The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1872-08-16
Attention Drawn Toward Oregon 2

DIR. Mary 2. Sawtelle, in letter to the
! y. y. Tribune on Oregon, says:
crossed the plains to Oregon twenty
years in advance OF the Union Pacific
Railroad, and know something of the
! hardshlps endured by the early settlers
how much pluck, tact, and perseverance
il required TO make the trip, when ii
took six or seven months. | have eX-
amined the soil with my own hands, and
have taken no mans word for ii. The
whole country is watered with pure, soft
water. There is no limestone in Oregon.
1t is a diversity Of hill and valley, wood
land and plain. Ii has no large tracts OF
land that must be irrigated like Lower
California. The climate is so mild, so
humid, such heavy dews fall at night,
that everything grows all summer, Just
the same rs if we had frequent showers.
On this side of the Rocky Mountains
there are no big trees that | ever heard
OF, and it is proof positive to my mind
that where trees grow, as they do in
every part of Oregon, $50 feet high, with
corresponding circumference, that it
takes a pretty good soil to produce them.
The people don't put earth OH the sunny
side Of a rock 10 grow hill of corn, as
they do in New England.
There is more vacant land in Oregon
than would make "a State like New York.
believe there is no better country in
the world for people to commence settle
ments i'm. The climate is delightful,
with no extremes of heat and cold. We
have occasionally light SHOWS, which
melt as soon as they fall TO the ground.
In the last two winters / have not seen a
flake floating in the air. We have a
long rainy season. The Oregon mist
commences in early fall, and lasts till
late spring-time. Everything grows
spontaneously there, when once planted
Some economical farmers that know
economical of their time-harvest the
third crop before replanting. That.
however, is downright robbery of the
soil. What we want is one million
enterprising, thoroug-going men and
women, with a few capitalists sprinlxled
in, TO develop the resources of the coun-
try. We don't want any more men
coming and leaving their wives behind.
Where single men own all the land, we
cannot have schoOl-houses, churches and
society, representing a high state of
civilization.
Our heart-beats quickened, when, by
aid of the telegraph wire, we heard the
sound of the last stroke that connected
the East with its living, active, toiling
millions, to the mighty West. Now, we
thought, our country will be flooded
with immigration. And when the tide
didn't pour i'm as rapidly as we had an
tieipated we concluded that our friends
in the East had lost track of us. l have
found out this winter that this is the
true reason. They don't know where
Oregon is. 1t is annoying, to say the
least, when you come from land you
love, and are proud to own, whose
romantic scenery, charming climate,
and fertile soil you thought ought to
give it a worldwide renown, to have in
telligent persons, who have Travelled all
over Europe, or wanted to, ask COM
PLEASANTLY, "OregOn, Oregonl where's
that ?n
l have felt that if l were controlling
agent of the California earthquakes, |
would turn those subterranean forces on
the Rocky Mountains and level them to
the plains, just to let the people see the
beauties beyond. But on reflection, in
my calmer moods, / concluded that we
had better use them for building pur-
poses-for the stone fronts in the cities
that will grace the plains in the near
future.