, 1862-04-03
PIJGET SOUND HERALD.
STEILACooM, W. T,
Thursday Morning. April 8, 1862.
THE CHANGES OF A DECADE.

The San Francisco Herald and Mirror reviews
as follows the important changes that have taken
placO on the Pacific coast during the last ten
years.
Some fly years ago, the attention Of the U.
q Government was directed to the extensive re-
c;ons Of wilderness lying between the Rocky
Mountains and the Mississippi River as profit.
able Iield for the explorer. After much consd-
Grafton Of preliminaries two well known officers
In the service Of the United States-Captains
Lewis and Clarke-were selected to be the Gvdnt
courriers Of new civilization, and were accord
ipely dispatched in 1908 across the great plains
10 seek the sources Of the Missouri. Their jour.
nal was published in due course Of time, and
much additional light thrown upon region which
was still land Of mystery to the world at large.
The foundation Of Astoria was one Of the seqaents
of this memorable expedition, from which great
results were expected to flow; but many years
passed by, and still Astoria was an insignificant
trading post, profitable only to those directly
concerned In its progress, and without any def.
mite prospect ahead. BOuneVe's expedition
next followed that fitted out by AstOr aud his
associate capitalists, but very little light was
shed upon the regions explored by him. The
same may be said Of several subsequent expcd-
tions, which, so far from Cnlightcning the public
them, only served to spread abroad a great
amount Of incorrect information and to retard
for q number Of years the seitementOf our wes-
tern territories. We have still in our recollection
several repoI Is to the Bureau Of Typographical
Engineers, whith convey 10 the reader SO repul.
siyu an idea Of thoSe districts, that residence
in the desert Of Sahara would seem quite as leas-
ible as q settlement in any Of tic prairie or
valley lands hrtween the Back II lis and the
Mississippi The fur trade was the sole eugross-
ing pursuit, aud il was the interest Of the few
firms concerned in il to keep up as long aS poS-
siblc the mystery that ObScured the districts in
which Il was carried on. The settlement Of Ore
g0n dispersed 10 a certain extent the errors which
prevailed with regard u the Plains, but even as
iats as ten Yeas ago, there was no very definite
prospect that the territories Of the Pacific coast
and those intervening would be converted into
plpulus States within the cognizance Of the ris.
ing generation The discovery Of gold on Sut.
tgr's larIn suddenly scattered the miSts Of error
and aroused the public to the Importance Of the
Territories, when il vas found that, instead Of
being IN uninhabiiabie waste, suited Olly to the
residence Of the brute creation, millions Of acres
Of the most productive snil awaited the eilOrtS
Of the agriculturist Sine that time the rocky
bosom Of the hills and valleys Of Kansas, Ne.
braska, Colorado, Nevada Oregon aud Washing.
and hundre nOurishing towns md villages TOW
dot the map Of those regions which only yes.
terday, aS Il werr, presented barren and inhUs-
pitable desert to the vision Of the wAyiarcrs.
Newspapers are published and the hum and din
q trade are heard where only ten years since
the Indian hunted his game, and lands which
then would not bring the Government price OF
81 % per acre, are now rated at standard
which places them on par with the choicest o!
city property. The treasures Of Nevada and her
sister Territories are not to be estimated by any
Of the rules whiuh apply To modern property in
other lands, and the prospect Is that they will
continue to increase In wealth and productive
capacity until the countries Of the Pacific slHpe
shall surpass all other countries in all the points
that 60 to make up the prosperity Of State.
An overland railroad is the one thing requisite to
dcvelope the full resources Of the trrasure-aden
regions. How long will our legislators continue
10 slumber over a matter so important to the in
tefeske of the natiun