The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1871-08-12

Columbia river to rhe California line,
constitute the important part of the State |
in political and commercial point Of |
view. The Willamette Valley is the
largest and most northerly of the SERIES
The Umpqua lies next to it on the South,
and Rogue River Valley lies close to>the
California line.
Eastern Oregon, embracing all that part
of the State east of the Cascade mounts
AIMS, is high, rolling table land, broken
and rugged in many places, and inter-
sected by numerous small water courses
which have general northerly direction
to the Columbia. All these streams have
worn deep channels in the rolling table
lands through which they make their
4 way to the Columbia, thus adding very
much to the general uncvenncss of sur
face throughout this part of the State.
The valleys of this section of the State
are generally small The largest, Grand
Ronde Valley and Powder River Valley,
have each of them sufficient territorial
area for large county. Harvey Lake
Valley is feature Of Eastern Oregon
remarkable for its having no outlet. 1t
is basin in the high plateau OF that part
of the State, about forty miles in diane
ter and nearly circular. The only drain
age of the inner slope of the basin is into
| n small lake in the southeastern part near
the rim, the water of which is brackish
and unwholesonie. The valley, or basin,
has no value except for grazing purposes;
the surface Is broken and rocky, and the
soil poor. except in the northern part,
which contains large area of good land
The valleys aud table lands Of Eastern
Oregon, comprising more than two
thirds the entire area, are prairies. The
mountains are heavily timbered. In
! Western Oregon the valleys consist prin-
cipally of prairie lands, with groves and
belts of timber at short intervals, while
the mountain ranges support an uncom-
monty heavy growth of timber. q
NAvIGABLE RIVERS N -
The entrance to the Columbia River is
amid sand bars and shoals that for a quar-
ter of century were supposed to offer a
very serious impeachment to the naviga-
tion of the river, and to destroy in a
measure its usefulness as channel for
commerce. The earlier nayigators found
some difficulty in entering the river, and
reported the entrance to be dangerous,
and the water on the bar too shallow to
admit the passage of other than light
draught vessels During the period ex-
tending from 1915 to 1860 number of
vessels were lost in endeavoring to cross
the bar. These things, taken together,
led to the very general impression that
navigation about the mouth of the Colum-
bia River was attended with an unusual
risk, and that none but light draft YES
sells could ascend the river. A few years
ago the United States government or
dered a survey of the bar aud channel by
officers of the coast survey. 1t was found
that there was twenty one feet of water
on the bar at the lowest stage, which is
more water than there is ON the bar at
the mouth of the Mississippi. The chan
mel has been carefully marked by buoys.
A steam tug Is constantly employed on
the bar and pilot grounds. under con-
tract with and subsidy from the State.
The government has erected first class
light on the headland north,of the en-
trance. The channel has become fanlil-
lar to navigators, SO that the entrance
may now be considered entirely safe, and
its navigation attended with no greater
risk or detention than is usually found at
the entrance of any other navigable river.
There have been no marine disasters at
the entrance of the Columbia river since
the year 1865. Statistics from the books
of the custom house at Astoria show that
during the period between that date and
the time of the present writing the num-
Der of arrivals and departures of vessels
of all kinds was 629.
The Columbia is the largest of any of
the rivers having an outlet on the west
ern coast of America. Among the rivers
of the United States it ranks as third for
its volume of water and for the area Of
territory drained by its tributaries. 1t
is navigable for sea going vessels of large
size as high as the mouth of the William
ette, 100 miles from the sea- Above this
point it is navigable to Wallula, 24O miles
further, for frst-class river steamers, by
ting two portagcs, one of six miles at
the Cascades, the other of fourteen miles
: at the Dalles of the Columbia Naviga-.
: tion ON its upper waters is considerably
r obs:ructcd by the very many rapids and
the rocky nature of the channel in many
D places. These, however, have been very
t much improved by private enterprise
= The portagcs around the two rapids which
? offer the most serious obstacles to naviga
a tion are made by railroads connecting the
navigable sections of the river, SO that the
: commerce of the river suffers no hindrance
or interruption. Above Wallula the
: Columbia and one of its tributaries, the
/ Snake river, is navigable during high
5 water to Lewiston, in Idaho, about zoe
miles from the sea.
, The Willamette river is nayigable te
Portland, II miles above its confluence
with the Columbia, for ocean steamers and
other sea going craft Above Portland
; it is navigable for river steamers as
high as Salem at all stages of water, and
to Corvallis for about nine or ten month.
) of the year. The first named place is
about rs miles, the second 125 miles
!. from its mouth. Navigation for this dis
: tance is not continuous. The falls Of tht
. Willamette at Oregon City, IL miles