Weekly miners' express. (DuBuque, Iowa) 184?-1849, 1847-09-29


especially by his many friends in this
portion Of the State. No one who knows
Mr.. Watkins will for moment doubt the
correctness of his statements; and we
presume the facts contained in his letter
will cool the ardor Of some Of our friends
who have for some time been burning
with the Oregon fever.
Weare ind"bted to our friend Mr.. J.
?. Evans fora copy of he letter:
CkEuuN, April ISL, 1897.
MIR. J p. Evans:
Dear Sir feel thankful to think thnt
have once more an opportunity Of writing to
you, out The idea OF not getting an answer
from vuu for eighteen mon,hs Is quite dis
rouragIng. but it you send your letters to
New lork. they will then be sent by ships
to The Bay OF San Francisco, ca ifurniu. !
should then get them much sooucr
My brother and myself intend starting
Win company about tic first Of June for
Francisco Buy, il my health should tie GOOD
enough to pack thruugb--if not, intend po-
ing by water Times are very hard in Or.
'g"n; provisions high. and scarce, and no
money to buy With only thing that
VIII command cash at present, is whca,
which is worth one dollar per pushed, and
scarce. There is very little pork. and M
lat beet on account Of the great severity OF
the last winter, the loss OF cattle that diet,
III cons' qnrncr, IN the ii!amut valley, is
estimated at three thousand head. also. 2
great number of hogs and horses. THIS was
occa>Ionrd by the deep SHOWS which preyen-
ted their getting to grass.
In THIS country tne people make no pre-
phrati"n for lnter;-tlev cut no hay. nei-
tier GO the provide any thing for their
STOCK through the winter. About 1nrce
winters cut OF four. the weather is so mild
and the grazing 80 good, that stock oc all
kinds keep very fat: but the winter seasons
are lar from being pleasant The rainy
season commences in the month Of October.
(moGerat'ly st iirs,) but in December, Junu-
uary and February, it isa constant rain
the ground becomng'very wet and mirv. and
the streams overlooking so that it is almost
Impossible to get about with Il team during
the winter.
The principle crop in this country is
wheat-producihg from fifteen to twenty
bushels per acre; corn and potatoes do moi
do we'll, in consequence Of the great drouth,
winch commences generally in May, and
continues until October. There is no rain
or dew during the months of June. July.
August and September; the soil becomes
very dry and hard, so that ali kinds of vcge-
thtIon is dried up and killed; the grass dries
standing. and ls as good as well cured hay;
cattle get very fat i'll the summer season.
he summer here is very pleasant, owing
to the constant dry clear atmosphere: for
four months the days are moderately warm,
but the lights are cold; the best of water is
found here. and think it to be very heal
thy country.
suppose you would like to know some
thing about my trip to Oregon. We were
three weeks getting from Cascade to Inde-
pendence, Mo. There found what prepar-
atlons we had made were all wrong. I
exchanged my light wagon for heavy one
and sold my mules and bought four yoke of
oxen; we then found young man who was
wiling to 60 with us, and do camp duty for
his board. For our supplies we took 400
los. flour, one bushel meal, 100 lbs. meat,
sugar, coffee. tea, rice and salt in propor-
llon, and left Independence the 18th Nav.
le4U, three days after the main company.
which caused us to drive very hard to over
take them. There were about so WAGONS in
The main company, that left Independeuce
besides great number that left St. Joseph
-abont 500 in all-24O came TO Oreron
~ 26o went to Caiifornia, about 100 of.he Or
.gon wagons 'mne with the number,) left
oft Hall and took new road, to avoid
boating down the Columbia river; but it !.
proved serious experiment. We had one /
irIve of fifty-five miles without water or ,
!rass, and we found the road 300 miles far. i
her than the old one. We got within $50 :
niles OF the settlements Oct 25th, and ;
'ame to cnnion-asSpunish word meaning
rough, which we found to be deep mar
wv pass through the mountains; and a seri
'us one it proved to the Elm grant--!or most
# them lost all Of what they had.
In getting from here to the settlements.
We left our wagons and packed on oxen and
'oTses, and was two days getting through to
'rass,- distance IS miles. Some of the
cams were in the pass six or seven days,
nd starved to death, and the people were
hen obliged to pack out on their backs !!
Trough the water and mud ;--there was a
lumber of pack horses left the settlements
With provisions to help them in, but charged
UGH enormous prices. it took oil they had
eft. When we left our wagons, we gave
ur tent to a sick family, and we're Is days
citing to the settlements. It rained every
ay, and showed some. We slept on the
vet ground every night, without any tent;
his trip improved my health very little;
ut about ten days ago was worse again
eing too much exposed, liz .-...
Franklin (ny brother) stood the trip first
ate;-he is % lbs. heavier than when he
eft Iowa. ] feel in hopes that trip to Cal
Horna will improve my health. ! am not
veil enough to pack back to the States this
eason. and there is no wagons that return
he chances for making money here are but
wv. The mercantile business appears the
est, but that is made poor by having or I,
ers, Territorial script, and wllent made
awfu! tender by the organic law, which
eeps what little money there is out Of cir
uation; goods sell at Oregon. city from 100
0 $50 per cent higher than on the Missis-
ippi or in Iowa. A yoke Of oxen will \
etch in cash S25so $40, COW SIS, q horse