Portland , the largest city, whose metropolitan area contains nearly half the state's population, straddles the Willamette near its junction with the Columbia. Salem , the capital, and Eugene , the second largest city, lie southward in the valley, which is sealed off in the south by the low range of the Calapooya Mts. Mighty stands of timber, many protected as national forests, cover the slopes. Eastward the Cascades level out into high plateaus drained in the north by the Deschutes and the John Day rivers. To the south a variegated pattern of marshland and mountain merges in the east into the semiarid Basin and Range Region.
Little vegetation grows here, and the absence of potable water makes habitation difficult.
Other parts of the region where the Snake cuts through the plateau are more level and have been made productive through irrigation. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.