The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-06-15

l
year after the renewal Of the deusiye convention o
| lSlS-in the year 1928 master ship-carpente
was despatched from London TO Fort Vancouver
TO begin there the repair Of vessels, and even th
construction of small ones; and this work has beer
going on ever since. She reslsts our possession
nowl IL we abandon, she will retainl And he
wooden walls, brsting with cannon, and issuing
from the mouth Of the Columbia, will give the Law
to the North Pacific, permitting our ships 10 sneai
about IN time of peace-slnkng selzlng, or chasing
them away in time of war. As position, then
and if nothing but rock, or desert point, the pos
session Of the Columbia is invaluable to us; and 4
| becomes our duty TO maintain II at all hazards.
| Agrculturally the value Of the country Is great
and to understand il in all lis extent, this large
try should be contemplated under its different diyis
Ions-the threefold natural geographical divisions
under which il presents itself the maritime the mid
die, and the mountain districts.
The maritime region--the fertile part Of its the
long valley between the Cascade and the coas
ranges Of mountains, extending from the head OF
the Wah-lah-math, near the latitude Of AZ degrees
to the straits ct Fuca, near latitude 40. In this val
ley lies the rich Underwater region of the Columbia
with the Wah-lah-math river on the south, and the
Cowellske, and the Olympic district on the north.
IL is valley Of near five hundred miles long, north
and south, and above one hundred wide; rich in
soil, grass, and nber-sueent of itself to consti-
tute a respectable State, and now the seat of the
British commercial and military post Of Van
eouyer and Of their great farming establishment OF
Nisqually.
The middle district from the Cascade range to
near the base Of the Rocky mountains is the region
called desert, and which, in the imaginations OF
many, has given character TO the whole country.
In some respects il is desert-baTren of wood
sprinkled with sandy palns-melanchoy under the
sombre aspect Of the gloomy artemisia-and desc.
late from volcanic rocks, through the chasms OF
which plunge the headong streams. But this
he tfa raHa
grass-many Oases-mountains capped with snow,
to refresh the air. the land, and the eye-boom-
ing Valleys clear sky, pure air, and a su.
preme salubrty. IL is the home of the horse found
there wild in all the perfection Of his first nature
beautiful and aeet--fery and docIIe-patent, en-
during, and affectonate General Clark has told
me that Of the one hundred and seventy horses
which he and Lewis Obtained in this district, he
had never seen the match in any equal number;
and he had the finest which the sporting
course, or the warlike parade, had exhibited in
Virginia. IL is the home of that horse-the horse
OF Persa-which gslops his eighty miles day
smimming the rivers as he comes TO them-fnds
his Wn food at night, the hoof scraping away the
snow when il hides the grass-gallops his eighty
miles again the next day; and on through long
and healthy life; carrying his master in the chase
or the fight, circumventing the game, and pursuing
the foe, with the intelligence Of reason and the fde
ity Of friendship. General Clark has informed me
away the elk and buffalo, at the sight of which all
the horses Immediately formed for the chase, the
loose ones dashing off to surround and circumveni
the game The old hunters also have told me their
marvellous stories about these horses, and that il
war and hunting they had more sense than people
and much courage, and loved il as we'll The
country that produces such horses must also pro-
duce men, and cattle, and all the inferior animals
and must have many benehcent attributes to redeem
1t from the stigma of desolatiou.
The mountain division has its own peculiar fea-
lures, and many of them as useful as picturesque
AT the base of tho mountains long, broad, and high
bench IL ssen-three hundred miles long ffty mlles
wde---the deposite Of abraded mountains or snow
| and verdure through thousands of years. Lewis
and Clark thus describe this great bench Of land
which they twice crossed in their expedition to and
| from the Pacific
The country along the Rocky mountains for several
hun red miles in length and about City wide is high
plain in all its parts extremely fertile and in many places
covered with growth of tall long leaied pine This pair
chiefly interrupted the streams Of water where
hills steep and LOFTY; but the soil is good being
cubered By much stone, and timber thar
lands skirt the margin OF the rivers though narrow
confined still fertile and rarely inundated Nearly
whole of this widespread tract is covered with pro,s"T
OF grass and plants which at this time May high
the knee Among these OF plants an
roots acquired without much descptv and yalJing a
only nurcious but very agreeable food The air pur
and dry the climate quite mild, milder than thu
same parallels of latitude in the Atlantic States
|
messed fairly be imputed to the nature of the
than any intemperance OF climate This general obser
vaon is OF course to be qualified, since in the
country the degrees Of the combination of heat and col
obey the nhuence Of situation Thus the rains of low
grounds near our camp are in the high PLAINS
while the shines with intense heat the confined
toms the plains enjoy much colder air and the vegetation
is retarded at least hteen days while the
mountains the still many feet in depth so tina
within twenty miles OF observe riqors
winter cold the cool air Of spring and the oppressive hea
of midsummer Even on the plains, however where tn
snow has fallen seems to do but little injury the gras
and other plants which though apparently tender and
inches through the snow. In short this district afford
many advantages to settlers, and if properly cultivated
would yield every object necessary for the subsistence
| comfort Of civilized man"
Other and smaller benches of the same characte
. are frequently seen, inviting the farmer to make hi
healthy habitation and fertile field upon it.
Entering the gorges Of the mountains, and sue
ccssion of everything is found which is seen in tn
apne regions of Switzerland, glaciers only except
ed Magnificent mountain scenery-lakes-gra
vaeys-snow-capped mountains--clear streams an
fountains--coves and parks-hot and warm spring
mineral waters ofmany varietics-salt in the soil
and fluid state-sat lakes and hot salt springs
wood COAL and iron. Such are the Rocky noun
tains in the long and broad section from the head
the Rio Grande del Norte, Of the sunny South, /
the head of the Athabasca, of the Frozen ocean
This ample, rich, and elevated mountain region
deemed, by those unacquainted with the Farthes
West, to be, and to be forever, the desolate an
frozen dominion of the wild beast and the savage
On the contrary, view it as the future seat of poF
uation and power, where man is to appear in all tn
moral, intellectual, and physical endownents whic
ennobe the mountain race, and where liberty, indie
pcndcnce, and love of virtue, to make their las
stand on earth.
Thus, agricuturay, and as producing the mean
of human subsistence--as sustaining a population
and supplying the elements of wealth and power, a
derived from the surface and the bowels Of tn
earth-I look upon the region drained by the wa
ters Of the Columbia one Of the valuable divis
ions Of the North American continent
: No reason to undervalue it on the Of con
merce. But this branch of her advantages is a
tackled through another channel-in the suppose
unftness Of the mouth Of the Columbia for the pu
poses of a port, commercial or naval. An exped
ton of our own Captain WiIkes) has fostercd tn
opinion; but fortunately furnishes the correction
it's own error. The narrative Of the expedition COZ
dennis the port the chart that accompanies it prov,
\ il TO be good This chart constructed upon Il
seventy days labor Of three young gentlemen, mil
r shipmen in the expedition, whose numerous sount
ings show the diligence and the accuracy Of the
n w0rk-their names Knox, Reynolds and Blair.