COUNTIES. Benton. INDUSTRY OF OREGON, 1850. Acres of land in farms. 5,589.. Cash value of farms. Value of farming implements & machinery. $74,545.. $16,565 ible to the public, which we present to our readers. "Washington Territory" lies chiefly between latitudes 46 degrees and 49 de175,400.. 20 grees, and between longitudes 110 de24,475 grees, and 125 degrees west of Green6,780 wich. The boundary initial points and 15,445 parallels must soon be accurately deter48,834 mined, and it must be decided where 17,620 the crest of the Rocky Mountains really 22,459 is. This latter problem may not be easy 340.. 12,257.. Clackamas.. 36,210.. 82.388.. 841,750.. 3.705. 16,935.. 208,700.. 13,441.. 35,804.. 274,400.. 6,041.. 108,425.. 30,211..152,567.. 835,750.. Clatsop Clark.. Lewis. Linn Marion.. 12,885 63,130.. 18,340 159,160.. 107,910.. of solution, for Lewis and Clark, Father Aggregate...132,857..299,951..$2,849,170..$183,423 de Smet, the Irving Astoria map, and Horses... PRODUCTS OF OREGON, 1850. LIVE STOCK. Indian Corn, bushels of.. Oats, 66 Tobacco, lbs. of.. of... 420 24,188 the Indian Bureau and Topographical Bureau maps, all represent these moun8,046 tains differently. Lewis and Clark ex9,427 hibit four distinct ranges, with which 8,114 the best recent explorations essentially 15,382 agree; indicating at least three parallel 30,235 ranges running nearly northwest, in.$1,876,189 a single north and south range. Explo 106 ration may show the necessity of a more 2.918 definite eastern boundary. On the north, 65,146 the mouth of Frazer's River is so near 29,686 to latitude 49 degrees that a portion of it 6,566 may be found to fall in the United 1,271 States, though this is improbable. There 90.241 are thus several important geographical questions connected with the boundaries 373 of this neophyte state. stead of the more prevalent indication of .211,943 325 91,326 211,464 36,980 4 22 8 640 24 Value of animals slaughtered, in dollars.....164,530 There were 1,877 children attending school in 1850, and 168 marriages within the year. On the 2d of March, 1853, an act was passed by Congress, establishing within the Territory of Oregon the "Territorial Government of Washington." Washington Territory comprises the northern portion of the recent Oregon territory, and is bounded on the south by the Columbia River, up to near Fort Walla-Walla, (some two hundred and ninety miles,) where the parallel of forty-six degrees of latitude intersects it; thence by this parallel to the crest of the Rocky Mountains; thence the boundary follows this mountain crest to latitude forty-nine degrees, and thence runs west on this parallel to the Gulf of Georgia and the Straits of Fuca to the Pacific, by which it is limited on the west. We derive, from a scientific and wellinformed source, some particulars respecting this territory, not readily access * From the National Intelligencer. Washington Territory" has within its limits portions as well explored, and others as nearly unknown, as can be The found west of the Mississippi. Columbia River was thoroughly surveyed by Captain Wilkes, two sheets out of six being now published. It was surveyed by Belcher in 1839, and two sheets are published among the Admiralty charts. The Coast Survey has twice surveyed comparison of these several surveys its mouth, and published one sheet. A with Vancouver's indicates a remarkable degree of shifting in the sandbanks at its mouth. Shoalwater Bay has been surveyed by the Coast Survey, but the has also been just surveyed, and this, survey is not published. Grey's Harbor with Chickalees River, has been sur veyed, and the survey published by Captain Wilkes. The Admiralty charts harbors on the mainland and on Vancover the Straits of Fuca, and many couver's Island. A coast survey reconnoissance has coast and along the south coast of the now extended up the entire Pacifie Straits of Fuca, and will soon be published. The surveys under Capt. Wilkes, Geographical Position—Agricultural Resources and Wealth. 601 and his narrative, give full information of all the group of islands in the Gulf of Georgia, and the channels leading to and making up Puget's Sound, with much detail. The shores of this wonderful network of channels are so favored in soil and location that they must soon possess great value. Through a surprising extent of line they are directly accessible for ocean vessels, and form, as it were, an immense network of harbor. They present the foundation for a kind of agricultural Venice, far into the heart of the west half of Washington, the resources of which they will greatly aid in developing. Fort Nisqually and Olympia, at the southern extremity of Puget's Sound, must rapidly advance with the growth of the territory. The interior portion of this section is but imperfectly known. The land-office surveys north of the Columbia have as yet made but little progress; but the sketches prepared in that office give more recent and correct information than is elsewhere to be found on the section between that river and Puget's Sound. On penetrating further towards the Rocky Mountains, the country is essentially unknown. The narrative of Lewis and Clark, the book on Oregon Missions, by Father de Smet, published in New-York in 1847, and Irving's Astoria, (the last edition,) are the chief publications of value on this ground. These serve merely to show that the country bordering the Rocky Mountains, between 46 degrees and 49 degrees, on both sides, is still a fine field for exploration. Much may be expected from Dr. Evans, who is engaged in a geological reconnoissance of the old Oregon Territory, which has taken him much among the Rocky Mountains, and over their basaltic plains. art of man to bring them into a state of cultivation. To a person accustomed to the level or gently undulating surface of the western states, the term "valley" appears wholly misapplied to the Umpqua country, as the broad plains and gentlyswelling hills, associated in their minds with that term, are no where to be seen. The basin, being very broken, (the narrow valleys lying between ranges of high hills,) appears, when viewed from the mountains that enclose it, to be merely a mass of hills and mountains, differing from its rim in being of less elevation, bald or timbered with oak, the evergreens only appearing in clumps on the loftiest summits, or lining the deep ravines. There are no lakes nor marshes; the waters of the surrounding mountains rush from their dark chasms in many streams that, meandering through the valley, collect at its northwest corner, where the Umpqua River pierces the mountains, and finds its way to the ocean. The soil is lively and rich; that of the valleys, being alluvial deposits from the hills, is a dark, deep loam, in places sandy, and based upon a red clay; the soil on the hills is dark, or light-brown, according to its depth, it being lightest where most elevated or exposed to the action of the water. Owing to the vicinity of the Pacific Ocean, and the prevailing winds along the coast, the winters are warmer and the summers cooler than in corresponding latitudes on the Atlantic side of the continent. While the wind blows from a southerly quarter, which it generally does in winter, the weather is warm and damp, the ground seldom, if ever, freezing hard enough to kill peas or oats, or check the growth of cabbages, turnips, We are enabled to present the follow- or other hardy plants. The mildness of ing views of the agricultural resources the winters has most important bearing and wealth of Oregon, on the authority upon the agriculture of the country. As of a paper recently prepared by Jesse an illustration of this fact, I herewith Applegate, a resident of the territory::- enclose some flowers which have grown The basin drained by the Umpqua in the open air, and were this day (28th River lies between 42% and 43% de- December) plucked from plants common grees of north latitude, is separated from to all parts of the Union, and familiarly the Pacific Ocean and surrounded on all known as the hollyhock, marigold, other sides by a high wall of mountains. morning bride, sweet William, and These mountains are wooded with dense grasspink. You will perceive some of and continuous forests of the evergreen, them are full-blown, and others just fir, pine, and cedar; their lofty peaks, opening, which will show that these steep and narrow ridges, and deep, dark plants continue to produce flowers even chasms, will perhaps for ever defy the in midwinter. But as the winds in summer blow from Whatever his knowledge of architec the opposite quarter, frosts frequently oc- ture, or his ability to avail himself of cur, late in the spring and early in the the labour of others, there are no quarautumn, sufficiently severe to cut down ries of stone or kilns of brick ready to beans, melons, and other plants of that furnish material for his walls, nor madescription. chinery to prepare the wood for the completion of the edifice. Wealth cannot call these things into existence, nor here secure the services of mechanics to use them, were they to be had; and if without it, which is too often the case, so much heavier is the iron hand of necessity upon him. About the 1st June rain generally ceases to fall in sufficient quantities much to benefit a growing crop; and, if it fail to rain about the autumnal equinox, the drought will continue until about the 1st of November. Though the climate of Oregon is, in this particular, more uniform than that of the western states, it has also its variations; the winter sometimes being, for two or three weeks together, clear and frosty, and cloudy weather and rain sometimes occurring in summer; the present year agrees with the exception nearer than the general rule. Markets-Scottsburg, at the head of tide water on the Umpqua River, and twenty-five miles from the ocean, is near the southwest angle, and the shipping point for the valley; above this point the river is not navigable, and as yet there is no road leading to it passable except with horses. But the principal market for the products of the farm is found in the gold mines of the Klamath and Rogue rivers. These mines lie between the 41st and 43d degrees of north latitude, and are principally supplied from Oregon. Wagons are sometimes used as a means of transportation as far as Shasta city; but, owing to the badness of the roads, pack animals are mainly employed. Labor, for the summer, is worth from three to five dollars per day, and but few laborers are to be had at these prices. These circumstances, together with its recent and very rapid settlement, controlling the farming operations of this country, rude and primitive as they may appear to farmers in a more advanced condition, are yet in accordance with sound judgment and good policy, and go to show that many of the practices of our ancestors were not so much the results of ignorance as of necessity. The immigrant arrives late in autumn at the end of an exhausting journey in a wilderness. He has first to direct his attention to the comforts of his family; their subsistence is to be procured, perhaps, from a distance, and they are to be protected from the inclemencies of winter, which is now fast approaching. Like circumstances, at all times and places, produce like results, and the pioneer here, as elsewhere, erects a log cabin as his first edifice. The same necessity governs his first efforts in agriculture, and for one or two years there is little attention paid to the culture of anything not needed for his own subsistence. And it must be borne in mind that but few of the settlers are yet prepared to avail themselves of the natural advantages of the country, or to turn their attention exclusively to those branches of agriculture that the markets and means of transportation make most profitable; which subjects I shall now proceed to notice. Grasses of nutritious quality cover the whole country; that of the hills being varieties of the buck grass, or festuca, common to all the elevated regions of Oregon. The valleys produce a ranker growth and greater variety, among which may be mentioned a valuable clover. The excellence and abundance of these grasses, which, from the mildness of the climate, continue their growth through the winter, make the country, to all grazing animals, a natural home. Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Hogs, are free from disease-always in good condition; and beef, mutton, and pork, of superior quality, are at all seasons slaughtered that never received either food or shelter at the hand of man. Besides the surface and climate, which must ever mark it as a grazing country, there are many temporary and local causes to encourage the raising of ani mals at present. Horses and Mules.· -As horses and mules are extensively used in the carrying business, they are in good demand; $100 being about the average price of Indian and Mexican breeds, fit for service; and those of the United States Markets-Labor-Grasses-Horses and Cattle-Crops, Etc. 603 rate much higher-good horses and the dry, or hay state, it is liable to be mules bringing double that rate. Cattle are also in good demand, as bullocks can carry themselves to market, and gather their food by the way; and butter and cheese are articles in which, with Oregon, no country can compete. Bullocks, on foot, rate from six to ten cents per pound, the price depending on the tractability of the animal in being herded and driven. Spanish stock, $15 to $25 per head, according to training. Tame cows, with calves, $50 to $100. Butter, 75 cents; cheese, 50 cents per pound. Sheep are not valued for their wool, though there are now in the country some of the best wool-bearing breeds. The short, sweet grass and pure air of the mountain pastures encourage a remarkable fecundity and fatness in the animal. Young lambs are being added to the flock in every month of the year. It is not uncommon for a mutton to yield 20 pounds of tallow; while the flesh, for fineness of flavor and texture, is nowhere exceeded. Mutton is a convenient article of food at home, as well as in the mines. Salt provisions being little used, an ordinary family, even in summer, will consume a mutton while it is still sweet and fresh. Hogs, as yet, succeed well, but it is probable their food will first cease to be produced spontaneously. The mastbearing trees are few in number and variety, black oak and hazel comprising the whole. The clover and nutritious roots of the valleys being their principal dependence, besides their own tendency to destroy, each field put in cultivation directly diminishes their pastures. Their flesh being not much eaten at home, they are mostly made into bacon, and in that shape are a valuable item in the trade to the mines. Stock hogs, 8 to 10 cents per pound; pork, fresh, 10 to 12, and bacon, 25 to 50 cents per pound. burnt off; and when such an accident happens, and the rains are late in falling, and are followed, as is sometimes the case, with cold, rainy weather, and even snow, the scarcity produced by the fire will be prolonged through the winter, which must result in a ruinous loss to such farmers as are unprepared to meet it with food for their animals. Such was the case in Willamette, in the winters of 1846-47 and 1848-49, in which hundreds of animals perished of starvation. Crops. On the dry lands, any crop ripening by midsummer succeeds well. Wheat, peas, oats, barley, &c., are cultivated for home consumption. The want of mills and labor-saving machines, and the price of labor, discourage their cultivation as articles of export. Vegetables.-such as maize, potatoes, cabbages, &c., requiring the whole summer to perfect them-will some seasons succeed without irrigation; but, as the crop is liable to be cut short by drought, usually a spot naturally damp, or that can be easily irrigated, is selected for the kitchen-garden. The mode of culture is simple and primitive. The emigrant, who has arrived too late for fall-ploughing, in early spring turns over the green sward of the prairie, with a huge, clumsy plough, drawn by oxen. On this he sows his crop of spring-wheat, peas, or oats, and harrows it in with a wooden harrow or a scragged tree-top; the first, if a springcrop, yields from 10 to 25 bushels per acre, being varied by the manner and time of setting the crop and the continuance of the rains. If sufficient rain falls about the autumnal equinox, which is generally the case, fall wheat is sown; but if this should not happen, it creates no uneasiness, as the crop may be set at any time until March without any perceivable difference in the yield, and but little in the time of ripening. It is common, however, to sow more seed on late sowings. Hereafter, when the number of grazing animals approaches more nearly to the capacity of the country to maintain The yield of the fall crop, though them, the danger which may be appre- affected by the same causes, is more hended to this branch of the business is, uniform and abundant than that of the that grasses starting up with the first spring, and from 20 even to 50 bushels rains of autumn continue their growth of wheat are harvested per acre. through the winter, and ripen about mid- rotation of crops, though doubtless here summer, and, except on damp places, of as much advantage as elsewhere, is remain dry until rain in sufficient quan- attended with one serious inconvenience, tity again falls to renew its growth. In the frosts of winter being insufficient to The But the very means which have given the farmers of Umpqua great advantages in the market will tend to make them of short duration; because a portion of the country embraced in the northern mines is well adapted to the purposes of cultivation, and much more of it affords tine pasturing. destroy peas or oats. Wheat, if following decided advantage over other parts of a crop of either, is frequently choked the country. and intermixed with their voluntary growth; and oats particularly are very injurious. The same result also follows in sowing in fall after a spring crop, -the two kinds of wheat become intermixed, to the injury of both. At the time of harvest, the weather is usually dry and pleasant. Wheat and oats are cut with a cradle, and peas pulled by hand. There being no barns, a clayey spot is made smooth and hard by being dampened and beaten with mauls, or tramped with animals. A round it a high, strong fence is made, and over it those fond of the shade throw a few bushes. On this "floor" the grain is laid regularly, the heads pointing obliquely upward. A wild skittish band of horses are turned in and driven against the bristling heads of the grain, and, by their scampering, in a very short time the wheat is threshed from the straw, and much of the straw itself broken to pieces, much more time being required to separate and remove it from the grain than is occupied in threshing. Leaving the bottom undisturbed to the last, as it is sometimes dirty, the threshed grain is pushed to the centre, and another floor laid down; and so on until the crop is threshed. Formerly we depended upon the sea breeze, which springs up each evening, to separate the wheat from the chaff; but now, as we can obtain fanning-mills at $100 each, most of the farmers have provided themselves with these modern inventions. Of the whole list of vegetables and fruits found in the temperate zone, there is scarcely one that may not here find its favorite soil, and, with a little attention, be adapted to the climate; and in the vegetable market, having no foreign competition, the farmers have the greatest encouragement to engage. In regard to prices, it must be borne in mind that three-fourths of the inhabitants of Umpqua are immigrants of the present year, who must be fed, and furnished with seed-that, within the same time, the newly-discovered mines of the north have attracted between ten and twenty thousand persons, whose supplies are drawn from Oregon principally; and, as the roads are bad and transportation expensive, Umpqua, being the nearest farming district to the mines, has had a The grazing in the neighborhood of Shasta city is excellent, and a fine yield of both potatoes and gold may be dug from the same plat of ground; and, as the price for which vegetables, butter, and cheese are sold in the mines must be enormous, it is a profitable business to pay high prices for them here and carry them 200 or three hundred miles on the backs of animals. Many have exchanged the pick and shovel of the miner for the implements of husbandry, and farms and dairies are being established in the very heart of the mines themselves. The peaceful relations which have at last been established with the Indians of Rogue River, will also have their irfluence, as they have opened to the farmer a valley surrounded by mountains rich in gold, remarkable for its health beauty, and agricultural capacities: and as the distance from the ports of the Pacific, and the extremely rough and mountainous country lying between, will make transportation always difficult and expensive, the northern mines may shortly be independent of commerce except for groceries and manufactured articles. When the mines cease to consume the agricultural products of Umpqua, it is difficult to foresee what other market will be found, or what will be the effect upon the pursuits of the inhabitants. The great natural advantages of the country and the nearness of the market, are overbalauced by the high prices of labor, difficulties of transportation, and want of machinery; and, until great changes in the prices of labor and improvements take place in the other obstacles, we cannot compete with Chili and the Atlantic States in the provision trade of the Pacific. These things considered, though there is perhaps not one farmer in a hundred discontented or desirous to exchange his home in Oregon for the one he left in the States, I do not think a greater proportion of the prudent would advise their friends who are well and comfortably settled in the |