, 1879-06-19

rich in forests aud timber; that it
vas of agricultural value; that fish
.bounded IN its streams. We had
.chool.boy's idea of its geography of
coast range, rivers Cascade noun
,sins, broad prairies and rich valleys;
bu, we had no realizing sense of its
splendid domain, and the inexhaust'
ible fertility Of soil, its expansive
primal forests; its river Wallamet,
more beautiful than the Sacramento,
draining a valley more productive
than the Sacramento and San Joaquin
combined. We had no idea, till we
saw it, that the Columbia was the
grandest and most picturesque of all
the great rivers of the world; that it
had scenery upon its banks in com.
parison with which the Hudson and
the Rhine sink into utter insignifi.
cance, that it and its tributaries pen.
citrate land which for food produc.
ing capacity has no equal on all
I Gods five broad con tinents. Oregon
iss wonderful State, and tried by
wha, seems to us to he the true test
of lands real wealth and ultimate
grra,ness-viz., its power to produce
lood, it has no superior in the
world.
Astoria is the Venice of the north,
built into the waters of the Colum.
umbia, standing upon piles--wood.
EN- houses upon wooden sticks-so
constructed, for no other reason that
We could observe, than that itiis
cheaper to drive piles and build on
them than TO grade Il somewhat billy
aud uncomfortable back ground.
Astoria is a city Of pa,icn, hnpcs and
great expectations; located on the
banks Of the great river, it expect.
anty waits the good time coming
when 1t shall realiz- its geographical
advantages aud reap the harvest of
an expanding commerc. For half a
hundred years its owners have
looked out upon the great waters of
the Columbia, and wondered for
half that time why the ships went
sailing by to that inferior and inter.
ior town OF Portland. Sill they do,
and Astoria sits and smiles, confident
Of its ultimate greatness. when it
will be crowned queen Of the Colum-
bia, and all its tributaries shall bring
gifts and pour them into her willing
zap. We will not dampen the ardor
of its friends by suggesting it is just
possible tha, All intp.ior railroad sys-
ten may concentrate the trade of
Western Oregon, at Portland Oh the
Wallamet, and that the great trade
Of Eastern Oregon and Idaho may
seek the shores Of Puget Sound and
pass out to the great ocean over
,ha, broad highway of commerce, the
Straits OF Fuca.
Portland is one hundred and ff-
teen miles from the sea, situated on
rre banks efthc -bcautifui Walianet,
some six miles above where it emp.
ties into the Columbia; city Of 20,-
oio inhabitan,s--good inha bitants,
that 20 to church, don't gamole in
stocks, are a little slow and poky,
bat always sure and content with q
steady, hexlthlul, honest progress.
There are more commercial buildings
now in progress of erection at Port
land than in San Francisco. We
visited Albany, eighty four miles up
the valley Of the Wullamat, by rail
"a rich and productive valley Of
farms aud orchards, forests, and nat
ural prairies; valley from 30 to 90
miles vide, containing 100000 oi
acres covered with groves, grasses
wood and copse, and every acre Of
~hich is fertile and productive. o,e
wallamet is navigable one hundred
miles or iaors, except at Oregon
City, where locks are provdesd
around Q waterfalls fall which,
gives power to make great manu-
ssriuring city.
Oregon is better State than Cali
iswBis- IL has = better and moro
promising future aud unless the
csis of San Frsncisco looks to itself
there ~,Il spring up somewhere upon
fs4si ssasd q great commer ciaI
smpriam ihs, shall challenges with
~ tho csmmercisl supremacy Of the
esssf. owgoo will. st no distant
s'@s sasn@nissr Us IN population.
West nxtnn trrrsisEy ,s a.. emp.r. in
sr4 es gs-raf, ss,a beth State 49,. Ter.
sss@~s ts~s o. yet. asill.oss VI unap.
ss.assr, ta..A L.m.i. Tv... 4. 49,.