Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1873-02-06
= Helena, Montana, Thursday, February 6, 1873.

full oak grove, owes all its importance tc
having been, for a year past, the terminus OF
the railroad. The outlook from our car win.
dow commanded fine view of the Cascades,
and the transverse ridge which separated the
Umpqua from the Willamette The rain had
ceased, and the sun betrayed an occasional
beam through the storm-cloud, as we passed
through the Calapooya gorge into the great
valley of the Willamette. From the moment
We saw we felt its extent and great superb
ority as an agricultural region, over any we
had yet seen. From the Cascades on the
east to the Coast Range on the west, a dis.
tance of sixty or seventy miles, the valley
stretches away into comparatively level i'm.
mensity, dotted irregularly, all over with large
groves of oak and pine. 1t embraces terri.
tory larger than Connecticut, without a
worthless acre, traversed centrally by mag.
nifcent river navigable.the whole extent. In
all those elements that make one locality more
desirable than another, this valley is a perfec,
Arcadia. During the twenty-five years since
the first settlement of Oregon, it has under.
gone that transformation which enterprise
and superior natural advantages alone could
produce. Its beautiful towns, numerous
farms, railroads, and navigation, have grown
to their present size, under the immediate
direction of the present population. The
almost fabulous growth of this as of other
portions of our Pacific States, shows how
much of change in this age enters into the
experience of this generation. 1t is wonder
full, yet here in distant Oregon, we find rail-
roads and telegraph as thoroughly domesti-
Gated as in the regions of sunrise. "a.
From the hurried glances we were enabled
to obtain of the beautiful towns of Eugene,
Albany, Salem and Oregon City, we could
form no satisfactory opinion of there size or
importance. Our attention was SO much d.
vided between them and the stupendous
scenery-as jefferson, the Three
Sisters, and lastly Mount Hood itself, came
into view-that we had little more than time
to see them before they were lost in the dis
tance. We recall them now as the half de-
fined memories of delightful dream. And
so, too, of that magnificent valley, with its
over-burdened orchards, spreading meadows,
and vast fields, ready for winter cultivation.
The old buildings erected by the Hudson
Bay Company are still remaining in a state
of dilapldation, at Oregon City. The falls
of the Willamette at this point ere full of
picturesque beauty, and answers the double
purpose of running extension woolen mills,
and furnishing a pleasant place of summer
resort. The writer who pronounced them
''little inferior to Niagra,," is commended to
the charitable consideration of visitors. A
canal around these falls on one side Of the
river, and another nearly completed on the
opposite side, afford navigable facilities for
steam boats of three hundred tons burden,
which for-eigAt or ten months of the year
ascend to, Eugene City, a distance of $50
miles. These boats, of which we saw several
at different points in the. valley, are built
after the fashion of the stern-wheel boats of
the Ohio. They are very commodious, and
a trip in one from Portland to Eugene, in
would afford rare opportunities
for seeing all the varied scenery Of the river,
valley and mountain, s9ilo Il ii 4; .noi--ill
il Twilight shadows were gathering around
us when our train entered the depot at East
Portland. The ocean steamer, Oritlamme,
was just rounding into the stream, prepara-
tory to departure for San Francisco, and the
busy city in front of the metropolis Of Ore
gon, stretching a mile or more along the
bold river bank, lay before us. Crossing in
the fine steam ferry-boat, we contrived to es-'
cape, as soon as possible, the discordant per-.
secutidons of hotel runners by fastening to
the Clarendon, which fortunately was only
d few yards from the wharf. -'2Hi Il" iii /
Portland is 4 fitting terminus. to aride down
the, Willamette, N The improvements epne you
haye witnessed find lit elimination ulal ai
worthy Of them. The rank it ll has ittin attained
as the second seaport on the Pacific will no not
be easily suEpssssd by -any-of the conteni-
plated cities, which unfinished tEans-conti-
mental railroads may produce, simply because
none of, them have Ahe Willamette yalleys ct
their back The harbor is assessible large
steamers and. ships. Any vessel that can
enter ttaltth tie Uoiumbia can ascend to Portland.
It sal L already tie railroad centre of Oregon
Beside The -Ossgea.-and-C -CAlifornia road up
The east side of thei Willsmetta another road
on the,t sstIadeI shAs' lheeur completed forty =
1--WE aiilaSG NO the kallsys (Which h y ,asdsned
to contindgt gtUyumg puint-uer the head OF
ri ihThis Ssme fosd bsxh1rtssiSd sfsod Cof1,,