheat. Clatsop 
 county is twenty miles long and has an average width of thirty miles. 
 Its soil is a light loam and sand, easily cultivated and highly productive. 
 Its climate is the ordinary climate of Western Oregon in Winter, with a 
 constant moisture in Summer, which keeps its pastures always green. 
 Everywhere it is well watered, and timber in abundance borders the 
 eastern margin. The chief industry of Clatsop Plains is that of butter 
 and cheese manufacture. In no locality in the world are the conditions 
 for dairying more fortunate than here. An unfailing verdure, a cool and 
 equable climate, rich native grasses, abundance of pure, fresh water, 
 nearness to market, all the conditions are here in perfection and all made, 
 highly valuable by constant demand and high prices for dairy products. 
 
 Along the tide lands and creek bottoms, mentioned above, there are 
 large settlements, and all are prosperous. The conditions of life in 
 these localities are not luxurious, but they are by no means hard for 
 those who have industry. Travel everywhere is by water, and settlers 
 go by steamboats, or in their own boats, propelled by sail or oar. Com- 
 munication with the market town of Astoria is cheap and easy, and the 
 residents think them^plves better oh than those who must get to market 
 by road or rail. The products of the country are the general agricul- 
 tural products of Western Oregon. In no county in the State is there 
 such variety of employment for the wage-worker. It is estimated that 
 a million and a half dollars is paid out annually for labor in fishing and 
 logging. It is a commctfi thing for immigrants to settle upon Govern- 
 ment land, which may be had for the taking, and to work in the fisheries 
 in Summer, or the logging camps in Winter, the while making such im- 
 provements on their settlements as they can. To clear a place in the 
 timber is the work of half a life-time, but it may be done by degrees at 
 a comparatively light cost. For dairying — and in this branch we be- 
 lieve the opportunities are more inviting than in any other— it is not 
 necessary to clear the land. If it be burned over thoroughly, and grass 
 seed sown in the ashes, it yields fine green crops, Avhich cattle easily 
 harvest for themselves. Being near the coast, snows are infrequent, and 
 never lie longer than a few hours. 
 
 The mountain lands of Clatsop county (and three-fourths of the county 
 is mountainous), are chiefly valuable for their splendid forests. Astoria 
 is at the mouth of the Columbia, and the central figure in the salmon 
 fishing feature of the Northwest. It has a most healthful climate, aud 
 
43 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 is sometimes called (and appropriately enough; the Venice of America. 
 It is the favorite Summer resort of the people of Western Oregon. It is 
 always in possession of a delightful sea-breeze, and the hills in the vicin- 
 ity are covered almost from base to dome with architectural groupings 
 of earlier days and more modern progress. The more even portion of 
 the city is adorned with comfortable and well constructed homes, that 
 bespeak comfort, culture and refined taste of their owners and occu- 
 pants. The future holds out bright promises for our city by the sea. 
 
 Crafts of every description ply the broad Columbia, being the only 
 means of transportation from and to the surrounding districts of Oregon 
 and Washington Territory. Nature has done more for the Venice of the 
 Northwest than any other point on the river, and it is only a question of 
 time when manufacturing industries will take advantage of this splendid 
 location. 
 
 TILLAMOOK COUNTY 
 
 Is a narrow strip along the south boundary of Clatsop County. It is 
 about seventy-five miles long by thirty wide. It is one of the isolated 
 counties of Oregon and is rather sparcely settled. A schooner freight 
 line has been put into service between the markets of Portland and 
 Astoria, and the trip is now easily and quickly made, and rates for 
 freight and passage are low. 
 
 The country is finely adapted to general farming, stock raising and 
 dairying, and the land is literally “dirt cheap.” Two bays easily ap- 
 proached from the ocean afford ample port facilities, and numerous 
 small rivers and inlets make transportation cheap and easy. We do not 
 believe that any section of Oregon offers better advantages to the settler 
 of small means than Tillamook County. The country is new, and little 
 has been done in the way of school house and church building, but the 
 soil is rich and cheap, and the market is not very difficult. 
 
 The timber of Tillamook County will be a source of great wealth 
 when it shall be made use of, and that can not be long delayed. 
 
 . COLUMBIA COUNTY. 
 
 This county hugs the Columbia River, which is its western boundary. 
 It is a mountainous region in its eastern half. But there is a very large 
 domain along the river, embracing some of the richest lands in the 
 State. For fifty miles north from the foot of Sauvie’s Island, along the 
 river, the country is wooded, but not wholly with the dense forest 
 growth seen in passing up and down on the boats, and which seems to 
 extend inland indefinitely. Each of the many creeks which find their 
 way into the Columbia drains a wide area of bottom land, generally 
 overgrown with ash or maple, and the higher lands, which no where rise 
 into mountainous dignity, are fertile and easily susceptible of cultiva- 
 tion. These lands are not attractive to general immigrants from prairie 
 districts, but they exactly meet the taste of comers from timbered coun- 
 
44 
 
 * 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 tries. It costs more to get a farm under way there than in a prairie dis- 
 trict; but there are many who deem the special expense more than com- 
 pensated by the advantages of location in ; timbered region and near 
 water transportation to market. The lands in this river district ought 
 to be public, but they have been gobbled by speculators till nearly every 
 foot is owned. The greater part of it is for sale at about double the 
 Government price, or $4 per acre. They yield fruit and vegetables in 
 abundance, and are finely adapted for dairying. 
 
 Aside from farming and stock raising and the general tradeswork nec- 
 essary in every community, the chief industry is logging. The heaviest 
 logs are easily floated down the creeks in the wet season, and nearly 
 every farmer is, to a greater or less extent, a logger also. Millions of 
 feet of timber are floated out each year, and the proceeds of its sale are 
 largely applied to the development of the country. The logging indus- 
 try, while it cuts down the timber, helps clear the land, leaving it availa- 
 able for the all-the-year-round pasture even before the stumps and small 
 growths are removed. Logging progresses at all seasons and affords 
 steady employment to all who choose to work at it for wages. Many 
 settlers put in such time as they can there in opening their farms, and 
 earn their maintenance in the logging camp. Another industry which 
 engages men of small capital and rewards them fairly, is that of making 
 shingles. There are, too, a few portable saw-mills which with the labor 
 of three or four men can cut three or four thousand feet of cedar per 
 day. The resources of this section in iron, coal, and water power, are 
 sufficiently well known, and in the course of time things will, without 
 doubt, be developed. Columbia County possesses advantages fully equal 
 to those of any county in the State, either for the capitalist or the man 
 of small means. As a dairy and market garden country it can not be 
 excelled, and its proximity to Portland, coupled with cheap and ade- 
 quate freight facilities, particularly adapt it for these purposes. St. 
 Helen, Ranier, Wertport and Columbia City are the chief tgwns. 
 
 DOUGLAS COUNTY 
 
 Lies in the extreme southern portion of what we denominate Western 
 Oregon. No region is more pleasantly situated, and no soil in the State 
 is better adapted to diversified farming. The soil is prolific, of a deep, 
 rich vegetable loam, and produces a fairly wonderful growth of grains, 
 fruits and vegetables. The mineral wealth of the hill portions of Doug- 
 las County probably equals if it does not exceed that of any other county 
 in the State. This and the neighboring county of Jackson produce 
 great crops of corn. A large portion of the vast territory embraced 
 within this county remains unsettled and unsurveyed, and nearlv all of 
 it will be valuable, either for timber, agriculture or grazing. East of 
 Roseburg is a vast section of country undeveloped, and we might add, 
 unexplored, as but little is known of it. The Smith River country, lying 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 45 
 
 north and west of Drain station, is, perhaps, the best part of the unset- 
 tled portion of the county. The river heads in the mountains, some fif- 
 teen miles due north of the town of Drain, and flows nearly due west and 
 empties into the bay or inlet at the mouth of the Umpqua, two miles be- 
 low the town of Scottsburg. The east fork, some five or six miles above 
 its junction, flows through a beautiful level plain; from one-half to two 
 miles wide on either side of the stream, with small fir timber near its 
 banks, showing that the country has once been a burn. The land close 
 to the banks of the stream is higher than back near the hills, where nu- 
 merous prairies of swamp grass, with scarce any timber, abound, some 
 of them containing from fifty to fine hundred acres in a place, which, to 
 make them first-class farming lands, need nothing but a drain to the 
 river. From the forks down to tide water, a distance of eighteen or 
 twenty miles, the bottoms on each side are similar, save that the growth 
 of timber is larger. Considerable logging has been done on the lower 
 part of the stream. The foot-hills, or bench land next to the bottoms, 
 are covered for nearly the entire length of the river with a heavy growth 
 of large fir timber of the best quality. The drifts have been cleared out 
 so that saw logs can be floated the entire length of the stream. There 
 are numerous small streams flowing from the mountains on either side 
 of the river, with bottoms in many places sufficiently wide to make good 
 farms. Within the last year a number of persons have settled on the 
 east fork of this river, and are about to commence building a wagon 
 road from Drain across the mountains to their settlement, which will, in 
 time, be extended down the river to tide water. 
 
 The Umpqua Biver runs its whole length through Douglas County, 
 and in its valleys are found the best farming lands of the county. The 
 general charactar of Douglas County is rolling, and it affords for sheep 
 the finest range in the world. Not even the famous highlands of Scot- 
 land are better adapted for the production of fine and firm wools. The 
 climate is somewhat dryer and warmer than that of the northern coun- 
 ties, and all the conditions of range are favorable. So marked is the su- 
 periority of the Umpqua Valley wool that it has always been a favorite 
 in the market, and brings from two to six cents per pound more than the 
 ordinary wools of the country. The flocks of the Umpqua Valley forma 
 large feature of its wealth, but the free public range would easily sup- 
 port ten sheep for every one now upon it. 
 
 Nearly every farmer keeps a flock, principally of Merino stock, and in 
 the lower Umpqua the animals are held only for their wool, and not used 
 for mutton. In 1880, Douglas County shipped 1,000,000 pounds of wool 
 and drove 55,000 sheep into Nevada. 
 
 Fruits of all the temperate kinds grow well in the Umpqua Valley, as 
 elsewhere in Western Oregon. There are some fine patches of timber 
 in all parts of the county, and along the coast there are magnificent for- 
 ests of fir and spruce. 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 46 
 
 The chief town of Douglas County is Roseburg, which is near its cen- 
 ter and on the line of the O. & C. R. R. For some years Roseburg was 
 the southern terminus of the road, but it was extended last year and 
 with its terminal character, Roseburg lost much of its Southern Oregon 
 trade. A railroad to connect Roseburg with the coast part of Coos Bay, 
 is projected, and this will certainly add largely to its importance. The 
 population of Roseburg is about 1300 ; Oakland, Drain’s, Empire City, 
 Scottsburg and Gardiner are thrifty towns in this county. 
 
 southern 
 
 Coos, Curry, Josephine, Jackson and Lake Counties form Southern 
 Oregon. There are three distinct sections of country and climate in 
 Southern Oregon, and the whole is distinct in a marked degree from the 
 other natural divisions of the State. The climate of Southern Oregon 
 is warmer in winter and cooler in summer than either Western or East- 
 ern Oregon, and is especially adapted to perfection in fruits and vegeta- 
 bles. It is between the extreme drouth of California and the wet season 
 of Western Oregon. Taken as a whole, Southern Oregon is one of the 
 • healthiest places on the globe. The land of Southern Oregon lying on 
 the coast is rough and mountainous, and for the most part heavily tim- 
 bered, and has the moist climate of coast lines. The middle section is 
 rich valley land, and the climate is warmer and less moist. 
 
 JACKSON COUNTY 
 
 Is one of the largest in the State, and can hardly be excelled for fine 
 scenery, productions of soil, wealth and good climate. The county is 
 rich in minerals, and heretofore, with the exception of wool, the products 
 of the county have mainly been consumed by the miners and local popu- 
 lation. Its area is over 2000 square miles, but the greater part of its sur- 
 face is mountainous. Its principal productive section is the Rogue River 
 Valley, which is fifty miles long, with an average width of fifteen miles. 
 Agriculture is well in progress in this valley and in various other smaller 
 valleys in the county, but as there has never been any means of trans- 
 portation, it has been limited to supplying the local demand. But this 
 is greater than in any other part of the country, owing to the extensive 
 local mining operations. Nearly 4000 men are now employed at mining- 
 in this county, and the output of the precious metals has been satisfac- 
 tory and comparatively large. The output has aggregated about $180,- 
 000 annually. While this output is growing larger each season, other 
 industries are reaching to the fore, and mining will fall several ranks 
 and general farming, including fruit growing, which, as stated above, is 
 still in its infancy, are now more important interests than mining, and 
 stock raising will soon be equal to either. The rough foothill land£ of 
 Jackson county afford fine range, and the stock interest is constantly 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 47 
 
 growing. With commendable enterprise, the people have imported good 
 blood in both horses and cattle, and some of the finest stock in the State 
 is to be found here. 
 
 Fruit most distinguishes this county. Peaches, grapes and the whole 
 list of general and small fruits yield in the highest excellence of size and 
 flavor. Hitherto little attention has been paid to fruit production be- 
 cause there has been no way of getting it to market, but the Oregon and 
 California Railroad, which has just reached the valley, opens up the 
 Portland and, in fact, the Eastern market, and now business will be 
 pursued on a large scale. 
 
 The population of Jackson County is not .the usual population of a 
 mining country. Mining is here followed as a legitimate business, fairly 
 certain and only moderate in its rewards. There is no “rich to-day, poor 
 to-morrow’ 1 class, and nothing of the reckless spirit so common in min- 
 ing countries. The people are a reliant class, accustomed to helping 
 themselves, and they are well-to-do almost to a man. 
 
 Owing to the situation of the county, as well as to the sparse popula- 
 tion in proportion to the area of the county, lands are not as high in 
 proportion in Jackson county as in the Willamette Valley. Good im- 
 proved farms can be bought at from $10 to $20 per acre, the last n^rned 
 figure being for the very best places, specially well improved. Jackson- 
 ville, a prosperous town of 1200 inhabitants, is the chief business point 
 of the county. Ashland, with 1400 population, is not far behind, the 
 notable features of the latter town being a collegiate school and a woolen 
 mill. The population of the county is not far from 15,000. 
 
 coos COUNTY 
 
 Is not so great in extent as some of the other counties, but it is an ex- 
 ceedingly rich one in the matter of timber. On the Coos River there is 
 good agricultural land, and the area might be indefinitely enlarged if 
 the tidal marshes were diked. The coal interest is quite important. 
 The yield is large, and turns in a fine revenue to the county, maintaining 
 a line of steamers between Coos Bay and San Francisco. 
 
 At the present time farming in the county is in its infancy, as not 
 many who engage in this business are willing to clear the land of the 
 heavy timber, and to reclaim the tide lands is quite expensive ; still, those 
 who have made farming a business for several years, and who have now 
 pleasant country homes, find a ready sale for the products which are 
 raised, and at good prices. However, the time is not far distant when 
 all the lowlands and flats will become one vast grain field, and very large 
 crops of hay and grain can be raised when properly cultivated. All 
 about the Coquille River region there is an underlayer of coal. Half a 
 dozen mines are-being worked at this time. 
 
 Five or six large merchant sawmills produce many millions of feet of 
 lumber each year, which, too, goes chiefly to the San Francisco market. 
 
48 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 To all practical purposes Coos Bay is part of California. Its business 
 and social relations are wholly with San Francisco, and worse still, its 
 industries, which employ several millions of capital, are made and di- 
 rected in San Francisco, and their profits, with their products, go out of 
 the State. 
 
 Besides its extensive forests of fir and spruce, Coos county has a rare 
 and valuable timber, the myrtle, which needs only to become known to 
 be in great demand. 
 
 It is a fact well known that Oregon produces a greater variety and 
 much finer woods than California. The Port Orford cedar is of the same 
 general character, but in every practical respect a better timber than the 
 redwood. Its color is better for panel and other fine work, and its grain 
 is more distinct. We have a dozen or a score of other fine woods, but 
 the best and most plentiful of all is the myrtle, which grows along the 
 streams of the southern coast. The beauty of this wood is beyond com- 
 parison. It is nearly as dark as black walnut, mottled with mahogany- 
 colored streaks, is hard and susceptible of a perfect polish, and retains 
 its toughness when sawed into the thinnest veneering. 
 
 Coos Bay has already established a reputation as the principal ship- 
 yard in Oregon ; in fact, it may be said to be the only point in the State 
 at which the construction of vessels has assumed the form of a regular 
 business. Over fifty vessels, of all classes, have been constructed here. 
 The fact is so apparent that it is now generally admitted that the timber 
 in this region, for ship-building purposes, combines, in a greater degree, 
 the qualities, strength, durability and buoyancy than the timber of any 
 other locality known. 
 
 JOSEPHINE COUNTY 
 
 Was cut out] of Jackson County during the mining excitement some 
 years ago. Mining is the chief business of the county, though there is 
 some fine farming land in the small valleys. The lumber interest bids 
 fair to be the chief one in a few years. In Josephine fruits and vegeta- 
 bles, and especially melons, attain a wonderful degree of perfection. The 
 county is settling up very rapidly just now. 
 
 CUBBY COUNTY 
 
 Is in the southwest corner of the State, and more isolated than any 
 other portion of the State. It has a population of about 2300, most of 
 the people being engaged in stock raising. Its area is mainly mountain- 
 ous and very little of it has been surveyed. The people support them- 
 selves by sheep-raising, dairying, lumbering, fishing and placer mining. 
 The arable land under cultivation produces sufficiently for home con- 
 sumption. Ellensburg, a thrifty town, is the chief business center of 
 the county. 
 
OREGON AS IT tS. 
 
 49 
 
 LAKE COUNTY, 
 
 As its name implies, is a region of lakes, many of them considerable in 
 size. The soil is generally light, composed of volcanic ashes. The 
 county is about 150 miles square, and is sparsely populated. Its chief 
 and, indeed, about its only interest, is stock, raising. Its ranges are 
 wide and fertile, and its isolation makes the land useless for puposes of 
 agriculture. So little attention is giving to farming that a great share 
 of the Hour consumed in Lake is imported from the adjoining county of 
 Jackson. Although a high and frosty county, it has many fine valleys 
 and excellent land. Lakeview, on Goose Lake, the county seat, is a 
 thriving town, with two newspapers. Sprague River Yalley, quite pic- 
 turesquely situated, contains 20,000 acres of excellent land, the soil being 
 a sandy loam. Linkville, on Klamath Lake, is a good trading center. 
 Stock raising is the most prominent business of the county. Only within 
 a recent period have the buncli-grass and sage-brush lands, which here 
 abound, been cultivated, but the result of what was simply an experi- 
 ment was so encouraging that a broad acreage of cereals will soon be 
 produced. 
 
 EASTERN OREGON. 
 
 This comprises at least two-thirds of the State, and embraces the 
 counties of Wasco, Crook, Umatilla, Grant, Union, Baker, Morrow and 
 Gilliam. Here we have a change of climate and soil from that of either 
 Southern or Western Oregon. As we have said, the thermometer 
 rises higher in Summer, and goes lower in Winter than in Western 
 Oregon. The rainfall is less by one-half. There is scarcely any rain 
 between June and September, and the harvest times are perfect. The 
 heat in Summer, though greater than in Western or Southern Oregon, 
 is nevef oppressive, and the Winters are short, snow seldom falling 
 before Christmas, and does not lie in the valley more than a week or 
 so ; in the hills from four to six weeks. Spring begins in February and 
 lasts till May. This is the rainy season. Eastern Oregon is famous for 
 its wheat crops and stock raising. This region is now reached from the 
 East direct by the Union Pacific and Oregon Short Line, the Northern 
 Pacific, and connections with the Oregon Railway and Navigation Com- 
 pany. The latter company make daily connections with Portland. 
 
 Eastern Oregon and Washington consist of high table lands and roll- 
 ing prairies, with a number of valleys along its water courses, of consid- 
 erable extent. Taken as a whole, it is especially adapted to grazing 
 purposes, although its valleys contain farming lands equal in productive- 
 ness to those of any country ; and in many places the high prairies have 
 produced excellent crops of grain. What is known as the Great Plain 
 of the Columbia, the soil of the highlands is a sandy loam, producing, 
 
50 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 in its natural state, a heavy growth of wild bunch-grass of the most nu- 
 tritious quality. With the exception of some barren spots, the growth 
 of bunch-grass is general. 
 
 The valleys of Eastern Oregon and Washington have a rich soil of 
 black loam, producing wheat, oats, barley, corn, vegetables and fruits. 
 Wheat succeeds equally as well as in Western Oregon, while barley does 
 much better, often yielding as high as sixty to eighty bushels per acre. 
 Corn makes a good crop in many of the valleys, the warm, dry Summer 
 weather of this reginn being adapted to its growth and maturity. 
 
 It has been generally supposed, heretofore, that corn would not ripen 
 in our State. It has always been grown in small patches for table use, 
 but during the last season the experiment was tried on a large scale at 
 Blalock Farm, situated near the northeastern corner of Wasco county. 
 The land selected has every appearance of a sandy desert, but whenever 
 and wherever water is obtainable its fertility is great. Two pieces of 
 ground were planted, being in all 1800 acres. The season was unusually 
 dry, and on 800 acres of land the corn did not germinate. On the other 
 1000 acres the corn sprouted, and was worked with the harrow alone. 
 It attained a height of about five feet, with four to seven stalks in a hill. 
 The yield was very heavy. The ears are long and well filled with good, 
 sound corn. This same land will be replanted with corn during the 
 coming season, and it is expected that with rain much better results will 
 be obtained. The crop above referred to was nourished by the moisture 
 contained in the soil alone, not a drop of rain having fallen upon it from 
 the time it was planted until it was gathered. 
 
 Some of the tender fruits and vegetables, as peaches, grapes, melons, 
 tomatoes and sweet potatoes, are being cultivated with good success. 
 Tobacco has succeeded well in several instances. In a general sense, 
 the range of farm products varies very little from that of Western Ore- 
 gon, making due allowance for the adaptabilities of a dry climate. Irri- 
 gation is resorted to occasionally, for the better production of garden 
 vegetables and fruits; but thus far it has not been found necessary in 
 the cultivation of any kind of grain crops. The absence of timber in 
 the valleys is considered a disadvantage by some ; this, however, is more 
 apparent than otherwise, from the fact that the neighboring mountains 
 afford an inexhaustible supply. Water of good quality is plentiful in 
 all the valleys, but the number of springs and running brooks is much 
 less than in the western division. 
 
 BAKER COUNTY 
 
 Is about 200 miles long and 100 miles wide. It has a population of 8000 
 people. There are more than 11,000,000 acres of land in this county. 
 About one-third of it has been surveyed. The climate, except in the 
 southern portion, is cold in winter and warm in summer. Since the 
 land has been broken and cultivated summer showers are getting more 
 
51 
 
 OREGON AS IT* IS. 
 
 frequent, thus insuring a good crop without irrigation. The cereals 
 grow to perfection in Powder River Valley, also all kinds of vegetables 
 in abundance. There is, perhaps, no county in Oregon in which pota- 
 toes, onions, cabbage, parsnips, turnips, carrots, beets, strawberries, 
 gooseberries and currants grow in such profusion, or of better quality, 
 than in any portion of this county. In the Snake and Burnt River Val- 
 leys all kinds of fruit and corn grow to perfection. Powder River Valley 
 is twenty-six miles long by an average of sixteen miles wide. As yet 
 but a small portion is settled or in cultivation. The sage-brush land 
 when cleared is the best soil. 
 
 In addition are immense buncli-grass and sage-brush tracts, which will 
 eventually be brought under the plow, only requiring irrigation in many 
 places to make them productive. At present the unoccupied lands are 
 used as grazing grounds. There are about 80,000 head of cattle herded in 
 the county. Much attention is paid to horse-breeding, and the animals 
 bred here are among the best produced in the State. The value of live 
 stock is estimated at $1,500,000, and the farm productions last year 
 amounted to $280,000. Among the products are butter, cheese, wool, 
 barley, corn, oats, rye, wheat, potatoes, apples and peaches. The mines, 
 instead of being worked out, seem to be only partially developed. Quartz 
 ledges that have lain idle and scarcely represented are now being worked 
 with success. The great drawback heretofore in the development of the 
 mineral resources of the county has been the want of capital and the 
 immense cost of mining machinery, but that obstacle has been removed 
 by the completion of the railroad and the millions of dollars in the rocks 
 will now be taken out and large profit will be had to the operator. 
 
 During the past year the population of the county has increased at 
 least forty per cent, and the influence of this increase is manifest in the 
 rapid and substantial growth of the center of supplies Baker City. 
 Carpenters, brick and stone masons, and, in fact, mechanics of all kinds, 
 have been kept busy, while real estate has advanced more than 100 per 
 cent. Several large brick buildings have been erected during the sum- 
 mer just past, and quite a number are under contract for next season. 
 
 There is no county in Oregon where an industrious man, with a small 
 capital, can do better than in Baker County. There is a great deal of 
 vacant land to be had, and unimproved agricultural land can be had for 
 from $6 to $10 an acre. 
 
 Baker City, a thriving town of 1800 inhabitants, is the county seat. 
 Heretofore everything brought into or taken out of the county was 
 freighted in “prairie schooners,” but the railroad is now completed to 
 the city and beyond via the Oregon Short Line. 
 
 GRANT COUNTY. 
 
 This is state-like in dimensions. Grant is a mining and stock raising 
 county, and its population of 6000 is mostly engaged in these industries. 
 
52 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 Some farming is done in the valleys, where the soil is exceedingly rich. 
 It is capable of producing good wheat, vegetables, and in fact anything 
 that any other section in Eastern Oregon can produce, but, like Baker 
 County, it is too far from market to raise wheat for exporting. There 
 are some very wealthy cattle dealers in this county, and miners are doing 
 well when they have a favorable season. 
 
 The valleys of the John Day river, although generally narrow, are fer- 
 tile, and in a good state of cultivation, and produce large crops of the 
 cereals, vegetables and fruits common to the latitude. Corn, however, 
 does not thrive, owing to the cool nights. Improved farms are generally 
 held at $20 per acre. There are thousands of acres or government land 
 in the county, subject to pre-emption and homestead entry. There is 
 not, however, with the exception of Harney valley, any large area of 
 level land ; but there are hundreds of small valleys where the indus- 
 trious settler may raise the produce needed by his family, as well as 
 hay, to carry his stock through an occasional hard Winter. Grant 
 county is not a farming county, but it is a stock county, and one of the 
 best now to be found within the limits of the United States. With the 
 stock divided among many small holders, instead of being concentrated 
 within a few hands, as is too often the case, the county will support a 
 large population. People familiar only with the prairies of Illinois or 
 Iowa are not usually impressed with the appearance of this county ; but 
 those acquainted with bunch-grass and its possibilities are loud in its 
 praise. The climate of the county is not easy to describe in a few words. 
 The Summer days are usually quite warm, but the nights are always 
 cool. But little rain falls during the Summer months, and crops ate 
 usually irrigated. The Winters are greatly modified by warm southwest 
 winds from the Pacific, called “ Chinooks.” ***** 
 
 The county is well watered by mountain streams ; while many springs 
 of mineral water are famous for their medicinal qualities. There are 
 also most excellent facilities for manufacturing, but little utilized at 
 present. Viewed from the sportsman’s standpoint, the country is simply 
 a paradise. The growth of the trees is such as to give the appearance of 
 a vast park, and there is but little underbrush. Deer in great numbers 
 roam the woods ; antelope bound over the plains of the Harney basin ; 
 elk range the higher mountains, while the sheep leap from rock to rock 
 on the highest peaks. Bears, panthers, wildcats, etc., are occasionally 
 encountered. The streams are well stocked with mountain trout of 
 delicious flavor. The chief towns of this couuty are Canyon City, the 
 county seat, Prairie City and John Day, all situated in the John Day 
 valley. All are prosperous towns. Schools equal to any found in a new 
 and sparsely settled county are maintained and well attended. 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 53 
 
 UMATILLA COUNTY. 
 
 In Umatilla county we enter upon the greatest agricultural region of 
 Eastern Oregon, a region made famous for its magnificent wheat and 
 grain crops. Population about 14,000; area, 4,170,040 acres; surveyed, 
 2,000,000; settled, 1,656,200 acres. Wheat and barley are the principal 
 grain crops, although oats, corn, buckwheat, flax, etc., do well. Average 
 yield per acre, 20 to 40 bushels, according to the amount of rainfall. 
 Water soft. No need of irrigation. The climate is much milder than 
 that of the same latitude east of the Rocky Mountains. Snow very 
 rarely lays on the ground outside of the mountains, over four days. The 
 soil is exceedingly fertile and easy to cultivate. All kinds of fruit not 
 strictly tropical grow plentifully. Garden vegetables unsurpassed. 
 Health remarkably good. The Blue Mountains afford plenty of pine, fir 
 and tamarack timber. Wages are from SI to SB per day. On grain and 
 stock farms hands receive from S25 to S50 per month. Business oppor- 
 tunities good for all branches of trade. Professional opportunities are 
 rather scarce. There is some good government land still open to settle- 
 ment. Muscle and capital are needed to make developments. Of 
 minerals there are gold, silver and coal in the county. Game is abund- 
 ant — such as elk, deer, antelope, ibe, bear, cougar, panther, wolves, 
 geese, ducks, etc. Fish are principally salmon and mountain trout. The 
 people are hospitable, and are mostly from the Eastern States. A great 
 many ambitious young men are doing well here. They -came and settled 
 here without money or friends a few years ago, and now they have both. 
 The principal product, wheat, is worth this year 70 cents a bushel. All 
 along the foot of the Blue Mountains is a stretch of fine arable country, 
 from 25 to 30 miles in width. The county is well watered, and there are 
 enormous tracts of sage-brush lands, hitherto used as stock ranges, 
 which must soon be settled and turned into grain fields and orchards. 
 Among these may be mentioned the Gold Spring country, extending 
 along the Columbia river a considerable distance, and iu width about 
 fifteen miles. This section is attracting considerable attention in view 
 of its deep, rich soil and mild climate, which admits of the cultivation 
 of tobacco, sorghum, corn, tomatoes and the finer fruits, with little fear 
 of frost. Among the principal places in the county are Pendleton, the 
 county seat, Pilot Rock, Umatilla, Milton, Heppner and Centerville. 
 Timber for building and fencing is supplied by the Blue Mountains, 
 and at Milton it is cheaply brought by a flume a distance of many miles. 
 
 Pendleton is situated forty -four miles from the Columbia River, on the 
 Umatilla, a rapid mountain stream. On the north and east it is bounded 
 by the Umatilla Reservation, the finest body of land in the State, which 
 will soon be open to settlement under act of Congress. The tract of 
 land contains 800,000 acres. On the south and west lies the great wheat 
 and stock raising country of Umatilla County. Pendleton has a flatter- 
 
54 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 mg future. Its progress is second to no town in Oregon, having in- 
 creased from 700 population in 1880 to 2500 in 1884. Its business has 
 increased in proportion. 
 
 WASCO COUNTY 
 
 Contains about one hundred townships, or 2,304,000 acres. Of this land, 
 it is considered by our best judges that there is something more than 
 half of it which has a soil suited to mixed farming, most of it without 
 irrigation. It is also estimated that there are not over ten townships, 
 all told, that are not of great value a portion of the year for pasturage. 
 This, with immense timber resources on the Cascade range of mount- 
 ains, extending across the western boundary of the county, from the 
 Columbia southward, and the timber border upon the Blue Mountain 
 range, on its southeastern boundary, makes it one of the most desirable 
 bodies of land in the Northwest, especially as the Columbia River runs 
 entirely across the northern boundary. 
 
 The everlasting snows of Mt. Hood furnish a constant, never-failing 
 volume of water in DesChutes and its tributaries, which runs northerly 
 across the entire westerly portion of the county, and^, pour their clear, 
 cool waters into the Columbia at Fultonville, fifteen miles easterly from 
 The Dalles. The westerly and northwesterly watershed of the Blue 
 Mountain range sends its surplus waters through the John Day River 
 and its many branches into the Columbia, twenty miles above the mouth 
 of the DesChutes. Thus the territory of the county, which is about 
 sixty miles square, has the Columbia waters on the north, and is divided 
 into three parts by the DesChutes and John Day waters from the south. 
 Ihe soil between these rivers and along the whole length of their sides 
 up to the timber on the mountain slopes, is of unsurpassed richness, and 
 suitable for vegetable growth and the production of grain, requiring 
 only man’s instrumentality in working and exposing its top by the plow 
 and letting in the sun and air to prepare it for his uses. 
 
 From the earliest settlement of the country until recently that region 
 has been devoted almost exclusively to stock raising. As the population 
 increased the ranges were occupied and it became necessary to sell off 
 the cattle. Very naturally the attention of the people was directed to 
 agriculture, which formerly had been carried on only to the extent of 
 supplying local consumptive demands. There was serious question as 
 to the capacity of the country for general farming — not with reference 
 to the richness of the soil, for that was unquestioned, but it was feared 
 that the long seasons of dry weather would be fatal to general crops. 
 The experiment, however, has been tried, and the result is highly satis- 
 factory. Crops last year were fair, and this year more than fair. Wheat, 
 which was quite generally grown, is a splendid crop. The yield is re- 
 ported to average from 22 to 26 bushels to the acre. Many fields, partic- 
 ularly well cultivated, yielded 30 bushels or more to the acre, and others, 
 
OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 where farming methods were poor, did not produce more than 15 bush- 
 els, but the average was fully up to expectations. It is demonstrated 
 beyond question that the country will raise grain, and that it will raise 
 other farm products goes with this without saying. 
 
 The spring season of northern Wasco County is a month earlier than that 
 of the Willamette Valley, and its “truck” products could always have 
 the first and highest sales in the market of Portland. The country is 
 splendidly adapted for this kind of farming, and witli it the drouths 
 which must be expected occasionally will interfere less than with wheat 
 as an exclusive crop. Besides, vegetable and fruit crops do not drain 
 and impoverish the soil as does grain growing. Northern Wasco is the 
 most favored region of this much-favored State for fruit production. It 
 lacks some of the minor advantages of Southern Oregon, but this is 
 more than compensated by its situation next door to the Portland mar- 
 ket. Apples, cherries, pears, peaohes and small fruits mature very early 
 there, and their form and flavor is unsurpassed. 
 
 UNION COUNTY. 
 
 This is situated in the extreme northeastern part of the State, and is 
 about 100 miles square. The surface of the country, embraced within 
 the county limits, is mountainous and generally quite elevated. Grande 
 Ronde Valley being about 2,700 feet above the level of the sea. The 
 mountains are much higher. In places they are five, six, and in some in- 
 stances, perhaps seven thousand feet above the sea. 
 
 The climate is generally dry, though fairly seasonable as to .rainfall. 
 The fall rains begin usually in September, but are not generally copious 
 until the latter part of October or the first of November. From about 
 the middle of November to the first or middle of March, there is usually 
 more or less snow, which in the more elevated sections accumulates to 
 considerable depth, and in the higher mountains remains until late in 
 the spring, not entirely disappearing in the highest ranges until in July. 
 The latter part of March, all of April, and the early part of May is usu- 
 ally more or less interspersed with showers, and generally there are sea- 
 sonable showers in June and July. 
 
 There are not less than 400,000 acres of the best quality of agricultural 
 lands and twice as much grazing land in the county, the residue of the 
 county is covered with an almost inexhaustible supply of timber of a 
 very superior quality, embracing pine, spruce, tamarack and fir. Union 
 is a splendid stock and butter county, and is finely adapted to fruit 
 growing. Horse breeding is a great industry in this section, and valua- 
 ble importations of thoroughbred stock from California and Kentucky 
 have been made. The bare and timberless hills are covered with succu- 
 lent bunch-grass, while the pasturage in the pine forests, though less nu- 
 
56 
 
 OREGON AS IT IS. 
 
 tritious in its nature, is so well sheltered that cattle keep fat and strong 
 during the severest winters. There are two considerable towns in the 
 county, Union and LaGrande. 
 
 CROOK COUNTY. 
 
 Was cut away from Wasco, and forms its southern boundary. It has a 
 population of about 8,000. Most of the inhabitants of this county are 
 engaged in stock-raising, though there are large tracts of good soil for 
 general farming, in the county. These wide areas will become very valu- 
 able in time, and the immigrant who settles there now will reap a rich 
 reward as the county settles up. 
 
 MORROW AND GILLIAM 
 
 Are two new counties created by the Legislative Assembly of 1885. Mor- 
 row County was almost entirely taken from Umatilla ; a small portion 
 from Grant and Wasco. The county seat was fixed at Heppner, and the 
 general description of Umatilla will answer for it. 
 
 Gilliam County was wholly taken from Wasco. The county seat is at 
 Alkali, a nourishing town on the Oregon Railway and Navigation Com- 
 pany’s railroad, 138 miles from Portland. 
 

 SH5H 5 BSS5B SaSBSBSa5HSa5H5B3a!jg‘5Hga5Eb'H£rH5gHegB5aSH5?Sg5HSaSESB5H5a5a5H5HSH5a555HS'asaSH5HgSaeSB5HSaSaSH5a5E5B5a5~gSe!SeSgSc 
 
 THE WEST SHORE, 
 
 (Now in its eleventh year of publication), 
 
 Aii illustrated monthly magazine; gives information about Oregon, Wash- 
 ington, Idaho and Montana. It is connected with no land office or real 
 estate agency, but is a genuine journal of information. Illustrations of 
 scenery, improvements and industries appear in every number, accompanied 
 by reliable descriptions. Only $2 a year. Send 25 cts. for sample copy. 
 
 Addi .•ess : THE WEST SHORE, 
 
 Drawer 3, Portland, Oregon.