Western Letter

Correspondenoe of The Coukiir. Daytoíj, Washington Territoiiy, I Iecember 26, 1879. f Aa I was once a resident of Ann Arbor, and having many friends there that would like to know about this country, I tbought I would aüswer their inquirios through The COURIER. THE NORTH-WKST. Betbre tbe construotion of railroads to the Pacifio, the State of Oregon and Territory of Washington, were, owing to thedifBculty of reaching them, practically, as reniote from the Atlantic and Weotorn States as though they formed a part of an other continent. The fame of their favored cliuie and great natural resources had previously attracted to them it is true, a considerable population from the older States ; but the flow of immigration remained sluggish until the completion of the railroad. This greatly reduoed the expenditure of time and money, and thè hardships involved in the journey to tbe Northwest. Since then a much larger and steadily increasing number of imruigrants f'rom the older States, as well as from Europe have soupht and found homcs in this Northwest. No one in our day, acquainted with the facts, dispute but that the Northwest possesses natural advantages far superior to those found in any of the Eastern, the Southern, or Western States. In natural beauty, of landscape, mildness and salubrity of climate, varied productiveness of soil, &nd richness in mineral, and other resources, they are incomparably more attractive than most any other section of country. They are indeed among the most favored lands known, and are certain to develope into great and prosperous commonwealths. The great wonder with those familiar witb their attractions is, that they have not filled up much more rapidly with people. Oregon and Washington Territory do not suffer from the extremes of intense heat and cold that are so oflen fatal to the successful prosecution of all kinds of business, that are so often experienced elsewhere. They have a lesa extreme sumn-er climate than famous mild California ; hurricanes, whirlwinds, grasshoppers, locusta, droughts, and all afflictions that prevail in the other States are unknown within their limits. Western Oregon and Washington Territory have some rain in every month of tbe year. There ia never any danger of the crops proving a failure from droughts. During each year we have more rain fall than in California with none of the freshets so prevalent there, on account of the rain fall beine more evenlv divided. A8PECT OP THE COUNTRY. lt s but statintf a f'act to say that no one has ever visited the Northwest, without becoming deeply inipressed with the natural beauty of the country. It is indeed no exaggeration to tay that it is unsurpassed by any other portion of the United States, in attractivencss, and variety ofscenery. Nowhere, east or west of the Rocky Mountains can thcre be seen so grand and picturesque landscapes as are found found all over western Orrgon and Washington. A combination of niouütains and valleys, woodland and prairie, river and ocean, is beautiful beyond descriptiun. Lofty peaks raite their snowy heads f'ar above the horrizon. Beneath them stretch out fir and pine ciad ranges of njountains ; between them extend great undulating valleys, dotted with timber, and traversed by fine rivers, and nature's own hand had given to this whole región such a finished look that oue involuntarily in duluded into believing that heis in a country, long a seat of civilization and not in one where the white race appeared only i wo generations ano. This illusion is heightened by the extraordinary vigorous aud perfect growth which is attained by the vegetaiion under the peculiar influences of' the climate. Anjong the distinctive features of the Northwest are the numerous valleys formed as.already stated, by the sevcral mountain chains, and the minor ranges extending from them. The principal ones in westen Oregon are the Williamette, Umpqua, and Rogue River valleys, each of which deserve particular niention. The Williamette Valley is by far the largest and aud most attractive iu every respect. It has been appropriately namcd "The Garden of the Northwest." Noneofthefatnous valleys of' the üld or New World not even that of the Sacramento, San Joaquín, or SunU Clara Ya'.leys in California surpass it in fertility or salubrity. Iu beauty of scenery its equal is not to be found anywhere. Ex-vice President Colfax enthusiastically pronounced it : "As charming a landscape as ever painter's brash placed upon canvaHH." The late A. D. Richardson in his work entitled " Beyond the MissisMppi " describes it thus : "At last we descended from the summitof the Callapoia Mountains into the great Williamette Valley, fifty miles by one bundred and filty. The garden of Oregon, and containing more than one half of its entire population. To one coming from dreary Nevada Deserta or California fields, dull and withered in the rainless months; very delightful are its deep forests, rich meadows, and groves of drooping oaks; its picasant homes embowered in green; its bright flowing river darkened with slender pines. Excepting probably the Indian Territory south of Kansas, it is theriche8t fanning región of the United States." This valley is about one hundred and fifiy miles in length, from thirty tosixty miles in width and contains within its natural boundaries the lower Columbia River in the north, the Cascade Mountainson the east and the Calapoa Mountainson the south about five millioo (5,000,000) of acres of which area nearly the whole is of unusual productiveness while only about one-eighth is now under cultivation. It is well watered liy the Williamette River and its tributaries. The most important towns of the State are situatedin, and fully two thirdsof the population of western Oregon live in this Valloy. The Umpqua Valley lies south of the Callapnia Mountains and is watered by a river of tbe same name and its tributarles, lts eastern boundary is formed by the Cascade Mountains, its western by the Coast range, and its southern by the Grave Creek range. It contains about two and a half million acres. To the south of the Rogue River Mountains is the Valley of the same name. lts eastern and western boundaries are the same as the others described, and is bounded on the south by the Siskiyou Mountains, which separates it from California. lts surface comprises about two million four hundred thousand acres. These severa! valleys do not consist of wide plains but are of' an undulating character. Excepting the Williamette Valley, where there is a level plain of extraordinary fertility of about forty miles wide. There are no great agricultural valleys like those of the western part of the State in middle Oretron. The country south of the Coluinbia and between the Cascade range and the Blue range of Mountains for a distance of two hundred miles consists of a high rolling plain. In eactern Oregon proper the valleys of the Grand Round, Blunt, and Powder rivers resembles those of western Oregon. The Grand Round Valley is said to con Uin about two hundred and eeventy-five thousand acres of tillable land. CMMATE. The climate of western üregon and Washington is peculiarly mild and salubrious, and is far pleasanter than in any of the other States of the .ame latitude. It has none of tbe suilden changes of tem perature whieh prevail in all of the Statee east of the Rocky Mountains and uorth of the thirty-fifth degree of Latitude. The temperatura is moderated by the Trade Winds from the Pacific, which blow frora the northwest in the sunimer and from the southwest in the winter. To the proximity of the great Japan curre nt, or Pacific Gulf Stream to this coatt, much of the uniform mildness and evenness of the jteiuperature is also due. As ascertained by observations made at the United States Signal Service Office in Oregon, the temjierature in western Oregon and Washington in spring is 52, in tummer 67, and in winter 39 Fuhrenheit. The tempcrature seldom rises above 90 in the hottest days of summer and rarely falls below 20 in winter, so that the most active out-door labor may be performed at all times of the year, and at all hours of the day. There are only two seasons of the year, a wet and a dry. The wet season ut-ually oommences about the middle of November and lasts until early in May. During this time there are many days of fine weather and some times it lasts for weeks. Tke copious rains of this season, although sometimes somewhat disagrteable, are a great blessing ; since their regularity in the absence of severe frots always insure abundant crops and plentiful natu ral pasturage. Fiom early in May until the end of June there are occasional showers with quite warm weather. The dry season proper begins about July and lasts until October with tonie showers in September, which prepare the ground for the plow. The warmest summer days are tempered with sea breezes and are eucceeded by cool nights. The climate of middle and eastern Oregon and Washington differs from this, inasmuch as there is less rainfall in winter, and oonsequently some colder, and also some dryer in tummer. Western Oregon and Washington are almost exempt from the violent atmospheric di-turbances so common in States rast of the Rocky Mountains. (Thunderstorms are of rare occurrence, and hailstorms, hunicanes, tornadoes, whirlwinds, earthquakes, and other destructive phenomena, are entirely unknown. The comparative freedom of tbis section of country from high winds is fully shown by the regular government wind records, extending over a period of twentyfive years, during which time only three winds blew over the State with a velocity of fortyfive miles an hour and a forcé of ten pounds to the square foot. In Massacuusett', Rhode Island, and Connecticut there were Ibur winds of equal velocity and gravity in thirty months ; while in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin during a period of twentysix months, there were twenty-five winds moving at the rate of forty-five miles an hour, two winds moving at the rate of seventy-five miles, aod two hurricanes with the frightful velocity of nincty miles an hour. NATURAL RESOURCES AND SOIL. ín a description of the soil of western Oregon and Washington, reference should be made not only to the valleys, but to their elevated boundaries. It is a peculiar feature of this Northwest that the so-called " foot-hills " (as the outrunncrs of the inountain ranges are called) are generally covered with productivo soil, and that even the surface of the ruountains is productive to a certaiu extent. The general character of the soil in the valleys is of a dark loam and vegetable mould wilh a clay subsoil. The soil of the lowlauds next to the watercourses is generally compostd of rich alluvial depoi-its of decomposed vegetable matter. The socalled beaverdam lands contain deep deposita of' earth and decomposed matter, and is of extraordinary richne;-s, the work of beavers during een' uries. These lands are of limited extent. Most of the lands in the larger valleys are of great fertility. This isespeeially true of' the level aod al.io of the rolling prairie between the river botioms and the foot-hills. Tlie action of the clay subsoil in retaining the uioisture accounts in part for the exceeding produetiveness of the soil. The land, too, retains its fertility for unusually large periods of time, and seems almost inexhaustible. In middle or eastern Oregon and Washington, good f-oil for agricultural purposes is fouud, but not so plenlifully as west of' the Cascade Mouniaiun. The best is found along the courses. In sonie parts irrigation is employed with excellont results. It is considered to be the best for wheat, and is very easily worktd. I never aw any bei ter wheat anywhere, and the time is soon conjing when there will be a good ruaiket for all that can be produced. TIMBER. There is an altnost inexhaustible supply of (iinber, and the western part of Oregon and Washington, and all along Puget Sound, tnany men are constantly ergaged id reducing the dense forests into all kinds of building tituber and lumber, which is shipped frora thencc to all points on the Pacific coast. Veneurs made from Oregon maple were exliibited at the Centenmal exhibition, and were universally adniired. They were awarded a medal and diploma for rare beauty, extreme fioeness of grain, beautiful pulish, toughness of fibre, and of great value for ornamental and cabinet work. Nearly all the piincipal mioerals are found iu the Northwest, so far as is known. This part of the United States has no superior in res ec to pasturage. Steek of all kinds th-.ive wol! the entire year on the bilis or open prairie. It would be diffieult to find a finer country fur the sportsman than this Northwest. Deer, pheasant, grouse, quail and snipe (the birds of unusual size) abound in all the valleys. In auturan wild geese and ducks swarni along the water-courses. Wild swan are then very numerous on the lakes and rivers. The Cascade aud coast range of mountains are the home of elk, deer and antelope ; also of the black, cinnamon and grizzly bear, wildcats, wolves, and the cougar or American lion. All these are found in great nuuibers througiiout the NorthweHt. The farming products are much the same as in Michigan, excepting Iridian corn. A little is rai?ed lor table uc, but it is a very inferior article. I have seen corn in the Portland market that was considered to be good corn, that Michigan farmers hardly f eed their hogs. Wtu at is of' an excellent quality. The best wheat is raised in the eastern part of the country. Thero is a constantly inereasing number of acres sown each year. This a new country, and can be rapidly improved if every man who comes here is energetic and industrious. There are great openings for t-nch men with Httie capital. No other State or land offers such excellent inducements to the poor man as this great Northwest. To thoee who can appreciate the wildnees of life in camp and eabin, and the other attractions of a fronlicr life, this Northwest has number lesn advantages over oiher new ooun tries. If desired, I would be willing to write again, after I beconio better acqusinted with the eastern part of Oregon and Washington. I would bc happy to meet and welcome any one from Ann Arbor to this highly favored and beautiful section of this great and glorious Ilcpublic.