The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-11-13
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.

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After leaving the Warm Springs
Agency, the Prineville stage road winds
In zigzag course through q narrow,
deep and rocky cafiOn, aud for several
miles seems to be leading the tourist
away from his proper course. Then,
when he has made a protest against
thus doubling upon his track, he sud-
denly understands the cause of the de-
heelion, which confronts him in the
shape Of ferry across the Desehutes
River. We remember crossing this
river on the old immigrant road many
miles below this twenty-seven years
ago, in crazy little canoe, in charge of
an old Indian Of whom our present ferry
man is striking counterpart. The di-
lapidated army overcoat he wears ap-
pears to be the very same, and the en-
tire tout ensemble identical with that Of
the ousky oarsmsn Of the long ago.
The ferry boat is rickety affair, and the
tarred, hempeD rope, upon which the
driver depends to carry the stage and its
living freight across the rapid current,
is patched in places, and is as strikingly
suggestive Of possible peril as was that
frail canoe Of the olden time.
When safely ''over the river" we
breathe freely again, bot inwardly dread
the return trip because Of that riekety
boat and rotten rope-the first evidence
of peril In all this long, rough ride
The horses heads now turn toward our
destination, and, after mile or two Of
uncomfortable jolting, we climb the
Deschutes hills aud reach an immense
/ plateau, bordered by an extensive wall
Of rim-rock, and covering an area Of
hundreds of square miles Of alluvial
soil, of much the same character as
another table land described in a former
letter. Here is land by the league for
the homesteading, of the very best quail
ity, and in quantity sufficient for a
thousand homes. But there is not a
stream or spring to be seen anywhere,
though there is no evidence of drouth in
the luxuriant vegetation. There is no
kind Of doubt but that water can be
reached in almost any spot by digging,
but nobody has cared to try, because the
vacant lands adjacent to running
streams have thus far attracted all the
settlers, and been sufficient in acreage
to afford them ample room. Timber,
in practically inexhaustible supply, can
be plainly seen upon the Cascade
Mountains a dozen miles away, and ju-
niper trees, in sufficient quantity for
I firewoOd, grow here and there in pretty
| groves, and dot the entire landscape
with solitary sentinels. The climate is
hot in Summer, cold In Winter, and
balmy In Spring and Autumn. There
| is enough Of rain and snOwfall, but not
too much for use or comfort. There are
thousands Of CaIifornians who would be
determined to come here to live if they
knew Of these lands; and many farmers
Of the Middle West would not be able 10
sleep from very restlessness If they could
see the debt-free hours in store for them
/ II they were only here.
Our driver is a typographical encyclo-
/ peiia within himself, and is very will
ing TO impart his knowledge to others.
He knows the source and direction ol
all the rivers, the character Of the soil
that borders them, the peculiarities oil
/ the climate, the varieties Of the timber,
/ the location Of mining prospects, and
the name of every snowy peak and
mountain spur within our range OF
vision. Yonder, on the Cascade range,
and looming high above the tree
crowned continuous ridges, are the
dazzling heads Of Hood aud Jefferson.
Helen and Adams are by this time
hidden from our view by the earth's ro-
tundity, but, t0 compensate for their re-
tirement we see, all at once, not only
Hood and Jefferson, but the Three Sis
tiers, Mount Washington, Bachelors
Peak, Black Butte and Three-Finger
Jack, the last ragged, snow-capped
and by no means Insignificant peak,
which by some oversight has been
omitted from the maps.
From the Baldwin Station, of which
we last week wrote you, and which we
reached from the broad, rock bound up
land by long, precipitous descent, the
road runs through narrow valley IN
der the brows Of variegated porous
rocks, and out again over a mountain
spur, this time a jutting ridge from the
Blue Range, that dsres to intrude upon
the prior claims Of the loflier Cascades
by sending out this avant courier to
note the lay Of the land. Like all the
lesser mountain spurs for which this
upper country is famed, this one is
rolling, grass-covered and trees gar
landed, and the winding road is in good
condition.
Once through or over this intervening
elevation, and we reach the Ochoco Val
ley, which much resembles that Of the
Yakima. To describe one is to portray
the other, save that, instead Of the roll
ing hills OF Yakima that bound the ex-
tensive vale, abrupt table lands rise
here aud there and everywhere, bor-
dered by massive colonnades Of rim
rock so precipitous that vegetation can
not find footing in their crevices, and
so unyielding that the blasts Of ages
have not affected them.
Prineville, a busy little village Of
about two hundred inhabitants, sits
under the lee OF a number Of these
mighty bluffs, her feet in the sand, and
the Ochoco River forming the 'broidery