The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-11-17

record at Shoalwater Bay is the latest |
there; the record among these ravines is /
the latest here. The height of water /
proved to have existed so recently there |
must necessarily lave made its mark !
here. And now, inasmuch as these ra-
vine sediments are the latest traces of
high waters here, their elevation meces-
sarily gives the height of those waters.
And the figures that mark the height
of these fossils above the present level of
the river, are those we need to complete
the theory with which we started from
the capes of the Columbia.
Nor is there any room for mistake
here; for while this fossil sediment eX-
tends through vertical range of more
than $50 feet, the least total altitude
that will meet the conditions of the
problem must take in the highest pOr-
ton of this fossil bed. Stating this at
80 feet above the present level of the
river, is placing il at its lowest, and even
then with the understanding that we
are dealing with sediment, and not with
surface lines. Nor vet will il do to set
these facts to the credit of the system of
river terraces known TO exist through
out the northern portion of our cOnti-
nent. These, as recently described from
Frazer river, by Chief Justice Begbie, Of
British Columbia, and as described,
years ago, by Professor Dana, from Ore
gon and California, and still later, in a
recent number of the american journal
Of Science, i'm which they are designated
as "part of a system of terraces that COW
ers "A large part of North America, north
of the Ohio, and existing on all streams,
as far as examined, nearly TO their heads
| in the mountains"
Now, our facts and these-exclusivel
[ inland facts-refuse to be classed to-
gether. The system of old shore-lines
we are tracing belongs primarily To the
sea-shOre. These other terraces run
2 inland, high among the mountains.
The facts upon which our theory was
based were gathered at Shoalwater Bay,
were controlled entirely 10y the level of
/ the Pacific Ocean, and scarcely affected
| 10y floOd-levels in the river, and still less
| by any extended lake system of the in
terror.
And now, with our amended theory
in mind, rs a measuring-Tod, let us re-
trace our steps tothe lower countTy-the
Willamette Sound of the olden time.
Let the fall of the Columbia river, from
this lake-shore east of the Cascade
Mountains to the mouth of the William
cite river, be stated at eight feet. Our
fossil remains Oh this lake-shore are 2j0
feet above the present level of its waters,
making total of $50 feet as the depth
OF those waters above the present sur
face at the mouth of the Willamette
river How naturally one looks to the
currents of such vast body of water rs
the agency competent To the heaping up
of that long sandy ridge, one hundred
feet high, through which the river has
cut its way at Swan Island, north of
/ Portland. But let us follow il still far
/ ther inland. Over where Portland now
stands, these waters Were 80 feet deep;
over Salem, l65 feet; over Albany, lis
/ feet; over Tualatin Plains, ll5 feet; OveI
Lafayette, 170 teet. \ narrow strait
over the present valley of the TualatiI
river, ten or twelve miles in length
opened westward upon broad, beauti.
ful bay, extending over the present site,
Of Hillsboro and Forest Grove, To GALES
Peak, among the foot hills of the Coast
Range. The subsoil of tie fine farms O
that rich agricultural reigOn, is itself tli,
muddy sediment of that bay. Farther
south, over the central portion of tn,
present valley, and lying obliquelN
across the widest part of that William
.
ters an elevated island. IL EXTENDED
from point south of Lafayette to on,
near Salem and, must have formed
fine central object in the scene. Thre,
or four volcanic islands extended, in al
irregular semicircle, where Linn county
now is; and the islands of those water.
are the Buttes of tO-day-KnOXis, Peter
sons, and Wards. One standing on tn,
/ summit of either of these Buttes, will
the suggestions of these pages befor,
him, could so easily and vividly imagin,
those waters recalled, as TO almost per
suade himself he heard the murmurins
of their ripples at his feet-sO sca-like
: the extended plain around him-s,
shore-like, that line of hills, from Mary
Peak, on the west, TO Spcncers Butte
on the south, and only lost on the eas
among the intricate windings of eX
tended slopes among the foothills Of tn,
Cascades. How natural would seem {,
him this restoration Of one of geology
yesterdays!
The shores of that fine old Willamett,
Sound teemed with the life of the period
IL is marvellous, that so few excavation
i'm the Willamette -alley have failed {,
uncover some of these relies of the past
I Bones, teeth, and tusks, proving a wild
range of animal life are often found il
bitches, mill-races, crumbling cliffs, an,
other exposures of the sediment of thos
waters, and often within few feet O
the surface. Did man, too, live ther
then? We need not point out the evi
dences of increasing interest the worl,
feels i'm facts that tend TO solve TN
doubts that cluster arOnnd this natura
inquiry. A few more mill-races dug,
few more excavations of winter floods
more careful search where mountain
7 streams washed their trophies to thei
burial under still waters-aud this ques
ton may be set at rest, rs il regard
that Willamette Sound. Oregon doe
not answer it yet.